2k9 Gameplay Suggestions/tips

[CircleChange11]

Here are some of what I consider to me the most important adjustments to the game to have it play realistic and rather well. They are gathered from different places, as well as, my own experience, so no credit is given for every little thing.

[1] Switch Dynamic Indicator to “fixed/locked”. Result: Decreased OF slowdown, OF chasing balls down that they should catch (especially speedsters like Ichiro and gaithwright), minimal OF glitch, etc. (Note: misplays are not glitches, if you get to the spot late, and the OF doesn’t attempt a catch, that’s your fault. Know the difference between a misplay and a glitch). Not every error of non-catch in the game miss a glitch … despite popular opinion. Some have suggested that pulling the left trigger before the catch eliminates the chance of the of glitch. Others have stated that preloading the throw does the same.

[2] Pitch speed slider = 90+. In my opinion, anything lower and you’re making too much contact, or making it too easy to make a lot of contact. You should have a mid-90s fastball thrown right by you a few times a game, and you should have to battle to hang in with 2 strikes. If not, it’s likely too easy. Hitting a baseball is not easy. Be careful though because too much "pitch speed" and it's not a decision but just pushing the button just in case.

[3] Use 3-step pitching (needs to be difficult, not impossible). It’s a great feature, and requires a decent learning curve. But as you get it down, you can adjust sliders to keep it challenging. I love this feature. IMO, you should be giving up 1-2 unwanted walks per game. If not, you’re likely getting too much of the plate, not executing pitches effectively, or playing with sliders that are not challenging enough.

[4] High pitch rating slider, you don’t want to be crushing Morrow’s fastball, K-Rod’s deuce or Santana’s change … just as you don’t want to be striking out Pujols with a 52 rating curveball. Keep this slider high, so you’re forced to attack opposing hitters/pitchers according to their strengths, not the ease of your sliders.

[5] No ball cursor – If you can remove it or turn it off, do so. (Same thing on the Show, if you can remove the ball cursor and pitch break indicator, do so). If not, it’s too “childish” in difficulty. Same deal with MVP. Turn vibration off as well.

[6] No strike zone – Turn off this feature as well for the same reasons as #5.

[7] Inside edge deleted/removed/zero. This drastically changes the way the AI pitches. No more nibbling at the corners. They challenge with high heat, inside 2-seamers that break on the corner, down and in sliders/sinkers that are hard to lay off, etc. When you have to cover the whole plate and even extend it, at times, in all directions, it’s much more realistic/challenging when you have to cover the whole plate and not just the low in/away corners. The only catch I have discovered is that when you work to a 3-0 count, you will get 3 straight strikes.

[8] No catcher suggestions – Catchers call some stupid crap … like letter high change-ups. Call the game, with cursor/zone/etc off.

[9] Roster edits – Edit the rosters if you can. Make the following changes.

(a) Lower catcher arm strength by 20 points. Result = more realistic base stealing.

( Raise batter walk rating by 15 points. Result = Accurate sim walks numbers, and more pitches/walks in played games. Still not going to get 6.6 walks/game in played games, like MLB average.

PC users can use MVPComm Roster v 1.2

[10] Catch in FRONT of yellow circle – Stop running to the center of the yellow circle and then complaining about short-hops or trapping the ball. Run to the front of the circle. I usually run to the front to where my OF’s head is in the center of the circle. The yellow circle is where the balls should land, not where you should stand. I have yet to drop one catching like this. You can tell this about the yellow circle, because when you throw to 1st with your C, the yellow circle appears to be about 4 feet behind the 1B, not directly under his feet. Simple.

[11] Pre-load throws (IF/OF) – Don’t wait until you catch the ball to start pushing your stick toward the base you are throwing to. I start pushing it well before I catch the ball, especially on double plays and relays and it works great. I’ve never tried a quick throw, and not sure what button even controls it. I don’t need it. When you do this, the moment your fielder touches the ball the meter starts filling, and the result is quick relays/turns/throws with fluid animation.

[12] Focus on your settings/sliders as being realistic for you. Don’t just make them as hard/easy as they can be for the sake of saying you have hard sliders or that you win a lot of games. If you’re Boston, and you’re using Beckett, you should beat KC 8 or 9 times out of 10. If you’re using Wandy Rodriquez and Houston, and you’ve just beaten Philly for the 4th straight game, you need to make it harder.

