Thursday, July 8, 2010
The big ones I want to see added are errors, injuries and a slider to make pitching accuracy harder. Here is my full list.
• Add errors to the game. It’s an integral part of baseball.
• Add injuries! Managing a roster over 162 games is much more interesting when you have to use your bench/minors more.
• Remove the auto fielding. It needs to be in the user hands more. There are a ton of great camera options for batting and pitching but only one lousy one for fielding. Please provide a more zoomed out camera like 2K9 and hopefully more than one option.
• Tone down the opposite field power. Most major leaguers pull their home runs outside of the really big hitters. Johnny Damon shouldn’t be hitting 400+ foot HRs consistently to left center.
• There is too big a difference between the contact and power swing. Contact swings don’t result in enough power.
• User pitchers need to be less accurate but most importantly, provide sliders to help adjust this.
• Fix the fatigue. The DH position should actually rest your player a little. Pinch hitters need fixing too. A guy coming off the bench for one at bat should still get some rest for the next game instead of getting tired. Furthermore, shortened seasons like 50 or 100 games need to have the fatigue formula changed to reflect that. A day off in a 50 game season should equal 1/3 a day off. Otherwise you can play the same players every day and use a two man rotation.
• Base running AI is bad. They delay too often. Futhermore, everyone needs to take off running in certain situations like 2 outs on 3-2 counts. I’d like an option for auto baserunning or at least auto stealing as I suck at stealing bases.
• Better hit variety. It improved post patch but not enough choppers or infield pop ups.
• Better cpu roster management. They take starting pitchers out too quickly in NL games and the first reliever they bring in a game is usually left in far too long. They also need to manage the bullpen better for lefty/righty matchups.
• The game would benefit tremendously from extra sliders. Sliders needed include Throwing Power and Accuracy for fielders, fielder reaction time, injuries and errors (outfield errors, booted ball errors, throwing errors), pitcher accuracy (patch improved this but still too easy to hit our spots), cpu batter aggressiveness (to help adjust how often they swing at pitches out of the zone), separate fatigue sliders for starting and relief pitchers, wild pitches/passed balls
• Please give us an option to remove the HR indicator. I don’t like how it automatically gives away whether a ball at the wall is a HR or will hit the wall. I want to remove that arrow.
• Give us easy access to more stats in the game (pitch counts, fatigue of bullpen)
• Give us the ability to save our camera angles. Just add this to the option menu. I think another great addition would be to have stadium specific default camera angles as well (http://kotaku.com/5518531/broadcast-...-2k10/gallery/)
Monday, March 29, 2010
Edit April 10th - I've dropped cpu steal success back down to 35. At 40 they steal too easily and at 35 they probably aren't successful enough. But at 35 I don't get pissed off.
Edit 2: Post patch I'm dropping fatigue from 60 to 50 and base running speed from 55 to 50. I'm also dropping user pickoff down to 30. I really like how you aren't as accurate anymore so pitching gets harder.
Edit 3: I'm finally raising throwing meter from 0 to 50. Post patch the arms are toned down and I'm simply seeing too many routine double plays not turned due to the slow time.
GAME SETTINGS
Pitcher Fatigue 50
Strike Zone Off
Batting Camera Default
Pitching Camera Pitcher 1: 1,1,10
USER BATTING
Batting Contact 35
Batting Power 40
Bunt Contact 50
Bunt Success 50
USER PITCHING
Pitch Meter Speed 85
Pitch Speed 55
Pitch Break Influence 100
Pitcher Composure Influence 30
USER - FIELDING
Throw Meter Influence 50
Fielder Speed 30
USER - RUNNING
Base Runner Speed 50
Pickoff Success 30
Catcher Throw-Out Success 50
CPU BATTING
AI Batting Contact 45
AI Batting Power 100
AI Bunt Contact 50
AI Bunt Success 50
CPU PITCHING
AI Pitch Success 60
AI Strike Zone Tendency 45
AI Pitcher Composure Influence 30
CPU FIELDING
AI Fielder Speed 25
CPU RUNNING
AI Hit' n' Run Tendency 80
AI Sacrifice Bunt Tendency 65
AI Squeeze Tendency 30
AI Base Running Aggression 75
AI Steal Aggression 60
AI Steal Success 35
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
VISUALS
Visually I don’t really care for the player models. They just look off and the way they move reminds me clearly that I’m playing a video game. Some animations are nice but often they are jerky. Just watching a player round a base looks odd as they practically make right hand turns at the bags rather than a nice arc around them. The Show certainly does a better job of making it look like a real baseball game imo.
I think the stadiums look really nice and the colours are great. The fans in the upper deck are 2D but I only really noticed that once in three games. I played at Comerica, Target Field and AT & T (SF) and the stadiums all looked very nice to me. Again, the colours do stand out to me.
I do like the camera options for hitting and pitching. I haven’t played with the options much but they are nice. My biggest beef is with the fielding camera. What happened here? I thought the fielding camera in the 2K9 demo was great as it really zoomed out on fly balls so you could track them. This is much more of a zoomed in camera that doesn’t let you track them at all. It’s far more of a broadcast camera and there doesn’t appear to be any options. I’m definitely disappointed in that.
PRESENTATION/AUDIO
I think the commentary in this game is fantastic. The presentation is also excellent and that includes the organ music throughout the game. I’ve always been a sucker for organ music at a ball game and this is good. The atmosphere seemed great to me in all three games. When Kruk was talking about Morneau he mentioned that he was a Canadian and they don’t play many games in Canada. I thought that was cool and he’s right. The focus is on hockey up here and it gets colder sooner making baseball a summer sport only.
Can I say the menu system sucks? Why do I have to use an analog stick to move around? I did get used to it over the course of the night but I’m not a big fan. It would be nice to see what hand the batters are in the lineup somehow when I warm up my pitchers. Right now you just see the lineup and have to know them on your own. I don’t know the scrubs on most teams.
When you strike out someone the game often replays the pitch sequence for the entire at bat leading up to the strikeout. I thought that was pretty cool. The end of game stuff is really nice too. You can watch the Top 3 plays of the game along with selected highlights for certain players. As cool as that is, it would have been even better if you could record them! You can only record replays immediately after they happen and you can make highlight reels. I haven’t played around with this but it would be a lot better if you could save those highlights that they have available at the end of the game.
There is a slow motion camera that I left on. I think I only saw it twice in three games so it’s not overdone and I think it looks good.
Overall the presentation is excellent.
PITCHING
This is the biggest reason I decided to go with 2K10 this year. I needed a change of pace and the r-stick pitching does not disappoint. I’d say this is easily the strength of the game and it’s done better than I thought. Right now I’m not too good with the gestures and miss my spots quite a bit. I only walked one or two batters in three games because I was giving in. The hits and runs allowed reflected that. But I was certainly not pinpointing my pitches and my pitch counts were good. CPU hitters were working the count nicely. They would also chase good pitches out of the zone and I struck out at least two batters looking.
Furthermore, if I missed the gesture it wasn’t a meatball or a wild pitch. Most often it was simply a ball. You really have to blow a gesture for it to be a wild pitch which is good. In real MLB you should only see a wild pitch about every two or three games. This part of the game is a lot of fun. I love pitching with a zoomed out look behind the pitcher and I liked the way the catcher called the game although I often took my own advice.
I’m sure Pro will get easier for me and initially I thought pitching was too easy but I certainly ended up giving up quite a few runs. I gave up 5, 11 and 9 runs in three games. In my final game I was leading 4-3 until I gave up 6 runs in the bottom of the 7th. I put most of the blame on my weak stick skills at the moment but I do think the pitchers’ composure affects them too much when rattled in this game. There is a slider for this and I really think I will reduce this affect. Other than that I’m pleasantly surprised by how well pitching is done and the strategy with setting up the hitters.
BATTING
This area is mediocre imo. 2K10 has a very different feel from the Show which isn’t necessarily bad but requires a big adjustment for me. Pitches come in much slower but your bat speed is also slower giving it a different feeling. With the Show I always dropped the pitch speed to 0 since I find it too fast (I don’t understand the Show’s weak slider system). With this game I find the default pitch speed good and I actually dropped it a touch in my last game so I could draw more pitches and pull more balls as well. The slider is VERY responsive so I’m sure people can find a speed they like. I found myself hitting most of my balls up the middle or pushing them initially. But once you get used to it you can pull balls down the line although I still find more balls go up the middle.
Hit variety is not that good. I’d say 95% of grounders are automatically scooped by the infield or super fielding pitcher and are out. I did see two or three balls sneak through the infield but it’s certainly rare. You need to hit it to the outfield if you want to get a hit. A lot of balls did go up the middle although that was early on. I would caution people to not boost the pitch speed too much as I think it may get worse that way. The timing window shrinks and it may hurt this. I did see a nice variety of foul balls while playing. I don’t have any issues with that. I had read about the lack of doubles and triples so I had reduced fielder speed to 25 for all my games and I saw a triple and a number of doubles so I think that does fix that part of it.
I think there may be too much opposite field power but I’m not so sure. I hit four home runs in the game and one was a pull, one to dead center and two to opposite field. I used the power r-swing every time. I do like the r-stick system and I’m not sure how often you will hit a HR with a contact swing. I have a feeling I would like it to be more often but I did hit a couple strong doubles in the gaps with contact. I usually tried to power swing with my bigger hitters until I got two strikes. I’ve always been a timing only hitter so this system works fine for me.
One complaint I have though is that hitting a HR is a dead giveaway. There is no suspense since an arrow sits on the wall and the announcers comment on it usually. Some home runs were barely over the wall and I didn’t like the spoilers. I also felt that some of my home runs were too much like line drives and didn’t have as much arc to them as they should.
I was looking forward to trying out the hitter’s eye but it only works with the strike zone turned on. I had it off most of the time I was playing since I prefer a more natural look and that removes this option. I did see a green ball flash one time on my screen. Is that a meatball indicator? I have no clue.
Overall hitting was fun but increased hit variety and an infield that doesn’t suck up everything is needed imo.
FIELDING
This is easily the worst part of the game and the most disappointing to me. First I am disappointed in the fielding camera and that there are no options for something else. I’d like it to zoom out more on hits to the outfield, especially pop flies. Although it probably doesn’t matter what camera angle you use since this game is pretty much an auto fielding game. This is very annoying. I feel I have little to no control over my players when making plays. Other than trying to make the occasional dive with an infielder, they are sucking up balls before I do anything. Pitchers suck up almost any ball around them too although I did have one ball get by the pitcher and infielders on a ball up the middle. The outfielders have super suction that does all the work on routine pop flies. I don’t want auto fielding with a manual throwing system. I just don’t like the way the game does this at all.
