Interview with Andrew Wilson, Producer of EA Sports Cricket 2005
posted 04/02/06
Us Aussies sure do love it when we finally get Sports Games made for our local past times. There's been a couple of AFL games to keep fans relatively happy, Rugby games from 3 different developers and hot on the news that Codemasters were reviving their cricket game came word that EA have been busy putting the final touches on their latest cricket game as well, EA Sports Cricket 2005.
Now before we all start raising the eyebrows, yes, as PC gamers we remember all the past cricket games and hope that there's a special place in hell reserved for most of them, but rather then leap to conclusions we thought we'd go straight to EA and get the word on what we can expect and just how Cricket 2005 is coming together.
With loads of improvements, both in looks and gameplay promised, hope remains high that cricket fans will get the game they've been waiting for since 1999.
Hi Andrew and welcome back to Xbox World Australia, the home of many a fanatical Aussie cricket fan. Can you please introduce yourself to the XBW readers and your role on EA Sports Cricket 2005.
I am Andrew Wilson, Producer in charge of EA SPORTS Cricket 2005.
Can we start off by asking about the level of Cricket knowledge that the development team has. Are they all from Cricket playing countries and if so, it must be a very diverse group of people! Whereabouts do they all hail from?
We have people from across the globe working on our latest Cricket title. While we all now live in Canada, we have people from England, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and India working on the game.
Jeremy Wellard who is the owner and Creative Director of HB Studios, the game team behind Cricket 2005, was the lead designer and producer of the original Brian Lara/Shane Warne Cricket games. With his design skill, creative leadership and EA's technology, we have an unbelievable combination.
With the games release only being 3-4 months away (July 12), how long has Cricket 2005 been in development?
We have been in development for approximately 12 months which is pretty standard for a sports title.
The utilization of a few existing EA Sports technologies such as the FIFA engine seem to have given the game a great look. From the screenshots released so far there seems to be loads of player detail and great looking stadiums. Can you tell us how the technologies from each other game has helped in the development of Cricket 2005 and what are some examples where this would be noticeable when we play the game?
As with Rugby 2005, Cricket 2005 is using all the technology that EA has invested hundreds of millions of dollars engineering over the years. As you have seen this has an obvious impact on the visuals and the overall atmosphere of the game. It will be very hard for anyone to compete with us on this level. However, what is not as well known is the fact that the technology allows us to make amazing improvements in game-play also.
Never before will a cricket game have been as smooth, realistic and authentic like Cricket 2005. For the first time, gamers will now get a game that is equal in quality to all of the other EA sports games.
How many teams will be present? Will every Cricket playing country be included so World Cup Tournaments are possible?
Definitely. While we have all the international teams and a number of representative and special teams, the big win for Cricket 2005 is that we will be the only cricket title to include Australian state teams and English county teams. This means that length and depth of play across multiple modes and seasons is unprecedented.
I notice that Twenty20 rules will be included. Has the development team considered giving players the options to include their own rules? The ability to specify custom over amounts, bonus runs or fielding restrictions to create their own personalised matches would be a great addition.
This is a cool idea. However, because we are licensed we have to ensure that we represent the sport as true to life as possible. We allow the gamer to customise a number of options through play, while still maintaining the real rules.
Will the 'TV Style Presentation' feature the popular stump cam, hawkeye and other recent technologies as well as the 'Third Umpire' for run outs?
We will have a variety of cameras in the product that will allow gamers to view Cricket 2005 like they were watching a Channel Nine broadcast. There will definitely be times that the umpire will seek some help from the 'third umpire' for those close run outs.
Will each of the 35 stadiums from around the world feature different crowd effects? Will we hear the glorious 'Divvy van' song from the Melbourne crowd, the steel drums from the West Indies or those obnoxious horns from games played around Asia?
Each of the stadiums will feature unique elements. Gamers will see a variety of pitch conditions across the globe and will have to take this together with weather and home crown advantage when taking their team on tour.
