AFL 2006 Talk

[goDees22]

You need to look at the way the NBA market their game Live 07. They released it about a month before the season which is perfect timing to release a game imo. You get the initial boom (if its half decent) then in another 4 weeks when its died down a bit you get another boost from people at the start of the year, and then the game is up to date for that year, its perfect i reckon, obviously the next game won't be done by the start of next season but you should try to get it out as early as possible

 

[GeneralDisarray]

Absolutely loving the game. Halfway through my second season and I've only lost 2 matches on normal so I think I'll put it up to hard for the 3rd season.

One thing that's really annoying is my ruckmen seem to go down far too often. I'm playing as collingwood and have Fraser, Cox and Lade. Fraser has probably played about 1/3 of the game so far. And this season Cox has played about 4 games including NAB Cup and Lade has about 7. Anyone else find the same injury woes with their rucks?

For 2 matches I had no Cox, Lade, Fraser or Travis Cloke and was forced to play Maxwell as a ruckman (I traded Rocca for Cox).

 

[Fiery Hawk]

You need to look at the way the NBA market their game Live 07. They released it about a month before the season which is perfect timing to release a game imo. You get the initial boom (if its half decent) then in another 4 weeks when its died down a bit you get another boost from people at the start of the year, and then the game is up to date for that year, its perfect i reckon, obviously the next game won't be done by the start of next season but you should try to get it out as early as possible

In a utopian world that would be the case champ. The problem with an AFL licensed game is that a lot of the sponsorship and guernsey information is not finalised prior to the commencement of the season. In fact this year the Heritage guernsey deadline is around Round 6. All the team sponsors aren't finalised at the start of the season either so we are made to wait until such matters are resolved. If we were working on a PC version it would be easy to send out a patch.

In saying that though we are looking to get the game out sooner this time around so it won't be such a long wait.

 

[Fiery Hawk]

Absolutely loving the game. Halfway through my second season and I've only lost 2 matches on normal so I think I'll put it up to hard for the 3rd season.

One thing that's really annoying is my ruckmen seem to go down far too often. I'm playing as collingwood and have Fraser, Cox and Lade. Fraser has probably played about 1/3 of the game so far. And this season Cox has played about 4 games including NAB Cup and Lade has about 7. Anyone else find the same injury woes with their rucks?

For 2 matches I had no Cox, Lade, Fraser or Travis Cloke and was forced to play Maxwell as a ruckman (I traded Rocca for Cox).

Might be worth bumping up their durability ratings. I must have been too harsh with that attribute when rating ruckmen hey?

Good to hear you are enjoying the game!

 

[Fiery Hawk]

FH it's been great having your feedback.

Firstly, I love the game. I think it's awesome. Once I changed the camera angle to down the field, it really rocked. Me and my mates have full on contests that get really intense.

However. Now I have a whinge as well. What is driving me banana's at the moment is changing players when the opposition is streaming out of defence. It's crap because if the opposition is running out of defence, and you can see the player he's going to kick it to is on a lead, you can't man him up! No matter how many times you hit the player change button, it flicks to players behind the play right up to the last moment, when it's patently too late.

I would have thought that you should be able to have more choice in who the player switch goes to, by "aiming" at the player with the right joypad. At the moment it seems random at best, and counter-intuitive at worst. Is that possible?

There's a few other small things, of course, but mainly I want to congratulate you guys on by far the best AFL game ever made.

It's places like this with back and forth feedback that's improving the game so I'm more than happy to be here answering your questions.

Great to hear you and your mates are enjoying the game. Must admit the best battles are in multiplayer, especially when yer mates are at your standard.

We identified a potential problem with player selection last year and began to explore a user-influenced selection process where you could use the right thumbstick to influence the direction of your selection. It became pretty complicated and we quickly ran out of time to implement it properly let alone test it so it was left out. Here's hoping it gets looked at again this time around. I'll whack it on the list.

Thanks, we appreciate the feedback no matter if it's positive, negative or constructive.

