Post Release Feedback

[happy_eagle]

Goal Kicking is rather easy

 

[juzz88]

Goal Kicking is rather easy

At Etihad it is.

But anywhere outdoors with a bit of wind can be a bit tricky once you start getting further out as it's sometimes hard to judge how much the wind will effect the natural kicking arc.

 

[Gibbsy]

Don't know who the hell Green is for Brisbane but he's a gun.

 

[pacemaker]

Good game as all AFL games are.

LOL at Jeff Darling as already stated.

In addition my game has Sandilands as Freo captain, I am 99.9% sure Pavlich.


One more thing sometimes when I go through my team during a single game on team management prior the start the game freezes. The music keeps going but none of the bottons will work and I have to reset the game. Has happened 5 times already and I just brough the game 5 hours ago. Just wanted to know whether it is like this for all the games or is mine just stuffed and I should ask for a swap?

Cheers

 

[Bishnoff]

Love the game. It has it faults, but for a first attempt it's pretty good. What I'd like to see fixed in a patch is:

1. Holding the ball awarded more often: So many times the opposition player goes to run with the ball and I lay a tackle - holding the ball should be called since he had prior opportunity. This would mean less ball ups and reward good play by tackling a player who tries to run with the ball as opposed to hand passing/kicking.

2. Fix momentum: It’s unrealistic when I kick 8 goals straight against Collingwood, winning every ruck contest (on Professional mode), and then I can’t touch the ball for a quarter and a half (including not winning a ruck contest or being able to spoil) until they have gotten back into the game and are within a goal or two. Also, I’ve lost count of the number of games where I’ve kept an opponent scoreless only for them to score in the final 2-3 minutes of the game. Again, I can’t win a ruck contest or spoil a marking contest – the computer just takes over.

3. Increase sprint ability: It’s been said by others but I just wanted to reiterate the importance of this to improve the flow and decrease the ridiculously high number of ball ups.

4. Use edited teams and custom players in AFL Premiership and NAB Cup.

 

[wcesam]

How about a 'burst speed' for players for which each player has a different rating so when they have the ball their first few sprinting steps are of a slightly higher pace, then after those steps they are 'weighed down' by the ball as usual and can be run down. It wouldn't be huge, so say if for example (no idea about the speed stats so just using random numbers) a player with 80 speed and a burst of 5 would still be unable to run away from an ~85 speed player on the burst. It would only hurt when players like Judd, Rioli etc. have a decent base speed and a good burst speed combined?

I mean I know Ross said that he didn't want players getting a bit of space, running the whole field and kicking an easy goal, but even if one of the fastest players using this system easily burns off his man, chances are they will be tackled by someone else a few metres downfield, especially with the magnet-like tackles lol

 

[JordanWCE]

Posted this in the main thread, thought I would post it here.

Finally found one thing that annoys me with the game, the fact that you can't take a team that is over the salary cap into a custom season, why aren't you allowed to do this?

IMO the salary cap should really only be applied for online play.

 

[HBK619]

Have found marking about 10 times easier since putting the player swap to manual.

Just able to get into position a lot easier, outfox opponents or just not have them put body on you so much better. Resulting in plenty more inside 50 marks and goals.

 

[RU_]

How do you do that!? Player swap to manual?!

 

[HBK619]

How do you do that!? Player swap to manual?!

On the team/controller selection screen press...ummm the corresponding button to square on the PS3. X? (the same button that you use for a goal kick) and you will get a few options, one is to change the player swap from semi-assisted to manual. You'll rarely get that insta-swap thing where your player runs the opposite direction for a second and it definitely makes selecting your player in the forward line and having control of him a hell of a lot easier.

Unfortunately I haven't been able to get this setting to stick as of yet, even after saving changes. Would be nice if it stayed that way.

 

[RU_]

Thank you! Thank you!

 

[JADED]

Have found marking about 10 times easier since putting the player swap to manual.

Just able to get into position a lot easier, outfox opponents or just not have them put body on you so much better. Resulting in plenty more inside 50 marks and goals.

Will try this. (although that just means there's another button that i'll forget to press, R1? player swap)

For a few mins just now I realised I was pressing X to tackle.

End to End seems to be the only camera angle I find playable. Need to be able to see down the ground. Still got to try and find the ideal camera mode.
At times I can't even see what's going on after a pack spoil I don't know whether to press kick or tackle and you've only got 0.1ms to do either so I usually press the wrong one. Might try a closer camera.
WTF broadcast close. I can't even see past the man on the mark.

