Multiplat AFL 23 - PS/Steam Releasing May 4, Xbox TBC

[Dannnnnnnnnn]

WHEN CAN I PLAY? READ BELOW:

• PlayStation (Physical): Thursday 4 May
• PlayStation (Digital): 8:01am AEST Thursday 4 May
• Steam: Currently 8:01am AEST Thursday 4 May, may be moved to 12:01am AEST
• Xbox (Digital or Physical): TO BE CONFIRMED, unlikely to be 4 May

Spoiler: Specific Big Ant quotes about the release:

Those that pre-ordered PS versions will be able to play on Thursday, disks will have already been mailed by retailers, they will also be available in-store.

Steam will also be available Thursday.

Stating the obvious, we are still having issues with XBox.

Seriously, anyone that looks hard knows there’s issues - why do you think there are so many exclusives for a particular platform that are not marked as exclusive, but are only on that platform.

If I took that road, life would have been a lot easier.

Xbox digital and retail will release at the same time - that is not a decision we get to make.

It applies now and I will no doubt pay a price.

Spoiler: Other Quotes

Re: commentary team

Spoiler: Other Quotes

Hamish is still there, Daisy didn't make it into the final version of the game.

We added Gary and increased the workload of Harf.

Re: game availability/release dates

I can never give 100% guarantee about anything in the future, but as it stands today, the statement I am prepared to make it that all stock that is at retailers on 4 May will be available for sale.

As to the amount that will be there for sale, and whether it is enough, that is a question I cannot answer.

It will be made digitally available on the various platform holder electronic stores.

Clarifying, the game will not release prior to 4 May 2023.

I am vague as there is one platform that has had sufficient stock at retailers and the other has not, and I cannot name them (contractual reasons).

The game will not be further delayed because of the numbers of units in stock.

Re: Steam listing

I've already put in a request for the screenshots to be replaced with current ones, they'll probably only be there for a day.

As much as the feedback has generally been positive, these are old, meant to be placeholder only and were not meant to go live.

Re: playing lists

All playing lists are accurate for the 2023 season.

Re: content creator footage

This is all prior to day one patch (as some have noted updates like numbers etc are apparent)

Re: Career mode

A head's up on Career mode.

At the AFL 23 Launch night I mentioned the non-team based Individual Career Mode in an interview with Dean (Twistie3). As alluded to at that same event, we were working with the AFL and AFLPA to include as many past legends in the game as possible.

The great news is that we have received approval for far more AFL legends than were previously envisaged, but this has meant that we had to make the tough decision to divert resources away from the Individual Career mode development. The individual Career Mode function will not make it into AFL 23, Career Mode will be entirely team based. I expect this mode to be include in future iterations of the game.

Re: microtransactions

You do not have to make purchases, things can be earned.

Re: general development

So fundamentally flawed, in so many ways, it’s bananas.

We are doing AFL as it’s a passion project, without us doing it there would not be one being made.

So much more upside with making games that are played internationally, let alone one that will not even be played in every state in this country.

 

[Quivorir]

On ruck contests I'd rather the option to control one of the receivers so I can get into a good position and hope the AI rucks to me.

 

[dwwaino]

On ruck contests I'd rather the option to control one of the receivers so I can get into a good position and hope the AI rucks to me.

I hope it's realistic and half the time just awards one of the teams a random free kick.

 

[Ambrose Burnside]

On ruck contests I'd rather the option to control one of the receivers so I can get into a good position and hope the AI rucks to me.

Good idea. Also, rather than "hope" have a "pass to me" button like there is in "play as a single player" modes.

 

[Quivorir]

Good idea. Also, rather than "hope" have a "pass to me" button like there is in "play as a single player" modes.

By hope I more meant that my ruck won the contest. A call for pass/ruck tap option will be nice.

 

[Monfries7]

Lots of talk about commentary, but for me crowd noise/atmosphere is far more important.

No AFL game has nailed the roar of a home crowd when an important goal is kicked.

Evo 2 made some progress, for example the “ball” calls when a player laid a tackle we’re good, but the crowd noise for the most part was terrible quality.

