Review Playtest Review/Preview(Review Links, Updated in First Post)

[Dutch]

Politeness

First of all I would like to express my gratitude to the people who have been willing to share their thoughts on their experiences with the game. I think a number of people need to put some things into perspective. First of all the fact that someone has gone to play this game doesn't assume the right for "us' to expect they post anything about that experience. They went to great trouble and probably expense to vist this thing and its up to them when and if they want to post something. Lets be really clear here: we are talking about a game of a game. Now I know many people are passionate followers of both real and digital cricket...but come on...it is a game. Its great playing...I love it myself...but the tone of some of the demanding comments both towards forum members and game makers and publishers is apalling. I love cricket for one particular reason...its a game where the most fanatical drive for competing goes hand in hand with utter respect for the other players. This forum should reflect that. My experiences at flightsim forums really turned me off the whole idea as peole seemed hell bent on making life miserable for themselves. I love skipping through the forum, the discussions and humour that is present and good friendly banter. I say it needs to stay that way. I know this is slightly off-topic but I needed to get it off my chest. Thanks once again to those people who have shared their thoughts and experiences and lets hope for a great game. I am thoroughly looking forward to it...mind you I am easily pleased...I love playing both Cricket 07 and Blic 2007!!!! Which is great because I always have fun!!

Kind regards......

 

[coolz_hari]

Thanks a lot Heath . I had a few doubts .They are gone now .we all wanna know if there are any improvements in bowling actions?

 

[lazy_chesnut]

I would just like to post a reaction to heath's comments a couple of pages back.

Sorry if I have been getting some facts wrong - it's quite hard to be certain about everything when you've only played it for a few hours and were chatting to the producer most of the time whilst playing.

About the bowling aiming: Jamie told me that the 'goodness bar' doesn't affect the pitch point of the ball, as he said (quite rightly) that a badly timed ball would then surprise the batsman, and actually make it harder to play. Now you're saying that it does, so I'm a little confused. What I would say, though, is that although I mentioned it to Jamie as a potential problem, it didn't really affect the fact that bowling was actually quite good fun (except when Anderson and Broad were bowling far too slowly, but that'll be sorted I'm sure).

I'd just like to say to everybody that although I've posted a list of things I thought could do with improving, it took me a while to think up lots of those, and the good points took me hardly any time at all to think of.

The one thing that I would really, really like to be sorted out is the bounce of the ball. I don't know exactly how the 'good length' balls are determined when you are bowling, and how the 'best' shot is decided for the batsman (human and AI, as the shot you choose probably has some sort of suitability rating depending on the ball) but I reckon it will probably be based on the position at which the ball will pass the popping crease. Also, it's quite likely that the 'best' shot (especially choosing front foot vs back foot) maps well to the point at which the ball crosses the popping crease (i.e. if you just took a snapshot as the ball reaches the batsman, the shot choices would be about right). If this is the case, and the game is well constructed (I have no doubt Transmission have a decent code base) then it should actually be easy to just turn down the bounciness and let the batsmen get on with it. This is all speculation, however, and someone from Transmission might like to confirm this.....?

To sum up - my list of bad points is quite picky, and apparently often factually incorrect!! Also, they don't really stop you from being able to play a decent game of cricket on it. You can still beat the outside edge, hit the batsman in the ribs, get top edges, drop catches, get exciting run out opportunities, etc.

Basically, wait until the demo and see what you think. I personally enjoyed my playtest (nothing to do with the fact that I had Andy Gray pouring my milk into my tea whilst I was playing at one point!) and will buy the game. As Jamie put it so succinctly, "To make PES6 you have to make PES1". And I think this game will be able to go from strength to strength from year to year.

 

[vishalsparadise]

thanks for the reviews and insights on the game.appreciate your efforts.

so the developers have been reading our forums.thats great.
just one doubt for now.

while a spinner bowls and a stumping chance arises (while the batsman dances down the wicket) does the keeper stump quickly enough ?
in BLIC07 the keeper was too slow to react that the batsmen could easily get back in his crease.
hope the fielding reacts as quickly as in real life cricket.

 

[Allrounder18]

I would just like to post a reaction to heath's comments a couple of pages back.

Sorry if I have been getting some facts wrong - it's quite hard to be certain about everything when you've only played it for a few hours and were chatting to the producer most of the time whilst playing.

About the bowling aiming: Jamie told me that the 'goodness bar' doesn't affect the pitch point of the ball, as he said (quite rightly) that a badly timed ball would then surprise the batsman, and actually make it harder to play. Now you're saying that it does, so I'm a little confused. What I would say, though, is that although I mentioned it to Jamie as a potential problem, it didn't really affect the fact that bowling was actually quite good fun (except when Anderson and Broad were bowling far too slowly, but that'll be sorted I'm sure).

