Not So PC
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.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Graphics Guy
This is the guy that obsesses over graphics, frame rates, player models, textures and animations. He can tell you that the shade of blue at Boise’s stadium just wasn’t annoying enough. He can tell you the Joe Torre model in the Show doesn’t have small enough fingers to pick his nose. If you have a concern about any of these things, this guy can nitpick with the best of them.
Crotchety Old Guy
This is the guy that hates Graphics Guy. “Back in the day we had pong and we loved it! Just be thankful for animated stick figures you young whipper snappers!” Every time he turns on the PS3 he forgets he has to change channels to play the game. “Damn TV! Can’t you figure this out by now?”
Accessories Guy
This is the guy that lays out his socks and tie before bed at night in accordance to his weekly wardrobe schedule. He wants five different elbow pads with six different sized stripe options, wrist bands with seven different textures that can be placed anywhere on the human body, different colored mouthpieces and eye black with the ability to write messages on them like Tim Tebow. If every player on every team doesn’t have the right accessories, a heart attack may happen. Either that or an open letter to EA complaining about the lack of attention to detail.
Atmosphere Guy
This guy paints his chest and goes topless with a cheese head at Lambeau Field in January. He loves bunting, playoff chants, varying crowd attendance, pre-game, half-time and post-game shows along with cut scenes showing a fan taking a leak at the urinal. "Long live 2K5! For shame EA!"
Gameplay Guy
Hates graphics and accessories guy. Every post they make rubs him the wrong way. “Who cares about the announcers? I just shut them off. Only gameplay talk is allowed here!” He’s often seen eating at Lila’s Greasy Spoon with Crotchety Old Guy.
Slider Guy
This guy constantly fiddles with his car seat as he can never find a comfortable position that feels just right. When he finally thinks the seat is perfect he gains ten pounds and has to go through it all over again. Then he declares he has found the perfect car seat position for everyone without realizing that other people may be taller or fatter than him. He finally gives up a year later as he trades his older car in for the new model.
Prozac Guy
This is the guy that proclaims a game and everything in it to be the best ever! “NCAA ’09 was the best game ever! I love how the cpu quarterback never throws deep. It makes it so much more interesting then seeing the occasional deep pass like I just saw on Saturday!”
Suicidal Guy
This guy can find fault in Jesus. “I’m only averaging 3.1 walks per game when I should be averaging 3.2!” Most games are flaming pieces of crap. But somehow they end up being purchased and played for months at a time. Positive compliments are rare and negative comments are a welcome release. Serenity now!
Conspiracy Gamer
This guy hates to lose and believes in comeback code. Every loss is a conspiracy against him. He believes in Roswell and that we never walked on the moon. At least one broken controller sits in his closet.
Anti Mascot Guy
This guy thinks that building the new Yankee stadium takes the same time as building an outhouse for his momma. “Why on earth did NCAA add a useless mascot game when they could have focused on create a school, FCS, and franchise discipline? Why are there mascots in the game when the Show could have collision detection?! Clearly they don’t know what they are doing!”
Many of us are a wide range of gamer. I would say I’m Atmosphere Guy, Gameplay guy and Slider Guy with a sprinkle of Crotchedy Old Guy and a small touch of Suicidal Guy.
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.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Updated Sunday, 4:00 PM EST. Probably nothing else tonight because of the Superbowl.
Community Leader Impressions/Answers Only
------------------------
Knight (#759 on if there are injuries in spring training)
Man that's a great question too!...
I do not know the answer though.
That would be cool to lose a guy before the season.
Say like Ryan Howard, Chase Utley and Jimmy Rollins all pull their hammies chasing down a crazy wind driven pop up
Knight (#762 on if you can choose if a player wears sleeves for night/cold games)
That option is not there...but I was also told that certain players will never wear long sleeves(I didn't ask who) so it's not automatic that everyone will wear it.
Nemesis (in Show 09 Slider thread)
Contact: This slider for 09 is your actual ability to make contact with the ball. In 08 this would have been your vision slider.
Solid contact:This slider affects the quality of the bat on ball type hits. In 08 this was the contact slider.
(Nem on whether cpu batters chase stuff out of the zone more on default)
I did not see this as a problem. If you set up hitter's properly you can get them to chase quite often. If you start off the at bat with just junk, they will make you throw strikes.
(Nem on pitch speed slider)
As far as your pitch speed goes Rudy, it still seems subtle to me. I did not see a drastic decrease in speed.
Nemesis (#46 in Pulling vs. Pushing HRs on too much opposite power)
There really is a difference this year with this issue. I would say the majority of the homers I hit were pulled. You will still see some opposite fielders but the amount seemed believable to me. I hope the team is able to post some gameplay shots showing this.
Nemesis (#784 on whether A-Rod or Jeter made a bad throw in the video?)
Arod made the throw, it was a hot smash that landed him on his rear. He got up spun around and threw it quick. The ball bounced in front of Teixeira and the ball went down the line. Matt V comments that Teixeira was only able to come up with dust on the play.
I also saw some high bounced ball throws where the first baseman traps it up near his chest. Cool stuff!
Nemesis (#785)
I do not know if it was mentioned but there are different umps in the game to who rotate behind the plate for the different games you play. each ump has a different take on the strike zone but the actual strike zone overlay does not change.
Check swings seem like they are going to be harder this year. Last year you could check at will with a contact swing with any player on any pitch. This year it seems a little different, the ability looks like it is tied to their plate vision and pitch type thrown.
Nemesis (#787 on if umps have real names)
I believe they are made up names, I think, I am not 100%.
Nemesis (#788)
The opening intro is different this year. The lineup comes up but they only highlight one player and talk about him. It is much better! Make sure you let the opening intro play out so you can see the scene of the umpires and players looking up at the flag!
Nemesis (#793)
Yankee fans:
When the fans are doing the roll call, sometimes they will cut away to the player and it shows him acknowledging the shot out!
There is also a cut scene between Jeter, Arod and Cano where they are lined up and the 2 slap each others glove and then the back of the other.
Nemesis (#795)
The first baseman still make a fair share of scoops but at least some get by them now!
Nemesis (#798)
The Rays are tough in the game. Kazmir is a beast!
Nemesis (#799)
Quote:
Originally Posted by mike75 View Post
Is the National anthem played at the start of every game.
And do we get to hear the whole "Take Me Out To The Ball Game" Song now? Or is it still cut way short?
I believe the scene of the anthem is just that. I do not believe there is any music to it. You guys will kill me my sound was down on the set. It is tough when 5 games are going at the same time, lol.
7th inning stretch seemed the same as 08 to me.
Nemesis (#802 on flag animations)
There are different flag animations but I do not know if they are directly tied to the mph's of the wind.
Just be happy that it is not blowing full throttle to the right!
Nemesis (#804 on if fans have rally towels in the playoffs)
Never got into that situation so I do not know sorry!
Nemesis (#805 on if players come out for curtain calls)
Yes they can. There are 2 types, the one where they poke their head out of the dugout and one when they come out at the edge of the dugout onto the field.
Nemesis (#809 on flag animations)
To me it looked better. I am telling you guys the lighting does an amazing job to all the textures in the game. Especially reflective light. I did not notice the direction but it was doing different things and even laying flat at times.
Nemesis (#810 on the practice swing before a pitch)
The same as 08, not a full swinging cut.
Nemesis (#813)
Quote:
Originally Posted by mike75 View Post
I have you seen any Choppers, Blimps, Planes and birds flying by at random times.
Or even umpty bags and rappers blowing on the field during a windy game?
Did not see any of those things.
Knight (#825)
About the shifts....I saw guys moving around...but it could have been the movement you saw like in last years game. I was playing legend games so I had my attention elsewhere(that little teeny weeny white dot that you try and hit..and can't if you're me)..so sorry.
To add to what nem said about fielding and such. I can't tell you guys enough on how much more I saw. Pared had one hot shot to Delgado(so he must have been fielding) where the ball bounced up high...hit him in the chest and went on...at a good clip too.....into RF. It was nice.
Curtain calls....yep they are there and the player comes out and acknowledges! (I was told...I can't hit homers...)
Knight (#828)
Quote:
Originally Posted by mike75
Does charging a ball and come up throwing from the outfield seem improved any?
Big time.
Pared (makes an appearance at #832
)Ha. Some of you guys are vicious. It's superbowl Sunday. I probably won't be around much until tomorrow. I appreciate the concern though. I'll be here answering questions to satiate everyone before you know it.
Lots of little things to discuss as well as some in depth looks into the topic some are so obsessed with: batting stances and pitching motions.
Nemesis (#846)
The cpu does some amazing things. They are very aggressive in trying to get runs in. I was caught flat footed when the cpu dropped down a 2 strike bunt!
Nemesis (#848)
One cool detail I saw was on bunts or dribblers down the lines, as soon as the ball just goes foul you will see the fielder swat it further into foul territory so it does not kick back.
Knight (#854 on the playing with the Rangers, slightly paraphrased)
I did....but I suck at stances and motions and that's what wookie wants.
I was hoping one of you guys did too.
Also...they were still working on Arlington(is it still Arlington?)..so I couldn't use it I played in Comerica(beautiful! ) with that. I was checking out the old time uni's(which were really nice..the Rangers not the Sox)
Knight (#855)
Anyone who enjoys baseball....on any level...and gives this game anywhere in the 6's or the 7's should be flogged and put on public display for acts of humiliation.
Seriously.
Nemesis (#856)
A quick note, I am still not a fan of the throwing system in the Show. The animations have improved but I would like a little more bite when it comes to determining the velocity and risk of my throws. It plays nice, I just want to see more.
Knight (#860)
Quote:
Originally Posted by mike75
Did you give your feelings on the throwing system to Sony while in CA?
No. We all clammed up.
Those guys gotta be glad we're out of there by now.....we didn't leave them alone about things(in between telling how great everything was of course! )
Nemesis (#862 on the throwing system)
Yes, the system to me seems to be more animation driven than pressure sensitive driven. With that said, there are more animations added this year so things look better when they are happening.
The system gets the job done and does not take away from gameplay but there needs to more. I feel they know this too.
Nemesis (#864)
One thing that should be mentioned, don't be disappointed if you find something you really wanted did not make it in. These guys are very detailed oriented and will not put something in just to say it is in there. So it does not mean it was necessarily forgotten as people allude to. It has to work properly. Lighting is perfect example, I think that was 2 or 3 year project before it is making its debut for 09. Things take a couple of years to perfect so don't give up hope!
