Ashes 2009 Playtest

[kamy100]

Thanks to guys who run this site I have been given the opportunity to go and test Ashes 2009 this coming Monday. I will then write a preview, with a particular focus on gameplay. I am going to rent BLIC2007 over the weekend so I can re-familiarise myself with the things that annoyed me when playing that.

If there is anything specific (gameplay wise) that people would like me to check out and include in my preview then please feel free to post in this thread and I will try and check it out for you.

 

[Punk_Sk8r]

I want to know one thing.

In real cricket when the ball comes off the bat at pace it tends to bounce off the ground a few times after it has been hit. In previous codies games it just rolls on the floor the whole way which is pretty unrealistic. Can you tell me if it's still the same?

Thanks.

 

[KP-Nuts]

I'd like you to find out, if at all possible, if they changed the running system.

In an ideal world the players should run well into the crease when taking a run, and should only do what they did in BLIC2007 if you call for a second/third run.

Thank you.

 

[vishalsparadise]

few questions..

how has animations , commentary , running between wickets improved..?
is this still an arcadey game like BLIC2007..or a basic cricket sim:happy

ball movement as earlier said , ability to take quick singles , opposition AI (they've said about a lot of improvements , does that show in the game..?)..!

many more..but thats enough for now..eager to read ur preview..hope u'll post it on the same day u play the game..

 

[formula1man]

Difficulty is the only thing I care about. If I score at 1000 in a test they better be able to as well/

 

[KP-Nuts]

Difficulty is the only thing I care about. If I score at 1000 in a test they better be able to as well/

I read on the Codemasters forum, from the community manager, that it took QA testers 2 days (real time, not in game) to finish a test match, not continuously obviously, but sounds like it will be much better than the last game.

 

[evertonfan]

I'm not sure if it's a feature that will be available at the testing day, but we've been promised a PES style sdit mode so if possible can you give us some details about that please?

 

[Gilly Fan]

Let us know if the game is half-playable on wii.

 

[EarlCG]

I'v put my most important two questions first - I'm not so worried about the others unless you have time:

• What level of post release support can we expect?
  In the days of many mainstream games being support extensively with DLC, we didn't even get a patch for the clearly buggy BC2007. I obviously don't expect any post-release development in terms of features for a cricket title, but if there's a fault in the game I think I'm within my rights to expect it fixed.
  With BL2007 Codemaster even basically promised us only to say "sorry, but we can't" down the line. I actually convinced some people to by BL2007 despite their misgivings about it's flaws because of this promised patch, so imagine how guilty I felt when Codemasters decided not to follow through on their obligations. I think a fair few people have a bad taste left in their mouth after that debacle.
• Will the AI be capable of setting a field?
  Will the AI be capable of setting a field? In BL2007 it wasn't even capable of switching fields after the initial field restrictions/Powerplay ran out.
• Will there be a bigger counter for "extreme" bowling tactics?
  Certain individuals on Gamespy used to just pick spin bowlers and bowler incredibly short pitched bouncers at you - you got the hang of how to take them to shreds eventually, but it was still not the most enjoyable experience. I guess some resorted to that as basic line and length was so easy to hit...
• Will lines up be standardised in online play?
  One of the spin bouncer bowlers was also discovered as having boosted his player stats via an editor, which wasn't reflected in the user interface. Will issues such as this be controlled at all, to avoid such conflicts between users player databases? At the same time, I would be frustrated with having incorrect player names in all online games (or any mistakes in the players abilities, such as Malinga having the incorrect bowling action in BL2007).

 

[kamy100]

Thanks for the replies guys. I will endevaour to cover what you have asked, particularly the gameplay side. As for the questions for codies, I will jot these down but can't promise if they will answer them, as from what I gather this event primary focus is playing the game.

 

[stevo1]

I'm going aswell, except to the one in Melbourne, if you have questions I'll endeavour to ask them like kamy is. Only thing is the Wii version won't be available to play. Cheers.

 

[timmy94]

Is it century stick batting i.e:like in the last BL07,you could hit the ball anywhere in the ground,can you get edges off defensive strokes,and how hard is it to place the bowling cursor.I think it was so easy to get batsmen out on BL07 because it was easy to place the cursor in the right places,as on C2004,the cursor was always moving around,and was hard to put in the best place.

Thanks

 

[pcfan123]

can u get the keeper to come up to the stumps for medium pacers?

 

[coolz_hari]

They said catching has been done easy. How far it is correct ?
Are there any new bowling actions?

 

[shravi]

How different are the shot animations from the previous version (BLIC07)?

What looks different new build look from this, the old build?