I'd just like to say to everybody that although I've posted a list of things I thought could do with improving, it took me a while to think up lots of those, and the good points took me hardly any time at all to think of.

The one thing that I would really, really like to be sorted out is the bounce of the ball. I don't know exactly how the 'good length' balls are determined when you are bowling, and how the 'best' shot is decided for the batsman (human and AI, as the shot you choose probably has some sort of suitability rating depending on the ball) but I reckon it will probably be based on the position at which the ball will pass the popping crease. Also, it's quite likely that the 'best' shot (especially choosing front foot vs back foot) maps well to the point at which the ball crosses the popping crease (i.e. if you just took a snapshot as the ball reaches the batsman, the shot choices would be about right). If this is the case, and the game is well constructed (I have no doubt Transmission have a decent code base) then it should actually be easy to just turn down the bounciness and let the batsmen get on with it. This is all speculation, however, and someone from Transmission might like to confirm this.....?

To sum up - my list of bad points is quite picky, and apparently often factually incorrect!! Also, they don't really stop you from being able to play a decent game of cricket on it. You can still beat the outside edge, hit the batsman in the ribs, get top edges, drop catches, get exciting run out opportunities, etc.

Basically, wait until the demo and see what you think. I personally enjoyed my playtest (nothing to do with the fact that I had Andy Gray pouring my milk into my tea whilst I was playing at one point!) and will buy the game. As Jamie put it so succinctly, "To make PES6 you have to make PES1". And I think this game will be able to go from strength to strength from year to year.

Actually that would be revolutionary if this is the case as this will make AI truly an AI instead hardcode scripts and yeah developer will have no problem in reducing the bounce but I dont think so it has gone in such depth (Hopefully I am wrong)

 

[lazy_chesnut]

Firstly, I was amazed at how much Jamie, Andy and Tall Man knew about these forums. They mentioned specific posts, usernames, etc., so they really do pay attention, which I thought was great.

Yes the keeper can be quite quick to make stumpings. It's not absolutely instantaneous, or even as fast as real life, but then it takes the batsman a moment to try and get back to his ground, so it has to be fair.

One thing we noticed which was potentially really good, was that you could actually get stumped without playing an advance shot. If you missed a forward defensive and your foot dragged out you could get stumped. Admittedly this happened a little too often with the good bowlers, but with a little balancing it could work really well.

It would be great if it only happened if you missed a forward defensive stroke when you should have been playing back, as that would effectively be the batsman reaching for a ball and not quite getting there as the length wasn't quite right, and then dragging his foot because of it. With the build we saw, though, it was a little bit too often, I must admit.

This does show how the game engine is actually quite clever though, as it seems that the 'keeper is able to decide to stump based on the batsman's foot position, rather than simply "if he plays advance shot and misses, try to stump", which is far more advanced, and a good indication that the engine is well written, adaptable, and extensible.

 

[vishalsparadise]

Firstly, I was amazed at how much Jamie, Andy and Tall Man knew about these forums. They mentioned specific posts, usernames, etc., so they really do pay attention, which I thought was great.

Yes the keeper can be quite quick to make stumpings. It's not absolutely instantaneous, or even as fast as real life, but then it takes the batsman a moment to try and get back to his ground, so it has to be fair.

One thing we noticed which was potentially really good, was that you could actually get stumped without playing an advance shot. If you missed a forward defensive and your foot dragged out you could get stumped. Admittedly this happened a little too often with the good bowlers, but with a little balancing it could work really well.

It would be great if it only happened if you missed a forward defensive stroke when you should have been playing back, as that would effectively be the batsman reaching for a ball and not quite getting there as the length wasn't quite right, and then dragging his foot because of it. With the build we saw, though, it was a little bit too often, I must admit.

This does show how the game engine is actually quite clever though, as it seems that the 'keeper is able to decide to stump based on the batsman's foot position, rather than simply "if he plays advance shot and misses, try to stump", which is far more advanced, and a good indication that the engine is well written, adaptable, and extensible.

wow , as u say , thats actually attention to detail.i never thought stumpings of this sort would be there in this game.happy , very happy.i can see that from this game on batting would be much tougher while bowling is made easier.i think this time around the AI will score around 200 in 20 overs and we'll be bowled out for around 20 runs
anything else like this that u remember.am askin all this coz its less crowded now unlike the last 2 days.

