Directional Hitting

[cardinalbird5]

Quote: Originally Posted by Gagnon39

But with directional hitting you still have to swing where the ball is. At least you did in MVP. If the pitch was low and away and you swung up and in and timed it perfectly, there was still a good chance you'd miss the pitch entirely. If you did make contact it would be very weak. And the same thing happens in The Show with zone. I've had my PCI way, way off the mark, but I timed the ball right and I at least made contact. Either way, and again, to each their own. This is yet one of the many reasons why The Show is so good. So many options.

No.

MVP was simply inside, middle or away. You only used Up or Down to influence fly/ground balls. If you didn't hold up/down then you'd try to hit line drives. It was a nice hitting system, but MLB is more realistic tbh. For its time, MVP had the most realistic hitting engine.

I kind of use this same approach because when your hand-eye gets so good then it isn't hard to put the PCI on the ball if you get the timing right and know what is coming. I prefer MLB and I feel like MVP's hitting would handicap users (online). Offline, I do not care. It'd be a nice addition.

[El_MaYiMbE]

Quote: Originally Posted by cardinalbird7

You can already use directional hitting. It is all timing..... This feature sounds like it will contradict the spray charts which I don't like. I played the heck out of MVP and its hitting timing is pretty similar to the show. The only thing I will say about MVP is that it is was too linear of a hitting system. Meaning if you hit the green spot of the timing then you knew it was going to be hit and if you the yellow or red it would be weak. I don't like that, because certain hitters CAN PULL OUTSIDE PITCHES and they do frequently, especially power hitters. I just hope they don't dumb it down again and again. They made it too easy to pull in 13 and 14 seems about right. Timing should be the number one factor in where the ball is hit combined with the spray chart of that hitter. I don't want to see some gimmick feature like guess pitch or make the current "swing influence" feature stronger to compensate for users' lack of skill and awareness. I think MLB needs to focus more on tendencies and spray charts, along with bat speed. Not every hitter has the same bat speed so this should have a direct correlation with their spray chart. It should be the user's responsibility to learn each players' tendencies and to exploit them. If you are using a pull hitter you should get a slight bonus or more bias towards pulling it rather than going opposite field.

I get what you are saying, and I agree. For its time it was awesome but 10 yrs later is MLB better? 100 times yes.

So I am hoping they can give us what MVP gave us, but with the sophistication we have today when it comes to stat tracking and better understanding on how a SIM baseball game is played.

I feel that with all the hitting options in MLB The Show, there are still to many weak ground balls or pop ups, that are a result of the PCI not being centered just right, as opposed to being driven off of the players attributes and skills.

As you guys know SCEA does not take away features so those comfortable with Zone and all other forms will still be able to use that..but for me I am hoping they reintroduce the "MVP" style of hitting and add 10 yrs of knowledge to make it better.

[Blzer]

Quote: Originally Posted by cardinalbird7

MVP was simply inside, middle or away. You only used Up or Down to influence fly/ground balls. If you didn't hold up/down then you'd try to hit line drives. It was a nice hitting system, but MLB is more realistic tbh. For its time, MVP had the most realistic hitting engine.

Actually, High Heat had the most realistic hitting engine. ESPN MLB 2K4's True Aim system was second. MLB Inside Pitch was third. MVP may have had a nice physics engine going for them and had a good way of implementing the batter's eye thing, but the control was the very least realistic. Cursor hitting (I'll even throw in the PCI) is a video game style of play that is arcadey and not true to professional baseball, but can yield legitimate results.

Directional hitting does not in any way represent real baseball, in that true MLB hitters do not actually change their swing. They change their timing and they throw their knob to the ball, but the swing remains unchanged. Players don't "pull" the ball, so to speak. Pulling implies pulling off, means rolling over means little bat lag. A player who does that either opened up their front side, swung too early, or both, whether intentional or not. The same for hitting the other way.

I am for directional hitting being in the game because zone is an option, but unless it is described differently, I am going to be most stubborn here in believing anybody here, even a developer, when they claim that it is the most authentic to professional baseball. Nobody said that's what they were trying to do, but a lot of posts in this thread already seem to suggest that.

That being said, so long as the influence of fly balls and ground balls are either not in the game or are inverted in control (down for underneath and up for over the top of), I can see this being used without being abused, and I can still get the fun factor out of it. I cannot in all good faith though call that authentic simulation control.

I like this time of year though, because this is when I tend to post the most stuff about the sport. That said, I have extensively long posts on cursor versus zone hitting, and the big differences between the two. The Show has a hybrid with the PCI, one which I don't use (by that I mean I disable the visual). It's time to start searching for old posts.

[Bobhead]

Quote: Originally Posted by Blzer

MLB hitters do not actually change their swing. They change their timing and they throw their knob to the ball, but the swing remains unchanged. Players don't "pull" the ball, so to speak. Pulling implies pulling off, means rolling over means little bat lag.

And in what way, exactly, do you feel this is different from what goes on with zone hitting? I'm curious.

[kehlis]

Quote: Originally Posted by Bobhead

And in what way, exactly, do you feel this is different from what goes on with zone hitting? I'm curious.

He was referring to MVP's directional hitting and why it wasn't realistic.

[nemesis04]

Well, I am sure it will be optional. You like it use it, don't like it you can move on. Might need to wait and see what the Show's interpretation of this concept is before it is deemed unrealistic.

[kehlis]

Quote: Originally Posted by nemesis04

Well, I am sure it will be optional. You like it use it, don't like it you can move on. Might need to wait and see what the Show's interpretation of this concept is before it is deemed unrealistic.

I don't think anyone is inferring or assuming this iteration of directional hitting will be unrealistic.

Unless I missed it, the only people who have said unrealistic were referring to other games hitting systems.

Not much else to talk about in December

[Bobhead]

And unrealistic is not inherently bad. Balance is what really matters. As long as directional hitting is properly crafted so that you maintain MLB-level batting averages, BABIP, line drive percentages, strikeout rates, etc... then there isnt really much to complain about.