MLB 11 The Show Hands-On Impressions, CES 2011 (dmbfan1970)

[countryboy]

Re: MLB 11 The Show Hands-On Impressions, CES 2011 (dmbfan1970)

Apart from being a realistic addition, what practical impact would this have on gameplay? Would it compose a batter? Break up a pitcher's rhythm?

its done for both. Stepping out is used for the hitter to get composed, especially if fooled on pitches, and its used to break the rhythm of a pitcher who's got it going or quick pitching.

[SoxFan01605]

Re: MLB 11 The Show Hands-On Impressions, CES 2011 (dmbfan1970)

Apart from being a realistic addition, what practical impact would this have on gameplay? Would it compose a batter? Break up a pitcher's rhythm?

Well, realism is good enough for me, personally

But aside from that, for multiplayer games (not sure if it's also available online, but offline at least), it would prevent quick-pitching.

As for standard offline gameplay vs CPU, there are certainly times were I've paused the game to think about how to approach an AB (no joke), so it would add a more realistic way to achieve that (basically a user/manual composure addition). If it did anything else (like break up rhythm or add batter composure like you mentioned), that would be a bonus IMO.

Not hugely important, but a nice touch.

[Alistair]

Re: MLB 11 The Show Hands-On Impressions, CES 2011 (dmbfan1970)

How damn hard is it to include rain delays though?? It's not exactly a major coding overhaul. What's so hard about scheduling the occasional double header? I thought it would be a no brained this year

[countryboy]

Re: MLB 11 The Show Hands-On Impressions, CES 2011 (dmbfan1970)

How damn hard is it to include rain delays though?? It's not exactly a major coding overhaul. What's so hard about scheduling the occasional double header? I thought it would be a no brained this year

I don't know, I'm not a developer.

[Dice]

Re: MLB 11 The Show Hands-On Impressions, CES 2011 (dmbfan1970)

How damn hard is it to include rain delays though?? It's not exactly a major coding overhaul. What's so hard about scheduling the occasional double header? I thought it would be a no brained this year

I thought I read somewhere from one of the developers of the game that they tried to implement it in one of the previous versions and it threw the game totally out of whack. So they had to remove it entirely. I don't think it's as easy as you think it is. It's hard enough for them to get the CPU to restructure the batting line up correctly through the course of a season. I don't think re-scheduling games on rain delays would be any easier.

[EnigmaNemesis]

Re: MLB 11 The Show Hands-On Impressions, CES 2011 (dmbfan1970)

How damn hard is it to include rain delays though?? It's not exactly a major coding overhaul. What's so hard about scheduling the occasional double header? I thought it would be a no brained this year

It is much harder than you would imagine.

[countryboy]

Re: MLB 11 The Show Hands-On Impressions, CES 2011 (dmbfan1970)

I thought I read somewhere from one of the developers of the game that they tried to implement it in one of the previous versions and it threw the game totally out of whack. So they had to remove it entirely. I don't think it's as easy as you think it is. It's hard enough for them to get the CPU to restructure the batting line up correctly through the course of a season. I don't think re-scheduling games on rain delays would be any easier.

I remember they tried to add fog last year but had to remove it.

[Braves Fan]

Re: MLB 11 The Show Hands-On Impressions, CES 2011 (dmbfan1970)

I guess this is an obsession I don't really get. I mean I'll admit it's pretty cool because rain does happen in baseball but any time I'm watching a real game and a rain delay pops up I am annoyed. I want to watch baseball, not America's Funniest videos. I certainly don't want to watch it rain just because. If rain is indeed going to be put into this game then I want it done right.

Just a simple rain delay would be boring unless you have to weigh the pros and cons that come with it, having to schedule double headers would be kind of nice if a player's fatigue is taken into consideration. Rain delay's would be a cool feature if there was a injury risk factor of sending your starter back out after a long rain delay. Having to play in poor conditions should also increase the chance of an injury, a game shouldn't be treated the same in a downpour as it would on a nice 85 degree Sunday afternoon.

That's kind of what I want to see with this, just having a simple delay and double headers don't really do much for me if you don't have to consider the factors that come with inclement weather.

[SoxFan01605]

Re: MLB 11 The Show Hands-On Impressions, CES 2011 (dmbfan1970)

How damn hard is it to include rain delays though?? It's not exactly a major coding overhaul. What's so hard about scheduling the occasional double header? I thought it would be a no brained this year

How do you know (no sarcasm/snarkiness btw, just curious)? These guys are good about trying to get stuff in incrementally rather than forcing it in for the sake of it.

It seems like (much like other changes in the past-like the last few years of getting the progressive lighting in the way they want it) they have a plan to get it in. This year seem to be adding it and making sure it rains when and where it should. Then Delays and other effects get added after that is implemented properly (along with whatever tweaks they need to make to the rain itself). It might simply be a QA issue.

