Operation Sports is proud to present our interview with Producer Brent Nielsen and Game Designer Jason Leigh for the upcoming MVP Baseball 2003.

GAMEPLAY
Operation Sports: Could you go into detail on what the batter/pitcher interface will be like?

Brent/Jason: The Batter/Pitcher interface this year is completely new. It was rebuilt with the emphasis on pitcher execution, batter swing types, and real ball physics.

To start with, the pitcher must actually execute his pitches instead of simply choose them. This is accomplished using a pitch meter that allows the User to control both pitch effectiveness and accuracy. As the User holds the button and the meter goes up, the pitcher winds up and the effectiveness of the pitch increases. This means that fastballs will come in harder, changeups will come in slower, and breaking balls will have much more movement. When the button is released, the meter swings back the other way and the User must tap the button again in the “accuracy zone”. This will cause the ball to be thrown exactly where it was located. If the accuracy is missed, the pitch will miss the intended target, floating outside the strike zone or hanging in a batter’s hot zone. As pitchers get tired, it will become tougher and tougher to throw their best stuff accurately. The batter has no cursors this year. If the pitch is in the strike zone and timed properly, it will be hit. However, the left analog stick determines “swing type”, or where the batter is trying to go with the ball. If the batter goes away with outside pitches or pulls inside pitches, he will be successful. Trying to pull an outside pitch or go away with an inside pitch will result in very poor contact, even if timed perfectly. When the pitcher makes mistakes, the batter will get a tip-off telling him where the pitch is going as well as getting a timing assist.

All of these things combine to make this a true batter/pitcher duel. It’s all about the pitcher executing his best pitches and making things tough on the hitter, and the hitter being able to execute and take advantage of the pitcher’s mistakes. Of course, this is all attribute-driven too, so the players (both batters and pitchers) will have the strengths and weaknesses of their real-life counterparts, and you must learn to play to those strengths and weaknesses.

Operation Sports: What will the fielding mechanics be like, including how smooth the animation transitions will be between fielding and throwing motions, turning double plays, etc.?

Brent/Jason: Fielding this year is also completely new. The biggest addition is the Throw Meter, which allows fielders to choose how hard they want to throw the ball. On routine plays, you can tap the button and get the easy out. On tougher plays, you must hold the button down to get more power on it. If you allow the throw meter to go into the “overthrow zone”, you may start making throwing errors.

In addition, how a player is positioned will have an impact on throw accuracy and velocity. For example, there is a hot shot between third and short. The shortstop goes deep in the hole and backhands the play. You can either choose to stop, turn, plant and throw (which will be a harder, more accurate throw, but take more time to execute) or simply choose to throw the ball right away (in which case he would jump, turn and throw, which would be released quicker, but has the chance to be a little less accurate). If you tried doing that with Vizquel, you would have more success than say with Orlando Cabrera. The entire system is build around risk/reward.

A ton of attention has been spent on ensuring that animations blend seamlessly from runs to catches, catches to throws, and so on.

Operation Sports: How is the AI base running and other fundamental aspects of the game?

Brent/Jason: The fundamentals were key this year. Running was designed to have intelligent but conservative AI. The innovation this year is that the User has total control over all or any of the runners using the Picture-In-Picture system. Each runner is shown in his own window, and can be taken control of by pressing the icon button that corresponds to him. The D-Pad is then used to issue base destination commands. The triggers act as “advance all” and “retreat all” commands.

Operation Sports: Will the game have gameplay sliders or something similar so the user can tweak the game?

Brent/Jason: To a certain extent through the ability to change options, but not really. Reality and balance has been the goal, and the design philosophy has been to do it right by default rather than put the onus on the User to “fix” the game when it comes out of the wrapper.

Operation Sports: Is the game going to be more of a sim or arcade baseball game?

Brent/Jason: This is very much a Sim, however first time Users will find that it’s as easy to dive into as an arcade-style baseball game. But there is a tremendous amount of true baseball depth that should take users a long time to explore, discover and master.

Operation Sports: How many pitch types will be in the game?

Brent/Jason: There are 10 pitch types in the game, each with its own real-world speed and break. They are: 2 Seam Fastball, 4 Seam Fastball, Cut Fastball, Curveball, Slider, Changeup, Sinker, Splitter, Knuckleball, Screwball.

