How to force a schedule?

[thbroman]

I have two questions about the use of the schedules that come in the data folder. The first is, how in the heck do you get the game to use them? I know what it says in the player's guide: you force the league to start on the date and day specified in the xml file, and if your league is compatible with a particular schedule, then it's supposed to use the schedule for your league. But I haven't succeeded in getting that to work. I always seem to get some dreary default schedule with a nearly balanced number of games between in-division opponents and non-divisional opponents, every series is exactly three games long, and so on. Yuck.

What I want to do is to use a schedule suitable for 24 teams, like the major leagues in the late 1960s. For years I carried over the package created by Tiger Fan through successive versions of OOTP, but for this game it seemed that all I had to do was to get the game to use the ML 1969 schedule xml file, since that should represent a season similar to the one I want to play.

Am I missing something here? Does the venerable old package of realistic schedules have to be carried over one more time?

And on scheduling in general: The player's guide is a wondrous production, and I want to offer my thanks for all of the work that went into it. But if there's going to be an update, the description of how to adjust schedules is certainly one place where the player could certainly use some more guidance!

[Le Grande Orange]

Your best bet is to go to this thread in the Mods forum: http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/boar...d.php?t=119714

In it you'll find a primer started by gmo which explains what is going on with the schedule files.

But I'll try to cover some stuff in a more general fashion right now.

If you want to use a real-world major league schedule covering the 24 team, 6-6 6-6 league structure, import a schedule of your choice from between 1969-1976. All eight of those seasons used that league alignment. The main difference between those years will be slight variations in starting and closing dates/days of the week, All-Star Game dates and breaks, calendar length of the season, and schedule flow (i.e. the pattern in which divisional series and interdivisonal series are laid out).

You need to set the schedule length to 162 games. Also, enable "Hold All-Star Game" but disable "Auto-Schedule All-Star Game". That latter option is for creating an All-Star Game and break where none is present in the schedule. Also enable the option to have the schedule weekday start forced, as that will ensure in subsequent seasons the schedule will start on a same day of the week rather than a specific date. This will keep all your series starting and ending on the proper days of the week. Set the schedule as Unbalanced, though technically you shouldn't have to worry about this setting as it can be overrided by the schedule file.

If for whatever reason the game won't find the proper set of schedules for your league, then use the import function to specifically import the schedule you want.

[thbroman]

Thanks, man! I knew you would have the answer!
I'll get back to you when OOTP8 comes out . . . .

[thbroman]

Hey Le Grande Orange, I thought that I would add a note here to say that I never got the game's engine to find a schedule on its own, and I'm pretty sure that I was following the prescribed way of doing it. It did work to import a schedule, however, so everything ended up ok.

Thought that you might want to know so it might be addressed in a future patch.

[gmo]

Originally Posted by thbroman

Hey Le Grande Orange, I thought that I would add a note here to say that I never got the game's engine to find a schedule on its own, and I'm pretty sure that I was following the prescribed way of doing it. It did work to import a schedule, however, so everything ended up ok.

Thought that you might want to know so it might be addressed in a future patch.

Could you elaborate on this?

If you start a historical league in 1969, it should load an historical schedule for that season if you have all the settings correct as described. The goal is for those settings to indeed be correct when you start an historical league, but perhaps that is not yet all set correctly.

Just beginning any league and setting the start year to 1969 will not necessarily load automatically a schedule like the historical one from 1969.

[thbroman]

Originally Posted by gmo

Could you elaborate on this?

If you start a historical league in 1969, it should load an historical schedule for that season if you have all the settings correct as described. The goal is for those settings to indeed be correct when you start an historical league, but perhaps that is not yet all set correctly.

Just beginning any league and setting the start year to 1969 will not necessarily load automatically a schedule like the historical one from 1969.

What I did was set up a 24-team fantasy (not historical) league with 4 6-team divisions, no interleague play, unbalanced schedule, no auto-generated All Star break, and xml schedule file enabled. I set the date as 1901. Under those conditions, I thought the game should have been able to pick out an appropriate schedule from that folder of schedules, but it never did that and I always ended up with the same generic one.

So is the process bugged, or did I misunderstand how it was supposed to work?

[Le Grande Orange]

Originally Posted by thbroman

What I did was set up a 24-team fantasy (not historical) league with 4 6-team divisions, no interleague play, unbalanced schedule, no auto-generated All Star break, and xml schedule file enabled. I set the date as 1901.

