cricket_online
ICC Board Member
- Joined
- Nov 5, 2009
- Online Cricket Games Owned
- Don Bradman Cricket 14 - PS3
- Don Bradman Cricket 14 - PS4
Starting the thread dedicated to batting in DBC 17 as that's one area which is in need for enhancement. The more time I've spent batting in DBC 17 the more shortcomings I seem to uncover. Folks who love bowling or simulation would be more than happy with DBC 17 but for the likes of me who is addicted to batting and would love nothing better than a batting simulator, DBC 17 does fall short.
TBF to Big Ant the addition of ball marker timing slider and gameplay modifiers is a huge step in the right direction and a big plus. In DBC 14 I couldn't play the shot based on the quality of delivery and had to resort to front foot pre-meditation. The irony is that in DBC 17 I can see the ball marker, determine the shot to play but it doesn't seem to make much of a difference as I still can't seem to do what I want. Initially I thought I needed more practice but after spending plenty of hours batting in DBC 17 across varying difficulty levels (including custom difficulty level and fiddling with gameplay modifiers) I think it's more to do with the batting engine than user related limitation.
The heart of the problem seems to be that there really isn't a 360 degree batting control. You can't hit the ball anywhere in the 360 degree arc no matter what shot types, shot modifiers or foot (back/front) you use. There are just a few base zones/areas you can hit the ball to and the rest of the areas seem to be inaccessible. So far these are the accessible hitting/shot zones I've seen
1. In the V ranging from widish mid on to widish mid off/extra cover - This is where most of the drives go. Be it straight, on or cover drive. Against AI it may not be a concern as they seldom post a fielder at Extra Cover but you hardly see much variety. Even if you get a half volley outside off, you can't cream it through a vacant cover or cover point regions. The AI field sets help in that they either don't have extra cover or mid on (in Tests) so you can hit the shots through those gaps. If mid on, mid off and extra cover are posted most of the drives will go to the fielder and you will get a single owing to AI fielding which allows you to get a single virtually every shot.
2. Point to Square Gully - This is where the cut shots go to. An early cut shot may go to Cover point but mostly the timed cut shots go within the point to square gully region.
3. Square Leg region - This is where you are able to hit leg side flicks/glances and the shot zone ranges from Backward Square Leg to Square Leg/Forward square leg. Occasional hook shot may go to mid wkt region but this is where most of the leg side flicks/glances will go to.
This leads me to the gaps in DBC 17, i.e. the areas which seem to be inaccessible to batsmen and some of these zones are the most common scoring zones for batsmen in real cricket...
A. The Cover region from Extra cover to Cover point/point region - No matter how you time your cover drive, the ball willl go to extra cover or straighter. The fieldin positions in the Cover, Cover Point, Deep Cover areas are practically cosmetic.
B. The Fine Leg/Long leg region from Backward Square Leg to Long Leg - You cannot flick, glance, hook or pull in this area at all - at least I wasn't able to. An occasional sweep or an edge may go there but fine leg/Long leg is a bread & butter scoring zone for batsmen and should be easily accessible.
C. Fine Third Man - I wasn't able to glide the ball to 3rd man area. I can hit the ball to squarish gully but the glide to 3rd man seems to be missing. Against spinners the fine late cut itself is a nightmare to play as the wkt keeper pre-meditates the shot and literally moves 3-4 feet to snap the ball for a dismissal. You may edge the ball through the slips but playing a controlled glide is not available.
Would love the Big Ant team to take a closer look at the batting controls/dynamics as it does seem to have taken a step back from DBC 14. In case I've missed something or doing something I would love to know how I can rectify the same. DBC 17 is a wonderful game given the various customizations and enhancements available but for hard core batting fans who primarily focus on batting in video games, the batting needs to be enhanced for the customizations and other improvements to make a difference.
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Edited to include Wagon Wheel and description for the same...
@MattW, @BigAntStudios, here's the wagon wheel as you asked. I've uploaded the wagon wheel for an entire innings in which I scored around 190. I purposely played all right handers in the match so wagon wheel would be consistent. As you can see there are 4 main zones which I'm able to hit to...
1. Extra cover/Wide off region - This is where all the cover drives/off drives go.
2. Square Leg region - This is where all the flicks/glance go.
3. Mid Wkt - This where most of the pull/hook (front & back foot) go.
4. Square Gully - This is where cut shots go but again not against spinners as the wkt keeper literally jumps 5-6 feet and snaffles a well hit shot.
5. Straight - This is where you can hit straight drives but only against fast bowler. Against spinners you can't hit straight drives as spinners stop nearly everything.
The wagon wheel clearly shows the following areas which are inaccessible...
A. Cover region from extra cover to cover point/point
B. Fine Leg/Square Leg region behind square on the leg side. The lone boundary behind the wkt keeper was a top edged hook shot and not an intentional one.
