MLB The Show 19 Twitch Stream - Defensive Improvements

[Hardworker33]

Re: MLB The Show 19 Twitch Stream - Defensive Improvements

My game was already pre-ordered but I must say, I'm very impressed by the defensive improvements they made.

I'd kill for them to update franchise but 18 was already a very nice game to me (strictly offline franchise). It's more than playable but having the depth of NBA2k would be awesome on top of solid gameplay that MLBTS always had.

[bayman]

Re: MLB The Show 19 Twitch Stream - Defensive Improvements

Just thought of one that wasn't mentioned in the stream. Did they ever fix the 1B going back to the bag or tagging the runner on a throw that pulls them off the bag? This was bad through '16 where even with plenty of time they would just give up after catching the throw even when they had lots of time.

[jada855]

Re: MLB The Show 19 Twitch Stream - Defensive Improvements

Correction TWO updated base running animation added the ability for the runner to slip when running back to the bag after a fail steal attempt. Notice how much more dynamic the play looked!

But the down fall will come as most likely every runner will slip the same way. Things like height and weight should factor into these moments and they just have not over the course of the game!

Bottom line more just needs to be done in this department.

Pre-Pitch Defensive Position

Really wish they would add different animations for this part of the game. Maybe it's too difficult to branch out into a throw if there was more than one. The downside of this is that when you are using Player Lock in my case a SS you can only walk up and position your player so far.

So in Chris Gill's examples he talks about how players can play closer for runners such as Billy Hamilton does not quite work for that area of the game!

I brought the game last year because he talked about all of the new flexibility and improvements. But it still felt stale and the same when actually playing!

Effort looks good and similar to last year so far but I still have to question why was this not programmed from the beginning! It should be a lot further along at this point! It's almost 2020!

[Bullit]

Re: MLB The Show 19 Twitch Stream - Defensive Improvements

Honestly that was a pretty impressive stream. Saw a lot of things I have never seen being possible in this game before. Really nice. Loving it.

[ninertravel]

Re: MLB The Show 19 Twitch Stream - Defensive Improvements

Pitch speeds on HOF and Legend.....upgraded.

#upyourgame

Love it.

yep that's been my biggest frustration with sliders getting that damm pitch speed correct but then they nerf it in a patch because people complain about it being to fast. it happened last year

[Caulfield]

Re: MLB The Show 19 Twitch Stream - Defensive Improvements

for years pitching has been my meat and potatoes while hitting has been my dessert but fielding has mainly been an afterthought. That really looks to change and I'll have two slices of dessert in 19.

These guys are lazy and just don’t have any reason to improve the game (sarcasm off). GREAT job fellas. Looking forward to release day.

[Back on]
the problem is they only want to do what is going to keep them in business and making a game each year when all I really need are the things I want. Socks are the wrong shade of white. I want eggshell white socks but they look closer to vanilla white and off-white. dont get me started on the sky color , sometimes it looks blue and then sometimes it looks pitch-black. I even played a game in Tampa, sky wasn't cloudy but I couldn't tell if it was black or blue. dont know why they keep forgetting to add create a stadium. I played Tony Hawk Pro Skater this one time and I was able to design my own park so I know it can be done in the Show too.
[/Back off]

[tessl]

Re: MLB The Show 19 Twitch Stream - Defensive Improvements

The tricky thing for the devs is to balance it all and get accurate runs scored.

I play manage mode franchise only and my guess as to what the changes will do is:

1. Improved AI for infielders will result in fewer infield hits. Fewer infield hits will result in fewer runs.

2. Outfielder route to the ball will result in more hits if the fielder has low reaction/fielding ability. More outfield hits will result in more runs.

3. First baseman no longer automatically scoops all balls in the dirt will result in more errors and baserunners.

In a different preview they indicated contact hitters would have a greater impact this year which means more offense. How it all balances out is the difficult thing to get right but is sounds like they have added a lot of infield defense and at the same time have made efforts to balance it with more offense elsewhere. Won't know for sure until I get the game and start playing.

