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Armor & Sword & Marino’s MLB The Show 18 Classic/Directional Simulation Sliders

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Old 03-22-2018, 08:45 PM   #1
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Armor & Sword & Marino’s MLB The Show 18 Classic/Directional Simulation Sliders






Armor And Sword & Marino’s Classic Pitching/Directional Hitting Simulation Sliders


Hello Operation Sports Show Nation! Well another year has flown by as I sit here and type this. It’s March. The air is getting warmer, the days longer and baseball is here. That means it’s time for MLB The Show 18! We are thrilled again to bring you a slider set for those seeking a clean screen, simulation like experience. The golden days of playing table top board games (Strato-Matic and Statis-Pro) of baseball are now brought to life IMO by MLB The Show using Classic Pitching and Directional hitting. Allowing the player ratings to be the driving force and of course your keen hitters eye and developing a great feel for classic pitching will play into the dice roll results. We use Auto Fielding, but manual throwing (ratings based) button throwing. No visual aides what so ever with our approach. We like to play the game as clean as we can.


For great tips and amazing discussion on Classic Pitching check this thread out (in addition to talking about it here of course):

https://forums.operationsports.com/f...ad-2015-a.html


And here is Warm Winds excellent Directional hitting guide thread as well:

https://forums.operationsports.com/f...ing-guide.html






Gold Version 4.0 5/17/18 Post Patch 1.09


Settings:

Batting and Baserunning:

Hitting Difficulty: All-Star or HOF (I use HOF)

Hitting Interface Directional (Timed)

Input Type - Buttons

Plate Coverage Indicator - Off

Camera Shift - Off

In-Play View Offense - Broadcast

Hitting View: Fish Eye (Users Choice)

Ball Trail - Off

Button Interface: Classic

Guess Pitch: Off

Baserunner Interface: Default

Baserunning Decisions: Assist

Sliding Decisions: Assist

Runner Window: Off (Much more challenging and rewarding plus cleaner screen)

Pitching:

Pitching Difficulty: HOF

Pitching Interface: Classic

Pitching View: Broadcast

Pitching Ball Marker: Off ("On" for those that struggle with it off)

Pitch Callout: Off (cleaner screen but turn it on if you like)

Pitch Confidence: On

Pitch Delay: Normal

API: Default

Fielding:

Throwing Interface: Buttons

Throwing Meter: Off

Throwing Difficulty: NA

Throwing Decision: Off

Throw Canceling: On

Fielding Decision: Auto

Defensive Shift: Auto (I do make in game adjustments on the fly pressing down on the D-Pad)

All Indicators - off

Fielding View Offense: Broadcast

Fielding View Defense: Broadcast

General

Strike Zone: Off

Hot Zones: Off

Warm Up Relievers - On

Balks: Off

Tutorial Tips - Off

Post Game Auto Save - Off

Umpire Balls and Strikes: Personalized

Umpire Close Plays: On

Check Swing Appeals: On

Injuries: On

Ejections: On

Scorebar Display - On

Pitch Select Display - Off

Swing/Pitch Info - Off

Vibration - On (Off for the ultimate challenge) (I play with it on)

Game Log Order - Default

Presentation Options

Presentation Mode - Broadcast

Batter Walkup - On

In-game Ticker - On

Closed Captioning - Off

Mode Updates - Occasional

MLB.com Updates - On




Gameplay Sliders

Dynamic Difficulty Sensitivity 5

Human Contact 5

Human Power 5 (-1)

Human Timing 5

Stride Difficulty 5

Human Foul Frequency 4 (3 for All Star Hitting)

Human Solid Hits 4

Human Starter Stamina 5

Human Reliever Stamina 5

Human Pitcher Control 4

Human Pitcher Consistency 5

CPU Contact 5

CPU Power 5 (-1)

CPU Timing 5

CPU Foul Frequency 4

CPU Solid Hits 4

CPU Starter Stamina 5

CPU Reliever Stamina 5

CPU Pitcher Control 5

CPU Pitcher Consistency 5

CPU Strike Frequency 5

CPU Manager Hook 5

CPU Pickoffs 5

Fastball Pitch Speed 5 (+1) (users choice)

Off speed Pitch Speed 6 (+1) (users choice)

