How to Improve Hitting

[Jv160]

I can't keep the bat through the zone or pull my hands in, timing is not enough for hitting. Maybe Square and Circle should be use to pull or to go opposite field. You also can't see the seams when you're hitting. I don't think is fair that I have to try to hit a plain white ball. There's a reason for the expression "sitting dead red" when a hitter is waiting for a fastball. Having a visual cue would be cool and it could help hitters if they recognize it. @CoachLisle posted this on Twitter.

[HypoLuxa13]

Re: How to Improve Hitting

I definitely agree, though trying to produce seam effects of a spinning baseball probably would be quite an undertaking in a video game. The easier way out would be to do like the old MVP Baseball did, a color coded flash when the pitcher releases the ball. I think it was Green for fastball pitches, red for breaking pitches, blue for change ups and splitters and such. Though this was quite cheesy and not at all sim like, it was effective. Maybe too effective. But the part I liked was the little flash of color was harder to detect for better pitchers. A guy like Randy Johnson the ball would barely blip for a split second. Whereas some low rated relief guy, the ball would light up pretty clearly.

Or, we could be like Tony Gwynn, and use differences in the pitcher's grip to determine what pitch was coming. He supposedly could see one of Greg Maddux's knuckles slightly raised on his delivery of his change up. So he'd just sit on change up when he faced Maddux, and it obviously worked, just take a look at his career numbers against him. How he could see that, I have no idea.

[GSW]

Re: How to Improve Hitting

I was just thinking about this the other day when I was playing. I think it would be near impossible to add some visual cue for us to see the seams in this game though.

I too thought about MVP and that was a cool idea but it basically turned the game into Baseballs equivalent to NBA Jam.

I think if we could see grip that would be cool, but the flashing colors is a bit OD.

Maybe if they were suuuuper faint. maybe that would work. Maybe.

[KBLover]

Re: How to Improve Hitting

Though this was quite cheesy and not at all sim like, it was effective. Maybe too effective. But the part I liked was the little flash of color was harder to detect for better pitchers. A guy like Randy Johnson the ball would barely blip for a split second. Whereas some low rated relief guy, the ball would light up pretty clearly.

This is why I think the idea/system was good in MVP. Better pitchers still made it harder (as did pitchers with "good stuff" that day if you had variable stuff on), easier pitchers are often easier to pick up and or have weaker pitches, and in a video game, the color lasting longer does the trick.

It isn't sim, but neither is a plain ball. Real hitters have cues they can pick up on. What's wrong with us having similar cues for a video game format?

It doesn't have to be colors but I would like SOMETHING so I can develop a true hitting eye.

It would also give Plate Vision something else to do when the hitter is controlled by a user.

[zello144]

Re: How to Improve Hitting

They could do something with the plate vision a higher plate vision stat for a player you would see the colors change lower plate vision they might change sometimes or not at all.

[stephens123]

Re: How to Improve Hitting

The hitting this year is absolutely flawed. I know it is hard to hit in real life, but this years version is ridiculous. You have three hitting techniques. Pure Analog, Zone, and Directional.

Pure Analog is awful. I don't know what else to say about this interface.

Then you have Directional. I don't understand this interface. I really don't. I get that you try and pull and go the other way but the timing on this interface is broken/flawed. You can be right on the pitch and ull end up fouling the ball backwards? The idea is there..but the execution failed miserably.

Zone isn't bad, don't get me wrong. I think it is the best out of the 3 but there is something about this mode that doesn't seem realistic. You have some weird PCI thing and ur trying to match pitch location. Something just seems off..maybe its just me.

What a shame. Maybe they'll get it right next year.

Definitely 2 steps back.

[saintjimbo1885]

Re: How to Improve Hitting

I can't keep the bat through the zone or pull my hands in, timing is not enough for hitting. Maybe Square and Circle should be use to pull or to go opposite field. You also can't see the seams when you're hitting. I don't think is fair that I have to try to hit a plain white ball. Having a visual cue would be cool and it could help hitters if they recognize it. @CoachLisle posted this on Twitter.

