Operation Sports is proud to present our interview with David Perkinson, Project Manager of World Series Baseball 2K3.

GAMEPLAY
Operation Sports: Will they make the pitch speeds more realistic?

David Perkinson: We have adjusted the pitch speeds slightly from last year to make them a little faster across the board. In addition, we have added a fourth skill level, called “Legend”, where the pitches are blazing fast. If you can beat Legend then you are a bad, bad man.

Operation Sports: Has the cutoff system been improved?

David Perkinson: Absolutely. The cutoff system has had a number of improvements made to it for this year’s offering. There have been improvements made to the cutoff mechanic, to the cutoff animations, and, thankfully, to the manual – so now the user can read about how to use the feature.

At its base level, the cutoff system functions exactly the same way it did last year – for example, if you’re throwing from the outfield to home and decide that you want to throw to third instead, press the button for third and the throw will be cut and re-directed. In addition to this standard mechanism, the user is now able to throw to the cut-off man and have him hold the ball without forcing him to re-direct.

In addition, there are new animations that make the cut-offs much smoother to use and much nicer to watch.

Operation Sports: How are they improving the batter/pitcher interface as it relates to the cursor?

David Perkinson: We are employing the same cursor system that has been used in previous versions of the game with a number of nice additions.

First of all, there are four selectable sizes of batting cursor; Very Small, Small, Medium, and Large. Those can be set by the user, or set automatically by playing one of the different skill levels. In Rookie, the entry-level user (not recommended for the hardcore Operation Sports guys) will have the Large batting cursor, in Pro, the default skill level, the cursor size is Medium, in All-Star the cursor size is Small, and in Legend, it’s Very Small.

Once you’re in the game, the size of the cursor will vary from the default level based on the attributes of the batter. Since we are now using two different types of swings, power and contact, there are different cursor sizes for each type of swing, and they are dependent upon the attributes of the player to determine the size of the cursor. Also, on bunt attempts, the cursor will either expand or contract in accordance with the batter’s bunt rating. Just because a guy is a great hitter, he may not be the best bunter in the world and the game now reflects that.

Something else that we’ve added to batting is the drag bunt. The user now has the ability to drop down the drag bunt and try to try to catch the defense napping. I must say that it’s really cool when you have someone at the plate like Ichiro and you manage to pull of a successful drag bunt for a hit. It really gives your opponent something else to worry about and adds a lot to gameplay.

Other improvements to the pitcher-batter area include two additional styles of hitting; Power Pro and Timed. Timed hitting is a cursor-free hitting model that is based on the timing of the swing, the attributes of the batter, and the location and velocity of the pitch.

Power Pro hitting involves a meter that the user must charge that determines the amount of power with which they hit the ball. It’s great for the Big League Challenge (our home run hitting competition), and definitely for the advanced user in normal gameplay. Also new is the swing feedback that appears onscreen after missed swings informing the user, in a polite way, of how they missed.

The pitching cursor, like the batting cursor, defaults to On in lower skill levels and Off in higher ones. Like in previous versions of WSB the user can turn the pitching cursor on or off at any point before or during a game. Also like in previous WSB’s, the user can re-target the pitch with the cursor at any point until the ball leaves the pitcher’s hand. Some of the new additions here this year include four levels of pitch variability (low, medium, high, and off), controller vibration on the fringes of the strike zone (particularly useful when playing with the cursors off), the inclusion of the Cut-Fastball for the appropriate pitchers, and the Last Pitch feature – a 3D representation of the previous pitch which marks the path of the ball, as well as the intended location of the pitch. It’s a very cool tool that you can use to settle arguments and see just how much of the black you got on that pivotal backwards K you just dropped on your opponent.

Operation Sports: Do pitchers in the bullpen warm-up before coming in the game.

David Perkinson: Yes, we have added the option to warm pitchers up in the bullpen during the game.