Furthermore, in three games I have yet to see a single error by either team. No throwing or fielding errors. I haven’t touched the sliders here but I will certainly have to as the default settings on pro are not good in this area.
Maybe this is a 360 issue as I don’t have a problem with the strength of the player’s arms. With the speed of the base runners I think it’s been fine. They might be too accurate but I saw plenty of players score from second to home on singles including slow ones with nobody thrown out. I know I had read complaints about fast players being gunned down at home on bloop singles but I didn’t see this at all. I did have Magglio get thrown out at first on a hard one hopper to right. It was annoying seeing the cpu even attempt the throw to first from the outfield as this is extremely rare in baseball. However, I don’t see that as an outfield arm strength problem as much as a defensive positioning problem. It seems to me that both the infield and especially the outfield play way too shallow. In MLB most outfielders play near the wall and try to guard against extra base hits. In 2K10 the right fielder seems to want to play shallow to have that quick throw to first.
GLITCHES
I have to say that I saw two bad base running errors including a glitch and both happened in one game. On a gap shot to left center the cpu had a runner on first. He was way too timid in running as though he was worried it would be caught but it wasn’t even close. The runner only ended up on third but the batter stayed at first. This was a ball that was up against the wall in left center and he could have had a cup of coffee on second. That was odd. Worse was soon after when the cpu had a runner on second and the batter also ran to second and just stopped about 15 feet short of the bag. My third basemen had the ball so I simply ran over and tagged him out. He never even moved.
OVERALL
This game is a pretty decent game. I think the player models and animations could be better but the presentation is top notch. I think the selling point of this game is the pitching system. It’s a lot of fun AND I think produces great results. Hitting is a mixed bag as the hitting variety could be better. It is hurt by the super suction infield. The fielding needs a lot of work. I’m not sure how much of that I can take after playing 50 or more games. It definitely needs to be patched to allow more user control and I would love more camera options on defence as well. So far the game has probably been about what I expected and that’s decent. Not great but not bad either. I will keep on playing this game as I had fun in the 3 ½ hours I played last night. I’ll see how much fun I will be having in a couple weeks.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Many fans of the Show will flock to the stores and buy it on day one. I won’t be one of them. I consider MLB ’09 to be the best baseball game I ever played. It wasn’t perfect but it was better than anything in the past. I expect MLB ’10 to be a great game. But will it be significantly better than ’09? Everyone will have a different opinion on that. Some of the bigger changes like catcher mode in RTTS, online leagues, franchise mode improvements or broadcast camera angles may be a big reason for someone to love ’10 much more than ’09. Those things don’t do much for me. I am looking forward to real time presentation (RTP), the fix of DH fatigue and the new Minnesota stadium. Will those improvements justify paying $60 for the game? Possibly.
How the pitch speed slider works is important to me. I have slow reflexes and play with pitch speed bottomed out. Any increase to this will hurt my enjoyment of the game. I need to ensure this hasn’t been changed for the worse for me. I won’t go back to the way ’08 played. Will I see more fielding errors than last year which were almost non-existent? I certainly hope so as it drove me nuts initially. The fielding error slider didn’t even work right last year. I’m hoping that got fixed. Until I play the game and double check that certain pet peeves are fixed I will not blindly buy this game.
Call me old and cranky but sports games are no longer automatic purchases anymore. They have to justify a new purchase with more than a few minor upgrades and a roster update. Everyone has a different opinion but mine is the one that matters when I open my wallet. And I need to see evidence before I buy.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
I left my hitting camera alone but I've pitched from the pitcher ('07 and '08) and outfield ('09) camera exclusively the last three years. This is where I've felt the most bored with the game lately. But I switched to High and I really struggled. It's a behind the batter view (which is obviously a big difference) but a bit higher up so it doesn't feel like the hitting camera I use. I was really struggling to hit my spots and that felt good. Plus the transition to the fielding camera is a bit nicer.
I think we could fix a burn out with any sports game by changing camera angles up from time to time. Your enjoyment of a game is really tied into the fun factor and preference of particular camera angles. Take heed EA and your football teams! Some people like high camera angles. Some like low ones. Some like the action zoomed in while others want a zoomed out look. Try to cater to everyone!
Saturday, April 18, 2009
From the moment Sony invited OS members out to preview the game, OS had fallen head over heels for the Sony Show team. If you make any critical comments about the game in the Show forums, be prepared for the attack by the Legion of Show defenders. If it’s not about your actual comments it could be about the tone you used. You heard me right. The way you phrase your comments can incite bigger criticism. I guess we turned into a bunch of women around here.
There have always been posters that go overboard. They might be overly critical or dramatic and often they are newbies. This happens in every forum. But those people are rejected with extreme prejudice in the Show forum. And then about ten guys will pile on using the applauding emoticon to make sure that poster never comes back. The Show forum is full of mature people but it’s evolved into an elitist forum. It’s almost snobbish at times. Much like Frasier went from drinking beer at Cheers to sipping brandy in Seattle, the Show forum is no longer for the average poster. Better check the requirements at the door to see if you are worthy to join.
I used to think the arguments between the 2K5 and Madden fanboys were the worst. Now I find the constant chirping of people who say anything negative about the Show without being constructive enough to be most annoying. You can just ignore some of these comments without making it a big deal people! Just like you can ignore this blog if you don’t like it.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
But then I started to play some games in the National League in the Show on my PS3. While the pitchers still kill rallies, the late game strategies add a lot to the game. There are few late game strategies with using your bench and managing your hitters in the AL. You set your lineup card and it doesn’t change. You might pinch hit for a specific batter-pitcher match-up in the late innings but that’s about it. In the NL, you have to decide how long you keep your starting pitcher in. Do you take him out early or leave him in to pinch hit? Do you try to squeeze another inning out of him knowing he’s due to bat the next inning or do you take him out a little earlier with a double switch? Players that can actually play multiple positions suddenly have more value. Using the double switch and managing the depth on your bench and in your bullpen offers a ton of late game strategy in the NL simply unseen in the AL.
Typically, fans tend to prefer the rules as they are for their respective leagues. In some ways I like the uniqueness of both leagues. At the very least, the host team during inter-league play should use the other league’s rules. As a Tiger fan, I want to see NL rules when Milwaukee comes to town. Let Pittsburgh use the DH when the Tigers go there. Expose the fans to the different styles of play. That would be more interesting than the status quo. I’m not sure if the DH will ever be removed but I’m leaning towards eliminating it.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Each pitch type is unique among pitchers. A slider just isn't a slider. A change up just isn't a change up. They all depend greatly on the pitcher who's throwing them. For example, Bonderman throws a really hard slider that has a lot of break but doesn't dip much. Galaragga throws a slider but it is slower without as much break and also dips more. The break and velocity of each pitch is unique for many of your pitchers. Trying to sneak a 90 mph fastball by a great hitter is far more difficult than one traveling 98 mph. You really have to learn each of your pitchers and know how each pitch behaves. Its one reason I think many people struggle initially with pitching in the Show. They don't know their pitchers well enough. As your season goes along, you will probably see improvement.
Pitch location also affects the amount of break on a pitch. The further away from your body you throw a sweeping type of breaking ball (slider, sweeping curve), the more break it will have. For example, a RHP trying to throw a slider on the inside corner to a RHB won't see a lot of break on the pitch. You only need to back the cursor off the plate a little. But if you are trying to nail the outside corner to a RHB, you better start the cursor on the inside part of the plate because it will have twice as much break to it. Just be careful you don't hang it. In that situation, accuracy can be tough so err on the side of a ball and not a meatball. Furthermore, don’t just pound the same location over and over and over. The cpu will key on that so make sure to mix it up. Some chin music never hurt anyone. Don't forget that the ball marker is the breakpoint and not the final destination on pitches.
The Show also ranks the pitcher's pitches in a counter-clockwise manner. Their best pitch is X (normally a fastball). The next best pitch is O, then Triangle, Square and R1. Even though your pitcher may have five pitches, you shouldn't be using them equally. Stick with your bread and butter stuff for the most part. Mix in your 4th and 5th pitches once in awhile to keep hitters off balance but don't use them in crucial situations. You really need to pitch to your pitcher's strengths rather than stick to the same routine no matter who is taking the mound that day. There is a reason major leaguers throw a lot of fastballs - it's because they are effective and reliable. Don't try to throw a big curve with three balls on a batter - try to stick to pitches that you have a little more control over.
The Show also throws users another curveball in how they differentiate throwing from the Mound vs. the Stretch. Not a big deal for Classic Pitching but it adds a totally different timing system for Meter. It ties the speed of the meter to the individual pitching animation and you better learn it or suffer the consequences. Some players have quicker deliveries than others.
We also have to realize that we can't just throw "get it over pitches" if we want to succeed on the higher difficulty levels. Walks happen in real life because pitchers don't want to give in to hitters and not just because they lack control. You don't just lay one in to David Wright because it's 3-2 and you don't want to walk him. It's better to try and hit your spots against almost any batter than just serve up a meatball to avoid a walk. This year's game features a more potent cpu offense that really takes advantage of mistakes.
Lastly, the confidence meter is important. Both from an overall standpoint and an individual standpoint. When the overall confidence is low, use a mound visit to see if you can regain confidence as low confidence really hurts your accuracy. Try to avoid throwing pitches that are low in individual confidence as well. Throw your weak pitches to weaker hitters in early counts to build a pitch back up. Stick to your good stuff in tough spots. Fastballs are less likely to lead to wild pitches as well, particularly when your confidence is down. If you are struggling and you go with the 4th pitch curveball in your repertoire, don’t curse the TV when you see a wild pitch. Blame yourself.
Overall there are a lot of great things that deal with pitching in the Show. From the strategy to the execution, the Show is excellent in this regard.
Monday, March 2, 2009
A number of big things caught my attention in this book.
q Stealing bases was too risky as outs were very valuable and shouldn’t be given away.
q Sacrifice bunting was an overall negative to the production of runs.
q On base percentage is under valued (at least at the time of writing). The combination of OPS (on base plus slugging) is a great formula for giving value to players. However, the formula could still be improved.
Personal Quest to Validate
As a statistician who uses regression analysis and analyses statistics all the time, I wanted to use baseball stats to validate some of the conclusions in the book. I wanted to see how easy it was to manipulate these results and see for myself. The nice thing about baseball stats is that you can get great results using simple models. Things are generally linear when looking at team stats. I took a look at every team’s stats from 2001 to 2008 to see how these years might relate to the stats used in Moneyball.
Stealing Bases
One of the biggest things Billy Beane made clear in Moneyball was that the stolen base was over-rated and was too risky to be used if you want to maximize your run totals. He estimated that the stolen base percentage had to be 70% just to break even. Any less than that and you hurt yourself. From 2001 to 2008 both AL and NL teams stole at very similar frequencies and the overall stolen base percentage was 70%.