Nemesis (#876)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Art1bk
This is one area i trully wish the show was better. The fielding seems script to me. Holding the meter down or tapping it made no difference in the infield in mlb08 and the throwing errors were script as well.
I cannot go into errors too much but the variety is quite nice this year.
Nemesis (#880)
Quote:
1. Have you noticed any difference in PCI. Basically can I make contact with almost anythig in the zone without moving the controller
On the higher levels the PCI is reduced but it is not reflective in the visual aid. That coverage icon overlay appears to be static. The contact slider makes the change under the hood so to speak, you will not see it visually. I tried just swinging with X and my hit quality was poor to non existent. Jim mostly plays hitting with X maybe he could comment more with that aspect. I know he played with contact up to check on things.
Quote:
2. were there any sig swings (follow throughs...ex Ichiro, Griffey etc) or did everyone generally share the same animations
They are still tweaking these things.
Quote:
3. Do we still have that same ugly animation when swinging at a pitch too far inside.
Yes, that animation is still there.
Quote:
4. What did you notice different about the pitcher/batter duel. SCEA mentions this...but doesnt go into any detail
I cannot talk about this yet, sorry!
Quote:
5. Do pitchers...pitch like themselves...(ie Wang,lowe keeps things down and is a groundball guy, Mariano busting people in with the cutter relentlessly
Yes to me the pitchers represent themselves better this year.
Knight (#893 on the throwing button while fielding)
I always thought it was time based. Quick tap was "regular" throw, while holding longer ramped up the throw.
Pared (#924)
The throwing with the meter was never "perfect." There were times where you'd tap it to do a soft toss and the player would rocket the ball over. The ANIMATION was slow but the actual throw speed was not consistent with the throwing motion.
Either way, we made out feelings known when we were there. I know I pulled some guys off to the side and spoke about it. If you're not happy with it in '09, at least they know how we feel about it.
Pared (#927 on uniforms)
http://www.operationsports.com/forum...post2039135769
For those looking for jersey changes, I posted what was asked to be changed there.
The new Twins throwbacks look AMAZING. My favorite uni in the game. Easily. Twins got some major love this year. Even if it is the last year for their stadium...
Pared (#929)
There's plenty to be excited about. Every single one of us talked about going through withdrawals and how we can't go back to '08.
I won't touch upon too much because of the vast things the NDA covers. But as time goes on we'll be able to talk about different things.
The gameplay is what gets me so excited.. I'm more a between the lines kinda guy and the game certainly did not disappoint. At all.
One amazing play I had... 2 strikes in the close game that I lost in legend with first and third... still tried to force the bunt down b/c I needed to move the runners over with no outs. Down 3-2... pitch comes in and I make contact but the bunt runs down the first base line... barely goes over so Kotchman hits the ball with his bare hands, while it is foul, further into foul territory. It was incredible.
Nemesis (#933)
Quote:
Originally Posted by PhantomPain
Obviously there are some things that you guys can't discuss because of the NDA.
With that said, do you feel that there is anything that falls under that category that makes you very excited?
Not looking for specifics, more "yes or no".
YES!!!
Nemesis (#937 on the jumbotrons at stadiums)
The jumbo's are pretty impressive and they are in sync to the on field action!
Community Leader Answers
-----------------------
Jim (#472 on managing rosters in season mode)
Oh, yeah. It was completely different because of the 40 man roster and all the teams players being on ONE page, not three. It was a little cumbersome for me as I just wasn't used to it.
Trax, you're like me, right? If a player gets injured you send him down and bring up his actual replacement (real time, daily)???? If so, no you can't MANUALLY put him on the DL.
You have to do it the same way as last year, put him in the minors, but you go to the CPU Team Control page to do this.
You can do the same manipulation that we roster accuracy nuts did last year, the only problem is my work around didn't work as they had to change the code/programming, etc., however the roster lineup AUTO FIX works really well. I must have tested six teams and was happy with how it adjusted the rosters. You can still manually change all the team rosters if you want if you're unhappy with what the CPU did.
Jim (#474 on how updated the rosters were)
The rosters were pretty accurate. But, I with a lot of the teams just to check things out and they looked good. I noticed Ronny Cedeno still on the Cubs. As they were listening to some of the things we were telling them, I'm gonna bet they will be update to the date that the game is FINISHED and ready to ship off for approval by Sony/MLB, etc.
Jim (#476 on whether we will have to tinker with sliders or if default will be better)
Nemesis and I both felt that, out of the box, there's a heck of a lot of less use for the sliders. Remember, the sliders were used last year to try to correct the doubles down the line that weren't, the balls in the gaps that seemed to be always caught/cut off, etc. and these issues are absolutely fixed this year. It's still going to be an individual gamer thing to tweak the game, but yes.
I'm sure when the game is out somebody will be posting "It's too easy to hit on LEGEND", lol.
I'm going to exaggerate a little here, but the breaking balls can cause your knees to buckle and you just have a controller in your hand. That's the kind of stuff that impressed us most.
Jim (#479)
This was an interesting coding/programing explanation (this is for you guys who say "how hard can it be.....how come they don't add this or that).
You remember the problem where the outfielder would stop and the catcher would run out to RF and pick up the ball? What was happening is lthat there was, I'll try to explain this as best I can, one teensy-weensy spot in the outfield that triggered the field to do a turn around. You wouldn't see it, but the catcher was actually running towards the backstop (in the coding) and trying to pick up the ball. We saw him running to the OF, but that's not what he was doing when the programmers looked at it. He was running towards the backstop after the ball.
They had to do hours trying to find this one little pin point spot in the field that was causing this. Every centimeter of the game has some kind of coding that effects other stuff. It was amazing to watch one programmer sitting in front of 5 monitors with 2 controllers reconstruct things.
Thought I'd pass that along.
Jim (#481 on being the MVP so far of info)
Aw, hell no. The other guys are on a long plane ride and you'll be amazed at the stuff they'll lay on you. All the franchise stuff that I haven't a clue about because I don't play years of franchise, more on the sliders, etc. I'm just touching the surface and I'm the only one that isn't flying at 30,000 feet right now.
Jim (#484 on the Legend free agents and if the cpu will sign them in franchise)
Not in FRANCHISE mode. They are there in the default FA list, I think 80 of them. Before you start your FRANCHISE you can go ahead and assign them to different teams if you want, all of them if you want, spread them around. Once you go to FRANCHISE these oldtimers disappear, replaced by 80 fake players that you can create (plus the Manny Ramirez, Adam Dunn free agents).
Jim (#487 on the Community Leaders)
True dat. I'm probably the weakest link really, but a handsome weakest link. I don't think I heard Knight and Pared shut up the entire time I was there. Now Nemesis was like a man in a trance in front of the monitor. We had to throw chairs at him to get his attention.
Jim (#488 on the TVs they were playing on)
Scott, gonna guess about 25" LCD computer monitors. Not exactly sure of the sizes.
You've got a Sony Bravia like me, so.........yummy.
Jim (#492 on the developers at SCEA)
I can't express enough how great these guys were. When we first walked in, Russell being very serious in tone, lol, we sat down at a big table and the devs walked in, very serious, a dozen or so of them. I had to draw down on Kolbe, but I digress. We knew then that this was a serious business for these guys. We were all very humble, but once we got into it and they put a muzzle on Pared so he woudn't bite, everything loosened up. JUST KIDDING Pared!
Several devs told us how important it was to have a bunch of serious gamers at OS (all you guys) that they could look to for feedback. Again, when you have a game developer looking over your shoulder when you're playing you know they are serious about their product.
Jim (#500)
Quote:
Originally Posted by theaub View Post
1) How much new commentary was added this year? Did you hear more city-specific phrases?
2) You noted that the stadium was more "dressed up" for the playoffs. Was there any of that fan promotion stuff (like the towel waving)?
3) Did you see any elite players going on waivers during a dynasty season?
1. Per Kolbe, a lot. We had five monitors going at once, so there were five different audios we were listening to at once, hard to concentrate on specifics.
2. I think Knight checked that.
3. Knight, later.
He had a long typed list and even some of my answers are on his list. He'll chime in late tonight, I'm sure. He's on a three week vacation.
Jim (#541-#543, 545)
You cannot choose to argue calls.
Behind the pitcher view the pitch stamina bar doesn't disappear, been fixed.
Yes, you can pick up on the pitched ball MUCH better this year and the difference in pitch types is quite obvious.
There is no DH or UTILITY position in the player editor.
Jim (#548-#555)
You cannot choose your stadium in FRANCHISE, I may have answered that awhile ago.
Did not see the pitcher look at first/second before pickoffs.
No create a team, or create stadiums. If you want though you could replace a team with all the old time players in the FA list and play a franchise.
Didn't see a coach pick up a ball.
I think Kolbe said 21 create a player slots?
You can't edit the coaches/managers.
Cannot step out of batters box before the pitch.
You can change lineups/pitching rotation for both teams in exhibition mode only, not franchise. Would have to use two controllers like last year.
Jim (#558 - #560, #568)
There is no rosen bag on the field.
The reason is programming. Right now you see the rosen bag in the pitchers hand at times and he throws it down. We were told that the rosen back HAS to be a "static" (embedded) article and actually part of the field that will NOT move. There is no way to program it so that the pitcher will walk behind the mound and pick it up. If they do have that animation there will still be a rosen bag showing on the field.
So that people don't post...."well why don't they......." remember there is already coding in the game that if something is changed it might mean changing absolutely everything that effects that code/program.
Catcher doesn't throw his mask.
If you put your personal music/jeers/cheers in the game, but then use a new roster, you lose the music/jeers/cheers as those are tied into the roster. A new roster means you have to put the stuff back in for each player. That makes sense. (you don't lose the stuff off your hard drive)
Weekly roster update and chants/jeers. It is my understanding, for those guys who do the weekly roster updates, that the chants/jeers are completely tied into the one roster you just added them to. That makes sense to me as a roster is a separate file. So if you download a weekly update you are NOT downloading the chants/cheers, just the roster update. You'd have to reinsert the audio to the new roster update.
Jim (#563)
Are there outfield errors? I had Soriano run a ball down and then drop it, so I'd say yes.
Jim (#565)
Ha, ha....okay...one mo time, lol. Here's how the lighting works. Let's take a Seattle night game. All 7pm games used to start with it DARK. Now when you go to the game, and being as it gets dark much later up north you will see the sun out, however, you will notice afternoon shadows in the stadium. It will get increasingly darker (thats' what happens when night comes , until the lights go on and you're playing the game at night.
