I posted this in another thread but thought it might deserve a thread of its own. Here's how the batting system in MVP appears to work for me. What are your thoughts?
MVP has zone hitting with a twist. If you swing like you would for normal zone hitting then you will have success. If you swing at a pitch high in the zone while aiming low you will still make contact with the ball but you won't get good wood on it and will most likely foul it off. Same thing goes if you aim inside on an outside pitch, you will most likely foul it off or squib an easy out. People are getting too wrapped up in how EA describes it instead of just swinging away with zone hitting. I personally like it because it adds to the drama of the pitcher/batter confrontation by adding foul balls to the equation.
My take on MVP's batting system
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ScoopBrady
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My take on MVP's batting system
I am a patient boy.
I wait, I wait, I wait, I wait.
My time is water down a drain.
I wait, I wait, I wait, I wait.
My time is water down a drain.
Re: My take on MVP's batting system
I found this on a MVP2004 faq site from last year :ScoopBrady wrote:I posted this in another thread but thought it might deserve a thread of its own. Here's how the batting system in MVP appears to work for me. What are your thoughts?
MVP has zone hitting with a twist. If you swing like you would for normal zone hitting then you will have success. If you swing at a pitch high in the zone while aiming low you will still make contact with the ball but you won't get good wood on it and will most likely foul it off. Same thing goes if you aim inside on an outside pitch, you will most likely foul it off or squib an easy out. People are getting too wrapped up in how EA describes it instead of just swinging away with zone hitting. I personally like it because it adds to the drama of the pitcher/batter confrontation by adding foul balls to the equation.
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"Pure Swing" Explained
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The description from the manual and even the video explanation in the game
are very simplistic. Once you get a handle on the system, it makes a lot of
sense and it makes all other video game batting system obsolete.
===== The Key Points About "Pure Swing" =====
1. Timing is more important than how you use the analog stick.
From the previous exercise, you probably figured out that your batter is
capable of making contact with any strikes as long as your timing is correct.
If you watch the replay of your swing, you'll see that your batter tries his
best to make contact with the ball regardless of its location.
2. You have absolute control over the timing of your swing, but only some
control over the type of contact your batter can make.
The position of the thumb stick is a general direction or objective you ask
the batter to accomplish. Just like the manual says, hold up for a fly ball,
down for a ground ball, etc. however, you must realize that because the
batter is position on one side of the home plate, he cannot generate the same
power to all 9 zones, and contact results from the zones are not symmetric.
I.e. you cannot approach inside and outside pitches the same way, and you
cannot expect the same result.
3. You cannot hit pitches outside of the strike zone well.
In many baseball video games, if you use the thumb stick or D-pad well, you
can sometimes reach balls outside the strike zone and get a hit. This type of
occurrence is rare in MVP. That's because the thumb stick is not a "reaching
tool"
4. Moving the thumb stick to where the ball is pitched is not the only way to
have good hits. "Pure Swing" is not zone hitting like in High Heat. The thumb
stick does not tell your batter where to swing but rather "How to Swing"
5. To get a quick understanding of "Pure Swing", go to homerun showdown games
and try out different swings.
===== "Pure Swing" in Depth =====
(Assuming the batter is right handed)
1. Up
Pushing the stick up tells your batter to lift the ball in the air,
regardless of the location it's pitched. I.e. he needs to get his bat
underneath the ball in order to lift it. Naturally, it's easier to lift a
pitch that's already high, but you can still do it with a low pitch, provided
that it's in the strike zone and your timing is perfect. If your timing is
just a bit off, the common result is a weak grounder, or a pop up if you
swing too early.
2. Down
Pushing the stick down tells your batter to hit the ball to the ground. He
must get the bat on top of the pitch. And it's naturally easier to do with
lower pitcher. However, this type of hitting can create interesting results
for high pitches.
If the pitch is on the top of the strike zone, your batter might not be able
to lift his shoulders high enough to get to bat on top of the pitch, but he
might hit it squarely instead. A common result is actually a line drive. Yes,
a line drive when the pitch is a high strike and you push the stick down.
