Breaking this Game Down on AllStar ,group effort

[pbz06]

Re: Breaking this Game Down on AllStar ,group effort

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.

Yea, I have the consistency at -2 and enjoying it a lot more. I was tired of all the borderline strikes/balls that you just have no idea if you should swing or not.

I also have the CPU strike % all the way down to 0. I found that on default, everything was strike 1, strike 2.....the CPU would literally throw 80-90% strikes...and given the consistency at default, it was just impossible to tell and I almost had to swing at every pitch.

Putting the % frequency at 0 isn't as extreme as it sounds, but it plays a lot better. The elite pitchers still tend to throw more strikes, but it's more reasonable now. It's not GUARANTEED to be a strike like it was before, and at the same time you can't go up there expecting Ball 1 each time. It's a perfect blend IMO.

The elite pitchers still throw mostly strikes, and I can get them in the 66-72% strike frequency range, which is decent for a video game.

The lower tier pitchers, I feel like I can control a lot of the at-bats, they tend to throw more balls and easier to distinguish. I can also get them to up their pitch count and get pulled ardound the 5th or 6th inning, which was impossible before. Their strike % is ususally in the 60-66% which is MLB average.

Overall, I tend to draw 3 or 4 walks per game (depending how aggressive I am), and I also get a couple Ball 4's that I swung at and either struck out or grounded out.

[The Chef]

Re: Breaking this Game Down on AllStar ,group effort

Im not sure if Im forgetting someones reply to this but with the consistency slider down 2 clicks, are there more passed balls/wild pitches? When I had this at default I was seeing way too many pitches in the dirt so I would only imagine that with this even further down that it would yield an unrealistic amount of wild pitches etc? Last game I ran with...

Pitcher Control (2)
Pitch Consistency (6)
Strike Frequency (5)

With those settings Randy Johnson walked me once, struck me out 6 times and threw approx. 63% of his pitches for strikes. He threw a first pitch strike to 14 of the 23 batters he faced. Now Im not saying thats perfect but its pretty damn close, imo. I finished the game with 5 walks thanks to the terrible bullpens in this game so far, but in terms of Johnson, he performed as I would expect him to.

[pbz06]

Re: Breaking this Game Down on AllStar ,group effort

Im not sure if Im forgetting someones reply to this but with the consistency slider down 2 clicks, are there more passed balls/wild pitches? When I had this at default I was seeing way too many pitches in the dirt so I would only imagine that with this even further down that it would yield an unrealistic amount of wild pitches etc? Last game I ran with...

Pitcher Control (2)
Pitch Consistency (6)
Strike Frequency (5)

With those settings Randy Johnson walked me once, struck me out 6 times and threw approx. 63% of his pitches for strikes. He threw a first pitch strike to 14 of the 23 batters he faced. Now Im not saying thats perfect but its pretty damn close, imo. I finished the game with 5 walks thanks to the terrible bullpens in this game so far, but in terms of Johnson, he performed as I would expect him to.

As I said above, I'm playing with the Pitch Consistency down two clicks at 3, and CPU strike frequency at 0, and Control at default 5.

I haven't noticed ANY more passed balls than at default...i mean, it's already a lot IMO, but not once did I feel that it increased.

And I'm intrigued about the bullpen issues....I haven't noticed any deficiencies from the CPU and their bullpen. I guess I'll keep playing and keep any eye out for

[Blzer]

Re: Breaking this Game Down on AllStar ,group effort

As I said above, I'm playing with the Pitch Consistency down two clicks at 3, and CPU strike frequency at 0, and Control at default 5.

I haven't noticed ANY more passed balls than at default...i mean, it's already a lot IMO, but not once did I feel that it increased.

pbz, honestly I'm seeing no more than one wild pitch (not passed ball) a game over here. Yes, I'm seeing balls skip in the dirt and go by, but not enough for a runner to advance. I don't know how many you're seeing...

[RogueHominid]

Re: Breaking this Game Down on AllStar ,group effort

Well, after a 25 game experiment, I'm pretty well convinced that the default settings produce too many strikes overall. I know that the good pitchers pound the zone on good days, but it's too well done in the game. If the average pitcher lands 60-65% for strikes irl, the average pitcher in The Show lands 75-80%.

My major concern with adjusting sliders is the spillover effect. I wish there was a single slider that controlled strike percentage, but even the one with that label seems to really only address first-pitch tendencies.

With consistency down, I notice more obvious balls, but there are still games where the CPU throws in the 75-80% range, and the lack of consistency can mean a few more meatballs, which is not what I want.

Does anyone know from testing whether first-pitch tendencies actually lead to more walks?

