Early Access 2 (EA2) Launch

[Muirski2992]

Player positioning. It needs a serious look at, as we all know. This is a big topic but the recent update has made this painfully apparent so I’ll give my 2 cents on what I’ve observed, and what I’d love to see.

A very generic and important attacking move in rugby - SWAP or BLOCKER. Those are the names I’ve seen it called most widely. This involves the 3rd receiver running a hard line at the defense (As he’s the 3rd receiver, the line is run from the outside running in) and the 2nd receiver running an angle off into space behind the 3rd receiver. Essentially, the 2nd and 3rd receivers swap and test the defenses ability to adapt. The passer has the option to put the ball into contact or to pass it to the trailing runner. In any event, the player who doesn’t get the ball is a decoy runner. This creates an interesting core gameplay mechanic when it comes to how you strategize where and when you will hit the line and also how you will defend against it.

These plays are used hundreds of times a game in real life. A decent implementation of this type of mechanic is table stakes for me if we’re talking about a good rugby game that’s up to date with the times.

The best thing that the previous rugby games did (Rugby 20 / 22 although it was broken in 22) was the attacking structures and pod system. It gave the ability to pass the ball to a forward pod and have a back trailing behind the pod waiting for the ball “out the back” or to pass the ball directly behind the pod, missing them and use the pod as a decoy. You could string together several passes from forwards to backs, backs to backs, scrum half straight to a back using the forwards as a decoy etc. The implementation wasn’t perfect but the idea was there. The decoy runners didn’t really actually affect the defense but it looked cool as hell.

I just feel like the “intent” is not there. Players are standing there. They have no intent of hitting the line or setting someone up. It’s flat, it’s static. It needs more INTENT LOL.

A big part of rugby union strategy is planning and organizing your forwards and backs around the pitch. Attacking formations are particularly important and huge emphasis is put on them in any real life team. Thanks. Hopefully my first post wasn’t a $h1t post

[ET_1980]

Kia Ora Time for some feed back apon reading though what I’ve had problem’s with Seem’s most people have had the same as me.

• Maul’s good feature (need’s abit of work) say maul is done and you are binding player’s it either does it for the one side engaging in the maul then other players just stand around or a Ai or player randomly picks up the ball very tricky to control, it’s abit fast for me doesn’t feel natural say like “Rugby Challange”

• Passing So from the maul there is no quick pass, or you get really shut down no way to play the ball in play in a relaxed manner even passing in play seem’s acutally impossible cannot string 2 pass’s because computer is locked into a tackle 10m away already and no flick pass etc

• Tackling way better looking and also “not sure sort of buggy” Ai high tackle’s nothing is done about it
  and during normal play you are locked into a tackle so Early from the Ai the animation is already in place and cannot pass or nothing it Seem’s lock not sure how to explain it
  

  

• Team’s Acutally not sure who they are but they look Great (i’m a Aussie living) in NZ so yeah kit’s look great players look really good

Keep up the work team doing amazing work.

[OCallaghan91]

Hello to the team

I preferred to play this update for about fifteen hours to express my feelings about this update.

My analysis for this update.

• the scrum half no longer takes steps backwards when taking the ball behind a ruck but sometimes takes the ball alone instead of passing.

• The passes still need to be improved because there are still some floating passes instead of passing directly into the hands.

• the combination system is present but too random and most of the time the attackers and supports are in front of the ball carrier.

• Very difficult to make more than 1 pass without going through a ruck; I think the solutions are to put more depth in the attack line or otherwise to slow down the speed of the defense’s rise (except if later we have a Blitz defense option which allows you to rise quickly but which can be dangerous)

• The keys are too random. Either a mini game to be able to contest the hit, or a small hint for the defensive jump block to try to counter the attack.

• Add the rules of world rugby (offside; when the rucks are long if the defense is ahead of the attack penalize for having kept the ball on the ground; if the attack is ahead and the ball is not does not penalize the defense)

• Big latency problem on passes and kicking games. players take too long to kick the ball or do not pass when their hands are free for an off load.

