Screenshots: 6.5 vs. 2007 and Explanations

[The Wolf]

Originally Posted by jm47048

(I did not play 06)

Lucky dog.

[wlight1]

Originally Posted by ctorg

The main thing I'd like, which I've said along with many others since OOTP2006 was out, is to be able to see the screen that comes up when simming even when I'm not simming.

Yes please.

[pstrickert]

Originally Posted by Long_Long_Name

Well, using the Views button right above the players, you can select what set of ratings/stats you want to use, and customize it to your liking. You can see any stat, rating or personal information you want, displaying all the stats you want and taking off all the ones you don't want.


Also, correct me if I am wrong, but so far, your concerns are a bit cosmetic and deal with "little things". As someone who doesn't have a preference for either interface (but, for the sake of argument, I wish to keep the current one as it avoids a TON of work for Markus who can focus on other things, and is much better adapted to all the new features of the SI era), I'll say that you are making pretty good suggestions - adding leaderboards and reconfiguring certain screens for ease of use are pretty good ideas. It's a far cry from "this game is unplayable" or "trash the new interface altogether"; as I mentioned, I think going back would be a bad idea for two main reasons, but your comments so far I'm sure could help make the current interface better if they were integrated.

I tend to agree with this opinion. I'm not interested at all in reverting to the old interface. However, I do think Markus and Andreas would be advised to read this thread for some helpful feedback for OOTP9.

Based on the screenshot comparison, I would use words such as "sterile" and "cold" and "formal" to describe OOTP8. By contrast, OOTP6 is warmer and more winsome. I'm not sure how much it all matters, but I'd like to see OOTP9 use colors, graphics, and charts more liberally. Even the "who's hot", "who's cold", and "line of the week" features bring a league to life a bit more.

Here's an OOTP5 screenshot. It would be nice IMO to be able to display graphs of all of the major stats for players and teams.

[fantom1979]

Originally Posted by pstrickert

I tend to agree with this opinion. I'm not interested at all in reverting to the old interface. However, I do think Markus and Andreas would be advised to read this thread for some helpful feedback for OOTP9.

Based on the screenshot comparison, I would use words such as "sterile" and "cold" and "formal" to describe OOTP8. By contrast, OOTP6 is warmer and more winsome. I'm not sure how much it all matters, but I'd like to see OOTP9 use colors, graphics, and charts more liberally. Even the "who's hot", "who's cold", and "line of the week" features bring a league to life a bit more.

Here's an OOTP5 screenshot. It would be nice IMO to be able to display graphs of all of the major stats for players and teams.

I forgot all about that screen. It was a nice one to have.

[Bluenoser]

Having looked through this post and all the comparisons, all I can say is I wouldn't go back to 6.5 if you paid me to.

When SI came onboard with OOTP 2006 I was leery at first, but quickly fell in love with the new UI. Yes, 2006 had lots of bugs, but I always looked at it as a growing pain in the series.

2007 and now 8 are excellent games and give the user so many more customization options.

Going back to 6.5 and being stuck with very few customization options and having to look at the same dull screens all the time would be, well, would be the end of my OOTP playing days.

You say the natural movement of the eyes is left to right. Well that may be correct, but it's quite easy to train the eyes as well. Familiarity quickly leads to adjustment.

I'm not singling anyone out at all, and I respect very much everyone elses likes and dislikes, but I honestly believe that a lot of people who prefer 6.5 just never gave 2006 and onward a fair chance. Yes, the UI is overwhelming at first, but given time it is very easy to adapt to and is very user friendly and intuitive.

[MorseMoose]

My goodness...this thread really brought me back to a MUCH better time.

[Giants44]

opinions vary and I loved playing OOTP back in the v2-v6 days. truly great games.

I know that when 2006 first game out, I hated the interface and went back to 6.5. But as the patches came out and I got to know the interface I came to love it. So much in fact I prefer it over all the other games I play. I would kill for an FOF game with the SI style interface.

I am not saying YOU should prefer the new interface, simply that I do.

Also worth nothing - clearly Markus (and really all of us) can't please everyone no matter what decision he makes - so he should continue down the path that he thinks is best.

There are many things I love about OOTP and many things I would change - but in the end, it is still the gold standard for me and closer to what I look for in a game than any other I have ever owned in any genre.

[fantom1979]

Originally Posted by BruceM

I'm not singling anyone out at all, and I respect very much everyone elses likes and dislikes, but I honestly believe that a lot of people who prefer 6.5 just never gave 2006 and onward a fair chance. Yes, the UI is overwhelming at first, but given time it is very easy to adapt to and is very user friendly and intuitive.

