My thoughts for the future iteration for BA cricketing series

[Gamer Pradosh]

I was thinking about how to make "International Tours" feel like they are tours played away from home country..Then thought of an animation like the video below..Something that was similar to my thought as well..

And after that plane landing from home country to the away series country... We would get a short summary of how the country is ,along with what to expect in weather wise, pitch conditions and what type of team selection would be better for the conditions as an "Info".. This would really make it feel like you are away from your home and conditions are going to be different here.. Again something for career but this could also be transferred to tournament mode or even scenario creation mode..

So when we start the game we would set our country as the base so any match started it shows the flight animation and an info/summary of that country.. This helps in both adding more spice to different conditions and get an idea of the country's cricket as well...

 

[wasteyouryouth]

I was thinking about how to make "International Tours" feel like they are tours played away from home country..Then thought of an animation like the video below..Something that was similar to my thought as well..

And after that plane landing from home country to the away series country... We would get a short summary of how the country is ,along with what to expect in weather wise, pitch conditions and what type of team selection would be better for the conditions as an "Info".. This would really make it feel like you are away from your home and conditions are going to be different here.. Again something for career but this could also be transferred to tournament mode or even scenario creation mode..

So when we start the game we would set our country as the base so any match started it shows the flight animation and an info/summary of that country.. This helps in both adding more spice to different conditions and get an idea of the country's cricket as well...

I like the idea of a Scout Report - with what you mentioned in terms of weather, pitches and team selections tips. Throw in some information on opposition players, their form, strength, weaknesses.

Hopefully they can license the Indiana Jones music too.

 

[Master Bates]

Hopefully they can license the Indiana Jones music too.

Lol!

 

[gillyboy04]

Don't know if anyone has suggested this yet but considering all the issues with the field resetting at the start of an over how about you can press a button on the controller or letter/number for PC that reverts the field back to how it was at the end of the previous over because as everyone knows it's very frustrating resetting the field every over so if we could press something to save the field or put it back to how we had it the previous over it would be great!

 

[passwordistaco]

Don't know if anyone has suggested this yet but considering all the issues with the field resetting at the start of an over how about you can press a button on the controller or letter/number for PC that reverts the field back to how it was at the end of the previous over because as everyone knows it's very frustrating resetting the field every over so if we could press something to save the field or put it back to how we had it the previous over it would be great!

Just doing as intended would be great.

 

[Spoobir]

So I've been bowling in a test match in Ashes and thinking a bit about the AI and how we can get their shot selections, scoring rates and also dismissals more realistic. Currently I'm not a fan of the "hidden scoring target", as I feel it takes things out of the control of the player, but we're told if this is removed then the AI will not play attacking strokes go nowhere. What this suggests to me that there is something fundamentally wrong with the way the AI is coded to choose which balls to attack/defend/leave etc.

I've heard a beta tester (I think @WealeyH?) say that one of the reasons the AI is deficient and needs to cheat is because it's too easy for the player to bowl perfect/perfect deliveries every time. While this is true and it would be great if we could figure out a way to make bowling harder, again I think there should be more to it than this. For example, currently if I decide I'm going to bowl a half-volley on leg-stump and hit perfect/perfect on the timings then does that make it a good delivery? Any good batsman will put that way 9 times out of 10, intentional or not, but currently in Ashes it entirely depends on the hidden run-rate target whether they will hit it to the boundary or tap it meekly to the square-leg fielder. So my proposed system:

Every AI batsman has an "Adaptive Heat-map"

Pictured above is VERY ROUGH idea of what I'm suggesting. The player bowls the ball and depending where it ends up on reaching the batsman this will affect what action he decides to take. For example in this image, which I would consider for a test match batsman quite early in his innings, green would be duck/leave, blue would be block and red would be playing a run-scoring stroke (I'm a horrible batsman so don't take this map as gospel ). Then he will play the appropriate shot based on where the ball is (I suspect there is already something similar to this in Ashes but given the issues we have with the AI it doesn't seem anywhere near comprehensive enough).

The main point of this system is that it will change depending on various conditions such as match type, match situation, required-rate, player confidence, player preference (eg, leg/off side favoured players), the field setting etc etc etc. In the final over of a T20 the entire heat-map would be red which would mean we would NEVER have to see a player blocking the ball at the death again.

