Multiplat AFL 23: Launch Thread (Xbox release date TBC)

[Dannnnnnnnnn]

STATE OF PLAY:

• The game is out for Steam and PlayStation. There have been issues with Xbox release and it is unclear when the game will be available.
• Big Ant are aware that there are playability issues & bugs at present.
• Content has been temporarily removed from the game to identify where the issues lie.
• This content will be re-introduced via patches in the coming days.
• Big Ant have released a summary of what is to be reintroduced, which can be seen below.

Spoiler: Features to be added

Spoiler: MOST RECENT PATCH NOTES

Issues & constructive criticism are best communicated to: support.bigant.com

Michaels Twitch video with QA from Ross(BigAntStudios) from 31:40

 

[Chuckinho]

Not a bug.
Made another league - NAFA - Northern Areas Football Association from Country South Australia. Getting the hang of making graphics to supplement the designs already in the Guernsey Creator. (BMFC Monogram, BMW V, BMW Lion, Crystal Brook V and Southern Flinders Tiger as well as all the logos, short sides and sponsors).
I might make some more stadiums for it, but I'm struggling with the cost of trees and lack of 2d low bushes and background fences to make them not just look like big paddocks in bigger paddocks.


Like my Spencer Gulf League teams, all of these are available on the Community under my username Chuckinho.

 

[kingbob182]

All I can say tonight is thank god steam lets you rollback patches. This is a mess.
3 times in 4 games I had the players just stop chasing the ball. I couldn't switch player and everyone just stood there until the quarter ended (or I left the game).
Twice the ball was punched through the goal or hit the post and was given out of bounds.
Once it was a clear goal and paid out on the full.
Handball issues returned.
Marking still easy and for some reason still easier than spoiling.
Free kicks still comically easy regardless of difficulty.
Players teleporting.
Players running off the field into the stands.
I don't know what this patch fixed, but it sure broke a fair bit.

 

[SledgeMania]

View attachment 1687990
So this was supposed to be a spoil. Pleasantly surprised.
Until he played on before even hitting the ground.
Cost me the game.

This happens when you press L2 and spoil. I assume L2 and Triangle is supposed to be the actual control but somehow it works for the spoil as well

 

[SledgeMania]

Not a bug.
Made another league - NAFA - Northern Areas Football Association from Country South Australia. Getting the hang of making graphics to supplement the designs already in the Guernsey Creator. (BMFC Monogram, BMW V, BMW Lion, Crystal Brook V and Southern Flinders Tiger as well as all the logos, short sides and sponsors).
I might make some more stadiums for it, but I'm struggling with the cost of trees and lack of 2d low bushes to make them not just look like big paddocks in bigger paddocks.
View attachment 1688000

You can place at least 100 odd buildings but god forbid you try to put more than 30 trees.

I assume it's a memory/loading thing so if someone could explain why trees are more intense to load and display correctly I'd appreciate it!

 

[Chuckinho]

You can place at least 100 odd buildings but god forbid you try to put more than 30 trees.

I assume it's a memory/loading thing so if someone could explain why trees are more intense to load and display correctly I'd appreciate it!

I assume it they are made up of more polys. I'd just love some 2d backdrops with bushes and lower branch trees and some fences for outside the ground.

Something like this would be tops.

 

[tigerairau]

Ok look, new update is great and all

But I would appreciate the auto sub not putting 179cm tall Bobby Hill in ruck for me
Also does the sub work? Mine interchanged sidebottom with the sub then a minute later sidebottom was back on?

 

[kingbob182]

View attachment Untitled.mp4
Achievement Unlocked:
"Megged"

 

[kingbob182]

View attachment Untitled1.mp4
"Umpire's call was a goal. Can we just check that it didn't go out on the full"

 

[tigerairau]

Auto subs are horrible, almost better keeping it turned off. Bobby Hill was moved into the ruck, lost that clearance. next centre bounce they clear it and Bobby Hill is playing at fullback. Would like it if it worked a bit better or I could set some potential subs for it to follow.

 

[kingbob182]

Auto subs are horrible, almost better keeping it turned off. Bobby Hill was moved into the ruck, moved him forward manually and next centre bounce they clear it and Bobby Hill is playing at fullback. Would like it if it worked a bit better or I could set some potential subs for it to follow.

