New to the game and question about historical seasons

[rlsimpson2]

Hello, I'm new to the game and loving it, but I have a question about running historical seasons. I wanted to start in 1983 because that's the year when as a six year old boy I fell in love with baseball.

I'm a Reds fan, so I started with them, and it appears they have basically their 40 man roster with all others in the organization fictional players. This was disappointing because I was hoping that players already in the real Reds' organization but not yet in the Majors would be in my farm system (Eric Davis, Tom Browning, Paul O'Neill, etc.) so that I could watch them progress through the Minors and call them up at the appropriate time, but they are not there. After simming to the draft I see that it appears players are made available the draft before they would enter the Majors in real life. For example, Eric Davis, Roger Clemens, Kirby Puckett, Jose Rijo, Bret Saberhagen, and Dwight Gooden all made their MLB debuts in 1984 in real life, and thus were in this 1983 draft on the game.

There's two problems I'm encountering and wondering if there's a work around. First, since all these players are eligible in the draft, almost none of them end up on the team they actually played for in real life. I would like for them to at least start on their correct team, and then whatever happens, happens. Second, these superstar guys (like the ones mentioned above) all enter the draft as 5 star potential and at least 3 star, and most 4-5 star actual player ratings, meaning they should be in the majors almost immediately after being drafted instead of getting to watch them develop over a couple years in the minors and deciding when to call them up. I assume that in commissioner mode I could control every team at the draft to at least insure that the right players go to the right teams, though that's a lot of work and still not accurate because of the issues I mentioned above. Does anyone else have a suggestion on how I can accomplish what I want to accomplish? Sorry for the long post. I do love the game and am looking forward to diving deeper into it. Thanks!

[NYY #23]

I'm just going by memory, but is believe that you'll want to disable the amateur draft when importing historical players to get them to go to the correct team they debuted with.

Spritze has a database that you can use where players import as 18 year olds. That definitely solves the problem with everyone being major league ready at draft time. There is a thread here with some more info, because there are a couple varieties of the database I believe -

http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/boar...db-ootp14.html

[David Watts]

If you want players to start their careers on the teams they did in real life you will have to disable the draft.

Players will appear in a historical game according to the year they first played in real life. So Eric Davis will be a part of the 83 draft(if you hold it in November) so that like real life he can play make his debut in 84. Now, there is another database you can download (pm forum member The Game and I'm sure he would be glad to tell you how to do so) that brings players into the game at age 18. This might be what you are looking for.

The fact that you have fictional players makes me assume you checked the box for full minors. Since the players available on a historical roster are those that played in a particular season in real life, you either have to use ghost players or fill with fictional players if you want full minors.

[The Game]

Originally Posted by rlsimpson2

Hello, I'm new to the game and loving it, but I have a question about running historical seasons. I wanted to start in 1983 because that's the year when as a six year old boy I fell in love with baseball.

I'm a Reds fan, so I started with them, and it appears they have basically their 40 man roster with all others in the organization fictional players. This was disappointing because I was hoping that players already in the real Reds' organization but not yet in the Majors would be in my farm system (Eric Davis, Tom Browning, Paul O'Neill, etc.) so that I could watch them progress through the Minors and call them up at the appropriate time, but they are not there. After simming to the draft I see that it appears players are made available the draft before they would enter the Majors in real life. For example, Eric Davis, Roger Clemens, Kirby Puckett, Jose Rijo, Bret Saberhagen, and Dwight Gooden all made their MLB debuts in 1984 in real life, and thus were in this 1983 draft on the game.

There's two problems I'm encountering and wondering if there's a work around. First, since all these players are eligible in the draft, almost none of them end up on the team they actually played for in real life. I would like for them to at least start on their correct team, and then whatever happens, happens. Second, these superstar guys (like the ones mentioned above) all enter the draft as 5 star potential and at least 3 star, and most 4-5 star actual player ratings, meaning they should be in the majors almost immediately after being drafted instead of getting to watch them develop over a couple years in the minors and deciding when to call them up. I assume that in commissioner mode I could control every team at the draft to at least insure that the right players go to the right teams, though that's a lot of work and still not accurate because of the issues I mentioned above. Does anyone else have a suggestion on how I can accomplish what I want to accomplish? Sorry for the long post. I do love the game and am looking forward to diving deeper into it. Thanks!

