MLB 2K10 News Post

Major League Baseball 2K10: MLB Developer Insights - Art Direction

08:16 PM - January 15, 2010 by hitstreak13

2K Sports has just posted their Major League Baseball 2K10 MLB Developer Insight, focusing on art direction.

Quote:


	"We went through all the stadiums and scrutinized the architectural details and nuances, in an effort to correct anything we saw that has changed since the previous MLB season. We also introduced some new stadiums not in last year�s game. I�m sure you�ll all be excited to see the new Target Field in Minnesota. We worked off of the blueprints of the actual stadium so our stadium will be spot on in terms of accuracy for Twins fans. We paid a lot of attention to the fields this year, introducing new technology to the dirt which better portrays wetness, degradation, moisture, rake, wear, and traffic. The grass is equally as sophisticated. We took into account the same lighting properties with our dirt, as well as the actual mow patterns for each stadium. We even went as far as taking into consideration the type & length of grass, and the direction it is mowed. I guess you can say we are a little obsessed with grass tech from our football days. We are sticklers for accuracy because we aim to please our simulation fans everywhere! The environments capture each ballpark�s look and feel and showcase their specific celebrations, ads, scoreboards, and fans accordingly. We made sure to balance the ads within the parks and colors to mimic life, and you will see more real life advertisement slots and sizes than in MLB 2K9. In general, we wanted the environments to capture the real essence of baseball, but differently for the various stadiums across the league."

Game: Major League Baseball 2K10Reader Score: 6/10 - Vote Now
Platform: PS3 / Xbox 360Votes for game: 33 - View All

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Member Comments

# 41 Jamin23 @ 01/15/10 09:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Art1bk


	So IGN says the game took a hit graphically and the Art director says it's the best MLB2k graphically to date

I'll take the ladder of that.

# 42 DaveDQ @ 01/15/10 09:46 PM

This line made me smile:

"I guess you can say we are a little obsessed with grass tech from our football days."

I appreciate the article and the obvious positive work they have put into this title. That goes a long way for me. Nothing is hyped. I'm looking forward to the next Insight.

# 43 Jamin23 @ 01/15/10 09:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scottdau


	Alan wanted me to share this with you all: "You'll be please to know that we do have fully functional, out-of-town scores where dictated by the real stadiums in 2k10." This was said by Ronnie.

Yeah I saw that ablouin mentioned it in this thread.

# 44 ExtremeGamer @ 01/15/10 09:50 PM

So far, I'm impressed. Like the out of town scoreboards added, and LOVE the look of the stadiums this year.

# 45 bp4baseball @ 01/15/10 09:53 PM

These insights are nice and an interesting read

# 46 bigfnjoe96 @ 01/15/10 09:54 PM

We'll looks like Alan left without answering my question about Image Metrics. If the animations are more natural looking than what we've seen, the graphics are gonna be the BEST this series has had since jumping Next-Gen.

Quote:


	This year we added multi-character animations to improve the realism of collisions between the catcher and the base runner for plays at the plate. We also added multi-character animations for pickoff/steal plays as well as double play collisions in which the base runner attempts a takeout slide to prevent the shortstop/2nd baseman from turning a double play. All of these are to minimize the amount of player penetration during these plays to make the outcome more believable. We also updated the movement model to allow for more directional based fielding animations to allow the fielders to follow the ball during its trajectory. We also added more multi-action animations (run, catch, throw all in one file) to allow the player to queue up a throw to a particular base before gathering the ball to quicken the throw to that base and increase the reaction time of the fielder in the hopes of making a play. And we also added new Signature animations for this year�s roster and tried to improve the look of the batting and pitching introductions.

I'm loving the way they've incorporated the New Lighting into the game:

Quote:


	Visually, we wanted to make sure to more accurately produce the lighting conditions of a hot noon summer game, a dreamy afternoon, or even a cool August night with our new lighting model technology. Now, the lighting is also accurate to not only the time of day games are played, but also the actual geographic location and orientation of each stadium and time of year your game is taking place. We consciously desaturated the parks slightly and brought the important time of day of �Dusk� into the product.

Target looks sick in that screen. Hopefully we get some info on GAME PLAY & what changes were made this year

# 47 ExtremeGamer @ 01/15/10 09:55 PM

I do love that they put a pic of Wrigley in there. That way we can see they really did fix the stadiums.

