impressions on OOTP 13 from another beta tester

[old timer]

Hi all,

I work in tech support and am only on the beta team because of that job. I absolutely HATE testing and never participated before this year because of that. But... For me at least, this version has so many cool things to offer, I couldn't resist playing it a lot and consequently, I found myself doing a lot of testing.

Before I continue, I'd like to point out I'm still discovering new things and I've been testing since the beta began. So here goes (in no particular order):

I know this has already been discussed, but a major improvement is the interface. It feels much easier to find stuff (well, it may still need some tweaks) and it's going to be less confusing to new people especially, without sacrificing options for us veterans. Just to give an example of one of the many little extras that are "hidden" in the new version, the league menu is now sorted by league level so that a major league will be at the top with its minor leagues (also sorted by level) immediately below it and then followed by another major league and so on. So no more hunting all over that menu for the right league. International leagues would sort at the bottom, by the way. This is a small thing, but there are many of these little things and I really think they add up more than you might think.

There have been several bug fixes from previous versions and I'll just give two examples here: Minor league free agents tended to sign only with one or two teams in a particular league. I had one team in an independent minor league level go 76-0 (including post-season) in OOTP 12 because of this problem. Another (apparent) fix is related to menu glitches. I used to encounter disappearing menus on certain screens (like the free agent screen) and some other odd anomalies like this, but haven't yet seen this in OOTP 13. These may not matter to many of you, but there are numerous other examples of fixes that I've stumbled upon that I didn't see officially listed yet. Of course, I may have just missed some of them.

I've really enjoyed the real-time simulation (RTS) feature so far as well. When I first heard about it, it inspired nothing more than a yawn. So imagine my surprise when I found myself playing with RTS mode on quite a bit. I work from home and it's especially nice to check in on the scores throughout the day. Imagine being a bit busy while at home and you don't have time to play much, but you can just walk away and later spend a few minutes seeing what happened since the last time you checked. It's especially nice when nearing the playoffs. It makes the league feel more alive when you can go to the different leagues and see all of the games as they're progressing during the day. It's really something you just have to try out I think, to really appreciate it.

My main point here was to show that there are improvements in the game that may not be officially listed yet and some features may not seem like a big deal until you try them out. So for me at least, OOTP 13 is even better than the descriptions make it sound. Hope you all enjoy it too!

p.s. - If you have questions, I'll try to answer when I get time, but I'm busy testing still, plus helping in tech support, plus working on my "real" job, plus ...

[Base Stealer]

Thanks a lot for these infos.....waiting for friday.....really, time seems to pass too slowly.....

[DustinthePOWERHOUSE]

Can you clarify, or anyone, what it means that a minor leaguer will sign with only one or two teams? I'm not sure I understand that.

Thank you!

[old timer]

Originally Posted by DustinthePOWERHOUSE

Can you clarify, or anyone, what it means that a minor leaguer will sign with only one or two teams? I'm not sure I understand that.

Thank you!

Sorry, I didn't explain it well I guess. I was talking about a bug from past versions where most minor league free agents would end up on only one or two teams. So the rest of the teams never even got a chance to sign them. This was very noticeable if you used other leagues that were of a lower caliber than the highest major leagues. It might more easily go unnoticed if you only had major leagues at the same level talent wise. For example, if you had an international league or an independent minor league, those free agents could make a very big impact, but less so on a major league. Since I have those kinds of leagues, this made a big difference for me.

[Syd Thrift]

Originally Posted by oldTimer

the league menu is now sorted by league level so that a major league will be at the top with its minor leagues (also sorted by level) immediately below it and then followed by another major league and so on. So no more hunting all over that menu for the right league.

aWesome with a capital W.

[dfredc]

My response to RTS has been the same as yours (yawn) but your post has peaked my interest to try it out when I get my copy of the game.

[MizzouRah]

RTS - does it stop on injuries and such or can you set it to stop on injuries or if someone from the DL is ready to come back?

Basically, what options do we have to have the sim stop?

I love the idea... especially since I work from home most days and can finally just let it sim for a bit.

[Cornelius McGillicuddy]

Since I'm retired and spend most of the day in front of the computer the RTS will be great.

