Super Mega Baseball 3(!)

saw someone created this team...

IMAGE(https://i.redd.it/pmscme0fkc051.jpg)

Well, dropping down seems to have helped a lot. I just picked up my Gold 7 game win streak award. Got on a run last night and could not stop playing.

I will say that the more I play humans the less satisfying solo play is. Metal Head has really done an amazing job balancing the pitcher/hitter battle. And that battle gets personal over the course of a game.

There is nothing like taking the mound after hammering a team for a crooked number, knowing they are chomping at the buy to get those runs back, and using that aggressiveness against them. Or when you realize they are getting really patient because you are trying to get them to chase too much, and then zipping a fastball by them for a strike with their bat on their shoulder.

At this point, I’m actually using power pitching most of the time. I started out bing completely unable to aim it at all. But I still use contact for hitting 99% of the time. I still hit my fair share of HRs, and Rip Dingers smacked two in one game last night.

IMAGE(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EZMr5i1XYAE8DFK?format=jpg&name=large)

I'm still to scared to play online

kergguz wrote:

I'm still to scared to play online

Well, it is scary. And it can be humiliatingly overpowering. No doubt.

The key is to seriously use those games to learn. What do they do? Where do they pitch to? What do they and don’t they swing at. And then there is just the execution of fielding and baserunning that you need to be comfortable with.

I lost nine games in a row, and was mercy ruled a few times. My rating dropped to the low 1400s. But that really shows how good the game is. Because as it dropped my rating it also dropped my EGO. And, as I played more, I faced more and more players at my skill level. Bottoming our allowed me to progress and learn, even though it took getting stomped several times first.

And the way back up the ratings is really rewarding. The game does a good job of finding folks in your skill level, so I started getting some good games, even as I was still mostly losing.

I did just have my win streak ended at 7, as I was held to 2 hits in a 3-1 loss. My opponent exploited the crap out of a weakness I didn’t realize I had. One hit was a 5th inning solo HR with 2 outs. He was just pitching to contact and knocked it out in CF.

But now I have a new tool in pitching, and a weakness to work on. Just freaking love this game.

When the online game adjusts your ego, does it do it in the split fashion or as one overall number?

Because my pitching is fine, but I absolutely cannot bat for sh*t.

It splits it. At the very least, the game shows you the EGO for hitting and batting that you and your opponent use online. But I only see that displayed in a game. In the PR hub, all I see is my rating.

It may be adjusting for speed and fielding, too, but I’m not sure.

The main thing, once you play enough to get rated, matchmaking does a good job of finding opponents that match your skill level.

Had a crazy game the other night that I won, but since I was ranked quite a bit higher, my opponent gained 390 points, and I got just 20.

The number one player right now has a rating of 5069 and he’s also 20-8. I’ve been matched up with just one guy over 2000, and my rating has fluctuated between 1400 and 1750. I’m current 1726 with an 8-10 record.

Is there a trick to contact hitting? Almost everything I hit skies into the outfield so high that the fielder has time to take a nap before catching it, or donks into ground in front of an infielder.

I would guess almost all of my successful hits are low liners that get by the Pitcher and the over the second base bag. In cricket they have the wagon wheel to show where your hits are going and in SMB3 my wagon wheel would just be a thick straight line.

The trick is getting the cursor all the way over the ball. Pop-ups are because you are getting underneath it.

Also, even if you are on it, but outside the zone, you will get dinged.

I played my five placement games and went 2-3 as, as expected, my batting let me down.

My pitching held up which meant all five games were pretty close but despite picking the "High Contact" Jacks I couldn't score any runs.

Favourite game of the lot was a tight one where I took a 1-0 lead into the top of the last inning and then with two out and no one on base my opponent deliberately hit two consecutive batters in the head.

They were my two star outfielders and both were injured. I'd already sent an Outfielder in as a pinch hitter, so in the bottom of the inning my outfield was manned by one fielder, a lawn chair and a laundry basket strapped to a Roomba.

