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Improved Kicking
In-play kicks have been adjusted along with tuning of trajectories across all kick types. A dedicated button (A) has been implemented for Up and Under kicks. -
Improved Offloads
Standard pass buttons may be used to offload in the early stages of a tackle. Note that offloads are more likely than standard passes to deviate from the target. This is an area on which we are hoping to get feedback to ensure we have balanced this correctly. -
Improved Scrum Half ruck join speed
The halves will attend rucks quicker to use the ball. The Ruck mechanic is still being worked on in response to feedback, this area of the game will have further improvement in future updates. -
Corrected Rule implementation
Correction of some rules not implemented correctly, including the positioning of the lineout after free kicks to touch and ensuring defensive touchdowns are treated correctly. -
Corrected unintentional forward passes
The logic for selecting a pass target when tapping LB/RB has been adjusted to avoid a small percentage of scenarios where the ball would be passed well forward to a teammate out of the ruck. -
Stability improvements
A number of reported game stability issues have been rectified in this update, our support team thanks you! Please keep these reports coming through as they are encountered via https://early.bigant.com/
Thanks, looking forward to rucks being fixed, obviously that is still a pretty major issue.
A couple of times already I’ve had players go for what I assume it a tap tackle, due to the RLL4 animation, and the player with the ball glitch and reappear a couple metres forward being tackled by someone else.
Also, a few instances of the passing player just pinging the ball 30 metres laterally straight into touch, which is odd.
Appreciate this was only a small update, but the previous issues still obviously make it a frustrating play (attacking and defensive lines, tackling feeling janky, players not feelings if they have any weight to them, no momentum for the dominant team, rucks, etc).
Thanks for getting on top of the scrum half issue though, that is better
Agree with these points here, I have also had the ai ball carrier just walk in one direction then eventually going into touch or going dead. I have tried to play at least 5 matches but have only managed to finish one due to it crashing.
Its probably a small thing so I’m not too fussed, hopefully its a quick fix.
Thanks for giving us an update this week, we appreciate all the hard work you guys get up to 
Thanks for the new patch, really appreciate it.
Scrum-Half response time to rucks are much better.
Sometimes passing still has a random float animation to it that makes the ball hang and allows the AI to intercept quite easily. Or the ball just rolls out from a pass and nobody tries to go for it.
Just still feel like tackling doesn’t feel hard hitting enough. Tackling in general just feels like I’m taken out of the control of the situation, I’m rarely ever able to connect to the player I want to tackle properly in order to make a dominant hit. Feel like the AI still takes tackles for me too much. The right analog stick tackle almost always just makes me fly past the ball carrier.
In general I just want to feel more in control of tackles and the hit of a tackle to make an impact on where the ball carrier lands. And rucks still don’t feel like a contest, more of like a waiting game for them to kick or make a mistake.
Especially agree with this. I’d also add that there is still an issue with understanding what Y/triangle does at the ruck, as it seems to select my fullback quite often.
For me the biggest concern is with the gameplay and how it feels. I feel with general gameplay when it comes to attacking the players are spaced out randomly and very far from eachother, and when you run with the ball it the AI does not follow the player with the ball so when you pass you loose gound because the player was standing still or was standing too deep. I think the gameplay will be improved if the player positioning is fixed and players are lined up next to eachother with enough space like for example in Rugby08 or 2011 and then you run and the other players follow so when a defender catches you you can draw and pass and make ground by creating spaces and you have available players around you who follows you to pass. At the moment most of the times the only way you can create ground is by letting one player run into a gap by himself the but when you pass the player is too deep and you loose ground and then you loose momentum.
Hi Team,
Apparently,I`m only allowed 1 image - so had to edit the post
Doing some playing right now. Some points from the one game:
Image 1:
Player running is indeed improved. The player positioning is something I have a serious issue with. The ball was kicked and taken up by a random player who was standing on fullback. The ruck has my 8th man passing. my scrumhalf is standing behind a forward, and my fullback who was receiving the pass is running a HUGE drift ball and weird space in the backline.
