This is a copy of a post I posted in a different forum. It is long but that is only to compensate for the size of my penis..........
As a fan of cricket games and of cricket since Lord knows when the perfect game for me would encompass the following things. I have divided them into four categories; bowling, batting, fielding and general. As my little list shows I am not really concerned about visuals in a graphics sense, more in a "it feels like I am in a challenging game" sense that is absorbing and causing me to think a bit about what to do.
Bowling
a. The ball reacting to different atmospheric and physical conditions. If it is cloudy it is different than when the sun is shining. It is different under daylight or floodlights. It would be fantastic if weather was dynamic, changing a number of times over a day. That would add such drama to especially longer game formats.
b. Rather than just pressing a button to determine swing etcetra, why not a more subtle system of holding several buttons or the throttle switches in just the right way to hold the ball in the right grasp. Much in the line of how Fifa does this in its skilled moves mechanism. Sorry to keep saying Fifa, but it is the benchmark. Again the ball would react differently depending on bowlers skills and the things mentioned in a.
c. A much more varied pitch map which had different spots where it was good to bowl not just a fixed area like now. This would mean that you would have to find out each time where the right length and line was on this kind of pitch under these circumstances. Again this would vary according to circumstances and as conditions change as the game goes on.
d. The ball getting out of shape, scuffed, having to be looked after. A ball that is well looked after behaves differently than one that has been slogged to the fence over the last three overs. Some kind of interactive mechanism of looking after the ball as a bowling side.
e. For beginners and such you could have a kind of racing line, a ghost line showing you where to aim at in your delivery, to get the ball to follow that arc and that line. Would add a new real of interactivity to the proceedings, especially set in a net environment. This would radically change the whole approach to the bowling side of things for the emphasis would come on at which point do I release the ball rather than pointing to a point of the pitch to aim at. The whole timing of the arm movement and the release from the hand is what determines where the ball ends up. Instead of the ball being sucked towards a magnet in the pitch the ball will go in the direction, speed and length determined by how well I release and time the ball.
f. Bouncers that are really dangerous, balls beating the bat, bouncing off the gloves, the bat handle, thumping into the pads, the unpredictability that a ball offers when travelling at that speed, hitting a crack, a piece of moving wood, a motionless object.
g. No balls should not be determined by how late I release the ball, but by the point at which I place my foot down. This means as a bowler I have two main concerns, where do I start my final stride and when do I release the ball. These two things combined would make bowling much more challenging. Of course for more arcadey players there can be easier options. This is hardcore but so much more fun me thinks.
Batting
a. I loved the intuitive feel of batting in IC2010. That was a good platform. The one thing I would like to see worked on is more variation not only in shot choices but a more subtle mechanism that again took into account the angle of the bat, which part of the bat it hits etc, whether I play with soft or hard hands as it were, being able to twist the bat in the hand to nudge that ball down to fine leg or third man or nurdle it into a little gap, with all the risk involved. The twisting of the bat on its axis is what determines whether a ball will go along the ground or in the air. If I dont get it right it can end up anywhere. Essentially the difference between whether the ball goes in the air or not by say a pull or a hook shot, is in the angle of the bat lying on its axis as it were. Why not use one of the throttle switches (I am thinking PS 3 here) to twist the bat as the shot is played. This will make shot selection and playing so much more challenging and get rid of the horrible lofted shot syndrome that bugged IC 2010, especially online. Again you could have a scaled difficulty allowing easier mechanisms for different end users.
b. Certain players only being able to play certain shots. A top order batsman has a different arsenal at his disposal than a last man rabbit.
c. Solid, defensive play being rewarded as well as attacking play. If I am scraping my team home in a nerve jangling effort to hang onto the draw it should be just as fun and appreciated as a slog fest in a Twenty20 superover. But it needs to be hard. I need to be at my upmost concentration as the fastbowlers strain every muscle in knockng me out.
Fielding
a. This is the biggy as far as I am concerned and no game has captured it at all well. Think of those magnificent moments we watch at the ground or on the telly.....the mindboggling catches, the athletic leaps, the desperate lunges, the millisecond reactive catches, the rolling over the ropes, the fumbles, the misfields the incredible pick-up and throws. Why isnt that part of a cricket game. Surely there are ways to make fielding more enjoyable, exciting, interactive and above all gamechangingly effective. Remember the Ponting run out by Flintoff in the 2009 Ashes series. Out of the blue the whole dynamic changed by one simple moment of magic. That should be in a cricket game that says it is realistic.
b. Fielders who care about what they are doing and want to stop that ball.
c. Fielders working in pairs to stop and throw the ball in.
d. Tight, tight singles, scraping home by the skin of a gnats knicker elastic.
e. Intelligent, dynamic tactics, constantly changing,looking to put pressure on the batsman, exploit weaknesses, contain aggression, invite catches etcetera.
The Rest
a. Net practice and training and learning about the game.
b. High amount of editability allows users to fashion the game to their liking.
c. Interesting and varied challenges, competitions and series. I would love to see full scale tours in this game!
d. Solid and realistic online play that really works. Online Fifa games are breathtakingly absorbing so it can be done.
e. Stats, stats, stats, stats, baked beans, stats and stats!
f. The ability to configure the controller to my liking
g. Fresh, fun and absorbing commentary and punditry.
h. Stats and more stats.
i. Weather reports, pitch reports, player profiles.
j. Statistics.
k. Did I mention statistics yet, especially those that are carried over across series, seasons, careers!
l. Referals, including Snicko, Hotspot and the like.
Fifa is a brilliant game and succeeds in so many ways. Take the skilled moves. To able to do these moves effectively in a game I have to practice them to get the process and especially timing right. But the joy, utter joy and satisfaction when you start to get it. Why cannot this be done for a cricket game. Imagine a frontfoot drive. How much goes into that to get that right, to be on the right side of the fine line between absolute poetry and a disaster? Where do I place my foot, how do I hold my bat, when do I step forward, how high is my elbow, etc, etc. All these things go into creating the shot just like all the things going into dribbling around a defender in a tight corner. Surely there are possibilities here to adapt that kind of control and innovation to cricket?
There are many more things but my fingers are tired and I wonder if anyone will read it all anyway. Thanks for the opportunity to give my tuppence worth and I hope to get some feedback even if just to say "not possible". Then I will at least know that you guys are serious about listening to fans and I might add, players of the game.
