Digital Gaming Arena Forum

Apparently Ronnie at 2ksports promised some info today from his twitter.

Also 2ksports is bringing back the million dollar competition

http://espn.go.com/espn/thelife/videogames/blog/_/name/thegamer/id/5994789/mlb-2k11s-million-dollar-competition (http://espn.go.com/espn/thelife/videogames/blog/_/name/thegamer/id/5994789/mlb-2k11s-million-dollar-competition)

First Trailer:

Trailer for MLB 2K11 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AH-6tTGiuYQ#ws)

I honestly see nothing new there.

MLB 2K11 Feature List

2K Sports has been especially quiet on the MLB 2K11 front (outside of the $1 million contest announcement) and after the comments made regarding the MLB license that has increased concern that the series isn’t going to make a strong push this year or next. With under seven weeks to go until release of the game the first details are finally here in the way of an initial features list which many will likely find uninspiring.

The big addition appears to be the “Dynamic Player Ratings” which will have real-time influence through all the game modes. The improved fielding and new player models were noted in the reveal trailer. Continue on for a look at the announced features and leave your thoughts in the comments!

Dynamic Player Ratings
Watch your favorite MLB pitcher strike out the side in a real game, then watch his stats improve in your game. Dynamic Player Ratings update in real-time through ALL game modes, including MLB Today, Franchise and My Player.

Revamped Fielding System
Completely revamped fielding system, featuring improved AI, throwing meters and landing indicators to give you more control to run down a fly ball or make the play at the plate.

My Player Mode
Guide your player through the Minor Leagues and into the history books with an improved My Player mode.

MLB Today
Stay up-to-date on the latest happenings in Major League Baseball, with timely play-by-play commentary and stat overlays pulled from real life news and box scores.

Total Control Pitching and Hitting
The battle at the plate comes to life in the palms of your hands. Paint the corners with pinpoint accuracy on the mound, and then fight off nasty sliders until you get the pitch you’re looking for at the plate.

New Player Models
Amazing attention to detail captures every intricacy of the game. Enjoy completely rebuilt player models for Major League authenticity like never before.

Source: PastaPadre.com (http://www.pastapadre.com/2011/01/19/mlb-2k11-features-list)

I suspect they are phoning this one in.

MLB 2K10 was not that bad.  Honestly if they can clean up the franchise issues and make online playable (something neither baseball game has done) I will be content.  At this point in the current gen there really is not a lot that you can add to a game and not have it be considered fluff.  I mean the big thing for this years MLB The Show is analog pitching and hitting.  Madden had that worthless ask madden 2.0 playcalling system as it's big feature.  The only game that is adding a lot of new features is Tiger Woods and that series is about 5 years behind where it should be and all of the features so far seem pretty legit.

NHL 11 is pretty much the same game as last year with real physics and new teams. Most of the time was spent on gameplay tweaks. I hate calling the Ultimate Hockey team something new since Fifa lead the way with it a year ago.  NCAA 11 improved on what it already had.  No new features, just enhancing the ones they had and tossed in more ESPN presentation and graphical tweaks.

My two favorite games of this year NCAA and NHL 11.  I will leave it at that.

I won't go so far as to say that 2k10 took a step backward for every gain it made in 2k9, but the lack of pop ups to the infield and foul territory strongly downgraded the experience for me.  I liked the improved fielding animations and the ability to play AA ball (only AAA in 2k9), found the expanded controls at batting allowed me to exploit a pitcher and just keep fouling off pitches if I desired.  I could never find the sweet spot and had to choose between being able to hit for realistic average and power AND not be able to exploit the foul off mechanism.

Both versions have franchise issues.  I've had to turn off trading in my dynasty because I just saw some bizarre stuff and didn't want it to take a chance of ruining a franchise that I hoped to run for many seasons.  Free agency is so lacking that I have to pretend this is some alternate baseball universe that has some kind of throw back in time to where free agency didn't exist.  I've found that any team can acquire any big name free agent name that might come up because the budget system is so liberal that every team has loads of money to work with.  So dynasty becomes this:  1.  Grab any free agent over 80 overall rating you see, even if you don't need him, because you are going to see maybe 2 or 3 each season.  2.  Really get involved in your farm system because developing the dynasty is going to be about finding minor leaguers that are able to rise up into the 70's and beyond.

Both games are borderline unplayable online and quickly grow tiresome.

2k10's "My Player" was a novelty that wore off fast although I have found a new implementation for it, but we'll see if that lasts.

2k10's presentation went backwards with the annoying flash cut between every pitch.  I'm one of the few that enjoys watching everything that goes on between the pitches.  Do we need a hurry up option?  Yes, but why make the only choices super-hurry-up and medium-hurry-up.  And John Kruk is so annoying to listen to that I feel like stuffing cotton in my ears.  I can't tell you how many times I went into Options---->Presentation Settings to look for the slider to silence just Kruk, praying that it was there somewhere.  Give me philandering Steve Phillips any day of the week.

Look at your own points though.  Clean up franchise and make online playable.  Neither addressed in that blurb.  Everything mentioned in there is stuff already in the game.  And now we're supposed to get excited by "amazing player models."

I just don't have much hope, but I'll check it out just in case.

MLB 2k10 had its share of problems but I found the game to be a lot of fun. I'd be shocked if 2K didn't fix the lack of pop ups and hopefully they remembered to add errors back to the game this year. I'm guessing/hoping that the "revamped fielding system" will correct the lack of errors though. Like Ted, I hope they give you the option to turn off the hurry-up option completely. I'm not holding my breath for improved online play, but I'll be happy if they can at least improve the single-player game. I really enjoyed 2K10 and I'm looking forward to 2K11. My biggest concern is that 2K will make changes to things that worked fine in previous versions.

TeamXbox.com (http://previews.teamxbox.com/xbox-360/2574/MLB-2K11/p1/) has posted their preview:

When two different series from different companies cover the same sport, a debate will rage on until one of the games is ultimately buried (or loses its license). For the world of America's favorite pastime, that debate is between 2K Sports' MLB 2K series and Sony's MLB The Show. For Xbox owners the debate grows less heated as our go-to choice is the 2K series, but that doesn't mean we're going to like it without question. While MLB 2K10 showed promise from a fledgling series, it was far from perfect and needed a lot more work before it could step into the spotlight as the go-to baseball game. After some hands-on time with its follow-up MLB 2K11, I can definitely tell you that 2K Sports are taking the sport and culture seriously and are aiming to win over both the baseball purists and fair-weather sporting fans for the future.

The first real thing everyone needs to know about 2K Sports is that they listen to their community. They saw the lukewarm reviews that trickled out on MLB 2K10 and realized that they had their work cut out for them to take it to a new level. To the untrained eye, a first glance at MLB 2K11  might look strikingly similar to 2K10, but the subtle differences that have changed add up to an extremely positive whole.

The biggest feature for the game this year is the total inclusion of MLB Today. This real-world stat counter keeps track of the current baseball season and adjusts every single aspect of the game to the actual counterparts. Thus injuries, rosters, hot and cold streaks, and general effort on the real diamond are reflected in the game so that you feel more connected to the sport than ever. These stats are tracked for every player and accumulated as a 30-day average and then put into the game so that statistics are constantly dynamically updated. Much like NBA 2K11, the menus are plastered with news and updates from the real league and you'll be hard pressed not to be informed of current standings.

Trying to make the experience feel less random and less like a game, the development team has tweaked the game's fielding to be more realistic overall. First of all, when you hit the ball into the outfield, the camera hangs back as though you're watching the ball fly from the batter's perspective. This gives less of a tell to the outfielders where it's going to land, much like in the real world. And whereas 2K10 had a giant black shadow exactly where the ball is going to drop, 2K11 gives you the general circle of drop for just a second, then whittles itself down to a single target where you're going to have to react quickly to catch the ball.

On the note of detail, some additions have been implemented to bring out the high drama of the game. As a tense no-hitter progresses through the innings, pitchers are going to show their tension or frustration, base coaches are going to be shown coaching at the bases. Pitchers, like the Giants' Tim Lincecum, show their traditional stance on the mound. Using hours of captured footage of famous players doing their thing, 2K Sports aims for an air of authenticity when you see a famed batter stepping out of the box to dust off a shoe, or walking off the field when struck-out.

For the purists, 2K noted that for home games, the default pitcher camera is set to the exact camera of a city's local sports station. Thus for a fan playing with their home team, they're going to notice the feel of watching the experience on television, and definitely realize once they've hit the road for away games.