I ran a regression analysis to predict run totals in MLB. Using walks, strikeouts, singles, doubles, triples, HRs, stolen bases, caught stealing as well as both sacrifice flies and sacrifice bunts, I come up with a simple formula that gives weight to each variable. This formula actually indicates that the break-even point was actually 75%. That means most teams were hurting themselves by stealing rather than increasing their run totals. The number actually is higher in the American League (AL) if you run the study separately. AL clubs break-even point is just above 80%. Only 6 teams out of 112 achieved this in the AL over this time period. Those clubs should listen to Billy Beane. Stealing bases is risky but it’s especially risky in the AL.
Sacrifice Bunting
This is a bit of a gray area. In general, sacrifice bunting appears to have a negative impact on scoring runs. This shows up in the formula and indicates that is costs you almost 0.34 runs per at bat when used. Just looking at the formula scoring chart developed by Carl Morris (see below) we can make at least one basic deduction of the simple sacrifice bunt. Many times a manager uses the sacrifice bunt to move the runner from first base with nobody out to second base. They are willing to sacrifice one out in order to score one run. The chart indicates that the average number of runs scored in a man on first, nobody out scenario is 0.907 runs. With a runner on 2nd base and one out, the average run total drops to 0.720 runs. And we are also assuming that the sacrifice bunt is very successful.
Hardball Times (http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/ar...eet-surrender/) writes a great article on this and notes that the sacrifice bunt is actually useful in some scenarios. It’s usually a good risk when you only need one run and there is nobody out. Other than that it’s a bad idea. This is based on the fact that late in the game (bottom of the 9th in a tie game), teams aren’t concerned about maximizing run totals. The only thing that matters is minimizing the odds of not scoring at all. In these scenarios, it’s actually still a good thing. Middle of the game scenarios would seem to make little sense to perform sacrifices.
OPS
The reliance on OBP (on base percentage), Slugging percentage and OPS (on base plus slugging) is evident in the book. The Oakland A’s value these as not only good things (who doesn’t) but that some of these things, particularly OBP, are under valued and therefore something to exploit and take advantage of. The A’s couldn’t afford the fast players or the huge home run hitters so they chose to find bargains in areas that could really help the team.
My one problem with some of the reliance on these stats is that these stats are fundamentally flawed when determining the true value of players. OBP weights everything the same. Slugging percentage uses a very simple total base formula. Is a double worth two singles? A home run worth four singles or is the relationship a bit more complex? The weights used in slugging percentage are actually pretty good although singles are over valued by the formula I come up with. There is no doubt OPS is significant. A team’s OPS is extremely correlated with runs scored. But if we really want to come up with a stat to measure player worth, shouldn’t stolen bases and strikeouts also factor in? While stolen bases are very risky, some great base stealers ARE worth it. Furthermore, a strikeout is considered a sin to Billy and also shows up as a significant negative in the computer. Paul DePodesta claimed that one point of .obp was three times the value of slugging percentage but I didn’t see any evidence of this. I would love to know how he calculated that statistic.
An average strikeout to walk ratio is 2.3:1. A strikeout is damaging so reducing them is important. A walk is almost as good as a single while a double is worth around two singles. Home runs are worth almost 5 times a single – not just 4 times as slugging percentage uses. In any event, using the numbers for walks, strike outs, singles through home runs as well as stolen bases and caught stealing, I come up with a personal overall value indicator stat (OVI). It’s not really simple but here are the Top 45 OVI guys in baseball based on their 2008 season. More weight is given to extra base hits while strikeouts are a negative.
No matter what system you use, Albert Pujols put up fantastic numbers in 2008. Some guys don’t look as good on the OVI compared to OPS. Milton Bradley (4 to 12), Josh Hamilton (16 to 24) and Adam Dunn (17 to 28) don’t fare as well near the top. Other players like Carlos Beltran (33 to 19), Grady Sizemore (31 to 22) and Nate McClouth (53 to 32) jump up nicely. Once you get outside the Top 10 players, the numbers do become much closer and arguments are much smaller. The biggest jump is clearly from Pujols to everyone else.
Code:
RK OPS RK OVI PLAYER TEAM BA OBP SLG OPS OVI 1 1 Albert Pujols STL 0.357 0.462 0.653 1.114 0.707 2 2 Chipper Jones ATL 0.364 0.470 0.574 1.044 0.623 3 3 Manny Ramirez BOS/LAD 0.332 0.430 0.601 1.031 0.618 8 4 Carlos Quentin CHW 0.288 0.394 0.571 0.965 0.607 5 5 Lance Berkman HOU 0.312 0.420 0.567 0.986 0.600 9 6 Mark Teixeira LAA/ATL 0.308 0.410 0.552 0.962 0.591 7 7 Alex Rodriguez NYY 0.302 0.392 0.573 0.965 0.588 6 8 Ryan Ludwick STL 0.299 0.375 0.591 0.966 0.578 15 9 Aubrey Huff BAL 0.304 0.360 0.552 0.912 0.575 10 10 Kevin Youkilis BOS 0.312 0.390 0.569 0.958 0.571 11 11 Matt Holliday COL 0.321 0.409 0.538 0.947 0.569 4 12 Milton Bradley TEX 0.321 0.436 0.563 0.999 0.564 12 13 Hanley Ramirez FLA 0.301 0.400 0.540 0.940 0.563 14 14 Chase Utley PHI 0.292 0.380 0.535 0.915 0.562 13 15 David Wright NYM 0.302 0.390 0.534 0.924 0.558 20 16 Brian McCann ATL 0.301 0.373 0.523 0.896 0.557 23 17 Ryan Braun MIL 0.285 0.335 0.553 0.888 0.557 22 18 Ian Kinsler TEX 0.319 0.375 0.517 0.892 0.552 33 19 Carlos Beltran NYM 0.284 0.376 0.500 0.876 0.548 27 20 Jermaine Dye CHW 0.292 0.344 0.541 0.885 0.548 24 21 Miguel Cabrera DET 0.292 0.349 0.537 0.887 0.544 31 22 Grady Sizemore CLE 0.268 0.374 0.502 0.876 0.543 25 23 Vladimir Guerrero LAA 0.303 0.365 0.521 0.886 0.543 16 24 Josh Hamilton TEX 0.304 0.371 0.530 0.901 0.543 32 25 Alfonso Soriano CHC 0.280 0.344 0.532 0.876 0.541 18 26 Aramis Ramirez CHC 0.289 0.380 0.518 0.898 0.540 21 27 Jason Bay BOS/PIT 0.286 0.373 0.522 0.895 0.538 17 28 Adam Dunn CIN/ARI 0.236 0.386 0.513 0.898 0.535 41 29 Carlos Delgado NYM 0.271 0.353 0.518 0.871 0.534 35 30 Pat Burrell PHI 0.250 0.367 0.507 0.875 0.533 28 31 Ryan Howard PHI 0.251 0.339 0.543 0.881 0.532 53 32 Nate McLouth PIT 0.276 0.356 0.497 0.853 0.531 44 33 Dustin Pedroia BOS 0.326 0.376 0.493 0.869 0.529 39 34 Justin Morneau MIN 0.300 0.374 0.499 0.873 0.527 34 35 Jason Giambi NYY 0.247 0.373 0.502 0.876 0.527 26 36 Andre Ethier LAD 0.305 0.375 0.510 0.885 0.526 38 37 Evan Longoria TAM 0.272 0.343 0.531 0.874 0.525 30 38 Prince Fielder MIL 0.276 0.372 0.507 0.879 0.520 49 39 Curtis Granderson DET 0.280 0.365 0.494 0.858 0.518 60 40 Jose Reyes NYM 0.297 0.358 0.475 0.833 0.517 40 41 Adrian Gonzalez SDG 0.279 0.361 0.510 0.871 0.515 47 42 Jim Thome CHW 0.245 0.362 0.503 0.865 0.514 51 43 Troy Glaus STL 0.270 0.372 0.483 0.856 0.511 37 44 Joey Votto CIN 0.297 0.368 0.506 0.874 0.510 67 45 Mike Jacobs FLA 0.247 0.299 0.514 0.812 0.507 46 46 Xavier Nady NYY/PIT 0.305 0.357 0.510 0.867 0.505 19 47 Nick Markakis BAL 0.306 0.406 0.491 0.897 0.504 52 48 Brian Giles SDG 0.306 0.398 0.456 0.854 0.504 84 49 Jimmy Rollins PHI 0.277 0.349 0.437 0.786 0.503 43 50 Magglio Ordonez DET 0.317 0.376 0.494 0.869 0.502
I loved this book. It's great food for thought and I know I will think twice about wanting the Tigers to be a better base stealing team. Forget manufacturing runs. Chicks did the long ball!
Saturday, February 28, 2009
1. Real time presentation.
This really is a great thing. I really prefer in time zoom ins and cutscenes instead of the cut scenes the way the Show does it. Furthermore, the commentary is a true two man booth. The Show needs to add more dialogue between the announcers and not just independent commentary.
2. Dynamic and improved camera angles.
I love the fielding camera in 2K9. It zooms in and out, up and down depending where the ball is hit. I'm a big fan. Many times you can actually see the ball the entire time on fly balls to the outfield. The Show needs to do this in addition to letting us set the zoom options and angles on their current cameras. I really like the default pitching camera on 2K9 as well.
3. Analog throwing, improved fielding controls.
I really love how you have TOTAL control of your throws. The Show still takes too much control away from the player at times. I'm ok with certain fielding animations but the quickness and strength of my throws needs to be more manually driven.
4. R-Stick controls.
While I'm not a huge fan of them I do find the fielding can be fun. Either way, some gamers love this aspect and 2K9 gives you both options while the Show does not. No reason not to add this for next year.
5. Base runner awareness.
I saw a base runner in the 2K9 demo actually run off the base path to avoid a tag. They just run into the fielder in the Show. This needs to be improved along with adding an option where we can have a truly assisted base running option. The cpu can do basic running options while we choose all of the stolen bases and can override the cpu decisions on the base paths if we want.
6. Fouls off the batter.
I just don't see this in the Show but I have seen it in the 2K9 demo. A nice little touch.
7. Player Introductions
Both games talk about one player at the beginning of the name but 2K still flashes down the order showing everyone's face and stats. The Show used to announce everyone but 2K's way of doing this is better.
Overall I do really like the 2K9 demo. Maybe because it's a fresh change but it's a lot of fun even if it's not the sim that the Show is.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Well, this demo really surprised me as to how much better it was than last year. The game looks great, the player models look good, the lighting looks good and it just seems almost impossible to believe that the game could be this much better looking than the piece of crap I downloaded last year. The player faces aren’t the best but overall I was impressed. The frame rate was fine. Some choppiness in some animations but nothing like last year’s disaster. The game looked good.
