'Maximum' cricket game

[AlexB]

Does this message on the Cricket Coach website game remind anybody of anything... :mad:

'We have received some very positive feedback about the news that Focus Multimedia (http://www.focusmm.co.uk/) are to release a retail version of Cricket Coach. However we have had several questions about the price difference between the Focus version and digital download version. We plan to differentiate the two versions, so which ever version you decide to purchase, you will be getting excellent value for money. More details about this will follow.

We have been noted by our testers about some gameplay bugs after playing the game for several seasons, for this reason we have decided to delay releasing a version to the general public until these issues have been sorted. This was a difficult decision for us as the 17th March had been our planned release date for a long time. We apologise for the delay, but believe you would rather we sorted these issues out now, than release a version with them in.

The game will be available as soon as these issues have been sorted, thank you for you patience.'

They had announced March 17th as the release date, for £20 download, £25 in the shops. Yesterday they announced a publishing deal, that meant it would be in the shops for £10 in May - strange how they had a few questions about this isn't it!

I honestly don't mind a delay, but how they thought they'd get away with announcing a release date, but it will be half the price in 6 weeks in the shops... beggars belief!

But at least they appear to be up front about what's happening.

[cartman]

Does this message on the Cricket Coach website game remind anybody of anything... :mad:

'We have received some very positive feedback about the news that Focus Multimedia (http://www.focusmm.co.uk/) are to release a retail version of Cricket Coach. However we have had several questions about the price difference between the Focus version and digital download version. We plan to differentiate the two versions, so which ever version you decide to purchase, you will be getting excellent value for money. More details about this will follow.

We have been noted by our testers about some gameplay bugs after playing the game for several seasons, for this reason we have decided to delay releasing a version to the general public until these issues have been sorted. This was a difficult decision for us as the 17th March had been our planned release date for a long time. We apologise for the delay, but believe you would rather we sorted these issues out now, than release a version with them in.

The game will be available as soon as these issues have been sorted, thank you for you patience.'

They had announced March 17th as the release date, for £20 download, £25 in the shops. Yesterday they announced a publishing deal, that meant it would be in the shops for £10 in May - strange how they had a few questions about this isn't it!

I honestly don't mind a delay, but how they thought they'd get away with announcing a release date, but it will be half the price in 6 weeks in the shops... beggars belief!

But at least they appear to be up front about what's happening.

But which rule set is it going to be based on? Limited duration rules with a chance for "limited overs" style of play?

:D

[Crapshoot]

Man, I'm buying a copy of this if its a genuine cricket sim. 2 sports I want a sim for - Formula 1, and Cricket.

Sidenote: Jari, you're an English cricket fan I assume ?- I'm enjoying your tour down in India, though I'd prefer if you lot didnt lose half your team to injury.. :D

[AlexB]

Man, I'm buying a copy of this if its a genuine cricket sim. 2 sports I want a sim for - Formula 1, and Cricket.

Sidenote: Jari, you're an English cricket fan I assume ?- I'm enjoying your tour down in India, though I'd prefer if you lot didnt lose half your team to injury.. :D

Not a diehard fan, but I enjoy the game, and it's a major part of my job so it helps to know at least a little of what's going on.

Haven't seen too much of the India series as it's not on at great times for me, just seen the daily summaries. Losing Trescothick, Vaughan, Jones and Giles for the whole series, and now Harmison as well is basically half the side gone: our two most experienced batsmen, our main strike bowler, our main reverse swing bowler and our main 'spinner' - we've had a couple of bad days but overall not too bad. Just a shame we haven't been able to step up even more after the summer!

If you are interested in the game, more details at
http://www.cricketcoachgame.com/?section=news

Michael Vaughan Cricket Manager was a decent game, but I felt too much was unknown - the screenshots on the new version suggest that there is more information about your players, which should help a lot, and even at £20 it's worth a look for me.

How come an American is interested in cricket :) - I remember the first live baseball game shown over here: the commentators knew they had a live English audience for the first time, so ran through the cricket scores. They were just about crying over the fact that a game can run for 5 days and still be a draw :D

[Ksyrup]

Alright, we've got 3,170 more posts to go!

