MLB 2K11 Developer Diary #3 - Pitching and Hitting

[l3ulvl]

Everything I'm hearing so far about the game is positive. I'm loving the updates!

Quote: Originally Posted by jeffy777

Man, so many good things in that article. It finally feels like they're listening to us and adding the things we've wanted and addressing the issues we've complained about. It's a good feeling.

Exactly, it seems they're listening to us and I couldn't be happier.

Quote: Originally Posted by Money99

Way too excited for this game now. March can't come fast enough!

x2!! I can't remember the last time I was this excited for a game lol

[Hopeful Cubsfan]

One additional thing I wished he addressed is the improved check swing mechanics. I had a few problems with it last year.
1. the camera would make me miss the next pitch because it kept focusing on the 1st/3b umpire
2. Many times I would check swing, and the announcers would say I held my swing, but it counted as a strike. So did I swing, or the commentary goofed?

[bulls23]

Extremely happy with these improvements. All they need to add are rain delays and retractable roofs and you have the best baseball game of all time.

[JayhawkerStL]

Quote: Originally Posted by Money99

I hope that you can still hit a decent amount of homers using contact swing. I'm still of the belief there's no use for a variety of types. It should be completely stats based.

I agree. At the very least, I'd like there to be three swing types, with contact and power having serious penalties. But we should be using normal 90% of the time.

Last year I dialed up the power to 90, and used contact nearly all the time. I only allowed myself to use a power swing on a 2-0 and 3-1 count, where I was looking for a certain pitch, and would take any breaking pitch, or anything down n the zone.

I like the results. some people did the opposite, decreasing the power slider a ton, and only using the power swing. either way, you had to do a bunch of other tweaks to get them to work right, because the power swing's hit window was too small, and the contact one was too big. In the end, I would imagine we got to the same spot from different angles.

The big plus for my system was that it really re-enforced the notion of working the count. I loved to get those hitter's counts so much more, so taking pitches became essential. Like most people, I have a tendency to swing at way to many pitches in video game baseball. I needed a carrot provided by my house rules to back off.

[orthostud23]

These guys are killing me!!! Every blog they put out makes me want to purcahse this on top of purchasing the Show as well.

I hope there is a demo...

[DirtyJerz32]

The AI managers will now be monitoring these pitch counts and will take it into consideration when deciding who to warm up in the bullpen or when to pull a pitcher from the game. However, the AI manager is looking at a lot more than just pitch count. Today, I was able to chase Kansas City’s Vin Mazzaro out of the game in the middle of the first inning after scoring a quick 3 runs on his Royals. Performance and composure will mean just as much to the AI manager’s decisions as pitch count.

This has me pumped!!!

I'm telling you guys, SHOCK THE WORLD!!!

2k is not sitting back and letting the baseball series be the decline of the company. Their doing all the right things so far. Now we need more gameplay vids and the demo.

IMO, they need to get that demo out before the other games demo. Just sayin...

[jeffy777]

Quote: Originally Posted by Steve_OS

2K is sending us another bonus soon.

Wooooooooot!

[sroz39]

Quote: Originally Posted by Money99

I hope that you can still hit a decent amount of homers using contact swing. I'm still of the belief there's no use for a variety of types. It should be completely stats based.

Agree. One of the best things about The Show is being able to hit homers with contact/normal swings and only using the power swing on 2-0 and 3-1 counts. Hopefully it's similar in 2K11 without a major slider overhaul.

I'm about 97% of the way there as far as pre-odering this game goes. Nothing I've actually seen is holding me back. Recent history is though. Since the jump to these consoles, there hasn't been a single 2K baseball game released that didn't require a major fix (or fixes) in a patch. I may jump in regardless, but it's in the back of my mind.

This game is looking pretty damn sweet though. Getting difficult to ignore the urge. March 8th will be an expensive day for me, it seems, with The Show, Homefront and this all out on the same day