3D Baseball
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| 3D Baseball | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer | Crystal Dynamics |
| Publishers | |
| Designer | Sam Player |
| Platforms | PlayStation, Sega Saturn |
| Release | PlayStation Saturn |
| Genre | Sports |
| Modes | Single player, multiplayer |
3D Baseball is a sports game developed and published by Crystal Dynamics and distributed by Activision.[2] It was released in December 1996 for PlayStation and Sega Saturn. It received mixed reviews from critics.
There are over 700 major league players included with their own statistics and batting stances (50 of which are included). The season mode contains a full season of baseball, where the player can play each individual game, or just act as a general manager while the game's outcomes are automated. Playing as a general manager entails running the team, including activities such as picking line-ups and the pitching rotation, substituting batters and runners, and trading players, and building their own team. Players can play a short or extended season or opt to play a quickie arcade game against the computer or friend.[3]
Development
The player animations were created using a new animation process called Real Motion Control, which involved motion capture.[4] Game designer Sam Player explained the concept behind this process: "The reason everything always ends up looking choppy in [most motion capture] games is that the machines can't store all the frames necessary for the full animation, and they end up showing every fifth frame or so. What we do is build polygonal models, break each model up into joints, and then follow the curve of each joint in motion. Then we save those curves instead of each individual frame of animation."[5] The game features CNN sportscaster Van Earl Wright as the announcer.[6]
