The fielding in this game is garbage

[GoDucks1224]

Quote: Originally Posted by Bunselpower32

Subtle nuance = Me making up for bad game design. Today I had one that made me shut the game off. Had Wainwright on the mound, walked 2, wild pitch on a ball in the dirt (because they all bounce away), Goldschmidt coming up. I walk him. Pitch to Ozuna (fantasy draft). Got the ground ball to the left of Gyorko, I load up the throw before he catches the ball, and he proceeds to lunge for the runner and give up a run missing the double play. Also, has anyone noticed that on balls in the dirt the outcome seems really obviously predetermined? Like when the CPU wants the outcome to be a base, the user controlled catcher always hops and throws just softly enough for a close safe call (looks like last year). When it wants the out, the catcher immediately fires a bullet, no hop. There is no in between, it's not situational, and if the bullet happened even after the hop (which it should) there would be outside happening. #2 in your program, #1 in our hearts. You will be missed, Red.

Preface: I’ve been playing The Show since 2008. This rant is kind of all over the place, my apologies. I love The Show and SDS.

Totally agree. Prior to 17 I never once felt like The Show had any sort of predetermined outcomes. Canned animations at times, sure. But all sports games do. Never ever felt like there was any form of ‘scripting’ or predetermination. But in 17, it felt like any ball in the dirt was predetermined to be lost by the catcher and if someone tried to run on it, they would always reach. Even when the catcher reacted quickly, corralled it, and threw.. It was ALWAYS a relatively non-chalant throw to the SHORTSTOP side of the base and the tag wasn’t made. In 18, this has been improved some by catcher reactions. I get more outs. But I still have those moments where it’s a pretty lazy throw to the shortstop side of the bag. I also have noticed that the CPU gets some VERY timely hitting, regularly. Particularly the 7th inning. Just occasionally see some things that make me go ‘Hmmm. Feels kinda like an EA game.’ And I NEVER had that experience prior to 17. Also, when I dive for balls it seems like the player dives completely over them a bit too often, to the point where I never really use the dive. And the lazy jogging and not extending their glove on balls up the middle, near them. Or things of that nature. Always frustrating. Bunting is still completely broken except the CPU suicide squeezes which are nigh unstoppable. When the little thing pops up warning of a hit and run, it seems like no matter where I aim the pitch they make hard contact 70% of the time. Moments where I have a runner on third and he dives back to the base the second contact is made on a ground ball to the outfield or liner that drops. Moments where a guy dives head first into third on an easy scoring play and I can’t seem to be able to get him to round even though I’m holding the button. And lastly, all the double clutching. There have been so many times where I could have gotten a guy out at the plate, or throwing the ball in quick to stop a guy from taking two bases, etc, and the player will double clutch and relatively casually throw it in. Very frustrating. I LOVE baseball. I LOVE The Show. I LOVE how much SDS really cares about the sport. I still play the heck out of it even with all my complaints, my most played game this year by far. But me sitting here singing their praises and ignoring the games flaws doesn’t help anything. It’s unbelievable to me that with all the things this iteration of the game improves, how gorgeous it looks, the massively improved colors (except for some reason the Phillies, who have the ol’ faded washed out red that all red teams used to have), the ball physics, animation improvements, etc. It’s still one of my least liked iterations. Only one I disliked more was 17. I also can’t help but feel like I’m being left behind a bit, as a Franchise guy. But I really hope they’ll give us some love this next year. I’ll be more cautious this upcoming year, sadly.

[Bunselpower32]

Quote: Originally Posted by GoDucks1224

Preface: I’ve been playing The Show since 2008. This rant is kind of all over the place, my apologies. I love The Show and SDS. Totally agree. Prior to 17 I never once felt like The Show had any sort of predetermined outcomes. Canned animations at times, sure. But all sports games do. Never ever felt like there was any form of ‘scripting’ or predetermination. But in 17, it felt like any ball in the dirt was predetermined to be lost by the catcher and if someone tried to run on it, they would always reach. Even when the catcher reacted quickly, corralled it, and threw.. It was ALWAYS a relatively non-chalant throw to the SHORTSTOP side of the base and the tag wasn’t made. In 18, this has been improved some by catcher reactions. I get more outs. But I still have those moments where it’s a pretty lazy throw to the shortstop side of the bag. I also have noticed that the CPU gets some VERY timely hitting, regularly. Particularly the 7th inning. Just occasionally see some things that make me go ‘Hmmm. Feels kinda like an EA game.’ And I NEVER had that experience prior to 17. Also, when I dive for balls it seems like the player dives completely over them a bit too often, to the point where I never really use the dive. And the lazy jogging and not extending their glove on balls up the middle, near them. Or things of that nature. Always frustrating. Bunting is still completely broken except the CPU suicide squeezes which are nigh unstoppable. When the little thing pops up warning of a hit and run, it seems like no matter where I aim the pitch they make hard contact 70% of the time. Moments where I have a runner on third and he dives back to the base the second contact is made on a ground ball to the outfield or liner that drops. Moments where a guy dives head first into third on an easy scoring play and I can’t seem to be able to get him to round even though I’m holding the button. And lastly, all the double clutching. There have been so many times where I could have gotten a guy out at the plate, or throwing the ball in quick to stop a guy from taking two bases, etc, and the player will double clutch and relatively casually throw it in. Very frustrating. I LOVE baseball. I LOVE The Show. I LOVE how much SDS really cares about the sport. I still play the heck out of it even with all my complaints, my most played game this year by far. But me sitting here singing their praises and ignoring the games flaws doesn’t help anything. It’s unbelievable to me that with all the things this iteration of the game improves, how gorgeous it looks, the massively improved colors (except for some reason the Phillies, who have the ol’ faded washed out red that all red teams used to have), the ball physics, animation improvements, etc. It’s still one of my least liked iterations. Only one I disliked more was 17. I also can’t help but feel like I’m being left behind a bit, as a Franchise guy. But I really hope they’ll give us some love this next year. I’ll be more cautious this upcoming year, sadly.

