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

[nomo17k]

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

Here is a minor update.

One thing I'm doing differently for the 4/12 set is that I have increased catchers' Blocking rating across the board by +15, in hope of reducing wild pitches.

That number, 15, is rather arbitrary; I chose it because the highest rated catcher (Posey) is at 86 but the rest have their Blocking attribute well below, so.I treated it as a constant offset. I want the experiment to be simple so that I can revert to their original attribute values if I decide to bring them back.

I just wanted to see how much boost in Blocking attribute can curb down the amount of wild pitches due to the poor job catchers do of keeping pitches near them. So far, it seems to be working as my intention.

Usually I want to lower Pitcher Consistency to make it easier to induce more walks (often it's the only way), but that has usually come with undesirable side effects of higher wild pitches and HBPs.

Editing attribute is not a solution I usually seek, but this way, at least we may be able to keep wild pitches in control.

[forme95]

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

Here is a minor update.

One thing I'm doing differently for the 4/12 set is that I have increased catchers' Blocking rating across the board by +15, in hope of reducing wild pitches.

That number, 15, is rather arbitrary; I chose it because the highest rated catcher (Posey) is at 86 but the rest have their Blocking attribute well below, so.I treated it as a constant offset. I want the experiment to be simple so that I can revert to their original attribute values if I decide to bring them back.

I just wanted to see how much boost in Blocking attribute can curb down the amount of wild pitches due to the poor job catchers do of keeping pitches near them. So far, it seems to be working as my intention.

Usually I want to lower Pitcher Consistency to make it easier to induce more walks (often it's the only way), but that has usually come with undesirable side effects of higher wild pitches and HBPs.

Editing attribute is not a solution I usually seek, but this way, at least we may be able to keep wild pitches in control.

Have you thought about going back to Control and Consistency back to default? Ive been using default and wild pitches really seem down in MoM. 20 games, I am holding right at .50. I really havent moved much off default except for some fielding and speed and also Stamina's.

[CoachCraven]

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

Have you thought about going back to Control and Consistency back to default? Ive been using default and wild pitches really seem down in MoM. 20 games, I am holding right at .50. I really havent moved much off default except for some fielding and speed and also Stamina's.

Are you getting a reasonable amount of walks with that?

[forme95]

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

Are you getting a reasonable amount of walks with that?

BB are avg 3.01 to 3.26 and SO are 7.88 to 8.05 through 20 games. You really see the difference between pitchers imo. Bauer had 1 game, he only gave up 2 then the next outing or 3rd outing, he gave up 6.

My goal this year is to not touch Control, Consistency, or Frequency. I had so many issues that I got into slideritis with it. I looked at it over 50 games and decided I liked the way it is.

So far honestly all I have really changed was Reaction and speed and base run speed. Oh, and Stamina's 6/4.

I really look to get close on averages. Its baseball, its a long season, anything can happen, its a video game. It is impossible to to get the numbers all exact to real life. To many variables in real life that a video game can not duplicate. I watch each game and determine if it is good baseball and as long as its close to realistic stats, I am satisfied. Also remember, I play Manage Mode which is different then CPU vs CPU.

[CoachCraven]

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

Yeah, that's why I was curious. I knew you were a M.O.M. guy (like myself) so I wondered.

I guess in truth, I'm probably 50/50 MOM and CPU vs CPU, since most of the time I find myself needing to work while I've got a game going that I'm keeping an eye on.

I was thinking (although it might just make things more complicated) how nice it might be if the sliders were a little more flexible than they are. Like, if a 4 setting on a particular attribute was too low but a 5 was too high, we could set it at 4.4 or something. But, that's probably a silly obsessive notion on my part. Like you said, it is still just a game.

On a related note, Nomo I really appreciate your work on this. I just came to this game last year, and it's made the others obsolete for me.

