PS4 Discussion (MLB The Show 14)

[1stpitchhacker]

Re: PS4 Discussion (MLB The Show 14)

Ground up rebuild of the player models would be nice. Bodies still look like crap to me. More realistic color tones too. I realize baseball has some colors that pop, but the game overall still has a cartoony gloss to it.

More customization with batting stances and deliveries. We are able to use the analog stick to bend, mold and shape a nose, why can't we start off with a stock stance and use the stick to move hand placement, bat angle, bat wiggle, wideness of stance, position in box, etc. same with deliveries w release points, leg kicks, stride, etc.

Someone said something earlier about pin pointing breaking balls, and while I know it's not realistic to put pitches where u want all the time, some do it better than others and command their breaking balls better than others. I pumped up my RTTS players breaking ball control and I still didn't know where it was going half of the time. The CPU hitting against the breaking ball logic needs to be reworked IMO. The majority of the pitches I get hitters to chase is the high fastball. Whenever I break out a breaking pitch there's a small window for a chase. Hitters become tony Gwynn and foul nasty pitches off or lay off altogether. A lot of the time you can paint the outside edge with heat and then follow up w a nasty slider that looks like those outside fastballs and the hitter doesn't budge. I'd go on to say that 80 plus pct of my strikeouts, no matter the pitcher, is off fastballs.

Completely agree about the strikeouts.

[@legendm0de]

Re: PS4 Discussion (MLB The Show 14)

I manage to get strikeouts, using general psychology on the hitter and executing pitches out of the strike zone, pitching to hitter weaknesses or my pitchers strengths, just depends. I don't know if much overhaul is needed, I've found it helps to remove the vibration so that you can have full freedom to throw any pitches wherever you want to. I relish & enjoy pitching almost as much as batting, which is not a normal thing for a baseball game.

I could post an 100 page thread all on my own just talking about pitching in this game which is scary and insane. But in short, I just say build on what we have but no massive overhaul is needed at all in my opinion. I'll go back to my corner now.

[Bobhead]

Re: PS4 Discussion (MLB The Show 14)

I manage to get strikeouts, using general psychology on the hitter and executing pitches out of the strike zone, pitching to hitter weaknesses or my pitchers strengths, just depends. I don't know if much overhaul is needed, I've found it helps to remove the vibration so that you can have full freedom to throw any pitches wherever you want to. I relish & enjoy pitching almost as much as batting, which is not a normal thing for a baseball game.

I could post an 100 page thread all on my own just talking about pitching in this game which is scary and insane. But in short, I just say build on what we have but no massive overhaul is needed at all in my opinion. I'll go back to my corner now.

Sorry but you shouldn't have to channel your Ki and sacrifice two lambs and a serpent to get an average number of strikeouts.

[Knight165]

Re: PS4 Discussion (MLB The Show 14)

You don't.
I can't believe I'm saying this...but I agree with @legend....a total overhaul would be a HUGE mistake IMO.
(and I wouldn't worry...because it's not happening I would say)

M.K.
Knight165

[Bobhead]

Re: PS4 Discussion (MLB The Show 14)

Oh no I definitely don't think we need a "major overhaul"

I dont even know what that means.

I just think the game would benefit from the AI chasing and missing more pitches that arent fastballs.

[ill23matic]

Re: PS4 Discussion (MLB The Show 14)

I manage to get strikeouts, using general psychology on the hitter and executing pitches out of the strike zone, pitching to hitter weaknesses or my pitchers strengths, just depends. I don't know if much overhaul is needed, I've found it helps to remove the vibration so that you can have full freedom to throw any pitches wherever you want to. I relish & enjoy pitching almost as much as batting, which is not a normal thing for a baseball game.

I could post an 100 page thread all on my own just talking about pitching in this game which is scary and insane. But in short, I just say build on what we have but no massive overhaul is needed at all in my opinion. I'll go back to my corner now.

I'm not complaining about the lack of strikeouts, I'm complaining about how I get them. If I'm an 89-92 four seam guy, with a nominal change up and a plus or a plus plus curveball, I shouldn't be getting 80 to 90 percent of my strikeouts off of fastballs. I want to throw my fastball to weak contact or strikeouts in curveball counts, come in with a heater on a 1-2 count when the hitter is sitting on off speed, but if that's the only way to get k's when my dominant pitch is my curveball then that's flawed. Come to think of it, it's like that in 3-2 counts as well. I can throw a dandy in a fastball count and its like they are sitting on it. And this goes for disciplined hitters and free swingers. Why is a free swinger a free swinger until he gets two strikes, then all of a sudden he's got all the discipline in the world?

I know pitching, and to spare myself from being "that guy" im not gonna sit here and brag about why. This game does a good job with allowing you to set up hitters to a point. It does a good job on allowing you to exploit a hitters weaknesses to a point. It does a good job in allowing you to out think hitters to a point. Smart pitching gets rewarded to a point. But it gets to that point, most times with two strikes, and that's where I think this game needs improving.

