Patch#2 Notes - Patch is Live

Out of interest, how do you "know" for sure that your timing isnt bad?

What makes me sure that my timing isn't bad is the batting feedback in the Match Practise.

With that being said, I think you're likely right and that I (at least) have some more learning to do after the changes to the game.

It's a case of having learnt one game, and then a slightly different one comes along in patch 2.
 
yay!! its patch 2... aww.. its patch 2..

First of all Hats off to the best developers of the best cricket game in the recent decade. Probably u have already given bed wetting nightmares for other aspirants of this LOB with these abundance of options and quality.

I was one of the thousands waiting eagerly and checking my PS3 every day for the new patch and u guys even gave a massive tease with the change log. The most attractive catch was the batting tuneup and the AI tune up, and a bowling allrounder like me had my tails up with dreams of notching hundreds after hundreds as a shahid afridi in his red hot peak form.

I finally got it downloaded today and played 3 OD internationals and one 1 FC. I was a shahid afridi in all those games no doubt in that, but which afridi turned out for batting has made me type this longgg soap.

I performed the following : I ODI : 2/13 (10), 0 (5) , II ODI : 3/13 (10), DNB ,
III ODI : 1 (9) , 1/17 (10) FC: 30 (26) , 0/5 (3) ( Game in progress)


With no disrespect to your efforts and these changes, my sincere suggestion would be making that batting technique a little forgiving in this game. Earlier my only money making option was the cut over the keeper and in third man region. Atleast i would make 20 out of first 10 balls and ill score another 5-9 out of next 6 balls and get out. Now if i try that, i either miss or out caught behind or bowled with an inside edge.

The problem is i cant spend time in playing the ball properly and i am extermely impatient as i can play this game only for an hour or a couple, that too when my best half is not available or when i start to office.

For all the friends suggesting to start a new career with lower difficulty or other suggestions, i want to thank in advance, but this is just a layman's view on this new patch. (and a humble request.. Any tips or a loophole to score better is always appreciated ;).
 
If you make a statement like "when my better half isn't available" it does make me wonder about your half.........
 
Kudos to the guys who are able to play the cut/pull along the ground atm, maybe i need to practice a bit more, but i have played in the net against short ball only, played a practice match against fast, medium etc getting the timing and footwork perfect and it was still going in the air under these conditions. The only thing that worked was holding the triggers which really isnt a practical solution imo.
 
Kudos to the guys who are able to play the cut/pull along the ground atm, maybe i need to practice a bit more, but i have played in the net against short ball only, played a practice match against fast, medium etc getting the timing and footwork perfect and it was still going in the air under these conditions. The only thing that worked was holding the triggers which really isnt a practical solution imo.

I'm finding it much the same. As much as I've tried so far, timing hasn't really seemed to help.
 
I think that since the patch the timing of these shots may be a little less forgiving but I am certainly still able to hit these shots along the ground more often than not.

I've played the game since April and have got a pretty good handle on timing but the pull & cut shots still go in the air. I hit "Match Practice" to see if it was the timing issue but I got 'Perfect' feedback for both footwork and timing, and still the ball went into the air everytime. Before the 2nd patch the balance was perfect for these shots, i.e. if I nailed these shots, they went along the ground and if I mistimes I was caught by Square Leg/Mid Wkt/Forward Square Leg (Pull/Hook) or by Gully/Slips (Cut).

Playing the shot along ground using an additional trigger (R2 & L2) is not a solution either as these triggers are meant to play aggressive shots, which I'm not. It should be the other way round - if you use triggers for an aggressive shot there should be more chance of the ball going in the air and not when you play a regular pull or cut shot.

I think overall the game is more balanced now. But it certainly is less fun.

Batting is all lofted shots to the boundary or a fielder for me so I usually end up at 12 off 3 then out, or something similar.

Career spin bowling has been nerfed hard. It was silly before, really really silly. But now its just dull. I bowl maiden after maiden after maiden. Virtually no wickets to be seen.

Its definitely a mixed bag, sadly not the holy grail I was hoping for.