Pushing the stick down for a low pitch is actually not a very good idea
unless you know what you are doing. All you are doing is driving the ball
hard to the ground. You might get good contact, but lots of groundouts. Just
like in real life, low balls are tougher to hit, and when the defense want to
get you on a double play, they pitch low. In many case, it's actually better
to leave the stick in the center when hitting low balls, your chances of
hitting a line drive over the infielders are better. However, in the
situations where you need a ground ball (Hit and Run), you want to push the
stick down.
3. Left
Telling your batter to pull the pitch. Pulling and push has a lot more to do
with timing than the position of the thumb stick. However, using the stick
can help especially if the pitcher has a very fast fastball. This position
only works with center and inside pitches (zones 1,2,4,5,7,8). You chance of
pulling an outside pitch using this method is next to zero. That's because
this commend tells your batter to shorten his swing so he can get the bat
head thru the strike zone faster in order to pull the pitch (if you miss, pay
attention to the overhead p-i-p replay, you'll see the bat barely covers the
strike zone). Remember, he also tries his best to make contact with the
pitch, so an outside pitch is the direct contradiction of this commend.
If you want to pull an outside pitch, the better way would be to leave the
stick neutral and swing early, or even point the stick outside and swing
early.
4. Right
If you want to hit the pitch to the opposite side, this is the way to do it.
If your batter does not have a high contact or a high power rating, this is
the only way to counter outside pitches (or be patient). Pushing to the right
works well with zones 3,6, and 9. Just like they are supposed to be in real
life, outside pitches are harder to hit than inside pitches.
The timing for an outside pitch is very tricky. My advice is: don't swing too
early. Most of the time, if you try to pull an outside pitch to the left
field, all you do is hitting it off the end of your bat and weakly ground out
to the second baseman. If you hit it squarely, you might get a comebacker
between the second baseman and the short stop. And if you just hit it a tad
late, you might be able to put it through the space between the 1st and 2nd
basemen. However, the contact will not be strong because your swing does not
have the chance to generate power. And if you are too late, it's another weak
grounder again.
Moving the stick to the right side will cause your batter to lean in a bit
and increase the power given to this type of contact, and get a better chance
of driving the ball pass infielders.
Outside pitches are generally the kind you pass up when you have no strikes
on you, unless you have a good reason: you have a man on first so the gap
between 1st and 2nd basemen is larger; Outside is your batter's hot zone; You
are executing Hit and Run; or the pitcher has a great fastball that you can't
catch up and want to try a different approach.
For pitches that are in the middle column (zone 2,5 and
, you normally wantto pull them for power, but if you can't catch up with the pitch, it's not a
bad idea to go the other way because that gives you just a fraction of a
second longer to react and still be able to get a good hit.
5. Up and left.
This is the most popular approach. And in most cases, it works wonders. This
position tells your batter to shorten up his swing and scoop the pitch high
over the left field fence. This type of swing works well with zones 1,2,4 and
5. It also works with low-and-in pitches in zone 7. It has occasional success
with zone 3 and 8 depending on your batter and timing. Tough to hit zone 6
and almost impossible to get a good contact from zone 9 (except possibly
bloopers to the right field). If you don't want to think much about hitting,
don't want to pay attention about hitting, this is the best casual way to
play. Simply sit on one pitch and one general area and hope to get lucky.
Also, hopefully you are playing with a team that has many power hitters,
otherwise you are just hitting flyouts. However, in MVP difficulty, CPU don't
come to this zone often, particularly in times when you think they might such
as 3-0 or 3-1 counts. They are more likely to pitch you away especially if
you have a power hitter in the batter's box. (In my games, CPU never pitches
to Pujols inside on 3-0 and 3-1)
Anticipating to jack one out of the park this way is a sensible approach when
you have no strikes and can afford to be picky.
