OOTP 5 is now Freeware.

[jbmagic]

OOTP 5 is now Freeware.


Yes, that's right! We're giving away the 2003 version of our award-winning baseball game, which was nominated as 'Best Computer Sports Game' by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences.

Here is a perfect way for OOTP-newbies to get a taster of things to come with OOTPBM 2006!
DOWNLOAD OOTP 5 NOW!

http://ootpdevfiles.com/ootp/ootp5freesetup.exe

[lighthousekeeper]

(my first reaction is that I was surprised that antmeister didn't post this, since freeware is clearly his domain.)

Really this is a nice move from Markus. It's not too common, but i love when developers do this with their past releases. And I think in this case it appears to be a great business move. It helps expose even more people to the game series, so I suppose it has a residual positive effect on sales of the future releases. OOTP5 was a great game for its time, but when you compare it with ootp6.5, it's missing a lot of great enhancements as well, so I think some people who haven't really been exposed to baseball text sims should be impressed with ootp5, but at the same time after they are hooked with ootp5 they will see all the improvements in ootp6.5 (and beyond) and be enticed into making a purchase.

(hey, wasn't ootp5 released the same year as tcy? *wink, wink*)

[Airhog]

I could see Jim releasing an old FOF product, but not TCY

[Buccaneer]

lighthouse, I think there are exceptions. I never got hooked on the changes in 6.0 and 6.5 and still go back to playing 5.x.

[Senator]

5 is still my favorite as well. Laptop city, here it comes.

[lighthousekeeper]

lighthouse, I think there are exceptions. I never got hooked on the changes in 6.0 and 6.5 and still go back to playing 5.x.

really? but ootp5 (if i remember correctly) doesn't have 40 man rosters, (imperfect) waivers, or rule V draft. those were big ootp milestones in terms of added realism. i felt that the introduction of 40 man rosters and waivers made the game more challenging with respect to the decisions that a GM had to make.


but anyway, i would think that's markus's push would be to promote anticipation for ootp7 as well as 6/6.5

yes, i'm a fanboy.

[Ben E Lou]

really? but ootp5 (if i remember correctly) doesn't have 40 man rosters, (imperfect) waivers, or rule V draft. ...and the stats engine sucks donkey testicles.

[Buccaneer]

I simply disagree, those 3 features made the AI screw up more to where it was best to turn them off (not to mention the micro-management hassles). After reading some threads and seeing the screenshots, OOTP7 appeals to me even less.

[lighthousekeeper]

...and anyway, my point was directed towards those that did not own any ootp games. they could download ootp 5, enjoy it, then see the added features list of 6.5 (or 7) and be enticed to purchase.

[Lonnie]

That me be the case for me. I've played the demos, but never got immersed. This might help make a OOTP fan of me.

[Draft Dodger]

I simply disagree, those 3 features made the AI screw up more to where it was best to turn them off (not to mention the micro-management hassles). After reading some threads and seeing the screenshots, OOTP7 appeals to me even less.

I agree with the AI stuff - I preferred 5 over 6 because of the lousy AI moves, but 6.5 put me back in the "current version" court. and I am very much looking forward to OOTPBM06

[lighthousekeeper]

looking forward to OOTPBM06

which I refuse to call anything other than ootp7... :cool:

[MizzouRah]

I played v5 more than 6 or 6.5. I'm actually glad he's with SI now as the series was starting to get stale for me. Now I'm back to anxious again.

[bosshogg23]

I havent purchased any version of OOTP and having a fairly recent version(in terms of OOTP history) can only help/encourage me to purchase if I enjoy it.

[Buccaneer]

I agree with the AI stuff - I preferred 5 over 6 because of the lousy AI moves, but 6.5 put me back in the "current version" court. and I am very much looking forward to OOTPBM06
Can you highlight the main points of why?

[Swaggs]

I'm a big fan of 6.5, too. But I rarely, if ever, play solo.

The milestone watch and projections are fun for statheads. But mostly, the player generation and development feels better to me. There are more specialized players (guys with 2-3 good but varying skills), rather than just really good, really average, and really bad players.

[Young Drachma]

5 took me from Baseball Mogul to OOTP completely. It had problems, but..I really enjoyed it. I didn't use 6 nearly as much and 6.5 was better, but only when I had a real jonesing for baseball. Funny enough, Mogul was moving faster and I went back to it here recently, but only because I can simulate superfast and the problems it has, I can usually get past them or overlook since I always play solo.