I really like the real time presentation. I think both the Show and 2K9 have great announcers although I do think the commentary in 2K9 does a really good job of making it feel like a true two man booth with Thorne and Phillips actually communicating with one another. The Show’s threesome is great and isn’t very repetitive after many games but you don’t get the feeling that they are aware of each others’ presence. I saw fans go for foul balls in the stands, which is nice. I know some people were bitching about the organ but having never gotten sick of it I like it. I’ve always been a sucker for organ music at ball games.
The other thing I really liked was the fielding camera. I liked how it was dynamic, staying low on plays in the infield and getting deep and high on fly balls. I got the feeling that I could track down fly balls without a marker since I could still usually see the ball. The Show really needs to add something like this. On deep home runs you can’t follow the ball but I do like this angle. The camera does make it hard to judge how high a ball is hit to the outfield but overall I thought this was a real positive.
It is a shame though that the demo has virtually no options other than substitutions. I’d have liked to play with the camera angles, especially the batting one since I didn’t like it that much but what can you do. I know some people love r-stick pitching and hitting but I don’t. The default controls were simple though and really felt more like a button system so I didn’t mind it. I do know the retail version will have two or three options for people. I have no clue how to hit a cutoff man and I think at the end of three games I might know how to run the bases but I really didn’t care. I just wanted a taste of the game and the demo did that. I don’t like the ball trails or the dust balls kicked up by players either.
I never noticed any fielding glitches or problems that people were saying but I only played nine innings. I saw balls get over outfielders heads, drop in between players and I saw Rollins hit a ball into the right field corner that was easily a double and he almost could have taken third on me. The outfield feels huge although the camera angle may be fooling me a little. I do think the outfielders look really slow out there but the net result was a nice amount of extra base hits. I did notice an abundance of errors though.
Pitching to the cpu felt very arcade like on the default settings. How much I suck at the game or don’t know the game makes it hard to judge. Plus sliders might fix this but in three games I think I saw the cpu take 1 or 2 pitches. At least on the default demo settings I don’t think many hardcore gamers would consider this a sim. But I did find it fun. I lost all three games (two as Philly) 6-2, 6-1 and 2-1. I saw plenty of HRs as well – too much imo.
While I didn’t like the hitting angle, I did like the feeling of hitting. Things felt good to me and I actually liked it better than the Show. I’m a terrible hitter in the Show and often my timing sucks. I was better here and I liked it. I never tried to influence any hits so I have no clue how that works or not. Even though I never scored a ton of runs, I did enjoy hitting. Having the same bat sound effect on every type of hit from a blooper to a home run is disappointing though. Maybe they can patch that.
Overall, I’m a newbie to 2K baseball and have bought the Show the last three years. I only buy one baseball game and that will be the Show ’09 this year as well. On the default settings, 2K9 felt too arcadey to me although maybe different difficulty settings and slider adjustments would fix it. Plus I only played nine innings and still suck. I have no clue as to how the AI will hold up in this game over the long haul but I did have fun playing the demo. It honestly was better than I ever expected and I think next year could be a really good alternative to the Show. But for this year I’ll stick with the game that I know well. The Show is a seasoned veteran while 2K is the brash up and coming rookie that still lacks some polish. One more year and I think the 2K vs. Show debates could approach crazy levels.
Friday, February 6, 2009
Graphics
The player models looks the same although the angles and displays in the game seem either slightly zoomed in or out. Things seem a little different from ’08. The pitcher camera angle is quite a bit different though. I think it’s zoomed in more or something and I don’t like it as much but I just switched to the outfield camera, which was better. The lighting is certainly noticeable and beautiful on the press box home run angles. The lighting does affect your hitting. I found the first inning to be a bit tough to pick up Kazmir’s pitches because of the shadows.
I saw quite a few new fielding animations as well. I saw a jump and throw from the second basement that I don’t think I’ve seen before. I saw the cpu right fielder get to the wall slowly on a ball in the corner and wait patiently for the bounce. Seemed new.
One concern I had though is that the frame rate isn’t smooth on the batter vs. pitcher screen (the fielding screens were fine). The pitching motion of Hamels and the ball being delivered to the plate stutters a bit. I’m hoping this is a demo issue and won’t be in the final version. Kind of reminds me of the ’06 to ’07 PS2 frame rate issues that some saw and others didn’t. I got used to it and it wasn’t horrible but I noticed this immediately. Not a game killer or anything but something worth mentioning.
The new replay angles are good. I’ve already heard quite a bit of new commentary as well. I think the crowd was chanting MVP for Jimmy Rollins so I can’t wait to make some Tiger ones. I’ve ordered a cheap headset for the PS3 just to do it!
Stat glitch concern – I hope it’s the demo but the league leaders for ERA posted was for ’07 and not ’08 when they were talking about Hamels. It’s probably been fixed already but after some overlay issues last year it’s a small concern. It would have been nice if the demo let us look at the box scores as well but it’s just a demo. No subs, bullpens or even a quit option but beggars can’t be choosers!
All of my comments are pretty much from default All-Star. I lost 5-2 in 7 innings with Philly, lost 6-0 with Philly, won 3-0 with Philly, lost 1-0 with the Rays and then was leading 1-0 after one inning with Philly this morning before I had to shut it off. The only changes I made were to drop pitch speed to 0 (all the way to the left) and after one game I dropped user pitch control to 0. Everything else on default for sliders anyway which have some very nice explanations.
Fielding
In 20 innings I don’t think I saw a single fielding error by either side. Small sample size or does this echo Pared’s comments about not seeing enough? I did see two or three throwing errors though. I’d be curious to know how many errors in the infield are due to misplays vs. throwing errors in real life. The outfielders arms seem to be too inaccurate. I had 3 or 4 throws to either third or home from medium depth and some throws were way off (one was off by about 15 feet). Again, such a short time with the game that I don’t know if this is an issue or not. Right now I would say I might start playing with the sliders this weekend – bump up fielder errors for sure and possibly knock down throwing errors.
I saw some back handed tries and reaches for balls in the infield where the infielder just didn’t get there. I like this as last year anything near a fielder was probably scooped up so their range has been toned down to more realistic levels.
Also, on balls up the middle they give you the control of the nearest infielder longer (even though you can’t reach it) so I don’t dive with my CF so stupidly like the last couple of years. I’ve only seen this twice but it seems to be improved.
Pitching
Pitching seemed fairly similar on Classic for me. User control was a little too good initially and I dropped my control to 0 after one game. It feels similar to last year and I think it does a good job. One thing that is better on default is the cpu hitters. They chase more pitches out of the zone (realistic imo) but also hit a little better. I’ve given up 12 runs in 19 innings pitched so it seems good so far (I screwed up in the 6-0 loss).
The ball marker seems to dance around a lot more than in ‘08 when I’m trying to locate it. That probably helps keep the user from pinpointing the pitches too much.
I briefly tried meter pitching for a total of two pitches. I’ve grown to really like the randomness of Classic and the fact it looks more natural than having a meter over the player’s head. However, the meter felt a lot harder than before which is good. I don’t think I’m that rusty but my two pitch attempts were horrible.
One cool thing was the ability to hit select in the pitcher vs. batter duel and you can hit square to see the pitch speed of all of the pitcher’s pitches. That was a nice, new touch.
Hitting
This was my biggest beef with ’08 and is a very personal topic that might not affect others. The pitch speed was too fast resulting in pathetic walk totals, being late on almost every fastball, seeing too many opposite field home runs and just led to me getting really frustrated with ’08 over time. This is MUCH better in the demo! Yes!!
I dropped pitch speed down to 0 and it took some getting used to. I definitely have more time at the plate which helps my pitch selection and I have drawn 2 or 3 walks already. Against a guy like Kazmir in ’08 I probably would have taken only 10% of his pitches and been late on his 95 mph fastball all the time. Now I’m taking about 30% of his pitches and turning on some pitches. The good thing is that the speed difference in the off speed stuff still fools me so I still suck at hitting and getting runs. I have seen a couple opposite field home runs (not unrealistic really) but I really turned on a pitch this morning and drove it over the left field fence. The press box replay camera was sweet!
One of the big reasons it’s easier to turn on pitches is that the bat speed is much quicker through the zone in ’09. I can swing later but still pull pitches because my bat speed is faster. I don’t know if that’s tied into batter attributes or not but it’s clearly noticeable for me.
After getting used to the slower pitch speed and having a quicker bat I thought I would actually score a few more runs but it hasn’t happened yet. They have made a couple things tougher, which I like. Last year I was the king of the check swing. But this year it is tougher. Nemesis has been commenting on this and I completely agree that it’s a realistic and good thing. Good luck checking your swing with the pitcher!
Furthermore, the plate coverage of the bat seems smaller. When the cpu pitcher would hit the corners I would often swing through a pitch (I rely completely on timing on All-Star). Less foul balls too. In my one game with the Rays I only managed two hits but I think I’m adjusting to the changes in the hitting system and I will explode soon! Either way, much less frustrating for me this year!
Umping
I like how they announce the umpires and they will have variable strike zones. We’ll have to see how this plays out in the final version. I think they redid some ump animations as well. There was a punch out at first that looked really good.
Overall
This is the Show. If people expected a radically different game they might be disappointed. The changes made or evolutionary and not revolutionary which is to be expected. It’s largely the same game as ’08 with many subtle changes and fixes that will make ’09 much better for me. The problem with a baseball game is that you have to play many, many games to really see the differences in an engine. There is no way to really know how good or bad a baseball game is after only 20 innings or possibly 200 innings. But I’ll be playing this demo for awhile and ’08 is history! I will be trading that baby in to EB Games next week for my ’09 pre-order. The demo will hold me over until then.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Updated Tuesday at 3:30 pm.
IMPRESSIONS
-----------------------
Nemesis (#1363 on Sabathia's delivery)
He looked much better!
KolbeSCEA (#1365 on flags in the wind)
To the 3 folks to PM'd me about the flags (and the fair amount of you in this thread asking)
Yes the flags blow in the direction of the wind
Yes they blow varying amounts based on the velocity of the wind
-Kolbe
Jim (#1389)
Well, I know that, and I'm gonna butcher the spelling of his name, Smardjiza???? (actually Stockman) for Atlanta had a full head of hair and down to his collar. They did a mound visit and I commented that he looked like a giant and I think it was Knight who said the guy is probably 6'9" or something.
Knight (#1410)
There are day games and night games.