Overhauls a big word, don't remember saying that, only that the logic pertaining to breaking balls needs to be reworked or tweaked. It's funny, in my franchise EVERY year, my pitchers with the best fastballs are always my 15 to 20 game winners with low ERAs, and real life solid pitchers whose success is greatly predicated on breaking pitches are the ones who struggle.

[1stpitchhacker]

Re: PS4 Discussion (MLB The Show 14)

Don't get me wrong, I love pitching in this game as much as the next guy, and I do average about 6/7 Ks a game. But it's the way I get those Ks that gets a tad repetitive when seemingly 90% of the strikeouts come from high inside heat or a low change up. Been this way for 9 years and I know this because from '06 to '11 I played on default Legend difficulty (meter) and this year switching to classic on All-Star it's still like that. Again don't get me wrong I fist pump on most of my strikeouts either way but the ones I relish are the ones that come in the form of a hook or a slider that's whiffed at or even one (in the zone) that's looked at (which are sooooo rare) over the same ol' heater up and in. More hitters have trouble with breaking pitches than fastballs. That should be better repped in the game. That's all I was getting at.

[1stpitchhacker]

Re: PS4 Discussion (MLB The Show 14)

Sorry but you shouldn't have to channel your Ki and sacrifice two lambs and a serpent to get an average number of strikeouts.

Couldn't have said it better myself!

[thaSLAB]

Re: PS4 Discussion (MLB The Show 14)

I get a fair amount of strikeouts on off-speed stuff against the CPU. If you use your cues and actually "mix it up", it's not hard to do (if a guy pulls a fastball foul on strike 2, throw him a changeup at the knees on the next pitch; or sliders away from same-handed batters, after setting him up inside, amongst others) - it is very possible though. There's a thread around here on pitching strategies...

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 4

[ill23matic]

Re: PS4 Discussion (MLB The Show 14)

I get a fair amount of strikeouts on off-speed stuff against the CPU. If you use your cues and actually "mix it up", it's not hard to do (if a guy pulls a fastball foul on strike 2, throw him a changeup at the knees on the next pitch; or sliders away from same-handed batters, after setting him up inside, amongst others) - it is very possible though. There's a thread around here on pitching strategies...

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 4

See, unless your a lefty throwing against a right handed hitter, or a righty throwing against a lefty, in real life you are asking for trouble throwing a change up in a two strike count (outside of maybe a 3-2 count) unless you got a Greg Maddux, Pedro Martinez, Fernando Rodney type changeup. A two strike count, essentially an off speed count, and unless u have a completely dominating change with tremendous movement, you are throwing something with minimal movement and losing the advantage of deception because the hitters brain is already thinking off speed. Not to speak in absolutes, because sometimes it works, but yea.

And no knock on you or anyone, but we should be able to talk about fundamental gameplay flaws (or what we perceive to be flaws) without people throwing out the "well you just aren't pitching right" or "there's a thread for pitching strategies" business. At the end of the day, this is a video game and while its the greatest sports video game around, there are still some things it doesn't get right because its a video game and there's always room for improvement. I see that quite a bit here and I'm willing to bet some of its been thrown at some people who were pretty good ball players

[Bobhead]

Re: PS4 Discussion (MLB The Show 14)

I get a fair amount of strikeouts on off-speed stuff against the CPU. If you use your cues and actually "mix it up", it's not hard to do (if a guy pulls a fastball foul on strike 2, throw him a changeup at the knees on the next pitch; or sliders away from same-handed batters, after setting him up inside, amongst others) - it is very possible though. There's a thread around here on pitching strategies...

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 4

I have numbers to support that there is a plate discipline problem in The Show, AND I still see it with CPU vs CPU games, thus you (not "you" specifically or anything) cannot attribute it to me doing something wrong, or a particular playing style or any of that. So with all due respect, I really don't know what else to say in this conversation. Also my claim revolved around a lack of misses and chases, not a lack of (called) strikeouts, so you saying you can paint the bottom of the zone isn't necessarily refuting anything.

[thaSLAB]

Re: PS4 Discussion (MLB The Show 14)

See, unless your a lefty throwing against a right handed hitter, or a righty throwing against a lefty, in real life you are asking for trouble throwing a change up in a two strike count (outside of maybe a 3-2 count) unless you got a Greg Maddux, Pedro Martinez, Fernando Rodney type changeup. A two strike count, essentially an off speed count, and unless u have a completely dominating change with tremendous movement, you are throwing something with minimal movement and losing the advantage of deception because the hitters brain is already thinking off speed. Not to speak in absolutes, because sometimes it works, but yea.

And no knock on you or anyone, but we should be able to talk about fundamental gameplay flaws (or what we perceive to be flaws) without people throwing out the "well you just aren't pitching right" or "there's a thread for pitching strategies" business. At the end of the day, this is a video game and while its the greatest sports video game around, there are still some things it doesn't get right because its a video game and there's always room for improvement. I see that quite a bit here and I'm willing to bet some of its been thrown at some people who were pretty good ball players

I think you read too much into my post... but whatever lol.

