Re: MLB the Show 18 Wishlist: PLUS Things they should PATCH for MLB 17
On the stadium creator, could we add the ability to have the old astro turf as well?
- Pitching velocities and the relationship between them needs to be fixed. There's absolutely no reason that they should be off as much as they are currently, for both licensed players and CAPs. If I can do a simple, five-second google search and see that the relationship between fastball and changeup velocities is that changeups on average are 7.6 mph slower than fastballs with a min differential of 3.3 mph and a max differential of 11.4 mph, then so can the people involved in setting the velocity ratings.
- While on ratings, velocity should just be set by a mph number and not a 0-99 rating. The other pitches should be set as differential:
4FB = 94-96 mph
CH = minus-6-8 mph
CB = minus-12-14 mph
or just as standard mph but will only fall between the speed differential of the highest velocity pitch:
SNK = XX-XX (range from 78-96 mph)
CH = XX-XX (will give a range of 68-75 mph for a 78-mph sinker to 86-92 for the 96-mph sinker)
Also, the ratings for break needs to be split into movement (how much the pitch moves) and break (how sharp or looping the break is). Some curves have a sharper break than others even though they involve the same amount of movement (compare a curve thrown by Kershaw vs one by Cain).
Other ratings for pitchers should involve a pick-off rating. It can even split it via quick, deceptive, or normal pick-off moves. A recovery rating could also be added. Some pitchers don't seem to miss a beat after having multiple, consecutive long outings for starters or consecutive appearances for relievers. The per-9 ratings can also be split via LHH/RHH, and can even add a slot for RISP.
Durability in general should be broken down by area of the body (L/R shoulder, back, L/R knee, etc). This can help justify certain players retiring due to a mid-level injury or also make that area more prone to injury in the future. Also for position players, durability needs to be separate from injury potential and stamina. Some players are out there every day without needing a break while some players might need a day off in every four or five days. That has no bearing on whether that player is prone to injury or not.
For catchers, we need a rebound control rating in addition to the blocking rating. Some catchers are more adept at keeping a pitch in the dirt within arm's reach. This can really set the elite defensive catchers apart from just a good one.
- For the pitches, we need to be able to adjust the break angle. Right now, every RHP with a slider has that 2-to-8 breaking slider, whether overhead, 3/4, sidearm, or submarine. For each pitch, we should have a full circle (0-359 degrees) to set our pitch break since some pitchers have a slider that has more horizontal movement while others has more vertical movement. Say we choose a slider and we can set it to have a 15-20 degree range (ie: from a RHP set a slider 240-260 degrees or maybe 190-210 degrees). When this is set up, it can be within certain arm-slot limitations so it can effect what pitches a pitcher can throw from various arm angles (ie: no 12-6 curve for a submariner as that actual pitch has screwball mechanics to get the downward break).
- We should get more animations throughout the game. There should be more for batting like fouling the ball off our foot/shin, different bail-out animations (which can also be semi-manual so it's not an automatic dive .02 seconds after the release) like where the batter may just yank the back foot away from an inside breaking pitch. Foul a ball off the catcher and the catcher stays stoic and looks for a new ball from the umpire. Have a small cutscene showing the catcher taking a moment to shake off a foul ball to the the cup/mask or one of a fielder who took a wicked hop on a grounder off the body. Likewise, slide-step arm mechanics are all different for pitchers and there is not one universal arm slot for the slide-step.
- RTTS needs a few more levels of minor leagues. We can get approximately 20 games to cover Rookie and Short-Season A ball to cover August/September of the draft year and then start like normal in single-A. The starting level of A-ball can also have a small perk of when the player signs. Someone who signs out of high school or a year of JUCO would start in Low-A while someone who signed after a stint at a university can benefit from starting in High-A.
- For franchise, High-A should have a 25-man roster and be playable or at least gather stats. Rookie and Low-A can be as A-ball is now in the game, but with stats. This way, we can have a few extra draft rounds for some player-style diversity or players choosing college and we don't have mass-retirements at 34-36 to make room for the new crop. Maybe put a threshold on ability/age for giving minor-league contracts to players with a fair amount of MLB-service time.
- The equipment perks in RTTS should be dropped. Just let us wear/use whatever we want to on our player. Maybe once we get up to the MLB, we can sign a sponsorship deal to give us a bonus to our earnings, which can be used to supplement building our RTTS player.
