MLB 2K10 News Post

Major League Baseball 2K10: MLB Developer Insights - Pitchers vs. Hitters Part I & II

02:58 PM - February 8, 2010 by Jamin23

2K Sports has posted two more Major League Baseball 2K10 Developer Insights today. Here is Part I, which includes gameplay video.

Quote:


	"My name is Sean Bailey and I am a gameplay designer on Major League Baseball� 2K10. I want to share with you a quote straight from the white board in my office. Hall of Fame pitcher Warren Spahn once said, �Hitting is timing. Pitching is upsetting timing.� After winning more games than any left-handed pitcher in baseball history, Mr. Spahn is as well versed as anyone when it comes to the battle at the plate between a pitcher and a hitter. In Major League Baseball� 2K10, we have provided an experience where the gamer will really feel the benefits and challenges of upsetting timing, as Warren Spahn so eloquently put it decades ago."

Part II is right here.

Quote:


	"Now, I know what you are thinking� if this is so realistic, then why have I read from recent previews that there might not be a check swing in Major League Baseball� 2K10? Before we get into check-swing talk, let me clarify that the check-swing is in fact part of an upcoming patch. Pulling back on the right stick will play a check swing if you previously committed to a power swing or contact swing. Flicking up to contact swing and then pulling down will stop the contact swing. A power swing is performed by pulling down and then flicking up, as mentioned above. However, if you pull the right stick down back towards you after starting a power swing, that too will result in a check swing. This implementation of check-swinging makes it impossible to do one by accident. Pulling down on right stick = check swing. Never again will you have to ask �Why the heck did he check swing?!?!?� before contemplating launching a controller across the room. It also makes it easier to trigger when you actually want a check swing to play."

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 smearz @ 02/08/10 05:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by drterb


	My guess would be that they leave all the pitches up after you select the pitch you want. So far so good on these insights. They are all outstanding in theory. Will VC be able to put these theories into practice? March 2nd can't come soon enough!!

yes, that would be better than taking them off the screen.

that still won't help keeping the guy you're playing against from being able to tell whether you're throwing a fastball or a breaking ball. The gestures are so different from each other, I can always tell when a fastball is coming just from the sound the controller makes.

another noted change - they've made the ball icon much smaller. You can actually pitch to a pinpoint spot now, instead of the grapefruit selector they had last year.

# 42 bonannogiovanni @ 02/08/10 06:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blzer


	Oh haha, guess I only read the bold.

Blzer, you should be proud of yourself, I'm sure they (2K) watched your videos when deciding how to implement check swing. From part 2 of the insight, reading between the lines (e.g "you will rarely find yourself in a situation where you are trying to check swing"), it's safe to say they had decided to neglect check swing at all, only to bring it back (via patch) after our outcry.

# 43 myghty @ 02/08/10 06:11 PM

If they fixed the problem where the AI swings at EVERTHING then it might finally be a good game this year.

# 44 tmac55 @ 02/08/10 06:19 PM

Everything looks really good. Very happy to see a check swing patch and 2K could have something good on their hands here. Please deliver us something good now.

# 45 EnigmaNemesis @ 02/08/10 06:29 PM

From the Insight:

Quote:


	Prior to playing Major League Baseball� 2K10, I had to decide before the pitch was even thrown as to whether or not I was going to swing. Forget knowing if it was a ball or strike�that had been impossible in baseball games before 2K10.

Sorry, but this is a crock.

# 46 mwjr @ 02/08/10 06:54 PM

I notcied somethig on Jose Guillen's Inside Edge Report: he has Cs and Ds in every batting category, yet his overall rating is a B. Is that an overall batting grade? If so, that's a big problem.

# 47 bigfnjoe96 @ 02/08/10 07:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mwjr


	I notcied somethig on Jose Guillen's Inside Edge Report: he has Cs and Ds in every batting category, yet his overall rating is a B. Is that an overall *batting* grade? If so, that's a big problem.