The ball physics have been rewritten so that its reactions to dirt, grass and brick are all new. The the ball can fade in different directions and it isn't always the difference of a single pixel for a strike or a ball. Runners caught between bases can hold the two triggers rather than tap a single direction so that they can make the call when to run at the right moment. And overall errors don't happen randomly. They claimed you won't see the same fielding mistakes present in MLB 2K9. Errors are situation-dependent in that yes, a shortstop might just fumble a hard grounder, but a pop-fly won't be missed under the right conditions.

Phillies pitcher Roy Halladay provided advice and suggestions for a lot of the development process. He correct the dev team when they had something wrong and explained how certain situations in the game work out from his point of view. This expert testimony from the big leagues definitely pays off in the game as it all further exemplifies the attention to detail found in this experience.

2K Sports is once again offering up $1,000,000 to anyone who can pitch a perfect game this year. Last year that triumph was accomplished within hours of the game releasing. But this time around the contest is following slightly augmented rules. Players will have thirty days to practice their throws from the time the game releases to the time of the season opener. Then, players will be using a team with stats dictated by MLB Today so the perfect game will be dependent on real world performance compounded by the individual player's skill.

At the time of the current preview, 2K Sports weren't talking about the Franchise mode or any multiplayer elements, but the factors will be revealed in the coming weeks between now and release time. Now MLB 2K11 isn't going to be the perfect jump for everyone, but the work on the details and the feel of America's favorite game are definitely pushing the series in a direction that is going to pay off.

I'm not loving the news about the fly ball camera.

2k series is 10 years old and he called it a "fledgling series."

I played a game of MLB 2K10 over the weekend and had forgotten just how good the commentary is in that game. After playing mostly EA Sports games lately, you can really see how much better 2K's commentary is. The game itself is still quite enjoyable and I just hope they don't ruin any of the good things in 2K11.

I just pre-ordered MLB 2K11 for $45.99 from Amazon.com. They dropped the price to $55.99 and were offering a $10 credit on a future purchase, but the $10 came right off the price of my order. I wonder if I'll get the $10 credit too after the game ships ;)

I need to test that too. Off to pre order all my March games.

And off to find somewhere else to buy my games.  They have pretty much eliminated the 99 cent release date delivery (only 3 pre ordershad it available and they were all $49.99 games).  Then after using one day shipping they showed it would arrive the 10th, two days after being in stores. I wish they would go back to the $5.99 and guarantee release date delivery and have it for most every game.


I did not show that extra $10 off. I did show you got $10 off the next purchase.  Maybe you had $10 credit sitting out there from the last game you purchased.

'MLB 2K11' goes deep with My Player, Franchise improvements

http://espn.go.com/espn/thelife/videogames/blog/_/name/thegamer/id/6113083/mlb-2k11-goes-deep-my-player-franchise-improvements?readmore=fullstory (http://espn.go.com/espn/thelife/videogames/blog/_/name/thegamer/id/6113083/mlb-2k11-goes-deep-my-player-franchise-improvements?readmore=fullstory)

Destructoid has posted a preview of MLB 2k11 (http://www.destructoid.com/preview-mlb-2k11-franchise-my-player-more--194207.phtml)

The hitting camera hearkens back to the zoomed-out view from two years ago -- Bailey told me that “if people liked the 2K9 camera more than 2K10’s, they’ll love 2K11’s.”

I like the sound of that  t::u

That's good to hear.

Gameplay footage with a sneak peek at Top Spin 4 at the end

http://www.operationsports.com/news/469422/mlb-2k11-video-first-gameplay-shaky-cam/ (http://www.operationsports.com/news/469422/mlb-2k11-video-first-gameplay-shaky-cam/)

Looks like the crappy semi-hurry up is still in there, but the fielding camera looks better.

I thought I saw a part where it showed the batter's entire routine before a pitch was thrown. I'll have to double-check and see if I can catch the time that it happens.

I thought that too, but I think it is an at bat before the first pitch is thrown.  They show the whole thing when it's like that in 2k10 too.

Finally some gameplay videos (looks like Hurry-up baseball can be disabled):

MLB 2K11 Gameplay Video: Phillies @ Rockies (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBU061luAIs#ws)

Not loving the camera while the ball is in play. Hopefully it's adjustable.

Sigh.  I don't know what to think at this point.

Thumbs up about the choice to not hurry up.  Thumbs up that Steve Phillips is still on the analysis, but I'm wondering if he has recorded anything new for this version since the debacles  a year or so ago.

Thumbs down on Kruk.  Big thumbs down on no congratulations by teammates at the plate after the homerun.  Still the same boring every runner walks back to the dugout after they cross the plate.  No emotion.  Bleh.

Don't like that camera, but I can live with it if it is only for batting.  If they force that camera during fielding then I'm probably out, at least until it is 10 bucks on steam.

Has there been any "official" word injuries, errors, and high pop ups to the infield and foul territory?  Any videos to confirm these have been brought back in?  If not it's a huge thumbs down.

The camera is supposedly just for batting. If that's the case, then they should offer the option to change it while batting. What about two-player games on the same console?

Injuries, errors and pop ups are in. I'll try to find the link where it was mentioned.

"MLB  2K11 features new hit types based on your timing.  Poorly timing a defensive or a contact swing can result in infield choppers.  While they  usually result in a ground out, players with top end speed (Ichiro,  Carl Crawford, Andrew McCutchen to name a few) can actually record  infield singles this year when hitting choppers to third or deep short.   While they are a result of a poorly timed swing, choppers can still  result in an infield single.  Add this to the fact that the third  baseman risks an error when he’s forced to quickly charge, bare-hand and throw on these choppers,  and now we have baseball.  Poorly timing a contact swing can also result in pop-ups behind the plate and near the dugouts, balls playable for the catcher.  There is also the  chance to hit an infield fly ball when poorly timing a power swing.   The new hit types added to MLB 2K11 mean your catchers first baseman,  and third baseman will have to cover much more ground in foul  territory.  These subtle additions provide a much more realistic gameplay experience at the plate.  In addition to new hit  types, we also re-worked our ball physics to behave according to the  surface with which  the ball is interacting.  The ball will have  different physics depending on whether the surface is grass, turf, dirt  or brick.  Part of the ball physics improvements also includes hits that  slice or fade.  Hitting a ball that slices down the first base line,  barely foul, gives you that “oh so close” feeling when combined with the  new hitting cameras from the plate perspective."

MLB 2K11 Developer Diary #3 - Pitching and Hitting (http://www.operationsports.com/features/1227/mlb-2k11-developer-diary-3-pitching-and-hitting/)

   
A “Pitcher Control” slider is one of several new difficulty sliders that we added to the game this year. Through the Pitcher Control slider you can change the concept of control to be more or less challenging. This new slider will allow you to customize the pitching experience to your liking. This is a sensitive slider that will make it noticeably easier or harder to throw strikes. And don’t worry,we are not disabling achievements this year if you change the sliders. It’s your game and it should be played however you want to play it.

I am glad to hear that about the achievements.  I hope that goes for the baseball cards as well.  It might be silly, but I thought it was fun to collect the cards as I went along during the season.  It sucked that the cards were disabled if you adjusted sliders, even if you made the sliders harder :o

Errors are in (plus some other videos):

MLB 2K11 Fielding Comparison - Betancourt vs. Rollins (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J29tziicUEg#ws)

MLB 2K11 Fielding Comparison - Ichiro vs. Garrett Jones (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpaKUAOEoBE#ws)

MLB 2K11 Fielding Comparison - Sandoval vs. Longoria (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhvnbLnjMks#ws)

MLB 2K11 Developer Diary #4 - Revamped Fielding System

Hi everyone,My name is Jonathan Rivera and I am a Gameplay Designer for Major League Baseball 2K11. You may remember my Developer Insight on Fielding last year. I’m going to go over all of the changes that we have made this year to differentiate players and add more of a fun factor to fielding.

We were all very happy with the improvements that MLB 2K10 made in hitting and pitching, but you may have noticed how much we’ve emphasized the revamped fielding system in the lead-up to MLB 2K11.

I’m an avid gamer and the most important part of any sports game is player differentiation. I expect a 75 rated player to feel different than an 85 and so on.  This is always difficult to accomplish because, traditionally in sports games, there are so many ratings and trying to make each attribute affect a player’s performance can be very challenging. In MLB 2K11, our fielders are differentiated by three skills:
1)      Range â€" broken down to range and anticipation
2)      Glove
3)      Arm â€" broken down to strength and accuracy

By simplifying things, it allows us to introduce new elements of gameplay and, more importantly, differentiate the players.  With that said, let’s get right to it and introduce the new features.

New Features
When we began working on MLB 2K11, we knew exactly what we wanted to improve for fielding.  We wanted to make it more challenging by breaking down the three basic skills of fielding and adding decision making and player differentiation to each one.