[Crapshoot]

Not a diehard fan, but I enjoy the game, and it's a major part of my job so it helps to know at least a little of what's going on.

Haven't seen too much of the India series as it's not on at great times for me, just seen the daily summaries. Losing Trescothick, Vaughan, Jones and Giles for the whole series, and now Harmison as well is basically half the side gone: our two most experienced batsmen, our main strike bowler, our main reverse swing bowler and our main 'spinner' - we've had a couple of bad days but overall not too bad. Just a shame we haven't been able to step up even more after the summer!

If you are interested in the game, more details at
http://www.cricketcoachgame.com/?section=news

Michael Vaughan Cricket Manager was a decent game, but I felt too much was unknown - the screenshots on the new version suggest that there is more information about your players, which should help a lot, and even at £20 it's worth a look for me.

How come an American is interested in cricket :) - I remember the first live baseball game shown over here: the commentators knew they had a live English audience for the first time, so ran through the cricket scores. They were just about crying over the fact that a game can run for 5 days and still be a draw :D

Indian - cricket is one of my primary religious beliefs. :D I'm strange in that I think cricket and baseball are the two greatest sports out there (along with soccer aka real football).

[st.cronin]

Alright, we've got 3,170 more posts to go!

well let's start by going over the rules of cricket

[Ksyrup]

That will likely take me 3,000+ posts to learn.

[Crapshoot]

That will likely take me 3,000+ posts to learn.

Its actually probably the predecessor to baseball (or both are probably offshoots of rounders). :D Cricket's probably a little bit slower paced than baseball, but its far less standardized (in terms of fields for example). If you're actually interested, I think I could direct you to a couple of website.

[st.cronin]

I don't even know how many players to a side!

[AlexB]

well let's start by going over the rules of cricket

Cricket is played between two teams who each get a chance to bat and bowl.


Two batsmen come out of the pavilion to go in to bat. The fielding team come out of the pavilion to go out to field.

A batsman is in until he’s out, when another batsmen comes out of the pavilion to go in. The first batsmen goes back in. The next batsman comes in until he’s out.

When all the batsmen are out, the team is all out, apart from one batsman who is not out. They all go back in the pavilion with the fielding team.

The team that were fielding then go in to bat until they are all out, and the team that were batting come out to field, and it is a case of the team who scored the most being the winner

That should clear it up I reckon? :p

[rkmsuf]

Cricket is played between two teams who each get a chance to bat and bowl.


One team goes out to field, the other team goes in to bat. When they bat a batsman is in until he’s out. When he’s out the next batsman comes in until he’s out.

When all the batsmen are out, the team is all out, apart from one batsman who is not out.

The team that were fielding then go into bat until they are all out and it is a case of the team who scored the most being the winner

That should clear it up I reckon? :p


All I know is I read about some miraculous comeback the other day when one team came back from a 400 run deficit to win. Now that's a comeback.

[AlexB]

Indian - cricket is one of my primary religious beliefs. :D I'm strange in that I think cricket and baseball are the two greatest sports out there (along with soccer aka real football).

That would explain it - England gave India cricket, India gave back curry in return: both have become their adopted country's national pastimes!Seems like a fair trade to me :)

[cartman]

I never understood the commentary when I heard it living in London.

"The batter is 26 for 4 going into the late wickets. They are going to need a series of sixers if they want to have a chance of catching the Westies by the tea interval tomorrow"

[Ksyrup]

I never thought of the opposite of being out as being in. I think I need to smoke some weed to help me ponder that for an hour or so.

[AlexB]

All I know is I read about some miraculous comeback the other day when one team came back from a 400 run deficit to win. Now that's a comeback.

And Australia's initial 400+ score was the highest in 1-day cricket history, so makes it being beaten by the Saffers even more amazing. I did catch the highlights of that - unbelievable stuff

[JonInMiddleGA]

Man, I'm buying a copy of this if its a genuine cricket sim. 2 sports I want a sim for - Formula 1, and Cricket.