Effective sliders and a realitic style of play are the most important aspects, IMO. By "effective" I mean ones that are challenging for you as a hitter, yet don't make it "too real" where you would throw a parade for yourself if you hit a grounder back to the pitcher. Likewise, on the bump, you should give up some unwanted walks, and miss with some pitches that you wanted to spot. But, you should also be able to get ahead in the count. You don't want to be throwing "blindfolded" or anything, you want to be challenged.

However, If you're gonna swing at the first strike you get, and throw a bunch of strikes on the mound, then no amount of sliders are going to "correct" the game in the way you play it. The game and/or sliders will not auto-correct user impatience, poor judgement, and/or lack of skill. One thing that I have appreciated about 2k7/8 is that there is a learning curve. It does take some practice, and there is more user influence than most games. That's a good thing.

Find a slider set and tailor it for your strengths/styles. There is not likely going to be a slider set that works perfectly for you, just as no one is going to be able to tell you step-by-step what sliders to adjust to make the game "perfect". Adjust as needed. I would also suggest to test a slider change for 10 games before making a decision. Baseball is just too darn random to base decisions off of a few games.

[electro_cute]

these are all great tips, and i have made all of them but i just can't find good sliders for me. i've modified wicked sliders. i'm using version 1.1 of community rosters (1.2 has toned down power which i don't like at all), and i'm getting solid results - i walk 3-4 batters per game, and i get 5-6 walks per game. i have 8-9 hits, and cpu is around 8 (i'm gonna up sucess a bit). but there's no way i can hit homers. no freaking way. i don't want to use right stick to hit hr's couse that's unreal and dumb, but there's no other way... i wait for high and inside pitches, or pitches over the plate but there's no way i can hit one. and in my fantasy team i have dunn, wright and kinsler... that sucks badly.

[hackman2007]

If you only like to pitch strikes, which I frequently get myself into (I try not to), turn up CPU power, contact and success up to 100.

If you do that, you must pitch ball and strikes and work the count. Might want to turn CPU power down a bit though, otherwise they might just hit homeruns on every pitch they swing at.

[CircleChange11]

these are all great tips, and i have made all of them but i just can't find good sliders for me. i've modified wicked sliders. i'm using version 1.1 of community rosters (1.2 has toned down power which i don't like at all), and i'm getting solid results - i walk 3-4 batters per game, and i get 5-6 walks per game. i have 8-9 hits, and cpu is around 8 (i'm gonna up sucess a bit). but there's no way i can hit homers. no freaking way. i don't want to use right stick to hit hr's couse that's unreal and dumb, but there's no other way... i wait for high and inside pitches, or pitches over the plate but there's no way i can hit one. and in my fantasy team i have dunn, wright and kinsler... that sucks badly.

I generally have no emotional attachment to sliders. I'll use whatever one's give me the most realistic and enjoyable gameplay and statistics. This year I am using Darkspace's sliders. He is a friend of mine and I worked with him on 2k8 sliders. I did not use his sliders for 2k8, and found SFG's sliders to be better for me. For, 2k9, I have not found a set of sliders that I would choose over his.

They can be found in the slider section of the forum.

I have tested them for over 40 games, and the only changes I have made are to make pitching harder for the user, and to increase pitch speed as my skills have improved.

You can also unlock player cards with these sliders, which is the limitation he is working with.

[electro_cute]

did you delete ie? couse his sliders say that you have to turn ie on or buy it, and put it up to 100.

[CircleChange11]

I moved the ie files to a folder on my desktop.

The only negative I have noticed with removing IE is that anytime your batter has a 3-0 count, you're going to get 3 straight strikes. In 9 situations, it's happened all 9 times (i took until 3-2 and then swung at the next pitch, which has always been in the strike zone).

I have not noticed weak hitters going deep, or batters crushing pitches they shouldn't, etc .... so Inside Edge doesn't seem to govern that aspect as much as we (those that had the inside edge discussion, last year at 2k8, thought).

