Accessibility for the more casual Cricket fan.

[Chief]

Accessibility for the more casual Cricket fan. - General Discussion - The Official Ashes Cricket 2013 Forum

The first of the longer discussion pieces...

Lots of you have stated you don't want it to spoil your enjoyment of the game... So come help me work out how!

 

[Gurjot95]

You have a valid point. Games are the best source to convert causal fans into hardcore ones. It should be both enjoyable and well balanced in difficulties. I think if anyone opens the game for first time, it should ask them whether they are causal or hardcore fans. There should tutorials and tips in between telling the causal users when and how to slog depending on situation. This way by training and some practice they could learn the basics. Difficulty level also helps in a great way. If the game goal is to turn causal cricket fans into hardcore then it should be step by step. If they mastered the easiest level (by unlocking achievements etc), then game should ask them to try unlocking them in less easy way giving them tutorials and tips of how to do so. This would encourage them to play in less easy levels. Similarly there should be achievements which can be unlocked only in certain levels. Training in nets should also have some achievements which would force people to play and help to bat/bowl in a sensible manner.

 

[zimrahil]

My first thoughts as follows:

• as stated, plenty of tutorials. There's no easy way of casual gamer understanding nuances/rules of cricket. As well as tutorials, need nets so can practise, practise, practise

• when playing casual fan has option of suggested balls to deliver or what shot to play when batting, explaining match situation on a regular basis to understand why what is being suggestd is being suggested?

• Finally have options that can be toggled on/off. Form, injuries, variable weather etc. Hardcore woud want them on, but casual can turn off and simply enjoy batting/bowling

 

[Dutch]

You have a valid point. Games are the best source to convert causal fans into hardcore ones. It should be both enjoyable and well balanced in difficulties. I think if anyone opens the game for first time, it should ask them whether they are causal or hardcore fans. There should tutorials and tips in between telling the causal users when and how to slog depending on situation. This way by training and some practice they could learn the basics. Difficulty level also helps in a great way. If the game goal is to turn causal cricket fans into hardcore then it should be step by step. If they mastered the easiest level (by unlocking achievements etc), then game should ask them to try unlocking them in less easy way giving them tutorials and tips of how to do so. This would encourage them to play in less easy levels. Similarly there should be achievements which can be unlocked only in certain levels. Training in nets should also have some achievements which would force people to play and help to bat/bowl in a sensible
manner.

I disagree actually. As a gamer new to cricket I shouldnt have the feeling I am being forced into doing something to get enjoyment out of the game. I should feel that if I am quite happy playing the way I do with the options available to me and I am having fun then I should be able to just enjoy that and have a good time. If I want to I can have the option of moving on to more challenging aspects of the game. I see it as circles. In circle A I can have a really good experience, never leaving that circle if I dont want to. If I wish to I can go to circle B or start at circle C or where ever,, where different challenges and difficulties keep me entertained. We so called hardcore gamers must lose the idea that the goal is to make casual gamers hardcore fans.
No, a casual gamer can have all the fun in the world playing his version of the game even if it "just aint cricket!"

 

[MattW]

I like the Double Wicket mode in BLIC 2005 for this - essentially a game mode where your getting out just costs you that ball (or optionally a few runs). The interface to it was a bit clunky in BLC05, but I would suggest that calling that Quickplay and having the main ODI/Test options as 'Exhibition Mode' would be the easiest way into cricket.

Perhaps even make them timed games rather than a set number of overs, the first team bats for 5 minutes and then whatever amount of balls that took is how much the other side gets.

It's interesting tactically as well, you have to pick between bowling skill or batting ability with only two players - so there's a little bit more depth than on the surface, and wanting to develop on that tactical depth could get people to want to explore more of the game, while still being a mode where you can smash it about for fun.

 

[Dutch]

I like the Double Wicket mode in BLIC 2005 for this - essentially a game mode where your getting out just costs you that ball (or optionally a few runs). The interface to it was a bit clunky in BLC05, but I would suggest that calling that Quickplay and having the main ODI/Test options as 'Exhibition Mode' would be the easiest way into cricket.

Perhaps even make them timed games rather than a set number of overs, the first team bats for 5 minutes and then whatever amount of balls that took is how much the other side gets.

It's interesting tactically as well, you have to pick between bowling skill or batting ability with only two players - so there's a little bit more depth than on the surface, and wanting to develop on that tactical depth could get people to want to explore more of the game, while still being a mode where you can smash it about for fun.

Like the time matched idea very much. I think that would work well, especially if it was fixed to a league format or championship or gives rewards for bowling or batting or fielding boosts or something.

