How are you doing in your career?

[wildclaws]

After the second rise in difficulty, any pretentions to overseas games has evaporated like water in a desert. All games listed "No Chance". In fact for the current season I have amassed the staggering amount of 820 points with only a few games left. I lead the comp in ducks, both golden and normal. Even snagged the hardest of them all the 'Diamond" duck, being run out at the non strikers end after cancelling a run and seeing my player amble back into his ground, well almost! (another great game design)

Well, the good news is that you're not alone and a lot of people are asking for it to be adjusted. The bad news is they don't seem particularly keen!

So, I figure we're going to have to get used to Pro. First thing : why are you getting out? To certain shots, to lbw? On Rookie, I mostly get out from attempting to hoik absolutely everything. On Amateur, it's maybe 1/5 from a 'good ball' , and the other 4 times from idiocy. Rookie and Amateur are misleading, because you can get away with absolute murder, and that stuff has to go on Pro. I use the first two levels to get lots of cheap career points and build the shots I want to use later.

I've learned to stop running unless it's a clear run. Look around after every fielding change. I almost premeditate depending on the bowler - if you're not what I want, you're getting blocked. I try to keep, say, two (and only two) ideas in my head - block anything that isn't green, and anything on the on-side gets driven. Watch out for leg side fields ; leg glance can be dangerous off short balls. I'm not good enough to read the ball, so I just play 'Boycott' and try and irritate the bowlers to death.

I admit I thought Pro would be unplayable, and I'm still not making good enough scores to frighten anyone yet. But at least I'm consistently making runs - and properly earning them. And I'm terrible, so it can be done.

 

[Chaudhary]

Finally horror of sheffield sheild is over, ended with some 1100+ runs at 46+ avg
5 100s 4 50s and 29 wickets@ 9.

got contract from 3 ipl teams
rajasthan royals
delhi daredevils
kings X1

I went with Kings X1 and scored 35 of 30 balls and picked up 14/2 (MOTM), but we lost by 2 wickets (as if i got punished for not choosing my state team Double Ds) :P

 

[Deleted member 9102]

You're correct - NVIDIA NVENC is that exact same thing. (Source: someone who's been researching, using and covering this shit since it came out as part of my freelancing shtick.)

It's worth noting that NVENC isn't actually recommended if you have a powerful enough rig only because once you upload footage to YouTube, YT re-encodes the footage. Assuming you've already encoded it in Vegas/Premiere/Windows Movie Maker, the end result is a disgustingly block image.

You end up having an insanely large file size just to make sure everything isn't overly pixellated. For instance, using OBS to record uncompressed footage, I can get a better result on YT with a video on 6-10mbps bitrate. For something recorded through NVENC/Shadowplay, I have to encode it in Premiere at anywhere between 25-35mbps to make sure it's watchable. (Australian definitions of watchable here; our American and European friends, accustomed to fully lag-free HD video anywhere at any time, would have a different view on this.)

Interesting, I admittedly know very little about video compression, and I just tend to use Shadowplay to retrospectively record stuff and then chop it up in Sony Vegas, rendering it as a .mp4 "Internet HD 1080p" before putting it on YouTube.

The raw footage that Shadowplay captures is excellent in quality in my opinion, and although what ends up on YouTube is fairly decent, I had just assumed the difference in quality/blurriness was mainly due to converting 60fps footage into a 30fps video... Do you recommend rendering the video differently in Vegas? The feature to retrospectively record is essential to me as I wouldn't actively record everything manually, so Shadowplay/NVENC is probably the only choice.

Here is an example of what it looks like using my method;

Sorry for the off topic.

 

[Saeglopur]

Just finished the English T20 competition of the 3rd season - we won, amazingly. Played my part, bowling out 5 dot balls in the last over of the semi final when Hampshire only needed 3 to win, and then conceding only 8 runs in my 4 overs in the final, half of which came from a four on my last ball, including 2 maidens and a wicket - we won by 6 wickets with just 2 balls remaining in our run chase so glad my economical bowling paid off there.

