Launch (EA1) Feedback

[TechnoDoggy]

For an Early Access Game, this is not half bad. Yes there are some flaws which is to be expected. But once you get the hang of everything, then the game runs actually not too bad. This has GREAT potential to become an amazing rugby game.

Devs, PLEASE DO NOT GIVE UP ON THIS GAME! It can become something GREAT!

Bugs/Issues I have encountered:

• Not being able to play the ball once ruck has been formed (found a way to work around this to basically never happen anymore. Just hit B once the menu pops for the Ruck, then immediately hold in either LB/RB and spam any of the pass buttons. Get good line speed like this too.)
• Once you attempt a tackle and you ankle tap the opposing player but he does not fall, (failed tackle). That player sometimes becomes immortal and cant be tackled, which is kind of funny.
• Game crashed when I kicked conversion and the ball hit the middle pole
• Offside is not a thing. So you can stand next to the players and attempt to tackle them.
• Scrums are awarded even after the final/half time whistle blows.

Features I like:

• The fact that the South African team has the crowd singing Shoza Loza is amazing
• The jackals are cool so far. Been getting a lot of jackals in the rucks after getting a good way to do it (Once ruck starts as defending side, tap X quickly, then B quickly so you can add a player, then hold X at the end. This seems to work well so far)

Recommendations for future Updates:

• More Variety and MUCH improved Tackle Animations. Most of the current ones are High Tackles like 90% of the time anyway. And not Penalties for it.
• Knock on’s don’t really exist yet. So to be added.
• Improvements on the AI. They are pretty dumb. Defending and Attacking. But Attacking AI needs to be improved especially. When I pass the ball at Speed to a support player, they stand dead for a second then starts running again, breaking the momentum
• Having set plays (which I am assuming will come later). If I want to do a drop goal, I need to have a kicker in the Pocket.
• Improving collisions between players. If I run at full speed and try to bump someone, I need to bump him.
• Better Line breaks for immersion.

All in all, not bad for an Early Access.

[FreshJzzle]

A mechanic I think could be reworked.

The sidestep mechanic. I’m not a huge fan of the way sidestep has been implemented into rugby games, how an animation just happens and stats determine whether the animation is successful. The madden games have mastered the sidestep. Flicking the stick left or right will make your character step that way, quickly flicking left then right will fake a step left resulting in your player going right. I feel like this could be used in rugby games. This could also help when running as a winger as a in real life when a winger is running with the ball, they will usually cut inside with a step do prevent being brought into touch. You cant do that in modern rugby games due to the sidestep mechanic. Utilising the madden sidestep would make this possible.

Also, the ability to ground the ball in your own try zone should be added.

[SportsGamingZone]

I want to add to the TMO issues. I know this is not something we should worry about now, but with time just look at these, as it might come by as unrealistic and glitchy. I had the same issue with TMO reviewing a try, clearly player loses the ball, but try gets awarded, if the ref refers it, and it is clear as day what happened, the right call should be made.

TMO Review 2

Second TMO issue I get, is whenever I score in the corners between the 5m and sidelines, it gets reviewed even when a player is clearly not close to the line, or anything. It shouldn’t be a major issue to get sorted, and it is definitely not priority. Gameplay first needs to be sorted.

TMO Review 1

TMO Review 1 1

TMO Review 1 2

[SportsGamingZone]

One more thing. It seems like there is no button to touch down the ball in my own in-goal area. Even the button to score a try does not work. Currently you can only run from there or try to kick it away.

[michaelmouse]

Right, I have an idea on how to sort out rucks.

Better animations in general
Players can start to join as soon as the tackle is made, not once the tackler stands up.

B to add players

If you have a 1v0, 2v0 or 3v0 and press X
65% steal ball
25% you win penalty
10% concede penalty (off feet animation)

Your opponent can release the ball by pressing a button, this leads to 100% chance of getting the ball for the other team.

If you have a 1v1 and press Y,
20% chance to push them over and then whoever has a closer secondary player will pick up the ball.
15% chance of Penalty (animation of an illegal clearout ie. tip/high etc)
60% chance nothing happens and an animation plays of an attempted clear out (partial lift of attackers leg etc)
5% chance of holding on penalty in your favour

If you have a 2v1 and press Y,
30% chance to push them over and one of the 2 players will collect the ball and start a ruck in the opposite direction
10% chance of Penalty (animation of an illegal clearout ie. tip/high etc)
50% chance nothing happens and an animation plays of an attempted clear out (partial lift of attackers leg etc)
10% chance of holding on penalty in your favour

