Operation Sports is proud to present our interview with P.J. Snavely, Producer of All-Star Baseball 2004.

GAMEPLAY
Operation Sports: What are the new gameplay features?

P.J. Snavely: We’re always light years ahead when it comes to features – this year is no different. In addition to a franchise mode overhaul (including arbitration, minor league options, compensation picks in the draft and waivers), we’ve added two main new methods of gameplay.

The first one is Scenario Mode – we’ve taken 21 situations from 20 different games this year. The one game with 2 different scenarios is the All-Star Game (you have to win with each team). The mode puts the user in the moment where the game turned. It’s a one-of-a-kind “mission based baseball” that allows for users to play with an objective in 5-10 minutes.

The second main addition is a mode called a Pickup Game. I’ve always loved this idea for a baseball game and fought hard to make sure it made it in this year. You’ll start on one of 4 custom-made fields (City Park, Cornfield, Schoolyard & Sandlot) with 18 players chosen at random by the CPU – 2 players at each position. You’ll then take turns picking players until you’ve got 2 full teams to play against. There’s no injuries, no bullpen management, no pinch hitters – just good, old-fashioned baseball.

Operation Sports: Has the game been tweaked to speed up the play? Last year it took a good 40-45 minutes to finish a game.

P.J. Snavely: We have tweaked the gameplay to adjust the length. Some games will take 45 minutes to play still, but only for games that end up with some high pitch counts. We have added In-Game Saves to help account for these unexpected occurrences.

Operation Sports: There were complaints last year that the outfielders were to quick to field a ball. Has this been tweaked at all?

P.J. Snavely: Outfielder speeds, reaction and throwing arms have all been refined.

Operation Sports: Will there be more walks this year?

P.J. Snavely: Definitely more walks – the user still has to have patience & a good eye, though.

Operation Sports: In the American League last year the computer opponent would never sacrifice a player using the bunt. In the National League this would be the case, but only with the pitchers sacrificing the bunt. Has this been fixed?

P.J. Snavely: Yes – we’ve outlined 160 different combinations of score, pitchers, and game situation to account for different batters’ skill levels.

Operation Sports: Has the strike zone been tweaked?

P.J. Snavely: It has – you’ll notice the edges are fuzzy, and the height changes based on the batters’ stance and height.

Operation Sports: Will there be better CPU base running?

P.J. Snavely: Definitely – we’re still tuning this all the way up until we release to get the right aggressive mixed with smart, never-make-the-first-out-at-third kind of baserunning.

Operation Sports: Will speed rating affect running to first?

P.J. Snavely: It did last year, and does this year as well.

Operation Sports: Is it harder to steal this year?

P.J. Snavely: It is – for a couple of different reasons. We’ve added catcher pickoffs and the CPU pitchers throw over a lot more often.

Operation Sports: How has simming of a season been tweaked? It seemed as though the stats were very off the wall last year.

P.J. Snavely: We take simmed stats very seriously – if you’re talking about guys making the Hall of Fame based on simulated seasons, those seasons should accurately reflect how a guy is likely to perform. You get a nice variance, but good players perform well (barring injury). I had a season recently where Brett Tomko was one of the starters to make it to the All-Star game – haven’t seen it since, but its cool to see that kinda stuff.

Operation Sports: Has the pitchers stamina been tweaked?

P.J. Snavely: Yes – it’s a rewarding system for taking more pitches and trying harder to throw strikes while you’re on defense.

Operation Sports: Will the CPU have more pick off attempts?

P.J. Snavely: Yes – a lot more to first, a few more to second, but just more in general.

Operation Sports: Will there be any wind effects?

P.J. Snavely: Yes, and the wind will be displayed in flag velocity and on the pre-game introduction screen.

Operation Sports: Will manage only mode be back?

P.J. Snavely: Absolutely – its still one of my favorite modes.

GRAPHICS
Operation Sports: What new animations, if any, have been added to this year’s version?

P.J. Snavely: We’ve added more infield animations, redone the tag plays at the bases to account for off-line throws, and captured a bunch more outfield catches to avoid the over-the-shoulder catch frequency we had last year.

Operation Sports: Are there any new cut-scenes in the game after a big play or between innings?

P.J. Snavely: Yes.