For me we are left with something similar to what we had before, A really good cricket game with some big issues. Its just that the issues have changed now.

The main problem I face is that it's literally become impossible for me to get past 30s or 40s in career mode now. Earlier I was able to score an odd 100 with an average of mid 30s in odis (intl) and 37 in T20Is. But since the patch as soon as my career player gets a start, AI puts one of the following two fields....

Field 1: Backward Square Leg, Square, Square Leg, Mid Wkt, Mid On or Long On, Mid Off or Long Off, Cover or Extra Cover, Point or Backward Point, Third Man

Field 2: Fine Leg, Forward Square Leg, Mid Mkt, Deep Square Leg, Mid On, Mid Off, Extra Cover or Cover, Point or Backward Point, Gully.

With these two fields you can't do much against pacers. You can't play on the leg side as you don't have enough time to change your shot when they throw in the short ball which is taken by one of the leg side fielders, and playing on the off side is a lottey as you get caught in the cover region or edge it behind. Cut shot is out too due to point/backward point or Gully/Third man as the ball carries to these fielders.

Essentially batting becomes russian roulette after you cross 20, if you are lucky, coz sometimes AI puts these fields at the start of my career player's innings itself. Before patch 2 I could play on the leg side and take 1s and 2s before AI reacted and opened another gap but now I can't as short ball being hit in the air everytime takes it out of equation. In shorter formats (odis & T20s) I don't have an option of blocking the field till AI changes the field as run rate is an issue. Before patch 2 there was a way to build an innings if you timed everything well, but not so anymore as even well timed shots are hit in the air and you end up being dismissed.

A touch disappointed coz if the leg side flicks & glances could have been fixed the way they have been in this patch, without changing the other shots and keeping them as is, we would have had a near perfect game.

Kudos to the guys who are able to play the cut/pull along the ground atm, maybe i need to practice a bit more, but i have played in the net against short ball only, played a practice match against fast, medium etc getting the timing and footwork perfect and it was still going in the air under these conditions. The only thing that worked was holding the triggers which really isnt a practical solution imo.

Agreed. Tried hitting the 'Practice Match' and my results were consistent with yours.


Edit: I would request Big Ant folks to adress the issue of some of the shots being hit in the air everytime (pull/hook & cut) as part of Patch 3 gameplay balancing. I see this concern as a much bigger problem than poor field sets or any other remaining issues as it takes away from the realism. You want to build your inning by keeping the ball on the ground in Tests, which is not that feasible unless you cut out most the shots.
 
Last edited:
Ok so I've just had my first experience of patch 2 (on PS3).

As mentioned above the pull shot is much harder to execute and I find myself unable to hit the ball along the ground. Playing the ball off your hips/toes into the leg side however seems to be a lot easier which is good. Batting is a lot quicker now that the replays have been cut down which is also good.

I've seen some people mention this 'lag' when running between the wickets, it's definitely there but doesn't happen all the time and also it doesn't really affect gameplay. Also some people have said that the game takes longer to load..it's exactly the same IMO.

...And finally, the game didn't crash whilst saving!
rock-on-smiley-emoticon.gif
 
I cant seem to keep the pull shot down either but by the same token this hasnt cost me many wickets, caught out once and thats it. But definitely safer now playing down the leg side around your feet, pre patch used to be 50:50 you would be caught out.
 
The main problem I face is that it's literally become impossible for me to get past 30s or 40s in career mode now. Earlier I was able to score an odd 100 with an average of mid 30s in odis (intl) and 37 in T20Is. But since the patch as soon as my career player gets a start, AI puts one of the following two fields....

Field 1: Backward Square Leg, Square, Square Leg, Mid Wkt, Mid On or Long On, Mid Off or Long Off, Cover or Extra Cover, Point or Backward Point, Third Man

Field 2: Fine Leg, Forward Square Leg, Mid Mkt, Deep Square Leg, Mid On, Mid Off, Extra Cover or Cover, Point or Backward Point, Gully.

With these two fields you can't do much against pacers. You can't play on the leg side as you don't have enough time to change your shot when they throw in the short ball which is taken by one of the leg side fielders, and playing on the off side is a lottey as you get caught in the cover region or edge it behind. Cut shot is out too due to point/backward point or Gully/Third man as the ball carries to these fielders.