Day games I believe will be daylight the entire length. The shadows are incredible....and you can have Sunny...partly cloudy and overcast. They all look great.
The night games...I believe depending on time of year may start in the light/dusk...with the lights just coming on and then by a certain inning it is completely dark with full lighting effect from the stadium lights.
I don't know if it's real time or inning by inning though.
Oh...and I'm VERY happy to be wrong about not being able to play EVERY game on the schedule. The way I check was to pick the last game and then look at the others....and they were simmed....if you do them in order...you're good to go for them all! (thanks dorismary for relaying that info from Kolbe! )
Jim (#1431 on putting down the controller and seeing some funny stuff without pausing)
We did this, and still funny stuff, new stuff too. Saw some mascot stuff, etc.
Knight (#1435)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Drew127
Well, according to what Knight said on the previous page, he is pretty sure that it varies based on time of year. So what I took from that is that early/late season games will start closer to or in the dark, which would be freaking cool.
Please don't kill me if I'm wrong.
It was sensory bombardment there and I'm going by what I think it was. I didn't write it down as I wasn't thinking along these lines.
Maybe Chris or Kolbe can pop in and tell us exactly how it is with this so nobody gets disappointed(or killed)
I wish I would have looked at the playoff games more closely for this also as when I was going in there...I was more looking for the stadium being dressed up and any new commentary to start the game. .....again...sorry.
Knight (#1436)
Also....I believe that tomorrow (Tuesday) is another blog.
I have a COUPLE of little tidbits on the area being discussed.
They will probably cover it in the blog...but I've got the answers to a couple of questions if it's not in there.
Knight (#1439 on seeing the greatest mascot)
Yep...Mr Met is hilarious....
....and you Brewers fans are going to be very happy this year!
Tuesday, 8:30 AM
Knight (#1446 on franchise control)
Quote:
Originally Posted by SoxChamp
Did anyone happen to look and see if CPU Roster Control can be turned on and off during a Franchise? This is always one thing that had bugged me to no end. Most of the time, I enjoy letting things play out in my own little fantasy world. It doesn't bother me if the Cards sign "Bob Smith" from the FA list for some bench help. But when a major, major deal goes down (Manny to the Dodgers, anyone?), I want to be able to jump in, make the change, and jump back out again. It frustrates me that this handy little roster control feature is an all or nothing deal, with no middle ground.
I doubt it .
I'm with you on this....and I wish it would have been in the question thread...I definitely would have looked.
Jim (#1457)
the roster control ON is in the same options window it was last year and advises you that a bunch of stuff is turned off. I saw no way to turn it back off, but I didn't look, but (but again, lol), I highly doubt it.
Jim (#1461 on regular season crowd atmosphere)
I can tell you they were booing me as the Padres in Petco, even though I struck Knight out 17 times, I lost. I hit into four or five double plays.
Knight (#1465 on crowd atmosphere)
I gotta be honest.....it was tough to hear in that room. 5 monitors going and guys yelling...laughing....asking/answering questions.
I actually found out about the playoff commentary and info by asking the guy in charge of audio.
So I can't really say except that Soup's voice seemed to come through the "din" more so I heard him being less repetitive. Crowd stuff was tough to pick up.
Jim (#1466 on different pitch movements for different pitchers)
Quote:
3. Do all the sliders look alike. In real baseball some guys have a slider with more downward tilt in 08 they were all 3-8, 3-9 sliders vs say Jobas which is like 2-8, 3-6 type.
I can't specifically tell you about sliders, but, in general I can tell you what Nemesis and I were saying about the way the ball breaks when we played a game against one another.
And I quote....."Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh, yeah!" (put two big smiles at the end of that)
Knight (#1469)
Quote:
Originally Posted by MaverickisBack
This thread is getting HUGE. I left for work this morning I think it was on page like 100...its ballooned to what 140+. But anyway here is my question for the boys. Btw...if you cant answer this...please let me know vs not responding. I dont want to waste time by asking it again.
1. What are your opininons on the catcher calling the game (can you shake off the catcher. Will Posada call for alot of low sinkers from Wang and cutters in from Mariano? Will they stay away from pitches that you have less confidence in?)
2. I know you guys arent a big fan of guess pitch (neither am I, I turn feedback off) but did they modify this at all so it doesnt give away fastballs as easy.
3. Do all the sliders look alike. In real baseball some guys have a slider with more downward tilt in 08 they were all 3-8, 3-9 sliders vs say Jobas which is like 2-8, 3-6 type.
Answers
1. The way it's done is very nice. Very clear....great touch. I followed it to the tee in legend games. Maybe a bit more FB than I would like....but you can shake them off.(also...there is no specific attribute for the catcher in regards to calling a game....I will be asking for this for '10)
2. Maybe someone else can comment on guess pitch. I don't use it.
3. I definitely saw all kinds of breaking balls....there will be more info on this.
Also....it is our free time(to the guy who asked! )
Knight (#1474 and 1475 on catchers calling the game)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bronk_Bonin
So someone like Varitek doesn't call a better game than say Josh Bard would? Do you know what factors go into the pitch calling? Do they focus on the cold zone of the hitters? Do they set up outside the zone on 0-2?
I couldn't tell you the logic. I'm going to guess based on hitter/pitcher match up.
If there is one thing that I've learned from this event....Brian (the lead A.I. dev) does his homework and the logic he does put in there is from TONS of research.
....and yes...they expand the zone....
Knight (#1477)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bronk_Bonin
When playing Legend mode did you guys pitch with or face any #4-5 starters or were you using strictly "aces" when playing? If you did use bottom of the rotation guys could you tell the difference between the pitchers (pure stuff and location)?
Yes....
You can even tell the difference between the FRONT line #1's and the lower tier #1's from team to team.
I used a sinker pitcher against my game against Jim.....it's got bite that's for sure. I induced 4 DP's in that game(it killed him! ) and probably many, many more ground ball outs. Worked great!(and although I hate to admit it...Jim's got some serious baseball knowledge and works the game pretty darn good)
Knight (#1481 on Legend mode)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bronk_Bonin
Do any of you guys envision yourselves playing a season/franchise on Legend or do you see that mode being more of a "occasional, let's see if I can handle these guys tonight in exhibition type mode?" From the sounds of it, a 162 game schedule on this mode would caue the blood pressure to go through the roof.
It's funny...but we(the O.S. guys) discussed this.
Every pitch...every single pitch needs total concentration. No more just slinging one in and thinking you'll get your out.
I don't know...God Bless you if you do play a full season on Legend.
Jim (#1485 on using Legend in a franchise)
I'm afraid I might get discouraged when I get out of the gate 0-32.
It's tough, but good tough, if you know what I mean.
Russell_SCEA (on when screenshots will be posted, 10:26 Monday pm)
I'm working on it now hopefully I can start posting them tonight
9 am
Knight (#1501 on varying fan attendance)
Actually, this was in '08.(the attendance based on record)
I'm sure it will be in '09. It was dependent on...I believe...1. your teams record...2 the opposing teams record and lastly a "rivalry".
Jim (#1516 on if Legend feels scripted or cheated when that difficult)
It feels like you're a minor leaguer trying to play in the majors. There is absolutley nothing scripted feeling about it at all. You'll see soon, I hope.
Knight (#1525 on batting practice and not being able to discuss it yet)
(at least I think so...that's why I didn't mention it. It's pretty cool though
)Note - it looks like they can't talk about the pitching meter either yet (#1527)
Knight (#1535 on NDA)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Yankees94
Knight, when will you be able to tell us about bp and all that fancy new stuff?
It's not like I'm holding back a ton of info.
I do have a few items on a couple of more new things and modes...but we have to wait until after the developer blogs.
That's fair, right!
After all...it is THEIR hard work!
Jim (#1553 on people needing patience with the screenshots)
No problem, strange that someone brand new posts that. Sounded like a troll, if not, it's all cool. But it wouldn't be the first time. Hell, I think I took most of the screens and I want to see them, too. Knight only took 4, lol. I think I took close to 40.
Russell_SCEA (#1563 on screenshots being released soon causing pandemonium)
Give me 5 minutes and they will be up
Knight (#1605 on user stats)
Quote:
Originally Posted by vernond
while we're waiting here, jim or knight did you guys happen to find out if the user profile was fixed this year for keeping accurate stats?
I didn't.
Russell_SCEA (#1625)
Taking a little longer than expected so chew on this.
Screenshot posted here (page 82 on 20 per page, page 163 I'm assuming if using 10 posts per page)
Jim (#1640 on the lack of noticeable duplicates in the crowd in '09)
It is very hard to pick out duplicates when the game is in motion, believe me.
SCREENSHOTS posted by Russell_SCEA - #1625, 1669, 1682
Jim (#1701)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Scottdau
I don't care what anybody says the PLAYERS MODELS in this game are freaking SWEET! How about Jimmy with the shades on!!!!
They really worked on textures, the uniform textures, etc.
Russell_SCEA (#1702 on screenshots)
Aight guys the mother load is on the way Start the countdown I will start another thread because there is just way to many pics.
T MINUS 5............4.........................3.......... ....2............
P.S. Everyone can thank Kolbe for making this happen tonight
Knight (#1738 on transitional lighting)
By the way...just got confirmation on the transitional lighting.
Games early in the year do start in the dusk and then transition into full night...
Games later in the season start in full dark ...
Kolbe is checking on the playoff question....I'm gonna guess they will start in full dark...the only question that will remain is....do all the playoff games start at night?!
So that's good news!
Pared (#446 answering the following questions in questions thread)
1 Are there weather ?
NO.
2 Are there the overcast etc ?
YES
3 Are there the temperature hot cold ?
YES
4 can we change the jerseys of each team before the match ?
YES
Monday, February 2, 2009
Community Leader Answers Only
------------------------
Pared (#1240 on sliders working and a ton of other stuff)
I think they all worked well. Jim and Nem both messed with them.
As far as the catcher calling the game - unbelievably awesome. The only thing I did NOT like (very minor) is the catcher would heavily rely on the fastball early on in the game no matter the pitcher. As the game went on you saw a lot more off-speed stuff. You could see the fingers very clearly.
The Pitcher cam got some work while the Outfield cam looks as great as ever.
BTW, Joe, it's obvious what game you're excited for but I addressed your complaint from last year where "Zambrano doesn't hold his glove high enough" with the man in charge. So that's one less complaint you can have this year.
As far as stances, reading the constant negative comments must be tiring for the devs. Some of you haven't even seen them and you're still lamenting what was in '08. I saw a very good handful of new stances (I've already raved about Span; again, looked absolutely incredible) and pitching motions. Nem. Beat me to Cheeseburger Cheeseburger Sabathia... Hamels, Santana, Rollins, Youkilis... I saw enough that made you say "wow that's a new stance." They were extremely well done. As far as accuracy, they were accurate enough for me but I'm sure guys will find gripes, much like the Pujols stance comments made previously. I understand your sentiments, though, as I had a minor gripe about Wright (since he was correct before HE did his actual mo-cap, funny enough) and got that fixed.
