OOTP10 Suggestions: The Interface (GUI)

[battists]

This suggestion thread is designed to collect suggestions for the next version of OOTP, on the following topic:

The Interface (GUI)

Includes
- Things related to the visual design of the game that would improve ease of use

Excludes
- Most anything related to the interface is fair game, but try to keep it focused on the interface itself, not the game engine.

Instructions
We will use this thread to collect suggestions on the above topic. Later on, we hope to present this information back to the community in a way that would allow you to vote and prioritize certain features.

If you would like to participate, here are the rules!

1. Only 1 suggestion per post.
2. Suggestions must be on-topic for the thread.
3. Constructive, non-inflammatory suggestions only.
4. No comments on others' suggestions are necessary. That means, we don't need 15 posts in the thread saying "Great idea!" or "I agree!"
5. Please don't link to other forum threads as your way of making suggestions. ("My suggestion can be found HERE.") If it's important enough to you that you want it in this thread, then it should be important enough to put it in the format I've asked for here!
6. You can certainly post suggestions that conflict with or build upon earlier suggestions.
7. Mockups are welcomed, they really help Markus see what you're interested in accomplishing.

Format for Suggestions

Suggestion
What is your suggestion? Be as specific as possible; include the screen you're talking about, if applicable.

Reason
Why do you think this is important? If this is to correct what you perceive as a problem in OOTP 2007, what is that problem? Be as specific as possible.

Priority
In your opinion, how important is this suggestion?
High (MUST have), Medium (should have), Low (nice to have))

Thanks for participating!

Steve

[texasmame]

SUGGESTION: An UNDO button for any and all in-game moves.

LEVEL: HIGH.

REASON: I hate it when I accidentally replace the wrong guy or whatnot and there is no way to back out. Inexcusable.

[dickysty]

Suggestion

Under the Scores and Schedule screen for the starting pitcher show whether his a righty or lefty.


Reason

To better prepare and check my lineup without having to go to the starting pitchers screen.


Priority

Medium

[endgame]

Suggestion
In-game Broadcast screen add the profile-assigned playing position to the batter's info box.

Reason
Primarily when a PH is implemented in the game, which is often. I like to know at a quick glance what position this player usually plays or is assigned by the opposing team. Even with players in the lineup, it takes a quick glance up to the lineup area to see what position the batter is currently playing. I like to have it right in front of me with the other batter info.

Eliminate the LHB or RHB if neccessary, as it is easy enough to see - usually - by examining the changes in ratings OR where he is placed in the field batter's box.

Priority
Medium (should have)

[jmknpk2]

Suggestion
Improved sorting:
a) Ability to sort on more than one column
b) Ability to keep sort order when shifting views
- Retaining current (displayed) sort order until a different sort is requested (by clicking a column header) would be a method to implement

Reason
Sorting by more than one column is very powerful and helpful (external draft utitily does this). I want to sort by contact and then eye,...control, then movement, then stuff... This is pretty fundamental.
I want to sort by stats and then, keeping that sort order, view the ratings. I want to sort by salary, and then, keeping that sort order, view ratings,...

Priority
High

[dickysty]

Suggestion

When looking at a players career stats from the Batting Stats or Pitching Stats Tab it should show the players age next to seasons played.


Reason

I don't have to click on the BNN Players page to get the information. It's just an extra click that could be avoided.


Priority

Medium - Nice to have.

[Raidergoo]

Suggestion
Revamp the BNN webcast to include Pitch f/x.

Reason
It's beyond cool to watch on mlb.com. It's simple animation that would be far more appealing than the current animation.

Priority
Low

[fhomess]

Suggestion
Ability to toggle view of long player listings between page-by-page view and full list scroll bar.

Reason
Any list in-game, like the amateur draft class or the free agent listing that exceeds the number of players visible on one screen will show a scrollbar on the right that you can use to scroll through the list. However, once the list gets really long, the game then switches over to a view where the scrollbar disappears and you get a page-by-page view. You now have to click the arrows to get further down the list. It would be nice to have the option to switch between the two.

Priority
Medium

[fhomess]

Suggestion
Keep track of players who finish 2nd and 3rd in end-of-season awards voting.

Reason
What's the point of having the manual awards voting page with slots for the #2 and #3 guy under each award category if that information isn't kept track of? In real life, discussions about great players also includes how many times they came close to winning an MVP or Cy Young award. The Keltner List, a common tool for evaluating potential Hall of Famers, even asks this question specifically.

Priority
Low

[fhomess]

Suggestion
Provide a First Year and Last Year column for display in the player listing of retired players. You should also be able to filter on these columns.

