BLC interesting, but...

[Beery]

I'm very interested in Brian Lara Cricket 2005, but I have a number of worries. Firstly, it doesn't look that different from the old BLC. Sure, that was a great game, but from the looks of the videos the game still uses virtually the same 3D models, a lot of the movements look the same as the old game. I don't really mind being sold the same game twice, as long as it's a good game, and as long as my computer won't play the older game (it won't), but must I pay full price for what seems to be a re-release of the old game?

Secondly, how am I supposed to play a realistic test match when the game has no rain? I mean the developers say it's frustrating so they removed it??? I would have liked to have made that decision for myself. If rain is a factor in real cricket it should be in the game. If it's frustrating removing the rain should be OPTIONAL, not mandatory. Who do the developers think they are, deciding for me that I'll be frustrated by real weather?

I guess I'll be buying BLC2005, but I would have preferred a cricket simulation with optional arcade features, rather than an arcade game with no realism options.

 

[andyc]

it sounds pretty realistic to me.
i mean, so what if there's no rain? will it really matter that much? wouldn't you be frustrated if you were just about to win the ashes for australia (or england, if you swing that way ), and it started raining? i would be.
in fact, the sooner the icc bans rain from all cricket matches the better

 

[Beery]

it sounds pretty realistic to me.
i mean, so what if there's no rain? will it really matter that much? wouldn't you be frustrated if you were just about to win the ashes for australia (or england, if you swing that way ), and it started raining? i would be.

It would matter a lot. After all, rain is something that you CAN plan for if you have good weather forecasts, and using it to your advantage is a BIG part of the game. When it goes against you you're supposed to be frustrated. It's all part of the game. I mean it's been a part of cricket for hundreds of years. Anyway, all I'm demanding is the OPTION so that we can all decide for ourselves whether it's too frustrating or not. Why must we have our options limited simply because some developer thinks he should decide what's best for us?

Not that things are going to change at this late date, but it's so frustrating when developers make these all-or-nothing decisions when they could just as easily have given us options. I mean rain was in the beta version and instead of leaving it up to us, they just went ahead and removed it. Thanks for nothing developers!

 

[barmyarmy]

I believe they only removed rain from ODI's.

 

[Retox]

Its either gonna rain ot much or to little.

 

[Beery]

I believe they only removed rain from ODI's.

I'll be happy if that's true (I was just going by what I'd read in one of the interviews I'd read). I hope the game can be modded so that test matches are more realistic. I seem to recall in the old BLC that it was virtually impossible to get a realistic test match score because the AI bowlers were a bit uber, but it's a long time ago, so my memory may be playing tricks on me.

 

[barmyarmy]

I don't think there are going to be many simularities with the old BLIC. Swordfish are a completely new developer.

 

[Beery]

I don't think there are going to be many simularities with the old BLIC. Swordfish are a completely new developer.

That doesn't necessarily mean it's being fully re-done. It could mean the opposite. They could simply take the old code and update it a bit. Some developers do that. If you've seen the movies released so far, you'll notice that the game looks surprisingly like its predecessor - the movements are the same, and even the wicket keeper slow-down bug that was a part of BLC99 is still there.

 

[rubbergenius]

That doesn't necessarily mean it's being fully re-done. It could mean the opposite. They could simply take the old code and update it a bit. Some developers do that. If you've seen the movies released so far, you'll notice that the game looks surprisingly like its predecessor - the movements are the same, and even the wicket keeper slow-down bug that was a part of BLC99 is still there.

The game is completely redone IMO - it uses nothing of the old game (as that was PS1).

 

[Beery]

The game is completely redone IMO - it uses nothing of the old game (as that was PS1).

The old game was PC too.

 

[scritty]

Well having played the (absolutely excellent) demo - I don't see any similarities at all. Controls different, graphics different / fielding different./ sounds different (all better IMO)

Obviously it's still cricket (a cricket sim that isn't cricket "Is just not cricket old bean")

When the full game is out - the new features (career mode is one i'm looking forward to) then they will all be different as well (or so it seems - and with the obvious changes to the demo - i don't doubt it)

So not sure where this "samey" arguement is coming from. Looks nothing at all like it to me. Original BLC, all seam bowlers were very open chested (They weren't based on Pollock i don't think, but they all looked like it to me) Batting and bowling animations are 100% better / 100% new and a hell of a lot more of them


Clarker

 

[crickhowell]

The feeling i got from the demo was that its much more console-friendly, ill probably get it on Xbox and Cricket 2005 on computer

 

[saeed_anwar_fan]

well rain factor was a interesting one
hope they dont change the est of the game

 

[Beery]

Obviously it's still cricket (a cricket sim that isn't cricket "Is just not cricket old bean")

To me there are clear similarities. Some of the movements are exactly the same. I've been a mod-maker for 15 years, so there are perhaps things that I see that others don't. Maybe it takes some knowledge of how computer games work internally to see the similarities that go well beyond the fact that the two games are cricket games.

But in the end, if you enjoy the game, that's all that matters. I'm sure I'll enjoy it, just as I enjoyed the original BLC. I just think that if I'm right, and if it is basically a graphically enhanced BLC '99, then we're all getting just a little bit ripped off, because we already paid for that game once. I fear that we'll be paying for it again and all we'll be getting is a sort of graphics expansion.