Pitching
The pitcher can control how far off centre
(in either direction,) the ball will fly.
Before the ‘wind-up’ the pitcher must
decide what type of ball to pitch. This is done using a combination of
direction and button presses. Holding down the pitch button for longer controls
the speed of the pitch. Holding a direction on the movement stick controls the
type of pitch.
This will result in the player having 18
different types of pitch at their disposal.
Batting
When it comes to batting, most baseball
games require perfect timing. Resulting in 3 strikes occurring often and
batting swiftly becoming a frustrating experience.
The batting mechanic in Peanuts All-Star
Baseball will use a coloured box to aid the player’s timing and impart critical
information about when to hit the ball.
When the ball has been pitched, a coloured
box will appear next to the batter centred on the pitched ball. The box’s size
will reflect how near the ball is to the batter, so it will begin large and
gradually get smaller the nearer the ball gets.
The colour of the box will tell the batter
the type of hit they will perform should the swing at that monument. Red will
denote a miss, yellow represents a bunt, and blue a hit.
- Stage 1: Lucy waits for the ball to be pitched.
The box is red, to show that she will miss should she swing at this time. The
square will stay red and shrink, as the ball gets nearer until…
- Stage 2: if Lucy waits, the hit box will
turn yellow to show she can bunt the ball. Notice the box is still getting
smaller…
- Stage 3: the box will turn blue to indicate
a hit can be performed, but the box will not stay this colour long before…
- Stage 4: the box returns to red to show
that the opportunity to hit the ball has gone and a strike has resulted.
Using the above system, it should be much
easier to hit the ball. However it is still about timing. During game
balancing, we can alter when the box turns blue, yellow, and back to red, and
how long it remains that colour.
To add further depth to the batting control
(for more hardened gamers) we will take into account the length of time the
swing button is held down for the longer the pull back, the harder the final
strike. We will also include ant direction pushed on the stick after the ball
is struck giving the player the ability to add ‘after touch’ to the ball.
Hidden and special moves will also be possible through the use of simple button
combinations- holding down a shoulder button while striking the ball or double
taping the batting button may result in some crazy batting moves.
Finally, we take into account the ball
velocity based on the type of pitch, orientation with the batters box and
weather conditions – all of which can affect the final speed and trajectory of
the struck ball.
Watch the
shadow of the ball to work out whether you should swing or not.
- Neglecting to hit a ball that is
over the plate will be a strike
- Hitting a ball that is over the
plate will give the batter the most control and power over the hit.
- Ignoring a ball that tracks wide
of the plate is a ‘ball’ call. Four ‘ball’ calls and the batter gets a
free run to first.
- Hitting a ball that doesn’t fly
over the plate reduces the power and accuracy of the hit and there is a
good chance that the ball will fly into the foul zone, or straight to a
short stop.
Player up to bat
Running
Push the
analogue controller left or right to run. The further you push the stick the
faster the character runs.
Two buttons
control sliding and jumping.
These
functions can be overlaid onto the running to allow quick running slides and
running jumps.
Using the
analogue controls that most systems employ these days, we could give the player
control over the speed of the runner by the degree of pressure applied to the
input device.
I would like
to suggest putting obstacles in the path (themed to the current playfield) of
the runner so jumping or sliding under obstacles could be employed to spice up
the sprint to a base.
Fielding
The final aspect of game control is
fielding.
The player will automatically begin
controlling the fielder nearest to where the ball is likely to land. However
instead of simply positioning the fielder under the ball’s shadow and
automatically catching the ball. A further mechanic will be introduced. When
the ball and the fielder are close together, the cam view will overlay a zoomed
picture- in – picture view and the player will have much more precise control
over the fielder. The ball will then drop from the sky and the player must be
positioned correctly below it to make the catch.
When fielding the player uses the top
window to judge method of attack.
Use the lower window to arrange the
fielding positions.
A PnP is overlaid onto the fielding panel
for the catch. The bases are displayed so the player can judge the best
position to throw the ball to stop base runners.