Just posted this over in the AC13 Forum, thought I'd drop it in here fro the Big Ant guys as well.
I?ve had some ideas bouncing around in my head for a while now and I drew up a long document covering them all off several years ago (shortly after the release of AC09) but never got around to posting them and now can?t find the document. I thought I?d list a couple of my ideas which I thought might make the batting and bowling side of things more engaging and rewarding.
Let me start by saying I know nothing of programming and how easy or difficult it is to implement these ideas. I?ve started with the assumption that the batting controls and mechanics are substantially similar to IC10 which, while by no means perfect, was a decent game.
Movement and the Timing Window
This idea is shamelessly plagiarised from one of the other members here a few years ago although I can?t remember whom.
People often complain about how easy it is to get used to batting and timing the ball after a while. I think the best way to counteract this is to move (and not just reduce the timing window) I suggest that balls that a ball moving away from the batsman (leg spin, leg cutter, outswinger) needs to be played earlier while a ball moving into the batsman (offspin/cut, inswing) needs to be played later than a straight ball. How much earlier or later is governed by the amount of movement while the size of the timing window is based upon the usual factors. This could be represented on the ?timing bar? by the ?good? timing section being earlier or later in the bar (rather than in the middle).
For instance, you?re bowling straight balls in the channel outside off-stump, after a while the batsman thinks this is easy cos he?s worked out the timing and is consistently hitting you. You could counteract this by a) Bowling an inswinger, the batman does not adjust for the movement and plays ?early? the front foot plonks down the wrong line, the bat is playing down the ?original? line of the ball, the ball moves back in and is scooped off the inside half of the bat/sneaks through the gate/takes the inside edge/thuds into the pad or b) you bowl the outswinger, the batsman playing for the straight one plays too ?late? and the ball beats/takes the outside edge.
I think this approach would reward patience, variety and thoughtful bowling like in real life.
Bounce
A major part of playing cricket and yet overlooked.
I would bring bounce into play by firstly removing the ability to ?autoselect? footwork (at least in higher difficulties).
Footwork would then be based upon 3 factors: the pitch, the bowler and the batsman.
For the sake of simplicity each factor would be given one of 3 characteristics (for bounce). The pitch would be low, average or steep (I would add a 4th type - ?variable bounce? for test matches, especially days 4 and 5 but that may be too complex). The bowlers would also be given a bounce attribute (skiddy, normal, bouncy) while the batsmen would be given a preference (front foot, balanced, backfoot). (Note: initially my idea was to have the batsmen/bowlers be short, average or tall but that may be too difficult to represent without it looking cartoon-y).
The amount of bounce would be a function of the bowler and pitch type. So a bouncy bowler would look to bowl fuller than a skiddy or average bowler while an average bowler would need to bowl fuller on a low pitch than on a steep one to hit ?good? lengths. The optimal point to bowl for the particular bowler, on the particular pitch and to the particular batsman should be left to the player to work out with the HUD only showing whether the ball is in the full, good, or short length zones like they show on TV (channel 9). (maybe the commentator could mention that a particular bowler has been too full/short on that pitch or has been hitting good lengths).
Whether the batsman should play a front-foot or backfoot shot would then depend on a combination of these factors (and obviously where the ball bounces). I would set it up with striking zones. So for a balanced batsman, a ball that passes him between knee roll and the ground should be played on the front foot, playing a back foot shot would cause the ball to take a bottom edge or pass under the bat. A ball passing between knee-roll and the waist would be a good length ball and footwork selection would depend on how high or low the ball was in that zone (and would be reflected in the timing window). A ball passing over waist height would need to be played on the back foot. Trying to play on the front foot would result in the ball being missed or thudding into the batsman.
A ?front footed? batsman would have a bigger front foot zone (ie could drive comfortably on the up) while a ?backfooted? batsman would have a bigger backfoot zone (ie pulling balls that aren?t that short). It?s not perfect and the analogy probably works better with short/average/tall batsmen but you get the idea.
Leave
Leaving is another important skill which games do not touch on. I would suggest including a leave button (triangle on the PS3 is not assigned a stroke). The timing and footwork selection on the leave would then also become important. Obviously the ?good? window on leaving would be very large, I would say double that of a defensive stroke. But a leave that is very early or very late could have consequences.