As usual mlbts does a great job of promoting and previewing changes to the game. I'm not aware of any other game where the developers take the time to sit down and take the time to do this for their customers.

[jeffy777]

Re: MLB The Show 19 Twitch Stream - Defensive Improvements

Man, I’m very impressed with the level of detail they’re going into this year. These guys truly are the best in the biz. So far, these are the best twitch streams we’ve had, and we’re just getting started.

[catswithbats]

Re: MLB The Show 19 Twitch Stream - Defensive Improvements

Castellanos from the Tigers went from 63 last year to a 38 for '19.

I can hardly believe he was ever rated as highly as 63.

[catswithbats]

Re: MLB The Show 19 Twitch Stream - Defensive Improvements

Listening to these guys talk, how can anyone doubt they don't care and aren't trying to deliver the best game possible.

Are you saying they don't care/aren't trying?

[Blzer]

Re: MLB The Show 19 Twitch Stream - Defensive Improvements

I'm halfway through, and I'm loving what I see with the changes made and animations added.

I do have a nitpick with reading the ball off the wall: the hard part about playing right field in San Francisco is not knowing what object it's going to actually hit off of beforehand. I understand that they have the physics for the different objects, but if you're an outfielder you shouldn't really know which one it's going to hit or what angle it will be at. When it reveals the trace of the ball's path, it kind of spoils that fun and gives the defender an extra edge that he otherwise shouldn't have. I'm likely going to turn this off anyway (please tell me we can!), but I thought I'd mention that and I'm guessing the CPU will often have this small advantage. In no way am I saying this is something easy to program in.

This needs to be especially important for balls hit down the line and rolling into foul ground. Those short walls that angle into the field and then parallel toward the lines are always troublesome for outfielders because they often won't know whether it will hit or miss that corner. I don't have an exact video on hand right now in real life or in the game, but in the game the CPU is always aware of this. We are nearly always aware of it as well because of the angle that we get, so maybe there's no way around this.

There are some small presentation things that are likely unchanged I'd like to see (Retro cam doesn't get batter cam delay off contact when on offense, you can't get dynamic defensive cam when on offense, etc.), and default outfield positioning is always the thing I clench about, especially at Oracle Park (I noticed that they always hid the big signage above the scoreboard even in these videos haha). Right fielders don't play near the line in that park, they play toward triple's alley. This isn't always true, but it is more so than at other parks. You can see the right fielder against Brandon Crawford in this shot here.

[Caulfield]

Re: MLB The Show 19 Twitch Stream - Defensive Improvements

Fielding rating regrade...Yasmani Grandal is now a 91 defensively vs. 76 last year...

Lindor is a 90 both this and last year.

Castellanos from the Tigers went from 63 last year to a 38 for '19.

I can hardly believe he was ever rated as highly as 63.

should any major leaguer be rated lower than 40? 38 just sounds TOO low.
besides that, Castellanos had nearly a 3 in WAR in 2018.

[bravesfan1984]

Re: MLB The Show 19 Twitch Stream - Defensive Improvements

should any major leaguer be rated lower than 40? 38 just sounds TOO low.
besides that, Castellanos had nearly a 3 in WAR in 2018.

Considering he was the worst defender in baseball, -19 DRS, 38 might just be too generous for defensive ratings lol

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[Caulfield]

Re: MLB The Show 19 Twitch Stream - Defensive Improvements

Considering he was the worst defender in baseball, -19 DRS, 38 might just be too generous for defensive ratings lol

Sent from my SM-G965U using Operation Sports mobile app

sounds like his primary defensive position should be DH lol

[bravesfan1984]

Re: MLB The Show 19 Twitch Stream - Defensive Improvements

sounds like his primary defensive position should be DH lol

You ain't kidding!

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