Pared's MVP 2005 Gameplay Sliders

[James_T]

Re: Pared's MVP 2005 Gameplay Sliders

I've stolen mainly against the AL Central Division since I've played those teams a lot. I don't know what to tell you. Did you put the steal delay to -4 or whatever it was like Pared's sliders are? I guess I just get a feel for when to go and can tell when I've gotten a good jump. I'd say I've stolen it successfully 3 times out of 4 so far but have benefited from some less than spectacular throws.

Yeah, I have the steal delay at -4. I'm guessing that the "less than spectacular throws" is the difference between your experience and mine. Although Varitek doesn't have a cannon of an arm, all of his throws have been absolutely perfect. That is probably the issue, then... but given that there is no way to adjust the throw accuracy for just the catcher, I can't fix it. I'll have to play around against other catchers and see what I can come up with as well.

[James_T]

Re: Pared's MVP 2005 Gameplay Sliders

I've stolen mainly against the AL Central Division since I've played those teams a lot. I don't know what to tell you. Did you put the steal delay to -4 or whatever it was like Pared's sliders are? I guess I just get a feel for when to go and can tell when I've gotten a good jump. I'd say I've stolen it successfully 3 times out of 4 so far but have benefited from some less than spectacular throws.

Yeah, I have the steal delay at -4. I'm guessing that the "less than spectacular throws" is the difference between your experience and mine. Although Varitek doesn't have a cannon of an arm, all of his throws have been absolutely perfect. That is probably the issue, then... but given that there is no way to adjust the throw accuracy for just the catcher, I can't fix it. I'll have to play around against other catchers and see what I can come up with as well.

[JRod]

Re: Pared's MVP 2005 Gameplay Sliders

Yeah, I have the steal delay at -4. I'm guessing that the "less than spectacular throws" is the difference between your experience and mine. Although Varitek doesn't have a cannon of an arm, all of his throws have been absolutely perfect. That is probably the issue, then... but given that there is no way to adjust the throw accuracy for just the catcher, I can't fix it. I'll have to play around against other catchers and see what I can come up with as well.

Swing but miss the pitch... it will distrupt the catcher sometimes.

[JRod]

Re: Pared's MVP 2005 Gameplay Sliders

Yeah, I have the steal delay at -4. I'm guessing that the "less than spectacular throws" is the difference between your experience and mine. Although Varitek doesn't have a cannon of an arm, all of his throws have been absolutely perfect. That is probably the issue, then... but given that there is no way to adjust the throw accuracy for just the catcher, I can't fix it. I'll have to play around against other catchers and see what I can come up with as well.

Swing but miss the pitch... it will distrupt the catcher sometimes.

[drustrk3]

Re: Pared's MVP 2005 Gameplay Sliders

Im sure its been mentioned already. But if anyone is having trouble with steals really try to predict an off speed pitch according to the count or patterns. If the pitcher just pounded in two fastballs theres a solid chance hes going off speed.

Also just an observation, but the computer really picks the right times to steal on me. I've been run on with a 3-2 count on a few occasions regardless of the speed of the runners(once even a double steal). I love that and its so realistic. There are so many little things that baseball fans will notice.

[drustrk3]

Re: Pared's MVP 2005 Gameplay Sliders

Im sure its been mentioned already. But if anyone is having trouble with steals really try to predict an off speed pitch according to the count or patterns. If the pitcher just pounded in two fastballs theres a solid chance hes going off speed.

Also just an observation, but the computer really picks the right times to steal on me. I've been run on with a 3-2 count on a few occasions regardless of the speed of the runners(once even a double steal). I love that and its so realistic. There are so many little things that baseball fans will notice.

[James_T]

Re: Pared's MVP 2005 Gameplay Sliders

Im sure its been mentioned already. But if anyone is having trouble with steals really try to predict an off speed pitch according to the count or patterns. If the pitcher just pounded in two fastballs theres a solid chance hes going off speed.

Also just an observation, but the computer really picks the right times to steal on me. I've been run on with a 3-2 count on a few occasions regardless of the speed of the runners(once even a double steal). I love that and its so realistic. There are so many little things that baseball fans will notice.

