Road to Release 2012 - Part 3

Sebastian Palkowski · 04-04-2012, 10:05 AM

Today is Opening Day in the Major Leagues with defending champion St. Louis visiting the Marlins. Most other teams are preparing for their Season Openers a day later, and we’re in prep mode too, with iOOTP Baseball 2012 scheduled for Release Day on Thursday. The wait is almost over, baseball fans!

Before I start the last part of this year's Road to Release articles, I want to talk about the 2012 roster set in the release version (1.0.0): we had to submit the game to Apple on March 26th in order to get it reviewed in time for an April 5th release, so the 2012 rosters are not as of Opening Day but as of March 25th. We will submit an Opening Day roster update to Apple two or three days after release. Of course as always, the update will be free.

Now here’s a quick rundown of more new features, a few small additions, and a look at the future for possible new features in one of the updates we will release during the baseball season.

Back to the mode selection screen:

Up until now we only talked about the Major League 2012 game, which is most likely the most played game mode, but iOOTP Baseball is more than just that. For one, you can chose any season from 1901 through 2011 and recreate history as often as you wish. That’s where it comes in handy that you can disable finances, so playing early years becomes much more realistic.
The third mode, fictional play, need a little explanation.

As you can see, we added another league setup to chose from, bringing the total to four. You select the one you want to play with and then the game creates a random world with fictional teams and players. So a possible league setup could look like this:

Every time you create a new fictional game you get a completely new world that you will fill with its own history over the years. In this mode you can really shine as GM because you can't judge players by name; you really have to pay attention to stats and ratings.

To get the most fun from this mode, I recommend using the Inaugural Draft option, which is a draft where every GM picks his team from all available players.

Will you use your first round pick to get an ace starter who only will be available every 5th day but could make the difference in the playoffs, or will you chose a brilliant defensive shortstop or a power hitter? Here you can build your team from the ground up to your liking. The Inaugural Draft is available for all three game modes, so you can use it with the 2012 major league rosters too. What would you do if you could assemble a team from today’s major league players?

Another new feature this year for fictional leagues is the ability to choose a starting year. Last year, your fictional universe was always created with data from 2011 but now you can choose any year back to 1901 (you can even choose years before 1901, when the AL didn’t even exist). The start year affects all aspects of the game: the generated stats (home runs were much less common in the early years), finances, strategies, and ballparks.

Wow, a 5-Star Catcher earning $700 per year. Hopefully the cost of living is in line with that in this universe.

As you can see in the screenshots, we changed the graphical interface so it’s in line with the PC/Mac version. Along the way, we added a few smaller additions like the Defense Alignment display on the In-Game Screen and the ability to change In-Game Options during the game.

We added a "Randomize Nickname" button to the Team Select screen during game creation, so just hit it 2 or 3 times to see how it works. I added a "Game Notes" section to the ballparks ...

... and, finally, we added a few more Leaderboards to Game Center to bring the number up to 8: each game mode has its own leaderboard plus the All-Time board (all separate for iPhone/iPod and for iPad).

I'm missing a few of the smaller additions, but that’s because beta testers requested them during testing and they never got noted, so just play the new version to uncover them.

Finally, as promised, here’s a small look into the future: like last year, we will support the game with minor and major updates throughout the year. The first update, as mentioned earlier, will have the 2012 Opening Day rosters, a Screen Lock fix (it took too long so we had to move it to the first update), and a few minor bug fixes (mostly cosmetic stuff).

After that, we will prepare the first major update. A player development report is one of the things I’m currently considering, but I have a long wish list, so there will be more than that. If you have any suggestions, please let us know on the forum.

Long term, we want to implement true Retina Display support.

I hope all of you will have as much fun playing iOOTP Baseball 2012 as we had developing it. We would love to hear from you here or on our board.

JayWigley · 04-04-2012, 01:03 PM

If I start a historical universe in 1901, can Japanese players exist? Not possible in the real 1901. . .

Sebastian Palkowski · 04-04-2012, 01:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JayWigley

If I start a historical universe in 1901, can Japanese players exist? Not possible in the real 1901. . .