Just to be clear, was this two sub-leagues each with 12 teams split into two 6-team divisions, or was this one league divided into four divisions of six teams? This is an important difference.

[gmo]

Originally Posted by thbroman

What I did was set up a 24-team fantasy (not historical) league with 4 6-team divisions, no interleague play, unbalanced schedule, no auto-generated All Star break, and xml schedule file enabled. I set the date as 1901. Under those conditions, I thought the game should have been able to pick out an appropriate schedule from that folder of schedules, but it never did that and I always ended up with the same generic one.

So is the process bugged, or did I misunderstand how it was supposed to work?

I am assuming it was 2 subleagues, each with 2 divisions, each with 6 teams. If not, the below does not apply exactly.

You understand the process pretty much, the problem is that the scheduler is not quite smart enough to pick the right schedule in that situation right out of the box. There are historical schedules that would work for that, however the way they are named very specifically in the schedules folder, the game does not know to pull one of those. If you had a schedule (could be one of those historical files that are for the same configuration) named "ILN_BGN_G162_SL1_D1_T6_D2_T6_SL2_D1_T6_D2_T6_C_so mething.lsdl" that name would fit the format, and assuming the settings in the file were correct the file would load automatically. Check out the Schedules section of the new Mods forum for a long explanation.

[thbroman]

Originally Posted by gmo

I am assuming it was 2 subleagues, each with 2 divisions, each with 6 teams. If not, the below does not apply exactly.

You understand the process pretty much, the problem is that the scheduler is not quite smart enough to pick the right schedule in that situation right out of the box. There are historical schedules that would work for that, however the way they are named very specifically in the schedules folder, the game does not know to pull one of those. If you had a schedule (could be one of those historical files that are for the same configuration) named "ILN_BGN_G162_SL1_D1_T6_D2_T6_SL2_D1_T6_D2_T6_C_so mething.lsdl" that name would fit the format, and assuming the settings in the file were correct the file would load automatically. Check out the Schedules section of the new Mods forum for a long explanation.

Yes, to answer yours and Le Grande Orange's question, my league consists of two sub-leagues, each with 2 six-team divisions.

Would I be correct in supposing that if I went into the schedules folder and re-named three or four of the schedule files from the 1960s (say, 1966 through 1969) using the criteria you describe above and in the mod sub-forum (and taking care to keep copies of the originals, of course), the game would then be able to cycle through the schedules in different seasons? That would truly be neat.

Or would the 1969 schedule that I already imported override the game's ability to search for other suitable schedules?

[Le Grande Orange]

Originally Posted by thbroman

Would I be correct in supposing that if I went into the schedules folder and re-named three or four of the schedule files from the 1960s (say, 1966 through 1969) using the criteria you describe above and in the mod sub-forum (and taking care to keep copies of the originals, of course), the game would then be able to cycle through the schedules in different seasons?

More or less, yes. But you have to be careful with the file naming to make sure it is correct. For your league alignment, you'd want to use the 1969-1976 years. Note that several of these years see the schedule ending during the week rather than on a Sunday (this was done so the best-of-5 LCS would start on the weekend).

Incidentally, you can actually "link" a series of schedules together so that first of the series is used in the first year, the second in the second year, and so on until the last of the series is used up and the game then goes back to use the first one again. This "cycling" of schedules was intended to cover situations where interleague games were to be rotated between divisions on an orderly basis over a period of years or when the home-away split against an oppponent was an odd number and thus by cycling the schedule you can get an equitable split over the longer period.

Note though to do that you need (again) to name the schedule file in a particular way so the game recognizes the schedules are part of the same linked group.

[SC_Dawg]

Originally Posted by Le Grande Orange

Incidentally, you can actually "link" a series of schedules together so that first of the series is used in the first year, the second in the second year, and so on until the last of the series is used up and the game then goes back to use the first one again. This "cycling" of schedules was intended to cover situations where interleague games were to be rotated between divisions on an orderly basis over a period of years or when the home-away split against an oppponent was an odd number and thus by cycling the schedule you can get an equitable split over the longer period.

Note though to do that you need (again) to name the schedule file in a particular way so the game recognizes the schedules are part of the same linked group.

OK so this in and of itself brings up the question of how to you "link" and "cycle" schedules? Is it just a matter of having several schedules named correctly with the "Auto-adjust date if matching XML schedule found" switch turned on?