1 - Finding and getting to the ball
Do you ever wonder why fielders like Carlos Gonzalez and Ichiro are always leisurely jogging under balls, while others are diving to make the same catches?  This is because getting a great jump, determining where the ball is going to land and then getting to that spot takes a lot more than just speed.  The players that have mastered this skill seldom need to run at their full speed because they can just casually get to the spot.

In MLB 2K11, we display this factor with our new Dynamic Landing Indicator.  After the ball is hit, a white circle will appear in the general area of where the ball is going to land. The better your fielder is, the smaller that circle will appear, giving a more exact target for the user to run to.  After you move the fielder to that area, a smaller yellow circle will appear where the ball will land. Again, the better your fielder’s ratings, the sooner the smaller yellow circle will appear, making it easier for your player to make the catch.  In the video below, you will see the exact same hit fielded by two different players with very different ratings.  The first part of the video shows Ichiro, who has a 92 range rating, casually jogging under the ball to make the catch.  The second part of the video shows Garrett Jones (51 range rating) struggle to get to and find the landing spot.  Even though the play is made in both instances, you can see how much our ratings are actually affecting this situation.

WATCH VIDEO HERE (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpaKUAOEoBE)

Once you have played with this new feature, you will be able to tell how much of a difference it makes.  As I’m writing this, we are in the middle of our in-house developer tournament.  One of my co-workers was talking to me about how this new gameplay affected his approach to a late inning situation.   In the tournament, he is playing as the Giants (of course, now everybody wants the Giants).  He needed a pinch hitter late in the game to bat for the pitcher.  The best bat he had left was Aaron Rowand. However. in his mind, he had already planned to use Aaron Rowand later in the game as a defensive substitute for Pat Burrell and didn’t want to take Burrell’s bat out of the lineup this early.  Taking this into account, he was forced to look to his next option and used Travis Ishikawa instead of Rowand.  In the at bat, Ishikawa ended up getting a hit and he was able to use Rowand later in the game as a defensive substitute.  Now, there are many different ways to play this situation, but the fact that this was such a big factor in his mind is a testament to what we were trying to accomplish defensively.

2 â€" Making the Catch
Getting to the ball is only part of the challenge. This year, the fielder’s glove rating will make a big difference in how smoothly your fielder plays the ball.  The first, and most obvious, change from MLB 2K10 to MLB 2K11 is that we have added errors and bobbles to the fielding.  The fun part of making this addition was differentiating between a bobble and an error. In real life, there is an average of just over one error per game, but there are a lot of mishandles and bobbles that the fielder recovers from to make the play.  Even something as simple as stopping a hard hit ball, keeping it in front of you and then throwing the base runner out would never happen in any of our previous versions of the game.  In the past, if you got your fielder to the ball, he’d make the play 100% of the time, guaranteed.  Not this year! This year, the glove rating will make these plays less automatic. This leads to more infield singles, players rushing to get the throw off, etc… the same kinds of things that happen in real life. 

In the video below, you will see a hard hit ball to Yuniesky Betancourt (51 glove rating) and the same exact hard hit ball to Jimmy Rollins (92 glove rating).  You can see that Betancourt bobbles the ball and fails to throw out the runner at first.  In the second part of the video, you see Jimmy Rollins make the same play much easier.

WATCH VIDEO HERE (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J29tziicUEg)

In addition to making the glove rating drive the probability of errors and bobbles, our fielders will have certain animations locked by rating which means that, not only will great fielders make nicer/smoother looking plays, but they’ll also have a wider array of animations to choose from.

3 â€" Decision making/throwing the ball
When you are fielding the ball, you also need to be thinking about where and how you are going to throw the ball.  Do you need to rush it?  Is it going to be an easy play?  Am I moving away from my target or am I already squared up and in a good position to throw?  How accurate is my player’s arm? Do I need to use the cutoff man? All these thoughts and more race through your head while you position your player to field the ball, and all of these elements need to be considered before you start your throw.

The first thing that users will notice is our new throw meter.  Let me break down the three parts of the new meter:

Light green (early part of the meter) â€" If the user stops the meter in this area, it means that the fielder will attempt a safe throw. The throw will have less velocity but it will always be accurate.  This is intended to be used for routine plays.

Dark green (the “sweet spot” of the meter) - Like in MLB 2K10, there is a dark green “sweet spot” that indicates the perfect throw.  This is the hardest possible throw that the player can make while being 100% accurate.

Red area â€" This indicates that the fielder will make a bad throw.  Now, a bad throw can simply pull your teammate off the bag, one-hop it so the ball is bobbled, or, sail the ball over the target’s head.  There is also a chance that, if the fielder receiving the throw has a very high glove rating, the bad throw will be saved by a scoop out of the dirt.

Again, one thing that we wanted to make sure that we addressed was not only having three areas of the meter but, also having a clear distinction in players’ fielding abilities.

In the video below, you will see two examples of how the meter looks in-game with two very different players.  In the first example, you’ll see Pablo Sandoval, who has a strong arm (85 rating) but shaky accuracy (64 rating).  As he rushes to throw out the base runner at first, he sails it over the first baseman’s head.  In the second part of the video, you’ll see Evan Longoria, who has both a strong (95) and accurate (97) arm, make the play with ease.  Notice the difference between the two players in the video.

WATCH VIDEO HERE (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhvnbLnjMks)

The other part of throwing, that we addressed based on your feedback from previous MLB 2K editions of the game, is that players threw too hard and that there wasn’t as much player differentiation as in real life when it comes to arm strength.   We devoted a lot of attention towards making sure there is significant variation between the hardest and softest throwers so that, once again, the user is able to tell the difference when they see the fielder throw in-game.

Another throwing improvement that you’ll find in MLB 2K11 is that throws sometimes are one or two hopped to their target.   It always bothered me that fielders were able to backhand a ball from deep short, turn around and throw to first base on a rope while fading away into left field.  This year, you’ll see those throws one or two hopped to first base and, sometimes, lead to an infield single.  Just like in real life, it’s sometimes better to take your time, set your feet, and make a stronger throw.

This is where decision making comes into play.  When fielding in MLB 2K11, you will find yourself constantly having to make decisions like: “Do I want to risk going for the ‘sweet spot’ on this routine throw and risk putting it into the red, or just make a safe but slower throw?” You will find yourself throwing to the cutoff man a lot more with guys like Jason Bay, and throwing straight to the bag with players like Jayson Werth.  We’ve made it necessary for users to have to think about how they are going to play each defensive situation rather than just moving the player to the ball automatically.

Tags
When we sat down and played MLB 2K10 and looked for areas that needed improvement, we all agreed that the tagging system needed an upgrade. We set out to make tagging more realistic.  We created all new tagging animations to support the new tagging system, and what we accomplished was a spectacular tagging system that delivers realistic results.  Even when I play our game, I’m constantly surprised by how quickly the fielders get their tags down and how much better the new tag animations look and feel compared to previous years.

Animations
We are always looking to add new animations to create a more authentic looking game.   They could be signature animations specific to each player, or realistic improvements to dugout behavior.  This year, we added a lot of new animations that stand out in-game and refresh the look of our game significantly.

I’ll go over the key areas where we added new animations and break down what you can expect to see:

Tags â€" As I mentioned previously, we have many new tag animations to improve that system.  Here’s a quick example of the new types of tags that you will experience when playing:

Quicker tags â€" fielders have more of a sense of urgency on their tag attempts

Offline tags â€" these occur when a fielder is not in the direct path of the base runner and needs to come back to the basepath to attempt a tag. If a catcher makes a bad throw on a steal, our fielders can recover and try to apply a tag from whatever position the ball was caught in.

Different tag heights â€" we have added many new tags from different heights and angles.

Third Out only catches â€" In order to improve the casual look of our player models, we need to make the players aware of the context of their animations.  The best example of this is our third out only animations that will trigger when a fielder catches an out to end the inning.

Credit/Excitement â€" Not only did we want to make the fielders aware of the situation that they are in when it comes to outs, we wanted to make them aware of what just happened.  This means that the first baseman will pump his fist after a big defensive play, or the pitcher shows emotion after getting out of a tough jam.   It also means that the pitchers credit their fielders when an amazing play is made.  These kinds of little touches add a lot to the overall experience and presentation when playing the game.

First Baseman Stretches/Bobbles â€" It always bugged us that our first baseman stretches weren’t as extended as they are in real life on a close play. We captured quite a few new stretch animations as well as casual first baseman catches to be used on routine plays.  In addition to that, there are new animations that include bobbles and misses if the infielder makes a bad throw to first.  These animations look very cool and give our fielders a refreshing new look.

