ASB05 Impressions Thread

grtwhtsk · Post by **grtwhtsk** » Thu Mar 25, 2004 6:17 pm

JackDog - Thanks! I appreciate it.

Jackdog · Post by **Jackdog** » Thu Mar 25, 2004 6:23 pm

Badgun wrote:I'm wondering if some of you guys got a different game than I did. I just don't get all the praise. The animations and fielding are atrocious, not to mention the vacuum catches and hitting the ball AFTER it's in the catcher's mitt. Some one said, "Yeah, I saw that, but I'm trying to ignore it". WTF?

I've seen some of the worst stuff I've EVER seen in a baseball game and no one else is even mentioning it. Like when an infielder throws a ball 90 degrees to his left, it's like his motions and everything go forward, but the ball goes left. It's like they left out the animation of him turning and throwing. Granted, as long is the play gets made no harm done, but damn it looks like s*** you'd see on a PS1 game.

Going beyond all the missing, broken or just poor animations that I could probably learn to live with, there are two absolute deal breakers for me and are the main reasons I'm going to return the game.

1. Zone hitting is completely broken on any difficulty level and cursor batting is not an option for me. I can't believe they didn't test this game any better than that.

2. Being forced to use the Fielder cam online takes me completely out of that option as I hated the fielder cam and I refuse to even try and get used to it when regular fielding on the other games works fine for me.

So I have a game that I can't enjoy as a single player game because I hit 10-12 homeruns per game and I can't play it online because of a ridiculous design decision.

Fortunately, my EB has already told me I could return it. I told them that hitting in the game was broken, which it is, and they said to bring it back in.

I guess I'm just amazed because normally this is a tough crowd to please and somehow you guys have found something in this game that makes you overlook all the broken or poorly designed s***. Personally, I really can't get over how bad this game is and that's why I'm wondering if we're really playing the same game. I have seen absolutely nothing in this game that gave me that "Oh, that's cool" feeling. I got that feeling from both MVP and MLB within 10 minutes of firing them up. Just trying to see what the attraction is.

Damn dude all I can say is different strokes for different folks. That was original huh? Be happy you have found two games you like.
I mean you can keep slaming this game if you want. But I think we all got your point 12 posts ago

I like this game and am having fun with it,and that's all that matters to me.

Jackdog · Post by **Jackdog** » Thu Mar 25, 2004 6:24 pm

grtwhtsk wrote:JackDog - Thanks! I appreciate it.

By the way I have all assists off.

Jackdog · Post by **Jackdog** » Thu Mar 25, 2004 6:26 pm

webdanzer wrote:
JackDog wrote:I grooved every pitch in the last game I played vs the Cubs and only gave up 2 runs I am loving the way this game looks but the gameplay is not a challenge at all.
JD,

That previous statement was a cause for some concern. Did you find that the results of that game were a fluke?

After I took all the pitching aids off..........I got hammered!!

webdanzer · Post by **webdanzer** » Thu Mar 25, 2004 6:27 pm

Sweet, thanks.

sportdan30 · Post by **sportdan30** » Thu Mar 25, 2004 6:30 pm

Bad,

When it comes to ASB, you're in one two boats. Either you get it, or you don't. There's a fair number of people like yourself who will never understand and appreciate it. And that's cool. I apologize for my rant earlier. However, there are also several of us who are just used to the series. We can look past its shortcomings because it does offer a realistic baseball playing experience....well, not perfectly but what game does?

The majority of people have always played with the hitting cursor, so to revert back to it isn't a deal breaker. I truly wish the zone hitting was better implemented so it could appease those who are used to that type of batting interface. Unfortunately, Acclaim still needs to upgrade in this department big time.

Jackdog · Post by **Jackdog** » Thu Mar 25, 2004 6:33 pm

sportdan30 wrote:Bad,

When it comes to ASB, you're in one two boats. Either you get it, or you don't. There's a fair number of people like yourself who will never understand and appreciate it. And that's cool. I apologize for my rant earlier. However, there are also several of us who are just used to the series. We can look past its shortcomings because it does offer a realistic baseball playing experience....well, not perfectly but what game does?

The majority of people have always played with the hitting cursor, so to revert back to it isn't a deal breaker. I truly wish the zone hitting was better implemented so it could appease those who are used to that type of batting interface. Unfortunately, Acclaim still needs to upgrade in this department big time.

Well said!

sportdan30 · Post by **sportdan30** » Thu Mar 25, 2004 6:36 pm

Jack,

Aren't you noticing that if you play with generated counts "on" that you fatigue far more quickly than if you played with them off? It just decreases too quickly IMO.

Bill_Abner · Post by **Bill_Abner** » Thu Mar 25, 2004 7:03 pm

Maybe doing the cursor thing is the way to go? I simply cannot play this game with zone hitting because of the "hit the ball out of the mitt" problem. It just kills the game for me personally because I never strikeout. Maybe the cursor will fix this to a point, I dunno.