Fielding Errors Infield 5

Fielding Errors Outfield 5 (+1)

Throwing Errors Infield 5

Throwing Errors Outfield 5 (+1)

Fielder Run Speed 3

Fielder Reaction 3

Fielder Arm Strength Infield 5

Fielder Arm Strength Outfield 5

Baserunner Speed 4

Baserunner Steal Ability 6

Baserunner Steal Frequency 6

Wind 5

Injuries 9 (+1) (6 for quick manage/simmed games)


Trade Slider 5 - April

Trade Slider 5 - May

Trade Slider 5 - June

Trade Slider 10 - July, August, September

Trade Slider 5 - October

Trade Slider 7 - November thru February

Trade Slider 5 - Spring Training








Armor’s True Classic Clean Screen Approach

For the ultimate in simulation and challenge here is the way I play The Show with classic pitching vs the CPU.

OK so here is the deal on turning off the R2/pitch types button showing on screen.

All you need to do is see your pitchers repertoire. Is press right on the d-pad and hit R1 and you will see in order his pitch selection (and you can access this screen to see his strike % throughout the game with his various pitches to see how he is dealing and this eliminates the crutch of the pitch confidence display explained later)

So you press d-pad left and then R1 and see this:

1.4FB

2.SL

3.SPL

4.CHG

That means:

4FB = X = 1 finger
SL = O = 2 fingers
SPL = Triangle = 3 fingers
CHG = Square = 4 fingers
4 Fingers and wiggle means his 5th pitch (R1)

Now you know his best to weakest.

Watch the catcher....if he has 2 fingers showing he wants you to throw a Slider. If he shows 4 fingers he wants a Change up.

I typically allow my catcher to call a lot of my pitches for a sim feel. But I will overrule him when I want (shake him off). If you want to see where he wants it pull back R2 and the location icon will flash. The catcher also will sometimes just pat his mitt and/or point inside or outside and I will just aim to that area of the zone (or out of it). Or again I will shake him off. Remember if your controller rumbles while your picking your location the marker (which you can't see) is out of the strike zone. A slight rumble is barely out of the zone..and strong rumble is way out of the zone. I do start pitches out of the zone like sliders, cutters splitters etc and they come back in based on the break and spin. It takes practice....but it is well worth the reward.

Now if your pitcher has 5 pitches 4 fingers and a wiggle will mean the pitch assigned to the R1 button.

Another cool thing is you no longer see a pitchers confidence in any particular pitch. Again simply press d-pad left and R1 once and you can see each pitch and the strike %. The more strikes you have thrown with a pitch the higher the confidence level will be in that pitch.

When you have played the game as long as I have....you know if your throwing a certain pitch for strikes a lot...they will have a lot more confidence in it. I am at a stage with this game where I don't need many visual aides. But if your not there yet turn the pitch type screen back.....play the game the way your comfortable playing it.

I will tell you though the layers of simulation by pitching this way is amazing and fun. Turning the ball marker off and no controller vibration also truly makes it challenging and realistic. Sometimes your pitches will not go where you want them.

Just like IRL!!!

Give this a shot. I have a feeling you will love it. It will take some getting used to...but after a dozen to a couple of dozen games you will be in the groove.

My good friend and fellow slider guru Josh1977 had some nice input about classic pitching so check this stuff out below as well.

"That said, you definitely have some control over pitch outcome. How long you hold the button matters. It affects pitch speed, command, and the amount of break on breaking pitches. It just isn't 'push a button and go'...there is far more subtlety in it. In fact, if you simply tap the button, it is an excellent way to get shelled".


When pitching in classic, you have about a 1 second time period before you get the controller vibration (i.e. max-effort). The following are my observations...

Max effort pitches (holding the button down till the vibration) result in the following:
More velocity
Less control
A sharper break on breaking pitches
Pitches tend to rise more


Minimum effort pitches (tapping the button) results in the following:
Less velocity
Better control
"Loopier" breaking balls (especially curves/sliders
Pitches sink more (due to lower velo) - changeups will pretty constantly wind up in the dirt
In many cases, an "intermediate" duration is optimal. However, you can vary this from pitch to pitch (i.e. like a pitcher adding/subtracting from the speed of the pitch). This is a tremendous way to keep hitters off-balance to help to avoid them getting solid contact/timing.

