MLB The Show 16 'What Does It Do'?

[Millennium]

I'm creating this as a type of 'strategy guide' for things that we may or may not know about MLB The Show 16. My goal is that, through testing and communication, we may have a better understanding (although we will never have a total one) of what certain ratings/systems do in The Show.

I'm keeping this 1st post as clean as possible for our most definitive findings (or as close to definitive as we can get).

[richmondn96]

Re: MLB The Show 16 'What Does It Do'?

I'd like to know the impact of adjusting the CPU strike frequency slider. Others have said that the CPU throws too many strikes on the lower difficulty levels and I have seen this myself. How much do you have to adjust the slider to see realistic balls and strikes?

[Millennium]

Re: MLB The Show 16 'What Does It Do'?

My first group of "theories":


H/9 affects gameplay in direct correlation with the batter's Contact ratings.

I believe that the higher a pitcher's H/9 rating is the lower chance the batter has of getting 'Good' contact, and is weighted against the batter's Contact rating. BOTH of these ratings affect the size of the batter's PCI. Vision and K/9 DO NOT AFFECT the size of the PCI.
The following pictures show this. The order of the pics is:

H/9 99, Contact 0
H/9 99, Contact 99
H/9 0, Contact 99
H/9 0, Contact 99, Vision 99
H/9 0, K/9 99, Contact 99, Vision 99

You'll notice that the first pick the PCI is small, the second pic it grows (as we inflate the Contact rating), the third big it grows further (as we decrease the H/9 rating), but in the 4th and 5th pics it doesn't change when Vision and K/9 are the only ratings being moved. My theory on Vision and K/9 is that they affect (in gameplay) the area outside of the PCI which allows you to foul balls off that aren't in your PCI.

[TarHeelPhenom]

Re: MLB The Show 16 'What Does It Do'?

What does the steal frequency slider do? Does it make the runner faster on the base path? Does it weaken the catchers arm or slow his reaction time down?

[Millennium]

Re: MLB The Show 16 'What Does It Do'?

Next up:

BB/9 controls the speed at which your pitching controls move, the Control rating of your pitch controls how close they go to the ball marker. Batter's Plate Discipline has NO bearing on speed of the mechanic (BB/9) but MAY have an effect on the Control rating.

I used Pulse Pitching as an example, and the video is coming, but my findings are as follows:

The pulse pitching meter grew in size and speed as the BB/9 rating was lowered. It was not affected by the Discipline rating of the batter OR the Control rating of the pitch (a 4 seam fastball in this case) . HOWEVER - the end point of the ball on almost perfect release while on BB/9 at 99 varied greatly when 4FB control was lowered, but was almost spot on every time with it at 99. I am inconclusive on the Discipline ratings affecting pitching at this time, but my theory is that is directly correlates against the pitchers Control rating (which is a median of the control ratings of all of the pitcher's individual pitch control ratings).

[XxKnicksRules215xX]

Re: MLB The Show 16 'What Does It Do'?

I would like to know specifically how the difficulties work, how each work, the differences between each.

[jada855]

Re: MLB The Show 16 'What Does It Do'?

What does the steal frequency slider do? Does it make the runner faster on the base path? Does it weaken the catchers arm or slow his reaction time down?

From my experience with the MLB The Show Series. The steal frequency slider increases the stolen base attempts. I usually bump this slider all the way to the right so that even though I play the game in player lock mode my cpu teammates are more aggressive with steal attempts.

[cjthisguy21]

Re: MLB The Show 16 'What Does It Do'?

My first group of "theories":


H/9 affects gameplay in direct correlation with the batter's Contact ratings.

I believe that the higher a pitcher's H/9 rating is the lower chance the batter has of getting 'Good' contact, and is weighted against the batter's Contact rating. BOTH of these ratings affect the size of the batter's PCI. Vision and K/9 DO NOT AFFECT the size of the PCI.
The following pictures show this. The order of the pics is:

H/9 99, Contact 0
H/9 99, Contact 99
H/9 0, Contact 99
H/9 0, Contact 99, Vision 99
H/9 0, K/9 99, Contact 99, Vision 99

You'll notice that the first pick the PCI is small, the second pic it grows (as we inflate the Contact rating), the third big it grows further (as we decrease the H/9 rating), but in the 4th and 5th pics it doesn't change when Vision and K/9 are the only ratings being moved. My theory on Vision and K/9 is that they affect (in gameplay) the area outside of the PCI which allows you to foul balls off that aren't in your PCI.

