Question about Fielder Speed and Reaction in MLB 13

[C_Bailey24]

Re: Question about Fielder Speed and Reaction in MLB 13

I think he was more speaking by example or whatever. He didn't explicitly suggest that anything be lowered, and I don't believe it was his intent to do so. He was just explaining how the sliders are all inter-connected

I wasnt questioning his whole post or his intentions. My question was simply why does he feel default is too high. I tend to think its too slow but maybe he's seeing something i'm not seeing or anyone else for that matter that feels default is too high

[stealyerface]

Re: Question about Fielder Speed and Reaction in MLB 13

Okay, long read ahead, so grab your beer, or approved beverage and settle in...

I am almost ashamed to admit how much testing I have done with these sliders, in as much as replaying replays, watching the fielders, and trying to make everything move in the harmonious balance that is baseball.

How the guys that invented this game knew that 90 feet between bases would be the epitome of sports harmony is beyond me. When you watch a routine grounder to the shortstop, and you see the guy scoop the ball, make a half step or a crow hop, and throw the ball to first, typically, the batter is out, with relative speed, by a step. Every time. It is uncanny. So when i started trying to get the game to play like real baseball, I had to breakdown all the parts, and fielder reaction had to come first.

When a ball is hit, a fielder must first sense the batted ball's direction, decide which way to go, and read the swing, the trajectory, and the angle and speed of the ball headed towards him. All of that takes time for the brain to process. So, to make the game more realistic, and to rid the animations of the herky-jerky first step, I had to slow the reaction time down, so that the player in the cyber field was more human than super computer. What this did, was the make the user able to get control of the fielder,(I use Assist On) and move him towards the path, or the landing spot of the ball. This required to very important results. One, you need to have your guys in the right spots, as now the super-human crazy reaction time is gone. And secondly, you needed to take good angles to the balls, and make a decision on how, and where to play the ball. But in doing so, that extra split second of decision time came at a price...

The runner speed was so fast on the default speed, that when i lowered the reaction time, that one second of time, that requires the fielder to make the run at the ball, was one second of extra time to make it to first, and it resulted in the batter beating out way too many easy grounders. So, when I lowered the reaction time, I had to lower the batter run speed. Once this process occurred, I realized, after looking at the replays, that the batters were still too close to first when the routine ours were made... Ahh.... you see, their arms were too strong, thereby throwing off the timing between batted ball, fielded ball, and the convergence of runner and ball at the bag. So I lowered the arm strength.

The great news, is that the fellas at The Show, have made the cyber players with enough disparity between good players, great players and superstars, that you can totally tell the difference, and MUST play them accordingly. Alberto Callaspo is no Brooks Robinson out there at third. But with default sliders, the guy gets to everything... I mean everything. Not with mine.

How many times, and be honest here, have you had your outfielder on a dead run, and had a ball go over his head between him and the wall? Yeah, not too many. I am not talking about frozen ropes just blistered at the wall, I mean regular fly balls that have back spin on them, and carry over the fielder's heads like they would in real life? With my sliders, if you do not position your outfielder for a batters tendencies, you will pay dearly. But the fast guys will still track down the ball, because of their speed, and because of their attribute-given reaction time. Better players are... well, better.

When you play in Broadcast view, I want you to watch the play unfold, watch the result, and set the controller down and say, "Holy crap, that looked perfect" I want the guy who beats out the deep ball in the hole to just beat the throw when the shortstop plants and throws it to first...

But the great deal is that you see all sorts of animations, you HAVE to preload throws and think about decisions before they are on top of you, you need to move your guys around, and you need to make smart plays, and protect the ball, or you will get pounded dearly.

Do me a favor. Load up the sliders and the gameplay and the options that I have on my Slider set, and play them exactly like they are listed. Three games. An MLB game of your team you play with and know the players, so you can see the results of who does what, and how they react according to the guys you follow everyday. Then play a game with Triple A teams in a Triple A park. When you see the disparity of the pro game and the AAA game, and you see the difference in the throws and the accuracy, and the pace, I will dare admit you'll LOVE the difference. Then play another MLB with two teams you have never played as or against before.. Watch the game unfold with players that you don't normally watch, but you know of.

I know that 0 speed hitting is too easy for some of you guys, but Legend Pitching with the Meter is pretty ballsy. And remember, yeah, you might hit like a champ, but now that the players are not buzzing bees out there, all running a 4.15 forty, you WILL have to play smart, you will have to play with a purpose, and if you do not pay attention, you'll get pummeled.