[Buccaneer]

Which is probably why of all of the years I've played OOTP5, it has been all historical leagues with Lahman. I couldn't imagine playing it any other way, particularly if I had expections for it to model the current season exactly.

[MizzouRah]

Damn winter meetings really making me want to delve into 6.5 again. :)

I think all the waivers crap turned me off for v6.

[Senator]

I assume this is patched with 5.14?

[Lonnie]

Yeah, I installed it and it has the patches applied already.

Although from looking at the install.txt it was installed to C:\OOTP5 and I have mine in Program Files\.... I don't know if that makes things wacky or not. It crashed on me after my first sim. I think I'll uninstall and resinstall to \OOTP5 and see if that fixes things.

[jbmagic]

Damn winter meetings really making me want to delve into 6.5 again. :)

I think all the waivers crap turned me off for v6.


it best to play with waivers off.

there too many waivers on 6.51a

[MikeVic]

Cool, I'm gonna play this right away. Are there any must-have add-ons one should get? I believe I asked this with the demo of 6...

[Senator]

Now I remember why I got frustrated with this game when I first bought it. When you try to resign a player before his contract expires the next season into free agency, he tells you, most of the time, what he wants. No matter the amount you put in, he says he wants more money. This basically sends every player you have into free agency, where he ends up signing for what he orginally told you he wanted, but when you offered it, and much more, he rejects it.

Ok, it is a free game. And for me, tons of fun. It is not overly complicated, I can pop it up on my laptop rather easily, and knock around. The career Lahman database is a real blast. I forgot how much fun this game can be, (traded Norm Cash and Denny McClain for an aging Mickey Mantle)but the negotiations, which, for me are the greatest part of the game, are off.

But beyond that pitiful gripe, it is the best free game I was ever given.

[AZSpeechCoach]

I'm having trouble seeing anything. All of the test is in a light font and it is imposed over the satdium picture, making it very difficult to read a darn thing. Where can I change the options for this?

[Buccaneer]

I'm having trouble seeing anything. All of the test is in a light font and it is imposed over the satdium picture, making it very difficult to read a darn thing. Where can I change the options for this?
Just change the bmp for the background (I forget where that file is).

Senator: I have played 100+ seasons total of historical leagues and I have very rarely seen that problem. Fwiw, I always go renegotiations at the end of the season (it's a house rule I have). I just about always am able to give any player an extension if he states what he wants and is in the last year of his contract.

[AZSpeechCoach]

When I have two menus over one aonother, since they are transparent, such as when I am making an offer to a coach, I cannot read a damn thing.I even changed the background .bmp. The first set of menus is no problem, as I can read the light text against a dark background, but placing the second set of text on top of the first really screws me up.

[AZSpeechCoach]

And of course now, the drop down menus with the black text are unreadable. I really want to try this game, but the GUI is a big turn off right now.

[Buccaneer]

Try a different skin. There are, I think, 4 available plus more online. I made my own skins, basically a dark mahogany wood.

[buckeyebulldog]

AZ Speech Coach:

I found that if I went to the Game Configuration file in the OOTP folder and toggled the direct 3d mode off that fixed the same problem I was experiencing. Hope this helps.

Interesting, after lurking around here for nearly four years (it seems) I finally have something useful to say . . . watch for my next post in 2009.

[AZSpeechCoach]

By jove Buckeyebulldog, that fixed it! You rock! You don't say much, but when you do...

[21C]

watch for my next post in 2009.
. . . and subsequent banning.

[Senator]

Knowing buckeyebulldog the way I do, there is no way in hell he accepts a banning.

[DanGarion]

Very cool.

[scooter]

I found that if I went to the Game Configuration file in the OOTP folder and toggled the direct 3d mode off that fixed the same problem I was experiencing.

I tried searching for this over at the OOTP boards, but I couldn't find anything. I remember having the same problem when I got OOTP5, but I couldn't remember how to fix it (I did remember it was something easy though). Good job!

[lighthousekeeper]

there should be a small exe already in your ootp root folder that you can run.

[jbmagic]

For those of you that never try ootp or those that download ootp 5 freeware before.

Markus updated the ootp 5 freeware game to version 5.14

The full game is free.

http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/board/showthread.php?t=113612

[MrBigglesworth]

So I downloaded the freeware, played my first game, made all the managerial decisions, came away with a thrilling 2-1 victory that took me about a half hour...and the game crashed. What fun.

[sovereignstar]

So I downloaded the free demo, played my first game, made all the managerial decisions, came away with a thrilling 2-1 victory that took me about a half hour...and the game crashed. What fun.

Go Cuba!

