Five Ways to Make 09 The Show a Hit

[PS9119]

These are all very good suggestions but how about these!

1 - Finally have the catcher toss away his damn mask to catch a popup like in real life I can't believe something as signature as this has not been addressed!

2 - In manager mode how about an option for one pitch mode.

3 - The ability to have your created players name be announced by the Pa announcer as well as the analysts.

4- And this one really bugs me how about allowing the use of classic uniforms in dynasty and season mode!!!

5 - More HOF players and classic stadiums!

6 The ability to at least change a HOF players number in dynasty and season mode!

7 Free roaming camera in manager mode!!!!!!!!

All easy stuff most of these where done years ago in high heat!

[Jonny Toe]

Base hits need to be increased...Lots of key points mentioned in the article

[SoxFan01605]

Re: Five Ways to Make 09 The Show a Hit

I agree with all of this.
Not that the franchise mode is bad. Not at all, but it is very forgiving. You REALLY have to put and enforce a set of rules on yourself in almost every aspect....from player signings to trades to actual team play(meaning they are all with you all the time.....I wouldn't mind if I had a player or group of players "quit" on me and I was forced to either win them back....get rid of them...or just figure out a way to win with them unhappy.)

I guess the biggest thing...first and foremost should be the difficulty and not just as far as playing. There should be difficulty levels for the franchise mode also. On the easiest level....just about every player will sign...resign and want to play for you. Every other GM in the league will want to deal with you and make deals with you....they'll take your scrubs...whatever.
On a medium difficulty...it should be normal. Kind of like it is now.
On the advanced difficulty players might not want to play for your club....it would take a lot to sign them or resign them. GM's can't stand you(at least half of them)...and while they won't outright not deal with you...you better wow them with the deals.
On the most difficult setting....you're going to have to break the bank for each player you want to sign.....same for guys you want to resign....and you'll practically have to beg the other GM's to take deals that are obviously one sided on their behalf.
On the field...every team hates your squad so much they play every game like it's game 7 of the W.S....


M.K.
Knight165

All great ideas Knight

I agree with the difficulty levels for franchise. Another idea: It would also be great to pick a GM personality base that may or may not clash with your players and coaches during negotiations or personnel decisions. Imagine a coach walking because you keep overriding his suggestions, or a player quitting on you (represented by a ratings hit or phantom tummy ache type injuries) because he feels you don't appreciate him.

You could also build upon your base personality as the season goes. Not only could you start with a certain skill set (giving you bonuses or penalties...these could be modified based on franchise difficulty level) but have a starting reputation you can build from. Do you constantly shuffle your rosters and trade away veteran talent for prospects or younger talent? Young players might flock to you but be careful, veterans may not want to sign and see you as unstable. Do you overpay for big names whenever possible? You might get extra interest from the high dollar FAs, but other GM's will drive up the prices on you...betting on your impatience. It would be nice to hire a full staff too, which could effect the overall ease or difficulty of financial and personell based actions.

Ahh...I could go on forever...and nearly have...lol

[statum71]

I disagree 100% that hitting is "easy."

I saw more fly outs and ground outs than in any baseball game I've ever had.

And Homeruns are rare. I think I saw a homerun about once every 3 games or so. Unless a team got hot and hit a few in one game. But thats it.

[asu666]

I disagree 100% that hitting is "easy."

I saw more fly outs and ground outs than in any baseball game I've ever had.

And Homeruns are rare. I think I saw a homerun about once every 3 games or so. Unless a team got hot and hit a few in one game. But thats it.

This is close to what I see in my games too.

[HustlinOwl]

Would like to see hitting and throwing based off the right analog stick like the MVP college baseball series

[DubTrey1]

I cosign all of these you have listed and sliders that work as well.

[dodgerblue]

Re: Five Ways to Make 09 The Show a Hit

my 5:

Dynamic Lighting (mentioned)

More extra base hits, too many singles. I don't know if this is a power issue or if the fielders are too fast or positioned incorrectly, but 8 singles and 1 extra base hit routinely is not a good variety.

