Well, it doesn't show what it's going to be at the moment.

It doesn't seem to be too closely connected with football then. If you haven't decided how game mechanics will look like, here are my suggestions:

• Real-time:

- Air hockey
- Air hockey variant - instead of cylindrical mallets player and CPU use flat cones, which allows them to put the ball into the air

• Turn-based:

- Both players controll their teams (although even a single "unit" per team is OK), every turn one of the players move one unit by selecting angle and initial velocity. Moving unit collides with everything on the way, including the ball. Exact rules, team sizes, maximum velocity and unit and ball frictions and masses would have to be tuned to improve gameplay. Playing it on the table using three coins and a ruler is fun, so it could work. The only problem can be making proper computer player AI (hot-seat games usually don't work, as you have to find someone willing to play first).

I know, but football, being a sport, doesn't map directly to a computer game. By "what it's going to be" I meant what gameplay mechanics is it going to have, as in its current state, the game doesn't show any (at the moment the closest is "yet another Pong clone").

Footy games evolve rather than face rigourous design criteria. At their simplest, you have a simple knockabout game like Kick Off, Sensible Soccer, International Soccer (C64) and then by progressivly adding graphics, AI and joystick buttons, you end up with a modern FIFA 'xx game.

Gameplay mechanics is always "get the ball in the net". The Pong type physics can obviously be refined, but I don't have to dictate what those refinments should be, because the Laws Of Association Football and the laws of physics are the guide. At the least this one needs friction, rolling, wind resistance. Curving in the air due to spin is an additional desirable refinement.

Lots of AI code can be written without any regard for how the players are represented. They could be sprites or they could be fully articulated forwardly kinetic models, but they still have to cover the same field with the same 11 men and get the same ball in the same 8yd wide goal.

The players could be controlled by keyboard, mouse, joystick, AI, network players or any combination. All you need is one 8-way directional control and one button marked KICK.

The camera could be first person, panning from the grandstand, or a static top-down view of the whole pitch. It's all The Beautiful Game that God gave bladders to pigs for.

If you think the sport doesn't map directly to a computer game then you should try a few of EA Sports' games, or at least look at their sales figures.

[EDIT]

On the subject of managerial games, these used to be a seperate genre, often with no graphics, or very poor simulations, but lately the big sims let you play all aspects within the same game, or at least use very similar engines.

Whatever you do, don't put complicated controls in it. I haven't enjoyed Pro-evolution soccer because its controls stink big time (and FIFA games generally stink, too).

An example:

in ProEv you have to push one of the shoulder buttons to accelerate the player. That's very difficult to handle while you are handling the directions, the passing and the change player function at the same time.

An altenative for this is to accelerate the footballer as long as the player keeps the joystick(or key) at the same direction. If the player wants his footballer to do small steps, then he would have to push the stick in discrete steps.

Talking about footy game controls, here is my best shot:

directional keys: they make the player accelerate and run at the direction they are assigned to. If the controls are analog, then the player accelerates in any direction of 360 degrees the player pushes the joystick to. The acceleration has a limit, of course.

Pushing the joystick in a sideways direction makes the player change direction without loosing much of the speed. Pushing the joystick in the opposite direction makes the players deccelerate, then change direction, then accelerate towards the new direction.

The ball should stick to the player's feet as long as it is close to the feet. If the player changes direction while the ball is away, the ball shall continue its trajectory.

When two footballers are 'shoulder to shoulder', then a gentle push of the joystick will push the other footballer away. A stronger push will result in a fault.

kick button on offense: the kick button makes the player kick the ball in the direction the player is facing. The longer the player holds down the button, the stronger the shot is.

The player can change the kick's direction by the joystick:

1) by pushing the joystick at a specific direction at the same time the shoot button is pressed, the player is able to kick the ball backwards or sideways.

2) by pushing the joystick at a specific direction after the ball has been kicked, the player can apply lift (by pressing the joystick in the opposite direction) and spin (by pressing the joystick sideways).

kick button on defense: the defender will tackle the offender. The power of the tackle is defined by how long the kick button is hold down, as in shooting. The direction of the tackle will be defined by the joystick direction.

kick button on 'free' ball: by 'free', I mean that no footballer controls the ball. The kick button should kick the ball either by a high or low header or air kick (backwards or sideways), depending on ball position and player position. The strength of the shot is defined by duration of holding button down.

A footy game was always at the back of my mind, but it's quite a difficult thing to do because it involves lots of animation and AI.

Don't forget that the game should be playable using keyboard only.