Fielding flyballs should not be this hard

[LastActionHero]

Fielding flyballs should not be this hard

I would love to have the dynamic view from ‘18 back. I loved that view and since ‘19 they pulled the camera way back. SDS said they did it so you have a better view which is true but it’s not necesarrily better to calculate the depth of balls hit to the outfield in my opinion. They should’ve at least kept that view in for us to choose from. I’ve been playing with “The Show 16” hitting view for years and every year I cross my fingers that they’re not removing that camera.

Having said that I’ve also seen a certain urgency play not triggering. When a runner is on first and there’s a popup (a bit away from first ofcourse) the player that is catching the fall doesn’t feel the urgency to fire to first when the runner is a few feet off the base or is even further because he was stealing.

[King Gro23]

Re: Fielding flyballs should not be this hard

I don't think the game has an issue with fielding I think it is our preconditioned tendencies as gamers and we are not use to more wide scaled risk/reward.

I think what we experience is more a gamer issue and not a game issue

Sent from my SM-G965U using Operation Sports mobile app

[King Gro23]

Re: Fielding flyballs should not be this hard

He lost it in the sun.

It's weird while playing with the White Sox a routine flyball was hit to right and for whatever reason Nomar Mazara waved his arms and ran away from the ball and was charged with an error?????

Sent from my SM-G965U using Operation Sports mobile app

[BatsareBugs]

Re: Fielding flyballs should not be this hard

I don't think the game has an issue with fielding I think it is our preconditioned tendencies as gamers and we are not use to more wide scaled risk/reward.

I think what we experience is more a gamer issue and not a game issue

Sent from my SM-G965U using Operation Sports mobile app

I disagree, an outfielder who can obviously get to a ball but the game doesn't lock him into an animation to catch it like it should is a game issue, not a gamer issue. Now if he had an animation where he attempted to get and it bounced off or he missed is perfectly fine, having the ball bounce off the player with no acknowledgement is not.

[cardinal511]

Re: Fielding flyballs should not be this hard

Let's assume for my post that users are causing the problems being discussed in some way. I still think that creates the following issues:

1) The game isn't telling us how to fix the problem. With hitting, if your problem is swinging too late constantly, the game tells you that you're late, and you can adjust your timing. Those of us experiencing these issues don't know what we're doing wrong/how we can fix it. Some in this thread have offered possible solutions, but a) we don't know if those solutions are right, and b) we shouldn't need to come to a forum find said solutions.

2) The issues aren't realistic. Every time I've dealt with one of the issues mentioned, it's been on a ball that would be caught 100% of the time in a real MLB game. Users of all different skill levels should be able to catch routine fly balls precisely because they are routine. The fielding mechanics shouldn't be so fickle that they make user skill important on routine plays.

[bcruise]

Re: Fielding flyballs should not be this hard

It's always tough to offer help or suggestions in these threads because people's experiences seem to vary so wildly. While I do think that things can be a bit off sometimes (such as that flat-footed standing flyball miss on the first page - fortunately I haven't seen anything quite as bad as that in my own games), I feel like people struggle with the mechanics as well without realizing it. Things have changed in this part of the game over the years, and there's 2 big things in particular that I see a lot in videos which can usually be avoided.

I took this short clip in practice mode to illustrate one of them:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/di1owCwmf78" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

There's two parts to my approach on the ball here, and it should be pretty obvious where the break in those two parts are. Realizing I'm not quite lined up to make the catch while going full speed, I turn my angle slightly and suddenly my fielder breaks into a jog before making the catch in stride. Here's the thing, and it might be somewhat evident post-catch (yes, I did that on purpose) - I was tilting the stick full throttle the entire time, from the very first step. Including when he slowed to a jog.

That's what's different now - when you're properly lined up to make the catch, the game will throttle the fielder's speed if it's necessary. So, if you're full throttle on the stick and your player is moving at less than full speed, hold that angle. You should make the catch, barring a rating-related fielding mishap. It will NOT do this on high fly balls though - which is good because it allows you time to position yourself for a throw towards a base or home. And talking about high fly balls leads me into the other one...

The other one is something that's been worked on by the dev team for years, but they still haven't gotten all instances of it - and there are a few in this thread. The situation where you come to a stop or jog just before the ball enters the fielder's range and an animation either plays late or doesn't play at all. Ironically, this seems to happen most often when people try to over-correct for the problem i mentioned above that doesn't exist anymore - trying to slow down the fielder by letting off or feathering the L-stick. The bottom line is that you don't want to be getting to the ball late if it's in the air long enough that it doesn't trigger one of those "throttles" I was talking about before - it's usually going to end badly for you if you do.

The point I'm trying to get at is this - there is FAR less risk now with full-throttling the stick in the direction you're heading towards, and in fact it can help mimimize the other problem of getting to the ball late and not triggering a catch.

Hope that helps anyone interested in listening.

[moTIGS]

Re: Fielding flyballs should not be this hard

we shouldn't need to come to a forum find said solutions.

