Operation Sports MLB 13 The Show Community Impressions Thread

[gator3guy]

Quote: Originally Posted by ratedmoney

Playing on all star across the board im noticing a ton of 1st pitches straight down the middle from the AI. Maybe I have to up the difficulty. And that pitch stutter is a game breaker. Its starting to happen even more now.

Same here. Bud Norris was serving them up consistently.

[ripwalk]

First game down, I played Blue Jays (me) on the road against the A's (CPU) at Polo Grounds, of all places (wanted to try out a new stadium) ...

I started off the game on All-Star all the way across (last year I played on Veteran for hitting, All-star for pitching) ..

I soon realized this would take some adjustment. Everyone talked about how much slower the pitch speed is in this version so I assumed I would find the same, however, I forgot that I played MLB 12 with Veteran hitting and pitch speed ZEROED. Needless to say, I don't want to touch sliders yet, but the speed was in fact faster for me playing on default All-Star as opposed to zeroed out pitch speed on Veteran.

After a couple innings I switched back to veteran because I was way behind everything. Anyway..

GOOD:
- The videos really don't do this game justice. It took all of one inning to realize that the new ball physics are much improved. I saw a bunch of new types of hits that were nowhere to be seen in MLB 12. Most noticeable was the foul balls at home plate, but I also had some neat little flares, cue shots and spins on balls that I have never seen before.

- Likewise with animations, I saw several new things in the game that I hadn't seen before... The way baserunners approach the base when they are rounding it, some new shovel and flip and throw animations from fielders, etc.

- I started the game with R.A. Dickey and I was somewhat wild and having a tough time controlling his knuckleball. As a result he lost confidence in it, which made it even more challenging and I had to rely more on the fastball. Very cool.

- After pitching with Dickey, I had Sergio Santos in there and him throwing at 97 MPH there was a huge difference and the mitt was POPPING. It really felt powerful the difference in sound effects of the ball hitting the mit with the guy throwing gas versus the flutter ball. I felt like a beast with Santos.

- After moving down to veteran, I was still somewhat behind a lot of pitches, but I can definitely see how hitting is easier. It's a bit odd, but I rattled off like six or seven consecutive singles in the 7th inning to put up four runs. That has never happened to me before in any other series of the game.

BAD
- I did experience some mild stutters. It wasn't hugely noticeable and maybe not what others are seeing, but still annoying enough.

- I feel the CPU pitchers throw too many strikes and too many good strikes. I should note that for MLB 12 I had "pitcher strikes" "CPU consistency" and "CPU control" all zeroed out and I found that produced much more realistic ball/strike ratios ... I might have to eventually do the same here... That being said, it's also possible I was just over anxious, but the A's starting pitcher had like a 4-to-1 strikes to ball ratio.

- I'm still undecided on the new throwing meter. It's kind of neat, but it will definitely take some getting used to. I think I might prefer full analog, but we'll see. I gave up an in the park homerun because I am having trouble hitting the cutoff with an accurate throw with the new meter - that, and I was playing at Polo Grounds and the gaps are HUGE if a ball gets into them,.

Game result:
Blue Jays 5 (13 hits)
Oakland 6 (10 hits)

A's rallied for three runs in the bottom of the 9th off Casey Jannssen to take the walk-off win.

R.A. Dickey went 6 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 2 S)
A. Griffin for the A's went 6 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 0 BB, 9 S0 (yup, shouldn't be striking out that much against this guy! Batting cage time!)

Great game, time to play some more!

[ripwalk]

Quote: Originally Posted by gator3guy

Same here. Bud Norris was serving them up consistently.

Yeah I agree. I had seven consecutive singles in a game I just played and they were all on the first or second pitch of the at bat.

[tonadom]

Downloaded Version of the Game

Yankees at Cubs ( Hall of Fame Difficulty )

Slider Adjustments: Minus 3 clicks on Human Power, CPU Power, Human Pitcher Control, and CPU Pitcher Control



Positives:
I don't pitch, so I love how the new fast forward shows what's happening !

Hits feel more realistic off the bat. ( pulling inside pitches, solid hits, etc.. )

I didn't see any hitching or stuttering in the CPU pitcher's delivery.

The game seems to run smoother and overall is more polished.. again. They do a great job with this every year.



Neutral:
I didn't see many foul balls.

On Hall of Fame difficulty, I found hitting difficult, so I wouldn't worry about the game being too easy this year. I've been playin' this game since 2009.

There was some minor stutters in some cut scenes. It wasn't anything that hurt my enjoyment of the game though.


Negative:
I have no complaints at this point.

[JustinVerlander35]

So far with my basic impressions: The hitting timing is a lot different. I'm out in from of everything. I use pure analog pitching and it seems even when you're hitting your spots perfectly, the ball isn't going exactly where you place it and your pitchers stamina matters.

[DirkDiggler12]

Quote: Originally Posted by JustinVerlander35

So far with my basic impressions: The hitting timing is a lot different. I'm out in from of everything. I use pure analog pitching and it seems even when you're hitting your spots perfectly, the ball isn't going exactly where you place it and your pitchers stamina matters.

I've noticed this as well. Even with timing swing I'm out in front of everything even 94 mph fastballs. Maybe I'll try upping the human timing slider a click or two.

[mike24forever]

The "slight pause" of the ball coming out of the pitchers hand is brutal. It absolutely kills my timing at the dish. It's almost like a yo-yo. You see it cone out of his hand, pause and then the delivery animation kicks in. I hate to harp on a game when it just comes out, but this really sucks. Especially after waiting what seemed like forever, for this game to download and install.

[BravesBoy]

Got one game under my belt and overall I'm liking what I see. Going along with the others the game looks great. It just has a good crisp look to it. Colors a very vibrant and Turner Field looks great. Also like others timing window is something to get use to, I'm way out in front of most pitches. First game I played on all star and hit 3 bombs so I'm def moving up a notch or 2 once I get some more feel for everything.

I use pulse pitching and love the new icon, just a dark shaded circle is a big diff from the white ring last year. Was able to hit most of my spots with a lil variation here and there when I rushed to pitch, which was nice.

Animations look great and I'm LOVING the upgrades to all the stances and follow thurs, looks really smooth and great. I'm not getting much of the stuttering like others have spoken of, had maybe one or two pitches from the CPU that felt like it skipped a lil but it was hard to tell. Def hasn't effected my gameplay so far.

Overall I'm really enjoying it. Doesn't feel like a roster update to me as some have mentioned. Looking forward to many more games and getting a real good feel for all the adjustments..