His second batsman in the inning then blooped a hit into the gap between my clueless deep fielders and he ran in two for a walk off win.

The game needs a charge the mount button though, because if you hit one of my dudes in the head I'm going to glare, but when you then immediately do it again I'm going to feed you a bat.

Bad Mojo

My favourite thing is the fielding error, meaning his sacrifice was in vain.

Well, that is no fun at all!

My fear of playing online is not losing big.. its toxicity. Is there a chat function, and more importantly, can it be disabled? This includes "quickchat" type emojis or whatever.

Carlbear95 wrote:

My fear of playing online is not losing big.. its toxicity. Is there a chat function, and more importantly, can it be disabled? This includes "quickchat" type emojis or whatever.

I never use headphones in random matchups. There is a preset chat function. You have 8 or 10 slots to place phrases you select from a menu.

Most of the time, I don’t even notice a message pop up. I did last night, and actually had a great game go extra innings. We were going back and forth with “Oof, Well Played, what?!?, LOL,” and the such.

We went extra innings, and as I closed out the game by getting him to pop up, he sent a “Well played.” I normally send nothing back, but his reactions were cracking me up and so I joined in.

One aspect that will be interesting to see when it comes to online play is baserunning. In a word, baserunning in this game is fantastic. But that means it is also an important part of the game, and failure to use the tools you have to stop it will frustrate some gamers.

You have three tools. First is the pick-off, which is simple, but if it’s all you do, you will get burned. You can also step off the mound, which will often expose an opponent’s intent. And you have pitchouts, which dramatically improve the chances you throw a guy out

Controlling a runner, you can apply massive pressure to a pitcher with the threat of stealing. I do wish they would improve the timing on pickoffs, because if the runner leaves a fraction of a second earlier, instead of a pickoff, he will get to second before your field can catch and throw there. It’s why stepping off helps.

But guys will just take off, and you have to throw to the base to stop them. That’s not hard, but if you get tunnel vision, trying to set up the perfect pitch sequence, they will get there before you can react. I did find, though, that you do not have to step off. If the runner goes, you can hit Y or up in the D-Pad and will get him easily.

I think of this because in that game, we were both aggressive in the base paths , but we also made each other pay, and that slowed us down. But the moment either of us stopped paying attention, we would push it.

But if you are still getting used to the controls and the game, it can feel cheap and unfair. But the game gives you the tools to stop them. And the trolly guys that do this are easy to get out. And they give up after the first or second inning.

But I love the amount of attention it takes away from pitching, because that feels real. And it feels real like playing sports live, where you were taught to exploit mistakes.

But sports games are traditionally bad at reproducing this, so aggressive baserunning was just cheesy. But, like so much of this game, it’s balanced here.

He pulled off a move that surprised me and picked my guy off. The game prevents you from spamming pickoffs and such by reducing your Mojo a bit after using them, but not getting an out. So repeated pickoffs are rare. This guy threw over, and I wasn’t stealing. But I decided to go on the next pitch, but he threw over and nailed me. Then he picked me off a second time the next inning.

But I also threw out two base stealers. Every pitch in that game mattered. He hit a three run bomb in the first and it seemed like he thought this was going to be easy. Then I put up 5 in the bottom of the 1st. Then it was on.

He tied the game game in the fifth, but I won the game 7-6 in the 6th. Eight runs scored in the first inning, and then just five more over the next 5 innings made it thrilling. We both new it could break open any moment.

Also, Charlie Best, my A+ reliever has been hurt and unavailable for the last two games. That is a massive missing security blanket.

The more I play this, the more I am impressed with these devs. Never played a baseball game this well balanced, ever.

Stealing bases? What is this 1990s baseball? My advanced analytics say HRs, OBP and Ks are all that matter... and yes I use the Wideloads

Also, I understand the whole stepping off thing, but is there limit or penalty for this? Going on my joke above.. i've never stolen a base in this game but the last thing I want to do is spend 2 minutes before every pitch checking the runner at first. EDIT: NM I read your post more carefully and it does mention it.

