MLB '08 news and info

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Fri Mar 21, 2008 12:42 am

Danimal wrote:
dbdynsty25 wrote:And where did I say triple A titles. I simply said A...not A+ either. A. I mean it does get an 88 on metacritic. That's pretty close to an A title. And I happened to think it is.
My bad thought you said triple A apparently I can't read either. I'm just not a fan of platformers, I didn't enjoy Mario Galaxy either

I'm not a huge fan of them...but then again, I rolled through Uncharted and Ratchet and Clank in the first month of PS3 ownership. So I guess that means, I liked them, since the last console game I finished was...ummm...Contra on the Nintendo. LOL.

MUTTS · Post by **MUTTS** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 4:35 pm

Over at OS, Bill Abner et al are involved in major tweaking of settings and attributes. Is that necessary/are you all doing that??

Tony

Slumberland · Post by **Slumberland** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 4:44 pm

SCEA's Brian said this over at O.S.:

"If you want to make your difficulty somewhat harder, try this:
+6 Pwr +6 Con + 6 Vis for AI to increase AI offense modestly (average MLB team becomes a great team, or a terrible MLB team becomes average)
-6 timing window + 3 pitch speed for Human to add some extra challenge to hitting

I wish the game explained it better, but Con and Vis should generally go together or some things will happen and it won't raise R/9 as much as you'd expect. We tried to give the user complete control but in retrospect we should have combined the two and found a different way to control the distinction. Part of this was due to some key priorities in other areas that are now working well in the shipped game.

Some teams such as the Mets have stacked pitching - as the season starts and people age/improve that will probably change. Besides Johan Santana and Pedro Martinez, the other three are decent but almost as good when they're lucky. The reason is they have almost as good stuff as Johan in H/9 and K/9 year after year, they just totally lack the control to locate it (BB/9). That results in lower ERA that on another team would often bump them up one in the rotation. That's often the difference between top tier and 2nd/3rd tier pitching, and these kind of pitchers can be more streaky. Take a look at the type of 2nd tier pitchers who throw perfect games, but then have awful performances soon after.

Both the team quality and difficulty level play a factor."

Pretty cool having their input post-release. For what it's worth, I started a franchise on HOF defaults with the Rays and haven't won a game yet.

btmmayor · Post by **btmmayor** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 11:36 pm

The problem is there is no vision slider for the CPU, at least on the PS3 version. The fact that in 07 and 08 there is a Player Plate Vision slider makes no sense at all. It specifically mentions that it affects batter discipline. Even with it maxed I still mash away on the X button.

At HOF defaults I still had a problem with very weak CPU offense but I am getting hammered on All-Star by the CPU with Contact, Power and Quality at +10. I definitely need to dial those back a few.

Slumberland · Post by **Slumberland** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 11:39 pm

Yeah, I saw that the slider didn't exist. How does a developer make that mistake, exactly? I mean, no big deal, but it paints sort of a frantic picture of the last couple weeks before going gold, doesn't it?

BTM, are you saying that the same slider tweaks didn't have the effect on HOF that they did on All-Star?

JRod · Post by **JRod** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 12:16 am

btmmayor wrote:The problem is there is no vision slider for the CPU, at least on the PS3 version. The fact that in 07 and 08 there is a Player Plate Vision slider makes no sense at all. It specifically mentions that it affects batter discipline. Even with it maxed I still mash away on the X button.

At HOF defaults I still had a problem with very weak CPU offense but I am getting hammered on All-Star by the CPU with Contact, Power and Quality at +10. I definitely need to dial those back a few.

I put CPU contact at +15 and contact at -5 or just 5 clicks.

On the PS2 there's plate awareness and CPU plate discipline. I don't know what the PS3 version has. Plate awareness is pretty useless slider for the human player. Maybe it has to do with check swings and foul tips. I don't know.

btmmayor · Post by **btmmayor** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 10:29 am

Slumberland wrote:BTM, are you saying that the same slider tweaks didn't have the effect on HOF that they did on All-Star?