I guess no 'Divvy van' song then.. As soon as word got out that EA were working on a new Cricket game for Xbox, memories of some bad experiences with past PC Cricket games from EA came flooding back to a few people. The last one I played myself was the Cricket World Cup and it suffered from terrible controls, boring audio and loads of bugs that never really got fixed.
With Codemasters due to release their new cricket game around the same time as yours what is EA Sports doing to make Cricket 2005 the best cricket game released so far? I hate to be blunt, but many members in our User Forum look back at Shane Warne 99 as the last decent cricket game and really want this year's game from EA to be something memorable.
As mentioned, we now have Jeremy Wellard, chief designer and producer of the original Shane Warne cricket products heading up the development team. That means that we get all the history and experience of great cricket games of the past blended with unprecedented technology that EA SPORTS has to offer in the present and the future to ensure that EA SPORTS Cricket games will be today and for ever more the best cricket games in the market. We have invested more than ever before to make this a great game.
Have you let the A.I play a game against itself? What sort of scores and statistics did the match result in?
We have set up a tool with the AI that allows it to play against itself for long stretches of time and constantly outputs data for us to review. We are right in the middle of the tuning phase at the moment, so these scores and stats become more realistic by the day.
How much dialogue is being recorded by Richie Benaud and Jim Maxwell for the commentary?
As you know we have worked with both Richie and Jim in the past. Both gentlemen are consummate professionals, and we were overjoyed to get to work with them this year also. Jim brings an unbelievable cricket background while Richie is the undisputed “Voice of Cricket†across the world. For Cricket 2005, we have tried to double the amount of commentary used in Cricket 2004.
Are you able to go into some detail about the control scheme for batting and bowling? How are things such as bowling line and length selected as well as shot type and power?
For the first time in Cricket 2005, we have really worked on ensuring that each player reacts according to their skill. Each Bowler has a realistic repertoire of deliveries. The better their ability, the greater the variety of deliveries they can bowl with. The bowler will lose stamina after bowling a long spell of overs and slowly become more erratic the more tired he gets.
The Stamina gauge which is part of the bowler's on-screen display will allow you to keep track of when to give him a rest and make a change. The Batting confidence meter displays how set a batsman is once he is at the crease. The more settled he is, the better chance he has of timing the ball sweetly and less chance of edging one to the slips or popping up a catch.
Can you also explain how the new HUD will work?
One thing that we have noticed over the years is that many gamers 'missed' a lot of the coolest features of our Cricket products largely because they were not made aware to them. For Cricket 2005 we have a new HUD that is particularly good for bowling. Given that each bowler now has differing bowling repertoires, the HUD will alert the user as to what is available to them.
This makes managing the bowling order far more engaging and fun. The HUD also key in monitoring both bowler fatigue and batsman confidence. To add to this, we also have picture in picture to view the running while the ball is out by the boundary.
Are bowlers able to appeal manually or is it totally automatic?
Yes there is an appeals button. There is also a dive button for when you find yourself facing an imminent run out.
Once a custom player is created are their stats tallied throughout their career? If so, will we be able to share this information online and compare them with our friends?
Yes a player's stats will update throughout the tournament or season.
Are any online features for Xbox Live planned?
Not at this stage. It has been a big year for Cricket with a complete technology overhaul, so online will be next time.
You've no doubt gone back and checked out loads of cricket games from the past few years, what do you think are some of the finer details that Cricket fans will appreciate about EA Cricket 2005?
I think the individuality that they will now see from player to player, the new manual fielding options that make it more fun and intuitive, the finer details like the dive button when running into the crease, hang on a minute, I could be writing for ever. :-) I think that when the game comes out, gamers will recognise Cricket 2005 for what it is, the best Cricket game yet!
Thanks for talking with us Andrew and we look forward to seeing more of Cricket 2005 soon!
Interview by Shane Bryan