1. You need to turn off the Ammy draft in November and the players will go to their correct team. It is on by default. League Setup - Historical
2. You can use a Sprtize HS DB and you will get players the year they were drafted bit their ML debut year and that will give you some additional Reds.
3. As far as the ratings, that totally depends on your scout. Just because Doc might be a 5 star to your scout does not mean he is a 5 star to another. Also the more time they play their ratings will increase or decrease based on their play and ratings. under League setup - Global try using "Overall rating based on AI evaluation not pure ratings" I see it has mattered for my 1909 white Sox and some stars like Eddie Collins.

Also check out Reds1 uniform set for accurate uniforms 1970-2013. Find a p[ost by him it is in his signature. Also depending on what type of park you like, graphics or photo JRP has some good Riverfront stadiums

[rlsimpson2]

Thanks for all the replies! I really appreciate it. Again, this is all new so forgive me if I'm asking a lot of silly questions, but after I download Spritze's database to my computer how do I add it to the game? I downloaded the all in one mod from add ons central for a current franchise (which is great), but I have to do something different to get this new database in the game, correct? Also, same question for those awesome old Reds' uniforms and Riverfront Stadium. Whoever did those did an amazing job. Thanks!

[thehef]

Note that the Spritze High School database has players import to their most-common team. So, in the example of your '83 Reds, Cesar Cedeno would import as a Houston Astro. In fact, no matter what year you start - any year from '68 to '90 - he would import as an Astro.

A better bet for what you want to do might be to use the Spritze-Gambo database. There aren't as many players in it, but someone like Eric Davis wil import as a Red in 1980. Be aware, though, in this example, Davis' calculated minor-league stats (which may or may not be based upon real stats) might be good enough to where the AI will see him as a major-league bench player in years 1980 thru 1983.

Another option to consider: Start your game several years prior to 1983 (maybe watch the Big Red Machine dominate the 70's) and use the default OOTP database. Let it run with, using real transactions and with Retire According to History off. Then jump in for 1983. This way you will get more guys in the Reds' organization. Although some of them won't be the guys who were actually in the Reds' organization at the time (they may have moved on to other org's or whatever), many will and it'll be a semi-realistic and viable AAA team. Note, however, that you must use the OOTP12 version of transactions odb file in order for this to work, otherwise Retire According to History = OFF will be ignored and scrubs and cup-of-coffee guys will retire as soon as they've played their final real-life MLB season.

If you want to try either of these but would like more info on this, just reply back with questions.

[rlsimpson2]

Originally Posted by thehef

Note that the Spritze High School database has players import to their most-common team. So, in the example of your '83 Reds, Cesar Cedeno would import as a Houston Astro. In fact, no matter what year you start - any year from '68 to '90 - he would import as an Astro.

A better bet for what you want to do might be to use the Spritze-Gambo database. There aren't as many players in it, but someone like Eric Davis wil import as a Red in 1980. Be aware, though, in this example, Davis' calculated minor-league stats (which may or may not be based upon real stats) might be good enough to where the AI will see him as a major-league bench player in years 1980 thru 1983.

Another option to consider: Start your game several years prior to 1983 (maybe watch the Big Red Machine dominate the 70's) and use the default OOTP database. Let it run with, using real transactions and with Retire According to History off. Then jump in for 1983. This way you will get more guys in the Reds' organization. Although some of them won't be the guys who were actually in the Reds' organization at the time (they may have moved on to other org's or whatever), many will and it'll be a semi-realistic and viable AAA team. Note, however, that you must use the OOTP12 version of transactions odb file in order for this to work, otherwise Retire According to History = OFF will be ignored and scrubs and cup-of-coffee guys will retire as soon as they've played their final real-life MLB season.

If you want to try either of these but would like more info on this, just reply back with questions.

Thanks for this, this sounds interesting, especially starting a few years prior and simming with real transactions. A couple questions about the second option you mentioned: (1)Doing it this way will I get players into the organization during the proper years and not just their MLB debut years (will Eric Davis join the organization in 1980 and not just magically "show up" in 1984 for his MLB debut), and (2)Because I'm new to the game I still need some help in importing either the Spritze-Gambo database or the OOTP 12 version of the rosters that you mentioned. Can you tell me how to do that? Thanks for your help!

