MLB '08 news and info

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Wed Apr 09, 2008 4:54 pm

I can't help it that you're a god on the sticks. Apparently you're the only one though.

sportdan30 · Post by **sportdan30** » Wed Apr 09, 2008 10:31 pm

I don't have much to complain about. The only thing that's frustrating is waiting for the updated rosters. The latest one screwed up the players equipment or something.

I'm loving The Show as much as the day I first put it in the PS3. It's my favorite sports game of all time. I decided it wasn't worth comparing games. As long as we're all happy with our purchases, that's all that counts.

Danimal · Post by **Danimal** » Wed Apr 09, 2008 10:48 pm

I'm kind of waiting for that Knight guy at OS to finish his rosters they sound incredible.

btmmayor · Post by **btmmayor** » Wed Apr 09, 2008 10:58 pm

dbdynsty25 wrote:I can't help it that you're a god on the sticks. Apparently you're the only one though.

If you look back through this thread you will see that he is most definitely not the only one struggling with an anemic CPU offense.

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Wed Apr 09, 2008 11:15 pm

btmmayor wrote:
dbdynsty25 wrote:I can't help it that you're a god on the sticks. Apparently you're the only one though.
If you look back through this thread you will see that he is most definitely not the only one struggling with an anemic CPU offense.

Yeah...because as was discussed at length at OS by the developers, people were f'n with sliders that ended up breaking the rest of the game.

webdanzer · Post by **webdanzer** » Wed Apr 09, 2008 11:21 pm

dbdynsty25 wrote:
btmmayor wrote:
dbdynsty25 wrote:I can't help it that you're a god on the sticks. Apparently you're the only one though.
If you look back through this thread you will see that he is most definitely not the only one struggling with an anemic CPU offense.
Yeah...because as was discussed at length at OS by the developers, people were f'n with sliders that ended up breaking the rest of the game.

Incorrect. A bunch of us have had trouble with default settings.

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Wed Apr 09, 2008 11:28 pm

webdanzer wrote:Incorrect. A bunch of us have had trouble with default settings.

So you and who else = a bunch?

Slumberland · Post by **Slumberland** » Wed Apr 09, 2008 11:44 pm

Count me in that group... I have never and doubt I ever will lose a game on default HOF with the Mets. It's all good though... just requires some extensive slider tweakage. Part of it is a team thing, it seems. One of the devs was nice enough to reply to some suggestions I sent for '09 via email, and he mentioned that difficulty was definitely on their list of concerns, adding that a team like the Mets had some unique properties that made them difficult to balance for. Playing with the Rays is a slightly different story, though not as much as it probably should be.

btmmayor · Post by **btmmayor** » Wed Apr 09, 2008 11:56 pm

dbdynsty25 wrote:So you and who else = a bunch?

With the Pirates on default HOF through 16 games. 14-2. 2.41 ERA. .326 batting average.

Did I mention this is with the Pirates?

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 12:04 am

I guess I just wish I was as good at video games as you guys. Good god.

webdanzer · Post by **webdanzer** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 9:41 am

dbdynsty25 wrote:I guess I just wish I was as good at video games as you guys. Good god.

Nah, then you wouldn't like the game as much!

Trust me, it's a situation I don't want to be in. I'm not even hitting as well as Slumber and Btm yet, (Team average was right around .300) but 3 times out of 4 the CPU is scoring only 2 runs or less.

It also sure doesn't feel like it has anything to do with my pitching 'skill,' either, other than not throwing 'stupid' pitches.

jLp vAkEr0 · Post by **jLp vAkEr0** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 9:57 am

I do agree the game is too easy even in HOF.

But I think one of the problems here is that people expect that one slider set from X user can solve everyone's problems.

For example, I tried Nemesis sliders for a while and the CPU hitting picked u a bit, but for me, it wasn't enough.

I just went ahead and tweaked the sliders myself and after playing a full 14 game season with the Mets, I think I found a slider I'm comfortable with. Lost in the NLCS against the Cubs 4-2. Won the NLDS vs the Cards in a great series 3-2 on which I needed Santana to win game 1 and 5 to pull it out. All of my other pitchers where hit pretty hard in the playoffs except Santana.

It really all depends on how the player goes about their business in the game.

I for one I'm not that patient at the plate, but I'm not a free swinger either.

I tend to at least take the 1st pitch and go from there. I had to decrease the pitch speed 2 notches from default and now I see a lot more pulled hits and HRs.

I'm still waiting for the updated rosters, so last night, I went ahead and started another 14 game season, this time with the Brew Crew.

Won the 1st game 5-4 vs the Astros. Sheets gave up 3 runs on 6 innings. Oswalt was filthy after tagging him for 2 runs in the 1st inning.

He was relieved in the 8th up 3-2 and I went ahead with a pinch hit 2-run HR by Russel Brayan. Turnbow came in and gave it up with a HR to Carlos Lee in the 8th, and then I led off the top of the 9th with a solo HR by Hardy to go up 5-4. I finished it off with Gagne for the save.

A great game 1 of the season. The Brewers are fun team to play with.

Slumberland · Post by **Slumberland** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 10:31 am

Man, THAT'S what I need to be doing. Mini-seasons with a bunch of different teams. I want me some playoffs.

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 12:12 pm

I don't know how you guys do it. I played the first two games of a 3 game series against the Mets and I lost both. 14-8 and 10-4. I can usually get through the first couple innings with little damage, but as soon as my starter tires a bit and my bully comes in..all hell breaks loose.

I'm 30-10 on the season (mostly because the Braves have a cushy schedule in the first month)...I've upped the CPU hitting because my era was in the low 3s and now it's in the mid 3s after only 10 games. I've got 3 guys over .300 and the rest are in the mid to upper .200s. So I"m happy with what I've got right now.