Restricting animations by ratings and weight â€" We wanted to continue to add to our realism and get rid of as many “that player wouldn’t do that in real life” moments as we could.  We did a couple of very interesting things to limit that in the field this year.  The first thing we did is limit animations to different ratings, so certain animations won’t trigger unless your glove rating is greater than 90, etc.  We also limited animations by height and weight so that, even if a player has a good glove or arm rating, you won’t see bigger players make amazingly athletic plays.

No more “football catches” â€" Playing MLB 2K10, we cringed every time we saw a shortstop run backwards and make what we called “football catches”.   We knew that we wanted to address that issue by adding new animations.  We added animation coverage that has the fielder turn around while the ball is in midair in order to catch it.  These animations look very smooth and make our game look more authentic.

Sliding catches â€" We have a good database of diving catches already, but we didn’t have many catches where the outfielders are sliding in to catch the ball.  You see this frequently in real baseball when an outfielder is charging a ball and, instead of diving head first, they slide feet first.  We added quite a few animations to add variety and refresh our diving catches.

Barehand queue ups â€" Last year, we introduced the ability to preload a throw and the fielders could trigger these smooth catch-and-throw animations.  This year, we took that a step further by adding the same kind of plays from barehand gathers.  That means that if a ball is hit into the gap and the ball stops at the foot of the outfield wall, if you queue up a throw, your outfielder should be able to just pick up the ball and fire it into the infield in one smooth animation.  These animations are my personal favorite when they appear.

Catcher specific animation set â€" In previous versions of our game, the catcher shared all of the same movement animations as the rest of the fielders that were the catcher’s size.  However, catchers always move differently because they carry a lot of gear.  This meant that getting our catchers to look more like catchers would require us to capture all of the animations with the catcher in his gear.  After we captured all of the animations and put them in-game, we would clearly see a difference in how our catchers move and catch the ball.  We hope that you guys will be able to appreciate this change as well.

Sliders
As my colleague Sean Bailey pointed out in the Pitching/Hitting Developer Insight (http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=10150100792923194), changing the sliders will not prevent you from earning achievements in MLB 2K11.  We didn’t want to discourage users from getting the experience that they are comfortable with.  It seems like a lot of you are very happy with this specific change from reading the feedback. In addition, we wanted to give users even more options to customize their gameplay experience.  I’ll quickly break down all of the new sliders that we added for fielding specifically.

Throw Accuracy â€" Modifies the difficulty of the throw meter when fielding.

Gather error frequency â€" Increases the slider to see more gather errors and decrease to see less gather errors.

Throwing error frequency â€" Modifies the frequency of throwing errors by the CPU or when putting the meter into the red.

Outfield & Infield Throw Speed modifier â€" Tunes the throw speed of the outfielders and infielders separately.

Outfield & Infield Run Speed modifier â€" Adjusts the running speed of the outfielders and infielders separately.

Baserunner speed â€" Tunes the running speed of the baserunners.

Catcher Arm Strength and Accuracy â€" Tunes how hard and accurate the catchers will throw on steal attempts.
All sliders can be adjusted separately for the user and CPU.

* * *

When you take into account all of the new animations, tagging system, and specific focus to player differentiation, the fielding in MLB 2K11 has changed the approach that many of us take while in the field; whether it’s play-to-play decisions or finding the best defensive lineup.  MLB 2K11 is the only baseball game that I’ve played where I feel that I make decisions similar to real MLB managers, choosing between an inferior fielder with a great bat and a great fielder with an inferior bat.

We hope that after reading this, you are excited to try all of these new features and play MLB 2K11 on March 8. Otherwise, hear about the Fielding Improvements from Floria Marlins outfielder Mike Stanton. WATCH THAT VIDEO HERE! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5yfdTp5AZY)

- Jonathan Rivera
Gameplay Designer

Great diary, but I wish they would quit with rewriting some history.  They said that in previous iterations fielders would not bobble balls, recover, and make the throw, but this definitely was in 2k9 because I always dug when it happened.

The demo is due out this Tuesday (March 1st).

I downloaded the demo and played a quick 3-inning game before work. Here are my quick thoughts:

   
• Pitching is harder this year and that's a good thing.
• I don't hate the batting camera but I also didn't hit any balls to the outfield.
• I like the fielding camera and fielding definitely felt less automatic. The speed of the throws has been toned down too. Last year, every infield throw was a rocket.
• I did notice some stuttering after the ball was put in play. I hope this is fixed in the final version because it was a little distracting.
• There are no sliders, difficulty levels or camera options available in the demo.

I'm anxious to play it some more tonight.

I like the demo.  I wish you could change the batting and pitching cameras in the demo.  My first contact with a pitch was a towering pop up foul of third base.  I also hit a towering foul ball behind the catcher.  I also hit one off the wall in the power alley.  I wish they let you use bad pitchers to see what they are promoting about control being harder with lesser players.  The slower pace of the game is welcomed back.

I'm not loving the battering camera or perspective when the ball is hit into play. I'm also seeing big-time stuttering on pop-ups. I'm throwing 2K10 back in to see how it compares.

I didn't notice any stuttering on my pop ups.  I have mixed feelings on the ball in play batting camera angle.  My only real problem with it is it is hard to tell on fly balls that are getting run down if they will fall.  I could have scored a man from first on a double, but didn't send him until I saw the ball drop behind the outfielders so he could only make third.  There isn't a spot on the ground to indicate fall and you can't see the ball in flight so no way to tell if it is a long drive or going to be run down.

Here's the strange thing, I played another game and had almost no stuttering at all.

I agree about the ball in play batting camera. I don't think there's an option to disable it though.

Release day patch (http://twitter.com/#%21/Ronnie2K/status/43462439219625985) announced for MLB 2K11.

Quote from: Jason on March 04, 2011 @ 01:30:30 PM
Release day patch (http://twitter.com/#%21/Ronnie2K/status/43462439219625985) announced for MLB 2K11.

Page doesn't exist?

Quote from: Ted on March 04, 2011 @ 06:05:39 PM

Quote from: Jason on March 04, 2011 @ 01:30:30 PM
Release day patch (http://twitter.com/#%21/Ronnie2K/status/43462439219625985) announced for MLB 2K11.

Page doesn't exist?

Works for me. Maybe you have to be subscribed to Ronnie on Twitter. Here's all it says:

There will be a day one patch for #MLB2K11 (http://twitter.com/#%21/search?q=%23MLB2K11) (as like most our games) with some minor tweaks, already have notes... will post launch day.

The demo has grown on me. I've gotten used to the throwing meter and love turning double plays. I'm looking forward to the full game so that I can adjust cameras and sliders. I'm also not hating the batting camera...again.

Improvements Walkthrough Part I - MLB 2K11 (http://www.gametrailers.com/video/improvements-walkthrough-mlb-2k11/711335)

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/im...lb-2k11/711337 (http://www.gametrailers.com/video/im...lb-2k11/711337)

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/im...lb-2k11/711339 (http://www.gametrailers.com/video/im...lb-2k11/711339)

Quote from: Jason on March 04, 2011 @ 06:22:37 PM

Quote from: Ted on March 04, 2011 @ 06:05:39 PM

Quote from: Jason on March 04, 2011 @ 01:30:30 PM
Release day patch (http://twitter.com/#%21/Ronnie2K/status/43462439219625985) announced for MLB 2K11.

Page doesn't exist?

Works for me. Maybe you have to be subscribed to Ronnie on Twitter. Here's all it says:

There will be a day one patch for #MLB2K11 (http://twitter.com/#%21/search?q=%23MLB2K11) (as like most our games) with some minor tweaks, already have notes... will post launch day.

Weird.  When I click on it the # sign in the address goes away.  I add it back in manually and I can see the twitter.  Maybe a firefox thing?

Anyone else picking up MLB tomorrow? I'm back to being excited about the game again and I'm very tempted to take off from work tomorrow.

I'll be waiting for the release on Steam.

Should have mine in from Amazon tomorrow.  I love the new hitting camera as the ball is hit.  Will stick stick with the buttons when pitching though.

Just got my ship confirmation from Amazon - I can't wait to get home from work tomorrow.

Ah the joy of not having to get out in the rain and possible snow mix tomorrow.  Hopefully that will not prevent UPS from delivering it.  I am moderately excited about this one. My real anticipation is Top Spin 4 and TW 12 arriving at the door.

My copy is now sitting at home and it's only 11:45 in the morning. This whole working thing really sucks!!!

Well I have no clue where and when mine is coming.  It shows it left the facility yesterday but has yet to change to "out for delivery."

Well Amazon attached a tracking label to something but have no idea what it was. So they are sending out another package out next day delivery so I should have it tomorrow.  On the bright side they gave me an extra $20 promotional discount for the mistake.

