Control of Length

[Deleted member 9102]

Control of length is an absolutely key part of bowling and should IMO be just as difficult as controlling line... If the length is so easily repeatable as the pitchmap posted above shows, won't that mean you can identify the length for a perfect yorker and just bang those in time after time with no error? Also if there are rough areas/cracks then you can find the length they are on and hit them any time you wish?

There are still 12 different length options (A, B, X, Y plus LB+RB modifiers) but it shouldn't just be entirely down to predetermined choice where the ball pitches, there needs to be influence in the quality of execution and player attributes.

 

[mkstatto]

The difficulty didn't have any clear impact when I was testing it.

Let's be honest here though, McGrath couldn't be that consistent with length, being able to do that shouldn't be possible in game.

Fair play, it clearly is an issue then. It would still be good though if the margin for error increased with skill level once fixed.

 

[cricket_online]

Fair play, it clearly is an issue then. It would still be good though if the margin for error increased with skill level once fixed.

Even for a skilled bowler it would make sense for input (Right Stick) to influence the length. If I want to bowl a slightly short of good length using McGrath I should be able to do so by pushing the Right Stick just a wee bit late.

 

[Alberts]

Control of length is an absolutely key part of bowling and should IMO be just as difficult as controlling line... If the length is so easily repeatable as the pitchmap posted above shows, won't that mean you can identify the length for a perfect yorker and just bang those in time after time with no error? Also if there are rough areas/cracks then you can find the length they are on and hit them any time you wish?

There are still 12 different length options (A, B, X, Y plus LB+RB modifiers) but it shouldn't just be entirely down to predetermined choice where the ball pitches, there needs to be influence in the quality of execution and player attributes.

Length is arguably the key to good bowling, that's what I liked about the previous system, you could naturally adjust your length as you went throughout the match. Even just having the option to use that system instead would be nice.

 

[Alberts]

So I've run another test. This time I used Starc and Hazlewood, and bowled one over with each of the 12 different length options, just to see what it would look like. It was on the hardest bowling difficulty, each bowler bowled each of the 12 lengths, in one spell. Take from it what you will:

Starc:

Hazlewood:

Both:

 

[Alberts]

I might add a point here.

Starc's line appears less consistent than Hazlewood's in this example. With Hazlewood you can see 11 distinct lines for 12 separate delivery types. The second bottom line is actually two separate overs, which is an interesting result. Beyond this though, the fuller it becomes for Starc, the less clear the demarcation between overs is, that alone is quite an interesting result as it suggests there is some kind of randomising factor there that is more pronounced using Starc than Hazlewood. At this point I'd suggest that it is not enough for Hazlewood, but interesting that it does appear in that instance.

 

[Bluebagger]

I was just bowling in a test match and came across the same thing. I really think that the bowling mechanic in this game has taken a backward step in comparison to DBC14 which was simplistic but it made sense and was logical. The large bowling indicators in DBC 14 which were positioned on the left made it so that even though I'm seeing the indicators I'm still watching the bowler go through his delivery but with the small bowling indicators on the bottom right I feel like bowling is just watching a circle fill up then I can watch the ball sail down the pitch, there is no immersion at all.

I retract my above comment if there's an option to move the indicator around but honestly I've been trying to play less than 2 hours.

To not have control of length with the right stick again makes no sense. There's far too many button combinations and inputs to the bowling than there was in the past and there's only 4 lengths on the pitch they'll bowl.

The bowling is the biggest disappointment in this game for me.

 

[Alberts]

I was just bowling in a test match and came across the same thing. I really think that the bowling mechanic in this game has taken a backward step in comparison to DBC14 which was simplistic but it made sense and was logical. The large bowling indicators in DBC 14 which were positioned on the left made it so that even though I'm seeing the indicators I'm still watching the bowler go through his delivery but with the small bowling indicators on the bottom right I feel like bowling is just watching a circle fill up then I can watch the ball sail down the pitch, there is no immersion at all.

I retract my above comment if there's an option to move the indicator around but honestly I've been trying to play less than 2 hours.