• The tackle animations are well done BUT they take precedence over all other actions (footing is impossible, the ball comes back into our hands to be tackled; it is impossible to do an off load because the tackle animation cancels it). Another point on the veneers, the hit box of the veneers is really too wide.

• Teleportation bug for some players

• Random positioning of players on the field (most of the time my number 6 or 7 is found as a winger and 12 or 15 is found on the edge of the ruck)

• I think that for the next big update it would be good to create a tutorial if that is possible.

• Bug sometimes on rucks which take time to complete while the players are around the ball.

• Side step animation no longer works as well as before but is more difficult to exit so that’s cool.

• The pass buttons disappear over time on the rucks so we press a button hoping that it gets into the hands of the right player.

Thanks to @MattW For his explanations and feedback. Communicating with players does a lot of good and we hope to hear from you.

Thank you if you took the time to read me

Wishing you good work and have a good day, be strong

[Jasche77]

In Rugby 25 i would like to see those set plays play out a bit like your videos with RLL4, btw has made me enjoy the understand how to play that alot more. I hope Rugby 25 alllows passing at the line before the tackle animation kicks in, but with fatigue playing a factor maybe miss timing passes, knock ons or getting caught with the ball. I really want fatigue and player attributes to have a significant impact on the gameplay. Could be used to open up fatigued defensive lines, mis reads in defence, inability to get back on side, prone to offside and head high penalties etc… so then it provides opportunity for attcking side to exploit that fatigues player…

[Rorydn]

Found the latest update to be a step forward and do prefer playing it - I wasn’t able to get much gametime in other iterations due to the bugs. There are elements of the latest which are making it difficult to play (large tackle radius, unable to quickly pass or evade tacklers, unable to get kicks away, etc.) - but is now enjoyable to play and able to get more hours into the game when previously I found it a struggle due to the bugs and lack of rugby feeling.

Being a Gallagher Prem fan having teams and a ground is a big win and I’m really excited for the other teams to be added once the gameplay has been fixed. I strongly feel the game has bags of potential, the latest animations around tackling as well do add a sense of rugby authenticity (admittedly still a bit more to go).

Further feedback:

• button prompts at action moments, for example ‘X’ to steal hovers at the ruck (I’m often missing it because the buttons are small in the corner), ‘A’ to hook at scrums
• can’t seem to hand off or bosh anyone out the way with the right analog stick
• please please give an option to have arrows for kicking when box kicking and punting, even just showing a broad direction - similar to kick off and conversions. It’s rally hard to track otherwise
• slightly slowed down line out process to add momentum, it’s over in a flash (I know this isn’t for everyone so perhaps can be an optional setting - there’s often a lot of excitement and anticipation around a 5m attacking lineout which currently feels lacking). Plus this would make it feel less frantic as currently the players are repositioning too quickly / awkwardly
• replace the star player stars with icons more pleasing on the eye,
• defending a line out I find my players often don’t compete and go into a strange off-side position - seems like a bug
• bringing in more rules soon would be beneficial for gameplay
• can’t figure out why I’m being penalised at scrum / maul time
• box kicks to be more smooth visually and harder to charge down / be tackled (but not impossible - for example, if you commit 1 or 2 players only to a maul, the probability of opposition charge down increases - something of that ilk)
• give option for players to have a slower motion when selecting who to pass to in open play, especially at the moment where tackles are happening within 0.5 sec of receiving the ball

Later stages nice to have:

• match like features, increased TMO action for suspense, injuries that are longer lasting if in career mode, conditions playing more of a feature
• with passing, try to integrate a second pass of a set piece / ruck, e.g. scrum half has ball, you hold down pass, select ‘A’ as first pass to 10, and then elect the ball goes to the FB (say ‘Y’ button) - then the scrum half plays the ball and you have organised your first two passes from the set piece
• line out dummy moves
• better tracking off the ball from opposition’s kick off and punting, I’m often quite surprised where the ball ends up because of the camera
• camera of the scrum should stay with the playing side, there’s often an awkward switch immediately after they win the ball

Bugs:

• kicking often results in a knock on or a pause in the game then flurry of activity and players teleporting
• passing icons (A, X, Y, etc.) are available 50% in open play or from a set piece
• players wandering offside teleporting into rucks
• wind icon is only there about 50% of the time for me at kick off and when punting (I am playing on a reduced graphics set up because my computer can’t hack full speed - this could be an issue)
• When I have a maul in 70-80 mins on the clock, the match freezes, buttons are redundant and I have to completely close down the game
• rucks only initiated when both teams commit, ball stays in limbo and play halts in this case

All in all, I can see where the game is going and really excited for the journey to get a great rugby game. Cheers!

