If you've been playing Sunday Rivals since launch, you've probably noticed something, or better yet someone missing from the game. I'm happy to announce that going forward you'll be playing football the way it's meant to be played: In front of a packed, raucous crowd!
While everyone was digging into HeadHunter and posting incredible scores (100 point games?!) I was dusting the cobwebs off some of the older art assets in the game. As a result, the stadium has undergone some much needed renovations (with more to come, too!), including fully decked out sidelines, a working scoreboard, and endzones that proudly proclaim their allegiance.
I've also started work on an updated celebration sequence that better spotlights the player and their accomplishments. Definitely more to come on this front!
All of these graphical upgrades come at a cost, so please let me know if you're experiencing degraded performance in v.12.0 and make sure to revisit your settings to see if there's any areas that can be addressed. I'd expect that if you've been playing the game on a relatively low powered PC or laptop thus far, the crowd is going to be a major struggle for your graphics card. As Sunday Rivals moves further through development and more things are added to the game, that trend is only going to continue, so let's talk to see what solutions we can find.
Hope everyone is enjoying their October, as always feel free to drop by the forums or discord and let me know how things are going!
Full release notes below:
Presentation
- Added full stadium crowd
- Updated sideline art and player positions
- Endzones show either the city or name of the home team (whichever is shorter)
- Added a new player celebration sequence with custom cameras, animations, and player stats
- All players on the field react to the celebrations
- Updated ball art
- Added in-stadium scoreboards
- Improved lighting, material response, and post processing effects
HeadHunter
- Whichever team has a higher OVR rank is the home team now
- Gameplay
- Player 1 can play as the away team in an exhibition game
- Passes tipped by the defense are harder for receivers to catch
- Decreased aiming error for AI kickers
UI
- Pass previews show player names
- Added option to switch between xbox, ps4, and keyboard on screen buttons
- Stats screens list player uniform numbers
- Added an information feed to the title screen
Stats
- Punt yardage is tracked correctly now
- Punts resulting in TD's are tracked correctly now
- Punts landing inside the 20 are tracked correctly now
- Less conflicting stat reporting
Bug Fixes
- Fixed an issue where scoring a touchdown on 4th down and then failing the 2pt conversion gave the scoring team the ball back on the ensuing kickoff
- Fixed an issue where the wrong animation was being played during a block after an interception
- Fixed an issue where any player who touched the ball during a kickoff/punt received credit for a kick return