[NolanRyansSnowmonkey]

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

I was thinking (although it might just make things more complicated) how nice it might be if the sliders were a little more flexible than they are. Like, if a 4 setting on a particular attribute was too low but a 5 was too high, we could set it at 4.4 or something. But, that's probably a silly obsessive notion on my part. Like you said, it is still just a game.

I don't think its a silly notion, I've wished for sliders with more range for years. I've often wondered why it's only limited to 10, but knowing nothing about how games are coded, I am sure there is a good reason, so I'm fine with it. I think it does a pretty dang good job as-is. And yes I could see how it would make it more complicated.

Speaking of making things more complicated, there is a way to put a slider at 4.4.... Just keep the slider at 4, except every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday bump it up to 5 for those games only. Haha.

[nomo17k]

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

...

I was thinking (although it might just make things more complicated) how nice it might be if the sliders were a little more flexible than they are. Like, if a 4 setting on a particular attribute was too low but a 5 was too high, we could set it at 4.4 or something. But, that's probably a silly obsessive notion on my part. Like you said, it is still just a game.

...

I don't think its a silly notion, I've wished for sliders with more range for years. I've often wondered why it's only limited to 10, but knowing nothing about how games are coded, I am sure there is a good reason, so I'm fine with it. I think it does a pretty dang good job as-is. And yes I could see how it would make it more complicated.

For years, I think some people have wanted sliders to do have wider dynamic range (i.e., making the game to play much differently when a slider is min/maxed out) and/or to have more granularity (i.e., more clicks between the existing range so that we have finer control over the game).

For the purpose of what I am doing, I do wish sliders have more granularity, since there have been many occasions where just one click changed the game enough to over/undershoot where I want the game to play. Sometimes the game changes to the extent that I wondered if I had discovered subtle bugs and such.

I think the reason why neither of the above wishes have materialized is that the devs tuning the game has enough confidence that the game out of the box plays well enough, and does not necessarily want us to "break" the game by using extreme settings, where exploits could emerge. (Of course you could argue why should they care, if users are willingly breaking the game?)

And more granularity in sliders would only be helpful to only a few extremely OCD people (like myself) who see rare needs, but in general customization options are only useful if they have enough sensible effects... unless people are meticulously keeping track of things (like done in the spreadsheet here), people would not notice subtle effects, or even worse people start seeing things that a subtle change in a slider actually would not cause (that is slideritis).

Personally, I like a very customizable game though. I really wished The Show was a PC game which could potentially be up for modding.

Speaking of making things more complicated, there is a way to put a slider at 4.4.... Just keep the slider at 4, except every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday bump it up to 5 for those games only. Haha.

In some cases, this isn't that crazy idea.... e.g., with Manager Hook last year, I think AI tended to pull starters too early but keep relievers in too long in general. You could use a different Manager Hook before and after the starter gets pulled in that case.

[nomo17k]

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

Have you thought about going back to Control and Consistency back to default? Ive been using default and wild pitches really seem down in MoM. 20 games, I am holding right at .50. I really havent moved much off default except for some fielding and speed and also Stamina's.

I haven't really thought about going back to the default for those sliders, since the current setting (Control 3 which leads to a little more hittable pitches and Consistency 4 which makes pitchers a little wilder) more or less is achieving what I want them to achieve without making the game to play unstably (i.e., streaks of anemic offense or blowouts).

That said, as I see the stats from the default set, they are fine so long as you don't nitpick on other aspects of the game. I am clearly trying to do something that most people would not care for (aligning stats to the most recent baseball seasons), so if someone asks me if the game plays realistically with default sliders, my answer would be (mostly) yes.

The only thing that I would still recommend is to give a little more offense to CPU some way or another. Looking at user feedback as to how hitting is a bit harder, that's just appears to be the trend of recent games. (Perhaps with DD, the devs want to keep the offense on the quieter side...)

[Guys_WhoGame]

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

Your 4/12 stats look pretty damn good. I know it won't be exact, but you pretty much got it there.

