Turn on Catcher Suggestions and throw to the glove....sort of

[Qb]

Re: Turn on Catcher Suggestions and throw to the glove....sort of

I spent some time trying the different pitching methods tonight and I officially have no idea what the hell I'm doing. I understand the process for 3-step, but without the gesture feedback, I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. I seem to have trouble with fastballs & changes, but can do sliders & curves... weird. But the AI hacks at every strike, so I can't get a feel for things.

What I don't understand is how to do classic pitching. I went into practice mode and as far as I can tell, there are no instructions for it. I have absolutely no clue what to do. Just one of several things about this game that leaves me scratching my head...

[Bahnzo]

Re: Turn on Catcher Suggestions and throw to the glove....sort of

I spent some time trying the different pitching methods tonight and I officially have no idea what the hell I'm doing. I understand the process for 3-step, but without the gesture feedback, I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. I seem to have trouble with fastballs & changes, but can do sliders & curves... weird. But the AI hacks at every strike, so I can't get a feel for things.

What I don't understand is how to do classic pitching. I went into practice mode and as far as I can tell, there are no instructions for it. I have absolutely no clue what to do. Just one of several things about this game that leaves me scratching my head...

Fastballs and curves are weird, because they aren't a 3 step process. It's not- hold, turn, release. My guess with fastball is...pull back and hold, push forward and hold, release.

Classic is easy, but deceptive. Hold the button and let it fill to desired power, release and then press again when circle disappears for the aim. It's actually harder I think that the two step pitching, and seems to provide better results so far. I've become a fan.

[Qb]

Re: Turn on Catcher Suggestions and throw to the glove....sort of

Classic is easy, but deceptive. Hold the button and let it fill to desired power, release and then press again when circle disappears for the aim. It's actually harder I think that the two step pitching, and seems to provide better results so far. I've become a fan.

OK, so you press the button the second time AFTER the circle disappears? I assume that the bigger the circle on your initial press & hold, the more 'power' in the pitch... so do you want to release it before or when the controller vibrates? I was thinking that the vibration may be like overswinging in the old PGA Tour golf games -- you get more power, but there is a bigger penalty if you miss your accuracy point...

[rjsuperfly66]

Re: Turn on Catcher Suggestions and throw to the glove....sort of

I hated pitching last year, I actually enjoy it some on the stick, just cant find sliders to work for me. The A.I. gets a lot of hits, but never anything substantial. In 5 games, I've given up only like 2 homers, but they occured after I was already well in the lead.

[therizing02]

Re: Turn on Catcher Suggestions and throw to the glove....sort of

I've finally found the settings I'll be sticking with until the patch. In my last game (Cub.me vs. STL) I generated the best stats.

CHI/STL
Total pitches-124/125
%Strikes-59/61
Hits-6/14
Doubles-2/4
Triples-0/1
HR-1/1
BB-6/5
K-6/4
Runs-2/6...(yeah yeah yeah Bahnzo)

Cards took a 1-0 lead in the top of the 2nd but the Cubs tied it on a 2 out double by Fontenot in the bottom of the second.

Trailing 2-1 in the 4th Fontenot hit one in the bleachers to tie it at 2.

Wellemeyer was struggling for the Cards and was taken out in the 5th. Harden was cruising until the 7th when St. Louis loaded the bases with no outs.

Ankiel hit a 2 run single and the Cards added a 3rd run on the stupid first baseman bug. Glaus hit a pinch hit HR in the 8th for final margin.

[JayhawkerStL]

Re: Turn on Catcher Suggestions and throw to the glove....sort of

I've finally found the settings I'll be sticking with until the patch. In my last game (Cub.me vs. STL) I generated the best stats.

What are the settings? That looked pretty good.

[therizing02]

Re: Turn on Catcher Suggestions and throw to the glove....sort of

Here are the settings:

CLASSIC BATTING w/ LS Influence. NO, holding the LS up does NOT guarantee HRs. In my last 4 franchise games I've hit a toal of 4 and 2 were in one game.

2 Step Pitching. I use the catcher suggestion about 85% of the time. You have to have the courage to give this a shot. It works. Yes, there is a problem with AI aggressiveness, but it's not as bad as it was since I started throwing to catcher suggestions.

I throw fastballs down the middle that the CPU takes for strikes. I went from seeing 5 or 6 called strikes a game to more than 10. I usually strike out 2 or 3 batters a game looking.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I rarely throw to the middle of the glove. I usually throw to a piece of the glove either on the corner or just out of the strike zone. I throw to the middle of the glove when the catcher sets up outside of the zone. On 3-0 pitches I NEVER throw to the middle of the plate because the CPU swings EVERY TIME.

