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Earlier versions of OOTP: New to the game? A place for all new Out of the Park Baseball fans to ask questions about the game. |
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05-18-2006, 04:40 AM | #1 |
Minors (Single A)
Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 56
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English Newbie Simmer
Hi you guys, whilst I'm not new to baseball as a game (I watch the MLB games over here on TV live from the USA) and I understand the basic rules of play, I am fairly new to playing a baseball game on the PC. I just wondered if any of you could recommend some basic reading to be found online which would help me understand the mechanics of playing the game. I have already ordered it, being a long time supporter of SI Games and their Championship Manager/Football Manager series, and can see their influence in this games presentation.
I want to understand the game more so I can get more enjoyment from playing, rather than putting it on the shelf after a few days because I don't know what I'm doing! Thanks. |
05-18-2006, 05:42 AM | #2 |
Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Rockford
Posts: 2,535
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I know the feeling as i had to learn the ins and outs of soccer for CM/FM. I don't know of any online reading personally, although i think the best thing you can do is watch the games. You can probably search the forums here as well as there are a number of threads on how to set up batting orders and when to use relief pitchers. Also if you have any specific questions they are a lot of people here who have forgotten more about baseball than most of us will ever know.
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05-18-2006, 12:11 PM | #3 |
All Star Starter
Join Date: Oct 2004
Posts: 1,244
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I would recommend Earl Weaver's book, whose title escapes me at the moment. You can do a google or amazon search on it and it should come up.
Also, Baseball for Dummies (which will have actual on-field things to do with kids) is a good start for the rules of the game. Also try going to MLB.com and reading the official rule-book. The game is based on these rules. |
05-19-2006, 12:48 PM | #4 | |
Major Leagues
Join Date: Nov 2003
Posts: 354
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05-19-2006, 01:02 PM | #5 |
Minors (Single A)
Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 56
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Thanks for the advice guys, I've actually ordered two books, Roads to Redemption: A Guide to Major League Baseball, by Craig W. Thomas, and Baseball for Dummies by Joe Morgan. I have read reviews about these books and they look like they will be able to help me a lot.
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05-19-2006, 01:22 PM | #6 | |
Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: The big smoke
Posts: 15,628
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Quote:
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Cheers RichW #stopthestupid “Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition …There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect.” Frank Wilhoit |
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05-19-2006, 01:24 PM | #7 |
Major Leagues
Join Date: Nov 2003
Posts: 354
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Joe Morgan is extremely knowledgable, so that's a good choice. Another thing you might want to consider doing is signing up for the MLB Gameday Audio service since you're in the UK and wouldn't be able to watch/listen to a whole lot of games. A fun way to learn about the finer points of baseball is to listen to games on the radio where the announcers need to be more descriptive than TV commentators. You can listen to all of the games on that service and they also archive them so you wouldn't need to listen to them live.
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05-19-2006, 01:35 PM | #8 |
Minors (Single A)
Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 56
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Slightly OT but as it's my thread I guess it doesn't really matter. At what level of difficulty would you reccomend I start the game when it's released at the end of the month? I ask this question because I took the opportunity to download the free OOTP5 and have been playing it on the 'Easy' level. I have been playing managing the Red Sox (the team I support) but it all seems a little too easy so far. I guess a beta tester or probably Marc or Markus would be the guys to answer this, but bear in mind I am a rookie to the game, but I want to be able to get the maximum enjoyment from the game without it being a walkover!
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05-19-2006, 01:43 PM | #9 | |
Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Nov 2004
Posts: 6,066
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Quote:
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Fidel Montoya Asahi2 Baseball ex-Commissioner(Historical League Since 2004) www.allsimbaseball.com (OOTP web hosting - Customized sites for online leagues - Sign up, Connect OOTP and Play!) Share Your Mods - Free, unlimited and easy to upload to share your Mods instantly(free site registration required) |
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05-19-2006, 02:00 PM | #10 |
Minors (Single A)
Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 56
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Are you saying there are no difficulty levels at all?
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05-19-2006, 05:44 PM | #11 | |
Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Mar 2003
Posts: 9,004
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One way to make it easier or harder is how you view ratings. 1-100 or 2-8. The first will give you a much more precise estimate of your player's worth. 2-8 is a much more traditional scale, and its inprecision can drive you batty. Say you have a pitcher with STUFF of rated at 6,7,6,5,7,8, and 8 by your different scouts. Well, then you have to account for how well the scout evaluates pitching. Then you have to evaluate you scout's sobriety, and how old the evaluation is. Suppose your two best pitching evaluators gave two 8's. Would you be comfortable signing the guy to a 5 year contract worth $13 million a year? Suppose your two best gave a 5 and an 8? Suppose your division rival just offered him 7 years at $15 million per season? Do you really want your staff ace to go elsewhere after sweating after him for 5 years in the minors, and 6 more in the Big Leagues? Was his 3.68 ERA a fluke two years ago? Was last year's 4.91 ERA caused due to arm trouble that you forced him to pitch with? Get to know the game, and when you feel too comfortable with things, change the way you view ratings. |
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05-19-2006, 06:27 PM | #12 |
Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: North of England Gods Country
Posts: 7,175
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Having OOTP 5 to play around with will help you get into line ups, pitching rotations and such. Maybe an idea if you wanted to would be join a OOTP 5 online league, sure if you put an add on the online leagues board somebody could point you in the way of a league. Lots of online leagues welcome rookies, it's also the best way to learn not only about baseball but also baseball pc games.
