ESPN Baseball slider/settings discussion ...

Brando70 · Post by **Brando70** » Fri Apr 09, 2004 11:24 pm

JRod wrote:So let me get this straight...

If you move just one of the sliders it defaults into custom sliders. And if you have custom sliders then the difficulties get messed up????

However if you make slider changes and then don't select the custom sliders options then it will just play on the default ability whether it be all-pro, legend or whatever.

I'm so confused right now... I don't think Sega Sports has made a game with sliders that didn't require a throurough knowledge of quantam mechanics.

It seems confusing, JRod, but I think I understand it.

If you turn on custom sliders, then the difficulty setting does not affect THOSE SLIDERS. Instead, you set the difficulty level in those gameplay areas by moving the sliders from 1-100.

But, difficulty level does affect other non-slider areas, most notably, the ease with which human players make contact. So, playing on Legend with custom sliders will make hitting harder, but stuff like pitching variability will be controlled by the slider setting.

Millennium · Post by **Millennium** » Fri Apr 09, 2004 11:52 pm

JRod wrote:So let me get this straight...

If you move just one of the sliders it defaults into custom sliders. And if you have custom sliders then the difficulties get messed up????

However if you make slider changes and then don't select the custom sliders options then it will just play on the default ability whether it be all-pro, legend or whatever.

I'm so confused right now... I don't think Sega Sports has made a game with sliders that didn't require a throurough knowledge of quantam mechanics.

Think of it this way:

If you activate custom sliders, the only thing the difficulty level controls is User Batting (and some Game Options i.e. Strike Zone off, but you can change that in the Game Options screen youself). If you don't activate custom sliders, you play on the default difficulty level that you select.

These are the sliders that the difficulty level changes (if you are NOT using custom sliders):

Rookie

Human Power - 100
CPU Batting Skill, CPU Take Ball (all 3), CPU Batting Power, CPU Pitch Corner, CPU Pitch Change Speed, and CPU Pitch Change Location - 10
All Other Sliders - 50

Pro

Human Power - 50
CPU Batting Skill, CPU Take Ball (all 3), CPU Batting Power, CPU Pitch Corner, CPU Pitch Change Speed, and CPU Pitch Change Location - 50
All Other Sliders - 50

All-Star

Human Power - 50
CPU Batting Skill, CPU Take Ball (all 3), CPU Batting Power, CPU Pitch Corner, CPU Pitch Change Speed, and CPU Pitch Change Location - 65
All Other Sliders - 50

Legend

Human Power - 50
CPU Batting Skill, CPU Take Ball (all 3), CPU Batting Power, CPU Pitch Corner, CPU Pitch Change Speed, and CPU Pitch Change Location - 75
All Other Sliders - 50

Hope that helps.

XXXIV · Post by **XXXIV** » Sat Apr 10, 2004 11:57 am

Millennium wrote:
Think of it this way:

If you activate custom sliders, the only thing the difficulty level controls is User Batting (and some Game Options i.e. Strike Zone off, but you can change that in the Game Options screen youself). If you don't activate custom sliders, you play on the default difficulty level that you select.

These are the sliders that the difficulty level changes (if you are NOT using custom sliders):

Rookie

Human Power - 100
CPU Batting Skill, CPU Take Ball (all 3), CPU Batting Power, CPU Pitch Corner, CPU Pitch Change Speed, and CPU Pitch Change Location - 10
All Other Sliders - 50

Pro

Human Power - 50
CPU Batting Skill, CPU Take Ball (all 3), CPU Batting Power, CPU Pitch Corner, CPU Pitch Change Speed, and CPU Pitch Change Location - 50
All Other Sliders - 50

All-Star

Human Power - 50
CPU Batting Skill, CPU Take Ball (all 3), CPU Batting Power, CPU Pitch Corner, CPU Pitch Change Speed, and CPU Pitch Change Location - 65
All Other Sliders - 50

Legend

Human Power - 50
CPU Batting Skill, CPU Take Ball (all 3), CPU Batting Power, CPU Pitch Corner, CPU Pitch Change Speed, and CPU Pitch Change Location - 75
All Other Sliders - 50

Hope that helps.

Great way to explain it. I can even understand it.

Im not sure though that hitting is just as easy on legend.
I K 2 times as often on legend than All Star.

Maybe its in my head but I find alot of swings and misses on legend are fouls, outs and singles on All Star. Im not scoring much less on Legend but I am striking out alot more.

JRod · Post by **JRod** » Sat Apr 10, 2004 1:15 pm

Let me add one more question...

Can I change the sliders and not have custom sliders?

So if I wanted to use the sliders posted here, I can use them and the difficulty will not get messed up?

Ram209 · Post by **Ram209** » Sat Apr 10, 2004 1:37 pm

JRod wrote:Let me add one more question...

Can I change the sliders and not have custom sliders?

So if I wanted to use the sliders posted here, I can use them and the difficulty will not get messed up?

Once you activate the custom sliders the ONLY thing that is affected by the level your plaaaying on is the HUMAN batting. In Legend it will be harder to make contact than say Rookie. Thats the only thing that is affected once custom sliders are on.