6. Up and Right.
This is similar to simply pressing right. However, besides giving more power
to the outside swings, your batter will also attempt to lift the ball in the
air. This swing works well with zone 3,6 and 9. Yes, it works with zone 9.
You batter can hit a low and away pitch out of the park the other way for a
homerun if you push Up and Right. It's a great way to hit if you need a fly
ball (man on 3rd) and just can't get a middle or inside pitch to hit. It's
also a great way to a triple. And in the situation where the CPU is setting
you up for a double play, this type of swing is a good way to avoid it. (if
you don't connect well, it's probably a weak grounder that won't result in a
double play.)
7. Down and Right.
Going for a grounder away. This is a specialty swing. You want to hit a
strong grounder pass the 1st and 2nd basemen. Your batter will attempt to get
his bat on top of the ball just like holding the stick directly down, except
with extra power to the right side.
It works with zone 3, 6 and 9. You actually can get good line drives hitting
zone 3 pitches this way. Just like trying to hit high pitches holding down,
your batter cannot get the bat high enough to drive the ball to the ground
but hits it squarely instead. However, if your zone 3 is a cold zone, there
is no way the batter can get the bat on top of the pitch, not even close. All
you do is hitting pop-ups.
8. Down and Left.
You are asking your batter to pull a pitch into the left side for a ground
ball hit. Again, can result in line drive when approaching pitches in high
zones. If your contact rating is low, you won't even be able to touch balls
in zone 3,6 and 9. This is a specialty swing just like the one above.
But because of the natural arc of a swing, this type of swing can also scoop
low-inside pitch for a single to the left field.
<b>Remember, your thumb stick is not about where to swing, but how to swing.</b> And
your batter's performance, besides contact rating, has a lot to do with hot
and cold zones. For example, if your batter has a cold zone 2, his ability to
do what you ask for in that zone is low. He can't pull or push pitches well,
and if you ask him to hit down hoping to get a hard line drive, you can
forget about it. All he'll do is hitting pop ups. Usually all he can do in
the cold zones is trying to make contact. And if your timing is good, he
might get a hit. Let's say your batter has a hot zone 2 and cold zone 8, if
you hold down to swing at a pitch coming at zone 2, your batter has a good
chance of getting a line drive, even though your thumb stick is pointing down
at the cold zone 8. Thumb stick position has nothing to do with swing
location.
Occasionally, Hot zones can be a mix blessing. For example, your batter has a
hot zone 6 (outside). You ask him to hit an away grounder intended to go
between 1st and 2nd basemen. You swing just a little bit early, and it
becomes a grounder directly to the 2nd baseman. However, with another batter
who has a cold zone 6, and since he is incapable of following orders in the
zone to drive the ball to the ground (i.e. get his bat on top of the pitch),
he simply hits it over the head of the 2nd baseman. Yes, that can happen.
My description is a very generic and simplistic outline of Pure Swing. You
will encounter many many incidences where the results don't even come close
to what I describe or what you have in mind. I can't stress enough, timing is
far more important than the analog stick. If you want to hit the ball the
other way but pull it instead, you swing too early. Any time you get an
unusual or unexpected result, use the replay feature to find out the contact
point, you'll gain much insight to the Pure Swing system in no time.
Q. It's so complicated, why can't I just point the analog stick at the pitch?
A: Of course you can. It's a lot of work to make "Pure Swing" work. It
demands a lot of attention and mental focus. You probably noticed during your
exercise, whenever your mind wanders, you do horribly. I sometimes play it
just like that, simply pointing the stick at the ball. And that's also how
the in game tutorial tells you to play. Most of the time, you'll do ok, the
only area lacking in this type of approaches is the low balls; you might hit
into more double plays than you prefer. I just want you to know that you have
options.
If you've ever correctly taken an outside pitch to the opposite field for a
HR, smack a high pitch to the ground for a Hit and Run, hit a line drive
comebacker over the middle infielders, you'd truly appreciate the beauty of
the system.
