How hard can it be

[Angad]

ok i am a long time follower and supporter of the series but i fail to understand the lack of some basic additions being demanded by the fans of the game.
For instance, how hard can it be to have-
1- More stats..
will probably eat up some more memory space but what the hell do we care. its not a fundamental gameplay change we are asking for. just some more stats. And not necessary new stats, atleast the stats generated during the game can be saved and preserved. So we can compare and contrast the best batsmen, bowlers, teams over our entire careers. whatever stat the game generates during the playtime, just save it somewhere. and build a platform for comparisons and ratings for players across generations. Cricket traditionally is the game for those with statistical inclinations, it STILL is...
2- A couple of tiny more features
not asking for something drastic like the ipl or the indian domestic roster(would be nice but its not a priority) but we should be allowed to change countries after maybe a 4 or a 5 year contract. Rather than being stuck with team for decades.. Again, i dont see how hard can this be to implement. And change the stupid ratings system for test and odi teams. Again, its not realistic.
implementing man of the series/tournament shouldnt be so hard either.





Now thats pretty much all i ask for. I know none of this is getting implemented this year. But for crying out loud, do something about it the following year. Or you might risk losing your rather faithful, devoted fanbase.


thats all, thank you
regardless, i would be buying icc 2011.
(did i say, we were devoted to the point of being stupid... )

[Scritty]

will probably eat up some more memory space but what the hell do we care. its not a fundamental gameplay change we are asking for. just some more stats. And not necessary new stats, atleast the stats generated during the game can be saved and preserved.

Agree with it all essp this.
The game without the commentary files takes up less than half a CD (not DVD...CD) Even netbooks are coming with 1 or 2 gigs of RAM and 160GB HDD's these days.
Space can't be an issue (to be fair, back in 1998 it might have been - For instance, I had an 8gig HDD when the first ICC came out)
But these days, taking up several hundred MB's for stats would be nothing. I have save games bigger than that.

You allready produce them - so let's just preserve them.

Scritty

[Phylos Fett]

Agree with it all essp this.
The game without the commentary files takes up less than half a CD (not DVD...CD) Even netbooks are coming with 1 or 2 gigs of RAM and 160GB HDD's these days.
Space can't be an issue (to be fair, back in 1998 it might have been - For instance, I had an 8gig HDD when the first ICC came out)
But these days, taking up several hundred MB's for stats would be nothing. I have save games bigger than that.

You allready produce them - so let's just preserve them.

Scritty

Hear hear!

[the_trademarc]

Sigh.

Yes I have been MIA, and its for reasoning like this.

You guys just don't understand how a business works....or even how a game works.

It's not as simple as shoving all these features and have it magically work effectively with the gameplay and all other features.
It's also not as simple as just entering stats in there and have the programming and back end stuff magically happening.

It's also not as simple as just putting in 1 million pounds in and hire 10 full time programmers to work around the clock to get this done (like EA Sports or Codemasters etc.)

You need to remember this game is created, developed and maintained by 5 people on a budget that is probably less than the average salary earned yearly.
You can't expect the world from peanuts.

Unless you're prepared to do 90 hour unpaid weeks, or donate 500 000 pounds to Childish Things so they can implement these features by hiring full time programmers and developers, don't expect massive changes.
Even the biggest games in the world have minor tweaks and big updates only every 3-4 versions.

If you don't like it, don't buy the game, don't complain and it will eventually disappear because of the lack of funding, and then you won't have anything.

End Rant.

[cricfan1]

Sigh.

Yes I have been MIA, and its for reasoning like this.

You guys just don't understand how a business works....or even how a game works.

It's not as simple as shoving all these features and have it magically work effectively with the gameplay and all other features.
It's also not as simple as just entering stats in there and have the programming and back end stuff magically happening.

It's also not as simple as just putting in 1 million pounds in and hire 10 full time programmers to work around the clock to get this done (like EA Sports or Codemasters etc.)

You need to remember this game is created, developed and maintained by 5 people on a budget that is probably less than the average salary earned yearly.
You can't expect the world from peanuts.

Unless you're prepared to do 90 hour unpaid weeks, or donate 500 000 pounds to Childish Things so they can implement these features by hiring full time programmers and developers, don't expect massive changes.
Even the biggest games in the world have minor tweaks and big updates only every 3-4 versions.

If you don't like it, don't buy the game, don't complain and it will eventually disappear because of the lack of funding, and then you won't have anything.

