Hi Mario,
I would just like to take this opportunity to thank you and your team for building this master piece of a game. I bought it when it came out and am still having a ball with it. I find it to be very entertaining and most importantly I never get sick of it. Each game is always very different and I like the fact that it involves some subtle strategy as well. Also visually it is very attractive. I know that you have not announced a sequel, but reading between the lines I am pretty confident one will be produced in the near future. I would like to offer my suggestions for the next version. It is not my intention to be critical of the great work your team did, but it is my sincere hope that perhaps you may take some of my suggestions on board for the sequel.
Graphical Improvements
I found some of the original screen graphics a little plain, such as the stats pages, the Premiership Ladder, the Beginning, Half-time and Full time summaries (in-game), the players numbers on their jerseys, scoreboard at the bottom.
Players Running out onto the field at the beginning of the game; It would be great to have a random pop up graphic of the key player of each team displaying key stats i.e Name, Age Weight Height, Tries Scored, as per Fox TV.
For the Half-time and Full time summaries it would be great to have a graphical window pop-up which shows the 2 teams emblems, the Score, Possession %, Line Breaks, Total Tackles, Errors, Scrums, Penalties, Completion Rates. You could then have a secondary pop-up containing the individual Hit-ups and Tackles leader board. Perhaps a bit of overkill, but I think it would also be cool to show a half-time pop-up displaying the score breakdown i.e Tries Scored, Goals Field Goals etc.
I think it would be really neat to have stats tracking for the players over multiple seasons. For example when a player scores a try a little pop up graphic comes up as the player is walking back showing Tries Scores in this game, Tries Scored this Season, and Career tries.
Similarly with the goal kicking stats. When lining up a kick a pop up graphic displaying the goals kicked/attempts + % for this game, for the season and for career.
Jerseys getting dirty would be a very welcome addition, particularly in the wet games
Gameplay Improvements
First of all I think that the core gameplay is really tremendous. The number of animations is really amazing. However I feel that there are some areas that could be improved.
Too Fast and Jerky Movements
I find that the players tend to move too fast and at times a little rushed and jerky, particularly when they regather the ball near the sideline or tryline. I also find that when the opposition are near the tryline they tend to really streak over the line and score giving you the feeling that you were helpless to stop it. Another example of this is when players regather the ball after a kick. I often find that things happen too quickly in this game. For example when the ball goes out of play it seems that it goes in fast forward to the next frame giving it a rushed feeling. I think that some of the animations need to take their time and go for longer. For example when the ball goes over the touch/deadball line, the players could slowly regroup and them form for the scrum and/or drop kick.
Proper Control over Your Player
There are times where I feel I do not have decent control over my players. For example when the ball is loose it is very difficult to select a player and when you do it is difficult to get him the go after the ball. Of course he can not get it every time, but often my player is the closest but can not respond in time. Also when the opposition put in a kick and it is nearing the sideline/deadball line, my player automatically goes towards it. I would like greater control over the player in these instances so that you can choose to leave the ball to go over the line. Often I find that the player picks up the ball and then goes over the sideline/deadball line and I am helpless to stop it.
Ball Physics and Movement
I think this is an area which can be significantly improved on. The passing animations sometimes look a little awkward, and the ball often appears to be floating on a string after being passed. The forward passes also need to be addressed as they seem to float forward after being passed back. I think that the ball moves quite realistically when kicked, but perhaps could be refined even more.
Player Reactions/Animations
A lot more Try scoring animations would be great.
More reaction from the teams at the end of the game i.e( For a win, High fives, cheering, clapping, Lap of honour etc).
Man of the Match or Dally M Points?????
Fights? I cant imagine the NRL will endorse this though. Perhaps just some pushing and shoving with the referee intervening.
