Best Hitting Interface

[thesportsartist]

Re: Best Hitting Interface

Maybe i just suck LOL on base all star with power +1 i cant do anything on zone....directional or timing

[jrp1918]

Re: Best Hitting Interface

I use timing or directional. I also used to just sit dead center with zone.

I've never gotten the hang of zone and my hand eye coordination isn't good enough. It's like turning baseball into a FPS.

I like having the ratings matter a lot.

I don't play online so it shouldn't matter.

Everyone always recommends zone because it has a higher ceiling if your stick skills are good but if stick skills are all that matters, why even have cards with different ratings?

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[BoNity]

Re: Best Hitting Interface

I use timing or directional. I also used to just sit dead center with zone.

I've never gotten the hang of zone and my hand eye coordination isn't good enough. It's like turning baseball into a FPS.

I like having the ratings matter a lot.

I don't play online so it shouldn't matter.

Everyone always recommends zone because it has a higher ceiling if your stick skills are good but if stick skills are all that matters, why even have cards with different ratings?

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Yeah this is where I’m at too. Switched to directional. I get so many more hit variety and it’s simply more fun and less taxing on the eyes and brain.

I too am an offline player. I get that zone would be best for online pros but I that’s not baseball to me. Like you said it’s more of a fps.

[nflman2033]

Re: Best Hitting Interface

I would argue that the gold standard is based on what you want to accomplish. If you want ratings to matter the most, directional is the way to go. If you want user input to matter the most, zone is the way to go. This is also usually based on competitive or simulation for play style as well.

To me directional and simulation style is the gold standard.

Yes. I'd agree. My issue is that it just takes too much out of the users hands. At that point I may as well use manage mode. And if I am going to use manage mode I may as well play OOTP.

So if you are looking for best results possible, and by best results getting rewarded or penalized for what you did, zone is the only way to go. If you want simulation, you want a more RNG based time based hitting mode. I like analog because it was fun to use.

To the OP, you do not have to move the PCI like its the bat and you are trying to hit a ball. It is the area of the strike zone that you are looking. With locked pci set it where you want and only swing at pitches there. That's my opinion anyway. I know that I swing way too much if I use any method other than zone. If the pitch isn't coming for my pci I don't swing at it. Moving the pci to where the ball is going to be just takes too long and it usually results in my making weak contact. I am better served trying to guess where it's going and only swinging at pitches I know I can hit.

[TarHeelPhenom]

Re: Best Hitting Interface

Give me Directional or give me death. With all sports games, players playing according to their ratings is what matters most to me. Yes, I still have to hit, I still have to pitch, and I still have to throw. But, ratings should matter. It's what separates players. So, Directional is the way to go in my opinion.

[thesportsartist]

Re: Best Hitting Interface

Give me Directional or give me death. With all sports games, players playing according to their ratings is what matters most to me. Yes, I still have to hit, I still have to pitch, and I still have to throw. But, ratings should matter. It's what separates players. So, Directional is the way to go in my opinion.

Appreciate you

[thesportsartist]

Re: Best Hitting Interface

Thanks everyone for assistance so far ima work again with timing i think cause directional just doesn't allow for me to square up as many pitches. Im open to more advice and ill gladly use any advice you may have. Ive enjoyed reading all the comments so far

[hockeyyt988]

Best Hitting Interface

I’m kind of opposite of others here. I’m all for simulation but do what my input to somewhat matter, which is why I choose zone.

Yes, zone might be a bit more “stick skills”, but I couple it with the simulation option. With this combo, i get a balance of having control while also having gameplay heavily influenced by ratings.

I’ve tried directional and can’t get behind it because I have less control.

I like the mechanics of waiting to drive a pitch opposite field or sitting for something inside. To me, that feels more like being in the box and if your hitter isn’t that great, it doesn’t matter how good your stick skills are because your aren’t doing much.

That said, when it comes to fielding I do auto with button throwing so that ratings are the sole variable.


