How To Start A New League

[Wulf579]

Hi All:

I am interested in knowing how to start a new league for OOTP11 - everything needed to setup, create and then implement a new league.

Thanks;
Wulf579
michaelpriester@att.net

[pucku33]

on the main menu, click start a new 2010 league, historical league or custom league. then set it up however you like in the settings.

[f.montoya]

I think he means "how to setup an online league".

There is a section on it in the online manual. Here is the link.

Basically, you need a webhost that provides FTP and enough disk space to accommodate your league. You need to get up some basic rules for your league(you can browse other leagues and steal ideas from their rules' pages ). And you at least need a forum for your league to do it's communication and business. Once you have all that and are comfortable with how to run sims, upload files, etc, you can recruit people to join your league. And away you go!

[EKomrska15]

The only problem with the manual is it does not give proper instructions for OOTP11 as it has OOTP10 screenshots in there.

[f.montoya]

Originally Posted by EKomrska15

The only problem with the manual is it does not give proper instructions for OOTP11 as it has OOTP10 screenshots in there.

With the release of v11, I believe those screenies will get updated soon.

[phenom]

Join one first. Be an owner before a commissioner, for the love of God!!

[EKomrska15]

Originally Posted by phenom

Join one first. Be an owner before a commissioner, for the love of God!!

That is so true.....You learn so much from being in leagues and what you like and don't like about how a league is run.

[Wulf579]

I appreciate the input, but I am starting a league for just my brother and I, so "joining" a league isn't something we do not want to do right at this moment.

Can the league file be uploaded via http or another way other than ftp? My web hosting service uses Microsoft FrontPage and the FrontPage extensions, and if ftp is used, it will corrupt the FrontPage extensions, causing problems for the entire site.

So I need another way of uploading the games files/reports, etc., as well as another way for my brother to download the files - I noticed that OOTPB 11 offers you to download via http, but not upload the same way. How stupid is that?

[Cooleyvol]

Most webhosts have FP extensions installed. That doesnt mean you can't ftp to the site.

[Cooleyvol]

Originally Posted by Wulf579

I noticed that OOTPB 11 offers you to download via http, but not upload the same way. How stupid is that?

......probably not the best way to get help around here. Just sayin'.

[Alan T]

Originally Posted by Wulf579

So I need another way of uploading the games files/reports, etc., as well as another way for my brother to download the files - I noticed that OOTPB 11 offers you to download via http, but not upload the same way. How stupid is that?

The Frontpage method of uploading webpages is usually to make the changes in front page and upload it. That is more for creating a webpage rather than uploading html files. Even if you use frontpage with a website, usually you can create a directory structure behind it to use solely for these file uploads and not impact your root frontpage directory. You would run into the same problem where those frontpage pages would get overwritten no matter what upload method you used if you chose to use that root directory for your ootp files.

If you really want to upload via http, you probably can do so outside of the game using your webserver's web upload interface. I can almost guarantee that it will be slower than ftp upload though just because of the differences in how the protocol works. From your other remarks though, it sounds like the biggest issue for you is getting your web server's directory structure set up correctly so uploading this won't break your other pages.

[SpartyParty5]

Trying to set up a custom league.

Can I use the MLB Rosters?

I can't seem to find anything to allow me to do so, everytime I get in there, I always have fictional rosters?

And is there a way to get the real MLB logos? Or do I just have to upload them myself?

Any tips and help would be appreciated.

[Wulf579]

I appreciate the input, but the uploading the files via ftp is NOT an option, as the Web hosting company I use has FrontPage extensions installed on all of their servers, and I've been informed that uploading via ftp would corrupt the extension.

All files are uploaded to their servers to a public_html folder, so any files uploaded via ftp would cause problems for my entire web site. FTP uploading is not an option. So I really need another way of uploading the files.

And to Cooleyvol: It IS pretty stupid on the developers of the game to allow only ONE way of uploading updates for the game. And even more dumb to allow the DOWNloading of updates via http but NOT to allow the UPloading of updates via http as well.

So enough of the "comments", I need answers. Anybody here got any that are actually helpful, or does everybody just like to post "comments" and not answers or suggestions?

[f.montoya]

Basically, there is no way to upload anything to a website via http via in-game(Your comments of that being a stupid design decision by Markus and Andreas are what prompted comments by others here in this thread, who I do believe are meaning well). To upload via http, the interface to process the upload has to reside on http, or your website. The game resides on your computer and the only option it has is FTP.

Downloading via http is easy because all it requires is a URL or website address. The opposite does not work that way unless your webhost sets that up for you. The developers of this game have no way of doing that. Further reasoning is that 99.99% of all online league commissioners prefer the speed of FTP and the developers have really gone the extra mile over the years in accommodating our requests for in-game FTP that is as good and secure as it is today. Hopefully that answers one of your questions as to why it is the way it is.

Your next question as to suggestions...

These are your options:

1. Find a new webhost that fully supports FTP and does not restrict you in any way
2. Use your website's control panel to upload the league file and league reports archives to folders that you designate for the game
3. If you are only in need of sharing your league file with one other person, use email to send the file or use RapidShare, MegaUpload or those types of sites to post your file.

These suggestions may not be what you would like to hear but unfortunately your limitations are due to your webhost and we are at a loss for ideas beyond the above.

[Alan T]

Originally Posted by Wulf579

So enough of the "comments", I need answers. Anybody here got any that are actually helpful, or does everybody just like to post "comments" and not answers or suggestions?

I already gave you the answer you were looking for. You have to use your webpage's web interface to upload any files via HTTP. You have to do that outside of the game as I said.

[Wulf579]

Ok, the information by f.montoya is more what I needed to know. Having some detailed information as to how OOTPB 11 uploads and downloads files makes it a bit easier to try and figure out what to do.

Insofar as the web host I use, they DO fully support ftp - in fact, each Web site has a public_ftp folder where files can be uploaded via ftp. The problem is that the site I have is created and maintained by Microsoft FrontPage 2003, which requires the FrontPage extensions for the pages created with FrontPage to work correctly. If I werre using another program to design the pages, ftp would not be a problem.

Now for Alan T's suggestion: I can use my site's interface to upload the files via http. So do I simply create a folder to upload the files to it (I believe that OOTPB 11 creates a zip file for the files)? And then simply have the other person download those files, since OOTPB 11 allows the downloading of files using http?

[f.montoya]

Originally Posted by Wulf579

...Now for Alan T's suggestion: I can use my site's interface to upload the files via http. So do I simply create a folder to upload the files to it (I believe that OOTPB 11 creates a zip file for the files)? And then simply have the other person download those files, since OOTPB 11 allows the downloading of files using http?

Yes. Create a folder on your site called "lgfile". Then test the link by typing the location into your web browser. For example, "http://mysite.com/lgfile". If the link works, you are half-way there.

In the game, have the game generate the files and then "archive" them. On your hard drive you will find the archive in /saved_games/myleague.lg/import_export. It should have a name such as "myleague.lg.tar.gz" Upload this file to your /lgfile folder on your website via your website's upoad interface.

Finally, test the http download by typing in the URL into your web browser. should be something like http://mysite.com/lgfile/myleague.lg.tar.gz

If it doesn't prompt you to download the league file, recheck your spelling and re-check that the league file was actually uploaded. If the download begins, you're finished. Just provide the URL to your league members and they can input this into their game's Online league settings.