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  • CC20 Review

    Hello,

    So I've put in a decent amount of time over the last couple weeks playing the latest iteration of CC and thought I would collate my thoughts.

    Pros

    The match engine

    I actually think the match engine is the best it's been this year. I think it's more challenging than last year in every format and this is a good thing. I'm having to think carefully about how to prepare my pitch when at home based on the opposition and not just my own squad's strengths. I've also had matches where we've had to dig in and scrap just to get an unlikely draw. White ball cricket feels much more challenging and I'm not able to bat as aggressively as before which again is good as hitting 200 in t20s was all to easy last year.

    If I had a couple of quibbles I'd say that:

    Teams chase down huge 4th innings totals a bit too often.

    I've found it very hard to bat aggressively at the start of 50 over games, even picking aggressive players it seems hard to avoid a slow start.

    Batting second in one day games seems to be very advantageous. I haven't recorded any stats but I'd guess my win ratio when batting second is significantly better than when batting first.

    Overall though, good job!

    The database

    Unsurprisingly I think Sureshot has done a superb job with the database as per usual. It's great to see player feedback constantly leading to updates as well. As we move away from the more frequent updates after release it would be great if there was a live database update available anytime or a monthly update as feedback continues to be actioned.

    New features

    Rain during white ball matches and the associated Duckworth Lewis additions are absolutely superb. I've had some superb and very tense run chases following a bit if rain and it really adds to the realism.

    The Hundred generally seems to have been well executed as well and the option to edit club names is great to add to realism. Only irritating thing here is that their squads seem uncapped, whereas in real life there is a limit of 15 players the franchises will stock up with up to 22 contracted players. This has the knock on effect of devaluing the One Day Cup even more than the ECB have already managed!

    Cons

    Player development


    No surprise to see me banging on about this again. I've actually come round to the idea that strong regens are generally fine and don't detract from immersion (although we could do with an update to the pool of names they draw from, Jeff, Morris and Terry aren't that common these days!) But the real life young prospects that Sureshot adds seem to very rarely develop into county regulars. I wonder if regens are in general a touch too strong, you only have to glance through their list a averages in England to see the two generated in every county side ahead of the tournament will have outplayed any real youth players. An example would be the 7 youth players added to Gloucestershire by Nige: Willows, Charlesworth, O.Price, T.Price, Goodman, H.Hankins and Drissell. The regens will always get more gametime and will always average more with the bat and less with ball when the real players do play and this is the same across all counties.

    Chris kindly took the time to explain how player development works on the previous iteration's forum and I believe potential ability is included for each player as well as current ability however I feel that some sort of random development acceleration needs to happen for these youngsters somewhere between the ages of 18-23 so that we see them improve and break into sides. I've played many, many saves into the future and rarely see any real life young players break into county sides and have promising careers. I've never seen a non regen player break into the England team for example.

    Following on from the above technique coaching remains frustrating, I feel in order to build engagement as a player we need more feedback on what this coaching is achieving. As mentioned on another thread attempting to train aggression or opening can feel like a wasted slot when nothing happens for season after season and it may be better to cap this type of coaching to a 3 month limit or something at which point if there has been no improvement you get a message saying the player has struggled to adjust and advising to try something different.

    I feel the coaching screen has massive potential for player engagement and immersion and with a few simple tweaks/better in game feedback could really nail this. Some of the options for example attacking bowling coaching should be really useful but I don't really know which bowlers would benefit from it above and beyond the bad ones who I'm sure will just benefit from general technique coaching or not as it seems to be.

    Squad Building

    Something seems off with county team finances, a lot of the counties start with large squads including youth players (which is good!) and this seems to have pushed their baseline budgets up. A couple seasons in and most of the counties seem to be carrying 30 plus players, Gloucester who traditionally aren't an affluent county have 37 players in my current save. A big chunk of these additional players are bang average or worse and never close to getting games. The AI seems to just sign players for no other reason than having too much money.

    An additional thought here is the need for more contract variation, increasingly we see domestic players on white ball only contracts or overseas players signed either for JUST the championship games or t20 AND list A games.

    Overall

    Score out of 10:

    8/10

    I think this year's game is really strong. I want to stress that all the pros I've called out are basically the core of the game, the match engine, the database and the new features. These have been delivered really well.

    The cons named are really areas that could be polished to really add to the in game experience and I think would be worth some attention by the develops for either patching where balance is concerned (squad sizes, youth player development speed) or added to a future feature list where it's not just balance.

    Overall it's a good game and worth the purchase. Will stick this review on Steam too. Thanks devs!
    Last edited by Lynx54321; 08-12-2020, 05:40 PM.

  • #2
    Sureshot Chris Child any thoughts on my thoughts boys?

    Comment


    • #3
      Sureshot anything Nige?

      Comment


      • #4
        Some good feedback in here, quite a few different things to process. Let us get Android/iOS sorted and then I'll have a chat with Chris on this and we can give you a proper reply.

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by Lynx54321 View Post
          Hello,

          So I've put in a decent amount of time over the last couple weeks playing the latest iteration of CC and thought I would collate my thoughts.

