Launch (EA1) Feedback

[Themadking]

Hey Love all the effort you guys have put in really excited to see all the additional licences and my team wales and Cardiff get added Player Scans are looking amazing and the close up cutscenes look superb, think the lighting during the actual gameplay however feels very harsh and isn’t the nicest looking

PASSING: I adore the fact I can choose where my long pass can go, that’s a really nice feature however it’s slightly ruined by the fact the players stand still once receiving the ball, this really damages the fluidity of the game for me, can’t really play Fijian or New Zealand style attacking rugby when there isn’t much fluidity to the attack. Also the ball can become a bit overly floaty at times which isn’t something that helps with the fluidity of passing attacks either

RUCKS: for me this is a massive issue as I can’t tell if I’m currently winning or losing a ruck, the animations don’t seem to be fully developed on that are at the moment I assume ? . It’s also notible that the tackler runs away from the tackle after completion as it was rugby league. This a is key issue as again the fluidity is damaged. We need to be able to contest for the ball and maybe have a bar to see the balance of who’s winning the ruck

TACKLING: I don’t seem to be able to do a standing tackle manually at this moment and I find the diving tackle a little hard to control maybe an aim assist would be useful as currently it seems the AI is doing the defending for me

KICKING: Happy with kicking mostly hover if personally like to see are where I was kicking. I do long how goal kicks are working however !

LAW: I seem to be able to play offside currently without getting pinged, haven’t once seen a penalty given which is a big aspect of union and there seems to be no way to get penalised in the ruck and I think this is a reason why the ruck doesn’t feel very good atm as there’s no balance too it and it feels very clunky

Also some glitches I’ve noticed is when passing the ball it’s can be flung all the way back to your goal line out of no where. Players also can glitch in and out of rucks and I also noticed that when I was tackled in my own goal area after brining it in myself I was given a goal line kick rather than the opposition getting a 5M scrum

Really happy this game is getting made and I’m
Positive the final product is going to be great, looking forward to playing more and seeing how the game progresses

[Hugan099]

Like the refs socks

[roodud]

Positives:

• The graphics are really good.
• I like the goal kicking mechanic it looks and feels good.
• Commentary is decent, could perhaps use a second pundit.
• Great to have so many teams
• Works on Steam Deck

Negatives:

• As many people have said already, the ruck is really poorly done. The best rucking mechanic by far was in the rwc 2011 game. If you could just copy that completely that would be great.
• The buttons are often unresponsive and I don’t actually know how to win an opposition ruck
• The passing is really poor, no one runs onto the ball and all the players are scattered and not in any attacking shape.
• Tackling doesn’t look or feel great. Doesn’t feel impactful at all.
• Scoring a try doesn’t feel good, feels really clunky and weird when you put the ball down. Should be a lot smoother.
• The buttons aren’t intuitive. Pressing A shouldn’t be change player, for almost every other sports game that’d be LT. “A” should be used to hit rucks, tackle and punt.
• When you’re looking to create a competition it says “Clubs” instead of “Teams”, international teams are not clubs lol
• Can’t make any amendments to your team selection before or during the match.
• Players out of position.
• Wrong name appears for the different players
• Needs a tutorial mode - still no idea how scrums work

I’m trying not to be too harsh here but I have to be honest. I’ve never played an early access game before so I didn’t know what to expect, but I wasn’t expecting it to be this unpolished. It’s been almost a year of delays and I can’t believe the gameplay is as bad as it is. It seems like no-one has tested it as how could you charge 25 pounds for that.

The game is clunky and doesn’t feel good to play. It’s not fun at all, it’s really, really boring. Nothing feels impactful or fun it just seems very dead and soulless.

I hope you take people’s feedback on board, most people are looking for a drastic overhaul of the gameplay and that is what is needed. Forget the photogrammetry for now. The game is in a really poor state gameplay-wise and that needs to take first priority.

When will the next update be? I don’t really want to play it in it’s current state.

Good luck, I really hope this becomes an amazing game!