Think real life. They covered it.
Jim (#572)
Hint....and they were laughing at this one...."You know one guy thinks the ball hitting off the wall is the same as a ball hitting off a player".....It doesn't work that way, we know that now.
This IS rocket science. I felt quite inadequate, lol.
Jim (#577)
In the player editor, let's see.....
For EACH player you can
add a homerun song/chant/whatever
a walkup for him
a few separate jeers
a few separate cheers
You don't even have to edit the song. The program will do it for you, HOWEVER, to save space on your PS3 hard drive you might want to put in very short clips. I'm sure some guys here will be coming up with all kinds of short clips. I plan on adding all the old High Heat shouts/cheers/jeers myself.
Chris_SCEA (#588 on whether you can get the rosen bag on the field)
I believe what he is saying is that we didn't have time to get to it this year. The graphics guys were a little busy this year. Right, Jim?
But....Yes, it can be done. Just about anything can be done, it just takes time, resources and coordination with various groups....
I think you may have been the one asking about "how much power of the PS3 we use..." There really is not a definitive way to answer that. I talked to the guys a little about this at dinner (and I am not really the guy to answer this, but since I'm here).
Think of it this way...in the first couple years of the PS2 developers were using "100%" of it's power...and then they got better at coding for it...optimized things, etc...fast forward to the later years on the PS2..God of War II for instance. That game looks amazing. There is no comparison between it and 1st or 2nd gen Ps2 games...both were using "100%" of its power probably, but early on they were only using a portion of its potential. The hardware itself obviously did not get more powerful, the devs just found ways to tap more out of it...do more things with the power they have...that is the very cool thing about the PS3 and the cell, and the SPUs....they are crazy powerful...and as we find more ways to optimize and harness that power, you will have rosen bags galore.
Hope that made sense....and of course, Patrick may post telling me I don't know what I am talking about, so take it for what its worth.
Bottom Line..Don't stop asking. Many of the things you ask for are on our lists as well.
Chris
Knight (#591)
Okay boys.
I'm back home in N.Y.
I'm going to take 45 minutes to shower,eat...say "hello" to the wife and pet the dog. So that will be 5 minutes...25 minutes...1 minute and 14 minutes.
Then I'll be on pretty much all night for you guys.
I have the answers to almost every question on the list. If I don't have the answer now...it's because the dev team member who I asked wasn't the guy working on that and the guy I needed to talk to was busy. It's very few and I will find out if I can.
The other thing is the sections we can't discuss until after SCEA releases it's information about it first. That one is a no-brainer.
If you're asking me something and I'm not answering....that's the reason. I really don't want to keep posting "I can't discuss that."
Be back soon.
Knight (#606)
efore I start....I gotta say.... major props to Russell.
Quite a few guys on the dev team told me that while they wanted to do this Community Event....it was Russell who fought and busted his a$$ to get it done. Major Atta Boy to Russell for that.
Thank you.
Brian is an absolute genius. I would have loved to listen to him talk about how he comes up with his formulas for attributes for both days....but he's on another level. I could only understand up until he said.."Hi, I'm Brian"....then it sounded like he was speaking in tongues (j/k Brian ...thanks for the insight!)
Pat....pretty much the same as Brian...Except it went like this..."Hi I'm Pat...I do the stadium work..you see here the spectral lighting ei394r0dk 94830sl484030 49303854030-29 8950202kdka0d[a4. 49fdk 09543 sdkaj/ l43lmfpd p94lwe0 and that's how we get the shadows at Safeco to bounce off the red tile. Thanks for coming."
Steve from sound....the only guy at SCEA to watch my vids There will be extra shirts in the care package for you buddy.
Lorne....my kindred spirit over there. He's got his space laid out just like I do(okay he's a little neater))....to do his roster work. Needed some more time with him. ..(maybe next time)
(Lorne...I was gonna kidnap one of your collectibles and put him up for ransom here on O.S...I would have tied him up and even put a little tiny duct tape over his mouth with a little note...HELP ME LORNE..PLEASE!)......but I don't think I can do time in a S.D. jail.....way too warm for me!)
Travis......next time I'm bringin' MY camera, big man. YOU'LL be doing the cryin'
Chris, Chris and Chris...eehhhh...you guys were working to hard. I'll find something on you though.
Kolbe....now if there was ever a guy who was from New York....but is B.S.'in everyone out there that he's a left coast boy...it's him.
"Kolbe...can I have ONE more editable player in the game please?"...You simply get this look like....yeah right...big smirk and a big fat NO...sarcastic as heck and the DEAD GIVEAWAY...he drives like a New Yorker....right down to yellin' at some poor old lady to get the *$&( out of the way after a 2 second pause at In and Out Burger. You my man there Kolbe...don't let them old bags get away with NOTHIN'!
It was a phenomenal experience.
They should put in a cover charge and give a short tour. Great way to make some bucks!
Knight (#612)
I'm just gonna go down the lists...may have been answered already...sorry for the dupe if it was.
Eye black...yes...glasses...8 kinds of shades.
I didn't get into the editor that much.
I know that sounds crazy for me...but I wanted to play(that sounds CRAZIER...but when you see it, you'll understand) and I had 15 pages of questions from you guys.
Baggy pants + stirrups? No...if you have stirrups it's the high socks
Red Sox unis correct? Yes.
Long sleeves at night issue? Corrected.
Do the Indians have the red bill on the batting helmet. No..all same color
Atlanta Blue Jersey? The did have one...I'm not sure if it's the one you wanted...
Warm up jackets? Yes
Stirrups?
More retro unis? Yes and one was butt ugly(no fault of SCEA's...) the White Sox Blue/w white stripe...like a prison uni!
Saw a nice Pirates retro.
Player wear specific team jersey in the all star game? No
Red gloves? Multi bats? No and the bats are solid..but I did see a white stripe on the black bat this year.
Braves alt road uni? Yes
Change colors of acc? No
A's uni's....MLB STYLE GUIDE(sorry)
82 Brewers unis? The look better to me
Choice on cleats? No
82 Braves unis? No
Mismatched colors on catcher equipment? Yes...it's the same now
Reds caps....right now it's the same as last year...but Chris is looking into it....let's hope?
I just want to point out something about the unis and the MLB guide.
I think it was Jason and Chris that told me that these guys are CONSTANTLY sending requests(PROBABLY OUR REQUESTS) to the MLB guide crew and they are getting knocked. It's not that these guys(SCEA) are just looking at the guide and saying..."no good"...they see that you are providing links/photos and are trying...but they are STRICTLY bound. I was told the fines are hefty.
I hope this helps guys understand what it is about the uni's(and I hope I was allowed to say what I just did......if not take out that little silver pen from M.I.B. and forget it)
Knight (#619)
Boxscore expanded? It's basically the same as last year. One guy asked specifically about number of pitches...there is the pitch track and it has the TOTAL breakdown for you. Accessible after the game. Never realized that...I'll be using this one!
Can you see opposing pitcher/batter ratings during game? Not exactly...but one EXCELLENT new addition...on the BP screen you can now hit square and it switches the next batter up(name) to his contact vs. LHP an RHP. Handy(I forget if you can get power up there too...sorry)
I'm sorry I didn't get more into stat tracking. I'm going to be honest...it was easy to get sidetracked. There was A LOT going on.
One thing I must say about the layout....they changed it and it's FANTASTIC.
They are really trying to streamline getting into the "depths" of the screens.
For instance....to get to the bullpen to replace a pitcher you had to pause...go into the bullpen on that menu...then warm up your pitcher. Then when you went to replace....same thing.
It's now tied to the directional pad in game.
Hit the up button....and the bullpen....infield/outfield depth/shift is displayed.Warm up your pitchers..
Now for the sweet part...when your pitcher is warm...hit the up button again and your pitchers are displayed at the bottom of the menu...highlight one and it brings up the option to sit him/put him in or double switch.
I talked to Brian and he and Kolbe have more streamlining of these menus being talked about. Love it.
Knight (#620)
Baggy pants are in. You can't select baggy pants and have the stirrup socks...it's tied into it's own set of pants.
No editing salaries. MLBPA ...same with lengths...but they worked on getting the lengths right.
Nemesis (#627 on warming up pitchers)
The menu comes up by hitting up on the d-pad this year. You can do bullpen, defense etc. Once you pick your pitchers and they are warm you can put them in the game from that pop up menu.
Knight (#632)
Has diving catches by the OF'ers been improved? BIG yes. I saw some awesome new animations.
Can we throw ball around after strikeout? I don't think so....
Doubles?(this question was actually much longer).....WAY MORE. Down the line lasers.....splitting the gap hard shots...splitting the gap long shots...long shots down the line....balls hit over the OF'ers heads..I'd say MUCH BETTER (I know you heard this already, but I like hearing it myself! )
Will coaches pick up and throw foul balls? No
Can I hear more about the new routes the OF'ers take? This one I thought would be a simple..."yeah they changed the routes" answer...until I asked Brian about it. Whew! This guy is FOCUSED on getting the AI routines right. The sheer amount of work he has put into this is absolutely amazing. Watching him run his routines on his work station and then listening to him explain how he would go to games...watch games...read books all just to see how he could get all of this correct is mind boggling.
Add to that the animations that Chris and his team are constantly adding and tweaking to make that A.I. look and do the right thing and it's really nice.
...an aside on this...it all looks and feels(when you are fielding) very natural and smooth as glass.
I'm totally impressed with this.
OF'ers...will they bypass the cut off and throw to bases more? This has been worked on. I couldn't get enough hits(I'm terrible) to check this out...maybe the others can chime in...
High throws to first...toned down? I still get some when I field...so that's on me some...but I saw less throwing errors to first, for sure.
Wild pitches/passed balls...toned down? There are still a good amount. Maybe a bit too much perhaps. There is a new animation where the catcher smothers the ball(I think it's new) right at the plate. That does cut down on players advancing as much as last year from what I saw. We started to discuss this after we left(at the hotel). Maybe Kolbe can check on this?
Manual sliding? No...assisted and auto like last year.
When you play D...is there more of a sense of urgency to get rid of the ball? Yes. Fielding got a NICE work over. The DP's are nice. The throws in the DP's are excellent.
Seeing the CPU go the short way to get the third out and being able to do it yourself...is excellent. I was playing Jim and forgot there was two outs...he had a man on first. Grounder to my 2B and I hit the triangle to start what I thought would be a DP. Last year that would have been 1st and 2nd with 2 outs. I got the man ...inning over.
