Skip to main content

Indie game storeFree gamesFun gamesHorror games
Game developmentAssetsComics
SalesBundles
Jobs
TagsGame Engines
(+1)

Really glad it was useful — but let me stop you on one thing before you build it 🎮

I would not turn the pass button INTO the switch key.

Passing is not an optional extra in a football game. It is the thing that makes a team feel like a team, and a build without it quietly becomes “run at the goal with whoever you are holding”. You would be deleting a core verb to make room for a fix.

And I think the reason nobody used it is the same root cause as everything else, not a separate problem. If control keeps getting yanked to whoever is nearest the ball, you never get the settled possession in which passing is the obvious move — you are always mid-scramble, and mid-scramble the only sensible input is run. Fix the switching and I would expect pass usage to climb on its own without you touching that button at all.

If you need a key for manual switch, take a new one. On a keyboard you have plenty spare, and a switch sits more naturally on a modifier than on your only other action key.

Order I would actually build in:

  1. Lockout during deliberate input. Smallest change, biggest movement in feel.
  2. Then re-measure. See whether the pass complaint survives the switching fix before concluding the button is the problem. It may simply evaporate.
  3. Event-based switching and predicted intercept after that.

And my earlier question is still the cheapest diagnostic you have, so I will re-ask it plainly: can the auto-switch fire during a shot wind-up? If it can, then “I could not figure out how to shoot” is fully explained with no other cause needed — the player did press shoot, and the game handed the shot to someone else mid-swing ⚽

      HKM Industry, I have to be completely honest with you—your deep dive forced me to look under the hood of my own visual scripting logic, and I found the ultimate plot twist. You are going to find this funny.

      You were right about the Pass button, but for an even crazier reason: I realized that currently, pressing 'Pass' doesn't actually apply any physical force to the ball! It ONLY shifts the player control to the nearest teammate while leaving the ball behind. No wonder players were avoiding it—it was acting as a broken manual switch disguised as a pass button!

      Your order of development is absolutely perfect, and I am adopting it as my roadmap:

      1. Lockout during deliberate input: I am making this my #1 priority. If the joystick/movement is engaged, the auto-switch distance check will be strictly disabled.

      2.. Fixing the Pass core verb: I will fix the actual pass logic so the ball travels before the control shifts.

      3. The Shoot Wind-up: You nailed it again. Since the raw distance check was firing every frame, it WAS interrupting the shooting animation mid-swing. I will lock the control state during the shooting action as well.

      I cannot thank you enough. You didn't just give feedback; you practically saved the core mechanics of this game. As a solo indie dev, having a critical eye like yours is a blessing. Thank you for making me a better designer today! 🎮🔥