Hi, just started playing RC4 on PC. I was playing the Be a Pro mode and noticed a couple of things that might need to be looked at.
Players collecting the ball after it bounces out returns the ball to the kicking team for the lineout. This has been in RC2 and RC3 as well. If the ball goes out and an opposition player touches it sometimes it randomly gives the kicking team the ball back. Is it possible to fix this so that once the ball is out it goes to the other team regardless of who touches it after it crosses the line, especially when it bounces first?
Fatigue effect and substituting the substitutes! The fatigue effect is very over powered for AI players. I had 2 or 3 players subbed in halfway through the first half and then those players were substituted themselves halfway through the 2nd half. Can you turn down the fatigue effect just a little so that players won't be subbed until the 2nd half? And maybe ensure that substitute players should not have to replace substitute players except in case of injury? I think slowing the fatigue rate will probably fix that issue.
Thanks.
So far I am enjoying the game. If I notice anything else I will post later on. I do like how the the rucks and mauls seem to be better set with the half back and the pods and backline being established, it feels much better than in RC3
Actually I had another thought on this that can be a solution if it's possible for the player fatigue problem. What if you included it in the gameplay options not just as off and on but as a setting like for injury frequency? If you had it so you can adjust the level of fatigue from 0 to say 50 or 100 then we can set it to our own preference and maybe that will help matters and allow us to create a setting that works for us in terms of creating a good simulation of the game and allowing appropriate substitutions. I know this was done once before for another category in RC1 or RC2 I think.
Hi @Jonathan Paul Money ! Appreciate your list of suggestions you've provided and glad to hear you've been enjoying the game 🙂
3. In game volume is extremely low. I am aware that in the console version some of the volumes (menu etc) were possibly muted a little? I am finding that there I need to have the speaker volume on my computer at 100% just to hear the game sounds and even then I can only just hear it. There is a volume control in the game but even with all of the sliders at max you can hardly hear the game at all. Can we find a fix for this as well?
Sorry I know this might seem silly but it is definitely something I would like to be better and I think others using the PC version might feel the same about this aspect also. I am still enjoying the game so far even though I've only played a few hours on it. Certainly there are some good positives in the game although I have only been playing Be a Pro at this stage. Thanks for the quick reply on the other things I mentioned. Really good to know you guys are taking the time to read our comments and consider what can make the gaming experience better).
No worries, thanks for your suggestion 🙂
@WW - Cole pass my thanks on to the developers please. The update yesterday fixed the volume issue and the graphics are looking great, nice and smooth. Very happy))
I had another look at the fatigue issue. If you have a player in be a pro you can control his stamina by limiting their speed use and activity. You cannot do this for the AI. The main issue I think is the forwards particularly with Props, hookers and locks. Because they do so much in rucks, mauls and scrums their energy seems to be used quicker even if their fitness is high. Maybe a solution is to reduce the fatigue effect across the board with the forwards. Again a separate slider for forwards and backs could be ideal!
@Jonathan Paul Money Can I also ask you what match length you're playing at too? Players might also appear to drain quicker due to match lengths
I have been playing 20 minute halves. From what I can tell it seems to really only be the user team that has the issue and energy is drained very quickly when the forwards go into breakdowns in particular (I noticed my Be a Pro player uses a lot of stamina going into breakdowns). So at the end of the game I end up with back reserves in the front row/lock positions because they need to replace the substitute players! And then there are some forwards with no stamina. Because I can't control their involvement I can't stop their stamina draining. I had one game where everything went as it should be only because I think there were a lot of stoppages and not as many breakdowns in the game (I think). Is it possible to slow down the fatigue effect for longer match lengths (somehow in the programming/coding?) maybe?
@Jonathan Paul Money It should already be set to "relevance" in terms of match lengths - to eliminate players burning out after 5mins in a 20min halve match like you say. I'll pass this on to the dev's anyways so we can further investigate the issue. Thanks for your detail as well!
Thanks Cole, appreciate your help and for passing this on. There could be one other factor at play perhaps. I did notice that while it did still happen the effect was not as pronounced on a lower difficulty. On hard and Pro the substitutions were happening halfway in the first half. On Normal it was more settled. Closer to halftime and also later in the half. I hope that helps in some way. Still pretty happy with the gameplay. It does play better than RC3 (I played some of that for comparison). Just a few tweaks I think will help. I haven't played any other modes just yet.
Great to hear thanks @Jonathan Paul Money ! And thanks for the detail with this.