 

[MattW]

Survival Cricket perhaps? Start off with a set amount of time to score a number of runs, you lose if the time runs out before you reach the score, with the amount of runs needed and the AI intelligence ramping up as you go.

 

[Dutch]

The trouble is with all these ideas is that they do somehow have to fit into the bigger picture of what cricket is. I mean if we go down the track of batting on a minefield or bowling with penguins then weve lost it! They have at the same time as being fun still be in the context of learning the game of cricket as it is still played throughout the world....how to get the balance right?

 

[Biggs]

Devils advocate, but I don't think a cricket game needs to go down the road of teaching people how to play cricket, or how cricket works. I think tutorials (like in C09/C10) can cover off the basics for those who don't know much (or anything) about cricket. Difficulty levels pretty much do this for you already... as those with less experience will just play with lower difficulty

Perhaps it's something that you build into the difficulty levels whereby the higher the difficulty the more options are unlocked (ie, Medium to High difficulty there's more shot options, more bowling options and a more nuanced AI and dismissal system)

The "Easy" setting simply has more pop-up tutorials and a better chance of hitting sixes and less LBW's and so forth as is custom with recent cricket games?

 

[MattW]

The trouble is with all these ideas is that they do somehow have to fit into the bigger picture of what cricket is. I mean if we go down the track of batting on a minefield or bowling with penguins then weve lost it! They have at the same time as being fun still be in the context of learning the game of cricket as it is still played throughout the world....how to get the balance right?

Structuring the general mechanics of Cricket into a pick up and play mode within a wider game doesn't harm the wider thing. The problem for cricket games so far is that the attempts at expanding the audience have all come in separate games like the Street Cricket series or things like Big Beach Sports. You've never really had an easy entrance point to cricket in a game with decent gameplay mechanics beneath it.

I think about how I play sports games for sports I don't really follow much - Football and Football. When I play a Football game like PES, I usually start by putting it on easy and trying to win every match 12-0, having it set to extremely short halves. Likewise when I play a game like Madden, I don't attempt to make logical plays, I just choose something random to push down the field before throwing it down and running to the line.

The enjoyment of those quick plays in both games get me to eventually venture into the carrer modes they both have, where you slowly start to take the games more seriously as something starts to be on the line. But a mode that breaks the norms of the game to ease you in isn't a bad thing.

edt: I should add, I come at this as someone who isn't brilliant at games. One of my main complaints is that many games associate reflexes with 'difficulty' - being able to react in time to a timing window is different than being aware of the tactics that go into something. I've always wished the games would let me bowl on hard but bat on medium for that reason.

 

[Biggs]

...also, a big part of capturing a wide audience is from the marketing side of stuff, how it's "sold" to the wider public. I'm guessing that's where the "Ashes" moniker would hurt it in places like the US, India and other asian countries where they don't really give two goats about the Ashes. Also "Ashes" as a term means something completely different outside of cricket circles.

Capturing the interest of non cricket folk is really down to three things:

Marketing
Longevity of Gameplay
PVP Modes

When you think of franchises like Assassin's Creed, they survived two sequels without any PVP mode because the single-player was ridiculously expansive and compelling. It wasn't until the third sequel where they introduced online gameplay modes and now that's grown into it's own beast.

I believe the same rules apply to a sports/cricket game.

Make the Singe Player v Computer mode as comprehensive with Career Modes and personalization options (Player/Kit Creators) as well as as-true-to-life as possible mechanics ...along with quick match and single-player arcade modes.

The online stuff takes care of itself, but you'll get the best reaction (and therefore sales) from a really decent, expansive, single player mode. I'm speaking as an adult game-player, but if I'm going to play cricket with mates, I'll play it, not on a PS3. If I'm going to kill a few hours at home, I'll do it by myself.

That's where those Career/Tour modes really become important.

 

[sohamhzr]

A casual fan wont be having a very gaming-friendly computer....
So, it would be good, if the game's graphics requirements are less, just like the EA FIFA series.....
Personally, I have a graphics card, that is just compatible with Ashes Cricket 2009, however, it is good enough, even to run FIFA12 and most probably 13 too...
Though I will still buy a new graphics card for Ashes Cricket 2013, if it demands one, it might be difficult for many gamers....I hope the developers keep this in mind...

 

[barmyarmy]

Amusingly (!) I had to buy a new computer to play AC09 and a PS3 to play IC10...

 

[MattW]

Amusingly (!) I had to buy a new computer to play AC09 and a PS3 to play IC10...

Can you post your PC specs so the developers can target just above it for the minimum requirements?

 

[Gaurav_7]

Odds are that will happen even if Colin doesn't post his specs.

But, I agree about the graphics part. It's not like they are any great either. If it's worth, I am all for it. But, if they are going to be anything like AC09 then, the specs should be low.