Right then, my first contribution here. I have read a few pages and have generally agreed with the wide spoken ideas but I haven't seen some that I feel would make the game both more realistic and therefore far more realistic.
To start I would have an abilities/traits section for every player. Much like in Rugby 05/06/08 but in greater detail and with the option for any amount of abilities. I would also have bad traits as this would open the game up and enhance the need for gameplans.
Among the Abilities/Traits would be these:
Players it would apply to as an example are alongside.
* Denotes possible weaknesses about this ability/trait
Runs into contact - Andy Powell, Ma'a Nonu
Runs into space - Tom Croft, Conrad Smith
Carries the ball in one hand - Sonny Bill-Williams, Radike Samo * Hard tackles can knock ball free
Offloads often - Sonny Bill-Williams, Chris Hala'uifia
Tackles low "Tree-Cutter" - Berrick Barnes, Joe Worsley
Tackles high "Man and Ball" - Jason White, Quade Cooper * Low strength can result in being 'bumped'
Tackles hard - Jerry Collins, Courtney Lawes * more susceptibleto Sidesteps
Takes long Drop Goals - Frans Steyn, Juan Martin Hernandez
Long Passes - Quade Cooper,
Finisher - H.Gear, Chris Ashton * Has kind of 'Fifa luck' like Torres + C.Ronaldo when near try line (I hope you understand this)
Huge boot - Damian Traille, Zane Kirchener, Andy Goode
Counter rucks - Brad Thorn, Courtney Lawes
Great footwork "step out of a phonebox" - Shane Williams, Kurtley Beale
Picks the crowd up - Tenderi 'Beast' Mtawarira, Spies * Can hear 'BEAST' when he runs. Cover tackles - Bakkies Botha, Brad Thorn * Seems to always be 'there'
Enforcer - Bakkies Botha, Brad Thorn *Aggressive, hard tackling, takes one for the team
Jumper - Victor Matfeild, Steve Borthwick
Lineout Stealer - Victor Matfeild, Tom Croft
Stands up in the tackle - Hipkiss, Jamie Roberts * can start mauls from their carries if not tackled low
Makes 2 man tackles - Croft, Gethin Jenkins
Turn over specialist - Pocock, Brussow
Link man - Ritche McCaw, Martyn Williams
Fetcher - Lewis Moody, Schalk Burger
Charges kicks - Lewis Moody, Jimmy Cowan
Goes for intercepts - Bryan Habana, JDV * If missed, likely try opportunity
Comes off wing (defense) - Allesana Tuilagi, Paul Sackey * If missed, likely try opportunity
Looks for the ball - Allesana Tuilagi, Tommy Bowe
Runs good lines - Tommy Bowe, Mils Muliaina
Attacks the fringes - Ben Youngs, Fourie du Preez
Nerves of steel - Jonny Wilkinson, James O'Connor
Weak Nerves - Matt Giteau
Can be shaken - Quade Cooper, Ronan O'Gara *ie big hits and hard running may put them out of their stride
Takes quick penalties - Ben Youngs, Will Genia
Breaks the gainline - Jamie Roberts, Ma'a Nonu
Plays flat on the gainline - Quade Cooper, Shane Geraghty
Receives the ball deep - Jonny Wilkinson, Morne Steyn
Kicks Up and Unders - Morne Steyn, Ronan O'Gara
Poor under the high ball - Ian Balshaw,
Excellent under the high ball - Geordan Murphy, Rob Kearney
Big hand-off - Sione Luaki, Adam Ashley-Cooper
Drops the shoulder - Allesana Tuilagi, Jonah Lomu
Stays wide - Shane Horgan, Tom Croft, Peirre Spies
Scrummager - Dan Cole, Carl Hayman
Lifter - Andrew Sheridan, Carl Hayman
Leader - Ritchie McCaw, Brian O'Driscoll
Good at the dark arts- Schalk Burger, Ritchie McCaw
Huge Goal Kicker "Punisher" - Frans Steyn,
Mr Consistent - Ritchie McCaw, Jonny Wilkinson
Inconsistent - Freddie Michelak, Gavin Henson
High tackle count - Theirry Dusatoir, Gethin Jenkins
Never stops running - Ritchie McCaw, Brad Thorn
Disrupts Mauls - Simon Shaw, Brad Thorn
Selfish - Mils Muliaina, Bryan Habana
Moves to wings on defense - Ronan O'Gara,
Chases restarts well - Keiran Read, Tom Croft
Gets arms free - Toby Flood
These are a few but they would make the game far more playable. For example;
If you run at Ronan O'Gara early with Jamie Roberts and Andy Powell he might miss touch with his next kick.
If you attempt wide pass from Quade Cooper, Bryan Habana will look to intercept, if he misses then you are through on goal with James O'Connor but Bakkies Botha will track you across and force a try out wide.
With regards to the "FIFA luck" if you have ever played against Torres, C.Ronaldo, Messi, Drogba etc you can make a perfect challenge but the will 'somehow' receive the ball again from a dodgy bounce of the ball and be through on goal.
Other player additions worth using would be noticing former clubs, this may make them more determined or make them celebrate less if they score. The addition of a players favorite opponents would be cool, for example Ritchie McCaw would love to get his hands on George Smith and that would make the A.I run into him more, adding spice. Similarly The Aus and NZ back rows look to make a mark on each other.
The crowd could make a huge difference to the game. Hearing "BEAST" every time Mtawarira goes on a charge would add to the atmosphere nicely. As would hearing "Tigers, Tigers, Tigers" If Leicester were awarded a 5m scrum or if they started a maul that got driving. That is not a hard aspect to accommodate but would make a huge impact to the what people thought of the game.
