Major League Baseball 2K9 Developer Diary: Gameplay

[CarryTheWeight]

It's definitely a positive sign when a member of the development team ends his production diary assuring that his (disgruntled) audience's criticism is valid and that his team is hard at work, producing an improved game. I liked what I read.

The changes to the hitting, pitching, fielding and baserunning systems may take some getting used to at first, but the reasons for their change were valid IMO. Also, on paper, this real-time environment idea keeps getting better and better. If the "Virtual Director" feature is used wisely in conjunction with the living world idea, we could be in for a treat.

A high-quality product will restore faith in this series. Let's hope that the developers' good intentions translate into a solid final product.

[TheTruth]

good question Lisa. I would like to know as well.

[GotZfunk]

What about roster updates?

[swaldo]

But will there be walks? It mentions the AI will paint the corners and throw some outside the zone. How do we know it won't throw 3 perfect pitches after an 3-0 count. As a batter the goal is to get on base any way possible. If walks aren't there I'm not there.

[jeffy777]

Quote: Originally Posted by swaldo

But will there be walks? It mentions the AI will paint the corners and throw some outside the zone. How do we know it won't throw 3 perfect pitches after an 3-0 count. As a batter the goal is to get on base any way possible. If walks aren't there I'm not there.

Well, there were walks in 2K7 and 2K8 (with slider adjustments) so it seems very likely there will be walks in 2K9, hopefully with the default difficulty levels too.

[baa7]

Quote: Originally Posted by swaldo

How do we know it won't throw 3 perfect pitches after an 3-0 count.

That's been a problem with The Show for at least three years, not 2K baseball. As jeffy said, with slider adjustments, the CPU will throw lots of balls. Moreso in 2K7 than 2K8, though.

[SoxFan01605]

Plus, as I recall, the guy said he was able to draw some walks on default.

Yup! Here it is from BrianEk:

"@drterb - Yeah it's possible to walk. For whatever reason--perhaps default pitch speed?--I'm able to pick out pitch locations easier this time around. This has resulted in longer pitch counts and even a few walks here and there. Still, I really do swing at practically everything."

So that's encouraging...especially since it sounds like he's not particularly patient

[Shakedowncapo]

Two things I would love fixed...The computer doing nothing but painting corners(2k7) and not being able to see the ball all the way through the zone(2k7 & 2k8)

Never played 2k8 so I can't speak for my first complaint.