The game changed for me when I increased the pitch speed and started using catcher suggestions. 95 was a bit too fast. I could get the timing, but I couldn't get read on pitches quick enough so I was swinging at some pretty bad pitches. With a higher pitch speed setting I also notice a bigger difference from the elite pitchers to the average ones.

I decreased it to 85. Now I draw walks, the CPU is throwing strikes at a realistic percentage, and the hit variety is great. With pitch speed at 95 I had USER power at 70. I lowered the pitch speed and upped the power. Find out what works for you.

BATTING

USER/CPU

BS-45/65
BC-10/0
BP-80/80
PHI-100/100
IEBI-100/100
BPI-80/0
HDI-50

PITCHING

Meter-65
Speed-85
Gesture-100
Hold Timing-100
Release Timing-100
Pitch Rating-100
Break Influence-10
Composure-75

AI Success-15
Selection, Strike and Pitch Zones-0
Composure-85

Fielding

Errors-0/10
TMI-75
Fielder Speed-55/55

Base Running

Speed-55
Pick Off-15...I stop trying to pick off runners because it's too easy.
Catcher Throw Out-60

AI

HnR-75
SAC-75
Squeeze-50
Running Aggression-65
Steal Aggression-50
Steal Success-50

[JayhawkerStL]

Re: Turn on Catcher Suggestions and throw to the glove....sort of

Here are the settings:
2 Step Pitching. I use the catcher suggestion about 85% of the time. You have to have the courage to give this a shot. It works. Yes, there is a problem with AI aggressiveness, but it's not as bad as it was since I started throwing to catcher suggestions.

I thought you were still giving Classic pitching a try. It's unsatisfying to me to have that many walks a game, just because the catcher sets up outside the zone enough for me to pinpoint pitches out of the zone over and over again.

Whether I throw it for a strike or a ball, knowing where the pitch will land every time is not fulfilling. It's what made the Right stick awesome last year, and terrible this year.

I still need to adjust sliders to find better control on Classic pitching, but my enjoyment of the game is finally approaching what I had last year. It's starting the same way, as well. I am giving up gobs of runs and hits, but slowly getting better.

Maybe they will fix total Control pitching in the new patch. It can't be that hard to significantly lower the control.

[Bahnzo]

Re: Turn on Catcher Suggestions and throw to the glove....sort of

OK, so you press the button the second time AFTER the circle disappears? I assume that the bigger the circle on your initial press & hold, the more 'power' in the pitch... so do you want to release it before or when the controller vibrates? I was thinking that the vibration may be like overswinging in the old PGA Tour golf games -- you get more power, but there is a bigger penalty if you miss your accuracy point...

No...it works the same as last year. Press and hold to power up, release at desired power, and then press again when you think the circle is smallest to set aim. You're right, the bigger the more power or effort, but it also tires him out much faster and the penalty for missing your release point.

[Qb]

Re: Turn on Catcher Suggestions and throw to the glove....sort of

No...it works the same as last year. Press and hold to power up, release at desired power, and then press again when you think the circle is smallest to set aim. You're right, the bigger the more power or effort, but it also tires him out much faster and the penalty for missing your release point.

Thanks, home-skillet. If you would, could you share your human pitching settings for classic controls?

[Bahnzo]

Re: Turn on Catcher Suggestions and throw to the glove....sort of

Thanks, home-skillet. If you would, could you share your human pitching settings for classic controls?

I'm close to updating my slider thread with some (hopefully) improved numbers that will be for classic pitching and hitting. I'm convinced that classic pitching is the way to go. Much harder to hit your spots perfectly, and when you miss, the ball misses randomly.

[Qb]

Re: Turn on Catcher Suggestions and throw to the glove....sort of

I'm close to updating my slider thread with some (hopefully) improved numbers that will be for classic pitching and hitting. I'm convinced that classic pitching is the way to go. Much harder to hit your spots perfectly, and when you miss, the ball misses randomly.

I'll be waiting. I think you might be right about classic pitching. While it may not feel 'next-gen' in terms of mechanics, I'll willing to sacrifice feel for results and difficulty...

[BadKermit]

Re: Turn on Catcher Suggestions and throw to the glove....sort of

I tried Classic last night, and you guys are right. It is MUCH more difficult to hit your spots. I'm probably going to stay with three-step pitching for now, but if it stays too easy, I'll probably switch to Classic.