Breaking this Game Down on AllStar ,group effort

[ChicagoSparty]

Re: Breaking this Game Down on AllStar ,group effort

Feel free to ask questions

Two early ones. Thanks again for doing this.

1 -- It looks like the games play out pretty realistically. Do they look that way? Is there good hit variety?

2 -- Have you seen any pop (either homers or long doubles) from guys without high power attributes? There probably shouldn't be many over 10 games, but I figure there may be a few.

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

I play with lower pitch speed, but I find it's helpful to approach the game like I used to approach real life. With 0 strikes, I look for a particular pitch in a particular area. With 1 strike, I look for any pitch within a slightly larger area. With 2 strikes, expand outside the zone a little.

[RogueHominid]

Re: Breaking this Game Down on AllStar ,group effort

To your first question, yes, the variety is great. I've had games on offense and defense where it all goes right or it all goes wrong. My first start with Kershaw, for example, saw him out after 4, with 3 walks and 3 ER. The second time around he made it 7 and only allowed one run.

On offense, I've seen good hit variety. I've played in two great pitchers parks (Petco and Dodger's Stadium) and still have 10 HR in 10 games. I'm pretty happy with that. As for guys without pop hitting the ball hard, it's hard to say. I have a roster full of 12-15 HR guys, so they can all tag the ball from time to time. Mientkevich hit a pinch hit homer for me, Loretta has put one in the gap for me, if those guys count.

Hitting is about location, but more about timing, and I'm still learning to wait on the ball. I've hit several rocket shots with all kinds of guys that would have gone for doubles down the line if I weren't just a tad ahead of the ball.

[dorismary]

Re: Breaking this Game Down on AllStar ,group effort

Im back to Veteran guys as just too much tweaking to adjust for the over aggressive pitcher confidence
without butchering up the stats.
Got some new and improved ones on vet coming as I now understand the sliders better

[RogueHominid]

Re: Breaking this Game Down on AllStar ,group effort

In my last game, I discovered that fighting off pitches is indeed possible on default sliders. Prior to that game, I had been trying to guess where the CPU would pitch me and moving the cursor accordingly. This time, I kept the cursor in the middle and focused on timing. I was able to successfully foul off pitches up, down, in, and out. Not every time or with every hitter, but it's a very solid approach and will help extend at bats. The focus on timing allows you to wait till the last minute to judge the break, and that should lead to more walk opportunities. We'll see how that goes over the next few games.

And BTW, ManRam is getting hot. Two straight two-homerun games.

[dodgerblue]

Re: Breaking this Game Down on AllStar ,group effort

Looking forward to seeing your results on default allstar. I think too many people (myself included) try to tweak the game instead of playing it out. As far as drawing walks, that's going to be tough on default imo. That's the first change I made to my slider settings because I'm constantly down 0-1.

[RogueHominid]

Re: Breaking this Game Down on AllStar ,group effort

Looking forward to seeing your results on default allstar. I think too many people (myself included) try to tweak the game instead of playing it out. As far as drawing walks, that's going to be tough on default imo. That's the first change I made to my slider settings because I'm constantly down 0-1.

I hear ya. I'm convinced that there are walks out there to be had on default it one is disciplined enough, and I'm hoping that I can demonstrate that over 162 games. I'm forcing myself to be very patient about 75% of the time, not swinging until there's a strike. Sometimes I bat aggressively, but only with guys who do that anyway.

Last game, with my added patience, I drew 3 walks, none of them intentional.

[LingeringRegime]

Re: Breaking this Game Down on AllStar ,group effort

I am playing default all star as well, and I second what AW is saying. Drawing walks isn't that much of a problem for me. I almost always take the first pitch, and if I don't like the pitch I don't swing. Sometimes it's 2-2 or 3-2 before I take a swing.

Something else that I have done is to remove the pitcher ball marker. Seems to make pitching more challenging but not unrealistically hard, like HOF and Legend. Guys will miss sometimes even if I make a mistake, but they punish me about half of the time.

I just restarted my franchise to use some new rosters and I lost my first game 7-6 to the Reds. (I am using the Mets.) There were quite a few HR's in the game, mostly due to the wind which was blowing hard out to left field, (17mph) if I remember correctly. I will jump back in here periodically to share my observations and my progress as well.

[PAPERNUT]

Re: Breaking this Game Down on AllStar ,group effort

I am back to this point as well. The sliders are just not as sensitive as usual this year as I have not seen much change even with the largest tweaks. My best results have been at default, so I think the game is just varied this year and that is more realistic overall. Walks are just a patience thing as I get the same amount if I take my time. Some games you will see 4 HRs, then others 0. The variety is just in the game regardless of sliders.

I am tired of testing and ready to play for fun once the opening rosters are released. I will try to post some results and keep up with this thread in the future.

