Regular Game started in Past

slazer33 · 02-10-2016, 05:28 PM

I know we can play "historical" leagues but the setup seems weird to me and seems set up for people to replay single seasons. Is there a way to set up a regular-style OOTP game, as if I were just starting a new game? Without weird drafts like players coming in fully developed, etc?

I could be wrong - I could just have had a bad start - but I tried playing in 1997 and being the first GM of the Diamondbacks and it just felt like a different game than regular OOTP 16.

GoPedro99 · 02-10-2016, 05:38 PM

Agreed. One reason for that, I think, is the lack of the true minor leagues

TGH-Adfabre · 02-10-2016, 08:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by slazer33

I know we can play "historical" leagues but the setup seems weird to me and seems set up for people to replay single seasons. Is there a way to set up a regular-style OOTP game, as if I were just starting a new game? Without weird drafts like players coming in fully developed, etc?

I could be wrong - I could just have had a bad start - but I tried playing in 1997 and being the first GM of the Diamondbacks and it just felt like a different game than regular OOTP 16.

It is different. The issue is that noone has put all of the players in a functional minor league database. There is a ML database started by Sean Lahman
Sean Lahman | Database Journalist

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sean_Lahman

I do not want to think about the 10s of thousands of hours put into it. I do not think a minor league database is even possible due to missing information.

I would check the mods forum for a database that is more similar to what you are looking for.

TGH-Adfabre · 02-10-2016, 08:52 PM

I do not think this will scratch your itch but...

You can fill the minors with fictional players.
Then select "Fictional Players cannot reach majors" or something similar.

You will have minors, filled but keep ML players in your league.

slazer33 · 02-10-2016, 09:48 PM

Thanks. This isn't about the fictional MiLB players or anything. But scouting, player development over time, etc. all seems different when playing from a historical league instead of a standard new game. I just want to start a regular OOTP game but in, say 1950 or 1990. Maybe in 17!

IStillDream · 02-10-2016, 09:49 PM

I may be way off base here, but shouldn't it be possible to fake this with code?

So as I understand it (and please correct me if I'm wrong), the current process for players works roughly like this:

The game engine knows that Jason Varitek (for example) effectively debuted in 1998, and it has the stats for every year of his career. Thus, in a standard historical league, the game will generate him just in time for the the 1997 draft, so that he can make his debut the subsequent season. Thus, generation year is equal to [D-1], where D=real-life debut year. I know from reading historical dynasties from leagues without drafts that players can also be generated the same year that they debuted, in which case generation year=D.

As for his Current and Potential ratings, the game generates them from his real life stats using some kind of formula, with the current ratings based on stats in the debut year, and potential ratings based on one of a couple options using stats from subsequent years.

What if, instead, players had the option for all historical players to debut as prospects a specified number of years before their real debut? Let's call that number X, and let's say for this example we pick X=4.

So, instead of appearing in the 1997 draft, Varitek (and everyone else who debuted in 1998) appears in the 1994 draft. The game initially generates his current and potential ratings the same way it does now. Then, it leaves the potential ratings alone, but it scales down each of the current ratings by some fixed ratio based on X, the number of years early that the player has chosen. Let's say for simplicity's sake that the formula looks like this:

[New Current]= [Old Current]/[X-1]

So, if the game would have given him a current eye rating of 100 out of 250 under the present system, it would generate him with an eye rating of 33. Rinse and repeat for all the other ratings, using either the same ratio for every rating or a particular ratio for each stat.

Obviously, this system wouldn't give us historical realism--players appearing in time for the precise drafts they were taken in, with current ratings based on their real-life minor league stats. But it would give us the next-best thing: gameplay realism. This way, you could draft players the way Standard Game players do--as prospects, who you need to wait for, and who (depending on your player development settings) may or may not turn into the major-league talents you hope they'll be.

slazer33 · 02-10-2016, 10:51 PM

If that's the issue, how about a historical start but all players are fictional from the non? Would that make it more like a standard OOTP game?

02-10-2016, 05:28 PM	#1
slazer33 Minors (Single A) Join Date: Apr 2014 Posts: 73	Regular Game started in Past I know we can play "historical" leagues but the setup seems weird to me and seems set up for people to replay single seasons. Is there a way to set up a regular-style OOTP game, as if I were just starting a new game? Without weird drafts like players coming in fully developed, etc? I could be wrong - I could just have had a bad start - but I tried playing in 1997 and being the first GM of the Diamondbacks and it just felt like a different game than regular OOTP 16.

02-10-2016, 08:52 PM	#4
TGH-Adfabre Hall Of Famer Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 2,599	I do not think this will scratch your itch but... You can fill the minors with fictional players. Then select "Fictional Players cannot reach majors" or something similar. You will have minors, filled but keep ML players in your league. __________________ You mock me, therefore I am My wife

02-10-2016, 09:49 PM	#6
IStillDream Minors (Double A) Join Date: Jan 2013 Posts: 167	Cheating your way to gameplay realism I may be way off base here, but shouldn't it be possible to fake this with code? So as I understand it (and please correct me if I'm wrong), the current process for players works roughly like this: The game engine knows that Jason Varitek (for example) effectively debuted in 1998, and it has the stats for every year of his career. Thus, in a standard historical league, the game will generate him just in time for the the 1997 draft, so that he can make his debut the subsequent season. Thus, generation year is equal to [D-1], where D=real-life debut year. I know from reading historical dynasties from leagues without drafts that players can also be generated the same year that they debuted, in which case generation year=D. As for his Current and Potential ratings, the game generates them from his real life stats using some kind of formula, with the current ratings based on stats in the debut year, and potential ratings based on one of a couple options using stats from subsequent years. What if, instead, players had the option for all historical players to debut as prospects a specified number of years before their real debut? Let's call that number X, and let's say for this example we pick X=4. So, instead of appearing in the 1997 draft, Varitek (and everyone else who debuted in 1998) appears in the 1994 draft. The game initially generates his current and potential ratings the same way it does now. Then, it leaves the potential ratings alone, but it scales down each of the current ratings by some fixed ratio based on X, the number of years early that the player has chosen. Let's say for simplicity's sake that the formula looks like this: [New Current]= [Old Current]/[X-1] So, if the game would have given him a current eye rating of 100 out of 250 under the present system, it would generate him with an eye rating of 33. Rinse and repeat for all the other ratings, using either the same ratio for every rating or a particular ratio for each stat. Obviously, this system wouldn't give us historical realism--players appearing in time for the precise drafts they were taken in, with current ratings based on their real-life minor league stats. But it would give us the next-best thing: gameplay realism. This way, you could draft players the way Standard Game players do--as prospects, who you need to wait for, and who (depending on your player development settings) may or may not turn into the major-league talents you hope they'll be.

02-10-2016, 05:38 PM	#2
GoPedro99 All Star Reserve Join Date: Nov 2015 Posts: 861	Agreed. One reason for that, I think, is the lack of the true minor leagues

02-10-2016, 09:48 PM	#5
slazer33 Minors (Single A) Join Date: Apr 2014 Posts: 73	Thanks. This isn't about the fictional MiLB players or anything. But scouting, player development over time, etc. all seems different when playing from a historical league instead of a standard new game. I just want to start a regular OOTP game but in, say 1950 or 1990. Maybe in 17!

02-10-2016, 10:51 PM	#7
slazer33 Minors (Single A) Join Date: Apr 2014 Posts: 73	If that's the issue, how about a historical start but all players are fictional from the non? Would that make it more like a standard OOTP game?