I have numbers to support that there is a plate discipline problem in The Show, AND I still see it with CPU vs CPU games, thus you (not "you" specifically or anything) cannot attribute it to me doing something wrong, or a particular playing style or any of that. So with all due respect, I really don't know what else to say in this conversation. Also my claim revolved around a lack of misses and chases, not a lack of (called) strikeouts, so you saying you can paint the bottom of the zone isn't necessarily refuting anything.

I don't either... because it has been talked about extensively before. In those other threads. The threads that those examples came from. I was in no way trying to "teach" or tell anyone "they were doing it wrong"

Sorry if it came off that way.


Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 4

[1stpitchhacker]

Re: PS4 Discussion (MLB The Show 14)

I didn't take offense to it at all but I agree with the other guy some people do come across that way (you didn't, at least to me). We may have different experiences, but I think the CPU plate discipline is a tad high. I watch a lot of ball and I see a decent amount of chases at pitches WELL out of the zone. Pitches that far out of the zone are basically never chased in this game (you get the EXTREMELY ODD one here and there). Even the chased pitches in this game have to be pretty close and (mostly) high fastballs.

This game is unreal and HIGHLY addicting (makes me miss work sometimes ) but it could be even better than it is now, that's all some of are trying to say I think.

[@legendm0de]

Re: PS4 Discussion (MLB The Show 14)

Don't get me wrong, I love pitching in this game as much as the next guy, and I do average about 6/7 Ks a game. But it's the way I get those Ks that gets a tad repetitive when seemingly 90% of the strikeouts come from high inside heat or a low change up. Been this way for 9 years and I know this because from '06 to '11 I played on default Legend difficulty (meter) and this year switching to classic on All-Star it's still like that. Again don't get me wrong I fist pump on most of my strikeouts either way but the ones I relish are the ones that come in the form of a hook or a slider that's whiffed at or even one (in the zone) that's looked at (which are sooooo rare) over the same ol' heater up and in. More hitters have trouble with breaking pitches than fastballs. That should be better repped in the game. That's all I was getting at.

I'm not complaining about the lack of strikeouts, I'm complaining about how I get them. If I'm an 89-92 four seam guy, with a nominal change up and a plus or a plus plus curveball, I shouldn't be getting 80 to 90 percent of my strikeouts off of fastballs. I want to throw my fastball to weak contact or strikeouts in curveball counts, come in with a heater on a 1-2 count when the hitter is sitting on off speed, but if that's the only way to get k's when my dominant pitch is my curveball then that's flawed. Come to think of it, it's like that in 3-2 counts as well. I can throw a dandy in a fastball count and its like they are sitting on it. And this goes for disciplined hitters and free swingers. Why is a free swinger a free swinger until he gets two strikes, then all of a sudden he's got all the discipline in the world?

I know pitching, and to spare myself from being "that guy" im not gonna sit here and brag about why. This game does a good job with allowing you to set up hitters to a point. It does a good job on allowing you to exploit a hitters weaknesses to a point. It does a good job in allowing you to out think hitters to a point. Smart pitching gets rewarded to a point. But it gets to that point, most times with two strikes, and that's where I think this game needs improving.

Overhauls a big word, don't remember saying that, only that the logic pertaining to breaking balls needs to be reworked or tweaked. It's funny, in my franchise EVERY year, my pitchers with the best fastballs are always my 15 to 20 game winners with low ERAs, and real life solid pitchers whose success is greatly predicated on breaking pitches are the ones who struggle.

I did miss your point.

I definitely agree the game could benefit from some AI improvemets batting, so they can improve a bit on the fastball, and I believe we will get them inevitably on the new-gen. I've come to find here that these dev's are aware of their own flaws, such as this one, so I believe they are already after these improvements among the many we expect for the AI. I remember the spokesman, RussellSCEA saying about MLB 13' that legend mode will be at its highest difficulty on that edition so this new system will open their abilities up so much, we should expect to see even more of a leap in 2014.

I haven't statistically kept tally on my K % by pitch but I do find it easier than it should be, perhaps, to get the K's on fastball. But I also get a satisfactory number of Ks and misses off the off-speed pitches, which always feels amazing. So while hesitant about too much change, Im still confident they will improve the system and give us the best yet in 2014.

[@legendm0de]

Re: PS4 Discussion (MLB The Show 14)

And to your other point @ill23matic I think the new design of player models will have alot to do with it. Each movement they make will be so much more detailed, the animation will be less canned on their swings and on pitcher deliveries.

Allowing natural physics to determine them able to make more contact on the pitches that are straighter no matter the speed. And then it will be even more mouth-watering to see them when they go after making contact on the breaking balls, Lets hope for the best.