Academy Version 0.0.70 Discussion
- Thread starter MattW
- Start date
gang_s
Club Cricketer
- Joined
- May 18, 2007
- Online Cricket Games Owned
- Don Bradman Cricket 14 - Steam PC
Timing was ideal, I have a feeling this worked before the last two patches. And I agree totally with the 360 degree shot selection, perhaps the Precision Shots can come into play there.
Have a different problem with the left handed cover drive. The ball kind of gets stuck in the bat and ricochets a metre towards point. It's hard to explain. I'm verifying the game files now.
I know this a Beta and nowhere near the full game. But going by the DBC14 release I am confident the Big Ant would have another flawless release.
The_Pharoah
International Coach
Also is it me or are we limited in the number of offside shots available? back foot + right stick = the same punch animation every time.
D
Dutch
Guest
Not all shots and animations have been locked in yet....
OK, I finally caved in and downloaded the demo despite it being a very bad idea for me right now due to being so busy with IRL commitments. But I couldn't wait any longer. I have only had a chance to bat so I thought I'd post some comments.
First impressions:
Wow! It looks great! I love how you can see the blades of grass next to the pitch, and the pitch looks great, the SCG stands look great, the Don looks great -- it's all very impressive visually. I really hope that there is a decent amount of work done on pitch variation and on making the pitch deteriorate throughout the match in the final game, because I can't wait to be looking down the pitch and getting that feeling of dread when Sri Lanka or India have thrown up another dustbowl that turns into a 5th day pitch by the tea session on Day One. (Sorry, I couldn't resist.)
I also love that you really feel like the ball is coming down at pace now. On DBC14 I almost exclusively used the bowling cam while batting because I am one of those people who like to imagine I am watching myself bat on TV (I have been since I was a young kid playing Cricket 96 on my PC). However, I do like the idea of viewing from the batsman's perspective, and I fell in love with the close batting view here. I still can't get into the 'pro cam', because I like to see the shots, but I think it might be hard to go back to the bowler's/TV perspective now. It feels so satisfying watching a ball sail over the fence after you nail a lofted drive.
Anyway, onto my views on the mechanics side of things. (Note: I have been playing on Veteran and Legend, depending on my confidence levels. Batsman skill: average)
On pace:
I agree with other folks here that the mid-wicket region seems more accessible now, which is very welcome. On 14 my wagon wheel would be virtually empty in that region a lot of the time.
However, I also agree with those that feel it is difficult to get drives squarer through the covers. I was thinking maybe this is just because the ball machine is bowling quite straight? But maybe it is an issue that's needs to be (or is being) worked on.
I also had an issue with playing back-foot cross-bat shots, particularly pull/hook shots. I feel like this could just be because the short pitch bowling doesn't ever seem to be short enough here to play proper back foot shots. In fact, I have noticed that in seemingly every case you are better off playing the short pitch balls (the red marker balls) off the front foot, and the indicator even says that it is the ideal footwork.
I love that shots off the hip toward fine leg really feel like you are using the pace of the bowling. However, I wonder if there is scope to make it more common for the ball to go finer than it seems to now. It would just be nice if there is some 'natural variation' there, whereby the ball just happens to hit a different part of the bat and go finer.
On spin:
Wow! I loved playing spin on 14 but it feels so good on here. It took me a while to get the hang of sweeping again but I got there and I am loving that we can loft sweeps now. I didn't realise how much I was missing that in 14. (Funny note: I noticed that the indicator doesn't seem to be a fan of the lofted reverse sweep for six. I couldn't help but think of commentators like Tubby Taylor who take every opportunity to tell us how much they don't like the shot, even if it goes for four or six.)
I also highly approve of the advance mechanic. It makes a lot of sense -- I like how you can now premeditate to advance then change your mind at the last second and play a defensive shot from the crease. Brilliant! Also, I'm assuming that advancing and then blocking isn't an option yet, but will be eventually?
Again, I had a problem playing the back-foot cross-bat shots. There seems to be an issue here, but again maybe it's just that the short pitch balls aren't short enough.
Finally, my first impressions of the animations:
Let me first say that I love *almost* all of them -- the drives particularly, though this was the case for me with 14, too. The new additions such as the 'aggressive'-loft-over-mid-wicket/mid-on are wonderful, too. I'm not a fan of the helicopter shot but hey, I'm sure there is a couple hundred million or so Indians who might disagree with me.
