Field Dimension are incorrect

[Rufio2031]

Alright, bear with me here.

After many frustrations over the years with fielders getting to balls they have no right getting to, I finally decided to take a closer look at the field dimensions in MLB The Show 14.

I'd like to think SCEA has it right, and I'd take their word over mine. However, after a boring investigation I personally measured Target Fields dimension down the right field line to discover I came up short, measuring only 310 feet to the 328 foot wall.

How you say? I used the replay cursor as a sort of unreliable "measuring stick". I took Pedro Florimon who supposedly stands at 5' 11" and slid into first. I gauged how long a cursor length might be based on his horizontal stance from foot to head. One full cursor, from one extreme of the circle cursor to the other, was roughly 5' 11". Cursor length by cursor length, I measured the distance to first base only to be 84ft, and the distance to the right field wall to be only 310ft.

Of course, this isn't the most reliable method of measurement, and as I mentioned I'd take SCEA's measurement with their fancy computers over mine. BUT, could it be that this was never fully measured out correctly by Show devs? I can't fully remember now how many full cursor lengths it was to the wall, but I know it was 50 something. Lets say I was 2 inches off PER cursor move. That's still only another 8 feet or say, putting the distance at 318ft. Still short.

The gap in distance only gets larger the farther you go. So the 28ft difference could be enlarged to closer to a 30-35 ft difference in deeper parts of the ballpark. It doesn't seem like much, but if that's correct, all added up that's a large chunk of playing surface missing from field.

I don't know, what does everyone think? Has this been thought about by others?

[Friar Fanatic]

Re: Field Dimension are incorrect

Ehhh, even if it's off a little it isn't impacting the gameplay for me so I'm fine with how it is.

[caseyj622]

Re: Field Dimension are incorrect

Lower fielding speed down to 2 and balls get over fielders heads and find the gaps at a realistic rate IMO.

[Blzer]

Re: Field Dimension are incorrect

Rufio, I think even if you're correct, your methods of approximation lean toward a lot of human error... oh, and approximation, of course. You said it yourself:

I gauged how long a cursor length might be based on his horizontal stance from foot to head. One full cursor, from one extreme of the circle cursor to the other, was roughly 5' 11".

Plus, batters wear helmets and cleats (1/2" spikes), so you could accidentally overestimate (and since he's sliding, his toes might also be sticking out).

Now don't get me wrong, as you said even a few inches of error shouldn't lead to 20+ feet of difference in actual wall distances. Several inches would, though. If you screw up with your original approximation, larger measures as a result will be drastically different. My previous example could account for that happening.

All that being said, again, let's say that you're right... I don't think that means field dimensions are incorrect. You're hypothesizing the wrong way. Maybe players aren't proportional with the fields. We're assuming that Florimon's 5'11" is accurately portrayed in the game. Maybe if they shrink players 5.5% smaller, we'll get a proper proportion of what they should be in comparison to the stadiums.

I appreciate your efforts, and by all means you could have a point. Your thread title is a bit misleading to me though. Again, I'd look at it in the other direction if there really is a case to be had. In the meantime, it's probably good to do as caseyj622 said. I used to lower fielder speed to 0. I probably still would (I don't own this year's version).

[Rufio2031]

Re: Field Dimension are incorrect

I do and have lowered fielder speed every single year since '08, that wasn't really the point. The problem with fielder run speed is that fielders aren't always at a full sprint in real life like they are in the game. So even lowering the run speed to a more reasonable speed, it still would make a difference if they have less ground to cover than they realistically would.

Blzer your point of saying that the players proportion being off is essentially the same argument. It's just a matter of what your starting point is. I guess we could sum it up with saying the Player size/field dimensions are disproportionate.

Like I said, by no means were my measurements fully accurate. But the point was that my results showed a noticeable and intriguing difference in length. I just thought I'd share for those who have thought about it in the past.

[Blzer]

Re: Field Dimension are incorrect

I do and have lowered fielder speed every single year since '08, that wasn't really the point. The problem with fielder run speed is that fielders aren't always at a full sprint in real life like they are in the game. So even lowering the run speed to a more reasonable speed, it still would make a difference if they have less ground to cover than they realistically would.

Now this I don't disagree with at all. All sports games really need to work on acceleration/speed maintenance. FIFA probably does this best.