Operation Sports: Will the pitch selection match the Major League counter parts?

Brent/Jason: Absolutely. Everyone has their full arsenal of pitches and at the same skill ratings as in real life. All of our scouting report information comes from Inside Edge, who are the providers to most of the Major League teams. In fact, for each individual pitch, we have separate attribute ratings for velocity, degree of movement and break direction (spin). So, the best pitchers and their best pitches in real life will be the best in the game.

Operation Sports: Will there be after touch like in the Triple Play series?

Brent/Jason: No, after-touch is gone. It’s not realistic to control the pitch after its left your hand, so it doesn’t go in the game!

Operation Sports: Will batters charge the mound if hit by a pitch?

Brent/Jason: Unfortunately not. MLB doesn’t like to see things like that…

Operation Sports: How many different types of weather situations?

Brent/Jason: There is no weather in the game this year, however things like playing surface (natural grass vs. artificial turf) and air friction (ball travels further in Denver) will have an impact on gameplay.

Operation Sports: Is atmosphere a focus in MVP Baseball?

Brent/Jason: The new broadcast camera system and audio were designed to give the atmosphere in MVP Baseball 2003 the best in any baseball game. Heckles, appropriate crowd cheers and boos, and all the other sounds you’d expect to hear at a park are there, including stadium, team and player-specific chants and heckles. The auto-replay system and cut-scenes are based on interviews that we had with real-life baseball broadcast directors and our cameras are in the same spots in our virtual parks as they are in the real ones.

Operation Sports: How many different types of injuries will there be?

Brent/Jason: At least 20, each with its real-world effect on the player. Pitcher has tendonitis of the elbow? Gone for 6 weeks.

Operation Sports: What aspect of the gameplay will make this game better than the competition?

Brent/Jason: Almost everything is a level above any baseball game yet seen. By far the most innovative part of gameplay is the batter/pitcher interface. Simply throwing pitches is fun – using the pitch meter and choosing your pitch types and spots is a blast. Being the batter is all about reading the ball out of the pitcher’s hand, right down to watching the seams turn over. Getting rid of the batting cursor also means that the pitches travel much closer to real-world speeds. Other games will slow their pitches down by as much or more than 50% to give the batter enough time to align the batting cursor.

The fielding also contains a massive element of risk-and-reward that other games just don’t have. It’s not just about throwing the ball to a base like a robot and hoping that the game doesn’t randomly decide if it should be an error. You are in complete control of whether or not you want to put an extra 10 miles per hour on an off-balance throw from the shortstop to 1st.

The PIP system for the runners has actually added a huge dimension to the offense. It’s not over once you’ve hit the ball anymore. Now you can actually see all of your runners and can control them with enough precision to turn base hits into doubles and sac flys into runs. For the first time in a baseball video game, the offensive player is actually much more a part of gameplay when the ball is put into play in the field.

Operation Sports: What are the different step-by-step managerial options (roster management/injuries/contracts) that we can control during a typical season while in franchise mode?

Brent/Jason: In Franchise Mode you have complete control over budgets, disabled lists, rotations, lineups, defense, and inactive rosters. You can sign rookies, release players to free agency, and make uneven trades so long as you have the bankroll to do it.

Operation Sports: How many different player stat/rating categories will there be? And will the players in the game play like their real-life counterparts?

Brent/Jason: There are over 40 rating categories and over 130 stat categories. Each player has been designed to play exactly like they do in real life. This is what drives the authentic gameplay in MVP Baseball 2003. Gone are the days of Rey Ordonez hitting 20 HR’s in a Season.

In addition, the hot and cold zones for batters this year have been provided by Inside Edge, the scouting report company that supplies major league teams.

Operation Sports: Will there be a career mode, if so what makes it better than the other baseball games?

Brent/Jason: If by “career mode” you mean Franchise, then yes we have it. MVP Baseball 2003 has a completely new take on Franchise Mode, focusing on your career as a major league coach. You have a series of Team Goals that must be accomplished, and you will be graded on them after each season. Users will have the option to take jobs with higher tier teams if they do well, but may face the pink slip if they do poorly. Take on the Yankees as your first team, but the expectations will be much higher than they would be for the Tigers or Royals.

