ok, as JK will release the new video soon, here's a brief run down on the new batting system. Im going to hold back on some of the details in case it gets somehow 'borrowed' by someone else..
The old system was this: You would use the numpad only for doing the stroke - holding down num0 would make the shot a back foot shot otherwise it would default to front foot. You would hold down Num1 to Num9 and it would raise the powerbar. If it fell in the first 'yellow' zone then it would be a defensive stroke in that direction e.g. Num1 in yellow power zone would produce an 'off-block' from a right hander. It would default to a front foot 'off block', where if you also held down Num0 at the same time he would do a back foot 'off-block'. If the powerbar fell in the second 'green' zone then it would produce a cover drive (front or back foot depending on Num0 state), and the 'red' zone would produce a lofted off drive shot.
This meant that just using the numpad keys you could get all the strokes done. Bad side is that the variation in power between the zones was pretty limited e.g. very hard to get the powerbar at the start of the red zone to do a 'softer lofted shot' or 'chip'. Also if you made a mistake and accidentally held down too long it may slip into the next zone and do a completely different shot. At first i thought this was kinda cool, but actually it was unrealistic. A batsman would commit to one stroke and not play another in real life.
Enter the new batting system.
Essentially its the same as before, however instead of the powerbar being in 3 sections/zones that determine which stroke is played, the powerbar now just determines the power of the stroke. The A,S,D keys control the type of stroke, i.e. defensive, ground or lofted. The Numpad keys control the direction (consequently the animation that is played also) and power of the stroke. The left shift key toggles front foot / back foot mode. So as an example, im batting with a right hander - i hold down left shift (leave it down) and the batsman crouches into front foot mode (if i release it he will rise back up to back foot mode) - i then hold down the 'S' key and the Num1 key - the powerbar builds up the longer i hold down the Num1 key. So when it reaches around 70% i let go and he does a nice coverdrive, aiming for 70% power, assuming maximum is a blast for 4!
Why would i not want to try for 100% power?? Because the more power you put in, the more chance of mishitting the ball. Its much safer to try and work the ball for 1s and 2s than blast 4s every ball. Then when you get into lofted shots the chance of mishits increases even more, and more again when more power is attempted. Everything is also compared to stats as well, so a great batsman will have more chance of risking hitting things for 4 more often.
Well, hope that all kind of makes sense. Thats a basic rundown. Watch the video and try to get a gist of it. Sounds a bit complicated but actually much better to use and more intuitive and efficient - also just has a better, more realistic feel.
LM