Quote from: brent on March 08, 2011 @ 07:06:30 PM
Well Amazon attached a tracking label to something but have no idea what it was. So they are sending out another package out next day delivery so I should have it tomorrow.  On the bright side they gave me an extra $20 promotional discount for the mistake.

I'll bet you wind up with two copies of the game.

I changed my mind about Full-Spectrum Punch Control after playing the retail version of Fight Night: Champion and the same may be happening for the baserunning camera in MLB 2k11. The more I play the game, the more I like the camera. It really does give you the feeling of being in a real stadium.

I've enjoyed my handful of games so far with only a few minor negatives:

   
• There is some lag/stuttering on certain hits. Nothing game-breaking, but noticeable from time to time (I have the game installed on my hard drive).
• I've heard other people mention this can't believe I'm going to join the choir, but the player shadows are very jaggy. It hurts a pretty decent looking game.
• My CPU baserunners do some baffling things at times. For instance, there's a man first and I'll hit a ball into the gap in center field. I'll immediately push down on the right-stick to send the runner from first home, but the batter will stay at first base, even if he could've made it to second easily. I'm curious to see if other people are seeing the same thing.

Some things they've improved from 2K10:

   
• You can change the CPU's lineup and starting pitcher before a "Play Now" game. This has been missing since 2K8.
• Fielding is improved and not as automatic.
• Hit variety is greatly improved.
• Errors, popups and foul outs are back in the game.
• The commentary is simply the best in ANY sports game ever made.
• You can use the "2K9" or "2K10" fielding cameras or adjust the "2K11" fielding camera.

Regarding the shadows:  That might be the price to pay for the improved player graphics.  In the PC version on previous versions you can adjust all the graphic settings unlike the console.  The one that always hits my frame rate the hardest is the shadows.  I can max everything, but have to leave those a notch or two down.

Quote from: Jason on March 08, 2011 @ 10:29:45 PM
I changed my mind about Full-Spectrum Punch Control after playing the retail version of Fight Night: Champion and the same may be happening for the baserunning camera in MLB 2k11. The more I play the game, the more I like the camera. It really does give you the feeling of being in a real stadium.

I've enjoyed my handful of games so far with only a few minor negatives:

   
• There is some lag/stuttering on certain hits. Nothing game-breaking, but noticeable from time to time (I have the game installed on my hard drive).
• I've heard other people mention this can't believe I'm going to join the choir, but the player shadows are very jaggy. It hurts a pretty decent looking game.
• My CPU baserunners do some baffling things at times. For instance, there's a man first and I'll hit a ball into the gap in center field. I'll immediately push down on the right-stick to send the runner from first home, but the batter will stay at first base, even if he could've made it to second easily. I'm curious to see if other people are seeing the same thing.

Some things they've improved from 2K10:

   
• You can change the CPU's lineup and starting pitcher before a "Play Now" game. This has been missing since 2K8.
• Fielding is improved and not as automatic.
• Hit variety is greatly improved.
• Errors, popups and foul outs are back in the game.
• The commentary is simply the best in ANY sports game ever made.
• You can use the "2K9" or "2K10" fielding cameras or adjust the "2K11" fielding camera.

I can't believe some of that stuff was ever "out".
I'm reading a lot of stuff about "suction catching" and a HR glitch.See any of that stuff?

There is some suction catching, especially on ground balls, but it doesn't happen all the time. They partially fixed the HR glitch, but I have not seen it personally because all of the homeruns hit in my games went way past the outfield wall.

I find it odd that a day after release there is not a single review of this game. Even the beloved MLB The Show only has a couple so far.

Doesn't matter to me -  I already have the game and like it. I don't need someone else to form an opinion for me anymore.

Another positive:

Camera changes are SAVED!!! Also, setting both the baserunning camera zoom and height to 10 makes it look even better.

Well this is the first time I have ever started the game with a 400+ ft HR with my leadoff batter.  Then my cleanup hitter yanked one out even farther.  I will either need to play with the Pirates (was using the Rangers) or bump up a difficulty level from pro.  The jaggies are really annoying on the players shadows, even in the cut scenes they are there.  One annoyance I had was a player stole a base and it went into this matrix style slowdown as the runner slid into second base.  I do really enjoy that camera view when you hit the ball. Not really into the default camera on defense.  Will need to lower it a bit. 


Oh and I did end up with two copies of the game.  Will wait and see if Amazon says something, if not I will gladly send the other copy to someone (all I ask is you pay the shipping).

You can turn off the slow-motion crap in the Presentation settings.

Ahh good to hear. I like the fast pace w/o all the cut-scenes so I am going to do some tinkering there.

Quote from: brent on March 09, 2011 @ 02:45:49 PM
Well this is the first time I have ever started the game with a 400+ ft HR with my leadoff batter.  Then my cleanup hitter yanked one out even farther.  I will either need to play with the Pirates (was using the Rangers) or bump up a difficulty level from pro.  The jaggies are really annoying on the players shadows, even in the cut scenes they are there.  One annoyance I had was a player stole a base and it went into this matrix style slowdown as the runner slid into second base.  I do really enjoy that camera view when you hit the ball. Not really into the default camera on defense.  Will need to lower it a bit. 


Oh and I did end up with two copies of the game.  Will wait and see if Amazon says something, if not I will gladly send the other copy to someone (all I ask is you pay the shipping).

Brent, I'll probably buy that extra copy off of you if Amazon doesn't say anything.  I'll give you more than just shipping though.  One caveat....I bought a reciprocating saw from Amazon during the summer and they sent me two by mistake.  Didn't charge me for one and I put it on the shelf not knowing what to do with it.  3 months later Porter Cable calls me and asks me about it I say its still in the box.  They say we'll pay for you to ship it back or you can have it at cost.  I say how much is cost they say 28 or something like that so I paid the 28.  So......maybe in a few months you might get a call?

Oh geez;http://www.pastapadre.com/2011/03/08/mlb-2k11-quick-first-day-impressions#more-37518 (http://www.pastapadre.com/2011/03/08/mlb-2k11-quick-first-day-impressions#more-37518)

Is the AI really as bad as he says?

If Amazon doesn't catch it immediately, you'll probably be fine. They double shipped my Xbox Live card but caught the mistake today. I've had several other occasions where things were double-shipped and they never caught it. Ted, was your order through Amazon directly or a third-party seller on their site?

Brad, I've heard a few people complain about the AI issues but I almost expect some of that in any game. In the games I've played, the CPU has pinch hit, pinch run and made pitching changes at the proper times. I haven't touched Franchise Mode yet, so I couldn't tell you about roster management.

It is yours. Just let me know where/how you want it sent. No need to pay extra, I can always BS Amazon on what I did with the extra copy (gave it to the local kids hospital, which I actually have done in the past). Since it was bought through Amazon and not a third party selling on Amazon, it should not be an issue.

Quote from: Jason on March 09, 2011 @ 04:51:32 PM
Brad, I've heard a few people complain about the AI issues but I almost expect some of that in any game. In the games I've played, the CPU has pinch hit, pinch run and made pitching changes at the proper times. I haven't touched Franchise Mode yet, so I couldn't tell you about roster management.

Having said that, I believe the game will need a good, second patch to make it a great game. The good news is that all the complaints "should" be fixable in a patch. Hopefully 2K takes their time and delivers a solid second patch to fix all the issues cropping up.

MLB 2k11 Patch Notes (http://www.facebook.com/notes/mlb-2k/mlb-2k11-patch-v11-notes/10150115553163194)

GENERAL
-  Fix a crash that sometimes occurred when players were waiting at home plate to celebrate with other teammates that are about to cross home plate.

-  Fix a crash that would occur if there was an empty slot on the pitching rotation screen and the user was changing through players on the playercard.

-  Fix a soft hang when the user disconnects the controller during the coach’s clipboard.

-  Fix crash caused by players assigning or trading players on the DL.

-  Fix a crash during the Postseason caused by the user adjusting lineups for teams that were no longer playing.

-  Fix problem where players signature batting or pitching animations were not always being loaded.

-  Fix problem where a hit ball would go through the pitching screen in Home Run Derby.

-  Fix a problem that was preventing the adjusted ratings from being shown on the pitcher’s pitch breakdown dialog accessed off the player card.

ONLINE & MLB Today
-  Fix a crash when the host views a 2K Sports Profile and the client accepts a game invite for a postseason match up.

-  Fix a divergence when user play against each other twice with a user entering then exiting another league between the 1st and 2nd match for any online league.

-  Fix problem caused by having created teams and downloading multiple living season rosters and editing players on your team multiple times.

-  Fix so the adjusted player ratings show on the player card within MLB Today games.

