Just keep playing it . . .

[SpartyGreen]

It seems to me that the majority of the complaints here come from people that preface their gripes with a statement such as "Well, I bought ASB yesterday, and I don't like. . . ."

Conversely, people who have played maybe 20-30 games are constantly finding ways to make the game better, get realistic resuts, etc., and are almost every game discovering something new about the game that piques their interest (Dick_Smalls, for example).

I own High Heat and have bought every edition of the series since its inception. However, it never gets played. I cannot take ASB out of the machine--it's just way too much fun.

With the exception of NCAA Football 2003, this is the only game I have ever played where I have multiple seasons going at once. The attention that Acclaim paid to the differences between players and teams is incredible, and far surpasses any game out there. I was playing against Arizona the other day and was jumping for joy when in the 8th inning, the bullpen got busy and Randy Johnson was taken out of the game. This, I believe, is exactly the way actual Major Leaguers feel in such a situation, and this is the only game I have ever played that replicates this. There is a definite and discernible difference between the all stars, the everyday players, and the fringe players in this game.

I really wish that everyone that is griping about the game would do me and themselves a favor by continuing to play ASB. I had some concerns when I first played it as well, but now I am well into three separate seasons, and I couldn't be happier unless I was handed a uniform and told to report to Mesa for Cubs spring training.

[SoxFan]

Re: Just keep playing it . . .

I've played almost 60 games, and i'm still having a lot of fun. I will probably be playing a game in another few minutes. However, the more i play it, the more small irritating things i notice, but i still say, all in all, this is a very deep game that plays a great game of baseball. I know that if we play any of the games long enough, we will find things to complain about, but ASB is still holding up nicely.

[SoxFan]

Re: Just keep playing it . . .

I've played almost 60 games, and i'm still having a lot of fun. I will probably be playing a game in another few minutes. However, the more i play it, the more small irritating things i notice, but i still say, all in all, this is a very deep game that plays a great game of baseball. I know that if we play any of the games long enough, we will find things to complain about, but ASB is still holding up nicely.

[JohnDoe8865]

Re: Just keep playing it . . .

Got this game rented, probably played 10 games since Monday. I'm really liking it the more I play you are right about that. It is not a game that you can just kind of learn and master all at once. It takes time to find out what batting, fielding, pitching, etc. options are right for you. It doesn't wow you out of the box like I would say WSB did last year.

Based on the rental alone I can tell a huge difference from last year. I am certainly not disputing those that say there are nagging things that make you shake your head. But games without quirks I am finding rarer and rarer these days. This game went from a" just browsing" before renting it, to a "possible purchase" now. It's a shame my funds for bball games are limited or I would probably end up with ASB, WSB, MLB, and OOTP5. As it is, I may have to pick between ASB, WSB and MLB for my lone console game. Guess I'll be getting to know the local blockbuster employees a little better.

[JohnDoe8865]

Re: Just keep playing it . . .

Got this game rented, probably played 10 games since Monday. I'm really liking it the more I play you are right about that. It is not a game that you can just kind of learn and master all at once. It takes time to find out what batting, fielding, pitching, etc. options are right for you. It doesn't wow you out of the box like I would say WSB did last year.

Based on the rental alone I can tell a huge difference from last year. I am certainly not disputing those that say there are nagging things that make you shake your head. But games without quirks I am finding rarer and rarer these days. This game went from a" just browsing" before renting it, to a "possible purchase" now. It's a shame my funds for bball games are limited or I would probably end up with ASB, WSB, MLB, and OOTP5. As it is, I may have to pick between ASB, WSB and MLB for my lone console game. Guess I'll be getting to know the local blockbuster employees a little better.

[matthewk]

Re: Just keep playing it . . .

I've had it for over a week, and I've played a good 20-30 games so far.

The more I play, the more I notice lots of cool ittle things like runner taking out the 2B to break up a double play. BUT, I've also noticed something that is ruining the game for me.

