The main draw in this Hattrick release is a youth system package that bridges the scouting network and the youth academies better, along with many other updates for youth teams. We also introduce new full-body player avatars for our beloved Hattrick players. Finally, we release Scheduled transfers, a new Supporter feature, as voted on by our Platinum voters earlier this autumn.
It is worth noting that this release is more extensive than usual, and that it marks a shift in how we want to work with Hattrick. Rather than releasing fewer features often, we want to move towards a monthly cycle of larger, better-prepared releases.
This new way of working is intimately connected with our wish to engage the community more and earlier in the design process, as demonstrated by the new Backstage forum.
Also, while this release has no changes to the match engine, we remind everyone that the new Goalkeeper specialties have been live in the game since the start of this season.
Bridging Youth Development
We're making the two ways to foster youth players in Hattrick fit more seamlessly together. Scouting networks will hire individual scouts in the same way that Academy teams do. They will preview potential recruits with some overall information before deciding whether to pick them for the senior squad, replacing the "blind" recruiting of the old system. We have also increased the quality of players you may encounter through the network.
Academy team recruiting will work as before.
One reason for the change is that we wanted to add some decision-making to the scouting network as well. We also get the significant benefit of the two systems having similar mechanics, making it easier to shift between them and for new users to understand the dynamics.
We are also streamlining youth leagues. A quick-join feature will ease the league-searching process. Additionally, a 7-day gap is introduced between the last match in your previous league and the first match in your new one, preventing "league-hopping" for training advantages and ensuring a better game experience for everyone.
With fewer potential matches now available, we have increased the training effectiveness of youth friendlies.
In addition, we have some general improvements for the academies, such as faster youth team activation, faster league match creation, and a cleaned-up interface. Youth scouts can now tell you that a prospect has no specialty. We are also adding a new badge system to remind you when a youth scout can be called.
Following user feedback, we will add the ability to leave any youth league in the first week and have your team replaced with a bot. This extra flexibility will allow managers to better synch up with friends who want to play in a league together. This is expected to go live at the end of next week.
Introducing Full Body Player Avatars
It will now be possible to see your players in all their glory, from top to bottom - but of course, still appropriately clothed in your Club’s official attire!
The new full-body avatars are on the player details page. We continue to use the original face-only avatars in other places, such as the player list. We intend to use the full-body avatars in more places but will introduce them gradually in places that make sense.
Newborn players entering the Hattrick world will have a chance to sport bodies tailored to their specialties. This link means a powerful player is likelier to have a boxy body, while quick or technical players tend to have thinner ones.
The new avatars will reflect changes made in the Total Makeover gear product, which allows you to edit every aspect of your players' appearance, including the body type. To celebrate the new avatars and give anyone wanting to try Gears a little perk, we're offering a 20% discount on all Credits purchases for the coming week. Please enjoy!
Scheduled transfers for Supporters
We had a clear winner in the Platinum supporter vote a while back. The most requested new feature is scheduled transfers, allowing Supporters to list players at an hour of their choice in the next two weeks.
The new feature is available for Gold supporters and above and can be found on the player detail page, just next to the regular player sale controls.
Also, in this case, we are adding a small extra after user feedback. Starting at the end of next week, you will receive a reminder in My Office 24 hours before a scheduled transfer kicks in. If you change your mind, the listing can, of course, then be cancelled.
Team news
Finally, a lot is happening behind the scenes in the Hattrick team.
HT-Tasos is back in a full-time role and is leading the work on the Hattrick game. We are also in the latter stages of recruiting a new Community manager and one more developer, with a focus on interface design. We received a huge amount of applications for both roles, and it has been a lot of fun to read them all and interview the top candidates!
It's great to see that so many believe in this game, and we are eager to work with our new colleagues to shape the course ahead for Hattrick.
We hope you all enjoy this release!