First off, i work at a video rental store, so ive played every one of the new baseball games, and, WSB is by far the best all round baseball game. I played it at work and immediately went out and bought a copy, and this is from a long time die hard HH PCer. Im not one of those morons who come on here to bash to game in the hopes of convincing someone to play or not to play.
But, im about 30 games into my franchise (I play them all), and ive noted some really strange things happening. Nothing too major, but noteworthy nonetheless.
1. The AI keeps messing with my lineups and pitching rotation. Ive turned off all the AI options dealing with this, set my own depth charts, and ive turned the "manager gives players time off" to zero (i figure its my franchise, ill decide who gets days off).
I get to the pre-game lineup screen and the manager still wants to play Kelly Stinnett in CF instead of Griffey. I also cannot keep Bruce Chen in the starting rotation (dont laugh, hes 4-0 1.97), despite changing his role, and im constantly having to re-adjust the rotation and even the bullpen. Some strange things ive experienced with respect to this is getting to the lineup screen to find mediocre RP Scott Sullivan about to take the field in right, the AI manager wants to sit Austin Kearns and Adam Dunn every 3 days, and its impossible trying to keep gopher baller Danny Graves and junk pitcher Jimmy Haynes out of the starting rotation.
2. Bases loaded, 0 outs. Pop-up to Barry Bonds in left, i decide not to test his arm with lead footed Jason LaRue on third, but inexplicably, the man i have on second base, with absolutely no input from me whatsoever, takes off from second! What the hell!!! My fingers begin frantically pressing buttons to try to get him to go back, the end result being a triple play. @#!$%
Now, maybe the AI decided i should have tagged up at third, and was just helping my manage my baserunners. But i didnt tag up, and didnt want to. And this wasnt the only time ive noticed these types of "quirks", this was just the most infuriating.
3. I cannot hit a homerun to save my life. Dunn and Griffey and Russell Branyan are guys who are not lacking for power, yet ill go 5 or 6 games without a home run from anybody wearing a Reds uniform, much less these mashers. This is probably just me, as ive noticed that some other people are hitting the long ball with regularity. I dont think i do anything different from anyone else, and my sliders are similar to what the consensus on these boards is to get the best game of baseball. I hit the ball well, the Reds are hitting a crisp .321, yet have managed only about 21 home runs in approx 35 games. I use standard hitting, and i use the power swing in fairly common situations (i.e. two outs, none on, or a big hitter is up, etc.); ive never hit one out without using power swing. Its just baffling my lack of power with a team that has a good number of heavy hitters. Id hate to see my numbers with the punchless Brewers or the Devil Rays.
4.When i get bored with playing games, i sim ahead a few seasons, messing around with the drafting and free agency and all that stuff. A disturbing trend appear. The draftees do not improve. I spare no expense when it comes to coaches, theyve all got A nad B ratings. Yet, over a 3 year period, not a single one of my drafted players improved any more than 5 ratings points. Of the 10 or so drafted ( i didnt mess with the 3rd years draftees), 7 actually got worse, 2 got marginally better, and 1 improved by 5 points. They all have varying potentials, but many had A's nad B's for potential, as i tend to draft potential in rounds 4 and 5. None improved to where I would be in a position to use them in a game. Im going to mess around with this more, and see what kind of things i can come up with. Maybe 3 years just isnt enough development time, it rarely is in real baseball.
Anyone else seeing this things happening? Im just doing a little venting, maybe hoping i missed a slider or something that will help- the manual leaving alot to be desired.
I love the game, its not going to leave my PS2 for the next 8 months. Or at least until NCAA 2004 comes out in July. Ive had it approx a week, and ive played about 35 games with my Reds, im 19-16, a couple of games back from the Cardinals.
Any thoughts?
But, im about 30 games into my franchise (I play them all), and ive noted some really strange things happening. Nothing too major, but noteworthy nonetheless.
1. The AI keeps messing with my lineups and pitching rotation. Ive turned off all the AI options dealing with this, set my own depth charts, and ive turned the "manager gives players time off" to zero (i figure its my franchise, ill decide who gets days off).
I get to the pre-game lineup screen and the manager still wants to play Kelly Stinnett in CF instead of Griffey. I also cannot keep Bruce Chen in the starting rotation (dont laugh, hes 4-0 1.97), despite changing his role, and im constantly having to re-adjust the rotation and even the bullpen. Some strange things ive experienced with respect to this is getting to the lineup screen to find mediocre RP Scott Sullivan about to take the field in right, the AI manager wants to sit Austin Kearns and Adam Dunn every 3 days, and its impossible trying to keep gopher baller Danny Graves and junk pitcher Jimmy Haynes out of the starting rotation.
2. Bases loaded, 0 outs. Pop-up to Barry Bonds in left, i decide not to test his arm with lead footed Jason LaRue on third, but inexplicably, the man i have on second base, with absolutely no input from me whatsoever, takes off from second! What the hell!!! My fingers begin frantically pressing buttons to try to get him to go back, the end result being a triple play. @#!$%
Now, maybe the AI decided i should have tagged up at third, and was just helping my manage my baserunners. But i didnt tag up, and didnt want to. And this wasnt the only time ive noticed these types of "quirks", this was just the most infuriating.
3. I cannot hit a homerun to save my life. Dunn and Griffey and Russell Branyan are guys who are not lacking for power, yet ill go 5 or 6 games without a home run from anybody wearing a Reds uniform, much less these mashers. This is probably just me, as ive noticed that some other people are hitting the long ball with regularity. I dont think i do anything different from anyone else, and my sliders are similar to what the consensus on these boards is to get the best game of baseball. I hit the ball well, the Reds are hitting a crisp .321, yet have managed only about 21 home runs in approx 35 games. I use standard hitting, and i use the power swing in fairly common situations (i.e. two outs, none on, or a big hitter is up, etc.); ive never hit one out without using power swing. Its just baffling my lack of power with a team that has a good number of heavy hitters. Id hate to see my numbers with the punchless Brewers or the Devil Rays.
4.When i get bored with playing games, i sim ahead a few seasons, messing around with the drafting and free agency and all that stuff. A disturbing trend appear. The draftees do not improve. I spare no expense when it comes to coaches, theyve all got A nad B ratings. Yet, over a 3 year period, not a single one of my drafted players improved any more than 5 ratings points. Of the 10 or so drafted ( i didnt mess with the 3rd years draftees), 7 actually got worse, 2 got marginally better, and 1 improved by 5 points. They all have varying potentials, but many had A's nad B's for potential, as i tend to draft potential in rounds 4 and 5. None improved to where I would be in a position to use them in a game. Im going to mess around with this more, and see what kind of things i can come up with. Maybe 3 years just isnt enough development time, it rarely is in real baseball.
Anyone else seeing this things happening? Im just doing a little venting, maybe hoping i missed a slider or something that will help- the manual leaving alot to be desired.
I love the game, its not going to leave my PS2 for the next 8 months. Or at least until NCAA 2004 comes out in July. Ive had it approx a week, and ive played about 35 games with my Reds, im 19-16, a couple of games back from the Cardinals.
Any thoughts?