Don Bradman Cricket 14 - Issues and Anomalies

[phil1987]

I would have assumed you'd still be playing in Pro considering you find scoring runs so difficult.

I've been playing on Pro and Veteran after those first couple of games I posted, I've already said this multiple times. But sure, stick with it.

You have played on VETERAN yet you are asking me if i turned off the bowling HUD.

I'll beat the dead horse for you one more time. YOU CANNOT USE THE BOWLER HUD ON VETERAN.

When you are sick of making 150 and bowling the CPU for 30 runs on PRO go and play a game on VETERAN and come tell me how easy the batting is for you.

You keep arguing when it is blatantly obvious for all to see that the imbalance in batting and bowling in this game is problem.

 

[Alberts]

You have played on VETERAN yet you are asking me if i turned off the bowling HUD.

I'll beat the dead horse for you one more time. YOU CANNOT USE THE BOWLER HUD ON VETERAN.

When you are sick of making 150 and bowling the CPU for 30 runs on PRO go and play a game on VETERAN and come tell me how easy the batting is for you.

You keep arguing when it is blatantly obvious for all to see that the imbalance in batting and bowling in this game is problem.

This is the thing, I really don't see why they couldn't add the option to play on different difficulties for batting, bowling and fielding for casual matches and such. Surely it wouldn't have been that hard and it would have allowed people to get into various parts of the game at their own rate. I'm not stuck bowling on pro at poor AI because I still can barely make it past 150 consistently with the bat even on pro. Preferably I would have it on pro for batting and try my luck on veteran, but I just don't feel like getting mauled. I really don't understand why they don't at least have the option.

The other thing to consider is that the layers in difficulty in the game include hard and soft difficulty and I've never understood why developers make so damn sure that they are included in one unholy mess rather than giving the player the option to see what happens. In this game you don't just get the AI improving a bit, you get changes to how the game is controlled. Surely for a new player wanting a challenge they should be able to play against the best of the AI even on the easiest of controls if they wished, and for someone wanting to learn the "true controls" (that is, no HUD, no assistance etc) they should be able to do so against a slightly easier AI still. Maybe they think their audience couldn't deal with having a control like:

Difficulty: Normal/Advanced

Which for normal would be exactly as it is now, and for advanced:

Batting Difficulty Settings -
Control Difficulty: Rookie/Amateur/Pro/Veteran/Legend
AI Difficulty: Rookie/Amateur/Pro/Veteran/Legend
________________________________________________________
Bowling Difficulty Settings-
Control Difficulty: Rookie/Amateur/Pro/Veteran/Legend
AI Difficulty: Rookie/Amateur/Pro/Veteran/Legend
________________________________________________________

Or in whatever increments the game can currently allow for. Surely in a game so heavily about the community base and customisability, not including more options for difficulty and controls is a massive, massive oversight.

 

[Snowy]

I'll beat the dead horse for you one more time. YOU CANNOT USE THE BOWLER HUD ON VETERAN.

I would have assumed you'd still be playing on Pro considering you find scoring runs so difficult.

Ahem

Get comfortable with batting on Pro, then you'd maybe be able to make the shift to higher difficulty levels.

 

[phil1987]

Ahem

No point arguing with people who are obviously in denial and trying to save face.

You and many others that had not even played the game ridiculed my complaints 2 days after the game came out because i questioned the imbalance in batting and bowling difficulties.

The only reason why batting on Veteran is possible is because of premeditated going back or forward before the ball is released. If you are trying to do what this games is asking by choosing footwork and shot direction after the ball is released you will get nowhere batting on VETERAN.

Few days have gone by now and more people are starting to notice this yet you are still here trying to argue the fact that batting and bowling are on par.

It clearly isn't and you can even notice it on VETERAN where you struggle your way to 120-130 and still able to win a lot of games.

 

[Snowy]

No dramas if you don't want to discuss it, I'll keep enjoying the game.

Good luck with improving your batting.

 

[phil1987]

Ahem

Get comfortable with batting on Pro, then you'd maybe be able to make the shift to higher difficulty levels.

yeah making 160-170 on pro consistently in 20/20s is not good enough right?

How long do you expect to keep playing on pro and making 100+ and bowling cpu out for 30-40 before you start realising that it is kind of stupid.

 

[outbreak]

No point arguing with people who are obviously in denial and trying to save face.

You and many others that had not even played the game ridiculed my complaints 2 days after the game came out because i questioned the imbalance in batting and bowling difficulties.

The only reason why batting on Veteran is possible is because of premeditated going back or forward before the ball is released. If you are trying to do what this games is asking by choosing footwork and shot direction after the ball is released you will get nowhere batting on VETERAN.

