Go have a read of the tips thread - genuinely, the biggest one is the sprinting
ISSUE: Would also add, that when the AI kicks out for half/full time, another AI team member will often catch it and keep it in
2 Likes
I agreee! We need this!
2 Likes
PATCH FEEDBACK
Passing is way better! Massive well done, I know how much of a pain itās been.
On the flip side, the AI, whilst passing more, is trying to run from sooooo deep that you can catch them 10-15 behind the gainline every single timeā¦ Means they still just canāt score a try even on hardest
5 Likes
Hello! Please fix this problem, I canāt play a match until the end, when a player is knocked to the ground, he remains motionless and the others just sit and look at him without anything happening. Itās a big problem, because you canāt finish the match, all you have to do is exit the game and lose the whole match.
2 Likes
This is the kind of love and attention to detail they have put into the AFL game thatās just not present in Rugby 25.
Donāt get me wrong, AFL 23 has its issues too. As a newer player, I didnāt experience all the challenges at launch, so my perspective might differ to some. However, the foundation of AFL 23 feels far more refined and complete than what we have in Rugby 25.
Take the pre-match experience for example. The stadiums feel alive, the crowd is engaged, and the commentary is solid. The animations, ranging from player entrances and warm-ups to the coin toss, help create atmosphere and immersion. In contrast, Rugby 25 offers only a brief player walkout and a team sheet before the action begins, which feels lacking in comparison.
Then thereās the depth of gameplay. On Xbox Series X, I have found many core mechanics in Rugby 25 are still broken or inconsistent. We are all aware of the issues. Passing is erratic, making it tough to execute satisfying plays. Rucks are still a lottery, and lineouts and scrums feel clunky. The AI also struggles with repetitive playstyles and poor decision-making. Even little things like during kick-off, you can still manipulate your kick trajectory if you hold the kick button (Y on Xbox) for max strength. That just seems weird to me, there should be a consequence or timing element to kick-offs. Otherwise you will always perform a perfect kick.
Thereās a lot of interesting and well-implemented mechanics in AFL 23. The kicking options are a standout. Under pressure, I can launch a Hail Mary clearance or chip kick if a defender is close. If I spot a teammate in space, I can quickly deliver a torpedo kick to help them take a mark. Plus, there are the added touches of banana kicks and low kicks for goal. These elements are really fun and makes it feel like you can do almost anything with the ball. With Sam Prendergast bringing spiral kicks back into fashion wouldnāt it be cool to see that as a kick modifier in Rugby 25?
In AFL 23, the key elements of the game, rucks, contested marks and kicks all actually work and success is based on a combination user input and player ratings. So itās more likely a skill issue or bad player matchups if you canāt get anything going, rather than Rugby 25 where everything feels like a game of chance and all your forwards can easily kick bombs and 50:22s for some reason.
The AI in AFL 23 is another highlight. Teams adapt their strategy, like pushing up on kicks to prevent short options and forcing you to go for longer, more challenging contests. Some teams will give you space on the wing to stop you from creating opportunities in the middle. This keeps the game fresh and requires tactical adjustments. In Rugby 25 the AI doesnāt challenge you in the same way. The handoff mechanic is overpowered, allowing players to break through the first defender with near 100% success, which makes the game feel repetitive and boring honestly.
I guess what Iām trying to say is that after a month of updates to Rugby 25 I still feel like weāre playing a beta. I wish I wanted to pick up and play the game but I just donāt in its current state. The standard is poor, even when compared to other games Big Ant have developed. That being said, although itās far from perfect, and I understand a lot of people donāt like it, for me seeing what AFL 23 has become, and the polish and clear passion for the sport thatās been put into it, gives me hope we can get to that point with Rugby 25.
2 Likes
Yesterday wasnāt happy with the updates this week. However, things seem to have changed for the better. Played several games today, which actually looked like rugby union. Passing is much better- took advice regarding not sprinting so much, now so much easier to draw players and create gaps.
AI is passing multiple times, fairly deep in most cases but looks much better. Not many scrums were chosen by them, seem to kick for touch majority of the time. Also loving the fact if the AI arenāt making ground with phases the are kicking for territory.
Well done big ant.
However, please can we sort out the scrum system. Also the constant offsides are so frustrating. Had multiple overlaps, pass the ball to winger, flagged for off side. Plus still geting a lot of forward pass penalties that arenāt forward at all.
Also AI still seem to bind players to rucks much quicker than i can, even when thumb sticks are left alone.
Looking forward to next weeks updates.