- There needs to be tendencies added. On pitchers, they can be how often they may throw over to first. They can add in how pitchers use their repertoire (ie: 75% fastball, 15% breaking ball, 10% off-speed) and work it up to LHH/RHH and then to ahead, behind, even in the count. There's also tendencies to pitch to contact/strikeout, flyball/grounder, economically/effort, etc. For hitters, there could be tendencies for aggressiveness/patience (go on the first good pitch or work the count), flyball/grounder, chasing/taking pitches (ones that look good at the start be break way out of the zone), etc. Fielders can have tendencies to where they can either try to make the play on something at the edge or their range or just play it safe to limit the damage (ie: a soft liner down the line that would be a diving catch for the out, a single, or a missed dive that ended as a double/triple/inside the park HR). These tendencies can also factor into non-playing situations like wanting long-term vs short-term contracts, taking a hometown discount vs wanting high-priced contracts, adjusting the role on the team vs individuality, etc.
- Progression/regression curve is needing some work too. We should be able to set a building period, moving into a steady period with a peak window, and then to a decline period. That can all be done by setting an age range for them to happen (ie: 22-y/o prospect would build until 26-28 and then be a steady player until they start declining at 34-36 while having a peak window around 29-32). Also, injuries could make an impact into these time periods as well as how and how well a player develops/declines. A power pitcher could have a couple of serious arm injuries and now he may barely touch 90 mph on the gun, age hits a player's speed hard but the bat is still there so he can transition to a DH role or maybe to 1B, a young pitcher could develop better with a veteran pitcher/catcher's teachings, etc.
- We should be able to do some minor editing of the rest of the roster in RTTS. It doesn't need to be fully implemented due to a chance to exploit your path to the Show. I do think we need to be able to at a minimum be able to change the names (stops stuff like Marc Marquez, Jacob Jacobs, etc), alter numbers (NYY #2 and BOS #34 are set to be retired this year but they are available in-game), player looks (random drafted CAP joins NYY and has a "backwoods chic" beard...yes, Marc Marquez joined the Yankees as a RF draftee, wearing #2, and sporting a beard in my RTTS), and maybe adjust velocities/repertoire (for those incorrect velocities/updated repertoires).
- Stadium creator. It doesn't need to be all-out, but we need something to change things up, especially in Spring Training and in the minors. It's not right playing a Texas League game in Texas but it feels like you're playing the game on the West Lawn or in the Rocky Mountains. For the editor, we can have the 30 current MLB wall dimensions, the classic stadium wall dimensions, the current fictional wall dimensions, new generic presets, and maybe a somewhat customizable wall dimensions (like Left-Pole, LF, L-Alley, CF, R-Alley, RF, Right-Pole and wall height). For the stands, we can have the basics from current fictional stadiums. The backdrop can be set as a regional-type of setting with a rough population factor like large city-desert valley, small city-mountains, or wherever the generic setting of R, A, A-Adv, AA, or AAA location. The stadium's weather and elevation would come from the city location so you can have the correct effects in play (ie: Cactus League games at 1100ft and in the dry 80s instead of the humid 70s at sea-level, get the altitude effects of Colorado Springs, etc). Naming can be done by having two or three slots to fill from like 100+ pages of random adjectives, nouns, and names or use the city name with the last slot being "Ballpark, Field, Stadium, Coliseum, or Park."
- Of course, the ability to have weather-related delays:
Settings can have this as a toggle option. If on, a game-entry message can pop-up with an option to postpone the full game a schedule day (or next meeting/off-day if they line up). If a partial, you can enter the game and play, but there may be a random delay in the middle. It could just be a commentary line, "And we'll have to put this on pause as the umpires have called for a rain delay," and then show a short cutscene of the tarp coming out, random rain-delay-style cutscene (hiding under the dugout roof, goofing-off, fan interactions), a cutscene of the tarp coming off with a few players doing things you see in the pregame scenes, then a welcome back line with an advancement of the clock (ie: shifts from the mid-afternoon game light progression to a early-evening light progression).
And also various new hair and facial hair styles and lengths (ie: stubble/short/medium/full/wookiee), player editing options (service time, pop-up box for secondary positions for true utility players, etc) gear options, wear options (necklace - tucked or untucked, throwing-shoulder pad on the chest protector - yes/no, batting gloves on base - yes/no, undershirt - yes/no/turtleneck, etc). Of course we'd need more jersey/pant styles:
Top - snug, normal, loose, baggy, extra baggy
Buttons: all, top one open, top two open
Pants: snug, normal, loose, baggy, extra baggy
Socks: high, low, stirrup high, stirrup low, over-the-shoe A/B/C (based on overhang and bunching)
We'd also need to be able to set these by uniform (ie: playing on the DBacks, I would set a style for the home white, the black alt, the red alt, the road grey, and the teal). Also I want to decide what sleeves I wear, if any, based on the weather, such as maybe my player is from Montana and 40F is warm to him so no long sleeves or maybe I'd rather wear secondary-colored compression sleeves instead of having primary-on-primary sleeves and accessories.
