Alright Boyz, Here We Go!!!! (OOTP 2007 release thoughts!!!)

[DanGarion]

All I saw was the preview one, so I guess we need an actual release post now... right?

I'm installing the game right now...

_____________________________________________________________________________________
SKYDOG EDIT/ADDENDUM: Game is now released to the public.

OOTP Baseball 2007

More mirror sites wanted!

PC Setup files

ootpdevfiles (http://ootp2007.ootpdevfiles.com/ootp2007setup.exe)
rapidshare (http://rapidshare.de/files/37686571/ootp2007setup.exe)
younglifenorthdekalb.com (http://www.younglifenorthdekalb.com/ootp2k7/ootp2007setup.exe)PC Try and Buy Demo

ootpdevfiles (http://ootp2007.ootpdevfiles.com/ootp2007_trial.exe)
rapidshare (http://rapidshare.de/files/37686548/ootpb2007_trial.exe)
younglifenorthdekalb.com (http://www.younglifenorthdekalb.com/ootp2k7/ootp2007_setup.exe)
worthplaying.com (http://www.worthdownloading.com/game.php?gid=2517)Mac Try and Buy Demo

ootpdevfiles (http://ootp2007.ootpdevfiles.com/ootp2007setup.dmg)
rapidshare (http://rapidshare.de/files/37686576/ootp2007setup.dmg)
younglifenorthdekalb.com (http://www.younglifenorthdekalb.com/ootp2k7/ootp2007setup.dmg)

[Young Drachma]

I'm running a league real quick just to see how it works and to mess around with junk before I even dive into starting my first league.

[Young Drachma]

So far, it's overwhelming in the sense that last year's was. But..it runs super fast and looks infinitely more polished in terms of what you can do/how you do it.

I'm pretty excited.

Facegen is awesome, too.

[Shkspr]

So is it safe to assume that the early download is only for the preorders that missed the discount offer? I keep hitting the download link on the preorder confirmation email I got last month and it just says 'thanks'.

[Young Drachma]

So is it safe to assume that the early download is only for the preorders that missed the discount offer? I keep hitting the download link on the preorder confirmation email I got last month and it just says 'thanks'.

If you preordered before Wednesday, you should've received an email from Marc Duffy this morning with a link to the download for the game. If you ordered today, then it'll be released tomorrow.

[Shkspr]

*shrug* The only email I got was the one from back in February. Ah, well.

[SirFozzie]

haven't received mine yet :(

[Marc Duffy]

PM me with your email (and an alternative) and I'll try to cover all bases.

[Ksyrup]

I have mine, but can't do anything with it because I'm at work. And some of you are waiting for yours with little or nothing else to do.

THIS SUCKS.

Drafting a letter about Maryland's insurable interest law is even less exciting right now than it otherwise is.

[SirFozzie]

PM me with your email (and an alternative) and I'll try to cover all bases.

Done.

[SirFozzie]

Got the link Marc, thanks :)

[MizzouRah]

Have me email, but I'm in Chi town for the next two days. :(

[Ksyrup]

Have me email, but I'm in Chi town for the next two days. :(

Did you mean to post this in the Pirates! thread? ;)

[MizzouRah]

Did you mean to post this in the Pirates! thread? ;)

No, in the "I'm in Chicago and bored" thread. :D

T minus 7 hours before I get a nice fat steak. :p

[JPhillips]

Can somebody tell me where the world_template file lives? It doesn't appear to b in either the OOTP2007 file in programs nor the data files under My Documents. I can install of of Icy's great work except the world template.

[Icy]

Can somebody tell me where the world_template file lives? It doesn't appear to b in either the OOTP2007 file in programs nor the data files under My Documents. I can install of of Icy's great work except the world template.

Here (changing C for your drive letter and your user for your windows user name). If you don't have the folder there, just create it.

C:\Documents and Settings\your user\My Documents\Sports Interactive\OOTP Baseball 2007\data\world_templates

[JPhillips]

Thanks. It wasn't there and I didn't know if I had missed it. I created the folder and it worked fine.

[King of New York]

Okay, I've been messing around with the game for an hour and a half--here are some first impressions:

wow, there's a lot of stuff here! I've spent nearly all of my time exploring various game set-up options, because there are many, many different ways to configure the game to your liking.

The interface works well enough--I got stuck in one apparent dead-end under "advanced options," but I'm sure that was the result of my own stupidity more than anything else.

The game installs its files in two different places: some of it is under "programs," and some of it is under "my documents." It's not a problem, just something I'll have to get used to--in time, I'm sure locating folders will be second nature. (Edit: I guess SI games always do that, but I'd never noticed with FM or EHM because I never used mods, alternate databaes, or facepaks for them).

The game is running smoothly so far, and files are loading quickly.

The 500-page manual looks intimidating at first, but so far I've found it easy to use--the table of contents is great and really helps you to get where you need to go. A lot of that bulk is the result of the very generous use of screenshots in the manual, which I approve of.


Okay, I'm going in again.

[molson]

Anyone manage a game yet? How long does it take?

[Markus Heinsohn]

Okay, I've been messing around with the game for an hour and a half--here are some first impressions:

wow, there's a lot of stuff here! I've spent nearly all of my time exploring various game set-up options, because there are many, many different ways to configure the game to your liking.

The interface works well enough--I got stuck in one apparent dead-end under "advanced options," but I'm sure that was the result of my own stupidity more than anything else.

The game installs its files in two different places: some of it is under "programs," and some of it is under "my documents." It's not a problem, just something I'll have to get used to--in time, I'm sure locating folders will be second nature. (Edit: I guess SI games always do that, but I'd never noticed with FM or EHM because I never used mods, alternate databaes, or facepaks for them).

The game is running smoothly so far, and files are loading quickly.

The 500-page manual looks intimidating at first, but so far I've found it easy to use--the table of contents is great and really helps you to get where you need to go. A lot of that bulk is the result of the very generous use of screenshots in the manual, which I approve of.


Okay, I'm going in again.

You can hit "F1" anywhere in the game, which basically gives you the same help as the manual :D

[Ksyrup]

Anyone manage a game yet? How long does it take?

So far, I have managed one game as the 2007 St. Louis Cardinals, but I fell asleep in my car and woke up in jail, so I'm not sure if the game is still going or not.

[Cork]

Anyone manage a game yet? How long does it take?

I played out many games during the beta testing and I would say the ave game time was around 15-20 minutes. I used the 1-pitch mode and took my time since I always like to look at the player stats while managing the games.

-Cork

[lighthousekeeper]

So far, I have managed one game as the 2007 St. Louis Cardinals, but I fell asleep in my car and woke up in jail, so I'm not sure if the game is still going or not.

roffle

[Ksyrup]

LaRussa went to the same law school I did, so I can make fun of him, since he pretends he's some scholarly baseball mind, but in reality he's just a product of Florida State's law school.

[SirFozzie]

I started a 100 year sim on the game before I headed to work. We'll see if it finishes in the 9 hours or so :)

[Young Drachma]

My first real league is going to be a Wyoming high school league. Since there isn't high school baseball here, it'll serve as the defacto state championship.

[MizzouRah]

Man, I'm going to have to think about what I want to do. Fictional sounds fun, simming about 10 years for history, a historical start sounds fun... current day 2007 Cardinals career sounds fun too. Ahhhh... at least I have a few days to think it over.

[Balldog]

My first real league is going to be a Wyoming high school league. Since there isn't high school baseball here, it'll serve as the defacto state championship.

You can do that!?!? :eek:

I haven't paid enough attention.

[Ksyrup]

I may put the kids to bed at 6pm so I can get some "alone time" with the game. The wife's going to be an issue, though...

[Young Drachma]

You can do that!?!? :eek:

I haven't paid enough attention.

Yup. You create a high school feeder league just like you'd create a minor league. You can create several of them, too. Or college feeder leagues.

[Young Drachma]

I may put the kids to bed at 6pm so I can get some "alone time" with the game. The wife's going to be an issue, though...

lol

[cubboyroy1826]

I may put the kids to bed at 6pm so I can get some "alone time" with the game. The wife's going to be an issue, though...

Sleeping pills.

[Young Drachma]

Yup. You create a high school feeder league just like you'd create a minor league. You can create several of them, too. Or college feeder leagues.

Or actually, you just create a high school league like you'd create a normal fictional league.

[Atocep]

Currently simming some history for my league. With Icy's mod it took 10 minutes to set up a league and have it automatically adjust stats and financials for the era you're and then recalculate both after each season.

The Manager screen also has just about everything you'll need hyperlinked on it so you don't spend much time searching through the UI to find what you're looking for.

[Young Drachma]

I couldn't figure out how to install Icy's mod yet. I need to do that when I get home.

[TheOhioStateUniversity]

How accurate is this game at recreating the current MLB environment? When an up to date roster file is made can I expect realistic results, trades, finances?

[Young Drachma]

I couldn't figure out how to install Icy's mod yet. I need to do that when I get home.

Nevermind that, I got it.

[Young Drachma]

How accurate is this game at recreating the current MLB environment? When an up to date roster file is made can I expect realistic results, trades, finances?

My understanding is that it does a pretty good job. Not to perfection, but good nonetheless. The demo is probably worth checking out tomorrow.

[Eaglesfan27]

Thanks to some great mirrors, I just downloaded the entire setup file in a little under 2 minutes.


Well, actually I know there is one great mirror :)

[Mustang]

When it is available tomorrow? (I completely forgot about the preorder deal..) blah.. oh well.

[Qrusher14242]

What icy's mod? and where can i get it?

[lynchjm24]

What icy's mod? and where can i get it?

http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/board/showthread.php?t=142293

[DaddyTorgo]

I didn't end up pre-ordering (had a long day) but am eagerly looking forward to the demo so that I can ensure that this will indeed be my baseball game this year (although without puresim, and seeing that BM08 seems to have gone backwards...at least according to some posts on that forum, it doesn't seem like I have much choice).

[Fouts]

Played my first game, went pretty well. The pbp is much improved over last year. I wrote a recap of the game after it was over, and I was surprised that the player names and teams were automatically hyperlinked (very cool).

Still takes me forever to start a league (mostly because I don't like the random team cities/names that are assigned to franchises).

[Young Drachma]

Played my first game, went pretty well. The pbp is much improved over last year. I wrote a recap of the game after it was over, and I was surprised that the player names and teams were automatically hyperlinked (very cool).

Still takes me forever to start a league (mostly because I don't like the random team cities/names that are assigned to franchises).

I've had the game all day and I still haven't begun playing for the same reasons mostly. Spending time investing trying to get things organized how I want to, etc.

I think I'm gonna quit that now and get started for a little bit, just to see how it all plays out.

[JPhillips]

This is light years ahead of last year's version. I actually had fun with the game! I ran into a couple of small problems so far.

1) I still think the AI values MRs too much in the draft preview. In two draft previews my scout has picked 11 and 13 MRs in the top 20 of the draft. When it comes down to the draft he doesn't recommend an MR until round 5.

2) When I tried to click on abbreviations in the F1 help I got an error and a blank page. I don't exactly remember the path, but it started on the player card. (btw- the F1 help is generally great.)

[Buccaneer]

I've had the game all day and I still haven't begun playing for the same reasons mostly. Spending time investing trying to get things organized how I want to, etc.



Being anal-retentive about my historical league and knowing how long it took me set one up in OOTP 5, I can envision that doing the same thing in OOTP 2007 will take me until the summer to get going. :rolleyes:

[Buccaneer]

In reading through the manual, there's an old question I've been meaning to ask. What is the concept behind a 2-8/20-80 ratings scale?