An early leave on the front foot could result in the batsman padding up to a ball that unexpectedly comes back in to the stumps, or is shorter than expected and ends up hitting him, while on the back foot it could result in him ducking into a bouncer. Conversely, a very late leave could lead to the batsman ?flirting? with the ball or failing to duck in time or even fending a short ball away.
Obviously these occasions won?t be very common, but imagine trying to save a game with your tail ender, the opposition quick bowls a brutal bouncer, your first instinct is to hook but then you decide too late to duck instead, the batsman awkwardly fends at the ball which balloons off his gloves and loops to the gully or pops to short leg.
Spin
Just a couple of ideas with spinners that tie into my ideas regarding movement and bounce.
Spinners should be able to bowl a max of 4 types of deliveries (depending on their ability). Wrist spinners should have the leg break, wrong-un, slider/flipper and topspinner while the offspinner should have the offie, doosra, arm ball and topspinner. Obviously not all bowlers can bowl every variation.
These deliveries will tie in with my above comments as the amount and direction of spin will affect the movement of the timing window while the slider/flipper/arm ball should bounce less and the top spinner more thereby impacting on footwork. In this way I think that playing and using spinners would become more interesting without the need to resort to spinners being able to turn the ball a ridiculous amount. Subtle variations in delivery type and degree of spin would become all important. Ideally the ability to vary pace and flight would also be good but I?m not sure how that would be best achieved (maybe the more side spin the slower and higher the delivery).
Game Length
Just a final though in respect to controlling game length, I would like the option whereby you could determine the number of overs in a session for a test match. So a standard session is currently 30 overs, but it would be good to have the ability to select sessions of 15 or even 10 overs and thereby have test matches that are half or a third of the time.
To counteract the effects of this all time-related variables (fatigue, ball wear, pitch wear, confidence) would also need to be accelerated accordingly (so if sessions are 15 overs each then everything happens twice as fast) and the AI also takes the reduced time into account (so an innings run rate of 5-6 would be acceptable given that you only have half as much time).
It would also be good if these factors were considered when playing shortened one dayers.
Anyway, I?ve got lots of other ideas but though I?d put these up to start. Thanks for reading this far and I await everyone?s comments.
I?ve had some ideas bouncing around in my head for a while now and I drew up a long document covering them all off several years ago (shortly after the release of AC09) but never got around to posting them and now can?t find the document. I thought I?d list a couple of my ideas which I thought might make the batting and bowling side of things more engaging and rewarding.
Let me start by saying I know nothing of programming and how easy or difficult it is to implement these ideas. I?ve started with the assumption that the batting controls and mechanics are substantially similar to IC10 which, while by no means perfect, was a decent game.
Movement and the Timing Window
This idea is shamelessly plagiarised from one of the other members here a few years ago although I can?t remember whom.
People often complain about how easy it is to get used to batting and timing the ball after a while. I think the best way to counteract this is to move (and not just reduce the timing window) I suggest that balls that a ball moving away from the batsman (leg spin, leg cutter, outswinger) needs to be played earlier while a ball moving into the batsman (offspin/cut, inswing) needs to be played later than a straight ball. How much earlier or later is governed by the amount of movement while the size of the timing window is based upon the usual factors. This could be represented on the ?timing bar? by the ?good? timing section being earlier or later in the bar (rather than in the middle).
For instance, you?re bowling straight balls in the channel outside off-stump, after a while the batsman thinks this is easy cos he?s worked out the timing and is consistently hitting you. You could counteract this by a) Bowling an inswinger, the batman does not adjust for the movement and plays ?early? the front foot plonks down the wrong line, the bat is playing down the ?original? line of the ball, the ball moves back in and is scooped off the inside half of the bat/sneaks through the gate/takes the inside edge/thuds into the pad or b) you bowl the outswinger, the batsman playing for the straight one plays too ?late? and the ball beats/takes the outside edge.
I think this approach would reward patience, variety and thoughtful bowling like in real life.
Bounce
A major part of playing cricket and yet overlooked.
I would bring bounce into play by firstly removing the ability to ?autoselect? footwork (at least in higher difficulties).
Footwork would then be based upon 3 factors: the pitch, the bowler and the batsman.