Players Stats and Abilities
When producing a sports game I can see a huge quandary between catering for those who want a true simulation (mostly adults) and those who just want some blockbusting fun with lots of line breaks, broken tackles, length of the field tries and 40+ score lines. I think that the way the default stats were set you were probably leaning more towards the latter. When I first played the game like this I found it very arcade like and a little unrealistic. However when the editor came out to change the stats, I found that once toned down a lot, the game played so much better for my preference. It became more realistic and not so fast, which is the way I like to play the game. I think many other people felt this way. One area I still find frustrating is stopping those dreaded and frequent long range tries. Of course these types of tries are scored in reality, but I think that the defence needs more of a chance to stop the runaway players. One thing I think should be a must in the next version, is that players with the ball run slower than when they are without the ball and defending. That way when a player makes a break it gives the defence more of a chance of running him down, except of course if the player is Brett Stewart or Scott Donald. Overall I think players should be generally quicker in defence than in attack. Below I have listed the stats I think should be in the next version.
Players Stats
1. Weight
2. Height
3. Strength
4. Under High Ball
5. Hands
6. Passing
7. General Play kicking Accuracy
8. General Play Kicking Length
9. High Ball/Bomb Ability
10. Chip Ability/Tendency
11. Grubber Ability/Tendency
12. 40/20 Ability
13. Drop Goal Ability
14. Aggression
15. Discipline (ie for Laying in the play the ball, Inside the 10, fouls)
16. Fend Strength/Ability
17. Stepping Ability
18. Break Tackle Ability
19. Low Tackle Ability
20. Ball and All Tackle Ability (Wrapping up the Ball)
21. High Tackle Tendency
22. Jumping Ability (Under High Ball)
23. Dummy Half Dart Speed
24. Speed Off the Mark
25. Speed Over 50M
26. Speed Over 100M
27. Offload Ability/Tendency
28. Offload Error Rate (Forced Passes)
29. Fitness
30. Agility
31. Injury Tendency
32. Play the Ball Speed
33. Intercept Ability/Tendency
Teams Stats
1. Attack up the Middle
2. Attack Out Wide
3. Defence up the Middle
4. Defence Out Wide
5. Defence on the Line
6. Willingness to Attack
7. 5th Tackle Options Close to Line (High Ball or Grubber or Run)
8. Dummy Half Darts Tendency
9. Play the ball Speed
10. Aggression
11. Teams Weak Against
12. Teams Strong Against
13. Traditional Rival
14. Ability in the Wet
15. Ability in the Dry
16. Ability at night
17. Ability at Home
18. Ability Away
Team Structure
This is another big weakness of the game. The Half Back and Five-Eighth spend too much time on the wing and do not get involved enough in controlling the play. Similarly the forwards are not one off the ruck enough, resulting in fewer hit-ups. The wingers are too often the first receiver of the ball and the hooker is not in at dummy half enough. Overall the respective positional play of all players needs to be more realistic.
I think it would be awesome to implement more dummy half scampers and runs. Perhaps a separate button at the play the ball.
One thing that I feel would be a brilliant addition is the ability to hold down players in the ruck to stop quick play the balls. Perhaps a button that you tap repeatedly to hold the player down. However if you hold down too long it will be a penalty. You could then have different referees with Individual stats, so that with some you might me able to get away with a longer hold (Steve Clark) or another might be more strict and tending to blow more penalties (Mander). I think this would add a dynamic realism to the game.
When Defending perhaps there could be a button or a directional key to press in order to release you players from the defensive line. If you press the button too early in an attempt to smother the attack you risk being penalised for inside the 10. Conversely if you press it too late you risk the attackers carving you up because your defensive line did not move up in time.
Kick Offs
One of the biggest grievances I have with this game is the ball going over the sideline/deadball line after kick offs and drop outs. This happens to me many times a game. It should only really happen once every 5-10 games. It would be great to have better control over your player so that you could position him under the ball to make a proper catch. Similarly if you try to kick the ball towards the sideline, the AI should be able to retrieve it 99% of the time.
Short Kick Offs definitely need to be addressed and I feel that the animation for the kick off could be improved i.e (More a round the corner style)
General Play Kicking
I think that the matrix system is fantastic. However I do feel that sometimes it is very easy to get 40-20s. Perhaps there should be more variability in the results of the kicks so that if you do try an acute angle to get the 40-20 there is a stronger chance the ball will go out on the full. Or perhaps there should be less time in the matrix slowdown to perform the kick.