[Jamdarv]

Game is moving in the right direction! The new teams like so good so unbelievable job there.
I think there ought to be more penalites, countless offsides are just not picked up on, and I feel like rucks are a bit better but should be a technique for timing rather than spamming. If mistimed or spammed then teams are penalised.

The passing as a lot of people are saying is odd now, and the icons dont always appear. It would be great to see pods of 3 forwards setup each time and with out the back options running from deep onto the ball rather than being infront and causing forward passes or intercepts. Offloads are ultra rare is that dependent on stats of players?

Rucks I think could have a secure option, so you know when it is safe to look at optoins rather than have to rush in case of being counter rucked. and more players on the floor after tackles would be good and realistic to create overlaps etc. They are going in the right direction but I think stronger rucking teams should benefit from having to put less players in to win their own rucks.

Lineouts for me are really going forward, I like the maul option and the animation looks great, perhaps some icons to show how to drive it and how to break from the maul. But I also think we need a fake lift and lineout pods to be able to move back or forward. Then hopefully we can bring in set piece of lineouts, that dont all have to be complex, just a 12 running a short line off the top to create momentum rather than the chaotic feel it is at the minute.

I wonder if the game may be opened up a bit with making the majority of forwards by rucks being tighter and setup to just run straight to oppose the attacking forwards close to rucks, and making majority of forwards that bit slower to see a difference?

The in contact drive animation I think would be great to build on and give ball carriers a bit more momentum in contact (stats dependant I presume in the future) and then that can help counter the blits and high IQ defence at the minute as that is what has been missing in other rugby games so really keen to see how we can beat defences as the game develops

[Rugbygamer40]

Good morning ,

Patch Feedback.

The added teams and stadiums look excellent. Thanks for adding this as some more content. For me I am really excited to see a fully licensed and complete URC once all this can be added into the game.

• I liked the new tackle animations, definitely adds more realism. Probably we need more if that’s possible in the future.

I raised a Ticket #24923 this morning with a video link to a match I played.

There was instances of Ai players not getting into the breakdown and ruck , standing around for 4-5 seconds and showing no urgency to get the ball or bind. I also find the bind button during these times not responding for my own players.

I was also having the same common gameplay issues as other people have given feedback on already. For example , difficulty to make more than one pass, gain ground up the field , no time to make any kick. Ai defence line far too quick. This can be seen in the video.

I find the Ai still not really doing much in terms of attacking intensity to find ways to break my defence with perhaps kicking grubbers or bombs with runners coming through or doing multiple passes , offloads, shoulder charges , hand offs but this might have been because I was playing on Easy difficulty.

I just hope to see a “closer and lower” behind camera angle in the future as a camera option to get a closer view to the players and ball. It will really add to the atmosphere and enjoyment of seeing more closer what is happening in the field and maybe “Feeling those tackles”

The matches still lack a lot of gameplay so I hope all this gets added eventually. Things I hope to see:
Bench replacements, fatigue issues , minor or serious injuries , random penalties for various things ,random foul play incidents , cards issued by referee with an animation of the referee issuing the card to the players walking off the field.
Ability to move or swap players into different positions on the field. Dropped balls from my players or Ai at random times.

Thanks for all your hard work. I definitely support this game and believe in your team working very hard behind the scenes. I will give as much time as I can to report issues and feedback.
On a side note I did really appreciate getting a saved Data upload request 2 days ago on my Steam Deck from your staff and I went through the prompts to transfer my saved data to the upload. This is for all the bugs and videos I previously reported over various stuff and game crashes.

