Major League Baseball 2K8 360 Impressions

[ehh]

Quote: Originally Posted by q_bert183

What the heck is going on with my CPU pitchers then? Just finished a game against CWS with DET, faced John Danks (not too good control-wise) who pitched 7 strong and overall they threw 83/96 for 86% strikes. I chased a few, but not enough to make a real difference in the percentage. I have the overall & ahead TS sliders at zero, behind TS at 40ish (thought I would try it closer to default). These are consistent results for me and to sound like a broken record, THIS IS VERY FRUSTRATING! I'm starting to really like the game, just wish I was seeing what some of you are... On the plus side, looks like I've found a nice balance for user pitching as I threw 76S-55B for 131 total pitches (58%) and gave up four runs on six hits overall. I only struck out and walked two, but I think I just need to tinker with the AI Contact a little and find a way to get them to chase with two strikes. I love pitching in this game!

If you're doing the VIP fix, make sure you're signed in to your VIP when you make these changes and make sure they save. Go in and double check those sliders.

The work very well for me, top notch pitchers like Beckett don't give you anything good to hit. I'd go 3-4 AB's sometimes without seeing a pitch in my wheelhouse.

My last game of the night yesterday was against Dice-K and he threw 97 pitches in 6 innings, I believe 30-35 were balls.

[davewins]

Quote: Originally Posted by ehh

If you're doing the VIP fix, make sure you're signed in to your VIP when you make these changes and make sure they save. Go in and double check those sliders. The work very well for me, top notch pitchers like Beckett don't give you anything good to hit. I'd go 3-4 AB's sometimes without seeing a pitch in my wheelhouse. My last game of the night yesterday was against Dice-K and he threw 97 pitches in 6 innings, I believe 30-35 were balls.

What's the VIP fix?? I am a 2k newbie...

[Lerxt]

Quote: Originally Posted by ehh

If you're doing the VIP fix, make sure you're signed in to your VIP when you make these changes and make sure they save. Go in and double check those sliders. The work very well for me, top notch pitchers like Beckett don't give you anything good to hit. I'd go 3-4 AB's sometimes without seeing a pitch in my wheelhouse. My last game of the night yesterday was against Dice-K and he threw 97 pitches in 6 innings, I believe 30-35 were balls.

I used Daisuke as well last night and it was VERY similar to one of his real life performances. Each inning he was on the mound lasted forever. He (I) was in a ton of 3-2 counts and a lot of batters were fouling him off. He gave up 5 runs on 11 hits in 6 innings. Classic Daisuke line. It kind of sucked because the game lasted so long, but it was so real that I was engrossed in the entire game. Made me stay up WAY to late! The more I play this game, the more excited I am about this baseball gaming season.

[Qb]

Quote: Originally Posted by ehh

If you're doing the VIP fix, make sure you're signed in to your VIP when you make these changes and make sure they save. Go in and double check those sliders. The work very well for me, top notch pitchers like Beckett don't give you anything good to hit. I'd go 3-4 AB's sometimes without seeing a pitch in my wheelhouse. My last game of the night yesterday was against Dice-K and he threw 97 pitches in 6 innings, I believe 30-35 were balls.

I'm not doing the VIP fix, as I don't have much of a problem with the framerate (it's a little choppy but I guess it just doesn't bother me). I'm starting to see a little improvement in this game; Adam Wainwright has thrown 12B-32S for 73% through three innings. I think your suggestion of lowering pitch speed some has helped me judge the ball a little better, but I wasn't chasing that much to begin with so it seems that there is some change.

I think it might be that I upped some of the user hitting sliders as I've been struggling to hit. He went to 3-1 on Soriano (walked me, yeah!) and 3-2 on Ramirez (damn 3-2 curve for the K) in consecutive at-bats after I homered with Fukudome. Possibly the engine is advanced enough that if the AI pitcher doesn't feel threatened, he won't pitch outside the zone...

AI TS sliders are:

OVERALL - 10
AHEAD - 5
BEHIND - 40 (?)

BTW, why couldn't they include numbers next to the slider bars?!?!?!

[davewins]

Quote: Originally Posted by q_bert183

Possibly the engine is advanced enough that if the AI pitcher doesn't feel threatened, he won't pitch outside the zone...

Very interesting and possibly correct theory.

I am a 2k newbie so please bare with me...What determines how a pitcher will attack the batter?? THe user vip, batter's edge, or both??

[Qb]

Quote: Originally Posted by davewins

Very interesting and possibly correct theory. I am a 2k newbie so please bare with me...What determines how a pitcher will attack the batter?? THe user vip, batter's edge, or both??

I thought so. High Heat was great with that aspect. I remember CPU pitchers constantly pitching around Brian Giles in HH04.

As for your question, I don't think anyone knows for certain. I have the 'AI uses Inside Edge' options turned off for both batters and pitchers. In 2K7 it seemed to pervert the results, so to speak. What I mean is that the AI would throw to your hitters' cold zones in a disproportionate manner and AI batters would have too much success in their hot zones, even when it was a 'smart' pitch. My initial impressions of 2K8 were much the same.

[marino13]

Quote: Originally Posted by q_bert183

What the heck is going on with my CPU pitchers then? Just finished a game against CWS with DET, faced John Danks (not too good control-wise) who pitched 7 strong and overall they threw 83/96 for 86% strikes. I chased a few, but not enough to make a real difference in the percentage. I have the overall & ahead TS sliders at zero, behind TS at 40ish (thought I would try it closer to default). These are consistent results for me and to sound like a broken record, THIS IS VERY FRUSTRATING! I'm starting to really like the game, just wish I was seeing what some of you are... On the plus side, looks like I've found a nice balance for user pitching as I threw 76S-55B for 131 total pitches (58%) and gave up four runs on six hits overall. I only struck out and walked two, but I think I just need to tinker with the AI Contact a little and find a way to get them to chase with two strikes. I love pitching in this game!

Turn down the ai pitching corner slider to 5. it worked for me.

[merff11]

Can I assume that all sliders are posted by number of clicks? For instance above post says to set pitching corners to 5, would that be 5 clicks from the left of the slider?