Four Keys to Success for MLB '11: The Show

[DiamondbacksLive]

Situation Mode would be really great. It's when you set up a game in which inning you want, what team, pitcher, batter, the count, and what the score is. This mode will help people create videos of past no-hitters or cycles, accurately.

I just thought of this the other day and it would be really cool if they added this.

[TN - BRAVES FAN]

1) When you're playing online, If someone has a headset on then show a microhphone icon in the lobby beside their name.

2) Do away with the Mic On/off button...You should be able to hear someone as soon as you are at the team selection screen. What happens if maybe I wanna play a headset game, and also want to match up teams with the other guy, As it stands now, I can't do that unless I message them and that takes to long.

3)Put in a weekly baseball tonight show that shows the highlights from around the league.

[decga]

I most totally agree with having the user on manual sliding control the slide by using the stick.

[swaldo]

Quote: Originally Posted by cheechoo98

I understand the feeling of 'randomness' sometimes, but it's probably spot on. An Example: I was batting and wanted to do a hit and run. I had a runner on first and RH Aaron Hill at the plate. I flicked the R-Stick to 5 o'clock position for a grounder to the right side. The runner took off, i swung and it was a HR down the LEFT Field Line! . TOTALLY random, right? BUT what happened was that 1) it was a changeup, so I was early and pulled it.. and 2) I got under the pitch a little, so it was lofted in the air..

You're batting is all wrong. First, you cannot aim your right stick in the 5 o'clock position. It's either up/down to influence flyball/grounder, or left/right to influence bunts to the 3rd or 1st base side. There's a typo in 'The Show 10' manual because it states left/right influences balls to first or third. However, look at the description when you change the influence setting on or off - it states it's for bunts only. Also, in 'The Show 09' the manual, settings and in-game controls say it's to be used for bunts. I think they do it this way because it's harder for a user to have total vertical control, whereas horizontal control is easier because it's based on swing timing (except bunts where the influence stick is the only way you can aim.)

You didn't mention where your left stick was aimed but if it was aimed in the middle then I wonder why it ended up a home run? Because since the right stick was down in the 5 o'clock it enabled the grounder influence! Now if you're going to tell me you made a mistake and it was the left stick pointing in the 5 o'clock that's still wrong, because aiming low will influence a flyball. If the pitch is low there's not much you can do and you'll probably hit it on the ground anyway. But if you really want to push a ball on the ground you have to make sure the PCI is on top of it and swing a bit late, so to do this I'd start with the PCI near the middle, not low. In general though, you really don't need to use the influence stick to hit the ball where you want.

Quote: Originally Posted by cheechoo98

The batting is realistic, yet still FUN. In BP, i decided to test out if I could 'inside-out' pitches to the opposite field. You can! I pulled the L-Stick inside and pushed the R-Stick to the opposite field. On a basic BP fastball. So I'm intentionally pulling my PCI / sweeet-spot of the bat 'inside' as if I'm doing it in real-life. That is the most realstic representation of hitting, I've played, and it is still FUN. IMO.

First of all swing influence doesn't work in batting practice. Secondly, as stated above left/right only influences bunts. In this case you probably just swung late and over the pitch.

In the past I've had to break the news to several others they are not doing things right and that's something 'The Show' needs to improve on. At least in MVP you knew where you stood and understood exactly how batting works. I remember telling this one guy that he didn't understand how hot/cold zones worked because they are messed up in the game. He replied that for two years he was pitching to hot zones he thought were cold and vice versa! Funny thing is that he said his teams average ERA was less than 3.50, LOL.

I've played 'The Show' a ton and still am confused about certain things. For example the developer said the game is designed for "Pure Zone" hitting. Are they referring to fixed zones? If so how many zones are in a batters box? Let's say there are 9 zones and my PCI covers only half of the top left zone: do I still make contact if the ball is inside the zone but outside the PCI? Is there a contact penalty for only covering half the zone, or do I get full credit since the PCI is in the zone? If not then I guess they are saying the PCI is actually a moving zone, which other games refer to as "cursor batting." If this is the case then it sure isn't accurate, because many times I'll hit a ball even though my whole PCI was way off.