# 48 Jamin23 @ 01/15/10 09:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigfnjoe96


	We'll looks like Alan left without answering my question about Image Metrics. If the animations are more natural looking than what we've seen, the graphics are gonna be the BEST this series has had since jumping Next-Gen. I'm loving the way they've incorporated the New Lighting into the game: Target looks sick in that screen. Hopefully we get some info on GAME PLAY & what changes were made this year

If I glanced at it, I would think it was real.

# 49 bonannogiovanni @ 01/15/10 10:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jamin23


	If I glanced at it, I would think it was real.

It took me 30 seconds to realize it's not a real picture. Impressed!

# 50 Artman22 @ 01/15/10 10:08 PM

While looking at the stadiums I thought they were real. That's how good they look. Hopefully next week they can talk about the animations.

# 51 Jamin23 @ 01/15/10 10:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Art1bk


	While looking at the stadiums I thought they were real. That's how good they look. Hopefully next week they can talk about the animations.

Next week is franchise.

# 52 Artman22 @ 01/15/10 10:14 PM

This shows just how useless ign is for information on sports game.

# 53 wrigleyville33 @ 01/15/10 10:14 PM

I believe the graphics are pretty ridiculous here, in a good way. I sold my 360 and played the show this year dumping on 2k. But this does look like a huge upgrade from last year's disaster. The stadiums are gorgeous, as well as the lighting. Those stadium pic's took me a while to realize they were from 2k10, not real life. Anyways, I wonder how much they touched up those images in photoshop, but I will be giving this a chance. I would love to see how good it looks on my awesome desktop. Hopefully the upgraded the game play as well. I also love the fact they have geographic specific lighting. That is awesome, as well as specific seasonal lighting.

# 54 mkharsh33 @ 01/15/10 10:22 PM

this is all well and good, but if the gameplay isn't drastically improved it won't matter to me. i'd play with stick figures if the game played simulation baseball...2k9 had a lot of holes that need fixed. these graphics won't mean a thing to me without the other...

# 55 bigfnjoe96 @ 01/15/10 10:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by backbreaker


	could someone post these pics in 720p so we can get a real look at them instead of these small pics that doesn't give a real representation. So far it looks good but the pics are too small to really tell.

There not available in 720p

# 56 spankdatazz22 @ 01/15/10 10:59 PM

Very nice first Insight - lots of interesting detail. Love that VC's on the job (kinda got me with that "from our football days" snippet. What might have been...

# 57 Jamin23 @ 01/15/10 11:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by michaeldu


	Looks like VC is working hard at turning this disaster around. Pleasantly suprised.

If the gameplay is up to par, we may have a good baseball game on the 360 this year.

# 58 Flaxseed Oil @ 01/15/10 11:04 PM

I have 3 hopes for this game..

1) that the fielding camera is closer to the field of play, and perhaps a different angle, so that I can see if my guy is gonna catch the ball or not.

2) Move the hitting cam a little closer. In 2k7 and 2k8, I could zoom way in, and get a real feel for the size of a pitcher. A big powerful, hard-throwing pitcher should feel like one. That was one of the strengths of 2k7....facing a guy like CC was tough. It also made breaking balls better and more effective when you had to gear up for the fastball...

I used to regularly strike out 5-8 times a game. Now I strike out once every 5 games or so.

3) Franchise. There needs to be more free agents at the end of a season, and more development of minor leaguers. I want to reap the benefits of a guy I have drafted in a couple of seasons, not wait 9 years.

# 59 Bahnzo @ 01/15/10 11:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jamin23


	If the gameplay is up to par, we may have a good baseball game on the 360 this year.

This is still going to be my main concern.

After reading the blog, I've gotta say I'm impressed not only with the subtle improvements to the players and stadiums, but it's hard not to be impressed with the tech they use as well.

But it will all be for naught if they don't fix the glaring issues with the gameplay. Here's hoping that's a focus in a future insight blog.

Also, I switched completely to a ps3 this year (no you-know-what reference here

), and I'm hoping this runs fine on my console. Although I didn't own MLB2K for the PS3 the last couple years, I remember hearing that it didn't run near as well as the Xbox version. Let's hope that isn't the case this time.

# 60 DaveDQ @ 01/15/10 11:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spankdatazz22


	Very nice first Insight - lots of interesting detail. Love that VC's on the job (kinda got me with that "from our football days" snippet. What might have been...

Right..."I guess you can say we are a little obsessed with grass tech from our football days.."

At least this title is getting the VC treatment.

Also, looks like they are adding multiple fielding animations and slides into second trying to take out the double play.

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