That is my request. Three games with the speed of the game as it ought to be played, and I think you'll be impressed, and have a new fondness for how awesome this game is.

I will welcome any comments or questions in the slider thread, and I hope you guys enjoy the game.
~syf

[JoeT]

Re: Question about Fielder Speed and Reaction in MLB 13

That is my request. Three games with the speed of the game as it ought to be played, and I think you'll be impressed, and have a new fondness for how awesome this game is.

I will welcome any comments or questions in the slider thread, and I hope you guys enjoy the game.
~syf

Thanks for the further explanation. I would be happy try your settings out and see how it plays. I have no emotional attachment to my slider set, I just want The Show to look as close as possible to the real thing. I watch a lot of real baseball and just want as many plays as possible to play out to their real life counterparts (I know it will never be perfect). Obviously you've tested way more than I have, so I'll see how it plays. I'm should say I'm especially interested in your numbers for fielder reaction and speed, baserunner speed, and throwing portions. I think things like pitch speed are a more personal preference issue. Have you ever tried dropping solid hits from 4 to 3? Small difference, but that's what I use and the hit variety this year is just incredible, so much improved over last year IMO. Anyway, appreciate your insight. I'll see what I think and let you know.

[stealyerface]

Re: Question about Fielder Speed and Reaction in MLB 13

I have dropped the solid hits, and I go through phases where I think that maybe three is the correct number, but then I get a 1-0 game where each team had less than 6 hits apiece, and then I second guess my decision, only to have a 12-9 game with 22 combined hits, so... like baseball, I think that the game's ebb and flow resembles that of the real game, but yes, depending on your mood, solid hits from four down the three is a viable option.

The reason I had it there originally was because of the harder timing and smaller PCI, (for the human side) and the fact I wanted pitches that missed the spot to get crushed (like they do).

Try a game or two with the setting at three, and see what you think.
~syf

[JoeT]

Re: Question about Fielder Speed and Reaction in MLB 13

I have dropped the solid hits, and I go through phases where I think that maybe three is the correct number, but then I get a 1-0 game where each team had less than 6 hits apiece, and then I second guess my decision, only to have a 12-9 game with 22 combined hits, so... like baseball, I think that the game's ebb and flow resembles that of the real game, but yes, depending on your mood, solid hits from four down the three is a viable option.

The reason I had it there originally was because of the harder timing and smaller PCI, (for the human side) and the fact I wanted pitches that missed the spot to get crushed (like they do).

Try a game or two with the setting at three, and see what you think.
~syf

syf-
So I've been using your suggestions for the following sliders: fielder run speed, fielder reaction, fielder arm strength and baserunner speed, for the last 10-12 games. And overall I really like the way the game plays. I was worried that reducing fielder reaction would make infielders reactions look too slow, but that has not been the case. They look very natural and realistic. They get to the balls they should and not the ones they shouldn't. And the better fielders get to the tougher plays.

The plays at every base have all seemed realistic as well. It's only a small sample size I realize, but so far I haven't seen one play I thought did not look very lifelike and authentic. To me these are way better than the default settings and even better than the ones I was using, so I'm going to stick with your settings. Appreciate the advice!

[THESHAMISASHAME]

Re: Question about Fielder Speed and Reaction in MLB 13

Great points but I think the one thing this game is missing is separate global sliders for both human and cpu and also the infield and outfield as theres just too many little things to blend as one effects the other way too much which makes it very hard to balance .

[stealyerface]

Re: Question about Fielder Speed and Reaction in MLB 13

I don't think that is particularly true in the case of outfielders and infielders, because once you get the speed right, the attributes begin to really be a bigger part of the equation.

I want the sliders to be indicative of the true speed of the players, and the only way to make that possible, is to slow the game down, so you can feel, and see the difference of a really fast guy, or a guy with more pop at the plate, but a liability in the field.

I think the SYF sliders give a good representation of this, and make late-game substitutions actually matter now.

Plus, as good as I feel these sliders are now, they get even better with Knight & Co.'s OSFM Rosters that should be due out in a week or two.

I used TNK's Boston Roster, and I am already thinking of promoting Bradly Jr. to the bigs, just to make sure Ells knows who is in his rearview mirror.

JBJr can flat out FLY!!!

~syf