Multiplat AFL 23 - PS/Steam Releasing May 4, Xbox TBC

[Dannnnnnnnnn]

WHEN CAN I PLAY? READ BELOW:

• PlayStation (Physical): Thursday 4 May
• PlayStation (Digital): 8:01am AEST Thursday 4 May
• Steam: Currently 8:01am AEST Thursday 4 May, may be moved to 12:01am AEST
• Xbox (Digital or Physical): TO BE CONFIRMED, unlikely to be 4 May

Spoiler: Specific Big Ant quotes about the release:

Those that pre-ordered PS versions will be able to play on Thursday, disks will have already been mailed by retailers, they will also be available in-store.

Steam will also be available Thursday.

Stating the obvious, we are still having issues with XBox.

Seriously, anyone that looks hard knows there’s issues - why do you think there are so many exclusives for a particular platform that are not marked as exclusive, but are only on that platform.

If I took that road, life would have been a lot easier.

Xbox digital and retail will release at the same time - that is not a decision we get to make.

It applies now and I will no doubt pay a price.

Spoiler: Other Quotes

Re: commentary team

Spoiler: Other Quotes

Hamish is still there, Daisy didn't make it into the final version of the game.

We added Gary and increased the workload of Harf.

Re: game availability/release dates

I can never give 100% guarantee about anything in the future, but as it stands today, the statement I am prepared to make it that all stock that is at retailers on 4 May will be available for sale.

As to the amount that will be there for sale, and whether it is enough, that is a question I cannot answer.

It will be made digitally available on the various platform holder electronic stores.

Clarifying, the game will not release prior to 4 May 2023.

I am vague as there is one platform that has had sufficient stock at retailers and the other has not, and I cannot name them (contractual reasons).

The game will not be further delayed because of the numbers of units in stock.

Re: Steam listing

I've already put in a request for the screenshots to be replaced with current ones, they'll probably only be there for a day.

As much as the feedback has generally been positive, these are old, meant to be placeholder only and were not meant to go live.

Re: playing lists

All playing lists are accurate for the 2023 season.

Re: content creator footage

This is all prior to day one patch (as some have noted updates like numbers etc are apparent)

Re: Career mode

A head's up on Career mode.

At the AFL 23 Launch night I mentioned the non-team based Individual Career Mode in an interview with Dean (Twistie3). As alluded to at that same event, we were working with the AFL and AFLPA to include as many past legends in the game as possible.

The great news is that we have received approval for far more AFL legends than were previously envisaged, but this has meant that we had to make the tough decision to divert resources away from the Individual Career mode development. The individual Career Mode function will not make it into AFL 23, Career Mode will be entirely team based. I expect this mode to be include in future iterations of the game.

Re: microtransactions

You do not have to make purchases, things can be earned.

Re: general development

So fundamentally flawed, in so many ways, it’s bananas.

We are doing AFL as it’s a passion project, without us doing it there would not be one being made.

So much more upside with making games that are played internationally, let alone one that will not even be played in every state in this country.

 

[GoldbergsGold]

Agreed but when the minor details are all spot on, it just makes the game that much better

It doesn't improve the gameplay or even add replay value, ie game modes.

 

[HBK619]

Not sure why people are obsessed with CG faces, when the players faces are all going to be minimized on the ground. Big Ant really should have taken their former strategy of leaving it to the fans to do, and work completely on the gameplay. Takes away too much time and money, they desperately need to put into the gameplay mechanics.

The people that do the art, do not do the gameplay. They are completely different departments.

 

[GoldbergsGold]

The people that do the art, do not do the gameplay. They are completely different departments.

So, extra labour on face modeling, ie photographing with expensive technology, bringing in the players, etc, you're claiming magically doesn't take away time and money? So, why did Big Ant forgo that for some of their Rugby League Live games? And I already said the art department should prioritize other things, ie the animation/motion capture. With most of the budget should going towards the programming.

 

[Strahany]

So, extra labour on face modeling, ie photographing with expensive technology, bringing in the players, etc, you're claiming magically doesn't take away time and money? So, why did Big Ant forgo that for some of their Rugby League Live games? And I already said the art department should prioritize other things, ie the animation/motion capture. With most of the budget should going towards the programming.

In all likelihood, the time and money dedicated to the features of which you complain would not have had any meaningful impact on the gameplay or motion capture. Ensuring a complete roster of accurate likenesses takes minimal additional effort beyond just the core players, but creates an excellent “completeness” in that feature of the game. I daresay it would have taken so little time and resources such that, had this been attributed to the other features you noted, it wouldn’t have resulted in any tangible difference in the end product.

Most of the time they spend would be integrating the technology to render the photos into the game’s character models, and the set up of the actual photography equipment at each location. Once that’s done, the difference between previous games and their new approach for a complete roster is minuscule - just a matter of taking a few more photos and a few more hours of processing time.

