Sliders explained.

[Gagnon39]

If there's already a post like this my apologies. But once again I'm finding myself in the land of slider purgatory. Stuck between All-Star and Hall of Fame pitching as it seems to be the case every year. I've tried numerous sliders here on OS as well as many of my own. I've bounced back between All-Star and Hall of Fame difficulties for pitching but I just can't seem to find a good balance this year. I'd really like to have my sliders at least semi-finalized by the time OSFM drop, which hopefully will be this weekend.

Anyway, to the point of this thread, is there anywhere (other than the brief explanation we get in the game) on OS or anywhere for that matter that specifically explains what each slider does in great detail? Some are self explanatory but I'd like a more in depth explanation/description.

My trouble each year seems to be that I have difficulty getting realistic strikeout totals against the CPU on Hall of Fame and I don't issue quite enough walks, although the latter is a bit less of an issue to me.

What's the best slider to adjust to get the CPU to swing and miss more? I would assume timing would be the slider to adjust here but won't that also affect how well they make contact with the ball, therefore resulting in fewer hits? It seems that every slider affects another, which is why I really don't like to tweak them very much at all.

[Smallville102001]

Re: Sliders explained.

If there's already a post like this my apologies. But once again I'm finding myself in the land of slider purgatory. Stuck between All-Star and Hall of Fame pitching as it seems to be the case every year. I've tried numerous sliders here on OS as well as many of my own. I've bounced back between All-Star and Hall of Fame difficulties for pitching but I just can't seem to find a good balance this year. I'd really like to have my sliders at least semi-finalized by the time OSFM drop, which hopefully will be this weekend.

Anyway, to the point of this thread, is there anywhere (other than the brief explanation we get in the game) on OS or anywhere for that matter that specifically explains what each slider does in great detail? Some are self explanatory but I'd like a more in depth explanation/description.

My trouble each year seems to be that I have difficulty getting realistic strikeout totals against the CPU on Hall of Fame and I don't issue quite enough walks, although the latter is a bit less of an issue to me.

What's the best slider to adjust to get the CPU to swing and miss more? I would assume timing would be the slider to adjust here but won't that also affect how well they make contact with the ball, therefore resulting in fewer hits? It seems that every slider affects another, which is why I really don't like to tweak them very much at all.

Have you tired DD? In the past I have always found all star pitching to easy at default but HOF to hard has the CPU hits ever thing and it is hard to locate pitches on HOF. Hitting in most years I have found Veteran to easy but all star to hard on Default. I have heard a lot of people saying good things about DD and like you I would like to start franchise as soon has those roster come out plus in like 8 days or so NBA playoffs start and then I don't have time to play video games for like a good month lol. Yeah I think timing helps to increase strike outs but also makes the CPU not have has many hard hit balls. In the past I would either play on all star with my pitching sliders down a little or on HOF with the CPU hitting down some and with my pitching up some. I do know there is a break down some where or there at least was at some point in time of the sliders but I don't know how to find it. With being between like all star and HOF maybe if you do DD and get to all star+ that would be good for you.

[Blzer]

Re: Sliders explained.

I'd like to offer my interpretation of a few of them.

Timing - Window of forgiveness swinging on early pitches to make contact with a ball or square up a ball.
Solid Hits - Window of squaring up a ball when not lined up with it, or with pitches away from the middle of the plate.
Foul - How often balls that are hit are out of play.
Pitcher Control - How well/often pitchers are able to paint the white.
Pitcher Consistency - How well/often pitchers are able to paint the black.
Fielder Reaction - Acceleration rating, or more like the time it takes for them to start their first step toward the ball.
Fielder Speed - Max running speed rating.
Wind - A ceiling setting for how fast you wind could possibly blow in a game. Would not affect the wind in-game, only before the game.

[Smallville102001]

Re: Sliders explained.

I could be wrong but I think the higher you have contact the more forgiving the PCI is and the lower the less forgiving it is.

[Gagnon39]

Re: Sliders explained.

Have you tired DD? In the past I have always found all star pitching to easy at default but HOF to hard has the CPU hits ever thing and it is hard to locate pitches on HOF. Hitting in most years I have found Veteran to easy but all star to hard on Default. I have heard a lot of people saying good things about DD and like you I would like to start franchise as soon has those roster come out plus in like 8 days or so NBA playoffs start and then I don't have time to play video games for like a good month lol. Yeah I think timing helps to increase strike outs but also makes the CPU not have has many hard hit balls. In the past I would either play on all star with my pitching sliders down a little or on HOF with the CPU hitting down some and with my pitching up some. I do know there is a break down some where or there at least was at some point in time of the sliders but I don't know how to find it. With being between like all star and HOF maybe if you do DD and get to all star+ that would be good for you.

Dynamic Difficulty constantly adjusts (unless you set the slider at 0). I'm not really into that. There should be a point with a difficulty setting that results in realistic stats and gameplay. I'm about as good as I'm going to get at the game after about eight years with the game.

[Gagnon39]

Re: Sliders explained.

Also, I just played a game on Hall of Fame with my pitch accuracy all the way down and pitch consistency on just one click. All of the CPU's hitting sliders were at default. I pitched with Jake Arrietta against the St. Louis Cardinals. I struck out eight (six with Arrietta, one with Strop, and one with Rondon) and issued four walks. This was really the kind of game I'd like to see. But I'd still like to get my strikeouts up a bit.

Also, for anyone who says that analog pitching makes it too easy to hit locations, you haven't tried it enough. At least not with pitch accuracy and pitch consistency down.

