PATCH REVIEWED: Sid's Ultimate AI V2.0 in ODI mode.
MATCH: Pakistan vs India at Faisalabad.
CONDITIONS: Pitch dry, weather warm. 50 overs per side.
ROSTER USED: Planetcricket Roster without any mods.
PLAYING LEVEL: Intermediate.
CPU is Pakistan, User is India.
India win the toss and bat.
First thing I notice is I like the fields, well thought out for an ODI, and it's clear from the first few balls that even with the field up in the first 15 overs, you can hit the ball through the field or even into a gap in the circle and pinch a quick single. Obviously the fielders' speed has a lot to do with allowing this, but also shows thought from the patcher in regards to shot placement and speed to allow this to happen.
Shoaib and Sami open the attack to Sachin and Sehwag. I notice the bowling is accurate, really accurate with hardly any width either side and pretty well pitched up. More on that later.
I sweat on Shoaib giving me something loose like he does in real life. Nothing doing. After five overs of nothing but clips down to fine leg, I open the shoulders with Sachin and succeed only in getting up and under and sending it into the lap of mid on.
Attempts to drive in the first 10 overs by the entire Indian top order are fruitless, with the ball heading to the same fielders in the ring, never past or through them. This restricts your shot choices somewhat and seemingly leaves clips off the toes on the legside, as very rarely is there anything to drive or cut. Again, more thoughts on that later.
Dravid tries a similar shot to Sachin and ends up with the same result, caught. Yuvraj however comes to the party and belts a straight six and follows up with a boundary. A Sami bouncer surprises him and he skies a hook shot to fine leg and is caught.
Time for some autoplay, an often ignored part of patches. I like what I see. A counterattack by Sehwag and Kaif puts on 70 in 10 overs. Very India-like, I thought.
Back into gameplay and a well-timed shot by Kaif screams over cover for six. It seems patience is a virtue with this patch and will be rewarded handsomely. Sehwag is more circumspect and the field is placed accordingly, with more men dropping back for Kaif and up for him.
Another wicket falls and then Pakistan run through the tail as India collapse from 3-125 to all out 177 in 33 overs, all bowlers sharing the wickets.
My turn to bowl. My first reaction is to wonder what happened to the aiming circle. Furious button pressing results only in the 1st ball almost hitting 2nd slip in the shin. Another wide later and it occurs to me that the aimer only appears just before the ball is released. It's something different to what I'm used to, and I can see its merits. (Again, more shortly).
I notice Pakistan has much more success with drives and cuts through cover and point, even with the ball going in the same areas as when I was batting. Perhaps more time in the nets would uncover the secrets to playing these shots.
My attempts to sucker Afridi into doing something stupid fails, and he rather slowly plays his way to 35 off 70 balls. I'm not sure if I'd ever see that in real life!!
Pakistan sense that steady pacing of the chase is all that's required, and even with Harbhajan and Kumble getting some turn they pass the score with 38 balls to spare for a comfortable victory.
THINGS TO NOTE
FIELDS
Fields are well thought out and change according to the strengths and weaknesses of the batsman. These fields would also work well on any AI patch where the speed of the fielders has been adjusted to slow them down.
You can also run quick singles if you find a gap with men in the ring inside the first 15 overs.
BOWLING
It's hard to be critical of the patch designer when EA gives them so little to play with. As in real life, anything too wide is punished by the umpires, and EA structures things so that a bowler will stray down both off and leg side, which leads to too many wides. My own studies have found that reducing the bowler discipline factor will give some variation in line and length without coming at the expense of accuracy.
Not having the aimer caught me out at first, then I began to appreciate what's been done here. By not having the aimer, the player is reduced to adjusting the length using the up and down buttons, which takes away the risk of bowling too many wides. The AI batting also seems to have better ability to cut, pull and drive balls than I did. But as with any patch, this would no doubt change with some practice.
I should add here how I at least judge my shots when batting. Having played the game all my life and watched millions of hours on television, I judge the shot I want to play based on where the ball is pitched and its width, much like batting in real life. Therefore it's instinctive of me not to try and play a cut to a ball aimed at my chest, because I wouldn't play that shot to that ball in real life. The same applies when watching a game on TV. But given the aforemention limitations, it's understandable that this needs to be done when creating patches.
SHOT DIRECTION AND SPEED
Legside shots are well constructed, as are the six hits around the ground. I also liked how mistimed pulls and hooks ballooned, and would either land safely or in a fielder's hands, depending on the luck of the draw, as it is in real life. Conversely, I really struggled with drives "in the V". One of the world's most technically correct batsmen, the great Greg Chappell, always said he played in the V until he got to about 30, and only then would he play other shots. My attempts at driving, with various experiments in timing, failed to get the ball through or past the field, and the shot direction didn't appear to have any variation. Afridi's struggle to score in the same areas would seem to back this up.
AUTOPLAY AND AI TACTICS.
The changes to the fields and bowling by the AI will keep you on your toes.
Autoplay produces realistic scores.
CPU chasing a total will pace itself accordingly. This is great to see. I'm not much of an ODI player, preferring the tests. I got sick in BLC 99 of the CPU pacing a good chase until the 35th over, then going mad and slogging everything and getting out. Those days are clearly gone and this patch helped me see the light that ODIs can be fun to play in C2005!
OVERALL VIEW.
I'm not one for giving scores, because that's all subjective. I've seen some very happy users of Sid's patches and that's ultimately what matters.
From a personal point of view I didn't like the aiming circle being taken away pre-delivery, and I also found the line and length a bit restrictive in playing cuts and drives on the off side. However, EA doesn't give patchers much to work with, so given that ODI bowling is all about accuracy, I understand why Sid has taken this path.
I also felt the straight drives from mid on around to mid off could do with some work in terms of variation in direction and shot speed.
There are some great shots, especially on the leg side, the six hits, and the unpredictability of hooks and pulls really adds to the excitement factor.
The AI tactics in terms of fielding and pacing a run chase are some of the best work I've seen in this area.
In summary, a really solid effort. The bowling and shot aspects are really personal taste, and no doubt with practice mine would improve in both areas.
If you'd like to dedicate yourself to using one patch for playing ODI's, I'd have no hesitation in recommending Sid's. The AI will give you a good contest without 'cheating' , so in terms of good solid gameplay the patch gets a thumbs up from me.
Heyado
PlanetCricket Patch Review Team