[AndyPelser]

Issue I came across the rare moment you actually break the defense line and hit the gap defense catch up because your player start pumping his arm on the air slowing them down because it seems they think they will be scoring

[Rugbygamer40]

Hi there. I accidentally discovered this too but realised and had it confirmed by the developers if you hit the right or left stick by pressing it , you do the waiving/pumping action in the air. You also need to turn it off by hitting it again.

[NotRoss]

Also, could just be me but I found the left stick to feel more intuitive for the heavy tackle than Y

[Valhalla_Vagabond]

Possibly just personal taste, but I find there are too many try scoring animations where the player is holding the ball in one hand like a basketball and almost look to awkwardly crawl or stumble over the line.

Rugby union players unless reaching for the line or dotting it down one handed standing generally tend to have the ball still tucked under their arm when scoring and even still promoting the ball with their arm wrapped around it. Is good ball security. Maybe just me but I would prefer a bunch of diving animations with ball under arm to those one handers that tend to happen in strange places anyway.

Also maybe just because stadiums are still being worked on etc, but this dive through a fence onto the concrete was given as a try. So boundaries need tweaking.

I have also noticed that now the direct passing options come up on the opposition players now and then. This may be as a result of work on trying to get these buttons to show more often. It may also explain A) Why these buttons did not show all the time on the players team (Because they were on the oppositions) and B) Why you player decides to automatically pass to the opposition (Being recognised as valid passing targets) maybe?

Another new bug or issue that is occurring is in box kicking. The target often now aims backwards, as if it has been mirrored. There is no ability to correct it as it will just aim the opposite direction from where you are pushing the left stick, however will not do the same if you push down on the stick either. It will still stay aiming backwards.

[Saulan]

Competition bug: scrolling with triggers between lists of teams (e.g. the early access list vs early access clubs) can result in you not being able to scroll and select on the shorter list, if when hitting trigger to switch list you are highlighting a slot that doesn’t exist on the shorter list.

Example: highlighting team number 9 on the “Early Access” list, hit trigger to go to the “Early access clubs” list which only has 8 teams. It seems the game tries to find and highlight the 9th team on that list, but since it is returning null, the functionality for scrolling and selecting doesn’t work.

[ViCe_ZA]

Ye agreed, 50/50 on mini games. There have been suggestions in previous threads, namely 1) adding a global gameplay setting where you can choose either Arcade or Simulation, which determines the presence and extent of such things as mini games, or 2) introducing sliders so you can determine the extent of such things as mini games yourself. If you have played other Big Ant titles, you would know what a significant effect sliders can have on a fully customised experience, so you can design a standard game for everyone and each individual can customise all aspects to his own liking. Sliders are great and I hope to see the same in this game on all levels, from cameras to mechanics to set pieces to player attribute impact, refereeing, etc.

[Rugbygamer40]

Hi

I just wanted to give some further feedback on the patch after playing this evening.

Passing

• I actually think this is worse and gone backwards unfortunately. I press pass buttons playing at Allianz stadium and the passes don’t happen once I get the ball to 1st receiver. Press them multiple times and nothing happens.

Allianz Stadium -

• Great atmosphere with the crowd noises and volume level. I really felt the match had a real intensity and aggression from the crowd noise. I felt it made the players tackle at a higher intensity. Great work with this stadium atmosphere. I loved it.

Player Model - Juarno Augustus - N8/Flanker Northampton Saints

• I would like to be able to edit his body size or weight if possible in the future. I think the player model and face scan is very good but if I had the option I would add some more bulk that’s all. I have made a voting poll on my YouTube channel for other people’s opinions on the player model. I don’t expect Big Ant to change thousands of players if we don’t all agree on player models but I just would like the option to edit licensed scanned players in the future with their bodies if possible ? I just seeing some props and backrow forwards looking a bit too lean or lacking weight /bulk. I am the kind of person that would go in and edit them myself when having the finished game.

Thanks for listening to my feedback. I will update you my poll results.