Rucking is still way too slow, I would like to see the option of making the game flow much faster, the rucks form and I`m still waiting for someone to come pass.
I would like to see pods stand next to rucks, 2-3 forwards running onto a short ball, and the option to hold pass and pass behind their backs to the backline. That would be basic running mechanics from a rugby-playing perspective
Image 2:
Defence depth:
I broke the line playing with the blue team, I paused right at the point of passing. The defence is playing with their back against me and is much deeper than my own attacking team.
Might just be the running mechanic that needs tweaking, but at this point, I would like to see a much flatter defence line and certainly not with their backs facing me.
so kicking didnt need fixing at all apart from up and unders. i full bar a kick and it went 10 metres. all the feedback we give and u fix the one thing that didnt need fixing?
apart from rucks being faster the game is basically the same
Have tried to be patient but the game becoming markedly worse after each subsequent patch is mind numbing.
Passing is now ridiculously floaty, with the ball often going to no one.
Whereas on release I had issues with players catching the ball stood still, I now have issues with players teleporting backwards to catch passes.
A litany of crashes and glitches which have made it almost impossible to complete a full match.
Rucking speed is better that’s about it.
Also despite the patch notes I’ve yet to be able to offload.
Game now performs really poorly on my pc when it was really crisp on release with frame rate drops, stuttering, and the textures and details look abysmal when not zoomed in on individual players
If you ever manage to get this game to be enjoyable I’m begging you to allow us to play in experimental mode before patching so we can play test the next patch and advise on how it performs that way we won’t go from a playable enjoyable game to a broken one
I support you and the project but have to say that the game seem less and less enjoyable with the time.
main issues :
- players positions ( i build some phases but can’t do anything with it cause all the players are 10 meters away from the ruck and all flat
- the passing is to unrealistic the ball has to much speed
- the halfback isn’t at the back at every ruck so yeah i got basically someone who’s behind the ruck but it’s not the number 9 that’s problematic
-didn’t see a single offload again even with many attempts - kicking power is too strong i take the kick from my 5 meters and get into the 22 of the other team.
- drop goal is impossible to make cause you can’t place your kicker
- too many time between the moment my ball carrier is on the ground and the support coming it’s feels like it’s being done in 2 times that’s really not fluid and seems awkward
- i like the fact that the IA can build phases but this is really frustrating cause i can’t get the ball back i can’t counter ruck or make a jackal
- the game isn’t fun cause every player has the same speed
Graphics :
- the grass need to be more stuffy it’s look like fake grass
Again i don’t want to make any pub for someone but i think it could really be a good option for you to ask 3-4 people who’s actually into rugby union come to your studio and exchange with you to make the game progress and people like us in the forum i think everyone will be glad to be any kind of help
Definitely the most fun I’ve had on this game so far. Somewhat playable now.
I quite enjoyed the animations at the ruck, when stealing or counter rucking, but still needs works. Not sure if the game already had them, as this was the first time I was able to steal and counter ruck.
Passing is definitely better, but quite often the player would throw a bullet pass through all his team mates and it would rocket out of touch or straight back through the posts and over the dead ball. Also, at times the player would only pass in one direction, despite me telling them to pass to the other side. So at ruck I would pass left and they would just pass right. Also, far too often the players would pass straight back to a guy standing still behind them. Players still need to run the same line as the guy in possession of the ball, to present themselves as a passing option, which is currently not the case. Too many guys standing around in the worst positions. I have not yet seen any short offloads.
I liked the addition of receiving pods of 3 players, not sure whether that was there before, but noticed it for the first time. Would be great to be able to offload after a pod takes the ball up. Perhaps the “scrum half” needs to follow up with the pod after passing the ball, by coming around the back of the pod, to provide that offload/switch option.
When a player fends off a defender, they just stand there. They should keep running forward.
Still need more forward momentum following a regular tackle, otherwise it is nearly impossible to make ground, which is not realistic.
