Breaking this Game Down on AllStar ,group effort

[dorismary]

Re: Breaking this Game Down on AllStar ,group effort

The game plays pretty good out of the box on All-Star with default sliders, but there are a couple of problems. I think many of these problems could be addressed with simply a single click of a particular slider up or down:

The thing about the sliders is they are very sensitive and can have a cascading effect and cause other unintended problems.... just some observations so far.


Yancy

Great points Yancy but remember Pitcher confidence , player attributes all figure in.
Overall I give the pitchers the advantage , do to unrealistic cpu uber offensive attacks lol

[LingeringRegime]

Re: Breaking this Game Down on AllStar ,group effort

Right now I am playing with All-Star default, and I am using meter pitching with everything turned off, pitching ball marker, strike zone, guess pitch, (with API default on) etc. I am giving up walks and drawing walks just fine. You just have to be P-A-T-I-E-N-T at the plate. 90% of the time I take a pitch until I get a strike, and have seen quite a few 4 pitch walks by the CPU. I may try HOF eventually, but I am 1-4 in my franchise right now, and I am using the Mets. Overall, I am very happy with my current setup.

But with that said, I would really like to know the differences between All-Star, HOF, and Legend Difficulties respectively.

[RogueHominid]

Re: Breaking this Game Down on AllStar ,group effort

Right now I am playing with All-Star default, and I am using meter pitching with everything turned off, pitching ball marker, strike zone, guess pitch, (with API default on) etc. I am giving up walks and drawing walks just fine. You just have to be P-A-T-I-E-N-T at the plate. 90% of the time I take a pitch until I get a strike, and have seen quite a few 4 pitch walks by the CPU. I may try HOF eventually, but I am 1-4 in my franchise right now, and I am using the Mets. Overall, I am very happy with my current setup.

But with that said, I would really like to know the differences between All-Star, HOF, and Legend Difficulties respectively.

Now that I'm on AS after a stint on HOF, I can tell you that CPU hitters are a little easier to set up on AS. On HOF, they were very tough to fool, but on AS I find the CPU batters will chase a little more. To me, the balance feels just right. I was locked in with Schmidt and struck out 8 in 9 innings. On HOF I might have gotten 4-5.

The good hitters are still good, but you can get the scrubs to get themselves out a little easier. And it's not overdone. I've been taken yard by a #8 hitter before on AS, and I really feel good about how they tuned it this year.

[LingeringRegime]

Re: Breaking this Game Down on AllStar ,group effort

Now that I'm on AS after a stint on HOF, I can tell you that CPU hitters are a little easier to set up on AS. On HOF, they were very tough to fool, but on AS I find the CPU batters will chase a little more. To me, the balance feels just right. I was locked in with Schmidt and struck out 8 in 9 innings. On HOF I might have gotten 4-5.

The good hitters are still good, but you can get the scrubs to get themselves out a little easier. And it's not overdone. I've been taken yard by a #8 hitter before on AS, and I really feel good about how they tuned it this year.

Yeah, I feel the same way. AS seems to be the best balanced. CPU doesn't cheat you out of games, and you have to earn what you get. I am afraid that on HOF the CPU plays too superhuman. I think I have decided to stick with AS until I can win a World Series, then go up to HOF.

[DallasRocks]

Re: Breaking this Game Down on AllStar ,group effort

Well I've played a few more games with AS default with CPU power and solid hits at 0 and have done surprisingly well. I'm 4-1 with everygame being pretty close though, with scores of

8-7
3-7
3-2
6-5 10 innings
5-2

I have been hitting extremely well averaging around 10-12 hits a game, and have been holding the CPU to less than 10 hits but there HR's still seem to hurt me but not as much.

[RogueHominid]

Re: Breaking this Game Down on AllStar ,group effort

I was able to walk 4 times in my last game, the series finale with Arizona. Manny got one intentional pass, but I got the other 3 fair and square, even seeing one four-pitch walk and back-to-back walks by a fresh reliever. That was refreshing.

Team BA @ .267 + ERA @ 3.67 after 6. 8 walks and 52 strikeouts on offense, lol. Gotta get that .303 OBP up.