 

[GoldbergsGold]

In all likelihood, the time and money dedicated to the features of which you complain would not have had any meaningful impact on the gameplay or motion capture.

How do you know this? Especially when I just said Big Ant have forgone face capturing in past Rugby League Live titles to focus on gameplay development. Why would Big Ant forgo it for previous Rugby League games if it were a piece of cake, effortless, dirt cheap endeavor? And of course, Wicked Witch had a excellent "completeness" to their footy games when they invested in player photos.

 

[4cunningTonneTruck]

How do you know this? Especially when I just said Big Ant have forgone face capturing in past Rugby League Live titles to focus on gameplay development. Why would Big Ant forgo it for previous Rugby League games if it were a piece of cake, effortless, dirt cheap endeavor? And of course, Wicked Witch had a excellent "completeness" to their footy games when they invested in player photos.

I think they said somewhere that they now actually own the face-scanning technology instead of having to rent it so it probably doesn't cost them a lot.

 

[HBK619]

So, extra labour on face modeling, ie photographing with expensive technology, bringing in the players, etc, you're claiming magically doesn't take away time and money? So, why did Big Ant forgo that for some of their Rugby League Live games? And I already said the art department should prioritize other things, ie the animation/motion capture. With most of the budget should going towards the programming.

Technology has progressed immensely in the past 7 years, since RLL3 (even more so when you look at when that game was in development).

Decisions were made then, that don't need to be made now.

Indeed, Big Ant own all the photogrammetry equipment and have been able to take it all around the country to get players scanned. Including, as seen in here, the draftees as well. Ensuring both AFL and AFLW, and the upcoming talent pool are represented as faithfully as possible is just one of many tasks we aim to deliver.

The best part, is that prioritising scanning heads isn't needed over something like animation or mo-cap, as again, those are also different departments. Sometimes they can merge, where a scanning session can include mo-cap. But one does not take away from the other.

Nothing is also being pulled from one department and funneled into another.

 

[GoldbergsGold]

Technology has progressed immensely in the past 7 years, since RLL3 (even more so when you look at when that game was in development).

Decisions were made then, that don't need to be made now.

Indeed, Big Ant own all the photogrammetry equipment and have been able to take it all around the country to get players scanned. Including, as seen in here, the draftees as well. Ensuring both AFL and AFLW, and the upcoming talent pool are represented as faithfully as possible is just one of many tasks we aim to deliver.

The best part, is that prioritising scanning heads isn't needed over something like animation or mo-cap, as again, those are also different departments. Sometimes they can merge, where a scanning session can include mo-cap. But one does not take away from the other.

Nothing is also being pulled from one department and funneled into another.

Photogrammetry equipment? At this time of year? At this time of day? In this part of the country? Localized entirely within your kitchen?

 

[tombomb]

I have no idea if making a video game works like this, but if it was me then I would just get rid of commentary and redirect those resources to gameplay and depth.

Usually within about 30 mins of Big Ant cricket games, I am going through the settings to turn it off.

One of the awesome parts of Cricket 19, which wasn't as good in Cricket 22, was how it genuinely made you feel like you were out in the middle (when the commentary was muted).

 

[Ambrose Burnside]

Do the fielders sledge mentally disintegrate you?

 

[Quivorir]

I have no idea if making a video game works like this, but if it was me then I would just get rid of commentary and redirect those resources to gameplay and depth.

Usually within about 30 mins of Big Ant cricket games, I am going through the settings to turn it off.

One of the awesome parts of Cricket 19, which wasn't as good in Cricket 22, was how it genuinely made you feel like you were out in the middle (when the commentary was muted).

Agree 100%. Afl games are the only games I play with music playing over the audio. The commentary is horrid but the crowd noise wasnt pleasant enough to listen to on its own either.

 

[GoldbergsGold]

Agree 100%. Afl games are the only games I play with music playing over the audio. The commentary is horrid but the crowd noise wasnt pleasant enough to listen to on its own either.

I do that with e-football, too. The commentary is very repetitive. I figured at least with game_chromosome footy game he may put in music over the gameplay, which would be more pleasant than recycled commentary lines. It'd be cool to implement music into a footy game, and have it similar to Mario Kart, where the music gets more intense near the end of the match and only when it's a tight contest near the end, too. Change it to calmer, happier music if it's a blow out or it's earlier in the match.

 

[tombomb]

Agree 100%. Afl games are the only games I play with music playing over the audio. The commentary is horrid but the crowd noise wasnt pleasant enough to listen to on its own either.

