Alberts
International Coach
- Joined
- Apr 4, 2014
- Online Cricket Games Owned
As said by Big Ant in general about how they would address balance issues, we should wait for the dust to settle a bit, people to get good time in before discussing potential changes too seriously. With 11 days of the game being out, now is as good a time as ever to start seriously discussing any balance issues with the game and make sure they are all together in one place. Note that this isn't about specific bugs, that is the odd strange BARS call, jumpy animation or such, but rather the balance of various parts of the game.
The obvious starting place is of course the fielding, but this is apparently being fixed with the next part, and as such should probably be left out of the discussion until the patch comes. This also including the run out issues with the AI and as such shall be left out of this discussion for the time being. So where does that leave us. I'd suggest that there are a few classes of problem remaining in the game. The first set is to do with the physical side of the game:
1. Bowlers lose speed far too quickly and struggle to maintain their speed after 4-5 overs
2. Bowlers fail to recover over breaks and in particular over the night in Test matches
3. Some have reported that even on a dust bowl they can't get the amount of spin they feel should be there, although I have not experienced this myself
Beyond this is one of the harder sides of the game to change, the overall balance of the AI. We should all understand how delicate a balancing act this is, and it is worth remembering that if Big Ant decides that any of the following are worth trying to fix, it could take a long time to make, test and get to us:
1. AI batsmen tend to throw the bat at good balls too often, resulting in an over occurrence of LBW and bowled dismissals
2. Despite this they tend not to edge the ball so much, seemingly middling the ball or completely missing it. They do edge it sometimes, but even setting up to take edges it is unlikely to make up more than 1-2 dismissals out of ten (and most of the time 0-1), when it should rightfully average around 4-5. This issue seems to be linked to the above
3. The AI is also a bit silly when dealing with bad balls, tending to go too hard at it, which can result in strange dismissals from being bowled or hitting it straight to waiting fielders when a bowler like Johnson messes up and bowls around 88 kmph.
4. The combination of the above 3 issues seems to make AI batting seem quite frail in many cases, with them being able to be bowled out for under 100 quite consistently at least on pro, but also reported on higher difficulties
5. In terms of bowling the AI also tends to favour the leg side a bit much, giving the player easy runs playing off their legs. The AI generally fails to respond quick enough to this either
Stating points like that may seem like a lot of negatives, but at this point if that is the whole set of issues, this game is doing magnificently (again, leaving out the fielding issues, as they are reported to be fixed in the upcoming patch). It is also worth noting, especially on the edges front that it doesn't seem to be an issue with the physics engine, as human players can and do tend to be out from edges quite often (probably about the right amount when I'm playing). It seems the edge issue is to do with how the AI play, not with how the physics engine works.
Overall it is a very good game, and very refreshing in the market, but not the key is the polish that turns it from a very solid title into a great one.
The obvious starting place is of course the fielding, but this is apparently being fixed with the next part, and as such should probably be left out of the discussion until the patch comes. This also including the run out issues with the AI and as such shall be left out of this discussion for the time being. So where does that leave us. I'd suggest that there are a few classes of problem remaining in the game. The first set is to do with the physical side of the game:
1. Bowlers lose speed far too quickly and struggle to maintain their speed after 4-5 overs
2. Bowlers fail to recover over breaks and in particular over the night in Test matches
3. Some have reported that even on a dust bowl they can't get the amount of spin they feel should be there, although I have not experienced this myself
Beyond this is one of the harder sides of the game to change, the overall balance of the AI. We should all understand how delicate a balancing act this is, and it is worth remembering that if Big Ant decides that any of the following are worth trying to fix, it could take a long time to make, test and get to us:
1. AI batsmen tend to throw the bat at good balls too often, resulting in an over occurrence of LBW and bowled dismissals
2. Despite this they tend not to edge the ball so much, seemingly middling the ball or completely missing it. They do edge it sometimes, but even setting up to take edges it is unlikely to make up more than 1-2 dismissals out of ten (and most of the time 0-1), when it should rightfully average around 4-5. This issue seems to be linked to the above
3. The AI is also a bit silly when dealing with bad balls, tending to go too hard at it, which can result in strange dismissals from being bowled or hitting it straight to waiting fielders when a bowler like Johnson messes up and bowls around 88 kmph.
4. The combination of the above 3 issues seems to make AI batting seem quite frail in many cases, with them being able to be bowled out for under 100 quite consistently at least on pro, but also reported on higher difficulties
5. In terms of bowling the AI also tends to favour the leg side a bit much, giving the player easy runs playing off their legs. The AI generally fails to respond quick enough to this either
Stating points like that may seem like a lot of negatives, but at this point if that is the whole set of issues, this game is doing magnificently (again, leaving out the fielding issues, as they are reported to be fixed in the upcoming patch). It is also worth noting, especially on the edges front that it doesn't seem to be an issue with the physics engine, as human players can and do tend to be out from edges quite often (probably about the right amount when I'm playing). It seems the edge issue is to do with how the AI play, not with how the physics engine works.
Overall it is a very good game, and very refreshing in the market, but not the key is the polish that turns it from a very solid title into a great one.
