When and how did you start playing Out Of The Park Baseball? - Page 4

bleachercreature · 07-17-2014, 01:59 PM

Not sure of the exact timing of all of this, but the story is kind of funny. I was in the now defunct Virgin Mega Store in Times Square. I found a little game Season Ticket Baseball. I had been looking for a great managerial Sim ever since Tony LaRussa Baseball. I loved LaRussa because you could do fantasy drafts and it had a one pitch manager mode.

So I picked up STB, player around with it a bit and then it went on the shelf. At some point, I stumbled onto either this site or a review for OOTP 4. As I recall, I played OOTP but started wondering about STB as OOTP seamed familiar. I didn't put 2 and 2 together right away. At some point I figured out, probably from this board or reading a review somewhere they were the same game.

smiller · 07-17-2014, 04:25 PM

I have been intrigued by OOTP for a number of years, but always thought it would be too complicated to play, so stuck to Baseball Mogul. Haven't bought the last few versions of that game because forum reviews were so negative, so decided to try OOTP14, taking my time and learning where everything was. Found the game was easier to learn than I anticipated and also way above any other baseball sim I had tried. Now am into 15 and can't imagine going backl to anything else.
By the way, Lukasberger, I, too, started soccer sims with One-Nil, then onto Championship Manager.

chemkid · 07-17-2014, 04:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Honorable_Pawn

Welcome to the forum. Yeah, you're wife is going to be a problem. It's best you get rid of her.

don't get rid of her! i'm into this for 2 weeks now and feel right at home WITH wife AND son... both know more about the game than me (NBP) - i'm a happy camper! cheers!

Westheim · 07-17-2014, 05:40 PM

I will start a bit further back.

In the Precambrian ...

Okay, a bit less further back.

I never had any contact with baseball at all until 2010 when I happened across a World Series or other being a featured article on the Wikipedia main page while mindlessly browsing the internet in the office (because work is meh...). It was nicely written, but I didn't get a lot of the stuff in there. Single? Save? Double switch? Wut?

Came back then out of curiosity to check out the article for the 1986 World Series (the year I was born, because, well, it's there and begs to be read... in the office...!). Still didn't really get really into what was going on, but it appeared to me that Game 6 might have been exciting. Found the 10th inning on Youtube and slowly got sucked in.

Then I found PureSim 2007 as abandonware on Matrixgames and got myself that, picked the Mets for a 2008 major league game and managed to trade David Wright for Casey Blake in May of the first season because I DIDN'T HAVE A FRICKIN' CLUE. But I did eventually learn what a single was. And a double switch. What I have not figured out yet is why Argenis Reyes didn't fare better in real life than he did for me.

After about half a year or so with that game I came upon OOTP 12 (must have been fall of '11 or so). Bought that, jumped in, jumped right back out. Oh my god. So many boxes to tick. So many mistakes to be made. I ticked them all. I made them all. Then backed out. For somebody knowing NOTHING about option management, waivers, and all the other stuff PureSim didn't have, this was hell. I had no clue, and let me state right here: this came is VERY BADLY documented for someone who doesn't have a clue.

Got the then current version of PureSim, which was bug-infested abomination of a game which it was impossible to get any support for whatsoever, and after the evil game ate two of my save games, I gave up and crawled back into OOTP 12, and took a few beatings here and there, starting in early '12.

After a few abortive attempts at a dynasty I got my Raccoons off the ground (although it was not always joy, and currently isn't either). I went all in with that dynasty, got myself a commemorative T-shirt printed after our first pennant (I get weird looks when I accidentally go outside), and also ordered a plush toy raccoon to discuss lineups with.

I may be mental. Your judgement.

Bought 14, never used it much. Bought 15 during the recent sale, didn't even install it yet. I have an idea for a league in my head, but I'm too lazy to flesh it out properly. Plus, I wouldn't have ample time to properly care for two dynasties anyway at the moment.

Oh yeah, I'm still stuck with the Mets, too.

jpeters1734 · 07-17-2014, 06:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Westheim

I will start a bit further back.

In the Precambrian ...

Okay, a bit less further back.