[PsychoBulk]

Re: Breaking this Game Down on AllStar ,group effort

I play on AS default and have yet to see any glaring things that need fixing, and thats coming from someone well known on here for his sliders.

Things may change in future but as of now im happy.

[The Chef]

Re: Breaking this Game Down on AllStar ,group effort

I play on AS default and have yet to see any glaring things that need fixing, and thats coming from someone well known on here for his sliders.

Things may change in future but as of now im happy.

Drawing walks at a reasonable clip? I keep hearing people say that drawing walks is there if your patient but Im almost too patient and wasnt seeing any walks with pitcher control at default even with strike frequency at 1, Matt Cain kept getting into deeper counts but he would always battle back and either strike me out or I was forced to put the ball in play to avoid the strikeout.

Is there any weird chance that the game just plays better at default and once you start changing the sliders the game starts going haywire?

[dorismary]

Re: Breaking this Game Down on AllStar ,group effort

I play on AS default and have yet to see any glaring things that need fixing, and thats coming from someone well known on here for his sliders.

Things may change in future but as of now im happy.

Ther Game plays great on default but I just cant get around the pitcher confidence and then super hitters kick in , just not my style and it seems toned down on veteran .

[PsychoBulk]

Re: Breaking this Game Down on AllStar ,group effort

Drawing walks at a reasonable clip? I keep hearing people say that drawing walks is there if your patient but Im almost too patient and wasnt seeing any walks with pitcher control at default even with strike frequency at 1, Matt Cain kept getting into deeper counts but he would always battle back and either strike me out or I was forced to put the ball in play to avoid the strikeout.

Is there any weird chance that the game just plays better at default and once you start changing the sliders the game starts going haywire?

Yeah im averaging just under 3 walks a game, sometimes 1 sometimes 5, you know, really variable. I often swing at ball 4, check the pitch analysis and think "there goes another walk i left out on the field".

I think they definately are there.

[RogueHominid]

Re: Breaking this Game Down on AllStar ,group effort

Drawing walks at a reasonable clip? I keep hearing people say that drawing walks is there if your patient but Im almost too patient and wasnt seeing any walks with pitcher control at default even with strike frequency at 1, Matt Cain kept getting into deeper counts but he would always battle back and either strike me out or I was forced to put the ball in play to avoid the strikeout.

Is there any weird chance that the game just plays better at default and once you start changing the sliders the game starts going haywire?

This is a tough one for me. On the one hand, I can see after the fact that there are 3 or so at-bats per game where a walk is there for the taking, but I typically don't get them because the pitches are too close to the zone to take, because I'm forced into defensive at-bats by an overwhelming number of 0-1 counts, etc.

I'm 7-9 and I looked at my walk totals vs. the rest of the league. They're WAY down. I have 20 BB, almost half of them with Manny because nobody wants to pitch to him if they don't have to. The rest of the league seems to have 40-50 BB by this point in the season, and that makes me think that the problem is not just me.

From what I read in the slider discussion by Brian, Millenium, etc., it appears that consistency is the slider to adjust. I've run a few test games with it down two clicks, and the results are intriguing.

You see some more first-pitch balls, but not an overwhelming amount. You can't just go up there and count on a 1-0 count by any means. That said, there are also some more wide misses that are easier to judge and lay off of. That's the biggest payoff. I was able to draw 4 walks off of a mediocre COL pitching staff with that adjustment, and it didn't lead to an offensive slugfest. The game was in Coors Field and I didn't have a HR. I did have a triple and a couple of doubles, but I only scored 5 runs and there weren't a bunch of meatballs.

That may be the answer, right there. I also want to experiment with a slight adjustment to the fouls slider to increase the 2-strike battles just a hair, so I'll report on that if I get to it.

My sense about AS default, though, is that you can get what you're looking for regarding walks, but you have to have an incredible eye and be very good with your swing reflexes. I'm not sure I'm that good, so some minor tweaks may be in order for me.

[Blzer]

Re: Breaking this Game Down on AllStar ,group effort

Consistency sort of just says "how extreme will this ball be?" As in, the pitch that was programmed to be a ball at the start of the pitch will still be a ball, but to what extent now? On the corner, or in the dirt? So in that regard, you're probably swinging a little less at those first pitch balls is all because you can notice that they're balls a little more.

[RogueHominid]

Re: Breaking this Game Down on AllStar ,group effort

Consistency sort of just says "how extreme will this ball be?" As in, the pitch that was programmed to be a ball at the start of the pitch will still be a ball, but to what extent now? On the corner, or in the dirt? So in that regard, you're probably swinging a little less at those first pitch balls is all because you can notice that they're balls a little more.

That's it, I'm sure. And given my own skill set (or lack thereof), that's what I needed. There are balls out there, I just can't always tell because they can be so close to the zone. Now it's not like every ball at -2 consistency is way wide, but there are maybe 10 a game that I know aren't going to be in the zone.

I may look at strike % too.