I am generally blown away by OOTP4! (long)

[Drinky Crow]

I've been playing baseball sims since 1985 and to show my creds here's a possibly incomplete list of my gaming history:

Microleague baseball (C64)
Pure Stat (C64)
Earl Weaver 1.5 and 2.0 (C64 and DOS)
Tony LaRussa 1-4 (DOS)
Strat-o-Matic 4 (Mac)
High Heat Baseball 2001 and 2002 (PC)

I'm a simmer, not an arcade guy. My quest has always been for something that was as easy to setup and customize as Earl Weaver but with a much more complete stat set. I don't really care about graphics for gameplay, but I do for the interface.

I gave up around 1995 with Tony LaRussa until I tried Start-O-Matic 4. The sterile interface and hard to figure out stats left my cold.

Then I got interested again with High Heat but the horrible graphic glitches, lack of easy customization and crappy stats left me with memories of Ear Weaver 2.0.

The other day I stumbled across OOTP for the first time. The screenshots looked very nice so I went into this forum. The support forum is usually where the truth comes out. I was amazed to see very few tech complaints, no anger directed at the developer and lots of people helping each other out and sharing their efforts and stories. That helped me make my mind up.

I've only been playing a few days but am really shocked at how GOOD this product is, particularly when it is the work of one person and not a giant shop like EA.
The quirks are really not that quirky, the interface looks good, it seems table and the stats are not bad at all.
I'm still lost as to what some of the features and settings do, and making a league from scratch is kind of hard in terms of assigning photos, stadiums, stadium photos, etc.
I used the Lahman database import (a GREAT feature) to bring in the 2000 players and then redfrafted them into fresh teams.
Let me just say that my Dodgers hung on in the lead until the last month of the season with San Diego and Arizona nipping at their heels. L.A. and San Diego were tied with two games left in the season so I switched my rotation to put my best starter in for the second to last game. He withstood two HRs to win the game and clinch the division with one day left!
I haven't been excited playing a baseball sim in years.

Thanks Markus.

[Pitcher4u]

Yeah , if you need help it all comes from the messageboard , everyone is very helpful ive had the game for about a week now and i play pretty much non stop. Below is what JML posted earlier and helped me figure out how to install the rosters stadiums and face packs , im still quite confused on the face packs but i will catch on soon. Enjoy.

I. Installing Rosters

Most roster files, when unzipped, create a folder named "xxxxxx.lg" This folder, when placed in the main OOTP directory, will show up as a league in the game when you select "Open League" from the File menu in OOTP. Each time you want to start a new league with a roster set, you need to unzip a new copy into the OOTP directory and make sure it has a different name than any other leagues currently there. Another option is to set the roster as your default set for anytime you create a new league. Here's how you do that:

1. Backup the "create" folder in your OOTP directory. You can copy and paste it into a different directory, or you can leave it where it is and rename it "old create" or anything you like. This is important, because if you want to go back to using the default rosters that come with OOTP, or something goes wrong with the new roster set, you will lose the default roster set if it is not backed up.

2. Make a new folder called "create". (if you chose to rename the original "create" folder)

3. Unzip the new roster file into this folder. Note: Since most roster sets make their own folder when you unzip them, you might end up with a structure that looks like this (I'll use "Rolen.lg" as an example file):
OOTP4--->Create--->Rolen.lg "Rolen.lg" will appear in addition to all the other files that are normally in the "create" folder. If this happens, you need to move all of the files in the "Rolen.lg" folder back a step into the "create" folder (you can just highlight everything in "Rolen.lg", copy it, go back to the "create" folder, and paste. Then you can delete the "Rolen.lg" folder.) Overwrite all files if prompted to do so.

Now, when you create a new "2002 career league", it will be created with the new roster set.

II. Installing Stadium pictures:

Stadium pictures need to be 640*480 pixels and in .bmp format. Any paint program should have the ability to convert other image files(.jpg, .gif) to .bmp.

1. Copy stadium images into the "Graphics" folder in the main OOTP directory. You might find it convenient to make a new folder in the "Graphics" folder named "Stadiums" or "Stad" or something, then put all stadium pics in there, just to keep them organized and separate from other graphics files.

2. To assign pics to specific stadiums in OOTP, go to League--->League Setup--->Edit Ballpark (in the top-right box labeled "editors")

3. Each stadium will have it's own "In-Game Field Picture." The default for all stadiums is "Field.bmp."

4. Simply click the "In-Game Field Picture" button and type in the path to the pic you would like to use. For example, to assign a pic named "Wrigley.bmp" which resides in the Graphics folder, you would just type "Wrigley.bmp" If the pic is in the "Stad" folder, which is in the Graphics folder, you would type in "Stad\Wrigley.bmp" Note: All stadium pics (or a folder containing stadium pics) must be in the graphics folder.

