Strat-O-Matic getting Great reviews

[endgame]

Originally Posted by daves

Wish you can play head to head in OOTP like we did in the past with the player cards?

I don't mean a long online league, just a weekend of head to head.

No, not really. It was always about the players; the world they helped me imagine. Of course the camaraderie was welcome, but it was secondary and in the many years passing replaced with, oddly enough, text.

Once I discovered OOTP, as Season Ticket, it provided me with all the landscape and form I'd need for the years to follow.

[zappa1]

Originally Posted by daves

This still amazes me. I actually played the Avalon Hill version Statis Pro Baseball for hours, but I drastically shortened the season to 6 games then playoffs. We had drafts in the neighborhood and had tournaments. How long of a season did you replay in Strat-o-Matic? Did you compete with others before computers?

Well, I didn't track ALL of the teams as that would be impossible. First you would need to play out every teams games. A simple 16 team 162 game season, for example is over 2500 games. So, I would just keep track of my team. The best thing was strat going digital. Keeping stats for one team was a game by itself back in the early days. You know, I still have some old box scores left in the box. My friends and I would play whenever they would come over. We'd play world series format. Each pick a team and play a best of 7.
I have the football, basketball, and hockey board games, too. The only one I didn't get was the college football. I did get that one on PC later.

[Reed]

Player Strat with some friends in high school prior to internet. It was fun to trade players, etc..
Even though it is now computerized, the SOM game has not advanced much in 50 years.
The main advantage SOM has is the tin of online leagues that are out there.

I was in a competitive long running strat league about 20 years ago. To be competitive I had to learn the value of good defensive SS versus a good hitting first baseman, Stolen bases are pretty much over rated. RBIs and ERA are kind of meaningless as a stat, etc..

[PocketsAintFull]

I actually picked up an 'express' version of Strat a couple months ago, after hearing about it through OOTP forums It's a fun game to play, although a lot more work than OOTP to keep score and track stats

[Hellenstone]

This is interesting to see these different opinions on this topic.
I'm from Germany where Baseball is and probably will ever be a "third Class" sport (I'm sure you know what I mean) compared to soccer or Basketball.

In my hometown we have a German First League Team which won some german championships and international trophies. I play as 2. Baseman in their BBQ Softball Team.

On PC side right now I play different games and each of them has it's own style:
1. OOTP21 : I play OOTP since version 15, top of the notch game with it's MLB license and facegen (I love to have faces for all of my players even if they are not 100% accurate). But also a depth which can be overwhelming and frustrate from time to time. Although you can completely ignore it (which I will) I dislike the PT way because I hate games with microtransactions and I'm afraid that these part will become bigger in upcoming OOTP versions.
2. Baseball Mogul 2020 : I started with BBM with version 15. Much easier to get into and to play faster, also to take it a way on a small USB stick. But it lacks support (forum almost dead) and I dislike the many missing player pictures.
3. Action! PC Baseball 2020 : First time this year to step into APCB. Love the available mod files so far and it's easy way of modding data. I really try to dig into it at the moment.
4. Strat-O-Matic 2020 : Downloaded 2 days ago after taking a really long thought about it. I LOVE board games in all kind of ways and the idea to combine baseball with real stats and dice was so interesting I had to give it a go. The SOM board game i completely unknown and unavailable in Germany, so I also bought the Strato-O-Matic Fanatics Kindle eBook to get a feeling for the game history. On thing I really dislike is the price structure. I bought SOM2020, the HOF2020 roster and the Hi-Res Stadiums and it costs 3 times of OOTP21.

I'm really interesting in seeing which way will be the path I choose for the future, because from sight of costs I definite will have to leave half of the products behind me for future versions .

Hellenstone

[daves]

Originally Posted by Hellenstone

This is interesting to see these different opinions on this topic.
I'm from Germany where Baseball is and probably will ever be a "third Class" sport (I'm sure you know what I mean) compared to soccer or Basketball.