Sidenote: Jari, you're an English cricket fan I assume ?- I'm enjoying your tour down in India, though I'd prefer if you lot didnt lose half your team to injury.. :D

These might not be exactly what you're looking for, but just in case ...

Check out:
World of Formula One
Roogames' conversion of Lambourne Games Auto Racing Simulation
http://www.roogames.co.uk/f1r.htm

And if you might consider something on the tabletop instead of the PC,
International Cricket (http://www.owzatgames.com/internationalcricket.htm) The ultimate cricket board game - it covers both Test and One-Day international matches and comes with the latest squads for the ten Test-playing nations. Over 1700 individual Player Cards available from 'Golden Oldies' to the current day.


Limited Overs (http://www.owzatgames.com/limitedovers.htm) If you love the one-day game, this is for you. The very best of English one-day cricket.

[rkmsuf]

And Australia's initial 400+ score was the highest in 1-day cricket history, so makes it being beaten by the Saffers even more amazing. I did catch the highlights of that - unbelievable stuff

I picture that bugs bunny cartoon where he's playing baseball by himself against the team of huge guys.

[Crapshoot]

Thanks JIMGA - I'll have a look at those. I think Marc Vaughan had mentioned that F1 game- its been in development for a while, that's for sure. I'm not sure I have the patience or the time for tabletop gaming though. :D

[cartman]

I picture that bugs bunny cartoon where he's playing baseball by himself against the team of huge guys.

Here is a very indepth review of that amazing game:

http://ussmariner.com/2006/03/12/bugs-bunny-greatest-banned-player-ever/

[Ksyrup]

The short explanation for how this game works sounds like what you would get if you made HR derby a game, except didn't limit it to HRs but any kind of "safe" hit.

Come to think of it, I think we do have this game in America...it's called T-ball. :D

[SirFozzie]

Man, I'm buying a copy of this if its a genuine cricket sim. 2 sports I want a sim for - Formula 1, and Cricket.

Sidenote: Jari, you're an English cricket fan I assume ?- I'm enjoying your tour down in India, though I'd prefer if you lot didnt lose half your team to injury.. :D

have you tried the International Cricket Captain 2005 Ashes Edition download/demo? (it's a buy online game). I'd download the demo early in the day, it's a demo limited to one day of real time (you can play it till 12:00 midnight the day you buy it).. but it's the best cricket sim out there. One Day, First Class, ODI, Test, the new version even has the 20 OVer game in England. It is a England sim, you can choose any of the county sides, or captain an international side.. or if you're a glutton for punishment, both!

http://www.cricketweb.net/downloadscentre/commerical/internationalcricketcaptain2005.php

[SirFozzie]

I never understood the commentary when I heard it living in London.

"The batter is 26 for 4 going into the late wickets. They are going to need a series of sixers if they want to have a chance of catching the Westies by the tea interval tomorrow"


Englad has 26 runs for the loss of 4 wickets (a very bad score, usually you want your batters up front to at least average 40 runs EACH), and it's late in the day. They're going to need a ton of runs quickly (Six runs are scored when the "batter" hits the ball in the air over the rope boundary) to catch the team from the West Indies by the tea break tommorrow (Test matches have two breaks in play per day during a game, a Lunch break, and a "tea" break)

That explain it better? :D

[AlexB]

Englad has 26 runs for the loss of 4 wickets (a very bad score, usually you want your batters up front to at least average 40 runs EACH), and it's late in the day. They're going to need a ton of runs quickly (Six runs are scored when the "batter" hits the ball in the air over the rope boundary) to catch the team from the West Indies by the tea break tommorrow (Test matches have two breaks in play per day during a game, a Lunch break, and a "tea" break)

That explain it better? :D

Not so long ago that would have been a decent score for England :D

Nice explanation: only minor quibble would be 'batsman' over 'batter' - the latter is more baseball than cricket. ;)

[SirFozzie]

Not so long ago that would have been a decent score for England :D

Nice explanation: only minor quibble would be 'batsman' over 'batter' - the latter is more baseball than cricket. ;)

That's why I put "batter" in quotes ;).. figured if I used a term he was unfamiliar with, it would've confused him more :p

[Mac Howard]

And Australia's initial 400+ score was the highest in 1-day cricket history, so makes it being beaten by the Saffers even more amazing. I did catch the highlights of that - unbelievable stuff

A spectacular game though not one for the cricket purists. Australia scored 434 runs from their allotted 50 overs innings - 300 balls/pitches. The previous world best score was 398.