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05-20-2006, 09:24 AM | #13 |
Minors (Double A)
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Stoke-on-Trent
Posts: 110
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As a fellow Englishman, subscribing to MLB TV was the best thing I ever did, now I can watch my Marlins lose almost every night lol...3 losses in extra innings in the last 4 games, 2 of the games we actually took the lead in extra innings only to concede 2 runs in the bottom of the inning, damn we need a CLOSER!
Anyway back to the topic, just keep watching, playing baseball games, 1st baseball game I played was Triple Play, then the High Heat series, then I found the wonderful OOTP sims & now enjoying baseball more than ever....Baseball is easy enough to pick up the basics, the only tricky part is all the stats, for that I google which ever stat I'm not sure about & read up all the information I can regarding how it works. If you still don't understand things, just ask on here, there is some really brilliant people who really know the game & understand more than you can imagine. Sometimes I come on here & think wow, I still get amazed by some things I read on here. Good luck & I hope you get gripped to baseball games like I have. Dazza Last edited by Marlinfan; 05-20-2006 at 11:43 AM. |
05-20-2006, 10:09 AM | #14 |
Minors (Single A)
Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 56
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@Marlinfan, thanks for that, is MLB TV on SKY, if so how much is it? Looking at all the screenies for OOTP Baseball 2006 it looks awesome, and I know from owning every version of Championship Manager and Football Manager 2005 & 2006 that anything SI Games are involved in will be a quality product.
I intend to immerse myself in the game completely, I have bought two books, the first of which has an excellent Baseball Dictionary so, like you I will also be looking for explanations for the various stats and abbreviations to be found in the game. I am really looking forward to May 31st and my first play of this superb looking game. |
05-20-2006, 11:36 AM | #15 |
Minors (Double A)
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Stoke-on-Trent
Posts: 110
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Mariners - go to www.mlb.com & subscribe there. You can watch every game, for every team online...You can even watch archived games from previous seasons. You will not find a better bargain anywhere. Well worth the investment, I've already got my money's worth & the season is only a month & a half old.
The prices are as follows 1 months subsription $14.95 The whole season $79.95 Dazza ps...Go Red Sox as you have my fave player, Alex Gonzalez, offensively not too strong but one of the best defensive shortstops in the game.....I often watch Red Sox games which are archived or I watch them live if the Marlins are playing at a different time or if we've got a rest day. Last edited by Marlinfan; 05-20-2006 at 11:42 AM. |
05-20-2006, 01:15 PM | #16 |
Minors (Double A)
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 146
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Wikipedi does a pretty good job of basic rules and stat definition.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball#Gameplay.com http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball_statistics |
05-24-2006, 03:35 PM | #17 | |
Major Leagues
Join Date: Nov 2003
Posts: 354
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Quote:
I got the MLB Gameday Audio last year and thought that was excellent. It's cheaper, and baseball was meant to be heard on the radio. Good radio play by play men paint pictures in your mind that surpass what watching on tv can bring you, and it will also enhance your OOTP experience by letting you fill in some of the vagueries of the play by play text with whatever color you pick up. I just find that text-based games work better if you imagine hearing the play by play as a radio broadcast, but maybe that's just my preference and that I'm an old fuddy-duddy. Also, how do you become a Marlins fan in England? I watch Manchester United games because that's pretty much all we get over here (apart from condensed game recap shows), but if you've got MLB TV why did you choose the Marlins? I'm not saying that's a bad thing or anything like that, I'm just interested to know. I grew up right outside New York to an Italian family, so I didn't have much of a choice but to be a Yankees fan. |
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05-24-2006, 03:47 PM | #18 | |
Minors (Double A)
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Stoke-on-Trent
Posts: 110
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Quote:
Now in England we're getting more & more of American sports plus with the advantages of the internet, it's easier than ever to follow teams across the pond. Last night I managed to watch the Marlins beat the Cubs in the bottom of the 9th (mlb.tv) & watch Miami Heat beat the Pistons by 5 points on Channel 5. Woohoo Marlins just sweeped the Cubs with a 9-3 win. Last edited by Marlinfan; 05-24-2006 at 04:47 PM. |
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05-25-2006, 10:58 AM | #19 |
All Star Reserve
Join Date: Apr 2003
Posts: 880
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There's probably more Marlins fans in England than in Florida this season.
Maybe they'll relocate to the UK.
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05-25-2006, 12:53 PM | #20 | |
Minors (Double A)
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Stoke-on-Trent
Posts: 110
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Quote:
I just hope we don't leave Florida...although to get fans looks like we'd have to |
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