Tips needed for Very Realistic Sim

[JakeR514]

Hello! I have been playing OOTP for a while now, and for this year I wanted to do the most realistic simulation I could possibly do. Now with this, I have had my concerns that I would hope that I could get some feedback from other gamers. What I am about to say is nothing disrespectful to the game, but is mainly just certain tweaks that I could adjust in the settings.

My concerns:

1. After the first season, many players get DFA'd or larger market teams will sign players and they end up just playing in AAA. This is something I could change in the settings, but what would be a change that doesn't affect realism as much?

2. Teams will not call up prospects and give them a shot. I had Jacob Nix in a simulation in the minors until he was 28. Would there be a way to encourage a possible youth movement more often?

3. What is a good AI stats evaluation to go off of? Is 40/30/20/10 okay? I know adjustments might be needed as it becomes more fictional in future years.

4. Any other tips? I was thinking I would control trades while letting AI do free agency.

Thanks!

[UltimateAverageGuy]

Not sure if getting the perfect sim is even possible for you. Do what’s fun for you and enjoy yourself

[Mancandy]

Originally Posted by UltimateAverageGuy

Not sure if getting the perfect sim is even possible for you. Do what’s fun for you and enjoy yourself

This. Short of running every single team, there's really no way to prevent unrealistic things from happening. A lot. I used to get caught up in that stuff and let it ruin my games, but I've learned to just focus on my team/organization and run that as realistically as possible and just don't pay attention to what the AI run teams are doing so the stupid stuff that happens doesn't break my immersion and ruin the game.

This isn't a knock on the game, I think it's run as realistically as could be expected and it's certainly far better than most other games(coughFHMcough), it's just really hard to code an AI that can think like a human does in every possible situation.

[jaguar8311]

1) I set a salary cap. Starting with $245M this year for the Dodgers, then slowly decreasing it every $10M per season until I hit $180M. I also change the visiting gate receipts to 50%, and change revenue sharing to 50% income (don't leave it at luxury tax)

2) No need to worry about young players not being called up. Player Development is broken ATM, and you'll see kids that are 21, 22 major-league ready. I'd recommend waiting until the next patch to start your game.

I also set roster limits for minor leagues to discourage hoarding
Rookie Leagues - No size limit 2 years max service
A- 30 players 3 years max service
A 26 players 5 years max service
A+ 26 players 6 years max service
AA 26 players no service limit max age 32
AAA no size limit no service limit

3) Not sure about this, I just leave it at default

4) As others have said, up to you how you want your simulation to go. I'm pretty disgusted by the state of modern baseball in 2021, so I change the league modifiers to 2007 (So the top pitcher will throw 7-8 CG, more hits, less homers, more steals). I also make it a 14 team playoff (disgruntled Jays fan who watched our team during the Halladay years go nowhere despite winning records) disable Rule 5, get rid of the 10/5 rule, super 2 and reduce the service years for arbitration to 2 years. This, in conjunction with a salary cap and revenue sharing, makes Free Agency more akin to the NHL, where players in their peak (27) are on Free Agency with every team legit has a having a shot at them. Rather than the current MLB model where FA's are usually 30/31 that decline after 2-3 seasons.

I also find there to be too much trading, so I set AI trading frequency to low, only increasing it to normal around the trade deadline and the winter meetings to simulate increased real-life activity.

[Simmo13]

Re No 3: There have been several threads about AI settings (do a search on this forum) and OOTP players have very different views which they've explained in detail and very convincingly! Maybe the only way is to study the posts and test those settings that correspond most closely to your needs.

[PSUColonel]

On number 3 I go with something very close to the default. 55/25/15/5

[truebatman]

Originally Posted by jaguar8311

1) I set a salary cap. Starting with $245M this year for the Dodgers, then slowly decreasing it every $10M per season until I hit $180M. I also change the visiting gate receipts to 50%, and change revenue sharing to 50% income (don't leave it at luxury tax)

2) No need to worry about young players not being called up. Player Development is broken ATM, and you'll see kids that are 21, 22 major-league ready. I'd recommend waiting until the next patch to start your game.

I also set roster limits for minor leagues to discourage hoarding
Rookie Leagues - No size limit 2 years max service
A- 30 players 3 years max service
A 26 players 5 years max service
A+ 26 players 6 years max service
AA 26 players no service limit max age 32
AAA no size limit no service limit

3) Not sure about this, I just leave it at default

4) As others have said, up to you how you want your simulation to go. I'm pretty disgusted by the state of modern baseball in 2021, so I change the league modifiers to 2007 (So the top pitcher will throw 7-8 CG, more hits, less homers, more steals). I also make it a 14 team playoff (disgruntled Jays fan who watched our team during the Halladay years go nowhere despite winning records) disable Rule 5, get rid of the 10/5 rule, super 2 and reduce the service years for arbitration to 2 years. This, in conjunction with a salary cap and revenue sharing, makes Free Agency more akin to the NHL, where players in their peak (27) are on Free Agency with every team legit has a having a shot at them. Rather than the current MLB model where FA's are usually 30/31 that decline after 2-3 seasons.

I also find there to be too much trading, so I set AI trading frequency to low, only increasing it to normal around the trade deadline and the winter meetings to simulate increased real-life activity.

Its eerie how similiar we run our games, maybe a couple differences but otherwise I run mine almost like you run yours

[DaBears]

It seems like you are playing as GM, and if that's the case this will not apply.

I have struggled with the lack of realism over the years. As others have said, that's not to say I have an issue with the game's creators as this is a wonderful simulation - you just can't make it completely real when dealing with this type AI behavior. Thus, I never could really get into a long-term save playing as GM and have settled into acting as manager-only. By doing so, I get the thing I enjoy the most in the game - playing the games out and managing the team - and can keep it realistic. If this is appealing, find a team/year you could really get into and play for years after. Some people might be into the 1950's or 60's, some the 80's. Unless you are a masochist, you'll probably want to choose an organization that had a really good, long run. Think of the 1991 Atlanta Braves, the 1995/96 Yankees. You aren't guaranteed World Series wins in any way, but the team will be competitive for 15-20 years, and it's hard to argue transactions are not real, because they have to be. I just started a 2001 Cardinals sim a few weeks ago (Pujols' first year) and it could end up being really fun.

I've played around with lots of options, but for me I play with historical transactions on, lineups off, a AAA team with ghost players allowed (this gives me stats for non-MLB players vs reserve roster), and I act as GM/MGR (essentially you hire/fire staff and determine the 25-man roster, nothing else). I turn off owner goals, and used to turn off coaching but with the addition of 1B/3B coaches this year have now added those as well. I use the real coaches from the team and simply convert them from retired players. That probably gives me an advantage out of the gate (my Cards are tied with HOU for 1st at the end of April and we already have 127 RS in 21 games - the bullpen, as was the case in real life, is an unmitigated disaster so there's plenty of challenge there!!!), but I figure it will add something to the league in the years to come. It should even out after a year or two.

Again, doesn't apply if you want to be GM, but my fave for realism. And trust me, you'll still be befuddled at times by the move real-life GM's make quite often!

[fredbeene]

Originally Posted by PSUColonel

On number 3 I go with something very close to the default. 55/25/15/5

Do the recalcs look Forward, backward or both?
I checked the manual it does not say.

It seems like they should be recalced based on the stats that have occurred and then including the stats from the year that just played. I mean how can you recalc on something that has not occurred??

[PSUColonel]

There are stat lines for most players.if there are no stat lines for any given year, I believe the AI will “prorate” values.

[bigsmooth]

Salary cap for one team or for the whole league?