The user has the ability to turn this feature on or off, though it is set to On at the default skill level. Be careful how you choose to run your ‘pen, though. Relievers do not like being warmed up and then sat down repeatedly, and if you let them warm too long they will fatigue and take a seat. If they are forced to take a seat, they will be less effective if you warm them up again and then bring them into the game.

Also, with the Active Bullpen set to On, the user has the ability to bring in relievers cold, without warming them up, but their location and velocity will suffer.

Operation Sports: Will CPU base running be smarter this year?

David Perkinson: The CPU base running has been made a little more aggressive this year, and will be increasingly aggressive at higher skill levels.

The AI will definitely make you pay for throwing to the wrong base or being inattentive when you’re on the mound.

Operation Sports: Are there bad throws?

David Perkinson: Yes, there are bad throws to all bases, from both the infield and outfield.

The first baseman will be pulled off the bag on wide throws from infielders, with beautiful animations to match. The catcher will have to abandon the plate to chase up the line and get a throw that is going wide. There will be at least one situation in a game when a baserunner will be safe on what would have been a close play because of an offline throw. They really are a great addition.

Operation Sports: Has the strike zone been corrected? It seemed too large last year.

David Perkinson: The bottom of the strike zone has been raised a little, thereby reducing its size as well as the lethality of low pitches. I think that you’ll find that you need to approach the game a little differently this year to be successful.

Operation Sports: Will the CPU score more runs this year?

David Perkinson: The CPU is definitely going to be a challenging opponent, particularly with the fourth skill level and the AI sliders that you can control to make it better if you choose. Also, the AI team at Blue Shift has done some cool work that causes the game to figure out how you are pitching to it on a pitch-by-pitch basis. The game actually analyzes your pitching tendencies and will start looking for certain pitches in certain situations. To succeed, like in the real game, you have to avoid falling into patterns, or you run the risk of being torn apart.

Ultimately, whether or not the CPU scores more runs really depends on your ability to keep it off-balance and pitch a smart game.

Operation Sports: Will there be wild pitches?

David Perkinson: Yes, there are wild pitches. You definitely need to be careful with the types of pitches that you throw and where you throw them. If you are too reliant on burying splitters down in the strike zone you will certainly encounter a greater number of wild pitches and passed balls.

Operation Sports: Will stealing bases be harder?

David Perkinson: There are tons of changes that were made between last year’s version and this year’s version in terms of the running game. The primary difference between the two games is the new user-controlled lead offs.

The user now has the ability to control the length of the lead that they take after the initial step-off. The further you lengthen your lead, the greater the chance of successfully stealing a base, but you also stand a much greater chance of being picked off. The leads that you can take cause a really fun cat-and-mouse game with opposing players and the CPU as well.

The AI/user pitcher can turn the pitcher’s head to make you think that he may be throwing over, when in fact he’s just trying to keep you from taking too long a lead. If you do draw a throw, especially if you’ve stretched your lead, you’d better hit the button to dive back or you will be toast.

Operation Sports: Can we control diving better? It seems as though diving doesn’t always work when you want it to.

David Perkinson: Yes, we have worked very hard to address this issue from both a control and animation perspective.

First of all, there has been a lot of work done to improve the depth and variety of options for the user when fielding. We are using one button as an “action” button, that when pressed will activate the appropriate animation to make the play. There are many more options now than what we offered last season. In WSB2K3 you’ll be able to dive, jump to snare liners, make running lunging catches, and something else that we’ll get to a little later.

With the animation changes above the control has improved as well. We have improved the dive mechanism, but we also don’t want the user to have an animation played that will take them out of the play. If you hit the button at the right time you will trigger the correct animation.

Operation Sports: Fielders playing out of position, has this been improved?

David Perkinson: Yes. Each player in the game has a skill rating for every position that determines how well or poorly they play at any given spot. This serves the purpose of not only making players play poorly and be more likely to make errors when played at positions they are not familiar with (imagine Mike Piazza playing short), but it also allows us to have real utility players. Guys like Eli Marrero and Mark McLemore are valuable to you in the game because of their ability to play well practically anywhere on the diamond.

