[Sweed]

Originally Posted by BigLeBoSox

I've been scanning through this posts over the last few weeks and as a result was anxious to get my hands on the demo of OOPT8, import my 6.13 league (yeah--I've been way behind on my OOTP game play) and see the added advantages. I've been a fan since OOTP 5, and played it religously for many years, and was content at 6.13, never felt the need to go to 6.5.

Unfortunely, 2 1/2 weeks was too short a time for me to do the demo on OOTP8. I only had time to get the league imported, set up, then navigate around. Here's my very very early and basic feedback on OOPT8.

I managed to upload my league and some history using Larry Anderson's utilties, but was very disappointed the league full almanac didn't completely get created. While I understand why, I'm discouraged I lose some league history with the import. While it's not overly important, it's not a bad thing to have. I am glad, however, that the utility allowed me to carry over player history (if that is what the utility actually did for me). Just a pain to have to go through this as it took up a couple days of my trial time.

I thought it was cool to have a Single A team, and a Rookie A team, plus an international pool. I also thought it was cool to have specialized coaches for each farm team level, outside of the managers like you were only able to have in V6.x. However, I found this to be a bit much, and I had yet to run a day in the season. If there's a way to do, I'd be happy with the keeping things basic on the farm level, with just a manager.

Thought the idea of a head scout, with scouts below him, was cool, however when I saw I have to assign tasks, plus I have to scout my own players and wait a couple of days to get a report, I find that to be a bit much as well. I like the simple version of getting a report when I want it, not wait for it. This is a damn game, not real life!

I loved the wrinkle of giving the players more personality, like a mood, what their expectations are for a role on the team. Plus, I like the option of labeling a player like "untouchable", as opposed to just "on the block" like in 6.x.

Sadly, that's really only as far as I got due to time limitations. Navigating was bothersome, and I got lost at times. I found there to be just too many screens to go through, and it was a contributing factor as to why I ran out of time with the demo. I think the demo would be better served to just be run a limited number of times (like the 100 times that comes with it, but less), or just one full season, rather than the overriding time limit of 17 days. Just didn't have the time to test drive it.

I'll go back through these screen shots, read the feedback, and see if there's hope I can simplify OOTP9 (if I buy it) to my liking, based on what I experienced. I'm sure it won't be that much different than 8. I'm a fan of simple, and I think far too many sports sim games go over the top with added features. Worse comes to worst, I buy 6.5 for the $10 it costs, and see if that satisfies me. I'm thinking though that since I got a taste of the more advanced and customizable version of the game, I may be wasting $10 that could go towards the next version.

Any tips to simplify these latest versions would be appreciated, plus maybe even a trick to extend the demo so I have more opportunity to get comfortable. That may be all it will take. Is it possible to back up the league I just imported, then re-download the demo and import the OOTP 8 version of my league?

Thanks guys!

With regard to scouts and assignments it takes me about 5 minutes to set mine up for the whole season and I don't touch them again other than when the draft is announced. It looks bad when you fist get the game but in the end isn't that hard.

Having said that you will probably be more interested in waiting for v9. Scouting in v9 will not have the scouting staff but will instead only have a scouting director who you set a budget for. Here is what has been announced so far..
OOTP Developments Newsletter


With the scouting being simplified for v9 I don't think you'll find the game to be tedious. It's more the time it takes you to get used to the interface and that isn't as hard to do as you might think. Spend a little time with the game and you will become very familiar with it. Don't let it frustrate you, hey, it's a big game with lot's of options but it does give you many ways to get to what you want. Between bookmarks, tabs, menus, and right click menus it becomes easier IMHO to navigate than 6.5. If you stick with it you will find it is well worth the effort.

The only thing I lost, and keep in mind I imported my 6.5 into v2006 (not nearly as complete a game as v8) was some history, which is mostly league history not player. I also still have my 6.5 almanacs on my HD so if I feel the need to look back I still can. V2007 offers so much more though that I rarely look back. And FWIW I play out every inning of every game and had 10 seasons completed using v4-v6.5 so there is a lot to look back if I wanted to.

Keep in mind, though v8 isn't perfect, it is way ahead of 6.5 and before on player development, performance, aging, etc. etc. et. $24.95 as a preorder price for v9 compared to $9.95 for the 6.5 expansion to me isn't even a close comparison. Dollar for dollar v9 is the way to go.