Armor & Sword's/Marino's MLB 14 The Show Timed/Classic Sim Sliders

[Armor and Sword]

2013 and now the 1st quarter of 2014 has been a record setting brutal winter. But as we embark on the month of April the smell of fresh cut grass, the crack of a bat, the pop of a glove and the warm glow of the sun is starting to take over.

It's spring time everyone. And that means Baseball is back. And with the 2014 iteration of The Show on the PS3 I believe we are getting the greatest baseball game ever made and a wonderful swan song to this consoles run. Like many of you I am sticking with the PS3 for at least one more season of The Show and now with the cross platform save feature it made it an easy decision for myself to hold off getting a 1st gen version of the PS4 and allowing myself to enjoy several non sports titles I have yet to conquer and at the same time playing what will go down as the best version of The Show on the PS3.

So many little things and a few major new features are making this game already an instant classic. Quick Counts, Player Lock, Dynamic Difficulty, a new approach to RTTS and of course multi-platform file saving for Franchise, RTTS and Rosters!!! Epic.


For those of you who have used the set on 12 and 13......you know what your getting. A clean screen, no visual aids, auto fielding and auto throwing (blue ring killed manual throwing for 14) based on player ratings. Assisted base running (default controls), and about as close to a ratings based approach to the game without it being MoM.


As always there will be 2 sets. A pure All-Star level set and of course our Hybrid set which only drops the hitting down to Veteran level. The Hybrid set is a great place to start if your fairly new to the game.....or not. I played a lot on hybrid last season and enjoyed it immensly. Stats were very nice and game variety was excellent. And yes.....you will draw walks. No question. yes you will get shut down....no question. And yes you will explode at the plate as well.




I always make this discalimer so I will make it again. Use the slider sets as a base. Everyone plays the game the way they want and at a large varying degree of skill. So if your finding it too easy or too hard...don't sweat it. Baseball is a game where getting a large sample size is a premium. Meaning.....100 at bats? That is nothing. Pitched 80-90 innings with your Ace pitcher? Not much. It takes at least 80 games to get a true sample size for trends, statistics, slumps, hot streaks etc etc etc. If you judge the game over the course of 5-10 games......your will get slideritis. Don't do it.


Just play. And keep playing and playing and playing and playing. Baseball has so many variables and up's and downs. And The Show captures the essence of this like no other console baseball game.


Ok....enough of that. My copy is arriving today and will be on my doorstep when I get home. I am then going to depart to the lab and will report back this weekend on the impressions thread and of course here on how it's going.


The beta set we worked off was the final set from MLB 13. Yep...that is where I am starting from. I did the same thing for 13 with 12's set and only had to make some minor tweaks. These guys over at SCEA San Diego are fantastic. The game out of the box is awesome and I expect the same again.

So relax......sit back and.......




PLAY BALL!!!


When you see (+/-) next to a value......this is how much I increased or decreased the settings from the beta set as I will be updating this page with the most recent settings...but the (+/-) will always get back to the beta set...if indeed that was working for you fine.





All-Star Sim Set V 1.5 (6/5/14)



Settings:

Batting and Baserunning:
Hitting Difficulty: All-Star
Hitting Interface Timing
Hitting View: Catcher default
Button Interface: Classic
Guess Pitch: Off (pitch history can now be seen by clicking down L3)
Baserunner Interface: Default
Bassrunning Decisions: Assist
Sliding Decisions: Assist
Runner Window: On


Pitching:
Pitching Difficulty: All-Star
Pitching Interface: Classic
Pitching View: Broadcast
Pitching Ball Marker: On (for added challenge turn it off, but keep vibration on for pitch zone location)
Pitch Callout: Off (cleaner screen but turn it on if you like)
Pitch Confidence: On
Pitch Delay: Normal
API: Default