This is just a basic overview...I'm sure there are more subtleties involved.



Armor's Directional Hitting Approach





It is all situational for me. So many factors depending on the type of hitter, counts, situation, score etc etc.

First off as far as swing types and counts:

Normal Swing:

0-0, 1-0, 2-0, 3-1, 2-2, 3-2


Contact swing

All Pitchers

0-2, 1-2,

2-2, 3-2
Situational - with weaker hitters to make contact and move runners or sacrifice fly.


Power Swing only with my very best power hitters when I typically have no one on with no outs or no one on with 2 outs.

0-0, 1-0, 2-0, 3-0 (green light) 3-1 counts.


Directional strategy:

I position the LS pre pitch and hold throughout the swing however as you know I do not use the visual aide showing the influence (don't need it).

Dead Pull Contact Hitters if the situation calls for a pull

LS at the 9 o'clock for RH 3 o'clock for left handers

Hitters counts only 0-0, 1-0, 2-0, 3-1


Pull Power Hitters with normal swing

LS position

10/11 o'clock positions for RH hitters

1/2 o'clock for LH hitters

Hitters counts only 0-0, 1-0, 2-0, 3-1


Opposite field strategy for RH hitters so I can hit behind the runner...early in counts and hitter counts (0-0, 1-0, 2-0 or 3-1) LS is at 3'clock for LH hitters at 9 o'clock

If I get into a pitchers count or neutral count (0-1, 0-2, 1-1, 2-2, 3-2) I do not use stick influence but I allow the ball to travel deep so I can either slap it the other way or fight it off.


When I simply want to induce a sac fly or ground ball....LS in 12 o'clock or 6 o'clock respectively in hitters counts only.


So I think you can see my approach. In hitters counts I can be far more selective with my pitches and use the LS influence. Basically depending on what I want to do I am looking for one pitch in one spot on 0-0, 1-0, 2-0, 3-1 counts (I rarely green light on 3-0 unless I am up big or down big or have a gut feeling). When I am in pitchers counts or neutral accounts I am simply using my normal or contact swing with no stick influence as I am in battle mode and trying to work the count.

I hope that gives you a good idea of my approach at the dish.



Armors 30 Team Control Manifesto

So folks I seem to always get a lot of questions around 30 team control, is it for me, how much control do you use, why do you use it etc. So I want to talk about the why, how and pretty much what I do personally with my 30 team control universe in my proper 2017 Yankees Franchise and my Year 3 1987 Yankees Franchise The Quest For Donny Baseball.

Why 30 team control? Well for me it comes down to these 3 key points


1) Lineup integrity and control - I want to make sure lineups are logical and maximizing every teams talent. This is subjective to the player as well. What I may think makes sense, you may do something differently. Always remember it is your universe and you can shape it any way you want.


2) Trade Czar - I love trading. But I hate dumb trades, like real doozy type trades that make no sense for the present or the future. And they do sometimes occur....of course it's totaly IMO. So if I see a trade that fit's my definition of "being bent over with no lube" I will simply reverse it. Now in the past we had a trade delay option. But for programming reasons (it was causing some issues in the trade engine apparently) it was removed on MLB 16. So to reverse a doozy of a deal simply trade the assets back to each respective team. The team that clearly got the strong side of the deal is the one you should propose the trade back to the team that was fleeced.

3) 40 Man Roster Integrity - I make sure I stay on top of each teams 40 man roster in terms of "A" and "B" prospects. Why? I don't want legit "A" and "B" prospects who are developing nicely to be exposed to the "Rule 5" draft. So Before September I make sure (and of course before the regular season starts) I go through each teams 40 and check out their "top" prospects and make sure I get them on the 40 man roster (if they are not on it) to protect them from exposure to the Rule 5 draft. Of course sometimes there is not enough room, because you do need a good mix of veterans at the AAA level to be on call for potential injuries. So this is a GM aspect I like to do. Plus it get's me familiar with every teams minor league system.

So I create one profile for my club with everything set to manual and then I have a profile called "CPU Franchise" which I assign to every team I do not want full control over.