To help the thread out, I'm committing to 162 games of default All Star. I've played every pitch so far and will do so the entire season without touching a single slider. I really want to see what this game will give you over a very large sample size. I'll try to update with any relevant findings once per week.

[The Chef]

Re: Breaking this Game Down on AllStar ,group effort

I was able to walk 4 times in my last game, the series finale with Arizona. Manny got one intentional pass, but I got the other 3 fair and square, even seeing one four-pitch walk and back-to-back walks by a fresh reliever. That was refreshing.

Team BA @ .267 + ERA @ 3.67 after 6. 8 walks and 52 strikeouts on offense, lol. Gotta get that .303 OBP up.

To help the thread out, I'm committing to 162 games of default All Star. I've played every pitch so far and will do so the entire season without touching a single slider. I really want to see what this game will give you over a very large sample size. I'll try to update with any relevant findings once per week.

Out of curiosity, do you bat using the left stick or are you a swing only guy?

[RogueHominid]

Re: Breaking this Game Down on AllStar ,group effort

Out of curiosity, do you bat using the left stick or are you a swing only guy?

I use the left stick. And please keep posting. That chick is amazing.

[bukktown]

Re: Breaking this Game Down on AllStar ,group effort

Well after reading this thread I decided to try out All-Star default sliders and everything was going great. Edison Volquez was dominating the Twins(me). He held me to 2 runs and 5 hits in 8 innings pitched. The Reds bring in the closer with a 5-2 lead in the 9th and then it happened...

Single, single, HR, single... Tie game... He just grooved pitches to 4 straight batters. I don't remember the name of the Reds closer but he used to be the Brewers closer, I think, and he's good in real life. Reminded me so much of last year on any difficulty level. It left a bad taste in my mouth.

Now I have to wait at least a week before I can try All-star default again.

Back to slider purgatory for me...

[The Chef]

Re: Breaking this Game Down on AllStar ,group effort

Well after reading this thread I decided to try out All-Star default sliders and everything was going great. Edison Volquez was dominating the Twins(me). He held me to 2 runs and 5 hits in 8 innings pitched. The Reds bring in the closer with a 5-2 lead in the 9th and then it happened...

Single, single, HR, single... Tie game... He just grooved pitches to 4 straight batters. I don't remember the name of the Reds closer but he used to be the Brewers closer, I think, and he's good in real life. Reminded me so much of last year on any difficulty level. It left a bad taste in my mouth.

Now I have to wait at least a week before I can try All-star default again.

Back to slider purgatory for me...

That would be Francisco Cordero, and he can be erratic at times but hes one of the better closers. The problem you described is exactly what Im seeing as well, I will battle the starter, and depending on the starter I will have moderate to good success, but because I work the counts a ton Im always going against their bullpen at some point and thats always when the wheels fall off for them. Last game wasnt terrible against SF but when Arizona brought in Qualls a few games ago he had the same problem and gave up 5 runs in an inning. Other then raising the manager hook and hoping they yank him before it gets out of hand, I dont see what else can really be done.

[bukktown]

Re: Breaking this Game Down on AllStar ,group effort

That would be Francisco Cordero, and he can be erratic at times but hes one of the better closers. The problem you described is exactly what Im seeing as well, I will battle the starter, and depending on the starter I will have moderate to good success, but because I work the counts a ton Im always going against their bullpen at some point and thats always when the wheels fall off for them. Last game wasnt terrible against SF but when Arizona brought in Qualls a few games ago he had the same problem and gave up 5 runs in an inning. Other then raising the manager hook and hoping they yank him before it gets out of hand, I dont see what else can really be done.

When you have late inning rallies half of the time it gets a little annoying and your stats feel excessively inflated. I just want to feel like I earned a win.

[JoeC]

Re: Breaking this Game Down on AllStar ,group effort

But thats baseball sometimes teams have those big late inning rallies. If this only happened to you in one game then it is not a large enough sample size on AllStar default. Try it over 30 games and if it happens all the time during the course of those 30 games then you have a problem. Otherwise its just baseball and sometimes those things happen. Sometimes a good closer just doesnt have it. I have been seeing good results on default allstar well not totally default I have strike frequency 0 for cpu. The other day I had a great game pitching as Beckett against the Rangers. First inning walk Kinsler then Young reaches on an error and then 3 run bomb to Hamilton. I managed to get out of the inning without anymore damage and I shut them down from there and won 5-3. All of my runs came against Millwood their pen shut me down from the 6th on. I have had games like you described where I destroyed their bullpen and I have had games where they destroyed mine. Games where their starter and pen shut me down and games where I beat up on the starter only to have the pen not allow another hit. I think you should give default allstar a few more games before you make any judgements on anything about it you need a larger sample size before you can make any accurate judgements.