The game also features a Team Momentum Meter, which measures how well your team is playing and affects simulation results. Each game has an importance level, or game impact, that determines how much Momentum you stand to win or lose. The best part is there is an “intervention” feature where you can simulate games by half-inning, and jump in to play it out yourself if you don’t like the way things are going!

There is also a comprehensive roster and contract system, as well as off-season and draft. One final feature that we’re very pleased with is the first-ever real-time sports ticker that runs across the bottom of every management screen. And its not just scores, either. It is beyond cool to make a trade or send a guy down, and then seconds later see that news scroll across on the ticker!

Operation Sports: Will we be able to double-switch?

Brent/Jason: Yes.

Operation Sports: Will there be realistic pitch counts?

Brent/Jason: Absolutely. Because of the new batter/pitcher duel, you won’t see many counts go less than 3 pitches. In fact, just like in real baseball, the count is everything. As a hitter, you will find you will be changing your approach at the plate based on whether you are ahead or behind in the count. Get ahead, be selective and wait for a pitch in your hot zone. Get behind, stand up there just trying to hack away and stay alive!

Operation Sports: Will there be directional hitting?

Brent/Jason: The hitting system is entirely directional. It’s all about reading the ball and sending it back the direction it came from. Batters will also have control over hitting balls high or low based on the situation.

Operation Sports: Will the CPU play matchups (ie. lefty vs. lefty)?

Brent/Jason: Handedness match-ups are crucial in the game. The hot and cold zones are based on pitchers’ handedness, meaning that deep into games you’ll be wanting to make some switches in order to score runs or keep the offense at bay.

Operation Sports: What gameplay camera views are available?

Brent/Jason: Still TBD, but the current plan has three different cameras each for batting and fielding.

Operation Sports: If a manager is fired in franchise mode are they recycled to another team, replaced by "created" managers? Will there be pitching, hitting, and bench coaches?

Brent/Jason: The User is the player, coach, and staff. When a User is fired from a team or hires onto a new team, the old team is taken over by the CPU.

Operation Sports: Which platform was the development of this title based on (Xbox, PS2, or PC)?

Brent/Jason: Development has been parallel for all 3 platforms.

Operation Sports: Will the game include broken bats?

Brent/Jason: Yes, and these will greatly affect what type of hit occurs. This is a very cool feature and looks awesome when you get sawed off with an inside pitch.

Operation Sports: If a pitcher has not been accurately represented can we edit his repertoire to include more/different pitches? Can you edit attributes for all players??

Brent/Jason: Not this year for MLB players. You will have full control over created players however. But, in franchise mode, as you advance through seasons, the MLB players’ ratings and attributes will change dynamically from year to year based on things like performance, aging, injuries, etc.

GENERAL
Operation Sports: When is the release date?

Brent/Jason: March 2003.

Operation Sports: What lengths is the production team going to in order to make this a "real" baseball game?

Brent/Jason: Every effort has been made by the team to finally get baseball RIGHT. The key objective throughout the project has been “authenticity”.

Operation Sports: Will the game engine be a complete 180 turn from Triple Play?

Brent/Jason: Yes!

Operation Sports: How long has the game been in development?

Brent/Jason: When it goes out the door it will have been over a year and a half.

Operation Sports: How big is the development team?

Brent/Jason: The team has varied in size at different points of the project. It has been as high as 70+ at peak times, and has averaged around 60.

Operation Sports: Why did EA feel that a name change was needed?

Brent/Jason: The old Triple Play series had a good run, but basically ran its course. This is a completely new game from the ground up, and does not share one single line of code from TP. MVP Baseball 2003 is completely new in every respect and deserved its own name.

Operation Sports: Why was the game given to a new development team?

Brent/Jason: EA wanted the game done in-house so that we had as much control as possible over getting it done right.

Operation Sports: What new things does MVP Baseball bring to the table?

Brent/Jason: Totally new gameplay and a ground-breaking Franchise mode. We will not be surprised if several of the new features get copied by our competitors next year.

Operation Sports: How much effort is being put in the graphics engine?

Brent/Jason: Tons. The look of the game is stunning. It really is a “next-generation” game in terms of its eye appeal.

Operation Sports: What are EA's goals for its next installment of baseball?

