Graduated Sliders: MLB The Show '15

[Mike Lowe]

Re: Graduated Sliders: MLB The Show '15

Hit a walk-off HR in the 15th inning with Cespedes to beat the White Sox 6-5. The game was recorded to my Twitch page. I paused a handful of times during this game, so sorry about that!

[Mike Lowe]

Re: Graduated Sliders: MLB The Show '15

Streaming Tigers! A couple of slider adjustments after this last test game.

[Mike Lowe]

Re: Graduated Sliders: MLB The Show '15

Updated the first post. Should now see AI swing and miss more (20% of total swings on average) but also be more potent when they do hit the ball.

My last archived game, at the end I show how things are looking around the league after 75 games of my franchise.

Almost halfway through!

[Mike Lowe]

Re: Graduated Sliders: MLB The Show '15

Streaming Tigers now. 36-39 through June 26.

[gogosox21]

Re: Graduated Sliders: MLB The Show '15

After posting a few weeks ago about my first impressions I've now played
Through the first week of May in my franchise and still really like the set and am 15-13 so far. As I look through the team rankings they All seem fine (Im at the top or bottom of some categories but they are all reasonable) except for walks allowed where I'm first by a landslide walking only about half the batters as the second place Team. I know you said you haven't had a problem with it but I'm finding it much too easy to either put a batter away or get him to put it in play without really battling at all which is leading to really low pitch counts of maybe 10 pitches per inning. Its funny because my era, HRs allowed, hits allowed, strikeouts are all around league average so I'm not having problems besides that one area. I'm thinking I might increase the foul ball frequency a few ticks to see if That ups the pitch counts and walks but I just hope it doesn't lead to inflated AI offense

[Mike Lowe]

Re: Graduated Sliders: MLB The Show '15

I'm finding it much too easy to either put a batter away or get him to put it in play without really battling at all which is leading to really low pitch counts of maybe 10 pitches per inning. Its funny because my era, HRs allowed, hits allowed, strikeouts are all around league average so I'm not having problems besides that one area. I'm thinking I might increase the foul ball frequency a few ticks to see if That ups the pitch counts and walks but I just hope it doesn't lead to inflated AI offense.

Have you tried my most recent changes? I'm seeing far more swings and misses which are actually driving up pitch counts as long as you're trying to get guys to chase from time to time. This game definitely has a game-to-game hot/cold pattern where if a guy has 2 strikeouts already, he's far more vulnerable to a 3rd if you try and get him to chase.

The AI seems to foul off around 15% of pitches regardless of the foul ball setting, but I've seen the best results for accuracy and realism with it set to 0. You should be seeing about 20% of swings result in misses too (not total pitches...just swings). If you're landing around there over the course of a good stretch of games, the rest is just chalked up to your pitching approach/style. Good job on trusting your defense and not wanting to give up free passes.

These sliders are designed where your approach will work, but you may miss out of the zone at times as well. I definitely have a few "gosh dang-it!" walks each game where I'm trying to throw a 3-2 strike.

My biggest issue is that I cannot hit with Cabrera for some reason! I think his stance and high strike zone really throw me off when hitting with him!

[Mike Lowe]

Re: Graduated Sliders: MLB The Show '15

Tigers streaming now. 37-39. Playing the Sunday game today as Tigers are off Monday.

Actually, give me about 30 minutes.

[gogosox21]

Re: Graduated Sliders: MLB The Show '15

Have you tried my most recent changes? I'm seeing far more swings and misses which are actually driving up pitch counts as long as you're trying to get guys to chase from time to time. This game definitely has a game-to-game hot/cold pattern where if a guy has 2 strikeouts already, he's far more vulnerable to a 3rd if you try and get him to chase.

The AI seems to foul off around 15% of pitches regardless of the foul ball setting, but I've seen the best results for accuracy and realism with it set to 0. You should be seeing about 20% of swings result in misses too (not total pitches...just swings). If you're landing around there over the course of a good stretch of games, the rest is just chalked up to your pitching approach/style. Good job on trusting your defense and not wanting to give up free passes.

These sliders are designed where your approach will work, but you may miss out of the zone at times as well. I definitely have a few "gosh dang-it!" walks each game where I'm trying to throw a 3-2 strike.

My biggest issue is that I cannot hit with Cabrera for some reason! I think his stance and high strike zone really throw me off when hitting with him!

I just moved the foul ball frequency all the way back to 5 and am seeing close to 20% swing and misses and am also getting a few walks and higher pitch counts so I'm just going to stick with that. I think I'll always be leading the league in walks but at least it's part of the game now.

