Your statement is your own opinion. I know of a couple of console gamers that have purchased EA. I am one of them. Where is your stats to show that console gamers know more about Rugby than PC players? It was a useless assumption. If you are keen to give your inputs, get a PC and get onboard with EA. The developers are entitled to choose how they want to roll out a game.
Regarding kicks in play, currently, an indicator moves across the ground indicating where the ball will land.
Perhaps an alternative visual aid, to help get kicks away faster while informing where it will land, can include a line connecting to this circle? A line, flat on the ground that indicates distance and angle by changing colour, or having a numerical value showing estimated distance, will help make split-second decisions easier.
Alternatively, this could be indicated by a cone/triangle originating from the kicker which grows the longer the button is held down. This can be wider, or narrower, based on the players kicking stats. A fly-half would have a narrow cone/triangle, and a Prop would have a much wider cone/triangle, indicating that the ball may land anywhere within that range.
Below is an example of a passing line used in FIFA games, which might help with the decision-making when kicking.
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I feel a slow down would be alright in online. It would also make charging down kicks more interesting, as it it in most rugby games itâs very hard to aim your player for a charge down, a slight slow down would make this easier. On another note, having watched videos of rugby challenge 4, the only thing that game seems to have got right is the camera going right behind the player for kicking making it slightly harder to perfectly target a kick. Maybe the higher a playerâs kicking, the more the game slows down and the less zoomed the camera is, allowing for slightly longer targeting window with it being less likely to be charged down.
Some sort of non linear timing scale would be cool.
1 kicking - 1 second in game time, 100% game speed
50 kicking - 0.85 second in game time, 75% game speed
100 kicking - 0.6 seconds in game time, 50% game speed
These values are slightly random but it means that a higher skilled kicker will be able to kick faster in game time, but will still have a longer window to aim. Would allow more kicking in play but prevent every player being able to kick perfectly (especially when combined with the camera angle).
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This is a great idea IMO.
Also, just flagging an issue Iâve noticed - when I concede a scrum penalty (which is every time), and the opposition kick for touch, I get the line out for some reason.
Iâve also run into the maul issue where it never comes out and you just need to push it back over the dead ball to get anything to happen - the clock also freezes during this
Having issues after goal line drop outs - players donât catch the ball after kick and everyone stands around the ball watching. Only option is to quit the game
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Wanted to jump in on this. Hopefully ive understood everyones points correctly, otherwise this will be a long reply about nothing 
For me the open play kicking sensitivity issue is more in relation to the responsiveness between how much you move the analogue stick compared to the impact that has on your target direction in game.
I actually find the speed the circle travels on the ground away from the kicker to be a decent pace for the game.
The issue i find is there is no possibility of small adjustments.
So for example;
Lets say you have a player stood in the very middle of the pitch and you are playing on side camera. You want to go for a 50:22 kick to the bottom left corner. A good starting point is push the analogue stick to a 7 oâclock position on your controller, and hold down kick, you will likely get the ball in to the opponents 22. However if you accidentally apply too much power and you know you are going to kick the ball straight out, you may want to move the analogue stick to the 8 oâclock position knowing the power will stay the same but that way you are aiming slightly further up the field, and may actually get the ball to land in the opponents 5m channel.
A higher skilled player should be able to make that correction in the time available currently in the game to get a kick away.
The issue is where in most rugby games, that change from moving the stick from 7 oclock to the 8 oclock position would simply adjust the kick by a few meters.
Whereas in Rugby 25, that same small correction seems to change the target from kicking to the corner to kicking directly at the posts, which is like a 50m switch from what you intended.
I think theres some ideas to be tested.
- I know lots of people mention looking at other rugby games for inspiration. But Rugby 22 had a really good level of sensitivity for positioning where you want a kick to go, and higher skilled players can really punish with well targetted kicks, even with the attrocious online connection that game has. I dont think there would be any issue with seeing if you can allign Rugby 25s kicking sensitivity value to a similar level Rugby 22 had.
- Ive mentioned it before, but having a trajectory line showing the players kick direction is very helpful visually. In Rugby 25, once you begin an open play kick your eyes track the landing circle accross the pitch. However the landing circle is completely disconnected from the player, so while you follow the circle, you stop watching your own player to see if they are about to get tackled. Adding a trejectory line (even something small attached to the player) would help with allowing a player to interpret a kick direction better, and higher skilled players will get muscle memory for amount of power needed, and at the point knowing the direction quicker by just looking at the player is more useful than following the circle.
- Another option when focusing on the players time for a kick is to look at Rugby 2011, on Easy and medium difficulty. On those difficulties, they have an offside line at rucks that your players physically cant cross, until the ball is played. And if you mis-time the run hoping to sack the flyhalf, your players will slow down and turn around to get back onside giving the other kicker even more time, and punishing you for trying to rush off the line early. Something like that implemented at ruck and set pieces on lower difficulties could slow down the AI from rushing your kicker, giving the player more time to kick, and prepare them for online play.