Cricket 22 does a good job with the crowd getting up on their feet/louder when a player gets a 50/100. So I feel we’re in good hands.

 

[Ambrose Burnside]

Just played a game of Evo 2. Commentary is fine, crowd noises are OK, but not once while playing did I actually feel like I was in control. Half the time I wasn't even sure if I was in possession. I'm sure I could spend hours with sliders, but they shouldn't be necessary, the default game should be "good enough".

Part of that is the actual sport, it's a mess of contested possessions and scrappy play, but personally I think a videogame adaptation should be more idealised. The sport as we want it to be played, not the messy, scrappy contested stuff that is impossible to play properly at a playable camera angle. Part of it is the videogame. It should be clear who is in possession (even if it means the game is slowed down, again, sliders help here but the default game everyone gets their first impressions from is too fast), and it should be possible to link a chain of handpasses before getting a player in space to hit a leading forward on the chest without wrestling with the controls. It should come naturally like FIFA (and I'm not even thinking of the fancier moves you can do here either, but the regular drop punts and handpasses) ... While at the same time making it fun for the defending side to dish out a bone crunching tackle or bump.

Hard to explain, but I hope that's clear.

 

[BigAntStudios]

Just played a game of Evo 2. Commentary is fine, crowd noises are OK, but not once while playing did I actually feel like I was in control. Half the time I wasn't even sure if I was in possession. I'm sure I could spend hours with sliders, but they shouldn't be necessary, the default game should be "good enough".

Part of that is the actual sport, it's a mess of contested possessions and scrappy play, but personally I think a videogame adaptation should be more idealised. The sport as we want it to be played, not the messy, scrappy contested stuff that is impossible to play properly at a playable camera angle. Part of it is the videogame. It should be clear who is in possession (even if it means the game is slowed down, again, sliders help here but the default game everyone gets their first impressions from is too fast), and it should be possible to link a chain of handpasses before getting a player in space to hit a leading forward on the chest without wrestling with the controls. It should come naturally like FIFA (and I'm not even thinking of the fancier moves you can do here either, but the regular drop punts and handpasses) ... While at the same time making it fun for the defending side to dish out a bone crunching tackle or bump.

Hard to explain, but I hope that's clear.

IMO there should be a struggle around the ball but as you're playing reduced time in a video game, it should almost be a non-stop highlights package.

 

[Ambrose Burnside]

IMO there should be a struggle around the ball but as you're playing reduced time in a video game, it should almost be a non-stop highlights package.

Agreed.

How to do that with a playable camera angle while making it clear to the player who is in possession, what options are available to the player given where the ball is at that point in time etc well ... I'll leave that to you

Blind kicks up the ground cos you have nfi where your teammates are but you know you have to get rid of it NOW NOW NOW cos you have half a second to dispose of it before the tackle comes from your opponent who is glued to you like a conjoined twin, that's been the bane of all AFL games. Evo 2 brought in the throw it on the boot button as an alternative to hoooooooow loooooooooooong yooooooooou (I'll stop now) have to hold down the kick button to get any distance on the ball to try and prevent the tacklefest of all modern AFL games, but I'm not sure it's the ideal method.

 

[Fizzler]

I feel camera angles will always be the Achilles Heel of AFL games. Using the usual TV broadcast angle and Lycett would be off screen when Shuey kicks it, so it becomes a bit of a guessing game trying to look on screen and at the mini map nek minnut tackled. Be interesting to see what innovations happen there.

I'm a big believer in end to end camera angles. My go-to in Evo 2 was end to end that would switch ends depending on who had the ball, and making sure the rotation speed was all the way up. Helps avoid pushing the wrong button because you thought you had/didn't have the ball and gives it a slightly more real feeling as that's the direction the ball would travel. The broadcast-style wing camera serves no purpose for video games but it's a good default as it's the angle people normally see football at on their TV.

 

[game_chromosome]

Agreed.

