PlanetCricket has conducted a Q&A session with Codemasters for International Cricket 2010, which answers many of your questions over the latest Cricket game from Codemasters and Trickstar Games
Q1. Hello guys and thanks for your time in answering the PlanetCricket community’s questions, I’m sure it is a busy time for all of you. First off, with all the disruption caused by the collapse of Transmission Games, has this necessitated a rethink of Codemasters’ plan for the follow up to Ashes Cricket 2009? If so, are you confident that International Cricket 2010 has a clear enough distinction over Ashes Cricket 2009 to warrant a new game release? And does the name change to International Cricket represent just a marketing decision or a more fundamental change in the game?
John â€" In many ways IC2010 is the continuation of Ashes Cricket 2009. We had so many ideas, and in some cases working prototypes, for features that simply couldn’t make it into AC09 because of time constraints.
There’s a lot of new stuff in 2010 â€" the batting and bowling mechanics have both been much improved (one more drastically than the other, but we’ll talk about that soon!), the Action Cam is certainly not a “novelty item†and the addition and expansion of the tournament mode adds so much replay value in itself. With sports games the changes are often more evolutionary than revolutionary, but there’s plenty in IC2010 to make you excited we promise.
Q2. Further to the issues with Transmission, has the patch that was in development at the time formed the basis of the new game? Has there been real attention given to correcting issues and strong quality assurance to avoid similar game breaking bugs?
John â€" We thank all of the people at PC involved in feedback preparing the patch for AC09. The patched version of AC09 WAS the starting point for the development of IC2010. Obviously many of you guys will know what these changes are but tweaks were made to the batting system, fielding, AI, shot selection. These tweaks and enhancements are all in IC2010.
Q3. Online play was regarded as one of Ashes Cricket 2009’s worst points, with huge problems over online quitting, lag and a general fair playing. What steps have been taken in International Cricket 2010 to redress these online play issues and bring the fun back into the game online?
John â€" The team have added a player rating which acts like a sportsmanship rating that is affected by quitting etc. There will be something there for players to see what other players are like when choosing who to play against.
In terms of “general fair playâ€, we rely to an extent on people to play the way the game is meant to be played. There’s nothing we can do to eliminate it, but we’ve taken steps to minimise it.
Where there are rules prohibiting something we can enforce them. If you think someone isn’t playing “fairâ€, then sometimes the only recourse is to walk off and refuse to play them.
We’ve added some sportsmanship stats that will help reduce the issues of online quitting. Obviously this won’t solve the problem but the game will provide the user with more information about the other player before making the decision to play them. Unfortunately we can’t do anything about players quitting, that’s their own decision but we think they struggle to find games down the track.
Q5. Will steps be taken such as returning to default team line-ups (or an ability to play matches in that way) and limiting custom field settings to avoid people taking advantage of game flaws in online play? If not, will patches be released to maintain the integrity of online play if such flaws are found?
John â€" This is a tricky question and open to debate. Limiting custom field settings might make players feel like their tactics in the game are limited but is definitely being looked into. Obviously, our current goal is to fix all known issues prior to the game’s release. If new issues are found post release by players online then this is something we will definitely weigh up: as you know it was our full intention last year to release an update to AC09 prior to the collapse of Transmission Games.
Q6. The lack of detailed stats tracking, both offline and online, specifically has been a cause of annoyance. Will full stats tracking be implemented in both the offline and online modes of the game? Will their bowling, batting and fielding statistics carry through and be updated in real-time, game after game, year after year?
John â€" Detailed stats tracking is not something that is going to be in IC2010. This is part of something much bigger that we have planned for future versions of International Cricket.
We know how desperately you guys want this feature, but we have to consider the value of adding it against some other high-priority features, which you’ll see in IC2010.
Q7. What other aspects of gameplay have you felt needed to be fixed based on feedback on Ashes Cricket 2009 and what has been done to improve these? Have there been any changes to allow for players who want a higher level of difficulty, such as shortening the timing of or turning off the bowling marker?
John â€" Even though players could create different tournaments in AC09 the game was often highlighted as not having enough modes. This is something we have definitely addressed in IC2010 and is expanded on in the question below.
IC2010 has had all difficulty settings tweaked and we’ve added a HUD off mode for expert players. No meters, no pitch-point, no bars etc. This is all part of an overhaul of how the bowling works, which we’ve moved on from the “point and click†nature of previous games.
Add into the mix Action Cam and we’re sure the most hardened Cricket gamer will find the game challenging.
We’ve also extended the roster to 16 International Teams so playing through the various Tournaments in the game with a team like Bermuda, on Expert difficulty should offer up some challenge.
Q8. Besides the Ashes mode, Ashes Cricket 2009 was criticized for a lack of depth in gameplay modes, which created a game that didn’t have much replayability, especially with the online play issues. What new additions to International Cricket 2010 have been directed at creating a longer lasting, varied and more enjoyable gameplay experience, especially to make test matches last the distance? What can players create with the instant tournaments feature?
John â€" We’ve kept the Create A Tournament feature from AC09 but have added many more tournaments. There will be more than enough to keep you going in this mode including our version of an ODI World Cup, a 20 Over Super League with 10 new All Star teams and a few others you’ll have to wait for. There is also an Eliminator mode to sort out drawn 20 Over matches.
Q9. Further to this, have enhancements been made to the AI’s awareness of match situation, especially in relation to pacing and field settings?
John â€" Lots of nuances have been added to the AI and you can expect a much greater challenge than before. Situational awareness is something that the AI has, but it also has other goals other than what the human player is doing. That’s not to say it won’t react to what’s happened in the first two or three balls of an over. The AI will look for gaps in the field and also lob the in-field if required. When bowling it will also try to stop boundaries and place fielders in the outfield to stop repeated/favourite shots of players.
Q10. Have the editing functions been expanded? Does the game now allow for completely new additional teams, addition of faces and creation of custom kits, as have been available in Football games for years now? Can all players now be modified, without artificial limitations?
John â€" The editing functions are the same as last year but we have expanded the International Team roster to 16 and included 10 All Star teams. All teams have Test, ODI and 20 Over uniforms (including Home and Away versions).
In regards to kit items, there are three times more than there was in AC09, and nearly all of it licensed: new bats, pads etc from the 2010 range of an expanded roster of manufacturers.
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