PlanetCricket
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- Joined
- Jan 13, 2010
Yesterday, PlanetCricket was at the press unveiling at Lord?s for Ashes Cricket 2013 ? with forum Admin barmyarmy able to have a quick chat with Mike Fegan from Trickstar Games, the developers for the upcoming game.
PC: I wanted to talk a bit about the process of making the game, from what was said, you started with the reviews, you started with how you can change International Cricket 2010, you had to build from scratch ? how closely do you look at the feedback and how have you been able to use that?
Mike Fegan ? Trickstar Games: We definitely look at the feedback and we always do a post mortem ? for example when we finish wrapping up this game shortly, the team will go away for a couple of weeks and get their lives back and the dog won?t bite them when they get home ? the thing is you know we do a whole post mortem of the internal stuff, particularly from a technology side and then the fans, because you know obviously without those guys we don?t have a business.
I think International Cricket, the reviews were pretty good and the camera system everyone liked?
PC: ?Yeah that worked really well?
MF: You know the shoulder cam for the bowler and batsman, but also some of the ? around the game not actually being that fun to play after a while ? because you knew where the ball was going to land and could easily hit sixes and fours and stuff like that. Everything was looking a bit tired as well and a lot of people were disappointed in some of the animations and so forth; we?d actually been using some of those animations going back to 2005. So we took all of that on board and that?s why we came to the assumption that we had to throw everything out, even though it would?ve been easier to just keep patching what we had and heaping more on top of it ? we threw it all out and started again.
PC: Which game mechanic change made the most difference in your opinion to the feel of the game?
MF: Personally speaking, I think field placement is really cool, because what it introduces for the first time in any cricket game is the true captain?s perspective, and we had Peter Siddle in here last Friday showing him the game, and he was telling me that quite often when he?s bowling, Michael Clarke is persistently talking to him and we?re just trying to find the right ball, depending on obviously the batsman who?s facing, and he will tell Michael what the field he wants set for the ball coming up, and now you can do that in the game, and I think that?s pretty cool.
I think the line and length bowling is pretty good as well. So it?s all new and I think people are going to get a lot of fun out of it, because there?s a lot more randomisation in the game than ever before, just like the real thing.
PC: I?ve got the two big questions, when I said on Twitter I was going to speak to you, I said what would you like me to ask and the two questions that came in the first one was ? when can we playtest it, you know people in Melbourne ? is that going to be soon or?
MF: Our thing right now is gameplay balancing and bug fixing of course, and we?re working on things like player logic, etc ? we?re just wanting to do that fine tuning over the next few weeks before we really give code out for full review, but the publisher takes care of most of that for us which helps us focus on getting the game done.
PC: So when are you hoping to have the game released?
MF: Well the game is released next month.
PC: And you?re confident it will be released next month on the 21st?
MF: We?re very confident. We?re doing daily builds at the moment and are really pleased with how the game is coming along. The next few weeks are critical as we need to get the gameplay balancing right and we?ve also got to get a few of the bugs fixed, as all software has bugs unfortunately and we just need to minimise them as much as possible. So we?re pretty happy with things ? and we?ve been working on this game for three years so personally I?m looking forward to getting it out the door.
PC: I was asked about playable scenarios ? what?s going to make people want to play this game for a long time rather than just a few weeks?
MF: I think this time around we really focused heavily on was a lot of new features, particularly ?live pitch? where the pitch is changing over a period of time, and the way we set up the 28 stadiums in the game is that essentially we?re taking geographical data so that for example the five licenced Ashes stadiums in the game you have a lot more rain than we do down here for example, so you?re grass is a lot lusher so therefore the outfields are a lot slower, and that?s in the game; and then obviously down here it?s a lot drier and in India it very quickly becomes a spinner?s wicket ? and we?ve put that all in the game which I think is really cool. I think that the live pitch aspect is good.
I think the other thing that?s cool as well is the fatigue factor ? so if you?re playing Patterson or Siddle for example ? consistently as your attack bowlers and after a while they are going to fatigue quickly and you?re going to get runs hit against you ? so there?s a lot of nuances to the game that we haven?t had before and I think players are going to really enjoy it.
PC: So you feel that in a way that does away with the need to have a longevity in terms of a career mode, long tours, all these kind of things that people think about for giving the game a longer life ? you think what you?ve brought in will do that anyway?
MF: Yeah, I think because the game is far more random than ever before and closer to the real thing, I think there?s a lot more playability in that then trying to do those sort of scenarios. In the past we?ve tried to do stuff like Legends mode and simulate specific innings ? we?d love to do stuff like that but logistically it?s very difficult and from a cost point of view it?s prohibitive as well. The stuff I grew up with, Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson ? and I know Jeff Thomson he?d be keen to get involved in the game, but Dennis Lillee is notoriously difficult and very expensive, so you can blow your budget really quickly.
PC: ?I?m really excited about the game, I think we all are ? it?s a great buzz ? obviously you?ve got a competitor in Melbourne as well which raises the stakes a bit ? you must be really looking forward to release and getting it out and away?
MF: Definitely, I think competition is good just like the real sport. The guys down the road know cricket and hopefully they come up with a good game as well. But you know where we think we?re different is having those exclusive licences, the exclusive stadiums, we have over 200 kit items ? a bunch of kit manufacturers ? you know we have content in the game that they can?t do, but hopefully they crack the cricket game as well.
