Fielding Sliders

[mkharsh33]

I've been looking over every slider thread here. There are many options and numerous great ideas on how each creator believes they impact the slider set they've created. I'm tinkering with a lot of things, and tried something - and it really made the FIELDING smooth and seemed to really bring out the animations (especially infielders).

(Now, I'm a Xbox lifer, and for the last 6 years I've been helping the guys at the MLB 2K13 (and previous editions) with rosters and sliders. I recently made the switch to the ps4, so The Show is still somewhat new to me, but to be candid the learning curve isn't all that steep for someone who's play baseball video games for my entire life).

But try this...

Set the Fielder SPEED at 0.

Set the Fielder REACTION to 4. (I tried 5 but felt like too many mediocre fielders were making plays they shouldn't).

I LOVE this setup. I know some of the posts here have noted how balls get past outfielders, but if you tame down the solid contact slider a touch (I have the cpu's set at 4) - it seems to compensate for the unrealistic rockets to the outfield). But I've seen some really cool animations from the infielders I hadn't seen before. The morphing seemed to cease and guys really react differently. I don't believe this is a placebo.

One of the things we had to do with the MLB 2K rendition was to individually lower each player's speed and reaction ratings - in essence, we had to "slow the game down" a touch to make it look realistic. Once we came to that collective decision in those threads of shared information, wow!!!!! We started seeing so many new animations.

It seems to me The Show is set to play extremely fast on default - and I'm guessing that tailors to a "younger generation"(??). The "arcade factor" I'm guessing. But give it a shot - I'd be curious to hear what you're seeing. In almost all of the slider threads here (and I think that's all of them) no one had this setup being used.

Thanks for reading...

[Cycloniac]

Re: Fielding Sliders

I've been looking over every slider thread here. There are many options and numerous great ideas on how each creator believes they impact the slider set they've created. I'm tinkering with a lot of things, and tried something - and it really made the FIELDING smooth and seemed to really bring out the animations (especially infielders).

(Now, I'm a Xbox lifer, and for the last 6 years I've been helping the guys at the MLB 2K13 (and previous editions) with rosters and sliders. I recently made the switch to the ps4, so The Show is still somewhat new to me, but to be candid the learning curve isn't all that steep for someone who's play baseball video games for my entire life).

But try this...

Set the Fielder SPEED at 0.

Set the Fielder REACTION to 4. (I tried 5 but felt like too many mediocre fielders were making plays they shouldn't).

I LOVE this setup. I know some of the posts here have noted how balls get past outfielders, but if you tame down the solid contact slider a touch (I have the cpu's set at 4) - it seems to compensate for the unrealistic rockets to the outfield). But I've seen some really cool animations from the infielders I hadn't seen before. The morphing seemed to cease and guys really react differently. I don't believe this is a placebo.

One of the things we had to do with the MLB 2K rendition was to individually lower each player's speed and reaction ratings - in essence, we had to "slow the game down" a touch to make it look realistic. Once we came to that collective decision in those threads of shared information, wow!!!!! We started seeing so many new animations.

It seems to me The Show is set to play extremely fast on default - and I'm guessing that tailors to a "younger generation"(??). The "arcade factor" I'm guessing. But give it a shot - I'd be curious to hear what you're seeing. In almost all of the slider threads here (and I think that's all of them) no one had this setup being used.

Thanks for reading...

This is interesting because I used to have fielder speed at 0 or 1, last year and prior. I've seen a few persons suggest fielder speed at 0 too.

I ended up settling on the inverse of what you did. I have been using fielder run speed at 4 and reaction at 1. I like this setup because the higher run speed, while lower than default by a click, helps with defender positioning and recovery. I also think it gives a better spectrum of a player's range. I recall seeing a lot of weird plays and glitches with fielder speed being too low, but maybe reaction being at 4 or 5 would compensate for that.

Reaction being low helps defensive ability stand out more, especially in the outfield.

Curious what others think about this as the defensive sliders have been ones I tweaked with a lot in previous editions of the Show.

[NolanRyansSnowmonkey]

Re: Fielding Sliders

This is interesting because I used to have fielder speed at 0 or 1, last year and prior. I've seen a few persons suggest fielder speed at 0 too.

I ended up settling on the inverse of what you did. I have been using fielder run speed at 4 and reaction at 1. I like this setup because the higher run speed, while lower than default by a click, helps with defender positioning and recovery. I also think it gives a better spectrum of a player's range. I recall seeing a lot of weird plays and glitches with fielder speed being too low, but maybe reaction being at 4 or 5 would compensate for that.

Reaction being low helps defensive ability stand out more, especially in the outfield.

Curious what others think about this as the defensive sliders have been ones I tweaked with a lot in previous editions of the Show.

I use fielder speed and reaction at 2 and 2. So basically exactly in the middle of what you guys do, so i guess it is a similar setup. I also see that gap between player skills and speed. Ive been robbed a few of times of base hits and doubles by Springer, Trout etc on balls that would have fallen in with some other players.