5. Automatic play kicker! This was also in RC3 Be a Pro and I really wonder why. Sometimes the game just makes you kick automatically. While it wouldn't be such an issue, when you are behind and need to run or pass it is unhelpful. Also if you are too close to the opposition you knock the ball on. There is also no way to cancel the kick like you would normally by passing. Usually it is triggered by position on the field or if you happen to stand in the receiving spot near the ruck at that position and at the end of the game as well. Why is this automatic? Why can't we just control whether to kick or not by ourselves?
@Jonathan Paul Money If you're talking about the AI kicking automatically there are "team" sliders that you can change to determine what you do in particular parts of the field. The AI has recognized this as a danger area and has therefore decided to kick based of the team sliders. Hope that helps! Thanks 🙂
I should have been clearer, sorry. I was talking about my Be a Pro player who I am controlling. Do the sliders override my own control in certain parts of the field?
@Jonathan Paul Money It shouldn't do. When you want to kick, you press the kick button, if you don't, don't press the kick button.
Thanks Cole, I appreciate your advice about this but all I can tell you is what I know. If my player stands near the ruck in a certain area of the field the halfback passes the ball and my player automatically kicks it. I don't even have to press any buttons on the controller. And I can't override it by pressing pass or any other buttons. Really hard for me to prove it from a video or screenshot because it doesn't show what controls you are pressing though. This happened in RC3 also. You are right, it shouldn't do it. But it is something I noticed is happening often. And I don't know why.
No worries thanks for sharing this issue anyways though @Jonathan Paul Money and we will try to reproduce at our end.
Thanks Cole,
If it helps here are more details.
My Be a Pro player was a Full Back (but it might not matter what position though it may be more likely with any back)
I was using the default gameplay sliders and default team tactics sliders. The event seemed to be triggered between the 10m line and halfway on my team's side of the field. Also halfway between the 22 and the goal line in my team's 22 specifically.
Also some of the time in other parts of the field on my team's side of halfway (the defensive zone I guess and part of the mid zone).
Hope that helps narrow it down as far as reproducing the event.
All information helps us to reproduce the issue at our end thanks @Jonathan Paul Money !
Cole. Just revisiting the fatigue issue in Be a Pro Mode. Noticed that at some points the substitutions will be made when there is 50% or just over 50% fatigue (still green) so this might account for the over substitution of players maybe? Here is a screenshot to go with it so you can see.
Thanks for sharing this @Jonathan Paul Money . They should generally only sub out when they hit the red, we will have to investigate further. Thanks
@WW - Cole cheers for that! I had wondered about what was happening and it wasn't until I went to the Manage Team menu in-game that I noticed some players being subbed out when their fatigue bars were still green. I checked it through a number of games to confirm before I sent you the info, just to be sure.
6. Get named Goal Kicker but then I am not assigned Goal Kicker.
Here is the screen shots.
The second screen shot is the my squad screen showing the line up. My player is the FB Paul, W (I am already the PK). It was taken after I was named Goal Kicker. You clearly see Hickey is still the GK not my player.
This is the 3rd time in my career that it happened! Any idea what is going wrong?
Could it be that it's referring you as "Goal kicker" of your club team vs international?
I had originally thought that the first couple of times but once I returned to my club team I was still only the Play Kicker. As I mentioned I have been named Goal Kicker 3 times at least and am not yet able to Goal Kick in games yet.
Actually, this issue was mentioned in the console version of the game on this forum by a player in the Be a Pro More Issues thread on the 16th September 2020. Do you know if anyone was aware of this happening in the console version and was there a fix applied to it at all?
Just to pass on some positives that I really liked over the RC4 game so far (since I have only really mentioned issues!).
I really like that the halfback is generally at most rucks and the backline seems mostly formed with the pods of forwards clearly in place. This gives a really good "rugby" feel to the game.
Yellow cards work past halftime! This is definitely really nice that if you see a yellow card 2 minutes before halftime you know that it will not be cancelled at halftime and if it's you you know you have to be aware of the consequences too. (One cool feature to add if it's possible might be to have a timer on the card like the do on tv - not necessary but would be cool!)
The AI does make better "rugby" decisions on the field in regard to passing, hit ups, kicking e.t.c. (even on default sliders). There are still some head scratching decisions but overall it is much better than in previous versions of the game so it feels more authentic and you don't feel like your Be a Pro Player has to do everything in the game to facilitate a victory.
I do like the aspect of fatigue in the game where you need to manage your own Pro player and their involvement. You can't just play at top speed and go into all rucks and run it all the time without a consequence (like slowing down, errors and being subbed). This makes you consider how you contribute best with your team. I recall overdoing it in one game and as a result I didn't have the energy to run down a player in the opposition who made a break and it cost my team the game so it means you need to be wiser in your decisions.