How to do that with a playable camera angle while making it clear to the player who is in possession, what options are available to the player given where the ball is at that point in time etc well ... I'll leave that to you

Blind kicks up the ground cos you have nfi where your teammates are but you know you have to get rid of it NOW NOW NOW cos you have half a second to dispose of it before the tackle comes from your opponent who is glued to you like a conjoined twin, that's been the bane of all AFL games. Evo 2 brought in the throw it on the boot button as an alternative to hoooooooow loooooooooooong yooooooooou (I'll stop now) have to hold down the kick button to get any distance on the ball to try and prevent the tacklefest of all modern AFL games, but I'm not sure it's the ideal method.

I think a good solution to this could be corralling. Open the game up so it's no so congested, have AI players attempt to corral first as they do in real footy, players don't launch in at everyone with the ball all the time for fear of being stepped around. This would allow the person playing more time to handball or kick though keep the long kick press time so there is danger of holding the ball if you don't handball first. You would also get a more realistic handball to kick ratio as AFL video games suffer from being a kick fest by design.

 

[dylan7]

Biggest thing would be get the gameplay and presentation to look and feel like a AFL game. Everyone wants simulation with sports games now not arcade

 

[SaadyArmy]

I think a good solution to this could be corralling. Open the game up so it's no so congested, have AI players attempt to corral first as they do in real footy, players don't launch in at everyone with the ball all the time for fear of being stepped around. This would allow the person playing more time to handball or kick though keep the long kick press time so there is danger of holding the ball if you don't handball first. You would also get a more realistic handball to kick ratio as AFL video games suffer from being a kick fest by design.

Agreed. If you try to slide tackle someone in fifa front on you’re extremely unlikely to be successful, whereas from behind or the side you’re a better chance of laying the tackle. This is exactly how it’s like in real life footy and should be emulated in the next game


Sent from my iPhone using BigFooty.com

 

[Mootsy]

IMO there should be a struggle around the ball but as you're playing reduced time in a video game, it should almost be a non-stop highlights package.

Yup. and that's how NBA2K approach it as well. Otherwise games would be all over the place. Low scores, "It's too difficult", "Too grinding" complaints, and so forth. That's what higher difficulty is used for anyway. There's definitely a balance in the context of sports video games to make it fun to play in shorter quarters..

I think most of us are realistically welcoming the first version to be the base edition of a brand new game. It doesn't have to have everything because of that. There's always room for updates and additions etc. In fact as long as you enjoy the process and have fun making the game and are happy with the base product, that's really what's the most important thing.

Then seeing what additions are realistic requests.

 

[Fizzler]

I hope the body models for players are better than Evo/Evo 2. Look at how the chest warps the stripes. Looks as if the uniform is stuck to the skin.

Then again I think we're in good hands.

 

[lmaohelp]

Has anyone heard from the afl evo2 devs. Am I right in saying it was one main dude doing majority of the dev work?

Anywho I’m absolutely pumped for Big Ant’s release and to be honest even if it’s released a month into the 2023 AFL Season, it wouldn’t even bother me. I just have to think back to the time I found out all those years ago that Big Ant wouldn’t be doing another AFL game. Fast forward to now and I can totally wait a little longer even if it takes us 14 months to get there lol

 

[dylan7]

Once again realistic injuries in gameplay and coach career. Look how many injuries are happening at the moment and the season hasn't even started yet. The ability to preset injuries to players before starting a season. Players having wear and tear so you might have to send them to surgery after season ends which effects there pre season

 

[Munga]

Severe lack of Leigh Montagna

Leigh Montagna

Age

40

Ht

178cm

Wt

76kg

Pos.

Def

Career

Season

Last 5

D

23.9

5star

K

14.8

5star

HB

9.0

5star

M

4.7

4star

T

4.0

5star

MG

482.3

5star

No current season stats available

D

5.0

1star

K

3.8

2star

HB

1.2

2star

M

2.4

3star

T

1.4

4star

being requested for commentary in this thread imo.

