Anyone played this? Being the first game I ever worked on, I'de love to here some feedback. Don't hold back either, trust me, I dont mind =)
My personal feeling about the game is this.....
I think the work that I did was pretty good. Especially considering the fact it was my first game. I can list what I did if anyone's interested.
As far as the game play goes. I hadn't played a realistic baseball game in a long time, so Im not sure how 2K stacks up against other recent baseball games, but I really dig the game. I hated it at first, but once I got use to the controls (swing stick), I really fell in love with the game.
Anyone else played it yet?
Edit: My name is Sparty
MLB 2K6 Xbox 360
Moderators: Funkmasterr, noel
i play this at my friends house a lot, home run derby mostly (ok, always), and have a blast, but im sure that says fuckall about the gameplay. on another note, if this matter, i played it on regular xbox.
i did however, play a lot of 2k5 when it was out and loved it, so if its the same gameplay and controls (which batting seems to be) then it is sweet.
i did however, play a lot of 2k5 when it was out and loved it, so if its the same gameplay and controls (which batting seems to be) then it is sweet.
I played it on the PS2 and was less then impressed, not sure how the play is different on another console though.
The wild pitches that come out of no where when the opposition has men in scoring postition, or if they are behind gets very old very quickly. It happens often....even using Roger Clemens...
The automatic switching between three players on a simple pop up is annoying (though you can turn automatic switching off).
Fielders dropping easy fly balls, or running past them on their own sucks.
The AI baserunning is very odd....on a past ball the runner could be just steps from the base, stop, turn around and run back to his previous base, I stopped throwing him out, just to keep it fair.
Don't get me wrong there are some great features I liked; like fielders being able to run into each other, but this feature can be annoying at the same time as you can easily collide into the wall on a shot to the corner or a roller to the wall. Being able to climb the walls and rob a homer is pretty fun. When signing a free agent they won't always sign if they don't agree with the type of manager you have, or if they do it will be for more then another type will be able to sign them for.
I only played the game for a few days on a rental just to check it out, and honestly remember more bad then good.
*edit*
I know this is for 360 and I posted experiances from the PS2, but had to put my 2cp out there.
The wild pitches that come out of no where when the opposition has men in scoring postition, or if they are behind gets very old very quickly. It happens often....even using Roger Clemens...
The automatic switching between three players on a simple pop up is annoying (though you can turn automatic switching off).
Fielders dropping easy fly balls, or running past them on their own sucks.
The AI baserunning is very odd....on a past ball the runner could be just steps from the base, stop, turn around and run back to his previous base, I stopped throwing him out, just to keep it fair.
Don't get me wrong there are some great features I liked; like fielders being able to run into each other, but this feature can be annoying at the same time as you can easily collide into the wall on a shot to the corner or a roller to the wall. Being able to climb the walls and rob a homer is pretty fun. When signing a free agent they won't always sign if they don't agree with the type of manager you have, or if they do it will be for more then another type will be able to sign them for.
I only played the game for a few days on a rental just to check it out, and honestly remember more bad then good.
*edit*
I know this is for 360 and I posted experiances from the PS2, but had to put my 2cp out there.
I'm a sucker for console baseball games, and have been playing the bejesus out of this on the 360 since the day it was released.
My two cents on the graphical aspects of the game:
- The stadiums are visually stunning. The detail that was put into the parks, skylines, crowds (best crowd graphics in a game to date), etc, is everything I could hope to expect from a 360 game.
- The pitching animations from (from the batter's perspective) are pretty well dead-on, as far as mimicking a pitchers real wind up and delivery motion
- The pitching animations (from the pitcher's perspective) seem a little 'stiff'. I'm not sure how to describe it, but they just aren't as smooth as I'd like to see. Something about the leg kicks maybe; not sure.
- I'm fairly impressed with the accuracy of the batting stances. I don't follow a lot of teams, but for those that I do, they were damn close.
- The running animations (both for fielders, and base runners) seem a little 'choppy'. Nothing major, just not quite natural.
- I'm generally pretty pleased with the fielding animations, as well as the cutaway/replay scenes. All look very well done.
- Overall, I'm not too impressed with the level of detail/accuracy on some of the player's faces. This is usually my biggest graphical complaint about most sports games, so either I'm being overly critical, or perhaps this is just a tough aspect of the game to nail down. Some players are very good, and some are way off. I read a review prior to purchasing which made a reference to Ichiro looking like an Italian-American, and I have to say that it was pretty accurate.
That being said, I'm really enjoying the game play so far.
- I hated the new 'swing stick' batting control, so I went into options and changed it to 'classic'. Problem solved.
- The base runner control, especially with multiple runners, was a little tricky to get used to, but once I got comfortable with it, I find it a big upgrade over most baseball games.
- Franchise mode, managerial styles, trainers, scouting... all done pretty well.
