Contact explained

[nightwulf]

Is there anything new on this topic, any new ideas? Any other tests that were done?

Nothing new to do really; I've not found any other instance in the game when contact is used.

I'm not very computer literate, but was it explained what happens if you "jam" a hitter? If contact is subtracted the same way if you were to hit it with the end of the bat?

Also, if you were moving in the batter's box when you hit the ball (obviously a bit tougher to do on a rom without the fluid movement of an NES) does that subtract contact or does it not matter and it's only about where the bat meets the ball?

Also, stay put in the batter's box? Or move around a bit, which is best?

I'm not sure I understand these questions. Movement (from the ball or batter) isn't really relevant to the equation when it's calculated.

Nightwulf

[Attezzobal]

You pretty much answered my question, thanks. I was curious as to whether moving around in the batter's box with the hitter when the bat makes contact would have something to do with contact points, I'll take it to mean that it doesn't and it's solely based on where the bat meets the ball.

Excellent work, I wish I had half your smarts

[nightwulf]

Exactly. Remember that this calculation takes place in less than one-sixtieth of a second. The only relevant numbers are the position of your batter and the position of the ball during that small time frame. Whether the batter is actively moving or not won't make any difference in this case.

Nightwulf

[PHole717]

Exactly. Remember that this calculation takes place in less than one-sixtieth of a second. The only relevant numbers are the position of your batter and the position of the ball during that small time frame. Whether the batter is actively moving or not won't make any difference in this case.

Nightwulf

I guess thats why they have a 16th second delay between pitcher catcher batter view and field view

[JoeDirt]

'wulf how does the game determine when the ball is hit in the air vs on the ground?  is that random?  i understand ball placement on bat determines hit/out, but how is what kind of hit/out determined?

[ultimate7]

'wulf how does the game determine when the ball is hit in the air vs on the ground? is that random? i understand ball placement on bat determines hit/out, but how is what kind of hit/out determined?

There is another thread about this somewhere, there is some randomness involved in the trajectory of the hit.

[nightwulf]

'wulf how does the game determine when the ball is hit in the air vs on the ground?  is that random?  i understand ball placement on bat determines hit/out, but how is what kind of hit/out determined?

I'm gonna go on record with "I don't know yet." Height can be controlled solely by one (random) number, but I'm sure that's not the whole story. Trajectory I've not touched yet. The whole batting engine is a bag of no fun.

Nightwulf

[ultimate7]

What is the difference between height and trajectory?  A ball that goes high has a certain trajectory, it doesn't just start high.  How am I confused?

[nightwulf]

Maybe 'trajectory' isn't the right word. I mean the (two-dimensional) direction that the ball takes after leaving the bat. My head hurts.

Nightwulf

[ultimate7]

I agree with that as a definition of trajectory, but how are you defining height?  The highest point the ball reaches?

If the power is fixed and the height is fixed, then I would think the trajectoy is defined by these 2, but my physics is not so great.

[nightwulf]

By 'height' I mean the apex of the arc the ball travels. You could hit two balls that travelled exactly perpendicular to the bottom of the screen (a 90 degree angle), but the height would make the difference between one being a homerun and the other knocking the pitcher in the head.

My use of 'trajectory' in this instance has nothing to do with how high the ball travels in the air. I simply mean the angular direction the ball travels in without regard to how high it travels in the air. It's easy to describe this since we're all used to playing RBI Baseball, which by definition is a two-dimensional medium. If it weren't for the increase in the size of the ball, the shadow, and the stupid dying cow sound, you wouldn't be able to tell how high the ball is supposedly travelling. If there's a better word for 'trajectory in two dimensions only,' I don't know what it is.

Nightwulf

[PHole717]

We totally go way too far into a simple game........ I LOVE IT!

[Dryden]

Actually, there are 3 variables in play for a batted ball (not sure how RBI calculates it, but they are...)

1. Trajectory - angle of the ball to the playing field.  This determines ground ball, line drive, fly ball.

2. Power - what we all know and love.  This determines how hard the ball is hit, and how far it goes (unless it's trajectory is straight up, then it will only determine how long the catcher has to wait for it to come down.  Clearly a function of the batter's power and contact rating.

3. Angle/dispersion/left-rightness (what's the actual term for this?) - where the ball goes on the field (first, third, foul, etc.).  This one is pretty clearly controlled by the hitter, as swing timing has everything to do with this.

If we knew how trajectory was determined, we'd be there.

[Stock]

I am guessing that trajectory probablility is the same for all batters.  In other words, Nolan Ryan is just as likely to hit a ground ball as Reggie Jackson.
Please correct me if I am wrong here.

A question I have though. 
Is there an advantage to pulling the ball vs going to the opposite field.  From what nightwulf has laid out, it seems that you should get equal power going the other way as long as you hit the ball with the center of the bat.

However, although I see home runs to the opposite field, I never see huge bombs.  Is there anything in the code that would suggest a better power probability based on pulling the ball?

[GDavis]

I misread the title.  I thought this was going to be an explaination of former Hawk's center John Koncak.

[Dryden]

stockw-

The question is how, for a given bat-hits-ball event, is the trajectory determined?  I agree, it seems to be the same for all batters, but what actually sets whether it will be a ground, line, or fly?  Where's the variable that does that?

[BeefMaster]

A question I have though. 
Is there an advantage to pulling the ball vs going to the opposite field.  From what nightwulf has laid out, it seems that you should get equal power going the other way as long as you hit the ball with the center of the bat.

However, although I see home runs to the opposite field, I never see huge bombs.  Is there anything in the code that would suggest a better power probability based on pulling the ball?

My guess is that there is a modifier applied to the hit's power based on whether the ball is pulled or not.  The power of the hit is not necessarily the same as the power of the batter (otherwise, each batter would hit the ball just as hard every time up, unless contact was subtracted), so there's at least some randomness there.  I can easily see that the game could modify the power produced by the hit depending on the direction it was hit.

[Stock]

A question I have though. 
Is there an advantage to pulling the ball vs going to the opposite field.  From what nightwulf has laid out, it seems that you should get equal power going the other way as long as you hit the ball with the center of the bat.

However, although I see home runs to the opposite field, I never see huge bombs.  Is there anything in the code that would suggest a better power probability based on pulling the ball?

My guess is that there is a modifier applied to the hit's power based on whether the ball is pulled or not.  The power of the hit is not necessarily the same as the power of the batter (otherwise, each batter would hit the ball just as hard every time up, unless contact was subtracted), so there's at least some randomness there.  I can easily see that the game could modify the power produced by the hit depending on the direction it was hit.

Right, that is what I was getting at.  I was just wondering if this has been found to be true or not (more power for pulling the ball).

[nomaaa]

wow. nightwulf is a nerd.

[TβG]

i'm always interested in these types of explorations.  they have a grwat deal to do with fantasy league stuff in my opinion.