1) Where they are appropriate, cheerleaders, ticker tape, celebrations, fireworks, etc.. will be there
2) Cricket has dynamic lighting that has the sun incrementally move, shadows dynamically changing and cloud effects. We want you to feel that you are batting the middle of a cauldren, to feel tingles in your spine when you walk onto the field. The weather and light change in real time (accelerated for short matches), it is cool seeing day turn to night. If there is rain or drizzle the the overs are effected as per the rules of the match...
3) Stamina, Fatigue, Injuries, form, previous innings are very influentual, players need to be managed well.
4) Create players, umpires, teams, matches, tournaments & tours in Cricket Academy (beta already out). Players and teams can be uploaded/downloaded from servers across all platforms
5) Every mode in Cricket has an online option, it is head to head or co-operative (all player controller selection screens have an online selection also). There are also online tournaments. BigAnt does host its own tournaments as well.
6) Most games have a controller select screen that is "local" we have a controller select screen that allows inclusion of players across the internet.
7) Replay system allows you to Place the camera at any player, rewind, forward, super slow mo, amongst other things and you can also upload the replays to youtube/facebook
8) Crowds will vary, as will crowd numbers and related sounds based on what is happening in the match.
9) There no indication on the pitch of where the ball will land, putting a marker on the pitch is bowling done backwards, I am sure every bowler in the world would love to just plant an exact spot on the pitch time after time.... and every batsman would also love a marker of where the ball will land. It's not Cricket, it's dance dance revolution on a joypad.
10) Batting Controls:
Left stick foot placement in the shot.
Right stick controls the bat.
D-pad controls position in the crease.
Variable triggers are used for defensive and aggressive play.
Bumpers are for advancing down the wicket and unorthodox shots.
11) You don't have to use all of the controls... if you do you will play a better game, but it is possible to stand in your crease and just time the ball with the bat alone - the game and control systems are layered to increase the precision as you become more able.
12) You are more likely to be injured if you are fatigued.
13) There are ?Nets? to practice your skills
14) Yeah, there's a button for sledging - it's called a taunt, a pre-try celebration (in your face!!!)
15) We also have animations and plays that are *very* rare to keep the game new and keep you on your toes
16) Manual Appeal system. Appeal too much and the umpire would become unfavorable towards you
17) BigAnt Review System (Similar to DRS)
18) You have the option to walk when you know you have edged it. If you don?t walk enough the umpire may become unfavorable towards you
19) No menus/mini-menus/hud for bowling - they are not required.
20) The game is not playable with keyboard, you need a joypad
21) Tailenders can bat and might connect, as a tail sometimes can, but I wouldn't expect it "regularly".
22) We will record 40+ hours of commentary however the commentary will get boring after a while, I wish I could promise you it wouldn't but unfortunately it always will because of the amount of time the game is played.
23) Rain and bad light can be optionally turned on/off.
24) Confidence and pressure are very important aspects of the game and therfore momentum will play a part. A batsman on fire is hard to stop, as is a bowler, these things have to factor.
25) the type of pitch will influence the deliveries (Hard = Bounce, etc.) And will bowlers be able to use cracks and rough patches to assist with movement. There will be ball wear and tear + Pitch wear and tear
26) You can shine the ball. This is important for getting reverse swing.
27) Injuries play a bigger role in the games of greater length, particularily with tournaments and Career mode. You can expect fatigue to play a part too in addtion to injury. Players need to be managed appropriately.
28) You can save your online matches. Finally you will be able to play online matches beyond 10-20 overs
29) Pitch degredation plays a big part and the ball will be effected. There is also an option to also accelerate the pitch wear for shorter games. Also, the ball will only behave abnormally if it hits a crack on the pitch.
30) The AI can reject the run. The AI could be fatigued and "know" they might get stranded, they make a risk assessment like a human would. There is a tolerance, if it is a close call the the AI would run, but if the AI would clearly have a great chance of being run out then they won't.
31) Yes, the AI will bat and bowl with regard to game type and game context (ie run rate required, deliveries wickets remaining, etc...) - it is a risk/reward balance. In terms of run-rates etc.. they might not reflect the real world as we have compressed games, but we are trying to get it as close as we can.
32) There are lots of different appeal animations that are used depending on the likelihood of a wicket. There are different bowling animations depending on run up length and whether it is spin or pace, but these are reasonably generic sets for each type. The animations are modified at the crease depending on previous motion and according to when and how the ball is released. However, There is no system to assign animation to a particular player
33) It's not always hard to catch the ball... just that you have to actually do it, not just stand there looking at it. There are no "automatic" catches. Leaving your hands where they are is a decision, if the ball is going to hit you square in the guts and that's where your hands are then I would not expect you to drop it - however if you don't move your hands or your timing is bad and the ball is high/low/left/right then there might be an issue. Even the wind affects the ball in flight?so it might not be that easy to position yourself under the ball on a windy day.
34) Players have height/weight attributes that are both noticeable both to the eye and in their effect on gameplay.
35) The rain looks good (in my opinion) and varies in intensity, the rules of the various forms of Cricket have all been included for this event.
36) You can turn off DRS and manual fielding however the game is based and balanced around manual fielding, it should be played that way. We?d rather give people the choice. If you are competent with a controller you will manually field better than the AI will for you. There is a bonus for playing.
37) Game will be playable out of the box with unlicensed national sides.There will be a simple process to replace those national sides with sides/players from the Cricket Academy.The sides that ship with the game will not be deleted, they can always be swapped back in.