Can you cut off the ball mid air? No (and I know you mean if you are throwing home to try and get the runner...you know you're not getting him and see the batter taking second...you would "yell" for a cut off and try and get him there or at least stop him from advancing)
Did they adjust the depth that OF'ers start at? Yes...it seems so. I forgot to ask...but I remember thinking it just looked different from last year.
CPU bullpens? Can we see pitchers warming up? No...but the CPU will do mound visits to "warn" you that a RP might be on the way!
Does the opposing manager come to the mound more? Yes
Knight (#636 on his overall opinion of '09)
I'll tell you this. MLB'08 probably hasn't been out of my PS3 for a full day since the release date last year. It won't be back in anymore.
I almost(yeah right!) wish I didn't see this. Not being able to dive into it today for 12 hours has me a little strung out.
I didn't get into either checking out the rosters specifically or checking out the editor(except to check on options for guys) too much. I just had too much to do with the question list.
Knight (#659 - big franchise news)
Franchise.
You guys have seen the blog....but holy crap. Thing of beauty!
Let me get one thing out of the way...the travel part. Unchanged and I hate it too......I agree, there should be no way your MLB squad should be taking a bus. Like Pedro Feliciano says in the game "it's embarrassing" . I forgot to ask Kolbe about this though. I apologize.
Maybe they can work on this next year.(that's ME saying this)...we can ask them.
I simmed a season in franchise quite a few times to check certain aspects. Right off the bat....NO CRAZY WAIVER MOVES. I did not see a bona fide MLB regular getting put through waivers. Lower tier guys...that probably got called up to replace a player because of injury?...yes. A lot of the times they made it back down and that makes sense...they weren't really worth picking up.(that's why the CPU took him up instead of a guy with options).
It seems like the CPU will go for a guy with options first(if he "fits" into the managers needs).
The option year will be for one full year. So if you have a guy with 2 options left...you can shuttle him up and down for the year and still have one left. A guy with 1 left(when in the minors) can be used that year once you bring him up.
It's when guy has 0 options left...that you must expose him to the waiver wire and hence the chance to lose him to another squad. I should be shot for this...but I can't remember if you can pull the player back or not. I don't think so though.
There are no waiver trades(meaning after the trade deadline)(perhaps next year!)...but there is in addition to the 40 man roster the playoff eligible roster. For a player to be eligible for the playoff roster, he must be either on the 25 man active roster or the DL by September 1st(REMEMBER!). If a player gets injured after the deadline OR during the playoffs...you can replace him with a member that is on the 40 man roster(thereby still playoff eligible)
September callups are automatic to your 40 man roster(remember to set them on the 31st)
The off season got a major and AWESOME overhaul. Once you get used to it...it makes sense. Everything is off the schedule now. You simply pick an off season day(if you go a week ahead of the date....things will happen in the rest of the league! be careful!) and choose it. A menu comes up showing the things available to do.
Certain days have stars on them. You can highlight them to see what the significance of that date is(last day to sign your possible FA's for instance) ...so you don't forget.
That reminds me of something else I forgot to ask Kolbe...if we can save from day to day...but I think we can...I'm almost sure of it.(please give a heads up Kolbe! )
You have a 15 day window from the W.S. to re-sign your FA exclusively(like in real life)
The off season is also where you will assign your June draft signings(if you want)
When they are drafted in June...they are put on an "inactive" roster for "safe keeping" until you can see how you want to make your moves.
If you let a Type A free agent go...and another club signs him...you will receive comp picks(in the June draft). These are sandwich picks that you would get in between the rounds. There are 5 rounds...but if you have sandwich picks you could get more than 5 players(if you make all the picks)
The off season FA signing period looks good. There were a couple of guys left on there I thought should go...but 1. I didn't sign anyone(I simmed through it and was just looking at things), so if I did...it could have made a difference to that.
There were FA's MLB guys after the period...but only one that I REALLY thought should have been signed.
I was told that the CPU MIGHT sign FA's during the season from the FA list. I didn't see it..but I was told it was possible!
more after a quick break!
Nemesis (#662)
Legend
I must say that I walked away very impressed with the amount of work that went into this level. The game gives you a great sense of which teams you will have an up hill battle against as opposed to the ones you feel can be taken early on in the game. Strategy, strategy, strategy.......did I mention strategy? As we know, baseball is a thinking mans game. Sure you have to hit, throw, catch and run but knowing what to do before actually performing these tasks is often the difference between success and failure. This is no different here in the show, I will admit I was a little nonchalant at first with some of my decision making and the CPU thoroughly exploited and punished me for it. Of course this was at the expense of numerous developers standing behind me watching but it was all good!
In some sort of way I view pitching and hitting like a poker game. Each side is trying to figure the other without tipping their hand as to what they have or don't have. It is very important not to establish patterns when pitching or hitting on this level. For example if you are pitching and had success against a batter the first time don't expect to follow the same routine the next time. Strong hitters adjust very quickly and before you know it your pitcher is hanging his head down because he just got torched. Pitcher confidence is important in keeping things together. Use your mound visits to settle down pitchers or to stall while your reliever is trying to get ready. One thing I learned early was to be proactive with your bullpen. They cannot be an after thought as far as getting warm because things can fall apart extremely fast later in the game.
Then there is the other side, the hitting. If you swing at junk, the CPU pitcher will oblige and continue to throw junk until you can prove you have the eye and willpower to lay off. It is more important than ever to try to get to those hitter's counts. This is where the hitter is rewarded with golden opportunities for the extra base hits. To note, there are some great extra base hits in this game. The variety of PULLED hits will impress! Play the bases smart, The cpu does not mess around and will make you pay for being greedy. The cpu will also come up gunning from the outfield to home so you have been warned!
Pitching and hitting are not enough, you need some solid "D" in the field. You can definitely see the work that went into the fielding. The routes that you and the CPU players take are a thing of beauty. Balls that are hit over your head and the ones that split the outfielders need to be collected quickly and sent to your cut off men to gun down those aggressive cpu runners. The CPU will push it on the base paths and will capitalize when you try to throw home from the outfield with other runners on base. One thing I would like to mention is many complained that the fielder would run by the ball without making any attempts. There are now animations that show the fielder reaching for the ball. You still will miss them if you try that route but it looks good when you miss now.The hot corner is definitely on fire his year. Balls will get smoked down the third base line this year and while your third baseman is picking himself and his jock off the dirt, you have a runner on second, so guard those lines. Especially late in the game!
Just when you think you could not come any closer to the real MLB, the SCEA team has brought us even closer to the action. The AI grew a set in the off season so be ready!
Nemesis (#669)
I beat legend once and it was against the Braves, sorry!
Yanks 1 9 0
Braves 0 3 0
Lowe vs. Burnett
Knight (#674)
Okay...back...
Arbitration....You can offer your guy arbitration and when you do...you are given a time frame to sign him by.
Trades...they seem to have been toned down this year. But it's probably due to improving the programming in this area. In speaking with the devs about this and progression....with the new franchise options...they reworked this area.
I didn't put anyone on the trade block and I think I only got offered 3 trades in two seasons. The other times it was 2 or 1. I was told that if I wanted to get more.....using the trade block would help(sounds obvious...but I'm sure people will forget)
Also.....use the trade block to see what other teams are looking for.
As far as balanced trades, I didn't see anything crazy...but to be honest, I didn't look that much. I didn't want to get into posting specific trades as they are VERY subjective IMO.
Progression. I spoke to a dev about this specifically and am pleased with what I was told...very pleased.
Position....starting attributes and other factors will make a big difference in how a player develops. For instance a CF with speed will be more inclined to gain contact and contact related attributes rather than power. The nice thing is I was told it's not in concrete...you COULD get a guy who looks like he might be a CF...but start to bud and become a power guy. Not the norm anymore but possible.
Also as far as potential...this has been tweaked. While an A potential guy will most likely become a star...he may bust(almost impossible last year)...and you could get a C guy turn into a hidden gem. It's possible this year. There is also no set curve to progression.....there are many and they are variable. I've been told you'll really have to watch your players this year.
The manage roster screens are different this year. All in one. Now when viewing the roster...it's no longer split into each level...you will see all your pitchers..all your RP...all your closers and so on. No more switching from box to box to box to try and make moves. Simply highlight the player and the options on what to do come up on a menu. Very slick.
It does take some getting used to..but everything is laid out there for you.
I mentioned that on opening day there is bunting and logos. They are also there for the playoffs. It's great to see...and every stadium has gotten worked on...they all have great improvements.
There is a lot more commentary added this year....and while it was tough to hear in the room(six sets going at once with plenty of hootin' and hollerin'!)....the audio guy has also told me that there is tons of new specific commentary. Game to game...team to team....
I have more...but I need to find out a few things....
...I'll take a break...
Knight (#678 on Legend mode and the devs trying to beat the Top 5 while Nem beat the Braves)
HA! They reminded him of that too!
Here is all you need to know about LEGEND mode.
It made ME want to play games to try and beat it. It was white knuckle and frustrating(in a good way I guess!) all at once.
But for me...it was ever so humbling.
I "tapped out" quite a bit.
Knight (#681)
Tell you what...
There are going to be quite a few households that looked like the SCEA offices in regards to Legend mode.
If you get anywhere near a tight win...you will get an audience and the pressure is ten fold!
Right nem?
Knight (#683 on playing all the games on the schedule)
Okay...you can play any game on the schedule...but only one up to that time(that's what I was told...I didn't try to play a 1 PM and a 7 PM)....so if you play YOUR game that day....the others will be simmed in the background and that's what you'll see on the scoreboards.
Nemesis (#684 on intense Legend mode)
Lol, that was intense. Luckily no one took Kolbe's advice of tapping the back of my chair like a heart beating. The controller was doing that enough.
Nemesis (#685 on beating Braves on Legend)
True but they were not the worst team. I chose my #2 starter and their #1 starter. They played tough.
Played the Phillies was down 7-2 came back to tie 7-7 only to lose 8-7.
Pissed away a 5-0 lead to Cleveland in the bottom of the 8th. Those damn throws in the dirt that the first baseman could not scoop up!
Nem commented that A-Rod's stance is a little different (#686)
Nemesis (#689 on variety of scores on Legend)
Yes, sometimes you could have the hit parade going and sometimes you would be clawing for hits.
Nemesis (#692)
I saw a lot of new cut scenes added this year. Also the mascots were tastefully done and added to the overall experience.
Nemesis (#696 on the number of foul tips this year)
I only saw 2 or 3 times where they were lengthy. Most of the time the were believable.