 

[stellation]

A pretty fun game all up, and a really solid engine to build on- any quirks appear to be things that can be addressed in later releases as opposed to things that require a complete redesign of the engine.

Only real complaint so far is sprint just isn't fast enough to get a step- the idea a few posts earlier of some burst ratings is a good one. Lewis Jetta "sprinting" was run down my Mark Jamar in Swans vs. Demons.

 

[Jables]

I feel ripped off to be blunt. I love Aussie Rules, but I feel like returning this. There isn't a single element of gameplay that feels polished or fun. Sounds harsh but it's just how I feel. I've been gaming since I was 4 and I've never been so disappointed.

Ross talked about the focus being on free flowing attractive football, I don't know whether to laugh or be angry. The AI is cheap and barely ever misses, it also instantly knows what to do. There is ridiculous fade on set shots directly in front, while banana kicks on the boundary are hard to screw up. The game is a giant tackle fest. Defense consists largely of watching what the other team is doing.

The Camera is just crap, you can never see what you're kicking to and if you switch to a further out camera you can't see the kicking metre's or the ball. Player ratings are just stupid, Renouf is not an 80 while Lewis is not a 70.

I'd recommend renting it first, but I honestly had more fun playing 2007.

 

[Clive_Waterhouse26]

Anyone know where I can buy this on Good Friday?(In Melbourne) Didn't get time to buy it during week because of work, went to get it this morning and all the shops were closed. FML

 

[Gibbsy]

Will try this. (although that just means there's another button that i'll forget to press, R1? player swap)

For a few mins just now I realised I was pressing X to tackle.

End to End seems to be the only camera angle I find playable. Need to be able to see down the ground. Still got to try and find the ideal camera mode.
At times I can't even see what's going on after a pack spoil I don't know whether to press kick or tackle and you've only got 0.1ms to do either so I usually press the wrong one. Might try a closer camera.
WTF broadcast close. I can't even see past the man on the mark.

The default camera is great as long as you use the radar below. Before I paid attention to the radar I was kicking forward blindly 80% of the time. But now, after I think maybe Gimp mentioned using the radar to your advantage, it's a lot easier to spot someone up on the lead.

Using the player target lock (L2), on the radar there is a dotted line as to where the ball is going to go if you kick it to the selected player. Flick around the right analog stick while holding L2 and the dotted line changes path to a different player. I do this until I see what I believe is the best option. Even though you might not be able to see the ring around the target which tells you how much to kick it, by making an educated guess it's usually around the end of the royal blue/start of sky blue, or just a touch less if you want to put the ball out in front.

 

[Gibbsy]

Do you think IGN will be doing a review on AFL Live? They had a couple of lead-up articles so it's a possibility.

 

[purpleblood29]

Do you think IGN will be doing a review on AFL Live? They had a couple of lead-up articles so it's a possibility.

They review Rugby League Live so I expect they should. Gamespot also review AFL Premiership 2006. So they might too.

 

[millsy29gopies]

I also bought the game yesterday. I only played 2 games of 3 min quarters, but I thought it was really good, bar a few things:

1. The tackling is way too intense.
2. Only 2 songs, it does get annoying and I am stuck with bloody McKenna in my head now.
3. The Sprint feature. It's not really any different to normal running, I still get tackled and can never break through a pack like "C.Judd (3 votes)"
4. I don't really want to criticize the controls as it may just be me not getting them right.

Overall from the budget Big Ant has and them building it from scratch, I will give them a: 7.5/10

 

[Riders of Rohan]

Recieved it on the back flank with Lewis Jetta, sprinted down the wing, ran into the forward 50 and about to take a shot when I got tackled from behind. Luenburger had chased me all the way and caught me

Really think some players need a speed boost when they have the ball.

 

[sammy_18]

i find the commentary very annoying at times

 

[Peck]

I just want to post the thing which annoys me the ABSOLUTE MOST about this game.

Why the **** do players lose stats going from ruck/rover to rover???? This inclusion of stat dropping when changing positions should have been withheld for mine. The only thing it serves to do is limit the player. Which would be fine if players were in their correct positions, and could play in ALL of their correct positions.

However, when Michael Pettigrew loses 20% of his stats because hes playing in the back pocket, or when Kane Kornes loses 10% for playing as Rover, instead of as Centre, I just can't see the point.

ESPECIALLY given I can't change the default position of players. Seriously, if I can edit their stats, there is not reason for me to be unable to edit their position. PLEASE fix this.

