Does anyone else NOT like the fielding camera?

[CMH]

Re: Does anyone else NOT like the fielding camera?

I'm beginning to worry that the BTP cam has Triple Play-itis.

The cam shifts over the left handed pitcher's shoulder when a lefty is on the mound. That's not tv-style realistic.

I'm not sure if you can change this but, both times I've seen lefties on the mound, the camera is over the left shoulder.

[jeffy777]

Re: Does anyone else NOT like the fielding camera?

I'm beginning to worry that the BTP cam has Triple Play-itis.

The cam shifts over the left handed pitcher's shoulder when a lefty is on the mound. That's not tv-style realistic.

I'm not sure if you can change this but, both times I've seen lefties on the mound, the camera is over the left shoulder.

I bet you can change it since it looks like the camera controls have side adjustments.

[NEWYORICAN]

Re: Does anyone else NOT like the fielding camera?

If you've been in San Diego for the past week, you'd know that there's been nothing but cold (and rain), strangely enough! It sucks.

I thought you were going to ask why I wasn't persistently banging on SCEA Studio's door.

But yeah, SDSU is very lively and there's always something to do (keep in mind I'm alcohol-/drug-free), but OS has been in my heart since as long as I can remember. No way I can give up this addiction.

Definitely, and this is partly what worries me every year about switching developing teams. It's somebody else's code, and when you're not completely rebuilding, things get messy... too many different interpretations for partly the same components of the game.

For instance, they reworked the way that the hitting works, but they probably kept the same mapping code for the right-stick control. When they're not optimizing it to exactly the way that they want and know, especially with the way that C++ can handle unfamiliar code to a despicable way, it can potentially lead to a disaster, which is why I'm surprised they've done the most that they could this year.

I agree wholeheartedly, and that simply is what it could be. But when was the last time that VC did a baseball game? Sure they've been heading Blue Shift and Kush, but they haven't sat down and done it themselves like they did with the NBA 2K and NFL 2K series.

Something tells me that 360 owners have a playable game this year, and they have a desireable game coming next year. VC rarely disappoints me (except with ESPN NBA Basketball) and it seems they know what to do with relation to the sport that they're developing for. Until they can get a full grasp of everything that Kush screwed up, we won't see the true gem that this game can become. I only wish they made the switch much earlier.

Blzer,

Do you know or heard any rumors if VC is going to get rid of the old code for the MLB2K10 version. Please, this old code has to eventually be put to rest...lol

peace
Ernesto

[Artman22]

Re: Does anyone else NOT like the fielding camera?

I actually like the new camera. I get to see the ball alot better.

[bigmoe]

Re: Does anyone else NOT like the fielding camera?

I actually like the new camera. I get to see the ball alot better.

same here

[PVarck31]

Re: Does anyone else NOT like the fielding camera?

I personally love it. I love seeing the ball in flight on the deep shots.

[wrigleyville33]

Re: Does anyone else NOT like the fielding camera?

I hate the camera. It makes 2k9 look like an arcade game. Between that and the bat sound, I don't know which is worse.

[Blzer]

Re: Does anyone else NOT like the fielding camera?

Blzer,

Do you know or heard any rumors if VC is going to get rid of the old code for the MLB2K10 version. Please, this old code has to eventually be put to rest...lol

peace
Ernesto

I don't know man, I'll try and see what I can from any of my old Kush contacts with their plans (or if I can find any more truth to anything).

[NEWYORICAN]

Re: Does anyone else NOT like the fielding camera?

I don't know man, I'll try and see what I can from any of my old Kush contacts with their plans (or if I can find any more truth to anything).

Thanks Blzer, gives us the low down when you find out! I hope they do start with a new code for 2K10


peace
Ernesto

[jeffy777]

Re: Does anyone else NOT like the fielding camera?

I don't know man, I'll try and see what I can from any of my old Kush contacts with their plans (or if I can find any more truth to anything).

Just wonderong why would the Kush guys know what VC's plans are for next year's game? I thought Kush was basically done with the MLB series now that 2K put it in VC's hands (and rightfully so). I think VC already knew the ins and outs of the MLB engine since they worked on 2K7 with Kush (atleast VC's logo was on 2k7, but I'm not sure who actually did what).