I'm no developer, but coding a game seems (procedurally) not much different than building electronics (something I'm more familiar with). You add things in increments so it's easier to pinpoint potential errors that may crop up from any additions you make.

It could also be a simple priority situation (rain delays, while perhaps doable, were lower priority than tuning other related areas). Everything, especially when you are essentially dealing with less than a year to make changes, add features, and check bugs (Which I think most here would agree is an area that slipped a bit the last couple years and should be a focus), comes with it's own costs to time, budget, resources, etc. I'm sure these guys weighed options exhaustively rather than just arbitrarily choosing to omit part of a feature.

[EnigmaNemesis]

Re: MLB 11 The Show Hands-On Impressions, CES 2011 (dmbfan1970)

I guess this is an obsession I don't really get. I mean I'll admit it's pretty cool because rain does happen in baseball but any time I'm watching a real game and a rain delay pops up I am annoyed. I want to watch baseball, not America's Funniest videos. I certainly don't want to watch it rain just because. If rain is indeed going to be put into this game then I want it done right.

Just a simple rain delay would be boring unless you have to weigh the pros and cons that come with it, having to schedule double headers would be kind of nice if a player's fatigue is taken into consideration. Rain delay's would be a cool feature if there was a injury risk factor of sending your starter back out after a long rain delay. Having to play in poor conditions should also increase the chance of an injury, a game shouldn't be treated the same in a downpour as it would on a nice 85 degree Sunday afternoon.

That's kind of what I want to see with this, just having a simple delay and double headers don't really do much for me if you don't have to consider the factors that come with inclement weather.

You are on the right track with it... and this is something SCEA knows. They add things at the most professional and realistic level. Not add things just because. They do not half *** things.

They are laying the foundation for this, and with all the engineering and coding that went into what you will see I am sure we will all be very impressed.

[Blzer]

Re: MLB 11 The Show Hands-On Impressions, CES 2011 (dmbfan1970)

Alistar, it could be very difficult. First they would have to decide what constitutes a rain delay. And no, it's not as easy as writing "if it rains for this long or has this many centimeters of water, boom... rain delay." No, it's not that simple. Secondly, they would then have to take into account when a game might be called back on to resume play or if it would have to be re-scheduled. With this game's fatigue system, that can be very tricky. Re-scheduling can be tricky as well.

Including rain was the first step, and it appears to be both cosmetic and game-changing. No rain delays yet I can see, but they will keep working on it. Baby steps are what got SCEA to where they are now, so when they feel comfortable that they can perfect the system, I'm sure you'll see it added to their game.

[green94]

Re: MLB 11 The Show Hands-On Impressions, CES 2011 (dmbfan1970)

I remember they tried to add fog last year but had to remove it.

Good point, I wonder if fog is back in this year?

[countryboy]

Re: MLB 11 The Show Hands-On Impressions, CES 2011 (dmbfan1970)

Good point, I wonder if fog is back in this year?

I hope so.

[EnigmaNemesis]

Re: MLB 11 The Show Hands-On Impressions, CES 2011 (dmbfan1970)

Alistar, it could be very difficult. First they would have to decide what constitutes a rain delay. And no, it's not as easy as writing "if it rains for this long or has this many centimeters of water, boom... rain delay." No, it's not that simple. Secondly, they would then have to take into account when a game might be called back on to resume play or if it would have to be re-scheduled. With this game's fatigue system, that can be very tricky. Re-scheduling can be tricky as well.

Including rain was the first step, and it appears to be both cosmetic and game-changing. No rain delays yet I can see, but they will keep working on it. Baby steps are what got SCEA to where they are now, so when they feel comfortable that they can perfect the system, I'm sure you'll see it added to their game.

To add what you said Blzer, their "baby steps" are huge endeavors and are done so well. These guys are some of the best in the business, just spend 20 minutes talking to Brian, and seeing the passion, and technical know how this man posses, and you will be stunned he is working on a "baseball game" all things considered. And I mean that in the biggest of compliments, because if you knew all the calculations, programming and physics that are in just moving the analog stick, your head will spin. The man is a huge asset.

[bcruise]

Re: MLB 11 The Show Hands-On Impressions, CES 2011 (dmbfan1970)

To add what you said Blzer, their "baby steps" are huge endeavors and are done so well. These guys are some of the best in the business, just spend 20 minutes talking to Brian, and seeing the passion, and technical know how this man posses, and you will be stunned he is working on a "baseball game" all things considered. The man is a huge asset.

Glad you had a chance to talk to him already, I felt the same way when I got to meet him last year. The man certainly knows his stuff.

And for the newcomers, he's made quite a few posts here on OS about how the AI and gameplay works and such - they're all great reads if you can find them. Just search for anything by Brian_SCEA (although he did post under Kolbe and/or Chris's name occasionally before he registered here).