When you step off do you have to throw to first if the runner is taking off? Isn't it a balk to not go to the original base?

No, it’s not a balk. Stepping off is not a move to a base, so you can throw anywhere or nowhere. They do not have balks in the game. With a pickoff, you are just pressing the d-pad towards the base, and animates the pickofff. Stepping off is just hitting LT.

And there is a timer, so you have x time to decide on a pitch and location, and whatever you might do about a runner on base. And it’s not every runner, as most are too slow. But if your opponent is clearly in a pattern, you can get a massive jump and steal with anyone. But just a few moves early in a game will cause an opponent to back off. Sometimes I throw over just to keep it in their head, even if I know they are not going to go, making them assume that I will totally nail them later.

Also, I end up rolling with my better defensive catcher because he has a great arm, instead of my much better hitting catcher. But when I need offense, I have him on my bench. I’ve also started giving more priority to speed and fielding overall.

So far I have played a total of 2 guys that were dumb aggressive on the bases. Both just stopped after the second inning because they just ran into outs. So at the very least, be prepared to show you understand how to defend against them early.

But overall, this has to be one of the least problematic online sports games I’ve played. I did have a game the other night in which my opponent went 3 up and 3 down in the first, and I proceeded to tally 7 in the bottom. When the second inning started, he just stopped pitching. If you do not throw soon enough, it’s an auto ball. Four auto balls in a row, or eight in a game results in a forfeit. So my first batter of the second got auto walked for the win.

If he had pitched, three runs would have ended the game, too.

Great info last couple posts, Jayhawker, thank you!

Played my first penant race.. was a great game until I screwed it up in the bottom of the 5th or 6th and then everything came undone.

Was tied 3-3 and I was up to win the game. Got a base hit, sacrificed him to 2nd base. Next batter hit a single to right and I thought I could score from 2nd but the RF had a cannon and threw me out by a country mile. I knew I shouldn't have done it as just having someone on 3rd with 1 out should have been enough, but I got greedy was hoping to just end it there. Of course next batter hits a bloop single which would have won it if I played it correctly, but couldn't do anything else and the inning ended.

Next inning was just a comedy of errors and I got frustrated and opponent put up 5. I got 2 back in the bottom of the inning but that was the end of that.

All in all a good experience. First attempt I started matchmaking and it just kept going. I canceled it and started again, and it found someone within 20 seconds.. not sure if I was just lucky the 2nd time or if something was up the first time.

I’ve noticed a few times that when looking for a game that canceling and starting the search finds a game really quick.

But I have no idea if that was just dumb luck.

And I know what you mean about those innings that just go off the rails. It can be deflating.

With base-running, I feel like you just need to be ready to go back to third in that situation. Run downs aren’t great, but force the guy to make as many throws as you can.

Also, once a runner begins a slide animation, they are safe. The ball needs to be there before.

I grabbed this on Switch without a ton of research, just felt like I wanted a baseball game to play and saw some buzz here. I'm mostly enjoying it but Im a little surprised there's not more to it. Other than when I worked on the MLB 2k series way back in 2000-2002, the last baseball game I seriously played was (seriously) Hardball 2 in '89. The feature set of HB2 is not far off this one with similar modes and gameplay with generic teams. Hell HB2 even had instant replays which somehow this doesn't (even home runs seem to just replay the ball path, looks like the players are not replayed)

For $40 it's solid and I'll keep playing my custom league but I think I did hope for a few Franchise bells and whistles and at least a basic batting/pitching practice mode. There's also zero in game explanation of Ego or I couldnt find it in 3 separate instances of digging through the help text.

I was chatting on Twitch last night about that. I even said that this game, especially in multiplayer, reminds me most of Hardball, going back to the first one I played on a C64. My brothers and friends would play that H2H for hours and hours.

The starting pitcher had a limit of how many fastballs you could throw until they were just straight easy pitches. You never really knew when, but a FB was hard to hit. But you had to throw them at the right time, and your opponent knew this, so it was cat and mouse. And curve balls were done my using the joystick to bend the ball as it traveled to the plate. The game was simplistic, but within it, they nailed the right aspects to make it deeper than it seemed on the surface.