Operation Sports: Tell us about the new menu interface. How will it work? What new features/options will we see?

P.J. Snavely: We’ve really streamlined the menu system this year. Our front-end is entirely DVD-style with movie transitions and a front-end flow that just makes sense. You’ll be able to simulate games from a couple different places, and pretty much have access to more information on your season/franchise than you’ll ever need.

Operation Sports: Has a behind the pitcher view been added in this years game?

P.J. Snavely: It hasn’t – we’re not huge fans of a behind-the-pitcher view.

GENERAL
Operation Sports: Will we have any control over the CPU teams and rosters?

P.J. Snavely: Yes – starting a franchise gives you the option to control your team or all teams.

Operation Sports: Has the trade A.I. Improved?

P.J. Snavely: Yes, and you’ll see a lot more 2-for-1 and 3-for-2 deals proposed along the course of the season.

Operation Sports: Has the franchise mode been tweaked/upgraded? If so, what new features/options will we see in this year’s franchise mode?

P.J. Snavely: See above…there’s a ton of stuff to do with your franchise.

Operation Sports: Is it the same schedule every year, or will it be random after the first year?

P.J. Snavely: It’s the same schedule, but teams will move into new stadiums as the years progress.

Operation Sports: Can we view all time leader stats and other stats during the season?

P.J. Snavely: Yup.

Operation Sports: Can career stats be viewed for every year or is all the years combined?

P.J. Snavely: Career stats (from 2003-on) can be viewed in the scouting report sections.

Operation Sports: Will there be Multi Player trades? 2 for 1, 3 for 1 etc.

P.J. Snavely: Yes. Those will either leave you short or over the 25-man roster limit, so its up to the user to correct that.

Operation Sports: Has create a player been improved?

P.J. Snavely: It has – its also been moved so that users can access it before the season to create a custom set of rosters or in-season to add new rookies & such.

Operation Sports: Is there any way to see player ratings? And can we edit them?

P.J. Snavely: Yes on both counts – the scouting report screen will show all of a player’s ability ratings. The Player Editor will allow users to change pretty much anything about any player in the majors.

Operation Sports: Will there be any type of player arbitration in franchise mode?

P.J. Snavely: Yes – we’ve added a full arbitration model to the game, including the ability to non-tender players and sign them to long-term contracts.

Operation Sports: Will you be able to change teams as a user in franchise?

P.J. Snavely: No, but if you control all the teams, you can pretty much do whatever you want.

Operation Sports: Will you be able to draft players?

P.J. Snavely: Yes – we’ve built in the Amateur Draft that happens every June. Depending on how many points you’ve allocated to your scouting budget, you’ll receive different reports on how prospects will fare. The ultimate decision is yours, though.

Operation Sports: Will it incorporate different managerial styles?

P.J. Snavely: No, but the managerial AI is much improved.

Operation Sports: Will minor league players accumulate stats?

P.J. Snavely: No, I fought for this, but we wanted to get the save sizes down for all platforms.

Operation Sports: Are there in game saves?

P.J. Snavely: Yes.

Operation Sports: Will there be manual instant replays?

P.J. Snavely: Yes, including camera speed, zoom and placement ability.

Operation Sports: Will there be a 2 man commentary booth this year or 3 man?

P.J. Snavely: It’s a straight 2-man booth, but we’ve done some great things with Thom Brennaman and Steve Lyons – those guys are fantastic to work with, and really tolerant of the thousands of iterations we went through to get it right. Also, there’s a Spanish option available for play-by-play.

Operation Sports: Can throw back uniforms be an option for regular games?

P.J. Snavely: Yes – every team has at least one, and we’ve done some of the Negro League uniforms for teams to wear as throwbacks.

MISCELLANEOUS
Operation Sports: Will we have the ability to download updated rosters?

P.J. Snavely: Downloading rosters will be available – and these should be updated on a very frequent basis.

Operation Sports: We would like to thank you for your time with this interview, is there anything else you would like to add?

P.J. Snavely: Couple quick things – big thanks to Steve for his hard work and dedication in making Operation Sports far and away the best sports gaming site on the net. Also, thanks to the Operation Sports readers for being baseball fans…its still the greatest game ever evolved.