3 Likes
On the offsides, offsides at rucks also donāt seem to be called most of the time. I can basically hang around over the offside line with one player and single blitz them back to their own try line
Testing this, it seems that the offside lines are the wrong way around - only concede a penalty if you cross the opposition back foot, rather than your own
4 Likes
So the new update made the game feel really good. However there are still a few things.
Please can you make the AI pass a bit more? Even a little bit more than they are doing already. I love that they do set play pass moves now but still I would like more passing.
Also they need to offload. I have not seen one AI offload as of yet. Also make them be more tactical . Like more kicks or tactical kicks, and such.
Then some issues I picked up.
ā¢ On the End to End camera, bump offs donāt work still.
ā¢ On the Side camera, Fend offs and bump offs donāt work when playing from Right to Left.
ā¢ AI STILL chooses Scrums like 90% of the time.
ā¢ If and when AI decides to take a kick for touch, they donāt really kick deep at all. Just a 5m or 10m gain on the kick for their lineout. They should kick much deeper to gain more territory.
The game is a bit more challenging now with the AI passing but still not challenging enough. On the Hardest difficulty I want to actually struggle to win. Not win comfortably by 20-30+ points.
Also I found in Career mode, when you have injured players or players with Red Cards, you can still play with them by just skipping the lineup. Then they play no matter what.
AI also needs to start doing some substitutions. My players run circles around them close to the end of the match due to them all being out of stamina.
6 Likes
The rucks need sequencing logic with proper animations
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If the first player to the ruck is an attacker, he secures the ruck by standing over the tackled player and can be joined by another 2 teammates. Once they have secured the ruck, the only way for a turnover to be conceded is for the defending team to try and counter ruck, which is the existing animations you have. The counter ruck can only succeed if they have more players and/or better player stats. They can attempt a counter ruck as long as the ball is still in the ruck. Any attempt to steal the ball in a ruck, without counter rucking, is penalised as hands in the ruck
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If the first player to the ruck is a defender, he has the opportunity to immediately steal the ball, before the attacking support arrives to secure the ruck. If he has not stolen the ball by the time the support arrives, he can quite easily be rucked/pushed off by the support. If he successfully steals the ball, it is a turnover which is clearly announces audibly (commentators etc). If he is unable to steal the ball because the tackled player is holding onto the ball, then it is a penalty for holding on. Player stats influence steal success. The appropriate animation for stealing the ball is something like below (one player trying to grab the ball and the other trying to get him off)
The existing ruck clearing animation is great, but they donāt form a scrum first and then push over, they go into the ruck with speed and immediately drive the player attempting the steal (point 2 above) or the players protecting the ruck (point 1 above). The likelihood of driving one player off the ruck or the ball, is far higher than driving 2 or 3 players off the ruck or ball.
You could also introduce a momentum feature around the rucks and general play, with faster play generating momentum while defense are still trying to get into position, but if you overextend from your support and a defending player gets to the ruck first, before the supporting players, he has a good chance of stealing the ball. It has to be dynamic like this to work properly.
Similarly, do not introduce set plays, instead focus on dynamic running and positioning to open up various unique options for passing the ball on attack, whether short inside or outside, dummy runner, switch runner, wide runner, etc. The important thing then is to work on player positioning to put the support runners in the correct space, and perfect passing, so you can pass to any option around you.
3 Likes
Hello Big Aunty ,
V1.0.2763 on steam
Latest interim patch kinda saves this weekās big fumbles of those 2 weekly patches.
Unbroke the floating passes, but passing still not finished. Close passes should be more direct, needs a better responsiveness in small spaces. Latest pass still goes directly to touch, still canāt select a player on a loose ball.
Support runners a bit more present, but still run some weird routes at times. Horrible stutter jump by support runners when receiving a pass, aiming their run to where they want, still no control of the receiver before the ball is in his hands. The problem is sometimes he will head straight for a defender when there is a gap, we need more fine control of the attack.
And the rest hasnāt evolved so mauls are still a shame, scrums boring, lineouts are over simplified and still not properly working. On kick reception the jumping pod is nice, but on landing the animation is still broken before the maul.
Attack is still missing lots of animations, but defense is missing even more. No possible defense against the diving try, Canāt counter the fendā¦ In attack we should be able to avoid some tackles with running skills from a back or raw power from a big without necessarily using a special move. Like when hitting a gap, we should be able to avoid tackles by running away from the defender.
Rucks are randomly rewarded, the first defender isnāt always rewarded even when he is first in the ruck by far, which is weird. AI still picks scrums instead of obvious penaltiesā¦
User interface is still not showing player names, still loads of face scans missingā¦
And so on , and so onā¦
And still no roadmap !
