Please Post MLB 2005 Impressions

Boom · Post by **Boom** » Wed Mar 17, 2004 5:20 pm

Having problems fielding (and getting the out) at first when ball is hit and pulls my 1st baseman toward 2nd. The throw to the pitcher is always like a beanbag toss... very slow and runners are beating it way too easily.

I think I'm doing something wrong here though.

Also, user controlled cutoff man, or is that all decided by the cpu? Throws from the wall seemd to be dead on one-hoppers to the bag.

Boom · Post by **Boom** » Wed Mar 17, 2004 5:21 pm

How do I see my pitchers fatigue?

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Wed Mar 17, 2004 5:21 pm

L1 to hit the relay man. If you just press the base it'll decide if the cutoff should be used.

Slumberland · Post by **Slumberland** » Wed Mar 17, 2004 5:21 pm

Loving the game. Great graphics, great double plays, I love the way the bat comes off the ball, dig the pitching interface.

A couple questions, however, as well as weird things I've seen. By they way, I've only played three games on Veteran.

-Anyone drawing any walks? I'm not seeing many balls thrown, but since I've played only three games, two of which were exhibitions, I've only gone up against #1 starters.

-I don't feel quite like I'm controlling my infielders. They seem to have an auto-assist thing going, which I can interrupt with the thumbstick. Left alone, they seem to field it themselves. Not a big deal, but I wish there were a way to turn it off.

-Leiter actually gets a hit an makes it to first base in a spring training game. Reyes lays down a sacrifice bunt, and Leiter doesn't move. Out.

-It could be the camera fooling me, but outfielders don't seem to move at the same speed in every direction. I've especially had problems getting them to charge balls diagonally (if that makes any sense). And yes, two times the ball has dropped in front of outfielders when I thought they should have made the play. It looked as if they weren't running full speed. Maybe they are, but I'm subject to some kind of telephoto effect compressing the depth of field? In which case I should be diving for those balls.

Again, not really criticisms yet, just testing the water and soliciting advice from people with more MLB experience. All in all, I'm thrilled.

lexbur · Post by **lexbur** » Wed Mar 17, 2004 5:21 pm

Speaking of the "friggin PS2", MLB 2005 isn't on a blue disk, is it?

My PS2 had problems once in a while with last year's HH because it was on a blue disk.

Boom · Post by **Boom** » Wed Mar 17, 2004 5:25 pm

dbdynsty25 wrote:L1 to hit the relay man. If you just press the base it'll decide if the cutoff should be used.

Yeah, I don't really care for that. I want to decide..no biggie though I guess.

**JUST HIT MY FIRST HOMER ONLINE**

Preston Wilson 2 run dinger to strait away center.

Slumberland · Post by **Slumberland** » Wed Mar 17, 2004 5:26 pm

One more question... let's say a guy is about to reach third, and I want to send him home. Do I hold down the triangle button to issue the command (since that's still what he appears as) or the square button?

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Wed Mar 17, 2004 5:26 pm

Through 8 innings, I've walked 4 times. I'm trying to be patient.

Slumberland · Post by **Slumberland** » Wed Mar 17, 2004 5:27 pm

dbdynsty25 wrote:Through 8 innings, I've walked 4 times. I'm trying to be patient.

Nice job! That is good to hear.

Blublub · Post by **Blublub** » Wed Mar 17, 2004 5:27 pm

sportdan30 wrote:"I hate the friggn PS2 though".

Tell me about it. I never thought I'd buy another baseball game for the PS2 after last year, now I'm on the verge of getting two (don't even get me started on the broken MVP online being the reason for choosing PS2 over Xbox). All those damned memory cards.

What's the deal with this free cap coupon in the box thing? Is it decent, or an el-cheapo adjustable mesh thingee?

The one thing that scares me about this one is the lack of sliders. I want to make totally sure there are no glaring AI problems if they can't be fixed.

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Wed Mar 17, 2004 5:30 pm

sportdan30 wrote: The one thing that scares me about this one is the lack of sliders. I want to make totally sure there are no glaring AI problems if they can't be fixed.

It's gonna take a while to make that determination, but so far so good, this game is a frickin' blast.

Not to mention, the best pitching and batting motion/stances I've ever seen. Damn nice ballparks too...10x better than MVP. Well maybe not 10 but quite a bit better.

Boom · Post by **Boom** » Wed Mar 17, 2004 5:31 pm

Fuggin first game ends with the following message:

"Lost connection with opponent. Online Game Terminated"

Just friggin great. I should hve known. Oh well.. in my book that's a 6-0 win for the Rocks!