Operation Sports: Have you toned downed the pitchers hitting? They hit too well last year.

David Perkinson: Since we have addressed CPU hitting up and down, the answer would have to be yes. There were definitely some cases of pitchers hitting a little too well in last year’s version, however, the fact remains that if you leave one hanging to a guy like Mike Hampton, he still might make you pay.

Operation Sports: Will there be more walks this year?

David Perkinson: That was definitely something that we heard a lot about last year’s version of the game. People felt that the CPU didn’t throw enough balls or force the user to draw more walks, and it was something that was very high on our list of items to address for this year. If you are patient enough to take a strike occasionally (personally I’m not), you will draw some walks, especially from pitchers that are not known for their control.

In addition to those changes, we have added a slider that allows you to have more control over the number of balls that the CPU will throw. You now have the ability to tune that element of the game entirely to your liking.

Operation Sports: Will double plays be easier to turn?

David Perkinson: Yes. That was another major gameplay goal that we set for ourselves this year. There are tons of new double play animations in the game that are so pretty you can’t help but watch them in instant replay – even if they’ve been turned against you. We have unique double play animations for just about every double play combo you can imagine. Blue Shift’s animators and programmers have done some really outstanding work in this area of the game.

Operation Sports: Will there be rain?

David Perkinson: The weather is always beautiful in World Series Baseball land. We have several different types of skies, complete with moving clouds, and park-specific wind conditions, but no inclement weather.

Operation Sports: Can we jump to catch a ball this year?

David Perkinson: Yes. There are all manner of jumping catches in the game, including the revered home run robbing leap at the wall, standing, and lunging jumps. The animations are fantastic, the gameplay is exhilarating, and the result can be devastating. Just the other day I had one of the gameplay programmers steal a home run from me. I didn’t know whether to shake his hand or bean his next batter.

The gameplay mechanic is pretty straightforward and should be relatively easy to grasp. If there is a ball hit to the wall that is catchable, an impact indicator will appear on the vertical as well as horizontal plane that indicates where the ball will be crossing or hitting the wall. If you are able to time your leap just right, you will make the grab. If you are early or late, the ball will pass mockingly overhead and become a souvenir.

Operation Sports: Will there be more errors this year?

David Perkinson: Yes. There will be more errors this year, there will be a variety of different errors that we haven’t had in the game before, and, as is always our goal, the user will have the ability to tune the amount of errors to their own liking. One of the gameplay options that the user has at their disposal is to set the error option to few, normal, many, or off. If you are tired of watching your guys butcher grounders or throw balls away, set the option to off. If you’re sadistic, set it to many. It’s all up to you.

GRAPHICS
Operation Sports: Are you improving the ball physics so their are an increased variation of hits, outs, flies, grounders, liners, pop-ups, etc?

David Perkinson: We have spent a lot of time trying to add even more hit variety to the game. There are little dribblers, bleeders that get through, high chops that take time to field and throw, hard comebackers that cause your pitcher scramble out of the way in fear, fading line drives that barely draw chalk, major league popups, high fly balls to the outfield, hard smashes into the gaps, hard grounders deep into the hole at short, and majestic homeruns. You should be very satisfied with the amount of hits that you see in the game.

Operation Sports: Is it the same celebration after home runs and championship wins like in all of sega titles?

David Perkinson: We spent a lot of time shooting all new end-of-game and celebration animations. You will get an end of game animation that equals the importance of the game that you have won. Don’t expect to see any high intensity celebrations after beating down the Devil Rays with the Cooperstown team in Exhibition Mode, but if you win the World Series you can count on seeing something special.

Operation Sports: Are player stances represented well this year?

David Perkinson: We have close to 100 custom batting stances in the game as well as a similar number of unique pitching windups. Everything from Tony Batista’s wide open stance, to Jeff Bagwell’s crouch, to Juan Marichal’s amazingly high leg kick is represented.

Operation Sports: Did they capture the stadiums uniqueness?