[bukktown]

Re: Breaking this Game Down on AllStar ,group effort

But thats baseball sometimes teams have those big late inning rallies. If this only happened to you in one game then it is not a large enough sample size on AllStar default. Try it over 30 games and if it happens all the time during the course of those 30 games then you have a problem. Otherwise its just baseball and sometimes those things happen. Sometimes a good closer just doesnt have it. I have been seeing good results on default allstar well not totally default I have strike frequency 0 for cpu. The other day I had a great game pitching as Beckett against the Rangers. First inning walk Kinsler then Young reaches on an error and then 3 run bomb to Hamilton. I managed to get out of the inning without anymore damage and I shut them down from there and won 5-3. All of my runs came against Millwood their pen shut me down from the 6th on. I have had games like you described where I destroyed their bullpen and I have had games where they destroyed mine. Games where their starter and pen shut me down and games where I beat up on the starter only to have the pen not allow another hit. I think you should give default allstar a few more games before you make any judgements on anything about it you need a larger sample size before you can make any accurate judgements.

Yes you are right...But after the comeback I just didn't have the right mindset to play on All-Star default right away again. I bumped up to HOF and lost 5-1 and their bullpen shut me down, but the probability functions at work under the hood of the game could have just as easily let me hammer the bullpen on HOF I know. But it didn't happen. So thats where I am at right now.

[ChicagoSparty]

Re: Breaking this Game Down on AllStar ,group effort

I was able to walk 4 times in my last game, the series finale with Arizona. Manny got one intentional pass, but I got the other 3 fair and square, even seeing one four-pitch walk and back-to-back walks by a fresh reliever. That was refreshing.

Team BA @ .267 + ERA @ 3.67 after 6. 8 walks and 52 strikeouts on offense, lol. Gotta get that .303 OBP up.

To help the thread out, I'm committing to 162 games of default All Star. I've played every pitch so far and will do so the entire season without touching a single slider. I really want to see what this game will give you over a very large sample size. I'll try to update with any relevant findings once per week.

Good man. Much appreciated.

[RogueHominid]

Re: Breaking this Game Down on AllStar ,group effort

Here's a 10-game report. I think I'm going to update every ten games until a critical mass of data is accumulated. Feel free to ask questions, make suggestions, etc. This is for my enjoyment, but if it can help answer questions about the difficulty level, then all the better.

I'm playing with the Dodgers and am 5-5. This is default All Star, with me playing every pitch of every game.

My team BA is .270. 94 hits, 36 runs, 14 2B, 10 HR, 11 BB, 84 K, .397 SLG, .305 OBP.

My team fielding percentage is .992.

My team ERA is 4.10. 90 IP, 91 hits, 42 R, 7 HR, 16 BB, 55 K, 1.19 WHIP.

A few leader categories:
AVG: Eithier .400
Doubles: Martin 5
HR: Ramirez 3
RBI: Martin 8
W: Schmidt 2
Saves: Broxton 4
ERA: Schmidt 2.16
K: Schmidt 13

So far, I've seen very good variety in terms of types of games. I've won and lost very low-scoring games, been involved in 5-6 games, and won one or two 4-0, 5-2.

I feel like my averages and stats are playing out within normal ranges. The only thing I'm not happy with is OBP. I want more walks, and I feel that 2-3 are out there per game, but they're very, very difficult for me to get. Pitchers seem pretty good at painting the corners and varying speed and location. One of the most difficult things, though, is the called 3rd strike on the check swing. I see lots of those.

I think I've only gotten one 4-pitch walk. Any tips for increasing without touching sliders would be greatly appreciated.

That aside, I'd love to hear your questions/comments. I'll be playing out the whole season on default AS, come hell or high water .