[NolanRyansSnowmonkey]

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

In some cases, this isn't that crazy idea.... e.g., with Manager Hook last year, I think AI tended to pull starters too early but keep relievers in too long in general. You could use a different Manager Hook before and after the starter gets pulled in that case.

Very true. That is how I did it last year as well. And some this year. I actually haven't ruled out actually trying it with other sliders, for those in-betweeners. Never done it, but at some point I might.

[nomo17k]

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

Your 4/12 stats look pretty damn good. I know it won't be exact, but you pretty much got it there.

Yeah, that one looked pretty good. I'm trying to squeeze out if a minor adjustment can align more stats better. I want a bit less strikeouts right now. Also a little more hits would be nice, but that I'm more inclined to do by slowing down outfielders and/or lowering fielder reaction.

I want BABIP to be near .300 and the batting average to be within +/-10 of the target if possible. If the BA goes below .240 you can feel it's more quiet and also extra inning games increase due to CPU struggling to score runs, unless there are other ways to get runners on (like more walks).

[NolanRyansSnowmonkey]

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

I find it interesting that between 4/9 and 4/10, with only strike frequency raised one notch ( from 5 to 6):
Batting Average spiked 40 points to .286
Babip spiked 56 points to .343
Doubles/BIP jumped 2 points from 8.3 to 10.3

Yet between 4/14 and 4/15, with only strike frequency lowered one notch (6 to 5):

Batting Average still went up 9 points
Babip only lowered 6 points
Doubles/BIP still went up over 1.5 points

I would have guessed you would see a similar difference in offense by adjusting only that same slider. (My expectation was that offense would decrease in a similar amount between 4/14 and 4/15, instead of increasing)

Although some other sliders had changed in the meantime, (Timing 2 to 3, and Solid hits 6 to 5) I expected with only the one slider change the results would be similar.

Any thoughts?

[CoachModer]

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

Are you guys watching games or just sim the day to day?

I have been thinking about just running a franchise and sim all the games and for the team I control do the fast sim within the game where you can make choices etc. What is the best way to go?

[NolanRyansSnowmonkey]

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

Are you guys watching games or just sim the day to day?

I have been thinking about just running a franchise and sim all the games and for the team I control do the fast sim within the game where you can make choices etc. What is the best way to go?

I personally use Nomo's set to watch games im my franchise if i choose to. I watched every game of the playoffs last year and it was awesome. So I play my games with a version of Mike Lowe's set, and let other games play out on my tv with Nomo's set. When I sim, I sim with a version of the set I play with.

I'm not even sure Nomo tests these in sim mode or managing. As far as I know it's more for letting games play out live. But I wouldn't be surprised if it works just fine for simming or managing since (i think) mainly only Pitcher stamina and hook affect sim games...

[nomo17k]

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

Are you guys watching games or just sim the day to day?

I have been thinking about just running a franchise and sim all the games and for the team I control do the fast sim within the game where you can make choices etc. What is the best way to go?

I personally use Nomo's set to watch games im my franchise if i choose to. I watched every game of the playoffs last year and it was awesome. So I play my games with a version of Mike Lowe's set, and let other games play out on my tv with Nomo's set. When I sim, I sim with a version of the set I play with.

I'm not even sure Nomo tests these in sim mode or managing. As far as I know it's more for letting games play out live. But I wouldn't be surprised if it works just fine for simming or managing since (i think) mainly only Pitcher stamina and hook affect sim games...

The gameplay and simulator engines are pretty much entirely different, and for the latter most sliders do not have any effects.

The ones that affects simulated games are Starter/Reliever Stamina, Manager Hook, and Injury/Trade Frequency, and there aren't other ways (aside from attribute editing) to influence simulated games.

If you want control over IPs/CGs and reliever usage for pitchers in simulated games, you may want to adjust those sliders... but otherwise which slider set you use do not matter much.