-  Fix uncommon problem where the Dynamic Player Rating System could be deactivated incorrectly on some days during the Minor League Postseason games.

-  Fix bug where the user is unable to upload snapshots or video (they get an "upload aborted" prompt when done uploading) when using the upload features from the replay menu in any game mode.

FRANCHISE
-  Fix a rare crash at the end of the draft when teams were signing players.

-  Fix a bug on the trade notification dialog where the level of the organization instead of the player was being displayed for each team. Everyone was shown as being in the MLB instead of MLB, AAA, AA, or A.

-  Fix problem where the AI was signing free agents to multi-year contracts when they were only intended to cover a shortage due to a serious DL injury.

-  Additional pages of information to the 2K Franchise Handbook to help players understand the new features and functionality in Franchise Mode.

-  Adjust text on the informational dialog that is shown the first time go to the Schedule screen to also explains the Hot/Cold icons and point the player to the new pages of information in the 2K GM Handbook.

-  Fix problem with new pitcher draftee’s being given in appropriate potential ratings based on their pitch arsenal.

-  Improve the distribution of the player potential within the new draftee class to ensure that years in the future the league has the correct balance of player skill.

-  Adjusted the decrease for a pitcher’s fastball when they are declining in their career.  Greatly improves player regression for older pitchers.

-  Fix problem where the player potential was not properly updating as player’s declined near the end of the careers.

-  Fix uncommon problem on the Postseason task list where the AI was not properly automating the tasks when requested.

-  Fix problem with contract amounts that was causing some low budget teams to occasionally run out of money 10+ years into the franchise.

-  Fix bug that was causing the AI to incorrectly resign position players that had expired contracts even if the team had enough players at the position.

-  Fix problem that caused left handed throwing players that were substituted into the catcher role would catch the ball with their bare hand.

GAMEPLAY
-  Improve the transitions between animations when running on the base path.

-  Fix uncommon problem that caused the base runner to run out of the base path.

-  Fix a rare problem that had the pitcher come to bat with his fielding glove still on his hand.

-  Fix so catchers are now playing the proper cut/change direction animations.

-  Fix problem where player would start to throw the ball but would not release the ball.

-  Fix problem where AI backup players would sometimes run into the player catching a fly ball.

-  Fix to the AI throw intensity calculation so they chose an appropriate throw based on the situation.

-  Fix problems where the player would go part way through a wall while making a catch or throw.

-  Fix problem where the player was playing the incorrect wall climb for the height of the wall.

-  Improve the wall climb detection so wall climbs are more likely to play if the ball is possibly playable.

-  Fix problem that would sometimes cause the catcher to stand up to move location between pitches.

-  Fix uncommon problem where the catcher would not catch a pitchout from the pitcher.

-  Improve the cutoff man location and appearance. Sometimes the cutoff man would twitch in location.

-  Fix problems with diving tags not transitioning properly.

-  Fix problem with the wrong player (Pitcher vs Catcher) was being selected on bunts causing frequently missed plays.

-  Fix for uncommon situations where the first baseman would not perform a basestomp when they should.

-  Fix problem where the Human Pitch Control Slider was incorrectly adjusting the pitch accuracy calculation.

-  Fix rare problem where a base runner would be moved to the next base when the play ended.

-  Fix problem where sometimes the substitution commentary would not play.

-  Fixed an uncommon problem where the player would slide without playing an animation to a location to make a catch.

-  Fix a rare bug where the same batter comes to bat after the pitcher was injured while on offense.

-  Fix problem where are few pitcher’s gesture for the Splitter did not match the art gesture shown.

-  Fix problem where high stamina pitchers energy was not being calculated properly.

-  Fix problem where fastballs were incorrectly being limited to 99 MPH

MY PLAYER
-  Fix an uncommon problem where the AI would attempt to steal to the base the My Player was occupying.

Hi MLB 2K fans,
As is the standard policy, when we release a patch, we  release notes for you guys to see the tweaks that have been made. We had  a Day One Patch release yesterday in time for MLB 2K11 Launch Day. Hope  you are enjoying the game and the patch only further enhances your  gameplay. The dev team and I are continuing to monitor feedback for a  future patch in the coming weeks. Thank you!

- Ronnie2K

Quote from: Brad Company on March 09, 2011 @ 04:42:17 PM
Oh geez;http://www.pastapadre.com/2011/03/08/mlb-2k11-quick-first-day-impressions#more-37518 (http://www.pastapadre.com/2011/03/08/mlb-2k11-quick-first-day-impressions#more-37518)

Is the AI really as bad as he says?

I doubt I would even notice half of the things he sees.  I am not a big baseball guy and will spend more time playing the game than watching the real thing. Most people spend the first few days picking a game apart and forget to actually have some fun.

Cool;I'll end up with it via Gamefly at some point after the patch,mainly to play you guys.

Quote from: Brad Company on March 09, 2011 @ 05:08:22 PM
Cool;I'll end up with it via Gamefly at some point after the patch,mainly to play you guys.

Well that is where there might be a slight problem.  Baseball games, since the inception of online gaming, have been pretty unplayable. Every year we try it and after one game go back to playing offline.

I am always game to give it a try but I would not keep my hopes up for an enjoyable experience.  The slightest lag makes hitting a guessing game. It is like trying to kick or punt in NCAA Football 07 online, you just guessed and hoped for the best.

The online play in 2K10 was much better than the previous games. Everything but batting worked well, but unfortunately, batting is a pretty big part of baseball.

I actually stole a base which is something I never did once with 2K10  t::u .

Call me crazy but "My Player" is pretty darn fun.  I never played it last year so it is all fresh.  Playing as a CF and the only thing that takes getting used to is the reverse throwing buttons.  I may not even play a franchise, just exhibitions and stick with this.

Quote from: Brad Company on March 09, 2011 @ 04:42:17 PM
Oh geez;http://www.pastapadre.com/2011/03/08/mlb-2k11-quick-first-day-impressions#more-37518 (http://www.pastapadre.com/2011/03/08/mlb-2k11-quick-first-day-impressions#more-37518)

Is the AI really as bad as he says?

I'm don't want to discount what he says because I haven't played it yet, but I will say that 2k series does have some issues with how it uses its pitchers in the national league.  I use Seattle and I think everyone here uses an AL team so it probably doesn't get noticed much, but when I play interleague I notice that the game doesn't always pinch hit for the pitcher when you expect it to.

His comment about a reliever being in for four innings might not be a big deal.  It really depends on pitch count and if he is a typical free swinging video game player four innings might mean 25 to 30 pitches.  2k series has done a great job of incorporating pitch count and the play by play guys comment constantly about where we are in the pitch count, starters reaching 80, middle relievers hitting 45, closers hitting 30, any pitch count of over 20 in a single inning.

If you look at his scoreboard it's all goose eggs it's not like that reliever faced a lot of batters.  Now if that pitch count was over 45 AND they didn't pinch hit, yeah its a problem.

The comment about the position player being on the mound after a pinch hit?  Previous versions prompt you to sub in your pitcher.  It might look funny, but it's not a bug..just how they implement the substitution.  2k's problem there is they don't allow you to sub a pitcher during your batting half of the inning.  You must wait until you are in the field to make a pitcher for pitcher substitution which has always bugged me because it forces you to micromanage your bullpen even more closely than real life.  It's not like a real player has to be told when he is warmed up and to quit throwing.

The most important thing I can say is that the game is simply fun. I find myself wanting to play it throughout the day and unfortunately I can't.

Quote from: Jason on March 09, 2011 @ 10:18:30 PM
I find myself wanting to play it throughout the day and unfortunately I can't.

Well I hate to see you daydreaming during the day so here is a pretty long video to keep you preoccupied.

Rangers Beat Yankees win ALCS on to World Series! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82zl33e-uls#)

I see someone's feeling better ;)

Finally managed to play both big baseball titles this year (Show, 2k11) and have fairly favorable impressions of both.  Show is probably more to my liking out of the box, but I've had lots of fun with tweaked 2k games in the past, and it looks like I'll be able to find a nice spot with this one, too.

Both games fail the 'too easy to through strikes on the hardest settings' test, though.  Hardly unexpected.  Hopefully I'll be able to see a game pass this before I die.

I'm enjoying 2k11 and think it has improved everywhere so far.

Hey Web do you ever let the catcher call the game in 2k11?  If you just throw where he call it you will get walks he calls for pitches outside the zone.  I know that is a little unrealistic, but I just say to myself that he was calling it on the corner and I missed the corner and that gets me by.  Also each catcher has a "call game" rating."  It's buried in the edit player screen so some are better than others at calling games.  I don't think it has anything to do with calling strikes and balls.  I think it has more to do with knowing hitter tendencies and hot/cold spots.

