Stats-Based CPU Sliders [MLB 18 Version Season-Mode Memorial Edition]

[NolanRyansSnowmonkey]

Re: Stats-Based CPU Sliders [MLB 18 Version Season-Mode Memorial Edition]

On the User template you shared a while back, there are columns for early and late swings from batter analysis. Is there a good reference somewhere that gives an idea of what the MLB ratio is to good, early, and late swings? I usually can find everything i need on a few different sites, but not sure how to use this information without just guessing.

I do use Pulled, Center, and Opposite percentages and my spray charts are tracked automatically. but thats clearly not the same thing as Early/Late swings. But maybe itll get me similar results..

How would you use Early/Late swing data?

[NolanRyansSnowmonkey]

Re: Stats-Based CPU Sliders [MLB 18 Version Season-Mode Memorial Edition]

With the first recommended slider set out, in the 5/4 set I'm doing a little more experimentation for the purpose of further fine tuning by exploring how much Fielder Reaction slider changes the offensive output. So far it looks interesting in how much it reduces the overall offense, which is obvious from the slider description that it does, but the effect is interesting. This slider may be useful for further tuning BABIP while keeping Fielder Run Speed low, which a majority of people appear to prefer.

Since I have this experimental set up of using two PS4 consoles to gather more data than most people can, I may set aside some time to test one or two community gathered proposals in the area where people want to have a deeper understanding of how the game changes by sliders.

I am not going to test things that have already been tested (e.g., the effect of difficulty level, which has already been tested to not really matter) and also not pick ideas that are obviously not going to work based on my current knowledge of the sliders/game. However, if you have any idea that you want to be tested, please bring it up here. If I find it interesting idea, I'll try to get some experiment in.

My interest is to provide data that help us better understand how the game works, and that would be my criterion for picking a winning idea.

I know Ive wondered many times about sliders that i dont have the time to test. Im trying thinking of some of them, but you may already have tested at one time or another. Its been a busy weekend so i havent had time yet. Do you have others besides Fielder Reaction that youre thinking about?

[nomo17k]

Re: Stats-Based CPU Sliders [MLB 18 Version Season-Mode Memorial Edition]

On the User template you shared a while back, there are columns for early and late swings from batter analysis. Is there a good reference somewhere that gives an idea of what the MLB ratio is to good, early, and late swings? I usually can find everything i need on a few different sites, but not sure how to use this information without just guessing.

I do use Pulled, Center, and Opposite percentages and my spray charts are tracked automatically. but thats clearly not the same thing as Early/Late swings. But maybe itll get me similar results..

How would you use Early/Late swing data?

To my knowledge, I don't think there is any data that gives exactly the same info... so if you want to have some real-life reference for comparison, you might need to use some proxy measurement. I think hit location spray chart is one possibility.

That said, I personally use the swing timing info only as a rough guide to adjust Pitch Speed slider or my timing approach, in order to prevent my timing to become lopsided toward one end. And I think that's pretty much as good a use of the measurements as it is, since the concept of swing timing is only relevant within the game itself, and I think it is defined in an absolute sense, whereas in real life the notion of a good timing might be different for different hitters.

What I mean is that, for a pull hitter, a "good" timing is slightly early timing (slightly late for spray hitter), but the game may still call it "early," since it does not shift the "labeling" of timing according to hitter archetype.

[nomo17k]

Re: Stats-Based CPU Sliders [MLB 18 Version Season-Mode Memorial Edition]

I know Ive wondered many times about sliders that i dont have the time to test. Im trying thinking of some of them, but you may already have tested at one time or another. Its been a busy weekend so i havent had time yet. Do you have others besides Fielder Reaction that youre thinking about?

Over the years I've tested quite a few things even just for fun, and though I haven't exactly quantified how much things change by a certain slider change, I think I have pretty good ideas on how most sliders work. (The reason why it still takes quite a bit of time to come up with a recommended set is that with each game, exactly how much things change by a tiny slider change isn't entirely clear, until I actually run them on the game.) That's why I'm opening up to see if somebody has a novel question. I have been doing the same testing for too long to come up with a novel question.


One thing I have been curious and meaning to test (which isn't quite slider-related) but have not done is how the hitter discipline works in the game. Plate discipline is not something we can wildly change via sliders, but is a very important factor making a batter good or not. I'm not quite sure how the game currently implement the difference in plate discipline. My guess is that high-Plate Discipline hitters just swing at pitches less, but I'm not sure if that's all there is. But this is more a player attribute question than a slider question.