Now... I hate to say it, but I feel like the cross bat shots don't look as good as 14. Is that just me? I don't think I got any balls that were short enough in the demo to truly see what they look like but they just don't seem as good to me. I think there is a good chance they look better if you get balls that reach shoulder height.
My other negative point is related to this as well. I don't like the front-foot pull shot that comes out when you play off the front foot into mid-wicket to shortish balls. All the other on-side shots look amazing -- I love them. But this front foot pull shot/hoick thing... I don't know, it just feels wrong. You do see it occasionally IRL but something about it here just looks really inelegant and unrealistic to me. I feel like maybe this is because sometimes it comes out to balls that are too full to pull, because I have noticed that when I see it to shorter balls it looks better. Again, this might also be the issue with the back-foot cross bat shots, as well. Otherwise, I wonder if one option might be to make it so that holding no trigger/bumper just gives you that nice conventional-straight-bat-shot-through-mid-wicket animation, and this hoicky shot is reserved as one of the 'special' shots. Actually, it would make sense for it to only be available as an 'aggressive' shot because I think it's safe to say that whenever you do see it IRL it is played in the air. In fact, that might be why it looks unrealistic to me: not only is it coming out to balls that seem too full to pull but it is going straight along the ground.
Finally, I realise that this might not be all of the shot animations yet, but one shot that I really wished to see (which I felt was a pretty big omission from 14) is the straight bat nudge to third man. I do like the late cut but that is a shot to pace that is a lot rarer than just a straight bat nudge, which you see a lot (particularly in ODIs when there is a bit of pace in the wicket). If a new animation isn't possible then I think an acceptable alternative would be just to use the back-foot drive animation for it.
That's it for now. I hope I didn't sound too negative, because I am really blown away by how good this is already. It is an understatement to say that I am extremely looking forward to getting my hands on the final game -- I think it will be one of my favourite games of all time.
Final, final note: I would just like to throw my two cents in and say I think people need to lighten up a little bit on the forum. If someone has a suggestion that seems petty or unreasonable to you then my suggestion would be to just ignore it. I don't see what is gained from jumping on people and making them feel unwelcome because they happen to really like lots of sunglasses options in their videogames. All it does is clog up the forum (particularly when it turns into a sparring match, as is often the case) and frankly it makes for a slightly unsavoury atmosphere.
To the Big Ant worker ants: thanks for doing such a great job with the game, and with responding to the community. I've said it, and many others have, too, but us cricket tragics are extremely grateful. I will try and contribute more suggestions when I get a chance to play a few more hours.
First impressions:
Wow! It looks great! I love how you can see the blades of grass next to the pitch, and the pitch looks great, the SCG stands look great, the Don looks great -- it's all very impressive visually. I really hope that there is a decent amount of work done on pitch variation and on making the pitch deteriorate throughout the match in the final game, because I can't wait to be looking down the pitch and getting that feeling of dread when Sri Lanka or India have thrown up another dustbowl that turns into a 5th day pitch by the tea session on Day One. (Sorry, I couldn't resist.)
I also love that you really feel like the ball is coming down at pace now. On DBC14 I almost exclusively used the bowling cam while batting because I am one of those people who like to imagine I am watching myself bat on TV (I have been since I was a young kid playing Cricket 96 on my PC). However, I do like the idea of viewing from the batsman's perspective, and I fell in love with the close batting view here. I still can't get into the 'pro cam', because I like to see the shots, but I think it might be hard to go back to the bowler's/TV perspective now. It feels so satisfying watching a ball sail over the fence after you nail a lofted drive.
Anyway, onto my views on the mechanics side of things. (Note: I have been playing on Veteran and Legend, depending on my confidence levels. Batsman skill: average)
On pace:
I agree with other folks here that the mid-wicket region seems more accessible now, which is very welcome. On 14 my wagon wheel would be virtually empty in that region a lot of the time.
However, I also agree with those that feel it is difficult to get drives squarer through the covers. I was thinking maybe this is just because the ball machine is bowling quite straight? But maybe it is an issue that's needs to be (or is being) worked on.
I also had an issue with playing back-foot cross-bat shots, particularly pull/hook shots. I feel like this could just be because the short pitch bowling doesn't ever seem to be short enough here to play proper back foot shots. In fact, I have noticed that in seemingly every case you are better off playing the short pitch balls (the red marker balls) off the front foot, and the indicator even says that it is the ideal footwork.