 

[Fiery Hawk]

oh yeh, and it's just ridiculous that a) you can't restart a contest after the siren's gone, and have to endure the load-up again, and that even worse b) even if you do remember to restart, the game starts again, everything restarts, but the players are still fatigued! What's up with that?

a) I think that has a lot to do with memory management in the code. I'll enquire about it and give you a more definitive answer as to why it's that way.

b) really? I'll definitely be mentioning that one to QA!

 

[GeneralDisarray]

Might be worth bumping up their durability ratings. I must have been too harsh with that attribute when rating ruckmen hey?

Good to hear you are enjoying the game!

Cox has been at 100 all season. Fraser has been in the 90s.

 

[Fiery Hawk]

Cox has been at 100 all season. Fraser has been in the 90s.

ok....how and when are they going down?

 

[Lance Uppercut]

It's places like this with back and forth feedback that's improving the game so I'm more than happy to be here answering your questions.

Great to hear you and your mates are enjoying the game. Must admit the best battles are in multiplayer, especially when yer mates are at your standard.

We identified a potential problem with player selection last year and began to explore a user-influenced selection process where you could use the right thumbstick to influence the direction of your selection. It became pretty complicated and we quickly ran out of time to implement it properly let alone test it so it was left out. Here's hoping it gets looked at again this time around. I'll whack it on the list.

Thanks, we appreciate the feedback no matter if it's positive, negative or constructive.

a) I think that has a lot to do with memory management in the code. I'll enquire about it and give you a more definitive answer as to why it's that way.

b) really? I'll definitely be mentioning that one to QA!

Yeh it's a weird thing, diabolical really!

Thanks again for the feedback. You're spot on. Me and my mates are at the same level, and it just rocks Last night I won by 5 points after being behind all day, then won by 1 point. My mate was shattered

 

[GeneralDisarray]

ok....how and when are they going down?

Most of the time it's in the first minute or two of the match (I play 5 minute quarters) and it's normally just after a centre bounce. I normally see a player get a cross above their head just as I'm driving the ball forward and I then go into the team setup to see who it is. I think it's usually when my ruckman gets the ball off to a teammate - a second later the injury happens.

 

[StefanoRoccoWhite]

I hated this game when i first bought it but then changed the camera angle and its helped A LOT! It does have some issues as mentioned though the one that annoys me no end is the one lance mentioned. I have lost it a few times when my fullback is waaaaay behind and when i double team a foward one player just stands there looking while the other is still way behind. I have changed players around and it still happens.

But its still an awesome game. Such a far cry from the crap that was 2005.

 

[BlackMamba]

Fiery Hawk, earlier it was said that production of AFL 2007 was to start in November. I know the month just started, but have things got underway at IR Gurus yet? Or is it pretty much just a pre-planning stage at the moment???

 

[matera_goal]

OH MY GOD. I just posted 10 paragraph-each-long problems. The bloody server bloody logged me out said Invalid Bloody Thread Bloody Specified.

Ill try re-type em This sucks...

EDIT: I had half re-typed them and my browser hit the back button on me. Fack.

Okay... Heres the third re-type... I'll post em as I go for safety... They're shortened...

Problem #1: Interchange players of different heights, they swap heights. Example: Sampi in a forward pocket, Cox on the bench. Swap Sampi with Cox and hey presto, Dean Cox is 178cm tall!

Problem #2: If you have the ball near the boundary and the AI hip and shoulders/tackles ya over the boundary, deliberate out of bounds! Free kick! Bloody hell...

Problem #3: You can't pick up the footy near the boundary without running out and giving away a Deliberate. In real life you can stop running or kick the bloody ball.

Problem #4: Holding the ball is a joke. For example: "Cousins, handball to E.. Holding the Ball! WHA?!? WHAT THE?!?" Another example: Hodge, handball to Bateman, Bateman runs... runs further... bounce... bounce... (20 seconds later) Ha! Got ya y'bastard! Ball Up! Wait! What the ****ing hell?