This is one of my biggest issues with modern games in general and sports games in particular.

Back in the day, games came with little books that explained how things worked. Sometimes these books were quite extensive, but they at least explained all that you needed to know to play a game.

Now, it seems that every developer offloads that responsibility on the players. I get not producing a physical booklet, as so many games are bought digitally now anyway, but I wish there were more than a halfhearted attempt at including how everything works. This forum’s years-old ongoing thread about directional hitting comes to mind. I really wish people didn’t have to test out theories to figure out stuff that could easily just be explained by the developers.

Not precisely what you’re referring to, I think (well-explained and intuitive are different), but it really annoys me when something in a game (that isn’t a puzzle) is complex and also unexplained.

[Drop_ya_mitts]

Re: Fielding flyballs should not be this hard

This is one of my biggest issues with modern games in general and sports games in particular.

Back in the day, games came with little books that explained how things worked. Sometimes these books were quite extensive, but they at least explained all that you needed to know to play a game.

Now, it seems that every developer offloads that responsibility on the players. I get not producing a physical booklet, as so many games are bought digitally now anyway, but I wish there were more than a halfhearted attempt at including how everything works. This forum’s years-old ongoing thread about directional hitting comes to mind. I really wish people didn’t have to test out theories to figure out stuff that could easily just be explained by the developers.

Not precisely what you’re referring to, I think (well-explained and intuitive are different), but it really annoys me when something in a game (that isn’t a puzzle) is complex and also unexplained.

Are you serious?
The amount of depth The Show goes into with its game guide is unparalleled in sports gaming. No sports game even comes close to amount of depth it goes into and the way it explains things. PES is also good but The Show is still way ahead with the amount of info it gives you.

[countryboy]

Re: Fielding flyballs should not be this hard

Has anyone submitted this to SDS thru the bug/feedback portal?

https://theshow.sonysandiegostudio.g...d=360003007534

[JoshC1977]

Re: Fielding flyballs should not be this hard

This is one of my biggest issues with modern games in general and sports games in particular.

Back in the day, games came with little books that explained how things worked. Sometimes these books were quite extensive, but they at least explained all that you needed to know to play a game.

Now, it seems that every developer offloads that responsibility on the players. I get not producing a physical booklet, as so many games are bought digitally now anyway, but I wish there were more than a halfhearted attempt at including how everything works. This forum’s years-old ongoing thread about directional hitting comes to mind. I really wish people didn’t have to test out theories to figure out stuff that could easily just be explained by the developers.

Not precisely what you’re referring to, I think (well-explained and intuitive are different), but it really annoys me when something in a game (that isn’t a puzzle) is complex and also unexplained.

I really agree with this. I came from that era of physical manuals accompanying games....

Now, SDS does an amazing job (compared to other sports games) in explaining things. The strategy guide for in-game play and the franchise guide within franchise mode are amazingly well-done. Games like NBA 2k and Madden do an abominable job at explaining stuff - the learning curve for those games requires one to rely exclusively on tribal knowledge or just tinkering in-game. I've tried SO many times to get into the NBA 2k series; I can't do it and one of the major reasons is that it is ridiculously complex (both in-game and within the mode).

But to put together everything about a game....that would be a ridiculously enormous task. These games are SO darn complex anymore....and while I love it for games I've grown with (like MLB and Madden), it does make the 'entry point' into the game much more difficult for new players.

[stealyerface]

Re: Fielding flyballs should not be this hard

Two points.

I chimed in early on in this thread, and one of the major factors in the outfielders, and their reaction/actions towards the ball, and the problems therein, is that the default fielder speed IS TOO HIGH. They are too fast, and unrealistically fast at that. Therefore, the user charges towards the fly ball with unrealistic hyper speed, and it totally nerfs the branch animations that allow the outfielders to settle under the ball.

Do yourselves a favor, and go to your setting, and turn the Fielder Speed down to 2 clicks from the left. That is, set the outfielder speed to two (2).

Now go play a game. Watch the disparity between good and great outfielders, watch the disparity between elite and sub-par speed, and enjoy having to actually look at the hitting tendencies, and adjust the positions of your outfielders accordingly.

If someone posts a problem, and someone else gives that person a way to fix that problem, and make the game more enjoyable in the process, for that original person to continue to complain about how something is broken... seems silly.

I am telling you how to fix your outfielders' issues by making a simple adjustment. If you don't want to load up a slider set that makes the game way more realistic, and more driven by players' attributes, that is fine. At the very least turn down the speed on the fielders that are giving you frustrating results, and fix it.

Point 2: I believe that one of the reasons that certain mechanics of the game are not actually spelled out, or explained in detail (insert Classic Pitching here) is that the user can determine if the game is perceived to be working as it should- as opposed to not working as the game states.

I know that this is a circle conversation, but if you "think" the game is working as it should, with regards to timing, and regards to hitting/pitching etc... it can't be "not working" properly. Being vague about the mechanics allows for every user to perceive their experience, and keeps the onus off the programmers or the game makers for things that don't work as advertised.

