(First off, can I request a sticky on this one? You'll see why. Thanks. A request to readers--please keep the "unrelated banter" to a mimimum in this topic; let's just keep it to suggestions or crtiiques, please. Also, please have played several games of ASB before suggesting anything. I know that ASB was a much better game a week later than it was right out of the box. Thanks.)
Well, I rented MVP. I don't know if anyone here has played this one, but I wanted to check out the pitching and throwing meters.
Pretty good stuff. I would imagine that next year's games are going to have it, at least as an option. (Well, maybe not HH, they always sort of do their own thing.)
Anyway, it got me to thinking about what could make ASB '05 (or maybe '06 to get everything developed) better. I am thinking of composing an email to go to Acclaim, and was wondering what other people's thoughts were.
So far, I think:
(1) Get a pitching meter. I like the meter that MVP has, but I worry that, over time, it may become to easy (like the kick meter in Madden, for example). So, think that what would be effective would be a meter that has an extremely small "perfect zone," with a slightly larger "good zone" around it. This would help ensure that gamers could not simply learn the timing and hit spots all the time. The zone should get smaller later in the game (as they do in MVP), but there should still be walks early as well. Pitchers' control ratings should determine the size of the zones and the speed with which the meter moves (similar to the free throw meters in baseketball games, just not possible to perfect). As I am writing this, I am in the seventh inning with Wood on MVP. The meter changes as you go along--very good stuff.
(2) There should be more fly balls/singles/home runs/etc. with the normal cursor. Currently, it seems as though the normal cursor only produces grounders or weak singles up the middle. Timing and the placement of the pitch should definitely play a much, much larger role in the placement of hits throughout the field. The CPU, for example, sprays the ball all over the field. Use whatever code this is for the user.
(3) I vote for getting rid of the power swing option--have it all normal (subject to suggestion 4 below). Right now, power swings almost always result in fly balls, while contact almost always results in a grounder or a low line drive. Make it more rating based, and have a bly ball/grounder ratio for both hitters and pitchers. Also, have the hitters hit charts reflect somewhat what happens on the field.
(4) Get rid of the tilting feature. I don't think it's realistic at all. Instead, before the pitch, give users an option on the type of hit they want, such as "normal," "pull," "oopposite field," "fly ball," "grounder," etc. These selections should all produce hits all over the field, with the specialized selections producing somewhat more of that type of hit.
(5) CPU should attempt to pick the human runners off, and pickoffs should work (although infrequently).
(6) I think the CPU baserunning is actually okay right now; it's definitely not as bad as some people claim. I have seen many scores from second base, and have seen some first-to-thirds on base hits. However, there is definitely room for improvement. Have the CPU take more chances--I know there are many times now where the CPU doesn't run but would make it, for example.
(7) More offline throws from the outfield. Maybe give the fielders a "throwing speed" and a "throwing accuracy" rating.
(8) Better replay feature. Unlimited camera angles--something akin to the replay features in any of the other games would do. (Note: this is least important, and should be sacrificed for one of the other suggestions. I just can't imagine it's that hard to do, so that's why i am including it.)
(9) Behind-the-pitcher view. This is not just a graphic enhancement--it is more of a challenge to pitch from the mound than it is from the plate. The core animation is already there (see the intentional walk feature), so I don't think this will be that hard to do. (Although, similar to replay, if it is, leave it out.)
(10) Pitchers should catch line drives only in exceptional circumstances.
(11) Instead of A/A-/B+/etc., give numerical ratings. It helps to differentiate players better. This may be too hard to do, though, given the current code.
(12) Sliders.
(a) Realism--similar to the simulation slider in HH, although I have no idea what ratings that thing tweaks.
(b) I like the WSB CPU "strike eye" and "ball eye" dichotemy. Seems pretty realistic. The HH "pitch count" slider is good as well. It would be great and much more real, however, to have one of these for every count (0-0/0-1/3-2/ etc.). This would add a LOT to the game!!!
(c) Fly ball/ground ball--allow users to tweak the range of fly balls and ground balls in the game.
(d) Pitch speed--this is a big complaint this year.
(e) CPU baserunning aggresiveness.
(f) CPU "set up logic"--similar to the batting sliders above, this one would detail in which circumstances (counts) the CPU would be more likely to throw a strike or a ball.
(g) (Not really a slider, but . . .) If you go with a numerical system, have the option to raise or lower every player's rating in a specific area by X number. That way, if people think baserunners are too fast/slow, or that the throwing speed of the players is too fast/slow, they can edit all players with a single entry.
That's all for now. I will hopefully edit this later with some more suggestions(I'm gonna go play games with WSB, MVP, HH, and ASB now), hopefully of the "slider" variety, as I put that together rather hastily. Please add any suggestions you have. You'll notice I have really no graphical or front-end suggestions above, but please chime in with any you have. It's just that I think ASB made great strides last year graphically and with the front-end, and I think this year (or next) should bring with it a gameplay focus.
We are in the very unique position where there are several great baseball games out right now. This should spawn some interesting developments in the next couple years. I think ASB's core engine has the best potential to combine the greatest from all the games and deliver an amazing product. Just look at all the people that have tried the other games, but come back saying "I really liked X feature of X game, but can't stay away from ASB."