David Perkinson: One of the major stadium related upgrades this year deals with this specific issue. We have gone to great lengths to do as much stadium-specific work as possible. We have trees moving with the wind in Pac Bell and Jack Murphy (I just can’t call it Qualcomm). We have the water fountains and waterfalls in Kansas City. We have the train moving down the tracks to celebrate Astro home runs at Minute Maid Field. We have traffic moving on the bridges in the background in Cincinnati and Pittsburgh. We have the #6 train coming and going behind Yankee Stadium. We have the Big Apple rising at Shea. We have the classic pinwheel light show at Comiskey. We have the Pac Bell water cannons. We have the milk bottle in Fenway. We have the rock garden at Edison Field. We have the light show at Tropicana Field. We have fireworks. We have strobe lights. We have old-fashioned signs in the retro ballparks and old team logos in the retro stadiums. We even have old cars in the parking lot at one of the classic parks. We have people cheering in French at Expo games. We have a great crowd that cheers for the home team and heckles the road team.

I think that you all will be impressed by the depth of the ballpark-specific animations and touches that are in the game.

Operation Sports: Will there be a better HR replay view this year?

David Perkinson: Yes. One of the complaints that we heard from last year’s game was that the user couldn’t see the ball in the home run Action Replay and that the baserunning overlay was a dead giveaway on Home Runs.

Both of those problems have been solved.

Now, only on balls that are sure home runs, the game will cut directly to a cut scene clearly showing the flight of the ball, and the distance that it traveled. They are really pretty cut scenes and do a fabulous job of showing off not only the flight of the ball, but the beauty of the parks.

GENERAL
Operation Sports: Will there be any type of A.I. tune sliders?

David Perkinson: Yes. On top of the already-lengthy list of options at your control, we are now offering AI sliders for you to further adjust the way your game is played. We offer seven different AI sliders and four default AI levels that will allow you to adjust the way the CPU hits, pitches, and runs the bases. When you factor in your ability to control the number of errors in the game, you can pretty much customize your opponent to meet your demands.

Operation Sports: Are their more uniforms to choose from?

David Perkinson: Yes, we have increased the number of uniforms available to each team from three (home, road, classic) to six (home, road, alternate, and three classics). The coolest things about the additional uniforms are the additional accessories that go along with them.

With the oldest uniforms in the game come classic accessories. The players will wear old-style baggy pants and jerseys, old-style caps and shoes, and old-style gloves when in the field. When batters come to the plate they will not be wearing batting helmets or batting gloves. If you look at the catchers you’ll see that they’re wearing old-school equipment. It’s really cool stuff.

We have tried to select as many different eras for each team as possible to increase the variety and depth of the classics, but in some cases the power of the 70’s uniforms just can’t be ignored (sorry San Diego and Pittsburgh fans).

Operation Sports: Can we edit player appearances and ratings?

David Perkinson: Yes. With the new edit player option you are able to edit practically every player-specific element and attribute in the game. If you think that we stiffed Nick Neugebauer, go make him better. If you don’t like the name Neugebauer, make the change to something more appealing. It’s entirely within your power.

In addition we have significantly improved the create-a-player and there are a ton more options and attributes there for you to mess around with.

Operation Sports: Can you change the names of draft picks?

David Perkinson: Yes, if after the draft you go into the edit player and change the name.

Also, we have added significantly to the pool of options from which names are created, though, so the days of Shigetoshi McCracken and Mo Nomo are probably (sadly) gone forever. Unless you choose to bring them back, that is.

Operation Sports: Are the camera angles the same as last year?

David Perkinson: No, in fact even the default camera is slightly different. We adjusted it just a little to better expose the lower part of the strike zone.

In addition to that change we are offering two additional, traditional cameras as well as a fully playable behind-the-pitcher cam that is eerily similar to a televised broadcast.

Operation Sports: Is the behind the pitcher cam actually playable this year?

David Perkinson: Yes it is, for pitching. The pitcher cam was something that a lot of users were clamoring for, and they’ve now got it. It’s a really good gameplay experience and definitely something that adds value to the game.

Operation Sports: Is there a spring training mode?

