PC version 1.20.1 released

[Markkkkk]

Is anyone able to comment on the infuriatingly cheap wickets in tests where the AI chips it to mid on / off?

Trust me, A LOT of people have commented on that...

 

[ChaoticReality]

Playing a tour (Aus in Eng 2015) started before the latest minor updates (might even have still been 1.15.x) and I've just finished the test matches. Moving onto the one dayers, I am having problems changing the team. Opening the competition is ok and moving onto the first match selection team. I press Left to join England and then select the Lineup option. However, as soon as I then press either left or right to change the team away from the Test lineup, I have an instant crash to desktop.

This is repeatable every time I try and change the lineup, but only for England. I am able to select any of the Australian lineups, either after "accepting" England with the Test lineup or choosing Australia first in the team selection. Either way round, I get the crash when trying to change the England lineup.

I don't know if this is a known bug or not? Let me know if I can provide more info or if posting a video would be helpful

 

[kamyFC]

Trust me, A LOT of people have commented on that...

This ruins the gameplay so much in Tests

 

[cooks1st100]

This ruins the gameplay so much in Tests

True dat! On soft pitches it's an absolute nightmare.

 

[whiteninness]

Can you get around this by simply playing on hard pitches?

My main criticism with bowling in this game is that you don't feel like you earn your wickets. You simply keep putting the ball in a decent spot and eventually the batsmen will get themselves out.

This is in contrast to batting where you really have to earn every run and that makes it fantastic.

 

[shan111]

Can you get around this by simply playing on hard pitches?

My main criticism with bowling in this game is that you don't feel like you earn your wickets. You simply keep putting the ball in a decent spot and eventually the batsmen will get themselves out.

This is in contrast to batting where you really have to earn every run and that makes it fantastic.

Couldn't agree with you more. The bowling has become so frustrating for me now that I've almost stopped bowling altogether. I just simply bowl in Practice Match to keep my bowling skills intact. Also because in Practice Match, the bowling actually is rewarding unlike in real matches above Pro Difficulty.

On the other hand, the batting, especially in a Test match at Veteran difficulty on either a Green Pitch or Dusty, Crumbly pitch is difficult yet rewarding. Even scoring 30-40 runs patiently, gives such a sense of accomplishment and joy. This is one aspect, amongst many other, which can't be matched by any other cricket games available till now.

I'm hoping and patiently waiting for the day when @BigAntStudios will release an AI batting tweak which will fix that dreaded cut shot and a bowling tweak which will eventually make the bowling experience much like that of Practice Match/Matches played on Pro difficulty.

 

[cooks1st100]

Can you get around this by simply playing on hard pitches?

My main criticism with bowling in this game is that you don't feel like you earn your wickets. You simply keep putting the ball in a decent spot and eventually the batsmen will get themselves out.

This is in contrast to batting where you really have to earn every run and that makes it fantastic.

You can't get around it but it makes it slightly more bearable.

I agree to a certain extent in regards to earning wickets, it's so annoying to me when a batsman just throws his wicket away completely out of the blue. But there are times when I do feel that I have forced a wicket. Last night I was bowling around the wicket to a left hander, and I had 3 deliveries in a row that beat the bat the bat and were missing the top of off by just a fraction. The next ball I changed the angle and bowled just a touch fuller and took out off-stump!

I've also become very good at setting batsmen up for yorkers and what is great about the game is that it won't always result in a wicket. But again, what completely ruins it is when the batsman plays a cut-shot to it when it's going down leg!!

The constant swinging on-drive against the spinners is annoying too, they just keep playing it and eventually one goes straight to mid-on.

There needs to be far more shots that keep the ball on the ground.

 

[blockerdave]

there is definitely a huge and frustrating disconnect between the batting and bowling experiences.

part of the issue appears to be the AI propensity to play double-trigger shots... it's a basic fault in the game that aggressive shots have much less risk of edging but it appears to be deliberate in order for the AI to exploit it so it doesn't edge. what needs to happen is the AI must play at least 25% of its attacking shots as non-trigger, with the same edge probability as human players, alongside a proportionate reduction of the aerial shots to reduce the holing out issue and a complete elimination of the late cut shot to any ball on a full length.