End Rant.

Yes That is right ....
but one suggestion these ICC can hire Indian Programmers in this way they can get in
cheap and good quality also as well as hard working ..
and at last
I enjoyed 2010 version now its turn for 2011 expects some more intersting

[StanH]

Wrong message from you!

Forgive me for saying this, but your response is simply arrogant. You may be a small company and we appreciate your efforts, but you charge money for a product.Over the years I have spent hundreds of dollars with your company or those that had this game before you.You make constant excuses for a lack of communication about the game, you make excuses for not meeting standards of a loyal base of customers...and then you culminate this with a "if you dont like it dont buy it approach?". Simple economics: "you are overhead-we who buy it are profit!...your strategy should be to keep your customer base and not alienate it! If you cant meet the standards and cannot compete, then "sooner rather than later" your product will fade from the market, and your "public relations" at this time does little to garner sympathy.As a loyal customer over many years, I will think long and hard about future support!

[MattDMX]

Forgive me for saying this, but your response is simply arrogant. You may be a small company and we appreciate your efforts, but you charge money for a product.Over the years I have spent hundreds of dollars with your company or those that had this game before you.You make constant excuses for a lack of communication about the game, you make excuses for not meeting standards of a loyal base of customers...and then you culminate this with a "if you dont like it dont buy it approach?". Simple economics: "you are overhead-we who buy it are profit!...your strategy should be to keep your customer base and not alienate it! If you cant meet the standards and cannot compete, then "sooner rather than later" your product will fade from the market, and your "public relations" at this time does little to garner sympathy.As a loyal customer over many years, I will think long and hard about future support!

It's not arrogant, its correct. Its perhaps abrupt, but if you had someone pestering you daily despite being told it wasnt ready yet wouldnt you be less than impressed? I love ICC and i own them all, and of course i want there to be a new game but i have patience, because i know this game is not worked on by tens of people let alone hundreds. These games are made for us by people who don't do it for the money but for the love of the game of cricket. And at the end of the day if you don't like it don't buy it, but my guess is you will.

[the_trademarc]

Let me clarify something first.

I do not work or have any affiliation with Childish Things or International Cricket Captain. I am simply a long-time follower and enjoy the game, and can understand what's happening back-end because of my IT/Business background.

It just frustrates me when people (in general) expect everything instantly.....it's a world trait that will eventually destroy all economies (refer GFC).

A sense of realism does wonders for people and businesses.

At the end of the day, how much do we pay for the game? I can't remember but its relative to the funding, improvements and maintenance costs, and a reasonable profit-margin.

If this was a EA Sports-based FIFA game, which has database upgrades and small additional features and sold for 4 times the price of ICC (slight exaggeration), it would be bought in millions without thinking twice.

[Sureshot]

Forgive me for saying this, but your response is simply arrogant. You may be a small company and we appreciate your efforts, but you charge money for a product.Over the years I have spent hundreds of dollars with your company or those that had this game before you.You make constant excuses for a lack of communication about the game, you make excuses for not meeting standards of a loyal base of customers...and then you culminate this with a "if you dont like it dont buy it approach?". Simple economics: "you are overhead-we who buy it are profit!...your strategy should be to keep your customer base and not alienate it! If you cant meet the standards and cannot compete, then "sooner rather than later" your product will fade from the market, and your "public relations" at this time does little to garner sympathy.As a loyal customer over many years, I will think long and hard about future support!

Trademarc's response wasn't anything remotely official.

There are some truths in there, we are a small company, we all work remotely and we all have other jobs. We make ICC because we love it and we are making improvements to the game. Aus, iPhone/iPad last season and some new features and Mac this year.

Realistic expectations of us is important. Only reason why in the past I have tried to convey who we are and how we work is just to give you an insight in to what goes in to the development of Cricket Captain.

The last 2-3 years have been hard, we've had to contend with Empire going bankrupt, previous publisher who owned the rights to the game and made all the decisions regarding it. In 2009 we spent a lot of time and a not inconsiderate amount of money in buying the rights to the game, that alone shows the commitment in our new venture in a new era with Cricket Captain. 2009 was lucky to be released, the game was lucky to survive, it could have very easily been so very different, but Chris has pushed it through, despite a lot going on with his other work and his PhD.