This was the BIG Problem last year on WHY the AI was swinging @ everything b-4 the PATCH. Oh boy...

# 48 jeffy777 @ 02/08/10 07:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigfnjoe96


	This was the BIG Problem last year on WHY the AI was swinging @ everything b-4 the PATCH. Oh boy...

Even after the patch it was still pretty bad. However, Chase said the AI seemed better this year, so we'll have to wait and see.

# 49 AustinOrgans @ 02/08/10 09:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sting


	Did you try to adjust this w/sliders? I didn't play last year's, but 2k8 was the same way until you adjusted the sliders, then it was perfect.

Most AI batters had "Walk" grades of C, D or F, which meant they'd swing at everything, not taking pitches and therefore not getting walks.

# 50 Guffers @ 02/09/10 05:54 AM

I'm pretty sure they took out a huge chunk of the sliders for 2K9. Meaning we couldn't really do a thing about the AI swinging at everything. Hopefully those sliders are back.

At the moment I'm really excited after reading that insight. But I'm trying to keep a level head.

My problem is I love the control scheme in this game and I won't be able to help myself if I hear that it actually plays a decent game of baseball.

Oh, and is free from show stopping bugs.

# 51 bigfnjoe96 @ 02/09/10 06:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sting


	Did you try to adjust this w/sliders? I didn't play last year's, but 2k8 was the same way until you adjusted the sliders, then it was perfect.

It got better after it was PATCHED. As for adjusting it with sliders. It was very difficult because last years sliders were different & they came with no description of what each slider meant.

It really looks like pitching will be some what challenging. This sentence right here with picture have me some what optimistic. That Green Zone in the diagram doesn't seem that big.

Quote:


	Since Halladay has a good control rating, these gesture targets, or green zones in the diagram are larger than those of some of his teammates, like Antonio Bastardo. Bastardo’s control rating is only a 70, making it tougher to precisely stop the 2nd gesture in the right spot.

# 52 King Gro23 @ 02/09/10 08:26 AM

BigFnJoe^^^ I like this statement IMO It simply means you will be able to pinpoint your pitch few in seldom. Which is realistic. Especially sicne they tied in gesture vs. Pitch location. Over do a Gesture, & overthrow a pitch & vice versa.
I am really impressed by all of this.

# 53 bigfnjoe96 @ 02/09/10 08:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by King Gro23


	BigFnJoe^^^ I like this statement IMO It simply means you will be able to pinpoint your pitch few in seldom. Which is realistic. Especially sicne they tied in gesture vs. Pitch location. Over do a Gesture, & overthrow a pitch & vice versa. I am really impressed by all of this.

Hopefully the Gesture Movement isn't too sensitive which is my only concern right now.

Quote:


	On my gesture, I was supposed to stop at 9 o’clock. However, I moved the right stick too far past 9 o’clock (more like 7 o’clock…whoops), resulting in the pitch being overthrown in that direction. Had I done the opposite and completely stopped short of my gesture, the pitch would have been closer to the middle of the plate rather than outside for a ball. The right stick gesture this year dictates the placement of the ball in a way that is predictable. No more random pitch gestures with random results.

Am I reading too much into this?

# 54 King Gro23 @ 02/09/10 09:06 AM

I see what you mean now.
& yeah i think you are reading into the bolded part maybe a bit much. I am not sure if you are concerned about the bold or in wonder. I am in wonder lol
Roy Halladay (Righty) is throwing a Cut-fastball to a left handed batter. He over gestured therefore Halladay overthrew - Resulting in a shin-grazer for Panda. ( righty cutting a fast ball too much into a lefty batter)
If he would not of completed the gesture he would have left the ball more over the inner-to-middle part of the plate. I think he was meant to say "rather than inside for a ball." not outside.