[Young Drachma]

In reading through the manual, there's an old question I've been meaning to ask. What is the concept behind a 2-8/20-80 ratings scale?

I think it mirrors the scale real life scouts use in baseball.

[Buccaneer]

Sorry for the dumb questions. I saw this in the manual:


Note: If you are importing historical players, you might want to schedule your first-year player draft between October and November. Otherwise our rookies might make their major league debuts a year earlier than you expected.


If you do this, does that mean that the rookies will be added to the current season before you hit the 'proceeed to next season' button (assuming there is one)? If so, wouldn't that mess up the almanac or league history if you have a been players with no stats for the season?

[Atocep]

I could be wrong, but I think its refering to the possibility of Rookies being drafted in June and being promoted directly to the majors. Instead you should hold it after the season in Nov/Dec.

[Fouts]

Game is running pretty smoothly for me so far. I'm managing in the minors, and appreciate the emails telling me of player movement.

There was a problem with one of them though: a player of mine was traded by the big club, but there was no email of him leaving my roster in the transaction news. There was mention of receiving a player (that was involved in the trade), but it said (signed FA) instead of received in trade.

I did receive a different email detailing the trade, and I happened to recognize the name of my starting LFer.

[Fouts]

Oh, and the game screwing with my lineups everyday is pissing me off. I have "Setting Lineups/Depth/Pitching Staff" set to me, but it keeps making changes. I have to use the 7 day lineups as a workaround until I find out why this keeps happening.

[Icy]

Oh, and the game screwing with my lineups everyday is pissing me off. I have "Setting Lineups/Depth/Pitching Staff" set to me, but it keeps making changes. I have to use the 7 day lineups as a workaround until I find out why this keeps happening.

I just tested it and you are right, the AI is doing deep chart and pitching order moves in the minor team that you are managing as GM.

I have just registered the issue in the Test Tracker tool, the TT number is #2994

I'm pretty sure it worked fine in the past, but in the latest beta builds Markus added some new options to the AI managing the minors and probably it was then when this bug was introduced (just guessing).

[Ksyrup]

All I've been able to do is set up a test historical league and run about 40 seasons last night. Honestly, the number of decisions to make about league structure and such make even setting up the league seem somewhat overwhelming. Trying to track down all of the little rules I need to tweak in the various menus is somewhat frustrating, but I'm sure I'll get the hang of it.

My biggest concern right now is what database to use. I'm using Lahman simply because Gambo's database says it is designed specifically for the "recalc every year" option, which I do NOT want. So, I'm sacrificing some realism (mostly, as I understand it, importing players in the year they make their ML debut rather than the year they signed their first contract, as Gambo's does), but I'd rather do it that way then screw up my league because I'm not using the recalc option.

For someone wanting to set up an historical league not using the recalc option, what databases/settings would you guys recommend? I'm just having the game place the rookies on their original teams, so I've disabled the rookie draft. For instance, if I'm starting in 1920, I've turned off free agency, but should I leave financials on? Will that result in cash-strapped teams, and if so, will that lead to them letting guys go or trading away stars? I hope so. I haven't looked at the stats yet, but I recall seeing "X player chooses to sign with X team," which I assume, with no free agency set, means that a guy was let go and signed elsewhere, or just resigned with his current team and the game is treating it as a "free agency signing" story.

I'm about to check out the stats for my 1920-1959 sim.

[Ksyrup]

Is there a way to view historical box scores? Say, I want to look at the game-by-game box scores for a certain team through history. Or, I want to look at the World Series results - not just who played and who won, but the individual games in each World Series. If that's in here, I must be missing it or it's hidden.

[Markus Heinsohn]

Is there a way to view historical box scores? Say, I want to look at the game-by-game box scores for a certain team through history. Or, I want to look at the World Series results - not just who played and who won, but the individual games in each World Series. If that's in here, I must be missing it or it's hidden.

You need to use the almanac options for stuff like that :)

[molson]

Is there a demo available now or sometime today? On the site, it says, "Download a Free Trial Now", which I guess doesn't mean "Right Now", because I can't find it anywhere.

[Markus Heinsohn]

I just tested it and you are right, the AI is doing deep chart and pitching order moves in the minor team that you are managing as GM.

I have just registered the issue in the Test Tracker tool, the TT number is #2994

I'm pretty sure it worked fine in the past, but in the latest beta builds Markus added some new options to the AI managing the minors and probably it was then when this bug was introduced (just guessing).

Sorry, but all works properly here. Make sure your manager options are set so you control all aspects of the minors.

[Ksyrup]

Interesting "alternate" history in my league so far. I started in 1920, so Babe Ruth was a stud, of course, to begin with, but at the end of 1925 suffered torn ankle ligaments and was out 8 months. In 1927, his first full year back, he had a hernia, bruised cheekbone, and herniated disk within 4 months of each other, and he was never the same, eventually having a couple more serious injuries in 1932 and 1933. Interestingly, though, he stuck around as a part-time player/pinch hitter until 1940 (age 45), even though he was essentially done as a full-time player by 1930. He had 294 ABs in 1930, and only 2 years after that with more than 100 ABs in any season. He ended up with 477 HRs and 6 MVP awards (1920-1925).

Lou Gehrig, OTOH, never got ALS and finished with 771 HRs and 12 straight MVP awards. The Yankees pretty well under-performed during the 20s, but starting in 1933, went on a championship binge, winning (not just getting there) 13 of 14 titles. Only the Tigers in 1936 kept them from 14 straight.

And the Phillies were hardly doormats... they basically played the role of Brooklyn Dodgers to the Yankees during the 30s and 40s - getting there many times, but losing every one.

This is great stuff.

[Ksyrup]

You need to use the almanac options for stuff like that :)

So the history is different than the almanac? I haven't even seen an almanac option. Man, I've got a lot of learnin' to do.

[Ksyrup]

OK, I found the almanac option, but that's something I probably want to generate only after I'm done simming my history, right?

I'll tell you, the ability to sort the stat columns is freaking beautiful. Instead of seeing the list of longest hit streaks in chronological order and trying to figure out who has the longest streak, you can just sort that column. Or, to see which pitchers have thrown multiple no-hitters, just sort the name column to switch from chronological order. Such a little thing that adds so much. Now, if we could just do something about sorting transactions/awards/injuries, etc., on each player's card, this would just about be perfect.

I know, I know...next year.

[Ksyrup]

Small issue on the column sorting...with the 15+ K stat, when you sort the K column, it is sorting by innings pitched, not strikeouts. Small issue, since the spread is top K results is small (in my universe, there's only been a handful of 16 and 15-strikeout games), but it's something that should be corrected if possible.

[Ksyrup]

Anyone else playing, or am I going to go for the All-Time Dola String Award? Quick, someone call the Guiness Book people!

[Ksyrup]

I love seeing news articles about managers being fired in the middle of a season.

[Young Drachma]

I agree with the sentiments about it being overwhelming to some degree. It's always been that way, but now it's like "whoa". It's not a bad thing necessarily and I'm getting back into the swing of it all. I spent almost all of yesterday trying to get leagues set up and so, I really haven't gotten too far into a league. I simmed about 40 years last night of the league I'm going to start with.

I'm just glad that so far, I've been able to actually see the game and play, rather than having to waste time with bug after bug. So I'm just taking it all in at the moment.

[Young Drachma]

I'm glad we can finally add/delete leagues in universes on the fly. That's probably the thing that makes me the happiest. The high school and college feeder leagues amaze me.

[King of New York]

Yes, I'm playing...playing so much that I have not had time to post.

OOTP 2k7 is far superior to 6.51. I'm three seasons into a historical sim that started with a fantasy draft. I have not had a single crash, and the numbers are coming out great. I'm a little puzzled about the free agent drafts, 'cause the AI drafted nearly all pitchers in the first two rounds, but this is the deadball era, so I guess it's hard to pass up on all those guys whose ERA's are going to be in the low 2s.

When I went to bed last night, I was totally bummed that I had to go to work the next day, because what I really wanted to do was stay at home and mess around with OOTP some more. That's the mark of an engrossing sim!

Be forewarned, though--you will spend the first few hours just feeling your way around the game and the set-up options. After a while, though, between the bookmarks and the hot buttons on the bottom of the screen, navigation gets much faster.

[Young Drachma]

Yeah, I wanted to call in sick yesterday. But I went in and played a bit there. Today, I decided that with it being Friday and having a crazy week next week, that it was time to take an OOTP holiday.

[Ksyrup]

This historical stuff is so fun to follow, I'm not sure when I'll get to the point where I want to take over a team as manager. How about that?

I just simmed through the 1961 season, where Washington Senators and Los Angeles Angels were added. Going on the suggestion of someone from the OOTP board (or maybe it was Tiger Fan posting here), I decided to let teams protect only 20 guys instead of the recommended 25, and these teams ended up far better than they probably should have. Both were right around .500 in their first seasons, a bit unrealistic.

What's most interesting about it, though, is seeing who was left unprotected. Washington's got Sandy Koufax, for example! I need to look at his RL stats to see how good he was pre-1961, but in my game, he's been a starter/reliever struggling with injuries, so it makes some sense that he was left unprotected. Leon Wagner, who in RL ended up playing a big rol on the LAA expansion team, got drafted by the Senators and put up a great year. They also got aging Bobby Shantz in a trade, not the draft, and he won 16 games with a 3.01 ERA. Interestingly, he was apparently left unprotected in the 1962 expansion draft and will be a member of the Mets!

Maury Wills was drafted by the LAA in the expansion draft out of AAA, and the Angels also benefited from a questionable trade for Harvey Kuenn for a scrub.

We'll see how the next set of expansion teams goes, but I'm thinking the protected list should be at least 25, because it looks like too many decent players are being picked by the expansion teams. and they are doing a decent job of trading for some talent, as well.

[Eaglesfan27]

Yeah, I wanted to call in sick yesterday. But I went in and played a bit there. Today, I decided that with it being Friday and having a crazy week next week, that it was time to take an OOTP holiday.


I wanted to call in sick today to relax and play this, but I'm taking vacation time next week (because my mom is visiting) so I felt too guilty to actually do it. I can't wait to dig into a career tomorrow. I did let the game sim some history for my league last night and I also saw some very cool alternate histories that I'll post a bit about tomorrow.

[Ksyrup]

Anyone have a suggestion for best trading option? I went with favor rookies, but now I'm wondering whether I should have gone with neutral to facilitate a few more deals of good young players to other teams. I guess for an historical sim, it just depends on how close to real you want it. I'm pretty much seeing the same great players with the teams they actually played for, but it would be nice to see the occasional HoFer on a different team.

[Young Drachma]

I wanted to call in sick today to relax and play this, but I'm taking vacation time next week (because my mom is visiting) so I felt too guilty to actually do it. I can't wait to dig into a career tomorrow. I did let the game sim some history for my league last night and I also saw some very cool alternate histories that I'll post a bit about tomorrow.

I always feel guilty to call in sick. Always. But...we have consultants come out from California next week for a project that I'm managing and so I'll be dealing with that junk for the first half of the week, I'm doing some other stuff Thursday and moving Friday.

And the office was pretty dead most of this week with a few key people being out. And the most weird thing is, I always find it easier to call my boss to tell her I'm going to be out than I do just calling a coworker to tell them that I'm not coming in. So now that she's back since yesterday, it made it easier for me.