Spooky · Post by **Spooky** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 12:37 pm

Jesus...I have yet to win a game. Sreiously. (I have only play 4 or 5 total but still...) And I am on the dificulty setting one lower than HoF. Damn. Granted I play VERY little sports games now-a-days.

jLp vAkEr0 · Post by **jLp vAkEr0** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 1:15 pm

Oh, and I finally got a hold of a DS3 yesterday.

It definitely brings the game to life.

lexbur · Post by **lexbur** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 1:32 pm

It's weird how people are having such different experiences with the same game.

I must really suck. I can't even get to .500 on All-Star.

(Unfortunately, just like the real Tribe so far this year.

)

JRod · Post by **JRod** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 3:01 pm

If you are playing on default then you are really can't complain how easy the game is, even on HOF.

Every sports game that has had slider required some sort of tweaking.

Second if you want harder, put pitch speed up to +15, drop human contact to 0, hitting window lower, and power to +5. Put CPU contact and power to +15.

You can make this game harder but don't complain when you are just playing default HOF.

Slumberland · Post by **Slumberland** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 3:26 pm

You can definitely make the game harder... I don't mean to complain too much. I just want to trust in the wisdom of the developers who claim that:

"To play HoF (hard) and consistently win even half the time, you have to be better than 90% of players. In other words, HoF is for the best player out of 10, and they'll typically win at least 1/2 of 162 games with an average team. On OS, that might be the best out of five players."

...and also say that stats will stabilize after 20 or so games at defaults. When none of that turns out to be true for a sizeable portion of the game's audience, it makes me doubt just how well the developers know their own game.

webdanzer · Post by **webdanzer** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 3:33 pm

What Slumber said. I saw some improvement when I juiced the CPU hitting as well (though not as much as you would have thought after a few games into it...), but I've been playing default lately because I wanted to take him at his word.

He also said that adjusting CPU hitting by that much might also add unforseen negative consequences to the gameplay.

I'm certainly not bashing the game. I enjoy it quite a bit.

Slumberland · Post by **Slumberland** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 3:45 pm

webdanzer wrote:He also said that adjusting CPU hitting by that much might also add unforseen negative consequences to the gameplay.

Yeah, I wouldn't worry so much about that bit. In my brief email exchange with the devs, that was touched upon, with the example given being that of a guy like David Eckstein potentially hitting 10-15 homers a year if you goosed up the CPU's power slider. I said I could live with him being an unrealistic power threat so long as, say, Frank Thomas remained proportionally more of a home run threat... and wanted to clarify that the number inflation wouldn't actually occur on that scale since I would only see a particular guy a handful of times in live play, and sliders shouldn't apply to simmed games, especially not with teams I'm not even involved with. He agreed in principle but wasn't positive, having not seen the actual code in that area. It's tough... I get the sense that everyone's very compartmentalized when it comes to function and knowledge over there. Not knocking them... they're doing amazing work, and it's wild how they've interacted with the community. Just something to think about when you're wondering whether to trust your instincts from time logged with the game or defer to those who made it.

JRod · Post by **JRod** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 3:53 pm

One other big thing for the human player you have to reduce human pitcher fatigue, to allow for the baseball truism, if he can give me 5 or 6 good innings.

With confidence on, and if you max it out, you can pitch even if your fatigue is at zero.

I just felt it was too easy to go 7-8 innings with guys in games there weren't 2-3 hit games. Plus this adds another dimension of putting in your relievers.

RallyMonkey · Post by **RallyMonkey** » Fri Apr 11, 2008 9:45 am

Well count me amongst the many still really enjoying this game. I have had outstanding games lately (play with the Red Sox) to the tune of an 11-10 extra inning loss, a 4-2 win, an 8-2 loss (Beckett got lit up which i loved to see as he was way to dominant on default AS and HOF) and am currently heading to the 9th against the Yankees tied at 5.

My question to those of you seeing a lack of CPU hitting is what are you using as far as pitching aids? Currently i am playing AS with the "Perfect Slider Set" from OS, Classic Pitching, no aids at all, Pitcher Confidence OFF, and for hitting i use Guess Pitch, No Feedback (and even with that i ONLY use it when i'm clearly in a fastball count) and i get everything from games with plenty of singles to a game like the one i'm in now where the Yanks hit 3 HR's off Wakefield in the top half of the first and a couple of doubles later in the game and i have two HR's and a couple of doubles out of 9 hits.

If you are all using a similar pitching set up then god bless you for being that good at owning the CPU. Granted i would call myself a decent to good player at best.

Slumberland · Post by **Slumberland** » Fri Apr 11, 2008 10:18 am

I really dislike classic pitching... just don't find it fun. I should experiment with no strike zone and break indicator off, though. I generally try to keep the interface similar to online play, but in that case it wouldn't hurt... almost like swinging with two bats.

RallyMonkey · Post by **RallyMonkey** » Fri Apr 11, 2008 10:30 am

I really dislike classic pitching... just don't find it fun. I should experiment with no strike zone and break indicator off, though. I generally try to keep the interface similar to online play, but in that case it wouldn't hurt... almost like swinging with two bats.

I think you may be in the majority here. I was a meter guy for a long time too but once i switched to classic i can't go back. The meter to me just feels like it takes the game out of the pitcher's hands and puts it too much in my ability to make two (or three) clicks. Also, there are far too few location mistakes with the meter once you perfect the timing which is bound to happen. I also think the flow of the game is better with classic (personal preference) and my enjoyment of the game has increased by being able to watch the game while i'm delivering versus watching the meter, especially with men on base when the meter increases speed. Again, all personal preferences.

I will say that i think you should turn off the strike zone and break indicator. I have found it is far to much easy to dominate with those aids on.