Quote:
Originally Posted by bubba22plus
Do the players automatically get assigned names? I want to try this, but i don't want all players to have a blank name.
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Order a set or 2 of 20,000 first and last names (which leaves you with wiggle room as I think the total number of players in the all-time MLB database is around 17,500) from
this site (delivered for the low, low price of $0.00 to your e-mail box). Don't worry too much if the names don't match up too well with the era you're playing in (DeShawn on a 19th century player is um...interesting). Their sole purpose is to act as a screen for the real name. Find out what line the final name in the database you're using is on. Be careful if you're using some of the modded databases that give you tons of names because your spreadsheet program has limits unless it's the newest Excel. Copy only as many names as you need from the names generated by the random name generator and paste them into the first name and last name columns. You will have to edit some of the names: Obrien > O'Brien; Mckay > McKay. My recommendation is to do so in-game as each draft class appears rather than going through every one of the 17,000 - 18,000 names in the database. Just trust me on this one k?
Delete the obvious tells like nicknames, birth countries, birth states, birth cities, and given names (not sure if this shows up anywhere in the game, but taking it out does no harm). Voila, a historical database where you have far less of a clue as to who is who. If you insist on committing players' birthdates or heights and weights to memory then a) I'm sorry but I can't help you because those things are necessary in game and b) You might need professional help. Don't worry about deleting the birth countries. Everybody just becomes an American and people like the great 19th century Irish pitcher Tony Mullane are no longer distinguishable from any other player.
Now you're relying on stats and, if you've turned ratings and scouting/coaching off like I do, the beleaguered OSA for your scouting. This is truly flying blind, but you still have all the variation between players that comes in a historical sim. Try throttling the AI under these circumstances. Just make sure you check the cannot be fired box if you want to stay with this team for a while because it could be tough. I've only simmed like this without taking over a team in 10, but it was really cool to not know who was who.
It's probably best to have two full copies of the stats folder inside your stats folder - one named "original" and one named "original modified" or something like that. Yank the historical database.odb out of the "original modified" folder and leave the "original" folder as is (hence the name). Make sure you direct the game to the proper folder when you're setting it up. One problem with this approach is you don't get to use the awesome sounding all-in-one historical database mod.
Also if you're finished and you want to look back at who was who, use the Master.csv database and find who you're looking for rather than switching everyone back to the original file. The game tends to get very cranky when you change the database mid-game or in this case end of game. Those of you that have seen the various error messages that occur when you make any change in any part of the database during a game know what I'm talking about.