John Szoke: Ashes Cricket 09 didn’t sell the numbers we had originally hoped for on the PC and once we began design and work on IC2010 it was obvious that some new features like the power stick weren’t going to translate across to PC easily.
As exciting as the traditional ‘TV broadcast’ cameras are, we wanted to bring a fresh approach to cricket games. We have tried to make playing a cricket game as exciting as actually playing cricket! When a fast delivery is hurtling down at you, it is a frightening experience.
Bowling game-play has had slight makeover. You no longer position the reticule, you hold it in position. Same with adjusting your spin/swing. This gives you more control, and also allows you to ‘bowl by feel’ – after experiencing this we think you’ll understand why we made the change. It also enables you to play…… in NO HUD mode! This is probably our favorite ‘hardcore’ feature. You can literally turn off every HUD in the game, so you’re just playing cricket out in the middle. Want to spot that gap as the batsmen? You have to look around and find it. Want to bowl a bouncer? Pull back on the stick. It brings a whole new level of immersion and authenticity to the experience. We know many of you have wanted to try batting without seeing where the ball will pitch until the last second just like real life – now you can.
This could help end the dominance of bat over ball in the online play.
I'll be buying it. Online has made an improvement. The game still lacks depth without stats tracking, but let's support Trickstar for the present time to ensure they really get up and running. They deserve a chance. If in the next version of the game lacked stats tracking and other vital cricketing features, then we'd have something to really complain about.
:dohAin't that Hitterman's site?
I really care about that special feature to overcome quitters. Ashes Cricket 2009 online is flooded with quitters,I remember reading the same things regarding AI in Codie's Ashes09 Pre release Q & A with PC. I just hope most of the above things are actually in the game this time around.
Can't wait to experience Acam. Mostly he just expands upon massively improved A.I. but I'm not too bothered by it since no A.I. can beat the online experience.
if in no HUD mode bowling is as said in interview where you cannot see the cursor till the last moment and u hv to guess the length then it is very good addition
also looking for gaps by looking around rather than just looking at the field map is a good introduction
hope this hardcore mode is available online though