ALL of my hits (and outs) go to the center 1/3 of the field. I've tried both zone and classic batting and it happens in both. Also, with zone hitting I can't even foul a ball off. I either whiff at it or it goes somewhere towards the middle of the field. After 20+ games you'd think by sheer chance I would have hit at pulled or pushed a ball ONCE.

I'm just about done playing this one. Onto HH or WSB for me...

-Matt

[matthewk]

Re: Just keep playing it . . .

I've had it for over a week, and I've played a good 20-30 games so far.

The more I play, the more I notice lots of cool ittle things like runner taking out the 2B to break up a double play. BUT, I've also noticed something that is ruining the game for me.

ALL of my hits (and outs) go to the center 1/3 of the field. I've tried both zone and classic batting and it happens in both. Also, with zone hitting I can't even foul a ball off. I either whiff at it or it goes somewhere towards the middle of the field. After 20+ games you'd think by sheer chance I would have hit at pulled or pushed a ball ONCE.

I'm just about done playing this one. Onto HH or WSB for me...

-Matt

[Dick_Smalls]

Re: Just keep playing it . . .

Guys you have all made some very good points about the game. I wholeheartedly agree that this game is one that takes a while to completely enjoy. Like a good glass of wine, The first taste may be a bit bitter in comparison to a softdrink, but the more glasses you have, you start to really taste its complexities and the subtlely different flavors that seem to unravel on your pallette....... and then you start to enjoy it, longing for another glass.

Certainly, with time, observations of the bad also become uncovered with the good as well. I can easily sympothise with those that still cannot get into the gameplay enough to really enjoy it's depth and strong attention to all the little details that make baseball so fun, or for just those that dont feel these things are enough to overcome some of the pitfalls of the game. I guess it really comes down to what is most important for each of you. The deeper I get into my franchise and the more extra details paid to the GM portion of the game, really help me become further absorbed into the ASB world. Certainly, I would hope for Acclaim to really focus their attention almost 100% next year on improving some of the actual quirks as well as refining the gameplay to a point where it is just about playable by everyone without sacrificing the realism in which they have so convincingly captured.

Alot of you have asked me what I feel are ASB's major weekenesses and in an attempt to answer everyone at once, I will try to compose a short list in a future post of the issues and/or problems I have noticed with the gameplay that should be focused on by Acclaim in the future.

To touch on some of them briefly,
I would say that the precision of the pitching cursor should yield a wider variety of uncontrolled placement that would lead to a higher risk of walking batters. The interface is still well done because it gives you that feeling of trying to place your pitches with the cursor, but a slight bump in the inclusion of some randomly placed pitches that go completely wide off the mark would greatly enhance the pitching unpredictability that big leaguers do face from time to time.

The fielding engine, quite contrary to what others may think, is actually scaled very well. It captures the distinctly different ranges, accuracies, fielding skills, ect as well of all the unpredictableness of the different players however, the actual transistions between the animations, some of the vacuum effects and a bit of the motion captured lag needs to be fine tuned and tweaked to give the player a tighter , more fluid feel of control in the field rather than the impression that the cpu is dong most of the work in it's motion captured animations.
While I personally enjoy the hitting engine the way it is, I think that the game could benefit from some tweaking in this area as well. The speed at which pitches come to the plate sometimes dont directly feel like they relate to the actual radar gun. At times I feel as tho 90 mph fastballs are coming in faster than some pitches that are thrown at 97 and vice verca. As well, I think the game could also use a simple speed slider or variable menu setting of FAST , MEDIUM and SLOW to accomadate a wider baseball audience.

I would also like to see a bit more control over the baserunning with perhaps a baserunning window of some sort along with an easier way to view a runners speed as well as the catcher's arm ratings. This area of the game could use improvement. Taking leads in the game doesnt give you the total freedom that I have found in other games....Your lead has a cap on it which takes away from the total control feel to the video game aspect of ASB. Im sure there were gamebalancing issues for this but I feel this could be better tweaked to place more control and risk in the user's hands.

