EA FIFA 07 Kicker Mod by Butterkneter

Foreword

by Brett Thomas

Ah, the summer months are beautiful, aren't they? There are so many great things to do for the 20 hours that the weather's nice: barbeques, beach visits, football...

Well, it may not be the greatest weather for any of the above in Blighty, but that doesn't stop a good German guy from having a go. Olly, also known as Butterkneter, has done just that with his new EA FIFA 2007 mod. After all, what good is a PC without its very own tabletop-football?

Some of you may remember Butterkneter from years past, most famously his Battlefield 2 mods. Of course, he's also had a go at his favourite football simulation before, with last year's FIFA 2006 mod.

If it seems a bit sequel-rific, never fear: unlike EA's games, Olly's work just keeps getting better. So without further ado, it's time for Olly to take over.

Introduction

Not long ago, I got a call from Electronic Arts requesting my services yet again. This time, the company wanted a case mod for the game FIFA 07. The case wasn't just for EA's promotion, though - it would be used in a contest that was officially announced on www.fifaonlineligen.com. For those of you who don't read German (Including myself -- Ed.), it would be a battle between Germany's best FIFA 07 players. The winner would take home my PC.

I did have a bit of help along the way, and wanted to make sure to thank my wonderful sponsors. Without them, this work wouldn't have been possible. Corsair Memory donated some RAM for the system, Creative donated the soundcard, and finally Logitech gave me the wonderful wireless mouse and keyboard to allow this to effectively be used as a media centre.

Planning

So, it was time to get modding! As usual, I started with some sketches:


Initially, I started out with a very basic case. It had the logos on it, but it lacked any true differentiation. For the most part, it still looked a lot like the case I had started with. I really liked the top, but the rest of it felt...boring. The second variation gave me a bit more of what I was looking for - something visually interesting on the top that made it look less like a computer case with some graphics painted.


The third draft involved a table-top football game, and I knew I had found my design. Of course, just a simple soccer pattern would get a bit boring on the eyes, so I needed to "spruce" it up a bit with some wood. The final design left me very satisfied - it was football, just on a computer case.