Reply With QuoteThis makes me happy. I shied away from baseball games when 2K8 fucked the dog...what happened to that franchise, anyway?
I know there's a few other baseball addicts here besides me. ESPN and the Playstation blog finally gave some details about what's going on in this year's version:
http://sports.espn.go.com/videogames...ory?id=3775962
http://blog.us.playstation.com/2008/...cheer-in-game/
It's hard to tell from the screenshots if SCEA finally fixed the clunky body models (huge wrists/feet/shoulders), but the textures look incredible throughout. Yes, I'm admiring the new shoe designs.
* Online leagues have a custom fantasy draft now (which is what kept me from playing in one this past year)
* 40-man rosters, September call-ups
* Day/night lighting cycles, plus field wear 'n' tear
* You can upload your own walk-up music now
Tons more on the ESPN link.
This makes me happy. I shied away from baseball games when 2K8 fucked the dog...what happened to that franchise, anyway?
I've bought the MLB series for the last few years, but can never get myself to actually play it. Baseball is my favorite sport and I know the MLB games are good, but it never sounds fun to commit 45 minutes to an endeavor I know I'll find largely frustrating no matter what. This is also why I've resolved to not bother buying Madden and NCAA football next year. For clarity's sake this is a weird personal problem and not the fault of any of these games. It's just that I don't have a ton of time to play and the time I do have, I don't want to devote to these sorts of games anymore. It sorta bums me out.
I've been playing video game baseball from RBI to Baseball Stars to World Series Baseball to High Heat to MVP -- and The Show is the only one where I've felt like I earn each strikeout or home run, where I can actually walk a hitter (or tough out a walk), where the CPU might actually beat me without resorting to cheating or rubber-band AI, and some games are blowouts, some games run down to the wire.
The only real complaint I can lodge at it is the high number of singles you can get each game. Who knows if this will be addressed in 09, or if it even can be.
It's tough for sports games not to turn into super-stat-accrual vehicles, so I'm amazed at how realistic games play out over the course of a season, regardless of whether you're playing or simming them.
I'm not a huge baseball fan, meaning that I'll rarely watch a game unless it is live or the playoffs, but I really like this series. The Road to the Show mode is usually what I play, and it is excellent. Since it condenses games down to about 10 minutes, usually just the portions where you take part in the play, it makes the season fly by and lets you feel like you're really making an impact, even as a single player.
My short-stop only made it as a starter because all the other White Sox got injured. That was kind of sad.
Some new screenshots, courtesy of the OperationSports guys:
http://www.pastapadre.com/6067/mlb-0...-screenshots-1
And the PS3 demo is reportedly coming out tomorrow (!) -- Feb. 5.
I picked this up yesterday (pretend like you don't see the post above where I lied and said I wasn't getting it) and I started the Road to the Show mode in earnest with a shortstop. I absolutely cannot wrap my head around how the game handles player improvement. I have to do well to get training points so I can practice my hitting skills, but to do well I have to have some hitting skills. It blows my mind. In the five or so games (around 15 to 20 at bats) I think I have two hits total and a TON of strikeouts. So I'm not earning any training points to improve my player, because (at least in some part) my guys stinks (yeah, it's mostly because I SUCK at batting). I mean hell, shouldn't I be able to play in the batting practice thing like once a day or something to try and get better? NOPE! You have to perform in game to get practice time. It's an insane design decision and just adds to the frustration of my consistent failure at the plate.
Be careful buying this if you're a Cubs fan. The schedule is wrong, with nearly all the Wrigley games at night. Given that I buy a baseball game every year to play a Cubs season, this mistake all but ruins the game for me. In every other way I can tell, though, it's an excellent game.
You're aware there's a practice mode that lets you just take batting practice, right? You can't do that because why?Originally Posted by MSUSteve
I just don't understand why I can't practice in RTTS mode at least once a day with my created character. It would make more sense to me, especially in the Spring Training schedule, to do something more like Madden's training mode, where you take your created player through drills. Instead I'm presented with this bizarre system where I'm constantly chasing my tail. In order to get better I have to earn training points. To earn training points I have to play well. To play well, my player has to have decent attributes. To earn attribute points I have to train. To train I need training points. To get training points I have to play well. And so on and so on and so on. It doesn't make much sense.
What doesn't make sense about it? Seems realistic to me. Right now you're hopeless as a hitter, so why let you clog up the cages whiffing away if you won't put in work on your own time? Try starting off at Rookie level on the difficulty. Think like a major league hitter and put the "Guess Pitch" feature to work for you and use it the way real professional hitters would: guess "fastball" every pitch, and adjust to the offspeed stuff when you're wrong.
Realize too that baseball is an awfully long game. If you struggle, you struggle. You'll get sent down to a lower run in the minors, where hopefully you pull out of your slump. One thing RTTS gets absolutely right is the feeling of how hard it is to hit a baseball. Dante Bichette used to say that every day he'd wonder if he'd ever get another hit in baseball, and when you go into a slump in The Show, you can feel how cold you are.
