FAQ for PC

Cricket Captain 2014 has been updated

You should now all be prompted to update the game through Steam. You will need Steam in Online mode to get this update.

You can check the version number you are currently running by looking at the 'Options' screen.

I'm having problems running the game, what should I do?

First thing you should do is update your drivers.

Please DO NOT use Windows Update to update your drivers.

Microsoft graphics drivers are not compatible with Cricket Captain 2014. You can check if your graphics drivers are provided by Microsoft by doing this:

Press Windows key + R at the same time on your keyboard
In the command box type "devmgmt.msc" (without quotes) and press enter.
Open 'Display adapters', right click on your display adapter (take a note of the name of your display adapter) and select properties.
Click on the 'Driver' tab and check the name of the provider. If you have Microsoft drivers, then please uninstall this driver (which can be done from the Driver tab described above). You can then update your drivers by doing this:

Press Windows key + R at the same time on your keyboard
In the command box type "devmgmt.msc" (without quotes) and press enter.
Open 'Display adapters', right click on your display adapter and select properties.
In the 'General' tab, look at Manufacturer:

If you have an Nvidia card then please use this link to automatically find the latest drivers for your machine: http://www.nvidia.com/Download/Scan.aspx?lang=en-us

If you have an ATI or AMD card then please use this link to automatically find the latest drivers for your machine: http://support.amd.com/en-us/download/auto-detect-tool
If you have an Intel card then please use this link to automatically find the latest drivers for your machine: http://www.intel.com/support/detect.htm?iid=dc_iduu
If you are having problems then please contact us through this page and we will be happy to help you: https://www.childishthings.com/support.php

The game starts, but all the text is white, there are no interface boxes and the game is impossible to read.

Please see the above solution.

The main menu has black lines running through it, or crashes as soon as I click on a button.

Please disable the Steam overlay:

- Right click on the game in the library.
- click properties
- un-tick 'enable the steam overlay while in-game'

I get a zoomed in resolution and can only see a part of the game menu

Open Steam and go to your Library.
Right click on Cricket Captain 2014 and select Properties
Click on Local Files and then Browse Local Files
Right click on Cricket2014.exe and select Properties
Click on Compatibility and then tick 'Disable display scaling in high DPI settings'
Click Apply and Ok.

I don't see a mouse pointer in the game

Please disable pointer trails for your mouse
Start > Control Panel > Mouse > Pointer Options tab
Uncheck the Display pointer trails box

Performance issues

If you are having issues with the performance of highlights or in other areas of the game, then please ensure that all non-essential software is turned off and update your graphics drivers. In some cases, highlights will perform better in full screen than windowed resolutions. If you are using a laptop or a PC with integrated graphics then please change your power plan to Performance.

Press Windows Start button
Open the Control Panel
Go to System and Security
Select Power Options
Select Performance

What are the system requirements?

Operating System: Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8
RAM: 1GB

How do I purchase and activate the game?

After purchasing Cricket Captain 2014 from our store you will need to do the following to get the game installed:

If you don't have Steam installed on your machine, then you can find out how to on this page:

http://store.steampowered.com/about/

Start up the Steam client on your machine and log in (you will need to create a Steam account if you haven't already).

Click on Add A Game (in the bottom left corner of the Steam client), select Activate A Product On Steam.

Click Next, (then 'I agree' if you get the Steam subscriber agreement page), enter your code and click Next.
After you've activated your code you will be offered a chance to download Cricket Captain 2014. This can also be done by clicking on Library, then Cricket Captain 2014 and Install.

Can I play on more than one machine?

Yes, after you’ve linked the game to your Steam account, all you need to do is install Steam on another machine, log-in and then you can install the game.

What If my machine isn’t connected to the internet?

You will need to connect your machine to the internet to install both Steam and Cricket Captain 2014. If your machine goes in and out of internet connection, then we advise to put Steam in Offline mode when you are in a stable connection area. The first time you run the game must be done in Online mode. We advise where possible to use Steam Online.

How can I stay up to date with the game?

Open the Steam client, click on Library, locate Cricket Captain 2014, right click on the game and select Properties. Click on Updates, open the ‘Automatic updates’ drop down menu and select ‘High Priority – Always auto-update this game ASAP’. This means that if you have updates ready for several games, Cricket Captain 2014 will take priority. Most updates will be under 10MB in size. You will need Steam to be in Online mode for updates to work.

How does the "saving to the cloud" feature work?

If you have Dropbox installed on your machines the cloud saves will work automatically once you have ticked the “Enable Dropbox” box on the options menu. If you do not have DropBox installed, you can get it from here: https://www.dropbox.com. When you save your game it will save a copy to the Dropbox. When you load, Cricket Captain will load the game with the furthest progressed in-game date between the drop-box and local copy. This means you will always be able to play the game that you have played most recently between the machines. This works between PCs, and between PC/iPhone/Android/Mac.

Will the game work on Windows tablets?

Yes, but not on Windows RT tablets.

How do I take a screenshot?