I usually skip past allof the hit tracker and pitch tracker screens, but for some reason I stopped and watched this in a game where Oliver Perez was pitching well against me. The image is shown below and you'll never get this type of diversity/variety (hence effectiveness) with IE on. I was working hard to foul pitches off at times and stay alive until I could get a mistake (which did not come often).

[tiedyed]

I have been playing around with IE also .I removed IE for awhile just to see the results and I saw the same thing you posted with the 3-0 count. I put it back in the game last night,but I turned the IE sliders down to 0 . I had an AI pitcher throw 12 straight balls to walk the bases loaded in a game against Oakland last night. So I am hopeful that by just turning down the sliders I won't get the 3 straigth strikes on 3-0 counts all the time.

[CircleChange11]

I'll do the same but put the slider at 5 or 10 and see how that goes.

[tiedyed]

these are all great tips, and i have made all of them but i just can't find good sliders for me. i've modified wicked sliders. i'm using version 1.1 of community rosters (1.2 has toned down power which i don't like at all), and i'm getting solid results - i walk 3-4 batters per game, and i get 5-6 walks per game. i have 8-9 hits, and cpu is around 8 (i'm gonna up sucess a bit). but there's no way i can hit homers. no freaking way. i don't want to use right stick to hit hr's couse that's unreal and dumb, but there's no other way... i wait for high and inside pitches, or pitches over the plate but there's no way i can hit one. and in my fantasy team i have dunn, wright and kinsler... that sucks badly.

I have found that hr's are tied in with IE pitchers sucess turn it down. I have been testing this out lately and turned it down to 0. Hit 5 hr's in 2 innings without the Rstick. So thats not good lol. I have it set to 25 right now and am in the middle of a game have hit 2 hr's no stick through 6 innings I am thinking that a setting around 30-35 might be the sweet spot. At least for me.

[CircleChange11]

The problem with sliders is that when you change one, it usually solves one problem, but creates another.

So, when you lower the pitch success for more HR"s, it might also mean they never strike you out, or that weaker hitters are successful on pitches they shouldn;t be.

[philthepat]

http://www.joesports

[tiedyed]

The problem with sliders is that when you change one, it usually solves one problem, but creates another.

So, when you lower the pitch success for more HR"s, it might also mean they never strike you out, or that weaker hitters are successful on pitches they shouldn;t be.

This is why I am thinking 30-35 may be the sweet spot for me with the AI pitching. I want it as realistic as I can get it for myself. Sliders that give me good results, may give someone else unrealistic ones. It really depends on your skill level, and style of play. Also sliders sets may work for awhile but as you get better at the game they will not. Sliders need to be tweaked constantly to keep gameplay realistic. No matter which game you play mvp, the show or 2k9.

[account17]

First up .. Thanks a bundle CircleChange11 .. great advice buddy , and I have been using "Darks"

sliders too .. they are really good. On pitch success i've played with 30 and it seems homerun happy + too many hits

so 35-40 may be ok.

[tiedyed]

I didn't think it was possible but I learned how to check swing with the hit stick tonight. So simple to do. I can't believe it took me two months to actually get it right lol. If you start the swing and decide you don't want to swing just pull back hard.

[Rger21]

I have something to share regarding removing IE and the 3-0 three consecutive strikes.

I was playing against Redsox... Lester pitching and after two consecutive hits he threw four consecuitive balls to next batter to load the bases. Foud it weird because is the first time this happened to me; first two times I worked a 3-0 count I received 3 consecutive strikes. The only difference here is that first two times bases were empty.

The next time I got a 3-0 count after first strike and a foul ball for second strike, the next pitch was a ball to walk the batter. So I think I may do some other tests before deciding to put IE files backt to the MLB 2K9 directory.

I'm using Darks sliders, and I'm getting pretty good results, I'm hitting homeruns without LS....and thats good enough for me.

[CircleChange11]

That's interesting.

Generally when I am trying to work a walk, the bases are empty.

FWIW, I played two games with IE back in, and with Darkspace's sliders (IE slider has to be at 100 or earning cards is disabled), and the two differences I noticed (from the pitch tracker) was the low frequency of balls up in the zone (there were a few), and balls waist high on the inside corner or off the plate. Other than that there weren't really that many noticable differences, other than I was able to walk 4 times in those 2 games (not 3-0 counts). The AI hitters pretty much hit the same (LAA beat me 7-3, and NYM beat me 5-3 with a good amount of solid hits, and only one HR ... incidently both games ended with me having the tying run at the plate).

