Hitting Engine Suggestions
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First, thanks to SDS for incorporating some past suggestions to hitting around the PCI!
My post below is my humble take at some changes to the hitting engine that I think might make the game more rewarding.
MUCH of this is taken from the hitting experience from the old World Series Baseball games on Genesis back in the day. I feel their PCI experience allowed for a ton of control with a rewarding learning curve.
Concept Overview:
Move hitting in game from effectively making it a, “home run or bust,” model that includes substantial RNG to a more situational, strategic hitting engine where good inputs are both more difficult, but rewarding.
Major Changes:
Change current PCI logic:
Currently the PCI represents, “where you are looking,” which is ambiguous - particularly in how RNG in incorporated into this. I would suggest making the PCI the actual bat. That is, if the ball hits the bat, then the ball is manipulated. If the bat (the PCI) doesn’t hit the ball…then the ball is not manipulated.
Make the PCI more shaped like a bat:
Again, this is taken from the old World Series Baseball games. I tried to find a video from those games that show this, however, most vids show sim games or users who don’t use the old PCI function. The best example I have is from a game KevinGohd played. Check the vid 5 minutes in here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7u9L7WFGdM). By elongating the PCI, you would create a mor realistic representation of the physical area that a bat can interact with the ball.
Allow players to choose Contact, Normal or Power Swing BEFORE each pitch, and the represent this choice via the size of the bat:
This would help compliment the new “the PCI is the bat” engine, by allowing the user to choose how large or small their bat is (based on player attributes) and then weigh swing strength with game situation. For example, two runners on, and Tony Gwynn at the plate? Bring up Contact Swing which would be HUGE of course, and give him a great chance at putting the ball in play.
Add a “sweet spot” to the bat PCI to give yourself the best chance at Perfect/Perfects:
PCI size would be a function of swing type and attributes, but square up a ball with good timing and BANG. Player attributes and type would come into play as well. Choose Contact or Normal swing with Ichiro and that PCI and Sweet Spot should be huge. His sweet spot for power swing should be smaller though. Make sense?
Adjust Quirks and player attributes so that they only affect PRE-PITCH outcomes, which in turn would affect the size of the bat PCI…not adjust post pitch RNG:
This would help eliminate a lot of the frustration in the game I think by ensuring that user input rules in outcomes. For example, someone with a high clutch quirk would see their PCI size increase in late inning/runners on base situations. However, the value of this boost again, would just be pre pitch. Another example could be pitchers with good HR against attributes. Perhaps this value would reduce the size of hitter Power Swing PCIs… but again…all pre pitch. Not computer generated outcomes.
Sorry for the long post but I think these changes could make the game more rewarding. It would introduce a more varied game (not just HR fests), would put in play many more cards that now don’t have power, would add strategy, and create a nice learning curve.
Just my take!
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While I agree with most of what you say, they are looking at things from a business perspective.
Fact: The only way to reduce RNG practically is to make hitting substantially harder. The top players are hitting over .400. You adressed this in your post to make the PCI shaped like a bat.
The problem is, hitting is already hard for the casual player, which like it or not makes up 95% at minimum of the playerbase and where the extreme majority of this games revenue come from. You make hitting even harder, this game dies. Plain and simple -
Make pitching harder
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Swing timing needs to measure up correctly.
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A admin locked this topic on