One thing I also found is that the forwards could kick the ball a mile. I think that if their kicking stats are low the ball should not go more that 30 M and should probably have the tendency to skew all over the place
I feel that the opposition kicks the ball into touch far too often. Which leads onto my next point; the scrums.
Scrums
It is far too easy to make easy yards and score tries from scrums. Because the AI kick the ball into touch 90% of the time, I find that I am always able to make about 30+ meters from the scrum play. This is one of the biggest weaknesses of the game. Like in other games I really want to feel like I earned the try rather than just scoring an easy try from a scrum play. Similarly if the AI kicks the ball into touch in your own 20, you should then have to grind it back out, not have an easy 30+ meters from the first play. I also often find it very difficult to defend against the oppositions scrums.
I think it would also be really cool to introduce some set plays from scrums, a la Rugby 2001.
Chips/Grubbers/Bombs
I think that the grubbers and drop goals are fantastic.
I think that the chip kicks are a little ineffective. Perhaps I am doing something wrong but I have never been able to put in a little over the top and regather.
Similarly I find the bombs are rather ineffective. I think it would be great to introduce the ability to jump and catch/fight for the ball. A button dedicated to this would be great. I think it would also be great if players under the high ball were to drop it once a while particularly if the breeze is very strong.
Goal Kicking
The only way I can think of improving this is to make the arrow a curved arrow so that you would have aim it slight away from the centre. Perhaps the kicking animations could be improved as well. I find it annoying that the animation stops with the ball still in mid air. I think it would add to the realism for the camera to stay longer on the ball, and perhaps even a behind the kicker view at some stage would be great (perhaps in an automatic replay of the kick) I would also introduce left foot kickers in all kicking situations.
Wet Weather Games & Knock Ons
I personally find the games in the rain quite unrealistic with way too many dropped balls and missed tackles. Conversely in the dry games, while there are knock ons through big jolting tackles there are never any knock ons from players just spilling the ball from a pass (like in the rain). Somewhere in between there should be a happy medium, and it should be largely governed by the players handling and catching stats. Of course there should be more spilt ball in the rain but not on every set of six. It should be reasonable.
Passing
I feel that the passing system is fairly sound except for a few possible changes/additions. Instead of holding down the pass button for a longer pass, I think it is much better to have 1 tap to pass to the next player, 2 taps for a one man cut out and 3 taps for a two man cut out and so on. Perhaps when you hold down the button a long time and release, the player can deliver a super long cut out pass which is extra risky and has the possibility to put the wide receiver in a gap, but also has a high risk of floating into touch or for an intercept. Only players with high passing skill (e.g Johns) would have a reasonable chance of success with this. Forward passes are a tricky one but perhaps they could occur more often if you delay too long in your pass and your runners have overrun you. The same could be had at dummy half if the hooker is too slow in delivering the pass and the receiver overruns it.
Tackling
This is one of the games biggest strengths. The tackling options and animations are nothing short of amazing. I especially like the gang tackles. However I think it would be really cool to implement more variety when selecting a tackle. For instance you could have one button for a low tackle around the legs/ankle tap when the player is getting away and one for the ball and all tackle which wraps up the arms and stops off loads. You could then implement the big hit tackle through this by pressing another button in unison with this one, which would risk being a high tackle. It would be great if the effectiveness of the tackle depended upon the timing of pressing the respective tackle button. Perhaps there could be a little icon or Meter which indicated when a tackle would be most effective.
Perhaps I am wrong but it appears that High tackles are random. It would be great if they were a result of poorly timed tackles i.e pressing the tackle button too late or too early.
When defending on your line it would be really great if your players would not drag the AI over the line for a try. Perhaps when on the line they automatically try to push the defender away from the line at all costs.
Intercepts/ Charge Downs
I really think that an Intercept/Charge Down button would be a great addition. Upon pressing this button the selected player would rush up in defence in the hope of securing an intercept or charge down. However he also runs the risk of leaving a hole in the defensive line for the opposition to slice through.
Line Breaks and Hit-Ups
Both of these attributes are not properly captured in the game. Not enough Hit ups awarded and too many line breaks are awarded.
Referees/Sin Bin/Send Offs
It would great to have all the referees with Individual stats such as Policing the the 10, in the ruck, Tendency to send off/sin bin, and general strictness.
