MLB 2K12 Developer Diary #1 - Gameplay (Part 1)

[Schreck]

Maybe I'm not cynical enough, but I really thought it was a decent looking game last year. I haven't played the Show, but based on videos I've seen it is clearly a lot better looking game, but I still think 2K is fine. More important to me is if the game plays well, and by and large I really enjoyed playing it. I got fairly realistic results and was usually challenged. I didn't win every game against the cpu, which was great.

Anyway, the review seemed really encouraging to me, I am looking forward to the game and will probably buy it if it gets good reviews at all. So far the press I've seen seems positive, which is a good start because most sites seem to write this game off each year.

[Trevytrev11]

Quote: Originally Posted by Big Jim

As for zone or cursor hitting, I kind of get why people want them. But it is pretend skill that replicate hitting at all. I never had to try and aim for the ball past first grade. It has been about form and timing ever since.

I think I understand the point you are trying to make in the sense that the hitters swing location is more instinctual than anything else. See pitch away, swing away. See pitch up high, swing up high. A hitter is not going to swing in the dirt at a pitch over his head.

I get that and to a point, I understand and maybe even agree, but I'll play devils advocate because I do agree that more should be involved.

But can't the same be said for timing as well? Just as a hitters reaction tells him where to swing, it also tells him when to swing.

But....just like a pitcher tries to changes speeds to mess up a hitters timing, he also changes location to throw a hitter off as well. He cuts and sinks the ball in attempt to miss bats and more importantly miss barrels.

Just as hitters swing early and late, they also swing over and under a pitch. They get jammed and they cue balls of the end of the bat. Some times a guy swings and misses on a curve because he is way too far out front and sometimes he just swings over it.

So why let the system automatically control one and not the other?

IMO, it all comes down to how much of the output should be determined by the ratings vs. how much should be determined by the user input. In a perfect world, the games difficulty level would adapt to the users ability and allow the user to control as much of the swing as he wanted and still produce realistic results. That is my perfect world. I play video games because I want to control everything, but at the same time, I still want realistic outcomes. I don't want the game to intentionally try and normalize what I've accomplished in order to get back to normal, but instead it should happen naturally.

And why are there different trains of through between pitching and hitting.

Hitting for the most part is timing only where the games calculations determine the rest.

Pitching on the other hand, is almost entirely up to the user. The location, the speed / effort and effectiveness are all determined by the users input within whatever range the players ratings allow.

If it were comparable to the hitting system, the user would simply select the pitch type and location, press a button and let the players ratings determine the outcome.

As much as I liked the zone (cursor) system that 2K offered a few years ago, it was a bit more than what a hitter goes through to put the bat on the ball, but, IMO, the results were worth it as they were based on the contact you made not that the game decided you should make.