Help with Historical League Setup Requested

Otrex · 10-20-2018, 01:32 AM

Hello everyone,

I am returning to OOTP with OOTP19 and it has been a couple of years since I last set up a league.

I am trying to create a 16 team league (8 teams in each subleague) where real historical players are selected in an initial draft from a draft pool (i.e. for the first draft, players of all different ages).

I have chosen "Custom League" Then I have turned on the options "Automatically Import Historical Rookies" and also "Use Rookies from Random Eras", but when I start the league my first draft ends up being fictional players and a draft which is scheduled to be 162 rounds (2800 players!)!

Also, using the advanced setup, I cannot see any way to designate which years the historical rookies will be drawn from, but once in game I see the date boxes appear (and so, I presume, later draft years would work, but I don't want fictional players mixed in with them).

Can someone help me in getting this set up properly?

I may have a couple other questions, but this is the biggest barrier for now.

Thanks kindly for your help.

David Watts · 10-20-2018, 06:22 AM

Start your league using the historical setup wizard instead of the custom league wizard. Using the historical wizard will give you the option to select the years in which you want your players to come from, example 1901-2017.

With the league size you spoke of, you can use pretty much any year as your starting point as a 16 team setup fits all years. If you want to use the 16 team setup, but start in say 1976, you can simply create your league and then edit league structure(delete teams) once your league is created. Deleting teams will allow for deeper rosters, as the remaining teams will have a bigger pool to draft from.

If you do edit league structure or change any team names exc. make sure you leave the box for historical expansion unchecked. This is important, because if that box is checked, you league will revert to historical structure during your first offseason.

Remember, if you edit league structure to a setup different than the real life historical year, you will have to import/create a new schedule. The game has tons of years to choose from for the setup you spoke of.

Otrex · 10-20-2018, 12:11 PM

Thank you kindly for your help, but I continue to have trouble.

.When I tried the method you suggested, it was forcing me to have a full MLB league structure. When I tried to change it, it said "You cannot edit the league structure because you are playing a historical season". This would mean I have to run the game with too many teams.

What I am wanting to do is create a custom league starting year 1901, but not because I only want players from that year, rather just an arbitrary starting point. Then I'd like the initial expansion draft to include random historical players from 1876 - 1990, but only enough to fill a 16-team league. I don't like having teams of all superstars because the draft pool is so deep.

That implies to me the only way to get there is through the custom league setup, but as I mentioned above, even with the "Automatically Import Historical Rookies" and "Use Rookies from Random Eras" options turned on, I still get a giant pool of fictional players. However, in that setup all other elements appear to be correct (financial reference year, stats reference year etc).

jeter6970 · 10-21-2018, 05:03 AM

Start the historical league in 1901, in step one, check "Use random players from all eras instead of real rosters" In step 2 check which levels of minors you want to use. In step 3, un-check "Automatically expand league" if that's what you want. I mean you do have 60 seasons to change your mind on that as well. Step 4 is ratings and picture settings, so whatever you'd like to do with that. Then when you get to step 5 it's your info and teams. You could go into advanced mode here and change team names if you'd like, or just randomize them and start the league from there.

I've found in most of my random debut leagues that the beginning talent has been spread out and not full of superstars like you're worried about. In my most recent start, actually, the talent level at the start was very low, but the teams were fairly equal. Good management early on is what separated the haves from the have-nots.

jeter6970 · 10-21-2018, 05:25 AM

Sorry, forgot to add in step 1 you can pick the years of when you want players to be available from. After you check the use random players box, that option comes up. The defaults are no minimum and no maximum.

Also, in step 3 you have the financial settings check box, but by default it will be accurate for each year, and I believe that's what you want.

Ormondbeachdan · 10-21-2018, 06:41 AM

I believe you may not have checked Do NOT allow fictional players to reach Majors?...or something like that??

MightyVotto · 10-21-2018, 10:48 AM

There isn't an easy way to start a custom league with random historical players. They always start with fictional players in year 1. Starting a historical league allows for random historical players from year 1 as the previous posters have already outlined.

There was an old post outlining how to do this in a custom league. It involves deleting all the fictional players and importing historical players with spreadsheets or playing out seasons long enough until you have enough historical players to replace the fictional ones. In other words, it's a real PITA.

