Demo Impressions Thread

[kamy100]

So now it is out, lets here your impressions of it, especially useful for those of us who are working and will not be able to play it until tonight.

 

[The_gas]

First Impressions:


Graphics are better than last years attempt, but really they could and should be much better than what they are. If your graphics card is poop, i think it will look much worse. However that isnt the be all and end all.

Animations, much better all round, however they eyes, oh my god the eyes. Crack addicts anyone.

Sound, is better, cant really hear much but it seems improved.

Batting is fun, better ball physics have improved. Not every shot races for four. I ran a few 3's in just a few overs.

I only hit 2 sixes in 3 overs, despite attempting many more. A few were caught, and a few dropped short.

Heck, its a new cricket game, and i think ill enjoy it.

Havent tried bowling as of yet.

Can only use mouse and keyboard in the demo.

Every now and then you can hear the commentators in the background?

Think this will be a blast untill we are used to it, and discover its flaws.

Online play will rock, im sure.


I ran the game with setting via blic control panel of

1680x1050 @ 60Hz
4 x Anti Aliasing
OpenAl Sound Setting

Plus i also forced 14x Super Sampling Anti Aliasing/16xAnistropic Filtering High Quality/EATM Enabled/Adaptive Anti Aliasing @ Quality all the catalyst control centre.


I have uploaded many screenshots for the people who cant download the large demo yet to look at. Hope you enjoy them, ill probably be back with more later.

 

[nightprowler10]

The animation is much better this time around. Gas is right, the eyes are horrific. It says at the start of the demo that the game is still just 90% done, so I'm happy to hear that.

More players' reactions this time around. A bit like EA sports but not so over the top, thus much better IMO.

Sounds are nice as Gas said.

Pitch texture looks good from what I could tell. You can see grass/dirt in the air after the ball lands, which is a nice touch.

They seem to have reduced the amount of swing you can put on the ball so its not so ridiculous like last time. The delivery speeds don't vary as much as they did last time around, though McGrath did bowl one at 50 MPH and followed it up by a 90 MPH delivery. It only happened once though.

Boundaries are harder to hit. I timed the ball damn near perfect and still got caught.

Camera angles are a bit different and weird at times, but they're a nice change. Replays after every delivery, though you can turn them off.

A couple of bugs I noticed from the get go. The wicket keeper still takes the bails off every time after the return throw when the batsman has been standing there forever. Whats worse is that the umpire actually considers it before denying it. Some of the run out decisions that are referred to the 3rd umpire are ridiculous as before.

The fielding meter does a bit more now. Now the keeper will actually drop the ball if you don't get it right, and there is the option of throwing it to the other end as well, though I haven't tried it.

More coming soon....

 

[The_gas]

A couple of bugs I noticed from the get go. The wicket keeper still takes the bails off every time after the return throw when the batsman has been standing there forever. Whats worse is that the umpire actually considers it before denying it. Some of the run out decisions that are referred to the 3rd umpire are ridiculous as before.

Lol, yes i forgot to mention that.

Well it took me ages to convert all those pictures to jpeg from bitmap using crappy paint.

Now back to the demo........

 

[nightprowler10]

Jeez, those look awesome on your system. I have an NVidia GE Force FX 5200 256MB GFX card. I had to play at 900*600 to get the following result.

BTW, use Irfanview to convert them from bmp to jpeg. Much easier and faster.

 

[The_gas]

Jeez, those look awesome on your system. I have an NVidia GE Force FX 5200 256MB GFX card. I had to play at 900*600 to get the following result.

BTW, use Irfanview to convert them from bmp to jpeg. Much easier and faster.

I had a feeling the graphics would really suffer on low end cards.


Well after bowling for three overs, its pretty obvious that the cpu certinly go for it. I made 44 of my 3 overs, and they made a respectable 39. Cant seem to time that fielding throw marker at all.

I love the fact that you can aim your shots, using the yellow marker, this indeed makes shot placement perfect. A really big step here. It will be interesting to see how this works on my logitech rumblepad.

I hope this is not the hardest difficulty setting though, as its still to easy to score.

Lets hope the small bugs are ironed out before release.

Well, im waiting for the demo expander now.

 

[Punk_Sk8r]

Well I got me demo for the 360 and I have to say looking at the GFX the are sooo amazing really enjoyed this game so much bowling is good as ever the catching system feels great.

A few things I love are the fact you can actually nudge the ball in the gaps for ones and twos which makes it feel so real.

Two downfall so far, I only did one leave and my confidence did go down a bar or two not sure if this is fixed for the final release, and the second one isnt really important but when the ball hits the stumps it sounds like its hitting the bat, but the rest of the game is an absoloute pass for me!

 

[nightprowler10]

Has the "dancing down the pitch" button worked for anybody yet?

 

[Punk_Sk8r]

Yeah for me it has on 360 I just hold both the triggers hit some big sixes with it to, sucks that you cant yous controller on the PC demo

 

[The_gas]

Has the "dancing down the pitch" button worked for anybody yet?

Yes, however i did it by accident and got stumped, so its definatly there and working.

 

[Ricco_M]

A few things I love are the fact you can actually nudge the ball in the gaps for ones and twos which makes it feel so real.

I like the sound of that! Is that using the defensive shot button?

Can't wait until I finish work to try the demo out for myself

 

[Punk_Sk8r]

Yes using defensive, a bit like you know when Ponting takes the big stride and it has his bat on his side and deflects it into a gap its just like that and feels good, I think it looks and works better if you aim behind square or on the offside...

 

[The_gas]

From tomorrow we have two weeks to wait here in the uk and europe for the release on the 23rd.

 

[Ricco_M]

Thanks for that. One minor question from the screenshots- Do all the players use the correct Bat makes like does Stauss use Gray Nicholls, Bell - Slazenger etc?

 

[TT Boy]

Adapted from the Codemasters forum...

Positives
-AI, they actually attack and have little disregard for field placements.
-They actually run as well, quick singles to fine leg.
-The running down the track seems like a fantastic addition.
-Bowling speeds have been corrected.
-Fielding is seemingly immensely difficult and if you want to run someone out you have to be alert. Catching is also tough but I've caught a couple no.
-No real exaggerated movement from the bowlers, i.e no boomerang swing or seam, for me it was only subtle.

Weaknesses
-Batting is far to easier (Been scoring at 18.5 an over for the last five games) but we can only hope it?s due to the easier nature of the settings.
-Bowlers still seem to bowl with a heavy ball and the loopy nature of the ball remains regardless of the bowlers speeds.
- Graphics are not great or even good.
- Players do look a bit 'iffy', Brett Lee looks nothing like he should (and so do a few of the England guys, namely Freddie) but Andy Symonds, James Anderson and KP do look very good.
- Shane Watson, biggest walking wicket around. Just bowl full and straight with Michael Yardy (Or even KP) and see the guy play all around it.

Definitely going to be getting the game if only for the online mode but if the levels of difficult can improve it might be a decent enough single player game as well as an excellent multi-player game.

Also anyone on 360 managed to sweep yet? If so how? I just keep getting the fine leg paddle or flick.