Few days have gone by now and more people are starting to notice this yet you are still here trying to argue the fact that batting and bowling are on par.

It clearly isn't and you can even notice it on VETERAN where you struggle your way to 120-130 and still able to win a lot of games.

why bother arguing with snowy, you know you won't get through to him

 

[HBK619]

It's already been mentioned that balancing will be looked at once the dust has settles. Continuing to argue about it with petty name calling isn't going to get anybody anywhere. So please, if this can remain about the topic with the template being used that would be great.

And I would like to also mention that 'Massive Oversight' comments may result in 'massive oversights' of said posts. Less emotive posting, more constructive posting thank you.

 

[Alberts]

And I would like to also mention that 'Massive Oversight' comments may result in 'massive oversights' of said posts. Less emotive posting, more constructive posting thank you.

To be honest that seems like a poor way to deal with paying customers when producing the first good cricket game in the best part of a decade. Sure, ignoring posts which are baseless rants is one thing, but there are a lot of good points posted in what could be called "emotive" language, probably because the game produced is actually good enough to get some level of emotion out that isn't simply frustration at the system (as with many other cricket games in recent memory).

I know a lot of comments might get frustrating after a long time working on the game, but to ignore any comments or potential criticism due to it being "emotive" would be a poor way of dealing with it.

 

[Stoneyhawk]

I think it is a great idea to be able to bat and bowl on different levels. Probably bloody hard to implement for Big Ant but worthy of a thought.
If that was the case i would say that i am an amateur batter and a veteran bowler....but hey, i have only been playing for a few days x a few hours at a time.
Time to breathe....play a bit more.....a wait and see what happens with the update!
Fingers crossed for better balancing.

 

[Mr Snrub]

To be honest that seems like a poor way to deal with paying customers when producing the first good cricket game in the best part of a decade. Sure, ignoring posts which are baseless rants is one thing, but there are a lot of good points posted in what could be called "emotive" language, probably because the game produced is actually good enough to get some level of emotion out that isn't simply frustration at the system (as with many other cricket games in recent memory).

I know a lot of comments might get frustrating after a long time working on the game, but to ignore any comments or potential criticism due to it being "emotive" would be a poor way of dealing with it.

I do see what you're driving at, but I much more understand Ross's point of view here and not at all because he's Ross from Big Ant.

Overly emotive posting may indicate a lack of perspective and balancing of the issue within the mind of the poster. It's important that things are handled somewhat analytically to ensure things are dealt with in proportion to the weight of the issue.

If anything gets emotively blown out of proportion and then dealt with to that degree then it may be overly tweaked and ruin the game the other way.

 

[Alberts]

I do see what you're driving at, but I much more understand Ross's point of view here and not at all because he's Ross from Big Ant.

Overly emotive posting may indicate a lack of perspective and balancing of the issue within the mind of the poster. It's important that things are handled somewhat analytically to ensure things are dealt with in proportion to the weight of the issue.

If anything gets emotively blown out of proportion and then dealt with to that degree then it may be overly tweaked and ruin the game the other way.

That's why they shouldn't be overly weighted, but completely ignored is an even worse way to deal with it, particularly with a fragile market. There is good money to be made in the video game industry, but as the last 15 years have shown, you need to maintain a number of key things:

1. Proper communication and respect for the consumer
2. Avoid overly aggressive protections on games
3. Deliver to all markets equally and fairly in a timely manner
4. Don't screw the customer for more money

As things stands they've done points 2 and 3 reasonably well (although a simultaneous worldwide release would have been preferable), while we're yet to see 4. The key now is how they deal with people now that the "after market testing" phase has begun. Simply ignoring angry aggressive people is fine because put bluntly, their minds are already made up and it's not worth dealing with them. Ignoring anything that comes across as emotional though is a great way to lose passionate fans of a game, and potentially lose them to your brand forever. You don't have to listen and do exactly as anybody says, but at least listen and discuss with them as long as they aren't being genuinely hostile and aggressive.

I think it is a great idea to be able to bat and bowl on different levels. Probably bloody hard to implement for Big Ant but worthy of a thought.
If that was the case i would say that i am an amateur batter and a veteran bowler....but hey, i have only been playing for a few days x a few hours at a time.
Time to breathe....play a bit more.....a wait and see what happens with the update!
Fingers crossed for better balancing.

I'm not sure where the difficulty would really be in splitting them. The big steps in the difficulties seem to be the controls and the AI, both of which should be simple enough to do, particularly for batting and bowling.

 

[Frostyvegi]

This game is fun in a smash and grab kind of way to play with your mates for an hour or so. -further wall of text-

I'd disagree with most of your statement.