[TheJackSmit]

On the player models thing - something which will become apparent when Sale Sharks are added… some players, who will remain nameless for now, had their hair dyed ahead of the photogrammetry session as a fine for things they did at training - look out for some truly awful bleached blonde hair (which mysteriously disappeared after Ross and the BA team scanned the club) that has been immortalised for all time. So editing the licensed players in some way must be a thing when the Creator/Academy is implemented - seeing someone like Curtis Langdon or Gregory Aldritt without his scrumcap in-game right now is still not right. But definitely a good point to mention the sizes of players.

[ViCe_ZA]

Set plays don’t work well, instead player positioning should be focused on, to promote flow and have many options present themselves while the ball runs down the line. So when you pass to first receiver, have a guy running close inside and close outside, for the fast offload options, with a pass option for the second receiver (down the line) etc. We just need player positioning and passing fixed, including offloads. Also fix the crazy rushed defense and the teleporting tackles. And kicking and pods…

Also for BA, to fix ice skating running, if you run one angle with analog and quickly change your analog direction, have the runner step hard on his one foot, to immediately change direction and hit like an inside gap or half gap in the defense. Improve the input delays to make them all immediate. Direction changes tie into the comment about set plays, as with direction changes, close/dummy runners, better passing, defense and tackle radiuses, you can do your own unique set play, every time, whilst enjoying a great flowing game.

[MaD_Dragon_Rugby]

Hey guys, wanted to chime in. Been away since EA2 release so taken me a while to actually sit down and play some games to give feedback, ive been through the entire thread to gauge whats already been said so will try to avoid as much cross over as possible, because youve probably read the same 5 things in most peoples posts.
I do recommend paying attention to Val’s @Valhalla_Vagabond post at the top of the thread, because as I read though his post he hit basically every single note I had written down for my feedback. (so again ill try and avoid going over the same areas)

Since EA2 has come out, I have played 15 games before coming to the FAQ page, of the 15 games Ive played. I havnt made it to the final whistle of a single one. (either im the unluckiest person on the page, or lots of people are experienceing the same things). Something has gone wrong in 100% of the matches causing it to become unplayable. Whether it be a direct crash, players stopping at a ruck and nothing happenning, the ball just gettling lost off map after a kick. And my most recent one was the camera getting stuck behind the rafters in open play and I simply couldn’t see the pitch.
Obviously everyone is talking about the tackling and passing issues that have been pretty major in this update. But stability is an area not too many people have mentioned. In Early Access everyone should expect bugs and glitches or things not looking great. But to not be able to finish a single name is a huge blow from a player enjoyment standpoint.

New Teams and Stadiums is great, glad to see the game bulking out, but seems pretty common, people are struggling with issues in the stadiums.

Ive taken some screenshots from my last game, playing on the northhampton stadium. The floodlights are positioned infront of the player camera, so as you move accross the pitch the lights flash infront of the screen. I also attempted to do a kick and got tackled due to the tackle radius of the AI. and the camera zoomed out slightly, and the camera got stuck behind some metal rafters, and the rest of the game was played from that position, forcing me to quit out.

Seen a couple of people mention the lineout situation. Personally I dont mind the lineouts, I just think the mechanic needs to pick a lane to go down. Right now it feels somwhere inbetween Rugby 08 and Rugby 22. Where you hit 1 of 3 buttons and that player jumps. But the time it takes to get the ball in, makes it feel like it should play more like rugby 22 where players run back and to, and you are trying to beat the opponent to the lift or maybe a dummy jumper to throw them off. Im not one for active minigames in the lineout. Personally I think Rugby 22 had it pretty nailed on, if they removed the QTE on a competitive catch, and left it to player stats and your timing as the jumper to decide who wins a contested ball. If you want to stick with the 3 jumper choice and the ball is put in on its own, I think the speed of the lineout animation could be sped up once a decision is made, but until the decision is made you wait for the countdown clock and make it feel more arcade style.

I wish I had as much luck with the new mauls as others seem to have, but the AI just never sems to put the ball in touch in EA2 for me to test them. Defensively though I have had a few, and for some reason all of my defenders seem to run away from the maul once it gets going, leaving a huge gap for the AI to just walk through and score.

