A pixel football game, seen from the sideline

The serious football sims I played were all tables and numbers, and I never got attached to anybody. I wanted to see my team. So Sideline Legacy is drawn in pixel art, from the field to the press room, and there's a real football sim underneath it.

The Yarrowby Ironjaws' bulldog mascot — Mascots of the Yarrowby Ironjaws, the Old Saltby Sea Cows and the Halloway Foxes.
Work in progress.

The Old Saltby Sea Cows' sea cow mascot — Mascots of the Yarrowby Ironjaws, the Old Saltby Sea Cows and the Halloway Foxes.
Work in progress.

A retro football game look with a full sim underneath

If you grew up on retro football games, the look will feel familiar. What's under it is a full coaching sim. You set the game plan and the depth chart, and the league keeps its history from one season to the next.

How the simulation works

Every big moment gets its own place

Game day happens in the stadium and halftime happens in the locker room. Draft night and the press conference get scenes of their own too. You still get every number you need. It just shows up somewhere you can picture.

A 2D football game from above

Games play out on a top-down pixel art football field, with the score, the down and distance and every play result on screen.

Sideline Legacy game screen: a preseason game on the top-down pixel-art football field, with the Tidebreakers on offense in the first quarter, 3rd and 8 at the Tidebreakers 34. Named players line up around the line of scrimmage. — A preseason game on the top-down field.
Work in progress.
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Game day in the stadium

Every club plays its home games in its own stadium, with its own mascot and its own game-day traditions. On game day you see it from above the sideline, in the sun or under the lights, in the rain or the snow. Before kickoff, a matchup card puts both teams' uniforms side by side.

Pixel art of Vantor Memorial Coliseum, home of the Vantor Trumpeters, in the afternoon sun, seen from above the sideline — Vantor Memorial Coliseum in the afternoon sun, and under the lights.
Work in progress.

Pixel art of Vantor Memorial Coliseum at night under the lights — Vantor Memorial Coliseum in the afternoon sun, and under the lights.
Work in progress.

Every club looks like itself

Clubs have their own colors, emblems, uniforms and stadiums, so a road game in a rival's building actually looks different from a home game.

Pixel art football matchup card: the Vantor Trumpeters in white uniforms against the Yarrowby Ironjaws in dark uniforms, each with its emblem and helmet, at Keystone Freight Stadium — A matchup card: the Vantor Trumpeters at the Yarrowby Ironjaws.
Work in progress.

Make a club and its stadium

Pixel art you can read

Pixel art has to stay easy to read. The text has to be legible and everything has to work from the keyboard. On every screen, you should be able to tell what you can do without hunting for it.