I have seen this posted a couple of times and I have to respectfully disagree. I have played with the new interface for 2 years now and I still don't like it. It just seems to be harder to do just about everything compared to the older versions.

I wouldn't give up some of the customization for anything. But there are plenty of things that I didnt have to fool with to get previous versions to work. I dont like spending time adjusting the columns to the stats I think should have already been default. I dont like clicking on a player and not knowing if I am going to get his ingame player card or the Sion player card. I dont like having to look through two different screens to see league leaders and standings. I dont like having to manually count how many MVP's (or allstar games or Cy Youngs) a player has won in the majors. I dont like that the sim will not stop for important events (500 homeruns, 300 wins, no hitters, etc).

All of these things were standard in the older versions. I am not talking about version 6.5, these were in v4. I really think the interface can be great, I just dont think it is there yet. As a fictional simmer, some of these things are rather important to stay involved in the league. This is just regarding the interface, there are plenty of other little things that I didnt have to fiddle with to get the game to work the way I wanted to in previous versions. I often have to run multiple test sims to check to make sure the league settings are correct (stats, correct # of draft picks, financials, etc.) The commish mode needs some work. If I want to play without getting fired, you have to use commish mode, but then other things break like salary cap.

Every version I hope that these little things get patched up, but this year I am not leaping in until I know for sure.

[Zitofan75]

Originally Posted by Giants44

Also worth nothing - clearly Markus (and really all of us) can't please everyone no matter what decision he makes - so he should continue down the path that he thinks is best.

This is true. Those that attempt to please everyone often simply please nobody. It's sad but it's often true.

[Bluenoser]

*

[HolyCow98]

I've grown used to the new look/UI and for the part I wouldn't want go back. There is one thing that I really do miss. Maybe I'm just missing it but I haven't found it since Beta for OOTP 2007.

In 6.5 at the beginning of the season (solo or online) I would routinely select from the roster screen for it to display all levels and than filter it by position. I would then create a orginizational depth chart by position. I would base a lot of decisions off that spreadsheet. It would show me who I would want to start the season off with on the active roster...and who I might want to start making room for in the near future. It would show me who I should try to move, or in the case of online leagues, put on my trade block. Now perhaps you can do that in the same way in 2007/8 but I have founde a way that was as easy. There are some reports that give you similar info, and there is of course toggling back and forth from affiliate to affiliate or going into the transactions screen and making sure all or most of you levels are displayed. None of those were as easy though as All Level> Fileter Position and then show ratings. I would get all the ratings or potentials for everyone in the orginization in a nice list format that was easy and most importantly quick to get to the data I was looking for.

[Giants44]

Originally Posted by HolyCow98

I've grown used to the new look/UI and for the part I wouldn't want go back. There is one thing that I really do miss. Maybe I'm just missing it but I haven't found it since Beta for OOTP 2007.

In 6.5 at the beginning of the season (solo or online) I would routinely select from the roster screen for it to display all levels and than filter it by position. I would then create a orginizational depth chart by position. I would base a lot of decisions off that spreadsheet. It would show me who I would want to start the season off with on the active roster...and who I might want to start making room for in the near future. It would show me who I should try to move, or in the case of online leagues, put on my trade block. Now perhaps you can do that in the same way in 2007/8 but I have founde a way that was as easy. There are some reports that give you similar info, and there is of course toggling back and forth from affiliate to affiliate or going into the transactions screen and making sure all or most of you levels are displayed. None of those were as easy though as All Level> Fileter Position and then show ratings. I would get all the ratings or potentials for everyone in the orginization in a nice list format that was easy and most importantly quick to get to the data I was looking for.

I agree - that was a great organizational screen - one that I too use to use and until this point had completely forgotten about.

[fantom1979]

Just fired up the game, created a new league, and quickly remembered another reason why the interface aggervates me. I just did the draft for a fictional league. After the draft, my players are all over the place in the organization. Some players in A, should be in the majors, some in AAA should be in AA.

So I go to the transaction screen to move the players, except that screen doesnt have the information i need. The place to find where a player should be in the minors is located over at the SION minor league system report screen.

Ok, so on the SION screen, I cannot simply drag and drop a player from one level to another, I have to right click each misplaced player and select the level he should be at. This is time consuming, but not horribile..... UNTIL..... after each player moved, the game automatically shoots me back to the team home page.

