@MoeBuug68_XBL said:
I’m going to call it what it is: this game has comeback logic, outcome steering, and hidden engine pressure, and it shows up in DD, Mini Seasons, and Franchise.
I am not saying this because I lost one game. I am not saying this because I want the CPU to be easy. I play on high difficulties. I have played Ranked Seasons, DD, Online Rated, Mini Seasons, Franchise, and offline CPU games for years. I know the difference between getting beat and the game deciding it is time for nonsense.
And right now, too many games feel like I am not playing baseball. I am fighting the engine.
I stress-tested this across multiple modes, multiple difficulties, and multiple slider setups. I tested Simulation. I tested GOAT. I tested Legend. I tested DD modes. I tested Franchise. I changed CPU contact, timing, foul frequency, solid hits, power, pitching control, pitching consistency, stamina, fielding, human hitting, human pitching, everything.
I even turned CPU contact, timing, and foul frequency all the way down to zero just to see what would happen.
And the CPU still fouled off pitches it had no business touching.
Pitches way off the plate still got fouled off. Low junk still got protected. Bad timing still turned into contact. Weak contact still found grass. Balls with 58 to 80 mph exit velocity still floated into gaps or barely over infielders’ heads. That is not real baseball. That is the engine protecting the at-bat.
The biggest problem is the foul-ball system. The CPU does not always feel like it is trying to beat you with baseball. It feels like the game turns on foul survival to drain your pitcher.
The loop is obvious once you see it:
CPU fouls off everything
pitch count goes up
energy drops
confidence drops
perfect input starts mattering less
pitcher misses worse
pitcher hangs something
CPU gets the hit, double, or homer
That is not smart baseball. That is the game using foul balls as a weapon against pitcher confidence and stamina.
And confidence is one of the biggest hidden problems in this game. Pitcher confidence has too much power. Once it swings one way, it starts overriding ratings, input, and common sense. CPU pitchers turn into Greg Maddux no matter who is on the mound. They throw dots, dots, and balls barely off the plate. Meanwhile my pitcher can have good energy, good confidence, and perfect input, and suddenly the ball still misses, hangs, or gets fouled off until the CPU gets what it wants.
There needs to be a Pitcher Confidence Effect slider. Period.
Because right now confidence feels like a hidden momentum system.
I have also seen what looks like predetermined outcome tendency. I am not saying every pitch is scripted. I am saying some games clearly have a strong outcome pull. I have played games into the 5th, 6th, or 7th inning while testing this. Different pitchers. Different locations. Different strategies. Different sliders. Same pattern.
The other team is going to get its moment no matter what.
You can pitch smart. You can mix speeds. You can throw chase pitches. You can hit perfect input. It does not matter. The game says no, no, no, foul, foul, weak hit, gapper, error, tie game.
Then the same thing can flip the other way. I have had games where the CPU gets nonsense early, then later the game gives me nonsense. The CPU suddenly makes errors. Outfielders take stupid routes. A center fielder jumps straight up on a routine play. Infielders miss balls they should field. I get hits I know I should not be getting. Then I hit a walk-off homer.
And no, that does not make it better.
A walk-off should feel earned. It should feel like I won. Instead it feels like the engine decided it was time for a movie ending.
That is the problem. Even when I win, I can see the strings.
This is not just DD either. People love to say “that is just Diamond Dynasty.” No. I have seen the same engine behavior in Franchise. I have seen it in Mini Seasons. I have seen it with sliders changed hard against the CPU. I have seen it with CPU hitting sliders almost buried. I have seen it when the CPU is using almost the same cards I am using.
That tells me this is deeper than one mode.
The game has hidden systems under the hood that the sliders do not fully control.
These are the systems that need to be exposed or toned down:
Pitcher Confidence Effect
Two-Strike Foul Protection
Foul Ball Pitcher Drain
Comeback / Momentum Logic
Late-Inning Outcome Pressure
Fielding Animation Override
CPU Contact Floor
Mode-Specific DD Tuning Bleeding Into Offline
Simulation should not feel like Ranked Seasons World Series pressure. Franchise should not feel like offline DD sweat mode. Mini Seasons should not feel like I am playing against the engine instead of the CPU.
Hard baseball is fine.
A good CPU is fine.
Losing is fine.
But I should not have to fight like I am playing a World Series Ranked player when I am offline against the CPU. Every hitter should not turn into prime Pete Rose with two strikes. Every CPU
The confidence and energy system is one of the biggest giveaways.
My pitchers lose confidence and energy faster than the CPU does. The CPU can foul off pitch after pitch, and every foul still helps drain my pitcher. Then a strike, a foul, or a strikeout seems to give the CPU pitcher confidence bumps, but my pitcher does not get the same kind of reward back.
It feels uneven.
The CPU pitcher can throw a strike, get a foul, get a strikeout, and the confidence bar starts getting stronger fast. Then that pitcher starts dotting corners, getting weak contact, and living just off the plate.
But when I do the same thing, it does not feel like my pitcher gets the same protection. My pitcher can have more energy, more confidence, better input, and still suddenly lose command, hang pitches, or get hit around like none of it matters.
And the relievers make it even worse.
The CPU can leave a starter or reliever in with almost no energy and half confidence, and I still can’t buy a hit. The pitcher still paints corners. Still gets foul balls. Still gets weak contact. Still survives.
But if I leave my pitcher in with the same low energy and half confidence, the CPU starts getting hits, doubles, and home runs like the engine already decided that pitcher is done.
Even when my pitcher has more energy and more confidence than the CPU pitcher, the outcome can still feel the same. The CPU still gets its foul balls. The CPU still gets its hit. The CPU still gets the rally.
That tells me the confidence and energy meters are not being applied evenly between the player and CPU.
If confidence and stamina are going to control command, PCI results, weak contact, strikeouts, foul balls, and pitcher survival, then we need sliders for them.
Pitcher Confidence Effect
Human Pitcher Confidence Gain
CPU Pitcher Confidence Gain
Human Pitcher Confidence Drain
CPU Pitcher Confidence Drain
Foul Ball Energy Drain
Foul Ball Confidence Drain
Fatigue Penalty Strength
CPU Fatigue Penalty
Human Fatigue Penalty
Because right now it feels like the CPU gets confidence armor, and the player gets confidence punishment.
The visible bars are lying by omission.
Energy and confidence do not feel equal for both sides. A tired CPU pitcher can still pitch like Greg Maddux. A tired user pitcher gets treated like batting practice. A CPU pitcher with low confidence can still survive. A user pitcher with higher confidence can still get hit around because the engine wants the other team to have its moment.
That is not baseball. That is hidden engine pressure.
That is the part that makes your argument sharper, KC. You’re not just saying “CPU fouls too much.” You’re saying:
The CPU uses fouls to drain my pitcher.
The CPU gains confidence faster.
My pitcher loses confidence faster.
CPU fatigue does not punish them the same way.
Human fatigue gets punished hard.
The outcome still happens even when my pitcher has the better meter.
That’s the real callout. Not “make CPU easier.”
Make the [censored] systems apply evenly.
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