Gappers get ran down by the fastest players sometimes, and occasionally see some spectacular plays but not too often. When they happen they have that "Wow" factor. I like that i see players racing back on deep fly balls, and you're just hoping they don't get there in time. I hit a rope line drive to dead center the other day, and Springer turned and ran toward the wall, and he nearly got to it and he leapt, while in a full sprint, before he could even get to the warning track, as the ball cleared his glove by inches. The ball hit the base of the wall and i had a stand up double. It just looked so realistic. You know the ball is hit hard when you can get it over his head.

Also when i control Deshields in the outfield his speed really stands out as opposed to my other outfielders. The main reason i like these settings is the fact that I find that the correct amount of balls put into play fall in for hits. (Around 30%).

[KBLover]

Re: Fielding Sliders

Reaction being low helps defensive ability stand out more, especially in the outfield.

Curious what others think about this as the defensive sliders have been ones I tweaked with a lot in previous editions of the Show.

My view is 0 speed helps outfield range stand out more. One of the big attributes to OF range is mobility. The rest is positioning and getting a good read (Reaction) and route (Reaction/Fielding). Then speed gets the fielder there and lets him (possibly) overcome any mistakes elsewhere in the process.

Faster OFers have no problem tracking balls down. Ones with high reaction can overcome their midrange speed ratings. Ones with both are weapons in the outfield that require great trajectories or their manager positioning them at a disadvantage (beating the shift, sinking liner vs no-doubles, etc.).

Slow OFers are going to be questionable/challenged. Doubly so if their reaction/fielding is not wonderful. Higher speed settings tends to cause gap zones and back zones defended too easily, lowering BABIP on flies too much for my liking.

Glitches? Other than the jogging thing which, imo, is not slider dependent, I don't see what I'd call glitches. To me, they are route errors/mis-reads/judgement errors.

Good reaction setting for your infielders depends on the speed of the grounders your set produces, imo. If harder grounders are somewhat common, you might need higher. If grounders tend to be slower for you, lower can let more of them slip through while still allowing range to show up.

[Cycloniac]

Re: Fielding Sliders

I use fielder speed and reaction at 2 and 2. So basically exactly in the middle of what you guys do, so i guess it is a similar setup. I also see that gap between player skills and speed. Ive been robbed a few of times of base hits and doubles by Springer, Trout etc on balls that would have fallen in with some other players.

Gappers get ran down by the fastest players sometimes, and occasionally see some spectacular plays but not too often. When they happen they have that "Wow" factor. I like that i see players racing back on deep fly balls, and you're just hoping they don't get there in time. I hit a rope line drive to dead center the other day, and Springer turned and ran toward the wall, and he nearly got to it and he leapt, while in a full sprint, before he could even get to the warning track, as the ball cleared his glove by inches. The ball hit the base of the wall and i had a stand up double. It just looked so realistic. You know the ball is hit hard when you can get it over his head.

Also when i control Deshields in the outfield his speed really stands out as opposed to my other outfielders. The main reason i like these settings is the fact that I find that the correct amount of balls put into play fall in for hits. (Around 30%).

I remember using 2-2 also, 2-2 is pretty good.

I've seen the exact play you're describing with Springer and I agree, it's great to watch.

When I was running my 50+ game test, I found I got around a .300 BABIP also with 4-1. The only thing that's frustrated me and caused me to tweak fielding in the first place--before I started stat tracking--was big plays. I remember seeing diving catches and web gems from players who I wouldn't describe as great defenders (i double-checked ratings after every play like this).

With that being said, I will note that I've never seen the CPU make a wall-climb catch on either 2-2 or 4-1. Curious if you or anyone else has had any luck there. I've seen attempts before, but no wall climb catches, and I've seen pretty much every other big fielding play.

[NolanRyansSnowmonkey]

Re: Fielding Sliders

I remember using 2-2 also, 2-2 is pretty good.

I've seen the exact play you're describing with Springer and I agree, it's great to watch.

When I was running my 50+ game test, I found I got around a .300 BABIP also with 4-1. The only thing that's frustrated me and caused me to tweak fielding in the first place--before I started stat tracking--was big plays. I remember seeing diving catches and web gems from players who I wouldn't describe as great defenders (i double-checked ratings after every play like this).

With that being said, I will note that I've never seen the CPU make a wall-climb catch on either 2-2 or 4-1. Curious if you or anyone else has had any luck there. I've seen attempts before, but no wall climb catches, and I've seen pretty much every other big fielding play.

I agree on the big plays from mediocre players. Of course so-so defenders do make big plays occasionally, both in real life and on the game, but at these lower settings it seems more accurately weighted to the better defenders. I did the same thing and checked ratings after web gems.

I was robbed last year i believe, using 2-2 but not yet this year. I have seen attempts but the ball usually seems just beyond their reach so far.