The best part about the T20 competition being over though is that I can turn my attention back to first class which is where the action is really at, haha! I had an amazing first 6 games there, but the next few were a bit disappointing, so hoping to pick up my early season form and maybe push for a test side spot before the end of the year - I'm onto 'Very Close' at the moment. Also approaching the milestones of 2000 career runs (37 away) and 250 career wickets (6 away) which will be nice to pass.

 

[Terry Alderman]

Interesting to say the least. I'm in as a batting all rounder ( I think?). Playing for Durham. First game v Yorks. Yorks elect to bat first and got to 367 for 4 before captain gave me a spell!! Must have been desperate! Anyway....managed to get a few wickets..best one being an LBW to a delivery that was so slow, the batsman yawned as it went down the wicket. Brill. Batting tough though. One run scored in 4 deliveries faced. Might set up a career player properly tonight...take time with name, skills, appearance and the like. I even enjoyed fielding for a few overs....like it was at school hoping the ball didn't come anywhere near me.

 

[inertSpark]

Interesting, I admittedly know very little about video compression, and I just tend to use Shadowplay to retrospectively record stuff and then chop it up in Sony Vegas, rendering it as a .mp4 "Internet HD 1080p" before putting it on YouTube.

The raw footage that Shadowplay captures is excellent in quality in my opinion, and although what ends up on YouTube is fairly decent, I had just assumed the difference in quality/blurriness was mainly due to converting 60fps footage into a 30fps video... Do you recommend rendering the video differently in Vegas? The feature to retrospectively record is essential to me as I wouldn't actively record everything manually, so Shadowplay/NVENC is probably the only choice.

Here is an example of what it looks like using my method;

Sorry for the off topic.

Yeah it has gotten a little off-topic, but as it's here I shall indulge

When I render my footage in vegas, there's only a few things I do. I right click the video in the timeline and select 'disable resampling' (gets rid of vegas' motion blur). Then I go on to prettying up the video. Some people add all sorts of fancy colour curves etc but IMO it makes the saturation look un-natural. Instead what I do is I go to 'levels' and apply the 'studio RGB to Computer RGB' module. What this does is it enhances the colour that is already there and makes it 'web-safe' so to speak. It's far more natural IMO. Lastly I apply the default .500 sharpen module.

Then to render, as my upload speed is pretty shocking, I render as mp4 with a VBR average bitrate of 8,000,000 with the peak bitrate of 12,000,000. Then I whizz the rendered file through handbrake to compress the file.

Bringing it back on topic, kinda, here's part 1 of my career. As you can see the quality is outstanding, considering the file size was only about 219MB I think.

 

[Deleted member 9102]

Yeah it has gotten a little off-topic, but as it's here I shall indulge

When I render my footage in vegas, there's only a few things I do. I right click the video in the timeline and select 'disable resampling' (gets rid of vegas' motion blur). Then I go on to prettying up the video. Some people add all sorts of fancy colour curves etc but IMO it makes the saturation look un-natural. Instead what I do is I go to 'levels' and apply the 'studio RGB to Computer RGB' module. What this does is it enhances the colour that is already there and makes it 'web-safe' so to speak. It's far more natural IMO. Lastly I apply the default .500 sharpen module.

Then to render, as my upload speed is pretty shocking, I render as mp4 with a VBR average bitrate of 8,000,000 with the peak bitrate of 12,000,000. Then I whizz the rendered file through handbrake to compress the file.

Bringing it back on topic, kinda, here's part 1 of my career. As you can see the quality is outstanding, considering the file size was only about 219MB I think.

Thanks for the tips - I'll be sure to refer back to this post next time I have any gameplay to stick on Youtube. I agree the quality of that video is really nice!

Hopefully Youtube implements 60fps video support soon...

 

[inertSpark]

60fps is not much use to me sadly, as my CPU is a now ageing i7 960, and as a result OBS can't handle 1080p at 60 frames. I need to look into upgrading when I can afford it, because I've had my current rig for 4 years and it's time for change.

 

[Moosc]

Thanks for the post 'wildclaws'.