Personally, I hope Kush never comes near the MLB series again after the incompetence they showed last year of getting the game running smoothly.

[Blzer]

Re: Does anyone else NOT like the fielding camera?

Just wonderong why would the Kush guys know what VC's plans are for next year's game?

What I meant was Kush's plans. As in, if they were already talking up stuff for next year's game, even in pre-production for 2K8 (things where they say "we'll get it in next year."


For instance, their plan was to someday get pretty much signature everything. I don't know if that meant every kind of thing that you can animate (throw and run styles included) or if that meant every player, but 2K9 was expecting a full-blow of them. Now I'm still seeing plenty of generics, so I'm not sure how much truth there is to that when it came to VC running it, but over 300 more is at least saying something.

Anyway, the truth is they actually were aiming for real-time in 2K8 like the NBA 2K series, but it's a lot more difficult with baseball (I'll get back to this). Plus, there was a 32-person vote on whether they wanted it in, and real-time lost 30 - 2, mostly because of the amount of downtime in baseball making the games too long (which shows that it might actually take a while, but it's so damn worth it!). Pre-gen cut scenes were a thing that programmers hated and artists loved. They loved to juice of the graphics as much as they can (like the blur and such) and do a bunch of camera tricks, which as you can tell was a sham in 2K8 when they weren't from authentic angles like 2K9.

Anyway, why is real time more difficult with baseball? Consider the two sports and how it is that they function. I already made a post earlier about how every baseball stadium is different, and that they had to do programming for each stadium individually, including dugout stairs and such (imagine if they stopped short or crashed into the wall left of it or something). In basketball, all courts are uniform, so there isn't much trouble there. I mean it doesn't just stop there... the distance between the dugout and the on-deck circle is different, the distance from the bench to the steps, the number of steps, the height of the railing, the number of openings, the path from the bullpen to the door to field... even keep in mind that in San Francisco the bullpen pitchers actually sit in the dugout (there is no bullpen bench), etc. This all has to be done in real-time, and for basketball it's pretty much just going to the bench, going to the sub area, going to the foul line, in-bounding the ball, and what... gathering up for a timeout? Not very much.

He also went on about the number of players to account for. This is only the count off the top of my head, but consider basketball and baseball.

Basketball:

- 24 players (5 on 5, plus 6 on the bench on each side)
- 3 referees
- 2 coaches
- 2 sweepers (these guys are very obvious to see)
- 6 cheerleaders (I counted lol)
- 1 mascot

Though he did make note that you have to consider who also only interacts with the ball... it's only the players and the refs. As you well know in NBA 2K, the ball stops well short of the crowd (and the player benches to boot).


Baseball:

- 50 players (9 on 9, plus 16 on the bench, some in bullpen)
- 4 umpires (are there 6 in the playoffs in this game?)
- 2 managers
- 4 base coaches (though I don't know if they are still present in real-time when not out on the field)
- 4 ball boys

And not to mention that even the fans interact with the ball, which means more real-time functionality I presume.

He even said that things have to load up on startup... so if you want to see pitchers warming up in the bullpens, there need to be a minimum of two baseballs and two bullpen catchers on each side. Though, all of this takes up way too much memory and they decided to not do it in 2K8.

I guess this not need be disclosed anymore... the reason cut scenes had a pause most of the time is that during cut scenes, they were actually loading information. So if there was a positive for the guys making this game, they used them as a way to hide loading times. So if you buttoned through, there was an extreme pause because stuff was still in the works behind the scenes. Obviously other games have nailed it so that this isn't an issue, but this is the reason for the pause.


Anyway, I'd like to know more about what it is that they wanted to do with the engine. I guess they would probably use the same one actually, but since VC came they decided to do what they did, so you're right in the sense that I don't know what VC's plans are. Maybe I could date all the way back to the Blue Shift days and find out.

[Blzer]

Re: Does anyone else NOT like the fielding camera?

I suppose I'm warming up to the camera keeping gameplay in mind only, but presentation-wise I would still like something that gives a better scope of the stadium. I suppose that we can't really do anything until they solve the framerate issue.

I wouldn't mind getting one of those Home Run Derby camera angles as a home run cut scene meanwhile, though.