How to Improve Hitting

[BDrizz]

Re: How to Improve Hitting

I wish they'd go back to the pitch guess system in the Show 13. I have turned it off completely in this game as I find it to be worthless. I loved when I could pick a fastball outside and I got credit for outside OR fastball or double credit for guessing perfectly. I hate this new system where you have to hit the pitch type AND location correctly to get credit.

[Blzer]

Re: How to Improve Hitting

Sergio Romo throws a no-dot slider, though. They'll have to make sure to incorporate that in there..

[Jv160]

Re: How to Improve Hitting

There's a reason for the expression "sitting dead red" when the hitter is waiting for a fastball. At least make the fastball look reddish.

[rjackson]

Re: How to Improve Hitting

That's not a bad idea. I couldn't stand that blinking red/blue/green thing from that other game. If they just added a pink hue to fastballs and took away the seams on change-ups so they look all white, that should do it and would be feasible to what Ramone said that they tried earlier.

[FindingTim]

Re: How to Improve Hitting

a purely "timing" mechanism would most accurately mirror real baseball.
As the old saying literally says, "hitting is timing...(pitching is upsetting the timing)"

unfortunately this years timing mode is off. You can be hitting with Barry Bonds, have a green light on a 3-0 fastball, promptly get said fastball at 91 mph right down the middle, and pop it up or foul it off more times than you will square it up. It's extremely frustrating. Playing on lower levels helps with this, but then the IQ of your computer opponent drops too.

With this years "Timing" mechanic, the results feel random and linked to some statistical calculation that we cannot see, rather than the result of controller timing.

Zone gives you the most control, but it forces you to guess the location on every pitch-- unless you have godly reflexes. If you have been getting a lot of high fastballs, and respond by leaving your PCI up in the zone, you will then swing and miss if the pitcher throws it right down the pipe. Zone forces you to guess location on every pitch, rather than "see ball, hit ball" like many (most?) baseball players do. Obviously there are circumstances where players are guessing, but if a pitcher grooves a fatty down the middle they can still cream it.

[KBLover]

Re: How to Improve Hitting

With this years "Timing" mechanic, the results feel random and linked to some statistical calculation that we cannot see, rather than the result of controller timing.

Timing has always been like that.

The PCI placement is random based around the hitter's ratings for size of the PCI. The placement seems to be completely random (AFAIK, someone correct me if I'm [hopefully] wrong).

That's why you can pop-up/chop fat pitches with Good/Perfect/Normal/whatever they call being right on. The PCI can be far off, causing poor contact.

It's not different to me - just the same as always.

[KBLover]

Re: How to Improve Hitting

That's not a bad idea. I couldn't stand that blinking red/blue/green thing from that other game. If they just added a pink hue to fastballs and took away the seams on change-ups so they look all white, that should do it and would be feasible to what Ramone said that they tried earlier.

I'm fine with that - the colors aren't what I like about MVP's system, it's the fact I have SOMETHING to potentially key on to help pitch ID, just like real hitters.

Forget the rainbow baseballs - the concept is the important thing. Your idea would be aces in my book just as much.

[Jv160]

Re: How to Improve Hitting

That's not a bad idea. I couldn't stand that blinking red/blue/green thing from that other game. If they just added a pink hue to fastballs and took away the seams on change-ups so they look all white, that should do it and would be feasible to what Ramone said that they tried earlier.

That was the main reason for posting the picture. To help hitters distinguished a changeup from a fastball.

[stephens123]

Re: How to Improve Hitting

I think there should be a camera that actually represents what a hitter sees in real life. The zone hitting mechanic just doesnt seem realistic. Pure Analog and Directional are good ideas/concepts but executed poorly. You can be RIGHT on a pitch and pop it up. I understand why it does that, but there has to be a better input for next year. I really like the directional input...but something is extremely off with the timing or whatever you want to call it. If you could clean that up ..maybe it could work.

[KBLover]

Re: How to Improve Hitting

I think there should be a camera that actually represents what a hitter sees in real life. The zone hitting mechanic just doesnt seem realistic. Pure Analog and Directional are good ideas/concepts but executed poorly. You can be RIGHT on a pitch and pop it up. I understand why it does that, but there has to be a better input for next year. I really like the directional input...but something is extremely off with the timing or whatever you want to call it. If you could clean that up ..maybe it could work.

Now that would be interesting - a true "hitter eye" camera angle. Not sure how that would work in execution - but I'd try it

[Bunselpower32]

Re: How to Improve Hitting

2k nailed this a few years ago. The batters eye rating (plate vision) corresponded to the chance of the batter picking up on the pitch. The pitcher also had a rating I believe. So those two ratings would go at each other, and if the batter won, a little message would pop up giving you offspeed, fastball, and change up. Didn't say where, didn't say what, but it was an arm angle/spin detection that would activate a perfect amount of times per game.

Seriously, I have no idea how legal it is to look back, but 2k10 and around there had the best user interface of any sports game ever. If The Show fanboys didn't reject 2k out of hand, a lot of good would come of it, because between that, the hitting interface, and the amazing gesture pitching, those were better at interface integration than any The Show game to date.

This game is beautiful. But it is getting increasingly frustrating to play, and it keeps getting worse. Something needs to be done, they can't recycle this game from year to year and expect everyone to be fine with it.

You don't care where I sent this from.

[KleShreen]

Re: How to Improve Hitting

It seems to me like things might be easier if the hitting "difficulty" that goes up in levels was kind of capped at just under Hall of Fame. I was scoring anywhere up to 8 runs a game working my way through Veteran and All-Star and whatnot, but once I hit Hall of Fame, I don't think I've scored more than 4 runs in a game (or had more than 8 hits), and that is through probably 100 games. It felt like the hitting was at least somewhat realistic up to the Hall of Fame point.

[KBLover]

Re: How to Improve Hitting

It seems to me like things might be easier if the hitting "difficulty" that goes up in levels was kind of capped at just under Hall of Fame. I was scoring anywhere up to 8 runs a game working my way through Veteran and All-Star and whatnot, but once I hit Hall of Fame, I don't think I've scored more than 4 runs in a game (or had more than 8 hits), and that is through probably 100 games. It felt like the hitting was at least somewhat realistic up to the Hall of Fame point.

Maybe go to Hall of Fame - but shift the sliders to help you out a bit to create your own "All-Star+" level?