Early Access 3 (EA3) Launch

[JackyD93]

I see people arent sold on the current rucking, i do agree.

I really like the RWC 2011 ruck system. To be honest that game had some great features id love to see, like the momentum gauge.
But the rucking in that game was so simple, yet gave the player complete control over how they wanted to ruck. Spamming the A button to add players and add strength, this would charge a bar. The idea is to charge it higher/faster than the opposition. Too much tho and it would go red and potentially give away a penalty. This would all happen fast so it kept good game flow. And also added ruck penalties that added so much to how you can play each game.

Not sure if that makes sense, but im sure those that played RWC 2011 get what i mean.

[Sammay919]

Kicking seems to be very easy so here are some
kicking recommendations:

Animation ideas:

1. Increase the fov, so that the poles might look slightly slimmer and further away.
2. First person pov would be so amazing.
3. Have the option to follow the ball or not. Sometimes it looks nice to see the ball sail through in the distance, and makes you feel more on field.

Difficulty:

1. Add a new stat: Composure.
   For example someone like Handre Pollard would have 99 Composure, so when
   taking a very important kick under pressure the camera would have very minimal
   or none at all. But for an inexperienced player that may fold to the pressure, the
   camera may shake and it might be harder to hold the aim in position. Also,
   the crowd noise to also change. High composure, the crowd noise almost
   disappears, or is at least very quiet. Low composure, the crowd noises are very
   loud and distracting.

2. The aiming system; instead of the direct line curving into the goals and making
   aiming much too easy, i suggest, making it alike to the FIFA free kick system.
   The line goes a certain distance, but you also select how to kick it. 3 options. Left
   Curve, Right Curve, Straight. And like the “dead ball” attribute feature, the line
   may become longer and more accurate depending on their kicking stats.
   Curve cuts through the wind more, but is more difficult to aim. Straight is easier
   aim but easier to be tossed around by the wind. Height can also be customised.
   A lower height may not have the best distance, but is more forgiving with lots of
   power.
   Medium height is there for distance and ensuring that not too much wind messes
   with it.
   High height can be used to manipulate the wind.

I feel that kicking is a difficult think to master in a rugby game, but making it an art, a more difficult feature and something people have to learn to get good at, would truly be a game changer. Choosing a penalty at 55m is a risk, but also you can learn to have the confidence to take it. With it also looking great.
Like I said previously, putting into perspective, to finish the game, a conversion from 50m out, in first person, you kick it and it goes sailing, you watch it from where its been kicked sailing in the distance not quite sure if its gone over, you think it has, the flags go up, and you can celebrate.

I see the massive potential of this game, I see the love and enjoyment going into it. There is so much we can do with a rugby game. Glad to see a company putting their proper effort, time and appreciation into the sport we love.

[js_dev_uk]

A couple of times the game has crashed for me during mauls. I lose the lineout and the opposition forms a maul. My players bind and push them back… and then just keeps on slowly pushing them back, with players leaving the maul. This lasts about 20 seconds before the game shuts down.

Also, so many offsides in the game that it is making Richie McCaw look like a decent bloke.

[AndyPelser]

Only offside the game actually blow is when you kick and your player catches it in offside position thought I will score a dodgy try and ref actually called it

[Rugbygamer40]

Hi Team,

Is it possible to consider and add a more Full Afro style hair option on Player Creator. I was just trying to create Josh Kaifa. This is the closest hair style I could do.

Thanks team.

[Pinzonlop]

I think Big Ant should take this type of suggestions into account, let’s keep in mind that over time, creation mode is what extends the useful life of a video game and its community in general.

[sinbad06]

Just a simple suggestion, when not sprinting can the players hold the ball in 2 hands? i think it would be a nice touch

[Charl93]

Helo @MattW @JNT_BA can you guys please focus on player support runners. I pick up the ball with the 9 from the scrum run from my 22 to the 50 meter line and the suport runners dont react when the 9 makes a break they stand stil or slowly moving forward but not fast enough for me to draw in a couple of players and then give the pass. Its the same if the 13 gets the ball i go in draw the last defender but the wing hanging back. Sometimes i get to pass to him but because hes at the back the time he gets the ball the cross defends is already on him .

Then another thing is especially when online mode is coming the 50/22 rule is in the game players are going to try and use the 50/22 alot it wil be good to have better control on are fullback to defend it please have a look into that aswell .

[Reds1121]

Will the rules that have been added trc be added just for the trc such as 20 minute red cards, play of if the lineout is not straight but uncintested and the protection of the 9 at scrums, mauls abd rucks?

[Rugbygamer40]

Hi Team,

I managed to look and try out the Team Creator last night.

Feedback on this.

First of all , thanks very much for updating and listing and breaking down the correct terminology for all the Rugby Union playing positions in the manage roster squad section this looks excellent in the squad overview. It really gets every single position covered.

Some things I noticed with stats when you move down the menu for player lineup.