[KBLover]

Re: Fielding Sliders

I've had Ichiro rob a HR for me once and Lagares in LF smacked into the wall but held on to the ball.

My fictional LF (low 60 reaction/fielding, 50's speed) in my oldest franchise tried that play, mistimed the jump and it turned into a triple that was almost an in-the-park HR.

[mkharsh33]

Re: Fielding Sliders

Good stuff here! So what would be the consensus? 2-2 or some other setting.

I ended up keeping speed at 0, but I upped reaction to 5 as I was seeing some bizarre stuff. But if there is a better path to this, I'd be open to what you guys who have played this game much longer than me have seen.

Thanks!!

[NolanRyansSnowmonkey]

Re: Fielding Sliders

Good stuff here! So what would be the consensus? 2-2 or some other setting.

I ended up keeping speed at 0, but I upped reaction to 5 as I was seeing some bizarre stuff. But if there is a better path to this, I'd be open to what you guys who have played this game much longer than me have seen.

Thanks!!

Not sure that there is necessarily a consensus, but seems like we all agree that we see very similar good results at 2-2, and 4-1. I believe KB uses 0-something or 0-0? I may be remembering incorrectly on that. Like KB mentioned, some of depends on offensive settings, because the more hard hits, the higher reaction will need to be, particularly on ground balls.

I tested some of these early on, and with my offensive settings, and baserunner speed, i settled in at 2-2 (baserunner speed at 4). Seemed like with anything lower than 2 fielder speed, with my offensive sliders, i began seeing a jump in triples - close to double the normal amount (instead of one triple every 6 games or so, i was seeing one every 3 or 4 games).

I also tested 4-1 early on (and almost every other variation of below-default) and also got good results for Babip. I dont remember what i had the offensive sliders on at that point. I have the data somewhere.

I do know that when i had reaction at default, the infield gobbled up 90% of ground balls. I needed a few more ground balls to get through than the nornal 24%, because back then, line drives were slightly low for me, and on top of that my batting average on line drives stayed a little low as well. So a few more ground balls than normal needed to find their way through to make up for it. That all seems to have improved since then, so i settled in at 2 reaction.

[KBLover]

Re: Fielding Sliders

0 Speed, 5 Reaction is what I'm using right now and I like it.

Helps me keep grounder BABIP in line and allows great infielders to make some nice plays.

The speed puts the onus on the pitcher to do contact management/induce poorer trajectories, and then even then, depending on where they land, they might still drop.

[bravesfan1984]

Re: Fielding Sliders

I'm interested in your thoughts of fielding sliders using the hybrid roster ratings. I'm assuming since we out out the roster later in the season, most testing was done using osfm?

Sent from my SM-G965U using Operation Sports mobile app

[NolanRyansSnowmonkey]

Re: Fielding Sliders

0 Speed, 5 Reaction is what I'm using right now and I like it.

Helps me keep grounder BABIP in line and allows great infielders to make some nice plays.

The speed puts the onus on the pitcher to do contact management/induce poorer trajectories, and then even then, depending on where they land, they might still drop.

Ok that makes sense. So - we have seen a common theme here:

a) higher speed (4) and low reaction (1)
b) lower speed (0) and higher reaction (5)
c) meet near the middle on both (2-2)

And all of these seem to be getting great results depending on how we play. I dont think you can go wrong with any of these 3 settings, its just what goes best with our overall setup.

[NolanRyansSnowmonkey]

Re: Fielding Sliders

I'm interested in your thoughts of fielding sliders using the hybrid roster ratings. I'm assuming since we out out the roster later in the season, most testing was done using osfm?

Sent from my SM-G965U using Operation Sports mobile app

I missed out on hybrid this year unfortunately. This is the first year i didn't use it. I wanted to badly, but didn't work out. So yeah mine are all tested with OSFM.

[No.27]

Re: Fielding Sliders

With that being said, I will note that I've never seen the CPU make a wall-climb catch on either 2-2 or 4-1. Curious if you or anyone else has had any luck there. I've seen attempts before, but no wall climb catches, and I've seen pretty much every other big fielding play.

Funny you should mention this as I just had a memorable game at Tropicana where Mookie of all people missed 2 wall catches (auto fielding) and I’ve got my speed/reaction at 3/3. It was memorable because both were hit on the full to the short porch RF wall and scored TRIPLES as Mookie wandered around dazed and confused looking for the ball after he hit the wall. I thought one was even going to go for an inside the park home run until Mookie came to his senses.

[mkharsh33]

Re: Fielding Sliders

0 Speed, 5 Reaction is what I'm using right now and I like it.

Helps me keep grounder BABIP in line and allows great infielders to make some nice plays.

The speed puts the onus on the pitcher to do contact management/induce poorer trajectories, and then even then, depending on where they land, they might still drop.

Before even reading this, this is the EXACT setup I've locked in on - 0 speed, 5 reaction, and base running at 4. Appreciate all the input here as it's very helpful to see what you guys are using, the reasoning for it, and the results you're getting.