Opening moves: MLB, inaugural draft, full minors

andoq · 06-19-2008, 12:57 AM

Just thought I'd record what I did to create my league. Here's what I had played in the past:

Single player, fictional league and players, league closely simulated on real MLB. For my league, I had taken the time to rename all the players, import some real-world stadium park settings and pictures, but hadn't bothered with finding a good roster set before I got into a league. I simmed 80% of games, a week or 2 at a time usually, but would often take the time to play every once in awhile just to see my players. If I made the playoffs I would often play most games. I made it through about 25 season with my longest league.

So, with ootp9, I wanted to start a new league, for one major reason: major league history. I wanted basically the same experience, but wanted all the major league records and history in my league as well. So, I just thought as I did this I would document everything I did - I'm sure everyone does things a little differently, and the great part about this game is that it will work for everyone.

Use MLB quickstart - gives me history, teams, minor leagues, awesome, awesome, and more awesome! (by the way, who put in Tommy Lasorda's managing stats? Hilarious!)
From 'Game' menu, choose 'Game setup', and start chaning things.
Global Setup: change all rating scales to '1 to 100' - I don't know why more people don't do this. I want as much information as possible, and it always seems good to me to have a bigger range. Also: change Show Ratings > Max to Yes.
Player and Picture Options: under 'Retiring Player Options', check the box for deleting players. (just reduces noise). Change 'player picures for' to all players, and all coaches/scouts managers'.
AI options: change trading frequency to low, and trading difficulty to hard. Just personal preferences, but I especially recommend the trading difficulty up. We'll see how it goes in ootp9, but even with 'very hard' I found myself having to prevent myself from ripping off the computer AI, and even with that always seemed to have a steady stream of stud minor leaguers that I got in trades. I also thought about playing with the AI Player Evaluation Options, but moved on...
League Setup: For the Major League, I goto Options, and uncheck 'allow incomplete minor league rosters (ghost players). I like having all players. On the 'rules' tab, I'll leave the amateur draft rounds and players at 30, but I might have to change this to make sure that all minor leagues have anough players. But I did check 'allow draft pick trading', just because i like this. And on the 'options' tab, I checked 'automatically schedule all-star game'. Also, rename playoff rounds: Divisional Series, League Championship, and World Series.
For AAA and AA leagues, on the Rules tab, I change the Active Roster size to 25. Next, on options, I disable playoffs(makes it easier to manage september call-ups, and the AI can get confused by this). Single A and R stay at unlimted, to make sure all teams have enough players. I'll probably eventually change the number of games, to ensure that AAA and AA are finished by sept. 1st every year. For full-length minor leagues (AAA, AA, and A), I check the box for 'hold All-star game' - just more fun.
One more thing I noticed in league setup: foreigner percentage for minor leagues. All minor leagues are 10 percent, but major leagues are 35 percent. Not sure if this will work, or if it will be important since I'll populate new players via the draft. I tried high school and college feeder leagues in 8, but could never get it right, so I'll leave it alone again.
Finally, for my last step, I went to the 'functions' tab, and clicked 'release all players and schedule inagural draft'! Now, I'm preparing for my draft, my favorite part - I'll probably draft about 50 rounds or so, and then sim the rest. I did a quick test, and drating will reset finances for all teams, which I actually kinda like. As I do a draft, I will intentionally restrict myself from big-time current players, and instead draft prospects, so that my initial market will be small one. This will both give me a small-market team, which presents a challenge, and a chance for a great set of prospects hitting it big in the future.

That's my league, now I'm off to draft. Have fun everyone! What do you do to setup your league?

06-19-2008, 12:57 AM	#1
andoq Bat Boy Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 8	Opening moves: MLB, inaugural draft, full minors Just thought I'd record what I did to create my league. Here's what I had played in the past: Single player, fictional league and players, league closely simulated on real MLB. For my league, I had taken the time to rename all the players, import some real-world stadium park settings and pictures, but hadn't bothered with finding a good roster set before I got into a league. I simmed 80% of games, a week or 2 at a time usually, but would often take the time to play every once in awhile just to see my players. If I made the playoffs I would often play most games. I made it through about 25 season with my longest league. So, with ootp9, I wanted to start a new league, for one major reason: major league history. I wanted basically the same experience, but wanted all the major league records and history in my league as well. So, I just thought as I did this I would document everything I did - I'm sure everyone does things a little differently, and the great part about this game is that it will work for everyone. Use MLB quickstart - gives me history, teams, minor leagues, awesome, awesome, and more awesome! (by the way, who put in Tommy Lasorda's managing stats? Hilarious!) From 'Game' menu, choose 'Game setup', and start chaning things. Global Setup: change all rating scales to '1 to 100' - I don't know why more people don't do this. I want as much information as possible, and it always seems good to me to have a bigger range. Also: change Show Ratings > Max to Yes. Player and Picture Options: under 'Retiring Player Options', check the box for deleting players. (just reduces noise). Change 'player picures for' to all players, and all coaches/scouts managers'. AI options: change trading frequency to low, and trading difficulty to hard. Just personal preferences, but I especially recommend the trading difficulty up. We'll see how it goes in ootp9, but even with 'very hard' I found myself having to prevent myself from ripping off the computer AI, and even with that always seemed to have a steady stream of stud minor leaguers that I got in trades. I also thought about playing with the AI Player Evaluation Options, but moved on... League Setup: For the Major League, I goto Options, and uncheck 'allow incomplete minor league rosters (ghost players). I like having all players. On the 'rules' tab, I'll leave the amateur draft rounds and players at 30, but I might have to change this to make sure that all minor leagues have anough players. But I did check 'allow draft pick trading', just because i like this. And on the 'options' tab, I checked 'automatically schedule all-star game'. Also, rename playoff rounds: Divisional Series, League Championship, and World Series. For AAA and AA leagues, on the Rules tab, I change the Active Roster size to 25. Next, on options, I disable playoffs(makes it easier to manage september call-ups, and the AI can get confused by this). Single A and R stay at unlimted, to make sure all teams have enough players. I'll probably eventually change the number of games, to ensure that AAA and AA are finished by sept. 1st every year. For full-length minor leagues (AAA, AA, and A), I check the box for 'hold All-star game' - just more fun. One more thing I noticed in league setup: foreigner percentage for minor leagues. All minor leagues are 10 percent, but major leagues are 35 percent. Not sure if this will work, or if it will be important since I'll populate new players via the draft. I tried high school and college feeder leagues in 8, but could never get it right, so I'll leave it alone again. Finally, for my last step, I went to the 'functions' tab, and clicked 'release all players and schedule inagural draft'! Now, I'm preparing for my draft, my favorite part - I'll probably draft about 50 rounds or so, and then sim the rest. I did a quick test, and drating will reset finances for all teams, which I actually kinda like. As I do a draft, I will intentionally restrict myself from big-time current players, and instead draft prospects, so that my initial market will be small one. This will both give me a small-market team, which presents a challenge, and a chance for a great set of prospects hitting it big in the future. That's my league, now I'm off to draft. Have fun everyone! What do you do to setup your league?