Fielding:
Throwing Interface: Buttons
Throwing Meter: N/A (blue ring shows up on 14. Auto throw will show no ring)
Throwing Difficulty: NA
Throwing Decision: On (went to auto throwing due to blue ring under player this year on manual throwing)
Throw Canceling: N/A
Fielding Decision: Auto
Defensive Shift: Auto
All Indicators off
Fielding View Offense: Broadcast
Fielding View Defense: Broadcast

General
Strike Zone: Off
Hot Zones: Off
Swing/Pitch Analysis: On
Balks: Off
Warm Up Pitchers: On
Umpire Balls and Strikes: Variable
Umpire Close Plays: On
Check Swing Appeals: Off (you will draw more walks with it off but up to you)
Injuries: On
Ejections: On



Human Contact - 6 (+1)
Human Power - 5
Human Timing - 5
Stride Difficulty - 5
Human Foul Frequency - 5
Human Solid Hits - 3 (-1)
Human Starter Stamina - 6
Human Reliever Stamina - 3
Human Pitcher Control - 4
Human Pitcher Consistency - 3 (-1)

CPU Contact - 6 (+1)
CPU Power - 6 (+2)
CPU Timing - 6 (+2)
CPU Foul Frequency - 4
CPU Solid Hits - 3
CPU Starter Stamina - 6
CPU Reliever Stamina - 3
CPU Pitcher Control - 4
CPU Pitcher Consistency - 4
CPU Strike Frequency - 2
CPU Manager Hook - 4
CPU Pickoffs - 4

Pitch Speed - 5 (totally up to you)
Fielding Errors - 5
Throwing Errors - 5
Fielder Run Speed - 3 (-1)
Fielder Reaction - 7 (+1)
Fielder Arm Strength - 5 (+1)
Baserunner Speed - 4 (+1)
Baserunner Steal Ability - 8 (+2)
Baserunner Steal Frequency - 5
Wind - 4
Injuries - 8 (+1)



Hybrid Set Version 1.5 6/5/14

For those that are struggling with All-Star hitting, here is a slider set to help alleviate the tougher timing window you get on All-Star and give you more offense. While it will be easier to hit with the Hybrid set you should still get very sim like results and enjoy the game to the fullest. If you find the offense is getting out of hand, simply click down your timing window and human contact and power one click down (to the left). Leave the cpu pitching sliders alone.

Everything is exactly the same as above except setting hitting to Veteran and the following changes to these particular sliders:


Human Contact - 5 (+1)
Human Power - 5 (+1)
Human Solid Hits - 3
Human Timing - 4





New For 2014 is a feature called Quick Counts. I have already played many games on it as well and it is a very cool feature. You have to suspend some disbelief with some things in…..if you want to bunt over a runner and get a 0-2 or 1-2 count or a 3-2 count…..well what can you do….it is the first year of this feature. But on the other hand if your looking to get some games in quick or want to play a 3 game series in 1.5 hours….this can be a very cool and streamlined feature and so far….stat's wise it is looking really good for me. Now I love playing full games…..and most of time will be spent playing full games….but I also love playing classic season replays and this is a great way to get through multiple classic seasons while I play my franchise at my leisure and not worry about time as we have cross platform saves now!! So the best of both worlds!!! I can't say enough how fully featured The Show 14 is and it has something for every baseball fan!

So below is the initial QC slider set. Both All-Star and Hybrid. Please play lot's and lot's of games then tweak to your taste. Also remember I am testing with Classic and Timed….nothing else so plug them in if you use other interfaces and have at it…..but my testing is exclusive to those two ways of pitching and hitting.

