Suggestions Thread for Next Year's Version

[lionmaul]

What do you guys think about implementing the dominant tackle better, I think the current set up for how tackling is handled is almost perfect, I would just like to see more variation on how a dominant tackle would play out. For example if you get a good tackle on someone (not necessarily using the aggressive tackle button but it would improve chances) the ref would call out dominant (or a icon can come up on screen) and you would know you can hold the player down longer without being penalized by continuously pressing the aggression button, the offensive player can try to counter this but the chances of this are less likely because of the dominant status, (off course the individual player stats would play a large role) .
Then in a regular tackle, you can try to hold a player down again but with a lot more effort on the aggression button and with less time allowed before you are penalized for holding someone down. These little ruck battles can maybe displayed by two bars quickly forming over the players head, maybe warning you when you may get penalized. Off course if it is a regular tackle and the offensive player really hammers the aggression button, the player would get an easy quick play. An example of how this could play out: If a strong forward makes a regular tackle on a weaker back he obviously has the strength to hold the player down but he would most likely get penalized because it was not a dominant tackle, now if the tackle was dominant he could hold him down longer (maybe untill you hear the ref say release or a Icon pops up and then if you continue you would raise the chance of being penalized) this could also work the other way around if a weaker back is able to get a dominant tackle on a big strong forward he would have a better chance of holding him down then a regular tackle and he would not get penalized but because of the size difference it may not matter because the large forward could still over power the smaller back, but with greater difficulty because of the dominant tackle status.
I would just like to see a difference in timing of how quickly an offensive team can or cannot keep going in relation to how strong the tackle was and who was tackling.
Cheers and Salu

 

[The Engineers Room]

I would just like to see a difference in timing of how quickly an offensive team can or cannot keep going in relation to how strong the tackle was and who was tackling.

Like a momentum attribute. Big guys running fast should more often when tackled keep moving forward.

Another note is that there should be an array of quick plays that can be assigned to the right analog stick or for PC a button combination. The plays can be changed in game and pre game. Say it is getting close to the end and the scores are tied there should be one to position the PK behind the play and have the dummy half pass it back to him. Before the player is tackled you press the appropriate button and on the next play the special function is carried out.

 

[umosay]

3-4 man tackles, driving back etc

 

[ripper]

4 Kicking Stats

Genreal Play Kicking Power
Genreal Play Kicking Accuracy

Goal Kicking Power
Goal Kicking Accuracy

 

[The Engineers Room]

4 Kicking Stats

Genreal Play Kicking Power
Genreal Play Kicking Accuracy

Goal Kicking Power
Goal Kicking Accuracy

Add these to the list. Especially, because is many circumstances the big guys can really drill it but not accurately.

Also, allow the player more control over the length of kick-off / Drop outs

 

[Kage]

I agree that stats should be out of 100, allows more scope and variation.
heres my list of all the player stats that I think should be included.

FITNESS: determines how long a time a player can sprint & tackle for before running out of steam, maybe losing the ability to sprint & makes less efficient tackles until recovered.

SPEED: how fast a player can run/sprint.

ACCELERATION: how quickley a player can reach top speed from a standing start.

AGILITY: how quickly and/or efficiently a player can change direction, or stop, while travelling at pace. This stat is reduced in wet weather.

WEIGHT: how heavy a player is, not just a visual stat.

HEIGHT: how tall a player is, not just a visual stat.

STRENGHT: this stat, combined with weight and speed stats, when in possession of the ball is used to determine a players momentum, and whether a player breaks any given tackle. In defence, this stat is combined with weight and tackling stats, to determine the success and nature of any given tackle.

PASSING: how accurate a player can pass the ball, and when attempting long balls how fast the player can throw the ball.

OFFLOADING: determines a players chance of getting an arm/arms free in a tackle and allowing a chance of an offload. The ball carriers height would be compared to the tacklers height to determine any additional advantages, or disadvantages.

HANDLING: determines a players ability to keep hold of the ball in tackles, and also used for catching passes and offloads. Also used when a player attempts to gather a lose ball whilst on the fly. This stat is reduced in wet weather.

