Game Review
MLB ‘19 Realism Review
MLB The Show ’19 200 Hour Review on Sony PlayStation 4
Introduction
The game baseball is simultaneously physical and intimately psychological. Professional athletes are at the peak of human kinesiology; and their minds are trained to read, react, and resolve situations in milliseconds — this improvisation is why we love sports and sports gaming.
Sony San Diego Studios’ (SDS) challenge is to simulate athlete locomotion and human intelligence with computer programming in MLB The Show ’19.
Sound daunting? Well, it kind of is. That’s the game of baseball and ’19 is deep enough to warrant 100+ hours on learning curve alone.
This review will analyze core elements of the Show: general gameplay, the pitching and hitting interface; and the code stack that runs the game’s defensive animation system.
Let’s get into it.
Gameplay Strategy & Ratings
The authenticity of MLB is here. All of the MLB stadiums look and play distinct, as if they are unique universes onto their own. You’ll find the personality of each park as the foundation to a simulation game of baseball. Classic brick and granite walls serve as backdrops behind the dish in some parks, and various surface types in the outfield play differently. This adds more level of strategy when building a Diamond Dynasty team and deciding who to draft in the game’s fantasy draft Battle Royal tournaments.
The Show 19’s baseball physics are programmed with excellent depth and variety. Combining the ball physics with the various surface types and fields results in unique plays that can occur in every park. SDS added a highly tactile off-the-wall ribbon to provide gamers a guide on how to properly play baseballs off the wall.
Player Ratings
The player ratings impact all positions and animations, adding tremendous depth to the title. Per SDS, the standard MLB Big Leaguer is rated 60 out of 99 for a given rating. The mix of ratings creates unique personalities and skillsets for each ball player.
A player’s fielding rating will dictate just how well they can predict the angle of the ball bouncing off the wall — this is a small feature, yet the subtlety of this game design element is what separates great fielders from ordinary ones. These refinements to gameplay add tremendous strategy in late inning games where the margin of error is fine.
Drafting a Team
We can see how SDS builds on layers of gameplay mechanics and realism to customize playing strategy in ’19.
Gamers have to make decisions on how they wish to build Diamond Dynasty teams. Will your squad be offensive heavy, or defensive minded? How well do you hit with low contact, high power profiles? These are questions to ask when building your team. The stadium you choose to make home should complement your stick skills and the players you draft.
19’s legends to draft from are a joy — Ichiro impacts the game from right field. Griffey is a gazelle in center, and his signature swing is so silky smooth.
One gameplay design element worth noting is player emotion. Some players have high clutch ratings, and pitchers have confidence ratings. Pitchers constantly pounding the zone will keep composure high and are less at risk for hanging a breaking ball down the middle.
Identifying human emotion and quantifying it into in-game measurables is a welcome feature in sports titles and 19 does this well enough for the current hardware. We are looking forward to how this expands in the Show ’21 in PS5.
Pitching and Hitting Interface 87%
Pitching
As a pitcher, the game doesn’t start until you are ready. You own the game.
Pitching controls have the potential to be one of the most dynamic video gaming experiences for these reasons alone. Imagine an interface where your arm slot and release point impact the spin rates and break. In 19’s engine, gamers can carve up batters with an endless arsenal of precision attacks.
The pitching game is about keeping hitters off-balance. The game accomplishes this well. The higher the difficulty, the more difficult it is to cover the plate with the plate coverage indicator.
The pitching animations impact the game on competitive settings. Animations vary in delivery speed, arm slot, and release point. Picking up the ball from ¾ throwers can be challenging. Each ball park has a different hitter’s eye backdrop, too. ’19 captures so many variables that impact the stat-sheet.
The release points and arm slots of pitchers, in concert with player ratings, impact the amount of break and angles on pitches. Chris Sale’s slider is brutal on left-handed hitters, coming in at a sharp side angle with high velocity and sweeping action. The horizontal break is top rated, even for a silver, 78 overall card. He’s a weapon out of the pen in ’19 DD.
Further, the ratings will dictate what kind of damage is done on balls that are just missed from being squared up. Diamond levels pitchers are less likely to give up homer runs, and depending on ratings, they are more likely to get the calls on check swings for strike outs.
With these factors outlined above, we can see how not all pitches are created equal. One gripe is the pitch speed could stand to be a bit faster in competitive play — for a simulation game, the game does not simulate 1:1 real-life speeds even on Legendary difficult setting. This would make it incredibly difficult to hit, but, for a simulation game, it should be an option.
Plate Coverage Indicator
’19 simulates the hitting trends in today’s sport. Back-spinning baseball gives hitters a highest percentage to leave the yard. Hitting just under the center of the ball with the PCI results in epic blasts. This mechanic simulates the launch angle revolution we have witnesses as fans over the last five MLB seasons.
Squaring up a ball results in incredible batted ball speeds. This does not always result in a home run or hits. These batted balls are hit so sharp that a moderate amount result in lineouts.