I love that shots off the hip toward fine leg really feel like you are using the pace of the bowling. However, I wonder if there is scope to make it more common for the ball to go finer than it seems to now. It would just be nice if there is some 'natural variation' there, whereby the ball just happens to hit a different part of the bat and go finer.
On spin:
Wow! I loved playing spin on 14 but it feels so good on here. It took me a while to get the hang of sweeping again but I got there and I am loving that we can loft sweeps now. I didn't realise how much I was missing that in 14. (Funny note: I noticed that the indicator doesn't seem to be a fan of the lofted reverse sweep for six. I couldn't help but think of commentators like Tubby Taylor who take every opportunity to tell us how much they don't like the shot, even if it goes for four or six.)
I also highly approve of the advance mechanic. It makes a lot of sense -- I like how you can now premeditate to advance then change your mind at the last second and play a defensive shot from the crease. Brilliant! Also, I'm assuming that advancing and then blocking isn't an option yet, but will be eventually?
Again, I had a problem playing the back-foot cross-bat shots. There seems to be an issue here, but again maybe it's just that the short pitch balls aren't short enough.
Finally, my first impressions of the animations:
Let me first say that I love *almost* all of them -- the drives particularly, though this was the case for me with 14, too. The new additions such as the 'aggressive'-loft-over-mid-wicket/mid-on are wonderful, too. I'm not a fan of the helicopter shot but hey, I'm sure there is a couple hundred million or so Indians who might disagree with me.
Now... I hate to say it, but I feel like the cross bat shots don't look as good as 14. Is that just me? I don't think I got any balls that were short enough in the demo to truly see what they look like but they just don't seem as good to me. I think there is a good chance they look better if you get balls that reach shoulder height.
My other negative point is related to this as well. I don't like the front-foot pull shot that comes out when you play off the front foot into mid-wicket to shortish balls. All the other on-side shots look amazing -- I love them. But this front foot pull shot/hoick thing... I don't know, it just feels wrong. You do see it occasionally IRL but something about it here just looks really inelegant and unrealistic to me. I feel like maybe this is because sometimes it comes out to balls that are too full to pull, because I have noticed that when I see it to shorter balls it looks better. Again, this might also be the issue with the back-foot cross bat shots, as well. Otherwise, I wonder if one option might be to make it so that holding no trigger/bumper just gives you that nice conventional-straight-bat-shot-through-mid-wicket animation, and this hoicky shot is reserved as one of the 'special' shots. Actually, it would make sense for it to only be available as an 'aggressive' shot because I think it's safe to say that whenever you do see it IRL it is played in the air. In fact, that might be why it looks unrealistic to me: not only is it coming out to balls that seem too full to pull but it is going straight along the ground.
Finally, I realise that this might not be all of the shot animations yet, but one shot that I really wished to see (which I felt was a pretty big omission from 14) is the straight bat nudge to third man. I do like the late cut but that is a shot to pace that is a lot rarer than just a straight bat nudge, which you see a lot (particularly in ODIs when there is a bit of pace in the wicket). If a new animation isn't possible then I think an acceptable alternative would be just to use the back-foot drive animation for it.
That's it for now. I hope I didn't sound too negative, because I am really blown away by how good this is already. It is an understatement to say that I am extremely looking forward to getting my hands on the final game -- I think it will be one of my favourite games of all time.
Final, final note: I would just like to throw my two cents in and say I think people need to lighten up a little bit on the forum. If someone has a suggestion that seems petty or unreasonable to you then my suggestion would be to just ignore it. I don't see what is gained from jumping on people and making them feel unwelcome because they happen to really like lots of sunglasses options in their videogames. All it does is clog up the forum (particularly when it turns into a sparring match, as is often the case) and frankly it makes for a slightly unsavoury atmosphere.
To the Big Ant worker ants: thanks for doing such a great job with the game, and with responding to the community. I've said it, and many others have, too, but us cricket tragics are extremely grateful. I will try and contribute more suggestions when I get a chance to play a few more hours.
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Gamer Pradosh
Survival Games Champion
- Joined
- Mar 27, 2011
- Profile Flag
- India
Good points there @Nack ..Yeah bounce is not the pacy on to the face level yet...But it was amazing in the nets , you could feel the WK catching the ball over this head just from the way it went [was when the nets were released]..It will get done for sure...