Yeah but in an alternative, parallel 1901 universe (a.k.a. fictional game mode) everything is possible.

Husky51 · 04-04-2012, 02:29 PM

Looks like you have done it again; pleased that the leaderboard will have 8 instead of three. Really held off on starting any new seasons til '12 is here. Almost

. I have had so much fun playing this game, I feel like I am stealing from you. Once 12 is here, you won't be hearing from me because I'll be too busy playing

sfnate · 04-04-2012, 02:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JayWigley

If I start a historical universe in 1901, can Japanese players exist? Not possible in the real 1901. . .

Well, in a true historical universe, where you import the database files for individual seasons, I don't think you'd be seeing anything like a sudden influx of talent from Japan... But you'd obviously need to purchase the seasons and do the importing BEFORE the game has a chance to generate fictional players to populate the draft pool.

In a *fictional* historical universe, you *will* have this "problem", of course. The game will generate players based on the nationalities/names text files, which are configured for the modern game. If you prefer the 'Branch Rickey experiment' to occur at approximately the same moment in your fictional history, that cannot be done--I guess--with this version of the game, unless...

Unless we can use something like iPhone explorer to swap out the default name/nations/nationalities files with our own customized versions.

Can that be done?

Sebastian Palkowski · 04-04-2012, 02:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sfnate

Unless we can use something like iPhone explorer to swap out the default name/nations/nationalities files with our own customized versions.
Can that be done?

Theoretically yes, but as I wrote somewhere else about editing the App itself: it is not officially allowed so I can't comment on it.

sfnate · 04-04-2012, 03:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sebastian Palkowski

Theoretically yes, but as I wrote somewhere else about editing the App itself: it is not officially allowed so I can't comment on it.

Ah, understood, thanks Sebastian.

I'll test these theories in my own little private laboratory and see for myself.

jjp9727 · 04-04-2012, 09:18 PM

is it coming out at midnight 4/5 on the west coast? (USA)

Sebastian Palkowski · 04-04-2012, 11:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jjp9727

is it coming out at midnight 4/5 on the west coast? (USA)

I'm not sure about the exact time but it is out now.

grooves1200 · 04-05-2012, 12:11 PM

So there's no way to import MLB players into a fictional league or alter the historical league to allow, say, just 8 teams?

sfnate · 04-05-2012, 12:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by grooves1200

So there's no way to import MLB players into a fictional league or alter the historical league to allow, say, just 8 teams?

For these types of customizations, you need OOTP 13. iOOTP does not currently support this...

You really should check out OOTP 13 if you haven't already. Then you'll have the best of both worlds!

Sebastian Palkowski · 04-05-2012, 01:25 PM

No. We add some customization over time but iOOTP will never be as deep as OOTP.

grooves1200 · 04-08-2013, 01:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by grooves1200

So there's no way to import MLB players into a fictional league or alter the historical league to allow, say, just 8 teams?

So with the 2013 version out now, is this still not possible?

