Multiplat AFL Evolution 2

[Grechy]

The main thing is the game is fun to play. Had a mate over and played it all day. Loved playing SANFL and VFL games as well. If they can somehow make goal kicking slightly more challenging to add pressure to games, it would really add to the overall experience.

 

[ptrg]

The main thing is the game is fun to play. Had a mate over and played it all day. Loved playing SANFL and VFL games as well. If they can somehow make goal kicking slightly more challenging to add pressure to games, it would really add to the overall experience.

Have you tried changing from the full sized goal kicking meter, to the simple one below players names? There’s no “green” zone show, so you just have to get a feel for where it should/would be.

For me this is much more challenging and increases randomness

 

[Grechy]

Have you tried changing from the full sized goal kicking meter, to the simple one below players names? There’s no “green” zone show, so you just have to get a feel for where it should/would be.

For me this is much more challenging and increases randomness

I had no idea this was a thing. Definitely going to try it.

 

[D1Matman]

Have you tried changing from the full sized goal kicking meter, to the simple one below players names? There’s no “green” zone show, so you just have to get a feel for where it should/would be.
For me this is much more challenging and increases randomness

Good to know, cheers ptrg

In my opinion, when it comes to doing something about improving the challenge of set-shot goal kicking in future.. I would definitely NOT like to see the set-shot goal kicking control mechanic be overhauled. The power-up/horizontal-meter style set-shot control has proven to work best (Live1/Evo2). The PS2-era of AFL games went through many iterations on this control mechanic - so we don't really want to be seeing more flipping and flopping in this area. One flip-flop is enough (cough Evo1).

I think it might just be a matter of investigating a better way for tuning the accuracy/error curve based on player Goal Kicking Set Shot skill stat relative to inputted Kick Power on controller - making it a bit more fine-grain - and maybe making it a bit more dynamic. Disclaimer: This is without me knowing exactly how it works under the hood. And also allow for tuning this curve per difficulty level, like which it seems goal kicking already is. But generally the more effort exerted in Kick Power (on scale from Min to Max for every player), the more narrow the ideal accuracy zone should become dynamically - this should then result in more off-centre shots and near misses for the human player (and naturally exacerbated on windy days). And the curve should not necessarily be linear either, but exponential or logarithmic (and tweak til it feels right for all Set-Shot player stats and inputted power (and of course Difficulty Levels)).

Some folks say 'what about the natural hook in Live1'. And while it did add an interesting little extra dimension to lining up the set-shot (esp. long bombs), I wasn't a big fan of the fact all players seemed to have this 'natural' hook when going the big roost. Its almost like a lot of people saying left-footers hook the ball a lot more than right-footers do.. as a left-footer myself I just don't subscribe to that, and I don't really subscribe to general natural hook theory either. But happy to have data prove me wrong. So I would say leave the 'natural hook' on the shelf, and just adjust how it currently works to lift the challenge.

TLDR; Set-Shot Goal Kicking accuracy mechanics should be adjusted for more challenge on medium-higher difficulties, but set-shot control mechanics should not be overhauled.

 

[CazC30]

Time to up the difficulty from amateur lol

I think the lack of any adventure for the AI in the final third means the difficulty needs ramping up, considerably.

 

[carn tigez]

Loving this game. 2 games ago I played against the Pies. Played my usual style of bomb it forward, let Lynch try to mark or spoil and let the Richmond smalls use their pace and run rampant. At the time was 9-4-1 with the season feeling adequately challenging on the 2nd highest difficulty.

Well, the Pies handed it to me. Down by 30 at quarter time and never back in it, losing by 40 in the end. Bombing it in saw Howe take 7 marks (huge for my 7.5m quarters), intercepting everything with Crisp etc doing the same. The Collingwood backline completely shut me down and I only fought back marginally by changing my style to more pinpoint passing.

Next game up Against a 2-14 Gold Coast side. Obliterated them by 80 points and was never in doubt. They made heaps of skill errors, were easily outmarked by my forwards and the difference was massive.

This is the first time an AFL game has mattered in terms of opposition - in the past, I've never really experienced differences between opposition unless they had a better ruckman. Was super satisfying and playd like the real game would. Very impressed since the patches got rid of the game breaking bugs.

