All posts that have literally no feedback and are more social commentay are gone. “Feedback” not complaints about nothing please.
6 Likes
How often can we expect updates on the early access?
1 Like
Some thoughts on what games to look to for inspiration in certain areas of gameplay which need improvement:
-
Rucking - Rugby 22 is a great rucking mechanism imo, the ability to actually influence the ruck as a player and also the ability to very quickly win the ball by securing the ball when outnumbering the opposition. This allows for the opportunity to play slowly and build phases then act quickly when space opens up.
-
Set plays - RWC 2011 had some great intricate set plays which relied on good timing and choosing the right players to open up a defence.
-
Line outs and Scrums - Again Rugby 22 had a great line out mechanism, particularly being able to move the lineout pods and utilise dummy jumpers is great for playability. I dislike the scrum aspect of Rugby 22 but the ability to influence the ‘crouch, bind, set’ to gain momentum is a feature which makes scrums more interesting to the user. Beyond that, feeding the ball and collapsing the scrum makes the game more realistic with regards to penalties.
-
Player customisation - BA are typically very good at this so hopefully this won’t be a problem with the full release. The ability to change players body sizes, heights, speed etc is important; rugby challenge 4 nailed this part of the game. Hopefully the final release of Rugby 25 will be even better. The players in the early access are largely the same height and size and forwards don’t feel quite like forwards.
-
Game speed and flow - Rugby Champions really looks like rugby when you play it, albeit some of the animations can be quite slow and unrealistic. The feel of the game is something you should definitely look to replicate though IMO
-
Team tactics - Rugby 22 nailed this. Changing the pod systems, the line width, depth, backfield positioning, defensive system etc… This is what real rugby fans love to engage with so please consider it.
-
Animations - Animations are hit and Miss across rugby games, but they shouldn’t be rugby league animations as they currently are! Rugby challenge 4 has some great sidestep and bump animations which could be useful. As others have mentioned, just getting in a player who plays at a reasonable standard to do some player movements would be great.
On the plus side, you’ve nailed the graphics side of things, the atmosphere is great, commentary is good, players and lots look brilliant, kicking animations are reasonably good but implementing different goal kicking styles and feet could be interesting. Overall, a good base. I hope you can build upon some of the areas other rugby games have done well across the course of the early access to make this the rugby game everyone, including BA, want it to be!
6 Likes
Watch some rugby & you’ll see the forwards (1-8) are usually flat off the halfback or the 10 whereas in your game everyone’s about 10 metres deep of the halfback lol. Rugby these days is played very close to the gain line/advantage line & this game doesn’t really emulate that at all.
2 Likes
I don’t agree about Rugby 22s rucking.
Although from a gameplay perspective it worked, it did not look like a real ruck. There were 4 players from each side in the ruck and looked like a small scrum.
Also, it took way too long for the ball to come out whichever side won it. When I real rugby, rucks are a second or two.
It needs to be a mini game, with favor towards the team with the ball, but with good realistic animations.
2 players per side. Clear outs. And defensive player looking like he’s actually going in to poach the ball
Also agree with having an animation for defensive team trying to poach and being cleared out
1 Like
Also the defensive shape is so random, you should make them always be moving forward. And at a decent pace. At the moment they just stand there waiting for the attack to come lol. And the winger always marks the other winger all the way on the otherside of the field meaning there’s always a massive hole in the middle of the field.
2 Likes
Yeah I totally get that. Visually it didn’t look like a ruck. But the ability to influence the ruck with player momentum is good. Also, you can generate quick ball with one player joining at the right time, quickly tapping A (I think) to secure the ball - which I use a lot when playing to do quick rucks after line breaks.
They definitely shouldn’t copy it exactly but the mix of some slow rucks and some quick rucks with just one player is needed imo
2 Likes
I know it’s way too late for you to change ur scrum mechanics but here’s a suggestion that I reckon fits the mould of rugby more.
Should have a timing button for initial hit, if you’re outside of it by too much you miss the hit, collapse & get penalised. If you hit it within time but worse than ur opponent you lose the hit and have a mud scrum. If you win the hit then you should win the ball. Just keep it as simple as that. Make scrubs quick in the game because they take far too long in real life lol.
4 Likes
Too late? Nothing is ever too late. Much like all the functionality changes we have done with the Tiebreak community. Things can be changed and adapted.
9 Likes
If this is the case…
Have my idea. For free mate
2 Likes
Hello guys
First of all, thanks for the game. The graphics, menus, musics, cutscenes are great and you added referees, wich is good for immersion !
Now, the animations and gameplay must match the qualities above !
So here’s my feedback :
- Placement of players is too deep and inacurate.
- The game is a bit fast, so It is hard to keep the pass button and chose the right player in time. Default receiver should alway be the closest to the defense line.
