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  • First season review and thoughts on the new version

    After playing just about every version of CC in the last decade I thought I'd give my thoughts on the new version after finishing my first season. So far I've found the gameplay to be a lot more responsive to tactics, especially when batting, and overall there seemed to be a step up in gameplay more so than in previous versions. Also being the first time I've played on PC in a few years meant navigating menus took a bit of getting used to.

    If anyone is interested in more season summaries like this that includes stats, etc. let me know and I'll keep an updated thread in Stories.

    Season Summary

    So, just finished my first season with Victoria and Melbourne R in the Aus domestic competition. Overall it was pretty successful taking out the OD and T20 comps and ended up coming runners up in the FC comp despite being top of the table. Went with the tried and true strategy of using spinners pitches with Holland and Maxwell picking up a number of wickets for Vic and Hatzoglou dominating for Melb R. Victoria have traditionally lacked in the batting department in my experience but with the likes of Pucovski and Harris seemingly getting buffed from the last version, it was easier to make competitive totals consistently. It was also good to see young players players such as Sutherland and Hatzoglou be star players and I hope they continue to maintain their results once regens are added. I wonder if anything was done to balance young players against regens.

    Dominated the regular FC season, only losing one match to A?u?s?t?r?a?l?i?a NSW. Pucovski was the standout batsmen but was picked for Australia alongside Pattinson but the rest of the team made up for their absences. Harris was the leading run scorer for the team and Sutherland surprisingly was the leading wicket taker for both Vic and the entire comp. Unfortunately Pattinson got a 10 week injury a few rounds before the Shield final and Boland picked up a small injury and recovered in between the last round and the final. I didn't notice Boland's injury and picked him unaware that he had no stamina and he could only bowl 4-5 over spells for the match. Because of this Queensland made 500 runs in the first innings, fielded two spinners of their own, using my own tactics against me, and I was lucky to avoid losing by an entire innings. Something for me to keep an eye on for the next seasons for sure.

    The OD comp, traditionally my worst performing format, also had only one loss to NSW in the regular season but managed victory over them in the final thanks to a 3 wicket haul from rookie, Seymour. Finch and Maxwell made runs most matches and once again Sutherland was again the leading wicket taker for the comp. I have the feeling that he was given quite the upgrade from last season. Not sure if it was luck, good tactics from me or changes made to the OD match engine but the OD format seemed to be more balanced than last season after playing only seven games.

    The T20 comp was all over the place but I think the changes to the match engine are definitely better now. There were a lot more singles that meant that run rates could be maintained without playing riskily and there weren't as many instance of the opposition going on regular boundary hitting streaks and putting the match in an unwinnable position. I had Finch make consistent runs and he was surprisingly dropped from the Australian team (even though he was the opening with the most T20 runs for Australia this year) so it's the first time in a long time I was able to use him in the finals. Fan-favourite Haztoglou took wicket after wicket on the spin friendly home pitches and Sutherland again was the leading wicket taker for the club. Internationals performed abysmally. Ended up being being second on the ladder even though I only had five losses. First place, Adelaide also lost five matches and the rest of the finalists had six losses. Kind of strange to see the final table so close from first to fifth, not sure if it was luck or unbalanced results. Ended up losing the first final but made my way through to the granny with ease, which I ended up winning thanks to a very lucky and economical last over.

    Minor Gripes

    Let's call these pet peeves more than anything. Sometimes clicking on an arrow on the stats screen (First Class > One Day > 20 Over >etc.) it will skip a page such as going from FC to T20 and skipping OD. I think this has to do with the game thinking I'm holding the mouse button even though I am clicking normally.

    On the team select screen, having space to see only four players on the bench is frustrating. When needing to replace an injured bowler, I had more bowlers than I could see at once meaning it was difficult to compare the several bowlers I had in reserve. Yes, I could just scroll but a pet peeve/minor gripe nonetheless. Perhaps consider putting in player filters to make it easier to compare players in future versions.

    Finally looking over the player stats at the end of the season I noticed that players who were involved in the previous Eng domestic comp or would be involved in the next domestic comp (not sure which) were absent from the current comp stats at the end of the year. For example Marcus Harris was absent from Victoria's end of year player stat page and showed no 'current comp' data. His 'last comp' data however was labelled as 'AUS FC'. Similarly T20 only players are absent from the domestic player stats once the T20 comp is over. I've noticed this has carried over from previous versions. Prithvi Shaw was the leading run scorer for the comp, but was missing from stats since he was no longer considered a domestic player immediately after the T20 final.

    Major Gripes that make the game unplayable and should be rectified promptly. This is the greatest error in CC history and has taken all enjoyment from the game.

    Sydney Red should be named Sydney Pink.