Everything on this CPU Franchise profile is set to Auto except:

Lineups

40 Man Roster

I do not resign the other 29 teams free agents, I do not manage their injuries (I just stay on top of their lineups so if an injury occurs at the big league level and I do not agree with their call-up replacement or lineups with new player inserted I correct it to my liking).


Again, it is about options and the ability to step in when I want/need to. I do not get overwhelmed with doing player training or scouting for the other 29 teams.


I simply just manage those 3 things I mentioned above.


And of course another perk is if I want to switch teams in a franchise at anytime....I can.

So here is my daily method with 30 team control


Simulate all games on the schedule for the day except my game. That way all the scores show up on my ticker when I play my game.


Monthly I will check every team's stat's, see who is performing well etc and I may make some lineup adjustments to other teams to capitalize on players performing better than expected.

Again it is your universe. Have fun with it. And don't over think it


Trades for your team - So one thing I have in place is a house rule where I only trade with other teams for players that are strictly on the trading block until the month of July (when my storylines will take over as I check standings and teams goals, budget etc etc). Unless a team comes to me with an offer with a player/players not on their trading block, I limit myself to that rule. Some exceptions I will make is if I am trying to make a blockbuster multi star player deal and of course I do not fleece the CPU. What's the fun in that? Maybe it is for you and you can do whatever you want, but for me, I like to keep it grounded and more realistic. With that I do have storylines that will occur in the natural progression of my team and I may move a guy because of it. And again.....Trade deadline and Winter meetings I will look at the league and make logical deals and blockbuster trades as well and keep my league fresh and vibrant.


Player Editing Within Your Franchise Universe


So Warmwind has a nice set of house rules that I will begin employing in my off-seasons moving forward (30 team control only). Read below. I think it has great idea’s and will make your franchises far more dynamic!


I do edits, but based on rules.


1. I make position edits based on needs and profiles all the time. There are no consequences for doing this.

2. I'm allowed to trade 1 for 1 between a pitcher's durability and their stamina, but only during the off season. This can coincide with a position edit (RP to SP for example).

3. All players must be allowed to regress without edits if they are having a bad year.

4. For players under 34, I'm allowed to counteract regression, but only if they are having a good year.

5. For players under 36, I'm allowed to counteract half of the regression, but only if they are having a good year.

6. For players of any age, I'm allowed to counteract regression using a trade system, where points from one attribute are traded into another in order to keep it up. This can ONLY be used to counteract regression, cannot be used to boost an attribute higher then where it started the year at. Points taken from Durability are worth double, but it also costs double to keep Durability up.





Have fun with it guys.
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Last edited by Armor and Sword; 06-12-2018 at 10:47 PM.
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Old 03-22-2018, 08:45 PM   #2
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Re: Armor & Sword & Marino’s MLB The Show 18 Classic/Directional Simulation Sliders

The New York Yankees Triumph With World Series Sweep Over Defending Champs L.A. Dodgers










The Yankees completed their World Series run in Year 2 with a 4-0 sweep over the Dodgers to win the franchises 28th World Series Title!. Greg Bird would launch a majestic blast in the bottom of the 9th to walk off the win with a final score of 3-2. Although the Yankees swept the Dodgers, every single game was tight and competitive. But it was the Yankees who would simply find a way in every game to win. Greg Bird would win both the MVP of the World Series as well as the entire post season.

Now the off-season will begin and the questions on some players will have to be answered. Most notable for the Yankees will be:

Jeremy Helickson
Brett Gardner
Jarrod Dyson (team option)

Looking ahead to free agency the biggest names out there will be RF Bryce Harper, SS/3B Manny Machado and 1B Paul Goldschmidt to name a few.




Next up for our featured franchise will be The Mathney Manifesto Year 3. For those that remember this is my fantasy draft Cardinals team which started on MLB 16 winning the World Series in Year 1 (Bryce Harper walk off), losing in a heartbreaking 7 game series in the NLCS in year 2. I look forward to playing our year 3 and seeing if we can contend for another title!
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Last edited by Armor and Sword; 12-09-2018 at 10:36 AM.
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Old 03-23-2018, 12:13 AM   #3
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Re: Armor & Sword & Marino’s MLB The Show 18 Classic/Directional Simulation Sliders

Game 1 in the books!