David Perkinson: There is not a spring training mode in a traditional sense, but there is a spring training results page in Franchise Mode that allows the user to see how players developed or regressed during spring training. This info is designed to let you know how your players are doing heading into the upcoming season and to give you a little extra insight into how your lineup is shaping up.

Operation Sports: Will managers come out and argue calls? Possible ejections?

David Perkinson: There are player ejections in the game, but not managers. Players can, and will, charge the mound after being hit by a pitch. If they charge the mound they can be ejected. We’re not really allowed to show you anything too outrageous with the charge, but you will definitely know what’s happening.

Operation Sports: How is the ESPN license utilized?

David Perkinson: Like the other Sega Sports titles, we are using a full ESPN-style interface and graphical presentation. We have a SportsCenter style opening movie and ESPN music throughout the game.

Operation Sports: What has been done to improve franchise mode?

David Perkinson: Wow. That is a tough question to answer. There are so many new features in Franchise that I’m not sure trying to address all of them in one answer will really do all of them justice. I’ll give it a shot, though.

We have completely re-worked our simulation screens. There is way more information readily available from the main sim screen than in last year’s version. We have added in a Hall of Fame feature that allows the user to have his players enter the Hall at the end of their career. We have included major career and single season records that can be broken, as well as a record book listing the current record-holders and the records themselves. If you are able to break a record in your Franchise, your player’s name will go into the record book alongside all of the other record holders. We track career statistics and milestones, including those of existing MLB players. We have completely re-done all of our news pages. We have eight different types of news items that can be listed, and viewed individually by team or league-wide. We have given the user the ability to hire and fire coaches at will. Not happy with your Scouting Director? Dump him and get a new one. We have completely re-worked our contract negotiation tools and finance screens. We have added a player loyalty factor that really should be taken into account when looking for free agents or when re-signing your own players. We have beefed up the injury and injury management system. Our new lineup system allows you to set how often your starter gets rested and how often the backups at each position will play. We have added in a fatigue system for players that will affect performance. We have given you the ability to release players in the middle of their contracts. We have completely re-worked the coaching system, so now do they not only provide insight into players and prospects, but you can also control the emphasis placed on various aspects of each coach/scout’s job. If you want the pitching coach to emphasize control, adjust the corresponding slider and see the results in the attributes of your players (depending on the quality of the scout/coach that is). We have increased the number of options available to the player in Franchise. Want to randomize potential? You can do that. Want to play with an all fictional league? You can do that. We have added a third type of fantasy draft. We have completely re-done all of our off-season screens and re-worked all of our financial screens. For maximum control, we allow you access to the roster editor from within Franchise Mode.

There is so much really great work that has gone into improving what was already the best Franchise Mode of any console game. You have more options, more control, and more fun little toys.

Operation Sports: Will there be end of season awards?

David Perkinson: Yes. We will feature several player specific end of season awards like the Silver Slugger and Gold Glove. We will also have the MVP, Rookie of the Year, Pitcher of the Year, and Relief Pitcher of the Year. Also, you will be able to track contenders for all of the awards throughout the season.

We will also be awarding AL and NL Players of the Week, AL and NL Players of the Month, and AL and NL Pitchers of the Month.

In addition, to the player specific awards we will have 15 team specific awards that will be handed out at the end of each season.

Operation Sports: Will the game track career stats in franchise mode?

David Perkinson: Yes. We will be tracking 12 categories of pitcher career stats and 15 categories of batter career stats on a year-by-year basis as well as per-162 game career averages (including existing MLB players). All of the information will be available on the completely re-worked player cards along with the player’s scouting report and vital statistics.

On our regular statistics screens we will be tracking 24 categories of batter stats, 19 categories of pitcher stats, and 29 categories of team stats.

For League Leaders we will display 31 categories of statistics for batters and 32 for pitchers, including career active leaders for both.

Also, there are some really cool player stat graphs off of the player cards that should help you better evaluate free agents or potential players for which you would like to trade.

Operation Sports: Will there be a practice mode?

