MLB 2K10 Questions and Answers (all questions answered in first post)

[Trevytrev11]

Re: MLB 2K10 Questions and Answers (all questions answered in first post)

1. Cursor hitting is still there, but I believe it hasn't changed at all. I also believe the zone hitting is now defunct as an option.

Last year, what they called "zone hitting" was actually cursor hitting. There was only one system offered of this type (not including classic or swing stick)

2. I was surprised by how much I liked the new swing stick in my limited amount of time with it. Last year the swing stick was a joke because you could just mash HRs and rock the swing influence. And in that same line of thought, I never bought into the swing stick in any of the other MLB 2K games because I just never saw the point of it over the buttons. While buttons could still work even in the style they now are implementing, I do see inherent reasons to use the stick over the buttons in this particular hitting style. While I'm hesitant to anoint anything in such a small sample size, the new swing stick at least passes the smell test for me. I'll mention more in a second in terms of the swing types etc., but let me respond to the rest of the question first. There is no check swing this year. Obviously, that's a bummer, and I figure next year it will be back on a trigger or something.

Now, as for the different types of swings (most of this info is according to answers from the developers):

-You can hit home runs with the contact swing, but your timing has to be spot on.

-Home-run hitters are home-run hitters, contact hitters are contact hitters. It will be very hard to use the power swing and be effective with slap hitters because it seems like not only is their power diminished, but the timing window will be smaller if you use a power swing with a contact-oriented guy. And at the same time, you won't be doing a service to your contact hitter if you're not using the contact swing to get that high average.

-The defensive swing still ties into contact ratings, and when you make contact with the ball, does not automatically equal a foul ball when you use it. You can simply dribble a ball up the middle of the infield etc. So the obvious risk/reward here in a situation is you might hit an easy grounder for a double play when trying to simply foul off a pitch and stay alive.

-The AI uses all the swing types. An example the developers talked to me about involved Todd Helton. When Helton has two strikes on him, he goes into defense mode and will really battle you while trying to find a pitch he likes -- so it ties into ratings in this case in terms of what AI batters will battle you harder than others.

-I see a definite argument arising in terms of IF it will be possible to go up thinking you can just read and react rather than deciding before a pitch is thrown what type of swing you will take. Is anyone's reaction time going to be good enough to think "I will contact swing if it's in one place, but defensive swing if it's in another"? I do think it will devolve into a guessing game of sorts. In my play time, I relied more on the count, situation and player to decide before the pitch what swing type I would go for (assuming it was a strike). As I get more skilled will I be able to read and react more? Is it necessarily a bad thing if you can't just read and react? I'm not sure on these points.

-It should be way harder to pull an outside pitch for a home run, and the swing influence seems to have been gimped quite a bit (was too effective last year). It seems like you will have to nail your timing and not try to pull outside pitches and so forth.

I think I really like all of this. I was under the impression there was two swing types (power and defensive), which I thought was a step back, but with power, contact and defensive, I think this takes hitting in the right step.

I love the Helton example because he's a perfect example of a guy that can hit the ball 400', hit the ball to the gap or slap a single the other way.

However, I do agree with Blzer's argument that we almost decide who is going to hit the HR's and who isn't. But if the systems work as such that I use the power for Howard every time and end up with 40-50 bombs and use contact every time for say Mark Ellis and hit 10-15, I guess that works out right. It's the Jose Reyes's and Todd Helton's that make this tricky. Do I decide if they hit 5 HR's, 15 or 30 based on my swing choice?

obviously, small sample size for me. But I can say a couple things and relay a few others. First-hand experience shows me that stamina and confidence do tie more into your accuracy. It's going to be harder to paint corners when your meter is going bonkers or you're tired because the meter starts to go at a quicker pace -- those being two examples. The whole Joel Pineiro vs. Daniel Cabrera discussion is another point.

Now if you're absolutely nailing the meter and motion, I'm sure you're going to have some success with any pitcher in terms of accuracy, but even then, there are attributes at work that simply won't allow some pitchers to paint the corners -- at least that's the promise. It seems like the timing and accuracy windows will also vary based on the rating of each pitch and how much control a pitcher has in general.

Another nice thing is, if you are battling against an AI pitcher with bad control, if he misses the zone, he's more likely to miss the zone by a wide margin. Whereas when a good control pitcher misses, he might just be barely missing the zone.

I think I really like this, too. I hope the difference is noticeable, but no so dramatic that you can never have a dominant game with a Cabrera or Zito, and that's what it sounds like they have accomplished.

All of this along with realistic hitter aggression sounds like they have put their focus into the right areas of the game.

However,

There is no check swing this year. Obviously, that's a bummer, and I figure next year it will be back on a trigger or something.

This, to me, is a huge ommission, especially since it was in there last year. I can't speak for others, but this is an important piece of hitting for me in this game.

[MJeter02]

Re: MLB 2K10 Questions and Answers (all questions answered in first post)

Chase: thanks a lot for your all your answers. I have one extremely important question that you left me a little confused about. I loved cursor/zone hitting in 2k9 with having to move the bat cursor to the ball, and placement of the cursor/placement of the pitch dictated where the hit went. It was basically the most realistic hitting mechanic in a baseball video game...ever. I actually had realistic strike out and home run totals because of the cursor, it took skill to hit. instead of just having to time the pitch and swing, you had to guess general location and time the pitch as well, just like major league hitters do, they either guess the pitch and location depending on the count or look for one pitch in one spot. cursor/zone hitting made this all possible...and it was difficult which was awesome.