Hopefully you (and Acclaim) feel the same way. Please let me know what you think.
Well, I rented MVP. I don't know if anyone here has played this one, but I wanted to check out the pitching and throwing meters.
Pretty good stuff. I would imagine that next year's games are going to have it, at least as an option. (Well, maybe not HH, they always sort of do their own thing.)
Anyway, it got me to thinking about what could make ASB '05 (or maybe '06 to get everything developed) better. I am thinking of composing an email to go to Acclaim, and was wondering what other people's thoughts were.
So far, I think:
(1) Get a pitching meter. I like the meter that MVP has, but I worry that, over time, it may become to easy (like the kick meter in Madden, for example). So, think that what would be effective would be a meter that has an extremely small "perfect zone," with a slightly larger "good zone" around it. This would help ensure that gamers could not simply learn the timing and hit spots all the time. The zone should get smaller later in the game (as they do in MVP), but there should still be walks early as well. Pitchers' control ratings should determine the size of the zones and the speed with which the meter moves (similar to the free throw meters in baseketball games, just not possible to perfect). As I am writing this, I am in the seventh inning with Wood on MVP. The meter changes as you go along--very good stuff.
(2) There should be more fly balls/singles/home runs/etc. with the normal cursor. Currently, it seems as though the normal cursor only produces grounders or weak singles up the middle. Timing and the placement of the pitch should definitely play a much, much larger role in the placement of hits throughout the field. The CPU, for example, sprays the ball all over the field. Use whatever code this is for the user.
(3) I vote for getting rid of the power swing option--have it all normal (subject to suggestion 4 below). Right now, power swings almost always result in fly balls, while contact almost always results in a grounder or a low line drive. Make it more rating based, and have a bly ball/grounder ratio for both hitters and pitchers. Also, have the hitters hit charts reflect somewhat what happens on the field.
(4) Get rid of the tilting feature. I don't think it's realistic at all. Instead, before the pitch, give users an option on the type of hit they want, such as "normal," "pull," "oopposite field," "fly ball," "grounder," etc. These selections should all produce hits all over the field, with the specialized selections producing somewhat more of that type of hit.
(5) CPU should attempt to pick the human runners off, and pickoffs should work (although infrequently).
(6) I think the CPU baserunning is actually okay right now; it's definitely not as bad as some people claim. I have seen many scores from second base, and have seen some first-to-thirds on base hits. However, there is definitely room for improvement. Have the CPU take more chances--I know there are many times now where the CPU doesn't run but would make it, for example.
(7) More offline throws from the outfield. Maybe give the fielders a "throwing speed" and a "throwing accuracy" rating.
(8) Better replay feature. Unlimited camera angles--something akin to the replay features in any of the other games would do. (Note: this is least important, and should be sacrificed for one of the other suggestions. I just can't imagine it's that hard to do, so that's why i am including it.)
(9) Behind-the-pitcher view. This is not just a graphic enhancement--it is more of a challenge to pitch from the mound than it is from the plate. The core animation is already there (see the intentional walk feature), so I don't think this will be that hard to do. (Although, similar to replay, if it is, leave it out.)
(10) Pitchers should catch line drives only in exceptional circumstances.
(11) Instead of A/A-/B+/etc., give numerical ratings. It helps to differentiate players better. This may be too hard to do, though, given the current code.
(12) Sliders.
(a) Realism--similar to the simulation slider in HH, although I have no idea what ratings that thing tweaks.
(b) I like the WSB CPU "strike eye" and "ball eye" dichotemy. Seems pretty realistic. The HH "pitch count" slider is good as well. It would be great and much more real, however, to have one of these for every count (0-0/0-1/3-2/ etc.). This would add a LOT to the game!!!
(c) Fly ball/ground ball--allow users to tweak the range of fly balls and ground balls in the game.
(d) Pitch speed--this is a big complaint this year.
(e) CPU baserunning aggresiveness.
(f) CPU "set up logic"--similar to the batting sliders above, this one would detail in which circumstances (counts) the CPU would be more likely to throw a strike or a ball.
(g) (Not really a slider, but . . .) If you go with a numerical system, have the option to raise or lower every player's rating in a specific area by X number. That way, if people think baserunners are too fast/slow, or that the throwing speed of the players is too fast/slow, they can edit all players with a single entry.
That's all for now. I will hopefully edit this later with some more suggestions(I'm gonna go play games with WSB, MVP, HH, and ASB now), hopefully of the "slider" variety, as I put that together rather hastily. Please add any suggestions you have. You'll notice I have really no graphical or front-end suggestions above, but please chime in with any you have. It's just that I think ASB made great strides last year graphically and with the front-end, and I think this year (or next) should bring with it a gameplay focus.
We are in the very unique position where there are several great baseball games out right now. This should spawn some interesting developments in the next couple years. I think ASB's core engine has the best potential to combine the greatest from all the games and deliver an amazing product. Just look at all the people that have tried the other games, but come back saying "I really liked X feature of X game, but can't stay away from ASB."
Hopefully you (and Acclaim) feel the same way. Please let me know what you think.
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