- The diving and wall-climbing catches are great. There’s nothing like pulling your opponents home run back across the fence.
- I really like the changes that were made to the pitching interface; use of the ball’s breaking point, rather then just aiming for a spot in the strike zone. 2-strike payoff pitches are kinda fun as well.
That's all just off the top of my head.
My two cents on the graphical aspects of the game:
- The stadiums are visually stunning. The detail that was put into the parks, skylines, crowds (best crowd graphics in a game to date), etc, is everything I could hope to expect from a 360 game.
- The pitching animations from (from the batter's perspective) are pretty well dead-on, as far as mimicking a pitchers real wind up and delivery motion
- The pitching animations (from the pitcher's perspective) seem a little 'stiff'. I'm not sure how to describe it, but they just aren't as smooth as I'd like to see. Something about the leg kicks maybe; not sure.
- I'm fairly impressed with the accuracy of the batting stances. I don't follow a lot of teams, but for those that I do, they were damn close.
- The running animations (both for fielders, and base runners) seem a little 'choppy'. Nothing major, just not quite natural.
- I'm generally pretty pleased with the fielding animations, as well as the cutaway/replay scenes. All look very well done.
- Overall, I'm not too impressed with the level of detail/accuracy on some of the player's faces. This is usually my biggest graphical complaint about most sports games, so either I'm being overly critical, or perhaps this is just a tough aspect of the game to nail down. Some players are very good, and some are way off. I read a review prior to purchasing which made a reference to Ichiro looking like an Italian-American, and I have to say that it was pretty accurate.
That being said, I'm really enjoying the game play so far.
- I hated the new 'swing stick' batting control, so I went into options and changed it to 'classic'. Problem solved.
- The base runner control, especially with multiple runners, was a little tricky to get used to, but once I got comfortable with it, I find it a big upgrade over most baseball games.
- Franchise mode, managerial styles, trainers, scouting... all done pretty well.
- The diving and wall-climbing catches are great. There’s nothing like pulling your opponents home run back across the fence.
- I really like the changes that were made to the pitching interface; use of the ball’s breaking point, rather then just aiming for a spot in the strike zone. 2-strike payoff pitches are kinda fun as well.
That's all just off the top of my head.
-
Tyek
- Way too much time!
- Posts: 2288
- Joined: December 9, 2002, 5:52 pm
- Gender: Male
- XBL Gamertag: Tyekk
- PSN ID: Tyek
- Location: UCLA and Notre Dame
I am with Flankman on the stick swing, here goes my assessment.
Pitching and hitting - 7
I really want to like it and I think you guys did a great job of capturing the batter/Pitcher duel that is critical to a great game. I feel like I have to really work the ball around to get a strike out. I also like the "nervous" pitch aspect when the bases were loaded. That said, like others pointed out, the "catch up" aspect of the game is a little crappy. When I was down 8-1 and barely touching the guy, my team suddenly could not get out and I was down 8-7 in 1 inning, not saying that doesn't happen, so I wrote it off as a very cool random occurence. The next game I am up 7-0 in the fifth and they get a double, then the wild throws someone mentioned starting coming out of the blue. My starting pitcher who was untouchable suddenly throws 3 wild pitches in one inning. 2 Innings later they start coming back again, home run, single double, (new pitcher) home run, single, wild pitch, wild pitch. Suddenly the score was 9-7 and I am starting to notice the pattern, every game seems to stay within 3-4 runs and if one team runs away with it...well they fix that shortly after.
Fielding - 3
Why does a guy hit a slow roller to shortstop and my center fielder is the only player I can have control over? I hit the left trigger over and over and finally after the runner has gotten to first, made coffee, sat down and read the paper, my shortstop becomes live. I have also watched outfielders seemingly in position to get a fly ball watch it bounce in front of them (only my players that is), while their's make miraculous over the wall grabs of my home runs. It is almost impossible to get it by the shortstop on the ground unless you do a hit and run and switching players, as I said is a hit and miss situation. The animation on the throws from the fielders runs the gammet from perfect to horrible, and I notice every so often a lag between getting the ground ball and the throw that led to several infield hits.
Graphics - 6
They look nice, but not really "Next Gen". It is a good looking game and presentation looks good, but based on screens, not much better then the PS2 or XBOX version.
Baserunning - 1
First off, it is confusing as hell, I have lost so many runs to guy stopping at third on a single to the wall, when the runner was on second and running when I hit it, if you hit advance all (the easiest way to advance) your runner is doomed at second, but you get the run, and I hate the queud base running, a couple of times I did not notice and my man gets to the base safe only to start running by what I presume to be a stunned 2nd baseman, who lobs it to third for an easy out. If you fixed the baserunning alone, I think you would have scored much higher on the reviews I have seen.