And it looks like it will typically play out one day at a time. Could be wrong but it doesn't look like a simming tool. After all the games are finished and you're done fooling around you press the button to move on to the next day.


That was a nice OP.

[old timer]

Unless I've missed it somehow, the RTS sim keeps going unless you pause it or end it. There's no auto stop on some event. You can jump into and out of a game while in RTS mode and the other games keep going on while you're in the game. You can go into any game, not just your team's game.

Edit: By default, RTS mode stops after finishing the day.

[Cornelius McGillicuddy]

Ok, but it's going so slow I don't see how it would be much good for simming even on a pretty fast speed. And then its purpose would be defeated. I look at RTS and simming as mutually exclusive features.

[Syd Thrift]

I could see where this would be a fun way to watch a pennant race unfold. Or you could really get into the Billy Beane spirit of things by putting the game into RTS mode and then purposefully ignoring it as you work out.

[old timer]

Originally Posted by Cornelius McGillicuddy

Since I'm retired and spend most of the day in front of the computer the RTS will be great.

And it looks like it will typically play out one day at a time. Could be wrong but it doesn't look like a simming tool. After all the games are finished and you're done fooling around you press the button to move on to the next day.


That was a nice OP.

You can have it keep going to some future date while in RTS mode. So you could put the speed on something like 5x and within a (real life) day, you could have 5 days of games get played.

Edit: In my previous post I should have said that it will keep going until the end of the day unless you pause it or end it or you've told it to continue for multiple days. So the default is to go only one day in RTS mode.

[Cornelius McGillicuddy]

Originally Posted by old timer

You can have it keep going to some future date while in RTS mode. So you could put the speed on something like 5x and within a (real life) day, you could have 5 days of games get played.

Edit: In my previous post I should have said that it will keep going until the end of the day unless you pause it or end it or you've told it to continue for multiple days. So the default is to go only one day in RTS mode.

Yeah, I think the typical way players will use this feature is one day in real time. Of course there will be exceptions but going too fast will make it useless and you might as well just sim. This and the new storylines are my fav new features. Oh yeah, and the new UI screens.

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by old timer

.

Edit: By default, RTS mode stops after finishing the day.

Ok, that makes sense then. It's basically like simming a days worth of games, except it sims slower instead of instantly..

[Orcin]

I'll be searching for that magical speed where I can follow all of the games in the least possible time spent. Maybe the 6 minute per day will be about right.

[Syd Thrift]

Originally Posted by MizzouRah

Ok, that makes sense then. It's basically like simming a days worth of games, except it sims slower instead of instantly..

Well, that and each game is in its own separate thread, meaning they more or less get played all at once. In the sim mode the games... could be played in order. Actually, my guess is that they're probably threaded, too, although probably all at exactly the same time whereas in the RTS East Coast games start before West Coast games, day games start before night games, etc.

[Cole]

Originally Posted by old timer

Unless I've missed it somehow, the RTS sim keeps going unless you pause it or end it. There's no auto stop on some event. You can jump into and out of a game while in RTS mode and the other games keep going on while you're in the game. You can go into any game, not just your team's game.

Edit: By default, RTS mode stops after finishing the day.

Yes you can set it to sim in advance X number of days if you wish though so really it's up to the user.

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by Syd Thrift

Well, that and each game is in its own separate thread, meaning they more or less get played all at once. In the sim mode the games... could be played in order. Actually, my guess is that they're probably threaded, too, although probably all at exactly the same time whereas in the RTS East Coast games start before West Coast games, day games start before night games, etc.

Thanks..

Can any of the beta testers list the park settings for the new Marlins stadium?

[cody8200]

Originally Posted by MizzouRah

Thanks..

Can any of the beta testers list the park settings for the new Marlins stadium?

Here you are.

[boshk]

Originally Posted by old timer

Another (apparent) fix is related to menu glitches. I used to encounter disappearing menus on certain screens (like the free agent screen) and some other odd anomalies like this, but haven't yet seen this in OOTP 13.

Is the bug fixed where when you select a player from the free agent list. When you go back to the previous screen (the free agent list) from the player card, does the stat view (ex: major league level, sorted by career stats) reset back to "all levels"?