David Perkinson: We will not be having a Practice Mode in the game. With four skill levels, AI sliders, and practically countless gameplay options, even the most inexperienced user should be able to find a level of competition that suits their needs.

We think that the game is accessible enough, and when you factor in load screens with controller tips, and a full controller map off the pause menu the user should be able to figure out all of the controls in the game.

Operation Sports: Will there be a manage only mode this year?

David Perkinson: Sorry. I know this is something that some of the Operation Sports guys have been wanting for some time, but we just couldn’t get to it this year. Don’t worry, it will go on our 2K4 feature lists and we’ll do our best to get it in.

MISCELLANEOUS
Operation Sports: Any new classic teams/ players to get excited about?

David Perkinson: We have made a couple of significant improvements to this part of the game.

First of all, we are including five classic stadiums in the game. They are the Polo Grounds, Forbes Field, Shibe Park, Crosley Field, and Griffith Stadium. They have all been beautifully replicated and feature really nice era-specific touches that make them shine.

In addition to the ballparks, we have mo-capped player specific batting stances and pitching wind-ups for all of the players on the Cooperstown team. You’ll see Joe Morgan’s frenetic elbow pump, Willie Stargell’s patented fidget, Ernie Banks leaning out over the plate, Bob Gibson’s menacing approach, and more. They are really cool animations and add to the experience of playing with the Hall of Fame team.

Operation Sports: Why no online play? Can we expect it next year?

David Perkinson: There’s no online play because we had an extremely short development cycle this time around, and we felt that there were many more things that we could accomplish in the game without doing online. It was our goal to increase the level of detail, gameplay, options, presentation, and polish across the board in the offline game before taking it online.

I can assure you that it’s probably going to be the #1 feature that we start working on for next year.

Operation Sports: Even though there is no online play, will roster updates be available online?

David Perkinson: We are not going to be doing online roster updates, but we are pursuing other ways of getting updated rosters and ratings out to users. We’ll hopefully have more information for you on that soon.

Keep in mind, we have a new Edit feature that allows you to edit every rating and move every player without having to go into Franchise or Season and make a ton of trades. The Edit feature is directly off of the main menu and is really easy to use. If you don’t like the rating we gave your favorite player, go in and change them. You have as much control as you like over the performance of the players in the game.

Operation Sports: Is there multi team ownership in franchise mode?

David Perkinson: This was something that we definitely wanted to do, but were unable to get to for this year. I think there’s enough new material in Franchise Mode to keep you more than busy for a long time.

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

David Perkinson: There are so many things that I didn’t get to touch on that are new in the game. We are offering in-game saves that allow you to save to the last complete half-inning and then re-start your game at a later time. We have developed user pitching and batting profiles that track how you actually pitch and hit when you play the game. We are supporting in-game box scores that allow you check on the status of your players on the fly. We have an innovative “quick keys” feature that allows you to access many fundamental secondary screens without having to leave the main gameplay screens. We have a fully fleshed-out and more user-friendly double switch mechanism. We have in-game injuries. We have tons of new fielding animations aside from the double plays and jumps. We have a brand-new crowd audio design. We have fleshed out our already-impressive commentary. We will have high resolution and widescreen support for the Xbox (really breathtaking when you see it – almost good enough to plunk down the cash to get a HDTV set). We have dumped the Home Run Derby and have the exclusive rights to the MLBPA’s official home run contest, the Big League Challenge. We will follow the Big League Challenge format and play the Big League Challenge in the official home of the event, Cashman Field in Las Vegas. Our Xbox player model will feature bump-mapped textures, improving what was already the best-looking player model in any baseball game.

Following in the footsteps of last year’s WSB was a tall order. We were very proud of the game that we delivered last year, but feel that this year’s offering leaves that one in the dust. There are so many improvements in so many different areas of the game that it is truly incredible. The guys at Blue Shift have done an amazing amount of work in a relatively short period of time, and we definitely feel that we are providing you with the best baseball game on the market.

Thanks for the questions.