This game has that same feeling. There are just layers of strategy and cool gameplay. The lack of a license is a plus for me. It allows for a franchise system that is deep and strategic, but without being weighed down with replicating CBAs and contract negotiating. It doesn’t ask the AI to do something it can’t, which is what every single sports sim does that has trades and free agency that you compete with the AI using. Not a single AI GM in any sports game can manage a roster, sign and release players, and negotiate trades in a manner that is actually satisfying. (I have not played FM, so maybe that’s an exception, but even OOTP is terrible in this regard.)

For me, last year’s game was essentially free, as it launched with Gamepass. I don’t find $45 for a game that is really, really light on micro transactions to be bad. It was an easy buy for me.

One thing that really shines is how as you improve and play at higher Egos increases the need to improve in different areas, both strategically and skill wise. I just got my PR rating to 1800 last night, and am playing with a 42 Ego. I’ve been on a good run, but as I face better players, I am realizing I need to nail down power hitting. I use contact exclusively, even though my team is power hitting centric. I’ve still been hitting plenty of HR, but that has dried up as I move up.

I’ve gotten power pitching down, and I use that nearly exclusively, and my pitching improved significantly. But timing a power swing is hard, and I’ve just not committed to it yet. But I think I may need to to increase my rating. The ranges are reset every week, but to move from Senior to Semi-pro right now, I would need to get to over 2700. From there it jumps to Pro to All-Star to Legendary. You need to break 4500 to get to Legendary.

The best way to think of Ego is that there are 99 difficulty levels for each of the four aspects, hitting, pitching, fielding, and speed. Then you have Mojo, which is just a way to represent confidence and getting in the zone. This will improve ratings, and can be seen in things like a larger or smaller reticule to hit with. And despite its arcades nature, it’s also the only time I’ve seen a baseball game represent hot and cold streaks better. A high Mojo is no guarantee to success, and you can pitch and hit your way out of a low Mojo.

I have three guys just peaking right now, and still got held to one run in a game last night. But ok’ Rip Dingers is ripping Dingers for me, which brings up another aspect I love, which is the need to tweak and update tour lineups. For one, Rip Dingers has an RBI Man trait that enlarges his reticule with a runner in scoring position. Now I try to keep a fast guy in front of him so I can try to stream second if need be. Right now, that easy, since I bat him 4th. But when he cools off, I drop him to 6th, which affects who I bat 3rd and 5th.

My general lineup philosophy is to have the 5 and 6 spots be power hitters, but to favor contact for the 5 hole and power for the 6 hole. Rip’s contact is generally low.

The more I play it, the more I see how this game really rewards sound baseball philosophy, regardless of what yours is.

Also, I discovered last night that when your 1B fields the ball, and you need to run to the bag, if you “throw” to first, they will run straight to the bag if no one is covering. Can make it easier than sometimes frantically trying to aim the field so that he doesn’t miss it in a bang-bang play.

mortalgroove wrote:

Great info last couple posts, Jayhawker, thank you!

Thanks. I’m at that fun point in a new game where I get a little obsessed.

So what makes a "good" human player good? I played a game last night and literally every pitch I threw off the plate he didn't swing at, every pitch I threw in the strike zone (even in the corners, speed changes, etc) were roped for base hits. I got mercy ruled in the 2nd inning. It was as if his batting icon was exactly where my pitch was going to be perfectly 100% of the time if it was a strike. The only way I got him out I assume the RNG just let him down.

Is there a batting aimbot in here?

Ever watch a young streamer play a shooter? They lock onto heads with unreal accuracy. I don't believe I was ever nearly as skilled at reflex and thumb-eye coordination in my prime as they are. Moving a cursor a fraction of an inch toward a ball and timing it right is trivial by comparison to being good at Fortnite.

Also they can have different Ego levels right? So they could have more help?