- Animations are quite steep for the moment.
- Rucks need to be clarified and debugged, as It is impossible to clearly know how to steal the ball.
- When a player escapes a tackle, he stops moving.
- I currently saw no offside (maybe you should add a round flashing circle to show it)
- Technical gestures should be more visible, with larger and smoother overflows and fends off with a clear tight arm. (those of rugby 08 were great)
- Penaltys and conversions are a bit too easy. Maybe adding an accuracy minigame with a bar would be better.
- Closer camera angles would be great ! Players are looking good, it’s a shame not to see them better !
- Kicking is a bit too powerfull and ball rebound too far.
- All players size and weight are similar.
- Player skills (speed for exemple) feels the same.
- There are double transparent players (graphic bug ?)
- Lineouts are too basic for the moment
To conclude, you should really be inspired by games that are references for players!
For example Rugby 08 is still the best game for animations and fun. It had flaws (unrealistic racing angles, basic scrums, setplays and lineouts) but the rugby gaming community is still enjoying It.
I really hope rugby 25 will be the new reference !
5 Likes
*We would like a Player Career mode with realistic transfers like a transefer from The Sharks to Toulouse.And young players should have realistic names you cannot have Zimbabwean player named John Smith.
*A Manager career mode where i could buy players to my club,Realistic club budgets,Realistic Possible transfers,Retirements,Press Confrences
*The SA Currie Cup,A realistic world Cup,Six Nations,Four Nations,URC,English premiership,French top 14 and The rugby Championships,EPCR Challenge Cup and Champions Cup
*A training Center to practice some kicking,scrums and passings
*Latest Updated National and Club squads
*Some fixing in tacklings and some glitches
*Realistic stadium names
3 Likes
Major lack of movement, really clunky controls. the rucks are really poor and it doesnt look realistic, rugby 22 rucks were perfect. the tackling isnt good what soever and it needs work. theres a major lack of tactics and being able to put in basic rugby structures like there was in rugby 22. Lacks fluidity in every aspect. The graphics are great and so are the kits but the gameplay is worse than any rugby game in the past ten years, however it is early access but please stop using the rugby league live tackling, thats a league game for a reason. It has big potential but its so buggy, clunky and unfluid that its unplayable
1 Like
Again. Keep the social commentary out. If it’s not about the game I will remove it.
1 Like
Hi Guys
Can we please consider Attack and Defence line options to choose from for Rugby 25. Some examples of screenshots from Rugby Challenge 4 below. You would use Directional buttons to adjust line width and depth for attack and defence.
This would help move your line up and down, compressed or wide when attacking or defending. Also I noticed that Locks and Flankers would drop out to the back 3 for defence in Rugby 25. This is not ideal or realistic. Please see screenshots
Last point - The Sound effects for the Rugby ball 
kicked or passed at times it really sounds like a “Tennis Ball” 
and seems unrealistic. If you could please consider improving this aspect.
3 Likes
Was really hyped for this game, but apart from the graphis, I’m quite dissapointed. Issues:
Rucks are more League-like, as it’s impossible to win a turnover
Teammates receiving the ball are always standing still, so passing the ball only makes me lose ground.
Tackling is a joke, both manual, auto (by teammates) and by AI. So many missed tackles.
Sometimes my player randomly kicks the ball, while I didn’t touch the button.
The idea of the scrums is good, but it’s almost impossible to get it right. Maybe add a feature where you can practice scrums?
Sidesteps work half of the time, hand-off and shoulder charge don’t work for me.
It’s too easy for 1 player to run criss-cross across the field and scoring. Combined with standing still while receiving, I’m just running around with one player and go as far as I can and repeat it with the next one. Really unrealistic.
When I hold L1 or R1 in a ruck to select a player to pass to, I can’t play the ball and get a scrum. Holding works in ‘free play’. Therefore impossible to get from a ruck to a deep player who kicks the ball.
Overall; physics and gameplay feel very 00’s, outdated. Not what I was expecting from this game.
Great work on the kit/player designs.
I have noticed a few things in my time playing, a lot have been mentioned on this forum already so will quickly cover them.
I’m finding the kicking mechanic enjoyable, and actually quite enjoy the scrum mechanic. To me, it feels simple, but maybe a more visible prompt to hook and the specific button shown on screen could be implemented? The prompt in the corner can be easily missed.
Rucks are very difficult to turnover, not clear how to defend a ruck. And only 3 people to a ruck? I feel like I should be able to put many players in, obviously there should be a limit to how many but i feel like 3 is quite low.
Different tackling types as opposed to just a dive tackle bound to the right stick.
Different try scoring methods like in RLL3/4 (press x for try/double tap for diving try). This was a satisfying mechanic. I’m not a fan of the one button for all. I would like to choose how I score a try.
