L
lazy_chesnut
Guest
I have been very reserved so far in posting on this forum. One post so far to be exact, as I only signed up a few minutes ago, though I have been watching this forum for ages.
I have a few questions/gripes which I don't think have been brought up as yet. So if any of you lot who have played the game/demo yet could answer this post it would be great. As a rugby player myself I have points which I consider valid and hope I'm not just wasting space on this great forum!
I am numbering my points so potential reply-ers have an easier job, hopefully!
Right, here goes.
1 - Defence
a) From what I have seen in the videos, it seems that the outside centre and wing seem to mark their opposite numbers very closely. This means that any team with a quick inside centre can easily get through the gap created by this strict marking.
I know this is sometimes what happens in real rugby - I remember Matt Giteau scoring for Australia against England in the Autumn Tests by using this gap - but quite often, wouldn't the outside centre take a chance and go for the ball-carrier, leaving the winger to mark the outside centre, and the full-back to mark the overlapping winger? The marking seems to be a little too strict here.
b) The defense never seems to progress as a line - ever! When the ball is played from the ruck, the human player seems to always charge the attacking line, but the rest of the defense stays behind, leaving "d0g-leg" gaps in midfield.
2 - Attacking
a) One of the first things I noticed in these videos was how the ball was always taken standing still. This didn't happen if the player decided to "pop" the ball to a forward on the fringes, however.
It seems to take for ever for the players to get up to speed when taking the ball whilst still. However, the AI attack seems to be able to accelerate from standing start pretty well. This may be to do with when the sprint button is pressed, but I don't know.
b) In Rugby 2001 (on the PC at least) when attacking, if the player ran the ball-carrier along the line (i.e. diagonally or literally sideways, like happens in a switch set play) your team-mates would continue their running lines, leaving you the option of passing to a team mate running a very good line, allowing line-breaks. In the videos, it seems that your team mates will always try to keep a set distance from you, both sideways and backwards, which means you can't pop the ball or dummy it for a break as described above.
3 - Rucks/Mauls/General Forward Play
a) I know rucking has been discussed over and over, but there is one thing that has never been asked, to my knowledge. Do the backs ever involve themselves in rucks? I remember playing on Rugby 2004 where I would make a tackle with, say, my outside centre, and the tackler and tackle-ee (?) would go to ground presenting the ball nicely. My winger would just stand and watch and basically wait until the team-with-the-ball's forwards came and won it.
Does this still happen or will the backs get into the rucks? This would also allow for some interesting events in open play, like ending up with a prop defending on the wing or in the centre for the player/AI to try and target.
Even Rugby 2001 allowed the backs to join rucks/mauls.
b) The way in which the camera very quickly turns round to show who has possesion of the ball at the breakdown seems to imply automatic rucks again. I know you can add players and stuff, but it seems a bit pointless - better off leaving your forwards in the defensive line as possession seems to be decided as soon as the ball hits the ground, rather than waiting to see who has the momentum in the ruck (a la JLR).
c) Only a small point this one. I hate the way in which sometimes when a player is tackled, a forward from one team or another will just come along and lie around the ball, just like in Rugby 2004. Now being a fullback by trade, I don't get into too many rucks, but I'm sure this is illegal!!
d) The scrums seem to be pretty dodgy. I thought the Rugby 2004 system was good, but this time it seems that the scrum can be driven very quickly and excessively far, which could lead to easy push-over tries.
e) Mauls seem a little pointless. There again seems to be a set distance which the maul can drive before being stopped. I think they should use what somebody suggested somewhere else on this forum for a control system for mauls - the attacking team has 3 options. Go "up the middle", to the right, or to the left, each in accordance with a button press, and the defence has to guess which "way" to defend. Getting it right stops the maul, but getting it wrong means you concede ground. But that's for next year's wishlist!
4 - Miscellaneous Points
a) Can tackles be penalised for being late, early on in the air at all?
b) Do these highly-publicised high-tackles (I remeber seeing a clothesline by a French guy in a "Hits Don't Come Bigger" promo video) actually exist and are they penalised?
c) Are yellow/red cards still in existence?
d) Does the "Kill the ball" control actually have any useful purpose this time around rather than conceding an automatic penalty? For example, if the referee is a good distance from the ruck, could you sneak a hand in and try to steal the ball? Is there an actual animation for this this time, or does the game just stop, and the penalty is given, like in Rugby 2004?
e) In Rugby 2004, if you chose a "Kick defense", the AI would automatically run the ball to the vacant space where the winger was, regardless of field position, effectively cheating. Does this still happen?
f) Is it EVER possible to get a line-break using crash-ball, or does even getting through a miss-tackle slow you down so much that you are instantly tackled by all the forwards, like in Rugby 2004?
g) What options are there with regards to tactics for the team? Like choosing defence type (rush, slide, agressive, reserved, etc.) or style of play (forwards, backs, kick for position, etc.). This would seem an obvious step forward given the "Forwards/Backs/Balanced" tactics in Rugby 2004
Right, I think that's about it. There was one other thing but I forgot it just now. Never mind.
