OOTP 19 - Official FAQ Thread!

[Lukas Berger]

Originally Posted by Caporegime

I asked this question in another thread but it went unanswered (which may have actually been the answer). Will there an option to allow us to control/regulate the ethnicity/nationality of personnel (Managers, coaches, trainers, GM's etc.) in the leagues we create?

Obviously, we already posses this functionality with players, but it's sorely needed for personnel as well IMO. For example: I once added the *** to an historical MLB league that I created which started in 1977. By 1980, Earl Weaver and Billy Martin were managing in Japanese teams and the Yankees and several other teams had Japanese managers, GMs etc.

While this certainly isn't a game-breaker by any stretch of the imagination, it would just be nice to have the same control (or at least the option to do so) over personnel that we already have for players to help make the game more immersive.

I'd love to see it too, but as far as I know it's not currently in the plans.

[Caporegime]

Originally Posted by Lukas Berger

I'd love to see it too, but as far as I know it's not currently in the plans.

Okay, thanks Lukas. Billy Martin actually did look a little less unhappy in an Orix Buffaloes uniform. Maybe all he needed was a change of scenery to a country without marshmallow salesmen.

[groberts619]

Looking forward to OOTP 19! When does the pre-order offer of $35.99 expire? Thanks!

[wallewalls]

Originally Posted by groberts619

Looking forward to OOTP 19! When does the pre-order offer of $35.99 expire? Thanks!

i think you can preorder at that price until the day the official game comes out

[groberts619]

Originally Posted by wallewalls

i think you can preorder at that price until the day the official game comes out

That would be cool. When I was googling for answers, the expiration date was March 2 from previous years. Wondering if that date still stands.

[wallewalls]

Originally Posted by groberts619

That would be cool. When I was googling for answers, the expiration date was March 2 from previous years. Wondering if that date still stands.

iirc correctly, i asked this last year and was told that i could get a discount up until the game officially released, but i could be wrong so dont take my word for it

[gamefan1978]

In 18 the AI will pull its starting pitcher pretty quickly when he gives up 4 runs in the first 3 innings. Will this be looked at for 19?

[Déjà Bru]

Originally Posted by kingcharlesxii

Not a question but just want to say I love the new default skin, based on the screenshots it's the best you've ever done. Good work! I'm also happy there's support for multiple fonts. That kind of thing is so important in such a text-heavy game.

This alone is worth $40 to me.

[Déjà Bru]

Well, I toured this thread and I feel good about paying up front for this version. There are a couple of points I would like to support by reiteration.

I agree with Eugene on this, although perhaps not to the extent of his emphases; news in particular is a big factor in immersion for me:

Originally Posted by Eugene Church

First of all, I dearly love OOTPB... OOTP18 is a superb game.

Having said that, I would like to know if any work was done to improve the News and PBP for OOTP19?

The game recaps really need some work on them... they are poorly designed and poorly written... with very little variety... they need to be rewritten and expanded, so they don't repeat so much.

The PBP is really good when pstrickert is in control... but Markus' hard code really needs to be edited.

Markus, let pstrickert edited the Hard Code, too.

Markus is a great programmer, but he comes up short as a writer, at least on the News and PBP.

I get the feeling that he wrote the game recaps.

Come on, Markus... give us well-written News and well-written PBP.

Originally Posted by Eugene Church

I want to state that I am overly interested in OOTPB News Stories and PBP and I realize that not everybody is concerned with them... they don't play out their games... they just sim... and they are probably the vast majority of the gamers and the most important customers... but I would still like to make the News and PBP as good as it can be for the gamers that play out their games.

The only solution to solving the overuse of quotes in the News and PBP is VARIETY... you need to have MANY, MANY VARIATIONS, so that you don't see the same thing too often... the problem is that it is extremely time-consuming to create more variations.

It is also very important to limit the use of items that should only come up once in a blue moon... like the Phil Rizzuto comment you listed in SOM... comments like that should only come up once a year.

pstrickert does an absolutely great job on the PBP and has been at it for 10 years or so... but he can only do so much... a lot of the overused and repetitive phrases are in the HARD CODE, which is controlled by Markus, who I greatly respect as a person and a computer programmer... OOTPB is the greatest baseball game ever created... I love it dearly... having said that I think Markus can improve the News and PBP... here is some constructive recommendation and suggestion: I know from being on the Beta Team that Markus is not bothered by overuse of repetitive phrases... the News Team and PBP Team made corrections to the Hard Code way back in 2006, but Markus didn't act on it and revise the Hard Code... at that time only Markus had access to the Hard Code.

At that time Markus had very few variations for the final game wrapup... maybe 5 at most... he always described a rout this way: "St. Louis destroyed New York 13-5"... I sent him 20 different ways to describe a rout... "drubbed, routed, demolished, trounced, torched, slaughtered, clobbered, stomped, bashed, battered"... it took him almost 10 years to add some additional variations... I would be willing to bet there are still only about 10 ways to describe a runaway game, when there should be 30 or so.