[BigShep]

i dont like the rugby league live 4 engine being used for this game. its to fast and light and it makes doing anything way harder then it needs to be. drawing and passing, kicking and tackling. if you look at rugby champions its slowed down and a bit heavier and it makes drawing and passing and anything else a bit easier and more satisfying to do

beating defenders is at random you just have to get lucky with an animation. if you look at rugby champions is based on timing, momentum and players ratings

players need to run better lines and stay in support, they are either in front of you or behind you. passing is a bit better but draw and pass isnt really possible, u just end up passing it down the line and you dont really go any where cus players stand still when they receive the ball.

defenders always stand off tackles which makes gameplay repetitive as you dont need to pass and can just run through a gap. but once you make a break theres no support players to pass to.
user tackling is impossible you rarely make a tackle and i dont even think there is a tackle button

player positioning is off players never seem to be in the right position. props at fullback and wingers at scrumhalf. defensive positioning is actually quite good tho

rucking is useless there is no way to make a turnover, they always glitch out and i sometimes cant pass the ball either. and the scrumhalf likes to pick it up and run into the ruck

scrums mechanics are just random and need to be more simple. i havnt even won a scrum yet even after doing what the controls say. it needs to be simple but with chances of a turnover or penalty

lineouts were fine but the camera moves the wrong way when u win it which makes you pass the wrong way

goal kicking is nice but we need new animations for them but i liked everything about the goal kicks. but in play kicking is not a good mechanic. its based on timing but you never really get the time as you either get charged down or tackled, either have a slow motion feature or take the kicking from rugby league live 3

the rugby league live 4 engine needs to go as its old and wasnt that good to begin with imo. we need new animations for pretty much everything its all old.

[BigShep]

if you want good player movement and satisfying gameplay take a look at rugby champions cus they nailed it. i think if you can take there gameplay with these graphics it could be a great game

[Italeo48]

Man, tomorrow when they are gonna turn up at work every one gonna have massive headache

[BigShep]

hits need to have more impact and momentum needs to play more of a factor. the game feels very floaty and light. needs to feel more heavy and feel more in control

pre game presentation needs to be better, ik its ea but it could be a lot better than a boring picture for 3 minutes. for example older madden games had player profiles, tips and tricks, rivalry history of the teams that are playing and team history. and they would have cutscenes of players arriving to games getting warm and showing the fans getting hyped for the game. and the commentators would talk about the match up and the key players.

[SeanLeinsterfan24]

Damien Penaud with socks up is just wrong on so many levels same would be said for Bundi Aki best have his socks down for true player likeness

[Bkrugby]

I agree with you that it’s necessary, but if you’ve watched gameplay, you’d know that that’s not a concern right now.

[Bkrugby]

Being constructive, here is my feedback.

*DISCLAIMER: I wish BA wasn’t pressured by so many to release the Early Access before they were ready, as the game is in an unplayable state.

If they just communicated this with us and shared screenshots or videos of why it wasn’t ready, people would have understood.

GAMEPLAY

1. Rucks: when a player is tackled, the tackler doesn’t go to ground and roll away, he just stands up and walks away and no players from offense or defense get to the ruck till 5 seconds later.

Also at the breakdown in real Rugby, defensive players don’t bind on eachother. One, maybe two of them go for the ball with their arms. But teams don’t send 3 players to the ruck on defense to try and poach the ball.

There is also no clear outs in the ruck where the offensive ruckers take out the defending player trying to poach.

2. Passing: this is off, as many times trying to pass the ball it’s thrown away from the direction the ball carrier is running.

No ability to make a switch pass.

3. Tackling: this mechanic does not work and is impossible to line up a tackle.

FORMATIONS

1. There is no offensive or defensive formations.

The defending team does not stand flat on the line waiting for the ball to be released. There are about 5 defenders always just standing behind the ruck.

On offense there are no pods or prongs and no ability to pass out the back.

2. I haven’t come across the ability to do any set pieces from scrum, lineout, or even the ruck.

3. Offensive players without the ball don’t put themselves in a position to receive a pass and attack. They just stand still.

4. The scrum half isnt even the scrum half.

Too many times just a random forward acts as the scrum half.
I didnt see my scrum half pass the ball after a ruck one time in one of the games i played.

Another game he only acted as the 9 twice and the scrum half is always out on the wing or in some position he isnt supposed to be in.

COMPUTER AI

1. Computer AI is is all messed up.

There was one scenario where they were attacking and computer ball carrier passed the ball all the way across the ruck.

Another time they were attacking on me they passed the ball straight back and the ball slingshotted to the full back who was directly 20 meters behind the ball carrier.