[thbroman]

Originally Posted by SC_Dawg

OK so this in and of itself brings up the question of how to you "link" and "cycle" schedules? Is it just a matter of having several schedules named correctly with the "Auto-adjust date if matching XML schedule found" switch turned on?

That would be my guess, based on gmo's description of how to name those files in his modding guide. But the definitive answer has to come from the experts, of course . . . .

[Le Grande Orange]

Originally Posted by SC_Dawg

OK so this in and of itself brings up the question of how to you "link" and "cycle" schedules?

The linking and cycling is done as part of the schedule file name. I forget the details right now, but a tag at the end of the schedule file name defines it as part of a series. The cycling takes place automatically.

It works like this: the game checks your schedule settings and league setup against the schedule files in the schedule folder. When it finds a match, it loads that schedule (you can always override that selection by manually importing a schedule file of your choice). The most important settings are the schedule length and the league alignment. If there are several matches, then the game randomly picks one file to load.

If the schedule file loaded has a designator in the file name which establishes it as one file of part of a linked group, when the next season rolls around the game will load the next schedule in the group automatically. In the third year it will load the third schedule in the group (if there is one), and so on. When there are no more schedules in the group, the game goes back and loads the first one again, and the cycle will repeat again over the subsequent seasons.

If the schedule file loaded originally is a stand-alone file and is not part of a linked group, then what happens in the next season is that the game will randomly shuffle the teams around the slots in the schedule so that you don't see the exact same matchups each year on the same dates (in this regard this is like what OOTP6/6.5 used to do).

The "Auto-adjust date if matching XML schedule found" means that a schedule file which matches your league alignment and chosen schedule length is found, the game will then take the opening date and day for the season from the schedule file rather than whatever you may have entered in manually. So if you chose April 1st as the start date from the menu, but the file specifies an April 12th start, the season opening date will be set as April 12th (though the menu display of the date may not update until you leave that screen and come back to it).

I think I've remembered all that correctly...

[SC_Dawg]

Thanks LGO, even if your answer is not 100% correct from memory you have answered it well enough for me to work with the 16 team MLB schedules included in the game.

Now to go find that tag and link a bunch of 16 team schedules together for a fun and exciting fictional league!

[Le Grande Orange]

I had hoped for an addition to the league display which would show the teamID number assigned to each team for schedule purposes. Then by manually inputting a new number beside a team, you could have precise control over how teams shuffle around in a schedule rather than it being done purely randomly by the game.

I think the feeling was this was too advanced an addition to be considered for this year...

[SC_Dawg]

From GMO's original primer on schedules:

If there are multiple files with the same format in your schedules folder distinguished only by the comment at the end of the filename, the first in alphabetical order would be used at league creation then the game would move through the list as years progressed. If there were 3 such files named like below for a league created in 2006, the game would load them automatically for the league like this:

2006 - ILN_BGY_G162_SL1_D1_T4_D2_T4_SL2_D1_T4_D2_T4_C_A
2007 - ILN_BGY_G162_SL1_D1_T4_D2_T4_SL2_D1_T4_D2_T4_C_B
2008 - ILN_BGY_G162_SL1_D1_T4_D2_T4_SL2_D1_T4_D2_T4_C_C
2009 - ILN_BGY_G162_SL1_D1_T4_D2_T4_SL2_D1_T4_D2_T4_C_A
2010 - ILN_BGY_G162_SL1_D1_T4_D2_T4_SL2_D1_T4_D2_T4_C_B.. .

Now if I am reading this correctly and I were to have 5 different schedules that I wanted to rotate through and I want to start a league say in 1931 here is the order my schedules would be used

1931 - ILN_BGY_G154_SL1_D1_T4_D2_T4_SL2_D1_T4_D2_T4_C_YR1 OF5
1932 - ILN_BGY_G154_SL1_D1_T4_D2_T4_SL2_D1_T4_D2_T4_C_YR2 OF5
1933 - ILN_BGY_G154_SL1_D1_T4_D2_T4_SL2_D1_T4_D2_T4_C_YR3 OF5
1934 - ILN_BGY_G154_SL1_D1_T4_D2_T4_SL2_D1_T4_D2_T4_C_YR4 OF5
1935 - ILN_BGY_G154_SL1_D1_T4_D2_T4_SL2_D1_T4_D2_T4_C_YR5 OF5
1936 - ILN_BGY_G154_SL1_D1_T4_D2_T4_SL2_D1_T4_D2_T4_C_YR1 OF5
1937 - ILN_BGY_G154_SL1_D1_T4_D2_T4_SL2_D1_T4_D2_T4_C_YR2 OF5
1938 - ILN_BGY_G154_SL1_D1_T4_D2_T4_SL2_D1_T4_D2_T4_C_YR3 OF5
1939 - ILN_BGY_G154_SL1_D1_T4_D2_T4_SL2_D1_T4_D2_T4_C_YR4 OF5
1940 - ILN_BGY_G154_SL1_D1_T4_D2_T4_SL2_D1_T4_D2_T4_C_YR5 OF5

And so on.