May I ask what difficulty this is on??

[Millennium]

Re: MLB The Show 16 'What Does It Do'?

May I ask what difficulty this is on??

I believe it was All Star or Hall Of Fame. The key research is the difference in size of the PCI, not the total size.

[Jr.]

Re: MLB The Show 16 'What Does It Do'?

I'd like to know the impact of adjusting the CPU strike frequency slider. Others have said that the CPU throws too many strikes on the lower difficulty levels and I have seen this myself. How much do you have to adjust the slider to see realistic balls and strikes?

I'm using Dynamic Difficulty, and there is definitely a difference in the number of strikes thrown on each level.

I'm currently on Veteran after being as high as All-Star+ and as low as Rookie+ lately (having some issues with my sliders, so a lot of fluctuation).

I have Strike Frequency at 2, I believe. I transferred my sliders over from '15 and kept it the same. I've found that to be a good number. On lower levels, you might need to lower it more, but I don't know if there is anything you can do on anything lower than Veteran to get more realistic rates.

[bcruise]

Re: MLB The Show 16 'What Does It Do'?

My first group of "theories":


H/9 affects gameplay in direct correlation with the batter's Contact ratings.

<snip>

This is less theory and more developer-confirmed fact:



So....good guess.

[RogueHominid]

Re: MLB The Show 16 'What Does It Do'?

I have a question about the interrelationships between ratings connected to plate discipline.

Which ratings, at which thresholds, and in what combinations tend to produce players who enter QC scenarios ahead of the count or likely to be in a position to draw walks and get on base?

I'm asking because I'm trying to make sure I get a leadoff hitter in the future who excels at getting on base, and I'd like to look at the attributes related to that in addition to the basic contact ratings and the speed factor that can also help top of the order guys get on base.

[KBLover]

Re: MLB The Show 16 'What Does It Do'?

What does the steal frequency slider do? Does it make the runner faster on the base path? Does it weaken the catchers arm or slow his reaction time down?

Impacts how many attempts straight steal attempts AND seems to impact hit-and-run attempts with slower guys.

There's also that "penalty for repeated steals" language in the description. It might lower whatever that's all about with the defense being "ready for" the steal attempt, especially after the first steal by the (player? team?)

I'd like to know the impact of adjusting the CPU strike frequency slider. Others have said that the CPU throws too many strikes on the lower difficulty levels and I have seen this myself. How much do you have to adjust the slider to see realistic balls and strikes?

Strike frequency impacts how often they'll try to make you chase early in the count as opposed to throwing outright strikes early in the count.

It doesn't impact if the pitches will be strikes or balls, just the intended destination. Whether or not it helps a lot with early strikes or putting the hitter in more "walk likely" situations depends in part on the interaction with this and control/consistency (a miss on an "intended ball" could end up a strike, etc).

Which ratings, at which thresholds, and in what combinations tend to produce players who enter QC scenarios ahead of the count or likely to be in a position to draw walks and get on base?

I always thought QC was random other than not getting an early count (0-0, 0-1, 1-0)? Seems like that was said (by the devs) to be the case when first introduced, but don't quote me on that.

[miamikb2001]

Re: MLB The Show 16 'What Does It Do'?

I have a question about the interrelationships between ratings connected to plate discipline.



Which ratings, at which thresholds, and in what combinations tend to produce players who enter QC scenarios ahead of the count or likely to be in a position to draw walks and get on base?



I'm asking because I'm trying to make sure I get a leadoff hitter in the future who excels at getting on base, and I'd like to look at the attributes related to that in addition to the basic contact ratings and the speed factor that can also help top of the order guys get on base.

Would love to know this also as i play Qc exclusively.

[KBLover]

Re: MLB The Show 16 'What Does It Do'?

Which ratings, at which thresholds, and in what combinations tend to produce players who enter QC scenarios ahead of the count or likely to be in a position to draw walks and get on base?

I'm asking because I'm trying to make sure I get a leadoff hitter in the future who excels at getting on base, and I'd like to look at the attributes related to that in addition to the basic contact ratings and the speed factor that can also help top of the order guys get on base.

Found a post by Brian SCEA saying that the attributes influence 3-0 vs 0-2...but every hitter will see all the counts.

So I'm guessing (key word) that the attributes are probably DISC vs BB/9 (and/or control) and guessing (key word) that the impact might not be very high.

Granted this was in MLB14 when it was first introduced. I haven't seen any word of any changes, though?

If I can think of a way to test it, I might try to track it next time I have some extra time.