Along the lines of baserunning, the CPU baserunning has been improved but still show's signs of quirkyness from time to time and is too easily held in check to a 'base to base' system. The cutoff system needs to also be refined as well as implemented a bit better to force a player to utilize it rather than simply just overlooking it and throwing directly to an intended base.

Pitcher's still field an aweful lot of balls hit up the middle, far too many. There should be a decrease in the pitcher's catch zone as well as their reaction time to line drives and such to yield a more realistic variety of shots thru the middle of the infield.

These are just a few of the areas among other things that I think need to be looked at by Acclaim to further develop this great game and bring it into an elite status for next year. Like I said earlier, this game really wraps you up in its world and has curbed a huge portion of my baseball appetite this season and I look forward to even more of the great unpredictablity and attention to detail that this game wonderfully captures.

[Dick_Smalls]

Re: Just keep playing it . . .

Guys you have all made some very good points about the game. I wholeheartedly agree that this game is one that takes a while to completely enjoy. Like a good glass of wine, The first taste may be a bit bitter in comparison to a softdrink, but the more glasses you have, you start to really taste its complexities and the subtlely different flavors that seem to unravel on your pallette....... and then you start to enjoy it, longing for another glass.

Certainly, with time, observations of the bad also become uncovered with the good as well. I can easily sympothise with those that still cannot get into the gameplay enough to really enjoy it's depth and strong attention to all the little details that make baseball so fun, or for just those that dont feel these things are enough to overcome some of the pitfalls of the game. I guess it really comes down to what is most important for each of you. The deeper I get into my franchise and the more extra details paid to the GM portion of the game, really help me become further absorbed into the ASB world. Certainly, I would hope for Acclaim to really focus their attention almost 100% next year on improving some of the actual quirks as well as refining the gameplay to a point where it is just about playable by everyone without sacrificing the realism in which they have so convincingly captured.

Alot of you have asked me what I feel are ASB's major weekenesses and in an attempt to answer everyone at once, I will try to compose a short list in a future post of the issues and/or problems I have noticed with the gameplay that should be focused on by Acclaim in the future.

To touch on some of them briefly,
I would say that the precision of the pitching cursor should yield a wider variety of uncontrolled placement that would lead to a higher risk of walking batters. The interface is still well done because it gives you that feeling of trying to place your pitches with the cursor, but a slight bump in the inclusion of some randomly placed pitches that go completely wide off the mark would greatly enhance the pitching unpredictability that big leaguers do face from time to time.

The fielding engine, quite contrary to what others may think, is actually scaled very well. It captures the distinctly different ranges, accuracies, fielding skills, ect as well of all the unpredictableness of the different players however, the actual transistions between the animations, some of the vacuum effects and a bit of the motion captured lag needs to be fine tuned and tweaked to give the player a tighter , more fluid feel of control in the field rather than the impression that the cpu is dong most of the work in it's motion captured animations.
While I personally enjoy the hitting engine the way it is, I think that the game could benefit from some tweaking in this area as well. The speed at which pitches come to the plate sometimes dont directly feel like they relate to the actual radar gun. At times I feel as tho 90 mph fastballs are coming in faster than some pitches that are thrown at 97 and vice verca. As well, I think the game could also use a simple speed slider or variable menu setting of FAST , MEDIUM and SLOW to accomadate a wider baseball audience.

I would also like to see a bit more control over the baserunning with perhaps a baserunning window of some sort along with an easier way to view a runners speed as well as the catcher's arm ratings. This area of the game could use improvement. Taking leads in the game doesnt give you the total freedom that I have found in other games....Your lead has a cap on it which takes away from the total control feel to the video game aspect of ASB. Im sure there were gamebalancing issues for this but I feel this could be better tweaked to place more control and risk in the user's hands.

Along the lines of baserunning, the CPU baserunning has been improved but still show's signs of quirkyness from time to time and is too easily held in check to a 'base to base' system. The cutoff system needs to also be refined as well as implemented a bit better to force a player to utilize it rather than simply just overlooking it and throwing directly to an intended base.

