Afl Live- Suggestions For Future features

[DarkPhoenix]

an End-to-End fixed camera angle, basically the same as End to end is now but the camera doesnt swing 180 degrees based on which team has the ball.

The Camera rotation is annoying and I often find my character changing direction mid camera turn due to the flipping of the controls that accompany it, which soon leads to a turnover/running straight into the opposition.

Of course this option is only viable in Player vs Computer as its a bit unfair for player vs player.

 

[Dangas]

Probably in order of what I miss the most...

1. Statistics, More of
2. Instant Replay (and/or ability to save)
3. Career Mode
4. Introduce VFL/Team Reserves into simulation/play - pick who to bring in side for next game on this form
5. More Camera Angles/ Like in FIFA, ability to adjust the elevaton/angle of cam
6. More player attributes, ie: Jobe Watson should not be able to catch Lewis Jetta in sprint
7. Minigames/challenges, ie: Historical and Fictional (like in previous AFL games), 5 mins to score 18 points to win, come from 40 points down at 3 qtr time to win, etc
8. Ability to create own guernsey from shapes, items, etc.
9. Not really needed but socks up/down, shoe choice
could go on forever, nothing is going to be perfect...

None the less, BigAnt, for a first try, have done a great job and now have the foundation to add the rest

 

[grab]

Also @grab, hitting targets isn't that hard. Just lock on with LT/L2 and put a bit less power on the kick so they run on to it.

If they made it easier than this the game would be too easy, people would just be hitting targets and taking chest marks all day.

No doubt you are right about this for good players as they will already be able to hit targets and the game will be too easy with the suggestions I made. However for less skilled players like me I don't think the changes would make the game too easy, and if it did it would just mean I could finally compete at the higher difficulty settings.

Note that I said the assistance features should be settings you can turn on and off, so good players would probably prefer not to use them at all. It is kind of like Fifa where I have passing, shooting, crossing all on either the assisted or semi-assisted setting, which allows me to compete with the AI at professional and world class difficulty and have a good time. On the other hand, good players have the option to use manual passing, etc, which IMO is much harder to master but of course gives them more precise control.

So my feeling is that the types of kicking assistance settings I am suggesting would make the game much more accessible for the less skillful players and greatly increase enjoyability of the game.

 

[Archer_11]

Either remove the inability of players to play out of position completely, or at least make them able to play in multiple positions without losing abilitys. There is absolutely no reason for a rover to lose ability while playing ruck rover/centre. Or for a full back to lose ability playing in the back pocket.

Agree. Would suggest Big Ant just patch it out of the game, it's too anal (a CHF takes a stats hit for playing at FF? And a FB for playing in a pocket?? Just not reflective of the modern game). What really bugs me is that the North (and I presume other teams) have stats penalties built into the default squads due to a mismatch to the player's assigned position and the final (more accurate) team line up. Blame the club(s) for approving? Bit harsh - I doubt they'd care enough about this sort of thing whereas Big Ant would be aware of how finnicky gamers can get.

I suggest save us the grief, get rid of the adjustments in a patch and worry about how they're implemented in a future version - maybe in a way that's a bit looser and forgiving.

EDIT: Sorry, just found in the main thread (part 17!) an explanation from Ross on how this works. There is no hit to the stats per se, it's just an FYI rating. I think the point still stands, but I'm no longer stroppy about it and a different approach would be just nice to have in the next version. Appreciate a lot of you already knew about how this worked but personally I'm relieved!

 

[Archer_11]

Things I would love to see are:

1. 1080P higher res player models - could do a lot to help see what's going on in the packs. The existing game today with no other enhancements I think would look great in 1080P.

2. Over the shoulder view from a mark or free kick - appreciate BA's aim to leave the camera angles alone, but this would bring a key strength of the end-to-end view to the popular side view. Would need an option to disable for same console muliplayer.

3. Building on the call for 'more in game stats', would be great to have an 'assistant coach' screen that displays a map of the field with player names that are killing it or being killed by their opponent. So players that are being slaughtered could appear in red for example, prompting you to make a change. Could also highlight such things like significant stat differentials - a player with a speed of 70 against a player with a speed of 90, or of significantly different heights. You could have different filters, like an attributes filter showing pre-game observations and a 'stats' filter showing in game stats. Not impossible to implement and would be really useful.

3. Ability to cycle player leads a bit more easily - suggest removing the need to swivel to open up options to the side. Also suggest a little arrow on the radar for the lead selected so it's just a little easier to tell in a split second where the player is going.

I'm guessing I'll have more in future. Great game!