I never had any contact with baseball at all until 2010 when I happened across a World Series or other being a featured article on the Wikipedia main page while mindlessly browsing the internet in the office (because work is meh...). It was nicely written, but I didn't get a lot of the stuff in there. Single? Save? Double switch? Wut?

Came back then out of curiosity to check out the article for the 1986 World Series (the year I was born, because, well, it's there and begs to be read... in the office...!). Still didn't really get really into what was going on, but it appeared to me that Game 6 might have been exciting. Found the 10th inning on Youtube and slowly got sucked in.

Then I found PureSim 2007 as abandonware on Matrixgames and got myself that, picked the Mets for a 2008 major league game and managed to trade David Wright for Casey Blake in May of the first season because I DIDN'T HAVE A FRICKIN' CLUE. But I did eventually learn what a single was. And a double switch. What I have not figured out yet is why Argenis Reyes didn't fare better in real life than he did for me.

After about half a year or so with that game I came upon OOTP 12 (must have been fall of '11 or so). Bought that, jumped in, jumped right back out. Oh my god. So many boxes to tick. So many mistakes to be made. I ticked them all. I made them all. Then backed out. For somebody knowing NOTHING about option management, waivers, and all the other stuff PureSim didn't have, this was hell. I had no clue, and let me state right here: this came is VERY BADLY documented for someone who doesn't have a clue.

Got the then current version of PureSim, which was bug-infested abomination of a game which it was impossible to get any support for whatsoever, and after the evil game ate two of my save games, I gave up and crawled back into OOTP 12, and took a few beatings here and there, starting in early '12.

After a few abortive attempts at a dynasty I got my Raccoons off the ground (although it was not always joy, and currently isn't either). I went all in with that dynasty, got myself a commemorative T-shirt printed after our first pennant (I get weird looks when I accidentally go outside), and also ordered a plush toy raccoon to discuss lineups with.

I may be mental. Your judgement.

Bought 14, never used it much. Bought 15 during the recent sale, didn't even install it yet. I have an idea for a league in my head, but I'm too lazy to flesh it out properly. Plus, I wouldn't have ample time to properly care for two dynasties anyway at the moment.

Oh yeah, I'm still stuck with the Mets, too.

Lol, Funny story. I can't imagine trying to play ootp and not know much about baseball. ootp is confusing enough sometimes.

Honorable_Pawn · 07-17-2014, 07:50 PM

Great thread. Thanks for the stories, Guys.

themonk · 07-18-2014, 03:01 AM

Discovered baseball text sims while I was surfing the web 5 or 6 years ago. Started out with the the free version of Puresim. But for one reason or the other my old laptop was overheating whenever I played it. Then discovered OOTP. Started with OOTP 8...

BostonRS14 · 07-18-2014, 09:03 AM

I found OOTP right before 6.5 (~2004) came out.

Was searching for a keeper/dynasty fantasy-type league, since all the ones offered at the time (like espn, yahoo, cbs sportsline, etc) were for that season only. OOTP seemed like it was the best of both worlds, I could do it at my own pace and it has a sense of ownership, since you could go season-to-season with the game guys.

Rich Tiger Fan · 07-18-2014, 11:14 AM

My way back machine goes back to the early 80's and Statis Pro baseball. That is where I got my start in baseball sims. Once the computer age came about I played Earl Weaver and Micro League baseball amongst others. I like may others it sounds like came across OOTP just looking to rekindle those child hood days with baseball sims. I don't remember where it was anymore but I came across a site that listed out sports sim games and there was OOTP 3.

I looked into it and it sounded awesome. I remember thinking to myself this is to good to be true. So many games promise a lot and disappoint. It was just a few weeks before version 4 was to be released so I checked out the Demo and I knew that I had to purchase the game. I waited impatiently for OOTP4 and that was that, I've purchased every version since. This is by far my favorite game of all time. It's amazing how far this game has come since then, for me Facegen has been my favorite new feature over the years.

David Watts · 07-18-2014, 11:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rich Tiger Fan

My way back machine goes back to the early 80's and Statis Pro baseball. That is where I got my start in baseball sims. Once the computer age came about I played Earl Weaver and Micro League baseball amongst others. I like may others it sounds like came across OOTP just looking to rekindle those child hood days with baseball sims. I don't remember where it was anymore but I came across a site that listed out sports sim games and there was OOTP 3.

