Fouls Slider

[RogueHominid]

Hey, all. I'm no slider guru, but I went in and tweaked the Fouls slider for the user tonight, after feeling like I was unable to get into extended battles or protect even halfway decently with two strikes.

Some of that is user skill, but 30+ and just don't have the reflexes to move the stick to the exact spot in order to foul a pitch.

So my question is whether any of you knows how sensitive this slider is and if it has serious repercussions on the rest of the hitting engine.

I started by maxing it, and was able to foul off everything I tried. I don't want that, per se, but it could have been dumb luck. Can anyone else speak to this slider working for them and how they determined how far to go with it?

My goal is not to get more hits, but to stay alive a bit longer in general in 2 strike counts in order to get a few more pitches to hit and walks per game. On HOF, those are about the only two things that I don't think are perfect for me yet.

[DodgerFanatic2K3]

Re: Fouls Slider

Did you read my post ???

I'm looking for the EXACT same thing you are

Not more hits.... just more chances to battle a pitcher at the plate and actually stay alive longer by fouling off pitches to raise pitch counts more :wink:

I love the new pitcher batter interface in '09 but I miss being able to foul off pitches and have a few 10+ pitch battles per game

All these 90 pitch almost complete games being thrown against me are getting old fast


I'm not a very patient batter.... battling at the plate by fouling off pitches was the only way I was able to eventually capitalize on mistake pitches or finally work a walk

I had some epic battles in MLB '08 and I hope someone can find the perfect balance of sliders to allow this to occasionally happen again in '09 while keeping the realism in tact

[dorismary]

Re: Fouls Slider

I have great results with both at 6 some use 7
The Autum wind is a Raider !!! RIP John F

[RogueHominid]

Re: Fouls Slider

Did you read my post ???

I'm looking for the EXACT same thing you are

Not more hits.... just more chances to battle a pitcher at the plate and actually stay alive longer by fouling off pitches to raise pitch counts more :wink:

I love the new pitcher batter interface in '09 but I miss being able to foul off pitches and have a few 10+ pitch battles per game

All these 90 pitch almost complete games being thrown against me are getting old fast


I'm not a very patient batter.... battling at the plate by fouling off pitches was the only way I was able to eventually capitalize on mistake pitches or finally work a walk

I had some epic battles in MLB '08 and I hope someone can find the perfect balance of sliders to allow this to occasionally happen again in '09 while keeping the realism in tact

I missed your post, but I'm right there with you in terms of what I'm looking for.

I've been playing on HOF, and literally everything about my games is perfect. I pitch well sometimes, get shelled sometimes, hit doubles and taters some games, get very few hits others. In last year's game, though, I could foul pitches off a little easier. This year, it feels like you have to be absolutely precise with the placement of the L Stick to get the tip.

I labbed +5 on All Star, and got like 11 hits in six innings, so I don't think All Star is for me, and +5 may be a bit much. I'm going to try HOF @ +5 today, and then work down to +3 if need be.

I don't mind striking about, getting low hit totals, etc. It's just the feel of the battle that I'm missing a bit.

[pberardi]

Re: Fouls Slider

Hey, all. I'm no slider guru, but I went in and tweaked the Fouls slider for the user tonight, after feeling like I was unable to get into extended battles or protect even halfway decently with two strikes.

Some of that is user skill, but 30+ and just don't have the reflexes to move the stick to the exact spot in order to foul a pitch.

So my question is whether any of you knows how sensitive this slider is and if it has serious repercussions on the rest of the hitting engine.

I started by maxing it, and was able to foul off everything I tried. I don't want that, per se, but it could have been dumb luck. Can anyone else speak to this slider working for them and how they determined how far to go with it?

My goal is not to get more hits, but to stay alive a bit longer in general in 2 strike counts in order to get a few more pitches to hit and walks per game. On HOF, those are about the only two things that I don't think are perfect for me yet.

Good post. I think many are experiencing more strikeouts and less contact this year. SCEA addressed the hit fest by reducing the PCI coverage.

Increasing the foul slider might help but I decided not to play with the hitting sliders just yet. Many times, strikeouts or less foul tips is a timing issue and not a slider issue.

The other day, despite losing, I walked away from my game with complete satisfatcion. My at bats were very good. I went deep into counts and struckout only 5X and walked 3X. I got 4 runs on 8 hits. You can't get a better boxscore than that!

What I discovered was that the L stick really isn't pure zone hitting. With 2 strikes, I simply gently move the stick off center. I don't aim or try to look for location with 2 strikes.

By slightly moving the L stick it seems to elevate the PCI and the hitters ability to foul tip those tough to reach corner pitches. I had 3 at bats with 10 pitch counts in which 1 led to a BB, 1 a groundout and 1 a strikeout.

The nice thing is, you're not likley to hit the ball solidly but work the count.

The natural tendency is to gently move the L stick down as the CPU loves to throw CU and Curves low in the zone.