For the sake of simplicity each factor would be given one of 3 characteristics (for bounce). The pitch would be low, average or steep (I would add a 4th type - ?variable bounce? for test matches, especially days 4 and 5 but that may be too complex). The bowlers would also be given a bounce attribute (skiddy, normal, bouncy) while the batsmen would be given a preference (front foot, balanced, backfoot). (Note: initially my idea was to have the batsmen/bowlers be short, average or tall but that may be too difficult to represent without it looking cartoon-y).
The amount of bounce would be a function of the bowler and pitch type. So a bouncy bowler would look to bowl fuller than a skiddy or average bowler while an average bowler would need to bowl fuller on a low pitch than on a steep one to hit ?good? lengths. The optimal point to bowl for the particular bowler, on the particular pitch and to the particular batsman should be left to the player to work out with the HUD only showing whether the ball is in the full, good, or short length zones like they show on TV (channel 9). (maybe the commentator could mention that a particular bowler has been too full/short on that pitch or has been hitting good lengths).
Whether the batsman should play a front-foot or backfoot shot would then depend on a combination of these factors (and obviously where the ball bounces). I would set it up with striking zones. So for a balanced batsman, a ball that passes him between knee roll and the ground should be played on the front foot, playing a back foot shot would cause the ball to take a bottom edge or pass under the bat. A ball passing between knee-roll and the waist would be a good length ball and footwork selection would depend on how high or low the ball was in that zone (and would be reflected in the timing window). A ball passing over waist height would need to be played on the back foot. Trying to play on the front foot would result in the ball being missed or thudding into the batsman.
A ?front footed? batsman would have a bigger front foot zone (ie could drive comfortably on the up) while a ?backfooted? batsman would have a bigger backfoot zone (ie pulling balls that aren?t that short). It?s not perfect and the analogy probably works better with short/average/tall batsmen but you get the idea.
Leave
Leaving is another important skill which games do not touch on. I would suggest including a leave button (triangle on the PS3 is not assigned a stroke). The timing and footwork selection on the leave would then also become important. Obviously the ?good? window on leaving would be very large, I would say double that of a defensive stroke. But a leave that is very early or very late could have consequences.
An early leave on the front foot could result in the batsman padding up to a ball that unexpectedly comes back in to the stumps, or is shorter than expected and ends up hitting him, while on the back foot it could result in him ducking into a bouncer. Conversely, a very late leave could lead to the batsman ?flirting? with the ball or failing to duck in time or even fending a short ball away.
Obviously these occasions won?t be very common, but imagine trying to save a game with your tail ender, the opposition quick bowls a brutal bouncer, your first instinct is to hook but then you decide too late to duck instead, the batsman awkwardly fends at the ball which balloons off his gloves and loops to the gully or pops to short leg.
Spin
Just a couple of ideas with spinners that tie into my ideas regarding movement and bounce.
Spinners should be able to bowl a max of 4 types of deliveries (depending on their ability). Wrist spinners should have the leg break, wrong-un, slider/flipper and topspinner while the offspinner should have the offie, doosra, arm ball and topspinner. Obviously not all bowlers can bowl every variation.
These deliveries will tie in with my above comments as the amount and direction of spin will affect the movement of the timing window while the slider/flipper/arm ball should bounce less and the top spinner more thereby impacting on footwork. In this way I think that playing and using spinners would become more interesting without the need to resort to spinners being able to turn the ball a ridiculous amount. Subtle variations in delivery type and degree of spin would become all important. Ideally the ability to vary pace and flight would also be good but I?m not sure how that would be best achieved (maybe the more side spin the slower and higher the delivery).
Game Length
Just a final though in respect to controlling game length, I would like the option whereby you could determine the number of overs in a session for a test match. So a standard session is currently 30 overs, but it would be good to have the ability to select sessions of 15 or even 10 overs and thereby have test matches that are half or a third of the time.
To counteract the effects of this all time-related variables (fatigue, ball wear, pitch wear, confidence) would also need to be accelerated accordingly (so if sessions are 15 overs each then everything happens twice as fast) and the AI also takes the reduced time into account (so an innings run rate of 5-6 would be acceptable given that you only have half as much time).
It would also be good if these factors were considered when playing shortened one dayers.
Anyway, I?ve got lots of other ideas but though I?d put these up to start. Thanks for reading this far and I await everyone?s comments.