I looked into it and it sounded awesome. I remember thinking to myself this is to good to be true. So many games promise a lot and disappoint. It was just a few weeks before version 4 was to be released so I checked out the Demo and I knew that I had to purchase the game. I waited impatiently for OOTP4 and that was that, I've purchased every version since. This is by far my favorite game of all time. It's amazing how far this game has come since then, for me Facegen has been my favorite new feature over the years.

Did you ever play the computer version of Statis Pro?

Mr. Marlin · 07-18-2014, 11:30 AM

Actually I was playing Baseball Mogul originally having never heard of OOTP. It just never did do it for me. Then while googling baseball SIMs I found OOTP 8. I bought it, bought every version since and unlike every game I've ever played I never get tired of it. I'll be here for 16, 17, 18....

Rich Tiger Fan · 07-18-2014, 11:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by David Watts

Did you ever play the computer version of Statis Pro?

The old one or the new one? I believe Avalon Hill created one but I never played it, however there is a guy who has created his own and it really is good.

You can find it here: Statis Pro Baseball Online

IanIachimoe · 07-18-2014, 11:32 AM

good read, great thread.

David Watts · 07-18-2014, 12:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rich Tiger Fan

The old one or the new one? I believe Avalon Hill created one but I never played it, however there is a guy who has created his own and it really is good.

You can find it here: Statis Pro Baseball Online

I had the Avalon Hill version way back when. I liked it.

HolyCow98 · 07-18-2014, 12:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rich Tiger Fan

My way back machine goes back to the early 80's and Statis Pro baseball. That is where I got my start in baseball sims. Once the computer age came about I played Earl Weaver and Micro League baseball amongst others. I like may others it sounds like came across OOTP just looking to rekindle those child hood days with baseball sims. I don't remember where it was anymore but I came across a site that listed out sports sim games and there was OOTP 3.

I looked into it and it sounded awesome. I remember thinking to myself this is to good to be true. So many games promise a lot and disappoint. It was just a few weeks before version 4 was to be released so I checked out the Demo and I knew that I had to purchase the game. I waited impatiently for OOTP4 and that was that, I've purchased every version since. This is by far my favorite game of all time. It's amazing how far this game has come since then, for me Facegen has been my favorite new feature over the years.

For me that site was called Sports Sim Central

I think for me it started with my subscriptions to baseball digest and the sporting news when I was around 10. Both of those would have small little advertisements for a game called Pursue the Pennant. I was never able to get that game but I was always in search of a game that sounded like the advertisements.

My first computer was a C-64 and I discovered games like Computer Baseball and Microleague Baseball. I remember spending a lot of my free time making schedules and compiling stats (till I found utilities to do it for me). I was lucky in that my best friend also was big into baseball and stats too. Spent years playing that. Eventually...around 8th grade I got a Amiga 500 and my first game I got for that was the first version of Earl Weaver baseball. Wow....I even got my dad hooked on that one. It was neat cuz he wasn't a big stats guy...he was more into telling stories about the players he remembered. I remember we'd play with the classic teams (though I spent most of my time with my 1989 or 1991 season disks) and he'd tell me about games he'd seen involving guys like Drysdale and Koufax and Gibson. Pretty much played that game until that computer died.

Went about 3-4 years between the Amiga 500 dying and getting my first Windows 95 machine. When I finally got my first Win95 computer the first game I got was Front Page Sports Baseball Pro '96. Played that until I got the '98 version. By this time I'm working and going to school. The bad thing about growing up is you don't get to spend as much time with the things you enjoy like you did when you were a kid. The games took so long to play out I eventually would give up trying to play through seasons.

I read about a game called Baseball Mogul '99 and had high hopes...was really excited about it. For me, it was a miss and left me disappointed. That's when I decided to try out "search engines" and see if there was something similar out there. That led me to Sport Sim Central...and that led me to discover the baseball sections. I was familar with Tony LaRussa section, and FPS baseball sections, but what is this OOTP section lol. That led me to the forums. I eventually wound up in the dynasty forums which led me to the first HOB dynasty thread. I was pretty much like "please take my money". It was just weeks before OOTP 3 was coming out so I decided to wait for that. I think, IIRC, that version, one of the selling points was it was the first version made for the WIN platform and was not running in DOS. I hated DOS... (more like feared it) so I waited the couple weeks.