Otrex · 10-21-2018, 02:25 PM

Between the advice here and some extra poking around, I was able to figure out how to set this up. I thought I'd come back here and report in case others need it too. This must have been the way I did it for OOTP17, the last time I set something like this up (that one lasted 59 seasons!).

Before I cover that though, I want to say here: There should be an easy way to start a fictional league with an inaugural draft consisting of random historical players. All the necessary items are present, just really needs to be a checkable option! Can the developer make this happen so we don't have to do a song-and-dance during setup?

I set it up through the Historical Wizard by selecting 1901 since it has the same league structure as the one I wanted.

Turn on the Random Historical players pair of options and then disable the "Generate players from ...." set of options. Also be sure to designate what era you want your players from (I believe there is an advanced button in that section too).

This wizard will "force" you to have no scouting, but as I found out, a lot of those things can be overridden once you start the league.

Once in the league, turn on scouting and adjust the teams. No need to delete them as players will not be assigned if you've turned on the inaugural draft option. If you check out the logos/nicknames folder and use one of the names from that file, you can have each team update itself to give you nice fictional uniforms and logos.

Be sure to go through the league options and finalize the items you want. Personally I like setting the stats to mirror 1992 and the finances to mirror 2000, but opinions here may differ.

Once that is setup, you should have X teams in Y leagues with an appropriately-sized inaugural draft ready to go. Assign your human managers to the teams they'll be running, and off you go!

More complicated than it needs to be, considering custom league advanced setup lets you do ALL of this except designtate the years the historical players will be drawn from and then also the 2000 fictional players who show up in the initial draft.

Still, hope this helps others who may be trying to set it up the same way.

10-20-2018, 01:32 AM	#1
Otrex Minors (Single A) Join Date: Mar 2002 Posts: 82	Help with Historical League Setup Requested Hello everyone, I am returning to OOTP with OOTP19 and it has been a couple of years since I last set up a league. I am trying to create a 16 team league (8 teams in each subleague) where real historical players are selected in an initial draft from a draft pool (i.e. for the first draft, players of all different ages). I have chosen "Custom League" Then I have turned on the options "Automatically Import Historical Rookies" and also "Use Rookies from Random Eras", but when I start the league my first draft ends up being fictional players and a draft which is scheduled to be 162 rounds (2800 players!)! Also, using the advanced setup, I cannot see any way to designate which years the historical rookies will be drawn from, but once in game I see the date boxes appear (and so, I presume, later draft years would work, but I don't want fictional players mixed in with them). Can someone help me in getting this set up properly? I may have a couple other questions, but this is the biggest barrier for now. Thanks kindly for your help. __________________ "Modern Baseball is a slap-in-the-face to everything that was sacred in the past." Last edited by Otrex; 10-20-2018 at 02:02 AM.

10-20-2018, 12:11 PM	#3
Otrex Minors (Single A) Join Date: Mar 2002 Posts: 82	Thank you kindly for your help, but I continue to have trouble. .When I tried the method you suggested, it was forcing me to have a full MLB league structure. When I tried to change it, it said "You cannot edit the league structure because you are playing a historical season". This would mean I have to run the game with too many teams. What I am wanting to do is create a custom league starting year 1901, but not because I only want players from that year, rather just an arbitrary starting point. Then I'd like the initial expansion draft to include random historical players from 1876 - 1990, but only enough to fill a 16-team league. I don't like having teams of all superstars because the draft pool is so deep. That implies to me the only way to get there is through the custom league setup, but as I mentioned above, even with the "Automatically Import Historical Rookies" and "Use Rookies from Random Eras" options turned on, I still get a giant pool of fictional players. However, in that setup all other elements appear to be correct (financial reference year, stats reference year etc). __________________ "Modern Baseball is a slap-in-the-face to everything that was sacred in the past."

