Stats-Based CPU Sliders [MLB 15 Version]

[nomo17k]

Re: Stats-Based CPU Sliders [MLB 15 Version]

After the initial 75 games with default sliders (except Pitch Speed 10), I see the default playing as well as I've ever seen. That said, what I could see as issues are:


-- GIDPs are high (1.19 vs. 0.75 per game, in-game and MLB respectively)

This has usually been the case in The Show.


-- Walks are a bit high (18.4 vs. 20.1% BB%)

This is likely due to Early-count strike % being a bit low (57.6% vs 60.8% on first pitch)


-- BABIP is a little low (.284 vs. .298)

Might not be as much of concern, as batting average isn't that low (.251 vs. .253), but I might have been just lucky.


-- Extra base hit balance is a bit off

HR% is a bit high (0.128 vs. 0.107 for HR/H), doubles are a bit low (0.167 vs. 0.195 for 2B/H) where as triples are high (0.033 vs. 0.020 for 3B/H).


-- SB% is a bit low (63.5% vs 72.8%)

This is expected due to Pitch Speed being maxed out.


-- Fouls are a bit high (28.7 vs. 27.1 foul % per strike)



I think CPU discipline numbers are right around what I saw in MLB 14 (which is good). What's noticeably different is that CPU pitchers nibble quite a bit more in early ball-strike counts, leading to produce more walks than real-life MLB, something I've never seen before.

Even though BABIP and batting average might be a bit low, the increase in walks and HRs provides enough run scoring, so the overall game balance feels pretty good with variety in results. It certainly doesn't give me an impression that the offense is anemic which was the case in MLB 14.

[nomo17k]

Re: Stats-Based CPU Sliders [MLB 15 Version]

Based on the default sliders results, I make following changes:

Contact: 5
Power: 4
Timing: 5
Foul Frequency: 3
Solid Hit: 5
Starter Stamina: 6
Reliever Stamina: 5
Pitcher Control: 5
Pitcher Consistency: 5
Strike Frequency: 6
Manager Hook: 4
Pitch Speed: 10
Fielding Errors In: 7
Fielding Errors Out: 3
Throwing Errors In: 3
Throwing Errors Out: 5
Fielder Run Speed: 3
Fielder Reaction: 3
Fielder Arm Strength In: 3
Fielder Arm Strength Out: 5
BR Speed: 5
BR Steal Ability: 10
BR Steal Frequency: 5
Wind: 5
Injury Frequency: 5

I bumped up Strike Frequency in hope of reducing walks and also increase strikeouts slightly.

Lowered Fielder Reaction and Run Speed in hope of increasing BABIP. Also by doing this (along with lower Fielder Arm Strength for infielders) GIDPs gets reduced... hopefully. These are lowered by two ticks, not just one, to exaggerate the slider effects to see if desired changes will be seen.

BR Steal Ability is set to 10 to adjust SB%... not sure if that slider is still reversed, so I'm exaggerating the setting to make it easier to see the effect. I'm obviously betting that it is now corrected. I somehow think I'll be losing my house on this bet though.

[bcruise]

Re: Stats-Based CPU Sliders [MLB 15 Version]

The strike frequency bump is very interesting to me. I haven't done as much CPU - only stuff this year (mostly because the game is just so much fun to play), but when I've been playing I did notice a lot more 2 - 0, 3 -0 counts than previous years. I even considered bumping strike frequency a notch or two in my first week of playtesting, but seeing many others say they were still lowering it convinced me that I should just leave it at 5.

I might revisit that idea if you're getting high walk totals - my user games tend to be very comparable to the results of CPU games and it's a pretty good barometer for how they will usually play out.

[nomo17k]

Re: Stats-Based CPU Sliders [MLB 15 Version]

The strike frequency bump is very interesting to me. I haven't done as much CPU - only stuff this year (mostly because the game is just so much fun to play), but when I've been playing I did notice a lot more 2 - 0, 3 -0 counts than previous years. I even considered bumping strike frequency a notch or two in my first week of playtesting, but seeing many others say they were still lowering it convinced me that I should just leave it at 5.

I might revisit that idea if you're getting high walk totals - my user games tend to be very comparable to the results of CPU games and it's a pretty good barometer for how they will usually play out.

Yeah, the lower first pitch strike % (as well as early-count strike %) this year is a pretty significantly noticeable change, if not the biggest change that I have seen in the default compared to the last year. It's a 2% drop (from about 60%), which is very significant in this context.

Maybe B Ma (or other devs) had a change of mind as to CPU nibbling... because I heard that CPU the slightly higher strike % was intentional (to cater to hackers... as most gamers are hackers). This might be one of the reasons why some people feel this year's hitting has gotten more difficult. CPU doesn't throw as many obvious strikes in early counts as he used to, which can be a kind of nightmare for free swingers.

[nomo17k]

Re: Stats-Based CPU Sliders [MLB 15 Version]

This just happened:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/asuuLKBIY_M" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

May be a bug...

