Sunday Rivals News

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
  

Excited to launch HEADHUNTER, an all-new game mode unique to Sunday Rivals, available now in the v.11 update!

Lead your favorite team through a 4 game, single-elimination tournament while racking up points using a fantasy football-style scoring system. As you battle increasingly challenging opponents towards victory, your stats are tracked and saved, along with 8 additional scoring bonuses tuned for maximum performance! After the game, check to see if the fruits of your hard fought victory are good enough to be enshrined in the record books and celebrated for years to come.







Along with the new game mode, a slew of gameplay changes and adjustments have been made to improve your Sunday Rivals experience. Check out the full list below, there's a lot! I can't wait to see what kind of absurd high scores your record books will be filled with!

Game Mode

• Added Headhunter game mode
  

UI

• UI refreshed for consistency and UX across the game
  
• Added UI elements and screens to support Headhunter mode
  
• Removed the ability to hold down a button and accidentally select something
  

Kicking

• Changed the way kicks are aimed so that you players decide exactly where they want the ball to go
  
• Changed the power meter ramp up speed to be non-linear and more difficult
  
• Increased the difficulty in hitting long range field goals and more dependent on a kicker's SKL rating
  
• Implemented new kicking UI meters
  
• Out of bounds kickoffs are now taken at the 35+ yard line
  

AI

• AI will go for it on 4th down when they are losing by a reasonable amount
  
• AI will try to pin players deeper inside the 20 on punts
  
• AI will go for 2 on more occasions than before
  

Gameplay

• Changed the way ratings affect QB throws to create more interceptions opportunities
  
• Increased the frequency of passes being tipped rather than outright deflected
  
• Increased the effect AGL has on throw inaccuracy and quality
  
• Increased the chance to tackle low TKL rated runners by 50%
  
• Decreased the frequency of overpowered defensive teams continuously sacking the QB
  
• Decreased juke effectiveness by 10%
  
• Made an attempt to improve the expected spot of the ball after tackling a non-diving player
  

Stats

• Implemented Headhunter stat and record tracking
  
• Sacks no longer count against QB rushing stats
  
• Defensive TD's are correctly tracked
  
• 2PT conversions are correctly tracked now
  
• 30/40/50+ FG's are correctly tracked now
  
• Field goal distance is correctly tracked now
  
• Interception yards were incorrectly being given to QB
  
• Kickoff tackles were incorrectly being reported as TFL
  

Ratings

• Increased the ratings of many middle tier teams to provide better parity across the league
  
• QB OVR no longer factors in SPD and AGL, as a result those ratings have been lowered on many players who were artificially boosted before
  
• Kicker ratings across the game are more varied now
  

Saves

• Added save files for headhunter and headhunter records
  
• Moved settings save file location to a more predictable location. As a result, players will have to reconfigure their settings with this release
  

Bug Fixes

• Fixed an issue where kickoffs after a safety kickoff no longer took place from the 35
  

Hey yall, good amount of gameplay, AI, and quality of life improvements coming your way in v.10.2! Also, be sure to check out the newly added roster viewer, so you can see all the ratings for your favorite teams and tell me how badly I got them wrong!



Full notes below, as always looking forward to your feedback!

Frontend

• Added a 'rosters' page to the frontend, giving access to a full list of ratings and player information for all 32 teams
  

Gameplay

• Increased chance of pass deflections, especially for lower rated defenders
  
• Kicks that hit the uprights will now bounce off and miss as expected
  
• Pre-snap defender selection is remembered between plays and auto-selected at the start of the next play
  
• During kickoffs, the playclock remains stopped until the ball is returned
  
• Punting and kicking better reflects a kicker's ratings now
  

AI

• AI makes appropriate play calls based on the score and quarter, passing more when they are losing and running more when winning
  
• AI manages the clock effectively, calling timeouts appropriately in the last 90 seconds of a half
  
• AI will choose to pass more with higher rated QB's
  
• AI calls run stop defenses less often on 1st and 2nd down
  
• AI punters take field position into account and try to avoid touchbacks
  

Presentation

• On the playbook screen, an alert informs you now what the AI plans to do on 4th down
  
• On the playbook screen, the player's selection is covered up immediately after calling a play
  
• Parts of the ingame UI have been visually updated with a new font
  
• P2 stat box is visible now when appropriate
  

Bug Fixes

• BUG #6 - Fixed a critical issue that occurred when a player paused the game during slow motion possession changes. The game will now stay paused and return to slow motion when resumed
  
• Fixed an issue that was displaying incorrect idle animations for quarterbacks and kickers
  
• Fixed an issue that was causing P2's kicking aim to be inverted. The kick direction now matches the aim bar
  
• Potential fix for players who experience a disproportionate amount of dropped catches, typically on lower end hardware
  

Gameplay

• Added the ability to call timeouts immediately after the play, providing for better clock management opportunities
  

Bug Fixes

• BUG #1 - Fixed a number of critical issues that occurred when a team caught a missed fg/xp kick. The ability to catch a missed kick has been turned off, which was the intended behavior
  
• BUG #4 - Fixed an issue where timeouts were being charged incorrectly after possession changed
  
• BUG #5 - Fixed a critical issue where exiting the 'stats' menu during the second quarter locked up the game's input, forcing a restart. This was a result of a deprecated navigation button appearing that has now been removed from the game
  
• Fixed a critical issue where pressing the 'Y' button (8 on numpad) before the snap inhibited the snap from taking place afterwards. Investigating to see if this fix helps some of the other reported input lockup issues
  

Hey everyone, I'm happy to finally announce that Sunday Rivals will enter Early Access on August 6th, with a launch discount of 20% off for just $12! If you haven't already, be sure to add the game to your wishlist now so you'll be notified the second it's available to grab.

I can't wait for everyone to get a chance to finally take the field and I'm really looking forward to hearing your impressions on where it's heading!