Carlbear95 wrote:

So what makes a "good" human player good? I played a game last night and literally every pitch I threw off the plate he didn't swing at, every pitch I threw in the strike zone (even in the corners, speed changes, etc) were roped for base hits. I got mercy ruled in the 2nd inning. It was as if his batting icon was exactly where my pitch was going to be perfectly 100% of the time if it was a strike. The only way I got him out I assume the RNG just let him down.

Is there a batting aimbot in here?

I thought that myself for awhile. But what I found was I was too predictable. And if I get into a groove, I have to be careful not to do the typical sequence. Get him down low, then fire a fastball up high.

When I hit, I move the reticule to where I think my opponent will aim. If by the second or third inning you aren’t in the right zone most of the time, you are either not paying attention, or the pitcher has figured out where you will look.

Then I use the movement of the reticule to clue me in on location and if it will be strike. It moves in the direction of the pitch, and will move faster if that location is farther away. You just tend to feel.

Also, throw a lot of balls out of the zone. A lot. I want him used to taking pitches. Then I aim for the borders, so that the pitch really could go either way. Once I have my opponent taking pitches, I will have hopefully figured out where he will take a ball on a corner, and where he will swing when it’s out of the zone.

I know I’m on when I can generate pop up on high pitches and grounders on low. They are guessing wrong, and it leads not getting full contact. Make them move that cursor to hit.

Then think about how you “trick” them. You need to throw a lot of balls to get them to take strikes. Once you’ve done that, you can use the slider and cut fastball to start it out and bend it in. But realize, if the guy is just making a mistake by going after a pitch out of the zone, you just bent it into his sweet spot.

You should normally start in, and then bend pitches out, again, Then if he’s wrong, he misses or fails to get good contact. And if he takes it, it’s just a ball.

Think of the zone as nine boxes. You will avoid the middle box. So if a guy is hammering my corner pitches, then I will the middle edge boxes.

Also, lean on fastballs as much as possible. It forces the quickest decisions, and makes easier to get them not quite get full contact.

And again, once you establish the fastball early and often, the change and breaking pitches are way more effective. Unless you have a guy with a terrible fastball, it’s your best pitch.

Just remember, you HAVE to trick them to be successful. But you have to realize they know you are trying to trick them, so sometimes, throw a fastball low in the zone to the guy with low pitch trait.

When I hit, at first, I assume they are a baseball fan and are aware of basic baseball “truths” liking keeping the ball low. So I start looking for low pitches. I look for breaking balls down and away. Eventually, I look for the pitches that my opponent has had success with. That’s what we all do, look for our safety blanket.

TL;DR

Many times our view of mixing things up is extremely predictable. It’s really why I find human opponents more fun. The traditional pitching sequences will beat an AI, but humans adjust and adapt quicker.

polypusher wrote:

Ever watch a young streamer play a shooter? They lock onto heads with unreal accuracy. I don't believe I was ever nearly as skilled at reflex and thumb-eye coordination in my prime as they are. Moving a cursor a fraction of an inch toward a ball and timing it right is trivial by comparison to being good at Fortnite.

Also they can have different Ego levels right? So they could have more help?

First, yep, the ability to track and aim into a cursor will make you a better hitter, and sometimes they are just too good for us. I would argued that hitting in baseball games can be much tougher than shooting, but getting good at getting your reticule lined is going to move you up a lot.

But if a guy is aiming high and you pitch low, it’s still going to harder to make solid contact than a high pitch just one box over. If I’m moving my cursor a ton in the 3rd and 4th innings, I’m in trouble. At the very least I try to avoid taking any swings where I move that far with less than two strikes.

If you want a pitcher to throw strikes, you have to not just take balls, but take some strikes. Let him believe you won’t swing.

But also, if a guy takes a strike, he was looking elsewhere. Remember that. Think about what all that means. You might come back there later, or you may pick up on the sense that they will now look there, so you do the opposite.

But I want to emphasize, I’m in a Senior division.