[shaunhill256]

Re: Stats-Based CPU Sliders [MLB 18 Version Season-Mode Memorial Edition]

I feel like I did something wrong Im 7 games in still seeing 4-5 homeruns a game teams scoring 4-5 each like a 10-12 point game all together sorry for dumb post but I thought it’d go away but it’s not Philadelphia was beating Atlanta 6-1 now their tied 6-6 in 6th inning it’s a good game till like the 5th inning then they start scoring a lot when starters get pulled

[NolanRyansSnowmonkey]

Re: Stats-Based CPU Sliders [MLB 18 Version Season-Mode Memorial Edition]

I feel like I did something wrong Im 7 games in still seeing 4-5 homeruns a game teams scoring 4-5 each like a 10-12 point game all together sorry for dumb post but I thought it’d go away but it’s not Philadelphia was beating Atlanta 6-1 now their tied 6-6 in 6th inning it’s a good game till like the 5th inning then they start scoring a lot when starters get pulled

Its not a dumb post, this is what it's for. No worries!

You can double-check everything and make sure its all right. Which date on the spreadsheet are you using? Are you sure you are on the right one?

If that all checks out, 10 runs per game between both teams is not very high above average. Average between both teams combined is around 9. Its not uncommon to see 12 combined runs in a game.

Maybe post some actual numbers, like total hits, total home runs, and total runs scored, so we can see it more clearly if you want, but after only 7 games i still wouldn't be concerned.

[nomo17k]

Re: Stats-Based CPU Sliders [MLB 18 Version Season-Mode Memorial Edition]

I feel like I did something wrong Im 7 games in still seeing 4-5 homeruns a game teams scoring 4-5 each like a 10-12 point game all together sorry for dumb post but I thought it’d go away but it’s not Philadelphia was beating Atlanta 6-1 now their tied 6-6 in 6th inning it’s a good game till like the 5th inning then they start scoring a lot when starters get pulled

A couple things to check:

- Which roster are you using, if you downloaded from the vault?

- Did you set difficulty levels (both hitting and pitching) to All-star? (I don't think this matters at all, but just in case you are using the sliders in a setup pretty close to how they were tested)

Which mode are you using this with? CPU vs. CPU or Manage-only mode?



The average run is about 4.5 per game per team, so each team scoring 4 or 5 runs every game is fairly typical.

[shaunhill256]

Re: Stats-Based CPU Sliders [MLB 18 Version Season-Mode Memorial Edition]

I’m using ridin osfm v2

[NolanRyansSnowmonkey]

Re: Stats-Based CPU Sliders [MLB 18 Version Season-Mode Memorial Edition]

I really expected raising Fielder Reaction 6 points would make a bigger difference than it did. It seems in small samples like it makes more of a difference at least. That is interesting. Seems to be even more of a tweaking slider than i thought.

I am curious as to why you chose the 5/2 set over the 4/21 set? I know you mentioned that you wanted to see if you could get fielder speed down a bit. Is this mainly for visuals, while watching the games because at 4 they seemed too fast?

Both sets seem like great sets. It just seems like 4/21 was just a tad bit closer from what I've seen. But i could very well be missing something. You look at these much clearer than i do im sure, and know exactly what you're looking for.

The only problem i really saw with 4/21 was walks, which seems to have been fixed by 5/2, putting Control and Strike Frequency at 5. So i was thinking putting fielder speed back at 4 like 4/21 would bring it all together even better, unless there is something im not seeing or thinking about (which is very likely).

I know some users like the slower fielders, visually, and maybe just making a very tiny sacrifice to achieve that?

Either way, im extremely happy to use either set. It is amazing that a video game can get this close statistically across the board. I think sometimes we forget that.

[nomo17k]

Re: Stats-Based CPU Sliders [MLB 18 Version Season-Mode Memorial Edition]

I’m using ridin osfm v2

I believe that version is not a heavily edited version (i.e., all SDS players are left untouched from the default), in which case roster should be pretty similar to what I am using (the SDS default) and should not be an issue.

Seven games are still a very small sample, so unless there are other glaring issues specific to your setting, I'd just keep going for a while longer.

Things like the teams you use and the ball parks you play in do also matter, so if your team is heavily loaded with power playing in a HR-friendly ball park (like the Yankees this year), you may see a stretch of games where what you see happens.

[nomo17k]

Re: Stats-Based CPU Sliders [MLB 18 Version Season-Mode Memorial Edition]

I really expected raising Fielder Reaction 6 points would make a bigger difference than it did. It seems in small samples like it makes more of a difference at least. That is interesting. Seems to be even more of a tweaking slider than i thought.

I am curious as to why you chose the 5/2 set over the 4/21 set? I know you mentioned that you wanted to see if you could get fielder speed down a bit. Is this mainly for visuals, while watching the games because at 4 they seemed too fast?

Both sets seem like great sets. It just seems like 4/21 was just a tad bit closer from what I've seen. But i could very well be missing something. You look at these much clearer than i do im sure, and know exactly what you're looking for.

The only problem i really saw with 4/21 was walks, which seems to have been fixed by 5/2, putting Control and Strike Frequency at 5. So i was thinking putting fielder speed back at 4 like 4/21 would bring it all together even better, unless there is something im not seeing or thinking about (which is very likely).

I know some users like the slower fielders, visually, and maybe just making a very tiny sacrifice to achieve that?

Either way, im extremely happy to use either set. It is amazing that a video game can get this close statistically across the board. I think sometimes we forget that.