Mostly, I just didn't feel like driving (it's about 50 miles one way) today. The game was a heck of an excuse to put me over the top. lol

[vtbub]

What time is it being released for us suckers who bought it today?

It's like crack, I get sucked back in.

[Ksyrup]

OK, this is a bit unrealistic.. In the middle of the 1962 season, the Red Sox traded 43 year old Ted Williams to the Colt .45s. Which wouldn't be THAT big a deal, except for 2 things - during his 3 months with Houston, he (a) got his 4000th hit, and (b) broke Gehrig's all-time HR record. Apparently Boston wasn't interested in the free publicity and goodwill that Williams' accomplishments would have generated, because they really had to have Chico Fernandez!

I'm not sure how you fix something like that, but...!

Oh, and the expansion teams in 1962 weren't as good - Houston lost 88 and the Mets lost 98. But Washington and LAA both ended up over .500 in their second years. I still think 25 is probably the right number for the protected list.

[Young Drachma]

What time is it being released for us suckers who bought it today?

It's like crack, I get sucked back in.


Well, they released the pre-order around this time yesterday. So...one might figure that they shouldn't keep you all waiting too much longer. I hope.

[Young Drachma]

OK, this is a bit unrealistic.. In the middle of the 1962 season, the Red Sox traded 43 year old Ted Williams to the Colt .45s. Which wouldn't be THAT big a deal, except for 2 things - during his 3 months with Houston, he (a) got his 4000th hit, and (b) broke Gehrig's all-time HR record. Apparently Boston wasn't interested in the free publicity and goodwill that Williams' accomplishments would have generated, because they really had to have Chico Fernandez!



Well, it makes sense from the standpoint that they traded an older player for a younger one who can be potentially more productive for longer. The only reason you keep a guy around for his 4000th hit and to break the all-time home run record are for decidedly human reasons. 1) The perceived increase in attendance you'd get in RL 2) Seeing the guy break the record in that team's uniform and 3) The sentimental value of having an aging veteran whose had a storied career finish in your city.

I don't see the game factoring any of this in, so it probably worked as designed. And taking the character out of it, seems like that's probably for the best.

[MizzouRah]

Keep 'em coming guys! I'm heading for home later today and will have tonight and tomorrow with no kids and ootp.

Ksyrup - you're going to be our resident historical advisor. I need to know the best way to start from the beginning and have a nice alternate universe created.. from there I think I'll take over a team that stinks at some point in time - or maybe an expansion team.

[Buccaneer]

Ksyrup, thanks for your thoughts. You and I see this game similarly. I can really relate to how you are playing.

Reading through some of the historical sections in the manual last night (and will continue today), I think I will like the number of options in setting up a historical league. I can play this the way I have always played OOTP 5 but I do think I want to try a couple of new things: expansion draft and something else I'm forgetting right now.

[Buccaneer]

I could be wrong, but I think its refering to the possibility of Rookies being drafted in June and being promoted directly to the majors. Instead you should hold it after the season in Nov/Dec.

...or hold it after the season in Jan/Feb.????

[DaddyTorgo]

What time is it being released for us suckers who bought it today?

It's like crack, I get sucked back in.


true true

[Ksyrup]

Well, it makes sense from the standpoint that they traded an older player for a younger one who can be potentially more productive for longer. The only reason you keep a guy around for his 4000th hit and to break the all-time home run record are for decidedly human reasons. 1) The perceived increase in attendance you'd get in RL 2) Seeing the guy break the record in that team's uniform and 3) The sentimental value of having an aging veteran whose had a storied career finish in your city.

I don't see the game factoring any of this in, so it probably worked as designed. And taking the character out of it, seems like that's probably for the best.

I agree, but I think trying to put as much "human factor" into the game is part of what developers strive for. It's why FM has been so popular, because of the interactions with media/owners. That's decidedly "human," in some respects.

I don't know if there's a good way to guard against this, since you're right, the game is probably not sophisticated enough to generate additional attendance, etc., around these events, so the AI does not see the advantage of keeping him around. But for the "human feel" of the game, it would be nice to have a rule which would prevent something that otherwise wouldn't occure IRL.

I mean, look at the Bonds situation - he's the most hated man in sports, and the Giants are riding his assault on the HR record through it all. Hard to believe the Red Sox would trade a future HoFer about to hit 2 huge milestones just to pick up a second baseman with a career .250 average.

[vtbub]

Hard to believe the Red Sox would trade a future HoFer about to hit 2 huge milestones just to pick up a second baseman with a career .250 average.


Bagwell for Larry Andersen.

[Ksyrup]

Keep 'em coming guys! I'm heading for home later today and will have tonight and tomorrow with no kids and ootp.

Ksyrup - you're going to be our resident historical advisor. I need to know the best way to start from the beginning and have a nice alternate universe created.. from there I think I'll take over a team that stinks at some point in time - or maybe an expansion team.

Geez, I'm not sure how much of an advisor I can be. I stumbled my way through the set up of this league, actually. I'll probably create a bunch of test leagues making some minor tweaks to see how things evolve before I settle in on a "real" league to continue playing with into the future. And I'm sure there will be a patch of some sorts (although from my vantage point, the game is very stable), so I'll probably wait for that as well.

From my perusal of the stats, I'm not seeing major issues with the Lahman database. I can see, though, that if you were to take over an historical team, how Gambo's database would be far more interesting, because you'd be getting future players several years in advance of their actual ML experience. Right now, with Lahman, I imagine that once you see a Gehrig/Musial/Williams/Aaron type pop up in your minor leagues, you would probably not leave him in the minors for long at all, whereas someone like that who was a couple of years younger would probably need the development time. Also, if I had, say, Mike Schmidt as a 19-year old, and I wasn't recalculating every year, I guess there would be even more of an X factor as to whether he would develop like he did IRL, which would be a benefit (IMO) to playing out an historical career.

I hope someone comes up with an improved database for those of us not wanting to recalc every year. But in the meantime, Lahman works fine.

[Ksyrup]

Bagwell for Larry Andersen.

When I say future HoFer, I'm talking a guy who already has 750+ HRs, not a prospect.

[molson]

I mean, look at the Bonds situation - he's the most hated man in sports, and the Giants are riding his assault on the HR record through it all. Hard to believe the Red Sox would trade a future HoFer about to hit 2 huge milestones just to pick up a second baseman with a career .250 average.

But there was a lot of talk about Bonds moving to an AL team this year. I'm sure the Giants would have been happy to trade him for the right deal. And didn't Rose get his 4,000th hit with the Expos? I don't think the Williams example is THAT unrealistic.

[Ksyrup]

But there was a lot of talk about Bonds moving to an AL team this year. I'm sure the Giants would have been happy to trade him for the right deal. And didn't Rose get his 4,000th hit with the Expos? I don't think the Williams example is THAT unrealistic.

Rose wasn't closely ID'd with a particular team like Wiilliams was (even in my replay), and the only reason there was even a question about Bonds is because of the steroids thing, which is my point - even given the negative publicity, they're still keeping Bonds around for the HR chase.

[vtbub]

'tis been released.

[Ksyrup]

Hard to believe, but the Yankees have been even MORE dominant in my replay than IRL. 33 trips to the World Series, 22 championships. And that's with a delayed start, since they weren't all that great during the '20s. From 1933 through 1968, there have been only 5 years that they DIDN'T make the World Series. The only trend I'm seeing now is that since 1961, they have made the WS 6 out of 7 years, but only won once. Progress, I guess - somewhat like the current Yankees teams.

[Marc Duffy]

Is there a demo available now or sometime today? On the site, it says, "Download a Free Trial Now", which I guess doesn't mean "Right Now", because I can't find it anywhere.
Out now
http://www.ootpbaseball.net/downloads.php

[Ben E Lou]

Out now
http://www.ootpbaseball.net/downloads.php

OOTP Baseball 2007

More mirror sites wanted!

PC Setup files

ootpdevfiles (http://ootp2007.ootpdevfiles.com/ootp2007setup.exe)
rapidshare (http://rapidshare.de/files/37686571/ootp2007setup.exe)
younglifenorthdekalb.com (http://www.younglifenorthdekalb.com/ootp2k7/ootp2007setup.exe)PC Try and Buy Demo

ootpdevfiles (http://ootp2007.ootpdevfiles.com/ootp2007_trial.exe)
rapidshare (http://rapidshare.de/files/37686548/ootpb2007_trial.exe)
younglifenorthdekalb.com (http://www.younglifenorthdekalb.com/ootp2k7/ootp2007_setup.exe)
worthplaying.com (http://www.worthdownloading.com/game.php?gid=2517)Mac Try and Buy Demo

ootpdevfiles (http://ootp2007.ootpdevfiles.com/ootp2007setup.dmg)
rapidshare (http://rapidshare.de/files/37686576/ootp2007setup.dmg)
younglifenorthdekalb.com (http://www.younglifenorthdekalb.com/ootp2k7/ootp2007setup.dmg)

[Ksyrup]

This is what makes the game so much fun:

Wayne Belardi - IRL, played 7 seasons with Brooklyn and Detroit (1950-56), a part-time, .242 hitter with 28 career HRs.

In my league...he's still active, and still with the Dodgers, but he's got a lifetime .280 average with 535 career HRs, good for 9th all-time (in 1968)!

Sandy Koufax...retired after spending the 1961 season on the expansion Senators, with a lifetime 50-48 record, 9 saves, and a 4.04 ERA.

[Ben E Lou]

I should have some pretty good modifiers for fictional leagues ready to be released around lunchtime today, fyi.

[Ksyrup]

Damn, history wasn't kind to Koufax/Drysdale in my league. Drysdale started great, then lost 2 years to dead arm syndrome (he ended up back in the minors for those 2 years after 2 great years and a so-so year), made it back to the Bigs in 1961 and retired in 1966 with an 83-99 record and 4.73 ERA.

[Ksyrup]

I should have some pretty good modifiers for fictional leagues ready to be released around lunchtime today, fyi.

HERE's the man with the plan.

Do you have any thoughts on the database issue?

[Ben E Lou]

HERE's the man with the plan.

Do you have any thoughts on the database issue?No clue. I haven't touched historical stuff.

[Ksyrup]

The war-time players are an issue dealing with, it seems. Butch Wensloff had a very good year for the Yankees in 1943 IRL - I assume he wasa fill-in and only in the Bigs because of the war. IRL, he didn't play again until 1947 and barely in 1948, then he was gone. Thanks to his great rookie season in 1943, though, he ended up having a 263-132 career record with a 3.20 ERA. I assume there are several like him sprinkled throughout my league. No wonder the Yankees have been so dominant...

[Ksyrup]

No clue. I haven't touched historical stuff.

Bah! :)

[Ksyrup]

Yep, here's another - Arnold Carter, parlayed a good 1944 season for the Reds IRL into a 248 win career in my game. Not sure there's much you can do about this, aside from watching the sim closely during these years and "playing God" with these guys' careers. Ordinarily, I like seeing these kinds of surprises, but these guys are only getting a boost because of artificial numbers they attained IRL playing against watered-down competition, and not some sort of X factor that turned them into great players.

[King of New York]

Right now I'm using the Gambo database, but with recalc turned off--it''ll be interesting to see how player development pans out down the road.

Another thought: so far, I'm liking the trade AI. I've left everything trade-related set to "normal," and I have found that, in terms of quality, the AI has handled itself well--if I want quality players, I have to give up quality players. Even better, the AI does not bombard me with lop-sided deals--its proposals during the winter meetings have all been plausible.