No. I have only played HOF default. After messing around on HOF though I think I will try that level with the contact, power and quality tweaks. It may have just been a coincidence but the CPU was MUCH more aggressive on HOF in the 4 or 5 games I played. There were a few plays where the CPU shocked me by taking an extra base. I was totally unprepared and didn't even make a throw because I just expected the CPU to stop after having played so many games against it. There were a few more steals and bunt attempts at HOF level as well.

If I can find a decent level to set the CPU contact, power and quality and Sony can release a fix for the fatique issue I will be as happy as can be with a baseball game.

btmmayor · Post by **btmmayor** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 10:40 am

Btw, during your winless streak how are the offensive CPU numbers for you on HOF default Slumber?

lexbur · Post by **lexbur** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 10:42 am

I must suck. I'm struggling on All Star. But I'm enjoying every minute of it!

I'm 15-18, playing with the default settings. Overall the scores have been a little low, but not low enough to make me want to start tweaking sliders. I'm near the bottom of the majors in runs scored, and near the top in Team ERA, which isn't that unrealistic considering the Tribe's pitching staff.

The variety of games has been really nice lately. Yesterday I played two games, Carmona threw a two-hitter at the Royals, a 3-0 win, then I went to Yankee Stadium and lost 10-9. I'm 0-5 against the Yankees so far.

WillHunting · Post by **WillHunting** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 10:48 am

This is the first baseball game I have bought since... not sure when (Saturn's WSB 98?). Yah, it is that long, I usually don't have time for baseball games but this one is just too good to pass up. I love to be able to save midgame, that is crucial when you have a crying baby to be fed...

Have any of you try online yet? I want to jump in but I don't have a BT microphone yet.

sportdan30 · Post by **sportdan30** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 11:12 am

Thankfully, the original sliders Skybox posted have been perfect for me. I haven't had to make any adjustments. This game just plays so well.

Now, I'm just waiting on up to date rosters so I can begin my season.

Brando70 · Post by **Brando70** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 11:17 am

MUTTS wrote:Over at OS, Bill Abner et al are involved in major tweaking of settings and attributes. Is that necessary/are you all doing that??

Tony

I'm not. In fact, after reading the developers talking about sliders, I went back to All-Star default with a couple of options changed. Had a fun 7-4 loss against the CPU where I walked three guys in one inning to give them 4 runs and the win.

I haven't played The Show before, and I find it pretty challenging. I'm .500 after 20 games in a franchise with the Cubs. I'm walking about 2 guys per game using classic pitching. I could probably draw 2-3 walks if I could learn to lay off bad pitches.

I would say that doubles happen the way they should happen, for the most part. There are too many robs on the corners by 3b and 1b, but hits to the corners and power alleys will go for extra bases unless you have a very slow runner and the OF gets a lucky ricochet off the wall. I had that happen with Aramis Ramierez on a hard hit the bounced off the wall to the right fielder, and he barely got thrown out at second. Anyone else on my team would have been safe.

I also was able to score from second last night on a hit that squeaked past the third baseman and died before it rolled to the left fielder.

It's not an exact replica of baseball, but out of the box, I'd say it's pretty damn close. I don't really feel the need to get into the tedium of attribute editing or sliders. Just my opinion.

RallyMonkey · Post by **RallyMonkey** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 11:23 am

Thankfully, the original sliders Skybox posted have been perfect for me. I haven't had to make any adjustments. This game just plays so well.

Totally with you Dan. I won't repost my results from a few pages back, but since that post i have had another set of great games with solid variety. For example an 11-4 loss to the Rangers followed by a 3-2 win. Right now i'm in a good spot with everything on AS and don't feel a need for change.

The only thing i see tweaing in the future is something in the CPU offense to make me fear the big bats a little more. It's not like they are not scoring (see the 11-4 loss referenced above) but there are times i just don't feel i need to be AS perfect with my pitches as probably i should be against the power bats. I don't want to panick yet though as i need to play more games against the big bat clubs (Tigers, Yankees, etc) first.