I do that with e-football, too. The commentary is very repetitive. I figured at least with game_chromosome footy game he may put in music over the gameplay, which would be more pleasant than recycled commentary lines. It'd be cool to implement music into a footy game, and have it similar to Mario Kart, where the music gets more intense near the end of the match and only when it's a tight contest near the end, too. Change it to calmer, happier music if it's a blow out or it's earlier in the match.

I am not sure why you would want music being played. That would be even worse imo than terrible commentary.

Just have the sounds of the game. But it has to be realistic. Not every game is played in front of a packed house.

That was one of the reasons why Big Ant Cricket was so good, you could just turn the commentary off and feel like you were out in the middle.

 

[Treehill23]

I am not sure why you would want music being played. That would be even worse imo than terrible commentary.

Just have the sounds of the game. But it has to be realistic. Not every game is played in front of a packed house.

That was one of the reasons why Big Ant Cricket was so good, you could just turn the commentary off and feel like you were out in the middle.

I think you’ll find that plenty of people play music in the background when they’re gaming

 

[Quivorir]

I am not sure why you would want music being played. That would be even worse imo than terrible commentary.

Just have the sounds of the game. But it has to be realistic. Not every game is played in front of a packed house.

That was one of the reasons why Big Ant Cricket was so good, you could just turn the commentary off and feel like you were out in the middle.

I mean I pretty much said why lol. s**t commentary and the sounds of the game audio was pretty ordinary too.

 

[tombomb]

I think you’ll find that plenty of people play music in the background when they’re gaming

I am talking about the music in the game. Not people using spotify.

 

[Flagmantle Pod]

The main gameplay element I NEED included for this to be a fun game is that each player should feel different to play as and against. More often than not in older games, each player pretty much felt the same.

Also need good teams to actually be good and bad teams to actually be bad - playing against a team full of 70s and 80s was often just as hard as playing a team full of 90s in Evo 2.

Ross mate, please

 

[GOTHELIONS16]

C’mon BigAntStudios - a pre Christmas update?

I need to know how much to spend on Boxing Day, and if I should save any for March/April.

 

[GoldbergsGold]

I am not sure why you would want music being played. That would be even worse imo than terrible commentary.

Just have the sounds of the game. But it has to be realistic. Not every game is played in front of a packed house.

That was one of the reasons why Big Ant Cricket was so good, you could just turn the commentary off and feel like you were out in the middle.

Because I mute the audio anyway and put on music. I'd rather a soundtrack over artificial crowd noise, that's dull.

 

[Ambrose Burnside]

I daresay most people would want the presentation of the game to match the presentation of the game as shown on TV as closely as possible.

 

[GoldbergsGold]

I daresay most people would want the presentation of the game to match the presentation of the game as shown on TV as closely as possible.

Not gonna happen unless they have the budget of FIFA, pour it all into the presentation and just like EA don't bother to work on the gameplay.

 

[GoldbergsGold]

Also, I've noticed AFL video games commentators sound so stiff and lifeless, I don't think they've ever been directed. Maybe the developers have been too intimidated to direct them, lol.

 

[Ambrose Burnside]

Not gonna happen unless they have the budget of FIFA, pour it all into the presentation and just like EA don't bother to work on the gameplay.

I should have added "within budget constraints".

A tiny minority would want the commentary and crowd noises replaced by music.

 

[tombomb]

I played cricket games for about 20 years and was convinced that the sport was impossible to replicate in a video game. How do you replicate what it is like to face 140kph fast bowler or a leg spinner bowling a wrong'un? etc ...

Then BigAnt made a few small, but really significant, changes which made Don Bradman Cricket and the subsequent games genuinely good fun simulations of the sport. Cricket 22 was a little bit disappointing, but only because it didn't really improve on Cricket 19 and was a little bit buggy. It was still way better than any previous cricket game.

I just hope they at least try to give their AFL game a similar facelift. Even if it isn't perfect. Just something that isn't the same old AFL game with all the same issues, that everyone is bored of after about a week.

 

[melbournemartin]

I played cricket games for about 20 years and was convinced that the sport was impossible to replicate in a video game. How do you replicate what it is like to face 140kph fast bowler or a leg spinner bowling a wrong'un? etc ...

Then BigAnt made a few small, but really significant, changes which made Don Bradman Cricket and the subsequent games genuinely good fun simulations of the sport. Cricket 22 was a little bit disappointing, but only because it didn't really improve on Cricket 19 and was a little bit buggy. It was still way better than any previous cricket game.

I just hope they at least try to give their AFL game a similar facelift. Even if it isn't perfect. Just something that isn't the same old AFL game with all the same issues, that everyone is bored of after about a week.

Bradman 14 was a complete re-do of a genre (cricket video games) that sucked ass since forever. Putting the camera behind the batsman and removing the pitch maker was a game changer.

I'd love it if their next AFL game could be similarily revolutionrary.