My 1903 Cardinals have a middle infield consisting of Nap Lajoie and Honus Wagner! Unfortunately, at first base I have two guys named Hughie and Klondike, neither of whom can hit a lick. I moved Willie Keeler to 3B, where he is a butcher in the field--every ground ball is an adventure.

[Eaglesfan27]

Right now I'm using the Gambo database, but with recalc turned off--it''ll be interesting to see how player development pans out down the road.

Another thought: so far, I'm liking the trade AI. I've left everything trade-related set to "normal," and I have found that, in terms of quality, the AI has handled itself well--if I want quality players, I have to give up quality players. Even better, the AI does not bombard me with lop-sided deals--its proposals during the winter meetings have all been plausible.

My 1903 Cardinals have a middle infield consisting of Nap Lajoie and Honus Wagner! Unfortunately, at first base I have two guys named Hughie and Klondike, neither of whom can hit a lick. I moved Willie Keeler to 3B, where he is a butcher in the field--every ground ball is an adventure.


When I had the preview copy, I used the Gambo database with recalc off in one test career, and I generally liked the results I saw in that career. A few quirks, but plenty of good stories. That is what I'm doing again with this career.

[Ksyrup]

Man, this one is sad...

My all-time favorite player, Steve Carlton, came up with the Cardinals in 1965 and went 9-7 with a 3.30 ERA and 141 Ks in 128 innings, and even made the A-S game. Inexplicably, his ratings slipped during the offseason (not enough arm exercises in a rice vat maybe?) and he was sent back down to AAA for 1966, and then had an even bigger ratings drop the next year and spent 1967 in AA.

At this point, his career looks identical to Rick Ankiel's - without the backstory.

OK, I could go on for hours like this, so I'll stop. I'm going back to sim 1968 and 1969.

[Ksyrup]

Right now I'm using the Gambo database, but with recalc turned off--it''ll be interesting to see how player development pans out down the road.

Excellent! I'll be interested to see the results.

One thing that confused me about the way the database is used...in the notes, it seemed to suggest that we had to manually point the game to each specific year that was to be imported, unlike Lahman, which is more Popeil (set it and forget it!). Is that the case? I'd hate to have to monitor 50-100 years of simming to manually update the database path each year. Not an issue so much if I'm playing it out, but just for fast-simming, that seems like an issue, if I read the instructions right.

[spleen1015]

Excellent! I'll be intereste to see the results.

One thing that confused me about the way the database is used...in the notes, it seemed to suggest that we had to manually point the game to each specific year that was to be imported, unlike Lahman, which is more Popeil (set it and forget it!). Is that the case? I'd hate to have to monitor 50-100 years of simming to manually update the database path each year. Not an issue so much if I'm playing it out, but just for fast-simming, that seems like an issue, if I read the instructions right.

If that is true, that db is pretty much useless to me.

[Ksyrup]

I don't know if it is...EF, can you comment? I'll admit I was confused when I read the instructions, so I might have misread them.

[Ksyrup]

Four-bagger Feast? What kind of news article title is that?? I think a buddy of mine from college had a porno movie by that name! :)

[Izulde]

OK, this is a bit unrealistic.. In the middle of the 1962 season, the Red Sox traded 43 year old Ted Williams to the Colt .45s. Which wouldn't be THAT big a deal, except for 2 things - during his 3 months with Houston, he (a) got his 4000th hit, and (b) broke Gehrig's all-time HR record. Apparently Boston wasn't interested in the free publicity and goodwill that Williams' accomplishments would have generated, because they really had to have Chico Fernandez!

I'm not sure how you fix something like that, but...!

Oh, and the expansion teams in 1962 weren't as good - Houston lost 88 and the Mets lost 98. But Washington and LAA both ended up over .500 in their second years. I still think 25 is probably the right number for the protected list.

Ugh. I hope that was just an isolated case. Teams mishandling hugely popular, productive players became a huge pet peeve of mine in 6.51 and I posted on it before release.

[Eaglesfan27]

I don't know if it is...EF, can you comment? I'll admit I was confused when I read the instructions, so I might have misread them.

Four-bagger Feast? What kind of news article title is that?? I think a buddy of mine from college had a porno movie by that name! :)

ROFL at the 2nd comment.


As far as the Gambo instructions, they are confusing, I think in part because they still refer to how things were done in OOTP 6.51 and OOTP 2006. If you want to start simming in 1920 or 1930, or any other year midway through the database, there are some required manipulations as described in the instructions to have older players import with all of their correct historical stats. However, if you start at the beginning of the career or you aren't worried about every player having exactly the correct stats, no manipulations are required. Rookies automatically import just fine with 2007.

[Eaglesfan27]

Ugh. I hope that was just an isolated case. Teams mishandling hugely popular, productive players became a huge pet peeve of mine in 6.51 and I posted on it before release.


I think you'll see much less of this with Gambo or some of the non-Lehman databases where they worked to specifically correct these type of issues.

[Ksyrup]

What a difference a replay makes...

1968 Detroit Tigers - 45-117


I am noticing something a little strange in the years preceding expansion... since the expansion teams are added immediately following the WS of the prior year, they show up in the standings. Not a huge deal, because they don't seem to show up in the history standings for that year, which would be an issue. However, for that Tigers team I mentioned above, it says they finished in 6th place. Well, they didn't - they were in 1 10-team division/league in 1968 and they finished 10th. In the 1969 divisional structure, they would have finished in 6th in their division, though. So I think there are part of the game basing the previous season's results on the league as if the expansion teams were already in it.

And, in looking at this more closely, when I look at the league stats & leaders page for 1968, although the 10 teams are all listed as being in the same league/division, they are being divided internally by division. In other words, Minnesota won 101 games and finished second to Baltimore, which won 111, but on the league screen, it's showing Minnesota on top of Baltimore and both as having finished 1st. This is obviously based on the 1969 divisional structure being applied to 1968. A few teams below them are also swapped based on divisional standing rather than league standing as it existed in 1968.

EDIT: I wish I could post a screen shot to explain this better, but the game is on my laptop and I'm posting on my work computer (shhh...don't tell anyone!).

[Ksyrup]

A player search function (like on baseball-reference.com) would be great on the player history page, to save a few clicks in having to track a guy down alphabetically.

[Ksyrup]

News Item: Jay Johnstone Has Accident.

I hope he had a change of underwear with him...

[Ksyrup]

Expansion update...1969 Padres and Royals both finished 82-80, but the Expos lost 99 games and the Pilots lost 114. It's all over the place.

[TigerFan1]

What a difference a replay makes...

1968 Detroit Tigers - 45-117


I am noticing something a little strange in the years preceding expansion... since the expansion teams are added immediately following the WS of the prior year, they show up in the standings. Not a huge deal, because they don't seem to show up in the history standings for that year, which would be an issue. However, for that Tigers team I mentioned above, it says they finished in 6th place. Well, they didn't - they were in 1 10-team division/league in 1968 and they finished 10th. In the 1969 divisional structure, they would have finished in 6th in their division, though. So I think there are part of the game basing the previous season's results on the league as if the expansion teams were already in it.

And, in looking at this more closely, when I look at the league stats & leaders page for 1968, although the 10 teams are all listed as being in the same league/division, they are being divided internally by division. In other words, Minnesota won 101 games and finished second to Baltimore, which won 111, but on the league screen, it's showing Minnesota on top of Baltimore and both as having finished 1st. This is obviously based on the 1969 divisional structure being applied to 1968. A few teams below them are also swapped based on divisional standing rather than league standing as it existed in 1968.

EDIT: I wish I could post a screen shot to explain this better, but the game is on my laptop and I'm posting on my work computer (shhh...don't tell anyone!).

I know what you are getting at. That is only how it displays on the main league standings page. If you go to the league history it should display everything correctly for 1968. It was brought up in testing as being a little irratating but I believe the answer was the teams had to be placed somewhere. It only occurs from late October until the following preseason begins in February and again it has no effect on the league history pages.

[DaddyTorgo]

Dled, but won't get to fire it up for a couple hours.

[Ksyrup]

I know what you are getting at. That is only how it displays on the main league standings page. If you go to the league history it should display everything correctly for 1968. It was brought up in testing as being a little irratating but I believe the answer was the teams had to be placed somewhere. It only occurs from late October until the following preseason begins in February and again it has no effect on the league history pages.

I was looking at it from the history page, but only at the time (i.e., October of 1968), not in the future looking back. So you're right, I guess it only affects the period of time between the end of the season and the time the expansion year starts. But now that I'm into the 70s, looking back at the 1968 history page, it is correct. Thanks for the clarification.

[Young Drachma]

So far, I've created a fictional league today with a new country I created, added the cities in the .txt file and then loaded it up and it worked okay. Expansion has been okay so far, too. I was worried about it, just because. But no more having to recreate the league schedule, it's already done for you once you decide to expand the league.

It's a lot easier to setup a fictional league on the fly and to just get moving with it, especially if you've got any familiarity with OOTP2006.

Good stuff.

[Ksyrup]

Dick Simpson and Rene Lachemann are bona fide stars, while Joe Morgan, Carl Yastremski, and Steve Carlton are flame outs. Ha!

[Young Drachma]

That's pretty hilarious. I bet Joe Morgan would demand a recall.

[Young Drachma]

Seems like the OOTP board is a' hoppin'...I can't reach it.

[Young Drachma]

Dola --

That has to be a satisfying feeling. To work that hard, release a game and then try to get to your site message board and have it be too full to really get you in.

Or maybe not. But I'd think it would have to be. Even if you've been doing it a while.

[Ksyrup]

That's pretty hilarious. I bet Joe Morgan would demand a recall.

Yaz is interesting...started well, ruptured his achilles tendon in 1965, came back with a decent, but not as good, 1966, then in 1967, the year that IRL he won the triple crown, he had like 130 ABs and hit .121. :eek: He ended up on one of the expansion teams in 1969.

[Ksyrup]

OK, so here are the classic scenarios presented by an alternate history replay:

The Overachiever
Bob Sadowski (real career, 20-27)
246-116, 2.45 ERA; still active, just won 21 games at age 37

What Could Have Been
Mickey Mantle
813 HRs, .309 average, 3928 hits; still active at age 43 but retirement is imminent

Right On Target
Willie Mays (real career, 660 HRs, .302 average, 3283 hits)
662 HRs, .309 average, 3425 hits

[Ksyrup]

Am I supposed to be able to turn free agency on and off when I want? I'm in the off-season between 1975 and 1976 and want to turn FA on, but it's not letting me. What gives?

[Scholes]

I've simmed 1901-1991 overnight:

Bob Sadowski
41-34, 3 Sv, 3.99 ERA, 441 K's best season 18-11 in 1964, spent most of his time in the minors after that, thanks to a ruptured disc in his back which kept him out for 8 months.

Mickey Mantle (1949-1970)
.271, 677 HR, 2123 RBI, 3264 hits, retired at age 38

Willie Mays (1950-1973)
.270, 568 HR, 2062 RBI, 3505 hits, retired at age 42

Another what might have been:

Sandy Koufax (1955-1981)
363-276, 3.14 ERA, 4,915 K's, pitched until he was 46

I had the 3 year recalc on, and the stats are very in line, and there are virtually no surprise hall of famers. I'll have to try it again without the recalc on and see what happens.

[Eaglesfan27]

Am I supposed to be able to turn free agency on and off when I want? I'm in the off-season between 1975 and 1976 and want to turn FA on, but it's not letting me. What gives?


