@MattW
I was talking about how the AI should be improved, I've made a list of what changes I think should made to the AI. This is for short form of the game and some of them can be applicable for longer format as well.
Everyone who's not happy with the AI can join this conversation and point additional stuff out. People who have been talking about the AI it's your time to speak up so that the team can at least hear what the issues are.
Please don't ignore this.
First, The dab that AI plays at fine third man needs to be balanced. I think it happens way to often. I'm okay with this being played. Something that can be done with the shot is that sometimes AI fails to find the gap and the ball reaches fly slip or short third man or the batsman just misses the ball completely.
Second, I have noticed that almost all the time spinners bowl 2-3 of the overs at death.(last five overs) Mostly it's the Spinning allrounders that get to bowl these overs. Plus if you haven't got enough spinners in the game, fast bowling all rounders will bowl those overs. You can prioritize fast bowling bowlers, then fast bowling all rounders and then spinners to bowl in the last five. Bowlers with a death bowling or similar perk can have a priority set as well.
Third, Last ball smashes in shorter formats. I don't mind the last ball smashes in the shorter format of the game. If the batsman have only scored a couple of runs in the over I'm sure they'd want to score big on the last ball. But I think you can add instances when they are not able to hit/connect those shots. Having a balance between both would be great. And if you could squeeze in a rare maiden over in T20s it would feel great. Those are very rare but they do happen.
Fourth, having a balance of spinners and pacers taking wickets. Right now, mostly spinners dominate the wickets chart no matter what pitch you're playing on.
A good balance would be to have 50/50 wickets on standard pitches. 75/25 on a spin friendly or a pace friendly pitches.
Fifth, having variety of wickets. I think wickets can be categorized into three sections. One, bowled and lbws. Second, caught behind or at slips/gully. Third, catches in the 30 yard circle and outfield. (I know I left out runouts!). Having a balance of these three depending on the kind of pitches would be nice.
Sixth, Step out shots. I think only batsman with good skills be able to play these shots. I saw a tail ender try to step out and hit a bowler for six. He missed which was nice but if he would have been out as stumped it would have been better.
Seventh, I think the AI has already decided what bowlers are going to have a good/bad day. So If a bowler starts his first two overs with a low economy rate, he won't have a bad day at all. His next two overs are going to go better than everyone else. Same goes for the bowler that goes for a lot of runs in the first two, will go for more in the next two as well. I think bowlers should have a chance to make a come back or just go for a lot more in the next spell.
Eight, If AI Batsman has been dropped by a fielder, the AI will make sure that a wicket falls in the next few balls. Mostly in a similar fashion.
Last, (For now) I see that you've worked on how AI chases the scores down. I'd love to have close matches even If the AI going to chase the total down. Also, sometimes you can make a match swing a bit in favor of a team that wasn't going to win it will add a bit of depth to the game.
It would be great if people can join in on this conversation and share their thoughts.
I also have a list of bugs that I want to share. Hope you won't mind a similar kind of post in the coming days.
