TAOC Discussion

[Pat]

The alpha 0.1 is going to be pretty awesome, I really hope people like it.

Be warned though, the graphics will suck bad. That's ok though, they are going to be overhauled by the time of the FULL Alpha release. The thing that kicks the most @ss in this release is the physics. Pretty sure you guys will enjoy it despite the poor graphics and roughness. Bound to be a few bugs too, but deadlines are deadlines!

There's only a limited number of strokes available in this release, but I hope that people will have a decent play and get to see the cool variety in the strokes and physics, including pad hits and stuff. Also try out the bowling system, with swing, seam, spin, drift, flight, etc. We're very proud of the bowling and batting system.

One question:
Alpha 1 will have only feature a pace bowler, correct ? Wondering how we can try out spin/drift! Also in the interview it was mentioned that Alpha 3 will have everything - as in -all strokes, bowling options, fielders,wk, umpires. But I also read that alpha 3 will feature net practise (only?)! How do the fielders come into picture then?

 

[legend_master]

So sorry for all the delays everyone....it's finally here!

http://www.planetcricket.org/forums/art-cricket-forum/here-finally-alpha-0-1-released-72977.html

Download....NOW!

 

[legend_master]

One question:
Alpha 1 will have only feature a pace bowler, correct ? Wondering how we can try out spin/drift! Also in the interview it was mentioned that Alpha 3 will have everything - as in -all strokes, bowling options, fielders,wk, umpires. But I also read that alpha 3 will feature net practise (only?)! How do the fielders come into picture then?

Once all the CORE Gameplay is done (which can be evidenced in the final alpha) fielders and everything will be added in. There's no point in us putting in fielders and moving on until the core stuff is just right. All about getting the most solid foundation.

Don't get me wrong though, there's still plenty of very important stuff to do after the full alpha (AI, wicky, fielders, umpires etc) but the alpha was always going to be limited in scope simply to the core batting and bowling mechanics.

LM

 

[saiyaman]

I have a suggestion regarding the no-ball "feature" ():

How about we define the pace earlier and then when the bowler nears the crease, have a meter pop up which shows something like a timing meter. If you get the timing right, you won't bowl a no-ball and your accuracy will be 100%(according to that bowler's stat). If not, accuracy will be totally random and you MAY bowl a no-ball.

For example like you spoke about consistency about how McGrath will bowl more deliveries in the right place.

Let's just say McGrath has a overall accuracy of 90% and Lee has a overall accuracy of 70% in the game.

Now if you manage to time the meter right, both will bowl at their specified accuracy. Or else, McGrath's accuracy can even drop to an abysmal 70% and it might even become a no-ball.

I hope I haven't confused you guys with this.

EDIT: With this, you can even make it a bit realistic like calling the bowler "Delivery animation" according to the timing selected by the user so graphically it can be shown as well.

 

[shravi]

How about you have a meter as you approach the crease. If you go above the center, you overpitch by a little bit because you're stepping further than you intended. If you go below the center, then you bowl a little shorter than you intended as you have landed behind where you intended. There should be a red zone on the top and the bottom which would be a no ball.

NO BALL
FULLER
PERFECT
SHORTER
NO BALL

The ball will also come on a little faster to the batsmen in the "fuller" region as you are stepping further forward. If it is in the "shorter" region then it would come a little slower to the batsman as you aren't using the crease properly

 

[MuchMore]

How about you have a meter as you approach the crease. If you go above the center, you overpitch by a little bit because you're stepping further than you intended. If you go below the center, then you bowl a little shorter than you intended as you have landed behind where you intended. There should be a red zone on the top and the bottom which would be a no ball.

NO BALL
FULLER
PERFECT
SHORTER
NO BALL

The ball will also come on a little faster to the batsmen in the "fuller" region as you are stepping further forward. If it is in the "shorter" region then it would come a little slower to the batsman as you aren't using the crease properly

+1

Makes sense to me. One change I would like to make in this approach is: No ball should only be at one end. The idea is to bring in the risk factor only when you are going for the incentive(?) and there should be a way to play it safe (press as soon as the bar starts).

(?) - We need to decide on what the incentive will be.

 

[Munkeymomo]

The only problem I have with those ideas is that a bouncer would be slower than a yorker, which is not always the case, if you enjoy bowling short, fast chin music then you could feela little short changed. Plus, with the whole no ball - fuller - perfect - shorter - no ball idea you would need a second bar to decide bowling speed. Which may be a better idea, to have 2 meters one for speed, one for accuracy. That would give you fast bouncers. However 2 meters could be a bit tedious after awhile. The quest for the perfect mechanism continues.

 

[shravi]

The only problem I have with those ideas is that a bouncer would be slower than a yorker, which is not always the case, if you enjoy bowling short, fast chin music then you could feela little short changed. Plus, with the whole no ball - fuller - perfect - shorter - no ball idea you would need a second bar to decide bowling speed. Which may be a better idea, to have 2 meters one for speed, one for accuracy. That would give you fast bouncers. However 2 meters could be a bit tedious after awhile. The quest for the perfect mechanism continues.

It wouldn't off-set it by so much that a good length ball becomes a bouncer. It would be relative, obviously. The changes in length would be minimal, yet noticeable and significant. If you intend to bowl a bouncer, then it will be a bouncer, just that it could be shorter or fuller than you intended it to be. If it's shorter, it because you didn't step far enough forward- it will take longer to reach the batsman even though the speed at release is the same. If it's fuller then you intended it to be it's because you overstepped by further than you intended and so it may come on a little faster to the batsman but the height at which it reaches the batsman may be a little bit more manageable.