If you have a 3v1 and press Y,
60% chance to push them over and one of the 3 players will collect the ball and start a ruck in the opposite direction
10% chance of Penalty (animation of an illegal clearout ie. tip/high etc)
5% chance nothing happens and an animation plays of an attempted clear out (partial lift of attackers leg etc)
25% chance of holding on penalty in your favour

If you have a 3v2 and press Y,
22% chance to push them over and one of the 3 players will collect the ball and start a ruck in the opposite direction
10% chance of Penalty (animation of an illegal clearout ie. tip/high etc)
60% chance nothing happens and an animation plays of an attempted clear out (partial lift of attackers leg etc)
8% chance of holding on penalty in your favour

If you have a 3v3 or 2v2
5% chance to push them over and one of the 3 players will collect the ball and start a ruck in the opposite direction
5% chance of Penalty (animation of an illegal clearout ie. tip/high etc)
85% chance nothing happens and an animation plays of an attempted clear out (partial lift of attackers leg etc)
5% chance of holding on penalty in your favour

If you don’t press Y, committing players in defense just slows the ball down

In attack, as you approach the ruck you can make whoever is approaching just pass the ball (if it’s uncontested) by holding pass, otherwise the first player there will always commit to the ruck automatically. Press B to add more and hope no one steals the ball before you get there.

The key point is if you press a button, some kind of animation happens, this makes it clear you’re doing something. I think an issue with large parts is it’s very unclear if anything has been completed or achieved.

All the percentages are assuming players with the same attributes/sizes etc. they’re also plucked out my head, so won’t be perfect.

Sorry for the wall of text.

[Pinzonlop]

Hello everyone; I’m quite worried about the gameplay, this is really what makes a game fun and replayable, but in this case it’s clunky, it feels like you don’t fully control what’s happening on the field. The passing system bothered me, I feel it as a regress compared to previous games, also when selecting a player and trying to tackle the opponent is very confusing and difficult; also, obtaining possession of the ball is almost impossible autonomously, you just have to wait for everything to happen randomly and the opponent to punt kick. Unfortunately I feel that it is still very raw in this aspect and must improve considerably.
I hope that in the next update (hopefully we don’t have to wait several months again) these problems will be corrected.
On the other hand, I liked the graphics and sound even though some details remain to be improved and polished such as some player eyelashes, textures of the playing field and lighting.
I feel that this game has a lot of potential and I hope that the development team carefully reads all the comments that people are making.

[Tigersfan12]

To expand upon earlier points:

• Rugby 08 is a great place to start when it comes to looking at rugby Union animations. Several different types of tackle, some dominant, some not. Diving tackles and higher tackles all included which look slick and realistic, particularly when players slide off the higher tackles. The way the tackler remains in the bottom of the ruck is good too.

• Rugby 08 also successfully had players running onto the ball at pace with passes being floated in front of players - this made it fun getting the ball wide with momentum to beat defences.

[ET_1980]

Did Find the rucks in Rugby Challenge 2011 pretty good and simple yet effective as i play this a lot too because of the ITM cup.

i cannot link it but i clipped the Ruck that’s happing
But you can see when i add quick bind ruck fills up more or heavy bind add a lot more to the ruck.

• Also, Intro’s when players are getting to the field have a display of the line up’s

• and wind direction would be ace also Seem’s cannot see any as of yet.

• Also running slideway’s in game makes defender’s leave massive gaps open and they don’t even close the gap i can just run sideways and score easy try’s too

• Fend make it like RRL4, R3 stick up , sidestep R3 L&R as it it ATM but it is quite delayed in the input of it like trying to Bind ruck also i’ll smash the button yet very very input delay

• And last little thing for a tutorial (for people who don’t know rugger)

Basics

1. Scoring a Try

• Learn how to score a try by running into the try zone.

2. Simple Conversion

• Practice basic kicking techniques to convert tries.

3. Passing

• Master passing the ball to teammates effectively.

4. Tackling

• Learn how to tackle opponents to regain possession.

5. Change Player

• Switch control between players during the game.

6. Loose Ball

• React to loose balls and gain control quickly.

7. Cut Out Pass

• Use cut-out passes to bypass multiple players.

Intermediate

1. Running

• Improve your running skills to navigate the field.

2. Aggressive Tackle

• Perform aggressive tackles to stop opponents.

3. Punt Kick

• Execute long-distance punt kicks.

4. Chip Kick

• Use chip kicks to pass the ball over opponents.

5. Bomb Kick

• Perform high kicks to challenge the defense.

6. Grubber Kick

• Use low kicks that bounce along the ground.

7. Drop Goal

• Practice scoring drop goals from different positions.

Professional

1. Kick for Touch

• Kick the ball out of bounds to gain territory.

2. Cancel Kicking

• Cancel a kick attempt to change strategy.

3. Offload

• Pass the ball while being tackled.

