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Apr 04, 2014 MLB 14: The Show lets you select from a number of pitches, then direct the ball into the proper area, depending where you want it to go. When facing off against batters, you'll want to avoid lobbing the ball into red zones that indicate where they're most likely to get a hit.
I am a non sports gamer that picked up The Show off of multiple recommendations.I typically do not like sports games, but I like this one.I initially tried the regular game play and quickly got overwhelmed by it. There is far too much to pay attention to. After getting thoroughly destroyed by the computer in normal mode I switched to easy mode and started a generic franchise.I did not skip the training preseason section and have just been cutting my teeth practicing during off season games.
I have found it to be a lot more low key and easy going. While I still don't have a full grasp of the regular game play I have gotten a lot better at timing my swings, and I'm an absolute demon on the pitching mound.I'm slowly working my way up to be able to play on regular difficulty, but I'm not there yet. My reflex time is just not what it needs to be to deal with how unforgiving the full difficulty game mode is.I strongly recommend that if you are new like me try playing the beginner difficulty level and just work on preseason games in franchise mode to get the hang of it. Thanks for all your help.
Some of it helped.Let me start with 4 very basic hitting questions.What does the recital (yellow brackets) do? Am I trying to get it over the incoming ball, or am I directing the hit?.What are the Red/Blue Boxes inside the pitching box? Sometimes they are there, others its clear.Is there a way to keep the ball down on the ground, or hit it in the air?.Do the time you hit the ball determine the direction? Left handed hitter hitting early will hits left.Bonus Question: Does anyone know of a youtube basic tutorial I could watch, all the ones I see are quite detailed.Bonus Question #2. Is there a way to cross post this to or should I just re-write the questions?.That is the PCI (Plate Coverage Indicator).
It is only used if you are playing on Zone or Analog plus Zone hitting. If you are using those, then you would want to have the PCI oer the area where the ball is coming. I wouldn't recommend either of these for someone starting out with the Show. Go into settings, then hitting, and change it to either timing or analog. (Timing will just use the X button to swing, whereas analog will use the analog stick to hit- for a beginner timing is where you want to start).
Then you can go ahead and turn the PCI to off, as it will probably just confuse you.Those show the hitters strengths and weaknesses. If the player is great at hitting high and inside, then that box will be red. If the player is bad at hitting up and away, that box will be blue. Use this to your advantage when pitching against players.If you're playing using timing (which, again, I highly suggest as a beginner), then there isn't really a way to do that. Theres a way to influence where the ball goes with the right stick, but it has never really worked for me.Yes, of course. If you are early on the pitch you will most likely pull the hit.
If you are late, expect it to go to opposite field.Bonuses: I'll look around for you, but I haven't looked into it yet. This should answer your questions, but feel free to make a post over there with anything else you got.
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Games got a learning curve too.If you can't hit or if everything you are hitting is too early, that is normal. Takes some time to get general timing down especially for a non baseball dude.Once you've got timing down one thing you may want to look at guessing pitches.
I always guess the pitch with the biggest bend/speed discrepancy.That way when that pitch comes I have an indicator and can react. Then for all the other pitches I have the same relative game plan to hit pitches 'I like' or pitches that are left in the middle of the plate.Once you start figuring everything out the game is pretty awesome and rewarding. Plus Franchise mode can go on forever.
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Lasting appeal on these games are great.
The problem with the batting right now is that is not instinctive enough. Button press doesn't feel responsive enough and causes me to always be late on balls while forcing you to pull analog stick back before swinging makes it too complicated. Also having one stick for swing and another for placement again makes it too complicated and not intuitive enough. They should just use right analog to stimulate swing (ie left to swing to left side, up to swing high low to swing low and right to swing to right side) the moment you introduce. I'm a novice to the game, but I have tested out every mechanic so far, and IMO, I think analog hitting feels the most natural to me.
Analog plus zone is probably where it's at as far as realism because of the the sight representation, but I'm still trying to get my coordination down so I'm sticking with analog so far. It's a beautiful feeling when I do square one up properly.When I did play baseball as a kid, it was a game of timing and rhythm, and getting all your levers in sync - especially when it came to hitting. And I don't think there's any other mechanic can represent the rhythm than the physical act of pulling back and pushing the stick forward with proper timing.As far as pitching, I'm analog too, although I don't feel quite as bullish as far as it being the most realistic.
But I just never took to pulse pitching and the classic controls just make me feel like a bystander. With analog I can control the release point, etc. Pulse pitching for me. I use to be a meter guy but it got to the point where I rarely missed my spot. Seems easier to get the timing down with meter.
With meter I was constantly hitting my spots with sub par pitchers.With pulse pitching I have to focus on each pitch (yet not to much, it does a good job of replicating 'trying to hard'). I've been using pulse for about 2 or 3 years now and I still occasionally miss my spot at a realistic rate.Batting I still use timing as that is the setup which I feel is most ratings dependent.There are two ways to approach realism - through results or by feel. I am more of a results guy. It depends how you define realism.
If you define it by stats purely and getting the most realistic results with less input from the user then it is classic/pulse pitching with timing hitting.If it is by feel then it probably the PS move or analog/zone analog.Personally, I don't really feel like analog makes me feel like I am swinging in a bat IRL or throwing nor does any other interface, but some do feel that way.I use Zone or Zone+Analog for hitting along with Meter for pitching, because I like having the most input in my gameplay. The games still play out realistic to me and I use Legend hitting, so it stays challenging. If I miss a pitch to hit I want it to be my fault and not randomness or only attribute based.
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