Players are sent to the bin far too often in the game. This should happen only on rare occasions. Also if players are penalised multiple times e.g for holding down in the ruck or offside they could get a stint in the bin.
Player suspensions and longer term injuries to keep them out for a period is also a must.
Interchange/Subs
Oppostion AI should make subs.
Animations for the subs could be improved a lot
Ability to Change players positions in-game without making a sub.
Crowds
Individual Teams Chants would be a great e.g Manly Clap clap clap addition as would be some booing ranting and raving e.g Get em onside ref, Youre a Cat Ref(just kidding), Off, Off, Off(for High Tackles).
It would also be great to play the Individual Teams songs as they run out onto the field (e.g Eagle Rock for Manly, Run like the Wind for NZ), Like the AFL game
It would be great if some portions of the Crowds were holding up banners and signs for their teams.
Commentary
Overall I think that the Commentary is first class.
One thing I really miss is the calling out of the actual score by Voss e.g (Manly 30 Roosters 0). I think it would add tremendous realism and atmosphere to the game. I would have more commentary centred around the score of the game e.g Manly are only 2 points behind now or Manly have blown out to a 22 point lead etc.
Stats Tracking and History
The depth of stats currently in the game is great but I feel that they could be presented a little better, as they are a little bland. I also think it would be great to add to the History section by adding the individual try scorers and point scorers for each individual game a la the Full Time Summary at the end of the game.
It would be great to add multiple seasons, Franchise Mode, Transfers and Dally M Points/Man of the Match.
Tournament and Match Options
The game already includes a smorgasbord of options here even the ability to create custom competitions. This is really fantastic. The only thing I would like to see included is the ability to play City v Country and State of Origin games as part of the NRL Premiership Season, so that you can just choose which team you want to play for when these games occur.
I know that this is very long winded, but I put a lot of thought into it and I really hope that you guys consider some of my ideas.
Thanks for you Time,
Kind Regards
Jay
I would just like to take this opportunity to thank you and your team for building this master piece of a game. I bought it when it came out and am still having a ball with it. I find it to be very entertaining and most importantly I never get sick of it. Each game is always very different and I like the fact that it involves some subtle strategy as well. Also visually it is very attractive. I know that you have not announced a sequel, but reading between the lines I am pretty confident one will be produced in the near future. I would like to offer my suggestions for the next version. It is not my intention to be critical of the great work your team did, but it is my sincere hope that perhaps you may take some of my suggestions on board for the sequel.
Graphical Improvements
I found some of the original screen graphics a little plain, such as the stats pages, the Premiership Ladder, the Beginning, Half-time and Full time summaries (in-game), the players numbers on their jerseys, scoreboard at the bottom.
Players Running out onto the field at the beginning of the game; It would be great to have a random pop up graphic of the key player of each team displaying key stats i.e Name, Age Weight Height, Tries Scored, as per Fox TV.
For the Half-time and Full time summaries it would be great to have a graphical window pop-up which shows the 2 teams emblems, the Score, Possession %, Line Breaks, Total Tackles, Errors, Scrums, Penalties, Completion Rates. You could then have a secondary pop-up containing the individual Hit-ups and Tackles leader board. Perhaps a bit of overkill, but I think it would also be cool to show a half-time pop-up displaying the score breakdown i.e Tries Scored, Goals Field Goals etc.
I think it would be really neat to have stats tracking for the players over multiple seasons. For example when a player scores a try a little pop up graphic comes up as the player is walking back showing Tries Scores in this game, Tries Scored this Season, and Career tries.
Similarly with the goal kicking stats. When lining up a kick a pop up graphic displaying the goals kicked/attempts + % for this game, for the season and for career.
Jerseys getting dirty would be a very welcome addition, particularly in the wet games
Gameplay Improvements
First of all I think that the core gameplay is really tremendous. The number of animations is really amazing. However I feel that there are some areas that could be improved.