I got to say that shots and their behavior are toned every update without putting them as a big thing in notes of the update but to the previous update this one has become a lot smoother and shot placements are really good...And like Ross said there are lot of Fridays' to come and many contents to be added..
I got to say that shots and their behavior are toned every update without putting them as a big thing in notes of the update but to the previous update this one has become a lot smoother and shot placements are really good...And like Ross said there are lot of Fridays' to come and many contents to be added..
You can do this. Just set the bowling machine to aim at a target and you can move the target to anywhere you want with RS.
cricket_online
ICC Board Member
- Joined
- Nov 5, 2009
- Online Cricket Games Owned
- Don Bradman Cricket 14 - PS3
- Don Bradman Cricket 14 - PS4
Wanted to let you know that you can play lofted sweep shots in DBC 14 post patch that came a few months back now. On PS4 hold L1 + L2, LS up and RS left (or right for reverse sweep for a right hander) and presto you hit a lofted sweep!
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Really enjoying this demo...and particularly the addition of different bowling skills. I'm getting the hang of spin now (the changes to the colour of the ring when selecting flight or bounce is also helpful...when using the HUD anyway) and I'm finding pace a lot easier to control than DBC14. Batting is also fun (I seem to hit more than I do in DBC14...and the ability to charge down the wicket to quicks is superb) and I feel I have much more control over straight drives. I just hope that bowlers aren't going to grab onto everything straight-ish in their follow-through, so that it becomes a shot worth playing in the game. I know that not everything is implemented yet but I would love to have some way of playing glances (legside or fine down to third man)...I don't know if these would count as 'precision' shots but it would be good to have some bumper or trigger combo to allow for glances to be distinguished from firm shots behind square on either side of the wicket. I'm also hoping (as others have mentioned) for some way of driving through the covers...which I've been unable to do so far.
I like the greater mobility in the crease but frequently when I try to get Don to move before the ball is bowled he won't budge. I don't know if there is a set timing window for when movement is allowed...but I can't work out what this is.
Minor thing I have noticed is that DBC17 seems to lose contact with the controller when I first launch it. I have to unplug it and plug it in again before DBC17 recognises it.
Finally I'm finding the AA isn't very effective when using Pro Camera for batting (all other cameras are flicker-free). I didn't notice it in previous versions but that could just be my inattentiveness. It seems very flickery now in the stands. I don't know if that is something that relates to specific graphics cards or whether other people are finding this to be the case.
I like the greater mobility in the crease but frequently when I try to get Don to move before the ball is bowled he won't budge. I don't know if there is a set timing window for when movement is allowed...but I can't work out what this is.
Minor thing I have noticed is that DBC17 seems to lose contact with the controller when I first launch it. I have to unplug it and plug it in again before DBC17 recognises it.
Finally I'm finding the AA isn't very effective when using Pro Camera for batting (all other cameras are flicker-free). I didn't notice it in previous versions but that could just be my inattentiveness. It seems very flickery now in the stands. I don't know if that is something that relates to specific graphics cards or whether other people are finding this to be the case.
IceAgeComing
Retired Administrator
- Joined
- May 26, 2013
- Location
- Brussels, Belgium
- Profile Flag
- Scotland
- Online Cricket Games Owned
- Don Bradman Cricket 14 - PS3
- Don Bradman Cricket 14 - Steam PC
I've actually had a chance to play the demo a bit: for the actual release I probably need to get a better graphics card since the frame rate isn't great (I think that's the bottleneck in my system; the question is whether the PSU of the computer I've inherited can handle anything better since its a shop nought thing with I think a proprietary PSU) but other than that it seems to play better than DBC14; I'm finding batting much easier which is odd. Spin Bowling feels better and I think is more intuitive; quick bowling is much the same but again with a better interface.
Some minor things with left-handed seam bowlers: I think you've got the leg cutter and off cutter labels the wrong way round: the actual deliveries are right but they are labelled backwards, if you catch my drift. I'd say the same about out-swinger and in-swinger but that more depends on what handed batsman you have in rather than the actual bowling style (my out swinger becomes an in swinger if I'm bowling to a right-hander, while if I was good enough to bowl an off-cutter that'd always be an off-cutter) - perhaps they could change in game automatically if you have a left-handed batsman? Those are really minor foibles though, the rest feels really good, and I imagine better on a PC that actually runs it smoothly!
