June Release

[Kelric]

Aaaannnddd.... pre-ordered.

[endgame]

Originally Posted by Kelric

The focus should be on baseball. Past, present and fictional.

I think PSU's emphasis is that we not forget the latter.

In the not too distant past it seemed the reverse. With this year's achievements and improvements in historicals, it's easy to think the fics are being relegated second place, but it's not the case. Markus continues to want to cater to all areas and we have to take our respective turns. He's a pretty effective spray-hitting developer. Frankly, it surprises me that the disadvantages haven't been greater with that approach. But I'm glad he's remained open and versatile. It makes the game what it is.

[Syd Thrift]

If anything, many of these additions make the historical fictional league more realistic and easier to play, so no, I don't think that fictional play is being marginalized.

[gibby290]

Originally Posted by Markus Heinsohn

Well, the OOTP version of Anderson would, as there is no such thing as clutch/pressure in OOTP.

This may be a silly question, but why not? I mean you already have ratings for things such as leadership...why not have a TOUGH IN THE JAM or TERROR IN THE CLUTCH? This would certainly sort out the closer problem...the CPU could give weight to guys rated as such?

[swampdragon]

Originally Posted by pstrickert

I think you make some very good points, Charlie. In particular, you may be right that Markus does not see this as "a highly marketable feature for OOTP." It is my impression, too, that Markus tends to be short-sighted about marketing OOTP to prospective customers. H2H is one example. Single-season replay is another. The PC version of DMB is now basically defunct. This game (and many others, including ActionPC Baseball, SOM, Puresim, etc.) appeal to SSR types. It is interesting that so few of their users (based on what I've read on the message boards) consider OOTP an option when choosing a baseball text sim. IMO, historical play in OOTP has improved by leaps and bounds. It could very well appeal to the fan base of many of OOTP's competitors. With a few additional features, OOTP could, in fact, be a terrific game for SSRs. It could blow the competition out of the water. But to date Markus has shown little or no interest in drawing these potential customers.

But as you said, DMB will have no further development. I'm mostly a season replayer, and I'm very anxious to try out OOTP9. If the pbp and general in-game baseball engine can be improved over OOTP8, and the Garlon/Spritze suggestions have been adopted, there's no reason OOTP can't be a realistic alternative. If you sim your games, it's already there. If you play them out, there's still some work to do. DMB is still the gold standard for single season replays, but I can see OOTP catching up over the next few versions.

[endgame]

Originally Posted by gibby290

This may be a silly question, but why not? I mean you already have ratings for things such as leadership...why not have a TOUGH IN THE JAM or TERROR IN THE CLUTCH? This would certainly sort out the closer problem...the CPU could give weight to guys rated as such?

Because it's that can of worms open to debate and currently unsupported by data that suggests - at this time - that there is any statistical evidence that it exists. It falls into the same category as battery advantages or specific catcher's game-calling abilities.

[Cooleyvol]

This seems to have turned toward a replay discussion, though, hasnt it? My God, please NO!

[kq76]

Originally Posted by endgame

Because it's that can of worms open to debate and currently unsupported by data that suggests - at this time - that there is any statistical evidence that it exists. It falls into the same category as battery advantages or specific catcher's game-calling abilities.

I'd still like to see it back in even if it is purely cosmetic (not affecting results whatsoever), along with a game-calling rating. They're both big parts of the mythos of baseball and would definitely increase the personality factor for those who'd like to pay attention to them. The way I would do it, though, is have them based of off stats in some way or another so that they might look like they're driving the stats, but they're not, they're the results. Let them slowly change over time too. If there is opposition to it even then, have the option to hide it.

Originally Posted by Cooleyvol

This seems to have turned toward a replay discussion, though, hasnt it? My God, please NO!

I'm pretty sure all they're talking about is adding some support for it, not turning it into a full-fledged replay sim. That sounds alright with me. After all, the game already supports several different styles of play, I don't see the harm in one more especially if it brings in a whole other group of customers which might include another valued contributor to the game overall. Yeah, there'd be more competition for our own wants, but it's adding to the pie too not just cutting it up into smaller slices.

...

It's a good thing we don't have rep cuz if we did I'd probably get a whole lot of negative for this double post.

[Markus Heinsohn]

Originally Posted by Cooleyvol

This seems to have turned toward a replay discussion, though, hasnt it? My God, please NO!

No worries... I just added an option that folks who prefer replay seasons can use, and I must say it works great. The generated staff & lineups look extremely similar to the ones used in real life This option is used in the entire game AI, so basically OOTP 9 can be used as a great single season replay sim now

Charlie Hough, you should be happy now!

[MidnightPyro]

Originally Posted by Syd Thrift

If anything, many of these additions make the historical fictional league more realistic and easier to play, so no, I don't think that fictional play is being marginalized.