Problem #5: Can't see draftees Age, Height or Weight. Pisses me off as I have had to do about 8 runs of the 2006 draft so I could pick up two 18 year olds with realistic height/weights. I do not want to draft 25 year old 200cm 71cm wingmen or 173cm 110kg ruckmen.

Problem #6: In Career, ya can't see career Goals/Games records. I want to see how many games my new players have played and when Juddy's 200th is coming up.

Problem #7: You can't see the age, height or weight of players in trade week. If I'm in 2025 and only made up players exist, I don't want to trade for a 25 year old 172cm 110kg ruckman with 20 overall.

Problem #8: Brownlow has gone from Midfielders Medal in 2004 (like in real life) to CHF's 66 votes medal in 2005 to Full Foward's Medal in 2006. Bloody hell. Surely you can get it right?

Problem #9: As you are probably aware, you can't recognise teams after 2006. Their trading is ridiculous

Problem #10: The National Draft and Pre-Season in one. The top 20 picks are existing players with an overall of 60 plus. If clubs have hoice between 18 year old 60 overall good player and 61 overall David Fanning, they'll pick The Fanny.

Problem #11: Clubs do not delist quality players like in 2006. Jon Brown, Ricciuto both delisted and thats just some. Clubs get rid of crap players remember? I know your excuse will have something to do with salary cap. Spare me. Look at the real delistings. Clubs do not have that much salary cap pressure that they have to go and delist Cousins/Judd because they are within 500k of the salary cap. Heyd delist Adkins or Gaspar before them.

Problem #12: No rookie list players. I want to use Armstrong and Priddis. They get a game in real life so why not in 2006? If the rookie list is too hard, why not just put rookie list players on the ordinary list?

Problem #13 (HUGE BUG): If I get a mark or free kick, if I am interfered with straight after I kick the ball (i.e illegal shepherd, push in the back), the game awards me a 50 but since I already kicked the ball, I get the ball back, no 50 and play on. THUMP. Holding the ball. If you want me to try and explain this one, just ask.


Ah, thats all for now. Post some more later if I can think of some.

Cheers

MG

EDIT: Lucky I Ctrl+C this before I attempt to post. It logged me out and invalid-threaded me AGAIN. Moral: Always Ctrl+C before posting long posts

 

[matera_goal]

Sorry, browser troubles caused this double-post. Please delete it

 

[Lance Uppercut]

I hated this game when i first bought it but then changed the camera angle and its helped A LOT! It does have some issues as mentioned though the one that annoys me no end is the one lance mentioned. I have lost it a few times when my fullback is waaaaay behind and when i double team a foward one player just stands there looking while the other is still way behind. I have changed players around and it still happens.

But its still an awesome game. Such a far cry from the crap that was 2005.

spot on D.

I thought it was crap until I changed the camera angel too. What a difference that makes. Why isn't it default?

But bugs and small issues aside, it's a goddamn joy to have a quality, competitive AFL game, and hopefully with all this feedback IR Guru's can make the next one even more kick-ass

 

[Lucev23]

also when your playing preseason and you mark outside the 50 and get given a 50 metre penalty, you dont get a 9 pointer goal like you would in real life

 

[Fiery Hawk]

Fiery Hawk, earlier it was said that production of AFL 2007 was to start in November. I know the month just started, but have things got underway at IR Gurus yet? Or is it pretty much just a pre-planning stage at the moment???

Production has begun but we are also juggling two other sports titles of a similiar ilk so it's not full-blown AFL at the moment. All is on track however.

 

[Jeffers]

I just finished season 2011 where i won the GF then got through the retirements and decided to see what trades were being offered. so i was scrolling through and clicked on a proposed trade. However the screen just froze up and i wasn't able to do anything apart from resetting the machine. Now due to not being able to save the game straight after the GF i lost i had to play it again for a 2nd time and won it etc. then got back to the trade menu and the SAME THING HAPPENED AGAIN!