I personally hate any aspect of a rugby game where time itself slows down. Or players do something in slow motion mid game. So personally wouldnt be a fan of time slowing down for a kick, especially in multiplayer where kicking will probably be a larger part of the game.
I do think things will improve naturally once the ability to drop a player in the pocket becomes available, just to give more time to the kicker. My own favourite option would be to reduce the sensitivity of moving the kick direction. Maybe even add in the settings a slider for âkick sensitivtyâ similar to how FPS games having aiming sensitivity, and allow players to test it themselves to find what sensitivity value they like the best. Could even be done during EA and we give you our favourite settings, and they become different defaults on release?
I also like @Valhalla_Vagabond idea of that sensitvity scaling with the stats of the player themselves. The higher kicking stats your kicker has the better the control and sensitivty of the kicking direction you have. That way when you start with a 50 rated fly half in your club, the kicking is trickier, but then you work your way up to international 1st choice, you can feel the difference in how much more control they have over their kicking, and you as the player can have a sense of progression in your team.
2 Likes
Oh god, i couldnt think of a worse idea than the camera switching to a first person view for a kick or looking over thier shoulder. That would be very immersion breaking
Small camera adjustments may enhance it (again as someone who plays on side camera i can only really talk from that perspective). In Rugby 2011 the camera would slowly zoom in when in rucks. But if you went for a kick, the camera would slowly zoom out to reveal more pitch and you could judge long distance kicks better. It was very subtle and didnt distract from the gameplay. But i agree I wouldnt want a large camera change just because you select a kick.
Would be interested to see how different people feel about an available kicking arc aswell. Personally im not a fan of how restrictive the available box kick arc is currently in Rugby 25, i think you should be able to kick wider.
I wonder if you adjusted the sensitivity of the aiming bar. If you could limit a players kicking arc to a 90° angle infront of them. So if you stood facing the posts you could target most of the field, but turning the player would also change the limit for how far sideways you can kick. So you would also have to bare in mind the players direction, and how that would impact your kick.
It would be more realistic, because players in real life need to turn their body to where to kick. But the timing on not getting tackled by the AI would have to be improved first. Along with players recieving passes and not facing the way you want.
2 Likes
So long as the trajectory line isnât 100% accurate (it shouldnât account for variables like crosswind with a high level of accuracy etc) and reduces in accuracy the further the kick is based on player stats. Using a splay or having the circle reticule grow the more the kick is powered up will help with this. The last thing we want is to be able to be able to kick aggressively knowing exactly where the ball will land (I mean, thatâd be great in real life!).
Another option could be a power-up vs accuracy bar, like you see in FIFA when taking a shot at goal. This would need to be balanced with distance too, however, so unsure how helpful it would be (plus the small window to get a kick away already does this to an extent).
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Yeah, I personally quite like the idea of the landing circle already included in Rugby 25, and when you kick the ball can land somewhere inside that circle but not exactly in the middle. Think thats balanced with the further you kick the larger the circle grows.
I would also say the trajectory line shouldnt include variables like Wind, or maybe even if you go too much power and slice the ball. I think the trajectory should be treated as the âperfect lineâ you want. The landing circle whould show where it could land given perfect conditions. And then variables like wind and rain are applied mid air so you cant get a kick bang on.
It could then be applied to the other idea of the players stats coming in to play. Maybe kick accuracy not only impacts the sensitivity of the trajectory, but could also make the landing circle smaller for higher rated players, giving you better accuracy by having better players in the team. But all players should still have some sort of circle rather than landing bang on the trajectory line every time.
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There seems to be a game crash on Fan Hub occurring when searching for all Teams on Fan Hub by date or rating. Not sure if this is applying to everyone.
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The update is a lot better but still not where it needs to be. I say this because the last three games i played, i was unable to finish the game due to glitches.
Bugs i experienced:
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From a kick off the ball landed but no one was able to pick it up. Basically it froze and I couldnt do anything. I had to restart he game but happened in the second game as well so to this day i havent been able to complete a full game yet.
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Opposition player randomly runs into touch with the ball in hand for no reason. Again, this never happens.
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Inconsistencies with the 50/22. Its the same when I do it and the opposition as well. Im well aware of the 50/22 rules so its not something im getting wrong, but lineouts is often given to the wrong team. Hopefully just a quick fix.
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After i gave a penalty away, opposition tapped and broke the line but i was unable to tackle him. Changed over to my fullback but regardless who i picked, if i pressed the tackle button, nothing would happen. No attempt would be made. Then the opposition player runs into the dead ball area without scoring a try.
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After a lineout, during the maul stage, my whole backline shifts across to the other side of the field leaving a gap the size of Africa. Unsure why this as I cant seem to stop it from happening. They need to stay in line connected to the maul.