EDIT: Just read this at OS..

...it occured to me that the Zone hitting is probably 10x better if you use the analog swing instead of the button. It just seems that with the analog your timing has to be much better than it would otherwise. I think it would cause a great reduction in the amount of HR people seem to be hitting. I am going to try it out when I get home...but I do remmeber from the Ab I used it for last night that I hit a lot of slow rollers and infield pops with the stick..I also struck out more.. *end*

Worth trying I guess..

Parker · Post by **Parker** » Thu Mar 25, 2004 7:07 pm

Bill_Abner wrote:Maybe doing the cursor thing is the way to go? I simply cannot play this game with zone hitting because of the "hit the ball out of the mitt" problem. It just kills the game for me personally because I never strikeout. Maybe the cursor will fix this to a point, I dunno.

Yes, try cursor hitting. On the right difficulty level, you will strike out a realistic amount.

However, here is something I've noticed about 3d as opposed to 2d. I have been hitting way too many balls up the middle with the 3d cursor and the only foul balls have been straight back. With 2d however, I am hitting the ball all over the field with all types of foul balls. More testing is required, but 2d seems the way to go. I'm having a blast with the 2d cursor and pitching will all the aids off. The CPU offense is SO much better this year.

I understand not everyone can like this game, but as far as realism, no other baseball game has given me consistent deep counts and realistic pitch counts. That's huge in my book.

Slumberland · Post by **Slumberland** » Thu Mar 25, 2004 7:12 pm

I too am thrilled about the pitch counts I'm seeing. And games are still clocking in at about 35 minutes on fast mode.

webdanzer · Post by **webdanzer** » Thu Mar 25, 2004 7:15 pm

You'll strike out more with cursor hitting, Bill, but you'll still be able to pull balls out of the catcher's glove as long as your cursor is lined up right.

AJColossal · Post by **AJColossal** » Thu Mar 25, 2004 7:16 pm

Are any of you guys drawing a decent number of walks without the generated pitch counts?

Bill_Abner · Post by **Bill_Abner** » Thu Mar 25, 2004 7:32 pm

AJColossal wrote:Are any of you guys drawing a decent number of walks without the generated pitch counts?

I draw 0 to 2 per game (zone hitting, Veteran lvl)

So, not great but that's par for the course this year I guess.

snate · Post by **snate** » Thu Mar 25, 2004 7:51 pm

Just like last year, I hated All Star Baseball gameplay the first day, and the 2nd day it is starting to grow on me. The jury is still out though.

I am getting better at the fielding cam. You blood really rushes when the ball is hit at you in this mode. You get that adreneline spike you get in real life when the ball is hit to you. I made some great plays today at lunch and it was very rewarding. This viewpoint sucks when you are batting though. You really need to get proficient with the right stick to make it work.

The 2d cursor is improved. It is still not very responsive, but the hit variety and logic are much better. I am starting to "figure out" how to hit in this game again. It takes awhile. This is usually why I hate it the first day I pick it up after not playing it for awhile.

The franchise mode is the best on the planet and GUI is very good as well. Stadiums and player faces are excellent.

The pitchers appear to have less control this year. With the aids off I am getting decent results.

CPU offense seems to have been fixed as well.

Fielder dives are much more responsive and work well.

Cons:

I don't know what is going on, but from the batting view the players in the field (especially the pitcher) have like half their head is blacked out. Someone mentioned they look like burn victims. I'm surprised more people haven't mentioned this.

Runner AI seems weak. Too many singles off the wall and runners not advancing properly.

The movement and fluidity of the pitches are not represented very well.

I think the AI leaves pitchers in too long again.

CURRENT OPINION at 4:20pm -

All in all, it feels like a patch of last years game with new rosters and a few new features. They have seemed to fix the major on-field issues that cropped up last year. MVP without the lefty bug is much more compelling on the field IMO. But that bug is petty much a gamekiller unfortunately. When you combine the spectacular off the field gameplay with the solid but not outstanding on the field gameplay, ASB is probably the better game.

Bill_Abner · Post by **Bill_Abner** » Thu Mar 25, 2004 7:57 pm

I wonder why franchise mode is limited to 20 seasons? Not that I'll play that many, but still, why the limit?

Jackdog · Post by **Jackdog** » Thu Mar 25, 2004 8:33 pm

sportdan30 wrote:Jack,

Aren't you noticing that if you play with generated counts "on" that you fatigue far more quickly than if you played with them off? It just decreases too quickly IMO.

