Fielding Assist

[Deltron]

I really like playing defense in baseball games, but this game doesn't allow you to feel like you are the one making the plays. There's basically an auto-fielding mechanic that takes control away from the user, at least initially.

For example on infield smashes, I have no time to take control of my infielder before he makes the play himself. I absolutely hate not being able to turn this option off, because I feel like someone else is controlling my players. It's not rewarding to watch the AI control your 3rd baseman on a diving snag down the line instead of controlling it yourself. As the user, it's like I'm a glorified thrower instead of a fielder.

Am I correct in concluding that there's no way to turn off this intrusive fielding assist option?

Btw, I really liked the cursor hitting but I can't play the game without being able to react and make plays myself.

[Deltron]

Re: Fielding Assist

This can't be turned off, correct?

[baa7]

Re: Fielding Assist

It's a "feature" that's been in 2K baseball since 2K5 and it can't be turned off, no. Over the course of playing this series for five years, I've had a number of half-innings where I literally never made a single defensive play. The auto-fielding AI took control of my players and made all the catches. Terrible, I agree.

[Deltron]

Re: Fielding Assist

Oh wow, didn't realize it was that bad. It sounds like lazy design if they need to give you that big of assist to make the game playable ...

But I don't consider it playable without control ... anyway thanks for the answer.

[baa7]

Re: Fielding Assist

Oh wow, didn't realize it was that bad. It sounds like lazy design if they need to give you that big of assist to make the game playable.

It was a design decision, originally at least. They introduced a "web gems" feature in 2K5. They had pre-rendered cut screens, replays and graphic overlays whenever an infielder made a spectacular play. Trouble was, basically none of them were ever turned by the user. The CPU-assisted AI would cause your player to dive for linedrives before you even had a chance to move the R-stick. Triple Play Baseball was never that cheesy and arcady, lol.

A 2K employee on this forum stated they're still using the same game engine and much of the same game coding from the old Sega series (early 2000's). Obviously a lot of this coding is still in the game and hasn't been fixed or even tweaked.