Stupid question of the day: When I steal, I take a 2-step lead from the base, and pre-program the steal with the directional pad. Is there a way to manually make the runner go instead, possibly earlier?

[James_T]

Re: Pared's MVP 2005 Gameplay Sliders

Im sure its been mentioned already. But if anyone is having trouble with steals really try to predict an off speed pitch according to the count or patterns. If the pitcher just pounded in two fastballs theres a solid chance hes going off speed.

Also just an observation, but the computer really picks the right times to steal on me. I've been run on with a 3-2 count on a few occasions regardless of the speed of the runners(once even a double steal). I love that and its so realistic. There are so many little things that baseball fans will notice.

Stupid question of the day: When I steal, I take a 2-step lead from the base, and pre-program the steal with the directional pad. Is there a way to manually make the runner go instead, possibly earlier?

[x94blair33]

Re: Pared's MVP 2005 Gameplay Sliders

Just some feedback on what I've seen with your sliders so far. The pitching and batting seems solid. I may need to tinker with human pitching. I'm playing as the Tigers and I'm 4 games into a dynasty:

lose 2-1, win 2-1, win 5-0 (shutout by Maroth), and win 5-2.

Admittedly I played the first three against the Royals and the last against the Indians but they probably should have scored a bit more.

Things I'm impressed with in batting:
They don't crush every mistake pitch (last year was tough for that).
The hits are all over and when you pull a quality pitch and belt it for a homerun you can just tell it was a combination of swing, location & timing...very rewarding!

Things I'm impressed with while pitching:
Meter is definately harder this year.
Variable strike zone. Sometimes I'm left going "what?!..how is that a strike!??!"...just like a Major Leaguer must feel.
You can tell the guys with nastier stuff, pitching with German or Farnsworth is different than trying to finesse with Maroth.

Possible hitting and pitching slider issues (since switching from default allstar to sliders):
- The CPU seems a little weak in the hitting area. I don't really see from the # tweaks how they should be affected but it seems like it. I'll have a better idea once I get through the rotation 2-3 times.
- The dreaded popfly foul ball outs seem to be back in force. Out of the box I was pleased to see less of them. Unfortunately, tweaking the foul balls appears to have done more to increase foul ball outs than total foul balls. I am playing at Comerica which has a good sized foul territory, but it's overkill.

Other potential issues:
I'm 4 games in and I don't think I've seen a steal or a hit and run yet. Again, it could be the teams I'm playing. I can't vouch for SB attempts of my own because (@%(@&% Sanchez can't get on base..haha.

Things I'd like addressed (either next year or via mod's/sliders):
More foul balls that are just fouls.
The ability to bust a pitch down the middle of the plate and freeze the batter...sometimes EA...they're just going to take a pitch...

All in all the game was phenominal out of the box and the sliders appear to be improving it.

[x94blair33]

Re: Pared's MVP 2005 Gameplay Sliders

Just some feedback on what I've seen with your sliders so far. The pitching and batting seems solid. I may need to tinker with human pitching. I'm playing as the Tigers and I'm 4 games into a dynasty:

lose 2-1, win 2-1, win 5-0 (shutout by Maroth), and win 5-2.

Admittedly I played the first three against the Royals and the last against the Indians but they probably should have scored a bit more.

Things I'm impressed with in batting:
They don't crush every mistake pitch (last year was tough for that).
The hits are all over and when you pull a quality pitch and belt it for a homerun you can just tell it was a combination of swing, location & timing...very rewarding!

Things I'm impressed with while pitching:
Meter is definately harder this year.
Variable strike zone. Sometimes I'm left going "what?!..how is that a strike!??!"...just like a Major Leaguer must feel.
You can tell the guys with nastier stuff, pitching with German or Farnsworth is different than trying to finesse with Maroth.

Possible hitting and pitching slider issues (since switching from default allstar to sliders):
- The CPU seems a little weak in the hitting area. I don't really see from the # tweaks how they should be affected but it seems like it. I'll have a better idea once I get through the rotation 2-3 times.
- The dreaded popfly foul ball outs seem to be back in force. Out of the box I was pleased to see less of them. Unfortunately, tweaking the foul balls appears to have done more to increase foul ball outs than total foul balls. I am playing at Comerica which has a good sized foul territory, but it's overkill.