In my hometown we have a German First League Team which won some german championships and international trophies. I play as 2. Baseman in their BBQ Softball Team.

On PC side right now I play different games and each of them has it's own style:
1. OOTP21 : I play OOTP since version 15, top of the notch game with it's MLB license and facegen (I love to have faces for all of my players even if they are not 100% accurate). But also a depth which can be overwhelming and frustrate from time to time. Although you can completely ignore it (which I will) I dislike the PT way because I hate games with microtransactions and I'm afraid that these part will become bigger in upcoming OOTP versions.
2. Baseball Mogul 2020 : I started with BBM with version 15. Much easier to get into and to play faster, also to take it a way on a small USB stick. But it lacks support (forum almost dead) and I dislike the many missing player pictures.
3. Action! PC Baseball 2020 : First time this year to step into APCB. Love the available mod files so far and it's easy way of modding data. I really try to dig into it at the moment.
4. Strat-O-Matic 2020 : Downloaded 2 days ago after taking a really long thought about it. I LOVE board games in all kind of ways and the idea to combine baseball with real stats and dice was so interesting I had to give it a go. The SOM board game i completely unknown and unavailable in Germany, so I also bought the Strato-O-Matic Fanatics Kindle eBook to get a feeling for the game history. On thing I really dislike is the price structure. I bought SOM2020, the HOF2020 roster and the Hi-Res Stadiums and it costs 3 times of OOTP21.

I'm really interesting in seeing which way will be the path I choose for the future, because from sight of costs I definite will have to leave half of the products behind me for future versions .

Hellenstone

Wow. You have all 4?

I'll admit I have 3 of the 4 PC games but don't upgrade every year. Strat I have the cards but not the PC version.

[Hellenstone]

Originally Posted by daves

Wow. You but all 4?

Well as mentioned SOM and APCB are a first time buy this year. Probably a descicion made out of Corona #stayathome madness...
Every year since I tell myself not to upgrade OOTP and BBM but I always do it. Think just to support Markus and Clay.
I also play around with the 2 actual Draft Day Basketball demo versions in the last week's because I also have a deep interest to this sport too...

At the moment my inner voic tells me to stay with OOTP and SOM for the future, but I'm not sure yet.

I would really give the SOM board game atty instead the PC version, but neither my wife nory 2 kids (6 and 2) will play this game with me and the order would be complicated from US to Germany. I thought about ordering the Express version as a first try...

[Hellenstone]

Originally Posted by CBeisbol

Baseball Mogul was cool

Like OOTP lite - a lot less involved, which, had plusses and minuses.

I think
The developer has had some health issues which impacted his ability to make changes between versions, which affected sales.

That really sums up the position of BBM today. I replay lov ethe easy playability, sometimes even more than OOTP. Iteally would like to see a mobile version!
For me I gave it a try again is because there is an auto download feature for logos and player pice included, so you don't have to play around with mods which is difficult due to the mentioned small or even dying community that seems almost dead, you often don't get answers or reply in the forums.

Also the game itself looks like 1990 but the playability and the engine is very solid. I updated an old skin for this year's version again to get a more modern look.

[zappa1]

I would really give the SOM board game atty instead the PC version, but neither my wife nory 2 kids (6 and 2) will play this game with me and the order would be complicated from US to Germany. I thought about ordering the Express version as a first try...[/QUOTE] From Hellenstone


I have played more games as a solitaire style than with another person in the board game version. Have to be fair to both sides.
In the PC version of Strat you can play against the AI manager just like in OOTP. Your kids are still young. If you do get the board game, you can teach them at the basic level until they get an understanding of it.