10-21-2018, 02:25 PM	#8
Otrex Minors (Single A) Join Date: Mar 2002 Posts: 82	Between the advice here and some extra poking around, I was able to figure out how to set this up. I thought I'd come back here and report in case others need it too. This must have been the way I did it for OOTP17, the last time I set something like this up (that one lasted 59 seasons!). Before I cover that though, I want to say here: There should be an easy way to start a fictional league with an inaugural draft consisting of random historical players. All the necessary items are present, just really needs to be a checkable option! Can the developer make this happen so we don't have to do a song-and-dance during setup? I set it up through the Historical Wizard by selecting 1901 since it has the same league structure as the one I wanted. Turn on the Random Historical players pair of options and then disable the "Generate players from ...." set of options. Also be sure to designate what era you want your players from (I believe there is an advanced button in that section too). This wizard will "force" you to have no scouting, but as I found out, a lot of those things can be overridden once you start the league. Once in the league, turn on scouting and adjust the teams. No need to delete them as players will not be assigned if you've turned on the inaugural draft option. If you check out the logos/nicknames folder and use one of the names from that file, you can have each team update itself to give you nice fictional uniforms and logos. Be sure to go through the league options and finalize the items you want. Personally I like setting the stats to mirror 1992 and the finances to mirror 2000, but opinions here may differ. Once that is setup, you should have X teams in Y leagues with an appropriately-sized inaugural draft ready to go. Assign your human managers to the teams they'll be running, and off you go! More complicated than it needs to be, considering custom league advanced setup lets you do ALL of this except designtate the years the historical players will be drawn from and then also the 2000 fictional players who show up in the initial draft. Still, hope this helps others who may be trying to set it up the same way. __________________ "Modern Baseball is a slap-in-the-face to everything that was sacred in the past."

10-20-2018, 06:22 AM	#2
David Watts Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Looking for a place called Leehofooks Posts: 10,135 Infractions: 0/1 (1)	Start your league using the historical setup wizard instead of the custom league wizard. Using the historical wizard will give you the option to select the years in which you want your players to come from, example 1901-2017. With the league size you spoke of, you can use pretty much any year as your starting point as a 16 team setup fits all years. If you want to use the 16 team setup, but start in say 1976, you can simply create your league and then edit league structure(delete teams) once your league is created. Deleting teams will allow for deeper rosters, as the remaining teams will have a bigger pool to draft from. If you do edit league structure or change any team names exc. make sure you leave the box for historical expansion unchecked. This is important, because if that box is checked, you league will revert to historical structure during your first offseason. Remember, if you edit league structure to a setup different than the real life historical year, you will have to import/create a new schedule. The game has tons of years to choose from for the setup you spoke of.

10-21-2018, 05:03 AM	#4
jeter6970 Minors (Single A) Join Date: May 2004 Location: Upstate NY Posts: 69	Start the historical league in 1901, in step one, check "Use random players from all eras instead of real rosters" In step 2 check which levels of minors you want to use. In step 3, un-check "Automatically expand league" if that's what you want. I mean you do have 60 seasons to change your mind on that as well. Step 4 is ratings and picture settings, so whatever you'd like to do with that. Then when you get to step 5 it's your info and teams. You could go into advanced mode here and change team names if you'd like, or just randomize them and start the league from there. I've found in most of my random debut leagues that the beginning talent has been spread out and not full of superstars like you're worried about. In my most recent start, actually, the talent level at the start was very low, but the teams were fairly equal. Good management early on is what separated the haves from the have-nots.

10-21-2018, 05:25 AM	#5
jeter6970 Minors (Single A) Join Date: May 2004 Location: Upstate NY Posts: 69	Sorry, forgot to add in step 1 you can pick the years of when you want players to be available from. After you check the use random players box, that option comes up. The defaults are no minimum and no maximum. Also, in step 3 you have the financial settings check box, but by default it will be accurate for each year, and I believe that's what you want.

10-21-2018, 06:41 AM	#6
Ormondbeachdan Major Leagues Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Ormond Beach Fl Posts: 300	I believe you may not have checked Do NOT allow fictional players to reach Majors?...or something like that??

10-21-2018, 10:48 AM	#7
MightyVotto Minors (Double A) Join Date: Aug 2011 Posts: 127	There isn't an easy way to start a custom league with random historical players. They always start with fictional players in year 1. Starting a historical league allows for random historical players from year 1 as the previous posters have already outlined. There was an old post outlining how to do this in a custom league. It involves deleting all the fictional players and importing historical players with spreadsheets or playing out seasons long enough until you have enough historical players to replace the fictional ones. In other words, it's a real PITA.