This game has brought so much deception on all of us as it was fully released with so much delay and in such a bad state ā¦ I can almost understand the excitement of some of my fellow forumers whenever a small patch makes one aspect of the game okayish, but the state of the whole game is still a huge deception. Fully realesed, almost a month of patches and still not finished, the game is missing so much depth and fun it is just boring.
Cheers !!
1 Like
Hey guys wanted to flag a couple of things. Been playing on the xbox version tonight. And its amazing the way the xbox version does seem to be better than the PC version. Not finding a lot of scrums from penalties. AI passing way more, AI commiting high tackle penalties.
New ruck turnovers dont do the big push over counter-ruck no matter what side the camera is on. Overall feels like a better experience.
Did notice a couple of things though. Still issues with blanket colour over the image, todays colour was Yellow, rather than the pink or blue seen before on Stade de France
Also noticed a difference with serious injuries. On the xbox version when a serious injury happens, it pops up saying a substitue has been automatically selected. The problem is the automatic sub is the wrong way around. And the game queues up substituting the injured player already on the pitch, to come on from the bench.
And the non injured player to come off the field who isnt even on. Its not just a labelling issue, because the substitue doesnt even happen anyway.
Im also not a fan of the idea to force an automatic substitue on (if it was working) rather than letting the player choose who to sub on. Incase you have multiple players covering the position and want someone else instead. Would be better after a serious injury for the game to pause after the cinematic and allow you to sub on a new player of your choice.
6 Likes
Getting to a point where unless the AI seriously improves, the game is a little pointless.
On hardest, now winning games on 5 minutes halves 50/70 - 0, which is rubbish
7 Likes
When you are putting your player in a drop goal position, hƩ is still running to the ball while hƩ should stay static so he got more time before the dƩfense counter it.
2 Likes
Hi Team,
I am currently making custom teams for Super Rugby Americas.
It would be so much easier if we could be allowed to just add players already in the game. For example the Team PeƱarol is mostly made up of players from Uraguay. Instead of me having to spend many hours and days creating players, could you please just allow us to add the players to custom teams ? This would be so much easier. Thanks
5 Likes
Does anyone onow what happened to the camera feature in create a player or am I just buggin
Overall a continued frustrating experience. Iāve been involved in Early Access since the start and have found, when I logged into play again today, not much has changed. Certainly not enough to merit buying the game for my Xbox or recommend to any other users.
Through months of feedback, testing, updates and so on we still find ourselves asking for better passing, proper rucking mechanics and all the things asked at EA1. This game is neither realistic or an arcade game, itās just a disappointment in the context of Early Access that we were involved with.
Again, I question the marketing and strategy behind this release. It clearly isnāt ready, the community told you it wasnāt ready and many great ideas from the community have been ignored. Yet, it was released. Instead of maximising your profits with a great game you are doing damage control with weekly updates that are lackluster at best.
With that being said, it still does look great and has many great and interesting licences.
Upon watching the six nations and trying to play it today momentum should be a bigger factor in the game. I remember rugby 08 had an momentum bar. If this is being filled, through effective carries, then back retention should be easier. If the call is turned over and a clearance kick is made, with momentum being against the kicking team the range of that kick should be reduced, unless it is world class kicker.
I have further ideas and thoughts on this but there are so many many issues with this game that this will never be acted upon but hear it is too be ignored.
3 Likes
Handoffs too easy in game, 99% beat 1st defender by just holding down right analog. Should depend on timing of handoff, player attributes and defending player timing of tackle and atttibutes. This makes attacking way too easy.
2 Likes
The patches we have for more than a year mainly even only concern passes. Can a guy from Big Ant can tell us if and when they plan a real rework on:
- Lineouts which are basics and awfull
- Rucks animation to order decent jackal and/or pick and go
- Mauls in order to push and turn them as itās a key scoring in 90% reals rugby matches
- set plays in order to really manage depth, forwards combinations and kicks to the wingers
These 4 aspects are essentials and would provide a true control and a true fun that should bring a massive amount of rugby fans/custommer and pull out the game from the financial failure that can kill it and disappoint every actors of this beautiful projects.
Thatās an emergency to me.
Thanks for your answer
3 Likes
AI passing so much better. Personally hate the auto avoid tackle animation, particularly AI. Overused in my opinion. Especially on the wingers.
Still very buggy. Quick line outs are terrible. Off sides terrible.
Still finding scrums terrible on the ps5- timing always off. Even with green graph i still seem to lose. Any advice?
Great thread. Loads of useful info and advice. Hopefully big ant takes all on board with updates.
1 Like