Would like to see some of the following though:
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Better Ref/TMO decisions - Often a try is scored but TMO or ref wont give it. Will like to see more details around this where its clearly held up or clearly no try so TMO or ref can make the right call or when it is scored then a try is given. Would be nice to be able to make this more realistic.
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Will be nice to be able to have more penalties in the game. As much as i love a fast flowing game, I would also like to take those 3 points on offer. Red/Yellow cars should also be introduced.
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I think someone has mentioned this before but player fatigue. The more tired the player is, the more likely he is to be injured. Lets us make or force the changes using the bench etc. Also players who sustain serious injuries shouldnât be available for selection the following week.
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For some reason a player making a break will stop to embrace the tackle from behind or the side. I can appreciate it from someone tackling from the front but will nice to see them keep going so its more of a chase down and would like to see those side on tackles more.
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No time for my play maker to kick the ball. Every time i pass to him, the Defence shut him down. Would be nice to slow the game down so slightly so it buys him time to kick the ball when the button is pressed. Its that or the kick button doesnt work because i cant get him to kick the ball.
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More crowd involvement. When a players breaks the line or scores a try, will be nice for the crowd to cheer louder in those instances.
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More realistic grass or playing pitches but I might be getting a little ahead of myself, hopefully its a work in progress.
The upgrade is better but hopefully the next one can address all the issues. And hopefully I can actually finish a game for once haha!
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My suggestions to fix the logo creator would be to add a slider to adjust the size of the shapes and letters rather than trying to move all tge points of articulation. My other thought was just to try and simplify the controls a little bit. Obviously these are just suggestions and I donât know how hard it would be to add these in as I know the team are putting blood sweat and tears into making the best rugby game possible.
Tips for when you decide to improve animations
1- The curved running in RLL4 was quite ok. Itâs better than the robotic movement players have now.
2- In most tackles, both players keep their bodies low, knees bent and ready for impact. Consider these aspects, especially if the game will use the mechanics of propelling your player with the right analog stick.
Madden screenshot for reference
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Hi Big Ant Team,
Thanks for all your hard work. I really like the way the passing is going. I find Iâm actually making some line breaks now and getting some half decent moves together. Itâs become a lot more fun but thereâs 2 big problems that Iâve noticed though.
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Iâm finding myself with 2 v 1 on the wing, more often than not when I pass the ball will go out into touch, and not to the target player! So frustrating and itâs happening a lot (I know sometimes in real life players mess up 2 v 1, but not this much). Iâm not sure if itâs something to do with the support lines or just the passing logic, or maybe a mix of both
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On passing logic, I find if there is more than 1 player in a direction, sometimes itâs almost random which player the pass will go to. I know itâs not always going to be obvious to the game engine which player youâre going to want to pass to. I know itâs not the easiest system to try and perfect, but I think by default pressing L1 or R1 should always pass to the next player in the line, at least that way itâs predictable for the player. We still have L1 / R1 + face button to pick a specific receiver. Also, Iâve mentioned this before, but would it be possible to implement a command something like a quick double tap of L1 / R1 to give a one out skip pass?
Apart from passing, Iâve said this before but I still donât understand scrums 
(this might be just me and maybe a tutorial/ training mode will fix that). Also rucks still seem kind of random to me, as to when a steal is possible or not
4 Likes
Stamina needs reworking I shouldnât be loosing all my stamina with a backline player before I even have hit the gap. Seems like only we have stamina and ai has no stamina to loose as they are running full speed the whole game
why is it alway the most fun and intense matches that has to crash when the game is going down to the wire
3 Likes
Agree to everything mentioned here. I would add that if you introduce a transparent mini map, as I had previously advocated for, where the players of the two teams are represented by their respective colours and the players represented as dots, when aiming for a kick, you not only have a directional line on field, but also like a yellow cross or circle on the mini map indicating the approximate area where it might land, with the actual landing affected by player kicking stats and wind, etc. Also the controlling player is highlighted in a different colour to the team colour.
I was actually thinking that a doubletap could be used for a dummy pass. Iâve noticed a lack of those in the game and I think that their use would greatly expand the offensive side of the game, especially when youâre just one player away from a complete line break
1 Like
IIRC, in Rugby League Live, you would hold one pass button and tap the other to do a dummy pass, maybe that would work here also?
I just think the option to give a quick skip pass would open the game so much, whether that be a double tap or a tap and hold
GoTBT
I have some problem with my costum Team.
Iâve created a Team with logo, 25 Players and kits but unfortunatly the game doesnât recognise on âPlay Nowâ-âCostum Teamâ section.
Why it happen?! Spent a lot of time and i can even play withâŚ
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Another re-occurring Bug Issue that might have been mentioned in the patch feedback by others is that when offside penalties are issued by the referee against my team and awarded to the Ai team when the Ai kicks for lineout field position, the lineout feed will then be awarded to my team to throw the lineout.
Itâs been happening when I play with a custom team against a licensed team and might have been occurring also when using licensed teams
Thanks
1 Like