Pretty easy actually

Thanks for the help LGO and a great big thanks to GMO for the primer!

[Le Grande Orange]

Originally Posted by SC_Dawg

Now if I am reading this correctly and I were to have 5 different schedules that I wanted to rotate through and I want to start a league say in 1931 here is the order my schedules would be used...

That's correct. But you'd just have A, B, C, D, and E as the last part of the file name of course.

Heh, I should've checked gmo's primer first as I could've refreshed my mind there on the specific details.

[SC_Dawg]

Originally Posted by Le Grande Orange

I had hoped for an addition to the league display which would show the teamID number assigned to each team for schedule purposes. Then by manually inputting a new number beside a team, you could have precise control over how teams shuffle around in a schedule rather than it being done purely randomly by the game.

I think the feeling was this was too advanced an addition to be considered for this year...

Yeah that would be nice.

I have linked together the 1946, 47, 48, 49 and 50 seasons for the universe I am autoplaying from 1931 thru 2005. It would be really nice if I could allow the game to do what the old MLB did when Cincinnati would start every year at home on opening day as the 1st game played. I have the team that I consider to be the founding member of the league and I would love to have them always open the season at home on opening day as the 1st game of the season.

We can always hope for next season I guess.

[Le Grande Orange]

Originally Posted by SC_Dawg

IIt would be really nice if I could allow the game to do what the old MLB did when Cincinnati would start every year at home on opening day as the 1st game played.

Well, that's really dependent on the major league schedule makers. They didn't always have Cincinnati starting at home, but they certainly have for a lot of years now.

In earlier years, Washington in every other year would get the major league season opening game all to themsevles.

[SC_Dawg]

Originally Posted by Le Grande Orange

Well, that's really dependent on the major league schedule makers. They didn't always have Cincinnati starting at home, but they certainly have for a lot of years now.

In earlier years, Washington in every other year would get the major league season opening game all to themsevles.

You know far more than I do about schedules but I do remember in the 70's the Reds had the 1st game on opening day, the true "opening game", I know this because I used to skip school every year to listen to it (don't tell my Mom OK). I would like to just set one of my teams as the "traditional" opening day host team and have the game rotate through a set number of schedules that I copied from the MLB schedules in the schedule folder while maintaining that "traditional" opening day host.

I picked this up from www.baseballhalloffame.org

For several years, the Cincinnati Reds were awarded the right to begin every season at home, and also traditionally hosted the earliest openers. From 1876-1989, every Reds opener was scheduled at home, but twice, in 1877 and 1966, rain forced the team to play their first tilt on the road. Finally, in 1990, their streak ended when the Reds opened the season on the road in a scheduled game against the Houston Astros. Despite their extraordinary tradition on Opening Days, which have included parades, fireworks, circus performances, and the opening of new parks in 1884, 1894, 1912 and 2003, the Reds have had moderate success on the field, posting a 51-53-1 record in Opening Day games, dating back to 1900. In 2003, the Reds opened their new stadium, Great American Ballpark, but it wasn't the first time that fans in the "Queen City" had new digs for Opening Day. In 1902, Cincinnati christened a much-anticipated new grandstand, replacing the wooden seats that had been damaged in a fire two years earlier. The 3,000-seat iron and concrete grandstand earned the name the "Palace of the Fans," and boasted a blend of Roman and Greek architecture unseen in any ballpark previously. Included were two dozen higher-priced "fashion boxes" that held 15 or more fans. "Rooter's Row," a standing-room only section, was located beneath the grandstand and housed more than 500 fans, who became known for their raucous support of the home team. Despite the new grandstands, the Reds succumbed to the Chicago Cubs that day. Cincinnati was so protective of their traditional opener status, that in 1988 the city council voted to turn back the clocks in Cincinnati on Opening Day, to ensure that the Reds played the "first" game of the season.