So for each player that I want to move, based on my coaches opinions, I have to go to the SION minor league report screen, right click the player, right click the team he is going to and then start the entire process over again.

This could be easily fixed with the old fashion arrows in the transaction screen, or allow the SION minor league report page to be drag and drop.

As I said in my previous post, I dont dislike the interface, I just think it is not ready for the big time. The potiental is there, its just frustrating to have to spend 30 minutes doing something, that I could do in 30 seconds in v4.

[HolyCow98]

I hear ya. I miss the days where I could just go to the transactions screen, maybe click on the minor league report button which would open externally by default so I could have them both open and decide literally within a few moments figure out what a particular player was hitting, check to see if the minor league manager had a comment about the player (not ready for AAA ect ect) and check their ratings and decide if he I needed to promote or demore or if this guy was good enough to replace my recently injured SS who just went on the DL.

Looking at the screen it looks like it would "feel" and act the same way....and sometimes I think its just me, but it just feels less convienent to me. Its not a game breaker but it does vastly detour me from micro-managing as much as I would in the past versions. Luckily my favorite part of all the OOTP versions is playing out the games and seasons and of course watching the league evolve and the career leaderboards and the legends of the game emerge, which for me, OOTP 2007/8 does the best for me in that regard and I expect OOTP 9 will be just as good if not better.

Any interface related improvements for me wouldn't require an overhaul or to bring back the old interface (which wouldn't work because there is so much more stuff now in the game) but just a focus on making things convenient. At some point just set down and sim out a season by week or something. Each week check things across your orginization and see if any changes are needed. Then when your done, ask yourself was that convenient or not? Its really not horrible...the interface has a ton of flexibility and customizable abilities...it just needs to be polished up here and there (reducing unnecessary steps and clicks when possible). The views of looking at your orginization as a whole (read at the same time) was actually better in the older OOTP versions then it is now. True, it treats each level of your orginization to the same features as the major league level but what if I don't want to look at them one at a time? Just an example of extra steps and extra clicks that are there that didn't use to be there for something, and I can only speak for myself, I used all the time.

[HolyCow98]

Originally Posted by pstrickert

I tend to agree with this opinion. I'm not interested at all in reverting to the old interface. However, I do think Markus and Andreas would be advised to read this thread for some helpful feedback for OOTP9.

Based on the screenshot comparison, I would use words such as "sterile" and "cold" and "formal" to describe OOTP8. By contrast, OOTP6 is warmer and more winsome. I'm not sure how much it all matters, but I'd like to see OOTP9 use colors, graphics, and charts more liberally. Even the "who's hot", "who's cold", and "line of the week" features bring a league to life a bit more.

Here's an OOTP5 screenshot. It would be nice IMO to be able to display graphs of all of the major stats for players and teams.

I always loved that page. The charts for AVG and ERA were a nice touch combined with the text version of a scouting report. It added to the flavor of the game for me. For me, its kinda like the stories and the history sections. Are those necessary for running a team and playing a season out or to make major decisions in terms of player decisions...no not really....do they add to the game....you betcha.

[fantom1979]

Originally Posted by HolyCow98

Looking at the screen it looks like it would "feel" and act the same way....and sometimes I think its just me, but it just feels less convienent to me. Its not a game breaker but it does vastly detour me from micro-managing as much as I would in the past versions.

Pulled this part of your quote out, because it sums up my thoughts pretty well. Nothing I have posted is a game breaker by itself, but I do find myself playing OOTP way less then I used to. I know that part of the reason is just that I find parts of the interface too disjointed. I played OOTP 4, 5, and 6 on average of about 300 seasons per year. OOTP 2006 I played for about 40 seasons, and OOTP 2007 I made it about 100 season.

With OOTP 4 plus cato, I didnt need to do anything else for my stat needs. With OOTP 2007, i find myself having to pull info out of the game, insert it into a mysql database, just to pull some basic info. For example, who has had the longest active hitting streak in a given league, who has won the most awards (Mvp, cy young, gold glove, etc), team records (most runs, stolen bases, home runs in a season).

I remember asking for these things when I was on the OOTP 2006 dream team. It just doesnt seem to be a priority, but for a simmer who sims large spans of time (100+ years), these things combined add to the depth of the game.

I really wonder how many fictional simmers are left. A lot of people that are still on the boards appear to be historical, on-line exclusive, or they play out their games. With on-line or play out, you probably only really get to play a couple of seasons out per version, so some of the things I am asking for probably aren't of interest.