5. To make sure this worked properly, click the "test coordinates" button. The new stadium pic should be displayed with the positioning of players on the field.

III. Installing Logos:

Each league file should have a folder named "Logos". This is where any logos you would like to use in that league should be stored. Logos need to be .bmp's, just like the stadium pics and will be 150*150 pixels. OOTP4 will resize any logo you use to 150*150, but to avoid the logo being stretched or distorted, you can go into any paint program and resize it yourself.

1. Once you have the logos you would like to use for the teams ready to go, place them all in the league's "logos" folder.

2. Go to the "team setup" page for each team of your league. On the top-right corner of the screen will be a black box with a path at the bottom. The path will be something like "Rolen.lg\logos\team3.bmp"

3. Go back to the logos folder and find the logo you want to use for each team. Rename the logos to match the path listed in each "team setup" screen. I find the quickest way to do this is to make a list on paper of the teams and their logo names (logo1, logo2, logo3, etc) then go to the logos folder and rename the logos. Note: You simply name the logos logo1, logo2, etc. You don't need to put the entire path in the name.

[Joe Stallings]

Thanks Rob, and welcome aboard. I would be interested to see how you happened upon Out of the Park (so we can figure out how you missed it all these years)

Joe

[hudson]

I don't know about Rob, but I've been looking for a good baseball sim for about a year (after I found that I couldn't play my copy of high heat 2001 on windows XP). I had been playing around with puresim for a while, but it wasn't quite what I was looking for (although it is a very well-done product, it's aiming for a different market than I was interested in).
I bought ootp4 this year, sight unseen, after people on the <a href="http://www.gonegold.com" target="_blank">www.gonegold.com</a> messageboards began LOSING THEIR MINDS over it. I generally trust their opinions, and they had set up a fantasy league for it about two days after it was released. That was enough for me to buy this game, and I've been very happy with it.
My only regret is I DON'T HAVE ENOUGH TIME TO PLAY THIS GAME!!! Markus, if you could maybe include that as a feature in the next version you'd probably see some incredible sales increases. "Version 5.0-now with more free time!"
Anyway, put me in as another person who is very happy with this game. Many thanks to all involved.

[Cardinal Rule]

I'm pretty much the same - I actually played Statis-Pro Baseball in board game format first and then moved to PC games. The latest one I had found to be worth my time was Front Page Sports, which tried to bridge the gap between sim and arcade. I tried MS Baseball, High Heat but was thoroughly unimpressed. Then when looking through the Puresim website I found a link to a review on OOTP3 and have been hooked since. Well worth the money, but I agree that my biggest problem with the game is the lack of time to spend with it.

[CMH]

i could understand people not knowing about OOTP. i didnt know about it until OOTP3. the only reason i didnt purchase the game then was because i had High Heat 2002. and when i purchase a game i prefer to apply my full attention into it. i guess you could say i had ideas of how could OOTP could be. then i remember visiting the site by chance b/c i felt like it (new season approacing, had to research the new games). i saw that OOTP4 was comin out and started to follow it. originally i had settled preordered for Season Ticket 2003 but after spending some time in these boards i realized that it would be better to just purchase the game online (hint:ST2003 is $20 but comes out to $25 with shipping. $29 for OOTP? $4 dollars more, get it earlier, have it now? there was very little stopping me)

but anywayz, i'm still unclear as to how i came across OOTP3 in the first place. I guess i must have been reading an online video game review and saw somethin about OOTP3 now available or wateva and became interested. i sure am happy i decided to check out the site.

[LivnLegend]

Joe,
My story is similar to Rob's.
I can't tell you how or why I missed finding out about OOTP until late version 3, but I did. I saw an article by Rob Smolker (sp?) in PC Gamer about Diamond Mind Baseball. I was a big baseball simmer for years (MicroLeague II, Earl Weaver, and others) before giving it up about 7 years back. So I looked up info about DM on the web, finding a few sites that also mentioned OOTP3. Just before I purchased DM I decided to look into OOTP and in hindsight, am glad I did. I bought OOTP3 and haven't looked back! Now I am fully immersed in solo play, online leagues, and even the chat board!

Scott

[Drinky Crow]

I read about OOTP at baseballsimcentral and then came to your site to get more info.

[JML]

[quote]Originally posted by Rob Banzai:
<strong>I've been playing baseball sims since 1985 and to show my creds here's a possibly incomplete list of my gaming history:

Microleague baseball (C64)
Pure Stat (C64)
Earl Weaver 1.5 and 2.0 (C64 and DOS)
Tony LaRussa 1-4 (DOS)
Strat-o-Matic 4 (Mac)
High Heat Baseball 2001 and 2002 (PC)

</strong><hr></blockquote>

Whenever gaming history comes up in a thread, I always mention Pure Stat (though I played it on my Apple II). Noone knows what I'm talking about. You are the first one! I thought it was all a dream...