My labbing with consistency at -2 and fouls at +2 has had some interesting results. Depending on the starter, I've been able to draw more walks, have longer at-bats and up pitch counts, but I'm ambivalent about continuing to tweak.

Honestly, I could live with fewer walks so long as I didn't strike out as much. I'm thinking of turning off the check swing appeal. I can't stand getting called out on check swings. It seems to happen 3-4 times per game. Does anyone else have this off?

[The Chef]

Re: Breaking this Game Down on AllStar ,group effort

Well, after a 25 game experiment, I'm pretty well convinced that the default settings produce too many strikes overall. I know that the good pitchers pound the zone on good days, but it's too well done in the game. If the average pitcher lands 60-65% for strikes irl, the average pitcher in The Show lands 75-80%.

My major concern with adjusting sliders is the spillover effect. I wish there was a single slider that controlled strike percentage, but even the one with that label seems to really only address first-pitch tendencies.

With consistency down, I notice more obvious balls, but there are still games where the CPU throws in the 75-80% range, and the lack of consistency can mean a few more meatballs, which is not what I want.

Does anyone know from testing whether first-pitch tendencies actually lead to more walks?

My labbing with consistency at -2 and fouls at +2 has had some interesting results. Depending on the starter, I've been able to draw more walks, have longer at-bats and up pitch counts, but I'm ambivalent about continuing to tweak.

Honestly, I could live with fewer walks so long as I didn't strike out as much. I'm thinking of turning off the check swing appeal. I can't stand getting called out on check swings. It seems to happen 3-4 times per game. Does anyone else have this off?

Some of the sliders provide such subtle or minor changes when tweaking them that I wonder why they put them in the game to begin with. I was playing with...

CPU Pitch Control (0)
CPU Pitch Consistency (6)
CPU Strike Frequency (1)

Using this setup I saw a few too many hanging pitches and the CPU was always falling behind in the count from the start, the good starters wouldnt fall behind as much but everyone else would consistently. I was drawing 3-5 walks per game and had drawn 20 walks through my first 5 games. I then made a change in hopes of helping the CPU's bullpen more and now I run with....

CPU Pitch Control (2)
CPU Pitch Consistency (6)
CPU Strike Frequency (5)

Last game I still drew 5 walks, the CPU seemed a little better at throwing a first pitch strike but that was Randy Johnson and when the bullpen came in they still werent that good at it. There werent nearly as many hanging pitches and I won the game 4-0 behind a strong performance from Manny and a clutch 2-run single from Loney but unlike other games I didnt hit 3-4 extra base hits in this game.

In conclusion, I think you can probably draw walks at any level no matter the slider changes and I dont believe strike frequency equals more walks for everyone. I will report back with more findings as I continue to play with that setup as my next game is against Barry Zito.

[RAZRr1275]

Re: Breaking this Game Down on AllStar ,group effort

Hey chef what sliders are you using?

[Millennium]

Re: Breaking this Game Down on AllStar ,group effort

AW -

If you feel there are too many meatballs from the CPU, Lower you contact ny 1. It is an artificial way of 'missing' meatballs (again, only if you feel you are getting too much offense with Consistency down 2)

[RogueHominid]

Re: Breaking this Game Down on AllStar ,group effort

AW -

If you feel there are too many meatballs from the CPU, Lower you contact ny 1. It is an artificial way of 'missing' meatballs (again, only if you feel you are getting too much offense with Consistency down 2)

Thanks, Millenium! And Go O's. I lived in College Park for 3 years and loved going to Camden Yards. I have yet to play there in The Show. Can't wait to see it, though.

Regarding the meatballs, it really depended on who I was facing, but guys would try to drop in a slider and because of inconsistent location, they would hang it right over the plate and high a surprising amount. Not so often it's killing the game by any means, but more than they do on default.

And to the original issue of this thread, I'm starting to think that the devs might have programmed a strike-happy computer pitching engine because of time issues.

I play all my games the slow way, meaning I never miss a cut scene or a batter's walk-up or a pitcher's post-pitch movement. I love the detail in the game and I want to soak up every ounce of it. The issue is that it takes 2 hours to play a game. It's not a problem for me, but it could be for the majority of the gaming populace, so perhaps they upped strike percentages to keep from bloating game times even more. IDK . . .

[The Chef]

Re: Breaking this Game Down on AllStar ,group effort

Hey chef what sliders are you using?

Here are my exact sliders that Im using...