• The age of all players is 24 years of age even though I created players of all different ages.
• Some stats listed are not correct , for instance for Strength, for some reason the stats are lowered for various forwards. I had Le Roux Roets at 94 Strength on his attributes , but here is 82 on the player line up stats screen. I noticed this with various forwards. There could be other stat inaccuracies on other things with other attributes on players but this stuck out the most to me.

The ability to nominate a goal kicker and captain. This is good but I didn’t notice one to nominate a Play Kicker ?

As a suggestion to consider , is it possible we could get a small Flag icon of the country of origin for each player in this player overview screen for the lineup next to the country of birth text ? It’s not hugely important but I think it adds to the presentation and many other rugby games in the past have displayed these flags on player profiles.

One possible bug I had a game crash when I clicked into the player profile on the manage roster overview screen. Listing players by positions. I went into a player profile for skills and it gave me an option to edit. When I pressed RB and LB options the game crashed. I was using a PS5 controller.
Screenshot below just to show pathway before I click into skills. By the way I really love the Stats screen for a player. Great breakdown of individual stats.

As for The Colour tool on team kit creation or for colouring anything such as head gear and kits. For me in my personal opinion. I like it and I am fine with how you designed the tool to adjust colours and create. It’s easy to use with a controller such as a PS5.

I think that’s it for now. Can’t think of anything else at the moment. I did notice I can’t use my custom team in a competition at the moment but that’s ok.

Thanks for all your hard work on the game.

[Tdrcv63]

No we good let’s try to stick to the real rugby rules i don’t want world rugby bad ideas in a game + it’s only a testing rules they made for the rugby Championship so it’s a minority

[mike2084]

Enjoying the game much more in EA3 but am struggling to complete full matches due to the AI throwing in from a lineout and forming a maul which the game cant move past. The packs just get stuck in that position and no further progress.

Spotting few offside issues as well, players miles ahead of the kick catching the ball any playing on. Hardly any penalties in open play but they are well implemented in the scrum.

Going in the right direction with the game, though, keep it up folks!

[Valhalla_Vagabond]

Would be interesting if they had correct laws for each of the competitions. I think the NZRU and SARU are going to recommend adapting the law and adding in full red cards also though for cases deemed necessary. So it may not be worth the inclusion to be fair unless they can amend these things post release.

I am from New Zealand and I feel very discriminated against, we have no national team in the game, no club teams … now you have even taken First Five Eighths out of the game and put something called flyhalf in? Outrageous. Criminally offensive. I am offended.

[Reds1121]

Wpuld love to see the kiwi’s added but they wpuld NEED a haka played at the start of the mstch. I wpukd like to see the kapa o pongo get a bit of love rather then just the traditional ka mate. Coukd we see both?

[lucianozanetti]

RUGBY 25 UPDATE EA3

My conclusions after 10 hours of gameplay:

Positive Aspects:

1. The animations are very well done.
2. The graphics are good.
3. The licensed player faces look accurate.
4. Good variety of stadiums.
5. Shadows are well-rendered.
6. Many licensed teams and national squads.

Areas for Improvement:

1. The fluidity during matches, especially with drop goals and passes, needs improvement.
2. Add more licensed players.
3. Lack of leagues.
4. The gameplay needs more polishing to make playing more satisfying.
5. Easy difficulty levels.

You’re doing a great job keep it up

[jsquared]

Tried the game after the update, the game did not crash but currently the game is in such an unplayable state I stopped playing midway through the second half. Currently playing on the SteamDeck

The game was at Stade de France with The Sabercata vs Hong Kong.

A major issue is that it feels as if the players is not responding to my controls and still weird things happening in the game.

Opponent player passes from a ruck the balls rolls all the way from from midway between the halfway and 22 to out past the in goal area.

My player passes a bullet pass missing all his support across the lenght field which results in a lineout.

Loose ball I press X, my player does nothing, I press X again then my player picks up the ball and kicks the ball.

Box kick from base of ruck basically just kicks the ball into the opposing teams player. No height or distance on the kick.

My player runs over the try line I tap A nothing happens. I keep running and pressing A nothing happens. Opponents tackle me then no try awarded. Even though there is no way the animation is shown as held up.

Running up to opponents. Press tackle nothing happens my player just keeps on running past the player.

Include some sort of guidance on how the scrum works. I get told yes LT and RT to scrum but doesn’t seem to have an impact when I press it. I get an good early or too late randomly. The scrum ends ip collapsing.

Conversions/Penalty Kicks. The way the ball floats and curves through the posts looks unnatural.

Game feels like you are playing rugby league. There is no physical hits. Doesn’t matter if I should charge into the player. That physical play of having forwards or your no 12 crash into the line to power over is missing from the game

A test / practice of the moves will be great because none of the sidesteps etc seem to have much effect.

Support running lines is way out.

Running of the player is random. I passed to a player start sprinting at an angle towards the left touch line I straighten up to go straight. My player continues running at the angle until he is out.

Ball rolls into my in goal area. Player picks it up I press A to punt it instead the player dots it downs.

Really feels there is little effect on the play.

And there is no offline play for singleplayer. This is a very bad habit/norm that BigAnt has been including in their games. Multiplayer is fine for online. But for Single Player has no need for disabling play in offline mode.