After 298 balls of their allotted 300, South Africa had equalled Australia's 434. Their last batsman - roughly the equivalent of the baseball pitcher, a player that couldn't bat if his life depended on it - came to the crease (stepped up to the plate). If he was dismissed (struck out) or failed to score a run in the last two balls the game would be tied, if he scored that run in the next two balls/pitches South Africa would win.

He hit the winning run on the 299th ball (in fact he hit 4 runs). Six hours of cricket, two world record scores, 598 balls bowled and it came down to one run or one wicket in the last two balls to win.

Exciting but not a classic game. The cat-and-mouse game between bowler (pitcher) and batsman was neutered by a pitch which massively favoured the batsmen - hence the high scores. Instead of watching each ball/pitch to see if it would be runs scored or a batsman dismissed it was a case of would it be hit for 1, 2, 3, 4 or 6 runs.
.

[cartman]

That explain it better? :D

Heysus Kristo, that was almost two years ago for me! I can barely remember that far back. Do you still remember the Starforce impact on your PC from the Rugby sim I gave you???!!???

What, is it still too soon?

:D

[SirFozzie]

Heysus Kristo, that was almost two years ago for me! I can barely remember that far back. Do you still remember the Starforce impact on your PC from the Rugby sim I gave you???!!???

What, is it still too soon?

:D

I KEEL YOU NOW!

[cartman]

I KEEL YOU NOW!

LOL!!!!

[Pumpy Tudors]

Gee, if a "test match" can take several days, I can't imagine how long a REAL match must take!

[SirFozzie]

they call matches between international side Test Matches.. they are the longest version of cricket, it's scheduled for 5 days.

[Pumpy Tudors]

they call matches between international side Test Matches.. they are the longest version of cricket, it's scheduled for 5 days.
I was joking. :(

[st.cronin]

lol

[Young Drachma]

I watched some cricket on TV for the first time ever when I was in Kuwait in 2000 on satellite TV. It was sorta fun to see it on TV, because it was way more exciting than I'd imagined it being.

[Marc Vaughan]

Cricket Coach will be a competant game imho - Oli Norwell who makes it is a very passionate fan of the sport and does his best to ensure his games are decent sims.

He's released at least one commercially in the past (Micheal Vaughans Cricket Manager if I remember right) which was a competant enough game in its own right (as usual there were things I'd have done differently myself, but for a solo developer it was an impressive game imho).

Oli's only a young kid (compared to older devs like me) and considering his relative immaturity I think the quality of the games he's produced is very impressive personally.

[AlexB]

Cricket Coach will be a competant game imho - Oli Norwell who makes it is a very passionate fan of the sport and does his best to ensure his games are decent sims.

He's released at least one commercially in the past (Micheal Vaughans Cricket Manager if I remember right) which was a competant enough game in its own right (as usual there were things I'd have done differently myself, but for a solo developer it was an impressive game imho).

Oli's only a young kid (compared to older devs like me) and considering his relative immaturity I think the quality of the games he's produced is very impressive personally.

MVCM is the best cricket management game I've played, but there were a lot of unknowns that made you feel sometimes as if you were in the dark about how good players were (it's your fault Marc - CM/FM has raised the bar for this type of game ;) ) but from the screenshots Cricket Coach looks like it could be a very good game. I will be buying it when it comes out, just a little surprised about the last couple of days of news.

PS - was Oli Norwell ever involved with SI? His name rings a bell, but I can't place it...

[Marc Vaughan]

PS - was Oli Norwell ever involved with SI? His name rings a bell, but I can't place it...
No he's never worked with SI - I've spoken to him via. email a few times in the dim-distant past and he seems like a decent chap but thats the extent of my knowledge of him apart from having played his games.