38) Our game has been trialled and played by Cricketers from local to first class - they claim its the best mechanism they've ever played, feels natural and gives the outcome they were expecting.
39) There is a full physics system for the bat/ball, it will change it's line but that might be really slight for small edges. You will always get noise from an edge, very small and slight but with noise from the crowd, foot movement, etc.. it could just be in your head too, just like the real thing where you swear it was an edge
40) The control vibrates if there is a nick (if you are playing as the batsman). The idea is that the batsman knows if he snicked it or not - we don't want the fielding side to absolutely know. Afterwards the replays will clearly show what happened. not all edges are in the window when you get a vibration and can decide to walk rather than wait for the appeal
41) If you appeal to much the umpire will get annoyed and is less likely to see things your way.
42) Throwing the ball while fielding is more than a mini-game as there are a lots of variables involved. If you think about accounting for the accuracy you might need (direct to stumps vs keeper vs relay fielder) and how much time you take to consider the throw (quick throws are not as accurate), the attributes of the player throwing, how the player is facing, standing compared to the target of the throw and so on - there are enough variables for it not to be a mere mini-game.
43) Career Mode:
Originally our career mode was to be team/player management based however after a lot of trial and error, and feedback from focus groups, we decided that the career mode needed to be player centric as the team model just wasn?t enough fun for the majority of those who played it. So it's a bit more like "be a pro".
So... here's the bullet points from the game in a raw form:
* You play as One Player - Name Him and Alter his Appearance, give him a nationality and set attributes
* You give your player a Role - batter, bowler, batting all rounder, bowling all rounder
* You start as a 16 year old and go for 20 years
* You are offered Contracts each year with performance related bonuses
* There are 5 Ranks that you must climb - ultimately playing for your International Team
* Skills are increased by playing the game well, or decreased by playing badly, as your skill level increases so will your rank, your rank can also decrease as well.
* Match Types and Lengths of matches increase as your rank increases - with Test Matches only happening in Rank 5
* The game will simulate up until your participation point in any given match, you will also be able to drop in and field as yourself if you wish, or continue to simulate at any time.
* Money you earn is used as a High Score on an Online Leaderboard
* There is also a unique First Person View (as well as 3rd person), we have even integrated Oculus with the PC version and it was awesome, it felt like you were there!!
*You can even play as a WicketKeeper/Batsman in career mode
* You can be invited for special events or county cricket during the off season
* Your created player will auto-age during the career mode. you'll get some height change, attribute changes and if you want appearance changes through the career
* You can be selected as the captain of the side
* If you do not perform well, you would be dropped from the side to a lower one (e.g if you fail to perform in the International side, then you would be dropped and would need to prove your worth again in the domestic matches)
44) Any match types you create can be used online. You can also, use them on tours and for Competitions.
45) Pace Bowling Controls:
These are the main controls for Pace Bowling.
Pre-Bowl
LB/RB button - change between over and around the wicket
X ? Rub/Shine Ball
Pressing Y/B/A will determine a length of the Pitch,
Y being Full,
B being Short and
A being Good ?
this is the range of length you are aiming for. Pressing this will start the bowling run up.
Bowling Phase
Right Analogue Stick DOWN (hold down) - this will make the bowler jump - - you will need to time this well, as it will affect where your bowler plants his front foot.
Too early and that bouncer you wanted to deliver with your 2m tall bowler isn't going to be as effective, too late and you've got yourself a no ball.
Also, the speed you do this will add extra effort to the delivery (albeit at the expense of some stamina)
RAS UP ? This will deliver the ball, when you release it and what position you push to, will determine the ultimate line and length of the delivery inside your original Length Range.
Example:-
if you pressed B for short delivery and then you wait late before pressing RAS UP this will give you the shortest possible delivery with your bowler.
If you push directly up on the RAS your line will be just outside off stump, pushing up to the left or right of that position will affect the line accordingly.
Left Analogue Stick ? Determines how you hold the ball and will affect how the ball moves in the air of off the deck. Depending on the condition of the ball will dictate what you might need to the both LAS and RAS to compensate for movement.
I realise that?s a bit to take in, but we are going to be layering these controls through the difficulties ? so to start with you will be able to deliver fairly good deliveries with just the following.
Press A button to start run up. Pull back on RAS, Push Forward on RAS ? that?s it. Get the timing right and you will deliver a ball at a Good length just outside off stump.
The easier levels will have more basic players, they'll have slower bowl speeds, less swing making them easier to control. But as the levels progress the batsman are better, and as your bowlers get better you need to have better control of swing and also your line and length.
46) Spin bowling Controls:
Unlike pace bowling you choose your line as well as your length before the run up. LAS held up straight will be aiming at offstump, moving it left or right will change the line across the crease. Holding that and then Pressing Y, B, A will determine your length.
As the bowler runs up you rotated the LAS in the direction you want to spin the ball, There is an ideal rotation time to get the most out of your bowler, then the bowler will automatically go into his delivery and you must flick a direction on the RAS to determine the type of delivery, this will give quicker darted in bowls, floating, drifting, wind will play it?s part and working out the condition of the pitch and where you want that ball to land are crucial.
With the differences in bowling controls, it?ll take some practise to switch between the two, there are people in the office that are good and one and not so good at the other.
47) ball gets softer, seam is effected, so everything changes with older ball, including bounce.
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