(One caveat is full-tosses/double bouncers which would obviously need to be accounted for as a full toss bowled by a spinner on off-stump probably shouldn't be blocked )

Currently there is also a problem with the AI where they always know where the ball is going to end up (wacky fun-house seam patch proved this to be the case ) so how are we going to keep the AI from being too OP with this new system where they always make the correct choice for the situation?


AI batsman "Predict" the path/timing of the ball

Earlier I said that the batsman will play based on where the ball ends up but that's not actually the case. What I propose instead is that when the player finishes the bowling inputs (at the point of release in the animation) there are actually two paths generated in the game. One that the ball will take and the other which is the one that the batsman will make his decision and play his shot for. Here's an example using he heat-map:

Let's say it's the first morning of an English test match and you're bowling as Jimmy Anderson. You choose an out-swing delivery and nail your line+length. At the other end is an Indian opener who is not the best at playing swing (). Therefore, based on his attributes and the line+length that the player input, the game generates point A as his prediction for where the ball will arrive at the crease, it will pick a forward defensive shot for him to play. However, simultaneously the game also takes into account the new ball/overhead conditions/attributes of our bowler (Jimmy) and generates the actual path of the ball, which will swing off the predicted line and reach the batsman at point B. As the batsman has now prodded his forward defense down the wrong line, the ball takes the edge and flies beautifully to slip . The best way to think of it is to imagine you're bowling two balls at once, one an out-swinger and one an invisible straight ball. It is the straight ball that the batsman is playing for.

Obviously on a pitch with no movement and bowling to a high-skilled and confident batsman, the points A and B would be basically on top of each other and you'll be tearing your hair out to get a wicket.

One thing I like about this system is it solves a lot of the problems we've had in the previous games. On top of the batsman seemingly omniscient abilities to predict spin/seam/swing it also creates variance in batsman ability: Lower rated batsmen will obviously have a prediction point much further away from where the ball actually arrives and we can have batsmen who are good at playing spin but bad against swing purely based on how much the prediction point differs from the actual ball. I've thought a bit about a system of player traits and here's an image showing a player who I've decided has the trait "can't pick the googly"

This would be to a ball by a leg-spinner that is pitched around off-stump. Our hapless batsman thinks it's going to be a leggy arriving at point A and so plays a push towards the covers but "oh no!" it's actually a googly and the ball spins through the gate to clatter into leg stump.

Another thing this system solves is the effect pitch degradation has on the batsmen. As the ball starts to move unpredictably just have some random balls where A + B do not match up regardless of what is bowled. Would be great to see some horror balls where it keeps low or spins way more than usual.

Ok so one thing I haven't addressed is the timing. Obviously batsmen can be fooled by changes of pace (or just beaten straight up by fast deliveries) and not only movement. It's harder to depict visually but I think it's a similar idea. Batsman predicts the ball will arrive at point A in 0.5 seconds, but it actually comes at 0.60 and he misses it because he's too early. In stuff like T20 where you're constantly changing your pace to try and fool the batsman this is could get pretty complicated but it would ultimately be down to the batsman's timing attribute how successful they are against different paced deliveries.

Summary of what I feel at the main pros of this system compared to the current one:

- AI no longer has just a number they are aiming for and instead plays based on their "adaptive heat-map" which will change depending on many variables, leading to more natural shot selection and scoring in all formats
- Allows much more noticeable variation between AI batsmen based on attributes, ability and mentality
- Lets the player feel like they can fool the batsman with movement/changes of pace and get realistic dismissals
- Conditions have visible effect on how the AI batsmen play


Alright, that was just me throwing out my ideas again. I'm no coder so I have no clue how feasible this system would be to implement into a game and there's obviously a million variables you can account for in a game of cricket. Just a bare bones proposal and I expect I've overlooked some stuff so I'd be interested to hear the thoughts of anyone who bothered to read all this.

Cheers!

 

[Dutch]

Great read mate!

 

[Gamer Pradosh]

Brilliant idea @Spoobir ..

 

[Spoobir]

Great read mate!

Brilliant idea @Spoobir ..

Glad you enjoyed, there are so many variables to take into account and even since I posted that I've thought of more. For instance you'd probably need another colour on the heat-map specifically for slogging.

 

[Gamer Pradosh]

Glad you enjoyed, there are so many variables to take into account and even since I posted that I've thought of more. For instance you'd probably need another colour on the heat-map specifically for slogging.