C. Third Man area where you should be able to glide the ball for a single.
Note: One other area which needs to be investigated is the AI fielding. It's too conservative/lax. You can hit a shot straight to the fielder and take a single and take 2 when you hit to a fielder in the deep. Generally you are able to take one extra run per shot which takes away from the batting experience.
TBF to Big Ant the addition of ball marker timing slider and gameplay modifiers is a huge step in the right direction and a big plus. In DBC 14 I couldn't play the shot based on the quality of delivery and had to resort to front foot pre-meditation. The irony is that in DBC 17 I can see the ball marker, determine the shot to play but it doesn't seem to make much of a difference as I still can't seem to do what I want. Initially I thought I needed more practice but after spending plenty of hours batting in DBC 17 across varying difficulty levels (including custom difficulty level and fiddling with gameplay modifiers) I think it's more to do with the batting engine than user related limitation.
The heart of the problem seems to be that there really isn't a 360 degree batting control. You can't hit the ball anywhere in the 360 degree arc no matter what shot types, shot modifiers or foot (back/front) you use. There are just a few base zones/areas you can hit the ball to and the rest of the areas seem to be inaccessible. So far these are the accessible hitting/shot zones I've seen
1. In the V ranging from widish mid on to widish mid off/extra cover - This is where most of the drives go. Be it straight, on or cover drive. Against AI it may not be a concern as they seldom post a fielder at Extra Cover but you hardly see much variety. Even if you get a half volley outside off, you can't cream it through a vacant cover or cover point regions. The AI field sets help in that they either don't have extra cover or mid on (in Tests) so you can hit the shots through those gaps. If mid on, mid off and extra cover are posted most of the drives will go to the fielder and you will get a single owing to AI fielding which allows you to get a single virtually every shot.
2. Point to Square Gully - This is where the cut shots go to. An early cut shot may go to Cover point but mostly the timed cut shots go within the point to square gully region.
3. Square Leg region - This is where you are able to hit leg side flicks/glances and the shot zone ranges from Backward Square Leg to Square Leg/Forward square leg. Occasional hook shot may go to mid wkt region but this is where most of the leg side flicks/glances will go to.
This leads me to the gaps in DBC 17, i.e. the areas which seem to be inaccessible to batsmen and some of these zones are the most common scoring zones for batsmen in real cricket...
A. The Cover region from Extra cover to Cover point/point region - No matter how you time your cover drive, the ball willl go to extra cover or straighter. The fieldin positions in the Cover, Cover Point, Deep Cover areas are practically cosmetic.
B. The Fine Leg/Long leg region from Backward Square Leg to Long Leg - You cannot flick, glance, hook or pull in this area at all - at least I wasn't able to. An occasional sweep or an edge may go there but fine leg/Long leg is a bread & butter scoring zone for batsmen and should be easily accessible.
C. Fine Third Man - I wasn't able to glide the ball to 3rd man area. I can hit the ball to squarish gully but the glide to 3rd man seems to be missing. Against spinners the fine late cut itself is a nightmare to play as the wkt keeper pre-meditates the shot and literally moves 3-4 feet to snap the ball for a dismissal. You may edge the ball through the slips but playing a controlled glide is not available.
Would love the Big Ant team to take a closer look at the batting controls/dynamics as it does seem to have taken a step back from DBC 14. In case I've missed something or doing something I would love to know how I can rectify the same. DBC 17 is a wonderful game given the various customizations and enhancements available but for hard core batting fans who primarily focus on batting in video games, the batting needs to be enhanced for the customizations and other improvements to make a difference.
*********************************************************************
Edited to include Wagon Wheel and description for the same...
@MattW, @BigAntStudios, here's the wagon wheel as you asked. I've uploaded the wagon wheel for an entire innings in which I scored around 190. I purposely played all right handers in the match so wagon wheel would be consistent. As you can see there are 4 main zones which I'm able to hit to...
1. Extra cover/Wide off region - This is where all the cover drives/off drives go.
2. Square Leg region - This is where all the flicks/glance go.
3. Mid Wkt - This where most of the pull/hook (front & back foot) go.
4. Square Gully - This is where cut shots go but again not against spinners as the wkt keeper literally jumps 5-6 feet and snaffles a well hit shot.
5. Straight - This is where you can hit straight drives but only against fast bowler. Against spinners you can't hit straight drives as spinners stop nearly everything.
The wagon wheel clearly shows the following areas which are inaccessible...
A. Cover region from extra cover to cover point/point
B. Fine Leg/Square Leg region behind square on the leg side. The lone boundary behind the wkt keeper was a top edged hook shot and not an intentional one.
C. Third Man area where you should be able to glide the ball for a single.
Note: One other area which needs to be investigated is the AI fielding. It's too conservative/lax. You can hit a shot straight to the fielder and take a single and take 2 when you hit to a fielder in the deep. Generally you are able to take one extra run per shot which takes away from the batting experience.
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