CATCHING: how well a player can catch the ball from any type of kick, be it high ball or grubber. this stat is reduced in wet weather.

TACKLING: how affective a player is at tackling. There shoould be 2 types of tackles again, but not normal and aggressive, this time high and low tackles (or chest and leg tackles). A low tackle has the best chance of success, but allows a greater oppurtunity for offloading and a quick play the ball. A player with high weight and strenght stats using low tackle against a player with low momentum (speed+weight+strenght) might enforce a driving/lifting tackle which would push the ball carrier back and also be dominant.
A high tackle has a lessened chance of success, but has the advantage of reducing the chance of an offload, and also would be more likely to put a runner on his back and be dominant.

GENERAL KICKING POWER: how high/far a player can kick the ball in general play.

GENERAL KICKING ACCURACY: how accurately a player can kick the ball in general play.

PLACED KICKING POWER: how high/far a player can kick the ball from a placed kick.

PLACED KICKING ACCURACY: how accurately a player can kick the ball from a placed kick.

POSITIONING: determines how well a player positions himself in defence and attack. This stat is reduced when a player is removed from his usual/known position. Some utility players might have 2 or 3 positions where they have no or minimal reductions to this stat when moved. This stat could fluctuate greatly over a season, perhaps for every game a player plays in a specific position their positioning stat for that position could rise slightly, thus over seasons (in franchise mode) a player/players could be remolded into new roles on the field.



Thats all I can think of at the moment, there were others I considered such as 2 separate positioning stats, Offensive and Defensive Positioning, but that would be getting a bit too complicated. Jumping was another one, but I thought that instead of having a specific stat for jumpng, just make every player jump a set height (ie 100cm) and use a players height stat to determine who has the advantage, but the timing of the jump would still be the most important thing.

 

[NPK]

That looks good Kage, aggressiveness could also be there too

 

[The Engineers Room]

I'd like even more stats than that but they are definately a great start.

 

[The Engineers Room]

Add the three I suggested before

Injury resistance
Season Fatigue
and have another stat for form that is determined by how the player is performing.

Replace Aggressiveness with Composure and Experience

Composure: The higher it is the less likely to commit fouls
Experience: In more important matches there overall stats are increased if more experienced

 

[DAMAN89]

Hey,
I reackon it would be great if there was a Video Referee for like tries becuase in the old nrl u dive over with interference of other players and it's so un realistic ur left sitting there saying wat, how, you need video ref.
There should be fights and u should be a option of turning them off and on when ever you please. The stadiums should be more realistic, the camera should be closer to the players beacuase in the nrl 2004 it is bullcrap how the camera is so far away u cant see whos playing the ball and running, the crowd she be more realistic, the players should be more realistic, and every time someone does a aggresive taclke it turns out to be a penatly, head hi, or a spear tackle that really gets on my nerves,
it would be good if there was cheerleaders, and there should be better celebrations, as example i won the grand final and all the players walk of like they lost it, they should be walking of running around jumping in the air, they should show the players getting the trophie, there is alot of mistakes in nrl 2004, i would be close to saying nrl on sega is better than nrl 2004. we are in the 20 century have a look at the tecnology im sure you can come up with a better game than nrl 2004 come on plzzzzzzz....

 

[DAMAN89]

come on if all of the cricket game can have video reff SO CAN WE, WE R BETTER THAN CRICKET, far out boyz u have really dissapointed me in this version of nrl i was expecting a great game and i only got half of that .... ur not helping the game at all

 

[[furrycat]]

It'd be nice but you would get sick of every 2nd try being referred to the video ref now wouldn't you? I'd end up turning it off.

 

[NPK]

Bombs - you can't do a long range one. You can only do one that lands about 15 metres from where it was kicked. In real life, bombs can go 40 metres downfield and set up a try. I suggest this be implemented in the next version.

