The Graphical future of OOTP

[Giants44]

this thread sent me out to the garage - I loaded up Tony LaRussa 3 from 1996 and installed in on a laptop - good news is it is exactly what I was hoping for and remembered - bad news is it crashed within the first 5 minutes.

If memory serves, there are a few patches, but I doubt I will be able to find them.

[Syd Thrift]

The problem with graphics is that if they're done half-assed at all they can look REALLY corny. Take Maximum Football (please! I'll sell you my copy!). It's not even that outdated graphically speaking, but even just being a little bit hoary makes it look pretty silly (and the physics engine breaks the game if your computer's not fast enough, but that's another story altogether). And anybody else remember The Regulator in Strat-o-Matic Baseball? Guhhhh.

No, please continue to improve the game itself, Markus, and please, please, please do not spend any time on graphics.

[Claymore]

I'd be extremely happy with Earl Weaver Baseball style graphics. It had a split screen with the left showing the ball in play with the right as the pitcher/batter matchup. All I ever needed.....

Here is a snapshot of what the screen looked like....

[Claymore]

Originally Posted by Claymore

I'd be extremely happy with Earl Weaver Baseball style graphics. It had a split screen with the left showing the ball in play with the right as the pitcher/batter matchup. All I ever needed.....

Here is a snapshot of what the screen looked like....

Sorry for some reason it did not go through. Here it is again....

As you can see, simple, but very effective. The runners advanced and took their bases, and the fielders moved into position. On close calls the Managers even came out to argue! Also, when you edited a stadium the effects were visable (like moving the fences, adding grandstands or raising/lowering walls). A great sim!

[Solonor]

Originally Posted by Claymore

Sorry for some reason it did not go through. Here it is again....

As you can see, simple, but very effective. The runners advanced and took their bases, and the fielders moved into position. On close calls the Managers even came out to argue! Also, when you edited a stadium the effects were visable (like moving the fences, adding grandstands or raising/lowering walls). A great sim!

Man, I almost wept when I saw that.

For 5 years, I ran a league using EWB (and EWB II), then we moved to Tony LaRussa II and its successors. That's what got me into OOTP in the first place. I wanted to recapture those years of fun, so I went looking for a new sim to run a league. FPS sucked in that effort (first versions were too slow and buggy), but then I found OOTP nirvana.

It's nice reminiscing, but I agree with an earlier poster. Graphics should be the last thing on Markus' plate for a while.

Now, I'm off to see if I can dig up Old Time Baseball...

[gord]

I'm so glad to see old EWBB fans on here. I was still playing that up until a couple of years ago on my old Apple IIC+. My love of that game prompted me to get into OOTP.

[HolyCow98]

I'd take either Microleague Baseball or Earl Weaver Baseball style graphics. I played both of those games for so long that it would be very familiar to me.

Speaking of EWB...anybody know of a good emulator and ROM for that game?

[JTWood]

Originally Posted by Giants44

It is amazing that years and years ago we had Earl Weaver, Front Page Sports Baseball, High Heat and probably the best IMO Tony LaRussa that all had graphical manger based games.

They were all fun and amazing, but lacked the depth of todays games.

today we get two choices:

arcade joystick jockey games that look amazing but have absolutely no resemblance to the actual game of baseball

fantastic in-depth games like OOTP that have no graphics at all.

Oh how I long for a game that plays like Tony LaRussa, with the current generation of graphics with the depth and realistic results of OOTP.

Man, you hit the nail on the head there. I love playing the last MVP baseball. Hitting a hanging curve in that game is something that actually comes to me in daydreams while I work. It's that much fun. Unfortunately, the player happiness and contract negotiation programming of that game is flat-out awful - and don't even think about trying to be a manager. You can't even do a double-switch in manager mode!!!

On the other hand, there is OOTP. I love the depth that this new version brings to the game - international scouting, structured contracts with incentives, even the Rule 5 draft. What a boon! But I don't get to swing at one pitch or even see one thrown.

I was just saying this to my wife the other day: If someone ever actually came out with a game that mixed the playability of MVP with the depth and realism of OOTP, she might never see me again.

[Giants44]

Plus Earl Weaver has one of the greatest features of any video game ever IMO - The abilty to creat ballparks. My friends and I spent hours creating all kinds of ballparks - some crazy, some real. That was a great feature and way more powerfull then the few attempts (such as the EA ballpark creator) since.