Zone hitting difficulty setting.

[Gagnon39]

For anyone that knows, please help me answer the following question.

What exactly is the difference when using zone hitting between difficulty settings? For example, what exactly changes when you change the difficulty from All-Star to Hall of Fame? From my observations it seems like the only thing I notice is that the PCI is reduced as well as the timing window. I just want to be sure that when bumping up difficulty the game is f going to artificially make the game harder in an u realistic way. This year I've noticed (again while ilusing one hitting) that when you time a ball well and have the PCI in the correct place you typically get some seriously good contact. I'm worried if I bump the difficulty up to Hall of Fame I'll be seeing infield pop ups and weak ground balls on pitches I time perfectly and have good contact (PCI placement).

Any insight would be appreciated as I' mm still trying to find my correct difficulty level before really plunging into franchise mode.

[p00p1]

CPU pitching is harder too. Mixes up pitches more, less pitches down the middle.

[countryboy]

the biggest difference is the size of the PCI

[Gagnon39]

Quote: Originally Posted by countryboy

the biggest difference is the size of the PCI

I don't know that I agree that is the biggest difference. There is definitely a difference, no doubt but I think the decreased timing window and the way the CPU pitchers hit their spots and don't leave the ball pit over the plate is probably a bigger noticeable change. This has been my observations at least over the past couple days of going back and forth between both settings.

[countryboy]

Quote: Originally Posted by Gagnon39

I don't know that I agree that is the biggest difference. There is definitely a difference, no doubt but I think the decreased timing window and the way the CPU pitchers hit their spots and don't leave the ball pit over the plate is probably a bigger noticeable change. This has been my observations at least over the past couple days of going back and forth between both settings.

Ok.

And hey you answered your own question.

[RoyceDa59]

Quote: Originally Posted by Gagnon39

For anyone that knows, please help me answer the following question. What exactly is the difference when using zone hitting between difficulty settings? For example, what exactly changes when you change the difficulty from All-Star to Hall of Fame? From my observations it seems like the only thing I notice is that the PCI is reduced as well as the timing window. I just want to be sure that when bumping up difficulty the game is f going to artificially make the game harder in an u realistic way. This year I've noticed (again while ilusing one hitting) that when you time a ball well and have the PCI in the correct place you typically get some seriously good contact. I'm worried if I bump the difficulty up to Hall of Fame I'll be seeing infield pop ups and weak ground balls on pitches I time perfectly and have good contact (PCI placement). Any insight would be appreciated as I' mm still trying to find my correct difficulty level before really plunging into franchise mode.

I think All Star Zone hitting is noticeably more forgiving with PCI Placement than HoF. On HoF to square up a ball you almost have to be perfect.

[dalger21]

Quote: Originally Posted by countryboy

the biggest difference is the size of the PCI

That really is the biggest (and most noticeable) difference

[Bobhead]

The biggest difference by far is the plate coverage. Your coverage window (PCI) and timing window both shrink significantly with every increase in difficulty level. You can recreate this by reducing the Contact and Timing sliders instead, by about 2 or 3 notches each.

Another big difference is probably the quality of pitching. You get fewer hung pitches, better execution on the corners, and smarter pitch selection.

Third difference is higher pitch speed. Each increase in difficulty level results in an increase to all pitch speeds. This increase is similar to an increase of 1 or 2 notches on the Pitch Speed slider.

There may or may not be other differences, these are just the 3 I'm sure off and have noticed.

Re: your concerns: In my experience, the result of the contact changes quite a bit, but frequency of hard contact doesn't really change much. I'll explain that with an example: If 40% of your contact is "hard hit" on Veteran, it will probably still be in that range on Hall of Fame, too. The main difference is in the distance (power). What would be an easy home run on Veteran, would probably be a hard double in the gap on Hall of Fame, or a line drive on Legend.

It's mainly the borderline swings and power that are penalized, but I don't think you will see wonky pop-ups on pitches you hit perfectly, or anything like that.