Feature needing tweaking: Automatically Updating Stadiums

[Gambo]

The only new historical feature I find more frustrating and limiting in the new version is the way the game handles ballparks during the handling automatical league structure changes.

I was hoping that automatically updating teams/expansion and updating the ballparks would be made separate options, just like financial is. Currently the game automatically updates the ballparks each year overwriting the existing ones (including dimensions and factors etc.), essentially meaning that any changes you do in a historical sim will be for naught.

This is actually both limiting and frustrating for players. And has been mentioned as a nuisance repeatedly.

I think just as the recalculation each year gives you options, so should the ballpark option. Currently the method takes ballparks out of the player's hands. Historical simmers who want to be able to reflect the subtle changes in ballpark dimensions and factors each year (such as the shrinking of Braves Field or the Polo Grounds) are relegated to the across the board numbers provided in the database.

I would like a small expansion of this option that can be checked. Sort of like two main options with the ballpark option separated into two smaller options.

League Structure
[ ] automatically update and expand league

Ballparks
[ ] automatically update historical ballparks
[ ] create new ballparks when changes occur
[ ] update factors each season for historical accuracy

This way people who have put work into editing the dimension and such for ballparks dont get it overwritten automatically.

[BostonRS14]

Can I make a backup of my ballparks.dat file and just copy over the one generated by the game each season to keep my changes? I just went and fixed all the stadiums for MLB and AAA in my historical league and I'd love for it not to be a waste.

[Gambo]

That is essentially all you can do right now. (In all honesty I haven't exactly tried it but it should work). A bit of a bummer in terms of work but it does the job.

[Curtis]

Originally Posted by Gambo

I think just as the recalculation each year gives you options, so should the ballpark option

Ballparks
[ ] automatically update historical ballparks
[ ] create new ballparks when changes occur
[ ] update factors each season for historical accuracy

I would like to extend this to the idea of having ballpark factors recalced based on a 1, 3 or 5 year rolling average. That would tend to reduce the effects of a couple of players having one big season.

And how does the game recalculate the ballpark factors? I would think it would be based on how well visiting teams hit in that park vs. the other parks in the league. Having a park's home run factor rise because that home team picked up four 40 homer guys in free agency hardly seems right.

[Gambo]

The ballparks factors are calculated from the Lahman database in the teams.csv file.

Also, I totally agree with you and that's why I dont like the Lahman DB for ballpark factors per se. Players can drastically skew the numbers.