Distinctive player motions and player models (e.g. signature styles)

Throwback stadiums and uni's

Great teams from the past: '27 Yanks, '75 Reds, '55 Dodgers

[countryboy]

Great article Jack!

I love the suggestions but I am still hoping for a more robust franchise mode like the one found in the All-Star Baseball series. Add that along with the 5 things mentioned here and we've got possibly the best baseball game to ever grace a console.

[decga]

Re: Five Ways to Make 09 The Show a Hit

I disagree 100% that hitting is "easy."

I saw more fly outs and ground outs than in any baseball game I've ever had.

And Homeruns are rare. I think I saw a homerun about once every 3 games or so. Unless a team got hot and hit a few in one game. But thats it.

I agree with you. People trips me out when say hitting is too easy. I like the abiliity to press a single to make contact. It is not like every time you press (square) the ball leaves the yard. The hitting system was good in MVP, but guess what that was easy also....

[EnigmaNemesis]

Re: Five Ways to Make 09 The Show a Hit

I agree with you. People trips me out when say hitting is too easy. I like the abiliity to press a single to make contact. It is not like every time you press (square) the ball leaves the yard. The hitting system was good in MVP, but guess what that was easy also....

/agree

I dunno where people come off easy, maybe they should up the difficulty and mess around with sliders.

Still, like others have said, this game has far more variety than any one as of late as far as hitting, and it surely is not a HR-fest.

If anything, it is a foul ball fest, and that feels good, feels baseball.

[SoxFan01605]

Re: Five Ways to Make 09 The Show a Hit

/agree

I dunno where people come off easy, maybe they should up the difficulty and mess around with sliders.

Still, like others have said, this game has far more variety than any one as of late as far as hitting, and it surely is not a HR-fest.

If anything, it is a foul ball fest, and that feels good, feels baseball.

I don't know if anyone said it's a HR fest. You can get tons of hits without it being a slugfest. I personally do find it easy to get hits if you're using a good team. I personally found it more challenging in 07, but I could be wrong.

There are A LOT of ways to get singles in this game. This isn't a bad thing, but it can make hits plentiful if they come too frequently. I've tried numerous sliders (Including the other Nemesis...which were very good, by the way) and I would personally like to see the contact slider tuned for more effect. That way, those of us that do feel hits are too plentiful, can be appeased and it doesn't have to effect those that feel it's fine. Of course, I also think that all sliders should have more "range" but that's just me.

I think, as the article pointed out, the problem comes from the cursor being to forgiving. In a cursor based system, you shouldn't be able to just use timing 80-90% of the time and be successful. For those that prefer a timing only system (and I understand that many do), they should maybe include a system for that while maybe making the cursor more "strict," so to speak. Bunting could use some work to as it's very easy with speedy guys (though it is reduced if you take Rod's suggestions on speed ratings). Please don't think I dislike the hitting. I don't dislike it by any means, I just think it could use some tuning.

I agree with hit variety though. There does seem (especially once you open up the OF via ratings) to be a good amount of extra base hits, multiple ways to get base hits, etc. I also love the foul balls and the way, from a pitching perspective, each at bat can have the feel of a battle. They nailed the matchup at the very least. The only other downside to this is CPU offense. They seem to have a tough time stringing hits together with any consistency and have long bouts of offensive dry spells.