All-Star QC V 1.4 (4/14/14)


Human Contact - 6 (+1)
Human Power - 5
Human Timing - 5
Stride Difficulty - 5
Human Foul Frequency - 3 (-2)
Human Solid Hits - 3 (-1)
Human Starter Stamina - 7 (+1)
Human Reliever Stamina - 3 (-1)
Human Pitcher Control - 4
Human Pitcher Consistency - 3 (-1)

CPU Contact - 6 (+1)
CPU Power - 6 (+1)
CPU Timing - 6 (+1)
CPU Foul Frequency - 3 (-1)
CPU Solid Hits - 3 (-1)
CPU Starter Stamina - 6 (-1)
CPU Reliever Stamina - 3 (-1)
CPU Pitcher Control - 5
CPU Pitcher Consistency - 3 (-1)
CPU Strike Frequency - 4
CPU Manager Hook - 5
CPU Pickoffs - 4

Pitch Speed - 5 (totally up to you)
Fielding Errors - 5
Throwing Errors - 5
Fielder Run Speed - 3 (-1)
Fielder Reaction - 7 (+1)
Fielder Arm Strength - 5 (+1)
Baserunner Speed - 4 (+1)
Baserunner Steal Ability - 8 (+2)
Baserunner Steal Frequency - 5
Wind - 4
Injuries - 8 (+1)


Hybrid QC (Veteran hitting/All-Star Pitching) 1.4 (4/14/14) Just change the following settings:



CPU Pitcher Control - 4
CPU Pitcher Consistency - 4
CPU Strike Frequency - 3

Human Contact - 5 (+1)
Human Power - 5 (+1)
Human Timing - 4


Both Quick Count sets have been uploaded to the vault under PSN Todem

[Jasong7777]

Your sliders along with the OSFM rosters made last years game a real joy. Let me be the first to say thank you. Can't wait to plug in these sliders when I get home tonight.

[fearwhatnow]

My first impression is that we may need a separate slider set for QC. What's your take on this? Looking forward to your final slider set!

[Armor and Sword]

Quote: Originally Posted by fearwhatnow

My first impression is that we may need a separate slider set for QC. What's your take on this? Looking forward to your final slider set!

First and foremost I am testing playing the game without it.


I gotta say I don't think sliders will have anything to do with QC. You will just have to be that much more focused as every pitch will count even more.


One of the drawbacks to quick counts though is no pitch history....you don't know how you set up batters, etc etc. So it will be a slightly different approach to playing.


Hence I don't see myself using that feature as much as many others. For me the heart and soul of my playing experience is the Pitcher/Batter confrontations and the art of setting up my hitters (when I pitch) and the art of working a count when I hit.


To me that is what baseball at it's core is all about.


I think Quick Counts is an awesome feature.....and has a true purpose for a lot of players (including myself) in speeding up the game and being able to get through multiple seasons.


But with the advent of cross platform/title saves......what's the rush. You never have to start over ever again. So players this year are getting the best of both worlds. A win win for everyone.


So with that.....I think I am going to agree with you. A seperate thread for Quick Counts will be made when and if that time comes. If the game plays exactly the same in regards to the feel, etc.....no seperate thread.

Good call on that.

[MC2]

Anyone else having trouble with baserunner speed being too high? On default 5 every routine infield grounder seems to be a bang bang play.

[davis420]

I'm getting ready to try these out soon. If they are close to how last year's sliders were for me then I won't have any complaints, Play Ball!

[The Kid 24]

Armor buddy ole pal... Great to see you back at it

With that said, I'm really hoping your sliders will work for the PS4 version as well!! Damn May 6th is a long time yet.

[kpeercy]

I've played 1 1/2 games using these sliders and Quick Counts. I used your sliders exclusively in 13 and loved them.

The first game, the Cardinals & Reds walked a combined 17 & the final score was 8-5. Half way thru the 2nd game, the score is 7-2 and there have been 4 combined walks. Also, defense appears off. The CPU controlled Cards had 3 errors the first game & the CPU controlled Orioles have 3 after 4 1/2 innings in the 2nd game.

I realize this is a really small sample size, but Quick Counts appears to boost walks tremendously.

On another note, the ball physics feel "floaty" to me as opposed to 13. Throwing during fielding also has a different feel. Timing while hitting is slightly change, as well.

Update...Finished the game with a combined 20 runs, 22 hits, 10 walks. So in 2 games using QC, I have seen 33 runs and 27 walks.