Whether or not it's realistic, it's not exactly fun. Moreover, and realizing I've never been on a Major or Minor League Club, I expect in Spring Training the young guys get time in the cage, especially if they're struggling. I mean, isn't that their time to work out with the major league hitting coach and get some tips? So no, I really don't buy that it's more realistic to let my young player struggle without allowing him to get some cage time and instruction during Spring Training. Who needs it more, me or Miguel Cabrera? And how can I put in practice on my own time? Is it possible to take my RTTS character into the game's base Practice mode? I don't need to learn how to hit with a guy like Carlos Guillen or Magglio Ordonez. I need to learn to hit with my created player and his absolutely putrid stats.
That said, I probably should throttle it down from Veteran to Rookie. The hitting in the game is extremely hard, even while employing the strategy you outlined above, which I've been doing. Because I'm still trying to accurately time the pitches, it probably makes sense to take having to worry about where my bat is in the zone out of the equation for a while. I'm just worried that if I play on Rookie that I'll never get used to/good at placing the bat in the zone and getting good hits.
If you play a bunch of games on rookie--or even, you know, just *do regular batting practice, like you should*--you'll start to recognize pitches. From there you can switch to Veteran and start working on locations.
Best advice:
1. Always take pitches until you see a strike
2. Look fastball, adjust to other stuff
3. Take batting practice from the practice area, not from within RTTS.
Oh, and as for realism, the big league clubs ship no-hopers (which is what we are when we start a new RTTS career in Spring Training) out pretty early so those flailers aren't keeping Albert Pujols from getting his swings in before the start of the regular season. Minor leaguers at spring training are usually lucky if the hitting coach knows their names...;)
All this talk, and nothing on the two bugs that are game-killing (for me, anyway) until a patch comes out?
1) I play 2b in RTTS. If a ball is hit to SS or 3b w/ a man on 1st, I'll run over to 2b to take a throw and relay to 1st. Probably 50% of the time, my character stops short (even though I have the LAS still pointed to run to the base) takes the throw, and then throws to first, never getting the out at 2b. Never had a problem with this in the previous 2 iterations, so not sure why it's showing up this year.
2) The running system blows. I can sort of understand why they use the LAS for base stealing and running now (timing the jump, etc), but it semi-randomly switches direction on you, so that sometimes you push up on the LAS to advance, other times it's down. It's one thing to have to get used to a new running mechanism - it's another for it to be broken so badley you have just hope every time you try to run you run in the right direction.
I don't disagree that I could go out of RTTS and find some piece of garbage guy (to adequately simulate how terrible my created player is) to take hacks with in the Practice mode, but you can't convince me that they couldn't have and shouldn't have built something into RTTS to allow you take BP with your created player. We'll also have to agree to disagree regarding the earning of Training points and the need to spend same on getting time in the cage. Whether it's too "gamey" or not, the way the system is now is really discouraging to a new player because there's no chance to get better without being better, which is a weird snake-eating-its-own-tail thing to me.
I appreciate the advice on hitting and I think I'll switch down to Rookie to get my timing down. I really didn't want to do that, if for nothing else, my sense of gamer pride. But as you pointed out, hitting in The Show is pretty difficult. Trying to time the pitches while trying to also get the bat in the zone really is proving to be too much at this juncture. Once I can recognize pitches a little better and can time my swing, I re-incorporate the zone mechanics on Veteran.
I also want to say that even though we're a little at odds, I appreciate the discussion about the game.
You do know that, on off days in spring training (and occasionally in regular season), you are offered batting or running practice to raise your stats a little if you do well, right? And you get far more points (if you do decently) than you lose when you don't.
I haven't run into that yet. From what I could tell I had to spend "Training Points" earned through accomplishments during Spring Training games to purchase training time in the batting cage. Maybe I haven't hit an off day in Spring Training yet. That's entirely possible. Regarding the Training Points, I'm not really earning any due to all the whifs and failed goals related to getting on base and generally not sucking.
So wait, you're still in Spring Training? Dude, you're supposed to suck. Your contact is probably hovering around 40, and as such when a major league pitcher faces you down you're very likely going to pop the ball up or ground out weakly even when you're right on for timing and location.
You start out as a very good AA prospect. Once Spring Training is done you'll get ticketed for the minors and won't be nearly as overmatched.
That's good to hear, because the dribblers coming off the bat even when I make solid contact are really demoralizing. :-p
I guess the Spring Training points acquisition makes more sense for a player that's got a little bit higher stats earned through a few seasons in the minors. I expect by that point my guy will have a legitimate chance to get some good hits and earn some Training Points instead of painfully whiffing or weakly grounding/popping out.
For what it’s worth, I’d worry less about the stats and:
* Use the “Wide” batting view and turn off Guess Pitch, Hot/Cold Zones, and Strike Zone. You want the cleanest display possible so you can focus on the pitches coming at you. All the UI stuff will distract you. The Wide view puts your FOV closer to the actual batter. I find it easier to pick up on pitch breaks and it just feels more immersive. (The FPS of the baseball world.)
