It’s really hard to get it right. We want you to really have control but making the interface work on the small screen is tough (your hand can quickly get in the way). If you can suggest a way we can do it that is awesome, please let us know!
We are working on it though, so hopefully we’ll come up with a solution.
Rj
Would a fielding ‘mini game’ be possible?
Maybe at the moment of impact, a short (maybe a short frame animation) snap shot of the direction and speed of the ball could be shown, and then the player could have a short period of time to move their closest fielder to intercept – maybe by drawing the path that the fielder would follow.
The faster and more accurate the placement, the higher the likelihood of either a catch, or a smooth pick-up and potential ‘bullet’ return throw.
For throwing in to a base, again a snap-shot of the base / base fielder, then the player could draw a return (in similar fashion to the cricket bowling) finishing with a timed tap to determine the ultimate target for the throw.
I’d also quite like to see a more involved pitching mechanic – perhaps borrowing the motion of the cricket bowling.
Quoting Wykey:
Would a fielding ‘mini game’ be possible?
Maybe at the moment of impact, a short (maybe a short frame animation) snap shot of the direction and speed of the ball could be shown, and then the player could have a short period of time to move their closest fielder to intercept – maybe by drawing the path that the fielder would follow.
The faster and more accurate the placement, the higher the likelihood of either a catch, or a smooth pick-up and potential ‘bullet’ return throw.
For throwing in to a base, again a snap-shot of the base / base fielder, then the player could draw a return (in similar fashion to the cricket bowling) finishing with a timed tap to determine the ultimate target for the throw.
We’ve been playing around with a few ideas but we keep falling back to just adding a “chose which base to throw to” mechanic, which doesn’t really add a lot of fun to the game. The biggest problem we face is that switching camera views can be disorientating and often means you lose track of where the ball actually is. We will keep working on it and hopefully can draw some inspiration from your ideas.
I’d also quite like to see a more involved pitching mechanic – perhaps borrowing the motion of the cricket bowling.
Actually, the bowling mechanic in Cricket came from an experiment in Baseball pitching :) The original idea didn’t work in Baseball (it was way too complex) but we’ve polished it a lot since then in Cricket, so we probably should look at trying it again in Baseball.
Rj
I can see where you’re coming from about the fun element – and you’re right, telling the fielder where to throw isn’t much fun.
Let me try to refine my thoughts a bit…
How about instead of moving the fielder, a limited mini-game (forgive me for using that phrase all the time, I’m not sure how else to term it) kicks in at certain times.
Are you familiar with “The Bigs” – it’s an XBOX 360 Baseball game. The second in the series has catching mini-games. If the game decides that your pitch and the aI batter has hit the ball into an area that your fielder can make a catch, then it switches to a front on / top down / side on view (depending on the circumstance) and you have to either press the buttons shown on the screen, tap buttons in a certain order, align cross hairs and similar tasks.
The result – an automated catching animation is shown and you take a great catch, fire in a great return throw, you miss the catch or you fumble the ball.
Can I post youtube clips here? I’ll see if I can either find an example or record a clip for you.
It’ll show what I mean far better than I’ve explained!
Regarding the pitching – my game is cricket, and I was a decent quick(ish) bowler. But I also love the tradition, history and in no small measure the techniques of baseball. So the pitching in Baseball has always interested me more than the batting (although as a ‘typical’ quick bowler I’d bat much like a hitter!).
The system in your cricket game seems very nearly perfect for me, as someone who has a fair understanding of the dynamic of 2/4/ seam and straight up fastballs, sliders, knuckleballs, cutter, splitters and curveballs.
Ultimately the wrist snap, the arm action and the seam position are the driving forces in how the baseball rises, falls, wobbles or fades.
If I’d never seen your cricket game, and I saw a pitching ‘mini-game’ – minus the bounce, and with maybe an arm position gauge (side arm, over arm, round arm), a seam position / finger / hand gauge (ball held loosely in fingertips, deep in the palm of the hand, fingers along / across the seams) and a wrist-snap timing zone (snap too early it sinks too much, too late it rises, spot on, combined with the right grip and the right seam position, and a 100% accurate “path trace” and it’s a Walter “Big Train” Johnson style bat-smashing fastball, then I’d know instinctively what to do.
And I think there’d be a big attraction for baseball stat-fans.
Maybe this as an option for those who are more into the potential of a slug-fest – or even a bowling type premium content add-on.
I’d certainly feel it was value enough to pay for it.