Other potential issues:
I'm 4 games in and I don't think I've seen a steal or a hit and run yet. Again, it could be the teams I'm playing. I can't vouch for SB attempts of my own because (@%(@&% Sanchez can't get on base..haha.

Things I'd like addressed (either next year or via mod's/sliders):
More foul balls that are just fouls.
The ability to bust a pitch down the middle of the plate and freeze the batter...sometimes EA...they're just going to take a pitch...

All in all the game was phenominal out of the box and the sliders appear to be improving it.

[Pared]

Re: Pared's MVP 2005 Gameplay Sliders

BTW, folks, you don't take your pitcher out at around 50%. If you look at and worry about pitch counts, you will that 50% for some of the best pitchers in the game is about 50-65 pitches. If you go with them until about 15-25%, you get full pitch count usage.

BINGO!

When you pitch, you can't worry about fatigue. If you're pitching smart, then your pitch count should be high regardless, meaning when you arount 30-40%, that should be close to 100 pitches. By that point, there isn't any pitcher in the game (and I've tested this, again, Majors only) that should have a green area for perfect pitches. You can still hit it, but you really can't see it.

What this helps create is the inability for the user to pinpoint his pitches, simulating the pitcher is tired and out of control/can't hit his spots at will. That's when you know you have to go to the bullpen or you'll lose control.

Maybe I should add this explanation to the next slider set...

Oh, BTW, I can't edit the original post... sorry... I'll PM a mod and see if I can post a new post with a different version #... I don't want to overdo it with posts and piss anyone off.

[Pared]

Re: Pared's MVP 2005 Gameplay Sliders

BTW, folks, you don't take your pitcher out at around 50%. If you look at and worry about pitch counts, you will that 50% for some of the best pitchers in the game is about 50-65 pitches. If you go with them until about 15-25%, you get full pitch count usage.

BINGO!

When you pitch, you can't worry about fatigue. If you're pitching smart, then your pitch count should be high regardless, meaning when you arount 30-40%, that should be close to 100 pitches. By that point, there isn't any pitcher in the game (and I've tested this, again, Majors only) that should have a green area for perfect pitches. You can still hit it, but you really can't see it.

What this helps create is the inability for the user to pinpoint his pitches, simulating the pitcher is tired and out of control/can't hit his spots at will. That's when you know you have to go to the bullpen or you'll lose control.

Maybe I should add this explanation to the next slider set...

Oh, BTW, I can't edit the original post... sorry... I'll PM a mod and see if I can post a new post with a different version #... I don't want to overdo it with posts and piss anyone off.

[WatchdogXC]

Re: Pared's MVP 2005 Gameplay Sliders

One thing I love as well with the sliders pitching is that towards the end of the game as your starter is getting tired, you do lose velocity in order to get your pitch more accurate. You can't just rear back and throw 95 every pitch and expect to not get crushed.

[WatchdogXC]

Re: Pared's MVP 2005 Gameplay Sliders

One thing I love as well with the sliders pitching is that towards the end of the game as your starter is getting tired, you do lose velocity in order to get your pitch more accurate. You can't just rear back and throw 95 every pitch and expect to not get crushed.

[Stu]

Re: Pared's MVP 2005 Gameplay Sliders

After about 10 games or so with these sliders I have some more notes:

- The best way to play is definitely with the ball cursor off. After changing this I went from 0 walks a game to 2-5 every game.

- Patience is key with hitting. At first I thought the user hitting was a little underpowered but if you connect on a pitch you are waiting for, you will hit the ball hard. My approach to hitting is to look for a fastball in a specefic spot until I have 2 strikes. The cpu throws a lot of their breaking pitches for balls so you really get deep into counts by doing this. Once you get 2 strikes you then have to protect more and try to foul stuff off until you get a hittable pitch. Last game I walked 7 times using this approach.

- The combination of sliders and changing how I play has given my perfect results. In my last game both pitchers had pitch counts over 90 by the 6th inning.