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[bcruise]

Re: Best Hitting Interface

I’m kind of opposite of others here. I’m all for simulation but do what my input to somewhat matter, which is why I choose zone.

Yes, zone might be a bit more “stick skills”, but I couple it with the simulation option. With this combo, i get a balance of having control while also having gameplay heavily influenced by ratings.

I’ve tried directional and can’t get behind it because I have less control.

I like the mechanics of waiting to drive a pitch opposite field or sitting for something inside. To me, that feels more like being in the box and if your hitter isn’t that great, it doesn’t matter how good your stick skills are because your aren’t doing much.

That said, when it comes to fielding I do auto with button throwing so that ratings are the sole variable.


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Well said. The PCI exists to create realism with a high amount of user input, but it requires finding the right difficulty to play on to make that happen. It's easy enough to have an arcade slugfest by playing on a lower difficulty (most games on All-Star turn into that for me) but if you go up to the highest levels the strikeout and weak contact are definitely brought into play and balance out the stats. And the PCI is always scaled, always balanced by a comparison between the pitcher and batter's ratings, even on Legend.

And I'm with you on the fielding as well - as much as I'd like to create the same effect with the throwing accuracy meter, I can't. It's just way too easy for me to make green and perfect throws and that results in there being little difference in outfielder throwing ability. And turning the meter off but leaving the functionality active widens the timing window so making accurate throws constantly is still too easy. Buttons interface is just the only way for me to go. It's the only way I can see offline throws from the outfield and basemen having to reach for them and then try to do a tag animation while coming back to the bag.

[hockeyyt988]

Re: Best Hitting Interface

Well said. The PCI exists to create realism with a high amount of user input, but it requires finding the right difficulty to play on to make that happen. It's easy enough to have an arcade slugfest by playing on a lower difficulty (most games on All-Star turn into that for me) but if you go up to the highest levels the strikeout and weak contact are definitely brought into play and balance out the stats. And the PCI is always scaled, always balanced by a comparison between the pitcher and batter's ratings, even on Legend.

And I'm with you on the fielding as well - as much as I'd like to create the same effect with the throwing accuracy meter, I can't. It's just way too easy for me to make green and perfect throws and that results in there being little difference in outfielder throwing ability. And turning the meter off but leaving the functionality active widens the timing window so making accurate throws constantly is still too easy. Buttons interface is just the only way for me to go. It's the only way I can see offline throws from the outfield and basemen having to reach for them and then try to do a tag animation while coming back to the bag.

Agreed. I’m trying dynamic difficulty for the first time this year. I started it on legend and hovering around there and HOF +.

I think the difference between hitting and fielding are hitting is more strategy and fielding is more repetition and mechanics. It’s hard to have a strategy fielding, it’s more reaction. Yes it’s situational and that’s why I don’t do auto throw because you have to think what play needs to be made. I hear my little league coach in my head sometimes, “hey infield! Think of where the play is”. Haha.

While hitting, there is a strategy. Do I attack, do I be patient, inside, outside, etc. I feel zone gives me the most control over those situations while still allowing the ratings to hold true.

I get the stick skill school of thought and it is true, but to be honest, zone is hard to master. Even if you get really good at it, you aren’t crushing bombs with 0 contact guys for the reasons you just described.

Another thing I do is turn off all indicators such as the PCI. I want it to look and feel like a tv broadcast plus i find myself looking at my cursor rather then the pitch lol. It’s one reason I do auto fielding.

I really like these type of threads because it allows for all to expand on the way they play and arguably more importantly, why they play that way.


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[xNeurosiis]

Re: Best Hitting Interface

Ever since I used Armor’s sliders way back in 2014 I’ve used directional hitting. I think that’s the year it was introduced. His sliders spoiled me and made the game play like true baseball. Classic pitching, on the other hand, is something I’m still figuring out.

[Grey_Osprey]

Re: Best Hitting Interface

I was using Timing but recently switch back to Directional. Oddly enough, most of the time I don't use an influence outside of contact, normal, power swing buttons, but it just "feels" like there's a difference between the 2 depending on your setting. Could just be me though.