Ahh yeah Montagna is a good one. Bec Goddard would be great too, although she's coaching soon

 

[Lesnish]

I personally believe AFL live 1 was the most enjoyable AFL game to date, no question.
It wasn’t a perfect representation of the sport, however the game was very playable and user intuitive. The controls felt responsive and gave you genuine control over your player, in particular the kicking. Evolution 2 feels like your kick could go any which way with no great control, live 1 made you confident your kicks would go exactly where intended, same as big titles such as fifa.
I think live 1s biggest problem and the reason the kicking mechanism was so good was because kicking was your only option, the game made no real use of handballs at all.

Live 1 got a lot right, Evo 2 got a bit right. But I personally believe that the small amount evo 2 got right is was live 1 was missing.

My thoughts for the new game:
- gameplay is key. Gimmicks/non gameplay details like people worried about who will do the commentary, ultimate team, career mode stories like press conferences ect, crowd noises, players being able to have there socks down are all pointless if the gameplay is unbearably frustrating.
I genuinely would be happy for BA first afl game back to be like live 1 where it was single season only if the gameplay is spot on.

• Goal kicking has to be nailed. I think the best comparison would be a madden field goal style? Please no more behind the goals camera angle once the ball has been kicked.
• One of my biggest gripes with Evo 2 was when the ball was on the ground to be won, there was no method of picking up the ball, the amount of times I would run over it and not collect the footy was enough to turn me off the game forever.
• Kicking has to feel seamless and deliberate like live 1. The one thing I did like about Evo 2s kicking was the ability to kick in front to a lead.
• Marking has to be controlled and not seemingly random like Evo 2. I didn’t mind afl live 1s marking, however I think more body positioning like Evo 2 needs to be incorporated.
• No tackling fest like live 1 would get. Individual players need to have varying attributes (eg speed) and handballs need to be a genuine passing method. I think Evo 2 did an ok job of that.
• Stoppage set up’s need to be genuinely used. Evolution 2 had different set ups, some genuinely useful like a loose player behind the ruckman. However these setups were entirely random and would be luck of the draw which one you would get.
• Non stationary ball up setups, midfielders need to be moving as the ball is being tapped down rather than like a bunch of auskickers watching the ball hit the ground before deciding to chase it.
• Strangely enough, my favourite feature of live 1 was the rucking. I thought the ball ups physics looked great and the ruckman physics were even better.

The movement of ruckman and the hit outs looked super natural and was far superior to any of the wicked witch titles. Very much looking forward to see that back.

I think you guys will kill it Ross.
Not sure if you will read what a pleb like me thinks. But I am finally hyped about an AFL game again.

 

[LeeARM]

Agreed.

How to do that with a playable camera angle while making it clear to the player who is in possession, what options are available to the player given where the ball is at that point in time etc well ... I'll leave that to you

Blind kicks up the ground cos you have nfi where your teammates are but you know you have to get rid of it NOW NOW NOW cos you have half a second to dispose of it before the tackle comes from your opponent who is glued to you like a conjoined twin, that's been the bane of all AFL games. Evo 2 brought in the throw it on the boot button as an alternative to hoooooooow loooooooooooong yooooooooou (I'll stop now) have to hold down the kick button to get any distance on the ball to try and prevent the tacklefest of all modern AFL games, but I'm not sure it's the ideal method.

I play with the camera zoomed out and pointed diagonally toward the ball carriers goals (I forget what the mode is called), sometimes I have to stand close to the TV so that I don't miss anything but I'll take it over the blind kicks into the forward line. I often wish that I could have a highlight around the players and a highlight around the ball so it would be easier to figure out what's going on. Particularly in the twilight games with the orange filter over everything and/or matchups where the uniforms don't contrast well at a far distance.

Something, like this to differentiate the teams^^

 

[Ambrose Burnside]

I currently play end to end and zoomed out in Evo 2 so I can see the options in front of me when I have the ball, but it makes the chaos of the contested game an absolute mess to work out wtf is going on, just a swarm of players around a tiny ball, so I spam the Y button on the Xbox controller which is both tackle and throw it on the boot so no matter who has possession at least my guy might do something constructive. There's never enough time to hold down the regular kick button long enough to get distance, and handballs? No chance. The original Live was even worse for handballs.