Are you playing with commish mode activated?

[King of New York]

Excellent! I'll be interested to see the results.

One thing that confused me about the way the database is used...in the notes, it seemed to suggest that we had to manually point the game to each specific year that was to be imported, unlike Lahman, which is more Popeil (set it and forget it!). Is that the case? I'd hate to have to monitor 50-100 years of simming to manually update the database path each year. Not an issue so much if I'm playing it out, but just for fast-simming, that seems like an issue, if I read the instructions right.

Ksyrup, if I recall correctly (I'm at work right now, so I don't have the game in front of me), you do not have to reset the database path each season. Instead, when you first set up the game, you use one database path (I cannot recall its name off the top of my head, but it leads to a folder in the Gambo database called "2007"something--it's not "2007yearly," but the other one). Then, once you have the game set up, you change the database path so that the game henceforth imports rookies each year from a folder called "2007yearly," which is also part of the Gambo database. The game will then use "2007yearly" folder for player imports for the remainder of the game.

After you reset the path that first time, you don't ever need to do it again.

[Ksyrup]

Are you playing with commish mode activated?

I figured it out. Apparently you have to sim through the beginning of the next year (January 1, 1976) to be able to make changes to those types of rules.

[Ksyrup]

Ksyrup, if I recall correctly (I'm at work right now, so I don't have the game in front of me), you do not have to reset the database path each season. Instead, when you first set up the game, you use one database path (I cannot recall its name off the top of my head, but it leads to a folder in the Gambo database called "2007"something--it's not "2007yearly," but the other one). Then, once you have the game set up, you change the database path so that the game henceforth imports rookies each year from a folder called "2007yearly," which is also part of the Gambo database. The game will then use "2007yearly" folder for player imports for the remainder of the game.

After you reset the path that first time, you don't ever need to do it again.

Thanks. My next league I'm going to try that database as a test.

[Scholes]

Ksyrup, if I recall correctly (I'm at work right now, so I don't have the game in front of me), you do not have to reset the database path each season. Instead, when you first set up the game, you use one database path (I cannot recall its name off the top of my head, but it leads to a folder in the Gambo database called "2007"something--it's not "2007yearly," but the other one). Then, once you have the game set up, you change the database path so that the game henceforth imports rookies each year from a folder called "2007yearly," which is also part of the Gambo database. The game will then use "2007yearly" folder for player imports for the remainder of the game.

After you reset the path that first time, you don't ever need to do it again.


This is what I did, it worked well.

[Eaglesfan27]

This is what I did, it worked well.

I don't have the game in front of me now, but that sounds like what I did as well. I'm looking forward to peeking at more stats when I get home this evening to see how this run through with the Gambo database turns out.

[Izulde]

Not to sound like a moron but is there a demo out? Cuz I d/l'ed the game only there was no trial option.

[Scholes]

Other stuff from my history:

I didn't put players on original teams, held a draft instead.


The Cubs (!?) and Dodgers have the most World Series wins with 9 each. 10 teams have 5 or more World Series titles.

Detroit seems to be the cursed team now, with only 1 win in 1912.

Babe Ruth is the career HR leader at 746, as well as single season leader with 64. although I'm only up to 1991, so we'll see how that goes.

Walter Johnson leads pitching with 404 wins, but also had 411 losses, which leads that category too. Nolan Ryan leads in K's with 5384 and walks with 3343.

Shades of Kirby Puckett, as Bernie Williams is struck with blurred vision and leaves the game in 1988 after 4 seasons in the game.

The same affliction struck Lloyd Moseby after just 1.5 seasons in the majors after a promising minor league start.

Longest hitting streak is Bob Meusel with 42 games in 1921.

Don Mattingly won the triple crown in 1984, batting .336 40 145 for the Tigers. He was sapped of his power a couple years after that, but still playing at age 30 in 1991. That's probably the recalc at work.

Ken Phelps had a glorious 1987 for Texas, batting .302 with 50 HR and 141 RBI at age 32. He would retire after two more seasons.

Kirk Gibson is the highest paid player in baseball at the moment. The Yankees are paying him $11,855,050 a season.

I didn't buy OOTP 2006, but I have to admit this version is great so far. The fact that Catobase is built in now, and you can sim the history of baseball over night and it's all automatic is great. The expansion, money, stats, everything. Really cool.

[Ksyrup]

Ken Phelps had a glorious 1987 for Texas, batting .302 with 50 HR and 141 RBI at age 32. He would retire after two more seasons.

You should email that to George Steinbrenner so he can finally feel justified for trading Jay Buhner.

Are you using the Gambo database? What year did you start in?

[LloydLungs]

Ken Phelps had a glorious 1987 for Texas, batting .302 with 50 HR and 141 RBI at age 32. He would retire after two more seasons.

"Well, Buhner was a good prospect, no question about it. But my baseball people loved Ken Phelps' bat. They kept saying, 'Ken Phelps, Ken Phelps!'"

[Ksyrup]

Beat you to it!

[Scholes]

I started in 1901 with the Gambo database. Used the import one for the initial draft, then switched to the yearly one for every season after that.

[Ksyrup]

I started in 1901 with the Gambo database. Used the import one for the initial draft, then switched to the yearly one for every season after that.

You did the recalc, though, right, which is why Babe Ruth came out correct? Without the recalc, I'm afraid of starting a sim prior to 1919/1920. And even between those, I'm basically altering history by either leaving him in Boston or putting him in NY. He is the single biggest issue to starting a sim for me. Putting him on the Yankees and going from there makes the most sense, I guess.

[DaddyTorgo]

wtf is the difference b/w the databases?

[Scholes]

I just looked at Ruth, and while I did do the recalc, it looks like he was a pitcher when he started but switched to a hitter in 1918 (notice the ratings changes.) It doesn't look as if he ever pitched a game in the majors though. (I just generated fake minor league team names, if you were wondering about that.)

10-31-1913 Drafted in the 1913 first-year player draft (Round 1, Pick 11, 11th overall Pick) by the Chicago Cubs.
01-01-1914 SISA scouting updated ratings (potential): Stuff: 1 (3); Movement: 19 (11); Control: 9 (5).
05-30-1914 Pitches a 5-hit shutout against the Lafayette Desperados with 2 strikeouts and 3 BB allowed!
08-15-1914 Injured (strained back muscle), out for 1-2 weeks.
01-01-1915 SISA scouting updated ratings (potential): Stuff: 7 (4); Movement: 21 (11); Control: 10 (5).
04-23-1915 Pitches a 1-hit shutout against the Jersey City Monarchs with 6 strikeouts and 1 BB allowed!
06-17-1915 Pitches a 3-hit shutout against the Jersey City Monarchs with 1 strikeouts and 1 BB allowed!
08-03-1915 Pitches a 2-hit shutout against the Newark Atlantics with 3 strikeouts and 3 BB allowed!
01-01-1916 SISA scouting updated ratings (potential): Stuff: 7 (3); Movement: 21 (11); Control: 10 (5).
06-13-1916 Pitches a 2-hit shutout against the Springfield Pastimers with 7 strikeouts and 4 BB allowed!
06-30-1916 Pitches a 6-hit shutout against the San Bernardino Independents with 5 strikeouts and 2 BB allowed!
01-01-1917 SISA scouting updated ratings (potential): Stuff: 6 (3); Movement: 20 (11); Control: 11 (5).
06-17-1917 Pitches a 5-hit shutout against the Reno Cosmos with 3 strikeouts and 6 BB allowed!
01-01-1918 SISA scouting updated ratings (potential): Contact: 16 (8); Power: 14 (7); Eye: 17 (8).

[Scholes]

As for the difference between databases, this is from the readme that comes with them.

The 1st directory “2007Import” should be used when you first create your league. Make the appropriate edits described below then create your historical league. Your league should now include any players who played that year on their teams, minor leaguers in their organization on their rosters and players who missed the season as Free Agents.

The 2nd directory “2007Yearly” should be used from every year on. This DB includes players actual yearly statistics and an import year stat line for player the year they made their professional debut. Using this database will import players as rookies when they made their pro debut and allow the game to adjust players as the game is designed.

[Ksyrup]

And I think that auto-move from pitcher to hitter will only happen with the recalc every year option. Maybe the thing for me to do is only do the recalc for 1918 - if that's even possible (not sure if that's a set league creation choice or something that can be changed once the league is created).

[Young Drachma]

I just went ahead and started from 1901 using Lahman. I want some real player history to keep me going until someone releases a roster set. Heck, I'm so into this that I'd almost be tempted to make one myself.

Almost.

[Scholes]

I had it set to every 3 years, but after looking it doesn't look like you can change it once the history has started.

[DaddyTorgo]

no I mean...between Gambo and Lehman? I've always used Lehman before, what is this gambo thing?

[Ksyrup]

I just went ahead and started from 1901 using Lahman. I want some real player history to keep me going until someone releases a roster set. Heck, I'm so into this that I'd almost be tempted to make one myself.

Almost.

What happened with Ruth?

[ScottVib]

no I mean...between Gambo and Lehman? I've always used Lehman before, what is this gambo thing?

The Gambo database imports players at the time of their professional (minor league) debuts, rather then their major league debuts.

[Young Drachma]

What happened with Ruth?

It's 1905 at the moment. I'll let you know when it gets further down the line.

[Ksyrup]

Cool, thanks.

I think the game is giving too many save opportunities. Either that, or because saves weren't technically counted as a stat I'm not used to seeing 20+ saves in the 50s and 60s and 40+ saves in the 70s. Just seems like too many saves are being recorded.

[DaddyTorgo]

The Gambo database imports players at the time of their professional (minor league) debuts, rather then their major league debuts.


so that essentially they can have minor league careers?

sounds interesting. Where does one find it? save me a googling.

[Ksyrup]

I don't know who the hell Doug Konieczny is (was), but he's turned into an absolute stud in my replay. Looks like he pitched for HOU in the mid-70s. He may be on his way to a HoF career with STL.

[Scholes]

http://www.padresfanmods.net/

Under the Databases section. There's a readme with it that explains it more.

[twothree]

Purchased. Thanks for using elicense.

[Young Drachma]

I think my current universe idea will be to simulate until 1952, turn the PCL into a third major league, separate from the MLB structure. Maybe a few other changes too, like not putting a team in Montreal or something. We'll see.

I need to just get immersed and play some, though.

[Ksyrup]

Pretty cool...in the early 70s, I noticed that Jerry Koosman's career was cut way short by an injury. Fast forward 15-20 years, and I just saw a new item about Koosman being cut loose as Braves manager.

What a complete failure! :p

[Young Drachma]

It's 1930 so far and the Reds have won four straight World Series.

The Cubs won a bunch in the 20s, too.

[Scholes]

Tony Mounce, a second round pick by the Giants in 1993, spends 1994 tearing up both AA and AAA. He's called up for the 1995 season and sparkles, going 19-5 with a 3.21 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP in 214 innings. He wins the NL rookie of the year award.

In spring training 1998, he tragically blows his back out and his career is over.

I love stuff like that.

[Ksyrup]

I'm about through simming to 1990 and am going to check out all of the names (familiar and not) that I saw (or didn't see) during the 80s. Hardly saw Clemens, never saw Stieb, Morris, or Mattingly. Steve Kemp apparently turned into the next Mickey Mantle, though, and Alvin Davis is tearing it up.

[Atocep]

I just started messing around with the editor and noticed something that I never noticed in 2k6, since I didn't play that version much.