I think the above is quite enough!
Thank-you in advance to the people who reply to this!
I have a few questions/gripes which I don't think have been brought up as yet. So if any of you lot who have played the game/demo yet could answer this post it would be great. As a rugby player myself I have points which I consider valid and hope I'm not just wasting space on this great forum!
I am numbering my points so potential reply-ers have an easier job, hopefully!
Right, here goes.
1 - Defence
a) From what I have seen in the videos, it seems that the outside centre and wing seem to mark their opposite numbers very closely. This means that any team with a quick inside centre can easily get through the gap created by this strict marking.
I know this is sometimes what happens in real rugby - I remember Matt Giteau scoring for Australia against England in the Autumn Tests by using this gap - but quite often, wouldn't the outside centre take a chance and go for the ball-carrier, leaving the winger to mark the outside centre, and the full-back to mark the overlapping winger? The marking seems to be a little too strict here.
b) The defense never seems to progress as a line - ever! When the ball is played from the ruck, the human player seems to always charge the attacking line, but the rest of the defense stays behind, leaving "d0g-leg" gaps in midfield.
2 - Attacking
a) One of the first things I noticed in these videos was how the ball was always taken standing still. This didn't happen if the player decided to "pop" the ball to a forward on the fringes, however.
It seems to take for ever for the players to get up to speed when taking the ball whilst still. However, the AI attack seems to be able to accelerate from standing start pretty well. This may be to do with when the sprint button is pressed, but I don't know.
b) In Rugby 2001 (on the PC at least) when attacking, if the player ran the ball-carrier along the line (i.e. diagonally or literally sideways, like happens in a switch set play) your team-mates would continue their running lines, leaving you the option of passing to a team mate running a very good line, allowing line-breaks. In the videos, it seems that your team mates will always try to keep a set distance from you, both sideways and backwards, which means you can't pop the ball or dummy it for a break as described above.
3 - Rucks/Mauls/General Forward Play
a) I know rucking has been discussed over and over, but there is one thing that has never been asked, to my knowledge. Do the backs ever involve themselves in rucks? I remember playing on Rugby 2004 where I would make a tackle with, say, my outside centre, and the tackler and tackle-ee (?) would go to ground presenting the ball nicely. My winger would just stand and watch and basically wait until the team-with-the-ball's forwards came and won it.
Does this still happen or will the backs get into the rucks? This would also allow for some interesting events in open play, like ending up with a prop defending on the wing or in the centre for the player/AI to try and target.
Even Rugby 2001 allowed the backs to join rucks/mauls.
b) The way in which the camera very quickly turns round to show who has possesion of the ball at the breakdown seems to imply automatic rucks again. I know you can add players and stuff, but it seems a bit pointless - better off leaving your forwards in the defensive line as possession seems to be decided as soon as the ball hits the ground, rather than waiting to see who has the momentum in the ruck (a la JLR).
c) Only a small point this one. I hate the way in which sometimes when a player is tackled, a forward from one team or another will just come along and lie around the ball, just like in Rugby 2004. Now being a fullback by trade, I don't get into too many rucks, but I'm sure this is illegal!!
d) The scrums seem to be pretty dodgy. I thought the Rugby 2004 system was good, but this time it seems that the scrum can be driven very quickly and excessively far, which could lead to easy push-over tries.
e) Mauls seem a little pointless. There again seems to be a set distance which the maul can drive before being stopped. I think they should use what somebody suggested somewhere else on this forum for a control system for mauls - the attacking team has 3 options. Go "up the middle", to the right, or to the left, each in accordance with a button press, and the defence has to guess which "way" to defend. Getting it right stops the maul, but getting it wrong means you concede ground. But that's for next year's wishlist!
4 - Miscellaneous Points
a) Can tackles be penalised for being late, early on in the air at all?
b) Do these highly-publicised high-tackles (I remeber seeing a clothesline by a French guy in a "Hits Don't Come Bigger" promo video) actually exist and are they penalised?
c) Are yellow/red cards still in existence?
d) Does the "Kill the ball" control actually have any useful purpose this time around rather than conceding an automatic penalty? For example, if the referee is a good distance from the ruck, could you sneak a hand in and try to steal the ball? Is there an actual animation for this this time, or does the game just stop, and the penalty is given, like in Rugby 2004?
e) In Rugby 2004, if you chose a "Kick defense", the AI would automatically run the ball to the vacant space where the winger was, regardless of field position, effectively cheating. Does this still happen?
f) Is it EVER possible to get a line-break using crash-ball, or does even getting through a miss-tackle slow you down so much that you are instantly tackled by all the forwards, like in Rugby 2004?
g) What options are there with regards to tactics for the team? Like choosing defence type (rush, slide, agressive, reserved, etc.) or style of play (forwards, backs, kick for position, etc.). This would seem an obvious step forward given the "Forwards/Backs/Balanced" tactics in Rugby 2004
Right, I think that's about it. There was one other thing but I forgot it just now. Never mind.
I think the above is quite enough!
Thank-you in advance to the people who reply to this!
