I'm not saying it doesn't need improving. Still just trying to figure out why they are so hopeless against you and not me.
Maybe I've just got the mad leet skillz. It could be the fields I use, getting the right balls, the fact I use the run ups for timing and not the bowling hud or maybe even that I've still got good old Sally as the default stadium announcer. [HASHTAG]#TeamSally[/HASHTAG]
The underlying problem is the game is arcadey and targeted towards casual gamers. AI was never much of a challenge in any of the DBC series or Ashes Cricket once you got hang of the controls and spent a few hours on the game. DBC 14 was better in that respect as batting in "Legend" difficulty wasn't easy which kept the matches close.
Started this as a quick response and then it turned into an essay. You can thank my insomnia and depression.
I completely agree that it doesn't feel like a challenge. I read a review someone posted for AO Tennis and it had the line: 'Overall I didn't feel like the points, won or lost, were because of my own actions.' Substitute points for wickets and that's how I feel about Ashes and probably DBC 17. People might disagree, or might be able to switch their brain off and ignore it and not see an issue. Maybe I'm just too stubborn to do that. I can't think of a game I've played, when it's human v computer/AI, that has left me thinking anything other than the AI is trying to win. Even if it's a low difficulty and not trying to win too much and that only my lack of skill or incompetence would result in a defeat. On Ashes, it feels the purpose of the AI is to entertain you and will do what's needed to make it happen. Even if that means getting out for 42 on the middle difficulty level when it only needs 45 to win. All games will have a level of artifice and requires some suspension of disbelief from the player - maybe cricket, because it's so unique and weird needs more than most sports games - but if it's implemented poorly the illusion falls apart.
Given that I've bowled the AI out on Legend and Hard Bowling for 55 I feel like where do I go from there? Hardest bowling? I had no problems with that before, and only dropped down because I'd committed to playing using the run ups for timing. Maybe I've found magic deliveries, put there intentionally but they never expected someone to think 'this is working I'll try some more of that.' More likely, it is something that has slipped through the net during testing and can be fixed. But that match I shared will be my last until a patch comes out. Even then I don't know if I'd be able to completely overlook some of the flaws the game has.
The only way I can currently conceive of getting a game that doesn't feel contrived is by batting every innings. That has it's own problems. A lot of people say that batting is too easy, I don't agree, my view is the AI bowling is too predictable, unrealistic and lacking any character whatsoever. It seems to serve up a mixed bag until you make a mistake. The only time I've felt under pressure is when there is a good field set. But that seems purely a result of chance than design. Even with the academy, if you wanted to get a bowler bowling like James Anderson I don't think you could. You could find the right settings for bowling speed and the level of swing he gets but in game you'd just get bowling pattern A,B or C. The mentalities change things but not to the point where it's seems to be doing anything other than throwing down deliveries of slightly different speeds to give you an average speed way below what is possible for human players and a mix of lengths just to keep you on your toes.
I don't derive any pleasure from dumping criticism on Big Ant or giving them unconditional praise. There's only so much they can do and I wouldn't question their passion, commitment or ability. But I've spent enough money on their games to justify some criticism. I look at AO Tennis and that seems like an early access game being passed off as the finished product with some story about the global release coming later to cover up the fact. If Ashes didn't have DBC17 as a starting point I doubt it'd have been any different. It's probably not an easy thing to do when licenses are involved but both seem like they would have benefited from having the 'official' release being the 2019 events and having an extended period of early access to get them right. I'm sure there's enough people on here that would jump at the chance to be involved even if it meant parting with your money for a yet to be finished game (which kind of feels like what has happened anyway). There would also have been a five or six month gap between the events which would probably have made the process a lot easier.
If there was never going to be another Don Bradman game, maybe a Big Ant Cricket would have been better this time. With the resources and time spent making the licensed content look as good as it does better used getting the game play up to a standard that when a licensed Ashes game was announced more people would've been excited instead of skeptical which seemed to be the case.