It's unsatisfying to actually play. More so when the AI gets the ball and can kick it at right angles 50m to pick out a free bloke on his own like they're an entire team of Lewis Jettas. Without the time lag we have to put up with while we hold down the kick button. And the camera angles would prevent us seeing that bloke anyway. **** off haha. A decent reflection of how chaotic the modern game is around the contests I guess, but not the highlight a second BigAntStudios wants.

Another question. Will the game take advantage of Series X/PS5, or will it be last gen only?

 

[Coxy_]

My wish list is pretty simple.

Smooth game play as much as possible. Kicking and handball techniques to actually look somewhat life like. Keep the clearance kick I reckon, it's not overpowered at all...it's a kick used 30 odd times a quarter in real life.
Variety of different set shot routines instead of everyone in the league looking identical.
More tactics, keep an option for a loose man or multiple players behind the ball. That's one thing WW did well which I wouldn't have expected from them.
Shai Bolton

29

Shai Bolton

Age

25

Ht

176cm

Wt

77kg

Pos.

M/F

Career

Season

Last 5

D

12.3

3star

K

6.9

3star

HB

5.4

4star

M

2.8

3star

T

2.9

4star

CL

1.4

4star

D

12.7

3star

K

9.2

4star

HB

3.5

2star

M

3.0

3star

T

2.7

4star

CL

1.8

4star

D

9.2

3star

K

4.6

2star

HB

4.6

4star

M

2.0

3star

T

2.6

4star

CL

0.0

1star

to not be run down by Mason Cox

46

Mason Cox

Age

33

Ht

211cm

Wt

110kg

Pos.

F/R

Career

Season

Last 5

D

8.7

2star

K

5.2

2star

HB

3.5

3star

M

4.0

4star

T

1.6

4star

G

1.2

4star

D

6.0

1star

K

3.0

1star

HB

3.0

2star

M

2.3

2star

T

0.3

1star

G

1.0

4star

D

9.0

3star

K

5.4

2star

HB

3.6

3star

M

2.6

3star

T

2.4

4star

G

1.8

5star

or Levi Casboult

30

Levi Casboult

Age

34

Ht

199cm

Wt

104kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

9.9

3star

K

6.5

3star

HB

3.4

3star

M

5.3

5star

T

1.7

4star

G

1.1

4star

D

10.1

3star

K

7.6

3star

HB

2.6

2star

M

5.9

5star

T

1.3

2star

G

1.3

5star

D

9.2

3star

K

6.2

3star

HB

3.0

3star

M

5.2

5star

T

2.2

4star

G

1.4

5star

. Understand you don't want players to be too overpowered but I want to feel like I'm playing a game of footy.

Who gives a shite about Ultimate Team or whatever. Give me a good coach career mode with good gameplay and I'm there all day.

With career mode (playing with the whole 22) I'd love it if you had the option of playing with your reserves side in the VFL, SANFL etc. Or at least being able to go into the fixture and look at a full list of stats for the game. Might seem like a minor thing but I love being able to choose to play minor league games in MLB The Show as well as major league. Wouldnt think it would be hard to implement so here's to hoping. Infinite years pls, don't wanna do 5-10 seasons and be told I've had a good run and it's time to hang up the coaching headset.

 

[DNAngel]

How long has the game been in development Big Ant?

 

[Ambrose Burnside]

Not critical if you can modify players and teams etc, but accurate WAFL/SANFL etc teams would be nice (real players etc).

 

[jdoggdrool]

Who gives a sh*te about Ultimate Team or whatever. Give me a good coach career mode with good gameplay and I'm there all day.

I'm so there with you on this. All this talk about Ultimate Team seems incredibly off-topic when we're yet to really nail the actual gameplay in an AFL video game 100%. With great gameplay and an engrossing coach career mode in an AFL game, I can safely say it'd become my most played game.

 

[Quivorir]

And I couldn't care less about a coach career mode. Different strokes for different folks.