Breaking this Game Down on AllStar ,group effort

[RAZRr1275]

Re: Breaking this Game Down on AllStar ,group effort

so far it's going great

[pbz06]

Re: Breaking this Game Down on AllStar ,group effort

Ok pbz06 I just finished my first game using those hitting sliders and I liked what I saw, granted its only one game but I liked them anyways. I won the game 5-3 over the Giants, here are a few stats...

Giants- 11/35, 0.314 Average. 1 Strikeout and 1 Walk issued. Their batting average was high still but I was pitching more to contact then usual since it was the Giants and they dont have squat for power in that offense, so I was trying to force them to beat me with small ball and they werent really able to do that.

Dodgers- 10/34, 0.294. I was really doing well off of Randy Johnson but when he was pulled after only going 4 innings and giving up 3 ER on 9 hits their bullpen of Lowry/Affeldt held me to 1 hit for the rest of the game as I didnt score at all (2 runs on Johnson were unearned).

I struck them out 8 times and walked them twice, everything felt so much better as the CPU wasnt just drilling the ball all over the yard while I was forced to just cross my fingers on every pitch. I also raised the manager hook slider to what you have and that played much better as normally they would leave guys in there for far too long at times so it was nice to see them pull Johnson early as it became obvious he didnt have his best stuff.

I will continue to report back as I play more games but so far so good. For the record, there are the exact sliders Im using, everything not listed is default...

GLOBAL
Fielder Speed (0)

USER
RP Stamina (0)

CPU
Contact (3)
Power (6)
Timing (4)
Fouls (7)
Solid Hits (4)
RP Stamina (0)
Pitcher Consistency (3)
Strike Frequency (0)
Manager Hook (6)
Pickoffs (2)

Good to hear

I assure you the CPU plays a lot better this way... But just remember there is a lot of variance in this game, so don't get too itchy to change everything again if you encounter a bad game or two

Are you still seeing hit batters from the CPU pitchers? passed balls? I haven't seen any over the last 3 games, and I even have the CPU Consistency lowered one more click to 2 (-3).

Also, I suggest you raise your USER Control and Consistency to 6 (+1). It will help reduce your meatball/mistake pitches even more which should DECREASE the CPU batting averages a tad more also.

[RAZRr1275]

Re: Breaking this Game Down on AllStar ,group effort

Now I just need to figure out how to make myself throw more balls and give up less hits.

[The Chef]

Re: Breaking this Game Down on AllStar ,group effort

Good to hear

I assure you the CPU plays a lot better this way... But just remember there is a lot of variance in this game, so don't get too itchy to change everything again if you encounter a bad game or two

Are you still seeing hit batters from the CPU pitchers? passed balls? I haven't seen any over the last 3 games, and I even have the CPU Consistency lowered one more click to 2 (-3).

Also, I suggest you raise your USER Control and Consistency to 6 (+1). It will help reduce your meatball/mistake pitches even more which should DECREASE the CPU batting averages a tad more also.

No doubt, I played over 20 games before I got to the point I was at now anyways so Im well aware that you have to get a good sample size before knowing what really needs to be changed or not.

In terms of raising the control and consistency sliders for myself, Ive thought about this but for right now Im probably going to stick with what I have and just keep an eye on things in case a change needs to be made in the future. I dont want to have control that is too good and while the Giants hit me well last game that was more because I pitched to contact then anything. Now if I see this every game still no matter how I pitch then I will for sure be raising this up to 6 where you have it at.

As for the passed balls and beaned batters issue. Im still seeing this a ton, Randy Johnson beaned me atleast twice that I can remember off the top of my head in my last game. Its annoying but the upside is Im drawing walks at a good clip so I guess its a trade off at this point.

[Millennium]

Re: Breaking this Game Down on AllStar ,group effort

Now I just need to figure out how to make myself throw more balls and give up less hits.

They are linked, to your strategy as a pitcher.

You pitch more in the strike zone, you give up more hits. It's like a strikeout pitcher compared to a pitcher that pitches to contact. The latter throws less pitches, but gives up more hits. The former throws more pitches (and more out of the zone), but gives up less hits.