# 55 bigfnjoe96 @ 02/09/10 09:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by King Gro23


	I see what you mean now. & yeah i think you are reading into the bolded part maybe a bit much. I am not sure if you are concerned about the bold or in wonder. I am in wonder lol Roy Halladay (Righty) is throwing a Cut-fastball to a left handed batter. He over gestured therefore Halladay overthrew - Resulting in a shin-grazer for Panda. ( righty cutting a fast ball too much into a lefty batter) If he would not of completed the gesture he would have left the ball more over the inner-to-middle part of the plate. I think he was meant to say "rather than inside for a ball." not outside.

Even though I'm cautiously optimistic about the NEW Pitching Mechanic, I am impressed with the direction they are going with it. If any developer can make the R-Stick Mechanic work properly it's VC

# 56 Trevytrev11 @ 02/09/10 09:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigfnjoe96


	Am I reading too much into this?

I believe all it is saying is that you're pitch will miss in the same direction you miss your gesture, which IMO, is the exact way it should be.

Let go too early on a curve and you hang it, let go too late and your bury it.

The results, like real life, are now tied in to your "release point" than just pure randomness.

As a pitcher, I was always taught to miss in the direction of your spot. In other words, if the catcher sat up on the outside corner, you wanted to make sure that if you missed, you missed outside and not over the plate. Now, we have the ability to control this in the game. You can pitch around to big hitters by taking a cautious approach to pitching on the black of the plate to these big guys and know that when you miss, you're going to try miss away from the middle of the plate.

But still, when emotions take over and you lock up trying to make that perfect pitch and you accidentally let go too late instead of too early and you hang it, you're going to pay.

# 57 bigfnjoe96 @ 02/09/10 10:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trevytrev11


	I believe all it is saying is that you're pitch will miss in the same direction you miss your gesture, which IMO, is the exact way it should be. Let go too early on a curve and you hang it, let go too late and your bury it. The results, like real life, are now tied in to your "release point" than just pure randomness. As a pitcher, I was always taught to miss in the direction of your spot. In other words, if the catcher sat up on the outside corner, you wanted to make sure that if you missed, you missed outside and not over the plate. Now, we have the ability to control this in the game. You can pitch around to big hitters by taking a cautious approach to pitching on the black of the plate to these big guys and know that when you miss, you're going to try miss away from the middle of the plate. But still, when emotions take over and you lock up trying to make that perfect pitch and you accidentally let go too late instead of too early and you hang it, you're going to pay.

Thanks for this Trev. It really sounds like we may finally have a realistic Pitching Mechanic in the game.

# 58 Trevytrev11 @ 02/09/10 11:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigfnjoe96


	Thanks for this Trev. It really sounds like we may finally have a realistic Pitching Mechanic in the game.

I think so, too. I think finally we will feel the difference between a #1 and a #5. Hopefully no more team ERA's in the 2's and muliple weeks of pitching without issuing a walk.

It may take a while to get used to getting shelled every now and then after being able to absolutely dominate with anyone for as far back as I can remember.

# 59 m-dogg @ 02/09/10 11:45 AM

the only problem with this "1-to-1" pitching control mechanic, is if I do the same thing wrong every time I throw a cutter (which is what human users do) - I can just adjust by aiming higher for example and still pinpoint my pitches.

There was a pitch last year that I had no idea what I was doing wrong (no analyzer), but all i had to do was adjust my aiming and I could paint corners with it all game. lame. while the theory behind what they are doing is great, it removes the randomness that I want from my pitches. I just wish they would give us a control slider to increase the randomness of final pitch location in an incremental radius. lets face it, no human is going to mess up a pitch gesture differently every time. its always going to be the same issue if you have one at all...leading to the same locations for the most part.

but I do like having a hitting analyzer...makes you believe they have corrected all of the "ball going right through the bat" for a strike that we've seen from 2k. at least I hope so, otherwise its gonna look real bad when the analyzer breaks down why a perfectly timed swing resulted in a strike out!

# 60 AceTitan @ 02/09/10 12:13 PM

So this patch now comes out when?

Release day too?

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Major League Baseball 2K10: MLB Developer Insights - Pitchers vs. Hitters Part I & II