There have been epic threads that have explained Classic Pitching for years... What has never happened has been a programmer or developer of that particular section of the game, come into the thread and say, "yep, that is exactly how we programmed these functions to work".

I have asked for years if there is some sort of pre-game algorithm that tilts the game's outcome in a certain slant, to keep an ebb and flow to the games within the 162-game grind of playing every game. Is there "something" that allows a team to just get a little edge, or pitch better, or be prone to errors for one reason or another. This, if true, would explain A LOT about how and what unfolds during the games. But no one has ever confirmed to denied that this happens.

Therefore, it is my perception that there is something there, and then maybe it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy, but if SDS were to confirm, or dismiss these claims, I could then say the game was "broken" if the results did not line up with their confirmations, or as it was written in a manual.

Perception is the key to satisfaction, and if the game is working like you think it ought to, the reception is always more lenient when things go awry.

We'll never see things spelled out exactly as they are programmed, and that is 100% on purpose.

~syf

[JoshC1977]

Re: Fielding flyballs should not be this hard

Perception is the key to satisfaction

Great phrase....

And honestly, I think that's why I rarely get 'bent' about games. My perception when I play MLB The Show is that I am playing baseball NOT a video game. Everything that I perceive is viewed under a "baseball" lens. When I play, I'm not thinking about game mechanics, or programming. or any of that. I'm just playing baseball and having fun...and "stuff happens" when baseball is played....and when I'm playing, I could care less why (from a programming standpoint) it happens.

[Drop_ya_mitts]

Re: Fielding flyballs should not be this hard

Two points.

I chimed in early on in this thread, and one of the major factors in the outfielders, and their reaction/actions towards the ball, and the problems therein, is that the default fielder speed IS TOO HIGH. They are too fast, and unrealistically fast at that. Therefore, the user charges towards the fly ball with unrealistic hyper speed, and it totally nerfs the branch animations that allow the outfielders to settle under the ball.

Do yourselves a favor, and go to your setting, and turn the Fielder Speed down to 2 clicks from the left. That is, set the outfielder speed to two (2).

Now go play a game. Watch the disparity between good and great outfielders, watch the disparity between elite and sub-par speed, and enjoy having to actually look at the hitting tendencies, and adjust the positions of your outfielders accordingly.

If someone posts a problem, and someone else gives that person a way to fix that problem, and make the game more enjoyable in the process, for that original person to continue to complain about how something is broken... seems silly.

I am telling you how to fix your outfielders' issues by making a simple adjustment. If you don't want to load up a slider set that makes the game way more realistic, and more driven by players' attributes, that is fine. At the very least turn down the speed on the fielders that are giving you frustrating results, and fix it.

Point 2: I believe that one of the reasons that certain mechanics of the game are not actually spelled out, or explained in detail (insert Classic Pitching here) is that the user can determine if the game is perceived to be working as it should- as opposed to not working as the game states.

I know that this is a circle conversation, but if you "think" the game is working as it should, with regards to timing, and regards to hitting/pitching etc... it can't be "not working" properly. Being vague about the mechanics allows for every user to perceive their experience, and keeps the onus off the programmers or the game makers for things that don't work as advertised.

There have been epic threads that have explained Classic Pitching for years... What has never happened has been a programmer or developer of that particular section of the game, come into the thread and say, "yep, that is exactly how we programmed these functions to work".

I have asked for years if there is some sort of pre-game algorithm that tilts the game's outcome in a certain slant, to keep an ebb and flow to the games within the 162-game grind of playing every game. Is there "something" that allows a team to just get a little edge, or pitch better, or be prone to errors for one reason or another. This, if true, would explain A LOT about how and what unfolds during the games. But no one has ever confirmed to denied that this happens.

Therefore, it is my perception that there is something there, and then maybe it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy, but if SDS were to confirm, or dismiss these claims, I could then say the game was "broken" if the results did not line up with their confirmations, or as it was written in a manual.

Perception is the key to satisfaction, and if the game is working like you think it ought to, the reception is always more lenient when things go awry.

We'll never see things spelled out exactly as they are programmed, and that is 100% on purpose.

~syf

Such a good post. Well thought out and explained

[underdog13]

Re: Fielding flyballs should not be this hard

I was tilting the stick full throttle the entire time, from the very first step. Including when he slowed to a jog.

That's what's different now - when you're properly lined up to make the catch, the game will throttle the fielder's speed if it's necessary

Welp, I know this would explain the issue I had in my original clip with Heyward, I was "self throttling" which is why he stopped moving.

[underdog13]

Re: Fielding flyballs should not be this hard

Has anyone submitted this to SDS thru the bug/feedback portal?

https://theshow.sonysandiegostudio.g...d=360003007534

I personally haven't because I think a lot of it is game design that I happen to disagree with. I know some others think it's bug/not working as intended.