Yeah for slogging we could have an area a batsman favours..

Reading the above felt like it would make real sense to make the AI feel like playing properly..That along with stuff like unable to land the ball right and ending up with a bad execution of a delivery and AI slogging it for a huge one would.get the feel of actually messing up..

 

[Spoobir]

Yeah for slogging we could have an area a batsman favours..

Reading the above felt like it would make real sense to make the AI feel like playing properly..That along with stuff like unable to land the ball right and ending up with a bad execution of a delivery and AI slogging it for a huge one would.get the feel of actually messing up..

Yes, I think the ability to miss your length by a large amount should come back again. If online players want to cheese with it just make it so the batsman gets a massive boost to their timing + footwork when they do it.

Actually thinking about it. With my proposed system you shouldn't even need to choose a target length to begin with. You just choose how early/late you want to push forward on the analog to determine the length you want to bowl.

 

[Kass D]

So I've been bowling in a test match in Ashes and thinking a bit about the AI and how we can get their shot selections, scoring rates and also dismissals more realistic. Currently I'm not a fan of the "hidden scoring target", as I feel it takes things out of the control of the player, but we're told if this is removed then the AI will not play attacking strokes go nowhere. What this suggests to me that there is something fundamentally wrong with the way the AI is coded to choose which balls to attack/defend/leave etc.

I've heard a beta tester (I think @WealeyH?) say that one of the reasons the AI is deficient and needs to cheat is because it's too easy for the player to bowl perfect/perfect deliveries every time. While this is true and it would be great if we could figure out a way to make bowling harder, again I think there should be more to it than this. For example, currently if I decide I'm going to bowl a half-volley on leg-stump and hit perfect/perfect on the timings then does that make it a good delivery? Any good batsman will put that way 9 times out of 10, intentional or not, but currently in Ashes it entirely depends on the hidden run-rate target whether they will hit it to the boundary or tap it meekly to the square-leg fielder. So my proposed system:

Every AI batsman has an "Adaptive Heat-map"

Pictured above is VERY ROUGH idea of what I'm suggesting. The player bowls the ball and depending where it ends up on reaching the batsman this will affect what action he decides to take. For example in this image, which I would consider for a test match batsman quite early in his innings, green would be duck/leave, blue would be block and red would be playing a run-scoring stroke (I'm a horrible batsman so don't take this map as gospel ). Then he will play the appropriate shot based on where the ball is (I suspect there is already something similar to this in Ashes but given the issues we have with the AI it doesn't seem anywhere near comprehensive enough).

The main point of this system is that it will change depending on various conditions such as match type, match situation, required-rate, player confidence, player preference (eg, leg/off side favoured players), the field setting etc etc etc. In the final over of a T20 the entire heat-map would be red which would mean we would NEVER have to see a player blocking the ball at the death again.

(One caveat is full-tosses/double bouncers which would obviously need to be accounted for as a full toss bowled by a spinner on off-stump probably shouldn't be blocked )

Currently there is also a problem with the AI where they always know where the ball is going to end up (wacky fun-house seam patch proved this to be the case ) so how are we going to keep the AI from being too OP with this new system where they always make the correct choice for the situation?


AI batsman "Predict" the path/timing of the ball

Earlier I said that the batsman will play based on where the ball ends up but that's not actually the case. What I propose instead is that when the player finishes the bowling inputs (at the point of release in the animation) there are actually two paths generated in the game. One that the ball will take and the other which is the one that the batsman will make his decision and play his shot for. Here's an example using he heat-map:

Let's say it's the first morning of an English test match and you're bowling as Jimmy Anderson. You choose an out-swing delivery and nail your line+length. At the other end is an Indian opener who is not the best at playing swing (). Therefore, based on his attributes and the line+length that the player input, the game generates point A as his prediction for where the ball will arrive at the crease, it will pick a forward defensive shot for him to play. However, simultaneously the game also takes into account the new ball/overhead conditions/attributes of our bowler (Jimmy) and generates the actual path of the ball, which will swing off the predicted line and reach the batsman at point B. As the batsman has now prodded his forward defense down the wrong line, the ball takes the edge and flies beautifully to slip . The best way to think of it is to imagine you're bowling two balls at once, one an out-swinger and one an invisible straight ball. It is the straight ball that the batsman is playing for.