Yes batting at pro and higher is all about eliminating bad errors and keeping it simple. So simple that most shots become too risky to try for fear of the end result. You can't even drive because the ball is never on the ground. So some chances have to be taken or you will simply become yet another "Trevor Bailey" who holds IIRC the record for the 'slowest fifty' ever recorded in test cricket of around a full day for LESS than fifty runs.

My problem with career mode is twofold.
(1) Being forced to play a higher skill than my 59 year old reflexes can handle. Any other game gives you the right to set your skill level to that which makes you comfortable and able to play the game.

We have been told that the mandatory upgrade in skill is to represent the increased difficulty of playing at international level. Now if you believe that (I don't) then why doesn't the skill level return to its previous setting when a player returns to the lower skill games, such as county, Sheffield shield, domestic games and the such. Why are we condemned to always be at this level when the reason for it has gone?

Why doesn't the skill which rises on success fall on failure? Why not let people enjoy themselves at whatever level they want. Isn't that the reason for the game when all is said?

It is this and the forced higher skill level that has caused such angst amongst players more than anything else IMHO.

(2) I play computer games for enjoyment. It takes me away from the hum drum realities of life and work. For a few precious moments I can revel in what might have been had I but been blessed with ability rather than cursed with being a plod. It rises me above everything for just the shortest of times. Simply put mostly its magic.

In career mode your game confronts me with the stark reminder that I'm a dufus and simply re-enforces the already held belief that I'm not up to it. Is it truly enjoyable? For many it is laborious and pedantic. Unfortunately the only outcome for many is failure!

All many of us want is the ability to set the difficulty level for the entire career so that we can enjoy what really is the difference between DB14 and all the other games IMHO.

NeiL W

 

[Biggs]

then why doesn't the skill level return to its previous setting when a player returns to the lower skill games

Because higher level cricket is harder than regional level cricket. It's a reflection of that very "step up" to a higher level. You're expected to get better as you "age" in both character and sporting ability. It's a good thing.

You can also set your starting career difficulty to whatever setting you want. So um... yeah.

...unfortunately, Big Ant are unlikely to patch the game to change the "hum drum realities of your life and work".

 

[wildclaws]

You can also set your starting career difficulty to whatever setting you want. So um... yeah.

Well you can, but you can't set your finishing career difficulty to anything lower than Pro. It's not hard for me to imagine that a lot of people find Pro too hard.

Having the difficulty dynamically increase is odd anyway. Normally, difficulty is reflected by the better stats of what you're playing against, rather than reducing the user's timing windows and saying 'ha, now see if you can hit a 4'. I don't think it should be changing 'controls' unless you explicitly ask it to.

 

[Biggs]

Having the difficulty dynamically increase is odd anyway.

Why? It creates longevity in career mode. The more you play, the more you get better at the game and the more career mode expects of you as your avatar in the game "ages". Out of the many nitpicks in the game, having the career mode actively demand you get better as you progress in the game is the most baffling, especially as now you can start nice and easy and work your way up to "Pro" mode, which is an option that is great since I have no desire to play the game any harder than being defined as a "Pro" at it...

I dunno, I just see it as a non-issue. Pro is pretty fun, it's challenging for sure but much improved from the early days and only getting better. Just takes practice and time, if you're intent on smashing career mode into a few weeks and becoming a master at it in a few hours, you've purchased the wrong game. It expects more.

 

[MattW]

I dunno, I just see it as a non-issue.

I think it is an issue because the jump up happens way too early in the career now. The single jump at the time you reach international level pre patch 2 was a good balance - but starting on Pro and being put at Veteran within the first season isn't right. Having to start on a lower difficulty and absolutely slogging it would be equally pointless.

The implementation needs to be much smarter to be of value. I think it should be returned to how it was pre-patch 2, and I'm sure that I'd have made that case if the change was flagged prior to the patch being out.

 

[balkeet]

and what about the career leaderboard points? is it fair that someone started at pro and some at rookie level all get the same career points? shouldn't those who start at rookie be unable to compete for leaderboard like FIFA which has minimum pro difficulty to be on leaderboard.

 

[MattW]

shouldn't those who start at rookie be unable to compete for leaderboard

They are.