Knight (#702 on how the ball looks and if you can see the stitching)
STITCHING
Hey nem...you still got Vasgersian in your head?!
Where the heck is Pared?...he has no life like the rest of us....where could he be?
Knight (#708)
Quote:
Originally Posted by bodhiball View Post
wonderful guys,
Any word on Playoff Atmosphere? Louder crowds, more specific commentary? Playoff-Specific presentation?
Yes-yes-yes...and yes.
Nemesis (#713 on if Turner Field still looks terrible)
As far as specifics I cannot help you but I will tell you the lighting breathes new life into a lot of these stadiums. We had 08 and 09 running side by side and it was impressive.
Nemesis (#716)
There is a cool cut scene where it appears the catcher took a foul to the grapes and is down on the ground trying to compose himself. The ump will walk the ball out to the pitcher to give the catcher time.
Nemesis (#717)
Quote:
Originally Posted by bodhiball View Post
Did they add the "impact" of a batted ball or the pop of the mitt into the dual shock controller this year?
Did not notice any controller feedback for those situations.
Knight (#719)
No ticker(I WILL get my sports ticker for franchise games, right Kolbe?! ) this year...
But the launch paper is cool
It has info on your MLB club...your AAA and AA clubs also(GREAT to keep up on your minor league guys!) plus a LEAGUE wide paper to update you on events in the league.
dorismary...you can play any game on the schedule...but I'm pretty sure not ALL games on the schedule.
Sorry.
Knight (#721 on whether nicknames were added and if they announce both first and last names of created players)
Yes...and I'm pretty sure yes.
Nemesis (#724 on Rob_NYY's disappointment of only a small tweak to A-Rod animation)
From only being there 2 days I was amazed at how much fixing and tweaking they accomplished and the game we were playing was not the most current. I know this is a passion for you but you are way too jammed up about this. Lets just see how it plays out.
Knight (#727)
Brian is a super guy......really, really nice.
It's not just that he's unbelievably intelligent, but the way he is working it into his AI..... This game is covered as far as that goes. His ideas and implementation is IMPRESSIVE.
Knight (#730 on spring training stadiums)
5 new ones. Much more realistic too.
They are
Mackenzie in Winter Haven
Sunsito in Peoria
Date Palm in Scottsdale
American Greens in Tampa
Moonstone in I have no idea, I can't read my notes
Minor league stadiums(new)
Franco Park
Main St. Field
Majestic Greens
Riverboat
Green Valley
You can also use Classic Yankee(last years) and Shea for exhibition(Shea without the construction)
Nemesis (#742)
I learned that what appears like simple add ons could cause havoc with the rest of the game and sometimes needs to be removed or done at a later time!
Knight (#758)
One thing......Kolbe has told me that the long sleeves are weather dependent(unless you always have him w/long sleeves I believe) in the night games...so you have your wish on that count!
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Part 1
Part 2
Updated as of Saturday, 2:30 pm EST.
Community Leader Answers/Impressions
-----------------------
Pared (#427 in question thread on if he played the PSP version)
Damn it I wanted to but we just didn't have time. Same goes for the PS2 version.
Although the PS2 version will have some of the small interface enhancements from the PS3 and I'm sure that will trickle over to the PSP as well.
Russell_SCEA (#428 in question thread to ericjwm on fixing any goofy batting stances)
When I get back to work next week (what I'm I saying I'm still at work now lol) you are going to get your wish. Since you seem to be the head Lion in the pride when it comes to batting stances I'm going to give you a special project and we will see.
That is all I am willing to say at this point but you better put your money where your mouth is or I'm going to rag on you all year long lol.
Chris_SCEA_Sports (#312 at 1:14 aM EST)
Hehe...they are still here...going on 12 hours now...I don't think Pared will leave until he beats Legend!!
Jim (#319 and he's home now on if the cut scenes for HRs or foul balls are different)
Basically what you got last year, but a little different angles.
Jim (#321)
The guys who can bring the ball, they bring it. You are going to be quite happy with what they did with the pitch speeds, pitch breaks.
You can not start a game at any time you want. In exhibition mode it gives you the options of cloudy/overcast/clear, one more I think. In franchise mode it generates the times off the schedule, the only difference is when you see a game that is at dusk the lighting REALLY, I mean REALLY takes over. You have to see it to understand it.
Once you see some screens you'll get the wonder of it all.
I can't believe those guys are still there, lol. Ah, to be young again.
Jim (#324)
I can tell you that none of us went there to pander. There were some deep discussions, and we even found out how it is not so easy to do the collision detection, but it was all done respectfully. The devs were really open and really appreciated our feed back. When you have devs looking over your shoulder watching you play the game and listening to you, you know these guys take the communities input seriously.
Jim (#329)
Another short cut. I told you you can use UP and the DPad to bring someone up in your bullpen. After you put them in you can push UP and DPad again and instead of clicking on bullpen you'll see your pitchers at the bottom of the window. Just quickly scroll down to the pitcher you want to bring in and hit X, it's done.
Jim (#333)
Mark,
You are going to crap when you see what they've done. I can still see Nate Mclouth running back to the wall, looking over his shoulder as the ball goes over his head and bounces off the wall. Sweet.
Jim (#336 on any new animations for chin music at the batter)
Tons of new animations, but I didn't hit a batter. There's a cool one where the batter falls to one knee when he's really fooled on a breaking pitch. There's a cool one where the catcher takes one in the gonads, goes down to both knees, puts his face to the ground and the ump calls time. It lasts about 15 seconds and is pretty funny.
Oh, Thome got hit, slammed his bat down, started up the line and turned around to yell back in at the other dugout, picked up his bat, then threw it down again and walked to first in disgust.
If you like presentation, trust me, this game has it. A batter swung and threw his bat into the stands, put his hands on top of his head like "oh, my god, hope that doesn't hit anyone".
Jim (#338)
The ivy in Wrigley field in April? There is none, a bunch of vines with no leaves, all brown.
Jim (#339 at 2:41 am EST)
That's it for me fellas. Appears Pared still hasn't beat LEGEND mode. Hope he doesn't miss his flight in the morning.
Knight (#340 on Jim saying Pared hasn't beaten Legend)
Ummmm
Yes he has.
I'll let him give you the details.
Pared (#343)
No, I didn't beat Legend mode. Close, 3-2. Made some bad decisions at the plate and it really should have been 2-2 but I can't speak on why! Damn it!
Either way, today was a complete blast. Legend mode is manageable but when you lose it, if you don't manage things well you're done!
I got lots of jersey stuff and impressions coming up. I'll try and put together my thoughts tonight.
Oh, the BSG comments got way out of hand. I said you'll some some very, very minor exaggerations on a few players... but overall they were extremely well done.
Span from the Twins was probably my favorite. Just incredible.
Knight (#345 on Ivy at Wrigley)
What he's saying is....it's brown in early April.....gets patchy green a few weeks later.....and then turns a beautiful green for the summer.
....oh and the batter's eye section got some major loving. I spoke to one of the stadium guys....who is also a big Cubs fan. He's going to get even more fixes in for future versions.
Another great note.
When the CPU rests players....it will now re-work the lineup.
No more seeing Wilson Betimet hitting third in the lineup when Alex Rodriguez got a day off. HUGE!
(thanks Kolbe)NOTE: Russell_SCEA stated in #347 that they just got that in a couple days ago
Pared (#346 on if the new pitching meter got him)
Nah, that wasn't it, but the break on the pitches in the default batting camera angle was KILLER. SO HARD to pick them up... then I switched to the angled view and it felt like I could read them better.
The breaks are very similar to MVP in that the ball appears to stay level then drops out of the zone.
The batter-pitcher experience is just all around SUPERB. Much props to Brian_SCEA who really hit a walk-off grand slam with this one. It's amazing. I had a game, runners on first and third with one out... the CPU kept pounding the ball low in the zone, trying to get the ground ball for the DP. It would even go up in the zone trying to keep you off balance... the level of complexity is amazing. Again... Brian_SCEA... you da man!
I do want to add that the entire team was such a blast just to hang out with and talk to. Many thanks to all of them and it was a pleasure meeting all of you.
Cubs fans should love this: Zambrano didn't have the correct glove height when starting his windup. I pointed this out and it should be addressed before final build! Also, David Wright's stance will be addressed as well. Mets fans should love his minor changes!
Knight (#348)
Mike75..
You wanted to know how much power the PS3 uses when running The Show?....I found out these last two days. 110%
Were nicknames and first names added? Yes..and yes. You can now choose a first name and last name for the game in the editor.
Did they change/add the commentary. Yes.....and there is specific playoff/W.S. commentary added
...also Opening Day and the playoff games...the stadiums are dressed. LOOKS GREAT. Logos and bunting.
The saved game no catchers mitt glitch. Fixed
Confidence bars disappearing. Fixed
Pared (#351)
Guys,
Do not mistake our comments for hype or anything else... we just had a lot of fun with the game and we're solely answering your questions. Just a little friendly disclaimer.
On a slightly negative note, I do not feel there were enough errors by default. I did not touch the sliders because I wanted to solely focus on the core engine "out of the box" but Nem can fill you in on the impact of the sliders.
Guys if you've PMed me, I'll answer your questions here. You guys blew up my PM box. If anything, please use the comment section on my arena. Thanks.
Knight (#353)
Weather? No real weather(as far as precip) You will get clear skys, cloudy skies and overcast. The tempature will also matter.
On a related note...pitchers will wear the jackets on colder days...the long sleeves will also be worn on colder days...but some players will never wear them.
Beachballs toned down? Yes
Will the chalk lines fade down the bases as well as batters box? Yes.
Rogers Centre? fixed the panels that were blue to gray.
Nemesis (#355 and huge slider news!)
Hi guys!
Here are the sliders for 09:
User:
Contact
Power
Timing
Fouls
Solid Hits (New)
Starter Stamina
Reliver Stamina
Pitcher Control
Pitcher Consistency
CPU
Contact
Power
Timing
Fouls
Solid Hits (New)
Starter Stamina
Reliver Stamina
Pitcher Control
Pitcher Consistency
Strike Frequency
Manager Hook
Pickoffs
Global
Pitch Speed
Fielding Errors
Throwing errors
Fielder Run Speed
Fielder Reaction
Fielder arm strength
Baserunner speed
Baserunner Steal ability
Baserunner Steal frequency
Wind
The total number of clicks is different this year. From default (middle) you can move the slider 5 clicks either way. It looks like each click is the equivalent of two last year. From the way the game played in its current state we will not need to spend much time sliding. Brian did an excelent job tuning the game in its current default state.