Slumberland · Post by **Slumberland** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 11:39 am

btmmayor wrote:Btw, during your winless streak how are the offensive CPU numbers for you on HOF default Slumber?

Well, it wasn't a long "streak" admittedly, but in my first two games with the Rays on HOF defaults, the Orioles score 5 and 7 on me. I took care of them in the last game of the series however. Still, playing with the Rays and the Mets is such a wildly different experience, which makes all the slider and difficulty stuff even tougher. If I played with them using the sliders I had a week ago in my Mets franchise, it would probably be a miserable experience.

I actually restarted the Mets franchise as well on HOF defaults, to give it another go of at least 20 games, as per the devs' suggestion, and to give Reyes a reasonable durability setting out of the gate.

I'm seeing pretty good stuff on the extra base front, without tweaks. With balls hit down the line, the spin and velocity of the hit has a lot to do with whether I can take the extra base, and lately I've seen more doubles in that area than not. The game might just be really streaky in a ton of areas, which was the impression I got from the devs. I've even managed to squeak out a double here and there with a speedy runner on balls hit not quite in the gaps, but to the side of the centerfielder to enough of an extent that they have to really reach for it, giving me enough time to beat out the double before they can reset and make a good throw. Brian Roberts did this against me as well, and it's such a great thing to see from the CPU.

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 11:39 am

I'm very happy with All-Star default as well...I think I need to move to HOF though because I'm winning way too much. But I've been afraid to jump because of some of the developer comments at OS.

My pitchers through a month of the season have 3.00era overall. That is a little dominant...so that needs to go up a bit...but the real issue is my batting averages. No matter how low I put the hit quality slider, I'm still hitting .345 as a team. I'm still trying to lower that batting average somehow...so we'll see.

I am getting pretty good results with the rest though...walks, doubles, homers, etc...all seem to be pretty realistic. The only thing that is really broken is the stolen bases.

webdanzer · Post by **webdanzer** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 12:13 pm

Slumberland wrote: I actually restarted the Mets franchise as well on HOF defaults, to give it another go of at least 20 games, as per the devs' suggestion, and to give Reyes a reasonable durability setting out of the gate.

I've actually been doing the same, restarting my season with the Yanks and planning on going through at least 20 games before actually coming to any conclusions about problem areas. After 7 games I can tell you that I have been pleasantly surprised by the CPU offensive output in a couple of them so far.

I get a good amount of doubles to all parts of the field.

btmmayor · Post by **btmmayor** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 12:18 pm

Even though I don't believe this is a gameplay flaw here is a possible spoiler warning in case this method is overly effective..........................(ever since the NFL 2k5 lineman issue I like to be careful with stuff like this

)

Where are you guys placing your pitches that are seeing alot of CPU offense? I work at least 90% of my stuff down at the bottom of the strike zone and on the corners. Without tweaks on All-Star and HOF I have an ERA just barely over 2 with the sorry Pirates. The only time I will ever go up in the strike zone is with a favorable count and looking for the K.

Usually my guys will only get hit on "mistake" pitches left up in the zone. I'm starting to think that focusing only on the lower corners of the strike zone is why I've yet to see any kind of decent CPU offense without slider tweaks.

Slumberland · Post by **Slumberland** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 12:33 pm

I really want default HOF to work out. One thing I remember from playing the PSP version to death last year was the feeling that once I got to the playoffs, all the breaks that tended to go my way during the season started going the CPU's. Not unfairly, really, but it just seemed a hell of a lot harder to win. If there's any validity to that at all, I don't want to raise the bar so high for the regular season that it's un-clearable in the post.