[MrBigglesworth]

This game is crashing for me after every game. But the genius of it is, the game is designed in such a way that it saves the completed game, but not the final stats OR the result of the game. Being as it saves automatically, I can't go back to an earlier save. I'd have to create a back-up every day to avoid this. So 4 days into the season, my team is still 0-0, even though on the schedule page it has me winning three games, all three of which my ace pitcher pitched because it never recorded that he had started the day before.

I was thinking about purchasing the new OOTP, but things aren't looking too hot...

[Sweed]

This game is crashing for me after every game. But the genius of it is, the game is designed in such a way that it saves the completed game, but not the final stats OR the result of the game. Being as it saves automatically, I can't go back to an earlier save. I'd have to create a back-up every day to avoid this. So 4 days into the season, my team is still 0-0, even though on the schedule page it has me winning three games, all three of which my ace pitcher pitched because it never recorded that he had started the day before.

I was thinking about purchasing the new OOTP, but things aren't looking too hot...

I'm guessing you are playing with sound on? On some systems this will crash the game but the definate cause has never been found. If so turning sound off will cure the issue of crashing and the saving issues too.

The new game is coded from scratch and will have a demo so you can try before you buy.

[Darkiller]

good news, I have never played Baseball text-sims before so this will be the opportunity for me to take a first look at it !

[Rizon]

OOTP sound has never played nice with whatever came with XP SP2. Sound has worked on all my machines with SP1 and crashed with all of the ones on SP2.

[Buccaneer]

Fwiw, I just started my annual career this week. I apparently caught baseball fever early and couldn't wait to get into another OOTP5 historical league (starting a little bit earlier than usual in 1939). In all of my years of playing, I have never had any technical problems, except when I minimize the game and keep it there all day to do other things.

[Senator]

I had to take the sound out, which was not a problem for me. The only glitch I have found, as some others on their board, is that my players WILL NOT resign with me. No matter what they ask for, and no matter what I offer, they leave. I consider it playing with some funky house rules that give me one shot at a player and then I have to move on. I can live with it for a free game that is fun.

[Marc Duffy]

OOTP Baseball 2006 is the first game from the Sports Interactive, Out of the park developments relationship. Built from the ground up, the game is not hindered by legacy code and as a result, these types of issues are not in the new version ...

That said, their may be other problems we introduce ;)

[MrBigglesworth]

I turned the sound off and it no longer crashes. Thanks! I'm still worried that it gets corrupted after a crash because of the autosave, do I have to back-up all the time?

[Sweed]

I turned the sound off and it no longer crashes. Thanks! I'm still worried that it gets corrupted after a crash because of the autosave, do I have to back-up all the time?

In my case I have only had the game save corrupt once and I've used every version from 4 to 6.5x. I do play out every game though so I backup after every
5 games so I never lose more than one turn through the rotation. May seem like overkill but I hate to replay games.

I used to use the in game backup which does take a few minutes to do. Now I just move the photo folder out of the game folder and zip my whole universe.
I think it's a little quicker and I know that nothing will be missing if I have to go back. Just unzip and move the photos in and I would be ready to to.

So basically pick a timeframe you are comfortable with and do backup. Most ootp vets, me included, burn each season at completiona to disk also. Becoming attached and losing it sucks.

[Rizon]

The only corruption I've had is extra stats, which was no big deal to me at the end of the season. Milestones mentions can also be duplicated, but you can delete those yourself from the players record.

[Rizon]

I also zip/backup my league every 20 games.

[MrBigglesworth]

I came across another bug. Every time I open the Transactions tab, my computer stops sending a signal to my monitor and it goes into sleep mode. I have to restart the computer to get out of it. Is this normal also?

[MrBigglesworth]

I came across another bug. Every time I open the Transactions tab, my computer stops sending a signal to my monitor and it goes into sleep mode. I have to restart the computer to get out of it. Is this normal also?
I think disabling the direct 3D or whatever did the trick, it works now.

[Marc Vaughan]

I came across another bug. Every time I open the Transactions tab, my computer stops sending a signal to my monitor and it goes into sleep mode. I have to restart the computer to get out of it. Is this normal also?
As indicated by another poster please try disabling Direct3D and updating your video drivers and see if this helps.

PS> Please also bear in mind that these aren't 'game bugs' as such - but OS/Driver issues - its sometimes possible for developers to work around them when they're 'known' but they're unpredictable and illogical so hard for dev's to anticipate in advance.

(for instance on FM PC we moved away from using DirectX to the Windows GDI to avoid issues with the DirectX drivers (which are many and largely 'random' at times))