Some may notice the hitting interface is inspired by the classic MVP Baseball zone hitting engine. 19’s engine is a 3d space, yet our view is in 2d, so it is important to remember the depth of the zone from front to back. This is how timing can effect squaring up a ball even if the PCI is not locked on 1:1. The PCI can be thought of as your hitters ability to make contact.
This interface does not provide hitters with the ability to pick up spin on the ball out of the pitcher’s hand. This factor could contribute to the simulation feel the most serious simulation fans are looking for.
Many Twitch gamers complain of the inconsistencies of results from good timing / good contact vs. good timing and squared up contact. The ratings are going to be driving a substantial part of outcomes. Results will never be premised on pure PCI skill alone.
Swing Animations
Swing animations can impact a gamer’s timing. Some hitters are smooth to the ball, and others have quirks. Some hitters crowd the plate, affecting how pitchers attack. Expect high and tight fastballs hitting with Cody Bellinger. Some hitters have tall strike zones, some small, depending on their height.
The smoothest swings will allow gamers to let the ball travel deep into the hitting zone. This is an advantage to take more time to identify the pitch, foul them off, and live for another pitch.
The Show ’19 encourages the chess match of batter and hitter through in-game pitch analysis, and an engine with dynamic batted ball results. Pitchers that keep hitters off-balance will find success. Hitters identifying pitches and tendencies will in their own battles. While a bit outdated, the engine just works and is enjoyable to play.
Locomotion (Animations) 94%
Finally. Let’s talk animations and coding A.I.
SDS added over 1,300 new fielding animations in ’19. These animations are directly influenced by player ratings, and situations on the diamond. SDS re-wrote their defensive A.I. logic to incorporate these new animations. This is no small feat.
The fielding artificial intelligence identifies situations such as the hitter and baserunners, batted ball speed, the score, and that’s just on the surface. This logic sits on top of a base locomotion layer and works with the new animation library. The throwing animations for fielders incorporate a sorting analysis through the new library of animations to determine the most efficient on-field outcome. Let’s think about that.
To create defensive A.I., SDS must take human situational awareness and thought processes and build game design elements in quantifiable terms to reflect in the game. The first step to do this is developing the player ratings.
Next, creating defensive A.I. requires simulating human thought processes with code logic and executable commands that are fluid and procedural i.e., reads and executes sequentially and logically ‘19’s fielders’ sort through hundreds of animations in milliseconds, determine what animation is required, then, what’s most efficient, select it, and execute it upon button command.
This programming logic and accompanying animations are supported by the underlying foot-planting engine to ensure there are no gaps in the fluid footwork and transitions during animation branching. Player ratings assign which animations are available to certain players, and how they react.
The Code
It could be possible SDS uses a mix of C++ and Python. C++ is extremely useful in building engines and logic from scratch. For a game to operate and function the way we want, it is likely C++ was used in the underlying locomotion engine. The developers at SDS are creating digital baseball worlds — they need as much flexibility and customization as possible.
A.I. can be programmed using the python language in most settings. Python allows developers to write with simple yet powerful syntax. Less syntax requires less memory, which results in more responsiveness. (SDS has yet to confirm with SM Sports this is the language of choice for their new animation library.)
The syntax, or characters used to write the code have to be light. Heavy languages and code can result in input delays, i.e., animations that fail to execute on time. This is something we have seen in the 2K sports franchise which has so many animations than it knows how to handle. It is likely that their programming syntax needs to be cleaned up.
Python can be developed to simulate neural networks of the human brain. The language is also scalable and modular, perfect for building animation libraries and swapping them in to existing frameworks. With 1,300+ animations added in ’19, it is likely SDS developed their proprietary fielding animation library with Python.
It is possible that the A.I. logic is sitting on top of the locomotion layer. This would not be uncommon. Tesla utilizes a combination of C++ and Python to develop their autonomous driving system.
On-Field Results
SDS should be commended on their animation branching. The footwork in the field is a joy. It is efficient and helps eliminate base-running exploits. Fielders are light on their feet and unleash straight vapor on their throws from acrobatic angles. The depth of the animations is comparable to the animation library found in the 2K franchise — it takes many logged hours to find new animations defenders can make, but they are there.
Gamers are looking for athletes that are light on their feet and responsive. ’19 effectively simulates athletes in motion and the human mind. In doing so, ’19 delivers the responsive control we treasure.
We never know what kind of throw Tatis Jr. will unleash from his arsenal next.
Conclusion
MLB the Show ’19 is not a true simulation of hitting a baseball, and that’s okay. The game is accessible, largely playable in competitive spaces, and provides immense replay value when we viewed it in its totality.
It’s ‘19’s artificial intelligence steals the show. Fielders possess situational awareness; A.I. defenders know what they need to do and unleash throws with varying speeds, arm angles, and trajectories to get outs.
’19 captures the beauty of athletes in motion, who improvise in every moment on the field.
Sim rating of 90%
