best way to expand

[chriskelly]

if I want to expand from current times, and I start a new game with current rosters, I don't get a preseason. which is tough. but, if i start a historic league in 2023 and sim one year, I can replicate it, but then I don't get real financials. has anyone found a work around? I'd like to control 2023 so it is as close to reality as possible, so no big trades, etc, and realistic stats, but also with current rosters. Then, have the entire preseason to sign FA's and stock my minors.

[chriskelly]

looks like replaying 2023 and getting fictional contracts is the way to go. at least then the contracts are in line with quality of player.

[stockmaj]

You can turn on use historical transactions, injuries, etc for 2023 to get it as close as possible.

[uruguru]

Originally Posted by chriskelly

if I want to expand from current times, and I start a new game with current rosters, I don't get a preseason. which is tough. but, if i start a historic league in 2023 and sim one year, I can replicate it, but then I don't get real financials. has anyone found a work around? I'd like to control 2023 so it is as close to reality as possible, so no big trades, etc, and realistic stats, but also with current rosters. Then, have the entire preseason to sign FA's and stock my minors.

There's a trick to do this. Disclaimer: I don't play modern ball so I assume that this is correct. Here is a screenshot showing proper 2023 results of AZ and the pull-down showing Spring Training for 2024.

I started a game with a fictional 4-team league and then, before starting, I set the schedule to start around Jan. 10th. Then (again before starting) I added the MLB 2024 to the game.

When I started (in commissioner mode), the date was in January 2024 because of the fictional league. I immediately deleted the fictional league. I then went to the league settings for MLB and set the Spring Training for the length I wanted. Unclick and re-click the Spring Training option to ensure your desired length is recorded.

This does not work if you start with MLB 2024 and add the fictional league. I tried that first. You need to start with the fictional league, set the start date to January something, then add MLB 2024.

[chriskelly]

ok, thanks! not sure I follow......and that lets me use current rosters, etc?

[uruguru]

Originally Posted by chriskelly

ok, thanks! not sure I follow......and that lets me use current rosters, etc?

I dunno. If I add MLB 2024, then I assume it would be using 2024 Opening Day rosters. What else could it use?

It's actually pretty easy. Here is a step-by-step from the OOTP Launch screen.

Start a Fictional League game:

1) Select "New Game"

2) Select "New Custom Game" -- > no to challenge mode

3) Select "Fictional"

4) I selected "1 subleague, 1 dvision, 4 total teams" just to keep that league small

5) Select "Next Step"

6) On the right, Unselect all of the minor leagues so that you don't have to delete them later. Select "Next Step"

Add MLB 2024 to your game:

7) Select "Advanced Mode"

8) Select "Add New League" ==> Use League Creation Wizard

9) Select "Real World" ==> 'Major League Baseball' should be checked

10) Select "Next Step"

11) Select "Finish"

Make sure your Fictional League starts in early January:

12) On the left side of the screen, select "Fictional Baseball League"

13) On the right side of the screen, select "Options"

14) Set Season Start Date to something like Jan-10-2024

Start the sim:

15) Select "Start Game"... check 'Play in Commissioner Mode'

The game should start.. the date should be Jan-1-2024

Now to delete the Fictional League:

16) For the "Fictional Baseball League", go to "League Settings"

17) Select "Delete This League" and confirm.

18) For "MLB", go to "League Settings" and set your Spring Training length to be whatever you want. Make sure you uncheck and re-check the Spring Training to ensure the calendar updates.


That's it.

[chriskelly]

Jesus, that worked!! very cool!! thank you very much!!

[uruguru]

Originally Posted by chriskelly

Jesus, that worked!! very cool!! thank you very much!!

Someone on this forum mentioned this trick to me when I couldn't start a game with ST... I'm glad to share it.

[Pelican]

Wow, so, in theory, it should be possible to start the fictional league in November, after the Word Series, and then delete it and add MLB (not in that order) and have the full offseason? That would be ideal for an expansion year, with plenty of time for the draft before Spring Training. I'm anxious to try that approach next.

[uruguru]

Originally Posted by Pelican

Wow, so, in theory, it should be possible to start the fictional league in November, after the Word Series, and then delete it and add MLB (not in that order) and have the full offseason? That would be ideal for an expansion year, with plenty of time for the draft before Spring Training. I'm anxious to try that approach next.

If you start a fictional league in 2023 and add MLB, then you'll get the MLB 2023 rosters and play the 2023 season. I'm almost certain of that. I also doubt that it will let you start in November. Easy enough to test.

I suspect the earliest you can set back the date is January 1.

edit: it seems like when you start a fictional league, the date automatically goes to Jan-1 because that's when the fictional league's Inaugural Draft is scheduled. This just happens, by luck, to give you the convenience of squeezing in a Spring Training if you also added an MLB league.

[Pelican]

Okay, thanks for testing. January 1 would still allow for an expansion draft, before Spring Training. Getting back to the original question in the thread. I'll try to find time to test if expansion can happen that way.

[chriskelly]

I used this method, tried it twice. For some reason, I'm getting very strange results when I sim 2024; players coming out of nowhere. Guy who was in AA for Colorado leading the league in hitting. guy who it looks like was randomly created hitting 67 HR. Another guy hits 47. Both have no history before jan, 2024. I'm not seeing it on the pitching side, just hitting. is there some random creation generator that I have to tweak?

[chriskelly]

as a test, I started a new league following this model, but I restricted the "Generate international Amateur Free agents" and "established free agents" to the lowest settings. but, i still got probably 60 FA's with protential between 55-80 created.

[uruguru]

Originally Posted by chriskelly

as a test, I started a new league following this model, but I restricted the "Generate international Amateur Free agents" and "established free agents" to the lowest settings. but, i still got probably 60 FA's with protential between 55-80 created.

yeah, it looks like the game automatically generates some fictional players at the start for the fictional league to draft from as well. Who knew?

I looked at the test save I made for this and the last REAL player was Brandon Johnson, ID=25670. Every player after that is fictional (752 fictional players total).

So to fix this I went to the free agent list, created a filter that only showed players with IDs > 25670 and deleted them all (commissioner mode). I would advise verifying that is the correct ID in your save before doing the same thing.

[chriskelly]

Originally Posted by uruguru

yeah, it looks like the game automatically generates some fictional players at the start for the fictional league to draft from as well. Who knew?

I looked at the test save I made for this and the last REAL player was Brandon Johnson, ID=25670. Every player after that is fictional (752 fictional players total).

So to fix this I went to the free agent list, created a filter that only showed players with IDs > 25670 and deleted them all (commissioner mode). I would advise verifying that is the correct ID in your save before doing the same thing.

oh, that sounds like an easy work around. thanks! i hope this is only an upon creation thing, and not every year