Now, the bad news about it. This doesn't bother ME... but I will go as far as to say the stances are so well done and animated that some of the players that DON'T have drastic movements look a little stale. SCEA is obviously stepping up their game with the new ones... and that's making the older ones look drastically... well, old. The Mets did not have updated stances and it was tough playing as them since I was seeing so much joy and goodness out of the new ones. I understand "no one that made the trip cares anything about battings stances" or however you want to put it, but the new stances made me a believer, as I wanted to keep playing different teams to keep seeing new ones. Legend mode held me back from doing that though. Blame the SCEA guys. I even tapped out one game (with the impending photo proof on the way).
I honestly don't think it will make any raving batting stance fan completely satisfied but IMHO it's a huge leap in the right direction.
On a side note, I had never noticed the amount of work necessary to get the stances 100% correct. Guys can sit there and make requests with little to no effort... but the amount of work that was going into each and every stance gave me a newly found sense of appreciation for everything these guys do. Even if you're not happy with a certain stance/routine/whatever, if you guys want them addressed, I would say do it in a respectful manner with the accompanying photo/video proof. The reference material certainly helps as it makes the job on SCEA easier and you guys get what you want. Win-win.
As for the bubble-gum chewing... it was so cool to see that. Really brought a smile to my face. The amount of things in this game is just mind boggling.
I think Knight was the only one to mention the light tech demo. Amazing. I was actually able to follow what we were being told but it just cemented my belief that anyone who says the 360 is "more powerful" has no idea what they are talking about. Seems like both systems work differently and it's obvious SCEA is spending enough time with the Sony architecture to tap into the power that is there.
The other guys have covered so much I feel like I don't even need to add anything else.
Pared (#1241)
You honestly do not need any "major set" of sliders this year.
Difficult to believe, as there are always guys that will want a "major overhaul" of sliders... but the game out of the box is simply incredible. I felt like I was playing baseball, not a baseball video game.
Nemesis (#1242 on slider changes)
Some are subtle and some have more bite by design. They appeared to all be functioning in some capacity. To be honest fixing the fielder routes to the ball totally fixes the problem we had of trying to slow the cpu fielders down to generate extra base hits.
Brian worked are on cleaning up sliders and getting rid of everything that did not work or was conflicting.
Pared (#1244)
Quote:
Originally Posted by nemesis04
To be honest fixing the fielder routes to the ball totally fixes the problem we had of trying to slow the cpu fielders down to generate extra base hits.
I can't echo this enough! I remember discussing this with Brian way back when but had no idea they would implement it. Completely floored how it all turned out!
Pared (#1253 on gameplay cameras)
I honestly could not tell if they were slightly tweaked or the lighting just made everything look THAT much better, unfortunately.
Knight (#1254)
Like Pared just said.
The lighting almost adds another dimension to the game. It's very hard to explain....but in my mind(and I did pop in '08 last night to see something).....after seeing '09...'08 looks a little "flat".
There seems to be a new depth of field when playing '09.
I hope I'm explaining it correctly....but it made everything look a little different.(in a GOOD way!
)Nemesis (#1256 on the gameplay cameras)
To me the default fielding cam looked to be pulled back a little more because the players looked a tad smaller from the depth of the camera. It could have been the lighting playing tricks with me but I felt like the viewing field was increased a little.
Jim (#1258)
Knight said 08 looks flat, he's right. The lighting added depth to everything. When you see the batter in front of the catcher, in front of the ump, in front of the crowd, there is more separation between them.
Nemesis (#1263 on when they will publish pictures)
It is not up to us. Ramone said possibly some time today.
Jim (#1288)
I took screens, standby. Hopefully today.
Nemesis (#1267)
Quote:
Originally Posted by green94
Ok, we had a discussion about this in another thread a while back, I was basically saying that night games looked blah compared to day games. Is this still the case? Has the lighting at night been improved at all?
There is definitely improvement in this area. Also, that waxy glow that the players had seems to be toned down a lot.
Pared (#1272 on base stealing)
It still seemed tough to throw out a runner but there was certainly a difference between fast guys and slow guys.
Nemesis (#1277 on base stealing)
As Pared mentioned there is good variation between slow and fast runners. When Posada was running the bases for example, it looked like he was pulling a piano behind him. What seems to make throw outs tough is the varied throws down to second. The were either bounced, left or right of the bag, or over their head into the outfield.
On another note, I was playing Ramone and I was able to pick a runner off at first with a snap throw from the catcher. Good stuff!
Knight (#1283)
Quote:
Originally Posted by tgreer
Sorry guys ift his has been answered. I didn't see it anywhere. On one of the pics sent out by SCEA it appears the Cards had their own newspaper in franchise? Is this true of all teams? Thanks
Well for your team you get 3 newspapers. 1 for each level of your team.....then you get a league wide newspaper also.
Jim (#1284 on cheers/jeers)
Quote:
Originally Posted by JermaineDye05
Just out of curiosity, can you say anything in the chants? I mean I'm not too vulgar but I think it would be funny to have some very explicit jeers for other players like Nick Punto...
The vulgar chants have to be approved by thos g#d d#$$Ed m#()$(@)er sons of #@$@$ at SCEA, unfortunately.
Unless you've got the chant police in your house I think you're good to go, lol. I don't think they have a vulgarity blocker, but the way these guys covered everything else, guess it would have to be confirmed. And be nice to Nick....he has a mom, too.
Nemesis (#1289 on Turner Field)
I am not a Braves fan but it looked okay to me. You guys describe it as if you were playing in a sandlot by mentioning how bad it looks. Jim took a pic of the field hopefully they will show it for critiquing.
UPDATED MONDAY 3:10 PM
Jim (#1310)
Quote:
Originally Posted by brunnoce
i think someone said chants will be attached to the rosters somehow?
Correct. If you have a roster you are going to use for your franchise and put the chants/jeers/etc. in, they will be in that roster only. If you do the weekly updates, for example, add the chants, but download a new weekly update the chants will not be assigned to the new one.
Jim (#1316)
I played an entire game against Nem using the A's. Had Gio Gonzalez pitching. I can't answer the question about Chavez other than it looked like him.
Jim (#1322 on Gio pitching)
I lost. But, that's not new. You will like pitching. You will like striking out. All feels so different this year.
Pared (#1317)
I also played against the A's and couldn't focus on the players. The stadium was absolutely stunning. Breath-taking. Looked so damn beautiful.
And you could play there at night too without the game freezing!
Nemesis (#1323 on if you can break up double plays/collision detection)
No collision, dp's cannot be broken up.
Pared (#1326 elaboration on no breaking up double plays)
The positive thing about this is we had a nice long discussion about it. They know how we feel.
And you guys obviously know what has come of the game when we make our feelings known...
Knight, Pared, Nemesis (#1331 - #1333 on the fact that some double plays can be broken up due to canned animations)
Knight - Yes.....there are animations to deal with it.....and they even added some more.
Pared - It's just very, very canned if it even happens. You can see the player slide, you can see the fielder move to avoid it, you can even see him jump or fall out of the way.... but none of it feels interactive. Very much like the pick-offs.
Trust me; There was plenty of creative juices flowing at the event. Pick-offs alone... I'm excited about the possibilities for '10.
Nemesis - The only animation is the one where the fielder loses the exchange from his glove. Otherwise they get the throw off.
Nemesis (#1344 on collision detection)
To add to this, they know we need some sort of collision but for the most part baseball is not a high contact sport where you are constantly smashing into one another. There are areas where it is warranted. With that said, they would want to have the animations support the contact which I would assume would take serious work. You guys would not want to see two players making contact and bouncing off one another like repelling magnets. It needs to be implemented properly so it is believable!
Jim (#1346 on Nemesis' comments on collision detection)
To add to this, and I know I touched on it several thousand pages back the ball hitting the wall, the ball hitting a player, the players running into players ARE collision detection, but have nothing to do with one another from a programming perspective.
Knight (#1337 on Lefty Throwing Glitch)
Just got the word on the glitch in the editor about not being able to change a left handed throwing player....especially a 1B...to a different position because going past either C or the other infield positions would change his throwing hand to righty and we couldn't change that.
FIXED!
You will now be able to change the throwing hand of any player in the editor...including MLB guys.(I'm guessing as long as you don't put one of his positions to C-2B-SS-3B and leave it there...then it will be greyed out)
SCEA delivers again!
Jim (#1342 on whether infielders botch/don't try for balls near them)
If you're talking about running your infielder towards a ball (just not standing still because I never saw this in 08), then it's been fixed. Here's what I saw.
I started by SS in the hole and hit dive. Suprisingly he didn't dive, he bent over/stretched out to field the ball. If I understood correctly the AI has something to do with whether or not it will go into a dive, or close enough to go into a stretch animation. But, yes, the fielder is going to stretch and make an attempt to get the ball. I did see him stretch and NOT get the ball, but at least it wasn't that same STAND UPRIGHT while the ball is going by.
Jim (elaboration on above point in #1345)
If Pastapadre said it hasn't been fixed....I dunno. I saw something different. Now if the ball is too far for him to dive/stretch, maybe that's what he saw, but I saw this same thing I"m talking about several times.
Pared (#1347)
Did anyone mention how the pitchers can actually field this year? Someone had their pitcher make a gorgeous no-look grab with their glove hand... and I saw Santana fielding most of the stuff that comes his way!
Of course, balls still got by into the outfield... but it's a leap over last year.
Updated 3:40 pm
Jim (#1348 on pitchers fielding the ball behind his back)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pared
Did anyone mention how the pitchers can actually field this year? Someone had their pitcher make a gorgeous no-look grab with their glove hand... and I saw Santana fielding most of the stuff that comes his way!
Of course, balls still got by into the outfield... but it's a leap over last year.
Pared.....I took a screen of Kevin Gregg doing this. After I cleaned up the mess in my pants. He fielded the ball BEHIND HIS BACK.
Jim (#1351 on not seeing the infielder ignore a ball within reach)
Don't know what to tell you. I didn't see it, is all I can say. Nem and I sat side by side playing and were even commenting on it.
Nemesis (#1353 on not seeing the fielding issue in '09 while Pasta said it's there)
I am not agreeing with that comment.
Last year many complained that when they took a right angle approach to the ball it would go by them without the fielder making any attempt.