Being a big Tigers and England fan, i would love to see the scrummaging changed. But I'm not a fan of the self controlled engagement. I say that you should have a 'Madden-Like' option before the scrum, where you have a "team talk" and decide what you want the guys to do, ie Bore in, Put the squeeze on, win the hit, Wheel open, Wheel blind, Collapse if retreating and so on and so forth. After that it should be down to an intelligent A.I system, the abilities of the props, locks and back rows' scrummaging and the ref's interpretation of what they are doing.
Having played plenty of Football Manager games too the options that they have for team customization are terrific and would add to the way you could play the game. For example
Sliders in team management:
Individuals
Often-------------Rarely
Hits rucks *
Carries *
Tackles *
Support Carrier *
Finally a unmovable Workrate bar would be useful because if you told a player to hit all the rucks, make lots of carries support the carrier all the time and have a high tackle count they would need to be Sir Ritchie himself to have the fitness. Having a full bar would tire the player quickly and add realism.
Team
Having options for key opposition player would help. If the game is realistic then it would need this. To accomodate the Ma'a Nonu's and Jamie Roberts' of the game.
Mark tightly * Will close down the player or gang tackle
Put pressure on * Kickers and catchers, will get high intensity charge downs
Overall team options would help too.
Mentality: Gung Ho, Running, Kick chase, Territory, Possesion
Freedom High-----------Low
Width: Wide, Mixed, Tight
Defense: Blitz, Drift, Blanket, Up and In, Up and Out, Custom
But some may choose against all of the options, and this is avoidable by starting the teams with an accurate set-up.
Finally having Bogey teams and Rivals would add spice, Bogey teams would initially fight hard to break the trend of results but once they are 10-15 points down there heads drop and they turn into damage limitation. Rivals would run hard, put big (occasionally late) hard tackles in, and the crowd could add to the atmosphere.
That is all I have to add on non-controllable parts of the game but I think having a realistic attack and defense is not too optimistic, if the A.I was set up to how I have spoken and followed it well, controlling players would be a joy but a challenge if set up correctly. I would use the basis of these controls:
(XBOX 360)
With the ball
A Punt, Double tap for low punt
B Pass right, with a 'FIFA-Style' power, to add realism
X Pass left, Whilst tackled an offload will be available to left and right if there is support and a low tackle allowing the offload is made,
Y Grubber (Tap), Chip (Tap twice)
LB Power Moves (Used with RS)
LB + Up Forearm smash/drop the shoulder
LB + Down Hold ball tightly, to stop it from being ripped
LB + Right Right hand fend, when no opponent is near will hold ball in left hand and 'prime' the right. Holding halfway does the same and a full extension causes a powerful, quick fend, subject to timing
LB + Left Left hand fend, when no opponent is near will hold ball in right hand and 'prime' the left. Holding halfway does the same and a full extension causes a powerful, quick fend, subject to timing
LB + Down then Up A slide to the line for that in the corner moment or a 'pick and go' try.
LB + Up Twice, a charge and then leg drive
LB + Up then Down, a "bump and spin" From 'Smoking' Joe Rokocoko
RB Skillful moves (Used with RS)
RB + Up Hop, can be followed by sidesteps, swerves, dummies
RB + Down Stand up/ Stop avoids tackles
RB + Right Swerve right (keeps speed, changes angle)
RB + Left Swerve left (keeps speed, changes angle)
RB + Right then Left Sidestep left
RB + Left then Right Sidestep right
RB + Up Twice, dummy kick
Right Stick
Calls for runners, ie
RS left, runner attempts to run a line on the left (call should appear on screen by a number)
RS right, runner attempts to run a line on the right
RS Up, Head down, used for hit-ups to built speed, passing is inaccurate with head down
RS Down, Get support from players behind before contact, puts ball on hip, turns shoulder and players will join once contact is established
LT Check speed/slow down, used to stand up cover tackles, make accurate passes and draw the man
RT Sprint
Without Ball (Defense)
A Normal low Tackle, hold until player has stopped but release once ruck is formed. Charge down, in right situation (hold)
B Press opponent from right. Jump for high Ball (when under ball)
X Press opponent from left
Y Normal high Tackle, hold until player has stopped but release once ruck forms
RS Hit Stick
RS + Up, High, hard hit easy to step because of lineup motion
RS + Down, Low tackle "Tree-cutter", stops the run but allows offloads
RS + Left, hit and spin left, if the opponent is near touch this can take them out. If support is on the left this takes the player to them helping to the turnover
RS + Right hit and spin right
RS + Down then Up, Dump tackle (easy to fend off while down)
RS + Down then Up to left, dump left
RS + Down then Up to right, dump right
RS + Up then Down, Driving tackle, requires timing. also Drop tackle, to stop charges near the line,
RS + Up and right to left/ left to right , tap tackle (From Behind)
LB Change Player
RB Go for the ball, player grabs ball and either rips it free or starts a maul. (Low success rate in wrong circumstances)
LT Square to player with ball
RT Sprint
LT+RT Jockey player with ball
When near a ruck press:
A to join ruck
B to become right guard
X to become left guard
Once in ruck :
RS Up, Push
RS Down, Guard/ Pull opponent towards you
RS Right, Turn opponent to right/roll off ball
RS Left, Turn opponent to left/roll off ball
A Use hands
B Slow down ball
X Seal off ball
Y Grab Scrumhalf
Just a few thoughts, I'd love to hear your views.
