No Nicknames?

mikekobeski · 02-05-2004, 11:01 PM

I have been playing a solo league for a few years. And I started noticing that NONE of the OOTP generated players has a nickname. Does anyone have any idea what I am doing wrong?

Mike

Henry · 02-06-2004, 07:48 AM

If your data directory has a nicknames.dat file in it, your not doing anything wrong.

Henry

ctorg · 02-06-2004, 09:58 AM

If you don't have the nicknames.dat file, does the game have errors? If not, I might just delete it. Personally, nicknames annoy me, especially when the same one pops up more than once. I don't want three Mr. Focuses in my league. I'd prefer to play without them. I could see assigning them myself, based on my own observations about a player, but the assigned ones are too random and meaningless.

MisawaTD91 · 02-06-2004, 11:48 AM

I agree, ctorg, although some of them can be fun, and add special identification to certain fictional players (as long as you don't get repeats). At least they only seem to pop up for a few of the top rated draftees. So if one's nickname is annoying, you could just delete it.

jlinchec · 02-06-2004, 12:04 PM

Does the fact that the game generates a nickname for a player imply that he is good? I've never looked at it but always assume that a guy with a nickname has a reason for a special name.

ctorg · 02-06-2004, 12:11 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by jlinchec
Does the fact that the game generates a nickname for a player imply that he is good? I've never looked at it but always assume that a guy with a nickname has a reason for a special name.

It only generates them for top prospects in the rookie draft. Whether they really become stars or not is another matter.

dbotiger · 02-06-2004, 01:29 PM

Game comes with 328 nicknames in file. I have gone through Lahman DB and extracted nicknames that are < 16 characters (since anything bigger gets cut off) and have added them to the attached file. This will give you 1576 combos and probably a few less "Mr. Focus"

Enjoy.

dbotiger

ctorg · 02-06-2004, 01:35 PM

Hey, thanks.

Gastric ReFlux · 02-06-2004, 01:40 PM

Death to Flying Things!

sixto · 02-06-2004, 01:44 PM

I have to say that I have come to dislike the nicknames being in the middle of the first and last name in the player screen and have begun deleting them. Every time I see my player Levi Duke I read it "Levi Mr. Inside Duke" and that is just not a name anyone is called.

I think the nicknames should be listed after the name like Levi Duke (Mr. Inside).

Gastric ReFlux · 02-06-2004, 01:51 PM

I'll be contrary and say they should be listed before the name. The Splendid Splinter, Ted Williams.

Other cool ideas would be for the game to shuffle the names together with some sort of anagram generator.

andjbock · 02-06-2004, 07:48 PM

You gotta have "OOTP" as a nickname just to see how that player turns out.

Godard · 02-07-2004, 09:44 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by dbotiger
Game comes with 328 nicknames in file. I have gone through Lahman DB and extracted nicknames that are < 16 characters (since anything bigger gets cut off) and have added them to the attached file. This will give you 1576 combos and probably a few less "Mr. Focus"

Enjoy.

dbotiger

This is a great file. As a computer novice, can someone please tell me how I can edit this and save it as a .dat file?

I can open it in notepad, but then it gets saved as a notepad file -- don't know how to make it .dat

bigrockshow · 02-07-2004, 10:05 PM

When you go to save the file, directly under where you type in the filename is a listbox, "Save as type". It has Text Document (.txt) selected as a default and this will append .txt to the file that you save. Simply select "All Files" instead and it will just save with whatever name you have given the file.

IatricSB · 02-08-2004, 01:03 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by ctorg
If you don't have the nicknames.dat file, does the game have errors? If not, I might just delete it. Personally, nicknames annoy me, especially when the same one pops up more than once. I don't want three Mr. Focuses in my league. I'd prefer to play without them. I could see assigning them myself, based on my own observations about a player, but the assigned ones are too random and meaningless.

I agree with you this can be annoying, however after having edited thousands and thousands of historical players for online leagues, I'm amazed at how many have the same nicknames. Things like "rube" were extremely common back in the deadball era and later in the 20's and 30's. Seems like there were several "Big Ed's, etc., also. Can't remember too many now, but I always come across duplicates from real life.

Markmeister · 02-08-2004, 03:42 PM

The best thing I have found for nicknames is to work with an expanded nickname list and use Excel to randomly assign nicknames. Sometimes I will drop the player's real first name and replace with the nickname - a current league I am working on has a couple 'Red's, a 'Tex', and a 'Blondie'. The best nickname the spreadsheet is for a pitcher named Hugh Ball; somehow Excel just knew that 'Rubber' was the correct nickname for him.