Players being out of position. Will have a number 8 always getting the ball out from a ruck. Also, the fullbacks seem to be pushed way too forward. Whenever the opposing team kicks it’s always a chase back to the ball and hardly ever a catch.
A proper pendulum system for the backfield. On defence I notice the two wingers are standing even further back than the full back. I would like to see some rotation depending on the ball position on the field.
Box Kicking is the only kicking feature I am not really liking. The supposed 9 at the ruck will take a big jump back then kick instead of doing a kick almost from the side of the ruck, similarly to Rugby 22 (rugby 22 did this well, however there was only one animation for this so when kicking to the left side of the field, the kicker would still kick from the right side of the ruck). Also, box kicks are carefully taken in real life. They take time. I feel like I am in a rush to take a box kick as there is a timer on when the ball is kicked. I think a release the Y button to kick would be a better option, similar to kick-offs and goal kicks.
There is a chip and chase option but not really any high bomb kicks for players to chase down. Only a little dink over the top is available.
Another thing I have noticed was also a problem I had with RLL4. When jockeying a player (the left trigger button), this button also seemed to be bound to a mechanic that keeps your currently controlled player in position. This can be frustrating when jockeying an attacking player as a fullback and then the game can drag them to the backfield for example. Maybe an option to alter key-binds/controls can be implemented instead of choosing from a selection of pre-determined controls.
This isn’t a bug or feature problem but I think a counter near the score on the top left counting through the phases would be cool, similar to the number of tackles in Rugby League. And maybe an option to enable/disable this.
Looking forward to what the future brings!
6 Likes
I hope my feedback doesn’t come across to critical or non constructive. I’ve tried to offer suggestions where I feel something isn’t right. (Except with blatant bugs, I’ve marked them)
I personally feel that tackling, player positioning and rucks are the main points of difficulty.
Major issues:
Bug: Sometimes if you miss a tackle the opponents player keeps running and none of your team can make a tackle even when standing Infront of them and you can’t make a tackle either so they scored a try. This state only ends when they score or when they pass. It can happen in your favour occasionally too.
Tackling I feel should be the 4 buttons and each executes a different type of tackle. (Dive, pin to prevent offload, chop/tap if behind the player and a standard drive at hip height)
Rucks are very league esque. It’s basically a league ruck with 6 players animated over it at the moment. The amount of support should have a larger effect on winning it. I believe there should be a button that results in 1 of 3 outcomes, turnover, conceded penalty, won penalty. If you get a dominant hit, have more players over the ball and your guy got there first you should either win the ball or get a penalty with a very small chance of giving one away. If it’s even you’ll probably give away a pen but might win one and if you have less it’s deffo a pen. It will lead to long phases if you don’t challenge but you can chose when to try win the ball if a high percentage opportunity arises.
Bug?:The 9 rarely seems to pick the ball up at rucks and it’s frequently someone else filling in. I’m all for this during breakaways but imo the 9 needs to be following the ball more actively so he’s always near enough that there is little delay if he goes to it.
Bug?:Positioning in general is off, frequently players in the wrong position are on the wing and it is slightly irritating. Another positioning issue is support runners are frequently Infront of the player with the ball, this happens most when going wide.
Minor things:
Bug: Occasionally you get a really floaty pass (usually when played more backwards than sideways) this sometimes gets picked off as it’s hangtime is insanely high.
Bug: The AI occasionally bullets a pass half the width of the field and out of play.
Some way to get your fly half in a pocket so you can pull the ball back and kick would be nice, currently holding the pass button while selecting the furthest back player leads to a pass in front and by the time they get the ball there is little time to kick. ideally the pass goes to where they are and when powering up a kick they don’t reach a sprint unless an opponent is behind them. (ie. during a breakaway)
I feel the ball bounces a little to far on kicks.
Goal kicking is incredibly easy, a return to RLL3 would be nice.
Throw ins while reasonable (they are a lottery irl) seem to happen insanely fast and it’s not clear how to poach them.
The Positives.
Punting/up and unders feel good when you have the time, but for reasons outlined above it’s frequently only when you’ve been kicked the ball that you get to do them.
Scrums are nice control wise and penalties exist (though I seem to only give them away, doesn’t seem possible to win them even with consistent green timing)
Running with the ball feels good, maybe a slight tweak of animation so the player leans into a turn would be nice, there seems to be no change to the run animation even after a massive switch in direction.
Drop goals are finally well balanced (they’ve been insanely easy in previous union titles) even if hard to understand initially (a tutorial for many different things would be great but I suspect this is already planned)
Commentary is good only seems to trip up off throw ins sometimes stating facts that are the opposite to what happened.
7 Likes
They’ve already confirmed most of this. Idk if they’ll have “realistic” transfers in player career though, but think they will have some sort of transfer