[thehef]

Originally Posted by rlsimpson2

Thanks for this, this sounds interesting, especially starting a few years prior and simming with real transactions. A couple questions about the second option you mentioned: (1)Doing it this way will I get players into the organization during the proper years and not just their MLB debut years (will Eric Davis join the organization in 1980 and not just magically "show up" in 1984 for his MLB debut)

Yes, with the Spritze-Gambo db Davis will import to the Reds' organization in 1980.

Originally Posted by rlsimpson2

(2)Because I'm new to the game I still need some help in importing either the Spritze-Gambo database or the OOTP 12 version of the rosters that you mentioned. Can you tell me how to do that? Thanks for your help!

Download the SG db from ootpmods.com (look under Databases - it's the first file listed). Save the file to your computer and then unzip the file. Then put all of the unzipped files into your OOTP stats folder (allow the SG db files to overwrite the existing files, but do not delete all of the other files that are already in the stats folder)... You will also need to use the transactions.odb file from OOTP v12 for this to work the way you want. You can get that by downloading the v12 demo, or someone can probably send it to you (I could later)... When setting up your game you'll need to be sure to choose Neutralized Stats instead of Real Stats (I don't have the game in front of me but when using the historical wizard for setting up your league, it's on the first panel).

(Note that it isn't the OOTP 12 rosters to which I was referring, it was simply the historical transaction file from OOTP 12.)

Before doing all of the above with the SG db, I would first recommend do a simple/fun test using the OOTP 12 historical transactions file using the default OOTP14 database (not the SG db) and then running a test version, starting in, say, 1970, using real transactions and setting Retire Accdg to History OFF, and then just letting the game run, stopping whenever you want to see how your Reds are doing. But don't fool with much and don't yet worry about uniforms and ballpark pics and reading every single news item. Just check things out from time to time (especially at the end of each season) and get a feel for the how the game works. This will also give you an idea if you will have what you'll need in terms of Reds' minor-leaguers by 1983. If so, you're good. If not, then you can try the SG db. (The downside to this is that Davis will "magically" debut in 1984 rather than in 1980, but you will have fun getting acquainted with things.)

Finally, if you are considering using the SG db or the Spritze HS one, here's some recommended reading:

http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/boar...-ootp14-2.html
OOTP Community Wiki | Historical Databases - summary
OOTP Community Wiki | Spritze's db for OOTP14
OOTP Community Wiki | Spritze's db vs Spritze-Gambo

Good luck!

[rlsimpson2]

Originally Posted by thehef

Yes, with the Spritze-Gambo db Davis will import to the Reds' organization in 1980.



Download the SG db from ootpmods.com (look under Databases - it's the first file listed). Save the file to your computer and then unzip the file. Then put all of the unzipped files into your OOTP stats folder (allow the SG db files to overwrite the existing files, but do not delete all of the other files that are already in the stats folder)... You will also need to use the transactions.odb file from OOTP v12 for this to work the way you want. You can get that by downloading the v12 demo, or someone can probably send it to you (I could later)... When setting up your game you'll need to be sure to choose Neutralized Stats instead of Real Stats (I don't have the game in front of me but when using the historical wizard for setting up your league, it's on the first panel).

(Note that it isn't the OOTP 12 rosters to which I was referring, it was simply the historical transaction file from OOTP 12.)

Before doing all of the above with the SG db, I would first recommend do a simple/fun test using the OOTP 12 historical transactions file using the default OOTP14 database (not the SG db) and then running a test version, starting in, say, 1970, using real transactions and setting Retire Accdg to History OFF, and then just letting the game run, stopping whenever you want to see how your Reds are doing. But don't fool with much and don't yet worry about uniforms and ballpark pics and reading every single news item. Just check things out from time to time (especially at the end of each season) and get a feel for the how the game works. This will also give you an idea if you will have what you'll need in terms of Reds' minor-leaguers by 1983. If so, you're good. If not, then you can try the SG db. (The downside to this is that Davis will "magically" debut in 1984 rather than in 1980, but you will have fun getting acquainted with things.)