Press the F12 key, a notification should appear in the bottom right of your screen to confirm your screenshot. To view the screenshot, open the Steam client, click View from the top Toolbar and then select Screenshots. If you select “show on disk” you will be taken to the folder that stores your screenshots. You can also upload screenshots to Steam by selecting a screenshot (or several by holding the Ctrl button on your keyboard and then selecting each screenshot with a left mouse click) and selecting Upload. You can make these screenshots private or public.

I have a Netbook, can I play Cricket Captain 2014?

Yes, as long as your netbook has a 1024 x 600 resolution then the game will work

How are retired players stats stored?

Records are now stored for any player who retires that has played in international cricket. These players will appear on the player records statistics screen if you have chosen the option to view them.

How do I uninstall the software?

Open the Steam client. Go to your Library, right click on Cricket Captain 2014 and select Delete Local Content.

How do I load / Delete my saved game?

To Load: From the game main menu, choose Load game, select the saved game you wish to load and then click Load.

To Delete: From the game main menu choose Load Game and then move your mouse over the game you wish to delete so that it becomes highlighted. Press the delete key on your keyboard, you will be asked to confirm the deletion, answer yes to the question, and then the saved game will be deleted from your list.

How do I change my options from within the current game I am playing?

Choose the Menu option at the bottom left of your screen. This will give you the opportunity to change options such as Highlights Level, look at the rules and select the various Analysis options that are available. You can also change the game options from this menu as well regarding Full Screen, Highlight Sounds, Commentary and Menu Sounds. Use the option, return to match to exit the menu options and return back to your game.

How do I save my current game?

Choose the Menu option at the bottom left of your screen. This will give you the option, Save and Exit. You can choose either Save only or Save and Exit.

How can I change the options Full Screen, Menu Sound, Highlights Sound and Commentary?

You can access the options menu in two ways. Choose the options section from the game front menu or choose from within your current game the Menu option, bottom right hand corner of the screen, and then select the Options function.

Where are the saved files located?

Windows XP: C:\Documents and Settings\[USER NAME]\Application Data\Childish Things\International Cricket Captain 2014
Window Vista/7/8: C:\Users\[USER NAME]\AppData\Roaming\Childish Things\International Cricket Captain 2014

What is the history behind Cricket Captain?

The game engine for the International Cricket Captain series began as a final year project by Chris Child at Birmingham University in 1992. Writing a game was a pretty controversial idea at the time, so the project had the catchy title "Cricket Simulation". After completing an MSc and a couple of years at Logica, Chris decided that he'd like to develop the game commercially and took his dissertation to a number of companies with the idea of creating a cricket management game. The idea failed to find a receptive audience until Brian Walker, who had been working at Eidos on Championship Manager when Chris had presented the game to him, moved to Empire. Brian had liked the game, but was unable to persuade Eidos to take the plunge. A year into development, Andy Yau and Michel Bowes joined the team. Andy worked on match scheduling and interface programming, while Mich developed interface art and the 2D highlight graphics.

The first commercial release of International Cricket Captain was in 1998. The game was an instant success, reaching number one in the UK PC charts with over 50,000 sales. International Cricket Captain 2 followed the next year, with a complete re-design of the interface and game engine. The 2000 edition was the first to be released on the PlayStation as well as PC. The PC version also included network play, with the addition of fellow cricket addict Dan Thomas to the team. There were two further releases on PSOne and PC before Andy, Chris and Dan took time out to work on other projects.

Chris continued to work on improvements to the engine as a hobby while working as a lecturer at City University London and, in 2005, formed Childish Things with the intention of releasing the game with these updates included. He contacted Andy Yau and Dan Thomas who had also continued to work on the game in their spare time, Andy creating an excellent re-working of the interface and Dan keeping the network game up to date. They had thought that these developments would only be enjoyed by hard-core cricket fans who appreciated the finer nuances of the game, but it turned out to be hugely successful. It seems that the nuances and attention to detail are what Cricket Captain players appreciate about the game. The success of this, and the 2006 update, was enough to persuade Empire to invest in a new 3D highlights engine, targeted at PC, PS2 and PSP. Cricket Captain III was released in 2007 and the game continued to grow legions of fans across the globe, with over a million visitors to the Childish Things web site each year.

In 2009 Empire Interactive sadly went into administration and the future looked very bleak for a while. The game lived on, though, thanks to the help of many well-wishers in helping to buy the rights to the game before they disappeared to America. International Baseball Captain would not have had the same appeal somehow.

A new partnership with Tick Tock was started in 2012 to bring Cricket Captain on to a unified code platform, which has led to the release of Cricket Captain 2014 with a slick user interface and has laid the foundations of improvements to the 3D engine.

ABOUT CHILDISH THINGS

Childish Things have been creating cricket management titles since 1998 when International Cricket Captain first hit the shelves to wide critical acclaim. The game was an instant success, reaching number one in the UK PC charts with over 50,000 sales. The game has been refined and re-worked with incredible attention to detail, helping to capture every nuance of modern cricket. New frontiers have been opened through versions for PlayStation, PSP, iPhone and Mac, with the current version set to reach its biggest ever yearly audience.