Too Fast and Jerky Movements
I find that the players tend to move too fast and at times a little rushed and jerky, particularly when they regather the ball near the sideline or tryline. I also find that when the opposition are near the tryline they tend to really streak over the line and score giving you the feeling that you were helpless to stop it. Another example of this is when players regather the ball after a kick. I often find that things happen too quickly in this game. For example when the ball goes out of play it seems that it goes in fast forward to the next frame giving it a rushed feeling. I think that some of the animations need to take their time and go for longer. For example when the ball goes over the touch/deadball line, the players could slowly regroup and them form for the scrum and/or drop kick.
Proper Control over Your Player
There are times where I feel I do not have decent control over my players. For example when the ball is loose it is very difficult to select a player and when you do it is difficult to get him the go after the ball. Of course he can not get it every time, but often my player is the closest but can not respond in time. Also when the opposition put in a kick and it is nearing the sideline/deadball line, my player automatically goes towards it. I would like greater control over the player in these instances so that you can choose to leave the ball to go over the line. Often I find that the player picks up the ball and then goes over the sideline/deadball line and I am helpless to stop it.
Ball Physics and Movement
I think this is an area which can be significantly improved on. The passing animations sometimes look a little awkward, and the ball often appears to be floating on a string after being passed. The forward passes also need to be addressed as they seem to float forward after being passed back. I think that the ball moves quite realistically when kicked, but perhaps could be refined even more.
Player Reactions/Animations
A lot more Try scoring animations would be great.
More reaction from the teams at the end of the game i.e( For a win, High fives, cheering, clapping, Lap of honour etc).
Man of the Match or Dally M Points?????
Fights? I cant imagine the NRL will endorse this though. Perhaps just some pushing and shoving with the referee intervening.
Players Stats and Abilities
When producing a sports game I can see a huge quandary between catering for those who want a true simulation (mostly adults) and those who just want some blockbusting fun with lots of line breaks, broken tackles, length of the field tries and 40+ score lines. I think that the way the default stats were set you were probably leaning more towards the latter. When I first played the game like this I found it very arcade like and a little unrealistic. However when the editor came out to change the stats, I found that once toned down a lot, the game played so much better for my preference. It became more realistic and not so fast, which is the way I like to play the game. I think many other people felt this way. One area I still find frustrating is stopping those dreaded and frequent long range tries. Of course these types of tries are scored in reality, but I think that the defence needs more of a chance to stop the runaway players. One thing I think should be a must in the next version, is that players with the ball run slower than when they are without the ball and defending. That way when a player makes a break it gives the defence more of a chance of running him down, except of course if the player is Brett Stewart or Scott Donald. Overall I think players should be generally quicker in defence than in attack. Below I have listed the stats I think should be in the next version.
Players Stats
1. Weight
2. Height
3. Strength
4. Under High Ball
5. Hands
6. Passing
7. General Play kicking Accuracy
8. General Play Kicking Length
9. High Ball/Bomb Ability
10. Chip Ability/Tendency
11. Grubber Ability/Tendency
12. 40/20 Ability
13. Drop Goal Ability
14. Aggression
15. Discipline (ie for Laying in the play the ball, Inside the 10, fouls)
16. Fend Strength/Ability
17. Stepping Ability
18. Break Tackle Ability
19. Low Tackle Ability
20. Ball and All Tackle Ability (Wrapping up the Ball)
21. High Tackle Tendency
22. Jumping Ability (Under High Ball)
23. Dummy Half Dart Speed
24. Speed Off the Mark
25. Speed Over 50M
26. Speed Over 100M
27. Offload Ability/Tendency
28. Offload Error Rate (Forced Passes)
29. Fitness
30. Agility
31. Injury Tendency
32. Play the Ball Speed
33. Intercept Ability/Tendency
Teams Stats
1. Attack up the Middle
2. Attack Out Wide
3. Defence up the Middle
4. Defence Out Wide
5. Defence on the Line
6. Willingness to Attack
7. 5th Tackle Options Close to Line (High Ball or Grubber or Run)
8. Dummy Half Darts Tendency
9. Play the ball Speed
10. Aggression
11. Teams Weak Against
12. Teams Strong Against
13. Traditional Rival
14. Ability in the Wet
15. Ability in the Dry
16. Ability at night
17. Ability at Home
18. Ability Away
Team Structure
This is another big weakness of the game. The Half Back and Five-Eighth spend too much time on the wing and do not get involved enough in controlling the play. Similarly the forwards are not one off the ruck enough, resulting in fewer hit-ups. The wingers are too often the first receiver of the ball and the hooker is not in at dummy half enough. Overall the respective positional play of all players needs to be more realistic.