No not really. I don't pay attention to the fatigue meter unless I am getting shelled. I have pitched complete games with pitchers that stop showing energy in the 5th inning. It makes pitching even more challenging that way.

webdanzer · Post by **webdanzer** » Thu Mar 25, 2004 11:30 pm

snate wrote:MVP without the lefty bug is much more compelling on the field IMO. But that bug is petty much a gamekiller unfortunately. When you combine the spectacular off the field gameplay with the solid but not outstanding on the field gameplay, ASB is probably the better game.

Not too surprisingly, Snate, you nailed exactly how I'm feeling right now...

I do have some hope for ESPN, though.

Can't you use some of your 'professional expertise' to lean on EA to see about getting some sort of fix?

K_Mosley · Post by **K_Mosley** » Thu Mar 25, 2004 11:55 pm

Bill,

Could the 20-season limit be due to memory card issues on the PS2? It is a multiplatform title... Just a thought...

Kevin

Parker · Post by **Parker** » Fri Mar 26, 2004 12:57 am

Walking is considerably easier in this game than in MLB or MVP...pitchers throw far more balls and deep counts. Once you find a realistic setting for your batting, you really should be drawing at least 2 or 3 walks a game.

Leebo33 · Post by **Leebo33** » Fri Mar 26, 2004 2:26 am

Day two was a lot better for me too. I switched to cursor batting with some success. I think the control in general is poor though. I don't think I've struggled with the controls this much in a long time.

Some more observations:

- The CPU baserunning AI is very good in some ways (advance on grounders, tag up, etc), but they settle for too many singles on balls to the wall.

- Tike Redman dropped down a perfect drag bunt and then stole second off me. The CPU running game seems very realistic so far.

- The speed of the baserunners and fielders seems right on. I have seen a very realistic number of errors of many different types.

- The CPU offense seems pretty darn good to me.

- I am getting better at fielding, but I still don't like any of the camera angles.

Parker · Post by **Parker** » Fri Mar 26, 2004 3:25 am

I really can't agree about the cpu singles. The CPU is a doubling machine against me except in the small parks, and it's not because of poor fielding.

Post by **ScoopBrady** » Fri Mar 26, 2004 5:51 am

I think I'm going to give up on this game. There are just certain things that I can't overlook that really bother me.

1. Hitting the ball out of the catchers mit is terrible. I have yet to strike out swinging. Pitiful.

2. I have yet to walk a batter unintentionally with all pitchers aids off and have yet to draw a single unintentional walk. I can live with this but I just don't have fun pitching or at the plate so it bothers me more so than MVP and MLB where at least I've drawn a few walks here and there.

3. You can only use fielder cam for online play. I don't like how you can't seperate the fielding cams for when you're at the plate and when you're on the field. I am having too much trouble judging where the ball is in the field and it makes it hard for baserunning, which leads to this...

4. Worst. Baserunning. Ever. I consistently have guys running right behind each other and end up getting outs I don't deserve. I also on countless occasions try sending all players with a guy on second when the batter hits a double and the guy at third just stands there and doesn't go home. So not only do I get outs I don't deserve, I don't get runs I do deserve.

5. The only way to strike out, lower your hit count, and increase hit variety is to use one of the batting cursors. I'd rather masturbate with a handful of tacks then go back to a batting cursor.

Add to those issues these things I could overlook if they were the only problems: the fact that there are 'magic balls' in the outfield, baserunning blunders by the AI, far too many errors, player models clipping, the stupid looking crouch, zero atmosphere.

I feel like I was burned by ASB yet again. Why the hell do I keep getting this game every year when they obviously don't take all aspects of gameplay serious. At least I have seen major improvements with EA's and 989's games over the past 2 years that make me think that both of those companies at least care about their products since major overhauls are rare in the sports game world. Then again, I am a life long Cubs fan so I guess ASB is the baseball videogame equivalent of the Cubs to me: Wait til next year.

Edit: There's also no reason for me to continually try to get into this game when I have SC:PT at my house.

kevinpars · Post by **kevinpars** » Fri Mar 26, 2004 9:51 am

How in the hell do you utilize the analog swing? It is not mentioned in the manual that I can find and I have tried everything to enable it but can't seem to find where to do it.

Badgun · Post by **Badgun** » Fri Mar 26, 2004 10:10 am

Yeah Scoop, I feel ya 100%. I'm not going to go over my beefs again since you pretty much touched on most of them. I do think it should be a criminal offense to release a game in this state, though.

I desperately wanted an Xbox Live baseball game so when the single player aspect didn't work for me, I thought well maybe the online segment would be the game's saving grace. Wrong! Why in the hell they made you use that awful fielding cam online is beyond me. It goes down in my book as the single worst design decision in a sports game. It's like ESPN forcing you to only be able to play first person football in your online games. Absolutely horrid.

Here's hoping that ESPN doesn't do something freaky like this to their game or I'll have to go back and pick up Inside Pitch if I want to play on Xbox Live.

Digital Sportspage

ASB05 Impressions Thread

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