[RogueHominid]

Re: Breaking this Game Down on AllStar ,group effort

They are linked, to your strategy as a pitcher.

You pitch more in the strike zone, you give up more hits. It's like a strikeout pitcher compared to a pitcher that pitches to contact. The latter throws less pitches, but gives up more hits. The former throws more pitches (and more out of the zone), but gives up less hits.

That's so key. I never throw over 65% of my pitches in the zone because I usually need a couple of well-placed balls per at-bat to setup hitters. Even bad hitters will scorch you if you just leave a bunch of fastballs over the plate.

[RAZRr1275]

Re: Breaking this Game Down on AllStar ,group effort

They are linked, to your strategy as a pitcher.

You pitch more in the strike zone, you give up more hits. It's like a strikeout pitcher compared to a pitcher that pitches to contact. The latter throws less pitches, but gives up more hits. The former throws more pitches (and more out of the zone), but gives up less hits.

Okay I'll start messing around more with that.

[RAZRr1275]

Re: Breaking this Game Down on AllStar ,group effort

Also a small little thing that's not too huge. Is there any way to stop the cpu runners from trying first to third every time?

[pbz06]

Re: Breaking this Game Down on AllStar ,group effort

They are linked, to your strategy as a pitcher.

You pitch more in the strike zone, you give up more hits. It's like a strikeout pitcher compared to a pitcher that pitches to contact. The latter throws less pitches, but gives up more hits. The former throws more pitches (and more out of the zone), but gives up less hits.

Exactly, pitching balls actually makes it easier to pitch. I haven't been getting shelled lately because I learned it's OK to throw a ball and not always try to nibble and throw for corner strikes or strikes in general.

If you want to throw more balls and less hits, well, throw more balls...it's not a slider thing. You don't want to lower/raise pitching controls to artificially raise you ball count....you just want to throw more balls on your own

[The Chef]

Re: Breaking this Game Down on AllStar ,group effort

Also a small little thing that's not too huge. Is there any way to stop the cpu runners from trying first to third every time?

Other then lowering baserunner speed Im not sure much can be done. I suppose you could do some sort of global edit to players speeds but thats a ton more work and not even guaranteed to work.

Exactly, pitching balls actually makes it easier to pitch. I haven't been getting shelled lately because I learned it's OK to throw a ball and not always try to nibble and throw for corner strikes or strikes in general.

If you want to throw more balls and less hits, well, throw more balls...it's not a slider thing. You don't want to lower/raise pitching controls to artificially raise you ball count....you just want to throw more balls on your own

You still running with the same sliders you posted a page or two ago? Ive only been able to play that one game against SF and it flowed much better so I wanted to see if you had made any changes.

[pbz06]

Re: Breaking this Game Down on AllStar ,group effort

Other then lowering baserunner speed Im not sure much can be done. I suppose you could do some sort of global edit to players speeds but thats a ton more work and not even guaranteed to work.



You still running with the same sliders you posted a page or two ago? Ive only been able to play that one game against SF and it flowed much better so I wanted to see if you had made any changes.

No, still same sliders...

Well, unless you count the Wind slider, lol...I turned that down 2 nothes because I noticed the winds were always in the +12mph range

[RogueHominid]

Re: Breaking this Game Down on AllStar ,group effort

I just played a test game using Knight's latest roster release and the sliders you posted a few pages back, pbz06.

Some really interesting results. I went with the Braves vs. the Marlins, at Atlanta. #2 vs. #2 for both teams.

Their guy struggled through the whole 5 innings he was in the game, walking three and giving up six runs. Somewhat alarmingly, though, he plunked 4 batters (not kidding) and had two passed balls. I'm hoping that's just a severe aberration.

That aside, I loved how these played. Their starter actually threw below 50% strikes (48 to be exact), but the reliever was able to throw 63%, which just shows that average starters on a bad day can perform down to real-life standards for struggling pitchers.