 

[pacemaker]

I am sure all of mine would have already been said but

1) Bigger score board, I can not see the score or the time left as it is small.
2) Would have loved a "be a pro" type of gaming style as used in FIFA.

 

[BarneyBent]

an End-to-End fixed camera angle, basically the same as End to end is now but the camera doesnt swing 180 degrees based on which team has the ball.

The Camera rotation is annoying and I often find my character changing direction mid camera turn due to the flipping of the controls that accompany it, which soon leads to a turnover/running straight into the opposition.

Of course this option is only viable in Player vs Computer as its a bit unfair for player vs player.

Just on this, having it absolutely fixed would be a bad idea. However, there should be a control which allows you to flip the camera when you want, rather than when the ball turns over. That way you'll know when it's happening and be able to adjust the camera appropriately.

The other option is to flip the camera, but not the controls.

 

[grimface_87]

With the camera, I think the default camera angle is good but it needs to be tweaked a bit. All it needs is to be slightly angled toward the way you are kicking so you can see further up the field. And when there is a turnover it can be slightly angled the other way.

I would also like to see a marker on the kick power meter for the player you are locked on to, just so you know about how much power you need on the kick.

 

[quicksilver2008]

1) Bigger salary cap to allow better players for created teams.
2) Full stats for players including clangers and specific milestones which are acknowledged by commentators like Adam goodes 300th game or 600th career goal ect.
3) Stats to be recorded and kept every season (for ppl who are stats mad
3) Better player Management and Training to improve attributes during a season.
4) To have the ability to have a Full Afl Draft
5) Career mode where you can work your way up to the top through the VFL or Reserves and ultimately captain your side to a premiership
6) Have a profile for every player which shows his career stats since he joined your team but where you can also see how he is feeling during a season whether he wants to trade clubs or is content, Weaknesses or strengths ect.
7) Last but not least, Matchmaking for skill online
If a player quits online dont just end the game give the option to continue and play the cpu and earn more points by completing the game and penalise the quitters more. Even though i do think why should someone have to stay on the game if they arent enjoying getting pumped 100-1? there is no matchmaking for skill its just random so a beginner can always match up against some1 who lives on the game everyday thats just dumb. Give them a loss and the other a chance to increase his points by completing the game, i dont enjoy flogging people i prefer close challanges so i dont know why ppl go around crying like cheerleaders all the time about it

anyway these are the improvements i would make

 

[quicksilver2008]

1) Bigger salary cap to allow better players for created teams.
2) Full stats for players including clangers and specific milestones which are acknowledged by commentators like Adam goodes 300th game or 600th career goal ect.
3) Stats to be recorded and kept every season (for ppl who are stats mad
3) Better player Management and Training to improve attributes during a season.
4) To have the ability to have a Full Afl Draft
5) Career mode where you can work your way up to the top through the VFL or Reserves and ultimately captain your side to a premiership
6) Have a profile for every player which shows his career stats since he joined your team but where you can also see how he is feeling during a season whether he wants to trade clubs or is content, Weaknesses or strengths ect.
7) Last but not least, Matchmaking for skill online
If a player quits online dont just end the game give the option to continue and play the cpu and earn more points by completing the game and penalise the quitters more. Even though i do think why should someone have to stay on the game if they arent enjoying getting pumped 100-1? there is no matchmaking for skill its just random so a beginner can always match up against some1 who lives on the game everyday thats just dumb. Give them a loss and the other a chance to increase his points by completing the game, i dont enjoy flogging people i prefer close challanges so i dont know why ppl go around crying like cheerleaders all the time about it

anyway these are the improvements i would make

 

[Peck]

EDIT: Sorry, just found in the main thread (part 17!) an explanation from Ross on how this works. There is no hit to the stats per se, it's just an FYI rating. I think the point still stands, but I'm no longer stroppy about it and a different approach would be just nice to have in the next version. Appreciate a lot of you already knew about how this worked but personally I'm relieved!

Seriously??
Nice.

 

[Thefeath18]

Just a couple of things that could be put into a further patch.
1. Speed improved.

2. 7-8 minute quaters.

3. Full stats not just top 3 players.

4.Easier team managment.

 

[RoyalRoughead]

Gameplay mechanics aside:

Can the Sound Designer in the next iteration please increase the volume of the crowd's sound/excitement? These are just observations from being at Live footy games that can be implemented in a video game.

Goals on the run are cheered with more energy than those for set shots (unless there is a coleman at stake). The crowd's noise also lifts whenever a ball enters a forward 50, whether that be with a mark or when it hits the ground.

Also, the crowd shouts 'ball' the loudest when a player runs in the open for a around 3-5 seconds, only to be tackled by opposition.

When a side kicks several goals in succession after being behind in the score, the crowd also cheers goals with more energy/volume. Even a team chant often leads from this.

All of these would vastly improve the presentation of the game.

Rant over. Game is still a hell of a lot of fun though.

 

[Loriente88]

Rage quitters are the biggest issue.

I've played 9 games - I've only finished 2 of them (that I've lost), the other 7 have ALL been rage quitters, and I only got the win for 2 of those games.

It's a complete joke - puts me off really.

 

[bourbons]

Short handballs.

As it stands now, you don't seem to be able to do a 'little give' just as you're about to be/are tackled - it always goes at least 5ish meters. Think this would kill 2 birds with one stone, would help the tackling issue and also the problems with player spacing (which I know would be hard to accurately model for AFL) - if you've got a 2 on 1 both players seem to run to the same spot and either;

a) the ball gets locked in by the one defender and you can't release the runner.
b) you get off a handball that goes so far away from your teammate it lets other players back into the contest

Not that I'd know, but short handballs shouldn't be too hard to implement? Just make it like the kicks, tap for a short one and hold + direction for a longer one.

I'm pretty sure there was a previous AFL game where it worked like this? You just tapped the handball button and it would give to the nearest teammate without having to worry about direction.

 

[vealesy]

You need to change the way you go to the contest. Control the player behind and put him in space ready for the 5m handpass.

 

[bourbons]

^Yeah thats works sometimes, but alot of the time once you stop controlling the player going for the ball he gets beaten for it by his opponent or once he does get the ball and you're controlling him again, wrapped up in a tackle straight away.

 

[Archer_11]

Sorry if I'm repeating but I think the biggest thing atm is the micro pause when changing player control. When you're on top of things you could care less but against quality opposition every play counts and the little micro pauses kill you. I don't know what the answer is if it's part of an otherwise important gameplay mechanic for other reasons (e.g changing direction too fast & 'unrealistically') but I find them killer.

 

[vealesy]

Is that something to do with momentum?

I've found when Im up and about, my players dont do the 'stop, then turn and go'.

 

[Archer_11]

Is that something to do with momentum?

I've found when Im up and about, my players dont do the 'stop, then turn and go'.

Fascinating. Gee I hope not - heck of a way to implement momentum as it's infuriating.

Last night online I was trying to verify my previous theory and sadly had a doozy. My AI player was running towards the ball, I took control holding the stick in the direction of the ball and still had a noticeable pause. So the idea that it comes down to running in different directions looks highly unlikely.

It's impossible that I am the only one experiencing this, so it will be truly baffling if there's no one that agrees or sees what I mean. As it doesn't happen all the time, and occurs far more often with the 'semi assisted' config, my new theory is maybe if you select the player at the exact time the AI is trying to select it for you the game can have a type of micro freeze.

 

[Peck]

The other day I had a really nice moment in traffic when i managed to handball short to someone (which is impossible to do consistently for whatever reason) then have them kick it out of the congestion, it looked pretty bloody good.

Hopefully the next game improves on how the ball and players move in congested situations, as I think the current version is a little disappointing in this area.

Its good that it gets out quickly, but I think it would be fantastic if there was a little more skill involved in extracting the ball. I don't like how you either get a handball/kick away and the ball is out of the pack, or you don't and there is a ball up.

I don't mean that I want the ball to be stuck in traffic all the time until someone does something good enough to get it out, but at the moment it seems to be mostly luck (or winning the ruck tap well) as to who gets the ball first, and after that the skill is in getting the ball to spots where your players will get to it first.

Whether this means changing how handballs work, or how picking the ball up works I don't know, but I just think the game could be a lot better if this area is improved.

That said I don't think its a flaw as such, just that it could be a strength and at the moment its more of a non existent area.

 

[grab]

An absolute must is to have the controls customisable. If people can choose the exact button layout they want then the game will be easier to pick up. The recent NHL games have pissed me off no end with their inflexibility in terms of control configs.

Obviously people would have their own ideal set ups for for me as a PS3 fifa player I would have it like this:

L1 - change player / kick modifier
L2/R1 - player lock
R2 - sprint

X - Kick
Square - handball / tackle
O - goal kick / mark
Triangle - spoil / break tackle / call for lead

 

[Peck]

I reckon the ability to change the controls is overrated.

I'd like the torpedo and snap buttons to be different though, its pretty annoying when i try to do a checkside from 10 metres in from the boundry and my player kicks a torpedo >_<