Also, if I use power swing AND the influence stick (up for flyball) what is going on under the hood? If my swing location and timing is perfect will I turn a home run into a long flyball? Or will I hit a home run even further?

[Knight165]

Quote: Originally Posted by swaldo

You're batting is all wrong. First, you cannot aim your right stick in the 5 o'clock position. It's either up/down to influence flyball/grounder, or left/right to influence bunts to the 3rd or 1st base side. There's a typo in 'The Show 10' manual because it states left/right influences balls to first or third. However, look at the description when you change the influence setting on or off - it states it's for bunts only. Also, in 'The Show 09' both the in-game tutorial and manual say it's to be used for bunts. I think they do it this way because it's harder for a user to have total vertical control, whereas horizontal control is easier because it's based on swing timing (except bunts where the influence stick is the only way you can aim.) You didn't mention where your left stick was aimed but if it was aimed in the middle then I wonder why it ended up a home run? Because since the right stick was down in the 5 o'clock it enabled the grounder influence! Now if you're going to tell me you made a mistake and it was the left stick pointing in the 5 o'clock that's still wrong, because aiming low will influence a flyball. If the pitch is low there's not much you can do and you'll probably hit it on the ground anyway. But if you really want to push a ball on the ground you have to make sure the PCI is on top of it and swing a bit late, so to do this I'd start with the PCI near the middle, not low. In general though, you really don't need to use the influence stick to hit the ball where you want. First of all swing influence doesn't work in batting practice. Secondly, as stated above left/right only influences bunts. In this case you probably just swung late and over the pitch. In the past I've had to break the news to several others they are not doing things right and that's something 'The Show' needs to improve on. At least in MVP you knew where you stood and understood exactly how batting works. I remember telling this one guy that he didn't understand how hot/cold zones worked because they are messed up in the game. He replied that for two years he was pitching to hot zones he thought were cold and vice versa! Funny thing is that he said his average ERA was less than 3.50, LOL. I've played 'The Show' a ton and still am confused about certain things. For example the developer said the game is designed for "Pure Zone" hitting. Are they referring to fixed zones? If so how many zones are in a batters box? Let's say there are 9 zones and my PCI covers only half of the top left zone: do I still make contact if the ball is inside the zone but outside the PCI? Is there a contact penalty for only covering half the zone, or do I get full credit since the PCI is in the zone? If not then I guess they are saying the PCI is actually a moving zone, which other games refer to as "cursor batting." If this is the case then it sure isn't accurate, because many times I'll hit a ball even though my PCI was way off the ball. Also, if I use power swing and influence stick (up for flyball) what is going on under the hood? If my swing location and timing is perfect will I turn a home run into a long flyball? Or will I hit a home run even further?

I think you're wrong on the left/right influence as far as hits go. I think the GAME OPTIONS description is missing the l/r part for hitting....and confuses you by only listing the L/R for bunting(since nobody wants to bunt a ball in the air!).
In the CONTROLS section...it states the right stick with a L/R influence for 1B/3B plus you feel the controller acknowledge your command through a vibration.

I'll PM Russ or Kolbe to ask for clarification as I can't be absolutely sure due to the conflicting descriptions.

M.K.
Knight165

[swaldo]

Quote: Originally Posted by Knight165

I think you're wrong on the left/right influence as far as hits go. I think the GAME OPTIONS description is missing the l/r part for hitting....and confuses you by only listing the L/R for bunting(since nobody wants to bunt a ball in the air!). In the CONTROLS section...it states the right stick with a L/R influence for 1B/3B plus you feel the controller acknowledge your command through a vibration. I'll PM Russ or Kolbe to ask for clarification as I can't be absolutely sure due to the conflicting descriptions. M.K. Knight165

That would be great if you can get official confirmation. Brian (the dev) said in the past it's a legacy feature which has been around since the series began. So I just checked the user manual for 'The Show 06' on PS2 and it says...

"Try to hit ball the ball to right side."
"Try to hit ball the ball to left side."