ANIMATIONS

1. Same 3 tackling animations and are all at chest height.

There are no tackling animations with the defender tackling below the waste.

2. I haven’t seen any ability to juke/step the defending players.

3. All the passes are animated the same no matter how the ball carrier is running.

4. Box kick animation is non existent and the team doesn’t even bind together to set up the box kick.

CUSTOMISATION

1. All the players have high socks which is very unrealistic.

2. Most players have 2 knee straps which no one does.

3. We need licensed boots in the game.

4. Grip socks.

5. Have not seen one scrum cap or ear tape.

OVERALL
The game is in a completely unplayable state.

It seems BA doesn’t have a firm grasp on how Rugby Union actually works and the intricacies of it.

Graphics aren’t bad, but we have a long way to go for this to be a game worth buying and far from the most complete rugby game ever.

If this has to be changed to Rugby 26, then so be it, but you have to get these things right.

[Kenoath]

To add on to the feedback comments from above, seems far too many are concerned with customisation than an actual authentic rugby game… just play a modded Rugby 08 if you’re so keen for customisation lol.

[Sharkboy]

Same here for me. a and b buttons are swopped around in this game. The same happens in Tiebreak. Haven’t seen it happen in any of the cricket games though so hopefully can be fixed soon in Rugby 25 and Tiebreak

[CrashBallTV]

Please remove the buzzer sound for halftime/full time… This is a rugby union game, not league!

[Sharkboy]

Please add Team management so we can make subs before and during the game. And please could you add the real Springbok player names even without photogrammetry for the time being.

[Bkrugby]

Get out of here with your insults. This is a forum for constructive criticism so BA can attempt to give us the game we all want.

I promis that you are almost alone with wanting to play a completely unlicensed rugby game. And players customizations are important to alot of people to show player likeness.

[Bkrugby]

I am okay with the insults and saying it sucks cause it does.

But just saying it sucks without giving feedback as to why and what they can fix is wrong. You at least gave feedback with your insult other than the other dude.

I agree that there is not much hope. Going to take over a year to get this game where it needs to be, if they even can at all

[Tomwbell]

Only real issues I’ve had so far is the 9 not being able to pass the ball at the ruck and then some attackers being in front of the ball carrier

[Kenoath]

Sorry I hurt your feelings. But in all honesty, if the feedback on this thread is about cosmetic features that need to be improved then they’re a waste of time.

The rucks suck, a Ps1 game from 1997 JLR are miles ahead of this game 24 years later…

The passing mechanics are terrible with the ball just floating in the air. Just make all passes 100% accurate it’d make for a better game. None of this ball going behind the player etc. it’s too hard to try replicate an authentic game to this detail.

The kicking is ok. I liked it in RLL4 and in this it’s ok.

The players look out of position the whole game. In RLL4 you had players in a set zone most of the time, in 2024 rugby players tend to know their zones they stay in, yes they do move around more than league players but peel it back a bit make it easier for yourself BA & have the 1-3-3-1 formation for forwards staying in their zones by default and backs moving around, have an option to set 2 playmakers, ball handlers if you want to call them that & have them closest to the ball as much as possible so you’ve got an option to always find them with both bumpers. Have the d-pad to set what kind of play ur having at each ruck, whether it’s hit a pod or have the pod run through & hit the backs etc.

^ if BA don’t understand any of this, the games too far gone to be saved. Yes you can get “competing rugby video gamers on board” but in all honesty, you’ve gone out and captured faces of professional rugby players, why not have them capture the animations/motions (idk the right word for this lol) and have the animations seem more realistic.

[Bkrugby]

That’s more like it.

Yes, posting only about cosmetics with how bad the game is makes no sense with all the bigger problems in the game.

But writing about customization options as just a small part of your overall feedback is completely Reasonable.

Saying you don’t want a licensed rugby game is fully brain dead though

[Truesarcen]

My suggestion is less focus on photogrammetry and more focus on mocap capturing players movements. This doesn’t even need to be the official players but can be mocap of players who play the game to a good standard and can replicate basic movements that are not present in the current game. I think this because the game looks great in the cutscenes with the captures of the faces but in the game you can’t even notice them because the gameplay is not up to standard in my opinion. I hope you take this on board and hope to see a good game by console release.