Umm...for a month or so my performance at worked suffered significantly...hehe.

Habsfan18 · 07-18-2014, 03:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IanIachimoe

good read, great thread.

Twin Peaks!

Giants44 · 07-19-2014, 01:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bluenoser

Since day 1 - proud to say I've owned every version.

Heard about it from someone I met online, knew it was something special right away.

yes, me too

Giants44 · 07-19-2014, 01:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jpeters1734

nice. So over the years, whats has been some of the best improvement?

for me it was a change that I was so\so at the time and something that was mostly received poorly - but nothing compares to me as the change over the the SI style UI. Looking back none of the old games stand up to the flexibility, depth and visual appeal of the UI.

Habsfan18 · 07-20-2014, 10:12 PM

Another reason to love OOTP:

Freaking swatch cards!

Think my friends will be excited when I tell them they can now collect game worn uniform and used bat cards?

Sweed · 07-21-2014, 01:09 AM

I'll try to keep this shorter than a book

Started with Strat O Matic and the 1969 season. Played Strat throughout the 70's into the early 80's keeping stats by hand. C-64 comes out and I end up buying Pure Stat baseball and played for a couple of years.

Got my first PC and found Lance Haffners Full Count Baseball and also the standings and league leaders disk. Yeah baby no more keeping stats by hand! First game I ever played with LH was the '91 season disk and had Maddux starting for my Cubs. Up 1-0 going into the 9th and Maddux gives up 3 singles to start the inning and has the bases loaded with nobody out. He gets a ground-ball triple play to win the game! Played that until '98 or '99.

High Heat was next (it's so reeeeeal). Liked the game a lot and was finding mods and stuff at baseballsimcentral.com where I read about a game called OOTP. The year was 2002 and the version was #4. Bought OOTP4 for $19.99 and couldn't wait to start. Played a couple of games and really wasn't impressed just seemed like another Lance Haffner game. It was a good game but nothing special. Then as I played a bit more my players started to come to life and change, grow, regress, age, mature before my eyes. Wow was I wrong about OOTP not being anything special. I've bought every version since v4 and imported my on-going game into each new version while playing out every inning of every game.

Lots of great improvements over the years but probably the one with the most impact for me is the roster rules (FA, time of service, rule 5, minor league FA, waivers, options, etc.). Anything that makes it harder for the human player to hoard talent. Versions 6.5 and before was easy to win the championship and keep a dynasty going. v2006 (the first SI version and total rewrite of the code) and after things started to become harder due to the roster rules. Maybe around v9? it stared to become hard to win a title or even a division (no, I don't spend hours trying to fleece the AI but I also don't have any "house rules"). Championships are no longer a given but are something you are proud of, treasure, and certainly don't take for granted.

OOTP is the greatest game I have ever played be it "bang for the buck" or the content of the game. It is something I never even dreamed could exist back in the Strat days of my childhood.

07-17-2014, 01:59 PM	#61
bleachercreature Major Leagues Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: New Jersey Posts: 403	Seaosn Ticket Not sure of the exact timing of all of this, but the story is kind of funny. I was in the now defunct Virgin Mega Store in Times Square. I found a little game Season Ticket Baseball. I had been looking for a great managerial Sim ever since Tony LaRussa Baseball. I loved LaRussa because you could do fantasy drafts and it had a one pitch manager mode. So I picked up STB, player around with it a bit and then it went on the shelf. At some point, I stumbled onto either this site or a review for OOTP 4. As I recall, I played OOTP but started wondering about STB as OOTP seamed familiar. I didn't put 2 and 2 together right away. At some point I figured out, probably from this board or reading a review somewhere they were the same game.