          Pros

          The match engine

          I actually think the match engine is the best it's been this year. I think it's more challenging than last year in every format and this is a good thing. I'm having to think carefully about how to prepare my pitch when at home based on the opposition and not just my own squad's strengths. I've also had matches where we've had to dig in and scrap just to get an unlikely draw. White ball cricket feels much more challenging and I'm not able to bat as aggressively as before which again is good as hitting 200 in t20s was all to easy last year.

          If I had a couple of quibbles I'd say that:

          Teams chase down huge 4th innings totals a bit too often.

          I've found it very hard to bat aggressively at the start of 50 over games, even picking aggressive players it seems hard to avoid a slow start.

          Batting second in one day games seems to be very advantageous. I haven't recorded any stats but I'd guess my win ratio when batting second is significantly better than when batting first.

          Overall though, good job!

          The database

          Unsurprisingly I think Sureshot has done a superb job with the database as per usual. It's great to see player feedback constantly leading to updates as well. As we move away from the more frequent updates after release it would be great if there was a live database update available anytime or a monthly update as feedback continues to be actioned.

          New features

          Rain during white ball matches and the associated Duckworth Lewis additions are absolutely superb. I've had some superb and very tense run chases following a bit if rain and it really adds to the realism.

          The Hundred generally seems to have been well executed as well and the option to edit club names is great to add to realism. Only irritating thing here is that their squads seem uncapped, whereas in real life there is a limit of 15 players the franchises will stock up with up to 22 contracted players. This has the knock on effect of devaluing the One Day Cup even more than the ECB have already managed!

          Cons

          Player development


          No surprise to see me banging on about this again. I've actually come round to the idea that strong regens are fine and don't detract from immersion (although we could do with an update to the pool of names they draw from, Jeff, Morris and Terry aren't that common these days!) But the real life young prospects that Sureshot adds seem to very rarely develop into county regulars.

          Chris kindly took the time to explain how player development works on the previous iteration's forum and I believe potential ability is included for each player as well as current ability however I feel that some sort of random development acceleration needs to happen for these youngsters somewhere between the ages of 18-23 so that we see them improve and break into sides. I've played many, many saves into the future and rarely see any real life young players break into county sides and have promising careers. I've never seen a non regen player break into the England team for example.

          Following on from the above technique coaching remains frustrating, I feel in order to build engagement as a player we need more feedback on what this coaching is achieving. As mentioned on another thread attempting to train aggression or opening can feel like a wasted slot when nothing happens for season after season and it may be better to cap this type of coaching to a 3 month limit or something at which point if there has been no improvement you get a message saying the player has struggled to adjust and advising to try something different.

          I feel the coaching screen has massive potential for player engagement and immersion and with a few simple tweaks/better in game feedback could really nail this. Some of the options for example attacking bowling coaching should be really useful but I don't really know which bowlers would benefit from it above and beyond the bad ones who I'm sure will just benefit from general technique coaching or not as it seems to be.

          Squad Building

          Something seems off with county team finances, a lot of the counties start with large squads including youth players (which is good!) and this seems to have pushed their baseline budgets up. A couple seasons in and most of the counties seem to be carrying 30 plus players, Gloucester who traditionally aren't an affluent county have 37 players in my current save. A big chunk of these additional players are bang average or worse and never close to getting games. The AI seems to just sign players for no other reason than having too much money.

          Overall

          Score out of 10:

          8/10

          I think this year's game is really strong. I want to stress that all the pros I've called out are basically the core of the game, the match engine, the database and the new features. These have been delivered really well.

          The cons named are really areas that could be polished to really add to the in game experience and I think would be worth some attention by the develops for either patching where balance is concerned (squad sizes, youth player development speed) or added to a future feature list where it's not just balance.

          Overall it's a good game and worth the purchase. Will stick this review on Steam too. Thanks devs!
          Agree with you mate. Its probably the most improved version of cc series. DLS and AI chasing improvements have enhanced the experience greatly

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by Sureshot View Post
            Some good feedback in here, quite a few different things to process. Let us get Android/iOS sorted and then I'll have a chat with Chris on this and we can give you a proper reply.
            Thanks Nige, look forward to your thoughts!

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by Sureshot View Post
              Some good feedback in here, quite a few different things to process. Let us get Android/iOS sorted and then I'll have a chat with Chris on this and we can give you a proper reply.
              Did you and Chris have any thoughts Sureshot ?