I'm keeping it off. Fatigue doesn't seem to be implemented yet anyway

 

[Tulip]

Have played about 10 games now, more thoughts:

• It is fundamentally fun to play, and the AI is competitive. Just lost a game where Freo kicked four in the final quarter and I somehow still enjoyed seeing it go against me.
• Marking seems good, timing them is enjoyable
• Looping handpasses/kicks down the wing and through the corridor when the oppo gets drawn up field makes the slingshot a viable tactic. I don't recall this ever being a thing in earlier AFL games when flankers at both ends essentially marled the same bit of space
• Subs don't work. I haven't tried auto interchange, but even when I make a sub nothing happens.
• Goal kicking is too easy, I had wind pop up for the first time tonight and that seemed to go in the opposite direction to which the arrows were pointing
• The cointoss is genuinely lunatic stuff
• I can't imagine that there was a single build where free kicks worked. I don't think I've won a single one, and the amount of HTBs against is staggering.
• Players still freeze halfway through being tackled/out of a centre clearance
• The inability to easily set a team/interchange is frustrating
• I couldn't make a MSD pick and there was no justification on why

Its abundantly clear that BigAnt needed an extra month at least to get the minutiae right on this game. Never mind the gameplay, so much of the UX just hasn't been thought through. Regardless, it's still fun and I'm optimistic about where the game will be at once they've reached the end of the patch spamming.

 

[GOTHELIONS16]

Is it just me or… for every thing fixed in a patch, a new problem is created. I don’t know if this game is recoverable.

 

[MUYB]

Why in gods name would you implement speccies when it counts as playing on and always results in at best a ball up, and usually a free for htb

 

[MUYB]

Is it just me or… for every thing fixed in a patch, a new problem is created. I don’t know if this game is recoverable.

It's an absolute garbage fire

 

[tigerairau]

Pretty intense game and this happens at the start of the last...game breaking bug. will put a ticket in

 

[Chuckinho]

Is it just me or… for every thing fixed in a patch, a new problem is created. I don’t know if this game is recoverable.

 

[dwwaino]

You can place at least 100 odd buildings but god forbid you try to put more than 30 trees.

I assume it's a memory/loading thing so if someone could explain why trees are more intense to load and display correctly I'd appreciate it!

It comes down to things like the number of verts (vertices) which are the corners - this is because you model in quads which can be subdivided and the GPU works in tris (think of a square, the game engine will cut it into 2 triangles for the GPU). Consider a simple cube building with flat sides. It might only have 8 verts, one for each corner and maybe 8-12 for a roof. Then it can be detailed using a normal, or bump map. Is the mesh just made up of flat faces or do they have thickness? Then double the verts. Now think of a 3d tree. Firstly even if the trunk is completely straight how many faces does it have? Low poly might be 8, higher poly maybe 16 or more. That's at least 16-32 verts. Does the trunk have any bends? More verts. Every branch? Add some more verts. Then the foliage? Background props not designed to be focal or hero pieces might just have leaves that are a plane that always face the camera. But how many of these are even on a simple tree? So even one low poly tree can equal several very simple structural meshes.

You've also then got things like lighting. A simple structure would only project a simple shadow. A tree would be more complex depending on things like shadow detail and the kind of anti-aliasing being used. In a game like this with dynamic lighting you can't cheat and do what is called light baking.

There's heaps to it. Game optimisation is a mission itself outside of the rest of it.

 

[Chuckinho]

It comes down to things like the number of verts (vertices) which are the corners - this is because you model in quads which can be subdivided and the GPU works in tris (think of a square, the game engine will cut it into 2 triangles for the GPU). Consider a simple cube building with flat sides. It might only have 8 verts, one for each corner and maybe 8-12 for a roof. Then it can be detailed using a normal, or bump map. Is the mesh just made up of flat faces or do they have thickness? Then double the verts. Now think of a 3d tree. Firstly even if the trunk is completely straight how many faces does it have? Low poly might be 8, higher poly maybe 16 or more. That's at least 16-32 verts. Does the trunk have any bends? More verts. Every branch? Add some more verts. Then the foliage? Background props not designed to be focal or hero pieces might just have leaves that are a plane that always face the camera. But how many of these are even on a simple tree? So even one low poly tree can equal several very simple structural meshes.