I pulled up a young pitcher with a mid-80s fastball, below average stuff, very high movement rating and potential, above average control. I unchecked fastball and checked knuckleball instead and it knocked .21 runs off of his projected ERA, and .006 off of his projected OAVG.

[Ksyrup]

In addition to saves totals feeling "off", SB totals are off, too. Through 1989, Jeff Stone with 82 SB is the only even remotely modern player with that many SBs. Brett Butler is the best SB guy of his generation, and he's only averaging about 50+ a year. And there's nobody on the single-season list between 1940 and 1978.

[Ksyrup]

I just started messing around with the editor and noticed something that I never noticed in 2k6, since I didn't play that version much.

I pulled up a young pitcher with a mid-80s fastball, below average stuff, very high movement rating and potential, above average control. I unchecked fastball and checked knuckleball instead and it knocked .21 runs off of his projected ERA, and .006 off of his projected OAVG.

I didn't know something like that was even in the game. Interesting. Of course, I'm flying 40K feet above the minutia like that, but when I get into GM/manager mode, that will be interesting to check out. Let us know how he performs.

[Ksyrup]

See, in 1989, the saves leader is 557 - a guy named Billy McCool (gotta love it!) whose career began in 1964. There are 5 guys with 350 or more saves by 1989; IRL, in 2007, there are only 6.

[Ksyrup]

Also, I wonder if there's a way to wipe out pre-1900 (at least) stats. Having a single-season wins list, for example, is virtually meaningless. Only one guy since 1919 has made the list - a guy who won 29 games in 1946.

[Young Drachma]

See, in 1989, the saves leader is 557 - a guy named Billy McCool (gotta love it!) whose career began in 1964. There are 5 guys with 350 or more saves by 1989; IRL, in 2007, there are only 6.

He's gotta be nicknamed "The Cool Customer". lol

[Young Drachma]

It's 1948.

The Browns won their first World Series (against the Cardinals, actually..)

Mel Ott is the all-time home run leader so far at 478 homers.
Babe Ruth was a no-account player who pitched just two games for the Red Sox and retired in 1917.

Rogers Hornsby is all-time hits leader so far at 3488.

Walter Johnson went 332-287 between the A's and the Cubs.

[Young Drachma]

Oh, Jackie Robinson was on that Browns team, too.

I don't have the players coming in with their traditional teams, which I like better.

[SirFozzie]

I put in a request to turn off the Scout PM's (I don't need to know that Joe Shlbodnick, hopeless rookie, now has talent of 2-1-1 instead of 1-1-1), or at least limit them to AAA or Majors

[molson]

See, in 1989, the saves leader is 557 - a guy named Billy McCool (gotta love it!) whose career began in 1964. There are 5 guys with 350 or more saves by 1989; IRL, in 2007, there are only 6.

Saves must be a weird stat for sims to get a handle on - there’s a ton of variables in how closers are used. Guys might lose the job for a few weeks to get their stuff back together, a team might try other guys in the role late in the year, a manager might keep a middle reliever in with a 2 run lead against a weak team. I can live with some amount of save inflation in a sim universe.

[Ksyrup]

That's what I figured with Ruth. Huge issue in doing a replay. I think sticking with 1919/1920 as the first sim year is my only option.

I had an interesting guy - Bob Aspromonte. IRL, he was mediocre, hitting .252 from 1956 to 1971, mainly starting for the Houston expansion team in the early 60s.

I my sim...he has the longest career of any player - 27 years - and retired in 1982 with 4100+ hits. He was basically Pete Rose (who had "only" 3400 hits, BTW) - not particularly great, but steady for a long time.

Rose made the HoF, too. LOL

[Ksyrup]

Saves must be a weird stat for sims to get a handle on - there’s a ton of variables in how closers are used. Guys might lose the job for a few weeks to get their stuff back together, a team might try other guys in the role late in the year, a manager might keep a middle reliever in with a 2 run lead against a weak team. I can live with some amount of save inflation in a sim universe.

Yeah, it's not a big deal, just something I noticed. The SB thing matters more to me, since that seems like something that can be controlled more.

[Ksyrup]

Seeing guys like Mike Laga, Kal Daniels, Kevin Maas, and Sam Horn on the leader boards in 1990 makes me giddy. Giddy I tell you!

[DaddyTorgo]

there's not a new 2007 roster update out yet made by anyone is there?

[Ben E Lou]

Fictional League Settings Posted:

http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/board/showthread.php?p=2117537#post2117537

[Ksyrup]

Kevin Maas is going to make Georgie forget about Ken Phelps. 57 HR, 144 RBI in 1990.

[Eaglesfan27]

there's not a new 2007 roster update out yet made by anyone is there?


I think I saw one by Gambo on OOTP's boards under his sig. Version 1.5 maybe?

I'm thinking about trying it out for when I don't feel like playing my older career in the 80's.

[Atocep]

Kevin Maas is going to make Georgie forget about Ken Phelps. 57 HR, 144 RBI in 1990.


If my memory of Kevin Maas serves me corect, at least 53 of them went no more than 325 feet down the right field line. :D

[sooner333]

Anyone running the game with a low amount of RAM? I have 256 MB, and I saw that was the minimum required. Is the game going to run really slowly...or will I still see some speed increase compared to before?

[Ksyrup]

Here's a sad story...Dwight Gooden. 1984, he comes out of the gate just like IRL - 16-13, 1.74 ERA, 280 Ks, and Rookie of the Year. Midway through 1985, he suffers a strained rotator cuff, ends up 13-6 with a 3.24 ERA, 190 Ks and apparently tried to pitch out of the bullpen when he came back from the injury. Next year, he's in AA and never leaves until November 1993, when he becomes a minor league free agent.

It's enough to drive a man to drugs...

[Young Drachma]

In 1948, I successfully added 8 PCL teams as a separate league. So far, it's working. Sometimes, when adding a league, it will crash depending on what options you select. I haven't figured out what is triggering it, so I haven't reported it. But it always works when I try it the second time without really trying to customize the new league too much.

[Fouts]

Sorry, but all works properly here. Make sure your manager options are set so you control all aspects of the minors.

What do you mean by this? I only have 1 choice as a minor league manager --in team control settings under manager options, I have "Setting Lineups/Depth/Pitching Staff" set to me. The other choices are the San Francisco GM. I don't even have an option to change the other team control settings.

[Qrusher14242]

So you guys are able to sim an historical league with gambo's db? every time i try, it crashes after the playoffs. Can run a fictional league no problem. Ran one 100 years with no crashes. But cant get to 1902 with gambo's db. Gonna try lahman db tonight

[Eaglesfan27]

So you guys are able to sim an historical league with gambo's db? every time i try, it crashes after the playoffs. Can run a fictional league no problem. Ran one 100 years with no crashes. But cant get to 1902 with gambo's db. Gonna try lahman db tonight


Yeah, I have a new career that I started tonight and it has simmed from 00 to 07 so far (in a little over an hour) with no problems despite using Gambo. Also, the game automatically switched the path to import for rookies. Slick. (I don't remember it doing that for me before.)

[Young Drachma]

Just when I might have felt a little bad for sitting here and planning deliberately to play OOTP all weekend, I turn on ESPN and see a bunch of Grade-A geeks talking about fantasy baseball.

All of a sudden, my life felt a little better. Not because there is anything wrong with being VP of Fantasy Sports at ESPN. It's just....I dunno.

[Icy]

I put in a request to turn off the Scout PM's (I don't need to know that Joe Shlbodnick, hopeless rookie, now has talent of 2-1-1 instead of 1-1-1), or at least limit them to AAA or Majors

http://www.prodeportes.com/ootp07/talent.jpg

[rowech]

Wow....game is sounding really good to me. I bought Puresim last year after reading about the OOTP revolt. Sounds like the citizens are once again happy.

[Capital]

I just added 2 teams to my league but I can't figure out how to become the GM of one of the new teams. I do not have a team as of yet and I'm in commissioner mode. What am I missing? Thx in advance.

[Qrusher14242]

Yeah, I have a new career that I started tonight and it has simmed from 00 to 07 so far (in a little over an hour) with no problems despite using Gambo. Also, the game automatically switched the path to import for rookies. Slick. (I don't remember it doing that for me before.)

Weird, guess i'll have to go back to 06 for my historical sims. Sucks, this one has so many new features, but if i cant sim without crashing, they're basically useless to me :( I do like facegen though.

I even tried just using default settings w/gambo and didnt mess with anything else and it still crashed right after the playoffs. Like it will take just sit there, and the memory goes up and its using 100% cpu, but it says Not responding at the top. I actually got to the next year once, but then it crashed at the end of that year right when it says 'SISA is scouting MLB' and just stayed there.:(

[Marc Duffy]

Can you put this in our tech support forum, if there is a problem here we need to work it out for you.

[Young Drachma]

The year is 1961. Ted Williams is the all-time home runs leader (and still active) with 622 HRs. He's spent his whole career in Boston, is a career .340 hitter.

His best batting average season was in 1943 when he hit .386.

The PCL is a major league, as is the Continental League. MLB raided both starting this year taking two teams from each to expand by four teams in 1961.

[cougarfreak]

I just added 2 teams to my league but I can't figure out how to become the GM of one of the new teams. I do not have a team as of yet and I'm in commissioner mode. What am I missing? Thx in advance.

Top right corner of the game screen, there should be a drop down that says "act as". Choose one of the expansion teams.

[Buccaneer]

Dick Simpson and Rene Lachemann are bona fide stars, while Joe Morgan, Carl Yastremski, and Steve Carlton are flame outs. Ha!

That's exactly what I want to see. If one plays in the 1940s and 1950s, I would want to see the likes of McGrath, Hutchinson, Morgan, Seward and Miller become the dominant SP of the league (since there were few such pitchers during that time in real life). It's the balance between being random and being predictable.

[Buccaneer]

In addition to saves totals feeling "off", SB totals are off, too. Through 1989, Jeff Stone with 82 SB is the only even remotely modern player with that many SBs. Brett Butler is the best SB guy of his generation, and he's only averaging about 50+ a year. And there's nobody on the single-season list between 1940 and 1978.

It sounds it's keeping the same era on but since it's not a recalc, I wonder how it handles that? If no recalc, I suppose one has to switch to a different era at a desired time.

[rowech]

What is the recalc everyone keeps talking about?

[vtbub]

As someone who skipped last year, this is an overwhelming jump for me.

I don't see OOTP ever becoming a good replay type sim, oh well.

I do see it as a good fictional or what if sim.

On first blush, I'm happy.

While my personal quest to find the ultimate replay game continues, I think this should be a good challenge for trying the fictional route.

[BigMak]

Can you take control of an expansion team prior to the expansion draft?

[Young Drachma]

Can you take control of an expansion team prior to the expansion draft?

Yes

[Capital]

Top right corner of the game screen, there should be a drop down that says "act as". Choose one of the expansion teams.

But if I take control of the expansion using "act as" (didn't think about this option), I will be able to draft the team, but I don't think this still makes me the GM. They are not in the availalble jobs. Maybe that would be available after the draft.

Has anyone tried this?

[Young Drachma]

But if I take control of the expansion using "act as" (didn't think about this option), I will be able to draft the team, but I don't think this still makes me the GM. They are not in the availalble jobs. Maybe that would be available after the draft.

Has anyone tried this?

I haven't yet. But I'd imagine that's probably true, that they'd be an "available" job after the draft or once the schedule is made maybe.