I know all this sounds like a list of complaints, but it's more an explanation of what some of us mean when we talk about the hitting. It's a great game and IMO, with a little more slider range, can be tuned to be near perfect for anyone

[DodgerFanatic2K3]

Re: Five Ways to Make 09 The Show a Hit

The answer is found in 2 easy steps and should please everyone

STEP #1

Include 3 batting styles

(CLASSIC)

(ZONE)

(CURSOR)

STEP #2

Allow them all to be used on any difficulty level and just make the A.I. an actual challenge on ALL-STAR & HOF

In '09 when I play on HOF I should be able to choose any batting style I want in the options and still be able to be challenged by super smart pitchers that paint the corners with precision and make it tough for you to even get hits regardless of how I prefer to bat, followed up with fast reacting fielders that make the big plays and extremely patient and smart hitters that make you earn your outs and regret your mistakes

There's my perfect game right there...freedom of choice and still a challenge for anyone :wink:

[EnigmaNemesis]

Re: Five Ways to Make 09 The Show a Hit

I don't know if anyone said it's a HR fest. You can get tons of hits without it being a slugfest. I personally do find it easy to get hits if you're using a good team. I personally found it more challenging in 07, but I could be wrong.

There are A LOT of ways to get singles in this game. This isn't a bad thing, but it can make hits plentiful if they come too frequently. I've tried numerous sliders (Including yours...which were very good, by the way) and I would personally like to see the contact slider tuned for more effect. That way, those of us that do feel hits are too plentiful, can be appeased and it doesn't have to effect those that feel it's fine. Of course, I also think that all sliders should have more "range" but that's just me.

I think, as the article pointed out, the problem comes from the cursor being to forgiving. In a cursor based system, you shouldn't be able to just use timing 80-90% of the time and be successful. For those that prefer a timing only system (and I understand that many do), they should maybe include a system for that while maybe making the cursor more "strict," so to speak. Bunting could use some work to as it's very easy with speedy guys (though it is reduced if you take Rod's suggestions on speed ratings). Please don't think I dislike the hitting. I don't dislike it by any means, I just think it could use some tuning.

I agree with hit variety though. There does seem (especially once you open up the OF via ratings) to be a good amount of extra base hits, multiple ways to get base hits, etc. I also love the foul balls and the way, from a pitching perspective, each at bat can have the feel of a battle. They nailed the matchup at the very least. The only other downside to this is CPU offense. They seem to have a tough time stringing hits together with any consistency and have long bouts of offensive dry spells.

I know all this sounds like a list of complaints, but it's more an explanation of what some of us mean when we talk about the hitting. It's a great game and IMO, with a little more slider range, can be tuned to be near perfect for anyone

Well said.

I was mostly referring to ones that don't get as deep as most of us on here. Which in essence most of us on here get deep in it, or we would not even be here! We are fanatics to sports and sports gaming.

I do like you suggestions where the sliders should have more of an impact. And that would go with the general "sliders that work" brigade. But rather, "sliders that can be tuned farther than what they allow".

BTW, I wish I had that much patience and determination to make a slider set like Nemesis04 has done. I know our names are similar, but I can never steel thunder from someone who done such great work.

Though I used to be a huge roster editor of all teams back in the day on the PSX and PS2 versions before the boom of easy to download files on the internet. Gosh I can remember spending WEEKS fine tuning every teams roster before I played a single game. Good times!

[SoxFan01605]

Re: Five Ways to Make 09 The Show a Hit

Well said.

I was mostly referring to ones that don't get as deep as most of us on here. Which in essence most of us on here get deep in it, or we would not even be here! We are fanatics to sports and sports gaming.

I do like you suggestions where the sliders should have more of an impact. And that would go with the general "sliders that work" brigade. But rather, "sliders that can be tuned farther than what they allow".

BTW, I wish I had that much patience and determination to make a slider set like Nemesis04 has done. I know our names are similar, but I can never steel thunder from someone who done such great work.

Though I used to be a huge roster editor of all teams back in the day on the PSX and PS2 versions before the boom of easy to download files on the internet. Gosh I can remember spending WEEKS fine tuning every teams roster before I played a single game. Good times!

lol...I realized I had my Nemesises mixed up after I saw your handle again.

Oh well. This game is great, but what makes me so hopeful for it's continued improvement is the excellent developer interaction and encouragement of community envolement. We now have some good "community reps" too, so things are looking pretty good right now