So far these are the things I have noticed that I really appreciate about the game. I thought I'd give a positive comment so that you guys know that you are doing a good job here with RC4 and what you are aiming to present as a good rugby game. I really do enjoy the Rugby Challenge series and to see these improvements is really good.
Thanks @Jonathan Paul Money ! What I suspect is happening (and what we will be testing) is that player "I. Hickey" has a higher goal kicking stat than your player? Would I be right in saying that? I think the AI is saying "yes you have been elected the goal kicker, but there is someone else in the team that has a higher kicking stat, so go with them) It doesn't sound ideal especially considering it's awarded you the "goal kicker" but I think this is possibly what's happening.
@WW - Cole Yes, "I. Hickey" did have higher goal kick rating so it is highly possible. It will be interesting to see what it is that allows you to be selected GK but then prevents it at the same time! I will keep an eye on it too when I go back to the club team, see if I get selected or not and look at the ratings too. Hopefully it will be all figured out by then. Thanks for your advice and help.
@Jonathan Paul Money Ahh right I thought that might be the case, but we are still investigating this issue as it still sounds slightly problematic.
7. Does 2 yellow cards to the same player mean a Red card still?
I played an International against Australia and the #13 (Serevi?) got a yellow card for a high tackle. After coming back on he was penalised for another high tackle but not sin binned. In the second half he was given a second yellow card for high tackle and sin binned.
I am pretty sure that 2 yellow cards to one player in a match should be a red card.
The only thing I can see how it wasn't is perhaps the game was looking for 2 consecutive yellows and since #13 had been penalised and not sin binned in between each yellow maybe it reset the condition?
Anyway I thought you should know (for realism at the very least).
Hi @Jonathan Paul Money , yes we are aware of this and it has been brought to the table for discussion. Thanks
Game Mode Crash at the end of 2024 season!
After my last international game in October 2024 the game crashed and I could not continue. I was able to exit the game and replay the last international and then it crashed again once it returned to the home screen. See below
I came to a greyed out screen like this and I couldn't press the continue button. Although it did somehow load the messages screen behind the greyed out message. So I did this another 2x (exiting the game via pressing the windows logo button on the keyboard and closing the game) with the same result (another crash)
The only way I got past this point was to simulate the last international and then it finished the season.
Any idea what might have caused this?
8. Blank Jerseys after substitutions. Not a major but aesthetically confusing a little! Noticed this a couple of times. See below
You can see the player at the back of the ruck with no number. This is the #23 who subbed in for my injured #9. I have noticed that it is always the #23 who ends up with a blank jersey. And it is not always happening. But often enough to be noticed. Possibly when the substitution is an injury but not entirely sure if that is the exact event that makes it happen.
I can confirm it is when the #23 is subbed in for an injury as the first substitution that his number is blank.
Specifically when the #23 replaces the halfback it happens is what I noticed.
The game crash of Be a Pro Mode is beyond unplayable right now. I think there is a real issue here in this one so I will tell you what I can and I hope that will help to solve the problem.
End of season 2023 I was given team offers. I chose the Crusaders (Super Rugby)
Instead I was returned to my previous club team (Counties-Manukau), no media announcement about a change in club. I kept playing thinking at the end of the season I would be transferred into the Crusaders.
I played the Quad Nations with NZ (all good). When I tried to play the last Bledisloe the game would finish and on the return to the home screen the game froze. Multiple attempts to replay saw the same result.
I also noted that now there was a duplicate player of my Be a Pro Player in the All Blacks (in the wider squad!)
The only way to progress was to simulate the Bledisloe game. So the season finished and after I advance I am still in Counties, not the Crusaders.
I keep playing and this time the game freezes at the end of the 2025 Quad series. I have to simulate past this last game. And also the Bledisloe Cup game. I get to the team offers menu and this time I have to choose a team or my career ends. I choose the Vodacom Bulls.
Once again I am returned to Counties and no media announcement. This time however my player has disappeared from the whole club squad! Also there is now 2 duplicates of my player in my International team but I can be selected for it and I accept.
Now I can't get past the first game of the International Season (2026 season) I can only simulate to carry on. I keep being returned to Counties in between Internationals but can only press advance. I decided to simulate the season.
At the end of the season I choose to join Pau (French 1st Division) but am returned again to Counties where I am no longer on the roster but have to press advance to keep going. During this time a media announcement is made I will be joining Pau.
I decide not to play in the Quad Series for NZ but when the Competition starts I am in the Squad and starting at FB again.
At this point I am really confused about what is going wrong. The Game mode just seems to be crashing and freezing and not doing what it should do. All was fine until after the 2024 season ended. (just 5 years)
I really would like to know what is so wrong and caused this mode to stop working. I hope that somehow something I shared might help you guys figure it out.