TRF Staff get hands on with Rugby World Cup 2011

[TRF_Olyy]

Forwards do tend to break more tackles (Cian Healy and SOB were good at it, the Irish fans will be pleased to hear ) - Wings are good too due to their speed (i.e Chasing down Chris Ashton with one of my forwards, I dove for the tackle, but he got through it)

The video Teh Mite is compiling will have some clips of gameplay, so that should be up in the next couple of days (maybe sooner? I don't know how long it takes to edit a video )

 

[StevoIRL]

It really was a mixed bunch
We had breakaway tries, chips, forward drives
My favourite was a scrumhalf dart when camped on the tryline (got one or two from that) - Teh Mite got a good try with SOB running a great line through the defence

The AI score all manner of tries too - I saw a crossfield kick put in by Fiji which resulted in a try
It's hard to pinpoit an aspect of the AI I felt was much improved - the whole feeling of the AI was much better - as in the case of the try above, they react to the how your team is, choosing to go for the crossfield rather than just running it into the defence

Sounds good. Happy they'v managed to make the crosskick more effect then in past iterations. Is the scrum snipe changed? Do you have more time now to actually move him? Really the only way it worked in other games was with Shane Williams at 9 or the just the AI catching you out.

 

[spies8]

The only thing i'm sad about is the hand off etc animations being the same

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Yes!
That's another thing I was really happy with, the runs from the scrum/ruck/maul

In 08 you'd press (for example, this isn't actually it) Button 1 to run left, or Button 3 to run right, and you'd get your little animation and get hit before you knew what was going on
Now you press Button 3 and you're in control of the player, if you're not holding a direction then you'll get smashed straight off - a couple of times I forgot this and my scrumhalf was just standing there with ball before I though "Oh shi-!" and started to run
Same goes for forwards going from rucks and mauls - I scored a try with Jamie Heaslip from a scrum in the opponents 22 by running from the back of the scrum - something I've never done in 08, as you get tackled before you've gone 2m!

 

[David Smith]

The video Teh Mite is compiling will have some clips of gameplay, so that should be up in the next couple of days (maybe sooner? I don't know how long it takes to edit a video )

Tell him to hurry up and edit that sucker. Has to be tomorrow on friday or do you think he could release it on a weekend?

 

[TRF_Olyy]

No idea at all, I'm not involved in editing it at all! It'll go up when it's ready and that's all there is

 

[David Smith]

My final Questions Is there any superman tackle still?

 

[hobsonm]

Do you slow down when running a bend, or can you still run around in a circle full pace and weave in and out of everyone a bit ridiculously?

 

[raziel_eire]

Cheers for answering my other questions Olyy...

All I want is a fair competition at scrum time and in the rucks when playing the hardest AI... and it sounds like we'll get some of that.
As the AI level ramps up, it should improve its defensive cover & tackling, decision making in terms of what rucks to hit to achieve turnover ball etc and also improve its attacking decisions to stretch the players defense to leave gaps and encourage player infringement in the scramble to organise your defense. Just winning every scrum & ruck is not an increase in AI.

The real proof in the AI pudding will be in the eating over the coming months & years... it may prove tough for the first days & weeks, but after 3months or regular play, will we know exactly how to exploit the AI and win easily whenever we want... something I look forward to trying to prove/disprove!

And with online play (as long as its stable) any problems with the AI can be negated by challenging TRF members and playing in our leagues/cups.

Yes!
That's another thing I was really happy with, the runs from the scrum/ruck/maul

In 08 you'd press (for example, this isn't actually it) Button 1 to run left, or Button 3 to run right, and you'd get your little animation and get hit before you knew what was going on
Now you press Button 3 and you're in control of the player, if you're not holding a direction then you'll get smashed straight off - a couple of times I forgot this and my scrumhalf was just standing there with ball before I though "Oh shi-!" and started to run
Same goes for forwards going from rucks and mauls - I scored a try with Jamie Heaslip from a scrum in the opponents 22 by running from the back of the scrum - something I've never done in 08, as you get tackled before you've gone 2m!

I really liked the sound of this... as you've said before, they may be minor tweaks but they will have a major impact on the gameplay.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

My final Questions Is there any superman tackle still?

Yeah, it is

Do you slow down when running a bend, or can you still run around in a circle full pace and weave in and out of everyone a bit ridiculously?

I can't quite remember, sorry
I do know the players felt more agile (one example is in 08 is the ball was near the try line and your player ran to pick it up they'd nearly always run into touch, whereas in this you can turn them away/around)

 

[lionmaull]

Tell him to hurry up and edit that sucker. Has to be tomorrow on friday or do you think he could release it on a weekend?