Game Modes - 9
I love, absolutely love GM mode. I have to tell you, I picked the Marlins because they suck and I wanted to rebuild a team. I have already met several goals, but right now I am torn, I have Dontrel Willis in the last year of his contract and he refuses the 8.5 million a year I have left to give him to resign. His agent is telling me he wants to test the free agent market and I have to decide by the trade deadline if I should trade him for other players or keep him and try and win now. I am in first place and I am trying to decide if I should trade a couple of others and try and free up some money to keep him, but the fact that I have to even think of this stuff is brilliant work on your companies part.
Sound - 6
Again, it is very nice in spots, amazing in other spots and then out of nowhere they give stats that are not even remotely close to the actual stats, they say the guy who stands and watches a homerun, made an effort worthy of a highlight reel and other things that make no sense.
My biggest problem with the game was the major bug it shipped with. Every game I started froze until I found out about the workaround. I would think you guys would have already had a patch for a problem that does not allow you to play. For those of you who have not bought it yet, if it freezes, you have to delete out your existing file, turn off the 360, then you have to put in three different games and let them load to main screen before you can load the 2K6 game. You have to do this while it is on, after you have done the 3 games, then put in the 2K6 game and played one game, you save your VIP file and the freezing never happens again. How in the name of all that is good did this bug get by you? I noticed it was delayed and I wonder if you held it until you figured out the workaround, but I have read numerous threads about people returning the game because it was unplayable, and not from a gameplay standpoint.
You said you wanted to hear the truth so that is a good part of it so far, at least my opinion of it. With all the problems though, I still enjoy the game, with a little more work, this could have been an amazing piece of work and if you clean up fielding a bit and redo baserunning next year, I think you will have a real winner.
Gratz on finishing your first game, I have definitely played worse, and while it is not perfect it is still a fun, good game. Overall I would give it a 7.
Pitching and hitting - 7
I really want to like it and I think you guys did a great job of capturing the batter/Pitcher duel that is critical to a great game. I feel like I have to really work the ball around to get a strike out. I also like the "nervous" pitch aspect when the bases were loaded. That said, like others pointed out, the "catch up" aspect of the game is a little crappy. When I was down 8-1 and barely touching the guy, my team suddenly could not get out and I was down 8-7 in 1 inning, not saying that doesn't happen, so I wrote it off as a very cool random occurence. The next game I am up 7-0 in the fifth and they get a double, then the wild throws someone mentioned starting coming out of the blue. My starting pitcher who was untouchable suddenly throws 3 wild pitches in one inning. 2 Innings later they start coming back again, home run, single double, (new pitcher) home run, single, wild pitch, wild pitch. Suddenly the score was 9-7 and I am starting to notice the pattern, every game seems to stay within 3-4 runs and if one team runs away with it...well they fix that shortly after.
Fielding - 3
Why does a guy hit a slow roller to shortstop and my center fielder is the only player I can have control over? I hit the left trigger over and over and finally after the runner has gotten to first, made coffee, sat down and read the paper, my shortstop becomes live. I have also watched outfielders seemingly in position to get a fly ball watch it bounce in front of them (only my players that is), while their's make miraculous over the wall grabs of my home runs. It is almost impossible to get it by the shortstop on the ground unless you do a hit and run and switching players, as I said is a hit and miss situation. The animation on the throws from the fielders runs the gammet from perfect to horrible, and I notice every so often a lag between getting the ground ball and the throw that led to several infield hits.
Graphics - 6
They look nice, but not really "Next Gen". It is a good looking game and presentation looks good, but based on screens, not much better then the PS2 or XBOX version.
Baserunning - 1
First off, it is confusing as hell, I have lost so many runs to guy stopping at third on a single to the wall, when the runner was on second and running when I hit it, if you hit advance all (the easiest way to advance) your runner is doomed at second, but you get the run, and I hate the queud base running, a couple of times I did not notice and my man gets to the base safe only to start running by what I presume to be a stunned 2nd baseman, who lobs it to third for an easy out. If you fixed the baserunning alone, I think you would have scored much higher on the reviews I have seen.
Game Modes - 9
I love, absolutely love GM mode. I have to tell you, I picked the Marlins because they suck and I wanted to rebuild a team. I have already met several goals, but right now I am torn, I have Dontrel Willis in the last year of his contract and he refuses the 8.5 million a year I have left to give him to resign. His agent is telling me he wants to test the free agent market and I have to decide by the trade deadline if I should trade him for other players or keep him and try and win now. I am in first place and I am trying to decide if I should trade a couple of others and try and free up some money to keep him, but the fact that I have to even think of this stuff is brilliant work on your companies part.
Sound - 6
Again, it is very nice in spots, amazing in other spots and then out of nowhere they give stats that are not even remotely close to the actual stats, they say the guy who stands and watches a homerun, made an effort worthy of a highlight reel and other things that make no sense.