 

[lazy_chesnut]

Actually that would be revolutionary if this is the case as this will make AI truly an AI instead hardcode scripts and yeah developer will have no problem in reducing the bounce but I dont think so it has gone in such depth (Hopefully I am wrong)

That's not really 'true' AI, doing that. If you basically imagine a grid stood up along the popping crease, and then the point at which the ball crosses that determines the stroke, it's not that complicated, as certain shot animations will have the bat 'hitting' the ball at that location (coupled with a nice bit of IK to help out). Where it does get complicated is that you can hit the ball in front of the popping crease, and behind it, although I guess you could use trajectories to work out the balls X and Y at specific Z and work from that, or a series of grids placed one behind the other. Then there is the timing aspect, which says that although the grid says you may have chosen the right shot, if you mis-time it then the bat won't be in it's expected position and all that malarky.

Anyway, if the batting shot choices are calculated based on its position at the batsman, rather than based on its specific pitch point, then it shouldn't be too much of a problem to alter. Then again, I didn't make the game, so I don't know how they've done it and how hard it would be to alter.

 

[Resolution]

As Jamie put it so succinctly, "To make PES6 you have to make PES1". And I think this game will be able to go from strength to strength from year to year.

Exactly, this is a huge point here. This is their real first crack at making a great cricket game. PES 1 was good, but it wasn't great, but look at the series as it progressed. They will have a great base to work from and i will go out on a limb and say that 2010 will be MUCH better than 2009 and then 2011 will be even better than 2010 etc etc. We need to give the guys time to implement lots of features. At the moment it looks like they are giving us a great chance at playing a solid game of cricket without the frilly bits, which imo, is perfect at this stage.

Personally, i can't wait

Once again a thanks to kamy and lazy, and heath for clearing a few things up :onpc

 

[stannie65]

Lazy, great to hear more thoughts.
Again, the only two things that im concerned about from your preview are the pace of the bowlers (Anderson, Broad etc should be bowling up to 90mph) along with other bowlers across the world. I feel it would take away a lot of realism if this isn't fixed...Imagine Broad coming on as first change in an Ashes Test and bowling loopy medium pacers, the same pace as Collingwood....Heath, can you confirm that these are being looked at, or is it too late? Or is it something that we can change in the player editor?

The bounce issues...Obviously this has a knock on effect on everything...was it just because you were playing on a bouncy pitch?
If not, and it is tennis ball like, then as you have said, "good" balls will no longer be good, and batsmen will be playing unrealistic shots. It will also have a knock on effect on LBWs too. I dont know alot about programming, but if this is a matter of changing a "bounce" value, then it might be worth looking at.

Referring to my earlier post, if, with a little bit more work, these things can be ironed out, then it is well worth Jamie and team doing so...it is amazing from the games i have played, how tiny niggles, or even just one issue can spoil the gaming experience, and it sounds like they have got it so close to being excellent....

Also, lazy, can you confirm that hawkeye is in the game, talking of LBWs?

 

[lazy_chesnut]

It's not too late to change player speed values, etc. as when we were there they were waiting on the Ashes squad announcements, so might have had some extra, last-minute work to do if there were some left-field selections. Jamie also said that the bowling speeds and stats were being looked at at the moment, so I really don't think there will be a problem with Anderson and Broad. I did point this out to Jamie directly, so it should be 'on the list' so to speak. However, I think they may require approval from the various cricketing bodies for changing this sort of thing but I'm not completely sure.

Bearing in mind that different pitches have different bounciness (coefficient of restitution, for anyone who wants the technical term) and this game deals with different pitch types, it really should be possible by just altering some variable in the code/in a file. But it might affect other things, so we'll just have to hope they can do something about it at this late stage. Failing that, let's hope we can patch it. Failing that, we can just pick to play on a ground with a low bounce, like you could in 2007 (I think it was some NZ ground with a damp pitch that had realistic bounce)

Finally, yes, hawkeye is in the game, and it was this that highlighted the bounce problem to me. There were some LBW shouts which really should have been out if it were real life, but the ball was shown to be going over the stumps by a good few inches even with a fairly full ball.

From what we could tell in our brief test, the umpiring decisions are good. They will usually get it right, but will occasionally leave you spitting blood - a bit like in real life.

 

[sam1013]

First of all, I would like to thank the people who have taken the time to answer our questions.
I would like to know if different players play in different ways. I know that this may not have been a priority as they wanted to make a solid game, but can we expect Pietersen to get onto his front foot and whip a ball from outside off through mid-wicket

 

[vishalsparadise]

did u see any very acrobatic fielding sequences ?
a diving catch by an infielder or a fielder stopping a certain four and the one coming behind him taking the ball and returning it or something exciting in the field ?

did the batsman look at where the ball went after he hit it and wen he is not taking a single ?

just few graphics related doubts.the gameplay has been stated good by you people.so better move onto graphics and animations ingame.

can few graphically excellent moments be quoted down.would be interesting(not glitches,i've read few).

 

[formula1man]

you people are getting very picky.

 

[CaptainOZ]

Does the batsman adjust his box (testicular guard) between deliveries?