 

[Dangas]

Is nigh impossible to change much in an online match, ie: interchange, tactics, positions, that is unless you are extremely quick

 

[Confuscius]

Just some general thoughts/review pf the game, and suggestions for improvement for the next edition, which I'm hoping there will be because the groundwork for the AFL series is fantastic from this game. It's a longish post, but I hope people read it so I can see what they think about my suggestions/thoughts.

• The gameplay is actually better than what I anticipated. Sometimes the tackling gets too much, and the umpires are too hot on holding the ball decisions, but it's quite rewarding to string a few handballs together, find some space, run to 50 and kick a goal. The way the umpires officiate encourage you to go handball crazy, a few times I've just wanted to pick up a ball and kick it long, yet the player gets tackled and it's holding the ball because their was no handball attempt. I think that's too harsh.
• I've had problems with the team selection screen, as it appears many others have as well. I was trying to think of a way to do it differently, and I thought presentation wise, why not just have a roughly drawn field placed on the entire screen, with the players selected in their corresponding sections of the field (HF's, Centre's etc), have the bench and the sub at the bottom, then on one side of the screen have the rest of the squad that hasn't been selected? I think that would be easy enough to navigate around. For further tactics, you could have one the other side the oppositions top three players (or most damaging backman, mid and forward) where you can then adjust your tactics toward those three players. Just thought that would be a great and easy way to incorporate the selection into the tactics, and make it necessary to view before every game.
• Really enjoy kicking out from a behind, despite it being frustrating as hell, it really is realistic. Watch any game of footy, and they have that exact problem, which is why to me it's one of the best aspects of the game. Tactics i've seen are either bang it long hoping it goes out of bounds, play on and kick it long up the centre, or try to be precise by kicking it short up the boundary line. They are the exact tactics I see on the weekend, so a great job has been done there.
• Kicking for goal doesn't work for me. I'd almost rather play on and attempt a goal on the run than a set shot because set shots are just too simple. Maybe a 'red zone' or something in the kicking metre could be effective, bringing the players goal kicking attribute into effect. Taking the two Riewoldt's for example, Jack may have two small 'red zones' in his metre which, if landed in, will make the kick go askew, however, Nick, would have 4 or 5 larger areas, all towards the power end of the metre which make the chances of his kicking flying off the side of the boot much more likely. Not the greatest idea, but it would be something to reflect the players likeliness in the actual AFL.
• At first I really hated the AI's ability to hit targets, I was powerless to stop it. Then I learnt to spoil properly, then bump. And I have to say, it's done magnificently. Spoils are really effective, and bumps can be the difference between a clean possession and a rushed handball. Great job there.
• The ratio of speccies. First game I played there were 4 in the first quarter, and I was starting to hate it, but it seems now that that was just a freak occurance, and something that rarely happens, which is awesome. In fact, I think I may have taken one more since that game, so another good job there.
• Others have expressed this before, but definitely needs a bigger cap for custom teams. No point in creating them if they're not competitive with other sides.
• Season mode isn't what i would've wanted, but it's fun to play. Only issue is that you can't change difficulties. I started mine on the second difficulty (forget the exact name) when I first got the game. First game I lost. Second game was a really tight contest which I prevailed, was really enjoyable. The fifth was a comfortable win. By the time I'd made round 10, every game was a 100 point thrashing. I don't enjoy that, and cos I can't change the difficulty, that season is just a waste now. I have to start over which isn't the best result for me.
• If/when a franchise type mode is introduced, I would love the old madden (06 I think?) style pricing options, where you can change the price of food, tickets, merchandise. It was really a pointless feature, but the customisation was something I really enjoyed. I always remember thinking 'haha, it's playoff time now, enjoy spending $80 for a hot dog!'. One other thing with the franchise style, really irked me that madden now doesn't allow you to swap teams midway through the mode. It gets tiring dominating with your controlled team every year, so taking over the worst team in the comp and turning them into premiers is really enjoyable. I would put that top of my list for the seasons mode.
• Maybe in the next you can change triangle button from just being a stiff to being a evasive move based on the direction the left stick is moving to. Forward be a fend, left/right a baulk/sell the dummy, down being a spin. Reckon that would be awesome to be in control of.

Overall, it's a really good game, and one I expect to be playing at the end of this year, and certainly for quite some time after. Really hoping they sell enough to warrant a sequel, and particularly after seeing all the good work Big Ant and Ross have done in promoting and providing feedback to the community, they deserve a decent response at the least. 7/10 for me, but with the inclusions of more features (coach mode/beapro etc) it'd easily be 8.5.

 

[spookism]

The game play is a big jump up on previous outings, only just started playing it, but one thing that I believe needs to be fixed up is the fact you can't change the control buttons, cause god damn i would love handball to be X