Features you want to see in next iteration of Big Ant Cricket

[Toecrusher]

1) More spin!
2) More edges to slips - right now you might as well set fields with no slips because the ball never goes there.
3) Different bowling animations for bowler types
4) More effect of pitch and weather conditions on the play - doesnt seem to impact too much
4) More effective nudging and 'noodling' of the ball for quick singles
5) Front foot square drive
6) Slog sweep
7) Paddle sweep
8) Better animations for front foot leg side shots - they look a bit ugly at the moment
9) Spinners to be able to bowl from wide or close to the stumps

 

[Deleted member 9102]

Front foot square drive

Agreed, I think this one is very important. So many times I've gone to play a front foot drive somewhere between backward point and cover to a fullish delivery outside off and ended up with the batsman performing some sort of cut shot which gets nowhere near the ball.

It does break the immersion a little when I have a shot in mind and I know what I want the batsman to do, but something completely different happens. I'm trying to get myself out of some habits when batting but it's tough when (especially vs pace bowling) it's based so much on reactions/reflexes.

A greater variety of batting strokes/animations would be welcome in the next iteration, although I don't know how you could have so many different shots aimed in the same place with the control system as both triggers are in use for defensive/aggressive strokes and LB/RB are in use for unorthodox/advance shots.

 

[ethybubs]

1) More spin!
2) More edges to slips - right now you might as well set fields with no slips because the ball never goes there.
3) Different bowling animations for bowler types
4) More effect of pitch and weather conditions on the play - doesnt seem to impact too much
4) More effective nudging and 'noodling' of the ball for quick singles
5) Front foot square drive
6) Slog sweep
7) Paddle sweep
8) Better animations for front foot leg side shots - they look a bit ugly at the moment
9) Spinners to be able to bowl from wide or close to the stumps

1) The spin is good as it is, think about Lyon or Ashwin, they don't spin it like Warne but they play successful test cricket. Wanting to spin it like Warne is ridiculous it's like saying "how come I can't hit the ball as hard as Viv Richards?"
2) Have you got patch 2 and If so are you bowling out swingers, because patch 2 has increased the edges a lot.
3) DBC 15. But still why?
4) This has been pointed out many times and I am sure Big Ant are working on it.
5) Why?
6) Why?
7) Why?
8) Maybe through square leg, but his is starting to get a bit picky.
9) This idea is interesting but not really a very important.

 

[Toecrusher]

1) The spin is good as it is, think about Lyon or Ashwin, they don't spin it like Warne but they play successful test cricket. Wanting to spin it like Warne is ridiculous it's like saying "how come I can't hit the ball as hard as Viv Richards?"
2) Have you got patch 2 and If so are you bowling out swingers, because patch 2 has increased the edges a lot.
3) DBC 15. But still why?
4) This has been pointed out many times and I am sure Big Ant are working on it.
5) Why?
6) Why?
7) Why?
8) Maybe through square leg, but his is starting to get a bit picky.
9) This idea is interesting but not really a very important.

Maybe I should have introduced my post better. I think DBC14 is the best cricket game ever, and think BA have done a fantastic job with it. Having said that, there's always things that can be improve the realism and make the game as 'close to life' as possible. So these are just things on the never ending quest for continuous improvement!

In response to your points...
1) Never mentioned everyone spinning it like Warne, so dont know where you got that from. Everyone spinning it like Warne should NOT happen, because that would be unrealistic. But I do feel that the level of spin in general is minimal, and needs to be a increased to a more realistic level. Ashwin and Lyon for instance spin it a lot more for instance than what they can in the game.
2) Yep have got Patch 2, and while may have noticed increased edges to keepers, haven't really seen a noticeable difference in edges to the slips. Perhaps it has increased, but don't think its at a point where you can say it accurately reflects what happens in real life.
3) To break up the monotony, and increase the realism. Having a slinging Malinga or Akhtar for instance just adds another dimension, provided the ball physics are reflective as well.
4) Thats great then
5) The front foot square drive animation is missing as far as I can tell. Its a classic cricketing shot, and necessary for the full balls outside off stump. Sure you can play other shots to that kind of delivery, but its still necessary.
6) Again to increase the realism and options for the batsman. There may be bowlers, field settings, situations etc. where this is a percentage shot to play
7) As above
8) Agree its picky, but hey thats why its near the bottom of the list
9) Again, it is to improve realism. A key weapon that any decent spinner has is use of the crease, so having that in the game just adds to the depth of the gameplay

 

[Ozzie_SAP]

Couple of recommendations which in my experience (been playing cricket games for almost 9 years now!) are very critical for the game:

1. Straight drives ought to work for the benefit of the game...can't imagine batting without the straight drive in any game of cricket...nothing pleases a batter more than a straight drive along the ground reaching the boundary.