* When you’re looking at pitches, start with the pitcher’s arm as he’s throwing. It’s kind of subtle, but I hit better when I’m seeing the entire motion instead of waiting for the ball to come out and then try to figure out if it’s a hittable pitch or something to lay off.
* If you have 1 strike or less, don’t swing unless you see something that looks money over the heart of the plate. Don't swing at junk in the corners or anything breaking into the bottom of the zone. You can afford to be patient and wait for something good. Also, if you have a 3-0 count, some people say don't swing at anything no matter what ... I get the point, but I don't believe in letting a money pitch slide by.
* If you have 2 strikes, you’re trying to stay alive so if the pitch looks like it’s anywhere near the zone, take a hack at it. Ideally, you want to foul off borderline pitches until you get something good to hit.
* Play on Rookie or practice solo until you can recognize pitch breaks and distinguish between balls and strikes.
Last edited by MikeSolita; 03-09-2009 at 03:12 PM.
I appreciate the tips Mike. I see how turning off all the UI stuff would help me see the ball better, but I feel like the guess pitch stuff is helpful because at worst it eliminates one possibility and at best provides a nice hitting bonus. I also like being able to see the strike zone and the plate coverage indicator so that I have some idea where I'm swinging instead of somewhat blindly pointing the stick somewhere. Of course if I go down to Rookie, that particular aspect will be eliminated, so that's moot for no anyway I suppose.
I'm having a lot more fun in RTTS with my rookie starting pitcher than my rookie outfielder. I finished initial spring training with ~7.0 ERA, 2.0 WHIP, which wasn't too bad considering he's a raw 18-year old with 3 pitches: 4-seam Fastball, Cut Fastball, and Changeup. Gets a serious case of nerves whenever anyone's on base.
Now I'm in AA playing for the Trenton Thunder doing Long-Relief, and I'm doing very well. I've been boosting the velocity on my 4-seamer to the point I can hit 97 MPH with decent placement to boot, and a couple months into the season I'm rocking a ~1.7 ERA with a 1.15 WHIP. I come into games and just shut teams down. Of course, a lot of it is learning the timing differences between pitching with no one on base versus pitching with baserunners versus pitching with RISP. Once I got that down, my timing/control improved immensely. I still can't hit worth shit, but I've laid down some sac-bunts when I needed to. Now I just need to convince the manager I'm ready for the starting rotation....
This game is The Win, and is much better than the dreck 2K has foisted on us the last three iterations.
As for my SHIT SHIT SHIT RTTS batting performance, I once again remember my virtual stats: 18 yr-old-kid invited to spring training. If you follow baseball at all, you know that all kids, including prodigies like Griffey, are going to spend time in the minors to get their major league stroke. Some spend years.
That's what I tell myself anyway when I swing at yet another change-up 5 feet outside of the plate and chuck the controller.
I don't use the "wide" view when I bat, but offset. There have been a couple of guys at OpSports forae suggest this, and it's improved my hitting by leaps and bounds (once you get used to it, that is.) Catcher's view while batting (that's the default) makes it very, very tough to distinguish balls that are going to be in the dirt and balls that are going to catch the bottom half of the strike zone.
Remember that the game "scouts" you too. If you're swinging at a lot of junk outside the zone, that'll be the initial book on you: throw him stuff outta the zone and he'll chase. As frustrating as it can be to watch a fastball come in belt-high (just *begging* to be crushed) and you don't get the bat off your shoulder, a patient approach at the plate is better in the long run than the Vladdy/Nomar approach of "swing at 'em all and let God sort 'em out."
I'm gonna mess around with the view angles and see what works for me. I'm definitely swinging away like Vlad Guerrero. I'm just not able to hit everything from my chin to my shoe tops like he does. I've always had a problem being patient at the plate in baseball videogames, but you really have no choice in The Show.
That works both ways, of course. Power pitchers try to blow you away and pitch to contact, whereas control pitchers work the corners and throw more junk.
I actually find power pitchers easier to hit than junkballers like Jamie Moyer or Kenny Rogers (in prior games). At least the flamethrowers put the damn ball in the zone. :)
Absolutely. I cringe when I have to go up against a guy like Moyer. You'll see guys like that in the minors--a pitcher who has a fastball that tops out at 91, but he's got an ERA under 3.00 and a dozen wins at AAA and you're just thinking "I'm going to be flailing and hitting a lot of double-play grounders today."
I think the way you guys are talking about your RTTS experience and characters says a lot about how immersive that mode is. I love it.
I would personally like to thank Chase Utley for getting the name "Chase" put in the game as a character name. I'm not sure who to thank for Dahl -- maybe Steve Dahl and his record burning antics?
Anyway, being able to have your real name called out is just one of the cute little touches that makes me love this game. I want to leave work right now and try out those different camera angles, because Triggercut was right on the money about being unable to discern low out of zone and low cutters/splitters whatever
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