 

[Paullyboy]

I disagree NPK, its very rare for a team to kick a bomb 40 metres, its a bloody long way - its just not an easy thing to do. I think the bombs go a reasonable distance in thsi game, the biggest problem is they never go where the circle says they will go because the wind has a massive effect on them. If you could see which way the wind was going while you were kicking it would be mighty handy though,

 

[NPK]

Maybe not always up to 40 metres..it depends on the wind and the skill of the kicker.. but the bombs should be able to be kicked higher and further. Also it's hard to tell where it will land from the top view when the bomb is in the air as it is now...and yea, if a wind indicator was in the corner of the screen it would help too.

 

[The Engineers Room]

Also have the view changed so that the player can time a bomb or dive for the ball. Jump should be the same as the bomb button and dive the grubber buttons.

 

[ghoti]

I think there should be more control and variety in attack rather than dummy, step, palm, pass and change of direction to beat the defence. There should be controls which allow you to set up a run around, an inside pass or a reverse pass.

Hit ups are too often taken by wingers and centres. A button could be assigned to get a forward lined up for a hit up where he actually gains some ground. The defence should also be affected by what you do in the game. So, for example, if you have three or four hit ups, the defence should come in a little bit, more so for the poor teams. If you make a break, the defence should take time to come back so you can have a bit of broken play to work with. A dummy half scoot command is also a necessity. You can't run very effectively at present, you should be able to get away from the ruck quickly and make a bit of ground from a scoot.

Working in with the franchise mode, you should be able to set out an entire game plan by yourself. So for example, your defensive pattern (One on one rush defence like the Roosters, Up-and-in umbrella defence, condensed slide defence and so on.) You should also be able to alter this to fit your position on the field. So if you have your opponent down on their line you might opt to used a rush umbrella defence to put pressure on, where in general play you might opt for condensed slide defence. If there is a profiles system, you could name your gameplan and save it to your profile on a memory card for when you play your mates. You could have multiple game plans saved, so you can play a bunch of different ways, and by choosing these of your mem card, you can strategically beat ur mates rather than just being better than them.

In attack you should be able to place your players across the field the way you want them to play in a game, which, essentially will be writing AI to your team. So if you wanted to simulate Cronulla circa 2003, you'd put Kimmorley just off the play the ball controlling everything, and position your attack fairly flat so you lose all your games.

You might want to employ a roaming winger like Nathan Blacklock, or you might want to decide when to get your fullback involved...so you might want David Peachey to come into the back line as a five-eighth, or you might want him on the blind side on the 3rd tackle in case of an oppurtunity...there could be hundreds of options.

Animations this time around should be motion captured. Basically all of the animations are cartoony and very unrealistic...just take a look at the side step, the spear tackles, the two man and big tackles...they all look like a cartoon which I hope doesn't happen in Rugby League's sequel.

There are so many things that can be implemented in this game, and I'm happy to wait until mid 2005 for it to come out so extra features could be implemented. Possibly a State of Origin 2005 release or a release around finals time where Rugby League is approaching an exciting time, where its on the news and publicised everywhere. The NRL should also get behind promoting the video game which increases fans and crowd numbers. I only ever got interested in Wrestling because of the games, I dont watch it anymore, but without the Smackdown series, I would never have gotten involved in it.

Something SIDHE could introduce as unlockable material could be a competition where they go out to junior rugby league matches and record footage, the best footage goes into a video in 'Rugby League 2005.' This also encourages junior rugby league participation. The more this video game can do for the game of rugby league the better, the NRL will get further behind it if it is genuinely bringing more fans and players to the game.

 

[The Engineers Room]

More competition options maybe even a create a competition editor that allows you to do all the fixtures and the finals. Kinda like inertias editor but better.

 

[tHe_MaC]

Why don't you suggest just one name for the game too, so you don't get yourself in a twist everytime someone calls it by a different name. :roll:

 

[The Engineers Room]

Why don't you suggest just one name for the game too, so you don't get yourself in a twist everytime someone calls it by a different name. :roll:

OOOH Spiteful.

Why don't you go away if you are going to bag the game that this forum is dedicated to.