White Sox 5 Tigers(me) 2

Fulmer: 5.2 IP, 6H, 5 ER, 2BB, 9K; 99 pitches 69 Strikes
Shields: 6.2IP, 6H, 2ER, 2BB, 5K; 97 pitches 66 Strikes

As my reintroduction to the series, not too shabby! Timing is way off in the batters box but classic pitching felt like riding a bike!
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Old 03-23-2018, 08:03 AM   #4
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Re: Armor & Sword & Marino’s MLB The Show 18 Classic/Directional Simulation Sliders

I upped the pitch speed to 9/7 fastball/offspeed but I agree the timing is way off lol.

Using last year's sliders as a guide I think we might need to tweak the foul ball slider. I had a lot in my first game but I know that's definitely not a sample size.

Using mlb16 hitting camera as well. The fish eye cameras feel weird

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Old 03-23-2018, 08:37 AM   #5
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Re: Armor & Sword & Marino’s MLB The Show 18 Classic/Directional Simulation Sliders

Quote:
Originally Posted by BZito75
I upped the pitch speed to 9/7 fastball/offspeed but I agree the timing is way off lol.

Using last year's sliders as a guide I think we might need to tweak the foul ball slider. I had a lot in my first game but I know that's definitely not a sample size.

Using mlb16 hitting camera as well. The fish eye cameras feel weird

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I meant my personal timing was off, not making any implication on settings yet.
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Old 03-23-2018, 08:42 AM   #6
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Re: Armor & Sword & Marino’s MLB The Show 18 Classic/Directional Simulation Sliders

Quote:
Originally Posted by lhsballa11
I meant my personal timing was off, not making any implication on settings yet.
Oh I know... Mine was too! Lol

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Old 03-23-2018, 08:47 AM   #7
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Re: Armor & Sword & Marino’s MLB The Show 18 Classic/Directional Simulation Sliders

Going to be streaming test franchise games in the next 30-40 minutes. I will post here when I go live.


So initially thoughts playing default All-Star Hitting and HOF Pitching.
  • Incredibly smooth and balanced out of the box.
  • Fielding is amazing and ratings really shine
  • Seeing imperfect plays such as balls clipping off gloves, but staying with the play and throwing guys out. imperfect baseball....what a concept!!!
  • Hitting is simply amazing. Directional hitting has never felt better.
  • Ball trajectories and physics are refined even more from the jump we got on 17!
  • New presentation is really welcomed, new camera angles, real time replay, Derosa sounds great.


So here is what I am “feeling” right now and am going to focus on first.

Human hitting on All-Star initially feels amazing, but I have been simply raking the ball. Going to play many more games to get a sample size feel and see if I need to make All-Star slightly more difficult for the human player.

Keeping my eye on outfielders speed which right now looks great out of the box. Also infielder reaction and making sure they are all not superman and ratings really separate elite, from good from average.

Playing with injuries during games on 9 and simulation on 5.
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Old 03-23-2018, 08:51 AM   #8
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Re: Armor & Sword & Marino’s MLB The Show 18 Classic/Directional Simulation Sliders

Quote:
Originally Posted by Armor and Sword
Going to be streaming test franchise games in the next 30-40 minutes. I will post here when I go live.


So initially thoughts playing default All-Star Hitting and HOF Pitching.
  • Incredibly smooth and balanced out of the box.
  • Fielding is amazing and ratings really shine
  • Seeing imperfect plays such as balls clipping off gloves, but staying with the play and throwing guys out. imperfect baseball....what a concept!!!
  • Hitting is simply amazing. Directional hitting has never felt better.
  • Ball trajectories and physics are refined even more from the jump we got on 17!
  • New presentation is really welcomed, new camera angles, real time replay, Derosa sounds great.


So here is what I am “feeling” right now and am going to focus on first.

Human hitting on All-Star initially feels amazing, but I have been simply raking the ball. Going to play many more games to get a sample size feel and see if I need to make All-Star slightly more difficult for the human player.

Keeping my eye on outfielders speed which right now looks great out of the box. Also infielder reaction and making sure they are all not superman and ratings really separate elite, from good from average.

Playing with injuries during games on 9 and simulation on 5.
Out of the box it definitely has that "strat o matric" feel we've spoken about. Can't wait to watch the stream.

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