04-04-2012, 10:05 AM	#1
Sebastian Palkowski Developer Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Hamburg, Germany Posts: 5,114	Road to Release 2012 - Part 3 Today is Opening Day in the Major Leagues with defending champion St. Louis visiting the Marlins. Most other teams are preparing for their Season Openers a day later, and we’re in prep mode too, with iOOTP Baseball 2012 scheduled for Release Day on Thursday. The wait is almost over, baseball fans! Before I start the last part of this year's Road to Release articles, I want to talk about the 2012 roster set in the release version (1.0.0): we had to submit the game to Apple on March 26th in order to get it reviewed in time for an April 5th release, so the 2012 rosters are not as of Opening Day but as of March 25th. We will submit an Opening Day roster update to Apple two or three days after release. Of course as always, the update will be free. Now here’s a quick rundown of more new features, a few small additions, and a look at the future for possible new features in one of the updates we will release during the baseball season. Back to the mode selection screen: Up until now we only talked about the Major League 2012 game, which is most likely the most played game mode, but iOOTP Baseball is more than just that. For one, you can chose any season from 1901 through 2011 and recreate history as often as you wish. That’s where it comes in handy that you can disable finances, so playing early years becomes much more realistic. The third mode, fictional play, need a little explanation. As you can see, we added another league setup to chose from, bringing the total to four. You select the one you want to play with and then the game creates a random world with fictional teams and players. So a possible league setup could look like this: Every time you create a new fictional game you get a completely new world that you will fill with its own history over the years. In this mode you can really shine as GM because you can't judge players by name; you really have to pay attention to stats and ratings. To get the most fun from this mode, I recommend using the Inaugural Draft option, which is a draft where every GM picks his team from all available players. Will you use your first round pick to get an ace starter who only will be available every 5th day but could make the difference in the playoffs, or will you chose a brilliant defensive shortstop or a power hitter? Here you can build your team from the ground up to your liking. The Inaugural Draft is available for all three game modes, so you can use it with the 2012 major league rosters too. What would you do if you could assemble a team from today’s major league players? Another new feature this year for fictional leagues is the ability to choose a starting year. Last year, your fictional universe was always created with data from 2011 but now you can choose any year back to 1901 (you can even choose years before 1901, when the AL didn’t even exist). The start year affects all aspects of the game: the generated stats (home runs were much less common in the early years), finances, strategies, and ballparks. Wow, a 5-Star Catcher earning $700 per year. Hopefully the cost of living is in line with that in this universe. As you can see in the screenshots, we changed the graphical interface so it’s in line with the PC/Mac version. Along the way, we added a few smaller additions like the Defense Alignment display on the In-Game Screen and the ability to change In-Game Options during the game. We added a "Randomize Nickname" button to the Team Select screen during game creation, so just hit it 2 or 3 times to see how it works. I added a "Game Notes" section to the ballparks ... ... and, finally, we added a few more Leaderboards to Game Center to bring the number up to 8: each game mode has its own leaderboard plus the All-Time board (all separate for iPhone/iPod and for iPad). I'm missing a few of the smaller additions, but that’s because beta testers requested them during testing and they never got noted, so just play the new version to uncover them. Finally, as promised, here’s a small look into the future: like last year, we will support the game with minor and major updates throughout the year. The first update, as mentioned earlier, will have the 2012 Opening Day rosters, a Screen Lock fix (it took too long so we had to move it to the first update), and a few minor bug fixes (mostly cosmetic stuff). After that, we will prepare the first major update. A player development report is one of the things I’m currently considering, but I have a long wish list, so there will be more than that. If you have any suggestions, please let us know on the forum. Long term, we want to implement true Retina Display support. I hope all of you will have as much fun playing iOOTP Baseball 2012 as we had developing it. We would love to hear from you here or on our board. __________________ Buy Franchise Hockey Manager 10

04-04-2012, 02:29 PM	#4
Husky51 Minors (Double A) Join Date: May 2011 Posts: 198	Looks like you have done it again; pleased that the leaderboard will have 8 instead of three. Really held off on starting any new seasons til '12 is here. Almost. I have had so much fun playing this game, I feel like I am stealing from you. Once 12 is here, you won't be hearing from me because I'll be too busy playing

04-04-2012, 09:18 PM	#8
jjp9727 Bat Boy Join Date: Apr 2012 Posts: 3	US West Coast Release time is it coming out at midnight 4/5 on the west coast? (USA)

04-05-2012, 01:25 PM	#12
Sebastian Palkowski Developer Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Hamburg, Germany Posts: 5,114	No. We add some customization over time but iOOTP will never be as deep as OOTP. __________________ Buy Franchise Hockey Manager 10

04-04-2012, 01:03 PM	#2
JayWigley Minors (Double A) Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: East Tennessee Posts: 129	If I start a historical universe in 1901, can Japanese players exist? Not possible in the real 1901. . .

04-05-2012, 12:11 PM	#10
grooves1200 Bat Boy Join Date: Apr 2010 Posts: 17	So there's no way to import MLB players into a fictional league or alter the historical league to allow, say, just 8 teams?