Load and Fire

[tinpanalley]

Hello everyone,
I'm relatively new to this game so I'm still trying to figure out Load and Fire batting. Just wanted a general consensus from people as to how many use this form of batting because I can't seem to make it happen. There's gotta be some deficiency in my ability to send messages from my brain to my right thumb when trying to swing a bat in a baseball game.
To be perfectly honest I find it a little... off. Yeah, the concept of backswing and swinging through a pitch is good, but any little league coach will tell you that a swing is only as effective as its follow-through. And so, I constantly feel like I'm hacking at balls when the right thumbstick hits it's max on the y-axis.

I don't know what I'm looking for here, I guess just some ideas of how you got used to it, some idea or revelation you came across when figuring it out that put it all in perspective, anything that might help me get my head around the idea of load and fire.

[davewins]

only advice I can give you is to really get a good eye at the plate. Watch the ball in the pitchers windup all the way until it makes contact with either the catcher mitt or your bat. Even just concentrate on the ball by loading and not firing. Just go into any random game and load as soon as the ball is released and don't ever fire. Just load and watch the ball the ENTIRE way.

I'm not sure what you mean by your swing is only as good as your follow through??

[cactusruss]

My advice is to switch to classic hitting. load and fire batting is horrible... I know exactly what you mean by a swing being only as effective as it's follow through... and load and fire makes swinging feel very unnatural.

[jeffruby]

plus its really pure timing...high vs low pitch doesnt matter.....kinda primative

[tinpanalley]

Thanks jeff and cactus! I was beginning to feel like I was the only person who felt this way about the realism of the physics of the game. Not that EA Sports has ever been a game developer that really sells sports realism.

[acarrero]

Don't go back to classic hitting. You'd be making a big mistake. If you want a challenging and realistic batting experience stick with it until you get the hang of it. You'll go through some games where you'll score 0 runs, and your patience will be tested, but it's by far the best hitting system ever made.

The classic hitting was my main problem with the MVP series, zone hitting is more realistic, but nothing feels as authentic as L+F. The follow through is a result of your timing, if you've played any sports you'll realize that the better you time your swing the easier it will be to follow through correctly - this applies in a baseball, tennis, golf, etc,and it's true for L+F as well (if you time it right you'll have a good follow through). Seriously, if you never got into L+F you're missing out on the best part of this game. It takes practice and like real batting, you will go through slumps from time to time, but you'll also get hot.

How do peole feel about Rock and Fire pitching? I was close to going back to classic pitching, but if I look only at the pitchers motion and not at the meter, I find that I really enjoy R+F. It's not perfect, but it's a definite improvement over classic pitching.

[davewins]

What they really need is a system where you aim with the left stick just like in classic and zone but you swing right right analog stick. They could keep classic mode in, zone mode in, load and fire the way it is for the people that like it and then add load and fire with the addition of your choice of classic aiming with left analog stick or zone aiming with left analog stick. That would be great.

I really like the L&F. Hated it the first year but didn't give it a good enough shot. Just don't give up on it because you aren't good with it. Give it some time and it will feel more natural then pressing x to swing. Just do the suggestion that I gave from the very beginning. That will help you get used to L&F. AT least give it a shot dude. It obviously seems like you want to give it a shot because of this post. Don't give up until you try it.

[cactusruss]

I've never really pitched, so I don't know how natural rock and fire is... although it does make me feel like I'm pushing the ball to the catcher instead of throwing it.

I have, however, swung a baseball bat thousands of times to live pitching... and load and fire feels nothing like swinging a baseball bat. Again, it's kinda like you're pushing a bat to a baseball instead of swinging a bat. Zone hitting is completely unrealistic too... anyone who is a decent hitter in real life knows that good hand eye coordination means that timing is more important to hitting a baseball than making sure you swing in the right "zone"... hand eye coordination makes swinging in the right location, or "zone", something that you don't even think about... your body just naturally does it.

Now classic hitting isn't perfect, but it does have the most natural feel to it. It perfectly captures the ability to slap a low and away pitch to the opposite field, or pull a inside heater down the third base line (or first base if you're a lefty). And just like real life, your ability to do these things depends on timing, and the movement of the analog stick represents the way you feel you should hit the ball. Pulling the ball or going the other way is more than just swinging early or late... it's a feeling you have that I can't really explain to someone who hasn't played much baseball... or someone who isn't a good hitter.

L&F is great if you like arcade style baseball... I understand someone who hasn't played much ball thinking it's awesome... but to me, someone who has played more real life baseball games than I can remember, L&F and realistic gameplay shouldn't be mentioned in the same sentence.

[davewins]

Quote: Originally Posted by cactusruss

I've never really pitched, so I don't know how natural rock and fire is... although it does make me feel like I'm pushing the ball to the catcher instead of throwing it. I have, however, swung a baseball bat thousands of times to live pitching... and load and fire feels nothing like swinging a baseball bat. Again, it's kinda like you're pushing a bat to a baseball instead of swinging a bat. Zone hitting is completely unrealistic too... anyone who is a decent hitter in real life knows that good hand eye coordination means that timing is more important to hitting a baseball than making sure you swing in the right "zone"... hand eye coordination makes swinging in the right location, or "zone", something that you don't even think about... your body just naturally does it. Now classic hitting isn't perfect, but it does have the most natural feel to it. It perfectly captures the ability to slap a low and away pitch to the opposite field, or pull a inside heater down the third base line (or first base if you're a lefty). And just like real life, your ability to do these things depends on timing, and the movement of the analog stick represents the way you feel you should hit the ball. Pulling the ball or going the other way is more than just swinging early or late... it's a feeling you have that I can't really explain to someone who hasn't played much baseball... or someone who isn't a good hitter. L&F is great if you like arcade style baseball... I understand someone who hasn't played much ball thinking it's awesome... but to me, someone who has played more real life baseball games than I can remember, L&F and realistic gameplay shouldn't be mentioned in the same sentence.

I think using the right analog stick in a swinging motion could be more interesting. You hold the right analog stick in the 9 oclock position (if the batter is a righty) and as the pitch comes in you aim just like in classic/zone and swing the right analog stick around counter-clockwise. The faster you swing with the inclusion of great timing and the analog stick in the right spot the harder you hit the ball.

[cactusruss]

Quote: Originally Posted by davewins

I think using the right analog stick in a swinging motion could be more interesting. You hold the right analog stick in the 9 oclock position (if the batter is a righty) and as the pitch comes in you aim just like in classic/zone and swing the right analog stick around counter-clockwise. The faster you swing with the inclusion of great timing and the analog stick in the right spot the harder you hit the ball.

That sounds better than L&F... but until we get Star Trek style holo-decks, nothings gonna feel completely natural.