[SECElit3]

Re: Stats-Based CPU Sliders [MLB 15 Version]

Based on the default sliders results, I make following changes:

Contact: 5

Power: 4

Timing: 5

Foul Frequency: 3

Solid Hit: 5

Starter Stamina: 6

Reliever Stamina: 5

Pitcher Control: 5

Pitcher Consistency: 5

Strike Frequency: 6

Manager Hook: 4

Pitch Speed: 10

Fielding Errors In: 7

Fielding Errors Out: 3

Throwing Errors In: 3

Throwing Errors Out: 5

Fielder Run Speed: 3

Fielder Reaction: 3

Fielder Arm Strength In: 3

Fielder Arm Strength Out: 5

BR Speed: 5

BR Steal Ability: 10

BR Steal Frequency: 5

Wind: 5

Injury Frequency: 5

I bumped up Strike Frequency in hope of reducing walks and also increase strikeouts slightly.



Lowered Fielder Reaction and Run Speed in hope of increasing BABIP. Also by doing this (along with lower Fielder Arm Strength for infielders) GIDPs gets reduced... hopefully. These are lowered by two ticks, not just one, to exaggerate the slider effects to see if desired changes will be seen.



BR Steal Ability is set to 10 to adjust SB%... not sure if that slider is still reversed, so I'm exaggerating the setting to make it easier to see the effect. I'm obviously betting that it is now corrected. I somehow think I'll be losing my house on this bet though.

Love these sliders bud! I made a few changes but used these for a base.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[nomo17k]

Re: Stats-Based CPU Sliders [MLB 15 Version]

Love these sliders bud! I made a few changes but used these for a base.

I'm liking the sliders so far as well... but keep in mind that that set is not a set meant to be used. It's currently being tested.

[nomo17k]

Re: Stats-Based CPU Sliders [MLB 15 Version]

Hmmm... this play was recorded as a hit by scorer:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/oc1MqrFOaA4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

One of those "deflected" hit. Someone must be a fan of Marcus Semien...

[nomo17k]

Re: Stats-Based CPU Sliders [MLB 15 Version]

I've been seeing a bit too much of overly aggressive base running, like this one:

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/AxVpe7ixGyg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

That would have been a go-ahead run in the 8th inning of a 0-0 game. It was a well executed hit-and-run, but even with two outs, it just doesn't make sense to be this aggressive.

[Aensland]

Re: Stats-Based CPU Sliders [MLB 15 Version]

A bit surprised your home run totals (on default sliders) are above average. Seems like everyone in my games had too much warning track power and not enough home run power.

But overall, 2015 stats are looking quite better than last years IMO. I always thought the 2014 CPU struggled too much offensively.


Also, I've seen the game make wrong calls on errors at least a half dozen times. Most recent was last night where the center fielder mishandled a base hit allowing the runner to reach second. The game credited him with a double instead of single and 2B error.

Another weird moment was during a Toronto @ Yankees game where Brett Gardner had a would-be game winning walk-off double, but he kept rounding the bases and scored (after the game was over), and was awarded with a two run inside the park home run.

[nomo17k]

Re: Stats-Based CPU Sliders [MLB 15 Version]

A bit surprised your home run totals (on default sliders) are above average. Seems like everyone in my games had too much warning track power and not enough home run power.

But overall, 2015 stats are looking quite better than last years IMO. I always thought the 2014 CPU struggled too much offensively.


Also, I've seen the game make wrong calls on errors at least a half dozen times. Most recent was last night where the center fielder mishandled a base hit allowing the runner to reach second. The game credited him with a double instead of single and 2B error.

Another weird moment was during a Toronto @ Yankees game where Brett Gardner had a would-be game winning walk-off double, but he kept rounding the bases and scored (after the game was over), and was awarded with a two run inside the park home run.

While a set of 75 games is quite substantial, I think HRs can be affected by park factors and wind (which might not be sufficiently rotated), so I don't fully trust HR numbers too much. If you are playing games with a single team, you will see a very different result of course.

The last year's offense was unusually off... but a lot of numbers are actually still similar in MLB 14 and 15. Plate discipline numbers for example are almost identical. The biggest change at default was early-count strike % and in turn walks. BABIP was really low in MLB 14... I suspect given that it was the first year of PS4, SDS couldn't sufficiently test the game balance in fielding, etc....


Unfortunately scoring hasn't always been accurate in the game... if it happens too often and if I can remove the effect I try to do so, but a lot of time it's not worth the effort, as their impact on the game are not so big.

[nomo17k]

Re: Stats-Based CPU Sliders [MLB 15 Version]

I don't know if we should rejoice or not, but the BR Steal Ability slider, after 4 - 5 years in the history of The Show franchise, seems to finally work the way it is described within the game.

That slider's effect is no longer reversed.


With Pitch Speed maxed out, BR Steal Ability slider:

at default, SB% = 63.5% after 75 games.

at 10, SB% = 75.4% after 47 games

(Theoretically, the trend could still reverse, but I would need an extraordinary low steal success rate for the rest of the games played with slider at 10 to see the effect reversed...)


I feel something just died in me.

[kingdevin]

Re: Stats-Based CPU Sliders [MLB 15 Version]

I wish the ball trail worked... I lose track of the ball esp on sunny clear days

[jripper09]

Re: Stats-Based CPU Sliders [MLB 15 Version]

yes it is really hard to see the ball on bright sunny days, i agree. fortunately I'm not playing defense! lol!

[JRT2006]

Re: Stats-Based CPU Sliders [MLB 15 Version]

I'm new to the game, and fairly new to the sport. I just discovered how to use manager only mode and that seems to interest me the most at this point.

Can't wait to for these to be complete. Wish I could contribute, instead I'll just give a big THANKS to everybody participating.