Obviously on a pitch with no movement and bowling to a high-skilled and confident batsman, the points A and B would be basically on top of each other and you'll be tearing your hair out to get a wicket.

One thing I like about this system is it solves a lot of the problems we've had in the previous games. On top of the batsman seemingly omniscient abilities to predict spin/seam/swing it also creates variance in batsman ability: Lower rated batsmen will obviously have a prediction point much further away from where the ball actually arrives and we can have batsmen who are good at playing spin but bad against swing purely based on how much the prediction point differs from the actual ball. I've thought a bit about a system of player traits and here's an image showing a player who I've decided has the trait "can't pick the googly"

This would be to a ball by a leg-spinner that is pitched around off-stump. Our hapless batsman thinks it's going to be a leggy arriving at point A and so plays a push towards the covers but "oh no!" it's actually a googly and the ball spins through the gate to clatter into leg stump.

Another thing this system solves is the effect pitch degradation has on the batsmen. As the ball starts to move unpredictably just have some random balls where A + B do not match up regardless of what is bowled. Would be great to see some horror balls where it keeps low or spins way more than usual.

Ok so one thing I haven't addressed is the timing. Obviously batsmen can be fooled by changes of pace (or just beaten straight up by fast deliveries) and not only movement. It's harder to depict visually but I think it's a similar idea. Batsman predicts the ball will arrive at point A in 0.5 seconds, but it actually comes at 0.60 and he misses it because he's too early. In stuff like T20 where you're constantly changing your pace to try and fool the batsman this is could get pretty complicated but it would ultimately be down to the batsman's timing attribute how successful they are against different paced deliveries.

Summary of what I feel at the main pros of this system compared to the current one:

- AI no longer has just a number they are aiming for and instead plays based on their "adaptive heat-map" which will change depending on many variables, leading to more natural shot selection and scoring in all formats
- Allows much more noticeable variation between AI batsmen based on attributes, ability and mentality
- Lets the player feel like they can fool the batsman with movement/changes of pace and get realistic dismissals
- Conditions have visible effect on how the AI batsmen play


Alright, that was just me throwing out my ideas again. I'm no coder so I have no clue how feasible this system would be to implement into a game and there's obviously a million variables you can account for in a game of cricket. Just a bare bones proposal and I expect I've overlooked some stuff so I'd be interested to hear the thoughts of anyone who bothered to read all this.

Cheers!

Brilliant read this is

 

[Kass D]

Just a idea , how about ball marker only comes up for Bateman and allrounders. And it should display early when the Bateman are more confident. Tellenders should always be guessing the length and line

 

[Gayan]

Would like to see assigning home stadiums to teams in the academy improved as this effects career mode and tours/competitions. When assigning stadiums should be able select what format that stadium is used for also what times games are played as not all stadiums are used for day/nighters. Should also be a special category for competitions so u can set a default final and 2 semi final venues.

Would like to see more detail in regards to batting position as this effects career mode. In the academy batting position should be separated into two categories limited overs and first class/ test and then into two sub categories primary and secondary. Often in domestic cricket good batsmen bat in the top order but due to more competition at the international level drop down to the middle order. Also some keepers play as openers/ top order in limited overs and middle order in the longer format.


For example Dhananjaya De Silva

Batting position:
Limited overs
Primary: top order
secondary: middle order

First class/test
Primary :top order
Secondary: middle order

Say for example overall is 70 if there are 4 other top order players in the squad that have overalls greater then 70 he will be assigned to the middle order if he has a higher overall then a player in the middle order.

Some players might be specialists at a position in the order. so their primary and secondary will be the same. E.g Dhawan will have primary and secondary as opener, some players may be top order players in short formats and strictly middle order in first class tests. This way lineups generated by teams particularly at the domestic level will be more realistic and you don't have players batting out of position in the domestic level because they are assigned the position they bat for at the international level.

 

[.Jambo.]

Great suggestions in this thread, Big Ant should throw you all a six pack.

I’d like to see a bit more effort go into the game day presentation. Obviously crowds could do with a bit of juice, as could the commentary, but the addition of in game graphs/stats that pop up during play at relevant moments would be great.

Maybe the commentators could be talking about how a certain player is in form, up pops that players stats for the last few games. Just an example, maybe it would be a bit tough to get in there properly, no clue about programming!