    Overall first impressions

    I feel the last few CC versions have been lacking in updates between versions. Maybe it's not being interested in the 100 comp or playing other, new domestic comps, but aside from updated rosters they mostly felt the same. CC21 on the other hand really felt like it had significant gameplay updates. T20s don't seem to be games of chance any more, young players made more of an impact and batting tactics seemed to affect the result of the game more. Yes it still desperately needs a graphics overhaul, new commentary, associates and women teams, more comprehensive stats, etc, etc but I have definitely enjoyed CC21 more than the previous new versions. Fingers are still crossed those things are added slowly but surely over the coming years but I think most people are understanding that CT does not have the budget or resources to make those things happen quickly or easily.

    In saying that, it's the best version of CC by a long shot with seemingly much more significant changes to the match engine than previous updates.

  • #2
    Well I think this is a great post! And very helpful. I'd love to follow an AAR.

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    • #3
      Originally posted by Raver View Post
      Well I think this is a great post! And very helpful. I'd love to follow an AAR.
      Prologue I tried my hand at writing a summary of my first season of CC21 and enjoyed it enough that I might keep doing them. A number of CC Stories I've followed previously have detailed match reports or even session by session commentary but due to how irregular I play the game (sometimes it takes a week to play a Test,

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      • #4
        Yes, a really nice review.

        1) I've made a note to change to Sydney Pink next year, there's a few changes linked to team name, so changing during release can cause issues!

        2) Player stats clearing - This is a tricky one, this code is so complex as there's so much back and forth. Chris has suggested we force show stats for a squad before we clear them. I think this is a nice idea. Again, that's a CC2022 idea.

        3) It's an interesting point on changing bowler, I've some of my own ideas on what would be nice, but it would be a case of what is possible with the UI system. This is pretty similar to our chat on PM about filters a little while ago (which I've not forgotten about).

        ---

        Edit: One request from me, let us know what you want as "more comprehensive stats".
        Last edited by Sureshot; 07-23-2021, 09:52 AM.

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        • #5
          Originally posted by Sureshot View Post
          Edit: One request from me, let us know what you want as "more comprehensive stats".
          Sorry for the vague wording. I believe you've said previously that some records and historic data will just be too much to include for the database. I understand that many of these just won't be feasible with how CC is built:
          • "User history" stats such as being able to track stats for each year from 2021. At the moment you can only view stats from two years from your current year.
          • End of year 'awards' such as most runs/high score/most wickets/best bowling for international careers.
          • Similarly aggregate stats across your career. Player stats beginning from the start of your save without any historic stats to see who the top players throughout your career are.
          • Select a 'range' of stats. I know you can view stats of players who played in the 2030s but show data from only matches in the 2030s
          • Hat-tricks, 200s, 300s, 400+ scores and similar milestones.
          • Dropped catches (mainly for fielding coaching)
          • Modes of dismissal (both for batsmen and bowlers)
          • Most runs/wickets in a year record for international teams.
          • Home/Away stats and stats in a particular country. I can see Australia records at Australian grounds but not Indian records at Australian grounds. Also I can see vs India data but there's no way of distinguishing whether those matches were in India or Australia, etc.
          • Series stats. I know you can track stats from a series but it's limited to just one team. Viewing "current series" for all teams during a World Cup isn't always accurate for example. Also limited to the three most recent and no way of looking at stats from a series from last year.
          • Specific World Cup stats for ODI and T20. I guess Test Champion finals could be included now.
          • Filters. I feel like I keep harping on about these but they'd also be useful for viewing records of just spinners, all rounders, etc.
          • Make the "filter" few option adjustable so you could set it to min 1000 runs, max 30 years old, etc.
          I believe some of these would be extremely difficult to implement while others would be outright impossible.

          Originally posted by Sureshot View Post
          I've made a note to change to Sydney Pink next year, there's a few changes linked to team name, so changing during release can cause issues!
          That was mainly a joke but thanks in advance if the change does go ahead.

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          • #6
            My first impressions are that it's mostly the same.

            T20 engine is a bit different. It's easier to score 200+ and to chase down higher scores. The gun bowlers i.e. Bumrah, Rashid Khan can now be hit a lot easier than previous, which I like as before it was almost impossible to hit these bowlers.

            Run rates are higher and more accurate, this is an improvement but the new top level of aggression isn't needed which I also like. Batsmen can score quickly from lower down the aggression bar.

            However, in T20 and ODI modes there's too often a flurry of wickets. Particularly numbers 4-7 are very easily dismissed for single figures scores (not going all out attack) and often they're out first ball. It's very hard to make a high score if your top 3 all fail, I don't think this is that realistic.

            In FC/tests the first over of a session still almost always brings a wicket - no matter how settled the batsman is - this is still ridiculous.

