The new football game GOALS may still be in an early phase of development – but it already gives a detailed insight into the DNA system. Can this make up for the lack of superstars?
In GOALS there will be no faithful reproductions of Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Co. Instead, the makers are focusing on “unique players with a connection to real life”. The feature of the so-called DNA system is intended to make missing real-life sport idols a thing of the past. But what is behind it?
DNA system determines the abilities of one’s own player
On the developers’ homepage there is information about the concept of character creation. Thus, “all GOALS players are generated in the ‘G_LAB’, the research and development facility of GOALS.” The DNA of the pros is also determined there. This in turn is divided into “performance genes” and “visual genes”, i.e. performance-determining and visual characteristics.
In concrete terms, this means that when a new player is created, his six different abilities on the field (divided into the usual values such as “speed” “dribbling” or “shooting”) and his visual appearance (divided into customisable options such as “hairstyle” “facial features”, “weight” and “physique”) define him. If a star receives attributes of 80 or higher (on a scale up to 99), these are “inspired by a real player”.
In this way, all the characters portrayed in GOALS are supposed to shine with their uniqueness. However, whether this will lead to actually sawing at the EA throne is questionable.
How individual will the GOALS pros become?
Although the players are randomly generated and the DNA system has an enormous number of possible combinations, higher rated professionals are logically more in demand than players with poor attributes.
Depending on how the new implementation of pros is regulated, it could well happen that different attribute combinations dominate the meta even in GOALS – and ultimately everyone tries to sign only players with certain and similar values.