07-17-2014, 05:40 PM	#64
Westheim Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Germany Posts: 11,887	I will start a bit further back. In the Precambrian ... Okay, a bit less further back. I never had any contact with baseball at all until 2010 when I happened across a World Series or other being a featured article on the Wikipedia main page while mindlessly browsing the internet in the office (because work is meh...). It was nicely written, but I didn't get a lot of the stuff in there. Single? Save? Double switch? Wut? Came back then out of curiosity to check out the article for the 1986 World Series (the year I was born, because, well, it's there and begs to be read... in the office...!). Still didn't really get really into what was going on, but it appeared to me that Game 6 might have been exciting. Found the 10th inning on Youtube and slowly got sucked in. Then I found PureSim 2007 as abandonware on Matrixgames and got myself that, picked the Mets for a 2008 major league game and managed to trade David Wright for Casey Blake in May of the first season because I DIDN'T HAVE A FRICKIN' CLUE. But I did eventually learn what a single was. And a double switch. What I have not figured out yet is why Argenis Reyes didn't fare better in real life than he did for me. After about half a year or so with that game I came upon OOTP 12 (must have been fall of '11 or so). Bought that, jumped in, jumped right back out. Oh my god. So many boxes to tick. So many mistakes to be made. I ticked them all. I made them all. Then backed out. For somebody knowing NOTHING about option management, waivers, and all the other stuff PureSim didn't have, this was hell. I had no clue, and let me state right here: this came is VERY BADLY documented for someone who doesn't have a clue. Got the then current version of PureSim, which was bug-infested abomination of a game which it was impossible to get any support for whatsoever, and after the evil game ate two of my save games, I gave up and crawled back into OOTP 12, and took a few beatings here and there, starting in early '12. After a few abortive attempts at a dynasty I got my Raccoons off the ground (although it was not always joy, and currently isn't either). I went all in with that dynasty, got myself a commemorative T-shirt printed after our first pennant (I get weird looks when I accidentally go outside), and also ordered a plush toy raccoon to discuss lineups with. I may be mental. Your judgement. Bought 14, never used it much. Bought 15 during the recent sale, didn't even install it yet. I have an idea for a league in my head, but I'm too lazy to flesh it out properly. Plus, I wouldn't have ample time to properly care for two dynasties anyway at the moment. Oh yeah, I'm still stuck with the Mets, too. __________________ Portland Raccoons, 83 years of excell-.... of baseball: Furballs here! 1983 * 1989 * 1991 * 1992 * 1993 * 1995 * 1996 * 2010 * 2017 * 2018 * 2019 * 2026 * 2028 * 2035 * 2037 * 2044 * 2045 * 2046 * 2047 * 2048 * 2051 * 2054 * 2055 1 OSANAI : 2 POWELL : 7 NOMURA \| RAMOS : 8 REECE : 10 BROWN : 15 HALL : 27 FERNANDEZ : 28 CASAS : 31 CARMONA : 32 WEST : 39 TONER : 46 SAITO Resident Mets Cynic - The Mets from 1962 onwards, here.

07-18-2014, 03:01 AM	#67
themonk Minors (Triple A) Join Date: Mar 2011 Posts: 274	Discovered baseball text sims while I was surfing the web 5 or 6 years ago. Started out with the the free version of Puresim. But for one reason or the other my old laptop was overheating whenever I played it. Then discovered OOTP. Started with OOTP 8... __________________ "Every strike brings me closer to the next home run." --Babe Ruth

07-18-2014, 11:14 AM	#69
Rich Tiger Fan Major Leagues Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Wayne,MI Posts: 482	My way back machine goes back to the early 80's and Statis Pro baseball. That is where I got my start in baseball sims. Once the computer age came about I played Earl Weaver and Micro League baseball amongst others. I like may others it sounds like came across OOTP just looking to rekindle those child hood days with baseball sims. I don't remember where it was anymore but I came across a site that listed out sports sim games and there was OOTP 3. I looked into it and it sounded awesome. I remember thinking to myself this is to good to be true. So many games promise a lot and disappoint. It was just a few weeks before version 4 was to be released so I checked out the Demo and I knew that I had to purchase the game. I waited impatiently for OOTP4 and that was that, I've purchased every version since. This is by far my favorite game of all time. It's amazing how far this game has come since then, for me Facegen has been my favorite new feature over the years. __________________ Crystalis Robins 1904 LBA Champs