As you can see from the list that the sliders were streamlined. Some were cut basically because they did not work or worked against one another. After playing a good junk of games on Legend and Hof, the game is tight!
Pared (#358)
Last one for me and I'm outta here:
All Star teams are not editable.
I know someone asked that so I just want to answer it. Gotta get some sleep for a long day of flying tomorrow.
Enjoy the information fellas.
Chris_SCEA_Sports (#360 at 5:15 am EST)
Let's see here...
Have Wright fix his gloves after a swing and miss. Check.
Fix Johan Santana. Check.
Higher hands, elbows in, glove straight for Zambrano. Check.
Can I go home now, Pared?
Jim (#13 in Pasta thread on wild pitches and passed balls)
I didn't see one wild pitch in all the games I played. Also, with the passed balls. Nem and I noticed how many of those "passed balls" were blocked by the catcher right in front of him. You know how the balls used to go back to the backstop on third strike? What Nem and I saw was these balls actually being block near the plate and almost every time the catcher just tagged the runner. I thought that was an improvement.
Jim (#392)
One definite thing I noticed with hitting, and this is just the way I played. Last year I would be late on 80% of my swings. As a righty I'd foul tons of balls down the right field line, same as a lefty, but down the left field line.
It all felt different in 09 and I wasn't late on stuff. You can pick up the pitched ball a lot better. I was letting balls go that were out of the zone (not always, of course, and Mr. Manage-Only Knight swung at everything), but also beware as the pitch breaks are really mucho better this year.
When Nem and I were striking each other out on curveballs and change ups we'd just look at each other, smile and say..."ooooooooooh yeah".
Jim (#393)
I used Daniel Cabrera in a game, new Washington pitcher. The first four balls I threw in the game were.....balls. That's Cabrera. (note: I used CLASSIC pitching/all visual aids off).
Jim (#397 on new baserunning mechanics and if it was better than '08)
After moving from CLASSIC running scheme to NEW last year (becauses that what on line uses), I thought the system worked really well. It took some practice. Not sure what you're asking.
Jim (#411)
I can't praise enough what I saw in the pitcher batter aspects of the game. The ropes down the line. I'm not saying all of them are easy, because they have worked so much on tweaking all the issues. It depends on the outfielders, but last year they flat out weren't there unless the ball bounced off a wall away from the outfielder. I can tell you this, on manual field, I had my guy going for some fly balls and I just knew that I might not get to it where last year outfielders tracked down way too many flyballs. I took a great screen of Soriano just missing catching a fly ball down the line at Wrigley and hope that one gets posted.
Jim (#417)
Pickoffs? Nem commented one time, "nice to see a quicker move to first". That kind of stuff? To tell you the truth, didn't pay that much attention to that part. Maybe one of the other guys will chime in. I know their planes aren't scheduled to land in NY until like 6 pm EST, then they have to drive home, so they'll be on later tonight.
Jim (#422 on being late on balls in '08 but not in '09)
Nem and I had a pitcher/batter duel and I bet I hit seven foul balls down the LEFT field line. Last year they would have gone to right field. Then he dropped a BIG FRIGGIN hook on me and down I went, lol.
Jim (#425 on if the cpu pitcher still throws two strikes if he falls behind 3-0)
Didn't really test this, sorry. Looking at the pitch charts though I can tell you the user should be able to draw walks, just don't know about the 3-0 thing.
Jim (#427 on if you could tell the difference between good and bad fielders)
Mike, lol, are you reading my posts? Balls over guys heads, thinking I might get to a fly ball, but don't, some plays are closer than others at second? This is the aspect of the game that stuck out like a sore thumb for us.
Jim (#430 on dynamic lighting during gameplay)
If they post the one screen I took, it was in Milwaukee, there are shadows all over the field because of those high walls that aren't solid. Because of the structure of this particular stadium it is heavily influenced by shadows. Pitcher will be standing half in light, half out. It's there.
Jim (#431)
Played in all the stadiums. Saw Hamilton jack one out, great cut scene. I'm not a spot on stance guy, but Pared will chime in when he gets in. I was told that the batting guy added stances for every player that he knew and I'd think those big guys got definite attention.
Jim (#433)
Game is optimized to run at 720.
Jim (#436 on the different skill levels of fielders)
How do I make YES in huge capital letters, lol. I would actually be straining my stick trying to get to some of the balls, talking to myself, "come on, come on, come on" and, woops, the ball would be by the outfielder.
Jim (#439 on minor league parks)
Knight wrote them all down. I didn't really look at them.
Jim (#444 on the crowds in '09)
You really have to strain your eyes this year to pick out the duplicate fans. They pulled this off really well. They look better and they walk around the stadium, up and down the stairs during game play. You can see them walking along the outfield walls where the seats are, etc. I played a game as the Padres and the fans were booing them, but that's to be expected.
Jim (#462)
BATTING STANCES....ALERT
Again, I will tell you that the batting stance guy was asked to put every batting stance that he knows into the game. Please ask Pared as he's a little more up on it and he isn't going to be getting home until later EST. The batting stances that I could recognize, Span for example as it's a little funky, looked really good.
Jim (#464 on people being happy that they won't be so late to swing this year)
It is absolutely true. Trust me, nobody fouled balls off more the opposite way than me. I actually will have to retrain myself when batting, lol.
Jim (#466 on dome lighting)
Hmm, I can't answer this directly and I looked at both those stadiums. I can just say they really improved everything. Dolphin Stadium even looks great.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Updated as of Friday 11:00 PM EST (Jim is back and giving info)
Community Leader Comments
-----------------------
Knight (#114)
-Differences in level difficulties......especially legend.
Be prepared. You must simply stay focused. It's punishing. I'll try and get more specific info.
-Sliders...greater degree of variance? Yes ..some. More importantly, they all work.
-Injuries...especially gameplay? Yes...I'll ask Kolbe if I can be more specific though. This slider works
-Do catchers take their mask off? No
-Is there rain or drizzle? No
-Interactive bullpens with players on bench? No...and no CPU pitchers warmin up ...but!...there will be more CPU mound visits to let you know that a RP might be coming in.
-Collision detection? No player to player...and once explained to me...it makes sense. I'll ask how much I can elaborate. But there are more animations in the game to deal with "collision detection".
-Any tweaking to calling pitches? Undetermined. I haven't got enough time to be sure. It feels better...but honestly, I don't think I can get enough full games in to give a definite answer on this.
-Will there be more doubles and triples? GUARANTEED
-Can more balls be hit over the OF head? GUARANTEED
-Balks? No
-Can you cancel a throw to a base and redirect it to another or cutoff? Not in animation...once you hit it...it will go to that base.
-If I hit the ball down the line...can I get more doubles (stretch one out)? Yes.....there is much more going into this....this year. The new routes...the hot shots...You WILL see a difference.
-Have foul tips/check swings been improved? I believe they have...I need a little more time with it.
-Has the 3-6-1 DP been fixed? YES-YES-YES!
-Doubles?(again) YES!
-Will coaches catch foul balls? no...and no ball girls/boys either
-Have wild pitches/passed balls been cut down? Yes. Still there...but they worked on that.
-Is there more of a sense of urgency to get outs? Yes. Especially on legend. The baserunning slider will also pump up the CPU runners considerably.
-Is there any change to the picoff mechanic? Yes....a lot of work on this.....more animations...better logic.
-Does fatigue effect performance? Yes. Right from the man himself....but it's not drastic (thankfully!)...a slight hit to performance attributes...but it's mainly an injury hit. Play a guy too low on durabiltiy and the injury chance increases greatly. YOU CAN PLAY A GUY FATIGUED w/o a big hit in his on field performance.
-Is there an option to set battery mates? No
-Manager tendencies? not yet (not that they said they might...but I'm pushing
)----------------------
Nemesis (#124)
The way the outfielders approach the ball is an absolute thing of beauty. This detail opens up the extra base hits in the game. This detail works both ways for cpu and user.
----------------------
Nemesis (#12 in Pasta thread, on if he has seen any new cracked bat animations)
I have not seen any broken bats yet. I will be on the look out.
-----------------------
Jim (#203)
I just walked out of the studio. First there are no Charger cheerleaders and no Hooters, we've been with the game all day. I'll start posting some stuff piecemeal.
Nemesis and I played a game mano y mano on Legend. He beat me 4-0. I think he had six hits and I had five. The beauty of the game was the three balls hit over our outfielders heads and one ball in the gap that the OFer couldn't get to. This is f-i-x-e-d..
I played the CPU on legend and lost 6-1, however Soriano dropped a ball in left field and I misplayed a fly ball resulting in 3 runs, or it would have been 3-1. Thing is I adjusted the default sliders and the DO work. So it appears you can play LEGEND default, make THAT even harder or by upping the sliders, or making it easier by lowering them, if you know what I mean.
Jim (#205)
You will notice a big difference in pitch types this year. The curveballs had us oohing and ahhing when we were striking out on them.
Jim (#209)
Beau Beashore, your first/last names are in the data base.
Plesha, sorry, didn't see it.
Jim (#210)
No wives. Knights is snowed in in New York. We've done nothing but this game since we've been here, we just didn't have access to a computer except for back here at the hotel.
Jim (#213)
There is an AUTO LINEUP fix this year that they really worked on. I experimented with sending some starters down and bringing up a player that would be a bench player and when I let the AI decide the lineup with AUTO FIX (several teams), it all looked good.
Just as an example, here was a Cardinals batting order in the game.
Schumaker
Kennedy
Pujols
Ludwick
Ankiel
Glaus
Molina
Greene
I put Pujols in the minors and brought up some AAA guy and hit AUTO FIX to see what it would do. The lineup was like this....
Schumaker
Duncan (brought in to replace Pujols)
Ludwick
Ankiel
Glaus
Molina
Kennedy
Greene
Experimented with several teams and saw nothing funny (like last year having Derek Lee bat lead off).
Jim (#214)
Pitchers FIELD!!! I took a screen capture of Kevin Gregg stabbing a ball up the middle....behind his back! There were several plays where the pitchers made really good plays on balls back up the middle.
Jim (#220)
There's an opening in the RF corner (wall) at Wrigley, that has a screen. I had to laugh because you could see cars driving by on the street. They have added a TON of presentation.
I grounded into four double plays when playing Knight. Everyone as smooth as silk.