My biggest problem with the game was the major bug it shipped with. Every game I started froze until I found out about the workaround. I would think you guys would have already had a patch for a problem that does not allow you to play. For those of you who have not bought it yet, if it freezes, you have to delete out your existing file, turn off the 360, then you have to put in three different games and let them load to main screen before you can load the 2K6 game. You have to do this while it is on, after you have done the 3 games, then put in the 2K6 game and played one game, you save your VIP file and the freezing never happens again. How in the name of all that is good did this bug get by you? I noticed it was delayed and I wonder if you held it until you figured out the workaround, but I have read numerous threads about people returning the game because it was unplayable, and not from a gameplay standpoint.
You said you wanted to hear the truth so that is a good part of it so far, at least my opinion of it. With all the problems though, I still enjoy the game, with a little more work, this could have been an amazing piece of work and if you clean up fielding a bit and redo baserunning next year, I think you will have a real winner.
Gratz on finishing your first game, I have definitely played worse, and while it is not perfect it is still a fun, good game. Overall I would give it a 7.
When I was younger, I used to think that the world was doing it to me and that the world owes me some thing…When you're a teeny bopper, that's what you think. I'm 40 now, I don't think that anymore, because I found out it doesn't f--king work. One has to go through that. For the people who even bother to go through that, most assholes just accept what it is anyway and get on with it." - John Lennon
Awesome feedback fellas. I have to say, im with you guys on just about all points.
Personally, I created all the art for 8 stadiums (Bos, Kan, Det, Hou, Tex, Col, Tam, and Bal). I also did all of the skys you see in game, aswell as most of the grass and dirt.
The main graphic complaints seem to be the players. Which I totally agree. I was just moved over to the character art team (3 of us) this week, so I can't wait to tackle some of the issue's that plagued this years release.
My favorite part of the game is Pitching. I pitched my whole life, and I was amazed how accurate the pitcher/batter battle is in this game. Very realistic as far as strategy goes.
I also disliked the swing stick at first, but I swear, once you gets use to it, you will love it.
Baserunning sucks....
Fielding could deffinately use some work aswell.
Im really bummed that you suffered from the freezeing bug Tyek. I probably shouldnt comment on the issue...Cant leave ya hanging though. We (our studio, our parent studio, and microsoft) tested for months and months and this bug never poped up. I know that doesnt make much sense, but It would really take an essay to explain what the poblem ended up being. In short, the problem was a well known issue with many 360 games (oblivion, nba, etc). The only differance was that the problem was freezing mlb, and it was only slowing down load times for those other games. Ide say the blame is 50% 2k, and 50% microsoft. Sorry dude =)
Thanks fellas =)
My name is Sparty
Personally, I created all the art for 8 stadiums (Bos, Kan, Det, Hou, Tex, Col, Tam, and Bal). I also did all of the skys you see in game, aswell as most of the grass and dirt.
The main graphic complaints seem to be the players. Which I totally agree. I was just moved over to the character art team (3 of us) this week, so I can't wait to tackle some of the issue's that plagued this years release.
My favorite part of the game is Pitching. I pitched my whole life, and I was amazed how accurate the pitcher/batter battle is in this game. Very realistic as far as strategy goes.
I also disliked the swing stick at first, but I swear, once you gets use to it, you will love it.
Baserunning sucks....
Fielding could deffinately use some work aswell.
Im really bummed that you suffered from the freezeing bug Tyek. I probably shouldnt comment on the issue...Cant leave ya hanging though. We (our studio, our parent studio, and microsoft) tested for months and months and this bug never poped up. I know that doesnt make much sense, but It would really take an essay to explain what the poblem ended up being. In short, the problem was a well known issue with many 360 games (oblivion, nba, etc). The only differance was that the problem was freezing mlb, and it was only slowing down load times for those other games. Ide say the blame is 50% 2k, and 50% microsoft. Sorry dude =)
Thanks fellas =)
My name is Sparty
-
Tyek
- Way too much time!
- Posts: 2288
- Joined: December 9, 2002, 5:52 pm
- Gender: Male
- XBL Gamertag: Tyekk
- PSN ID: Tyek
- Location: UCLA and Notre Dame
Thanks for the info Sparty, I noticed tonight there was an update, was that the patch?
Like I said, you have the makings of an amazing game, I look forward to next season's edition if you just fix a few of those issues.
Like I said, you have the makings of an amazing game, I look forward to next season's edition if you just fix a few of those issues.
When I was younger, I used to think that the world was doing it to me and that the world owes me some thing…When you're a teeny bopper, that's what you think. I'm 40 now, I don't think that anymore, because I found out it doesn't f--king work. One has to go through that. For the people who even bother to go through that, most assholes just accept what it is anyway and get on with it." - John Lennon