              Comment


              • #8
                Great review Lynx54321 this year is probably the best version of the game with enhancements such as DLS, gameplay, etc. However, there are a few glitches which could be fixed easily by the developers;

                1) 4th innings chases in First class matches
                2) Batting order selection (most established batsmen prefer a particular slot in the order, but the AI keeps shifting their places based on form)
                3) Bowling order selection (some bowlers are just opening bowlers irrespective of their form, they will never come in 1st or 2nd change)
                4) Retirement of current players (many retire way too early in the game, difficult to judge but I guess give all international players till 38 before they retire)
                5) Development of young marquee players is poor and regens enter the game way too early (for eg a current player at age 20 should have more chance to enter the team in 3 years time vis-a-vis a regen at age 20 after the same time)

                But without doubt, CC2020 stands on top as the best cricket statistical simulation in the world today. Great work Sureshot Chris Child

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by ruby23 View Post
                  Great review Lynx54321 this year is probably the best version of the game with enhancements such as DLS, gameplay, etc. However, there are a few glitches which could be fixed easily by the developers;

                  1) 4th innings chases in First class matches
                  2) Batting order selection (most established batsmen prefer a particular slot in the order, but the AI keeps shifting their places based on form)
                  3) Bowling order selection (some bowlers are just opening bowlers irrespective of their form, they will never come in 1st or 2nd change)
                  4) Retirement of current players (many retire way too early in the game, difficult to judge but I guess give all international players till 38 before they retire)
                  5) Development of young marquee players is poor and regens enter the game way too early (for eg a current player at age 20 should have more chance to enter the team in 3 years time vis-a-vis a regen at age 20 after the same time)

                  But without doubt, CC2020 stands on top as the best cricket statistical simulation in the world today. Great work Sureshot Chris Child
                  To add to the above I would love if totals runs are added in front of overs in the over list. I also think one way to fix 4th innings chases is to make pitch effects stronger

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by Lynx54321 View Post

                    Did you and Chris have any thoughts Sureshot ?
                    Chris has had a read but not time to properly digest and reply.

                    adil ruby23 4th innings chases are improved in the next patch.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Sureshot Any chance of getting total runs scored in an over in front of every over in the overlist?

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Sureshot Chris Child

                        To back up my points on player development I've recently played a Gloucestershire save up to 2027 and I'd like to share my findings. In this save I only signed real life youth players and ensured as many as possible were on technique training all season, I also only used 1 year contracts so that I could monitor ability by salary as well as performances. My findings:

                        Players can improve:
                        • Tom Lammonby signed for me on 24k in 2025 after a smattering of underwhelming white ball appearances for Somerset. In his first season for me took 77 first class wickets and at contract renewal time he wanted 61k (now up to 66k). He is a white ball player for England and looks to be a good quality bowling all rounder in all formats.
                        • Joey Evison signed for me in 2026 on 26k after 3 FC and 1 LA game for his previous county where he'd done nothing. He scored 1500 FC runs and renewed onto 44k.
                        • Michael Jones and Sam Evans signed for me 3 or 4 years in both on 22ish thousand. Both have averaged around 30 with each hitting 1000 FC in a single season. Both now on salaries in the mid 30s.
                        • George Willows starts the game at Gloucestershire and is still in my side. He's now on 33k and averages 30 in FC cricket.
                        • George Drissell also starts at Gloucestershire and has turned into a reasonable white ball spinner (though terrible in FC) on 42k.
                        • Matt Watts (Scotland spinner) signed for me on 25k. He did nothing fir the first 2 seasons however after asking for 44k to renew after 2021 he has taken 60-80 wickets a season and been quality.
                        • Louis Goldsworthy joined me in 2025 having not played a single game for Somerset. He seems useful averaging 40 in first class cricket with the bat and is on 30 odd k now.
                        Most players don't improve:
                        • Ben Charlesworth, both Price brothers, Harry Hankins and Dom Goodman all stayed dreadful.
                        • Existing young players who have developed at other counties are very, very few and far between. Sam Young from Somerset has done alright and averages in the 30s for both FC and LA batting but he was one of very few I noticed still at a county.
                        Conclusion:

                        Players improve but inconsistently. Not enough real life players have gone on to be decent. But it's fair to say some players develop.

                        Some players develop but at far too late a stage. All the players who did well for me had been released by other counties and were not getting interest to be signed at other counties. They only seem to improve once they're about 24-26 which is far to late given 18-20 year old regens are dropping straight into first XIs every season.

                        My suggestions

                        1. Player development should happen between 20-23 (and earlier) rather than 24-26. The advent of academies mean players develop and breakthrough earlier across all sports so this should be reflected. This would see real life young players breaking through within the first 1-3 seasons and not stagnating with zero performances and being released before they can get good.

                        2. Player development should be a bit more consistent especially at AI clubs to ensure enough players do breakthrough. More real life players should go on to be genuinly good like Lammonby rather than just decent at best like most of my squad.

                        3. It's fine to have some regens generating with first team level ability but they should be the exception not the norm. The majority should generate at a considerably lower ability level and go through the same development cycle up until their early 20s as real players.

                        4. Another option could be removing any under 20 real players from the teams at the start of the season and it being these players who are injected into the side instead of regens during the first couple seasons (assuming the team has enough real life young players) with randomised ability like regens to reflect that they've been promoted to try out in the first team.
                        Last edited by Lynx54321; 08-16-2020, 09:24 PM.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Sureshot Hey Nige I know Chris will hopefully reply soon but I'd be really interested in your thoughts on the specific player development post above this one given the work you do painstakingly on the DB with ability and potential ability.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Sureshot Hi Nige I posted this a month ago, would still be interested in Chris or your own thoughts.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Chipping in

                              Any sort of way of marking improvement based on games played/experience earned?

                              For example - giving a player 10 FC matches a year will obviously increase his chances of improving.

                              Comment

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