MLB 12 The Show - Gameplay Impressions

[Pared]

Quote: Originally Posted by jmik58

Did you notice that outfielders aren't aligned so deep as in past installments? And to build on that, did you find that the new ball physics changes also allowed for balls to be hit OVER the heads of outfielders?

Did you skim my writeup? I didn't even proofread it in an attempt to have it posted earlier for you guys.

Quote:

Fielders were also slowed up a bit to allow hits to drop in over fielder’s heads – late game defensive substitutions are especially key now more than ever.

[Pared]

Quote: Originally Posted by Qb

In my experience, walks or the lack thereof often revolved around pitcher confidence. I consider myself a fairly patient hitter and I usually draw my share of walks. But I have my weaknesses -- CHANGEUPS GRRRRRR!!! -- and if I whiff a few times early, the CPU seems to rack up confidence quite quickly. Once their confidence is up, it seems like they're more accurate, which can quickly pile on if the user doesn't make something happen. However, it can go the other way as well if you start to knock the pitcher around early or draw multiple walks.

A few things help this immensely.

1 - The pitcher was tuned to where he CAN become wild. I had a few instances where I received 4 pitch walks, and 6 straight balls. On of the 4 pitch walks was to start a game.

2 - The new camera angle should help considerably in limiting the effectiveness of changeups. What was once my bane is now something I can read very, very well off the pitcher's hand. I know everyone at CD kept trying to throw me changeups and I wouldn't bite anywhere near as often as in the past.

I'm pretty sure you can get an almost similar batting view with the custom controls in 11. It's amazing what a difference it makes.

[tnixen]

Quote: Originally Posted by Pared

A few things help this immensely. 1 - The pitcher was tuned to where he CAN become wild. I had a few instances where I received 4 pitch walks, and 6 straight balls. On of the 4 pitch walks was to start a game. 2 - The new camera angle should help considerably in limiting the effectiveness of changeups. What was once my bane is now something I can read very, very well off the pitcher's hand. I know everyone at CD kept trying to throw me changeups and I wouldn't bite anywhere near as often as in the past. I'm pretty sure you can get an almost similar batting view with the custom controls in 11. It's amazing what a difference it makes.

I am just so happy to hear this!

I always felt the CPU pitcher control in MLB The Show was just too darn good compard to real life. I hardly would ever see a 4 or 5 starting pitcher or some crappy bull pen pitcher come in and can't throw a strike.

In real life it happens often where a pitcher can't find the strike zone and I am happy this will finally be the case in MLB 12 The Show too

Thanks for the info.

[nemesis04]

Quote: Originally Posted by tnixen

I am just so happy to hear this! I always felt the CPU pitcher control in MLB The Show was just too darn good compard to real life. I hardly would ever see a 4 or 5 starting pitcher or some crappy bull pen pitcher come in and can't throw a strike. In real life it happens often where a pitcher can't find the strike zone and I am happy this will finally be the case in MLB 12 The Show too Thanks for the info.

Considering you have a tough time being able to check swing, I can see why you would not see something like that!

[tnixen]

Quote: Originally Posted by nemesis04

Considering you have a tough time being able to check swing, I can see why you would not see something like that!

No I do take a lot of pitches and more often then not they are strikes. Or should I say the blind umpires calls them strikes.

[dalger21]

Quote: Originally Posted by Spaced Ace

How about the balls-to-strikes ratio this year? Don't get me wrong, it's been possible to draw walks previously, but even with extreme patience, sometimes the CPU just pounded the zone like they all were Greg Maddux. The borderline calls didn't help my cause either. My question is, are you rewarded more for showing patience at the plate this year? Drawing more than three BB per game in previous versions of The Show was a rare occurrence. Thanks for any insight on this topic.

You know, I've seen several people say this and I never quite understood it. I play strictly RttS and found that I would average about 100 walks a year. Perhaps it is different for franchise and all of that but I find that I am able to get walks with regularity.

[Knight165]

Quote: Originally Posted by dalger21

You know, I've seen several people say this and I never quite understood it. I play strictly RttS and found that I would average about 100 walks a year. Perhaps it is different for franchise and all of that but I find that I am able to get walks with regularity.

It's not.
I'm HORRIBLE at batting...and because of my tendency to swing at everything(ask Nem!! ).....I K quite a bit(never looking!)....but I also easily get walks when I do actually concentrate.
Last night....I played two innings(had to shut it down...after playing '12, '11..........) and had two walks.

M.K.
Knight165

[nomo17k]

Quote: Originally Posted by Spaced Ace

How about the balls-to-strikes ratio this year? Don't get me wrong, it's been possible to draw walks previously, but even with extreme patience, sometimes the CPU just pounded the zone like they all were Greg Maddux. The borderline calls didn't help my cause either. My question is, are you rewarded more for showing patience at the plate this year? Drawing more than three BB per game in previous versions of The Show was a rare occurrence. Thanks for any insight on this topic.

Pitchers in the game are generally more accurate than real life, but you also have to (try to) eliminate the "user skill" factor before questioning what the game does...

For me, lowering the Strike Frequency slider just does it. My opponents usually have their strike % somewhere between 58 - 64 in games.

I think the one of the best ways to see if you are overly aggressive (i.e., being a hacker) when batting is to see how often you swing at pitches. Once you swing, it's going to be a strike no matter what!! After the game, look at pitcher analysis of the opposing teams. If you are realistically aggressive (i.e., swing like MLB players), then your swing % should not be more than about 50%. Most disciplined hitters who often draw walks in MLB only swing at about 30% of all pitches.... they take A LOT of pitches.

Just to add my data point, I tend to swing about 30 - 40% of all pitches these days. I want to walk a bit more and strike out a bit less than I do right now, but I've made a significant improvement over the past year....

Quote: Originally Posted by Qb

In my experience, walks or the lack thereof often revolved around pitcher confidence. I consider myself a fairly patient hitter and I usually draw my share of walks. But I have my weaknesses -- CHANGEUPS GRRRRRR!!! -- and if I whiff a few times early, the CPU seems to rack up confidence quite quickly. Once their confidence is up, it seems like they're more accurate, which can quickly pile on if the user doesn't make something happen. However, it can go the other way as well if you start to knock the pitcher around early or draw multiple walks. Anyways, we heard confidence was reworked. I saw a brief comment in the Q&A thread mentioning it was "more stable", but I'd love to hear more impressions from any of the community guys. I think it has enough of an impact on the the pitcher/battle interface to merit some discussion.

I also feel this could be an issue at times with the current confidence system. Better gets better, worse gets worse, leading to runaway situations. Yes it probably does happen IRL, so can be realistic, but it might happen too often in the 1st innings with starters and when the relievers just come in in this game... And it is a good thing the new confidence system appears to be more stable in that regard.