You've also then got things like lighting. A simple structure would only project a simple shadow. A tree would be more complex depending on things like shadow detail and the kind of anti-aliasing being used. In a game like this with dynamic lighting you can't cheat and do what is called light baking.

There's heaps to it. Game optimisation is a mission itself outside of the rest of it.

Absolutely, which is why I wonder why they don't go for trees made in an x shape with 4 faces instead of 3d.
A Texture Background would be 2d. Easy done.

 

[A Tiger 4 lyf]

Don’t see the point in having a career mode if all teams/players are rated the same

There’s no need to trade for players, high draft pricks etc.

Let me take an under 80 rated team (eg Roos & hawks) and build them in to that 87+ rated team through trades, draft & player progression



Sent from my iPhone using BigFooty.com

 

[dwwaino]

Absolutely, which is why I wonder why they don't go for trees made in an x shape with 4 faces instead of 3d.
A Texture Background would be 2d. Easy done.

I am absolutely shocking with optimisation and haven't really thought too much into something like that. That would be useful in the hands of a level designer but maybe not the average user. I use Speed Tree and frame things so Unreal's texture streaming and mesh culling can take care of it for me lol.

 

[illnino]

Was auto interchange tested before being patched into the game? Is there no player fatigue? L2+RS is mark and I noticed RS works as tackle sometimes. So confused.

Can't play online still either... Crashes galore. Especially if you change your kit or line up.

Ughhh... this is getting beyond ugly. Really hope we get the full game one day.

 

[buttsauce]

How can you fumble the bag this bad!

Wtf is going on.

 

[Archer_11]

The games become more enjoyable. But …….
Feel like every game and match up has the same feel about it, you know exactly how the game is going to go before you play it. Every player feels the same, guns don’t stand out every player runs to 45 and kicks the goal.

The CHF for the AI is overpowered and the AI get there goals the same way every time / always have bulk numbers ahead of the ball, hoping this is where tactics can alter that e.g. player behind the ball perhaps.

What’s coming next for this game I wonder, how far off the desired product are we and is it going to have the desired result. Been one of the more weirder releases of a game I’ve ever seen that’s for sure.

P.s let us have an ability to select side in game on season mode please


Sent from my iPhone using BigFooty.com

I think you're circling around one of the biggest challenges that will be need to be faced over several years. It's uncharted territory to be talking about how matches can feel different, no title has come close to asking the question and it's inconceivable that BA will solve it in their first release. I'm already impressed enough by how differently all the teams play, if we get much more than that I'll be blown away.

 

[Archer_11]

All I can say tonight is thank god steam lets you rollback patches. This is a mess.
3 times in 4 games I had the players just stop chasing the ball. I couldn't switch player and everyone just stood there until the quarter ended (or I left the game).
Twice the ball was punched through the goal or hit the post and was given out of bounds.
Once it was a clear goal and paid out on the full.
Handball issues returned.
Marking still easy and for some reason still easier than spoiling.
Free kicks still comically easy regardless of difficulty.
Players teleporting.
Players running off the field into the stands.
I don't know what this patch fixed, but it sure broke a fair bit.

That's crazy, I haven't seen any of these things tonight playing on Steam. Whaaat.

Came on here to say how much I enjoyed playing tonight, so many enhancements are pushing us in the right direction. I am starting to have the utmost faith. Hopefully more people get to play the version of the game I just experienced, and yes that's a really weird thing to type. Those little chaotic moments you get are starting to appear more and more often, magnificent.

It is odd though that tackling is still off and animations here really struggle at times. I wonder if this is where the hornet's nest is - or it was never quite nailed in development? Hard to think that smooth, responsive clinches with extra frames of animation and improved ball sense are just a patch away.

Finally...starting to think serious consideration should be given to making the tackle button a 'move to player and tackle' button. The game is too fast paced and the players paradoxically too slow to leave it to sleight of hand.

 

[Chuckinho]

I am absolutely shocking with optimisation and haven't really thought too much into something like that. That would be useful in the hands of a level designer but maybe not the average user. I use Speed Tree and frame things so Unreal's texture streaming and mesh culling can take care of it for me lol.

Surely a 2d mesh with a transparent bkg could be used in the background...