Another thing I notice, and this may just be my perception, is that with IE off/removed, it seems that the OFs play deep on every hitter. I don't know if IE repoistions your OFs on its own, or if I am just imagining things.

[electro_cute]

That's interesting.

Generally when I am trying to work a walk, the bases are empty.

FWIW, I played two games with IE back in, and with Darkspace's sliders (IE slider has to be at 100 or earning cards is disabled), and the two differences I noticed (from the pitch tracker) was the low frequency of balls up in the zone (there were a few), and balls waist high on the inside corner or off the plate. Other than that there weren't really that many noticable differences, other than I was able to walk 4 times in those 2 games (not 3-0 counts). The AI hitters pretty much hit the same (LAA beat me 7-3, and NYM beat me 5-3 with a good amount of solid hits, and only one HR ... incidently both games ended with me having the tying run at the plate).

Another thing I notice, and this may just be my perception, is that with IE off/removed, it seems that the OFs play deep on every hitter. I don't know if IE repoistions your OFs on its own, or if I am just imagining things.

without ie:

1. more foul balls

2. weird pitch counts 3-0 to 3-2 and strike

3. OF-s always play deep and infielders always play normal or double play. with ie you'll get shifts on some players etc.

i tried playing with ie at 5 and not at 100 and it was fun. unpredictable pitch counts (got 7 walks in a game), normal outfield and infield shifts, round 15 foul ball hits by me and 9 or by cpu etc. the only problem is ai batting is far more agressive. they'll often swing at first pitches and chase a bunch of balls out of the strike zone.

[Rger21]

without ie:

3. OF-s always play deep and infielders always play normal or double play. with ie you'll get shifts on some players etc.

Yeah...That's correct. Last night I was winning 3 - 2 to Boston in the 8th inning and first two batters hit flyballs that could be easy out if the outfielders were playing normal, instead the ball dropped near their feet for two consecutive hits. next thing I remember is K. Youk hitting a low fastball deep into the Rigth-Center field for a 5-3 game.......darn.... I went mad for it....I just couldn't play any more....

[abraves]

did you delete ie? couse his sliders say that you have to turn ie on or buy it, and put it up to 100.

What did this post mean "buy it"? Ihave seen something mentioned before about buying it. Is that something extra that keeps IE up to date?

[l00ks]

in franchise mode you have to buy IE report for every team you play ....

[CircleChange11]

To clarify ... if you want an Inside Edge scouting report for an opposing team, you must purchase it using your team's budget.

The team within your division cost more b/c you play them more games ... something like 1.0M for the division teams, 500K or so for others in your league.

[electro_cute]

i'd love to do statistics for mlb teams 1mil for 40 players? count me in!

[Rger21]

without ie:

1. more foul balls

2. weird pitch counts 3-0 to 3-2 and strike

3. OF-s always play deep and infielders always play normal or double play. with ie you'll get shifts on some players etc.

i tried playing with ie at 5 and not at 100 and it was fun. unpredictable pitch counts (got 7 walks in a game), normal outfield and infield shifts, round 15 foul ball hits by me and 9 or by cpu etc. the only problem is ai batting is far more agressive. they'll often swing at first pitches and chase a bunch of balls out of the strike zone.

Well, I did a test with IE files and the option on/off & removed. I got very interesting Results.

1st with IE files and option ON, these are my observations:

- I hate those colored squares that appear everytime before every pitch. it takes away realism from the game.

- AI pitcher will always pitch you around, specially in the areas near the green squares shown by the IE K zone. and if you get to two strikes AI will keep hitting those spots until you strikeout or get a weak contact.

- User deffense will adjust depending on the batter and the situation, which is good.

Now with IE files and option Off, hese are my observations:

- Obiously no color squares before every pith.

- AI pitcher can challenge you with a fastball in the middle as his first pitch.

- No pitching around during all the at-bat trying to hit only the K-zone.

- User deffense will adjust depending on the batter and the situation. I will detail some examples that helped me to this conclusion.