Some minor things with left-handed seam bowlers: I think you've got the leg cutter and off cutter labels the wrong way round: the actual deliveries are right but they are labelled backwards, if you catch my drift. I'd say the same about out-swinger and in-swinger but that more depends on what handed batsman you have in rather than the actual bowling style (my out swinger becomes an in swinger if I'm bowling to a right-hander, while if I was good enough to bowl an off-cutter that'd always be an off-cutter) - perhaps they could change in game automatically if you have a left-handed batsman? Those are really minor foibles though, the rest feels really good, and I imagine better on a PC that actually runs it smoothly!
ChrisCricket
Associate Captain
- Joined
- Mar 17, 2010
- Location
- United Kingdom
- Online Cricket Games Owned
- Don Bradman Cricket 14 - Xbox 360
Hey guys are their any screenshots of the women cricket players that people have created, I am interested to see how good they look and if they look lifelike
The_Pharoah
International Coach
oh ok, how do you do this? that would be PERFECT!! is it in the batting menu?[DOUBLEPOST=1472957910][/DOUBLEPOST]
ah ok I thought so. thanks for confirming.
also, again must be just me but are you guys adding/removing shots or just constantly adding? eg. when the demo first came out, I could do a leg glance - now, that animation = a pull/hook shot (can't remember the diff...pull I think is from off? anyway you know what I mean!).
UnknownSoul
Associate Cricketer
- Joined
- Sep 2, 2012
- Location
- Norwich, UK
- Online Cricket Games Owned
- Don Bradman Cricket 14 - Xbox 360
- Don Bradman Cricket 14 - Steam PC
- Don Bradman Cricket 14 - Xbox One
Well finally got round to having ago on this latest update. So far so good! Game no longer crashes for me. As i had problems playing DBC14 on my new PC and also this early build of academy but all seems well now! 
I love the new wristy cut shot that's been added really cool. Dancing down the pitch and drilling over the covers is so satisfying! Had alot of fun pulling and hooking off the pace bowlers, Is there a new pull/hook? Felt like there was atleast one of them were new... Also surprisingly head high beamer from the spinner and i hooked it into the stands where before this update batsmen didnt have a shot for head high balls before. I Also set up the pace bowler to bowl out-swing on a length and ohhhhh nicking off a defensive prod is BACK! I love that type of dismissal.
With bowling i've not done much there yet as quite abit has changed... (might just be the new layout confusing me abit) With the spinner RT i think is an 'effort ball' is that speed wise? I might be doing it wrong but i didn't notice much difference. Also i stumbled onto the 'flight & bounce' aid and was quite cool alot of depth to the bowling now. Seem to have really thought of everything and being able to build on last installment with so much more options and depth and its only very early on so far of what we can play as yet!
Just wondering if the full game will be tested on highend-ish build PC's? As i mentioned above I did have crashing problems with DBC14 and couldn't find the problem so in the end i just played it on my old pc but would hope it DBC17 will work on my new PC.
Very excited for the future updates Thanks to everyone at BA for Owning Fridays again!
I love the new wristy cut shot that's been added really cool.
Dancing down the pitch and drilling over the covers is so satisfying! Had alot of fun pulling and hooking off the pace bowlers, Is there a new pull/hook? Felt like there was atleast one of them were new... Also surprisingly head high beamer from the spinner and i hooked it into the stands where before this update batsmen didnt have a shot for head high balls before. I Also set up the pace bowler to bowl out-swing on a length and ohhhhh nicking off a defensive prod is BACK! I love that type of dismissal. With bowling i've not done much there yet as quite abit has changed... (might just be the new layout confusing me abit) With the spinner RT i think is an 'effort ball' is that speed wise? I might be doing it wrong but i didn't notice much difference. Also i stumbled onto the 'flight & bounce' aid and was quite cool alot of depth to the bowling now. Seem to have really thought of everything and being able to build on last installment with so much more options and depth and its only very early on so far of what we can play as yet!
Just wondering if the full game will be tested on highend-ish build PC's? As i mentioned above I did have crashing problems with DBC14 and couldn't find the problem so in the end i just played it on my old pc but would hope it DBC17 will work on my new PC.
Very excited for the future updates
Thanks to everyone at BA for Owning Fridays again! Similar threads