I also can't hit with Bruce Harper so far hitting like .230 with 1 home run halfway through May. I'm probably just trying to do too much with him like you said with Cabrera

[Mike Lowe]

Re: Graduated Sliders: MLB The Show '15

I just moved the foul ball frequency all the way back to 5 and am seeing close to 20% swing and misses and am also getting a few walks and higher pitch counts so I'm just going to stick with that. I think I'll always be leading the league in walks but at least it's part of the game now.

I also can't hit with Bruce Harper so far hitting like .230 with 1 home run halfway through May. I'm probably just trying to do too much with him like you said with Cabrera

Yeah, man. If it's working for you best that way, have at it! I found too many foul balls were happening for both sides with it at 5. I was seeing 20-25% foul balls, and it should be around 15% on average (again, not every single game).

What I'm looking at now is the AI seems to be behind on more swings than they are ahead, and I'm thinking this has to do with the lowered timing window for AI which HAS helped with strikeouts by the AI. I'm also trying to keep user K's while pitching accurate, so this is a situation I'm keeping a close eye on. If I keep seeing the AI late too many times, I'll look to adjust. I'd love to increase their contact as it also improves their patience at the plate (thus walks), but then it seems very difficult to strike guys out.

What I'm noticing with strikeouts is that I seem to get more accurate numbers from my relievers than starters, and I think what is happening is that I'm being a bit more conservative with the meter with my SP to conserve energy, but I think now with 2 strikes I must either max or come close to maxing the pitch meter to combat the defensive AI swings with 2 strikes on them. This will likely lead to more walks too.

With my RP, I'm maxing a lot of pitches because sometimes guys are in to face just one batter. That seems to be getting the best results. Regardless, I'm not at the top or bottom of strikeouts or walks while pitching, so it's all within reason.

[adamj2281]

Re: Graduated Sliders: MLB The Show '15

Looking at these with Pure Analog Pitching and Zone Plus Analog Hitting - anyone else using the same configuration and any changes?

[Mike Lowe]

Re: Graduated Sliders: MLB The Show '15

Looking at these with Pure Analog Pitching and Zone Plus Analog Hitting - anyone else using the same configuration and any changes?

Awesome, Adam. Let us know how it works. I've never used those before.

[Mike Lowe]

Re: Graduated Sliders: MLB The Show '15

Streaming Tigers now. Going to try AI Contact at 5 (+2) and AI timing at 1 (-2).

Alfredo Simon goes for the Tigers, and his K rating is only 50.

[Mike Lowe]

Re: Graduated Sliders: MLB The Show '15

With the real Tigers losing tonight, my daily franchise Tigers now have the exact same record through 79 games.

[cubsgocontinental23]

Re: Graduated Sliders: MLB The Show '15

Patch 1.04

Welcome
Thanks for checking out The Graduated Sliders for MLB The Show '15! I've been playing the show since the game first came out 10 years ago, and I'd say I'm a good player, having once been ranked in the Top 100 in Diamond Dynasty (no longer play that mode). Most importantly, I love baseball and am always looking for ways to make The Show as realistic as possible, even if that means I don't win the division every year. I hope you find some value in these sliders and if not, be sure and check out some of the others on OS.

***Lastly, make sure you spend more time playing the game than exploring the sliders forum!***

Nutshell Version
If you're ready to graduate beyond the standard slider sets of OS, try this one out as a base to tweak to your liking. This set is based on accurate first pitch strikes, ball to strike ratios, foul ball %, and groundball to flyball ratios.

Detailed Version
I call these the graduated sliders for a few reasons. First, they are designed for folks who've found they're in need of a more challenging set when compared to the more popular slider sets out there for MLB The Show. I was using some of those sliders just last year myself, but they became far too easy to dominate and win.

Another reason I call them the graduated sliders is that I want you to not just take ownership of YOUR sliders and graduate from slider dependency/slideritis, but also learn how to comfortably tweak them without feeling as though the sky is falling.

Dymanic difficult is a brilliant idea, but it's too simplified--instead, take up the challenge to dynamically adjust your OWN difficult (sliders/settings) as you go. I'm not a fan of "final" or "locked" sliders because you should always be evaluating and tweaking to adjust to your improved ganeplay during the season; you're going to better on game 162 than you are in game 1, period.

At the same time, this game is clean and balanced enough that you don't need to restart over and over just because you bumped a few sliders up or down. Just play and continually check yourself against the league stats rankings.

The game plays great out of the box, and variety AND oddities are a part of baseball; over the course of 162 games, it will level itself out just fine, and the cream will rise to the top. Don't worry if you're not the cream every season.