Brent/Jason: 2003 is very much a foundation year. We want to show people that EA is back on top with the best game out there. The game is surpassing our expectations in many ways, but there are literally hundreds of little features and modes that we simply didn’t have the time to do this year. We want to continue to drive to a level of depth and authenticity never-before-seen. We want people to be playing this game and see new things or learn something new even after spending weeks or months with the product. With the foundation in place, next year we’ll look to build on this foundation even further.

Operation Sports: Will there be a farm team for each team?

Brent/Jason: We don’t have farm teams this year, but there are expanded 40-man rosters which include an inactive roster to which you can “send guys down”.

Operation Sports: What one new feature are you most excited about?

Brent/Jason: Franchise Mode. Triple Play never really had a mode like this, and rather than make our entry a “Competitor’s Franchise Mode +10%” we’ve made a really cool career-based mode that will stand on its own and bring some new dynamics to the way that people look at Franchise.

Operation Sports: How many minor league teams will each team have ? (AAA, AA, A etc.)

Brent/Jason: There are none this year, but rookies and “minor league players” are available through the inactive rosters.

Operation Sports: Will there be random schedules at the end of the season?

Brent/Jason: Yes, there will be changing seasons for years in Franchise Mode.

Operation Sports: How fast does it take to sim a game in accelerated time?

Brent/Jason: You can simulate an entire season in a couple of minutes, and you will be prompted when you arrive at the All Star Game, Trade Deadline, or if the CPU teams are offering trades, but that’s not where the real fun lies. Each individual game played through the “daily loop” in Franchise mode takes about ½ a second per half inning. The fun part is watching the scores creep up and deciding on when you want to jump in and take control.

GRAPHICS
Operation Sports: How much effort is going into an accurate TV presentation baseball in MVP Baseball?

Brent/Jason: We interviewed broadcast directors and charted the actual locations of cameras in each park to ensure that our coverage is exactly like TV. The commentary team of Giants’ broadcasters Duane Kuiper and Mike Krukow also lends great authenticity to the broadcast feel.

Operation Sports: Will there be authentic batting stances and pitching motions?

Brent/Jason: Yes. There are many signature stances and pitching motions. The pitch motions even affect your ability to execute your pitches with the Pitch Meter!

Operation Sports: Will there be a behind the pitcher view?

Brent/Jason: Not this year.

Operation Sports: Are there authentic looking coaches, like the players?

Brent/Jason: Again, something that we wanted but won’t have a chance to do until next year.

Operation Sports: Will the Expos have a home stadium in Puerto Rico? If not how will you address that situation (no home stadium, contraction, etc...)?

Brent/Jason: We actually plan to have Hiram Bithorn Stadium in Puerto Rico in the game for 22 of the Expos’ home games in 2003. This is of course pending legal approvals to include in the game.

MISCELLANEOUS
Operation Sports: Is the game going to be online? If no online play is available will you make it possible to download roster updates via Xbox Live and PS2 BB Adapter?

Brent/Jason: For this year, online play will be on PC for sure. Online on consoles still TBD for this year, for sure for next year though.

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

Brent/Jason: Just that we’re thrilled with the initial response to the new game. The goal was to re-define baseball videogames, and I think we’ve achieved that. This is a game with a ton of depth, and it will reward players that really immerse themselves in the game and try to play it like real ball.

Thanks for your time.

*UPDATE (3-11-03)
Game Designer, Jason Leigh was reading our Forums and decided to put together some responses to the most common questions regarding MVP Baseball 2003.

Operation Sports: Because hitting is based on timing, does that mean that it will be too difficult to get strike-outs?

Jason: Simply put, not at all.

Our motivation to take a no-cursor approach this year was to approximate what our Player's Council (Tori Hunter, Eric Chavez, Trot Nixon, Todd Pratt and Tim Hudson) tells us is the key factor in hitting - timing. The big leaguers say that when they miss a ball it’s not generally because they swung under it or over it (which is what a batting cursor implies) but because they mis-timed their swing and were ahead of it or behind it. Going with a twitch-based "pull the trigger" approach to batting has allowed us to increase the velocity of the pitches much closer to real-world speeds. Most other games, including the old Triple Plays, would slow the ball down as much or more than 50% so that you could align your cursor. Now, anything in the strike zone is a hittable pitch if its timed properly. But when Randy Johnson rips in an 86mph slider low in the corner followed by a high 96 mph fastball, you FEEL the speed difference and its awfully difficult to catch up to! In addition, even if you time it properly, if its too far out of the strike zone you will miss it completely anyway. There is a real strategy to pitching strikes vs. balls.