You said "Cursor hitting is still there, but I believe it hasn't changed at all. I also believe the zone hitting is now defunct as an option." In 2k9, it was cursor/zone hitting. What do you mean when you say cursor hitting is till there but zone hitting is gone?" Is the bat cursor still there but is less effective in terms of zone hitting? Please explain if you can. Thanks

[duke776]

Re: MLB 2K10 Questions and Answers (all questions answered in first post)

Looks like I won't get this game again. I'm a stickler for editing stances and such, so that's a gamekiller for me. I was looking forward to it too, oh well.

[Blzer]

Re: MLB 2K10 Questions and Answers (all questions answered in first post)

Looks like I won't get this game again. I'm a stickler for editing stances and such, so that's a gamekiller for me. I was looking forward to it too, oh well.

Let's just hope and pray that they have captured a lot more stances, or at least added a bunch more generic stances. SCEA was the first of anyone to ever get it right with this year's installation, adding 107 generic stances. That doesn't mean they have to be "basic" (hopefully they all aren't), because I consider "generic" as "not unique", as in not motion-captured and designated for a specific MLB player. Hopefully within that 107 is just a very wide array of stances that will work for a bunch of major leaguers, rookies, minor leaguers, draftees, etc.

As for 2K, I just hope they're not stuck with like the three or four generic stances they had last year. Not only are they ugly (and almost literally no one bats like the generic stances shown in real life), they are just very limiting and far too many people have them.

[MJeter02]

Re: MLB 2K10 Questions and Answers (all questions answered in first post)

oh yea one more thing. Is check swing eliminated from user control only or do the computer hitters no longer check swing as well? If I can't do it, oh well. If the computer hitters don't do it...game breaker. Check swings happen so often in baseball that it will really effect the realism of the game if you don't see it at all while playing. I really hope to see plate umpires checking swings with the 1st and 3rd umps, if not that's terrible.

[LiMiiTzZ]

Re: MLB 2K10 Questions and Answers (all questions answered in first post)

only 1 question. can you change the opposing pitcher before the exhibition game starts?
you couldnt do that in last years "demo" lol

[EL_GABE]

Re: MLB 2K10 Questions and Answers (all questions answered in first post)

I think or guesse. That you can't. Edit the stance of big time players like pujols arod.


But maybe the players with generic stances u could switch...hopefully. we can. Change for the created players and AAA AA A

[Jamin23]

Re: MLB 2K10 Questions and Answers (all questions answered in first post)

From the 2k forums: I also am not sure what is being referred to with the editing batting stances answer. I am looking at the game right now, and I can change Gary Matthews batting stance to Torii Hunter's if I want. We were going to discuss that in the Franchise Insight, but I guess I should dispel that notion now.

**EDIT** I also just checked Derek Jeter for A-Rod. I can do it **EDIT**- Ronnie

[duke776]

Re: MLB 2K10 Questions and Answers (all questions answered in first post)

From the 2k forums: I also am not sure what is being referred to with the editing batting stances answer. I am looking at the game right now, and I can change Gary Matthews batting stance to Torii Hunter's if I want. We were going to discuss that in the Franchise Insight, but I guess I should dispel that notion now.

**EDIT** I also just checked Derek Jeter for A-Rod. I can do it **EDIT**- Ronnie

I really hope that's right. That would make me very happy.

[rock85]

Re: MLB 2K10 Questions and Answers (all questions answered in first post)

Thanks Chase for answering the questions. Things sound like they improved, one thing that has me scratching my head is taking out the check swing. I mean they add a defensive swing (which i have no problem with) but take out the check swing

[kcxiv]

Re: MLB 2K10 Questions and Answers (all questions answered in first post)

Here are some slider settings Ronnie posted on the 2K site.

Here are some:
Eye vs. Lefties
Eye Vs. Righties
Get Out By Strikeout
Get Out By Groundball

[EnigmaNemesis]

Re: MLB 2K10 Questions and Answers (all questions answered in first post)

From the 2k forums: I also am not sure what is being referred to with the editing batting stances answer. I am looking at the game right now, and I can change Gary Matthews batting stance to Torii Hunter's if I want. We were going to discuss that in the Franchise Insight, but I guess I should dispel that notion now.

**EDIT** I also just checked Derek Jeter for A-Rod. I can do it **EDIT**- Ronnie

Yes, because of the routines, but the real question is, can you do it to generic ones, because some might be better in generic than the player. And I think you can not judging by what they said.

And that is still an issue if so.

[ChaseB]

Re: MLB 2K10 Questions and Answers (all questions answered in first post)

From the 2k forums: I also am not sure what is being referred to with the editing batting stances answer. I am looking at the game right now, and I can change Gary Matthews batting stance to Torii Hunter's if I want. We were going to discuss that in the Franchise Insight, but I guess I should dispel that notion now.

**EDIT** I also just checked Derek Jeter for A-Rod. I can do it **EDIT**- Ronnie

I was just going off what a developer told me so good stuff if they can be edited.

[sandmac]

Re: MLB 2K10 Questions and Answers (all questions answered in first post)

Can somebody clear this player edit feature up, please?
It a critical must have for so many gamers.

[500Feet]

Re: MLB 2K10 Questions and Answers (all questions answered in first post)

I was just going off what a developer told me so good stuff if they can be edited.

That's crazy. I don't hold you accountable for what the developers told you. There seems to be a lot of miscommunication goin' on in the 2K Sports offices though.