 

[jayaychgee90]

Anyone else playing 7.5 min Q's finding most games very even contests until the second half? I'm on Legend and love the tight battles early on but usually end up kicking 6 or 7 unanswered in the 3rd and waltz home. Wondering if it's a quarter length issue (I've tried giving the AI a stamina boost).

The only other major problem I'm seeing consistently at the moment is my FB or CHB sprinting the length of the field to my goal square at any given time, or plonking himself there after marks or free kicks. His direct opponent is standing in acres of space in their forward half. What's weird is that the AI forward never tracks him either which results in quite a few easy marks and goals for my defenders. Not sure if it's tied to tactics but I've tried a few variants and it occurs every game.

Edit: As I write this I'm absolutely at a loss as to how to get Nathan Brown (CHB) to leave my forward line. I've switched to defensive set up, slow, extra spare in defence.. yet still he squats there like a seedy thirds forward pocket on a Saturday arvo, hot dog in one hand, middle finger to the camera.. mocking me.. taunting me

 

[MadMundy]

Killer Creed at it again.
Reached top of the leaderboards after saying he wasn't going to play the game again....that's impressive..... not playing games but winning over 300 matches...

#1 ranked player behaving like this | Wicked Sports

my son bought this to my attention and it disgusted me

www.wickedsports.com.au

Having gone back in the thread to read what I missed, this guy is an absolute tosser. Oh well I ended up kicking this dude's arse so he's not even that good at the game.

 

[Xtreme]

I'm finding that the Switch version occasionally glitches in the fourth quarter, where the frame rate becomes choppy - almost like it was pre patch that gave us the graphics options. It's very bizarre as I've noticed it plays smooth for the first three and a bit quarters...... The most recent stuttering performance happened after the cpu AI ran the ball out of bounds. When the throw in happened, the game went choppy in the framerate. Don't know why it happens, but it's a little annoying!

My last three games - Hawthorn d Collingwood 14.6 90 - 14.5 89

This was a thriller and my first game in over a week. Collingwood started off strong, before I recovered to lead by 8 points at the end of the first quarter.
Collingwood got off the chain and scored 5 goals to 2, to take an 11 point lead into half time.. Hawthorn kicked 6 goals to 3 in the third quarter, to lead by 5 points going into the final term. I kicked 3.2 to 4 goals, to hang on by just 1 point at the final siren.

Hawthorn d Geelong 24.12 156 to 5.0 30

Slaughtered them from the beginning, Kicked 6 goals to 2 in the first term. Kicked another 4 goals (3 behinds) in the second quarter to their single goal.
They only kicked another 2 goals for the rest of the game, while I kicked 14.9 .


Hawthorn d Carlton 13.6 84 to 12.5 77

Carlton led by 12 points in the first term and extended it to 36 points by half time.
Hawthorn came storming back in the third quarter, kicking 6.3 to lead Carlton by 2 points at the end of the third.
Hawthorn held on by the skin of their teeth, kicking another 3 goals to 2 goals 1 behind in the last.... winning by 7 points.


And that's your sports update!

 

[BlackMamba]

I'm finding that the Switch version occasionally glitches in the fourth quarter, where the frame rate becomes choppy - almost like it was pre patch that gave us the graphics options. It's very bizarre as I've noticed it plays smooth for the first three and a bit quarters...... The most recent stuttering performance happened after the cpu AI ran the ball out of bounds. When the throw in happened, the game went choppy in the framerate. Don't know why it happens, but it's a little annoying!

I’ve found that on PS4 it gets choppy late like that. Sometimes when the game has gone from afternoon into evening. Switching the shadows off immediately fixed it back up though.

 

[Grechy]

I really do think Wicked Witch did a great job with this game. The sentiments in this thread are pretty on par with what I think. The step up from AFL Evo 1 is massive, every game I've played has felt different. It's by no means perfect but it's so far and ahead any AFL game we've got in the past.

 

[netslave]

from WW website:

AFL Evolution 2 - Development Update 01/07

Hey AFL Gamers,

It's been a while since we've given you a bit of an update, so we wanted to let you know what we've been up to lately.

Once again we wanted to give a big thanks to all those posting on Wicked Sports with their bugs and suggestions, we are keeping them all on record for future. Now let's talk about a few more updates I'm sure you're keen to hear about.

