Interviews

Sriram K (Sim Builder)

1. Tell us about the new features of the sim?

ok the main features are that the scoreacard enhancements and the records viewer.The records viewer enables each manager to have almost every possible stat at his tips to access player and team performance.

2. What is your favourite feature?

It has to be the player search facility and the deal viewer in the records viewer.It helps me a lot in deciding whom I want to get in trade this season.

3. Are there anymore bugs to be ironed out?

None that I know of.As in the time of this interview every bug pointed out by Gb and the board has been eliminated.

4. Was there anything else you would have liked to included if there was more time?

The duckworth lewis.Its not there yet ..Seemed a bit complicated and time was a premium as well.

5. How will scores or match results vary from the ones of VC4?

I think in terms of match results there could be more draws because of the rain factor in the official sim.Thats probably the only way match results are gonna be changed.Yes and 1 day matches should be much more accurate now.Vc favoured batsmen I thought , 300+ being scored far too many times.That will get reduced in the sim provided pitch conditions are atleast a bit favourable to the bowlers.Otherwise I think its just as accurate as vc.

6. Do you plan on having a follow up version within the next few seasons?

Sure...with duckworth lewis being the primary feature!

7. Why is your sim better than VC4?

I cannot claim its better.Just that I can make it better or as required for WCC with the help of the board and the managers unlike vc which seems to have been stopped being developed.In this sense the sim is better than vc.

8. Most people havent seen the sim and what it does, tell them about the advantages of having this new sim and what are its best qualities?

The sim reduces a lot of time required for simming the matches for the simmers.Thats the major strong point of the sim I think.Moreover managers can now access far more records in the sim than in vc which should make their part more enjoyable.

9. Is the simulator easier to run than the old one?

Mentioned it before.It diretly reads all the fixtures and teams from a text file.So the simmer has to only copy paste them from the forum onto the text files.Just another click and all the weeks matches will be run and scorecards and records saved automatically!

10. Does it save records? And for how many seasons?

Yep all records are saved.Records for 5 seasons including current 1 are stored.In the case of team records overall records are stored.that is Highest total ever scored by Mumbai in wcc and the like..They are not seasonal.

11. Do you think the sim will change who are the best teams and who arent?

It might change them but teams have already started trading and accordingly adjusting their squad..Young teams will have to fight it out at least for a season.The team to beat will be New South Wales I think but for how long thts another question.

12. What is the probability of rain in a match?

just as in ground conditions its set with a value from 1 to 5.I doubt managers will be allowed to select it.Depending on their team location I think blewy will set it accordingly.

13. How much of a role does age and experience play to a players performance?

It plays a fair part.Players playing less than 40 matches in either form will be affected.Besides it will generally be observed that as players age till abt 30 their performance can show a slight increase.There can be exceptions though as its all random at the end of the day.Similarly average players ability will drop from about 33 to retirement.

14. How big of a role will pitch conditions play now?

Not too much.They will just have their presence shown.I mean if u bowl a 50 sr spinner in a pitch with spin 5 dont expect him to show miracles.a favourable pitch will affect the players but not a very great deal. and last of all

15. Do you have any critisicims of the simulator?

Its for you ppl to say! I tried to make it as realistic as possible.There have been some discrepancies but almost all of them have been brought to light and corrected.Any suggestions for improvements either this season or next are welcome.I hope it makes WCC all the more enjoyable 4 every1 involved. P.S. I hope we have another interview where u interview the sriram - the mumbai manger and not sriram- the sim maker...!!:)