Getofmeland's Review of Rugby World Cup 2011

[nato]

Sounds excellent, i was going to ask a few questions but it seems they were already answered. It sounds marvellous

 

[HB_AJ]

I have to say I was initially very shocked to hear that you don't appear to have any control over the quantity of players who join the ruck, but it certainly does sound good being able to choose between pulling forwards, the nearest players or just leaving it balanced.

Totally understand and it may prove to be controversial with some. Ultimately though, if we want to preserve the ability to produce quick ball while giving an element of contest to the breakdown, this turned out to be the best approach.

As you know, in previous incarnations, your interaction at the breakdown was principally deciding how many players to add to the ruck. The system would then compare the relative stats of the players who had been added to determine the outcome. That's an over-simplification, but captures the heart of it. What we found was that users instinct was to repeatedly press x to add as many players to the ruck as soon as possible. Now there's slightly more thought and caution required when pressing x following the tackle.

We'd prototyped different players being added to the ruck, counter rucking, etc, but in the end this gave us the best balance of risk/reward and quick ball.

You will commit the same number of players on both sides of the contest. In that small window of interactivity following the tackle, there isn't enough time to select how many players you're going to commit and then to decide on the intensity with which you are going to contest the ruck. As soon as we bring both elements into play, we either slow down the production of ball to start the next phase of play, or we have to create controls of such complexity, that it all becomes inaccessible and stops being as fun.

The other thing that comes into play is that by forcing you to commit players to the breakdown on defense, you will have to work harder to stop line breaks, especially around the ruck. It's how we've chosen to balance the way the game plays.

 

[Getofmeland]

Thanks Alastair for your help here, very much appreciated

 

[dangandan]

So there is no possibility of being able to slow down play like say if you were Scotland or a team that plays 10 man rugby? Can we not kill the ball to gather enough time for the defense to set up? This is what i'm assuming if the general idea for this game is to just have quick ball all the time.

 

[HB_AJ]

thanks for answering my question but i hope u can answer 1 more...if you have a really strong and powerful player like sonny bill williams, will he break tackle after tackle when he has the ball plus will his offload be like the 1 he does in real life??

keep the good work up HB

As you no doubt know, SBW will not be in the game due to licensing restrictions. That being said, I have seen players break tackle after tackle in our game and one of the things I love about our game is the emergence of amazing passages of play that flow from the creativity of those who have mastered the attacking options in the game. The more attacking options we're able to add, the more surprising and delightful those passages of play are becoming.

 

[HB_AJ]

So there is no possibility of being able to slow down play like say if you were Scotland or a team that plays 10 man rugby? Can we not kill the ball to gather enough time for the defense to set up? This is what i'm assuming if the general idea for this game is to just have quick ball all the time.

Once that lock appears with the check mark, you have secured possession and can now focus on organizing yourself for the next phase of play. You can't wait forever, though as you'll get whistled down if you delay in producing the ball from the back of the ruck.

 

[HB_AJ]

I really like the sound of the new pick up and go!

Also, if you pick up and go with a stronger player such as a prop for instance, in a similar scenario would they travel further with the ball, or break the defence more than what a Scrum Half would?

Thanks

It's going to depend on whom he comes up against on defence. Also a SH will likely have more pace than the prop.

 

[spies8]

As you no doubt know, SBW will not be in the game due to licensing restrictions. That being said, I have seen players break tackle after tackle in our game and one of the things I love about our game is the emergence of amazing passages of play that flow from the creativity of those who have mastered the attacking options in the game. The more attacking options we're able to add, the more surprising and delightful those passages of play are becoming.[/QU

I really appreciate that you have taken time to answer these questions. Every day i am learning more about what the game will have in store for us. I hope we there is more news planed for next week because i can not get enouh of this game but 1 thing i do not understand is the player name editor and pplayer likeness. Can you explain this to me fully please.

 

[OnTheBall]

Does passing operate like previous games i.e. tap button to pass to next player, hold button to skip a player, or is it possible to perform longer/more varied passes?

 

[HB_AJ]

1 thing i do not understand is the player name editor and pplayer likeness. Can you explain this to me fully please.

Each nation has a roster of 30 players. With our editing options you can edit all skills, attributes and special abilities as well as first and last name of the players in those 30 slots. You cannot edit or create new likenesses for these players. We have made a commitment to the unions who are not licensed in the game that we would not take the **** by creating players like Mike Gateau and Don Charter or creating clever workarounds to get around the fact that we don't have the right to represent their IP in the game.

You'll have the ability to fully edit the players who are in the game and update rosters with any late changes to the side - there will undoubtedly be injuries or late decisions between now and the end of the tournament in October.

Be warned though, making changes to the skills and attributes of players will have a noticeable affect on how the balance of how the game plays. You guys will now however, have the ability to tune that balance somewhat though tweaks to these player stats, skills and abilities and then compare notes on what you find.

 

[HB_AJ]

Thanks Alastair for your help here, very much appreciated

Thanks for posting your feedback on the game! Sorry for hijacking your thread. ;-)

 

[nathan-cymru]

Im hoping there'll be a "Barry Phill Williamson" on there who looks like and has the abilities of SBW, and we can just change the name ourselves

 

[HB_AJ]

Does passing operate like previous games i.e. tap button to pass to next player, hold button to skip a player, or is it possible to perform longer/more varied passes?

We have taken the same approach to passing controls in this game, though you will find that as this is built on new tech there will be subtle differences in how passes are made when using those same controls.

 

[nathan-cymru]

bugger.. didnt see alastairs last comment - no barry phill williamson <_<

 

[HB_AJ]

Im hoping there'll be a "Barry Phill Williamson" on there who looks like and has the abilities of SBW, and we can just change the name ourselves

That would be taking the ****. See post #50.

 

[Getofmeland]

Thanks for posting your feedback on the game! Sorry for hijacking your thread. ;-)

Well as you have hijacked my thread, I think you should fly me over to Canada to play the game for the next couple of months ;-)

 

[HB_AJ]

Well as you have hijacked my thread, I think you should fly me over to Canada to play the game for the next couple of months ;-)

OK - I'm going to sign off now and you guys can get back to asking TRF_Getofmeland his impressions of the game... he's one of the very few who have had hands on time with the game so he'll be able to give you some good insights beyond my descriptions of how things work and why.

Thanks guys,
A.

 

[dangandan]

Once that lock appears with the check mark, you have secured possession and can now focus on organizing yourself for the next phase of play. You can't wait forever, though as you'll get whistled down if you delay in producing the ball from the back of the ruck.

So you can't slow down ball to reorganise the defense? It sounds like "secure possession" means having to turn over the ball otherwise the opposition will have quick ball to attack with. Sorry i'm just curious about the rucks. The game is sounding great so far though.

EDIT: Didn't see the last post. Good luck with the rest of the development

 

[j-dawg]

Alastair is talking to the crowd on the mountain top

Little Child: But Alastair, will I enter your gaming studio?
Alastair: There are many rooms in my gaming studio, I must now go to prepare a place for each and every one of you.

And a cloud descended upon Alastair and he was taken to the Canadian gaming studio, to be seated at the right hand of Rugby World Cup on PS3 and XBOX

 

[nathan-cymru]

Getofmeland,

While you were playing, did either of you play as New Zealand or Australia?

..if so was there any similarities to the actual team or was it a totally random bunch of players?
From what Alastair said about taking the **** with unlicenced players, the names will not even be close right?
Would love it if you could still kinda tell whos who