Well... the Generated site looks like everyone elses
But here is the ORDER OF PLAY taken from our "Manual"
It took a few weeks to get used to - and this manual has been refined through 10 or so versions (minor and major) but this is what we have been running with for at least half the season now.
If you are the commish, it means some work - but in the end, it is more than worth it!!
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VERSION 4.0
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CONVENTIONS USED THROUGHOUT THIS POST
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* All times are in MILITARY Eastern time
*
ORANGE text represents menu choices in the game
*
VIOLET text represents file locations on your computer
* It is assumed you have installed OOTP5 into its default location (
C:\Program Files\400 Software Studios\ootp5\)
TERMS
Central Server : The computer that runs and maintains the entire league (The Commissioner's computer)
FTP Server : The Internet server that you will FTP IMPORT and FTP EXPORT to. It acts as a "go-between" between your computer and the Central Server
TEAM MENU : There actually isn't a menu in OOTP called "Team Menu" - we are using the generic "Team Menu" to represent your team's name. Whenever you see "Team Menu" substitute your team's name for the menu name. So "
TEAM MENU > TEAM SETUP" should read as "
TORONTO > TEAM SETUP" for the Toronto Blue Jays.
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FEDERAL LEAGUE ORDER OF PLAY
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The play week will start on MONDAY evening.
MONDAY 19:00+ - TUESDAY - WEDNESDAY NOON
The very FIRST thing you must do is download the latest league zip file from the website and extract all the files into the Federal League Folder under the
C:\Program Files\400 Software Studios\OOTP5\Federal League.lg\ Folder.
Now you can work on lineups, rotations and trades and releases. All TRADES and RELEASES from your roster need to be posted to the ROSTER MOVE forum on the League's website by
WEDNESDAY NOON! The Commissioner will make roster cuts/free agent signings and all trade propsals on the Central Server.
WEDNESDAY NOON - THURSDAY 18:30
The Commissioner will view the ROSTER MOVES forum and will make all the drops, signings, and trades proposals during this time. Once your roster cut, free agent signing, or trade is completed, the Commissioner will POST in the same thread on the forum and CLOSING that thread.
The reason why the Commissioner must handle all roster cuts and trades is because the Commissioner owns the Central Server. If you were to release a player on your computer and then FTP your team to the FTP Server, the player you released would be lost in a void on your machine. The Central Server wouldn't see him on your roster anymore, but also wouldn't have him listed as a free agent! He would no longer exist!! For that reason the commissioner must make all free agent / releases / trades.
Please login to the forums regularly to check the status of your trades. The Commissioner will post the message the computer teams gives you if they reject your first offer. At 18:00 all trades in progress are SUSPENDED until the following week. Between 18:00 and 18:30 the Commissioner will place a NEW .zip file on the FTP Server that will take into account all the trades and roster cuts/free agent signings. The Commissioner will post in the COMMISSIONER'S OFFICE forum when the latest .zip is ready for download.
Download the latest league zip file from the website and extract all the files into the Federal League Folder under the
C:\Program Files\400 Software Studios\OOTP5\Federal League.lg\ Folder.
Now you can continue to play with your lineups/rotation changes remembering that IF YOU ARE AWAY TO A HUMAN OPPONENT you
MUST EXPORT your team (with all lineup / rotation changes) to the SERVER no later than THURSDAY 21:30. You can do this by going to
TEAM MENU > TEAM SETUP > EXPORT TEAM TO FTP. You need only do this when you are AWAY to a HUMAN controlled team.
THURSDAY 22:00 - MONDAY 15:00
Starting Thursday at 22:00 you may PLAY your next series either home or away PROVIDED you are NOT away to a HUMAN player. If you are AWAY to a human player you do not play any games that week.
If you are HOSTING a HUMAN managed team for the week, you MUST IMPORT the human team from the FTP Server to your machine. This will bring all the latest roster moves and lineup changes to your machine. Go to the TEAM menu for the team visiting you and IMPORT the team from the FTP Server. (
TEAM MENU > TEAM SETUP > IMPORT FROM FTP). Once that is done, you can PLAY BALL!
Now go to
LEAGUE > SCHEDULE and click on correct date for your game (it will be highlighted in
RED, and click on "PLAY" to play your game.
**IF you are playing a HUMAN controlled team, make sure you change control of that team to "COMPUTER" when at the initial play screen! This will allow the COMPUTER to make lineup and pitching changes during your games! Otherwise, no changes will be made!**
When you finish your game it will ask you if you want to EXPORT the game for online leauges - CLICK YES. This will save the game to your HARD DRIVE in the
C:\Program Files\400 Software Studios\OOTP5\Federal League.lg\EXPIMP\ folder. WRITE DOWN THE GAME NUMBER! You'll find it after you click "YES" on the far right of your screen (GAME
XX.EXP). Or, when you see the game summary HTML page it will say near the top left Game#
XX. Writing this down will help you later when you need to .zip the files.
After you close the game summary you should simulate the rest of the games scheduled for that day (
SIMULATE > SIMULATE DAY). When it asks you to EXPORT these games CLICK "
NO." Once all the games are simulated, and the league saves itself, you can go to the next day and play your next game.
Once all your games are done, go to the
C:\Program Files\400 Software Studios\OOTP5\Federal League.lg\EXPIMP\ folder and press and hold down CTRL and then select all the games you just played. They are the files marked GAME
XX.EXP where
XX represents the numbers that you wrote down earlier (see why we told you to write them down?) Once all selected, RIGHT CLICK on the selected file group to open a windows menu. Once open go to "SEND TO > COMPRESSED (ZIPPED) FILE and select that option. This will zip all your games into a nice small single file called GAME
XX.ZIP. The
XX in this case will be the LAST file you clicked on when selecting all your games.
Now open your favourite EMAIL program and attach the GAME
XX.ZIP file to an EMAIL to the Commissioner.
If your games aren't in the Commissioner's email inbox by 15:00 Monday, the Commissioner will SIM your games that afternoon.
The Commissioner will have all the new stats and updates posted to the League Website by 19:00 Monday so the process can start anew.