Of course, none of the stats count.

Naples39 · Post by **Naples39** » Wed Mar 17, 2004 5:36 pm

Blublub wrote:The one thing that scares me about this one is the lack of sliders. I want to make totally sure there are no glaring AI problems if they can't be fixed.

When have sliders ever really fixed an AI bug in a game? Try as we may with hours of slider tweaking, I am now convinced that it is all a waste of time unless it is for very minor adjustments (like pitch speed in MVP).

OmflShark · Post by **OmflShark** » Wed Mar 17, 2004 5:38 pm

How Long does it take to play a game? I heard rumors that the gameplay is very fast, and that you can finish a game in 15 to 25 minutes. Is this true?

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Wed Mar 17, 2004 5:40 pm

First game for me...25 min...but that's watching replays and stuff.

Badgun · Post by **Badgun** » Wed Mar 17, 2004 5:41 pm

dbdynsty25 wrote:No, MLB did...

Plus, you actually throw the ball in the vicinity of the cursor, not the exact spot...which doesn't happen in MVP.

Yeah, I like the pitching better already. In MVP if you want the ball high and inside, you can throw any pitch and aim high and inside and that's where it will wind up. In MLB, if you aim a curve ball high and inside it will wind up where the break of the ball takes it...this is much more like real pitching. So a sinker at the middle of the zone might be a strike at the bottom or maybe even a ball below the strike zone.

Parker · Post by **Parker** » Wed Mar 17, 2004 5:42 pm

Wow. I'm not used to using my ps2 much, but this feels the most like baseball since I used to play High Heat a ton. I agree with everything that has been said so far. Fielding takes some getting used to but I'm getting better. Most importantly, cpu pitchers throw balls and I am also walking people. I may have seen a few too many homeruns, but I don't plan on staying at this difficulty level much longer. I've only played 2 games but I won the last one 7-2. I won't say anything else because I really haven't played enough games to make any conclusions.

Slumberland · Post by **Slumberland** » Wed Mar 17, 2004 5:42 pm

Let me also add... what a pleasure it was to fire up MLB and find good, serviceable rosters for my team (the Mets). Even Kaz Matsui's there, personal stance and all.

I Eyetoy'd myself to start a career. Very hard to getting the lighting right so you match the skin tone of the rest of your head. Easy to look like a burn victim otherwise. They don't let you give Eyetoy-acquired faces hair, either. Everyone gets the same buzzcut. Right now I'm fighting Karim Garcia for a chance at being the right fielder.

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Wed Mar 17, 2004 5:45 pm

Another great little tidbit...

The hot/cold zones are progressive. If you hammer a ball in the cold zone, the next at bat it might be nuetral, or even a hot zone. It changes throughout the course of a game. That is the shiznit.

wco81 · Post by **wco81** » Wed Mar 17, 2004 5:45 pm

Boom wrote:Fuggin first game ends with the following message:

"Lost connection with opponent. Online Game Terminated"

Just friggin great. I should hve known. Oh well.. in my book that's a 6-0 win for the Rocks!

Of course, none of the stats count.

Soiunds like the other guy might have quit or pulled?

If that's the case, they don't know how to handle quitters.

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Wed Mar 17, 2004 5:46 pm

One bad thing I noticed so far...it takes an unusually long time to warm up a pitcher...unless I'm missing something.

NoJoke · Post by **NoJoke** » Wed Mar 17, 2004 5:50 pm

Great impressions guys. How about answering some of the usual suspects:

CPU baserunning, errors, wind affect, collision detection, stolen bases, pitcher fatigue, stats.

You know the issues we've spotted in other games. Once we know these are okay, we can turn our attention to finding new problems.

Parker · Post by **Parker** » Wed Mar 17, 2004 5:51 pm

Yah, it does seem to take a while to warmup pitchers. Although I'd rather it take longer than shorter...it requires more strategy at least.

Boom · Post by **Boom** » Wed Mar 17, 2004 5:58 pm

2 Random Players... 2 quitters.

random online community holding true to its roots.

Badgun · Post by **Badgun** » Wed Mar 17, 2004 5:58 pm

OmflShark wrote:How Long does it take to play a game? I heard rumors that the gameplay is very fast, and that you can finish a game in 15 to 25 minutes. Is this true?

there is an option called "fast play" in the game options. It defaults to off, but I'm guessing if you turn it on, the game will move much quicker with little or no animations and cut scenes. Otherwise the pace of the regular game feels about like MVP.