Also, if you haven't done this already, lower the CPU pitching sliders, control, strike % and consistency from default. You get more variety of 2-0/2-1/3-1 counts. More hitter counts for you to work deep as the CPU loves to battle back.

You'll get more pitches on the edge of the PCI where you can battle with X only.

This technique didn't work as well on legend for me. Apparently, legend has a smaller plate coverage and thus L stick becomes closer to zone style hitting.

Let us know how the foul slider works for you. I might try it myself. But I honestly believe the L stick can aid you here. It might disrupt your timing at first but anything to avoid "slideritis" this year is a plus for me.

PS...even when slightly aiming the L down, I can still foul off high heat and stay alive. As long as the pitch touches the PCI (off or on) you can foul tip. If you swing at pitches out of the strike zone, expect to swing and miss.

Any slider that allows me the ability to foul tip pitches well off the plate should be destroyed immediately! (lol)

[RogueHominid]

Re: Fouls Slider

Good post. I think many are experiencing more strikeouts and less contact this year. SCEA addressed the hit fest by reducing the PCI coverage.

Increasing the foul slider might help but I decided not to play with the hitting sliders just yet. Many times, strikeouts or less foul tips is a timing issue and not a slider issue.

The other day, despite losing, I walked away from my game with complete satisfatcion. My at bats were very good. I went deep into counts and struckout only 5X and walked 3X. I got 4 runs on 8 hits. You can't get a better boxscore than that!

What I discovered was that the L stick really isn't pure zone hitting. With 2 strikes, I simply gently move the stick off center. I don't aim or try to look for location with 2 strikes.

By slightly moving the L stick it seems to elevate the PCI and the hitters ability to foul tip those tough to reach corner pitches. I had 3 at bats with 10 pitch counts in which 1 led to a BB, 1 a groundout and 1 a strikeout.

The nice thing is, you're not likley to hit the ball solidly but work the count.

The natural tendency is to gently move the L stick down as the CPU loves to throw CU and Curves low in the zone.

Also, if you haven't done this already, lower the CPU pitching sliders, control, strike % and consistency from default. You get more variety of 2-0/2-1/3-1 counts. More hitter counts for you to work deep as the CPU loves to battle back.

You'll get more pitches on the edge of the PCI where you can battle with X only.

This technique didn't work as well on legend for me. Apparently, legend has a smaller plate coverage and thus L stick becomes closer to zone style hitting.

Let us know how the foul slider works for you. I might try it myself. But I honestly believe the L stick can aid you here. It might disrupt your timing at first but anything to avoid "slideritis" this year is a plus for me.

PS...even when slightly aiming the L down, I can still foul off high heat and stay alive. As long as the pitch touches the PCI (off or on) you can foul tip. If you swing at pitches out of the strike zone, expect to swing and miss.

Any slider that allows me the ability to foul tip pitches well off the plate should be destroyed immediately! (lol)

Great response!

I'm right there with you on wanting to avoid slider-itis. This game is flat out incredible and is very well tuned. Moreover, I'm vary wary of making adjustments on the basis of a small sample size of games.

I know for sure that the tip I picked up here yesterday on reading pitches has already improved my eye tenfold. It may very well be that the fouls slider adjustment isn't necessary.

Part of the issue is that on HOF, it seems that most of my games show the CPU pitcher pounding the zone so that it's very hard to get a hitter's count. I know part of that is user skill, though, so I really want to practice until I play up to the game, not bring the game down to me. I'm very glad they toned down PCI and the hitfest. In my games so far, I've had 3-4 hit games and 8-9 hit games, games with no HR and games with 4. I LOVE that I can actually be dominated this time around. I just want a tad more battling.

I'll do some more labbing today and post results for interested parties.

Viva El Show!

[DodgerFanatic2K3]

Re: Fouls Slider

Thanks for the suggestions but I'll just take the slider set that gives me the ability to foul off most anything around the edges and in the zone without moving or reading anything :wink:

Reading pitches and slightly moving the L stick on 2 strikes will work much better for people that have plate discipline.....NOT ME

I hope someone finds the right slider set

From what I have seen.. if the Foul slider is too high you will never strike out because you will almost always make contact on the 1st or 2nd pitch... which will NOT raise pitch counts so we have to find the perfect balance where we can still strike out but be able to stay alive longer before doing it

[RogueHominid]

Re: Fouls Slider

Well, I labbed on HOF with Fouls maxed out today. Good news, bad news. Good news--I was able to foul some 2 strike pitches off. Bad news--I still struck out a ton, lol.

I don't use guess pitch, or any other aids, FYI.

My conclusion is that Timing is actually more important than Fouls with regards to Ks. I can't hit a curve to save my life, mostly because the timing differential is so great with the better pitchers.

I think the most promising result, at least on HOF, is to work on pitch recognition. I'm probably going to go back to default sliders, HOF, and just work on seeing what's coming.

I do think that on default sliders the pitcher pounds the zone pretty hard, but we'll see if that changes over time.