I don't read too much into the changes in numbers caused by one click or two differences in Fielder Run Speed/Reaction, since those 25-game samples are too small to distinguish the subtle differences.

The main issues I had with the 4/21 and 4/22 sets were that I think they have a little low BB%
(I think the SO/BB ratio is better with the 5/2 set on a bigger sample) and more importantly I did not like HR% being too close to the 2017 MLB average.

Who knows how the HR aspect of the game evolves in 2018, but 2017 was the most HR-happy season in the history of MLB, and unless MLB is fully intent on destroying the value of HRs (by doing poor quality control on the baseballs being used, etc.), I'm guessing HRs per game per team will regress a little bit toward 1.00 in 2018. I don't want to see too many games play like the Game 5 of the 2017 World Series.

I'd want HR per game per team to be more like 1.10, but the Power slider (and others) worked so jumpy that I though fine tuning like that may be too difficult.

So in short, it's more a personal aesthetics as to why I picked the 5/2 set. If you actually love HR-happy games, you might prefer the 4/21 or 4/22 set.

[NolanRyansSnowmonkey]

Re: Stats-Based CPU Sliders [MLB 18 Version Season-Mode Memorial Edition]

I don't read too much into the changes in numbers caused by one click or two differences in Fielder Run Speed/Reaction, since those 25-game samples are too small to distinguish the subtle differences.

The main issues I had with the 4/21 and 4/22 sets were that I think they have a little low BB%
(I think the SO/BB ratio is better with the 5/2 set on a bigger sample) and more importantly I did not like HR% being too close to the 2017 MLB average.

Who knows how the HR aspect of the game evolves in 2018, but 2017 was the most HR-happy season in the history of MLB, and unless MLB is fully intent on destroying the value of HRs (by doing poor quality control on the baseballs being used, etc.), I'm guessing HRs per game per team will regress a little bit toward 1.00 in 2018. I don't want to see too many games play like the Game 5 of the 2017 World Series.

I'd want HR per game per team to be more like 1.10, but the Power slider (and others) worked so jumpy that I though fine tuning like that may be too difficult.

So in short, it's more a personal aesthetics as to why I picked the 5/2 set. If you actually love HR-happy games, you might prefer the 4/21 or 4/22 set.

In short, i agree with you on the HR's. I would much rather have fewer. I was merely comparing the numbers on the page but that makes total sense. It just didn't occur to me. I have more to say but will need to wait till tomorrow or ill be doing this way too late lol.

Im going 5/2 for that reason. Thank you for pointing that out.

[shaunhill256]

Re: Stats-Based CPU Sliders [MLB 18 Version Season-Mode Memorial Edition]

It’s playing really good now I restarted and download ridin osfm v2 I was using v1.5 and I downloaded ur sliders off of the vault their playing fantastic now Mets beating cardinals 1-0 8th inning

[NolanRyansSnowmonkey]

Re: Stats-Based CPU Sliders [MLB 18 Version Season-Mode Memorial Edition]

It’s playing really good now I restarted and download ridin osfm v2 I was using v1.5 and I downloaded ur sliders off of the vault their playing fantastic now Mets beating cardinals 1-0 8th inning

I'm using 1.5 and they're playing fine. There shouldn't be much difference at all in these rosters - certainly not in the areas that would cause this.

After a few low scoring games like this you could be saying the same thing in reverse lol. Not enough scoring. Baseball is like poker in that you can go a week or two getting the best cards you can get, and seems like you can't lose, and the game seems so easy, but eventually the math will catch up and you will catch a long run of bad cards. Or slowly come back down to earth. Eventually everyone will see the same cards the same amount of times, like a .300 league babip. What you do with that babip is what separates the men from the boys. (I know babip varies player to player but you get my point lol)

I'm 99% sure the other franchise would be perfectly fine as long as you had the right sliders loaded and on all star just in case.

But either way. Most important thing is you got it going.

Are you picking a team and following them? Or letting all games play out?

[shaunhill256]

Re: Stats-Based CPU Sliders [MLB 18 Version Season-Mode Memorial Edition]

I'm using 1.5 and they're playing fine. There shouldn't be much difference at all in these rosters - certainly not in the areas that would cause this.

After a few low scoring games like this you could be saying the same thing in reverse lol. Not enough scoring. Baseball is like poker in that you can go a week or two getting the best cards you can get, and seems like you can't lose, and the game seems so easy, but eventually the math will catch up and you will catch a long run of bad cards. Or slowly come back down to earth. Eventually everyone will see the same cards the same amount of times, like a .300 league babip. What you do with that babip is what separates the men from the boys. (I know babip varies player to player but you get my point lol)

I'm 99% sure the other franchise would be perfectly fine as long as you had the right sliders loaded and on all star just in case.

But either way. Most important thing is you got it going.

Are you picking a team and following them? Or letting all games play out?

I’m watching all games I’m gonna let a lot of games play out and see how it goes before I say anything bout it