To not have control of length with the right stick again makes no sense. There's far too many button combinations and inputs to the bowling than there was in the past and there's only 4 lengths on the pitch they'll bowl.

The bowling is the biggest disappointment in this game for me.

Are you a PC user, or a console user.

To be honest, this is probably down on Big Ants list, making sure that they fix the batting, some fielding bugs, and various issues with crashes and the academy for the console versions should be the first order of importance.

 

[Acid Burn]

Don`t forget the ONLINE Specific issues Alberts , please dont .

 

[Spoobir]

I was just bowling in a test match and came across the same thing. I really think that the bowling mechanic in this game has taken a backward step in comparison to DBC14 which was simplistic but it made sense and was logical. The large bowling indicators in DBC 14 which were positioned on the left made it so that even though I'm seeing the indicators I'm still watching the bowler go through his delivery but with the small bowling indicators on the bottom right I feel like bowling is just watching a circle fill up then I can watch the ball sail down the pitch, there is no immersion at all.

I retract my above comment if there's an option to move the indicator around but honestly I've been trying to play less than 2 hours.

To not have control of length with the right stick again makes no sense. There's far too many button combinations and inputs to the bowling than there was in the past and there's only 4 lengths on the pitch they'll bowl.

The bowling is the biggest disappointment in this game for me.

Completely agree with all you're saying. Especially about watching the circle fill up, I feel an option to have the circle on the ground under the bowler's feet as they run up would be a much more immersive way to do it.

In terms of the length I also wonder why they moved away from having right-stick control the length. My suspicion would be that it's easier for the AI to bat consistently if there are only certain, specific lengths the player can bowl but I could be wrong. The system in DB14 definitely felt much more natural and akin to real bowling to me.

 

[cooks1st100]

Completely agree with all you're saying. Especially about watching the circle fill up, I feel an option to have the circle on the ground under the bowler's feet as they run up would be a much more immersive way to do it

Why not just turn it off altogether?

 

[Deleted member 9102]

Don`t forget the ONLINE Specific issues Alberts , please dont .

I don't play online (Five5 is just mindless slogging, other formats take too long) but yeah this does seem like something that can affect online play... A perfect yorker should be almost impossible to hit for six or even to the boundary, and you can bang them in with 100% certainty. The only hope the batsman has is to move forward or backward a lot and hope the bowling player doesn't adjust in time...

Either that or allow for unrealistically effective batting to balance for this unrealistically easy bowling... I have only played offline on hard batting at veteran/legend difficulty so I'm not sure if this is the case online?

 

[Spoobir]

Why not just turn it off altogether?

There's nothing wrong with having aids that help the player, especially newer ones, taking into consideration that the game has quite a steep learning curve to begin with (at least imo). Giving hardcore players the option to turn them off is always nice I'll agree however.

I've done a super quick mock-up of what I was talking about below. The circle under the bowler's feet would fill up and change colour just like the current aid, but in this one your eyes are actually focused on the action as it happens, leading to more immersion in the game. (and yes I did get spanked for 4 off the first ball of the innings )

 

[cricket_online]

There's nothing wrong with having aids that help the player, especially newer ones, taking into consideration that the game has quite a steep learning curve to begin with (at least imo). Giving hardcore players the option to turn them off is always nice I'll agree however.

I've done a super quick mock-up of what I was talking about below. The circle under the bowler's feet would fill up and change colour just like the current aid, but in this one your eyes are actually focused on the action as it happens, leading to more immersion in the game. (and yes I did get spanked for 4 off the first ball of the innings )

I like this idea of having bowling meter close to the bowler so you focus on the bowler as well while looking at the meter

 

[Bluebagger]

Are you a PC user, or a console user.

To be honest, this is probably down on Big Ants list, making sure that they fix the batting, some fielding bugs, and various issues with crashes and the academy for the console versions should be the first order of importance.

I'm on PC. This is also nothing a patch will fix, it's a game design. Even if they could move that bowling indicator box I'm sure the whole thing won't be changed to something more aesthetic and the right stick giving us control.