JRod · Post by **JRod** » Sat Apr 10, 2004 1:46 pm

So does chaning the sliders activate custom sliders or do you acutally have to turn that on.

Can I just make slider adjustemnt and still play on the all-pro or legend slider difficulty.

Slumberland · Post by **Slumberland** » Sat Apr 10, 2004 2:47 pm

Getting really good games with basically the same settings as snate:

Legend

CPU Run Aggr. 55
All CPU throw strikes at 45
Everything else at 50

Only thing I've added is changing the CPU Pitch Corner, Change Speed and Change Location to 65.

A bit tougher that way, but not impossible. I just came back on the Braves from a 4-0 deficit, with four runs in the ninth... the last of which saw Mike Cameron barrel over Estrada with two outs and knock the ball out of his glove! Amazing stuff. And then Joe McEwing, filling in for a tired Cliff Floyd in LF, hits the game-winning two run homer in the 12th inning. Thank goodness for positional player fatigue, or else he never would have been in there!

Brando70 · Post by **Brando70** » Sat Apr 10, 2004 2:54 pm

JRod wrote:Let me add one more question...

Can I change the sliders and not have custom sliders?

So if I wanted to use the sliders posted here, I can use them and the difficulty will not get messed up?

JRod, you have to have sliders enabled to use them, so the difficulty will get messed up.

However, if you want to set the game to "All-Star" level and use custom sliders:

1) Set the game to All Star
2) Turn on custom sliders (and go into the sliders)
3) Set the sliders the way Millenium explained:

All-Star
Human Power - 50
CPU Batting Skill, CPU Take Ball (all 3), CPU Batting Power, CPU Pitch Corner, CPU Pitch Change Speed, and CPU Pitch Change Location - 65
All Other Sliders - 50

4) Now you will be at "All-Star" level, but you can change the sliders around. A bit complicated, but once you get it it makes sense.

snate · Post by **snate** » Sun Apr 11, 2004 12:37 am

Jrod - Brando summed it best.

If you turn on custom sliders, then the difficulty setting does not affect THOSE SLIDERS. Instead, you set the difficulty level in those gameplay areas by moving the sliders from 1-100.

But, difficulty level does affect other non-slider areas, most notably, the ease with which human players make contact. So, playing on Legend with custom sliders will make hitting harder, but stuff like pitching variability will be controlled by the slider setting.

Its not that hard to grasp once it is explained. The lack of a meaningful manual and some of the misinformation on this board and others has confused everybody.

Brando - Thanks for letting me know how things are going. Keep me updated.

Brando, Slumber, Grid - Let me explain why I was hesitant to raise some of the pitching sliders. One thing I don't know if you guys noticed is the multipliers for each slider. For example:

Slider_mSpec( SLIDER_TYPE_HUMAN_HITTING_POWER, 0.85f, 1.0f, 1.05f, 100, 50, 50, 50, offsetof(Game_tGameplayOptions, iHitterPower))

If you put this slider at 0 you will get 85% of the players power rating, if you put it at 50 you will get 100% of the players power rating, and if you put it at 100 you will get 105% of the players power rating. Those numbers are the min, median and max multipliers.

That is why I was hesitant to raise these sliders:

Slider_mSpec( SLIDER_TYPE_CPU_PITCH_CORNER, 0.0f, 1.0f, 1.5f, 0, 50, 65, 75, offsetof(Game_tGameplayOptions, iCPUPitchCorner))
Slider_mSpec( SLIDER_TYPE_CPU_PITCH_CHANGESPEED, 0.5f, 1.0f, 1.5f, 10, 50, 65, 75, offsetof(Game_tGameplayOptions, iCPUPitchChangeSpeed))
Slider_mSpec( SLIDER_TYPE_CPU_PITCH_CHANGELOC, 0.5f, 1.0f, 1.5f, 10, 50, 65, 75, offsetof(Game_tGameplayOptions, iCPUPitchChangeLoc))

I don't like raising the ratings if I don't have to. I don't like giving the CPU an artificial advantage. If it is necessary to get the right numbers, I will. But so far, I have been ok with leaving these alone.

pigpen81 · Post by **pigpen81** » Sun Apr 11, 2004 4:28 am

OK guys, it is late, I'm tired and confused.

Snate, can you list your sliders again, with difficulty and whether custom sliders are "on" or "off".

thanks

snate · Post by **snate** » Sun Apr 11, 2004 11:26 am

Here ya go Pigpen.

Legend

CPU Run Aggr. 55
All CPU throw strikes at 45
Everything else at 50

low wide camera angle for batting
pitcher view for pitching
power pitching off
batting classic
swing feedback on

Bill_Abner · Post by **Bill_Abner** » Sun Apr 11, 2004 11:29 am

snate wrote:Here ya go Pigpen.

Legend

CPU Run Aggr. 55
All CPU throw strikes at 45
Everything else at 50

low wide camera angle for batting
pitcher view for pitching
power pitching off
pitch cursor on
batting classic
swing feedback on

OK snate let me see if I have this right. With those sliders, the game should be: Harder to hit (human) because of the Legend setting, while the rest of the game plays like Pro level (50 setting) outside of the above slider tweaks. Is that right?

snate · Post by **snate** » Sun Apr 11, 2004 11:55 am

Bill_Abner wrote:
snate wrote:Here ya go Pigpen.

