MLB 11 The Show Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here

[DJ]

Quote: Originally Posted by Russell_SCEA

You guys have no idea how much joy I'm taking in knowing that about 80% of you are struggling. This is the way the new controls where designed they aren't easy and the learning curve is very steep for batting but not much for pitching and fielding. I can't wait to see the posts after you get the hang of it. Until then swallow your pride and drop the difficulty level. Has anyone had the gonads to try Legend fielding?

You're an evil man ... I like it!

So, the default difficulty is All-Star with Analog Batting. If I drop down to Veteran, what's the difference? Is there more forgiveness (more room for user error) if I don't press the stick exactly to the L or R when the pitch is thrown? Is the PCI larger on Veteran, too?

[swaldo]

For those wishing for both analog left (to aim) with right stick (to swing) I also think that's a bit much. What I would like to see is what MVP did with zone batting: Hold "X" to trigger loaded swing (release to check swing) while left stick is to aim. Seems that would be a happy medium. You can't do that with The Show, as all non-analog swings are pre-loaded automatically.

I think the problem with analog hitting is that it doesn't have that "Pick up & play" fun that MVP had. The first time I played that game I was spraying the ball and ended up with something like 10 hits, 1 home run and the game played out very realistic and I lost by a couple runs.

This analog hitting is just frustration for me thus far. Not slamming it because there will be batting practice in the full version; and I'd rather have it too hard than too easy. However, people here are baseball gaming "experts" and they are struggling bad, so imagine what the mass of casual gamers will think when they get the game?

Quote:

"This message has been deleted by Skyboxer. Reason: Same ole same ole every year....Looks for things to bitch about"

And to Skyboxer: throwing out insults in a deleted post? That's pretty low man. That was obviously directed towards me or the guy who posted the ball morphing image. And I've seen several posts in this thread from people disrespecting others who wrote negative comments. If it's not an impression it doesn't belong right? So I'd like to request the mods please keep an eye out for this.

[DJ]

Quote: Originally Posted by ryan36

Yeah, you guys just aren't hitting the "Play ball" button hard enough before the pitch I wish they would've done the mechanic with a straight up and down on the r-stick... and I hope they release the hitting video tutorial since the demo has nothing about analog.

Yeah, I feel as though I'd be a lot better if it were just a down-and-up motion instead of having to go down-up-left/right depending on pitch location. That's what has been giving me the biggest headache so far.

[kenkraly2004]

The analog controls are good it takes awhile to learn but it’s great. Overall very good one game I hit 3 home runs with posey , ross and Freddy Sanchez all on the new analog controls.

[WB1214]

Quote: Originally Posted by Russell_SCEA

Has anyone had the gonads to try Legend fielding?

I just did, it was pretty rough as I expected. Had to be spot on lol. I'll probably use All-Star of HOF for throwing. I believe default was Veteran and I never had an error.

[Russell_SCEA]

Quote: Originally Posted by DJ

You're an evil man ... I like it! So, the default difficulty is All-Star with Analog Batting. If I drop down to Veteran, what's the difference? Is there more forgiveness (more room for user error) if I don't press the stick exactly to the L or R when the pitch is thrown? Is the PCI larger on Veteran, too?

It's easier the more you drop down in difficulty you aren't penalized as much for bad stride timing.

[ped3328]

Quote: Originally Posted by Jdurg

Played the demo last night and had a blast with it. Even though it's a very old build of this game (December of 2010), you can already see the great things that the retail version will provide. Analog controls are incredibly challenging to get used to, but for some reason it makes failure seem less frustrating. lol. Played a game where I had a tie game going into the bottom of the 9th and went to throw a curveball on an 0-2 pitch. I screwed up the timing and knew that I just threw a hanger. Game over. Yet, it felt so good. For those who are making their final judgement on a demo build of a game from December of 2010 which was only designed to showcase the analog controls and nothing else, it's your loss. Feel free to not purchase this game, but please do the rest of us a favor and don't poison every single thread in these forums with whines and complaints. The rest of us will be spending a ton of time enjoying the new game and all the new features.

I was surprised a little when Russell mentionned on an earlier post that the demo was made in December. That would mean it was made even before the CD guys gave the SCEA devs their inputs in January. But again, it's possible. Regardless, I'm very impressed with the demo. I'm rather awkward with analog but I'm making some progress. The very first game I played was an absolute disaster. All I was hitting was air! Pitching wise, it was BB's after BB's! And in the field, it was errors after errors! It was very humbling to say the least! So, I took the bull by the horns and decided on a different approach. In my second game, it was CPU vs CPU just to check the new animations and look at the graphics. Finally, in the 3rd game, I pitched for both teams. 1st inning was Rookie, 2nd inning was Veteran, 3rd and 4th was All Star. I'm doing surprisingly well now. In the next few games, I will practise my fielding, going from Rookie to All Star in the same manner I did for pitching. After that, I will get my feet wet with hitting, using the same approach. I thinks one has to be systematic about it. You can't master this analog thing overnite. It takes time and patience. But in the end, it will be very rewarding.
Love the game so far. Models, animations, actual game play are top notch. Even Karros sounds OK! Looking forward to March 8th. Then, the REAL SHOW begins! Enjoy, guys...

[DJ]

Quote: Originally Posted by Russell_SCEA

It's easier the more you drop down in difficulty you aren't penalized as much for bad stride timing.

Thanks, Russell. I'll accept my demotion and report for Rookie ball next time I fire up the Demo Although, I think 99% of my problem is that I don't have the new MLB-themed Dualshock 3 to use. I know I'm going to rake once I get that in my hands.

What are your thoughts on Pitch Speed? It seems real fast on default, and the natural instinct is to lower the slider. But, will that throw off the timing with Analog controls? Not sure if I should try and just adapt to default or again, swallow some pride and lower that slider, so long as it doesn't negatively affect timing.

I appreciate you being around the forums to help us out.