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            • #7
              Originally posted by galvatron View Post
              However, in T20 and ODI modes there's too often a flurry of wickets. Particularly numbers 4-7 are very easily dismissed for single figures scores (not going all out attack) and often they're out first ball. It's very hard to make a high score if your top 3 all fail, I don't think this is that realistic.
              Quite often I can be 40+ after the first four power play overs but then be as low as 4/60 at the 10 over mark. Usually when there's a collapse early on I can finish strong and post a 140-160 score but they are very difficult to defend. If the wickets keep falling though I'm lucky to score 120.

              Originally posted by galvatron View Post
              In FC/tests the first over of a session still almost always brings a wicket - no matter how settled the batsman is - this is still ridiculous.
              It works both ways at the very least. I always have my #1 fast bowler on after a session break and they very regularly pick up a wicket or two in the opening overs.

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              • #8
                Originally posted by Wilted View Post

                Quite often I can be 40+ after the first four power play overs but then be as low as 4/60 at the 10 over mark. Usually when there's a collapse early on I can finish strong and post a 140-160 score but they are very difficult to defend. If the wickets keep falling though I'm lucky to score 120.



                It works both ways at the very least. I always have my #1 fast bowler on after a session break and they very regularly pick up a wicket or two in the opening overs.
                I really think that the wicket retention is still wrong and that it's harder to get out top batsmen in T20 than it is on the game.

                Lots of T20 teams will only select 4 batsmen a wicky and often players like Sam Curran or Jadeja will be batting at six in the IPL but you'd never think of having them there on the game.

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by galvatron View Post

                  I really think that the wicket retention is still wrong and that it's harder to get out top batsmen in T20 than it is on the game.

                  Lots of T20 teams will only select 4 batsmen a wicky and often players like Sam Curran or Jadeja will be batting at six in the IPL but you'd never think of having them there on the game.
                  I use a bowler who can bat in the top 5 on a regular occurrence.
                  I have a bowler who is averaging 30s in FC OD T20 with bat and ball
                  ===========

                  ~I Love Lamp~

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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by Cam View Post

                    I use a bowler who can bat in the top 5 on a regular occurrence.
                    I have a bowler who is averaging 30s in FC OD T20 with bat and ball
                    Who's pulling out those figures? Are you playing on easy?

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                    • #11
                      Nah in normal. He is a regen. His batting is around low 30s and bowling is mid 30s but handy enough to have especially when I can bat him at 5 and play 2 spinners when all my ARs are off on international duty
                      ===========

                      ~I Love Lamp~

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                      • #12
                        Originally posted by Cam View Post
                        Nah in normal. He is a regen. His batting is around low 30s and bowling is mid 30s but handy enough to have especially when I can bat him at 5 and play 2 spinners when all my ARs are off on international duty
                        How many games has he had? My best batsman, who averages 70 in FC and nearly 60 in OD only averages 35 in T20... For a bowler to have that high an average seems an outlier.

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                        • #13
                          Originally posted by galvatron View Post
                          I really think that the wicket retention is still wrong and that it's harder to get out top batsmen in T20 than it is on the game.

                          Lots of T20 teams will only select 4 batsmen a wicky and often players like Sam Curran or Jadeja will be batting at six in the IPL but you'd never think of having them there on the game.
                          Picking a sixth bowler in T20s is a bit of a waste in game. AI never use them either. I have my five bowlers, including two or three all-rounders, and that'd be it. Sixth bowler would come on and go for 12+ in the middle overs constantly.

                          Originally posted by galvatron View Post

                          Who's pulling out those figures? Are you playing on easy?
                          I've had a number of all-rounders in previous games like that. All-rounders tended to be as good as specialists but could bat/bowl as well. I had a very good regen all-rounder in CC20:

                          Bruce Walker: 12317 FC runs @ 49.27 and 233 FC wickets @ 24.55.
                          He was only 32 years old when I ended that save so he could've ended with 15000 runs and 300 wickets if he got a late retirement. Haven't come across any gun all-rounders in 2021 (only a few years in) but it's unsurprising that there are some "once in an era" all-rounders if nothing was changed from last year.

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                          • #14
                            Far too much of being 100-1 from 10 or 11 overs in a T20 and then struggling to get 150. It seems much easier to start aggressively rather than to start steady and then explode at the end. Almost impossible for a new batsman to come in and hit a quick 20-30, which seems very unrealistic as it happens quite regularly in reality.

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                            • #15
                              Spinners still taking wickets with the new ball on day one of a first class game with 0 spin... Batsmen on 1 aggression. Just silly really.

                              Ten wickets falling to spinners on day 1... This is online btw

                              Spinners took 19/19 of my wickets. Pitch never got over 1 bar of spin rating.
                              Last edited by galvatron; 07-29-2021, 06:56 PM.

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