In 'The Show 09' the user manual and in-game controls says:

"Influence bunt to 1st"
"Influence bunt to 3rd"

And just for reference here is the settings description in 09 (and I think it reads the same in 10):

"Switch the ability to influence a ground ball, fly ball, or bunt direction ON of OFF. Swing influences can be accomplished with the RIGHT STICK pressed up or down for hits, and left or right for bunts, any time before your swing."

Also, just my experience - I do notice an effect with flyball/grounder influence and definately with bunts, but not regular swings with L/R influence. I can normally attribute the direction of the ball from my swing timing. And think about it...if you swing late what good is an influence going to do if you want to pull the ball? I guess it could speed up the swing animation but I haven't noticed anything like that. Likewise, if you swing early what good is the influence because the ball will already be pulled?

[cheechoo98]

swaldo, let me clarify some things I should have been more specific.

Swing influence works in the 10 pitch BP session you get in RTTS mode. try it, It's pretty cool that you can do it there. Are you sure R-Stick influence doesn't work in regular Practice/Batting Practice? You'll know it does if you feel the vibration. I think it does, but I'll have to check - haven't tried it for a while...

You CAN swing influence R-Stick to the 5 o'clock position -(or the 2 o'clock, 10 and 7-8 o'clock positions). you feel the rumble of the controller when you do it. Therefore, for instance with a LH batter, I can R-stick to the 10 o'clock position if I want to hit a flyable to LF.
I can flick it to the 2 o'clock position to pull a flyball to RF. You can feel the rumble if you move the R-stick to straight right (3 o'clock), centre it, then move it again to diagonal right-up (2 o'clock).

Now, if it really is only the 4 straight left,right,up,down, the range on the R-Stick is wide enough that it registers when you move it to those intermediate/diagonal positions. So I 'could be' imagining a flyball to RF swing, but I don't think so.. I've hit too many HR's with this method of hitting.

On the example of the hit-n-run that went for a HR, I always move my L-stick to where the ball is pitched to try and square up the ball for perfect contact. In that specific instance, I moved it and it was probably under the ball a bit. I can't 100% confirm that, because I didn't check, but I've checked lots of hits after the fact and seen the results of where my PCI was in relation to the pitch and the results are 100% logical. For instance.. and I'm giving away a BIG tip here ( for online anyway ).. pitch a fastball in on the hands and a bit 'up' to a player online, (after setting them up low/low-away) - even up and in.. and many times you can induce an easy pop-up. This is because if the player fails to move their PCI up to hit the pitch, their PCI will be under the ball. easy out. 100% logical.

With the swing influence set to flyable, or pull-flyable, you can Jack a lowball for a HR for sure. i've had it done to me and I've done it myself.

Cheers.

[swaldo]

Quote: Originally Posted by cheechoo98

swaldo, let me clarify some things I should have been more specific. Swing influence works in the 10 pitch BP session you get in RTTS mode. try it, It's pretty cool that you can do it there. Are you sure R-Stick influence doesn't work in regular Practice/Batting Practice? You'll know it does if you feel the vibration. I think it does, but I'll have to check - haven't tried it for a while... You CAN swing influence R-Stick to the 5 o'clock position -(or the 2 o'clock, 10 and 7-8 o'clock positions). you feel the rumble of the controller when you do it. Therefore, for instance with a LH batter, I can R-stick to the 10 o'clock position if I want to hit a flyable to LF. I can flick it to the 2 o'clock position to pull a flyball to RF. You can feel the rumble if you move the R-stick to straight right (3 o'clock), centre it, then move it again to diagonal right-up (2 o'clock).

Thanks for clarifying, I didn't realize RTTS BP had influence on. It definately doesn't work in normal BP, there's no vibration confirmation and L/R influence on bunts doesn't work.

I still think L/R influence doesn't work on regular swings. If you tell a player to lift the ball in the air even if the pitch is low this computes. It wouldn't be easy but you can do it. However, if you tell a player to pull the ball even if your swing is late this doesn't compute. You say results are 100% logical but the only way this could work is if results are illogical.

If your swing is level then I can see where the CPU might give you the benefit of the doubt and send the ball to the left or right even though it should go straight. In any case hopefully the devs can clear things up.