Zone hitting...I simple don't have the stick skills or quick reflexes to recognize a pitch, determine speed and location, and move the API all at the same

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[bcruise]

Re: Best Hitting Interface

I was using Timing but recently switch back to Directional. Oddly enough, most of the time I don't use an influence outside of contact, normal, power swing buttons, but it just "feels" like there's a difference between the 2 depending on your setting. Could just be me though.

Zone hitting...I simple don't have the stick skills or quick reflexes to recognize a pitch, determine speed and location, and move the API all at the same

Sent from my SM-S205DL using Operation Sports mobile app

I'm in the "play whatever way gives you the best experience" camp and I always will be, but I did want to clear up what seems to be a fairly common misconception here. You don't have to have great stick skills to play with Zone. For me at least, hitting on Zone isn't about me trying to track the ball with the PCI mid-flight on every pitch - in fact, being forced to do that (usually with a 2-strike count) is when I hit my absolute worst with that interface. Most of the time in even or batter ahead counts, I will just try to pre-aim the PCI at a spot I think the ball might go (sometimes due to hot zones, other times because of a pitcher's pattern), and lay off of anything I can't cover well. The reason is simple - because if I'm not at risk of striking out, I want to give myself the best possible chance at making solid contact. It's a psuedo guess pitch kind of thing, without the bonuses and penalties associated with that feature. And I can say with certainty that this method has made my entire plate approach better - laying off all those pitches that don't meet my PCI can really run up pitch counts and induce walks. I play on Legend normally which gives me a very small PCI with which to work, and as such I do have to move it around at times. But on lower levels the PCI can cover a much larger part of the plate, and it essentially becomes something not extremely different from Timing hitting.

With Zone, finding the right balance between hitting literally everything on the screws and striking out 20 times a game is the most important thing. And that can only be found by playing the game yourself and seeing what settings suit you best. Dynamic Difficulty can help with that as well, adjusting as you improve.

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Edit: I always feel like it's better to show than tell for things like this, so this quickie video will show exactly what I'm talking about. Yes, this is Diamond Dynasty and it's a moment with low difficulty and a gigantic PCI, but my approach is pretty much the same regardless. I set up a little to the inside third (right about where the "4" spot on the PCI anchor would be if I used it), and a low fastball on the outer third comes in. I know it's a strike mid-flight, and I could have hit that easily by moving my PCI (I even started to track it a bit), and probably even gotten a hit out of it. But I don't swing, because it's only strike 1 and it wasn't where I was looking for the ball initially. I set up in about the same place ( a little bit lower), pitch #2 comes in...and it could not be set up any better for me even if it was on a tee. At this point, it's Timing hitting without a risk of the CPU deciding I won't hit it. Boom, Perfect/Perfect, moment over.

[DonkeyJote]

Re: Best Hitting Interface

I should have clarfied. I dont move the PCI. However so far this year i feel like there is little to no power hitting. Im using the Yankees and hit almost no home runs. I like the idea of directional cause i can infleucne the ball. Zone i DONT move the PCI and timing i like the idea of just the timing influencing what happens. However, if I dont move the PCI (only to guess the pitch pre pitch) is PCI still the best? Overall I feel like power when using directional or timing is very minimal

If you don't move the PCI, don't use Zone. Just use timing. Using Zone without moving the PCI means you'll never make solid contact on anything not down the middle.

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[BlueSkies77]

Re: Best Hitting Interface

If you don't move the PCI, don't use Zone. Just use timing. Using Zone without moving the PCI means you'll never make solid contact on anything not down the middle.

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I know what he means though. You’ll generally have greater success with PCI if you anticipate where the pitch will be, hold it there and then small adjustments accordingly, sometimes none at all is best. I’ve been using PCI this way since MLB 2006.

PCI to me at least feels like real baseball, fouling balls off, trying to read the pitch off the hand, and nailing the ball when you’ve cracked the pitcher all feels perfect with pci.