MLB 2K11 Preview (Destructoid)

[rudyjuly2]

Quote: Originally Posted by Jayhawker

I thought hitting was nearly perfect last year. but it took some slider work, and a willingness to use the tools 2K provided in a way that made some sense. I jacked up up the power slider, but used the contact swing 90% of the time. 90% of the times, hitters use a standard swing, and the jacked up power turned the contact swing into a swing that could generate HR's, extra base hits, and singles in surprisingly relaistic fashion. I did use the power swing if the count went to 2-0 or 3-1. These are counts where the hitter is free to take a chance if he gets the right pitch, because he is taking anything that is not perfect.So this resulted in more power in those hitter's counts, as it should.

I'll disagree with this. I think hitting overall needed quite a bit of work. There was way too much of a difference between the contact and power swing. Unless you had the power cranked up like you did you would never hit a HR with the contact swing. With power that high you should have never permitted yourself to even use the power swing as balls would be leaving the yard all the time. I went the other way and reduced power a lot and forced myself to use the power swing almost exclusively. Either way is flawed and they need to fix it. Futhermore, the cpu used the contact swing too much and even with power at 100 they had too many singles and not enough extra base hits. They need to reduce the difference between the two swings imo. The contact swing was more like a defensive swing last year.

One other big flaw in the hitting was the opposite field power. A guy like Johnny Damon could pull a ball 400 feet but there is no way he should generate that same power going the opposite way. The game did not differentiate between this at all. The only guys that should be hitting an even amount of bombs to all fields are the 35-50 HR guys. The 15-20 HR guy hits most of his when he pulls the ball.

Look at Damon last year - all 6 of his HRs at Comerica were pulled. I should not be able to go the opposite way with him to hit a HR and yet it was routine in MLB 2K10.
http://mlb.mlb.com/stats/individual_...028&statType=1

Same goes for a guy like Granderson with medium power. Every single HR at Yankees stadium was to RF. Same goes for every HR at Comerica in 2009.
http://mlb.mlb.com/stats/individual_...158&statType=1

Only big power guys like Votto who hit 37 HRs, should be hitting HRs anywhere they want.
http://mlb.mlb.com/stats/individual_...015&statType=1

Quote: Originally Posted by Jayhawker

I found that this not only resulted in very relaistic results throughout my line-up, but more importantly, it really encouraged me to work the count. So I also generated more walks than I have ever taken in any other baseball game. It cured that tendency to hack away so much.

I did find this game to be the easiest baseball game in terms of earning walks. I think the pitch speed combined with the batting camera really helped and I was happy with this. I had no problems with the sound of the bat either.

Quote: Originally Posted by Jayhawker

I didn't care about the arrow, because it was there to put you in position to make a jump if it was close enough. What do you want them to do? Fake a circle in the OF so you don't know? Becasue arrow or not, if there is no circle, you know where it is headed.

I understand it's not a big deal on the no doubters but I hated this myself on the close ones which were a dead give away. I'd like to see the conventional fielding circle on balls close to the wall and not know until the last moment. If you hit a ball off the top of the wall in MLB 2K10 there would be an arrow there and I knew it wouldn't be a HR. In real life nobody would no either way until the last moment. The game ruined the suspense on the close plays.

[JayhawkerStL]

Quote: Originally Posted by rudyjuly2

I'll disagree with this. I think hitting overall needed quite a bit of work. There was way too much of a difference between the contact and power swing. Unless you had the power cranked up like you did you would never hit a HR with the contact swing. With power that high you should have never permitted yourself to even use the power swing as balls would be leaving the yard all the time. I went the other way and reduced power a lot and forced myself to use the power swing almost exclusively. Either way is flawed and they need to fix it. Futhermore, the cpu used the contact swing too much and even with power at 100 they had too many singles and not enough extra base hits. They need to reduce the difference between the two swings imo. The contact swing was more like a defensive swing last year. One other big flaw in the hitting was the opposite field power. A guy like Johnny Damon could pull a ball 400 feet but there is no way he should generate that same power going the opposite way. The game did not differentiate between this at all. The only guys that should be hitting an even amount of bombs to all fields are the 35-50 HR guys. The 15-20 HR guy hits most of his when he pulls the ball. Look at Damon last year - all 6 of his HRs at Comerica were pulled. I should not be able to go the opposite way with him to hit a HR and yet it was routine in MLB 2K10. http://mlb.mlb.com/stats/individual_...028&statType=1 Same goes for a guy like Granderson with medium power. Every single HR at Yankees stadium was to RF. Same goes for every HR at Comerica in 2009. http://mlb.mlb.com/stats/individual_...158&statType=1 Only big power guys like Votto who hit 37 HRs, should be hitting HRs anywhere they want. http://mlb.mlb.com/stats/individual_...015&statType=1

Well, I used the power swing so little, it rarely was an issue. If it resulted in a ton of HR's for folks that shouldn't hit them, I would have backed off. But using a power swing once in an at-bat, and even the more rare occasions, twice, didn't really result in a ton of HR's, because the hit window was so little, that it also resulted in a lot of strikes, and weak flyballs.

And you are right, the contact swing was too weak. but that's where the increased power slider improved it.

I will have to go back an look at my sliders, but I thought the CPU hitting was pretty decent.

As for opposite field power, that was one of those things I just have to overlook. I'd love them to fix it, but if Damon hits a few of his HR's the opposite way, instead of pulling them, it's just not going to ruin the integrity of the game. It's more like an eye candy glitch.

[DaveDQ]

It's nice to see features and specifics being added that really make a difference. TO me this is what 2K does. They really nail the organics of things.

My only concern is what the writer wrote about fielding and how there were some hiccups in it. With almost every pre-release write-up, no matter what game we are talking about, when a writer says, "Let's hope they iron that out.." it usually doesn't get ironed out.

[JayhawkerStL]

Quote: Originally Posted by DaveDQ

It's nice to see features and specifics being added that really make a difference. TO me this is what 2K does. They really nail the organics of things. My only concern is what the writer wrote about fielding and how there were some hiccups in it. With almost every pre-release write-up, no matter what game we are talking about, when a writer says, "Let's hope they iron that out.." it usually doesn't get ironed out.

Yeah, that is always worrisome.

But yeah, I think the organics are there. It's what made 2K10 a good game despite the issues. And it's why I was hopeful about 2K11 even if 2K cut back on their budget.

It's becoming the game for those that want to play rather than look at their game. That's why improving the feel of the fielding was so important. No one wants to play a game with auto-fielding on, right?

And I'm a big fan of coach mode if the sim results are worthy. But no one has claimed the mantle that BBPro gave up a decade ago, unless you want to play a text sim.

[Knight165]

Quote: Originally Posted by Jayhawker

Yeah, that is always worrisome. But yeah, I think the organics are there. It's what made 2K10 a good game despite the issues. And it's why I was hopeful about 2K11 even if 2K cut back on their budget. It's becoming the game for those that want to play rather than look at their game. That's why improving the feel of the fielding was so important. No one wants to play a game with auto-fielding on, right? And I'm a big fan of coach mode if the sim results are worthy. But no one has claimed the mantle that BBPro gave up a decade ago, unless you want to play a text sim.

Thanks...
I was having a bad day.
I needed a good chuckle.


M.K.
Knight165

[JayhawkerStL]

Quote: Originally Posted by Knight165

Thanks... I was having a bad day. I needed a good chuckle. M.K. Knight165

???

Was that a personal shot at me?

[SamitSarkar]

Quote: Originally Posted by HITTERSAURUS REX

This question is to SamitSarker: In your 45min of playing MLB2K11. Did you realize auto-fielding, fielding vaccum assist been removed? Do you now feel you are in complete control of positioning your fielder to make the defensive play?

(A) My name doesn't have an E in it.
(B) The new fielding camera angle does a better job of allowing you to follow the ball off the bat -- a lot of times in 2K10, I felt like the camera would switch to the fielder at the crack of the bat, and the ball would already be on you, which didn't leave much of an opportunity to make a play. In terms of "vacuum" fielding, I definitely didn't notice that with fly balls: in fact, the new two-circle system really puts the onus on you to position your fielder properly -- I almost dropped a routine fly ball with Granderson.

Quote: Originally Posted by dolemint

Previews aren't entirely objective. They are very heavily influenced by the publisher. After all, the preview writer only gets a short period of time to play. They obviously have to rely on publisher feedback to get the information on what's new out. [...] The writer does add their own personal two cents to it, but every preview just about makes every game sound awesome. It's PR. It's only come review time when real flaws are uncovered. Not to say that'll happen with 2K11, I hope not. It certainly sounds like it's on the right track, at least.

That's certainly true -- when demoing a game, it's the PR person's job to point out to the press what's new/improved/significant. The PR rep is working on behalf of the publisher and has a script, so he/she shows the same new features to every journalist who sees the demo.

For the record, I actually did see what I wrote about: I made a red-zone throw with Jeter, and it was high but catchable at 1B, and when I did the same thing with Swisher (throw to 2B), it wasn't anywhere near the second-base bag. (Also, the PR person specifically mentioned Pablo Sandoval as an example of someone with an iron glove, so at least I didn't just parrot him like the IGN writer did. )

Quote: Originally Posted by rudyjuly2

Did they let you play with any options like fielding camera angles or sliders? I'd love to get more info in those areas.

Unfortunately, no -- when I asked to change the setting so the swing analyzer would show up after every pitch instead of just sometimes, the PR rep asked for the controller so he could go into the options and do it himself.

[Saberq]

Hey SamitSarkar was the graphics upgraded form last year in your opinion and does it look good overall......I dont expect WOW factor just wow this looks cool and decent