[lschaef]

[quote]Originally posted by JML:
<strong>

Whenever gaming history comes up in a thread, I always mention Pure Stat (though I played it on my Apple II). Noone knows what I'm talking about. You are the first one! I thought it was all a dream...</strong><hr></blockquote>

I started out with Pure Stat baseball on an old Tandy computer. I spent HOURS playing that game and no other baseball game satisfied me since then until OOTP. The results in Pure Stat were actually more realistic then most games I've played.

[blmeanie]

[quote]Originally posted by Joe Stallings:
<strong>I would be interested to see how you happened upon Out of the Park (so we can figure out how you missed it all these years)

Joe</strong><hr></blockquote>

Joe,
This could be its own thread...

I only happened upon OOTP by chance, there was an annoying pop up ad on a golf game forum banner, it said something about baseball and simulation so I waited until it made its way through the rotation and clicked on it and the rest is history...

When flying the other day, I noticed an ad for OOTP in BaseBall Weekly.

BTW - I've used the description "OOTP is like fantasy baseball on steroids" as well as "OOTP is like APBA on steroids" to convince family and friends to check it out...hope you guys don't mind the steroid reference...lol

[jtsly2000]

I found out about this game while surfing the High Heat Baseball board. I have played almost every baseball sim on the market. Strat, DMB, Baseball Mogul. OOTP blows them all out of the water, I bought the game two weeks ago and have been playing it non stop. My wife is now asking for a divorce, well not yet but if I keep playing this game 3 hours a night she will

[Pitcher4u]

I really didnt find out about it until about 3 weeks ago , then when i researched on it saw some awesome screenshots and some other stuff i bought the game ...

I stumbled apon it in an OOTP4 Sim and i had asked the owner where he had gotten the game because he was recruiting on aol in a public chatroom and he said he got it from <a href="http://www.ootp4.com" target="_blank">www.ootp4.com</a> so i went there. Ive played many baseball simulations like earl weaver baseball and many others like high heat baseball and this is definately the best one yet... thanks to markus and everyone who has helped him out along with all the members who post on the messageboard..


Thanks everyone for all of your help

[Michael Senn]

[quote]Originally posted by JML:
<strong>

Whenever gaming history comes up in a thread, I always mention Pure Stat (though I played it on my Apple II). Noone knows what I'm talking about. You are the first one! I thought it was all a dream...</strong><hr></blockquote>


I haven't been around here long to follow the discussions of "old games" but did anyone here ever play Radio Baseball? I still have my copy!

[Malleus Dei]

You guys make me feel really old. I actually started playing computer baseball with what they tell me was the first computer baseball simulation, a hideous thing that ran under Unix on a then-state-of-the-art DEC PDP 11/70 back in the seventies

And I heard about OOTP before it was ever published, through the Diamond Mind player's network. I'm saving my white label OOTP 1 disk; one day it goes up on eBay.

[Scott Vibert]

[quote]Originally posted by blmeanie:
<strong>

Joe,
This could be its own thread...

</strong><hr></blockquote>

This has been its own thread, now on three boards.

[Drinky Crow]

Sorry! I've just never had an outlet for discussing my chequered baseball sim past! I can't believe I've come across someone else who played Pure-Stat baseball.

[Modern Relic]

[quote]Originally posted by Michael Senn:
<strong>


I haven't been around here long to follow the discussions of "old games" but did anyone here ever play Radio Baseball? I still have my copy!</strong><hr></blockquote>


FINALLLY! Someone else who played Radio Baseball. Yep, that was my first baseball game. I remember you could tell if a walk or strikeout was forthcoming by the sound the floppy drive would make.

Wasn't Radio Baseball the first PC text sim? I don't remember any earlier ones.

I just recently found a copy of it on underdogs.org.

[Drinky Crow]

If you used to play the original MicroLeage Baseball then you know the fear that strikes your heart when your team is on defense and on the play-by-play board you'd see the words "It's off his glove! It's rolling all the way to the wall!"

Arrgh!

[joshuaaaaaa]

[quote]Originally posted by Michael Senn:
<strong>


I haven't been around here long to follow the discussions of "old games" but did anyone here ever play Radio Baseball? I still have my copy!</strong><hr></blockquote>

Wow...I had forgotten about that one and, yup, I played it, too. I vaguely remember the cover of it having an old style vacuum tube radio in brown with yellow piping....was the box even shaped like a radio?

Like every other text sim I've played, I loved that game...I've got to think that game was pre-1990, although I'm not sure the year.