Jim (#222)
Here's Milwaukee
Weeks
Rivera
Braun
Fielder
Hardy
Hart
Lamb
Cameron
I experimented and sent Weeks down and AUTO FIX gave me this.
Hart
Rivera
Braun
Fielder
Hardy
Lamb
Cameron
Hall
Jim (#226)
Someone asked about the pennants in Turner Field lacking the years. They now have the years noted.
I LEFT MY NOTES WITH KNIGHT....SORRY...HE'LL POST MORE DETAILS, ALONG WITH NEM/PARED/PASTAPADRE later.
Even Dolphin stadium looks great now. You won't believe how eye popping the stadiums are. The condos behind center field in Petco, whoa, have the proper depth of field feel.
Jim (#230)
No homerun derby.
Jim (#231)
Franchise PMs will be answered here by Knight (at the minimum). He dove into it and seemed really pleased with what he saw.
Jim (#233)
PM asked me to compare and rate 08 to 09. Let me tell you, it would be hard to go back to 08. The gameplay has been tweaked so much. The game just pops out at you with all the upgrades. I'm telling you it's absolutely solid. Nemesis, and I, when playing were looking at each other and just smiling when we played.
Jim (#236)
No generated pitch counts.
The mascots show up in the stands, for instance the Friar showed up on top of the dugout after an awful inning by the Padres. You don't see them on the field. It's situational.
Jim (#237)
Dodgerfanatic. Breath easy, I've always just swung the bat. The sliders work.
I saw two balls hit off the batters hands, breaking both bats. Both balls looked like wounded ducks barely making it over the infielders heads, one down the first base line, the other over second. There's a lot more hit variety and I saw at least one big Texas leaguer drop between two outfielders.
Jim (#238)
Pitchers pitches are now listed in the editor as MPH, for example Fastball 89 MPH, but you still slide the slider to get to the speed you want.
Jim (#239)
I don't see players walking into dugouts, but I do see them walk out of them. For example, watching a pinch hitter walk up the stairs with his batting helmet in his hand, walks up the steps, puts his helmet on and walks onto the field. It seemed to me that there is a quicker transition when players come off the field as I don't remember seeing anyone just standing next to the dugout railing.
Jim (#241)
Night games improved....ooooooooooooooooooh yeah. The entire feel of the stadiums, the lighting, the transitional lighting is just awesome. I was playing a game at Wrigley and couldn't take my eyes off all the people walking around in the level to the left of the big scoreboard. The atmosphere of the stadiums, night and day, greatly improved.
Jim (#244)
Balls down the line are flat out doubles. Now ones that aren't hit that far aren't necessarily, it still depends on how quickly the outfielder gets there, but you whack a ball down the line, you got two.
Jim (#245)
Hit a high pop up down the right field line. The ball landing marker showed it was going to be a few feet foul. I ran over to catch it a few feet in FAIR territory. It got blown back onto the field.
Jim (#249)
I'll let Nemesis explain LEGEND mode as he finally beat it. It's fun and it takes LOTS of concentration on that level. The way the pitched balls react this year is a really biggy.
I was batting against Gil Meche and I tell you I had a sweet smile on my face striking out against his curveball. You'll have to experience it to enjoy it. Sweet.
Jim (#251)
Pared will probably chime in more with sig stuff. But Youkillis looked great, Dempster turning his glove over, etc. Dempster is a hoot, but I'll let someone else who knows more chime in with that.
Jim (#255)
The pitches that are in MPH are just one number. A pitcher who throws 87 will have a built in variable so that he also might throw 88, 89, 86, 85, that kind of stuff. The editor for MPH goes from 0-99 being the highest, but the 99 has a variable that will allow that pitcher who throws that hard to also reach 100, etc.
Jim (#258)
I didn't notice the clouds moving, but they're there. Overcast days really capture the feel.
Jim (#260)
No SCEA didn't kick us out. These guys were flat out fabulous. I played one dev, Pared was playing Russell and they were hooting and hollering, etc. They actually came in and watched us play in case we picked up on anything. Long chats, they were really, really receptive and explained some things about collision detection that I didn't know and might share at a later date, but just the things they do to get lighting depends on reflections off the ground,off a colored wall, etc., etc., etc., a tremendous amount of programming and coding to do all the things we say "this can't be too hard to put in"
Jim (#268)
Okay, more detail on the lighting. I don't know what else to say, you start a day game and the shadows may go across the field, start one at dusk it will the turn dark and lights come on. Just think of the lighting this way......like in real life. They have captured this to a tee.
Jim (#270)
So you know. There are things that we flat out can't discuss. Hope you understand.
Jim (#276)
Okay, I'm heading home. The other guys should chime in shortly, no they aren't going drinking, didn't do that last night, but they do have to get up super early to catch an early flight out, I think they leave at 0800 PST.
This is accurate as of Friday, 12:00 PM EST. I will start a new blog for Day 2 since this one is huge already! The numbers in italics are the post # in the Answers thread for reference.
Community Members Comments
------------------------
Jim (#10)
Nemesis 7
Legend 8
He lost in the 9th inning.
-----------------------
Jim (#12)
We met with Russell and the SCEA crew sometime around 2:30 PST. First of all I want to convey to you all how absolutely BUSINESS like and professional these people are. These are serious people, with a serious mission and their studio is just hard to explain, but when you see beds set up in their cubicles, etc., and see the dozens of cubicles, how quiet and diligent everyone seems you can appreciate and respect that these people are creating for us.
Okay, let me start. I left dinner just a few minutes ago and am bushed, but I'll start and am sure that the other guys will chime in due time.
----------------------
Jim (#16)
The game jumps out at you. The lighting especially. We have been able to take screen shots and should be able to post these soon enough. Textures of the players uniforms, the player models themselves, the transitional lighting (it will knock your socks off at how well they pulled this off), and the scores of added animations, cut scenes, etc. just had us drooling.
Pared made a chant jeering Jose Reyes and the audio make it sound like the entire crowd was chanting and not just one person, it was hilarious to hear. This addition is going to be ton of fun for people. Where to begin? There's so much. So I'll just start with some observations and answer some of the questions.
1. The double play problems are g-o-n-e. The force outs at second, the first to SS to pitcher double plays, smooth as silk. Something new added this year. The computer hit a ground ball to first and the pitcher started running towards first. Well, I was going to throw to the pitcher, but he was going to be late covering. Last year we would have seen that big, high underhanded lob, runner safe. This year the AI is such that if the pitcher isn't going to get there on time, the throw button "0" will cause the first baseman to take it himself to the bag. Works like a charm.
2. I had another ball hit to my first baseman who had to charge in and towards the mound, he made one quick turn and side arm throw off his left foot to get the ball to the pitcher who ran over to cover first base.
3. Had two line shots down the left field corner, both doubles. Playing one of the devs he had a runner on 1st and started his runner. His batter hit a shot down the left field line, the runner heading for second scored and the batter had himself a double.
4. A nice touch is some of the replays on hits go to the press box view and you get a really good shot of the entire field.
5. A nice new edition is you don't have to hit the START button this year to pause the game, go to the bullpen, etc. You simply hit UP on the D-Pad and it opens a window and you scroll through the options you want, bullpen/pinch hitter/pinch runner, etc. This is a really nice touch and speeds things up a bit.
6. Lint, this one is for you. Your last name is in the name database. As a matter of fact they have first name/last names in the database.
7. A pinch hitter came up out of the dugout carrying his bat and putting his batting helmet on, nice touch. There are tons of new scenes like this, for example, guys coming in from the bullpen, etc.
8. For the Blue Jays fan, the strip of wall that was too light and interfered with the pitch ball has been darkened (dark gray now) and I had no problems picking up pitched balls.
9. Eight styles of sunglasses.
10. Stirrups.
11. Ryan Dempster does that little flicking motion with his glove when pitching.
12. There is a great highlight reel at the end of each game that automatically plays all the game highlights/recap.
13. When playing Franchise mode the game automatically generates overcast skies, cloudy skies, etc. They really pulled off the effect of a game being played on an overcast day.
14. Knight was playing and was screaming that he had a couple balls hit over his outfielders heads.
15. Warm up jackets on players.
16. The Free Agent list has a bunch of legend players (I think 80???) that can be assigned to your team before you start your franchise. I put Al Kaline on my Nats before I started my franchise.
17. I didn't see a single beach ball and understand they are still there, but perhaps more stadium specific.
18. The crowd. This is a big leap. It was really difficult to try to pick out duplicate people in the crowd. They're there, but the way they pulled it off it's hard to pick them out. Also the graphics/animations of the crowd is greatly improved.
19. The roster control is different this year. Instead of having three screens, ML/AAA/AA a teams roster is on ONE screen and you scroll down, then look to the right to see if they are ML/AAA/AA. Here is where you also have it noted if they are on the 40 man roster, or not.
It was a bit cumbersome for me at first because I wasn't used to it, but I can see where it's going to be better because you only have to look at one screen now, not flip the pages to see the AAA/AA. The lineups, pitching rotations are still set up the same.
20. There don't appear to be as many devs in the game. They are still uneditable, however their player ratings are not high, their attributes are not high, mostly look like AA type players rather than ML types.
Okay, just a break here.
PLEASE NO QUESTIONS AS THE OTHER GUYS STILL HAVE TO CHIME IN. I can tell you that today was mostly playing the game and being in shock at how far the presentation/gameplay/graphics/animations have come from last years game.
----------------------
Jim (#18)
You CAN play any game on the schedule. I started a franchise with the Nats, but also played some other games on the schedule of other teams.
You can still put roster control ON and keep the other teams rosters current.
----------------------
Jim (#20)
You could actually take the legend guys from the FA list, replace an entire roster and play your franchise with the legend guys if you wanted.
Scooters name is in the database (don't know if it was there last year, or not)
---------------------
Jim (#25)
Well, they brought in Pizza for us while we were playing and we had three huge plates of entrees at the restaurant and THEN they wanted to eat. I just couldn't put another ounce of food in my mouth, and am a little bushed.
Truthfully we didn't get to a bunch of questions yet as we spent the time playing and testing the game. We have a full day tomorrow beginning at, I'm figuring, around 10 am PST until whenever, but I know the other guys are probably going to chime in here in a bit too.
I just gotta say that seeing this game in action, in HD.......wow. You can tell they work hard on it. One of the devs took me into his cubicle and showed me how they program everything right down to the angles/speeds/player reactions/jumps/dives, etc., etc. and I tell you, it IS rocket science. It's amazing to watch and see these guys sitting for HOURS in front of their monitors programming the things we take for granted and demand in the game.