Pitcher's still field an aweful lot of balls hit up the middle, far too many. There should be a decrease in the pitcher's catch zone as well as their reaction time to line drives and such to yield a more realistic variety of shots thru the middle of the infield.

These are just a few of the areas among other things that I think need to be looked at by Acclaim to further develop this great game and bring it into an elite status for next year. Like I said earlier, this game really wraps you up in its world and has curbed a huge portion of my baseball appetite this season and I look forward to even more of the great unpredictablity and attention to detail that this game wonderfully captures.

[matthewk]

Re: Just keep playing it . . .

So Dick how much did you make off Acclaim for that last gushing post

I just love how the ASB fanboys consistently choose to ignore a major flaw in the hitting engine. At least 4 people on this board alone how now mentioned the problem of hitting everyting down the middle of the field, and yet it's never addressed. In steasd we get long, poetic posts that you use to praise the game, while ignoring a true flaw.

The truth hurts,
-Matt

[matthewk]

Re: Just keep playing it . . .

So Dick how much did you make off Acclaim for that last gushing post

I just love how the ASB fanboys consistently choose to ignore a major flaw in the hitting engine. At least 4 people on this board alone how now mentioned the problem of hitting everyting down the middle of the field, and yet it's never addressed. In steasd we get long, poetic posts that you use to praise the game, while ignoring a true flaw.

The truth hurts,
-Matt

[Dick_Smalls]

Re: Just keep playing it . . .

My friend..... learn how to time your swings better. I have not encountered this problem. It takes practice and patience to be able to hit the ball over the entire field in ASB. Spend some time in the batting cage....or at the customer service return counter.

Either way, your problem will most likely be resolved. Ignorance hurts more than the truth.

[Dick_Smalls]

Re: Just keep playing it . . .

My friend..... learn how to time your swings better. I have not encountered this problem. It takes practice and patience to be able to hit the ball over the entire field in ASB. Spend some time in the batting cage....or at the customer service return counter.

Either way, your problem will most likely be resolved. Ignorance hurts more than the truth.

[TopDog]

Re: Just keep playing it . . .

</font><blockquote><font class="small">Quote:</font><hr />
So Dick how much did you make off Acclaim for that last gushing post

I just love how the ASB fanboys consistently choose to ignore a major flaw in the hitting engine. At least 4 people on this board alone how now mentioned the problem of hitting everyting down the middle of the field, and yet it's never addressed. In steasd we get long, poetic posts that you use to praise the game, while ignoring a true flaw.

The truth hurts,
-Matt

<hr /></blockquote><font class="post">

Why does someone who can't learn how to play the game call people who like the game a "fanboy". You obviously have not played the game, if you are relying on a whopping 4 posts about this "bug" to influence you. Get a clue, grow up and make up your own mind.

Like Dick Smalls said, I've played many games and haven't noticed any hitting "flaw". Go rent the game yourself and have the balls to try something other than easy or zone batting. Better yet, stop trolling these boards and go back and play with your High Heat buddies. At least by admitting it, you show that you are willing to play the same recycled game year after year.

[TopDog]

Re: Just keep playing it . . .

</font><blockquote><font class="small">Quote:</font><hr />
So Dick how much did you make off Acclaim for that last gushing post

I just love how the ASB fanboys consistently choose to ignore a major flaw in the hitting engine. At least 4 people on this board alone how now mentioned the problem of hitting everyting down the middle of the field, and yet it's never addressed. In steasd we get long, poetic posts that you use to praise the game, while ignoring a true flaw.

The truth hurts,
-Matt

<hr /></blockquote><font class="post">

Why does someone who can't learn how to play the game call people who like the game a "fanboy". You obviously have not played the game, if you are relying on a whopping 4 posts about this "bug" to influence you. Get a clue, grow up and make up your own mind.

Like Dick Smalls said, I've played many games and haven't noticed any hitting "flaw". Go rent the game yourself and have the balls to try something other than easy or zone batting. Better yet, stop trolling these boards and go back and play with your High Heat buddies. At least by admitting it, you show that you are willing to play the same recycled game year after year.