 

[deepuparayil]

No-Ball Meter


NOBALL
FASTEST
FAST
NORMAL
NOBALL
NORMAL
MEDIUM
SLOW
NOBALL


Pitching of ball will be decided by the bowler accuracy stats.If bowler is trying to bowl a good length ball and speed is in the fastest range then there is a high chance for that ball to be a full length ball according to bowler accuracy stats.Viceversa, if bowler trying to bowl slightly shorter side of good length it will be a short ball etc.

Exact idea is if the ball is in normal speed zone then it will pitch in the exact position the bowler intend it to to be, other wise line and length varies slightly .The risk of trying to produce a perfect ball is the no-ball zone in the middle which must be smaller than the no-ball zones in the top and bottom.

If LM can tweak this mechanism slightly it can make the bowling more real.

 

[Munkeymomo]

I get what you mean now sorry, yeah I was a bit tired reading this last night. So balls aren't faster in you try to bowl them fuller but it you get the delivery in the full area of the bar, yup, sorry, being dumb.

I really like that, sounds like a great idea.

 

[cain21]

Another suggestion I had was if you could include something like temperament and sledging: How this would work is the fielding side would have an option to sledge and play aggressively, which would happen only if their bowler's confidence is high. On the other hand, depending on the batsman's confidence and temperament, he may end up getting rattled and make mistakes OR rise to the challenge and dispatch the bowler to all ends...will add some realism..
Also, make the fielders on the boundary at least try harder to stop the ball by diving, etc. Not seen any diving by fielders on the boundary in either the EA Games or those by Codies...

 

[shravi]

No-Ball Meter


NOBALL
FASTEST
FAST
NORMAL
NOBALL
NORMAL
MEDIUM
SLOW
NOBALL


Pitching of ball will be decided by the bowler accuracy stats.If bowler is trying to bowl a good length ball and speed is in the fastest range then there is a high chance for that ball to be a full length ball according to bowler accuracy stats.Viceversa, if bowler trying to bowl slightly shorter side of good length it will be a short ball etc.

Exact idea is if the ball is in normal speed zone then it will pitch in the exact position the bowler intend it to to be, other wise line and length varies slightly .The risk of trying to produce a perfect ball is the no-ball zone in the middle which must be smaller than the no-ball zones in the top and bottom.

If LM can tweak this mechanism slightly it can make the bowling more real.

But there is no real difference between your idea and what is currently in place in cricket games. Trying to bowl faster doesn't automatically mean that you pitch it fuller. Also, the no ball idea in the middle of the bar is not intuitive, and nor does it represent the nuances of bowling very well. It's just not a risk you run in real life (missing normal and bowling a no ball). You generally just fall slightly off target.

----------

I get what you mean now sorry, yeah I was a bit tired reading this last night. So balls aren't faster in you try to bowl them fuller but it you get the delivery in the full area of the bar, yup, sorry, being dumb.

I really like that, sounds like a great idea.

Yup, and there is still a speedometer. The no ball is the second mini-game in addition to trying to bowl at the speed you want.

 

[deepuparayil]

But there is no real difference between your idea and what is currently in place in cricket games. Trying to bowl faster doesn't automatically mean that you pitch it fuller. Also, the no ball idea in the middle of the bar is not intuitive, and nor does it represent the nuances of bowling very well. It's just not a risk you run in real life (missing normal and bowling a no ball). You generally just fall slightly off target.

In real, mostly no-ball happen accidentally. Something we can't predict when will happen. That accidental nature is not there in the current speedometer and the one suggested by you. I think a very small no-ball section at the middle will some what bring this accidental nature to the game.Also with no-ball meter suggested by you, we need a separate meter for speed.

I didn't say trying to bowl faster automatically mean that you pitch it fuller. But what I did said was, if you are trying to bowl a good length ball as fast as possible, there is chance that the ball will be more fuller and ended up as a slightly fuller length ball than the bowler intended if his accuracy stats are low. Like that if you are trying to ball in the lower end of the good length zone very fast, there is a chance that you end up bowling a shorter ball than you intended if accuracy is low. If the bowler has Mcgrath's or Joel Garner's accuracy stats, then he can pitch the ball any where he wanted with the maximum speed possible for him. In both case case of trying to ball faster and trying to bowl slower, bowler will depart from his natural rythm (you understand it if you are a bowler) and it really affect a bowlers accuracy.

For a low accuracy bowler if he needs to bowl a perfect ball he needs to bowl at his normal speed(there fore no change in his bowling rythm). As far as I know speed variations in current TAOC is a very good tactic to fool batsman and it really makes batting harder. Then why don't make bowling also a little bit harder. Currently it is a piece of cake to bowl slow ,fast or normal balls, so bowler can run all over batsman by speed and delivery variations and there is no risk for a bowler while try to bowl a fast, slow or normal delivery. By introducing no-balls zones for fast,slow and normal deliveries the bowler also need to bowl very carefully and in addition to the no-ball zones speed determines accuracy also bring some difficulty for the bowler.

I'm also not sure about no-ball zone at the middle idea, but I think it will bring some accidentality in to bowling no-balls.

Another idea is to increase or decrease the size of the no-ball zones according to accuracy or some other stats of the bowler. That is smaller no-ball zones for great bowlers or larger no-ball zones for part-timers(so they need to bowl more carefully).

I don't know a perfect solution for no-balls, but this is closest one that I know.

Any other good suggestions or ideas are welcome.

 

[legend_master]

I actually have a great idea for no balls which I'll write about tomorrow

Right now I wanted to announce that Nabeel and Appu are doing some 3D modelling for us again. They are currently working on stadiums with some superb progress.

Expect more on this to come.

LM

 

[deepuparayil]

I actually have a great idea for no balls which I'll write about tomorrow



LM

I believe you, LM. Even with out knowing, I know it will be a great Idea.