In 09:
If you try this same approach there is an animation to support reaching for the ball but it is not a lock that you will field it if your approach to the ball is off. It will continue out to the outfield. So in summary they will reach for it but based on the player ability, sometimes he will get it and sometimes he will not, especially if you make that hard right angle approach to the ball.
Pared (#1357 - disagrees with Pasta as well on the fielding error still being there in '09)
I have to disagree with that comment as well. I did not see that at all.
Here's the thing though: With such a short amount of time, this could have been the cause of user error on his part... or we just didn't play enough to see it. Does that make any sense?
We just don't know. There was not enough time spent with the game on anyone's part to say for a definitive answer that "so and so needs work." I know I've made my comments about needing more errors... and I stand by it... but perhaps if I played 10 more games I wouldn't feel that way.
There is just too small of a sample size to make those comments without hesitation on anyone's part.
Jim (#1358 - same fielding topic)
I sat and talked to Kolbe about this, same as with the first baseman now deciding if he needs to run to the bag or throw it to the pitcher covering. Part of the AI this year
Update complete on Monday, 10:45 AM, EST ! That will be it for this blog. Part 7 is now going.
Community Leader Answers
-------------------------
Pared (#53 in Push vs. Pull thread on too much opposite field power last year)
Dave, I think you'll be extremely pleased this year.
I'm sure someone will find fault in any little thing... that's just human nature (and nature of OS, apparently) but as far as outside pitches going to outfield in that direction and inside pitches being pulled, it immensely better than '08. By far.
And we didn't have to mess with any sliders at all. Just a thing of beauty.
Jim (#20 in Pasta thread on the issue of too few user issued walks)
Just curious how you pitch. I pitch CLASSIC, all aids off, no ball marker, no strike zone, nada. When previewing the game I used Daniel Cabrera and the Nats. The first four pitches I threw to the opposing batter in the game were balls, four straight. The balls definitely have greater breaks this year and are much more realistic looking than last.
Now, if you're one of those players who has the strikezone on, tries pin pointing your pitches with the ball marker, I'm just guessing that you're gonna throw a lot more strikes. Not saying that's how you do it, just sayin'.
Jim (#14 in Show 09 Sliders thread/slider forum)
Yeah.....I was looking at some 08 screens and I'm just not interested right now. Matter of fact I will be cringing when I play my online games, sigh.
Nemesis (#15 in Show 09 Slider thread in response to Jim)
Quote:
Originally Posted by jim416
Matter of fact I will be cringing when I play my online games, sigh.
Yup been there done that already! ugh!!
Pared (#940)
Quote:
Originally Posted by PhantomPain View Post
That sounds awesome. I love how they just keep adding little things that would happen in real life.
I mean 1st and 2nd... I'll fix that. But yes, it was extremely awesome. The AI was very smart.
Quote:
Originally Posted by nemesis04 View Post
The jumbo's are pretty impressive and they are in sync to the on field action!
Not to mention the new animations on the huge screens... so sick!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Scottdau View Post
So do you guys miss the playing the game?
Without a doubt. I'm trying to console myself with football/basketball and it's not working.
On an unrelated gameplay note, the CPU AI now takes chances on the basepaths on default settings! I had a play where a ground ball was hit to right field on the ground and the AI tried to go first to third on it... and Ryan Church came up throwing and one hopped a strike to 3rd base to throw him out! Put outs seems forced last year but were happening on a great rate this year!
To ice the cake, Wright was straddling the bag very, very appropriately and made a spectacular tag. I recorded it on video and hopefully will be able to show you guys!
Nemesis (#942 on missing '09)
I just had to play an online league game and it was painful. I want to go back to SD!
Nemesis (#947)
You guys know the demo will be an earlier version than the one we played?
Nemesis (#948)
Lighting will not disappoint. The detail is amazing and brings out the textures in the different surfaces.
Nemesis (#950 on Yankee Stadium)
They did a fantastic job with monument park. Looks real sharp!!
Pared (#955 on lighting and other gameplay elements)
It's truly a sight to behold. You see it immediately; We didn't need a side by side comparison with '08 to tell.
Another few gameplay notes:
-I really feel there needs to be more errors. There was a lot more variety to the fielding animations and hits were going off of fielder's gloves, bodies, etc. but I don't recall seeing any botches being recorded as errors once again. I did not touch the sliders.
-The new outfielder paths are just incredible! The play out for not just the CPU but the user as well. They seem to "trigger" accordingly.
-Pickoffs are certainly not as controllable as I would like. I pretty much feel you press the pick-off button, hold your breath and hope the proper animation plays out. I had a good discussion on ways to make this better and really hope they get implemented for '10.
-Side note on the demo: I'm sure you'll see the updated stances for whatever they use as a demo.
Ok, back to the Super Bowl.
Jim (#957 on missing '09)
I can still see the curveballs Nemesis was dropping on me. Sigh...........talk about feeling great striking out.
Nemesis (#958 on whether there are enough errors or not)
It is streaky, there were some games there were 3 and some where there were none. Jury is still as far as I am concerned on whether there is an issue or not. It is nice to see different animations though!
Pared (#959)
Ha, Russell dropped a nasty curve on me with someone from the Rays and Beltran struck out looking. Pretty realistic, I'd say.
Jim (#964 on what might be in the demo)
Quote from Pared:
-Side note on the demo: I'm sure you'll see the updated stances for whatever they use as a demo.
Hey Pared, good to hear you chime in.
I don't know about the demo. If it was said to be several weeks older than the one we were playing I would think there's gonna be stuff that we didn't see because we were playing a newer version. It should make for more "discussion" and panic soothing, me thinks.
Nemesis (#965 on errors sounding realistic)
I agree, I did not see any in the outfield but others had them.
Oh, that reminds me, diving in the outfield is tough. There were a few times I came up with a grass sandwich minus the ball and had to go the the wall and retrieve it. The cpu fielders will dive and they miss A LOT more too, might as well share the love!
Russell_SCEA (#970)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pared View Post
Ha, Russell dropped a nasty curve on me with someone from the Rays and Beltran struck out looking. Pretty realistic, I'd say.
That high curve ball is nasty but if you know its coming there is a good chance you will hit it over the wall. Just as Nem hehe
Nemesis (#972)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Russell_SCEA View Post
That high curve ball is nasty but if you know its coming there is a good chance you will hit it over the wall. Just as Nem hehe
Okay Mr. guess pitch user!
I do remember jelly legging you a few times.
Russell (#973)
Quote:
Originally Posted by nemesis04
Okay Mr. guess pitch user!
Hey don't get mad at me because I can pick up on your pitching style. You and Pared but Pared did win one game so I can't really talk can I.
Hopefully I should be able to get some of those pics up on Monday keep your fingers crossed.
Nemesis (#975)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Russell_SCEA
Hey don't get mad at me because I can pick up on your pitching style. You and Pared but Pared did win one game so I can't really talk can I.
Hopefully I should be able to get some of those pics up on Monday keep your fingers crossed.
(Nem's response)
I am just playing with you, its all good!
That will be cool if you could get some pics up! Thanks!
Nemesis (#983 on specific Yankee questions)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rob_NYY
Any other Yankee-related goodies you can share?
I read earlier you pitched with A.J., how did that turn out? Did you get to pitch with CC?
About 7,000 posts ago, Jim mentioned something about a bomb you hit with A-Rod and the animation that A-Rod did after hitting the HR had everybody "hooting." I'm not even sure what hotting means! Was it a new HR animation that they gave to A-Rod?
Thanks.
I hit a no doubter dead pull with him and the replay in broadcast cam was incredible.
I hit bombs with Matsui (dead center), Teix(one pull, one opposite), Arod(all pull), Swisher (all pull), Nady(pull)
As far as anything else:
-I think I told you Girardi looks very good. He is pretty animated in the dugout, lol. Sometimes he is wearing a Yankee jacket.
-Are you familiar with that glove tap, back slap that Jeter, Arod and Cano do?
-They did a great job on the stadium for the lack of info they were given.
I pitched with CC, Burnett, Wang. I liked pitching with Burnett the best, just really like his feel.
Nemesis (#987 on time frame for release and if they are still working on it)
I do not know the time frame but they were feverishly tweaking and fixing everyday we were there.
Nemesis (#992 on if they saw any fireworks at the stadiums)
No.
Jim (#998 on old timers and #1001)
Quote:
Originally Posted by bdolski
Just wondering if anyone looked through the legends list...are you able to tell me if robin yount, rollie fingers, hank aaron, rod carew, or barry bonds are any of the 80 or so legends?...and i need to stop reading this stuff or just put my self in a controlled self enduced coma for the next 29 days...
Fingers had his handlebar in the photo (didn't have real photos/likeness of, but it looked like him).
BONDS????? My gosh, I hope not, lol. I don't think I saw Barry there. There were 80 oldtimers. I remember Bob Feller, Babe Ruth, Dennis Eckersley, Early Wynn, Roy Campanella, Buck Leonard, Richie Ashburn, Al Kaline, Hoyt Wilhelm, Brooks Robinson, Mike Schmidt, Eddie Mathews, Eddie Murray, Enos Slaughter, Monte Irvin, Bruce Sutter, Bob Lemon, to name a few.
(#1001)
REGGIE STOCKER IS HISTORY!!! ....oooooooh, yeah.
We did not even discuss an early copy of the game.
Jim (#1007)
What gives?
Wondering if you read some of my explanations regarding coding/programming earlier in the thread? For example, the gentleman doing the lighting was sitting in front of, I think it was SIX monitors and had two or three PS3 controllers he worked with. With our jaws on the floor we watched as he explained how the color of one object had to reflect and then had to flow into a different color of another object, for example, from the green grass of the field, up the color of the wall, to the sunlight hitting the fan. I believe he said each fan had its own idividual coding. I can't even explain it right, lol, but that's what gives. Not trying to be smart, but it's so much more detailed. It's not a simple matter of cutting out a likeness of something, let's say a scoreboard advertisement and paste it into the stadium.
Jim (#1014 on the community leaders not caring about stances)
Well, that's not true. We care about them. I looked at some of the guys and I thought they looked good, but, you have to admit you guys will debate the stances, one guy will say a stance is good, and another will say, no his elbows are too high. I think Pared said not to panic. I can look at a pitching motion and say, "yep, that's Peavy", but someone else is going to chime in and say, no his glove isn't quite that high. And it could be just a matter of inches. It's not that we don't care about them.
Jim (#1015 on Bonds big bombs being fun to watch)
Yeah, but he should have been handcuffed at the end of the game and a leg monitor put on. (JUST KIDDING). Yeah, he hit some moonshots, that's for sure. I really didn't check to see if his stance was there.
Knight (#1036 on if the demo will be coming out next week)
It's not a rumor
They would like the demo out "early" February.
They asked us to tell you guys(I did!)