Unranked-Junior-Senior-SemiPro-Pro-AllStar-Legendary

My advice could be catsuit crazy or only applicable to a small slice of the competition. I’m definitely not crushing the game. But I do like talking about how I am adapting to the game, and what strati think are working.

My hope is that we can all get to certain level of competence so that we can enjoy a custom Pennant Race, when it drops, without massive disparity in skills.

I totally get pitching and trying to fool the guy.. but this player literally took every ball in the strike zone and roped it, and every pitch just barely out of the zone he held off. I get he had a good eye, but I definitely mix up pitches. I didn't throw enough pitches to even get into a predictable pattern, because he roped every single one of them. I think it wasn't until his 6th batter until he just fouled a ball off.

He never took a strike. It was either foul, base hit or out. I may have had 3 or 4 swinging strikes (not Ks) in the 8 or so outs I got before the Mercy rule kicked in. Curveball, fastball, inside, outside, power pitch, regular pitch it did not matter. So to your point, if I threw to a spot he wasn't looking for he should have held off for a strike, but he didn't. He literally hit every strike hard.

I get reaction time and all that.. but once the pitch leaves the pitchers hand there's nothing I can do to influence the batter. Maybe the better question would have been "what would a more skilled player have done differently" as a pitcher? Maybe I was predictable.. I'd like to think I've watched enough real baseball in my life to understand changing speeds and locations, and if this guy beat me via mercy rule so be it.. but its the way literally everything was hit that completely stumped me and frustrated me. If I throw a fastball into position X, it behaves the same if the highest rater player in the world threw that pitch, so the batters result would have been the same no?

Anyways, it was just one game, and I will play some more, but games like that really get me down. Losing is one thing..when its so bad that you think the opponent is cheating, then its kind of hard to get back into it.

I’m sure there are guys that can pretty much pull that off, but most of them are playing at a much higher Ego and level.

But I will tell you that my progression started with still giving up a ton in the first inning, but then clamping down, even though I was still losing.

Another question. Are you using regular or power pitching? I got much better once I figured out power pitching, and I use it for every pitch.

And how is your aim, and what is your typical power number on a pitch. I am now hitting 85-95 regularly. I think regular pitching tops out at 50.

I played a team the other night and his starter was topping 100 mph and I was flat out overpowered. I fouled off a ton down the line, but it was insane the difference a few MPH made.

Jayhawker wrote:

I’m sure there are guys that can pretty much pull that off, but most of them are playing at a much higher Ego and level.

But I will tell you that my progression started with still giving up a ton in the first inning, but then clamping down, even though I was still losing.

Another question. Are you using regular or power pitching? I got much better once I figured out power pitching, and I use it for every pitch.

And how is your aim, and what is your typical power number on a pitch. I am now hitting 85-95 regularly. I think regular pitching tops out at 50.

I played a team the other night and his starter was topping 100 mph and I was flat out overpowered. I fouled off a ton down the line, but it was insane the difference a few MPH made.

I mix it up, but i definitely do some powerpitching. I've found that power pitching curve balls can be quite effective, almost turns it into a slurve. Does pitcher stamina scale since its only a 5 inning game? I guess I'm stuck in the mentality that if you power pitch every pitch you will wear down faster. If SPs have 9-inning Stamina despite it being a 5 inning game, then I suppose I can do it more often.

With regular pitching I think my aim is pretty good. With this guy, I could put the pitching circle just outside the strike zone and he'd hold off, then I move it over just a little bit in from there so it would be a strike and boom.. big base hit.

Anyways I'll chalk it up to just dumb luck..whether that's his RNG on the hitting or my dumb luck of finding someone who was actually cheating.. i'm just hoping it doesn't happen again.

Power pitching and regular have the exact same impact in stamina. I think I would prefer it if there was a downside, but there is not.

If I throw strike is it always power. If I’m throwing out of the zone, it’s mostly power.

You can still crank a pitch out of the zone, but it is harder to pull off if you are getting over 80 power on the pitch. So my first move would be ykk OK just commit to power pitching. So far, I don’t see a down side, other than some crazy wildness if you time poorly.