Has anyone been able to get passed season 2011?

 

[Xtreme]

I'll have to check where i'm exactly up to but the freezing thing when on the trade screen has happened to me a few times (including early seasons like 2007-2008) and like you i've had to replay a few games, to get back to where i was. And basically jump straight through the trade period so it didn't happen again.

 

[lucas_hsv]

FH, one thing that must be included in '07, is that the other teams throughout the season compete within the time limit you have chosen, e.g. if you are playing on 2 minute quaters and are only likely to score 6 or so goals in the game, the other teams playing against each other should have similar scores.

None of this ;
Your team: 5.2.32 def Team 1: 5.1.31

Team 2: 17.6.108 def Team 3: 17.5.107
In the same round if you're playing on 2 min quaters, their scores should be similar.

This way if you play on 2 min quaters you actually stand a chance of winning the coleman and brownlow. Other sports games can do it, can't be to hard to program in?

 

[mini_me316]

I'll have to check where i'm exactly up to but the freezing thing when on the trade screen has happened to me a few times (including early seasons like 2007-2008) and like you i've had to replay a few games, to get back to where i was. And basically jump straight through the trade period so it didn't happen again.

I just finished season 2011 where i won the GF then got through the retirements and decided to see what trades were being offered. so i was scrolling through and clicked on a proposed trade. However the screen just froze up and i wasn't able to do anything apart from resetting the machine. Now due to not being able to save the game straight after the GF i lost i had to play it again for a 2nd time and won it etc. then got back to the trade menu and the SAME THING HAPPENED AGAIN!

Has anyone been able to get passed season 2011?

Same thing has happened to me, you don't need to skip trade week all you need to do is not review the trades, just look at who the players are that they are offering and then look at the team they play for, then all you need to do is go to the normal trade screen where you select players look at their ratings and weigh up the options.

Hope that makes sense.

 

[Fiery Hawk]

FH, one thing that must be included in '07, is that the other teams throughout the season compete within the time limit you have chosen, e.g. if you are playing on 2 minute quaters and are only likely to score 6 or so goals in the game, the other teams playing against each other should have similar scores.

None of this ;
Your team: 5.2.32 def Team 1: 5.1.31

Team 2: 17.6.108 def Team 3: 17.5.107
In the same round if you're playing on 2 min quaters, their scores should be similar.

This way if you play on 2 min quaters you actually stand a chance of winning the coleman and brownlow. Other sports games can do it, can't be to hard to program in?

Yeah that's a very good point. Will bring that up!

 

[matera_goal]

FH, have you read my post? I've taken an hour and three reposts to do that I'd appreciate it if you'd read it?

if you have then sorry

mg

EDIT: heres the link -> http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/showpost.php?p=6174057&postcount=2188

 

[RoosterLad]

have a cry matera goal

 

[Fiery Hawk]

Hey Matera_goal,

Sorry, yes I did forget to reply to your post. For that I apologise but reading through it I'd appreciate it if you worded things in a more constructive and somewhat less offensive manner (but that's just me). I can fully understand your frustration at the issues stated below and here are my responses...

Problem #1: Interchange players of different heights, they swap heights. Example: Sampi in a forward pocket, Cox on the bench. Swap Sampi with Cox and hey presto, Dean Cox is 178cm tall!

Yep we identified this bug too late in production. Should be right now.

Problem #2: If you have the ball near the boundary and the AI hip and shoulders/tackles ya over the boundary, deliberate out of bounds! Free kick! Bloody hell...

The umpire interpretation may need some tweaking by the sounds of it.

Problem #3: You can't pick up the footy near the boundary without running out and giving away a Deliberate. In real life you can stop running or kick the bloody ball.

We had no stop n' prop animation/control implemented for 2006 which would cause this problem. It's on the to-do list for 2007.

Problem #4: Holding the ball is a joke. For example: "Cousins, handball to E.. Holding the Ball! WHA?!? WHAT THE?!?" Another example: Hodge, handball to Bateman, Bateman runs... runs further... bounce... bounce... (20 seconds later) Ha! Got ya y'bastard! Ball Up! Wait! What the ****ing hell?