The CPU pitcher knows this and will change speeds, moving the ball around to try to cross you up. It takes patience and a good eye to get hits. Its also a real battle to get K's against the CPU. Some batters will swing at junk or watch breaking balls clip the strike zone. Others have high plate discipline and will take all the garbage you throw at them, then jump on any mistakes that you might make. In a User vs. User situation its about anticipation and reaction. Our entire team has had blast over the last few weeks challenging each other and learning each other's pitching tendencies. Brent is ready to fire me because I keep baiting him with the high fastball and then lob the changeup down the pipe!

Believe it or not, we actually do like a few of our competitor's products and had a lot of fun with them last year, but now there's no going back to the old cursor system. We really feel that this is the most authentic pitcher/batter duel ever in a videogame. Pitch counts are extremely realistic, and it’s about anticipation as much as execution.

Operation Sports: Does the left analog stick really make a difference in hitting?

Jason: The system is designed so that you have control over whether you want to hit a fly ball, line drive, or grounder regardless of where the pitch crosses the plate. However, to get good wood on it you need to go with the pitch. If you constantly try to pull outside pitches you should expect to hits lots of weak dribblers, pop-ups, and perhaps the odd flare for a hit. You can be conservative and keep the stick centered, but you'll never get to crank that inside pitch unless you read it and have the stick set up to pull the ball. You can choose to react to the pitches or keep the stick pushed one way and look for that type of pitch. Remember that timing is still the biggest factor - if you're trying to pull the ball but time it late its probably going to go the opposite way with less pop. Whichever way, you'll know when you did the right thing by the crack of the bat and the quality of the hit. We've spent the last few weeks tuning this aspect of the game and it truly feels amazing.

Operation Sports: Is it a home run fest or will there be a variety of hit types?

Jason: Because of MVP's ball physics system there are an unlimited amount of hit types that are available. Texas leaguers, flares, hard liners, infield pop-ups, sharp grounders and choppers are all available. Balls that are hit hard in the infield can and will get through. Hard shots right at infielders will cause them to sometimes bobble the ball or take an extra split second to control it in their glove, buying fast baserunners time to avoid double plays.

As far as home runs go, that comes down to perfect timing, position of the left analog stick, and your hitter's attributes. When you crank one out of the park this year it’s because you earned it!

Operation Sports: Will there be a behind-the-pitcher cam or a centered batting view?

Jason: We wanted to keep this feature under wraps until we knew for sure that it was going to happen, and we're happy now to say that there will indeed be a television broadcast-style behind-the-pitcher cam. You can choose to both pitch and bat in this view, or pitch in this view and bat in either of the angled or centered batting cams. Combined with the new pitch meter, this view makes pitching in MVP Baseball the most authentic experience yet in a videogame. And yes, by popular demand we have a dead-center batting view this year.

Operation Sports: Will you be able to control head-first and feet-first slides?

Jason: Yes! Players will slide feet-first when the slide button is pressed. However, if you push up on the left analog stick before you press the Slide button you will go in head-first. This is rather strategic because head-first slides will get you into the base quicker to avoid tags, but feet-first slides make you pop up faster so that you can react to throwing errors and perhaps grab another base.

Operation Sports: Will MVP have 40 man rosters?

Jason: Yes. Each team has a 25 man roster and up to a 15 man inactive roster. All players on the inactive rosters are real and have applicable attributes.

Operation Sports: Will throw speeds and runner speeds be balanced?

Jason: All of our game tuning over the last few weeks has been around tweaking the balance between player movement and ball velocity. If you're stealing, the pitch speed and your runner's attributes have a huge impact on whether or not you'll make it in time. Trying to stretch a single into a double will again depend on your runner's speed and whether you're facing an Ichiro or Vladimir Guerrero, or a Frank Catalanotto or Jay Gibbons on a throw from right field.