And finally IE files removed, these are my observations:

- As we discussed before, the weird 3-0 count becoming 3 consecutive strikes (specially if bases are empty)

- AI pitcher is more challenging with his repertory, Which is also good.

- And the worst part is that User defense doesn't adjust to every batter based on the situation.

Here are my examples.

Playing a game against the Cubbies (with IE removed), starting the inning was Alfonso Soriano, when I checked my defensive alignment infield was normal and outfield was DEEP, then for every other single batter the OF defense stayed Normal despite batting Derek Lee, Aramis Ramirez, bases loaded, men in second and third, men at first, one out, two outs, no outs. The IF defense only shifted to Double play or middle in depending if the batter had good speed or if there were a runner at first with less than 2 outs, other than those situations the IF only stayed Norlmal or Middle in.

After that, I put back the IE files ,turned the option OFF and re-started the game against the Cubs. The results were totally different. First, when Soriano came at bat the OF alignment was DEEP LEFT and IF normal, then for second batter, OF was normal and IF Middle In, for Derek Lee OF was DEEP LEFT and IF was Normal Left, Aramiz Ramirez had the same alignment, for the rest of the hitters the OF was changing from Normal to OF Right or Left depending on the batter's hand, IF was changing from Normal to IF left or right, Double play right/left, IF Back left/rigth, etc.

This situation leads me to the decision of just leave the IE files back to the MLB 2K9 folder and set the option to OFF.

If anyone wants to try, and post the results, any comment is welcomed. ;)

[tiedyed]

Well, I did a test with IE files and the option on/off & removed. I got very interesting Results.

1st with IE files and option ON, these are my observations:

- I hate those colored squares that appear everytime before every pitch. it takes away realism from the game.

- AI pitcher will always pitch you around, specially in the areas near the green squares shown by the IE K zone. and if you get to two strikes AI will keep hitting those spots until you strikeout or get a weak contact.

- User deffense will adjust depending on the batter and the situation, which is good.

Now with IE files and option Off, hese are my observations:

- Obiously no color squares before every pith.

- AI pitcher can challenge you with a fastball in the middle as his first pitch.

- No pitching around during all the at-bat trying to hit only the K-zone.

- User deffense will adjust depending on the batter and the situation. I will detail some examples that helped me to this conclusion.

And finally IE files removed, these are my observations:

- As we discussed before, the weird 3-0 count becoming 3 consecutive strikes (specially if bases are empty)

- AI pitcher is more challenging with his repertory, Which is also good.

- And the worst part is that User defense doesn't adjust to every batter based on the situation.

Here are my examples.

Playing a game against the Cubbies (with IE removed), starting the inning was Alfonso Soriano, when I checked my defensive alignment infield was normal and outfield was DEEP, then for every other single batter the OF defense stayed Normal despite batting Derek Lee, Aramis Ramirez, bases loaded, men in second and third, men at first, one out, two outs, no outs. The IF defense only shifted to Double play or middle in depending if the batter had good speed or if there were a runner at first with less than 2 outs, other than those situations the IF only stayed Norlmal or Middle in.

After that, I put back the IE files ,turned the option OFF and re-started the game against the Cubs. The results were totally different. First, when Soriano came at bat the OF alignment was DEEP LEFT and IF normal, then for second batter, OF was normal and IF Middle In, for Derek Lee OF was DEEP LEFT and IF was Normal Left, Aramiz Ramirez had the same alignment, for the rest of the hitters the OF was changing from Normal to OF Right or Left depending on the batter's hand, IF was changing from Normal to IF left or right, Double play right/left, IF Back left/rigth, etc.

This situation leads me to the decision of just leave the IE files back to the MLB 2K9 folder and set the option to OFF.

If anyone wants to try, and post the results, any comment is welcomed.

This is pretty much the same results I have seen. So I also put IE back in and just set the slider to 0 I still get great variation with the AI pitcher,no more 3 straight strikes on 3-0 counts and my fielders are making adjustments accordingly.

[electro_cute]

what do you mean by turnink ie off? turning it off in the option menu or turning the slider down to zero? couse turning it off in the option menu should just disable visual part of the ie aka red, blue and green squares.