I think it would be awesome to implement more dummy half scampers and runs. Perhaps a separate button at the play the ball.
One thing that I feel would be a brilliant addition is the ability to hold down players in the ruck to stop quick play the balls. Perhaps a button that you tap repeatedly to hold the player down. However if you hold down too long it will be a penalty. You could then have different referees with Individual stats, so that with some you might me able to get away with a longer hold (Steve Clark) or another might be more strict and tending to blow more penalties (Mander). I think this would add a dynamic realism to the game.
When Defending perhaps there could be a button or a directional key to press in order to release you players from the defensive line. If you press the button too early in an attempt to smother the attack you risk being penalised for inside the 10. Conversely if you press it too late you risk the attackers carving you up because your defensive line did not move up in time.
Kick Offs
One of the biggest grievances I have with this game is the ball going over the sideline/deadball line after kick offs and drop outs. This happens to me many times a game. It should only really happen once every 5-10 games. It would be great to have better control over your player so that you could position him under the ball to make a proper catch. Similarly if you try to kick the ball towards the sideline, the AI should be able to retrieve it 99% of the time.
Short Kick Offs definitely need to be addressed and I feel that the animation for the kick off could be improved i.e (More a round the corner style)
General Play Kicking
I think that the matrix system is fantastic. However I do feel that sometimes it is very easy to get 40-20s. Perhaps there should be more variability in the results of the kicks so that if you do try an acute angle to get the 40-20 there is a stronger chance the ball will go out on the full. Or perhaps there should be less time in the matrix slowdown to perform the kick.
One thing I also found is that the forwards could kick the ball a mile. I think that if their kicking stats are low the ball should not go more that 30 M and should probably have the tendency to skew all over the place
I feel that the opposition kicks the ball into touch far too often. Which leads onto my next point; the scrums.
Scrums
It is far too easy to make easy yards and score tries from scrums. Because the AI kick the ball into touch 90% of the time, I find that I am always able to make about 30+ meters from the scrum play. This is one of the biggest weaknesses of the game. Like in other games I really want to feel like I earned the try rather than just scoring an easy try from a scrum play. Similarly if the AI kicks the ball into touch in your own 20, you should then have to grind it back out, not have an easy 30+ meters from the first play. I also often find it very difficult to defend against the oppositions scrums.
I think it would also be really cool to introduce some set plays from scrums, a la Rugby 2001.
Chips/Grubbers/Bombs
I think that the grubbers and drop goals are fantastic.
I think that the chip kicks are a little ineffective. Perhaps I am doing something wrong but I have never been able to put in a little over the top and regather.
Similarly I find the bombs are rather ineffective. I think it would be great to introduce the ability to jump and catch/fight for the ball. A button dedicated to this would be great. I think it would also be great if players under the high ball were to drop it once a while particularly if the breeze is very strong.
Goal Kicking
The only way I can think of improving this is to make the arrow a curved arrow so that you would have aim it slight away from the centre. Perhaps the kicking animations could be improved as well. I find it annoying that the animation stops with the ball still in mid air. I think it would add to the realism for the camera to stay longer on the ball, and perhaps even a behind the kicker view at some stage would be great (perhaps in an automatic replay of the kick) I would also introduce left foot kickers in all kicking situations.
Wet Weather Games & Knock Ons
I personally find the games in the rain quite unrealistic with way too many dropped balls and missed tackles. Conversely in the dry games, while there are knock ons through big jolting tackles there are never any knock ons from players just spilling the ball from a pass (like in the rain). Somewhere in between there should be a happy medium, and it should be largely governed by the players handling and catching stats. Of course there should be more spilt ball in the rain but not on every set of six. It should be reasonable.