Finally, if you are considering using the SG db or the Spritze HS one, here's some recommended reading:

http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/boar...-ootp14-2.html
OOTP Community Wiki | Historical Databases - summary
OOTP Community Wiki | Spritze's db for OOTP14
OOTP Community Wiki | Spritze's db vs Spritze-Gambo

Good luck!

Thanks for all your help! I'll give it a whirl and see what happens!

[rlsimpson2]

Originally Posted by rlsimpson2

Thanks for all your help! I'll give it a whirl and see what happens!

This accomplished exactly what I wanted to happen. Thanks so much for your help! To use the photos, etc. do I copy and paste those the same way in a photo file?

[The Game]

Originally Posted by thehef

Note that the Spritze High School database has players import to their most-common team. So, in the example of your '83 Reds, Cesar Cedeno would import as a Houston Astro. In fact, no matter what year you start - any year from '68 to '90 - he would import as an Astro.

Hef I still have not seen evidence of this. Can you post some screenshots? I am in 1910 for one league and have not noticed any odd changes. Shoeless Joe & Eddie Collins are both on Philly A's not the White Sox. Jackson played 6 season with CLE & 6 with Sox. Eddie did play 13 with PHA and 12 with Sox so that one would make sense with what you are saying.
I have yet to see sprtize agree or disagree with your thread you had not too long ago.

[The Game]

Originally Posted by rlsimpson2

This accomplished exactly what I wanted to happen. Thanks so much for your help! To use the photos, etc. do I copy and paste those the same way in a photo file?

You can got to Add ons central from the game menu from a loaded league and download & install the photo pack. I do not use photos, I use facegen so I do not know how extensive this is. Mine is copied over from 11.

[Painmantle]

Originally Posted by NYY #23

I'm just going by memory, but is believe that you'll want to disable the amateur draft when importing historical players to get them to go to the correct team they debuted with.

Spritze has a database that you can use where players import as 18 year olds. That definitely solves the problem with everyone being major league ready at draft time. There is a thread here with some more info, because there are a couple varieties of the database I believe -

http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/boar...db-ootp14.html

I've been messing around with Historical using Spritze DB, and I've found that cranking the talent change randomness seems to help, especially if you want some players to not necessarily be what they were IRL.


If anyone knows what all that setting ( talent change randomness) affects please fill me in, I'm a noobie with that setting

[thehef]

Originally Posted by The Game

Hef I still have not seen evidence of this. Can you post some screenshots? I am in 1910 for one league and have not noticed any odd changes. Shoeless Joe & Eddie Collins are both on Philly A's not the White Sox. Jackson played 6 season with CLE & 6 with Sox. Eddie did play 13 with PHA and 12 with Sox so that one would make sense with what you are saying.
I have yet to see sprtize agree or disagree with your thread you had not too long ago.

Hey Game, attached is a screenie of Cedeno from the Spritze batting2 file. As you can see, it shows that Cesar would import to his most-common team - Houston - in any year that you would import him. And Shoeless Joe's most-common team is Cleveland (by a few games over Chicago), so he imports to Cleveland from 1908 through 1927. Given your results you must be using either Spritze-Gambo or the OOTP db. Both of those generally import to actual teams.

I don't have any leagues where I use Spritze HS for major-leaguers; I like to have them import to actual teams. I use a mashed-up db that grabs only the non-major-leaguers from Spritze HS db. So I can't currently give you any screenshots from the game that prove the most-common team import from the Spritze HS db. But the contents of the batting2 file should suffice :-)

[The Game]

Originally Posted by thehef

Hey Game, attached is a screenie of Cedeno from the Spritze batting2 file. As you can see, it shows that Cesar would import to his most-common team - Houston - in any year that you would import him. And Shoeless Joe's most-common team is Cleveland (by a few games over Chicago), so he imports to Cleveland from 1908 through 1927. Given your results you must be using either Spritze-Gambo or the OOTP db. Both of those generally import to actual teams.

I don't have any leagues where I use Spritze HS for major-leaguers; I like to have them import to actual teams. I use a mashed-up db that grabs only the non-major-leaguers from Spritze HS db. So I can't currently give you any screenshots from the game that prove the most-common team import from the Spritze HS db. But the contents of the batting2 file should suffice :-)

Spritze confirmed with what you were saying i just havent gotten far enough to see it yet. My league froze yesterday when i was testing out some of what you said. Guess I will use a draft.