Essentially batting becomes russian roulette after you cross 20, if you are lucky, coz sometimes AI puts these fields at the start of my career player's innings itself. Before patch 2 I could play on the leg side and take 1s and 2s before AI reacted and opened another gap but now I can't as short ball being hit in the air everytime takes it out of equation. In shorter formats (odis & T20s) I don't have an option of blocking the field till AI changes the field as run rate is an issue. Before patch 2 there was a way to build an innings if you timed everything well, but not so anymore as even well timed shots are hit in the air and you end up being dismissed.

A touch disappointed coz if the leg side flicks & glances could have been fixed the way they have been in this patch, without changing the other shots and keeping them as is, we would have had a near perfect game.

Pretty much sums it up.
 
@cricket_online - i am playing a casual test, 2005 Eng vs 2005 Aus. Made a double-hundred with Trescothick, and yeah the fields were incredible!

----------

also, @cricket_online @fallensoldier - i have not played career mode on patch 2 or PC yet, but if my casual experience is anything to go by, you need to play a few forward defensive shots - they will bring in silly mid-off/on and it gives you gaps elsewhere.

basically that's how you move the field around.
 
@cricket_online - i am playing a casual test, 2005 Eng vs 2005 Aus. Made a double-hundred with Trescothick, and yeah the fields were incredible!

----------

also, @cricket_online @fallensoldier - i have not played career mode on patch 2 or PC yet, but if my casual experience is anything to go by, you need to play a few forward defensive shots - they will bring in silly mid-off/on and it gives you gaps elsewhere.

basically that's how you move the field around.

I don't have issues while playing Tests, other than shots going in the air, which takes away from the beauty of hitting shots along the capet. But in odis & T20s, especially while playing in career mode, the issue's a major concern coz AI sets the fields mentioned in my post and you don't have the luxury to play dot balls hoping the field will change. And even if it changes, AI will put it back the moment you play a shot.

I can understand bad or mistimed shots hit in the air but there has to be a way of playing regular shots along the ground. Especially when AI puts Square Leg, Mid Wkt and/or Forward Square Leg and starts bowling round the wkts. In real life bowlers do try to set up batsmen and force them to play in a certain area, but they rely on a mistake from batsman. In this case even without a mistake the ball is invariably hit in the air. I can understand getting dismissed if I play the ball early or don't recognize a slower delivery, but not if the timing and footwork is perfect and the ball ges in the air without using any of the aggressive shot triggers.
 
I think more than opening field or scoring runs, its about the shots playing as they are meant to be especially straight drive, watching it gliding to bowler again and again however you time it well is bit putting off, same with cover drives, i dont get this concept of all the drives having to travel across he pitch without ever bounding off it unless you use aggresive groundshots
 
Last edited:
I am having the same issues as everyone else - with the cut and pull shots going in the air. The AI changes the field to those mentioned by @cricket_online and playing the cut/hook/pull shot is almost a guaranteed wicket

But there is a simple way of tackling that. Make the AI change the field, like players do in real life. So yesterday, when the field change of death was made, I defended a couple of deliveries until the AI brought in short leg and silly point, opening up the on drive for me. played a couple of on-drives, and the AI moved the square leg fielder to backward square leg and midwicket to mid on. allowed me to play the pulls for a few boundaries, even though they were hit in the air

You just need to be smart and very patient. Doesn't solve the issue of playing shots in the air, but is atleast a reasonable work around
 
Yes you can score runs, you can tackle the AI, but this has to be looked from a batting perspective, than just as a game and getting a score, i want the drives to actually play a bit more like real life, were they bound across the pitch, its not about difficulty or scoring runs but abut getting the feel stuff right.

The drives look super authentic, sound super authentic, only except i see the ball never ever ever ever bounding of the pitch for the normal drives.
 
Last edited:
Personally, I am more worried about the frame rate issue I am seeing on my PS3 post patch 2. Its fairly annoying to say the least
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Top