Yeah, it gets frustrating. I think some are looking at it from the perspective that it's the best game so that makes it good. But that's a terrible way to look at it. Just because it's the best game does not make this a good simulation. It's not bad, but it's far from what I'd call good.

#2 in your program, #1 in our hearts. You will be missed, Red.

[bcruise]

Quote: Originally Posted by TheWarmWind

There is a subtle nuance to fielding in this game that most people don't seem to get. It's always had some issues, and people are always going to take issue with it because sometimes errors will just happen no matter what you do and that will always tick certain people off, but I've found fielding in 18 far superior to previous versions, and I feel almost completely in control out in the field. A lot of people don't understand or haven't learned those subtle nuances that are required to field successfully, and the game does a terrible job at teaching the player, but after some minor slider changes to fix some issues (setting arm strength to 6 will get rid of those lazy rainbows for example) it is possible to feel in control. I remember watching one of the dev streams and seeing a CF take an approach to a liner. As soon as I saw the what the player was doing to attempt the catch, I said "he isn't going to make the catch". Sure enough, the CF misses the catch and the ball whizzes to the wall. The chat exploded with people saying "fielding is still terrible" "lol no control" "predetermined" but I guarantee if I had been on the sticks I would have caught that ball. Also people underestimate the importance of the reaction attribute (which is why balls are scooting past your corner IF) or how to properly pre-load a throw (another poorly explained system), so they just blame the game when things go wrong. This year's version still isn't perfect. There are minor issues, like the unnecessary crow hop and a few other legacy bad animations being in, but I'm turning amazing double plays, making tough catches, and matching the cpu in nearly every regard when it comes to fielding. I'm thinking when I have the time I should write a fielding guide. It is a tough system to learn, and the game does such a poor job teaching you. Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Operation Sports mobile app

Speaking only for myself, I'd love to see this TWW. If it's even half as detailed as the directional hitting breakdown I think it'd be very informative.

Then again....I'm not one that you have to convince, and I don't think the help provided in that guide will reach the people that you want it to reach.

[Syce]

i think the animations in the game are probably about the best we will see until they redo the player models. and redoing the player models and add in all animations and stuff to them is a major undertaking which in my opinion is something they are working on in the background but it will take a few years to complete or atleast get it to a working position.

[TheWarmWind]

Quote: Originally Posted by bcruise

Speaking only for myself, I'd love to see this TWW. If it's even half as detailed as the directional hitting breakdown I think it'd be very informative. Then again....I'm not one that you have to convince, and I don't think the help provided in that guide will reach the people that you want it to reach.

I wouldn't write it to convince people, just to help those seeking help.

Unfortunately I'm knee deep in Forza Horizon 4 right now, and we're only a couple of weeks away from Red Dead Redemption 2. All that on top of STILL furnishing my apartment (it's taking forever), editing my book and trying to find time to be social (oktoberfest is this weekend and I live near a place that celebrates it in a big way).

The demands on my free time are many.

[Caulfield]

Quote: Originally Posted by TheWarmWind

I wouldn't write it to convince people, just to help those seeking help. Unfortunately I'm knee deep in Forza Horizon 4 right now, and we're only a couple of weeks away from Red Dead Redemption 2. All that on top of STILL furnishing my apartment (it's taking forever), editing my book and trying to find time to be social (oktoberfest is this weekend and I live near a place that celebrates it in a big way). The demands on my free time are many.

Well then, we can wait till maybe mid-April or late May of next spring

[Vercingetirex]

Quote: Originally Posted by Syce

i think the animations in the game are probably about the best we will see until they redo the player models. and redoing the player models and add in all animations and stuff to them is a major undertaking which in my opinion is something they are working on in the background but it will take a few years to complete or atleast get it to a working position.

The only thing they are working on in the background is how to squeeze more money out of diamond dynasty.