[Smallville102001]

Re: Sliders explained.

Dynamic Difficulty constantly adjusts (unless you set the slider at 0). I'm not really into that. There should be a point with a difficulty setting that results in realistic stats and gameplay. I'm about as good as I'm going to get at the game after about eight years with the game.

Yeah but it sounds like you are kind of in between difficulties so that could maybe help you to get to like all star + witch is harder then all star but easier then HOF. I tend to always have this problem on sports games where one difficulty is to hard and the next one is to easy.

[Smallville102001]

Re: Sliders explained.

Also, I just played a game on Hall of Fame with my pitch accuracy all the way down and pitch consistency on just one click. All of the CPU's hitting sliders were at default. I pitched with Jake Arrietta against the St. Louis Cardinals. I struck out eight (six with Arrietta, one with Strop, and one with Rondon) and issued four walks. This was really the kind of game I'd like to see. But I'd still like to get my strikeouts up a bit.

Also, for anyone who says that analog pitching makes it too easy to hit locations, you haven't tried it enough. At least not with pitch accuracy and pitch consistency down.

I don't think it is easy to pitch with any control set up on HOF. If you played with your pitch accuracy and consistency like that on HOF man you are good!

[Gagnon39]

Re: Sliders explained.

I don't think it is easy to pitch with any control set up on HOF. If you played with your pitch accuracy and consistency like that on HOF man you are good!

I'm good at pitching, average (at best) at hitting. I've pitched on Hall of Fame since probably MLB 10.

[Smallville102001]

Re: Sliders explained.

I'm good at pitching, average (at best) at hitting. I've pitched on Hall of Fame since probably MLB 10.

So what do you play at for hitting then? All star?

[Gagnon39]

Re: Sliders explained.

So what do you play at for hitting then? All star?

Yes. All-Star for hitting.

I think if I lower the CPU's timing down one click I'll be right where I need to be. I always try to keep sliders to ask close as default as possible. The fact that I issued four walks was a good sign but there was still just a little too much contact.

I'd rather pitch on Hall of Fame and bring the CPU's hitting down a notch than pitch on All-Star and try and bring their hitting up to par. I like the way the CPU plays and approaches at-bats on Hall of Fame but I just need them to swing and miss just a little bit more.

On Hall of Fame you really have to carefully consider each pitch. On All-Star you can get away with mistake pitches quite frequently.

[Smallville102001]

Re: Sliders explained.

You could try putting contact down like 1 or 2 and see what happens then because I think lower contact also makes guys swing at more balls. In the past I tried HOF but it sure felt like the CPU would hit way to many good pitches and they wouldn't chase any thing on HOF. On HOF they all had Barry bounds eyes lol.

[ParisB]

Re: Sliders explained.

In the past, turning down CPU Contact by 1 click always did the trick for me. It led to more strike 3's taken and swing and misses. My aces felt dominant in the swing/miss department.

All other results remained intact so I was happy. On default, it seems the CPU's PCI "or ability to make contact" has been high.

[Bobhead]

Re: Sliders explained.

CPU Contact affects plate coverage (PCI size, basically) and how well the CPU reads pitches in terms of location. Lowering this slider makes more balls look like strikes, and more strikes look like balls. It also makes the CPU less accurate in terms of overall location... maybe it swings just under more pitches, instead of right on them. It might completely miss a few more pitches... etc...

CPU Timing affects the size of the window of time the CPU has where it can actually make contact on a pitch. It also affects the size of the "sweet spot" within that timing window, ie: how easy it is to get perfect timing. Lastly, it affects the CPU's ability to approximate the speed of an incoming pitch. Lowering this slider will, for example, make the CPU way late on a fastball more often, because they misread it.

Human Pitch Control affects how easy to read your pitches are, regardless of location and execution. All other things equal, the higher this slider is, the more often the CPU will fail to read your pitches properly. It also, of course, affects your ability to locate pitches.

Those are the three sliders that most affect the CPU's ability to make contact. There's other sliders that hold small amounts of influence, such as Pitch Consistency, but you'd have to make a significant change, making the other sliders an inefficient and un-ideal solution.

Changing any one of these sliders would help with the problem you described, but of course, they all carry other effects and consequences. CPU Contact and CPU Timing both affect BABIP, foul balls, and pitch counts. Human Pitch Control affects your strike percentages, ERA, and walk rates.

I'm personally fond of CPU Contact here, because you can easily balance those side effects by increasing CPU Solid Hits.

Edit: Oh and one more thing. You say you have already decreased Human Pitch Control? I'd say that is most likely playing a big role in your problems. I'd put that slider back to default before trying anything else. You'd be surprised at how little control you'll still have, as long as you decrease Consistency (which you've already done). The slider certainly affects control, but it also affects much more, as I stated above. "Pitch Quality" would probably be a more accurate and descriptive name for the slider.

Hope this helps.

[Heroesandvillains]

Re: Sliders explained.

I think the issue with Gagnon, all due respect, is that he continues to pitch on a difficulty level that is too hard for his ability. For years and years.

And I don't mean that to be negative. I've just been following this forum for a long time.

HOF is brutal. It's been this way for awhile. Now I will admit, AS was too easy last year. But 15 is hard as nails. I'm on AS and everything is great!

AS+ could possible be your sweet spot too, Gagnon. Some long time players of the series have settled there so maybe that's a good starting point.

Or...we could go another year with you starting threads about being overmatched. LOL!