I'm really enjoying 2k11 and agree with Ted on letting the catcher call the game - he got me to start doing that with 2k9 and I've never looked back.

They really need to prune the outfield walls at Wrigley Field  ;)

m4651875.flv (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhJtqXXsQWM#ws)

Does anyone know what the green "plus" next to Soriano means?

(https://www.digitalgamingarena.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.xboxgamingnation.com%2Fdgaorum%2Fgallery%2F1_17_03_11_6_52_56.jpeg&hash=7aa8f5004242da69a89bbcb3a42a0e5df863b05a)

I think that means he's tired. (Red plus is injured)

I do have the catcher call the game, but that doesn't seem to help me too much as far as walks are concerned.

I started my season and CC injured his arm in the second inning of game 1!  n::v

Looks like he'll only miss a start or two, though.  (Says he's out for 9+ games)

Ivan Nova came in for four strong innings, and my bullpen got the win.

Quote from: webdanzer on March 17, 2011 @ 10:30:48 AM
I think that means he's tired. (Red plus is injured)

This was a "Play Now" game, so I'm not sure what he could have been tired from.

Got this from the OS forums:

(https://www.digitalgamingarena.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.xboxgamingnation.com%2Fdgaorum%2Fgallery%2F1_17_03_11_9_15_46.png&hash=8e1e9075d39ec94fe56b2524ab4e0543f9c1b654)

That's weird.  I don't recall seeing that icon on 'my' Soriano.  I'll double check tonight, though.

I didn't think the dynamic ratings applied to "Play Now" games.

I hope they do make an AI patch.  The previously mentioned by pastapadre problems of not pinch hitting for the pitcher at appropriate times is a constant problem, but now I'm seeing CPU baserunners running station to station and that was definitely not a problem in 2k10.  I have seen deep singles not score runners from second twice now and I know those runners were not slow guys.  I also saw a double off the wall not score the man on first when he was already standing on third when I gloved the ball.  I couldn't believe it.

I just lost (as in lost the stats, couldn't continue) a full (@*^%#$( game because of the leaping home run glitch today. 

If you hadn't heard of it yet, sometimes(?) when a fielder jumps to rob a homerun, it counts as both a HR and an out.  Well, I hadn't seen it before, but it happened to me on the very last play on the game, 3rd out in the bottom of the ninth.  Game started freaking out, not knowing what to do.  The end of the game music started playing, but the homerun celebration was showing on the scoreboard.  Dugouts were showing half end of game stuff, and half home run celebrations.  Guys were warping through one another and everything.  It just kept doing this over and over, and I couldn't do anything to exit except quit, which cost me a fully played game.  >:(

Oh, and Jason, my Soriano doesn't show the chronic injury.

man that's a nasty bug.

The AI baserunning has bothered me from the very beginning. I hope 2K can come through with a solid patch because this game is bordering on being great.

Have you guys upped the CPU baserunning aggressiveness slider?  No help?

I've upped it to 65 and it help the opposing team's CPU baserunners a little, but my CPU baserunners do not seem to be affected at all. I don't know why 2K touches things that were fine in the previous year's game.

Ah, I didn't know you weren't controlling your own runners.  Have you never used manual control?

I've noticed the CPU be a little station to station, but I have been playing Detroit, a team with really slow baserunners.  I'll probably bump that up for myself, see what happens.

I replayed the game I lost last night, and made it through without a glitch.  I did see another pitcher go down to injury, though, which makes 3 pitchers injured on my team in the 4 franchise games (counting the lost one) I have played.  That is somewhat concerning.

On the good news front, I won the replay 2-0 whereas I lost the original game 10-7.  Love to see that sort of results swing when I was using the same players, same difficulty, same sliders, etc.

I usually control the lead the runner with multiple men on base and the CPU baserunners would take their cues from me. For instance, if there was a man on first and I hit a ball into the gap, I'd send the runner from first home and the CPU would usually go to second base on its own, but this year the CPU runner will just stop at first. I also noticed that CPU runner do NOT run on fly balls with 2 outs.

Yeah there definitely needs to be a base running patch.  My own runners won't go automatically from first to second or second to third on a passed ball or wild pitch to the backstop.  I haven't tried adjusting base running aggression yet.  2k9 needed that slider to be maxed out to get the CPU to be appropriately aggressive and 2k10 didn't need any adjustment that I noticed.

I think the default injury setting is out of whack.

In the five games I've played now in Franchise (including the 1 game I lost due to the HR bug) I've lost 4 pitchers to injury.  3 starters and one reliever.  Two on 60 day DL, one on 15, and one missing 2 starts.

Rough.

Anything unusual happen in those injuries?  Like throwing too many pitches or taking a line drive off the body?  That is a lot and very rough. 

Make that another starting pitcher in the next game!  So now 5 pitchers (4 starters) in 6 games!  (Only Hughes emerged unscathed, Jason)

Ted, no.  Only this last one occured near what would nearing the tail end of a pitch count. (In the 5th)  For the others, it was in the first few innings of work, and no weird game event happened hit being hit by the pitch or anything.

I'm going to go a little more to see how bad it gets!

and a couple of those just seized up with a 60 day injury?  That is harsh.  It's like the guys joints exploded or something.

Up to 6 pitchers lost to injury in 8 games, (I lost Hughes on his second start  ::))  so I'm going to give this one a break for a while until I see the next patch, and focus on The Show for now.  If the next patch doesn't address it I'll probably try again with no injuries.

Some OS speculation was that maxing pitches could be the culprit, so I spent the next two games performing sub-optimal releases with the pitching interface.  Didn't seem to matter.

Derek, did you adjust the injury slider at all? People at OS are suggesting to set it around 25-35.

I saw some comments to that effect over there, but also saw some responses that still saw many injuries at lower levels.

Worth trying if nothing gets patched, though.

Has anyone played a game at Tropicana Field?  What a freaking eyesore. It honestly looks like they accidentally included a Wii version of the stadium. I know it is not that pretty in real life but I do not recall it being this fugly in previous versions.

Maybe the pitcher injury bug is 2k's backdoor security to prevent anyone from winning the million bucks.  I had a perfect game going with Felix Hernandez through 7 1/3 innings.  He pitched a two seamer for a strike and immediately goes down with a finger injury for four weeks.  He must have thrown it so hard his finger fell off.

Quote from: Ted on April 02, 2011 @ 01:18:50 AM
Maybe the pitcher injury bug is 2k's backdoor security to prevent anyone from winning the million bucks.  I had a perfect game going with Felix Hernandez through 7 1/3 innings.  He pitched a two seamer for a strike and immediately goes down with a finger injury for four weeks.  He must have thrown it so hard his finger fell off.

Were you recording the game?

No.  I'm not trying for that money.  It was a franchise game anyway and I think you have to do it in play now or MLB today don't you?

Edit:  I just looked at the injury report and it is a fractured finger.  Fractured from just throwing a ball.  35+ days.

I wouldn't even give this a second look if it wasn't for Web's situation and the injury bugs, but I looked at Hernandez durability rating and it is a 97.

I just played my first online game and was pleasantly surprised at how well it played. Pitching and fielding worked flawlessly and batting, always problematic online, was very playable. Having said that, I finally saw the homerun/out bug. I caught a ball deep on the warning track at Citifield and it was called a 3-run homerun and was also counted as the second out of the inning. I hope 2K releases their second patch soon.

According to Ronnie_2K's twitter page, the patch was sent to Microsoft and Sony today. Hopefully it'll be available sometime during the next two weeks. No details of what's included yet.

Patch will finally be released on Wednesday (5/18) for Xbox 360 and PC. No patch notes have been released yet and may not be available until Wednesday.

MLB patch is out - I just downloaded it this morning. Patch notes have not been released yet, but I did notice the addition of the 2K10 baserunning camera and I've read that the fatigue issue has been fixed.

How about the shadows, do they look any better?

I only played an inning and it wasn't a day game, so I couldn't tell if the jaggies in the shadows were improved.

Quote from: Jason on May 18, 2011 @ 02:18:59 PM
I only played an inning and it wasn't a day game, so I couldn't tell if the jaggies in the shadows were improved.

I'm anxious to play tonight to see if the frame rate issues have been fixed.

Still no notes?  I want to see if/how injuries were addressed. 

   (https://www.digitalgamingarena.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fa3.twimg.com%2Fprofile_images%2F248422579%2Ffb_normal.jpg&hash=5bc3a2dbbf394aeb6571a436237ce33cc52bd16f) (http://twitter.com/#%21/Ronnie2K)  @Ronnie2K (http://twitter.com/#%21/Ronnie2K) Ronnie 2K 2K11     @TroyPfaff @ExtremeGamer The notes will be released no later than 2 PM PST.