Reason
When looking at retired players, it's really quite important to know when they played. MLB has a 5-year waiting period for the Hall of Fame, and there's no way to keep track of when a player retired in the game other than looking at their individual player pages. It's also highly important to know when determining how good a player was as stats in different eras have different values.

Priority
High.

[benallen002]

SUGGESTION:

Multiple shortlists. Just like views, the user should be able to create an infinite number of different shortlists with different names.

REASON:

Makes it that much easier to track guys throughout careers for different reasons (i.e. draft pick I skipped on, guy I traded a year ago, etc.)

PRIORITY:

Medium

[Rondell Tate]

Suggestion:
I would like to have all of both active rosters visible on the in-game screen (possibly with a pop-up for detailed stats), preferably with user-defined categories.

Reason:
For any roster move during the game, you need information: Who's in the bullpen? Any lefties? If I bring in a lefty, who on the other guy's bench hits lefties? If I walk this guy intentionally, who's on deck? If I double-switch, who do I have who can fill in at that position? Who's my best bunter on the bench? Pinch-runner? I would love to have all this info available no farther away than a drop-down menu.

Priority:
Medium

[mbrooks4210]

Suggestion
This is similar to post #11 in this thread, but I wanted to expand on the suggestion.

I'd like to have configurable player groups. Active or retired players could be assigned to a group. Title Bout Boxing already has the concept of groups, and I'd like to see something similar in OOTP.

You could filter on groups in reports and use them in player searches. I don't know the underlying data structure, but if player groups were indexed, it coule speed up searches and reports as well.

Reason
Player groups are a generic enough concept that it could be used in a variety of ways. Here are a few that I might use:

1) Create a group called "Hall of Famers". When you induct a player into the HOF, you manually add the player to that group. This would allow you to create a configurable report of Hall of Famers, which would be nice because the current HOF report is not configurable.

2) Create a group called "Potential Hall of Famers". When reviewing active or recently retired players, you could manually add a player to that group. When deciding who to induct into the HOF every year, it would be much easier to have a report that just shows a group of players that are potential HOFers and not all the players that youv'e already determined don't meet your criteria. I currently do something like this using an Excel spreadsheet with a worksheet for each position, but it would be much easier using player groups.

3) Create a group called "All Time Team". I saw a suggestion in another thread asking for something like this. Player groups would be generic enough that they could be used for something like this.

Priority
Medium

[nyy26wc]

Suggestion

Have a view option that displays the number of pitches each pitcher threw over the past 5 days, day by day, during the games.

We should still see the little icon to show who is tired or exhausted. This would be in addition to that.

Reason

I keep a little notepad next to the keyboard where I keep that data, since it is so important when managing the bullpen. That was easier than clicking on each reliever individually to get the info.

Priority

High

[pstrickert]

Suggestion: Modify all screens for display at higher resolutions.

Reason: Easier to read, increased aesthetic appeal, and it has to be done eventually . . . so why not now?

Priority: Medium-High.
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[pstrickert]

Suggestion: Re-format the Injuries screen. Use columns such as:

date - player's name - injury type - duration

Reason: Too much verbiage in its current form.

Priority: Low.<!-- / message --><!-- sig -->

[pstrickert]

Suggestion: Replace the Team Leaders section on the Manager's Home Page with Who's Hot/Who's Not.

Reason: It is more important (as a manager) to know who's hot/who's not, than to know the names of the top 3 leaders in Ks or RBIs.

Priority: Low.

[pstrickert]

Suggestion: Improve the presentation of batter vs. pitcher, pitcher vs. team, team vs. team stats. Check out the screenshots from ESPN.com.

Reason: To display more precise statistical information.

Priority: Medium.


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[Tresclub]

Suggestion
When signing a free agent, after you rt-clk on the player name, get the popup menu and clk on Sign Player, the player name disappears, and the next popup screen tells you that you have signed the player, and you only have two options at this point: Help and OK. What if it is NOT OK?

When you click on Sign Player, the player name should not disappear, and you should get a popup menu with these options:

* Yes, I want to sign this player, at which point, the player name would disappear
* No, I changed my mind, I do not want to sign this player, at which point the screen would disappear with nothing happening

Reason
Gives the Manager the option to change his mind without the player automatically moving to his team

Priority
In your opinion, how important is this suggestion?
Medium (should have)

[endgame]

Suggestion
Explore 'some' representation or icon that clearly signals a player as one the shortlist.

Reason
Saves screen movement. Marks the player immediately as one you've had interest in previously. Very helpful in trade negotiations and general review of any screen.

Priority
Medium