4. Side Step

• Use side steps to dodge opponents.

5. Fend

• Push away defenders while running.

6. Dummy Pass

• Fake a pass to confuse defenders.

7. Windy Conversion

• Practice conversions in windy conditions.

[Rohan1]

Congrats on getting the game out, having played a few games now, I think this is the most promising rugby game yet.

Having seen lots of comments about the rucks, passing and player and ball movement etc I won’t comment too much on that as I understand with rugby 25 being an early access game that this is something that will improve massively over the coming months.

One thing I think that can be included to add more realism to the game is improved player positioning. For example, every team in modern rugby uses a very simple pod of 3 forwards with the fly half behind when coming back infield from a ruck in the 15 metre channel. Adding this would work perfectly with the passing mechanics as holding down RB/LB and pressing A, B or X will allow the 9 to pick which player of the pod to pass to. Normally, the 9 would pass to the middle man of the pod, therefore I think using RB/LB should by default pass to the middle of the pod. Following this, the outside player of the pod normally runs a “tip” line, with the flyhalf/play maker arcing “out the back”. Using RB/LB to pass to the “tip”, or RB/LB+B to pass to the flyhalf would be good for this.

Adding this feature and features similar would allow for the user to feel as though he is making the same decisions that rugby players make in actual games - therefore adding to the realism aspect of rugby 25. I’ve created some images of what I’m explaining to help.

Thanks for reading and I look forward for the updates to come.

[Rohan1]

The above 2 pictures are what the improved player positioning could look like

[ET_1980]

That does happen ATM you have to hold down the i think L1 or R1 and then it show’s up but i do get what you pointed out as it does that in RRL4

[Charl93]

Helo first thing is graphics needs to improve its rugby 25 cant look the same as the older rugby games. Second need more camera angles and players need to respond faster to run with ball in hand when they catch the ball from a kick. the carmera needs to move with the ball not change when the ball is in the players hand. Players movements also needs to loosen up when tackling passing running and kicking. Lots of bugs to fix like in the ruck when u cant pass it turns into a scrum loop passes. Line dept also need to use put players deep and wide. Try to keep the passes from ruck and movement from player receiving the ball ballnaced so that the runner can have running space and not receive the ball and the the deff is already on him especially if the line is set deep. If player gets into space the support runners stays behind they need to respond quicker. Hope u guys can sort this out focus on the gameplay thats the most important face scans can come later. Last thing put the players in order forwards for pods backs to run the ball like rugby is played here and there there wil be a forward in the backline thats normal.

[Rugbygamer40]

Hi guys ,

Just some feedback on player bodies. Is it possible to please consider having some good variations with creation tools to make players look like their body type for their positions ?
I got some screenshots here from Rugby League Live 4 and Rugby Challenge 4.

The different aspects to adjust such as stomach , arms, chest , being able to make them look large, muscly , skin or skinny etc. Weight size by Kg could adjust the body appearance the more or less that figure is.

Some Locks can have a bit of weight on them and others look slim. Props can look large and bulky.

[Rugbygamer40]

Hi Guys

Competition Difficulty setting.

I actually can’t see one when you create a competition. If you could please add this in for the future with early access competitions. Thanks

[GreyAvenger]

The top 3 priorities to sort next which took enjoyment away from playing, for me.

1. Lateral passing - after breaching the defensive line. This needs work as supporting players sit too far behind rather than race up into the space to allow that final pass to score a try. What happened to me was the player passed directly back to a player so far behind him they got tackled and this makes the defensive break feel pointless.

2. Rucks - a couple of things happened to me in this area. The players seem to stall after the tackle for nearly 2/3 seconds before a ruck is even initiated. This needs to be immediate. The other thing that happens is I have no idea if I should keep competing. The ref could be used here with a ‘Leave it!’ which would let you know to stop trying or suffer a penalty. Lastly as I cannot tell if I am winning the ball successfully, I end up sometimes winning and then hoofing the ball over the top of the ruck. ‘Y’ on the controller, of course, is to compete for the ball but when you win it then becomes punt … maybe consider changing the load out to avoid pointlessly kicking possession away or maybe making it clear whether you are winning the ball which could help here.

3. Dominant Tackles - Like Rugby 08 the option to dive tackle (dominant tackle?) is there… this does need work, maybe some kind of nuanced assist with it. The problem at the minute is you have to be SPOT ON to actually initiate a tackle. Rugby 08 seemed to have this mostly right in that you had to completely and utterly miss to not actually tackle the intended player.

The positives:

When the above issues didn’t impede my enjoyment it did feel much like Rugby 08, which is the benchmark for an enjoyable rugby game. Kicking and conversions being fairly simple; this should be kept. No need to make that as complicated as I have seen in previous games and the Rugby Challenge series.