BUT they also asked us to tell you that it is a MUCH earlier build than the one we were playing(again, I did!)
I guess they sent the demo version to whoever they need to for an approval and then it gets it's release.
(#1040)
Just so you guys know.
I've already said all that we are allowed about the demo.
Nemesis (#1043 on stances, #1048)
Sabathia was getting a tune-up while we were there and so was Wright. Damn Met fans!
I made a mistake here sorry, it was Santana not Sabathia. LOL. But Sabathia looked different from the video we saw earlier. Whether it is up to your standards, I do not know.
(#1046 on Pujols stance)
I don't know, my main focus was gameplay. To be honest the five of us would need to be there a week to come close covering everything that was asked.
Jim (#1069 and #1070 on favorite stadium he saw)
Wow, that's a tough one. I'd say with the lighting effect that I saw, Milwaukee. The high rises behind Petco looked great this year. Didn't look like an after thought. Looked like they really belonged.....um.....man, that's hard. When Dolphin Stadium looks good, even Pared commented on that one.
(Later) Wrigley. I was telling Knight to check out how obviously old that OLD scoreboard in center field actually looked.
Nemesis (#1071 on CC's pitching motion)
I was pitching from the outfield cam and his left leg and body motion was finishing off on the third base side.
Knight (#1074)
A couple of things I forgot to mention
They added an all new tag system. Over 100 tags now in the game.
The catcher has his own set of tags to differentiate him from other fielders in this regards.
Pick offs are also improved. I know Pared spoke about him picking off a runner. I saw some new animations when I was doing them though. But I know what he's saying also. This has more to do with runner and the orientation with the fielder(tags).
There is a new game positioning system. This is a nice touch(although I forgot to try it/use it when I was playing.
Once in game...you go to Player Positioning and can set your defense up. For the big guns it will automatically go deep in the OF for the slap hitters you can have the OF play in a little. Speed guys?...have the IF play for the bunt. You set it once and then it will do it auto for the rest of the game. You can go back in and change it at any time of course.
Nemesis (#1075 on stadiums)
Even the Tropicana looks better this year. That is saying something.
Jim (#1077 on Milwaukee's stadium being impressive)
If Russell can post that one shot I did with the pitcher on the mound. I took it from about the first base dugout, maybe 30 feet in the air and the sun is shining through the openings in the high walls/supports and it's really impressive. The pitcher was half in sunlight, half out, really cool.
Knight (#1078 on stadiums)
Wrigley was nice. ....and that Cub dev team member says it will get even MORE loving next year.
While it was awesome playing in CitiField....never actually seeing it will keep me from saying there...but Progressive looked fantastic. So did Comerica.
Man...they all looked so good, especially with the new lighting.
Knight (#1080 on stances)
According to some paperwork they gave us.
700 new game play animations
400 new presentation animations
150 NEW personalized pitcher and batter animations
Keep the faith!
Nemesis (#1083)
The 2 new stadiums are awesome. They did a tremendous job for the info that was given. It sounds like it was tough to get information on those stadiums.
Progressive which to me is still the Jake looked really good.
Knight (#1091)
I agree....on all three parts here with nem.
Both Citi and Yankee stadiums looked great. Monument Park is really sweet.
It does sound like getting info on those stadiums was worse than pulling teeth....especially CitiField.
But like nem says...Progressive looked stunning. I love that stadium to begin with....but it just looked phenomenal. Camden always looks great to me too.
Knight (#1092)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Scottdau
Does the ligthing affect batting? Like shadows in the a sunny game?
Yes ........it.......does....
Jim (#1086)
I remember....I was taking a screen cap of Zambrano close up and it looked like he was chewing gum, had to laugh at that. I kept backing it up, playing it forward. He was chewing something.
Knight (#1096)
I think you do see guys chewing gum.
Jim (#1100)
Didn't see bubbles, snot rockets still there.
TOUCHDOWN CARDS!!! YOOOHOOOO!
Nemesis (#1107 on wall color of Citi Field)
They were blue. I guess we will have to wait and see who is right.
Jim (#1108 on if he played against the Brewers at Miller Park)
A few innings. I kept fast forwarding to check out the progressive lighting. I played one full game against a dev (won in the last inning) and one full game against Knight and Nem. All the others were just long enough to get a feel for the game and stadiums.
I also made Baltimore and all oldtimers team and played a bit with them in Franchise mode.
Nemesis (#1117 on why the demo will be older than what they played)
I am sure that it has to be setup into a downloadable format plus I am sure there is an approval process. If they started that today the demo would be coming out when the game is released. I do not think they can turn on the dime and have it ready.
Nemesis (#1119)
Yes, fans and vendors walk around up and down stairs cross walks etc. When your home team stinks up the joint the stadium gets a little light!
Jim (#1121)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Scottdau
This Lighting has me pumped! I know I say that a lot, but it will make the Stadiums come alive. How are the fans in the game are they walking around and do they do it right. I mean does it look right.
Scott, they pulled it off so well it's hard to pick out duplicate fans like last year. Are they there? Yes. Fewer, yes. Fans also received a face lift. One of the programmers showed us some shots in SF of fans that were actually walking out onto the left field pavillion from an underpass. We were at his monitor and he took the camera, put it up on the pavillion, turned it toward an underpass and here came a fan walking out of it. Big time attention to detail with this.
You can see them walking up and down the long concrete stairway in left center field next to the scoreboard in Wrigley, for example. I was having a hard time watching the pitcher as I was taking it all in.
Nemesis (#1128)
Quote:
Originally Posted by huggerorange73
Understood....however, Wrigley has gotten all sorts of love it seems with more upcoming. The scoreboard explosions are a HUGE part of the Cell.....ya see my point?
Did the pinwheels move in 08? I did see them moving in 09.
Knight (#1135)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Schreck11
Is every player who makes their organizations 40-man roster are they going to be in the game. There is a guy from my town who is on the Dodgers 40-man roster so I was just curious.
THANKS!!!
MLB service...not just 40 man roster.
Nemesis (#1140)
Quote:
Originally Posted by mike75
Are there any shots of the fans walking into the ball parks before the game starts? Like the way 2K sports does it?
And are there any flybys from outside the ball parks?
I did not see any of this.
Knight (#1141)
Quote:
Originally Posted by huggerorange73
However, i is a little annoying to hear about improvements to Wrigley because a team member is a "fan", just envision being a Mets fan without the apple going off....
Whoa...whoa....whoa!
I didn't say that's why they updated that particular park.
I was playing in Wrigley looking for some answers from the question thread...the dev team member happened to be watching me asking what I was looking for....he said that he was a Cubs fan and could help me out.
There are fans of a lot of different teams there. ALL the stadiums got updates...your teams included. That sounds like an animations thing and not just a graphic thing and they perhaps just couldn't get it in.
It's not like Wrigley got a complete makeover and no other park got any work.
Jim (#1142)
(re: intro/flybys) From what I saw there were sideline shots of players (new stuff, players standing as if listening to the anthem), I did see a similar one for Cincinnati and PNC. Don't know about the other guys.
Knight (#1149)
Oh...another really cool thing I forgot to mention...
This year we will be able to upload rosters to a ROSTER VAULT ...much like sliders from last year!
Nemesis (#1173)
Quote:
Originally Posted by kennyacid
do fans reach over railings for balls?
I did not see any but that does not mean it does not exist. I had the third baseman hang over the wall in the stands and snag a ball on me.
Nemesis (#1177)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Shakedowncapo
What new infield throw animations did you see? specifically SS-->1st 3rd-->1st
-I saw the ss bare hand a slow bouncing ball and fire it to first.
-The signature Jeter jump and throw.
While I am thinking about it, I jumped straight up in the air with Jeter for a line drive and it skipped off my glove and went into the outfield in an entirely different direction causing the outfielder to go chasing after it.
With regards to third base, it lives up to its name as the hot corner this year. The balls get scorched down the line and you really need to play the walls properly. I saw hits pass the bag fair then end up tracking past the foul line and slam into the wall. You need to prepare for this more. We did not see too much of this last year.
The biggest thing you will notice is everything happens in one fluid motion.
Nemesis (#1182)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Shakedowncapo
Yea, im just hoping they added more throwing types...underhand rockets to first...overhead, sidearm. Just to keep that part feeling fresh. Some guys like to be flashy(rey-***, rollins) and some dig their cleats in and c ock back(Tulo)
You should be pretty pleased there is a lot going on in the infield as far a catching, throwing, etc.
Nemesis (#1184 on why the HR derby wasn't in)
I did not specifically ask maybe the others did. I can try to find out why for you. To me if it was a decision between home run derby or some type of advanced throwing, I am going to say throwing. But that is just me of course.
Russel (#1187 on fans reaching over railings for balls)
yes
Knight (#1188 on HR derby not being in)
Yeah...I think it was kind of a "what can we get in" type of decision.
I did specifically ask Kolbe about this..HR derby and even as far as to say guys would love it as part of the All Star break. He nodded like...he would like to do it but said it was a time constraint thing.
I know he's not B.S.'ing either....like I stated...he had no problem gleefully telling me know to some of my wishes
Shakedown...there are many different throws this year. For instance...gone is that arcing lob from the 1B to the pitcher that usually resulted in what should have been an out into a man on....
GREAT double play throws....nice tosses for outs the short way to end the inning...I saw a lot.
...and Shakedown is right!...use some BP to blast some homers!
Nemesis (#1189 on if he would have stayed at SCEA for a week if they let him)
Yes, most definitely.
Knight and Nemesis (on Water Shots at AT & T Park)
Nemesis - nope. Forgot to play there.
Knight - Ha...me too, but I couldn't hit a homerun!.....and neither did the CPU(I was playing legend...I was lucky to get a hit!)
Russell_SCEA (#1190 on if you can transfer screen shots to a usb stick)
Hellzzzz Yeah
Knight (#1203 on water shots at S.F.)
I played there...I just SUCK! Can't see a water shot if you can't hit it!
GORGEOUS stadium by the way.
Nemesis (#1222 on field degradation)
The wear effect looks really good. It is totally related to what happens on the field. So when something happens the field gets disturbed.
I was talking to one of the guys and they said they tried to get dirt on home plate but it did not work out too well so they got rid of it.
Jim (#1225)
One thing that Nem and I saw in a game we played is it appears that instead of the passed balls squirting so far away from the catcher, especially on third strikes, the catcher blocks these and merely stands up and tags out the batter.
Nemesis (#1228)
Quote:
Originally Posted by jpup
Anyone notice any Reds related stuff?
If I recall you asked about matching catcher's equipment?
I believe Knight checked and it was matching.
Jim (#1233 on Turner Field)
I took screens of Turner, maybe we'll have them soon.
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