Passing
I feel that the passing system is fairly sound except for a few possible changes/additions. Instead of holding down the pass button for a longer pass, I think it is much better to have 1 tap to pass to the next player, 2 taps for a one man cut out and 3 taps for a two man cut out and so on. Perhaps when you hold down the button a long time and release, the player can deliver a super long cut out pass which is extra risky and has the possibility to put the wide receiver in a gap, but also has a high risk of floating into touch or for an intercept. Only players with high passing skill (e.g Johns) would have a reasonable chance of success with this. Forward passes are a tricky one but perhaps they could occur more often if you delay too long in your pass and your runners have overrun you. The same could be had at dummy half if the hooker is too slow in delivering the pass and the receiver overruns it.
Tackling
This is one of the games biggest strengths. The tackling options and animations are nothing short of amazing. I especially like the gang tackles. However I think it would be really cool to implement more variety when selecting a tackle. For instance you could have one button for a low tackle around the legs/ankle tap when the player is getting away and one for the ball and all tackle which wraps up the arms and stops off loads. You could then implement the big hit tackle through this by pressing another button in unison with this one, which would risk being a high tackle. It would be great if the effectiveness of the tackle depended upon the timing of pressing the respective tackle button. Perhaps there could be a little icon or Meter which indicated when a tackle would be most effective.
Perhaps I am wrong but it appears that High tackles are random. It would be great if they were a result of poorly timed tackles i.e pressing the tackle button too late or too early.
When defending on your line it would be really great if your players would not drag the AI over the line for a try. Perhaps when on the line they automatically try to push the defender away from the line at all costs.
Intercepts/ Charge Downs
I really think that an Intercept/Charge Down button would be a great addition. Upon pressing this button the selected player would rush up in defence in the hope of securing an intercept or charge down. However he also runs the risk of leaving a hole in the defensive line for the opposition to slice through.
Line Breaks and Hit-Ups
Both of these attributes are not properly captured in the game. Not enough Hit ups awarded and too many line breaks are awarded.
Referees/Sin Bin/Send Offs
It would great to have all the referees with Individual stats such as Policing the the 10, in the ruck, Tendency to send off/sin bin, and general strictness.
Players are sent to the bin far too often in the game. This should happen only on rare occasions. Also if players are penalised multiple times e.g for holding down in the ruck or offside they could get a stint in the bin.
Player suspensions and longer term injuries to keep them out for a period is also a must.
Interchange/Subs
Oppostion AI should make subs.
Animations for the subs could be improved a lot
Ability to Change players positions in-game without making a sub.
Crowds
Individual Teams Chants would be a great e.g Manly Clap clap clap addition as would be some booing ranting and raving e.g Get em onside ref, Youre a Cat Ref(just kidding), Off, Off, Off(for High Tackles).
It would also be great to play the Individual Teams songs as they run out onto the field (e.g Eagle Rock for Manly, Run like the Wind for NZ), Like the AFL game
It would be great if some portions of the Crowds were holding up banners and signs for their teams.
Commentary
Overall I think that the Commentary is first class.
One thing I really miss is the calling out of the actual score by Voss e.g (Manly 30 Roosters 0). I think it would add tremendous realism and atmosphere to the game. I would have more commentary centred around the score of the game e.g Manly are only 2 points behind now or Manly have blown out to a 22 point lead etc.
Stats Tracking and History
The depth of stats currently in the game is great but I feel that they could be presented a little better, as they are a little bland. I also think it would be great to add to the History section by adding the individual try scorers and point scorers for each individual game a la the Full Time Summary at the end of the game.
It would be great to add multiple seasons, Franchise Mode, Transfers and Dally M Points/Man of the Match.
Tournament and Match Options
The game already includes a smorgasbord of options here even the ability to create custom competitions. This is really fantastic. The only thing I would like to see included is the ability to play City v Country and State of Origin games as part of the NRL Premiership Season, so that you can just choose which team you want to play for when these games occur.
I know that this is very long winded, but I put a lot of thought into it and I really hope that you guys consider some of my ideas.
Thanks for you Time,
Kind Regards
Jay
. I cant wait now. I just hope Mario gives some polls around here when everyone comes back, eg. which menu do you prefer and that type of stuff.
![[furrycat]](/data/avatars/m/6/6602.jpg?1213416722){kind=avatar}