Actually, for the past few OOTP games, I've really enjoyed fictional leagues. I went from the straight modern-day MLB setup, to fictional leagues, and now I might almost have to give historical leagues a try this year with all of the improvements. Granted I know absolutely nothing about baseball history, but who knows, it could be fun...though I doubt I'll ever give up on fictional leagues

[1998 Yankees]

Originally Posted by Markus Heinsohn

No worries... I just added an option that folks who prefer replay seasons can use, and I must say it works great. The generated staff & lineups look extremely similar to the ones used in real life This option is used in the entire game AI, so basically OOTP 9 can be used as a great single season replay sim now

Charlie Hough, you should be happy now!

Interesting to see that an issue raised in post #66 is resolved by post #109 with a new feature. We cannot expect that to happen often, of course, but it was nice to witness it here.

[whitesocks]

I know that I can put the stats in excell and in word processing programs, but will the next version include anyprinting options??? Not really that important since I have already pre-ordered, but just curious....Thank you.

[Markus Heinsohn]

Originally Posted by whitesocks

I know that I can put the stats in excell and in word processing programs, but will the next version include anyprinting options??? Not really that important since I have already pre-ordered, but just curious....Thank you.

The easiest way is to open the reports in an external browser and print from there... the option can be found in the game preferences.

[endgame]

Originally Posted by whitesocks

I know that I can put the stats in excell and in word processing programs, but will the next version include anyprinting options??? Not really that important since I have already pre-ordered, but just curious....Thank you.

Originally Posted by Markus Heinsohn

The easiest way is to open the reports in an external browser and print from there... the option can be found in the game preferences.

On that note, can anyone recommend an html editor (for the novice) that would allow me to make notations on html generated reports? Right now, for instance, I'm saving my top100 prospects html and would like to add notation lines under particular players on that same report.

[StyxNCa]

Originally Posted by Markus Heinsohn

No worries... I just added an option that folks who prefer replay seasons can use, and I must say it works great. The generated staff & lineups look extremely similar to the ones used in real life This option is used in the entire game AI, so basically OOTP 9 can be used as a great single season replay sim now

Charlie Hough, you should be happy now!

Nice addition! Will save me a lot of time double checking things when I import a season.

[akw4572]

Is there an option called "Dusty Baker" AI? Putting your worst possible OBP at the top of the order? AND, you have to be able to bring your best two starters in for relief work just a day or two after they pitched because you used your long reliever for two batters previously in the game. If not, the game isn't all that accurate. (see Reds boxscore from 5/25/08).

[pstrickert]

Here's what I really like about what Markus has done: I think of the potential interest in historicals as falling along a continuum. On the one end we have those who care little about historical "accuracy." They welcome the many surprise names that show up on the leaderboards. In the middle are those who use recalc to keep things generally consistent with history. They want to see the familiar names on the leaderboards. On the other end are those who want to play a season "replay." It is important to them that lineups and rotations, etc., stay consistent with history. Markus has now made this last type of experience much better, I think. Bravo!

[Markus Heinsohn]

Originally Posted by pstrickert

Here's what I really like about what Markus has done: I think of the potential interest in historicals as falling along a continuum. On the one end we have those who care little about historical "accuracy." They welcome the many surprise names that show up on the leaderboards. In the middle are those who use recalc to keep things generally consistent with history. They want to see the familiar names on the leaderboards. On the other end are those who want to play a season "replay." It is important to them that lineups and rotations, etc., stay consistent with history. Markus has now made this last type of experience much better, I think. Bravo!

Yes, the new mode is really fun! I just imported 1995 (the first season I ever followed extensively over here) and started with a draft... it was a lot of fun, the teams handled the players exactly as the real managers did in that year. So, cool single season replays are no longer a problem with OOTP

[StyxNCa]

Originally Posted by Markus Heinsohn

Yes, the new mode is really fun! I just imported 1995 (the first season I ever followed extensively over here) and started with a draft... it was a lot of fun, the teams handled the players exactly as the real managers did in that year. So, cool single season replays are no longer a problem with OOTP

Great news! Thanks for adding that.

[Charlie Hough]

Markus, THANKS!!!! This is huge news, and if this feature works well, even across multiple seasons in a long-term replay, then OOTP will officially take its place as the best baseball sim for ALL gamers, whether they prefer historical replays, historical 'what if' replays, or fictional games.

The question is whether this will resolve problems like the one with Rick Anderson being put on the Mets staff and used as a closer, even though he had only 15 games pitched in 1986 and fewer than 30 for his entire career. But if it solves those issues as well, then this is phenomenal.

Few would have ever believed that this game could get this close to offering the best of ALL worlds, but it looks like OOTP 9 will be the best baseball sim I have ever seen in my 24 years of playing them.

And, to address the concerns of some who are worried about OOTP becoming a replay sim, I don't think that's the case at all. I think OOTP is simply becoming the best sim across all styles of play. It might be surprising to some of you, but I agree that the focus should remain on fictional gaming with an indeterminate future, since that is what put OOTP on the map. But it is very refreshing to see this level of commitment to historical play and to bringing together all genres into one product. That's a huge feat.

By the way, Markus, I have a book that provides the primary lineups and pitching staffs for every team from 1876-2005. Are you using a similar resource to allow the game to use accurate lineups, or are you using the weighted 3-year calculation that was suggested earlier?