This is pretty much the system they have used in PYS for years both in terms of the controls and the visual of the baseball spin.

[rjackson]

Re: How to Improve Hitting

I absolutely hated seeing the colors and PYS is a completely different hitting system. It is cursor based. Yeah, it shows you the spin but what good is that when it is showing you that right where the ball is going to travel through the zone and you just line up the cursor? Besides, not all hitters in real life pick up the spin of the ball believe it or not or recognize it early enough to put it to use. Really, they look for the same stuff we do in the game like a curveball going up out of the pitcher's hand.

[KBLover]

Re: How to Improve Hitting

Then you have Directional. I don't understand this interface. I really don't. I get that you try and pull and go the other way but the timing on this interface is broken/flawed. You can be right on the pitch and ull end up fouling the ball backwards? The idea is there..but the execution failed miserably.

It's probably because the player's PCI wasn't in a good (enough) spot for the pitch's location.

For example, fastball away and you're trying to go the opposite field. You have good timing, but if the PCI is too far off, the contact will be bad/fouled away (if you're lucky).

In Directional, the AI controls the PCI and I'm not sure what (if anything) it's looking at when it does so. Might just be purely random.

It's basically the same thing as Timing in MLB14 with "more powerful" influencing. It happens more with Directional (i.e. you get the hit you want), especially if you have good timing, and probably shifts the timing window more (not sure about PCI placement), but elsewhere, it's the same system.

[Russell_SCEA]

Re: How to Improve Hitting

I can't keep the bat through the zone or pull my hands in, timing is not enough for hitting. Maybe Square and Circle should be use to pull or to go opposite field. You also can't see the seams when you're hitting. I don't think is fair that I have to try to hit a plain white ball. Having a visual cue would be cool and it could help hitters if they recognize it. @CoachLisle posted this on Twitter.

We actually pro-prototyped this a few months ago but you can't tell the difference because of the ball size.

[HypoLuxa13]

Re: How to Improve Hitting

We actually pro-prototyped this a few months ago but you can't tell the difference because of the ball size.

That is awesome, Ramone. So it didn't work, but the fact that you guys are thinking of and trying things like this is great to hear.

[Jv160]

Re: How to Improve Hitting

We actually pro-prototyped this a few months ago but you can't tell the difference because of the ball size.

That's awesome, did you guys try different hitting camera? I like to play with E Offset Zoom. I think the seams could mostly help hitters distinguished a changeup from a fastball. Idk I guess we might only get this feature with Project Morpheus

[TheWarmWind]

Re: How to Improve Hitting

I like this idea, but I've found that I'm able to recognize pitches in the Show. Certainly not 100% of the time but at a realistic clip (I'd say I recognize between 30 - 40% of pitches)

I think the colour flash is a good idea, but I could only get behind implementing it as long as it can be turned off.

It's a good idea for new players (this game has a ridiculously steep learning curve) or if I just want to practice timing, but I don't want it in my games.

[Jv160]

Re: How to Improve Hitting

I like this idea, but I've found that I'm able to recognize pitches in the Show. Certainly not 100% of the time but at a realistic clip (I'd say I recognize between 30 - 40% of pitches)

Me too but sometimes I wish I could see the seams to help me recognized changeups or curveballs

[KBLover]

Re: How to Improve Hitting

I like this idea, but I've found that I'm able to recognize pitches in the Show. Certainly not 100% of the time but at a realistic clip (I'd say I recognize between 30 - 40% of pitches)

The thing is - a lot of pitchers don't give off those telltale signs (be it the delivery, their movement ratings, etc), and while it's realistic to be fooled, at least real hitters MIGHT have the ability to pick up those signs.

I just wish we had similar possibilities and the success rate/difficulty could be modified by the hitter's ratings as well as our own user skill.

Guess that's still a limitation of console tech/overall setup of the game.