Anyway, standby for a few....I'm headin' to my room. More tomorrow from me and more tonight, I'm sure from the other guys.
-----------------------
Pared (#31)
Well I know I'm freakin' exhausted.
I won't go into too much; Jim covered a lot already. Just a few things I wanted to add:
-Legend mode is HARD against number 1 starters. You get a better feel against a 2 or so but number 1's on the top teams are just... exhausting. You have to be completely focused and into every single pitch. It's tough to gauge on such a small sample but I don't know if people will want to play an entire season against the CPU on it. But it's awesome that it is there.
-I saw the actual style guide. Wasn't a good thing, as the Mets jerseys had some inconsistencies and I'm sure there were a few others. But man, the MLB style guide just is NOT correct. I see the developers bind in delivering what we want and what the MLB dictates.
-The stadiums are just incredible with the new lighting. You can lose a hit by having the ball shadow disappear into the shade! Very, very cool feature!
That's all I'm getting into for now. I'm not completely sure on what we can/can't discuss so better safe than sorry. Once we get all that sorted out we'll be able to get to most of your questions sooner or later.
As for the game... WOW is all I have to say. The best just got better... and that's saying a lot for what most consider the best sports game of last year. Any baseball fan would be pleased.
One last thing: All the complaints about hitting are thrown out the window at this point. If you think you'll have consistent games with 10-15 hits on a few runs, then you'll be surprised. A lot of work has been put into the batter-pitcher interface and it shows. Amazing.
Until tomorrow. J
-----------------------
Also Pared commented on the issue of too much opposite field power and too many home runs to opposite field (post #33 in Pushing vs. Pulling HRs)
This just does not feel like an issue this year. I agree and felt it was an issue last year but we have seen many bombs pulled this year among all the games we played on default sliders.
-----------------------
Pared (#33)
Ok, I lied; One last thing.
Catch region indicator was fixed! You can not play with the region on and the actual spinning ball off, just like you could 2 years ago.
More tomorrow!
EDIT:
Ok, last one. Swear.
The replay angles are beyond ridiculous this year. There are so many new ones that are just... indescribable. Just like you'd see on an actual broadcast.
Much work was put into them and it shows.
----------------------
Knight (#41)
Truly....truly impressive.
I can't think of a better way to state it.
The lighting gives this game a whole new state of "wow". Not a jump out of your chair wow, but a sit back and take it in sense of impressiveness. You'll see what I mean.
Fielding is much improved.
Franchise mode is going to be FANTASTIC.
Little things? ....that is going to be one LOOOOONG thread this year!
NO SCEA GUYS READING THIS PLEASE...
..
Spoiler
...and like stated already, those guys at SCEA are money.
I'm extremely impressed by that whole team.
I really thought going into this.... that we would kind of be a tolerated distraction these two days.... but I feel anything but that now. (we probably are though).... but the pride in this series is evident in every member. The place was full with team members...all willing to answer our questions...having fun breaking our balls (thanks Travis.... I owe you one..making a grown man break down and cry over a game! )..... and making us feel very welcome.
...and these guys know their $hit. That was very evident.
(okay enough blowin' these guys.... I know you're reading Chris!)
All in all.... a great experience and just be prepared for a phenomenal game.
I'll get to the answers tomorrow or Saturday!
-----------------------
Knight on Legend Mode in Legend Thread (#453)
Legend mode.
You don't feel like there is cheating at all.
You will be punished......for making mistakes.
They should rename this mode...."There Will Be Blood" mode.
-----------------------
UPDATE Friday 11:10 AM
------------------------
Nemesis (#80)
Knight got destroyed by the Yanks on Legend. I think we even may have a pic of him tapping out and even crying!
-----------------------
Jim (#83)
We are NOT playing a final build.
There is something else new with fielding and it shocked the heck out of me. For example, you dive for a ball.....last year you could completely dive over it, but this year the AI will determine if the fielder is actually going to dive, or just stretch out and field the ball. It's something to get used to but I saw it twice when I pressed dive where the player merely bent over, stretched out, fielded the ball and threw to the base.
----------------------
Pared (#87)
Ha, Jim is up early as well.
About the uni's: many are fixed. I should get final word later on but not every team is 100% correct to the point where a fan will go, "Now that is every correct uni for my team." For instance, the Mets don't have their all black away uniform that says NY at all, but they DO have their all black uni that says Mets. To add insult to injury, it's only possible to select it while away.
There's a Rockies fan on the team so I'm sure their black sleeve alternates are in. Like I said, we can look up the jerseys today.
The build is NOT final, so there is no worries on my end in terms of anything we're seeing not being addressed. I would hold any sort of freaking out guys want to do until the final disc is in your hands. Any sort of gaffe anyone of us has mentioned has been addressed 100% by the team and they are more than willing to have things fixed.
I'm truly amazed at the amount of work put into the new stadiums. Apparently it has been very difficult getting correct info on the specifics of each stadium and while they may not be 100%, they look so damn good I can't do anything other than praise their effort.
There so much I want to say, but like I mentioned earlier I'm holding close to the NDA.
BTW, the signature animations are really, really good. My only complaint, if you can even call it that, is you can really see the goofiness of BSG shine through at times. It's not THAT bad but the obsessive guys you are will notice it right away and it may bother some. BUT... and this is a bit but... they are few and far between. Much better than last year.
Jeter's signature throw to first is in and looks great.
----------------------
Nemesis (#88)
I played 3 Legend games:
Rays 12
Yanks 0 (me)
Yanks 0
Cubs 6
phillies 8
Yanks 7
The third was my best game by far. I hung tough with them as it was 2-2 for a while. Then they pulled away and made the score 6-2, then 7-2. It was funny, everybody walked away from me because they figured the game was done, lol. In the bottom of the 8th I managed to score 5 runs. Then I had about 10 people watching me, the controller was heart pumping, talk about nervous!
To be honest I miss managed my bullpen in the 9th, I did not get Mo ready for the ninth in time. Marte walked the first batter, I brought in Rivera before totally warm and gave up a single and then another 8-7. In the bottom of my frame I just made loud outs.
Phils 8 14 0
Yanks 7 13 0
This was all on default so far!
I have looked at the sliders, they cleaned things up and the descriptions are excellent imo.
----------------------
Pared (#89)
lol Number 1 starters are making us their ***** on legend. I approve this difficulty.
----------------------
Pared (#417 in Question thread on whether you can cut the ball off with cutoff man)
No. (You cannot choose to cut the ball or not - Nemesis states the same thing on the the next post).
You can change your queue for throwing, however, as I don't recall that being in last year.
So if you're holding 3rd while your outfielder is getting ready to field the ball, then realize you'd rather hit the cut off, you can change it before makes the throw attempt. But you can't catch a throw with the CO man once it has been released.
------------------------
11:20 am
Nemesis (#421 – Questions thread)
One thing I have learned being here is the developers ooze baseball. If it is not there it is not because of an oversite, the focus needed to be put on something else that was of more importance.
------------------------
Nemesis (#94)
For my fellow Yankee fans: Girardi is in with the proper number, he looks good. He is always yelling at the players,lol. In one of the games where I was getting killed, I swung at a first pitch and popped up and Girardi was giving Damon mouth. Matt and Dave were commenting on how Damon should have taken some pitches being down and Girardi was getting his point across! LOL
----------------------
Jim (#96)
I've got to say that my favorite presentation moment yesterday was seeing a pinch hitter walk up OUT of the dugout, on the stairs, with his batting helmet in his hand.
----------------------
Pared (#97 on if there are any new pitching deliveries)
Lots of guys have new motions. They look immensely better than what we've had.
Personally I still feel like the pitchers don't seem to put enough "oomph" when they throw a pitch. Hope that makes sense.
But leg kicks, glove positions... a good amount of them look very good.
I'll add my favorite presentation moment:
The game introductions. Only slightly changed but simply... "Wow." Still the best in the business.
Again, the replay camera angles. Close ups on the face of the pitcher right before a pitch.... incredible.
------------------------
11:40 a.m.
Jim (#103 on the possible fielding issues still)
I've been told not to comment on this by the guys. So, I won't.
-----------------------
Nemesis (#105 on online leagues)
Because of the new features we cannot comment on some things right now.
-----------------------
Jim (#109)
Today is going to be a real work day. Knight only has an entire book of questions, lol.
So far....glove colors are the same as last year.
Also appears accessories colors cannot be changed.
------------------------
Nemesis (#10 in Pasta thread)
I am going to mess with sliders today and see there overall affect.
------------------------
Monday, January 26, 2009
I was playing NBA Live 09 this past weekend and I’ve only played 20 to 25 games and I’ve got a déjà vu feeling. Run up and down the court, shoot the ball and defend the ball. I’ll run the occasional play and pick and roll but it is starting to feel too similar. I know I’m over simplifying this but bear with me. I just don’t find myself excited to play the next game any more. I used to watch a lot more basketball in the past but my interest has faded there too.
In football, there is a stoppage after every play. Baseball features a lot of time between the batter getting into the box to the pitcher taking the sign and adjusting his jock strap. Many people hate this and argue that football and baseball don’t have much actual game action. But I love the emphasis this places on strategy. Now people could say that you just run or pass on every play in football. You could say baseball is just about throwing a ball and hitting it. But the down and distance, personnel packages, and types of plays all vary a lot between every play in football. Each different pitch count provides a different scenario in baseball, particularly in the one on one battle between each pitcher and batter. The starting pitcher changes every five games and managing the bullpen and bench are crucial to success.
I’m a football fan first and baseball fan second. Is it as simple as natural preference or is it a natural desire for more strategy that these sports offer? Do you even agree that strategy is more important in football or baseball? It’s probably natural preference although I’d be curious to hear others state the reasons why they like a transition sport over a sport like football or baseball (or vice versa).
10,278 Forum Posts
74 Blog Entries
1 News/Blog Comments
6 Reader Score Votes
160 Friends
100 Chalkboard Messages
39 Screenshots
34 Videos
50,279 Arena Visits
rudyjuly2's Blog Categories
More
rudyjuly2's Friends
Recent Visitors
The last 10 visitor(s) to this Arena were:
rudyjuly2's Arena has had 50,279 visits
- dal_hawk
- Djwlfpack
- donovanallen1226
- ljw15
- Logic Doctor
- mhomes24
- mKoz26
- moose1619
- NZ Buccaneer
- ZoneBlitz
rudyjuly2's Arena has had 50,279 visits
Working...