One massive issue is the “player select” button. This needs fixing, as I am never able to select anyone close to the ball and have no idea who I am playing with, so I cannot be influential in the game. Just make it one button to select the defender closest to the ball, whether held by an running attacker, or where the ball will land when being kicked. Your selected player should still automatically go into position when lining up to catch a kicked ball, but then you have immediate control to start running once caught.
Another massive issue, which should be added in the next minor patch, is a simple, transparent, mini map of the field and the players, and your controlling player, such as with the cricket games, as you have players off camera and you don’t know who you are controlling as player-select is broken. A simple, small mini map would help a lot.
Players are constantly playing out of position, as I kept finding myself controlling the 15 in defense, next to the ruck, with 10 playing on the wing, etc, etc.
I thought I saw South Africa playing with a mixed team of men and women.
Still need work on the tee kicks. Either give the player the option of how he wants to curve the ball, with a straight kick as default, affected by wind, or when creating a player, you choose from a variety of kicking shapes (and animations) that defaults to that kicker. IRL different kickers have different kicking shapes for the most part.
Would like to see the introduction of knock-ons and penalties in the next minor patch, as it will already add a lot of realism and make the game more playable.
The referee does not blow the whistle when scoring a try, and I believe when many other things happen, like ball in touch, etc.
Would love to see the addition of the “zoom” camera effect in the next patch as well. Camera still not following the ball when kicked, instead immediately goes to the landing zone. It should be zoomed in when kicking and then zoom out and follow the ball once kicked.
I think those are all the things I picked up for now, but will drop more here when I pick it up.
Thanks for the updates
Sorry my friend but i don’t think we’re playing the same game cause i don’t see any pods but maybe you can light up my mind?
My team formed a pod of 3 once or twice in a game, and the AI also had one pod that I noticed. Like I said, not sure if this was added at some point or coincidental, but it was cool to see. Too bad I was not able to offload. Don’t have screen shots of the pods.
We urgently need more tackles animations, it’s tedious to always do the same animation as if our player were hugging the opponent face to face until he knocks him to the ground, and I also wrote the word “tedious” because there is no other way to describe that it is not us who control the player but all the tackles are done by the AI.
Also I feel totally identified with Vice_ZA wrote. It’s really frustrating:
“One massive issue is the “player select” button. This needs fixing, as I am never able to select anyone close to the ball and have no idea who I am playing with, so I cannot be influential in the game. Just make it one button to select the defender closest to the ball, whether held by an running attacker, or where the ball will land when being kicked. Your selected player should still automatically go into position when lining up to catch a kicked ball, but then you have immediate control to start running once caught.”
Thank you for the patch and for improving the no.9 speed to ruck which has made the game a bit more enjoyable now.
I think i accidentally managed an offload in open play in the backline when there was space, like the chicken wing pass out to the winger which then led to a try - brilliant! Could not recreate it because the passing down the back line and runner positioning is not as it should be, but when it happened it was class.
Other positives:
- side stepping/juking is brilliant. Manged to break through the defence with that.
Requests:
- player controlled tackling is still some way off. Feels really woolly.
- please make the rucks fun and competitive to allow turnovers and speed them up just a little more. They are currently a grind and fun sponge.
- please can you add hand off, spin and bosh to the excelent juking/sidestep maneaouvres
- bullet passes off the pitch need to be fixed
- when the no.9 picks up the ball from the ruck, he ambles through the bodies in the ruck. What’s that about?
- can we get player positioning like pods?
- can we get pop out the back passing? (Rugby 22)
- please look at the attacker support running lines into gaps while the ball carrier draws the defender to release the support runner into space i.e. positioning
- can we set depth of attacking lines?
- can we set tight or wide defensive lines?
- can’t perform any kind of kick of the ball when running with it, might be after juking/side stepping, seems to block the ability to kick the ball thereafter
- ability to put a kicker in the pocket for a drop goal or clearing kick
This latest patch (IMHO) is a good step forward. Cheers.
Keep plugging away!