We've worked through those tough times and introduced new features in 2010, we've also got new features in 2011. We appreciate the concerns over the lack of development in previous versions and we are working hard on the game, we've got a Mac version, further refined match engine and many new features which add a lot to 2011 and is one of the reasons why we're a bit late this year, so we can add these.

We're not trying to make excuses, just trying to let you in to our world and what goes on to create Cricket Captain. We have the exact same wants out of the game that you do, more leagues, more stats, greater depth throughout and it will come, but it has to be a measured approach, it's a delicate industry and ruthless to those who make poor decisions.

The times ahead are exciting and I'm proud to be a part of it and I hope you will be too.

[Anku31]

Trademarc's response wasn't anything remotely official.

There are some truths in there, we are a small company, we all work remotely and we all have other jobs. We make ICC because we love it and we are making improvements to the game. Aus, iPhone/iPad last season and some new features and Mac this year.

Realistic expectations of us is important. Only reason why in the past I have tried to convey who we are and how we work is just to give you an insight in to what goes in to the development of Cricket Captain.

The last 2-3 years have been hard, we've had to contend with Empire going bankrupt, previous publisher who owned the rights to the game and made all the decisions regarding it. In 2009 we spent a lot of time and a not inconsiderate amount of money in buying the rights to the game, that alone shows the commitment in our new venture in a new era with Cricket Captain. 2009 was lucky to be released, the game was lucky to survive, it could have very easily been so very different, but Chris has pushed it through, despite a lot going on with his other work and his PhD.

We've worked through those tough times and introduced new features in 2010, we've also got new features in 2011. We appreciate the concerns over the lack of development in previous versions and we are working hard on the game, we've got a Mac version, further refined match engine and many new features which add a lot to 2011 and is one of the reasons why we're a bit late this year, so we can add these.

We're not trying to make excuses, just trying to let you in to our world and what goes on to create Cricket Captain. We have the exact same wants out of the game that you do, more leagues, more stats, greater depth throughout and it will come, but it has to be a measured approach, it's a delicate industry and ruthless to those who make poor decisions.

The times ahead are exciting and I'm proud to be a part of it and I hope you will be too.

I completely understand Sureshot but the question is "when will that time come?" TBH,this has been the scenario since last 10 years.When we complain,you always give these reasons.I don't doubt whether your problems are genuine or not,I know they are.But the fact is that we are not getting our money's worth & even more important than that,our dedication and patience's worth.That's the problem.
Don't blame me for talking about other game makers,but look at Oli Norwell.From where does he put so many features & stats into Cricket Coach?? I know CC is way behind ICC in terms of match engine but their depth in stats & features is way beyond our ICC.You should answer these questions.CC has smaller budget than ICC,IMO.From where does they produce such miracles?
Just answer Sureshot.

[Themer]

Don't blame me for talking about other game makers,but look at Oli Norwell.From where does he put so many features & stats into Cricket Coach?? I know CC is way behind ICC in terms of match engine but their depth in stats & features is way beyond our ICC.You should answer these questions.CC has smaller budget than ICC,IMO.From where does they produce such miracles?
Just answer Sureshot.

His features don't work though. He's got a raft of things that ICC hasn't but have been poorly implemented and don't reflect real life. The game is way too easy as well from the goes I've had on it and the less said about the game engine the better.

ICC is alot better for its lack of features than it would be with poorly implemented features.

[Anku31]

His features don't work though. He's got a raft of things that ICC hasn't but have been poorly implemented and don't reflect real life. The game is way too easy as well from the goes I've had on it and the less said about the game engine the better.

ICC is alot better for its lack of features than it would be with poorly implemented features.

The thing I want to point out is that CC gives us hopes,but ICC is more of a dull project now.And BTW,I am as die-hard fan of ICC as anybody here.

[Themer]

The thing I want to point out is that CC gives us hopes,but ICC is more of a dull project now.And BTW,I am as die-hard fan of ICC as anybody here.

CC doesn't give me hope. I wouldn't be suprised to see it die within the next couple of years although I obviously don't want that to happen for Oli's sake as he's put alot of work into it.

[Anku31]

It wont die man.Believe me,it wont.

[ab5ides1]

I think Oli's problem is that he tried to implement too much, too fast. And, as a result, the game engine has greatly suffered. I think Cricket Coach will grow and do well, but (to me) it will never ever replace ICC. I'm unashamedly a stats man, that's why I like cricket, but if the stats are faulty, then they don't give the same sense of realism.