Batting
- Batters will no longer hit unrealistic, soft liners

   
• More grounders instead of soft liners
• Improved hit distribution

- How hard CPU AI batters hit the ball is more closely matched to their power ratings than it was before

   
• More home runs by power hitting CPU AI players
• Not as many HRs by weak hitting CPU AI players

- Improved CPU AI batter logic for taking pitches

   
• Will not chase as many poorly thrown balls
• Will take advantage of more poorly thrown strikes

- The 2K10 base running camera has been added as an option
-  The pitch type Splitter is now considered a breaking ball rather than a Fastball when displayed in the pitch tells/batter's eye while batting
- In-game sub screen off the directional pad will now show the batter's pitch count when a pitcher is up to bat

Pitching
-  All-star caliber and elite starting pitchers will not get subbed out of  the game after giving up some early runs early in the game

   
• Sub logic has been re-tuned to allow team's aces to stay on the mound longer during rough, early innings

- Middle relievers do not stay in the game as long unless their performance warrants more innings

   
• Poorly rated relief pitchers also have a much quicker hook to be taken out of the game

-  In-game sub screen off the directional pad will show all reliever's  available pitch count range when pitcher is on the mound (including  pitcher who is on the mound)
- In-game sub screen off the directional pad will now show the batter's pitch count when a pitcher is up to bat
-  The pitch type Splitter is now considered a breaking ball rather than a Fastball when displayed in the pitch tells/batter's eye while batting

Fielding
- Fixed bug where robbing a HR counted as both an out and a HR
- Fixed bug where fielder clipped/penetrated through wall to catch HR
- Catches and gathers by both AI and User teams will not take as long to break out of

   
• Throwing to a base or to the cut-off man is much more responsive now

- Fielders and catchers will not rotate or spin in place when setting up for a pop fly
- Fixed bug where CPU AI outfielders would hold the ball instead of throwing when users tag up

   
• CPU AI outfielders attempt to gun out user base runners whenever there is a chance at a close play

- CPU AI fielders now make relay throws whenever possible
- Smoother looking catches

   
• Fielders no longer stutter or pop when waiting underneath a fly ball

- Running throws will not trigger from standing catches

   
• Smoother looking, more appropriate throw selection when a standing catch triggers

- Fielders will no longer play give-up animations in slow motion
- Bugs involving  the correct number of errors have been addressed

   
• Previously, multiple errors were recorded when runners advanced an extra base on a throwing error
• Previously,  a play would be incorrectly ruled a base hit instead of a throwing  error when the 1st baseman was pulled off the bag by a poor throw on a  play that should have resulted in an out

- Fixed bug where 3rd baseman would not attempt to tag a baserunner who was sliding in on a steal attempt after a strikeout
- Fixed ball warping on catches by the catcher
- Catcher behaves appropriately when home runs are hit and when line drives are hit

   
• No longer stands and sits, nor does he face the wrong way

- CPU AI fielders will no longer chase down foul balls that are going to land several rows into the crowd
- There are no longer issues or bugs preventing you from assigning and playing with a left-handed 2B, SS, or Catcher

Base Running
- CPU AI base runners will behave more realistically

   
• They will attempt to score from 2nd more often
• They will go from first to 3rd more often
• They will attempt doubles more often with 2 outs
• CPU AI and user base runners will always run home from 3rd with 2 outs
• CPU AI will send base runner home from 3rd on grounders with 0-1 outs
• Base runners no longer leave the base path when returning to a base
• Base runners can no longer overlap each other if the man on first retreats after the batter has already decided to go to 2nd
• Baserunners retreat to their base quicker on line drive outs
• Fast, aggressive base runners will behave accordingly
• Creates more gun outs and more plays at the plate as well
• Baserunners decelerate slightly when rounding bases
• Rather than maintaining sprint speed

-  The 2K10 base running camera has been added as an option
-  Base runners no longer run in place nor in slow motion when retreating to a base after a pitch lands in the dirt
-  Fixed bug where the player replacing an injured base runner would not appear in-game
-  Fixed bug where pinch runner for injured player appears at the plate rather than on base
-  Fixed pinch runner bug where inserting a pinch runner would put him on 1st instead of 2nd or 3rd

My Player/Franchise
- Fixed My Player crashes
- Fixed crashes involving departed players screen in Franchise
- Fixed franchise mode crashes that occur on the schedule screen when simulating games
- Addressed issue with pitcher fatigue in franchise mode

   
• After a user game was played in-game, the pitchers who played would have their stamina reset to 99 the following day

- Both simulated injuries and in-game injuries occur with less frequency in all modes

   
• Also, there won't be as many players on the DL at the same time

- Assigning all free agents in franchise mode will no longer crash the game during the transition to the regular season
- Fixed crash when user trades 6 pitchers for 6 injured pitchers in franchise mode
- Fixed crashes involving edited players in a draft in franchise mode
- Improved logic for Comeback Player of the Year award

   
• No longer will rookies who were called up in the middle of the season win comeback player of the year the following season

- Fixed PC bug in which headlines in franchise mode would not display the names of created players

   
• Used to say ####### instead of player name (now fixed)

- All team and individual records have been updated and/or corrected
- Addressed My Player mentor audio and text bugs
- My Player pitchers receive full amount of points awarded even when they do not pitch a complete game
- My Player pitchers no longer receive points twice for getting a win in a game
- ALCS, NLCS, and World series are now in the correct 2-3-2 format rather than 2-2-1-1-1

Online
-  In the 2nd patch of MLB2K11, we wanted to do more than just address bugs.  We've added new technology to create a batting experience online that is lag free.  The responsiveness and twitch feels just like that of  an offline game, regardless of varying connection speeds.  Waiting patiently on an incoming pitch and determining whether it is a ball or a strike before swinging is now a part of the online battle at the plate.  We are excited to roll this out as a part of the patch.
- Fixed online divergences
- Living Roster: The division and league standing show the current 2011 standings now rather than last yr's 2010 standings
- Living Roster: Stats pages (player stats and league leaders) are now up to date for the 2011 season
-  Living Roster: Fixed bug where incorrect players from multiple teams would appear in many different games when viewing the box score menu after the user resets rosters

General
-  Fixed framerate issues during gameplay

   
• Foul balls, balls hit into play, fielding fly balls

-  Fixed in-game freezes and crashes

   
• Presentation related crashes (team logos, graphics, etc)
• Gameplay crash has been fixed on foul balls
• Gameplay crash has been fixed when 2 players converge on same foul ball/popfly
• Fixed injury related crashes in-game
• Fixed in-game crashes associated with viewing defensive alignment

- Fixed crash involving changing all pitches in edit player to a fastball and then changing pitch 1 again
- Fixed all bugs which caused either 2 pitchers or 2 batters to appear simultaneously in-game

   
• Injury-related

- Player of the game logic has been improved

   
• Will no longer give the award to a member of the losing team

- Added an option to turn on auto-fielding for the user team

   
• When this is turned on, all the user will have to do is handle the pitching when their team is in the field.

- Re-tuned sliders on the tougher difficulties so that realistic stats are achieved both in the field and at the plate
- Base runner speed slider now defaults to 40 instead of 50

   
• Frequency of extra base hits are now more realistic

- Added an option to turn on auto baserunning for the user team

   
• When this is turned on, all the user will have to do is perform the at bats when their team is up to the plate.

- In-game pause summary now shows the pitch count (PC) as yellow and then red when the pitcher is suffering from fatigue.
- Fixed bugs that were preventing custom sounds, music, and playlists from working properly
- Addressed PC button functionality bugs
- Fixed audio bug for umpire on walks

   
• Sometimes the ump would say, 3-1 after ball 4 was thrown

- Correct hats are now worn by the Red Sox when they are wearing their alternate home and road uniforms

Wow!!! I'm truly impressed.

- Added an option to turn on “auto baserunning” for the user team  When this is turned on, all the user will have to do is perform the at bats when their team is up to the plate.


Good, I hate baserunning. My brain cant handle all those commands and I always sent all runners.  ;D

We might have to test online and see how "Lag Free" it really is.

Framerate issues...................completely gone.

I can't believe how much better the frame rate is on foul balls, pop-up and fly balls. This was my biggest complaint and it was fixed!!! They also removed all the soft liners to the infielders - another thing that bothered me.

Anybody else very satisfied with the patch? Have the injuries issues been fixed for your franchises?

My biggest issue with the patch is trying to find time to play the game ;)

I'm playing the PC version now and the patch made my framerate worse  >:(

I had forgotten about this video I uploaded to YouTube a while ago (actually it's 2K10, not 2K11):

MLB 2K10 Close Triple Play (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6AbYsVbQ9U#ws)