Controls

• Lineout button choices, personally I find the choices of A,X and Y to feel awkward, and I think it would be better to swap the middle jumper to “B”. I also wonder if Maul even requires its own button. In rugby union mauls can come from any throw. Maybe the triggers could be added in combination with a button choice to change what happens with the ball. E.g. Holding LT while pressing Y would mean your team would set up a maul on the back jumper. Whereas holding RT while pressing Y will make your back jumper slap the ball towards your scrumhalf to speed up the play, and make it more likely to win the ball in a contested jump. Pressing neither trigger while pressing Y, would just be a pass to that back jumper, and you play normally.
• Tackling button moved to Y? This is one that I didn’t see at all on the FAQ pages in previous patches, or any comments on videos. Personally really not a fan of Y being used for such an important element of your defensive game, its maybe the most awkward button to go for when you just hold a controller. In game it basically requires you to remove your right thumb from being anywhere near the analog stick. I also cant think of a rugby game Ive played that incorporated it in that way. I would much prefer using “A” button for big hits, or the analog stick like at launch. (if im in the minority on this feel free to let me know, but it feels as off as having the “Y” button as slide tackle in a fifa game.)

Broader Points

• Player rotation issues (this one may have something to do with the passing issues and not managing to get far enough away) but in a number of games ive noticed players 1-4 will get in to a loop of being players in a ruck. A ruck will happen and they rush in. You pass once and get tackled, and the same 3 players get up from the last ruck and enter the new ruck, and they go on and on and on. They are more frequent from ruck to ruck than the scrumhalf is and looks odd to see the same 3 players rushing accross.
• Players still in wrong position, We all had a bit of a chuckle on EA1 launch that players in france and wallabies were out of position, but really expected that to be fixed in the major update, mauvaka still out on the wing for france should probably be fixed 4 patches in.
• labelling layout at linouts, ive noticed in linouts sometimes the options for number of jumpers is back to front. as in the button correlation IS correct, but it shows A at the top and Y at the bottom, and needs to be flipped.

Its hard to go over too much ground in this one without covering topics mentioned by others already. And EA2’s issues with passing and tackling have really taken away a lot from being able to experience the wider game.

Something I would like to mention which I really hope doesnt come across as pedantic, because I know a lot of people are working very hard on the game, and you have a very dedicated (and vocal) audience to try and keep happy. But when it comes to releasing these updates, I think the wording chosen for patch notes needs to be triple checked to ensure validity before they are typed up for the public.
The patch notes for EA2 state there is “improved passing” and “improved stability” as 2 of the main points to your audience. Every single person I have spoke to about the game, and reading the comments on the FAQ page all seem to be in agreement, it is extremely apparent to anyone spending as little as 20 minutes playing EA2, that these 2 areas are NOT improved, and may arguably be worse than Patch 3.
Youve got a handful of us in the community that enjoy making videos for Youtube talking about the game. I would hopefully speak for us all when saying, none of us are looking to slam the game or to talk about it negatively on a public space. We all want the game to be a success and want the best rugby game that has ever been on the market. Thats why we spend our free time after work making videos.
If you put claims in patch notes that this thing has been “improved”, we want to showcase how much its been improved in a video and talk positively about it. We will hyperfixate on those points becuase you have told us how much better they are. If it turns out things arent improved, theres not a lot we can do than just point out in a video how that claim hasnt been met, it may even be worse and give our feedback. And it makes it much more negative to cover that in a video and present to a broader audience, than if you didnt include it in the patch notes and we discovered it ourselves.
Im not a game dev in any way and dont know the process of choosing what patch notes are typed up and put out on the update. But there may need to be a better system found where until its evidenced the target has been met, dont put it on the patch notes. Or they may need to be worded more specifically so they arent broad and open to interpretation. Whether thats a gameplay showcase in the office to show a before and after and have it signed off. Or if someone is in charge of typing the patch notes they get an hour or 2 to test the latest patch to see if the notes are accurate and flag any that arent.

Glad to hear about the D-pad getting use in the future from @MattW , things like that can really enhance the feel of the game, im looking forward to having more control over things like line width, depth, set plays, team managment. To feel like the game is getting fleshed out.