2. While batting, need a small circle on the top right or left corner of the screen with the current field set-up...I know currently LT gives me that but it's just not easy to rotate our heads each time...also, for me its a bit confusing through LT to imagine:
a. Who is right on the ropes at the boundary?
b. Who is slightly inside the boundary ropes but outside inner circle?
c. Who is inside the inner circle?
d. Who is closer to the batsman, way inside the inner circle?
e. What precise angles from the batsman are all these 10 fielders???

Imagine capturing all the above field settings & angles for 10 fielders practically every other ball just with LT???

I highly recommend the above 2 changes for patch 3 otherwise it's a great game of cricket, happy gaming folks

 

[Toecrusher]

I'm also having some thoughts on 'batsman assists' and how that can be implemented...

Now I know BA have moved away from the pitch reticule which I think is fantastic, however I think it is now a bit too difficult as a batsman to be able to judge line and length quickly, and hence choose the most appropriate shot.

This has led to a number of us pre-meditating front or back foot shots, rather than judging each ball on its merit.

It has also meant that when batting we tend to stick to a few basic 'bread and butter' shots, rather than using the full array of shots that the game has to offer - quite simply because there isnt enough time to make a decision! The current assists around the ball are good, but more gimmicky rather than really helping I feel. Its a natural result of trying to project a 3D decision making process into a 2D platform....

So I propose a method which tries to bring batsman assists into the game, but doing so in a manner that is reflective of cricket in real life. For instance, the best batsman in the world can read bowlers, pick the length early, and have 'time' to play the ball, so how about this:

• Batsman assists will be limited to one piece of information about length (short, full, pitched up), and one piece of information about type of delivery (inswinger, leg break, slower ball etc...)
• The ability of a batsman to 'read' the delivery will depend upon his average, confidence, form, and generally time spent in the middle. So in general, if someone's on a 100, they should be able to pick up the length and delivery type much quicker than someone who has just come in to the crease.
• The greater the average/confidence/form, the greater the level of assistance, both in terms of information on the ball, as well as the 'advance warning time' at which that info is presented. So for instance an average batsman batting on 0 will have no assistance (depending on form/confidence etc.), on 25 will get information on delivery type x seconds in advance, on 50 will get info on delivery type and length 1.5x seconds in advance, and on a 100 will get info on delivery type and length 2x seconds in advance.
• For tailenders, it will be much harder to get the assistance, and they will have to rely on their eye to bat for much longer than a batsman....as in 4x as much confidence/form/time at the crease will be necessary to get the same level of assitance as a batsman. This reflects reality, as tailenders in general dont know how to 'read' slower balls, outswingers, googlys etc. out of a bowlers hand like a batsman would.
• The ability of the bowlers plays a part in this as well. Batsman assists should be more disguised/delayed the better the bowler is, and depending on their form and confidence as well.

All in all I believe the above, if implemented well (some sort of sliding scale/matrix setup in the programming), would encourage the right cricketing behaviours all around (reward for building an innings or being in good form, difficulties in batting with tailenders or bowling with partimers etc.), and add another touch of realism to the game.

 

[Deleted member 9102]

1) The spin is good as it is, think about Lyon or Ashwin, they don't spin it like Warne but they play successful test cricket. Wanting to spin it like Warne is ridiculous it's like saying "how come I can't hit the ball as hard as Viv Richards?"
2) Have you got patch 2 and If so are you bowling out swingers, because patch 2 has increased the edges a lot.
3) DBC 15. But still why?
4) This has been pointed out many times and I am sure Big Ant are working on it.
5) Why?
6) Why?
7) Why?
8) Maybe through square leg, but his is starting to get a bit picky.
9) This idea is interesting but not really a very important.

This sort of response to opinions on the game is a bit silly, there's no need to be so dismissive of most of these suggestions. It's almost as if you can't deal with someone having a 'bad' word to say about the game... I think this game is great but it's not perfect and there's room for improvement, and Toecrusher's suggestions are reasonable ones.

 

[T.J.Hooker]

There certainly is a lot less spin than real life (seriously, take a net vs a pro legspinner and you will not believe how much the stock ball turns) but I think they've done it that way because realistic turn would be a problem for a lot of users when batting.