07-20-2014, 10:12 PM	#79
Habsfan18 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Canada Posts: 2,238	Another reason to love OOTP: Freaking swatch cards! Think my friends will be excited when I tell them they can now collect game worn uniform and used bat cards? Attached Images

07-17-2014, 04:25 PM	#62
smiller Major Leagues Join Date: Oct 2013 Location: Pittsboro NC Posts: 424	I have been intrigued by OOTP for a number of years, but always thought it would be too complicated to play, so stuck to Baseball Mogul. Haven't bought the last few versions of that game because forum reviews were so negative, so decided to try OOTP14, taking my time and learning where everything was. Found the game was easier to learn than I anticipated and also way above any other baseball sim I had tried. Now am into 15 and can't imagine going backl to anything else. By the way, Lukasberger, I, too, started soccer sims with One-Nil, then onto Championship Manager.

07-17-2014, 07:50 PM	#66
Honorable_Pawn Hall Of Famer Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Tampa Bay Posts: 6,407	Great thread. Thanks for the stories, Guys.

07-18-2014, 09:03 AM	#68
BostonRS14 All Star Starter Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Boston Posts: 1,028 Blog Entries: 1	I found OOTP right before 6.5 (~2004) came out. Was searching for a keeper/dynasty fantasy-type league, since all the ones offered at the time (like espn, yahoo, cbs sportsline, etc) were for that season only. OOTP seemed like it was the best of both worlds, I could do it at my own pace and it has a sense of ownership, since you could go season-to-season with the game guys.

07-18-2014, 11:30 AM	#71
Mr. Marlin All Star Starter Join Date: Apr 2010 Posts: 1,245	Actually I was playing Baseball Mogul originally having never heard of OOTP. It just never did do it for me. Then while googling baseball SIMs I found OOTP 8. I bought it, bought every version since and unlike every game I've ever played I never get tired of it. I'll be here for 16, 17, 18....

07-18-2014, 11:32 AM	#73
IanIachimoe All Star Starter Join Date: May 2014 Location: paper st. Posts: 1,044	good read, great thread.

07-21-2014, 01:09 AM	#80
Sweed Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Iowa Posts: 6,084 Infractions: 0/1 (1)	I'll try to keep this shorter than a book Started with Strat O Matic and the 1969 season. Played Strat throughout the 70's into the early 80's keeping stats by hand. C-64 comes out and I end up buying Pure Stat baseball and played for a couple of years. Got my first PC and found Lance Haffners Full Count Baseball and also the standings and league leaders disk. Yeah baby no more keeping stats by hand! First game I ever played with LH was the '91 season disk and had Maddux starting for my Cubs. Up 1-0 going into the 9th and Maddux gives up 3 singles to start the inning and has the bases loaded with nobody out. He gets a ground-ball triple play to win the game! Played that until '98 or '99. High Heat was next (it's so reeeeeal). Liked the game a lot and was finding mods and stuff at baseballsimcentral.com where I read about a game called OOTP. The year was 2002 and the version was #4. Bought OOTP4 for $19.99 and couldn't wait to start. Played a couple of games and really wasn't impressed just seemed like another Lance Haffner game. It was a good game but nothing special. Then as I played a bit more my players started to come to life and change, grow, regress, age, mature before my eyes. Wow was I wrong about OOTP not being anything special. I've bought every version since v4 and imported my on-going game into each new version while playing out every inning of every game. Lots of great improvements over the years but probably the one with the most impact for me is the roster rules (FA, time of service, rule 5, minor league FA, waivers, options, etc.). Anything that makes it harder for the human player to hoard talent. Versions 6.5 and before was easy to win the championship and keep a dynasty going. v2006 (the first SI version and total rewrite of the code) and after things started to become harder due to the roster rules. Maybe around v9? it stared to become hard to win a title or even a division (no, I don't spend hours trying to fleece the AI but I also don't have any "house rules"). Championships are no longer a given but are something you are proud of, treasure, and certainly don't take for granted. OOTP is the greatest game I have ever played be it "bang for the buck" or the content of the game. It is something I never even dreamed could exist back in the Strat days of my childhood.