[MizzouRah]

Finally home and it's time to see what v2007 is all about!

[DaddyTorgo]

mmmm

i'm in 1901 and turning the Boston Americans into the world championship dynasty that they should have been all along

guess i'm going to have to purchase now.

[Critch]

But if I take control of the expansion using "act as" (didn't think about this option), I will be able to draft the team, but I don't think this still makes me the GM. They are not in the availalble jobs. Maybe that would be available after the draft.

Has anyone tried this?

I added a new manager and selected him to start as the GM of one of the expansion teams on the day before the expansion draft and it all worked ok.

[SirFozzie]

http://www.prodeportes.com/ootp07/talent.jpg

Except, as I said over there, Icy. That's only for ALL teams. Yours will still PM you with every nohoper no matter what

[Eaglesfan27]

It sounds it's keeping the same era on but since it's not a recalc, I wonder how it handles that? If no recalc, I suppose one has to switch to a different era at a desired time.


I'm not so sure about that. I think recalc only affects players' current and potential ratings. My latest career is up to 1930 now and I haven't touched a thing but I'm seeing the difference in homers. I guess I'd have to stop it to say for sure, but I think it is progressing through eras quite nicely without me doing a thing.

[Eaglesfan27]

What is the recalc everyone keeps talking about?

My understanding of it is that it uses one of the databases (that you download) to adjust a player's ratings from year to year as well as their position. So, Babe Ruth will come into the game as a pitcher, but will switch to a dominant hitter at the right time. Mike Schmidt had a somewhat poor rookie year, but the game won't penalize him for that because it will recalculate his ratings in later years to make him more likely to hit well in his 2nd and subsequent years.

[bhlloy]

I downloaded the try-and-buy, and the game is pretty intimidating to be honest. There just seems to be so much going on that I have no idea where to start. I thought that the "realistic" scouting option might be fun, that didn't last long when I didn't have a clue how good half the players on my team were.

[bhlloy]

DOLA - in previous versions of OOTP one of the first things I would do would be see who was too high and too low in the organization via the minor league report. Well, this time my entire AA, A and Rookie squads should be somewhere else. I might just shut my eyes and play ahead. Is there a recommend button that will put all these young kids where my scouts think they should be?

[MizzouRah]

http://www.ootpmodsquad.com/mods/quickstarts/FictionalMLB2007v2.quick.rar

For those of you like me, who want Icy's great setup, via a quickstart. Thanks to bp_ for this Fictional MLB 2007 Quickstart!

I'm going to draft my team and then create my own universe. Spring training is a great way to learn my team and the rest of the league before the games really count.

[SirFozzie]

File link's not good, Mizzou

I think you mean this?

http://www.ootpmodsquad.com/mods/quickstarts/FictionalMLB2007v2.quick.rar

[Fouts]

I downloaded the try-and-buy, and the game is pretty intimidating to be honest. There just seems to be so much going on that I have no idea where to start. I thought that the "realistic" scouting option might be fun, that didn't last long when I didn't have a clue how good half the players on my team were.

They have 3 Quickstarts if you just want to jump in and get started. I would have liked more quickstarts, with logos, etc., but they leave that for the community.

[MizzouRah]

File link's not good, Mizzou

I think you mean this?

http://www.ootpmodsquad.com/mods/quickstarts/FictionalMLB2007v2.quick.rar

Fixed my link as well, thanks!

It's so nice to just jump right in without having to do logos, facegen, ballparks, etc!

[Mustang]

I downloaded the try-and-buy, and the game is pretty intimidating to be honest. There just seems to be so much going on that I have no idea where to start. I thought that the "realistic" scouting option might be fun, that didn't last long when I didn't have a clue how good half the players on my team were.

You and me both...

My head hurts. Oy....

[Buccaneer]

Good grief.

Been playing around for the past few hours, starting a test historical league just to get used to where things are. It's going to take a while to get used to that. I am constantly searching for things, knowing that it could be anywhere. I am making constant use of the tiny 'back' arrow since I don't know how to close some screens, esp. if I go into a report. I still say there's too much information presented when simming, esp. when it goes by too fast. And I would also say that this version has taken a step backwards from OOTP4 and OOTP5 in regards to output reports. That's almost a deal-breaker for me but I think some of the new (and newer) features and functions make up for it.

One of the frustrating things was something new I wanted to try. I went into "watching" a game, giving control of the strategy to someone. I couldn't slow down the game in webcast mode and none of the buttons on the bottom (Quick Play options) work consistently. I think because the sim was churning along that it didn't have time to check for a click event. It was frustrating because I couldn't get out of it and I couldn't enjoy it because it was too fast to read (after I had started it).

I think I got most of the options covered since I did read the manual over the past two days but it was more of a matter of getting all of the screens.

Finally, how in the world do you advance to the next stage in the off-season? The only thing I could do is to constantly hit 'Finish Day'. I also had no idea what screen I would like to be on since no matter what I chose, it was the wrong one.

In a way, it's a good thing I'm gone on vacation for a week. Probably need to give this a rest and wait for more information and experience from others.

[vtbub]

This version, Bucc, looks like it goes year round. There is really no off-seson per se.

I think that you will like this in time, I quick simmed 15 years of early 20's baseball during the first game tonight.

[DaddyTorgo]

major annoyance: how come I can't use the keyboard arrows to scroll up+down through news items? it's driving me insane!!!

[Galaril]

I started in 1901 with the Gambo database. Used the import one for the initial draft, then switched to the yearly one for every season after that.

I can't even start upa damn historical wiht this DB. Evry time I try to import the second yearly import it crashes to desk top. When and how do you "switched to the yearly one for every season after that" Is it after you create the league and g into the import rosters?

[Scholes]

I have two stats folders set up, one called "statsimport" for importing the first season, then "stats" for every other season.

After the league has been created with the statsimport rosters the rosters have been imported and then you can change the path. Go into Game Setup, league setup and then rules:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v207/DynamiteFC/stats.jpg

Change it to stats, or whatever your yearly one is and get after it.

Have you made any other changes that would maybe cause it to crash? Editing rosters, interleague play, etc?

[Terps]

But if I take control of the expansion using "act as" (didn't think about this option), I will be able to draft the team, but I don't think this still makes me the GM. They are not in the availalble jobs. Maybe that would be available after the draft.

Has anyone tried this?

When I messed around with expansion, the 2 teams I added showed up in Available Jobs, but they were listed towards the bottom with the Single A teams for some reason.

[Marc Duffy]

We've added an interface tutorial to www.ootpbaseball.net

Not sure if that will help some of you get around these first few days but worth investing 10 mins of your time to have a watch.

[Marc Duffy]

We've also added Paypal as a payment option to our PC store http://www.elicense.com/sigames/store/

[Markus Heinsohn]

I am making constant use of the tiny 'back' arrow since I don't know how to close some screens, esp. if I go into a report.


You don't need to 'close' screens... just continue browsing. :) I suggest bookmarking your favorite places!


And I would also say that this version has taken a step backwards from OOTP4 and OOTP5 in regards to output reports.


I don't understand what you mean really? There are way more reports & better ones. All the reports are HTML sites inside the game, and you can navigate them via the hyper-links just like an internet browser.

Check the league menu, there is a reports sub menu with all the league reports. Also, each team has a report page where you can select the team reports.


One of the frustrating things was something new I wanted to try. I went into "watching" a game, giving control of the strategy to someone. I couldn't slow down the game in webcast mode and none of the buttons on the bottom (Quick Play options) work consistently.


Go to the options tab when in the game screen, there you can set the play-by-play speed. When watching a game, the quicksim buttons only work when the game is pasues after a play.


Finally, how in the world do you advance to the next stage in the off-season? The only thing I could do is to constantly hit 'Finish Day'. I also had no idea what screen I would like to be on since no matter what I chose, it was the wrong one.


The menu with the baseball, next to the game menu, contains sim options, including events. For example after the playoffs, you can see & sim to the upcoming offseason events, i.e. when players become FA or the winter meetings.

Give it some time... once you got the hang of it you'll find navigating this game way faster than any other versions before :)

[Fouts]

Finally, how in the world do you advance to the next stage in the off-season? The only thing I could do is to constantly hit 'Finish Day'. I also had no idea what screen I would like to be on since no matter what I chose, it was the wrong one.

In a way, it's a good thing I'm gone on vacation for a week. Probably need to give this a rest and wait for more information and experience from others.

Bottom left corner next to Manager is a house which represents the Manager Home Page. I do everything from there -- review roster/lineups, click play/finish today, view reports/history. I always come back to the Manager Home Page as my starting point.

[Fouts]

Sorry, but all works properly here. Make sure your manager options are set so you control all aspects of the minors.

What do you mean by this? I only have 1 choice as a minor league manager --in team control settings under manager options, I have "Setting Lineups/Depth/Pitching Staff" set to me. The other choices are the San Francisco GM. I don't even have an option to change the other team control settings.

Anyone here can tell me what I'm doing wrong? My minor league lineups keep getting rearranged, usually after the Major League GM makes roster changes. I have myself selected for setting lineups.

[Markus Heinsohn]

Anyone here can tell me what I'm doing wrong? My minor league lineups keep getting rearranged, usually after the Major League GM makes roster changes. I have myself selected for setting lineups.

It is indeed a bug. Do this for now:
1) Enable the commsih mode (manager options screen)
2) Go to your team home screen, then click the tab "Ballpark & options".
3) Check the box that says "Prevent AI roster moves"
4) Should you leave the team (fired, promotion), please uncheck that box again
That fixes your problem for now.

[SirFozzie]

Cool, Markus.

Now get to coding something to prevent me from getting interrupted every day in a sim because Joe Nohoper learned how to throw the ball within 10 feet of the plate, without making me turn all PM's off! :D

[Fouts]

It is indeed a bug. Do this for now:
1) Enable the commsih mode (manager options screen)
2) Go to your team home screen, then click the tab "Ballpark & options".
3) Check the box that says "Prevent AI roster moves"
4) Should you leave the team (fired, promotion), please uncheck that box again
That fixes your problem for now.

Thanks for the acknowledgement. I am leary to do what you suggest, because I want players moved in and out of single A ball. While I am certain this fixes my problem with lineups rearranged, it sounds like the players will be stuck at their league levels (A, AA, etc.). I may just wait for the patch.

[JPhillips]

A few more issues.

1) There are too many top prospects that start in the free agent pool. By opening day at least 25% of the BA Top 100 prospects started as free agents. I'm using Icy's template, so that may be the problem.

2) I still think scout error between SISA and team scouts is too high. The free agent prospects are a good example. SISA didn't see any potential ratings above ten, but my scout and obviously other teams scouts and the prospect list saw a number of them as can't miss studs. SISA seems to be completely useless when dealing with prospects.

3) This is a small thing. I saw a guy injured for 13 months and the text said something like, "At least it isn't too serious and I won't miss many games."

[Galaril]

I have two stats folders set up, one called "statsimport" for importing the first season, then "stats" for every other season.

After the league has been created with the statsimport rosters the rosters have been imported and then you can change the path. Go into Game Setup, league setup and then rules:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v207/DynamiteFC/stats.jpg

Change it to stats, or whatever your yearly one is and get after it.

Have you made any other changes that would maybe cause it to crash? Editing rosters, interleague play, etc?


Thanks for that it worked when I did it that way. Also, does anyone know how to type in capital letters in the game for things like files names or managers names. When I use my keyboard capital key nothing happens . It isn't a big deal except if I can't put the DB path in becuz it has acapital letter. Thanks.