Leadfoot5 · Post by **Leadfoot5** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 1:32 pm

I wanted to add that I'm another person getting great results on All-Star with no slider tweaks at all. After a ton of games, the only tweak that I am considering (to suit my style of play), is to turn the CPU Pitching Aggressiveness down a bit to generate a few more Walk opportunities. If I was more patient or had a better eye, I probably wouldn't be considering it...

JRod · Post by **JRod** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 2:17 pm

I play HoF and the only hum advantage I gave myself was power +15 but I reduced contact to +5. I had to move pitch speed down 5. I've made it harder by making pitcher accuracy -5, and CPU power +5.

If you turn CPU contact up too high, they will swing and hit everything. It's not very fun.

I'm something like 19-11 with the Rockies. Helton had a 22 game hit streak where he went from .245 to .370. Holliday has been on a tear batting .385. Brad Hawpe is doing well after moving him to the lead-off position against righties at .340. Anything low middle he crushes. I think the AI finally caught on because they stopped giving me low fastballs to whale on.

The rest are doing average.

I play probably 2-3 games a night with the only real frustration coming from fielders not getting balls.

webdanzer · Post by **webdanzer** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 2:28 pm

btmmayor wrote: Where are you guys placing your pitches that are seeing alot of CPU offense? I work at least 90% of my stuff down at the bottom of the strike zone and on the corners.

I'm not really seeing *a lot* of CPU offense, (but I'll chime in anyway

) but I generally pitch in the same manner. In the two games I was hit pretty hard so far after my season restart, I know for a fact that one of them was just about *all* down in the zone, because I really don't pitch any other way using Wang.

Overall I still think I'll find that HOF defaults will not be good enough for CPU offense, but I really want to give it a good long try before tweaking again.

How many games have you played to get your 2+ ERA?

sportdan30 · Post by **sportdan30** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 3:56 pm

New roster update is out, dated 3/24/08.

This is on the SportsConnect website:

Subject: Live Roster Downloaded - March 24, 2008

Posted: Mar 24, 2008

Announcement:
here are 37 player movements in this week's Live Roster. Here are some highlights:

Change Highlights:
- RP Ryan Z Braun moved from Royals Relief to Royals Minors.
- SP John Lackey moved from Angels Starting to Angels Minors.
- RP Anthony Reyes moved from Cardinals Starting to Cardinals Relief.
- 3B Nomar Garciaparra moved from Dodgers Position to Dodgers Minors.
- 1B Olmedo Saenz moved from Mets Position to Mets Minors.
- CF Brady Clark moved from Free Agent to No Team.
- RP Kyle Davies moved from Royals Minors to Royals Relief.
- SP Kyle Lohse moved from Free Agent to Cardinals Starting.

GTHobbes · Post by **GTHobbes** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 4:02 pm

Excellent...thanks for the heads up, Dan. I'm looking forward to getting Lohse in my rotation and starting up another season tonight.

btmmayor · Post by **btmmayor** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 4:11 pm

webdanzer wrote:How many games have you played to get your 2+ ERA?

About 10 games in my HOF default season and 15 in my All-Star default season. After 15 in my All-Star season I started with the slider changes. Short of the 20 game window but its hard to sit through 20 games giving up an average of 2 runs a game and barely feeling threatened at all.

Web, I'm glad to hear that you pitch down in the zone as well. I didn't figure it was a problem, but I'm just curious why some people see no problems with CPU offense on default settings while others are celebrating if the CPU can score more than 2 runs (against a less than stellar pitching staff with an ERA of almost 5 in 2007).

sportdan30 · Post by **sportdan30** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 4:15 pm

GTHobbes wrote:Excellent...thanks for the heads up, Dan. I'm looking forward to getting Lohse in my rotation and starting up another season tonight.

I too am looking forward to using Lohse as well. However, I think I'm going to wait on Knight's and Jim's roster until I start a season. I'd like to have as up to date rosters as possible (Brian Barton, Kyle McClellan, etc. on the Cardinals ML roster)

Still, I love these almost weekly roster updates so I can toy with a couple new added players, such as Lohse.