Ashes Cricket PC Released

[balkeet]

I run it on i5 4460 , Intel Graphics 4600, 8GB...720p all low and get 30-35FPS with drops here and there...Some drops are big some are ok-ish but lasts only a sec or 2...

Yeah those big drops need to be ironed out, if they occur at time of input it's game breaking

 

[francobaldo1]

Yeah those big drops need to be ironed out, if they occur at time of input it's game breaking

luckly for me they happen only at the first ball after i load the game

 

[Gamer Pradosh]

luckly for me they happen only at the first ball after i load the game

While AI bowls if that happens its manageable but on release its just too hard to hit a shot..I just restart the match in such cases..

 

[zerosun9]

Things I'd like to see changed so far

- Add more cameras to practice/nets... I used broadcast or fixed so practicing behind the batsman is stupid
- Keepers and slips for the AI stand too close for fast-medium bowlers, doesn't look very realistic
- Spin bowling is too slow, give us modifiers to increase the speed of spin bowling

Otherwise - it's a great game so far.

 

[Jerm]

Things I'd like to see changed so far

- Add more cameras to practice/nets... I used broadcast or fixed so practicing behind the batsman is stupid
- Keepers and slips for the AI stand too close for fast-medium bowlers, doesn't look very realistic
- Spin bowling is too slow, give us modifiers to increase the speed of spin bowling

Otherwise - it's a great game so far.

You can modify the keeper slip position to "Up, Normal or Back" use triangle (PS4) and change on that menu

 

[zerosun9]

You can modify the keeper slip position to "Up, Normal or Back" use triangle (PS4) and change on that menu

I'm aware, but does the AI do this?

 

[Jerm]

I'm aware, but does the AI do this?

Good question, haven't really paid that much attention

 

[Deleted member 9102]

Not at all.

Both Consoles / PC will all receive the most generous support any Big Ant Studios game has ever received, I say that unequivocally, we have priced the ongoing support into the purchase, we don't have loot boxes, ultimate team, micro transactions or any other intentions to monetise this game.

DBC14 was £31.49 and had support for well over a year, the last update was 15 months after the PC release. DBC17 was priced higher (£39.99) and received less than half that length of support. Did that iteration not have support priced in? If not then why was DBC14 supported so much better at a lower price?

Need to see some evidence of substantial improvements before I can trust this promise of ongoing support this time. Any sort of roadmap of where things are going? Or just fixing the things people complain about the most?

The game is priced very highly as if to appeal to a hardcore audience of dedicated fans, but seems to be sliding towards pick-up-and-play accessibility to the casual gamer with every release (dumbed down bowling length, field radar, pitch marker etc.). I hope AO Tennis doesn't go the same way and end up having all the typical simplistic/arcadey mechanics of previous console tennis games.

 

[zerosun9]

DBC14 was £31.49 and had support for well over a year, the last update was 15 months after the PC release. DBC17 was priced higher (£39.99) and received less than half that length of support. Did that iteration not have support priced in? If not then why was DBC14 supported so much better at a lower price?

Need to see some evidence of substantial improvements before I can trust this promise of ongoing support this time. Any sort of roadmap of where things are going? Or just fixing the things people complain about the most?

The game is priced very highly as if to appeal to a hardcore audience of dedicated fans, but seems to be sliding towards pick-up-and-play accessibility to the casual gamer with every release (dumbed down bowling length, field radar, pitch marker etc.). I hope AO Tennis doesn't go the same way and end up having all the typical simplistic/arcadey mechanics of previous console tennis games.

Wait, what? You can set the game up to behave exactly like DBC games if you wish. Having options to make it more accessible doesn't mean it's more simplistic. AO Tennis will be the same I'm sure, and appeal to both audiences.

Field radar and pitch marker are easily turned off if you desire, why are those bad things to have an option to use!?

 

[Deleted member 9102]

Wait, what? You can set the game up to behave exactly like DBC games if you wish. Having options to make it more accessible doesn't mean it's more simplistic. AO Tennis will be the same I'm sure, and appeal to both audiences.

Field radar and pitch marker are easily turned off if you desire, why are those bad things to have an option to use!?

The one I'm mostly referencing is the bowling length... That game mechanic has been severely dumbed down since DBC14 and the reason is because there were changes made to make the game "accessible" in batting (length indicator before delivery).