- While on ratings, velocity should just be set by a mph number and not a 0-99 rating. The other pitches should be set as differential:
4FB = 94-96 mph
CH = minus-6-8 mph
CB = minus-12-14 mph
or just as standard mph but will only fall between the speed differential of the highest velocity pitch:
SNK = XX-XX (range from 78-96 mph)
CH = XX-XX (will give a range of 68-75 mph for a 78-mph sinker to 86-92 for the 96-mph sinker)
Also, the ratings for break needs to be split into movement (how much the pitch moves) and break (how sharp or looping the break is). Some curves have a sharper break than others even though they involve the same amount of movement (compare a curve thrown by Kershaw vs one by Cain).
Other ratings for pitchers should involve a pick-off rating. It can even split it via quick, deceptive, or normal pick-off moves. A recovery rating could also be added. Some pitchers don't seem to miss a beat after having multiple, consecutive long outings for starters or consecutive appearances for relievers. The per-9 ratings can also be split via LHH/RHH, and can even add a slot for RISP.
Durability in general should be broken down by area of the body (L/R shoulder, back, L/R knee, etc). This can help justify certain players retiring due to a mid-level injury or also make that area more prone to injury in the future. Also for position players, durability needs to be separate from injury potential and stamina. Some players are out there every day without needing a break while some players might need a day off in every four or five days. That has no bearing on whether that player is prone to injury or not.
For catchers, we need a rebound control rating in addition to the blocking rating. Some catchers are more adept at keeping a pitch in the dirt within arm's reach. This can really set the elite defensive catchers apart from just a good one.
- For the pitches, we need to be able to adjust the break angle. Right now, every RHP with a slider has that 2-to-8 breaking slider, whether overhead, 3/4, sidearm, or submarine. For each pitch, we should have a full circle (0-359 degrees) to set our pitch break since some pitchers have a slider that has more horizontal movement while others has more vertical movement. Say we choose a slider and we can set it to have a 15-20 degree range (ie: from a RHP set a slider 240-260 degrees or maybe 190-210 degrees). When this is set up, it can be within certain arm-slot limitations so it can effect what pitches a pitcher can throw from various arm angles (ie: no 12-6 curve for a submariner as that actual pitch has screwball mechanics to get the downward break).
- We should get more animations throughout the game. There should be more for batting like fouling the ball off our foot/shin, different bail-out animations (which can also be semi-manual so it's not an automatic dive .02 seconds after the release) like where the batter may just yank the back foot away from an inside breaking pitch. Foul a ball off the catcher and the catcher stays stoic and looks for a new ball from the umpire. Have a small cutscene showing the catcher taking a moment to shake off a foul ball to the the cup/mask or one of a fielder who took a wicked hop on a grounder off the body. Likewise, slide-step arm mechanics are all different for pitchers and there is not one universal arm slot for the slide-step.
- RTTS needs a few more levels of minor leagues. We can get approximately 20 games to cover Rookie and Short-Season A ball to cover August/September of the draft year and then start like normal in single-A. The starting level of A-ball can also have a small perk of when the player signs. Someone who signs out of high school or a year of JUCO would start in Low-A while someone who signed after a stint at a university can benefit from starting in High-A.
- For franchise, High-A should have a 25-man roster and be playable or at least gather stats. Rookie and Low-A can be as A-ball is now in the game, but with stats. This way, we can have a few extra draft rounds for some player-style diversity or players choosing college and we don't have mass-retirements at 34-36 to make room for the new crop. Maybe put a threshold on ability/age for giving minor-league contracts to players with a fair amount of MLB-service time.
- The equipment perks in RTTS should be dropped. Just let us wear/use whatever we want to on our player. Maybe once we get up to the MLB, we can sign a sponsorship deal to give us a bonus to our earnings, which can be used to supplement building our RTTS player.
- There needs to be tendencies added. On pitchers, they can be how often they may throw over to first. They can add in how pitchers use their repertoire (ie: 75% fastball, 15% breaking ball, 10% off-speed) and work it up to LHH/RHH and then to ahead, behind, even in the count. There's also tendencies to pitch to contact/strikeout, flyball/grounder, economically/effort, etc. For hitters, there could be tendencies for aggressiveness/patience (go on the first good pitch or work the count), flyball/grounder, chasing/taking pitches (ones that look good at the start be break way out of the zone), etc. Fielders can have tendencies to where they can either try to make the play on something at the edge or their range or just play it safe to limit the damage (ie: a soft liner down the line that would be a diving catch for the out, a single, or a missed dive that ended as a double/triple/inside the park HR). These tendencies can also factor into non-playing situations like wanting long-term vs short-term contracts, taking a hometown discount vs wanting high-priced contracts, adjusting the role on the team vs individuality, etc.