HUMAN
RP Stamina (0)

CPU
Pitcher Control (2)
Pitcher Consistency (6)

GLOBAL
Fielder Run Speed (0)

Everything else is at default and I play swing only on offense so I dont utilize the left analog stick at all. I walk anywhere from 3-5 times per game on average, am currently 6-2 with the Dodgers. My pitching is almost too good but Im hoping its thanks in large part to playing San Diego, Arizona and San Francisco to open my season. I strike out at a realistic clip since I take so many pitches, Im selective almost to a fault and I generally look for a certain pitch and wont swing until Im down to my last strike and then I just try and battle until I get something to hit. So far Im enjoying it, but will update if anyone is interested when I log some more time with these sliders as Ive just made these small adjustments and havent logged many games with them.

[pberardi]

Re: Breaking this Game Down on AllStar ,group effort

" I strike out at a realistic clip since I take so many pitches, Im selective almost to a fault and I generally look for a certain pitch and wont swing until Im down to my last strike and "

After 30 games i figured out some approaches to reduce strike outs for those who work the count. There are a heck of alot of 2-2 and 3-2 counts where I was losing 80% of the battles to strikeouts.

I decided when behind in the count to really lower my over anxious appoach by simply waiting longer for the pitch. Thanks to faster bat speed through the strike zone (a source for swinging early alot) you can foul off tough bordeline pitches.

The slight delay along with good eye focus on the release point will pick up those curve balls in the dirt, changeups that fade off the plate and sliders breaking out of the zone.

It's amazing how many pitches you can layoff. My last 2 games I only struckout 3 and 4x.

AS seems to be more challenging than HOF from previous years. So I think my skill level is perfect for this years AS level.

Plus my hit totals are perfect. Low hit games with some slugging behind those hits.

Believe me, hitting on HOF is the same. Pitch movement is a bit tougher but not too tough. I just can't get past the 1st inning on HOF! the cpu is overdone.

Just sit on the pitch longer when you're not ahead in the count. I fouled off pitches that were past me!

[The Chef]

Re: Breaking this Game Down on AllStar ,group effort

Dont have the time to update with the stats completely but I finally got around to playing that game against SF and Barry Zito and the results were pretty good but yet again the CPU's bullpen came in and couldnt get any outs at times. Now I understand that a bullpen is made up of different parts and not all of those parts will be "on" at the same time but this is getting ridiculous. Here are the pitching stats, I won the game 5-1 in the end...

Barry Zito- 10/19 First Pitch Strikes, 65 Pitches (39/26 Strike/Ball Ratio for a 60% Strike Rate) SF pulled him in the 6th for a pinch hitter as they were down 3-0 at that time and werent doing anything at all. Zito wasnt terrible but when he was wild he was wide of the strike zone by a good margin, breaking pitches in the dirt but no passed balls to be seen.

Bullpen- (Consisted of Affeldt, Yabu, Howry and Romo) 6/15 first pitch strikes but Romo was the one that hurt this the most since he went 0/4 in first pitch strikes so the other guys went 6/11. I scored another 2 runs off the relievers to ice the game, it would be nice to see a MR come in and actually get the job done atleast once as its starting to become a problem. Affeldt pitched in every game and strangely enough would have a terrible outing, next game would pitch well then the next one was terrible again and this has always been the norm in The Show imo. I can check a pitchers stats and almost guarantee how he will pitch, if he had a bad game the game before then he will pitch well in this one, or the opposite can be said, maybe Im looking for it too much and somewhat seeing things that arent there but Ive seen it enough over the years on my end to believe there is something weird going on atleast.

In the end it wasnt a blowout completely, Kershaw dominated them until giving up a solo homerun to Molina on a fastball that caught too much of the plate but up to that point he had pitched 15 innings straight without giving up a run and striking out 17 while walking only 1. Im set to see if a better offense will provide different results as I get set to face Colorado next, so hopefully they provide more of a challenge. If anyone has any questions that Im forgetting to answer then let me know.

[dorismary]

Re: Breaking this Game Down on AllStar ,group effort

Im back to Allstar ! Veteran just wasnt smart enough but I learned alot.
I just hope I can get variance in scores as I get better.

[RogueHominid]

Re: Breaking this Game Down on AllStar ,group effort

Are folks still playing this game on All Star default? After lots of playing time, my eye has gotten better, and I wonder if there are really enough balls to be found at default to justify staying there.

To anyone who is still on default, what's going on now?

[dorismary]

Re: Breaking this Game Down on AllStar ,group effort

Are folks still playing this game on All Star default? After lots of playing time, my eye has gotten better, and I wonder if there are really enough balls to be found at default to justify staying there.

To anyone who is still on default, what's going on now?

not on default you gotta adjust them Im at cpu pitch 5-3-0 and im very happy:wink: