Gameplay/Presentation for MLB12

[ogbigant]

Quote: Originally Posted by TerryP

A Playoff/World Series mode as well as a MLB Today feature would be great additions.

I agree 100% that a MLB Today type of feature is needed. I loved playing those daily games in MLB 2K11 because I don't have the time to play dynasty modes anymore

[Alistair]

I think much more needs to be done to bring other franchises into my gaming experience.

I play a dynasty with the LA Dodgers and short of browsing the standings and stats by myself between games, I wouldn't have a clue what's going on elsewhere in the MLB.

I'd love a daily 'wrap' or breakdown of games including scores and highlights from other games around the league.

[ryan36]

It is interesting we've never clamored for a highlight show like we have with other games, I suppose when the gameplay is basically satisfying and we all know the game is HUGE , I wonder how much more they could really add

[Pared]

Not many games do them because the resources are difficult to put together.

The few that have... typically incorporate a certain number of pre-defined "scenes" that are generated on the fly.

To be honest, asking for something like this for next year wouldn't be a realistic expectation. If a company pulls it off, more power to them... but it has eluded sports developers for many, many years.

[jr86]

Quote: Originally Posted by Pared

Not many games do them because the resources are difficult to put together. The few that have... typically incorporate a certain number of pre-defined "scenes" that are generated on the fly. To be honest, asking for something like this for next year wouldn't be a realistic expectation. If a company pulls it off, more power to them... but it has eluded sports developers for many, many years.

Agreed.
But i think what needs to be done is something along the lines of NBA2k where you can see what is going on around the league on your homepage.
At the moment you have to go searching for results of other teams and general info but just a page where the headlines from around the league were shown would really help to amerce you in your franchise.
I think also at the end of a game(on the loading screen back to your homepage) instead of seeing player of the game stats you should see a roundup of the scores from around the league or at least your division.

[Pared]

NBA 2k has a ways to go about it as well. But I do get what you're saying.

[Knight165]

Quote: Originally Posted by ryan36

It is interesting we've never clamored for a highlight show like we have with other games, I suppose when the gameplay is basically satisfying and we all know the game is HUGE , I wonder how much more they could really add

Oh I have....I have.

I do understand it's much more difficult than other sports.
Think about it.....in pretty much all the other sports you can get away with the stadiums/arenas looking much the same. In baseball...the backgrounds of the stadiums are SO much different and in that sense the resources to load that for a highlight show to be HUGE.
I'm hoping we can get something in as it would be a great feature to amplify the immersion of your franchise.
Heck...I would even take a radio show that played highlights as you went through the menu screens if it pertained to my franchise.

M.K.
Knight165

[Bobhead]

Quote: Originally Posted by Knight165

Heck...I would even take a radio show that played highlights as you went through the menu screens if it pertained to my franchise. M.K. Knight165

I actually think this is a really good compromise, since I also understand it would be way harder than in any other sport, for so many reasons, including the ones you gave. The announcers could even do this between innings in a game (not every inning, maybe just designate one or two innings where the announcers vocally recap things happening in other games, saying something like "Adrian Beltre just hit a 2-run home run to take the lead against the Mariners," bla bla bla...

Maybe you could select which teams you cared about, since another issue would be that there will be up to 14 other potential games, and I'd hate to have this time wasted by the announcers talking about the Astros.

As for how difficult visual "around the league" replays and stuff are, another huge issue is the complexity of baseball physics/animations versus other sports. In basketball, every shot looks the same: it leaves players hands, and goes into the hoop. There's only one hoop, thus there's only one path it could take (with a varying arc, but that doesn't matter).. An NBA game could literally just randomly assign positions to players, and randomly position a defender in front of them, and it will look just fine. Hockey and soccer are the same, football is a little more difficult, since you'd have to make touchdown passes look realistic (ie the defenders have to be legitimately outran, not just inexplicably stop running to favor the animation).

An "around the league" system in baseball on the other hand would require a ridiculous amount of reverse-engineering. For example, if a double is hit in another game, the game would have to create a replay where the ball traveled somewhere, but not too far, otherwise it would be a triple. That ball would also have to take a realistic path off the bat, with realistic swing timing. The game doesn't "know" which swing properties lead to hits, and which lead to fly outs, so this in itself is a daunting task.

I'd be really surprised if we ever got this feature for any baseball game on the Playstation 3. Without using canned scenes, it just doesn't seem very feasible.