It's not necessarily the presence of those things like radar/pitch marker that make the game worse, it's the loss of vision over what the game is trying to be, and turning away from the sim-like approach of 14. What set BA/DBC apart back then was the clear vision to try new things not seen in past cricket games, making it feel like playing cricket as much as possible. Now it seems like it's being a jack of all trades/master of none, trying to appeal to everybody with the most cookie-cutter approach to a cricket game.

 

[Ho3n3r]

59.99$ for a 30 days old game! Is this some kind of cruel joke? I thought it would be around 40$ as PS4 version can be bought for same price right now.

Selling it for 40$ to 1000 people is always better than selling it for 60$ to just 500.

Am sorry if I hurt hardcore fans here but this is moronic pricing! If they released it on same time then nobody would complain, now we have to pay more than console players after 30days of painful waiting!

I might buy it anyway, but this is not a good strategy and not caring about PC users. Thank you BigAnt, at least you did one thing right, created a good looking cricket game.

Sorry for rehashing this post, but the price in South Africa is insane as well - and it costs $68.53 in USD here, so 14.24% larger than the base price. As I remember, the regional pricing for SA was brought in a few years ago - as it was for Russia, Brazil etc. - to allow us to buy games at a more affordable price range, fitting our per-capita income profile.

And then I look at New Zealand's pricing, and find they got roayally stuffed.

More info here: https://steamdb.info/app/649640/

So I am totally baffled as to how they worked out the pricing per region, because it seems to be a misuse of the regional system. I am glad some South Africans on here can afford the game, but I can't justify paying R849 for it. And then Big Ant never participate in the Steam sales with their games, which I don't see as fair play either - ironic, since they'll triple their sales if they just have a decent price on sale, i.e. the prices that the games should really be.

I will continue playing DBC14 as it is still a solid game - and watching gjweavr's Youtube career videos, it doesn't seem like I'm missing out on a game that's worth 2X the price of DBC2014 anyway when it comes to Ashes Cricket.

 

[Ho3n3r]

Rubbish, I love cricket and I'm not buying it. For me a cricket game is something I will play casually around other games, I don't want to pay 99 for a casual game I'm not sure how much I will get out of.

Then you have games like PUBG, Rocket League... cheap games that sell a ton (hint: because they're cheap) and have a heap of replayability.

Indeed. I don't think Ross knows how economics for game buyers works. The higher the price, the more potential people you price out of buying it. Obviously if you do make it too cheap, you bugger yourself, but there is a decent balance, and it's clear that BA have missed this by a mile with their pricing.

Since the most players use a game within the first few weeks, we can already make the following comparison, data courtesy of SteamDB:

All-time peak players online:
DBC14: 286
DBC17: 232
AC: 111

Anyone that says this decline has nothing to do with pricing, is lying to themselves. Maybe the price for DBC17 was similar in the UK to DBC14, but it was already quite a bit higher here, as it probably was in various other countries. And then AC comes at an even higher price point. I really wish I could get sales figures for each of these, but the above is the best we have to work with.

So, what are the reasons for the game being so much less popular than its predecessors, if not price? Is it gameplay? I don't think so, because it looks pretty solid from what I've seen, with the usual bugs that will likely be sorted out. Is it a general lack of interest in cricket? If that's the case, that would indirectly mean the price is too high anyway. Nobody will be paying top dollar for a knitting game, no matter how good the physics are.

 

[Ho3n3r]

now India has the highest price tag for this game.

Not even close, actually: https://steamdb.info/app/649640/

23 places that are paying more, including Australia, who seem to not have their own currency, and thus paying the USD price.

The price point reflects the niche and revenue required to keep head above water so we can see more of these games in the future.

So price themselves out of the market, sell 1000 copies only and go bankrupt? Yeah, bright future indeed.

 

[kulch]

Yeah I agree with the above. It's too expensive especially for a PC title. Wil be interesting how they price AO tennis. Top spin was always a AUD$49 title on console and there is another tennis title in the works from the devs of top spins. Maybe it's the monopoly in cricket and nrl that makes them think they can charge what they like. Ultimately only the hard core fans purchase which goes against the "catering for the masses" mantra. Casuals simply won't pay these prices

 

[jabbathehut]

Honestly its not worth the money for the pc game but its the only player in town.If i could get a refund i would.The casual mans game doesn't work for me and progress has been very slow on fixing it.
There is a reason that the big software houses have steered away from cricket.The cost to make a fully licenced game,really sharp graphics and gameplay and especially a decent online gaming experience would be too high compared to the demand for the game.