[Leo_The_Lip]

Originally Posted by daves

I don't know how you did football games? There was a lot more strategy and there was not a way to do this solitaire. How did you do it?
)

In the 1960's version of APBA, there weren't a whole lot of strategy settings. Defense had three choices (columns of results) 4-man line, 5-man line- and 6-man line). So good against pass, neutral, and run stop. So role a die for that. As to play calling, it was Inside run (even numbers were best) Outside run (odd numbers were best) while 15 to 20 or so were good for either. Pass was Long, Short or Screen. So basically I'd call a play, role for the defense with one die, roll the red and whites for the play number and then look up the result. Basic but fun when I was a teenager.

[mra85a]

My dad got me started in strat when I was ten years old. What my brother and I would do is throw together a league and draft players. Kept basic stats.

We still play from time to time. What works really well is using a scorecard app on an iPad, and entering results as you go.

[Gambo]

Still prefer APBA

[akw4572]

I love OOTP and Strat, and Replay baseball. The board games give me a different experience. I like seeing the game engine play out in front of me. And some days I just don’t want to be in front of a computer.

Other days I love seeing OOTP play out with text and the players. And career play. Or fictional. For that I have OOTP.

Each has a niche. I’m fortunate enough to be able to have all at my disposal.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[byzeil]

Back in the late 70's I played a game called 'Longball' from Ashburn Industries. It was a dice and card game. I had a league of my own and one I played with some friends and we used scoresheets and tabulated stats manually. The game went from individual player cards to a roster card for each team and I made individual cards from those roster cards. I actually found a bunch of this stuff recently while going through some boxes in storage.

I love OOTP and computer baseball games but nothing beat rolling those 10 sided die and seeing the magic 77, HOMERUN!

Talking about compiling stats manually I ran a fantasy baseball league in 1982 or '83 and I compiled the stats and standings manually from boxscores in The Sporting News. Eventually I learned how to write a program on a government super computer and used computer punch cards to update league stats and standings. Yup I'd punch a card for every player in every game to create the league standings and reports. I look back at that with wonder and quite honestly awe that I was willing to do all that week in and week out.

So happy for computers and the internet

[BaseInvader]

When i was a kid, I created a dice baseball game and figured out what it would take to accurately create batters with anywhere between a .150 and .350 batting average in.005 increments... and using the information from the backs of baseball cards to make the distribution of singles double triple HRs . Still have that original sheet somewhere... played it for 20 yrs, then computers came along.


Bought just about every baseball game made, but Front Page Sports 98 was a milestone... good graphics, 'good enough' AI to make it fun... easy to create custom teams, lots of historical teams available with the purchase of an expansion disc... and exceptional in its ability to create custom printouts of any data (historical, game season, game ratings) associated with the game using whatever fields you wanted printed in whatever order you wanted.



But.. visually, MVP Baseball 2005 is still the best looking baseball game ever made... especially with all the custom creations made by diehard fans of the game... Old parks look exactly like the old parks, down to the details of the signage... players look like the players looked... improved AI compared to FPS 98.. but had some problems... like mound visits became a bug and it is almost impossible to get a pitcher to pitch a complete game...



If MVP Baseball 2005 had continued to develop until today and it's play had grown to the level that OOTP has reached, it would be the game everyone would play, just because the visual experience would be so impressive.


Thats the area where OOTP could make the biggest improvements in the game experience. Even with OOTP finally having tiny players on the screen making the plays, its extremely disappointing compared to a 15 year old MVP 2005 visually.



I LOVE how well the AI does in OOTP... There's almost too much control over all of the different aspects of game play... Takes a new play a while to figure everything out and navigate all of the screens and options available. Play wise, it's the best that's ever been created for a computer baseball game.


Visually, there's a LOT that could be MUCH better... the 3D parks are 'OK', but a disappointment compared to how real the classic stadiums look in MVP 2005.. and same for the players and action on the field... Those are the improvements I'll be looking for and hoping for in the future for OOTP.


