[Project] Pocket Cricket: beta
One of the projects that we've been working on is a cricket simulation game which really focussed on the game dynamics and players forms that you get in real life cricket. You play as the batting team and are chasing a target score. Your shot selection, timing and the ball pitch are all dependant on the players form. With every action having an impact. We've tried to keep it true to the strategy and phycology needed in real life cricket as you need to really focus on building an innings and slowly knocking away at the bowlers form before trying to slog for the boundary.
We've launched a beta version at the end of November 2013 and so far have over 47k matches played and just under 4k users with minimal advertising and exposure. For this version we've really focussed on the actual gameplay and core dynamics as well as the look and feel of the game. We used Flash initially for this build as it was easy to tweak and improve as we fleshed out the concept. (And we're only web based for now.)
For future versions we're looking at rolling out:
- Ads with a paid VIP no-ad option
- In game power-ups and purchases (like form increases)
- iOS and Android apps
- Multiplayer where you can pick a bowling team and challenge other players
- Sound... :/
- As well as a couple of other minor improvements and tweaks.
Would love to hear your feedback and thoughts: www.pocketcricket.net
If you're interested there are a couple of other fan made discussion threads on the game:
http://www.reddit.com/r/Cricket/comments/1u5vyi/pocketcricket_guide_for_you_guys_happy_new_year/
http://www.reddit.com/r/Cricket/comments/1rphf8/this_really_hurt_pocket_cricket/
We've launched a beta version at the end of November 2013 and so far have over 47k matches played and just under 4k users with minimal advertising and exposure. For this version we've really focussed on the actual gameplay and core dynamics as well as the look and feel of the game. We used Flash initially for this build as it was easy to tweak and improve as we fleshed out the concept. (And we're only web based for now.)
For future versions we're looking at rolling out:
- Ads with a paid VIP no-ad option
- In game power-ups and purchases (like form increases)
- iOS and Android apps
- Multiplayer where you can pick a bowling team and challenge other players
- Sound... :/
- As well as a couple of other minor improvements and tweaks.
Would love to hear your feedback and thoughts: www.pocketcricket.net
If you're interested there are a couple of other fan made discussion threads on the game:
http://www.reddit.com/r/Cricket/comments/1u5vyi/pocketcricket_guide_for_you_guys_happy_new_year/
http://www.reddit.com/r/Cricket/comments/1rphf8/this_really_hurt_pocket_cricket/
Comments
But agree with konman, would need to play a demo to give proper feedback! :)
Appreciate the feedback.
I LOVE the artwork. Cricket is about stats, so there's a lot of overwhelming info on the screen. But FORM ... S.Patel -0.38? Maybe that level of detail can be displayed in a screen that is tucked away in deeper stats, not on the main screen? Just thinking that anything that you do to prevent cluttering the interface would be a good thing?
I really like the comic book feel. Nice game!
Just initial things i note:
-Some of the graphics are repeated a bit, for example the catching one, might be nice to have 1 or 2 more variations.
-How much of it luck vs timing? I quite like the timing mechanic, but i feel it might be too strong?
-About the right difficulty and challenge at the moment, and very addictive!
- Is there some sort of overall team morale / form? or even attributes that could be applied to a team? Or even a player editor that you could have stats like grit or talent or sledging / mental strength
1) We've got a selection of graphics in there but only have a limited number of outcomes for each option. This is only a beta version so it wouldn't be too hard to flesh out further down the line.
2) A lot of it is timing, but there are % outcome tables for every shot. (Like if you hit for the boundary there is a % chance that you'll get caught if there's a player there and a % it'll drop short if there isn't.)
3) cool.
4) In the main menu you can change player names for now. Further down the line we'll implement form increases like batting practice that you can use to improve your players form for the next match.
Yeah playing it further, about 20 games in, but only progressed to the 5th game :) , i feel its about balanced right. I usually try to go for the big shots, then end up at about 90/5, then have to start playing cautiously. Strangely i thought the game would drag over time, but it still seems to maintain interest right to the end, it might be because its just on the difficult side, so makes you have that "1 more try". I also have only played the 20 over match.
4) Yes found the editor and changed my names :)
Any plans to implement bowling or 2 player modes?
Also an option to perhaps skip to interesting scenarios? I think Brian Lara cricket did that, put you in the 47 over, with 247/7 with 30 runs to get.
Lastly, playing it too much, my finger actually got tired clicking the mouse, and had to switch to the keyboard, but wasn't as accurate! Not sure what the solution is there, maybe not play so much! :P
2 player mode is definitely on the cards. The way it would work is that you'd play to set a target and then challenge a friend to try and beat it. We're not 100% sure wether to make it generic bowling teams or allow you to actually create your bowling team by dishing out a certain number of form points... But either way, it'd likely be a correspondence model - not a simultaneous model.
Having a shop where you can buy form upgrades fro your players to get through to that next level is also on the cards. So when it starts getting too hard you can get a boost to get you through a game.