Major League Baseball 2K9 Developer Diary: Gameplay

[BadKermit]

They're really saying everything I want to hear. I sure hope it all comes together as well as it sounds like it is.

[Cardot]

Re: Major League Baseball 2K9 Developer Diary: Gameplay

As a casual baseball fan, I have a question on "Influencing" hits. I have wondered this with other baseball games as well.....But when would you press down for a grounder?

[Radja]

Re: Major League Baseball 2K9 Developer Diary: Gameplay

I will wait and see before I buy but, this is looking great

same with me. i eventually came to really enjoy 2k8 after the patch, but will not be burned for $60 day one again. OS impressions will have a great influence on my decision this year.

[BadKermit]

Re: Major League Baseball 2K9 Developer Diary: Gameplay

As a casual baseball fan, I have a question on "Influencing" hits. I have wondered this with other baseball games as well.....But when would you press down for a grounder?

If you have a slap hitter up with no one out and a runner on second base, you might want to try to hit a ground ball to the right side of the infield to move the runner to third with one out.

[myghty]

Re: Major League Baseball 2K9 Developer Diary: Gameplay

Put it this way: One of the mods on the 2K forum brilliantly pointed out that removing the step influence feature reduces the swing stick to a glorified button hitting system. Think about it. There's really no difference:

Push the stick up when the pitch arrives = push a button when the pitch arrives.

The difference -- the thing that set swing stick hitting apart from button hitting -- is the leg kick/timing mechanism component. And now that's gone. Now the batter in 2K stands at the plate, and you simply push a particular control to activate the swing animation... which is EXACTLY the same way The Show's button hitting system operates.

I totally agree with you. They shouldn't have removed the old way of batting which gave experts more of a challenge when batting. This is one of the few games that felt really, really good when you hit a HR. Made me feel like I earned it when I timed it perfectly. Oh well, still intrigued by the game.

[baa7]

Re: Major League Baseball 2K9 Developer Diary: Gameplay

I never looked at it that way.

It is too bad Visual Concepts didn't keep it, however. It's always nice to have options.

I know I'm ragging on this but it's my time of the month, sorry. Another comparison would be the swing stick in Tiger Woods golf compared with the swing stick in Microsoft's short-lived Links Golf series (2004). In Tiger Woods, the upswing (pushing down on the stick) has no bearing on the swing outcome. So just like 2K9 apparently, you can push down, hold the stick as long as you like, and then swing when you feel like you're ready to let 'er rip.

But that's not even close to how a golf swing actually works. The mechanics of a golf swing work the way the stick is implimented in Links. First, you only swing when you're ready to hit the ball. Then you not only have to time the back swing and forward swing, you have make that transition seemless. Plus, the further back you swing (holding the stick down longer), the more power you transfer to the forward swing... just like golf.

The button hitting crowd have called last year's swing stick a gimmick, and no different than button hitting. But they were always wrong as long as the step influence component was part of the swing stick as that aspect of the mechanic is completely missing from button hitting. But now there is no difference: one you push down, the other you push up. VC turned it into a gimmick this year.

[baa7]

Re: Major League Baseball 2K9 Developer Diary: Gameplay

I totally agree with you. They shouldn't have removed the old way of batting which gave experts more of a challenge when batting. This is one of the few games that felt really, really good when you hit a HR. Made me feel like I earned it when I timed it perfectly. Oh well, still intrigued by the game.

I'm still intrigued enough to be fairly excited about trying the game... excited being a relative term here.

[Blitzburgh]

That was a very impressive read! I love everything he mentioned. I especially liked the stealing and base running controls and how you wil finally see how fast the runner is when you look over at him! I always hated not knowing if the runner was a threat or not.

[tmac55]

Re: Major League Baseball 2K9 Developer Diary: Gameplay

Really like what I am reading so far and I am pumped for this game. It has to be better than 2k8 and it seems like they did enough to tweak its nuances.

Now for some videos and a demo hopefully before release. As a 360 owner, it would be nice to have a solid game for the summer of baseball.

[mdiggitydawg]

big question for me...how soon can bigfnjoe get his sliders up after the release ? i've come to live and die by them in my franchise. I seriously hope this is a good game, was pretty down on it last week especially compared to the Other game...now I have hope...must be the whole Obama as president thing !

[DickDalewood]

Re: Major League Baseball 2K9 Developer Diary: Gameplay

Put it this way: One of the mods on the 2K forum brilliantly pointed out that removing the step influence feature reduces the swing stick to a glorified button hitting system. Think about it. There's really no difference:

Push the stick up when the pitch arrives = push a button when the pitch arrives.

The difference -- the thing that set swing stick hitting apart from button hitting -- is the leg kick/timing mechanism component. And now that's gone. Now the batter in 2K stands at the plate, and you simply push a particular control to activate the swing animation... which is EXACTLY the same way The Show's button hitting system operates.

That's exactly what I was thinking baa... Why even use the right analog stick if the pull-back doesn't matter anymore?

[Blzer]

Re: Major League Baseball 2K9 Developer Diary: Gameplay

No one knows for sure on here. But the dude answering Q's on GameSpot mentioned that he didn't notice any time of day progression. VC started over & changed alot, so they might of temporarily removed it for 09.

Also keep in mind of this screenshot:










Remember that the guy playing IS indeed doing franchise mode, so he didn't set the time of day for this game. This must have been a 7:00 start, and at the first inning already being dark... tsk tsk.

[The Living Legend]

Re: Major League Baseball 2K9 Developer Diary: Gameplay

I agree with Baa and the hitstick it is a overglorifed button setup, i can deal if its implented properely, all the fluff is good and dandy about real time crowd, but sorry to reiterate, but if the animations and glitches like things popping in and out still plague this game, or People run then immedialty stop, or lets say a slap hit to right side of the field to move a runner over can happen since lets just say field proportions are wrong, things of that nature are More important then that crap on the article.

[Blzer]

Re: Major League Baseball 2K9 Developer Diary: Gameplay

That was a very impressive read! I love everything he mentioned. I especially liked the stealing and base running controls and how you wil finally see how fast the runner is when you look over at him! I always hated not knowing if the runner was a threat or not.

I wish that would only come up if you had his Inside Edge scouting report.

[myghty]

Re: Major League Baseball 2K9 Developer Diary: Gameplay

Remember that the guy playing IS indeed doing franchise mode, so he didn't set the time of day for this game. This must have been a 7:00 start, and at the first inning already being dark... tsk tsk.

Maybe it wasn't included in the Beta copy?