In an effort to make pitching realistic, I thought of a new way to do pitching in video games. While it's not as quick and simple as the games out today, I think it's the most realistic.
Pitcher's will have a mechanics rating. So, for this example we'll use Mark Prior with a 95 mechanics rating.
On the screen, you'd move the dpad in the direction of where you want to throw and confirm it by selecting the pitch, say a 4 seam fastball. Then, a meter will appear on the screen. This horizontal meter would be divided into 5 parts simplified parts. It'd look like this:
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Grip | Leg Kick | Elbows Up | Weight Transfer | Follow Through |
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As the meter fills up, you have to click the button as close to the lines as possible. Below are the results of clicking too early or late.
1. Ball grip
Early - poor grip, slower pitch, less spin
Late - tight grip, much less control
2. Leg rise
Early - low leg kick, less velocity, more strain on arm.
Late - High center of gravity, high chance of injury, lower velocity and movement.
3. Elbows up
Early - Low elbows, major strain on arm, less movement.
Late - Lower velocity, less control.
4. Weight Transfer
Early - Less velocity and movement, possible strain.
Late - major strain on legs and arm. Possible loss of velocity and movement.
5. Follow through
Early - Less velocity, movement, severe arm strain.
Late - possible loss of velocity and movement, arm strain.
A baseball is only as fast as a pitcher's arm, so if a pitcher has bad mechanics but keeps his arm going fast, the ball will continue to go quickly, but secretly tearing up their arm. The later a pitcher gets into a game, the faster the meter will go.
So, Prior has a 95 in mechanics, so while he's still into the 7th inning, his meter still goes slower than a guy with 85 mechanics. However, even if he is perfect, Prior still only gets a 95 to calculate into the speed and movement of his fastball.
I think this system works a lot better and more realistically than any game out today, but I think I'll have to implement before I can really see how well it works. Do you guys think it's too complicated? I remember hearing some people complaining of using the relatively simplistic MVP meter, so I can't imagine everyone liking this model.
Pitcher's will have a mechanics rating. So, for this example we'll use Mark Prior with a 95 mechanics rating.
On the screen, you'd move the dpad in the direction of where you want to throw and confirm it by selecting the pitch, say a 4 seam fastball. Then, a meter will appear on the screen. This horizontal meter would be divided into 5 parts simplified parts. It'd look like this:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Grip | Leg Kick | Elbows Up | Weight Transfer | Follow Through |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As the meter fills up, you have to click the button as close to the lines as possible. Below are the results of clicking too early or late.
1. Ball grip
Early - poor grip, slower pitch, less spin
Late - tight grip, much less control
2. Leg rise
Early - low leg kick, less velocity, more strain on arm.
Late - High center of gravity, high chance of injury, lower velocity and movement.
3. Elbows up
Early - Low elbows, major strain on arm, less movement.
Late - Lower velocity, less control.
4. Weight Transfer
Early - Less velocity and movement, possible strain.
Late - major strain on legs and arm. Possible loss of velocity and movement.
5. Follow through
Early - Less velocity, movement, severe arm strain.
Late - possible loss of velocity and movement, arm strain.
A baseball is only as fast as a pitcher's arm, so if a pitcher has bad mechanics but keeps his arm going fast, the ball will continue to go quickly, but secretly tearing up their arm. The later a pitcher gets into a game, the faster the meter will go.
So, Prior has a 95 in mechanics, so while he's still into the 7th inning, his meter still goes slower than a guy with 85 mechanics. However, even if he is perfect, Prior still only gets a 95 to calculate into the speed and movement of his fastball.
I think this system works a lot better and more realistically than any game out today, but I think I'll have to implement before I can really see how well it works. Do you guys think it's too complicated? I remember hearing some people complaining of using the relatively simplistic MVP meter, so I can't imagine everyone liking this model.
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