PlanetCricket
Bot
- Joined
- Jan 13, 2010
A few weeks ago, PlanetCricket said happy birthday to Cricket 07 as it hit its fifth anniversary of release. To celebrate further, I had the chance to interview the Game Designer Matt Lane, to get his thoughts and reflections on HB Studios’ development process.
Matt Lane: Firstly, thanks to PlanetCricket for acknowledging this milestone it was rather unexpected. Cricket 07 would raise its bat (or ball perhaps) in appreciation if it could! J
PlanetCricket: Thanks Matt, first off have you or other members of the Cricket 07 team watched how the game has been received in the years that followed the release and the ongoing fan support and modifications? And if so, do you like that the game you’ve worked on is still being played my many around the world?
ML: We definitely check in on PlanetCricket from time to time to see what is happening and what strides people have made to mod the old game.? Some of the database related applications people have created over the years have been quite impressive! It?s great to see that the game still has a strong following and a dedicated community behind it after many years. It?s always heartening to know that when other action-orientated cricket games hit the market there are still people out there who hold your game in very high esteem, regardless of some of the interesting advances being made in some of those other cricket titles in recent times.
PC: How much time do you get to look back upon past releases? Do the demands of new releases mean moving on very quickly, or would you still get out old games you’ve worked on and play them?
ML: Generally when we wrap up work on a product, we do move on fairly quickly to the next project and explore other product opportunities.? Being a keen cricketer and cricket gaming fan as long as I can remember (I was once an avid regular of various online cricket gaming communities including PlanetCricket), I do enjoy revisiting the old games on the odd occasion in my spare time, as well as playing the latest cricket games out there, both action-orientated and management-based. And yes, I have even tested out many patches created by PlanetCricket forum members over the years.
PC: What’s the experience like working on a game for a sport like cricket in a country like Canada?
ML: Making cricket games in Canada is definitely an interesting experience (as is organizing and playing real cricket for that matter, depending on what part of the country you live in). I am from Australia originally and we also have people here at HB Studios from other major cricketing nations. However, as you might expect the majority of our employees are Canadian and while most Canadians have at least heard of cricket or have some brief knowledge of the sport, it?s important to ensure everyone on the team has a good understanding of the conventions of the game and the intricacies that go along with it. Generally that is the most enjoyable about working on cricket games in Canada; you are constantly sharing your own knowledge amongst the team and hopefully imparting a bit of your love for the game into each team member as they work on features or elements that are going into shaping the game.
PC: So what is it like for a cricket fan in Canada trying to follow the game?
ML: It has to be said that the TV coverage of cricket in Canada has been abysmally scarce and inaccessible in the past. Having said that, mainstream sports networks are starting to pick it up due to the recognized growth in cricket?s popularity – largely due to the increasing immigrant populations in major metropolitan areas around the country who are from cricket-loving nations.
Do I watch cricket as much as used to when I was a young bloke living in Australia? The answer is ?not even close? but the passion for the sport is still there and I do catch a match from time to time. Due to the wonders of the internet these days and the improving TV coverage both on satellite and cable here in Canada, finding highlights, full matches or live streams of the latest international or major domestic matches and tournaments is so much easier when you do fancy watching a match.
PC: Just finally, are there any other thoughts or comments you have Cricket 07′s development process?
ML: Working on Cricket 07 was a fun experience. I recall starting work on designing features for it sometime in early 2006.? From early on in the project one of the key themes for the product was going to be the 2006/07 Ashes, you know? the one where England was going to Australia to attempt to retain the Ashes on the back of the famous 2005 series victory. We planned to have a challenge mode which offered up scenarios for both sides where you had to either recreate crucial performances or try and undo history. It wasn?t until later in the project that we secured the video footage that was eventually used in the mode, but it definitely added to setting the scene for each scenario from that awesome 2005 test series.
Aside from Ashes related modes, updates to other existing modes, and the welcome introduction of some new commentary talent in the vibrant voice of Mark Nicholas, Cricket 07 most importantly gave us the opportunity to revisit Cricket 2005?s gameplay.? We had the opportunity to address some key issues and areas we wished to improve upon while also adding in some additional elements and tweaks to improve the overall experience (whether you were a casual beginner playing for the first time on the easiest level, or a seasoned hardcore who likes the challenge of test matches on the hardest difficulty). The idea was that we wanted a Cricket game that had something for everyone – we even added a new analog-stick batting control scheme for something different while still offering classic schemes for those who liked the familiar feel of batting from Cricket 2002, 2004 and 2005.
As many of the modders can attest to, the PC game was made reasonably accessible in terms of modifying a host of gameplay variables – this was no mistake. A lot of tuning was done up and down the board on gameplay during development and many of those ?tweakables? were kept in data for ease of access for design and production staff.? It was decided that we should leave some things relatively exposed for the benefit of the modding community given the interest there had been in modding our previous cricket titles. As is the case in development of all games? from the designer?s perspective you would love to have all the time in the world to fine tune and balance every little conceivable detail of your gameplay to absolute perfection, and spend 24/7 for another year playing and tuning Test Matches, ODIs and T20s but in the end time is always a finite commodity and you take the game as far as you can before your time is up. So in summing up, it?s pretty cool that guys out there are still passionate about our game and wish to push it further, even 5 years after it has been released!
PC: Of course the members of the site would want me to ask about whether there were future plans or for decrypted game files…
ML: While I can?t comment on future plans, I can pretty much put it to bed that we won?t be making available, or offering assistance for, decryption of game files. Sorry guys.
Though lastly, I just want to thank the PlanetCricket community for the ongoing passion and commitment you have shown cricket games of all types for such a sustained period of time. And I look forward to seeing that grow as cricket games move into the next frontier of gaming in whichever form that takes.