Legend

CPU Run Aggr. 55
All CPU throw strikes at 45
Everything else at 50

low wide camera angle for batting
pitcher view for pitching
power pitching off
pitch cursor on
batting classic
swing feedback on
OK snate let me see if I have this right. With those sliders, the game should be: Harder to hit (human) because of the Legend setting, while the rest of the game plays like Pro level (50 setting) outside of the above slider tweaks. Is that right?

No.

Harder to hit (human) because of the Legend setting - CORRECT

while the rest of the game plays like Pro level (50 setting) outside of the above slider tweaks - INCORRECT

On the Pro setting, CPU batting skill is only 40.

Basically on my settings, all the players play at their ratings except for the two things I tweaked slightly.

pigpen81 · Post by **pigpen81** » Sun Apr 11, 2004 1:38 pm

thanks Snate...

I am going to assume custom sliders are turned "off"

correct?

snate · Post by **snate** » Sun Apr 11, 2004 1:58 pm

pigpen81 wrote:thanks Snate...

I am going to assume custom sliders are turned "off"

correct?

No Pigpen. Custom sliders need to be "on." Otherwise you are playing the default difficulties.

Bill_Abner · Post by **Bill_Abner** » Sun Apr 11, 2004 1:59 pm

snate wrote:
Bill_Abner wrote:
snate wrote:Here ya go Pigpen.

Legend

CPU Run Aggr. 55
All CPU throw strikes at 45
Everything else at 50

low wide camera angle for batting
pitcher view for pitching
power pitching off
pitch cursor on
batting classic
swing feedback on
OK snate let me see if I have this right. With those sliders, the game should be: Harder to hit (human) because of the Legend setting, while the rest of the game plays like Pro level (50 setting) outside of the above slider tweaks. Is that right?
No.

Harder to hit (human) because of the Legend setting - CORRECT

while the rest of the game plays like Pro level (50 setting) outside of the above slider tweaks - INCORRECT

On the Pro setting, CPU batting skill is only 40.

Basically on my settings, all the players play at their ratings except for the two things I tweaked slightly.

Ahh ok so I do follow the logic, just got the numbers wrong. Gonna try the settings; thanks snate.

Slumberland · Post by **Slumberland** » Sun Apr 11, 2004 2:20 pm

Good point about the modifiers, snate. My math-challenged brain hadn't noticed that it would make players play beyond their abilities, theoretically.

snate · Post by **snate** » Sun Apr 11, 2004 2:54 pm

Guys, just a heads up. I just went back to pitch cursor off (vibration on). I edited my post above to avoid confusion. I like it better. More challenging and a better gaming experience. I had put it on when I was playing at the default higher difficulties. At those levels, the CPU hitting is so juiced up I needed to be more accurate. Now that the sliders have been explained and the players are playing at there ratings, it is not necessary anymore.

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Sun Apr 11, 2004 2:54 pm

This is f*cking retarded.

bkrich83 · Post by **bkrich83** » Sun Apr 11, 2004 3:08 pm

snate,

In your settings you have Batting classic? Is that timed hitting or true swing or cursor?

snate · Post by **snate** » Sun Apr 11, 2004 3:18 pm

bkrich83 wrote:snate,

In your settings you have Batting classic? Is that timed hitting or true swing or cursor?

true aim - which is default

classic refers 1 button batting.

bkrich83 · Post by **bkrich83** » Sun Apr 11, 2004 3:35 pm

snate wrote:
bkrich83 wrote:snate,

In your settings you have Batting classic? Is that timed hitting or true swing or cursor?
true aim - which is default

classic refers 1 button batting.

Thanks, I'll give them a try.

JRod · Post by **JRod** » Sun Apr 11, 2004 8:44 pm

I wish we could affect the CPU steal speed. Even with Charles Johnson, I can still nail too high a percentage. It's like can't get a big enough lead and the pick-offs are too effective.

Millennium · Post by **Millennium** » Mon Apr 12, 2004 1:53 am

The ONLY issue I am having now is pitch counts.

Ball/Strikes for both sides are actually almost perfect realism. But for realistic pitch counts, we need some more foul balls for the CPU. I get plenty, and can get into a heated battle against the CU pitcher. But I have yet to find a way to get the CU to foul off a good number of pitches.

Any ideas? Only real sliders I can think of working with are the CPU Contact and Batting Skill, as I don't think CPU power will affect this.

Brando70 · Post by **Brando70** » Mon Apr 12, 2004 12:07 pm

You might try lowering Batting Skill and raising Contact. But frankly, I'm getting such good hitting results on both sides that I'm loathe to change the sliders. I've also raised "Take all strikes" to 55 and "Take strikes when ahead" to 60. That's helped the CPU lay off first pitches a bit, which is another big culprit in lower human pitch counts.

One compensation that I've had is that I am using the power pitching meter. I find that it helps me stay effective as a pitcher if I use it a lot, but it also drains a lot of stamina, so my innings pitched stay fairly realistic.