Can't really explain why that happens. Will do some research into that area and get back to you. May just require a set-in-concrete interpretation of what is and what isn't holding the ball (but that would open a whole new can of worms). Also I'm not sure if this is a factor in it but have you taken note of where the umpire is standing in relation to the contest?

Problem #5: Can't see draftees Age, Height or Weight. Pisses me off as I have had to do about 8 runs of the 2006 draft so I could pick up two 18 year olds with realistic height/weights. I do not want to draft 25 year old 200cm 71cm wingmen or 173cm 110kg ruckmen.

Hoping to get more detailed profiles into the draft this season. If we have time the changes we want to make will definitely cater to your needs.

Problem #6: In Career, ya can't see career Goals/Games records. I want to see how many games my new players have played and when Juddy's 200th is coming up.

Fair enough. It's something (again) that we fully intend to implement into the game for 2007.

Problem #7: You can't see the age, height or weight of players in trade week. If I'm in 2025 and only made up players exist, I don't want to trade for a 25 year old 172cm 110kg ruckman with 20 overall.

Yep that's one that should be sorted with more extensive bio's and stats for all players.

Problem #8: Brownlow has gone from Midfielders Medal in 2004 (like in real life) to CHF's 66 votes medal in 2005 to Full Foward's Medal in 2006. Bloody hell. Surely you can get it right?

Appreciate the tone of your question, and yes, it's something we will work on for 2007.

Problem #9: As you are probably aware, you can't recognise teams after 2006. Their trading is ridiculous

That's an interesting one. Currently there are no restrictions placed on teams trading/delisting apart from being under the salary cap. So you'll find that teams trade willy-nilly (not a realistic outcome but as some have said in forums it's something that they can appreciate from a gamer perspective). The way to stop such mass swapping of players is to tie them to contracts and only allow players with one year or no years left to be the ones who can be traded between teams. It cuts down the available players and teams won't trade unless there really is something they want.
Whether contracts go in this year is still up for discussion so you'll have to wait on this one.

Problem #10: The National Draft and Pre-Season in one. The top 20 picks are existing players with an overall of 60 plus. If clubs have hoice between 18 year old 60 overall good player and 61 overall David Fanning, they'll pick The Fanny.

We are well aware of this and are looking to implement a new system that should eradicate such thinking. More on that later though...

Problem #11: Clubs do not delist quality players like in 2006. Jon Brown, Ricciuto both delisted and thats just some. Clubs get rid of crap players remember? I know your excuse will have something to do with salary cap. Spare me. Look at the real delistings. Clubs do not have that much salary cap pressure that they have to go and delist Cousins/Judd because they are within 500k of the salary cap. Heyd delist Adkins or Gaspar before them.

Currently clubs do it to add more players and remove the expensive/injury riddled/near retirement players. I know this isn't the right thinking and a combination of contracts and the new system should eliminate this problem.

Problem #12: No rookie list players. I want to use Armstrong and Priddis. They get a game in real life so why not in 2006? If the rookie list is too hard, why not just put rookie list players on the ordinary list?

The problem was we had no time to implement a rookie draft so after 2006 what is to become of the rookie players in career mode? Until you have the functionality to draft/nominate rookies there's no point in adding them unless it's for a single match/single season mode. In the end we made the choice to remove them for 2006. The idea for 2007 is to have them along with the new rookie rules and a rookie-specific draft.

Problem #13 (HUGE BUG): If I get a mark or free kick, if I am interfered with straight after I kick the ball (i.e illegal shepherd, push in the back), the game awards me a 50 but since I already kicked the ball, I get the ball back, no 50 and play on. THUMP. Holding the ball.If you want me to try and explain this one, just ask.

Definitely a bug and one we'll look at rectifying.

Thanks Matera_goal, keep 'em coming. Hope I was able to answer your questions.

FH