I think the biggest problem is Big Ant have confused a competitive AI with a balanced AI, and confused getting wickets at reasonable intervals with getting wickets in a satisfactory manner. I'd take an AI that was all out for 500 in 100+ overs with the majority of wickets being realistic "earned" dismissals over an AI that hits 350 all out in 70 overs but the majority of wickets were gifted. Unfortunately it's likely too late for this iteration to improve significantly, but hopefully @MattW being on staff will improve things for the next iteration because he definitely "gets" the problem.

 

[Dutch]

A

hopefully @MattW being on staff will improve things for the next iteration because he definitely "gets" the problem.

And he is a bowler more than a batter, which is a good thing too

 

[cooks1st100]

there is definitely a huge and frustrating disconnect between the batting and bowling experiences.

part of the issue appears to be the AI propensity to play double-trigger shots... it's a basic fault in the game that aggressive shots have much less risk of edging but it appears to be deliberate in order for the AI to exploit it so it doesn't edge. what needs to happen is the AI must play at least 25% of its attacking shots as non-trigger, with the same edge probability as human players, alongside a proportionate reduction of the aerial shots to reduce the holing out issue and a complete elimination of the late cut shot to any ball on a full length.

Completely agree. It's frustrating because the way I see it the game is two issue fixes away from giving a great bowling experience. Less double trigger shots and an appropriately played cut. If these 2 were sorted the amount of cheap wickets would decrease and the edges should increase.

 

[Wealey]

I just dont understand why noone in the know talks about it?

The game is the nuts as far as im concerned and if the changes were too difficult to inplement at this stage then totally understand, but would be cool to know that!

 

[MattW]

The game is the nuts as far as im concerned and if the changes were too difficult to inplement at this stage then totally understand, but would be cool to know that!

Probably not too difficult - but more that they couldn't get the amount of thorough testing that would be needed. Large gameplay changes late on seem to always introduce more issues than they resolve, and to not keep those on consoles waiting forever, you can't give it that time.

The worst thing at this point would be a late change turning up an exploit a few months later once the patch is on consoles and people might be stuck with for a long while for a patch or until the next edition - I think on balance the current build on PC is stable - just enough AI running aggression to bring back the runouts that were gone for a while and I think edges are improved. Plus, I quite like the extra shots that have snuck in, even if I can't do the lofted sweep ever.

 

[Gamer Pradosh]

@MattW Are edges for legend difficulty being taken care of for the patch??

 

[blockerdave]

I think edges are improved.

Agree with most of what you've said but couldn't disagree with this part more strongly.

From the bowling to AI perspective I've noticed no positive change in edges: generally they seem to occur at the same frequency as before but now go to the keeper rather than slips by a higher margin than previously.

I also think there has been enough time in this process to have tried some of these suggested changes in beta: the play hours they'd have got in testing would have been enormous.

I love this game, I appreciate beyond all measure the improvements Big Ant have made and their commitment to improving based on listening up their customers: be it in AI field sets, adding lofted sweep/square drive etc. but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little disappointed at the lack of improvements in AI batting beyond running & chasing in limited overs. I get that resources are finite and couldn't fix/change everything, but there is a significant amount of people here who have been complaining about the bowling pretty much since day one, and I do think we've got less loving than some other constituencies.

At the end of the day, this is still a game from which I've more than got my money's worth and got great enjoyment from, but equally I think it's disappointing that it doesn't give you the full experience of this wonderful sport: the bowling is simply not an engaging experience and doesn't fully reward you as the batting can.

 

[The_Pharoah]

I'm really enjoying the latest patches and stuff but whats annoying me is the constantly bowling around the wicket and I notice (on Legend) that if I try ANY sort of straight or cover drive = nick and caught (or bounces in front of the keeper). Must be just me but my wagon wheel is predominantly leg side which is silly. (I'm on level 3 batsman btw so thats got to count for something). Otherwise, single player career wise, its really good and much more polished.

Now to get my grubby hands on that pesky little RLL 3 game they just announced!