In the current state and progress, I am not convinced this game will ever be in a good state to play.

For now I keepingy play time where it is and will see at the EA4/5 release to test it again. But I am leaning towards refunding the game not sure if this will be worth it.

[Rugbygamer40]

Hi Team,

I just wanted to share this video from the Weekend just to make sure you are aware. Two serious Bug Incidents at Snap Dragon Stadium which caused me to stop the match and give up. Sideline issue with going into touch. At this stage I am a bit hesitant to play another match at this stadium with these current bugs.

Time Stamps:
00:02
09:42

I Love the stadium design and crowd atmosphere for day games.

Rugby 25 - Bug Report - Sideline Bug Triggered in two incidents when player goes into Touch.

[Rohan1]

EA3 feedback
This has been the best update in all of early access so far. However there are still a few crucial things to be added/adjusted to make the game more realistic and rewarding.

1. Passing intelligence: although passing has improved, it still feels too unrealistic. Sometimes too loopy and sometimes too fast. Also, I think there needs to be more consistency to the icon passing. What I mean by this is LB+B should always be skip 1 and LB+X should always be skip 2 etc.
2. Rucks: first of all, I think rucks are extremely random at the moment, I win most of my rucks apart from the random one that I will lose and can’t control when I win or lose rucks. This is the same as on defence, where I lose every ruck and just have to hope to get the ball back. To improve this, a timing system can be added whereby I time the clear-out from my first player entering the ruck on attack or defence. This creates a system that rewards the users timing, by either increasing the chances of a turnover or retaining possession. In addition to this, I think the duration of rucks could be reduced and the scrum half could get to the ruck quicker
3. Movement on the ball: This is something that I think can make the game feel much more satisfying and realistic if done correctly. One huge improvement would be to move away from the rll4 sidestep animations. Using these sidesteps takes away control from the user when defending or attacking. A huge improvement would be using a similar system to madden, where flicking the right stick in certain directions will allow the attacker to “juke” in this direction. This means the defender is always in control of where he moves, and the aim of the attacker is to make the defender tackle at the wrong time or travel in the wrong direction (instead of just flicking the right stick to hopefully get past the defender). Players with better speed, agility, balance etc stats can perform “jukes” (sidesteps) faster and more fluid, making it harder for them to be tackled.
4. Support AI positioning: by ensuring after every tackle/ruck that every supporting AI falls into the correct position (which can be set by a tactics setting in squad management), more realism comes into the game. A prime example of this could be a pod of 3 forwards off the scrum half with the fly half (or ball player) in behind. Or, the ball player with 2 forwards running off him with another back in behind. Simple positions like this off rucks for both user and cpu teams will make the game more interesting.
5. Different teams different tactics: Playing different teams should feel different and you don’t want to feel as thought you are playing the same sort of game over and over. The main way to improve this is to have cpu teams getting the ball into the hands of their best players the most. For example, playing Saracens will mean Ben Earl carries a lot, or playing Toulouse will mean DuPont will be heavily involved. In addition to this, different teams have different tactics set up. The most basic was to add this is to have teams that will kick to exit their own half time, teams that will play 2-3 phases from their own half first, and teams that always look to run their way out of their own half. This will add to realism and will make the game more refreshing as you don’t play against the same play style every time. In addition to this, the way a team kick is also crucial to tactics. For example, attacking teams will always look to kick long to force a return kick to counter off of. Whereas other teams might kick to compete, or kick to put pressure on opposition.
6. AI intelligence: the cpu teams passing is currently very random. Just like for the users team, making the attack look more like a professional teams attack will make the game feel more realistic and more rewarding to win. This can be done by having pods of forwards running off 9s and 10s, as well as backs out the back and link up plays to create space.
7. Defending: although the simplicity of defending can be seen as a strong point, I think there needs to be added layers. What I mean by this is defending only requires moving to the ball carrier and pressing B to tackle. By punishing the user for poor timing or for moving in the wrong direction, defending becomes harder and there is more to think about and react to. The user is also then rewarded for better timing and decision making. Therefore the game feels more rewarding and realistic.

[Rugbygamer40]

Just some further feedback on Player Creator and Team Creator

Player Ears.

I was trying to put small ears on a number of players I was creating the last few days. This is a good example when I was creating Elton Jantjies. I could not get the ear height any smaller.
This is not a major issue but I thought I point this out as another thing that would be good if we are able to adjust or customise the height if possible. Thanks

Team creator - The bench substitutes. Can the game please remove N/A and have numbers 16-23 added for the substitutes bench. I do like the SUB abbreviation that’s a good addition to the menu to identify the bench. Thanks Team

[Eseroma]

As a Fijian Will you get a Fiji rugby team face scan because when I saw tuisova in rugby 22 I was pretty scared by the way he looked.
Also if it’s not too much too ask could you get the all blacks in the game so we can see the HAKA and also for Fiji the cibi and Samoa siva tau along with tongas the Sipi tau just so it we can see the pacific culture Thanks again big ants.