PC: Thanks again to Matt Lane and HB Studios for their time, it is very much appreciated.
ML: Cheers
Article by Matt Whitehorn - Read More...
Matt Lane: Firstly, thanks to PlanetCricket for acknowledging this milestone it was rather unexpected. Cricket 07 would raise its bat (or ball perhaps) in appreciation if it could! J
PlanetCricket: Thanks Matt, first off have you or other members of the Cricket 07 team watched how the game has been received in the years that followed the release and the ongoing fan support and modifications? And if so, do you like that the game you’ve worked on is still being played my many around the world?
ML: We definitely check in on PlanetCricket from time to time to see what is happening and what strides people have made to mod the old game.? Some of the database related applications people have created over the years have been quite impressive! It?s great to see that the game still has a strong following and a dedicated community behind it after many years. It?s always heartening to know that when other action-orientated cricket games hit the market there are still people out there who hold your game in very high esteem, regardless of some of the interesting advances being made in some of those other cricket titles in recent times.
PC: How much time do you get to look back upon past releases? Do the demands of new releases mean moving on very quickly, or would you still get out old games you’ve worked on and play them?
ML: Generally when we wrap up work on a product, we do move on fairly quickly to the next project and explore other product opportunities.? Being a keen cricketer and cricket gaming fan as long as I can remember (I was once an avid regular of various online cricket gaming communities including PlanetCricket), I do enjoy revisiting the old games on the odd occasion in my spare time, as well as playing the latest cricket games out there, both action-orientated and management-based. And yes, I have even tested out many patches created by PlanetCricket forum members over the years.
PC: What’s the experience like working on a game for a sport like cricket in a country like Canada?
ML: Making cricket games in Canada is definitely an interesting experience (as is organizing and playing real cricket for that matter, depending on what part of the country you live in). I am from Australia originally and we also have people here at HB Studios from other major cricketing nations. However, as you might expect the majority of our employees are Canadian and while most Canadians have at least heard of cricket or have some brief knowledge of the sport, it?s important to ensure everyone on the team has a good understanding of the conventions of the game and the intricacies that go along with it. Generally that is the most enjoyable about working on cricket games in Canada; you are constantly sharing your own knowledge amongst the team and hopefully imparting a bit of your love for the game into each team member as they work on features or elements that are going into shaping the game.
PC: So what is it like for a cricket fan in Canada trying to follow the game?
ML: It has to be said that the TV coverage of cricket in Canada has been abysmally scarce and inaccessible in the past. Having said that, mainstream sports networks are starting to pick it up due to the recognized growth in cricket?s popularity – largely due to the increasing immigrant populations in major metropolitan areas around the country who are from cricket-loving nations.
Do I watch cricket as much as used to when I was a young bloke living in Australia? The answer is ?not even close? but the passion for the sport is still there and I do catch a match from time to time. Due to the wonders of the internet these days and the improving TV coverage both on satellite and cable here in Canada, finding highlights, full matches or live streams of the latest international or major domestic matches and tournaments is so much easier when you do fancy watching a match.
PC: Just finally, are there any other thoughts or comments you have Cricket 07′s development process?
ML: Working on Cricket 07 was a fun experience. I recall starting work on designing features for it sometime in early 2006.? From early on in the project one of the key themes for the product was going to be the 2006/07 Ashes, you know? the one where England was going to Australia to attempt to retain the Ashes on the back of the famous 2005 series victory. We planned to have a challenge mode which offered up scenarios for both sides where you had to either recreate crucial performances or try and undo history. It wasn?t until later in the project that we secured the video footage that was eventually used in the mode, but it definitely added to setting the scene for each scenario from that awesome 2005 test series.
Aside from Ashes related modes, updates to other existing modes, and the welcome introduction of some new commentary talent in the vibrant voice of Mark Nicholas, Cricket 07 most importantly gave us the opportunity to revisit Cricket 2005?s gameplay.? We had the opportunity to address some key issues and areas we wished to improve upon while also adding in some additional elements and tweaks to improve the overall experience (whether you were a casual beginner playing for the first time on the easiest level, or a seasoned hardcore who likes the challenge of test matches on the hardest difficulty). The idea was that we wanted a Cricket game that had something for everyone – we even added a new analog-stick batting control scheme for something different while still offering classic schemes for those who liked the familiar feel of batting from Cricket 2002, 2004 and 2005.
As many of the modders can attest to, the PC game was made reasonably accessible in terms of modifying a host of gameplay variables – this was no mistake. A lot of tuning was done up and down the board on gameplay during development and many of those ?tweakables? were kept in data for ease of access for design and production staff.? It was decided that we should leave some things relatively exposed for the benefit of the modding community given the interest there had been in modding our previous cricket titles. As is the case in development of all games? from the designer?s perspective you would love to have all the time in the world to fine tune and balance every little conceivable detail of your gameplay to absolute perfection, and spend 24/7 for another year playing and tuning Test Matches, ODIs and T20s but in the end time is always a finite commodity and you take the game as far as you can before your time is up. So in summing up, it?s pretty cool that guys out there are still passionate about our game and wish to push it further, even 5 years after it has been released!
PC: Of course the members of the site would want me to ask about whether there were future plans or for decrypted game files…
ML: While I can?t comment on future plans, I can pretty much put it to bed that we won?t be making available, or offering assistance for, decryption of game files. Sorry guys.
Though lastly, I just want to thank the PlanetCricket community for the ongoing passion and commitment you have shown cricket games of all types for such a sustained period of time. And I look forward to seeing that grow as cricket games move into the next frontier of gaming in whichever form that takes.
PC: Thanks again to Matt Lane and HB Studios for their time, it is very much appreciated.
ML: Cheers
Article by Matt Whitehorn - Read More...
. 