Loads of nice touches and the music seemed pretty good on the whole. Commentary was ok for now, maybe needs the odd tweak here and there.

Player positioning seems ok which I was surprised about. In other rugby games the defensive line would just disappear and it was players scattered all over the place. Good to see that defensive shape sustain.

Star players - yes! I love that element in Rugby 08. It allowed the game to open up when they got involved.

Keep line outs simple much like kicking. Competing for it should be the case that if your jumper is slightly in front they have a chance of slapping it down/back towards your team.

Things for the future:

Offloading was near impossible and passing just before a tackle was not happening. These things should be in place in the future to allow the game to break up.

Fitness or stamina needs to be introduced as I was able to weave around the opposing team with my fastest player who seemed to have unlimited fitness.

Defensive patterns:

Blitz/Drifting/Sitting/Tight/Loose - these styles should be considered for teams and set at the “team” level. As you will notice teams in the real world are renowned for having a style of defence and attack. Japan for instance are fast and offloading constantly.

Attack:

I assume some form of running plays will be introduced. What I haven’t seen before is a cancel the call option which might be useful. So for example you make a play and then realise that just running it is best and just pass/offload. This will allow you, as the player, to be as complicated or as simple as you like when playing the attacking side of the game and both styles should be effective when done well.

[ViCe_ZA]

Im not going to talk about the mechanics as every single aspect needs a lot of work and everyone is already discussing that, instead I want to comment on 3 things I would like to see.

1. The community creation function needs to be added as soon as possible, as it would allow for much more hours being put into the game at an early stage, and would allow the community to start creating players, teams, sponsors and stadiums already, allowing us to start playing the matches and leagues we want to play before they are even launched officially, but also start creating those items that will not be part of official launches. Would also allow much more content for the youtubers. As these assets take a lot of time to build, it would be great if we could start with that already.

2. The camera options currently are behind the players and from the side pitch, on a high level. I assume that means there will be low and medium height side pitch angles as well, which is great. Just two things on that - firstly, the camera height needs to be set at a stadium level, so that if you create a stadium, that always has a low angle, this is set at creation stage, and the same for any official stadiums, so you dont have to change the angle ahead of each match. It is already preset for that stadium. Secondly, it would be great to have a dynamic camera zoom, so if you are playing close to the rucks, it is kind of zoomed in and you can see more detail, whereas once you swing to the backline, the camera zooms out to provide more coverage of the pitch. This will make it more realistic to actual tv broadcasting, but also I hate rugby games where it is always zoomed out so much that you can hardly see anything and the players are so small.

3. Lastly, for more realism, it would be great if you could select the crowd size ahead of each match, as per the match settings, to more realistically represent the significance of the match you are about to play. Say no crowd, small crowd, medium crowd, large crowd, full capacity. This has been brought up with previous Bigant titles and I really hope it becomes a thing.

[ViCe_ZA]

I currently find this game unplayable and the shadows need significant improvement, but I am very optimistic that the final product will be incredible.

Just want to add a few more requests:

1. More than one version of the scoreboard. I like the current one top right, with abbreviated team names and team colors, but would also like an option to have one center bottom, with full team names and team colors. When creating a league, this could be set as default for that league, or when playing a match, it could be selected under match settings. There are certain leagues/competitions that use the center bottom one and I would like maximum authenticity.

2. The current commentary team sound great, although I have never heard them before. It would be great to have a second commentary team representing the southern hemisphere, so that you have the option between the two. This can be selected under the match settings pre-match, depending on where your match is played. Possibly also select one when creating a custom league, so that it defaults.

When starting a licensed league/competition, these settings could be customized before starting the new league.

[Pinzonlop]

Taking into account what ViCe_ZA wrote, I also agree that BigAnt should give maximum authenticity to the video game through more than one version of the scoreboard; this would be achieved with a design for friendly or exhibition matches and also by implementing official scoreboards for each competition. Just a few days ago on Twitter I made a post with this topic. My comment was:
“I want BigAnt to implement in the new competitions licenses the official scoreboards and broadcast graphics like the ones we watch on TV and internet for each league. This addition would provide a lot of immersion and improve the video game experience”.

[ViCe_ZA]

The scrum sounds are very weird, with no sound on the hit (set) and the players awkwardly counting to 6 like they are in a math class for 6 year olds.

Also want to hear much more communication from the referee.

Another big suggestion is for customizable assists options for the casual gamer, where you automate things like fend-offs and ruck steal attempts or infringements by players, like high tackles, with sliders that determine the frequency and/or severity of the infringements, further affected by individual player skill or characteristics.

[Pinzonlop]

What you wrote is totally true, I especially identified with what you wrote in your first paragraph.