Use these sliders as a base and tweak, because we ALL play differently and have our own unique skill set. You don't need to wait to start a franchise to use these sliders, you don't need to start anything over, and you can tweak during your season as you won't be seeing anything out of the realm of possibility, and certainly nothing that won't stand the test of time over 162 games. Staying locked into a bad slider set for 162 is the only thing that will skew your results one way or another, so don't do that!

GAMEPLAY OPTIONS
If you'd like, share your box scores here

BATTING & BASERUNNING
Hitting Difficulty - Hall of Fame
Hitting Interface - Directional (Zone works too)
Input Type - Buttons
Plate Coverage Indicator - Off
PCI Appearance - Wedge
Camera Shift - Off
Hitting View – Catcher
In-Play View Offense - Medium
Ball Trail - Off
Guess Pitch - Off
Baserunning Decisions - Assist
Baserunning Interface - Default
Sliding Decisions - Assist
Runner Window – On

PITCHING
Pitching Difficulty - Hall of Fame
Pitching Interface - Meter
Pitching View – Outfield
Pitching Ball Marker - Off
Pitch Confidence - On
Pitch Delay - Normal
API: Default

FIELDING
Throwing Interface - Buttons
Throwing Meter - No Feedback
Throwing Difficulty - Hall of Fame
Fielding Decision - On (or Assist for manual fielding)
Throwing Decision - On (or Off for manual fielding)
In-Play View - Medium
Throw Cancelling - On
One Button Dive/Jump - Off
Catch Position Indicator - On (or Off for manual fielding)
Defensive Shift - Auto (but check yourself too!)

GENERAL
Strike Zone - Off
Hot Zones - Off
Warm Up Pitchers - Off
Tutorial Tips - Off
Post Game Auto Save - Off
Scorebar Display - On
Pitch Select Display - Off
Swing/Pitch Info - Off
Balks - On
Umpire Balls and Strikes - Variable
Umpire Close Plays - Off (to simulate instant replay)
Check Swing Appeals - On
Injuries - On
Ejections - On
Vibration - Off
Game Log Order - Default

AUDIO Options
Jukebox: All songs unchecked

HOUSE RULES (Optional)
*Do NOT use 30 team control (live with the fact that the league lives, breathes on its own. If you think the trades are strange, go and review the 2014 MLB regular season)
*Manager contracts - On
*Do not activate any sponsors--the AI teams do not have this advantage
*If you want the artist rendition bio pictures, start your franchise with a fantasy draft, then back out of it before the first sslection is made. Rosters will still be intact
*Randomly scroll through the weather options before each game for variety
*Do not "visit mound" at the very start of an inning
*Do not take any additonal leadoffs. The AI no longer utilizes this.
*No going back to the bag on a steal attempt
*Unless in the offseason, not eligible to sign a free agent until an AI team does first
*Do not update your team's trade block until an AI team does first
*No changing of staff until the offseason
*For an added challenge, only promote/demote players to rebalance your organization's rosters after injuries, as this is all the AI does.

SLIDERS
Dynamic Difficulty - 5
Human Contact - 5
Human Power - 5
Human Timing -5
Human Foul Frequency - 0
Human Solid Hits - 5
Human Starter Stamina - 0 (For simming accurate CG. Must change to 7 at the start of a game and then back to 0 before advancing a day)
Human Reliever Stamina - 0
Human Pitch Control - 1
Human Pitcher Consistency - 0
CPU Contact - 3 (-1)
CPU Power - 5
CPU Timing - 3
CPU Foul Frequency - 0
CPU Solid Hits - 5 (+1)
CPU Starter Stamina - 0 (For simming accurate CG. Must change to 7 at the start of a game and then back to 0 before advancing a day)
CPU Reliever Stamina - 0
CPU Pitcher Control - 5
CPU Pitcher Consistency - 0
CPU Strike Frequency - 5
CPU Manager Hook - 3
CPU Pickoffs - 10
Pitch Speed - 5
Fielding Errors Infield - 5
Fielding Errors Outfield - 3
Throwing Errors Infield - 4
Throwing Errors Outfield - 4
Fielder Run Speed – 0
Fielder Reaction - 7
Fielder Arm Strength Infield - 3
Fielder Arm Strength Outfield - 3
Baserunner Speed - 4
Baserunner Steal Ability - 5
Baserunner Steal Frequency - 5
Wind - 5
Injury Frequency - 9 (based off MLB % comparison)

How Exactly does the stamina work?

[Mike Lowe]

Re: Graduated Sliders: MLB The Show '15

I really liked the tweaks I mentioned earlier today to AI contact and timing, and I've updated the first post.