• _james
• 2021-01-08

As most of you know, we made a number of changes last week. It was not only the replacement of key Flash elements (such as the implementation of a new tactic editor and 2D match visualization), but also significant update of the Sokker code. Thanks to these changes it will be possible to significantly accelerate the game's development.
Of course, we did not avoid errors, but we tried to respond to the most important ones on an ongoing basis. Nevertheless, we managed to escape major failures, which should be considered a moderate success given the scale of these changes.
The changes also moved us to a new server - much newer and more efficient than the previous one.
We are at the very end of the first stage of our Sokker development project: eliminating all Flash elements and preparing the game for further development.

Until this stage is closed, we have to:
1. Convert the match report graphic to HTML;
2. Change the tactic view in the match settings to HTML;
3. Convert junior charts to HTML;
4. Introduce the 3D match visualization.

Elimination of remaining bugs that are still to be repaired:
1. Scheduling friendly leagues (priority);
2. Fixing bugs in the tactic editor (priority);
3. Correcting the charts (so that they correctly indicate trained and untrained weeks);
4. And any other less serious reports (remember that you can report bugs - preferably directly on the Bugs Forum).

We are aware of the forum comments related to the transition to the newer Sokker theme. We are very sorry, but we couldn't keep developing two themes any further. We have to focus on one now, because it will save us a lot of resources and time. It will significantly speed up the work on the planned change of the Sokker interface along with the new look (presented in previous Dev Diaries). However, it is important to mention that, as part of the introduction of the new interface, we are planning to prepare a few skins. Apart from the default ones based on new graphics, we are also planning a retro skin in order not to forget about the rich and long history of our game.
Although there are still a few tasks to be worked out, along with the above-mentioned works, proper programming works on subsequent changes have already started. The order of implementation of individual elements that we announced in Dev. Diaries last year will be announced in a week. The important information is, however, that you will not have to wait for those updates as long as for Flash elimination - we hope that you will see some changes in the current season.
Keep your fingers crossed, we strongly believe that 2021 will be a turning point for the future of Sokker!

• _james
• 2020-12-31

Today we are introducing Flash replacement. It is possible that you will encounter temporary issues with game access today and tomorrow, but have hope to avoid such serious complications. It's also possible that new game bugs will occur – together with flash replacement, we are also introducing huge game code actualization that will be the foundation for future game development. There will be no new options this time, but the game code was rewritten in many places – so possible bugs can be connected to different parts of the game, not only to Flash replacements.

What will change today?
• 2D Match viewer (retro version) – existing 2D viewer rewritten to HTML technology (from Flash). What is important, this viewer should also work with mobile devices;
• Tactic editor (basic version, without copy/paste button – we will add this function soon);
• Player faces (with current faces design, not the new one);
• Default left side menu – we are changing menu location to left side navigation. It’s coherent with the upcoming new layout, and we believe it’s a good time for current users to start using left menu, to make the switch to new layout smoother when it finally gets introduced.

Question mark about charts replacement – we still have some technical issues, it's possible to introduce them a bit later.
At the same time, there is an important information – Flash blockade for browsers is planned globally for January 12th, not today. So in case of any problems – we still have a few days for additional work.
About the new 3D viewer – it's almost ready, but there are still some elements that need to be improved. We decided to introduce it a bit later, we hope, in 2-3 weeks’ time.

• _james
• 2020-12-21

It is election time again! You have the opportunity to stand for election as a potential national team coach (Senior or U21) of any nation, and also vote for a potential Senior and U21 coach of your nation.

To access the election page, go to the homepage of the country in question, then click on National Team (Senior or U21), and then click on the link to the Election page.

If you stand for election, it is recommended that you open ONE thread in the appropriate country's forum after the elections start. Please prefix your thread with [NT] or [U21] (e.g. [NT] Raul or [U21] Mekene). Please do NOT spam forums, send SK-mail directly to people for votes, or spam users Guest Books. Any of those activities will result in forum banning and/or financial fine.

Please remember that a user who has been elected as an NT manager will not be able to resign from the job. It is not only for fun, it is also your responsibility to serve the full term which the people that voted you into the job thought you will serve.

Elections have started on the 21st of December and end on the 3rd of January, so start preparing your speeches, questions for candidates, and voting.

• _james
• 2020-12-18

New Year is almost here, and we are also close to the end of Flash replacement process. Today, please read a few final pieces of information about next steps and deadlines that we are planning for next two weeks of December.

Match viewers

We are happy to inform, that our work with match viewers is close to the end.Old 2D viewer is almost done, you can check final view here:
https://sokker-viewer-2d.netlify.app/
There are still minor issues to fix (ball size, or game result information, for example) but there are no serious problems that could stop us from implementing that viewer with the end of the year.

New viewer (that will combine new 2D and 3D view together) is also at a quite advanced stage, and close to the testing stage. There is a huge chance that this viewer will also be available with the end of this year, probably as "early access" for plus users. But you need to remember, that it will be a beta version, dedicated for public tests - we believe, that Sokker community can help us with detailed feedback about new viewer.

Other flash elements

Rest of the flash elements are also prepared and waiting on test server - they are combined with Sokker backend code upgrade, so from developer perspective, it's quite a huge replacement to be made. It's possible that some new bugs and issues may appear after implementation, that were unnoticed during testing - that's why we decided to introduce that update close after Christmas (like 28-29.12), to avoid technical problems during that unique time.

We are totally aware, that flash problems are getting more and more serious last days - but we hope that New Year will be a fresh start for Sokker without any flash technology elements, and we will proceed to our next task - general Sokker update.