About rucks, It’s really hard to give you feedback as I don’t understand where the game is heading. I’m hoping a major update is going to rebuild rucks from scratch and stop with these animated all scripted mini scrums, as those do not exist in rugby. In rugby, the density and velocity on impacts give advantage either to the attack or defense and binding players can use this advantage to either easily protect the ball carrier in attack or quickly steal the ball before the bind on defense. Passer is usually the first support in the ruck, so if the ball carrier gained the line of advantage and his support is close, he can bind to the ball carrier immediately as he is tackled and then you’ll almost never lose the ball.
But for that, tackles need work too. Tackles do not feel like they reflect at all the density and velocity of attacking players or of the tackle, nor of the defenser, so impacts (for now i guess) feel as if you are sucked in a tackle animation not reflecting speed power and technique.
I’ve seen a few offloads in this update, could be enjoyable if players running courses matched the ball carrier. I still get to control the guy next to the ball carrier, which is a serious pain when it happens.
So overall a bit less buggy, some kinda improvements, but i’m really waiting for a huge update to correct rucks and tackles, because if those are just slightly improved by adjusting some sliders, it wont be enough to make it into a good rugby game.
Hey Big Ant,
Thank you for the update. The game flows a lot better now.
Only issues I have had it that sometime when I tap the RB or LB the player doesn’t pass, or does this weird floaty pass that usually gets intercepted.
Sometimes when a ruck is formed as the attacking team and I hold the LB or RB to pass to a certain player, the X Y A B icons don’t appear.
I’m reading a lot of negative feedback on this patch, but I actually quite like it. The game feels playable and slightly enjoyable to me.
Pros:
Tap tackle glitch (attacker becoming impossible to tackle) seems solved.
Ruck speed is way better, but I still miss a quick pick&go option.
Offloads, great addition. I’ve seen a behind the back pass and was really impressed.
Cons:
Player positioning. As mentioned in other comments, player positions are really weird. Forwards acting as scrum half while scrum half is standing still with forwards, strange. Fullback constantly in line, while another player covering full back.
Also; I had a few moments when defending in own 22, when full back (or whoever’s the last man) is way behind the goal line, almost at dead ball line, so an attacker running from 10m line beats my full back because he’s so far back.
Receiver standing still and usually too flat; actually worse than before this patch.
Contrary to the point above; it’s almost impossible to kick a ball out when in own 22, because you can’t pass it deep. When I long pres RB or LB and selecting deepest player, the player is already running into the ball, so receives it 5m ahead of opposition. I’d like an option to pass deep to a still standing player to kick into touch.
Passing is still broken sometimes, shooting a cannonball straight into touch or over the dead ball line. Also opposition passing to the ground a lot.
Missed tackles (manual) when i’m 100% on the right spot, expecting a big hit, to just miss the tackle. Looks like the game has already chosen if a player gets tackled or not before he gets the ball.
Pick&go by scrum half is still broken, first does a step forward inside the ruck, then a step back, then ready to pass. Feels really slow and glitchy, while pick&go needs to be quick.
Conversion: Ball going horizontally is really weird and unrealistic.
Kicking (punt) is broken sometimes. Aim is glitching and ball is going maybe 10m or so.
Commentary is weird. When playing South Africa - Samao, they constantly talked about Dupont and Fickou. But that’s just a minor issue.
Good job on the update, but there’s a lot of work to do, such as fixing the points above, adding setplays and adding real players to the current teams available.
Player positioning improving but still needs work in terms of convergence in defence and spacing in attack. WOuld like to see ability to set different line in defence and attack for example:
Attack ; Deep/wide (for set plays and shifts), Flat/narrow (trundling up the field with forwards/offloads etc),
Defence: wide, compressed or wingers drop back could also include aggressive or passive meaning up in your face, high commitment to rucks and mauls or stand offish to allow play to develop then tackle at the end of the play.
WOuld like to see player stats really emphasised in such a way if a player has break neck speed or a renowned tackle buster i want it to be significant in the game sort of like a “gamebreaker” player that can turn a game if used right.
Might be an unpopular opinion but I really liked the rugby World Cup 2011 colour coded kicking trajectory lines, thought it helped understand the ball path and landing.