I, personally, have found that over time my batting is slowly improving, to the point where I'm probably at the lower realistic level of the number of runs expected of a #9 order bowler. My skills are still VERY minimal, but I have found that with careful planning I can at least contribute a bit for my team. Every time I go out there I am learning from my mistakes, and every time I loose my wicket it is because of a mistake I am making, not the game.

The ease for bowling, for me, is mostly related to the bug of the dead-eye and quick fielders. If I bowl the good length and in line, the batsman can't really do a lot with it. But doing that for even 3 overs straight is neigh impossible with the control scheme and my ability to focus, and I am always getting punished when I push it down leg or just too wide on the off side. Now that my skills are improving to the point I can actually see the swing and cut of the ball, the lower order batsman are starting to struggle against me, which is good and realistic.

Early on, before I got my accuracy down pat and worked out the timing window, I was probably getting more wickets than I do now, simply because every wild shot was being punished, but that caused opportunities to the overpowered AI fielders. I've gone from an average of 6+ runs an over in a 4 day match with about 4 wickets from 10 overs to 2.5 runs an over for usually 2 or 3 wickets from 10.

Apart from my actual player level improving, and perhaps my knowledge of when the ball is in a certain condition to favor different types of deliveries, I don't think my bowling figures will improve to any dramatic extent, and the upcoming patch will definately make bowling harder (or at least keep the batsman in longer).

 

[BigAntStudios]

1. Proper communication and respect for the consumer
2. Avoid overly aggressive protections on games
3. Deliver to all markets equally and fairly in a timely manner
4. Don't screw the customer for more money

1. I could not be more communicative than I have been and I am respectful of the consumer. I have delivered on ideas that have come from this very community and will continue to do so.

2. There is no overly aggressive protection on the game. It has standard protection in place from MS/Sony/Steam

3. All markets will have had the game within a week of the scheduled release.

4. Even with the great strides made this week I will not make money from this game, I will hopefully from the sequels. I have committed to at least two free patches.

It would be very, very difficult to split the difficulty levels, not saying we wont in the longer term provide for this but it is not as simple as you put forward.

Cricket is not a simple game to code it is a finely balanced game that has evolved over centuries, rushing to quick change is not good for the long term, conservative considered change is the way to go.

----------

I do see what you're driving at, but I much more understand Ross's point of view here and not at all because he's Ross from Big Ant.

Overly emotive posting may indicate a lack of perspective and balancing of the issue within the mind of the poster. It's important that things are handled somewhat analytically to ensure things are dealt with in proportion to the weight of the issue.

If anything gets emotively blown out of proportion and then dealt with to that degree then it may be overly tweaked and ruin the game the other way.

It was HBK that posted but I back the stance on emotive posting.

If you say "I cant believe they did this or that" then of course I am going to discount your opinion in the same way that if I came to your workplace and started berating you that you would be likely to do so.

 

[Alberts]

1. I could not be more communicative than I have been and I am respectful of the consumer. I have delivered on ideas that have come from this very community and will continue to do so.

2. There is no overly aggressive protection on the game. It has standard protection in place from MS/Sony/Steam

3. All markets will have had the game within a week of the scheduled release.

4. Even with the great strides made this week I will not make money from this game, I will hopefully from the sequels. I have committed to at least two free patches.

It would be very, very difficult to split the difficulty levels, not saying we wont in the longer term provide for this but it is not as simple as you put forward.

Cricket is not a simple game to code it is a finely balanced game that has evolved over centuries, rushing to quick change is not good for the long term, conservative considered change is the way to go.

I wasn't saying that Big Ant have done anything wrong, they have been outstanding with the production and development of this outstanding the game. I'm just discussing in general with the odd comment about ignoring emotive language posts.

The communication and discussion with the community, particularly with the academy since the start of development has been nothing less than outstanding, but the reason I didn't feel like discussing that side of things is that now with the game released, and a far wider audience now paying attention it is a very different ball game.

I also agree that any changes to any underlying game mechanisms needs to be done very cautiously as it would be simple to unbalance the game. At this time with fielders tweaked a bit (which in and of itself hopefully won't break the game) it should be amazing. Even without the tweak the game is amazing, if a bit brutal.

I'd say at this time that Big Ant as a whole have shown themselves as a shining example, but again, it's very easy to break trust. It was just an odd comment, and seemed needlessly aggressive from HBK.

That all said, only at least two free patches? Charging for patches is one of those no-nos in the gaming world. I know what you mean, but saying "free" and "patch" together is one of those things that might get people a bit suspicious. I recall the Kerbal Space Program creators having an issue when they even mentioned the possibility of making an expansion park some day off in the distant future.

Speaking of sequels though, at this time do you think there will there be enough money from this first iteration to secure the future of them, or is it still too early to say? Is the companies overall goal to produce a yearly cricket game, or one every few years?