Discuss this in the forums - http://www.planetcricket.org/forums...-tweets-ashes-cricket-2013-preview-84324.html
PC: I wanted to talk a bit about the process of making the game, from what was said, you started with the reviews, you started with how you can change International Cricket 2010, you had to build from scratch ? how closely do you look at the feedback and how have you been able to use that?
Mike Fegan ? Trickstar Games: We definitely look at the feedback and we always do a post mortem ? for example when we finish wrapping up this game shortly, the team will go away for a couple of weeks and get their lives back and the dog won?t bite them when they get home ? the thing is you know we do a whole post mortem of the internal stuff, particularly from a technology side and then the fans, because you know obviously without those guys we don?t have a business.
I think International Cricket, the reviews were pretty good and the camera system everyone liked?
PC: ?Yeah that worked really well?
MF: You know the shoulder cam for the bowler and batsman, but also some of the ? around the game not actually being that fun to play after a while ? because you knew where the ball was going to land and could easily hit sixes and fours and stuff like that. Everything was looking a bit tired as well and a lot of people were disappointed in some of the animations and so forth; we?d actually been using some of those animations going back to 2005. So we took all of that on board and that?s why we came to the assumption that we had to throw everything out, even though it would?ve been easier to just keep patching what we had and heaping more on top of it ? we threw it all out and started again.
PC: Which game mechanic change made the most difference in your opinion to the feel of the game?
MF: Personally speaking, I think field placement is really cool, because what it introduces for the first time in any cricket game is the true captain?s perspective, and we had Peter Siddle in here last Friday showing him the game, and he was telling me that quite often when he?s bowling, Michael Clarke is persistently talking to him and we?re just trying to find the right ball, depending on obviously the batsman who?s facing, and he will tell Michael what the field he wants set for the ball coming up, and now you can do that in the game, and I think that?s pretty cool.
I think the line and length bowling is pretty good as well. So it?s all new and I think people are going to get a lot of fun out of it, because there?s a lot more randomisation in the game than ever before, just like the real thing.
PC: I?ve got the two big questions, when I said on Twitter I was going to speak to you, I said what would you like me to ask and the two questions that came in the first one was ? when can we playtest it, you know people in Melbourne ? is that going to be soon or?
MF: Our thing right now is gameplay balancing and bug fixing of course, and we?re working on things like player logic, etc ? we?re just wanting to do that fine tuning over the next few weeks before we really give code out for full review, but the publisher takes care of most of that for us which helps us focus on getting the game done.
PC: So when are you hoping to have the game released?
MF: Well the game is released next month.
PC: And you?re confident it will be released next month on the 21st?
MF: We?re very confident. We?re doing daily builds at the moment and are really pleased with how the game is coming along. The next few weeks are critical as we need to get the gameplay balancing right and we?ve also got to get a few of the bugs fixed, as all software has bugs unfortunately and we just need to minimise them as much as possible. So we?re pretty happy with things ? and we?ve been working on this game for three years so personally I?m looking forward to getting it out the door.
PC: I was asked about playable scenarios ? what?s going to make people want to play this game for a long time rather than just a few weeks?
MF: I think this time around we really focused heavily on was a lot of new features, particularly ?live pitch? where the pitch is changing over a period of time, and the way we set up the 28 stadiums in the game is that essentially we?re taking geographical data so that for example the five licenced Ashes stadiums in the game you have a lot more rain than we do down here for example, so you?re grass is a lot lusher so therefore the outfields are a lot slower, and that?s in the game; and then obviously down here it?s a lot drier and in India it very quickly becomes a spinner?s wicket ? and we?ve put that all in the game which I think is really cool. I think that the live pitch aspect is good.
I think the other thing that?s cool as well is the fatigue factor ? so if you?re playing Patterson or Siddle for example ? consistently as your attack bowlers and after a while they are going to fatigue quickly and you?re going to get runs hit against you ? so there?s a lot of nuances to the game that we haven?t had before and I think players are going to really enjoy it.
PC: So you feel that in a way that does away with the need to have a longevity in terms of a career mode, long tours, all these kind of things that people think about for giving the game a longer life ? you think what you?ve brought in will do that anyway?
MF: Yeah, I think because the game is far more random than ever before and closer to the real thing, I think there?s a lot more playability in that then trying to do those sort of scenarios. In the past we?ve tried to do stuff like Legends mode and simulate specific innings ? we?d love to do stuff like that but logistically it?s very difficult and from a cost point of view it?s prohibitive as well. The stuff I grew up with, Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson ? and I know Jeff Thomson he?d be keen to get involved in the game, but Dennis Lillee is notoriously difficult and very expensive, so you can blow your budget really quickly.
PC: ?I?m really excited about the game, I think we all are ? it?s a great buzz ? obviously you?ve got a competitor in Melbourne as well which raises the stakes a bit ? you must be really looking forward to release and getting it out and away?
MF: Definitely, I think competition is good just like the real sport. The guys down the road know cricket and hopefully they come up with a good game as well. But you know where we think we?re different is having those exclusive licences, the exclusive stadiums, we have over 200 kit items ? a bunch of kit manufacturers ? you know we have content in the game that they can?t do, but hopefully they crack the cricket game as well.
Discuss this in the forums - http://www.planetcricket.org/forums...-tweets-ashes-cricket-2013-preview-84324.html