Ahh, don't worry about the editing, we want it raw Less work for him, just throw those videos up here raw and uncut, ha, ha!! We are all going mad, trying to imagine it, to compare it to the RC video of gameplay. Ah, in any case I will be buying both games anyhoow!!!
Cheers and Salud

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Will be interesting to see how it compares, in peoples eyes, to RC
I think looking at it it won't be as visually impressive in the close ups etc, but people (with an open mind towards it ) may be surprised by how much they enjoy playing it

 

[raziel_eire]

Offloads however - They're not so good. In fact they're ruddy awful.

You able to elaborate on what you feel is wrong/broken/awful with the offloads Teh Mite?

Is it not intuitive, does the offload option appear for too brief a time, is there any decision to who you can offload to, does the AI not always pick the best offload option etc? Can they be easily intercepted leaving them too big a risk to attempt?
Any detail would be appreciated.

And do the rest of the guys feel the same way?

 

[ShaheenJ]

Are there any improvements on set pieces from scums and lineouts and is the grubber kick still the same?

 

[cochizzy]

Yes!
That's another thing I was really happy with, the runs from the scrum/ruck/maul

In 08 you'd press (for example, this isn't actually it) Button 1 to run left, or Button 3 to run right, and you'd get your little animation and get hit before you knew what was going on
Now you press Button 3 and you're in control of the player, if you're not holding a direction then you'll get smashed straight off - a couple of times I forgot this and my scrumhalf was just standing there with ball before I though "Oh shi-!" and started to run
Same goes for forwards going from rucks and mauls - I scored a try with Jamie Heaslip from a scrum in the opponents 22 by running from the back of the scrum - something I've never done in 08, as you get tackled before you've gone 2m!

Actually in 08 if you screwed the scrum and with the right timing your no.8 could basically run freely and smash/swerve/dummy the fullback in front of you(if you were good). eg. Kankowski was a beast at number 8 for the springboks, my weapon of choice all the time.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

For me, I felt they were the same as in 08
The button appears and you press it - luckily for me most of mine went to a player that was useful, but a lot of the others were just going to floor, or to an opposition player, or a hospital pass in a worse position than originally
It also doesn't go to the best player, I remember GetOfMeLand made a break, had Shane Williams on his left, and two defenders and Jamie Roberts on his right - he got tackled but then the offload went to the guy surrounded by defenders rather than the guy in space - just frustrating little things like that

Are there any improvements on set pieces from scums and lineouts and is the grubber kick still the same?

Set pieces feel more natural than in 08 where it was like watching a video - they're the same set four moves (I did notice that you could choose others to be in the selection of four but didn't look at them)
Grubbers are the same, I think - I only did one and it ended up rolling in to touch but it was the same system (hold Y and the bar gets bigger the longer you hold it)

 

[Teh Mite]

Tell him to hurry up and edit that sucker. Has to be tomorrow on friday or do you think he could release it on a weekend?

Ask nicely and say please.

 

[Hatch87]

Grubbers are the same, I think - I only did one and it ended up rolling in to touch but it was the same system (hold Y and the bar gets bigger the longer you hold it)[/FONT][/COLOR][/QUOTE]

I thought they changed it so it was a one press affair now?

 

[SavageLez]

@ Olyy -

Does a team get an overall better rating if better player combinations are utilised and similarly does it go down if the combo's are not great? This was a feature in Rugby 08. Also, in Rugby 08 you could pick Wales play with them and if you win a RWC or Six Nations and you saved the teams performance their cohesion (not sure if that is the correct word) as a team inproved. This helped when you played against mates that chose SA or NZ.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

I thought they changed it so it was a one press affair now?​

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http://www.therugbyforum.com/forum/editpost.php?p=424070&do=editpost​

http://www.therugbyforum.com/forum/editpost.php?p=424070&do=editpost

I thought they changed it so it was a one press affair now?[/QUOTE]
That's chip kicks,
The kicks are:
Y - Grubber (press for short, hold for long)
B - Drop goal
A - Punt
X - Tap for chip, hold for up & under

@ Olyy -

Does a team get an overall better rating if better player combinations are utilised and similarly does it go down if the combo's are not great? This was a feature in Rugby 08. Also, in Rugby 08 you could pick Wales play with them and if you win a RWC or Six Nations and you saved the teams performance their cohesion (not sure if that is the correct word) as a team inproved. This helped when you played against mates that chose SA or NZ.

I'm not sure - I know that the players in the team effect the overall rating (so put Andrew Sheridan at flyhalf then Englands stats will drop as their flyhalf will be rated like 20pts), but not sure if different combinations effect it or not
Not sure on cohesion either, sorry - Maybe one of the other guys picked up on that, but I only really looked at the players/switched them around, didn't really notice some of the stats
Sorry!