New Hattrick Design

Hattrick has now released more screen shots of the new design. Here are the pics along with some of my initial thoughts.

(Click on the images to view them in full size)

Staff

Overall the new design is very clean and elegant. The old design feels very boxy and cluttered after looking at these screen shots.

The new menu structure looks good so far. Judgement will of course have to wait until we get to play around with it for real. In particular I hope it will be super-easy for users to access their national conference as well as their NT and U20.

I like the inclusion of weekly cost for each staff type - adding simple functionality such as this without the need for installing browser add-ons is a good step.

Finances

I like the cartoon on the right hand side. Little touches like this should keep the design feeling homely, even while it is cleaner and more elegant.


Player (Supporter)


The skill bars are a great addition, surely making it easier for new managers to get used to their players.

Personally I'm not a fan of the icons instead of text in the "Owner Actions" and "Supporter Features" sections though. Pictures and icons are ok, but I like my menus to come in the form of text!

The new cartoon player portraits seem to be polarizing opinion on Global. Personally I like them so far.


Player (non supporter)


I imagine if I was a non-supporter then the in-your-face silhouette and "only available for supporters" text would annoy me after a while.

Allowing supporters to toggle between the old fashioned skill listings and the shiny new bars is a good move. Hopefully there will be plenty of display options in the new design.


Overall

The new design appears to be clean, fresh and energising. What's more, the Hattrick "feeling" seems to remain. I can't wait to play around with it for real.

What do you think? Is this one step too far? Have the HTs got it spot on? Leave a comment and share your opinion!

Which Defender Speciality?

Special events are an important part of Hattrick, every chance to score obviously is. If you can optimise specialities on all your players then you can build an advantage over your opponents. But which specialities are best for each position? Lets start with Defenders.

Any or no speciality

Inexperienced or tired defenders can make a mistake which gives the opposition a chance to score. So in general try to play experienced defenders who have good stamina.

Powerful

Defending and playmaking contributions can be boosted in the rain so this is a good speciality for defenders who have some PM skill. If you play pressing tactics the defence skill is doubled when calculating the tactic skill rating.

The downside is that powerful players can get more tired in the sun (remembering also that tired defenders can make a mistake which gives the opposition a chance to score). It is therefore doubly important to make sure that a powerful defender has good stamina.

Unpredictable

Players with good passing can create a chance for another player to score, so this is a good speciality for counter attack teams to employ as they will want to have defenders with good passing skills. Also, unpredictable players with good scoring can score a chance themselves. Most defenders don't have good scoring skills though, so this is a less common event.

If the defending skill is too low an unpredictable player can give the opponents a chance to score, this shouldn't be a problem for most defenders though as they will have good defending skill anyway.

Technical

Technical defenders don't experience great positives or negatives. Their playmaking contribution can be boosted in sunny weather and lowered in rain. If you want to maximise your special event chances and goals you will want as many players with useful specialities as possible. Technical offers little compared to other specialities.

Head

The more head players you have in your team the more likely you are to score from (and defend against) corners. Corners are quite common so it is always a good idea to have plenty of head players in your team.

Unfortunately head defenders can also give an opposing Technical forward or winger a chance to score a goal. You don't get positives without negatives in Hattrick - everything is a balance. Fortunately the this special event is quite rare and most managers will choose to boost their performance at corners rather than eliminate the possibility of losing a goal to a Technical attacker.

Quick

Defenders who are quick can block a quick special event for the opposing team. However it is worth remembering that a defender with high defending skill can do the same.

The downside to quick defenders is they can suffer negative weather events lowering their defensive contribution in both the sun and the rain. These negative events can be devastating - it has been known for quick defenders to lose 80% of their stars in the sun. For very little positive gain you can suffer some big negatives. Quick is therefore generally seen as the worst speciality for defenders.

Overall

Powerful and Unpredictable are generally good specialities as long as the player has appropriate skills. Head has positives and negatives but is generally also seen as a good speciality for defenders.

Technical players or players with no speciality won't improve your SE chances but also won't cause you any dramas. Quick defenders are, in general, to be avoided.

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Tags: Hattrick