alfa_beta said:
@manee,
I hope they make batting more of a challenge by having backfoot and front foot selection as well in future releases, and ensure that you can't score at an unrealistic rate of 10-16 an over. And off course AI needs to be tweaked as well regarding field positioning and batting (score at a decet rate and make sure not to lose too many wkts).
Ah. Finally, validation of what I've been thinking about (and posted about a while back in another thread.
Here it is).
The batting system is just too shallow for it to be challenging / fun. A batting system that chooses foot movement (front or back) for you, is similar to a bowling system that chooses the length at which you're going to bowl your delivery. Imagine that.
Some of the most beautiful exchanges between bat & ball involve the ability on the batsman's part to be able to judge or even influence the line and length of the ball and play shots accordingly, and on the bowler's part to be able to create doubt in the batsman's mind about whether to go back or forward; play straight, across or inside out etc.
Not always do we find wickets being taken on the merit of just one ball - the sheer pace of a Malinga yorker, or a flintoff snorter that rises alarmingly from short of a good length.
The meat and potatoes of cricket is made up of a series of exchanges that bring this battle to the fore. A bowler 'setting the batsman up', a batsman 'sizing up the bowler'. And for me, however much one patches BLIC, it can never provide such an experience simply because of the batting system. I'll never be able to fool my opponent for length because he doesn't need to make that decision. Regardless of where the ball is going to pitch, if he judges the line of the ball, he can pretty much hit through the line of the ball using a directional button, and not much skill. So goodbye to any dismissals that result from an error in judging the length of the delivery.
I understand some of what I mentioned may attract criticism for its 'only for the hardcore cricket fan' nature. But, as someone in another thread observed - most hardcore cricket fans are likely to be bothered about those aspects of the game that make it such a joy to play & watch. The idea must be to incorporate these basic (yet complex to implement) aspects of cricket into a game while still making them simple enough to pick up and play. Easier said than done, I agree, but that's just how I think about cricket video games.
Cheers.
I think online play is also good reason to buy it.