- Progression/regression curve is needing some work too. We should be able to set a building period, moving into a steady period with a peak window, and then to a decline period. That can all be done by setting an age range for them to happen (ie: 22-y/o prospect would build until 26-28 and then be a steady player until they start declining at 34-36 while having a peak window around 29-32). Also, injuries could make an impact into these time periods as well as how and how well a player develops/declines. A power pitcher could have a couple of serious arm injuries and now he may barely touch 90 mph on the gun, age hits a player's speed hard but the bat is still there so he can transition to a DH role or maybe to 1B, a young pitcher could develop better with a veteran pitcher/catcher's teachings, etc.
- We should be able to do some minor editing of the rest of the roster in RTTS. It doesn't need to be fully implemented due to a chance to exploit your path to the Show. I do think we need to be able to at a minimum be able to change the names (stops stuff like Marc Marquez, Jacob Jacobs, etc), alter numbers (NYY #2 and BOS #34 are set to be retired this year but they are available in-game), player looks (random drafted CAP joins NYY and has a "backwoods chic" beard...yes, Marc Marquez joined the Yankees as a RF draftee, wearing #2, and sporting a beard in my RTTS), and maybe adjust velocities/repertoire (for those incorrect velocities/updated repertoires).
- Stadium creator. It doesn't need to be all-out, but we need something to change things up, especially in Spring Training and in the minors. It's not right playing a Texas League game in Texas but it feels like you're playing the game on the West Lawn or in the Rocky Mountains. For the editor, we can have the 30 current MLB wall dimensions, the classic stadium wall dimensions, the current fictional wall dimensions, new generic presets, and maybe a somewhat customizable wall dimensions (like Left-Pole, LF, L-Alley, CF, R-Alley, RF, Right-Pole and wall height). For the stands, we can have the basics from current fictional stadiums. The backdrop can be set as a regional-type of setting with a rough population factor like large city-desert valley, small city-mountains, or wherever the generic setting of R, A, A-Adv, AA, or AAA location. The stadium's weather and elevation would come from the city location so you can have the correct effects in play (ie: Cactus League games at 1100ft and in the dry 80s instead of the humid 70s at sea-level, get the altitude effects of Colorado Springs, etc). Naming can be done by having two or three slots to fill from like 100+ pages of random adjectives, nouns, and names or use the city name with the last slot being "Ballpark, Field, Stadium, Coliseum, or Park."
- Of course, the ability to have weather-related delays:
Settings can have this as a toggle option. If on, a game-entry message can pop-up with an option to postpone the full game a schedule day (or next meeting/off-day if they line up). If a partial, you can enter the game and play, but there may be a random delay in the middle. It could just be a commentary line, "And we'll have to put this on pause as the umpires have called for a rain delay," and then show a short cutscene of the tarp coming out, random rain-delay-style cutscene (hiding under the dugout roof, goofing-off, fan interactions), a cutscene of the tarp coming off with a few players doing things you see in the pregame scenes, then a welcome back line with an advancement of the clock (ie: shifts from the mid-afternoon game light progression to a early-evening light progression).
And also various new hair and facial hair styles and lengths (ie: stubble/short/medium/full/wookiee), player editing options (service time, pop-up box for secondary positions for true utility players, etc) gear options, wear options (necklace - tucked or untucked, throwing-shoulder pad on the chest protector - yes/no, batting gloves on base - yes/no, undershirt - yes/no/turtleneck, etc). Of course we'd need more jersey/pant styles:
Top - snug, normal, loose, baggy, extra baggy
Buttons: all, top one open, top two open
Pants: snug, normal, loose, baggy, extra baggy
Socks: high, low, stirrup high, stirrup low, over-the-shoe A/B/C (based on overhang and bunching)
We'd also need to be able to set these by uniform (ie: playing on the DBacks, I would set a style for the home white, the black alt, the red alt, the road grey, and the teal). Also I want to decide what sleeves I wear, if any, based on the weather, such as maybe my player is from Montana and 40F is warm to him so no long sleeves or maybe I'd rather wear secondary-colored compression sleeves instead of having primary-on-primary sleeves and accessories.
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