Since our last update we released V1.03 of AFL Evolution 2, which we hope you've all been enjoying. In case you missed those patch notes, you can find them here: https://www.wickedsports.com.au/community/afl-evolution-2/afl-evolution-2-1-03-patch-notes

We also saw the return of the AFL Season on June 11th, which meant our Gameday Mode was back to full functionality! While there hasn't really been any dramatic comebacks this season, you can always use the Match Centre to create your own, or relive one of your sides big wins over the round. You can also take on 4 Game Superstar Matt Rowell in our Team of the Week mode. Last years #1 Pick has featured the past three weeks, seriously how good does this guy look!

Speaking of how good Matt Rowell is, we are planning a player ratings update soon, which will be available via an Evo Data update soon. We can't give you an exact date on when this is happening, but sometime in the next few weeks.

We are also still working toward a PC Release of AFL Evolution 2, but it's just not quite ready yet. This has especially become a bit of a challenge with the difficulties working around COVID-19, which has pushed it back a little bit longer than we would have liked.

That's all for this update, happy gaming!

The WW Team.

 

[Ambrose Burnside]

from WW website:

AFL Evolution 2 - Development Update 01/07

Hey AFL Gamers,

It's been a while since we've given you a bit of an update, so we wanted to let you know what we've been up to lately.

Once again we wanted to give a big thanks to all those posting on Wicked Sports with their bugs and suggestions, we are keeping them all on record for future. Now let's talk about a few more updates I'm sure you're keen to hear about.

Since our last update we released V1.03 of AFL Evolution 2, which we hope you've all been enjoying. In case you missed those patch notes, you can find them here: https://www.wickedsports.com.au/community/afl-evolution-2/afl-evolution-2-1-03-patch-notes

We also saw the return of the AFL Season on June 11th, which meant our Gameday Mode was back to full functionality! While there hasn't really been any dramatic comebacks this season, you can always use the Match Centre to create your own, or relive one of your sides big wins over the round. You can also take on 4 Game Superstar Matt Rowell in our Team of the Week mode. Last years #1 Pick has featured the past three weeks, seriously how good does this guy look!

Speaking of how good Matt Rowell is, we are planning a player ratings update soon, which will be available via an Evo Data update soon. We can't give you an exact date on when this is happening, but sometime in the next few weeks.

We are also still working toward a PC Release of AFL Evolution 2, but it's just not quite ready yet. This has especially become a bit of a challenge with the difficulties working around COVID-19, which has pushed it back a little bit longer than we would have liked.

That's all for this update, happy gaming!

The WW Team.

Thanks for the update.

I hope you've taken note of these issues:

The AI reverting to FIFA in the forward line. That BS needs to stop, it's quite ridiculous. And when the ball is in dispute on the ground, the AI going full psycho knocking players over left, right and centre also needs to be toned right down.

Fix those two issues and I think it will be a pretty good simulation of the real thing, warts and all.

 

[LennyHayes77]

Thanks for the update.

I hope you've taken note of these issues:

The AI reverting to FIFA in the forward line. That BS needs to stop, it's quite ridiculous. And when the ball is in dispute on the ground, the AI going full psycho knocking players over left, right and centre also needs to be toned right down.

Fix those two issues and I think it will be a pretty good simulation of the real thing, warts and all.

You know he's not from WW right!? Nor is this the WW website

 

[Ambrose Burnside]

You know he's not from WW right!? Nor is this the WW website

Yeah … I missed the first line haha.

Saw the last line and thought it was WW posting here.

Oh well.

 

[netslave]

The AI reverting to FIFA in the forward line. That BS needs to stop, it's quite ridiculous. And when the ball is in dispute on the ground, the AI going full psycho knocking players over left, right and centre also needs to be toned right down.

Fix those two issues and I think it will be a pretty good simulation of the real thing, warts and all.

I'm pretty sure the soccer kicking issues have been reported, not sure about the psycho knocking over stuff, you might have to post that on the WW site and let them know about it.

 

[Ambrose Burnside]

I'm pretty sure the soccer kicking issues have been reported, not sure about the psycho knocking over stuff, you might have to post that on the WW site and let them know about it.

Sweet, thanks for that.

Surprised more people haven't raised the off the ball bumping. Maybe I'm the only one who has an issue with it?

 

[melbournemartin]

Obviously a very long video but I found it fairly engrossing. The guy has an interesting point though: almost every title in the past 20 years does one thing better than anything else. I guess this is what happens when you have development changing teams all the time. Things that were done well don't always carry through.