Although I will say Markus has worked on the Hard Code since then... I see much improvement... but the Hard Code still need to be edited and improved... a good example is a line out to the pitcher... I see it way, way too often described this way;

"Liner back to Maddux... GOOD REACTION !!!"

Another example of lack of variety: OOTP3 had only five shutout stories in the News... what this means is EACH SHUTOUT STORY WOULD BE USED EVERY FIFTH TIME THERE WAS A SHUTOUT... Markus was satisfied with that because he just programmed to add Shutout stories to the News... he does that for all of the News categories... then its up to someone like pstrickert or the Beta Team to expand the PBP and News, to refine them and make it so they are not repetitive to the point of ad nauseam.

With the help of several other 2006 Beta Team members, many variations were added to all of the News Stories and PBP.

In the case of the News about 150 shutout variations were added for OOTP2006... that meant an individual shutout story would appear only once every 150 shutouts... sadly with the creations of the game recaps... repetition and redundancy have returned to the game... the game recaps are poorly designed and are in drastic need of revision.

I agree with The Game as to his concern for this; I appreciate Lukas' response; and I support Jamee999's suggestion given 1) the arrangement in 18 had to be changed to the way it is in 19, and 2) it's not too late to make another change but I fear it is. This awards thing has been great for immersion; please don't let it slide away:

Originally Posted by The Game

In the screenshot the awards are now on the left side going diagonally along the seam next to the profile picture.
1. what will it look like when there are many awards and will the old Icons mod work with 19? And if so where will those icons be?

Originally Posted by Lukas Berger

The award icons are a bit tricky. if a player has a million of them, then they will run behind the player picture.

There's not much we can do, other than maybe reduce the size of the icons if a player has more than 20 of them or so....

As far as old mods, afaik they should still work, but they'll display in the same place the default award icons do in 19.

Originally Posted by Jamee999

I probably would prefer if the display showed like "7x [glove icon]" or "3x [MVP icon]" rather than awkwardly shoving in more and more little pictures.

[Calvert98]

Originally Posted by Déjà Bru

This awards thing has been great for immersion; please don't let it slide away:

I completely agree with Bru on the awards.

[Danbo80]

So do I

[mcssports1]

Hi,

I know there is a feature where teams are "win now" or "rebuilding," but I often find that rebuilding teams don't really approach the trade deadline the way these teams do in real life. If a team is way out of playoff contention, and has a useful player on the last year of his contract, that team should and usually will trade that player. Is there anyway to impart this practice on teams out of the playoff hunt at the deadline, even if they aren't labeled "rebuilding?"

[wallewalls]

Originally Posted by mcssports1

Hi,

I know there is a feature where teams are "win now" or "rebuilding," but I often find that rebuilding teams don't really approach the trade deadline the way these teams do in real life. If a team is way out of playoff contention, and has a useful player on the last year of his contract, that team should and usually will trade that player. Is there anyway to impart this practice on teams out of the playoff hunt at the deadline, even if they aren't labeled "rebuilding?"

i hate when a last place team wont be open at all to trade an expiring contract at the deadline, just because they arent set to "rebuilding." hopefully its a part of the AI improvements for this year

[Mr. Marlin]

I'm so glad there is an OOTP 19 to look forward to. Because the Marlins have burned the house down and now the Rays seem to have a new owner:



If it wasn't for OOTP 19 I'd have nothing to look forward to.

[itsmb8]

Just waiting to see a trailer for the improved 3d gameplay. Also, what are the plans for getting names and numbers on jerseys?

[Padreman]

I hate the awards location

[sstrweaver13]

Any new independent leagues in this years version? I played in the frontier, can-am and American Association from 2012-2016 and always enjoy playing games with the guys I played with in real life. Have some buddies still playing in the pacific association, any chance it’s been added this year?

Thanks!

[Lukas Berger]

Originally Posted by sstrweaver13

Any new independent leagues in this years version? I played in the frontier, can-am and American Association from 2012-2016 and always enjoy playing games with the guys I played with in real life. Have some buddies still playing in the pacific association, any chance it’s been added this year?

Thanks!

Hey Travis, hope you're doing well!

We are planning to add the Pacific Association this year. It still needs a little work at the moment, but it should be ready by release

[yabanci]

Originally Posted by Lukas Berger

I don't believe so. We're pretty all-in on 3d, as that's really where the future of the game lies.

As far as stadiums, with the awesome mods some of the folks on the forums have been making, it may get there sooner rather than later!

Will there be 3d stadiums for historical ballparks (ie, not just a handful of famous ones, but all the stadiums teams played the 1990s for example)?

[sstrweaver13]

Originally Posted by Lukas Berger

Hey Travis, hope you're doing well!

We are planning to add the Pacific Association this year. It still needs a little work at the moment, but it should be ready by release

I’m doing well thanks! And that’s Awesome!! Looking forward to it!