Sorry if any of the post came across more negative than normal, was so hyped for the major update to see huge progression, but this update from my end specifically has brought the most issues yet from a playability and enjoyment standpoint. Hoping the minor updates across august will bring all the fixes we need and Major update 2 sees some big leaps towards the end goal.

[Rugbygamer40]

I just discovered a major issue with Rucks not forming sometimes during matches and have submitted a Ticket #24966 this morning with video evidence

I just wanted to make everyone aware of this current issue as it’s a bit frustrating to play at the moment and this also can make a user avoid constant scrums being called by the referee.

Basically if I am not pressing Bind buttons after a tackle , the Ai will not rush into the ruck to get their next phase happening. Everyone stands there and unless I press bind, the referee will blow the whistle and call a scrum. What we need to see is the Ai constantly fighting for the ruck after they do their run and phase , it should not be based on me pressing bind for my own players to join the ruck. The ruck needs to be a contest and fight to win possession. Right now the Ai is not doing this.

[MaD_Dragon_Rugby]

Latest reason for not completing a match. I actually finally had a lineout, threw it in for a maul, my player caught it, landed and he is set up for a maul. Ball in hand circled in red. However no other player engaged in the maul. They are all just stood there. Camera is locked behind hooker as if waiting for him to throw it in.
The countdown clock hit 0 and just dispeared off screen, and now nothing is happenning. Will record the replay for you if useful.

The clock kept running in game, however it slowed down to a 1:1 ratio with real time. So im guessing the clock was registering 40 minute halves instead of 5 mins that I had it set to.

Same thing happenned in the next game, apparenltly 3 man lineouts that turn in to a maul just completely breaks something.

[MattW]

@TheJackSmit

On the player models thing - something which will become apparent when Sale Sharks are added… some players, who will remain nameless for now, had their hair dyed ahead of the photogrammetry session as a fine for things they did at training - look out for some truly awful bleached blonde hair (which mysteriously disappeared after Ross and the BA team scanned the club) that has been immortalised for all time. So editing the licensed players in some way must be a thing when the Creator/Academy is implemented - seeing someone like Curtis Langdon or Gregory Aldritt without his scrumcap in-game right now is still not right. But definitely a good point to mention the sizes of players.

So one factor here is that hair is not “scanned” as such - we model hair distinct from players, precisely because it’s so frequently changed. So no one’s locked, but on the flipside, we do need to work with the various stakeholders on player appearances so it’s not an area on official players we can give free editing range.

That said, by all means make that something to call out. Changing someone’s hair or improving accuracy of the bodies are things we have a team that works on - so collating and working on that feedback. I’ll let JNT decide if there’s a better process for getting that to them.

@MaD_Dragon_Rugby

Tackling button moved to Y? This is one that I didn’t see at all on the FAQ pages in previous patches, or any comments on videos. Personally really not a fan of Y being used for such an important element of your defensive game, its maybe the most awkward button to go for when you just hold a controller. In game it basically requires you to remove your right thumb from being anywhere near the analog stick. I also cant think of a rugby game Ive played that incorporated it in that way. I would much prefer using “A” button for big hits, or the analog stick like at launch. (if im in the minority on this feel free to let me know, but it feels as off as having the “Y” button as slide tackle in a fifa game.)

This is just the ‘dive’ tackle on Y - putting it next to the B button of the standard tackle rather than having the two tackle types being quite unique inputs.

One reason to change is just some ideas we developed for usage of the right stick, I don’t know what of that will pan out at this point, but I didn’t want everyone too used to using RS for dive tackle if we did bring in other functionality.

@MaD_Dragon_Rugby

But when it comes to releasing these updates, I think the wording chosen for patch notes needs to be triple checked to ensure validity before they are typed up for the public.

This is fair. I write the notes and largely base it on a review of the specific code changes, so take stability improvements, sometimes unfortuantly that doesn’t end up to be a net improvement, because while we improved the things versus the previous, some of the new things introduced have brought in issues, but we still want to note that we changed elements in that area.

Hopefully the resolution here is that the improvements are always indisputably improved - but I can understand trying to be clearer where we know something needs work, like those cameras…