 

[Zhish]

I'm hoping that the next game fixes things like

Frequently having closer games against teams a the bottom of the ladder and blowouts against teams at the top.
Opposition often getting the last goal, no matter how bad they've been playing the rest of the game.
My player running off towards the ball or marking contest when I'm not even pushing the corresponding buttons. Not frequent but happens a couple of times already today.
Players running around in the foreground. when I'm trying to take a set shot, making it hard to see the gauge properly.
Opposition players literally standing right next to someone taking a set shot, and sometimes following them for a few steps.

 

[Ambrose Burnside]

My player running off towards the ball or marking contest when I'm not even pushing the corresponding buttons. Not frequent but happens a couple of times already today.

YES! This is a big one, so infuriating when you lose all control of a player like that. It simply shouldn't happen ever, but happened back in AFL Live too.

 

[MadMundy]

Let's just say I'm enjoying Gameday

 

[BlackMamba]

Players running around in the foreground. when I'm trying to take a set shot, making it hard to see the gauge properly.

Haha I use this as a distraction tactic when playing against friends online.
If you find the right distance behind the kicker, it can get really annoying for them.
Pretty good seeing as controlling the man on the mark essentially does nothing... would be good if that actually made things harder for the kicker.

 

[Mr Meow]

So I waited ages to play this after a first burst, while I waited for the patches. The first version was okay but had a lot of bugs and annoyances.

Happy to say it's now a solidly enjoyable experience, still using sliders fairly similar to the ones posted by others in here (that make it less of a congested tackle fest with no free players and give room for smooth end to end possession chains). It definitely seems more free scoring to me now, both ways, which makes it kind of arcadey but I'd still prefer that to hyper realistic bore fests. I like the dynamic camera that gives some benefits of both the behind the player and side on versions, because the latter made goal kicking on the run in particular a nightmare. It is hard to get a perfect Aussie rules camera as the dynamic one still means there is guess work when kicking in general play, but I don't see how they could really improve it much.

Downsides to the game:

-The set shot goal kicking is too easy and mundane. Doesn't really account for angles or player specificity either.
-To me it doesn't feel as though different players actually feel different. I.e in regards to skill, athleticism, toughness, endurance - you name it. With skill I'm not even sure how it could be modded with the way the controls work, unless you switched to automated kicking. Like in Fifa you feel the difference in passing between top notch and lower tier players, as well as with how they move and what their strengths/weaknesses are. I just don't get that for this game and it's the same when comparing teams.
-Maybe a necessary evil but I find that in congestion mashing triangle is the best way out - tackle or quick clearing kick for territory. I might just not be skilful enough, but it's not as effective for me to try handball chaining out of stoppages or packs, or running free to kick with x in the normal way. They need to make these match situations a bit more nuanced somehow. Not the end of the world but there is still an element of smashing the ball on the boot is the way to go as opposed to finessing your way through various plays. When the field opens up and players are in space it's fine.

Anyway I'm appreciative of their efforts in the patches. It's not worth the price tag but for any doubters who are looking for a further footy fix, I would say pick it up on sale if you can. Which is a big step up on some serious entries.

 

[Grechy]

Just a few questions. Is there any way that you can change the opposition line up at the start of a match? Also are the SANFL, WAFL sides etc just generic? Assume they are non licensed.

 

[ptrg]

-Maybe a necessary evil but I find that in congestion mashing triangle is the best way out - tackle or quick clearing kick for territory. I might just not be skilful enough, but it's not as effective for me to try handball chaining out of stoppages or packs, or running free to kick with x in the normal way. They need to make these match situations a bit more nuanced somehow. Not the end of the world but there is still an element of smashing the ball on the boot is the way to go as opposed to finessing your way through various plays. When the field opens up and players are in space it's fine.

I made the suggestion to them on their forums that it would be great if we had a modifier button that we could hold down (ie L1 with ball in hand), which when held down, would place a A/B/X/Y (or PS symbols) over up to 4 players within quick handball range.

This would then allow us to continue moving any direction we need to avoid tacklers, and also fire off quick direct handballs to other team mates who have a bit more space.
Hopefully this would then see realistic 2, 3, 4 handball chains in tight space before a kick, rather than get ball, Triangle mash clearance kick ball..

Really think it would take the game to the next level, and I doubt it would be that hard to implement..