[HolyCow98]

It depends on how much I like that version....In OOTP 3 and 4 I averaged about 21 seasons playing 95% of my games out. OOTP 5 it was down to a bout 8 or so...this was about the time where online leagues started to take up some of my time. OOTP 6 I had a problem sticking with one league but over about 4 or 5 leagues I probably played out 12 or so seasons. By the time 6.5 came out I was almost online exclusive. The game was still good I was just finding it stale. Jeff Cato not being around anymore making catobase be a lot less stable under 6.5 with a lot more time to work around some of the issues. I don't think I played out maybe 2 full seasons. I still got a lot of value from online leagues though.

Over the past year or so I've picked it back up and have really gotten a lot of enjoyment out of. For me though, no matter how good the game is....I'm just not sure I'll be able to get into the way I used to. OOTP 3 came out I was like 26 or 27 and single. I just turned 35 April 5th and am now married. With that said...I'm still a fictional, play out each game player that I was when I started with OOTP 3. Just a little less volume. In terms of the interface and features, things that effect that experience is what I notice the notice and care about the most. I'll occasionally crank of a historical league to run in the background when I have to do some kind of grunt desk work to give me some mental breaks while I'm working.

I think the only reason I don't become fond of simming through the seasons is that when look at the career leaders there are always too many unknown players to me. In real-life, I'll recognize everybody. I may not much more than name and teams they played for and position....but there isn't a sense of "who the hell is that". Playing out the games prevents that feeling to pop up. Eventually, since I don't have as much time to play though I can see myself creating some kind of system where I'm playing out games in certain situations and simming in other. Leagues don't really get good until you get to like season 25 IMO.

[HolyCow98]

Oh...I forgot to mention I'd very much like to see the history section show in the awards section who has won the awards the most....just like it did in Catobase. I keep a primitive spreadsheet on the big awards by league, plus batting champions, HR champions, RBI leaders....basically the stuff as a kid collecting baseball cards I used to write down in notebooks because I was bored out of my mind.

If you don't mind me asking, what were some of the other request you made. I'm pretty sure most if not all would be important to me as well...and there important to me...than probably others as well.

[Base Stealer]

Originally Posted by Giants44

Also worth nothing - clearly Markus (and really all of us) can't please everyone no matter what decision he makes - so he should continue down the path that he thinks is best.

There are many things I love about OOTP and many things I would change - but in the end, it is still the gold standard for me and closer to what I look for in a game than any other I have ever owned in any genre.

My way of thinking....

[fantom1979]

Originally Posted by HolyCow98

If you don't mind me asking, what were some of the other request you made. I'm pretty sure most if not all would be important to me as well...and there important to me...than probably others as well.

I have made many suggestions, I am a needy guy . Here are some I can think of off the top of my head:

- Stop sims when players reach certain milestones (500 homeruns, 3000 hits, 300 wins) This was available in OOTP4/5/6. Would like to see it expanded to include all time records.

- On that note, add news messages when players break career records. If a player breaks the all time homerun record, there should be a news story.

- Bring back the leaderboard/standings screen that is only currently available in the sim screen. This was the main screen in OOTP 4/5/6

- Bring back the records books, its very difficult to see who is the pitcher with the most strikeouts in one game. From OOTP 4/5/6

- Add an active leaderboard, cato or wallman like. Include all the major stats, plus stuff like hitting streaks.

- Player history page should only count awards won in the major leagues, not in the minors. Currently it counts both. So if it says a player has won 8 player of the week awards, this counts minors and majors, it really should only count majors.

- Add a leaderboard for most awards won. There is currently no easy way to know who has won the most mvp awards.

- Fix financials. Different screens give you different information about how much money you have to spend. The financial coefficient is pointless as far as I can tell. It is possible to add inflation using the "import adjusted financial settings" checkbox, but this does not work real well if you have two major leagues with different salary structures.

- Fix the commish mode. I do not want to be fired from my team, but I like to play with a salary cap. This was easy to do it v4/5/6, but in 2007 if you turn commish mode on to avoid the chance you will be fired, you are no longer held to the salary cap. A simple "I cannot be fired" checkbox would fix this.

- Fix the minor league system SION (BNN) page. Allow players to be moved in this screen using drag and drop, or put arrows in the transaction screen to reflect what the recommendations are. Also, it is currently not possible to bookmark the SION minor league system page. Doing so will bookmark your SION team home page instead.