Meanwhile, I still have my Windows 7 computer on my desk just to be able to play MVP 2005 when I want to enjoy WATCHING my all time favorite teams play in realistic classic ballparks... but my Windows 10 computer has OOTP21 for when I want to enjoying my all time times PLAYING baseball realistically,,,

[Hellenstone]

Originally Posted by Hellenstone

Well as mentioned SOM and APCB are a first time buy this year. Probably a decisions made out of Corona #stayathome madness...
At the moment my inner voice tells me to stay with OOTP and SOM for the future, but I'm not sure yet.

Today I requested a refund for Action PC Baseball which I reveived within 2 hours without any problems *top*.
APCB doesn't hit the spot for me, I can't tell you really why...

[Robby The Z]

Thanks for this discussion. Reminds me of a couple of experiences from long ago with dice/card games. My cousin had one called Ethan Allen's All Star Baseball. Players came in the form of circular cards and the game was played with a spinner you put them into. It was great fun for us at age 12, but the game had no statistical accuracy to speak of. Pitchers didn't even matter unless they happened to be good hitters. The version we had was just Hall of Fame players. Later, a friend and I bought Statis-Pro Baseball, made by Avalon Hill and marketed heavily in Sports Illustrated. That was a little more involved, but all based on cards rather than dice or a spinner.

We were in a play-by-mail league where you would mail your instructions to opposing managers in the league (this was in the early 80s) and we quickly realized our team hadn't been set up very well. I really hadn't played a baseball game since then until starting with OOTP here recently.

The computer creates so many possibilities a finite set of cards or dice never could, but then the game has to get it right with its structure and statistical accuracy. Those seem the biggest questions for OOTP to me as I am still early in my explorations.

[Syd Thrift]

Ethan Allen's ASB was lowkey pretty statistically sound, actually. No, pitchers had no impact on games, and that obviously is pretty big, but a spinner, if you flick it around enough, is just as random as dice.

[ablobj]

Originally Posted by Robby The Z

Thanks for this discussion. Reminds me of a couple of experiences from long ago with dice/card games. My cousin had one called Ethan Allen's All Star Baseball. Players came in the form of circular cards and the game was played with a spinner you put them into. It was great fun for us at age 12, but the game had no statistical accuracy to speak of. Pitchers didn't even matter unless they happened to be good hitters. The version we had was just Hall of Fame players. Later, a friend and I bought Statis-Pro Baseball, made by Avalon Hill and marketed heavily in Sports Illustrated. That was a little more involved, but all based on cards rather than dice or a spinner.

We were in a play-by-mail league where you would mail your instructions to opposing managers in the league (this was in the early 80s) and we quickly realized our team hadn't been set up very well. I really hadn't played a baseball game since then until starting with OOTP here recently.

The computer creates so many possibilities a finite set of cards or dice never could, but then the game has to get it right with its structure and statistical accuracy. Those seem the biggest questions for OOTP to me as I am still early in my explorations.

I had a game in the late 80's called Sher-Co baseball. The field was basically a grid, and you would align your defensive players in different squares on the grid...each guy had a range and arm rating based on the number of squares he could cover and how many squares he could throw. So if the ball was put into play, rather than the result saying "Flyout, Double, etc", the result simply showed which square the ball was hit to. For instance if your centerfielder had a range of 4, and the ball was hit 5 squares in front of him, it dropped in for a hit. I'm probably doing a terrible job of describing it lol, but my friends and I spent many a rainy day playing for hours on end.

[David Watts]

Originally Posted by ablobj

I had a game in the late 80's called Sher-Co baseball. The field was basically a grid, and you would align your defensive players in different squares on the grid...each guy had a range and arm rating based on the number of squares he could cover and how many squares he could throw. So if the ball was put into play, rather than the result saying "Flyout, Double, etc", the result simply showed which square the ball was hit to. For instance if your centerfielder had a range of 4, and the ball was hit 5 squares in front of him, it dropped in for a hit. I'm probably doing a terrible job of describing it lol, but my friends and I spent many a rainy day playing for hours on end.

Best aspect of Sher-Co II was the ability to shake for a rainout.