Having nicknames for even the bad players makes the league even more fun for me.

02-05-2004, 11:01 PM	#1
mikekobeski Bat Boy Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 12	No Nicknames? I have been playing a solo league for a few years. And I started noticing that NONE of the OOTP generated players has a nickname. Does anyone have any idea what I am doing wrong? Mike

02-06-2004, 09:58 AM	#3
ctorg Global Moderator Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Queens, NY Posts: 9,848	If you don't have the nicknames.dat file, does the game have errors? If not, I might just delete it. Personally, nicknames annoy me, especially when the same one pops up more than once. I don't want three Mr. Focuses in my league. I'd prefer to play without them. I could see assigning them myself, based on my own observations about a player, but the assigned ones are too random and meaningless. __________________ My music "When the trees blow back and forth, that's what makes the wind." - Steven Wright Fjord emena pancreas thorax fornicate marmalade morpheme proteolysis smaxa cabana offal srue vitriol grope hallelujah lentils

02-06-2004, 01:35 PM	#8
ctorg Global Moderator Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Queens, NY Posts: 9,848	Hey, thanks. __________________ My music "When the trees blow back and forth, that's what makes the wind." - Steven Wright Fjord emena pancreas thorax fornicate marmalade morpheme proteolysis smaxa cabana offal srue vitriol grope hallelujah lentils

02-08-2004, 03:42 PM	#16
Markmeister Major Leagues Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Kentucky Posts: 463	The best thing I have found for nicknames is to work with an expanded nickname list and use Excel to randomly assign nicknames. Sometimes I will drop the player's real first name and replace with the nickname - a current league I am working on has a couple 'Red's, a 'Tex', and a 'Blondie'. The best nickname the spreadsheet is for a pitcher named Hugh Ball; somehow Excel just knew that 'Rubber' was the correct nickname for him. Having nicknames for even the bad players makes the league even more fun for me. __________________ It's not that baseball has ever had a shortage of ways to embarrass yourself -- dropping an easy flyball, being the one guy Heathcliff Slocumb actually struck out, realizing you're Bud Selig... Jersey style logos Vintage letter logos Vintage uniforms Last edited by Markmeister; 02-08-2004 at 03:45 PM.

02-06-2004, 07:48 AM	#2
Henry Hall of Fame Join Date: Dec 2001 Posts: 6,498	If your data directory has a nicknames.dat file in it, your not doing anything wrong. Henry

02-06-2004, 11:48 AM	#4
MisawaTD91 Minors (Double A) Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Oak Forest, IL Posts: 192	I agree, ctorg, although some of them can be fun, and add special identification to certain fictional players (as long as you don't get repeats). At least they only seem to pop up for a few of the top rated draftees. So if one's nickname is annoying, you could just delete it.

02-06-2004, 12:04 PM	#5
jlinchec Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 22	Does the fact that the game generates a nickname for a player imply that he is good? I've never looked at it but always assume that a guy with a nickname has a reason for a special name.

02-06-2004, 01:40 PM	#9
Gastric ReFlux Hall Of Famer Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Member #3409 Posts: 8,350	Death to Flying Things!

02-06-2004, 01:44 PM	#10
sixto Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jul 2002 Posts: 2,271	I have to say that I have come to dislike the nicknames being in the middle of the first and last name in the player screen and have begun deleting them. Every time I see my player Levi Duke I read it "Levi Mr. Inside Duke" and that is just not a name anyone is called. I think the nicknames should be listed after the name like Levi Duke (Mr. Inside).

02-06-2004, 01:51 PM	#11
Gastric ReFlux Hall Of Famer Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Member #3409 Posts: 8,350	I'll be contrary and say they should be listed before the name. The Splendid Splinter, Ted Williams. Other cool ideas would be for the game to shuffle the names together with some sort of anagram generator.

02-06-2004, 07:48 PM	#12
andjbock Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Somerville, MA, USA Bats: Right Throws: Left Posts: 3,640	You gotta have "OOTP" as a nickname just to see how that player turns out.

02-07-2004, 10:05 PM	#14
bigrockshow Minors (Single A) Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Seattle Posts: 72	When you go to save the file, directly under where you type in the filename is a listbox, "Save as type". It has Text Document (.txt) selected as a default and this will append .txt to the file that you save. Simply select "All Files" instead and it will just save with whatever name you have given the file.