Miracles still do happen in the world. Ibra deliveres the most incredible goals - and I was genuinly excited about a football match - in the Spanish “La Liga”! I guess you’d find Zlatan’s performance being somewhat more remarkable than me watching Spanish football (I won’t say soccer, it’s just not Swedish. English. Whatever.) but trust me, it isn’t.

Watched the game where Athletic Bilbao didn’t kick Real Madrid’s behind. Plenty of yellow - and red! - cards though and lots of action. I think I’ve found myself a new favourite team. I like the air of anarchy surrounding the team and the refusal to adapt and take the easy way out. Consistency is nice. And rare.

Found an article at aftonbladet.se, lining up Zlatan’s best goals… What can one say? It’s art. I’m not a particular Zlatan fan, but any nice looking goal deserves some attention.

Nice huh?

Many people, smart people, has always claimed that the simplest solution is always the best solution. Previously I have been cautiously dubious whenever someone has said that to me. However, after my experience with being in the midst of mouse control development for Power Soccer I will cast future hesitancy aside and proudly proclaim: “Simplicity is rocks!”

How did I get to this stage? It all started right after summer when we stumbled upon a Wii and looked at its controls and how it was transferred on to the screen. Shortly after one of our developers, if I remember correctly, finalman (aka Per Larsson, Perl etc) said something in a Skype chat along the lines of “Why don’t we do the Wii thingy for our game but with the mouse”. And the rest is, as they say, history. Okay, so history and some hard thinking, fiddling with tech demos, more internal discussions and brainstorming, conceptualization, user testing and feedback. I am truly amazed with how taking something and breaking it down to it bare essentials, a mouse and left-clicking, made the gameplay, at least for me who has keyboard “issues”, more deep, gave me a feeling of total control and responsiveness.

I also hope that the community will embrace and appreciate the hard work we have put into the mouse control. Until next time nanoo nanoo. Take care!

/Michael

Something just dawned upon me. Call it an epiphany or just the brain catching up with what is actually happening these days when doing our best to take the Power Soccer gameplay to another level. I was searching for words to describe what we are doing and how it will improve. Making it better just sounded flat. So I contemplated, “huuuuuuum”…(it actually sounded more like “whooooosh”).

Now I sit here refreshed and with the realization that we are improving on all aspects. The core and the tempo is the same, which is comforting, since that’s what we all love about Power Soccer. The layer we have added has made the game more dynamic, unexpected and varied. Much more like real soccer. And the mouse control, let me tell you, I am in love. I even loved it before Powdersnow, honest.

Less words, more video? Here’s a gameplay video of me playing with the mouse. Please note that mouse and keyboard will work equally well and you can go back and forth how often you like. Check out the vid:

Gameplay Video Time. Not Hammer Time.

Eager to try it? Soon my friends, really soon.

Michael, the product guy

EDIT: Vimeo made it disappear. Awesome.

Dudes and dudettes, just wanted to let you know that you can follow our daily shenanigans on Twitter.  Will be posting videos, the odd rant and random fun stuff. Check it out: http://www.twitter.com/powersoccer

/Michael

After the move-around-the-desks project last week I now have a better view of everyone in the racing team. In a good way. And I’ve got more space now so I can spread my things (gloves, bags, moisturising hand cream, scarves, shoes, post it notes, framed photos of the kids, books, drawings etc) more. And still have enough rooom for people dropping by, having a chat, asking about the backlog, discuss story points or beg me to stop adding weird songs on our mutual Spotify playlists. (I’m actually considering placing a couple of visitors chairs in front of my desk to really achieve that teacher/headmaster vs. “ill behaving kid in school” feeling)

So, the office is in order, everyone’s got their desk where its’ supposed to be. The Scrummasters have been appointed, the whiteboards wiped and re-filled…and - we have new teams!

We’re doing some serious scrum experimenting at the moment, going against the very heart and soul of scrum. We’re actually abandoning the idea of cross functional teams. We’re doing it the opposite way, putting people into either the “client/c++team” or the “webteam” depending on their preferences and skills.

Complete anarchy and major heavy stuff, I know. But we want to give it a try and see how it goes. There will of course have to be plenty of communication between the two teams (who are both part of the racing team) to avoid unnecessary dependencies etc. No doubt, there will be some close encounters and tricky situation but we believe the pros outnumber the cons.

I sense a new era is dawning. One with functional teams, dedicated Scrum Masters (or Master Of Universe as they like to be referred to…), sensibel backlogs and a whole new (gu)es(s)timation process.

The week is rapidly coming to an end, there’s a soccer demo in a few minutes and after that Fredagsfika…

Everyone - have a brilliant weekend and I’ll see you on Monday. (I’ve prepared for my chill out Friday with chips and dip and popcorn and there will be a fire burning in the fireplace and I’m gonna watch Resident Evil.

Milla is my kind of hero)

// L

Ruben, at the delicate age of seven, hasn’t completely lost the ability to do nothing. Absolutely nothing. He can pretty much lie down on the floor for a couple of hours, doing…something? Nothing? I’m not sure. He likes weapons and super heros and knights, so maybe there’s some kind of role playing game taking place, quietly. Maybe the rug he’s lying on is a magic one, maybe Dimitar the cat is a dragon.

Sometimes I let him play games, PS2 or on the computer for hours. Sometimes I realise that he needs to keep his very own imagination going, the one that’s activated when you’re busy doing nothing. He can stay out for hours - hours! - on his own, even in the dark, and apparantly be part om some mighty adventure, on the hill some 50 meters from the house. It has a couple of nicely situated tree, perfect for climbing. And because of this, and his ability to lie down anywhere and do nothing for a long time, it doesn’t worry me the slightest that he likes to play Battlefront II for hours sometimes.

Anyway, my point is, it’s good for kids - or anyone - to be bored sometimes. To not have anything in particular to do. Being unscheduled. Use. Your. Imagination.

Why this subject came up today is that we’ve been home for three days cause he’s got some kind of nasty cold and coughs around the clock. Still, he’s not so sick he’s in bed. He’s up and about - and bored. So we’re exercising those imaginative skills, mixing action figures with wooden train tracks, the knights and their castle and some classic board games. And, of course, the latest favourite: Lord of the rings spoofs on youtube. (that one’s in Swedish though…) He laughs himself silly, then begins to cough again.

Anyway, just some thoughts on this whole being allowed to be bored or not issue. Parents today seem to compete with eachother who’s kid have the most social activites. Soccer practice, ice hockey, gymnastics, singing, basket ball, swimming…you name it. Practice, matches, competitions. Hurry from school, rushing from one place to the next. Talking to the other parents, comparing, being the busiest, winning the prize…

How about valuing taking it easy, hanging out, finding out what happens when noone tells you what to do..?

Of course it’s great getting exercise, fine tuning those social skills and being part of something bigger than yourself. But I strongly doubt those scheduled activities are gonna decide who and what you become, what kind of person you are. Are parents doing it for the kids - or themselves?

Common sense, a walk in the woods and some peace of mind goes a long way I think.

And yes, Sipwell, my conscience and better self will soon remind me that my standpoints prove I’m nothing but an old hippie, but that’s fine. I choose flower power over SUV’s in the suburb any day…