[Scravenger]

Thanks for the acknowledgement. I am leary to do what you suggest, because I want players moved in and out of single A ball. While I am certain this fixes my problem with lineups rearranged, it sounds like the players will be stuck at their league levels (A, AA, etc.). I may just wait for the patch.


I will do as well. It's impossible to play with the rosters always changing, and impossible to play if the players never change league levels... I just hope that a patch that correct that will come fast... I really want to play that wonderful game :(

[Ksyrup]

Can someone walk me through setting up and using the Almanac properly? This has me frustrated to no end. And I've read the help file 10+ times, and it still doesn't make any sense.

I have simmed from 1920 thorugh 2006. All I want to do is create an Almanac that gives me the league history for my league, because as I understand, it allows me to see things (like box scores) that I can't access with just the history function. I didn't touch the Almanac options when I created the league, since I recall SD or someone mentioning that they didn't realize they only needed to generate the Almanac at the end of their simming, not every year. So I left it alone.

Now it's 2006, and I created the Almanac. First, I was unable to access it after I generated it, which was confusing. But I did what I normally do when I can't figure something out, I just simmed ahead to the next year, and there it was. When I view Almanac 2006, however, I can't view anything but the league page. No history pages are available for viewing at all. Was I supposed to mess with the Almanac setting way back in 1920 to be able to see these, or do something else that I can't understand from the help file? I don't know, and I can't tell. All I know is I have no Almanac history to view, even though I generated the Almanac.

So, can someone please walk me (us) through the Almanac function to properly generate a full league history (players, leagues, box scores, etc.) for decades of a league's history that I've simmed?

Also, once that has been properly created, if I then sim forward, how do I "update" that Almanac? Do I have to keep creating a new, yearly (or periodic) Almanac to update the league history I can see through the Almanac? And if so, won't that quickly take up boatloads of space? Do I delete the old one?

As you can see...some help/guidance would be greatly appreciated. :)

[Eaglesfan27]

Cool! I'm looking through my stats from the last 60 years (I apparently messed up and only had it sim until 1960 instead of 80 like I wanted) and the game definitely adjusted hitting for the various eras without recalc on. Dead ball era early, plenty of homers in the 50's in particular. Also, using the Gambo database, Babe Ruth came into the league as a hitter instead of a pitcher which was nice. I didn't have real teams drafting players and he went 5th overall to the St. Louis Browns where he spent 20 years but was often injured and only ended up with 430 homers.

Right now Duke Snyder is having a very impressive career and is the career home run leader with 543 (he's still active.)

Despite Babe's injuries robbing him of some power, he is the career hits leader with 3561.

Lou Gehrig was often injured but still hit .323 for his career with 412 homers and 1800 plus RBI's.

So far, Bert Daniels has had the best game generated SB season with 102 in 1912.

Walter Johnson had the most peculiar career. He was a dominant pitcher in the league for 3 years, then for no obvious reason he just lost it. 2 years later he retired.

[DaddyTorgo]

I didn't have real teams drafting players


where do you find this option to change it??

[rowech]

Again....wondering what this recalc option is.

[spleen1015]

Again....wondering what this recalc option is.

Post #204?

[IMetTrentGreen]

i just finished a test historical career from 46-68 (war to expansion).

the red sox played in 9 world series, including 6 out of 7 years at one point.

ZERO world series wins. 0-9. Some things don't change.

[DaddyTorgo]

i just finished a test historical career from 46-68 (war to expansion).

the red sox played in 9 world series, including 6 out of 7 years at one point.

ZERO world series wins. 0-9. Some things don't change.

and I won a WS with the americans (precursors to the sox) in 1903. Setting up a powerhouse team.

[LastWhiteSoxFanStanding]

Anyone know how to make a custom view when scrolling through players on your team or in the draft with batting ratings and fielding ratings showing at the same time?

[Buccaneer]

You don't need to 'close' screens... just continue browsing. :) I suggest bookmarking your favorite places!



I don't understand what you mean really? There are way more reports & better ones. All the reports are HTML sites inside the game, and you can navigate them via the hyper-links just like an internet browser.

Check the league menu, there is a reports sub menu with all the league reports. Also, each team has a report page where you can select the team reports.



Go to the options tab when in the game screen, there you can set the play-by-play speed. When watching a game, the quicksim buttons only work when the game is pasues after a play.



The menu with the baseball, next to the game menu, contains sim options, including events. For example after the playoffs, you can see & sim to the upcoming offseason events, i.e. when players become FA or the winter meetings.

Give it some time... once you got the hang of it you'll find navigating this game way faster than any other versions before :)

Thank you. Right now, I don't have enough information to know how to bookmark. In time though.

As far as reports, I make them for my logs/notebook and for clear, concise dynasty reporting. Here a report that I love from the earlier version but a similar report now gives me too much information, esp. trying to print one one page.

http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/showpost.php?p=1423428&postcount=351

On the game speed, I didn't know that it would work only when paused. I assume I can go back to the options when paused and slow down or speed up?

I don't think I knew about the "baseball' menu since I thought it was for decoration because it had no menu name like the others. I'll take a look at that.

One of the things I thought about overnight was the setup. I thought the wizard was good but then I realized after exploring that there were some key settings I needed to go back and make because they were not in the wizard. I think it may have been best to use the Advanced Setup screens (similar to previous versions) so I don't miss anything like financials and stuff.

[rowech]

Post #204?

Damn...sorry...missed it somehow.

[Buccaneer]

Go to the options tab when in the game screen, there you can set the play-by-play speed. When watching a game, the quicksim buttons only work when the game is pasues after a play.


I understand now that there is a tracker for this since it appears that even trying to click the Pause after play button only works sporadically.

I never thought so many people would even watch games :p

That's an interesting comment and I would agree with you. However, over the past few years, I have come to love GameCenter at cbs.sportsline, for both baseball and football. When I saw SION Webcast, I knew that for World Series games, I can "watch" it in the same familiar manner as in real life. Other times though, I am back to being a fast simmer (a month at a time) and not even looking at any scores, let alone boxscores. :)

[Atocep]

I simmed from 1950 to 1980 in a MLB setup (no expansion set, started with all teams) and took over a Mets team that lost 90 games in '79. They had the #2 rated farm system, a stud 19 year old starting pitcher already in the majors, and no major league hitting talent whatsoever.

One of the first things I checked was the team focus and it was already set to "Rebuild". Then I decided to test out the 'Shop Player' option to see if I could dump a couple of the veterans I had on the team. First thing I noticed, and if the team's focus being set to 'Rebuild' is the reason for this then I have some serious man-love for Markus right now, 90% of the guys offered to me for the 4-5 guys I shopped were 24 or younger.

After screwing around for a few hours with the offseason I started simming and my Mets team is probably worse on the field in '80 (on pace to lose 100 games at the all-star break), but they do have young talent in the majors and the #1 farm system after getting a promising young pitcher in the June draft.

However, I think I'm seeing the side effects of rebuilding already. My starting centerfielder (far and away my best postion player right now) demanded to be traded because "He doesn't want to be part of a 5 year plan", my closer did the same, and I have several unhappy players in the clubhouse right now.

One of the things that gives players an advantage over AI in text sims is its too easy to just tear everything apart and rebuild. Teams with strong fan bases can't do this or they risk alienating the people that actually pay to see the games. If OOTP can at least make me think before I decided to just start all over and sell off my veterans at the first sign of the team slipping, then I may have found the first sim since TCY that I'll be playing outside of the real season.

[DaddyTorgo]

what directory do my ballpark pictures have to be in to be recognized by the game? the little spot it says it in-game it gets cutoff by the picture of the ballpark and I didn't see a readme in any of the .zip files...

[DaddyTorgo]

what directory do my ballpark pictures have to be in to be recognized by the game? the little spot it says it in-game it gets cutoff by the picture of the ballpark and I didn't see a readme in any of the .zip files...

[Young Drachma]

Thanks for that it worked when I did it that way. Also, does anyone know how to type in capital letters in the game for things like files names or managers names. When I use my keyboard capital key nothing happens . It isn't a big deal except if I can't put the DB path in becuz it has acapital letter. Thanks.

Yeah for some reason, caps lock doesn't work. I've only been able to use caps by using the shift+letter key. Kinda annoying.

[Atocep]

Couple small things I don't like. First, when looking at my lineups you used to automatically be able to see the splits for whatever lineup you were setting. Now because the depth charts and lineups are combined on the same screen you have to pull up the spits in the roster screen above.

Second is more of a question. Is it possible to look at the sim standings screen (with the league leaders) when not actually simming?

Also, salaries seem high for the era I'm in. Highest salary right now (1980) is almost $4 million. MLB didn't see salaries approaching $4 million until '91. League average salary right now is $434,00, which MLB didn't reach until '90.

[Young Drachma]

Couple small things I don't like. First, when looking at my lineups you used to automatically be able to see the splits for whatever lineup you were setting. Now because the depth charts and lineups are combined on the same screen you have to pull up the spits in the roster screen above.

Second is more of a question. Is it possible to look at the sim standings screen (with the league leaders) when not actually simming?

Also, salaries seem high for the era I'm in. Highest salary right now (1980) is almost $4 million. MLB didn't see salaries approaching $4 million until '91. League average salary right now is $434,00, which MLB didn't reach until '90.

You can adjust the salary numbers to match what they were like in that year.

[Atocep]

Just got this message regarding a reliever I signed in the offseason, "Allegedly, Bill Parks has asked to be traded from New York (N). It is rumored that he is unhappy with fans in the city not respecting his privacy and that maybe the pressure of playing here is too great."

[molson]

Is there any way to view a "player history" in a more organized way? Or is it is impossible just to check at a glance how many MVP awards, injuries, gold glove awards someone has?

Edit: And a similar question, is there a way to set a view of a guy's year-by-year stats that is a little clearer when someone changes teams. The default seems to be something like this:

1985 BOS .....
1986 NYY .....
1986 BOS .....
1986 TOTAL ....
1987 CHI ...
1987 NYY ...
1988 TOTAL ...

It's tough to sense, at a glance, at a guy's career when he's changed teams, since none of the total/team lines are distinguishable from one another.

[Ksyrup]

You can adjust the salary numbers to match what they were like in that year.

Yes, but those numbers are supposed to be automatically imported to be historically accurate.

[Ksyrup]

Is there any way to view a "player history" in a more organized way? Or is it is impossible just to check at a glance how many MVP awards, injuries, gold glove awards someone has?

No. Several of us brought this up and Markus indicated it would be looked at for 2008. IMO, this has been a glaring issue going several versions back, so it's a tad disappointing it hasn't been addressed yet, but not a huge issue. But it basically makes looking at a player's history (at least someone wih a huge history) virtually meaningless. It would be nice if, at a minimum, awards were bolded or something.

[molson]

No. Several of us brought this up and Markus indicated it would be looked at for 2008. IMO, this has been a glaring issue going several versions back, so it's a tad disappointing it hasn't been addressed yet, but not a huge issue. But it basically makes looking at a player's history (at least someone wih a huge history) virtually meaningless. It would be nice if, at a minimum, awards were bolded or something.

Wow, it's incredibly strange that I can run about 8 leagues at different levels simultaneously, while at the time time it would take me about 10 minutes to add up one guys various awards. This is a perfect example of the obsession of additional "features" at the apparent expense of game play.

That being said, I'm having fun with the game so far. It looks like the biggest issues are going to be interface-related.