The first CA nets had more turn and bounce, though still not as much as you'd get from a real life pro. I'm going to try to switch it back when modding season starts.

 

[Hooper]

This sort of response to opinions on the game is a bit silly, there's no need to be so dismissive of most of these suggestions. It's almost as if you can't deal with someone having a 'bad' word to say about the game... I think this game is great but it's not perfect and there's room for improvement, and Toecrusher's suggestions are reasonable ones.

I agree.. Why is everyone so anal, so uppety, so defensive over this game? Yes, its the best cricket game ever made. But for people who have grown up playing FIFA, NBA2k etc., then the game has a lot of obvious improvement spots.

Again, not just bashing the game... Its great. Just dont get the attitude of some of the people on here acting butt hurt over a bit of criticism.

 

[Deleted member 9102]

I agree.. Why is everyone so anal, so uppety, so defensive over this game? Yes, its the best cricket game ever made. But for people who have grown up playing FIFA, NBA2k etc., then the game has a lot of obvious improvement spots.

Again, not just bashing the game... Its great. Just dont get the attitude of some of the people on here acting butt hurt over a bit of criticism.

It's especially stupid to be discouraging criticism/suggestions for the game when we have already seen the feedback on this forum being a factor in the things that have been worked on and fixed by Big Ant in their updates to the Academy and in the patches to the full game.

If we all become so defensive and reluctant to criticise then we're actually missing the opportunity to perhaps improve the game in some ways in this and future iterations.

 

[BigAntStudios]

It's not what you say, it's how you say it.

Pointing out errors is fine, I don't see it as criticism.

Anything pointing out an error that has or in it is likely to be discarded from my memory as soon as it is read.

 

[adikal]

Feature request for next iteration: Can we add a rewind option to the game? Sort of like a mulligan in golf. It could let you rewind say the previous ball or to the start of the current over. This would be great for when you make a silly mistake or when there is some crazy thing that happens in the game, such as unrealistic C&B or direct hit from the outfield, that makes you wanna throw your controller

 

[inertSpark]

With all due respect, I can appreciate your want for such a thing, but I don't think that would happen.

Save and exit the match every 10 runs or so. Takes 10 secs or so to get back in the game after. Then if you make a mistake, you can quit the client and reload. Right there is your mulligan.

Yes it's a hassle, but it's also a disincentive to really abuse such a thing. Big Ant made the first really challenging cricket game, and I would hope that that most people would choose to take the rough with the smooth as far as making mistakes go. I don't really think 'mulligans' really fits with the vision of the game that Big Ant were shooting for.

 

[adikal]

With all due respect, I can appreciate your want for such a thing, but I don't think that would happen.

Save and exit the match every 10 runs or so. Takes 10 secs or so to get back in the game after. Then if you make a mistake, you can quit the client and reload. Right there is your mulligan.

Yes it's a hassle, but it's also a disincentive to really abuse such a thing. Big Ant made the first really challenging cricket game, and I would hope that that most people would choose to take the rough with the smooth as far as making mistakes go. I don't really think 'mulligans' really fits with the vision of the game that Big Ant were shooting for.

Sorry, I respectfully disagree. I wouldn't mind the saving option but there is no quick-save feature and saving and exiting each time is a real pain. As you said, it takes 10 seconds or so each time.

Re: your point about challenge, it has to be balanced with fun; after all this is a video game. Any game is going to have bugs in it and BA has done a phenomenal job in hearing player feedback and fixing a lot of the issues. But the fact is that some issues will always remain. There will be a time when you are in a long challenging game and have played exceedingly well when a single unrealistic play/bug ruins your experience. It would be nice to have such a rewind option.

I remember a few years back when Codemasters added the Flashback/rewind feature to the Grid Racing game and it was the most loved feature from user reviews (it become a staple in all their racing games). The number of flashbacks was set by the difficulty and in the highest difficulty level you didn't have any, so hardcore gamers wouldn't complain. Something like that would please all gamers I think.

 

[dale0404]

With all due respect, I can appreciate your want for such a thing, but I don't think that would happen.

Save and exit the match every 10 runs or so. Takes 10 secs or so to get back in the game after. Then if you make a mistake, you can quit the client and reload. Right there is your mulligan.

Yes it's a hassle, but it's also a disincentive to really abuse such a thing. Big Ant made the first really challenging cricket game, and I would hope that that most people would choose to take the rough with the smooth as far as making mistakes go. I don't really think 'mulligans' really fits with the vision of the game that Big Ant were shooting for.

Totally agree with this, next we'll be wanting time machines...