I only struck out once--that's my all-time low by a wide margin. I was seeing the ball well that game as the starter had a very plain delivery, but I could tell that the fouls slider helped me stay alive a couple of times and gave a handful of extended at-bats. The cool thing, though, is that there were 2 or 3 times when I fouled a pitch off but got a weak pop to the C, 1B, or 3B, so upping that slider didn't translate into cheap hits.

I really like the balance between timing, power, and contact for both CPU and human. HanRam ripped a triple off of a ball I left in the happy zone, but I felt like it was more possible and realistic the way that the CPU wasn't always all over everything, and I also liked how when they hit the ball it could be weakly hit and wasn't always a scorcher.

I think fielder speed and reaction are perfect. Like I said, I gave up a triple, and I got a nice double with McCann that would have never split the CF & RF on default.

Nice work!

If the bean balls and passed balls do remain an issue, do you think consistency is the thing to adjust?

[DrUrsus]

Re: Breaking this Game Down on AllStar ,group effort

Getting more walks when you're pitching to the CPU:

If there is one thing I am good at in this game, it's pitching. My hitting and batting eye needs to catch up with my pitching.

Here's my approach to pitching and it's similar to how I pitched in college. I usually try to get a first pitch strike, but I always aim for the extreme corners of the plate. Where depends on the batter and his weakness.
If I get a strike, I do the same thing, I aim for extreme corners and pitch to the batters weakness. If I get a ball on the first pitch, then it depends on the circumstances. I either try to throw a borderline corner pitch again pitching to the batters weakness OR if needed, I will start to bring my pitches more into the zone.

I usually on pitch #2 try to still aim for extreme corners based on the batters weakness, my pitchers pitching repertoire, etc. I get myself into some 2-0 counts easily this way. I don't tend to give in, but that depends on the circumstances. Therefore, I do tend to get anywhere from 2-5 walks a game depending on the pitcher, and it keeps hits down.
Then of course if it is 0-2, they aren't seeing anything hittable. I try to at least pitch a tempting pitch, so as not to just waste one, but it will not near the borders unless it is a mistake by me. I continue to do this throwing progressively "tempting " pitches until I get to 2-2. When I get to 2-2, I will try to get my strikeout. If there is a guy on 1st however, I will try to pitch my strikeout pitch in a location, where if I miss, I will get a double play ball. This was drilled to me by the coaches in college, and it worked well. Because if you don't get the strikeout, you may miss more into the zone, but they if you pitch to that location, there is more of a chance they groundout into a double play. This is a very big part in the evolution of many pitchers, when they learn that they don't always need to get the strikeout.

Also try to think like a hitter when you're pitching. What pitches seem similar when they are coming at you in the game? This is often like in real life. I try to "setup hitters" a lot which can tend to lead to more walks thrown by my pitchers as well. For instance if you have a 12-6 curveball guy, and you are pitching low in the zone on him. If you want a strikeout throw him a high fastball. They have to make that split decision whether its going to be a curveball in the zone or a fastball (out of the zone or high) or vice versa. Roy Oswalt gives me fits in this game for that reason alone. Pitching is all about messing up peoples timing, and changing "the batter's eye". I love this game because it actually works as well as it can in a video game. The guys that made this game know baseball well or had great input.

This year, if you throw too many "cookies" over the plate, you will get scorched for hits. I have found my approach really keeps the CPU scores down and really avoids those huge bursts of offensive output. You would think with me walking guys they would have bigger innings, but its counterbalanced by pitching to the corners and pitching on the black and less hard hit balls.

[DrUrsus]

Re: Breaking this Game Down on AllStar ,group effort

Why is pickoff set to 2? Is it so the computer stops constantly throwing over, or is it because stealing is a problem otherwise? I wonder because I play with the Cubs and Red Sox, and I don't steal a lot, but when I have, it has worked out anyway.

[DrUrsus]

Re: Breaking this Game Down on AllStar ,group effort

That's so key. I never throw over 65% of my pitches in the zone because I usually need a couple of well-placed balls per at-bat to setup hitters. Even bad hitters will scorch you if you just leave a bunch of fastballs over the plate.

Yea, something else I didn't mention in my previous posts is that I try to setup hitters alot which leads to walks as well.