Here we go boyz, it's OOTP 5 Time! (First OOTP5 Impressions) - Page 4

ScottVib · 03-04-2003, 02:43 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by HornedFrog Purple
Probably too early to ask but how are the financials stacking up for the AI and how is the financial multiplier for historical leaguers who do not feel like paying Babe Ruth $9 million a season?

Financial Multiplier had to be delayed to allow it to be fully tested. (There are a lot of areas to change and test) It should be in the game in the near future (but not the first patch).

Hammer755 · 03-04-2003, 02:43 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by HornedFrog Purple
Probably too early to ask but how are the financials stacking up for the AI and how is the financial multiplier for historical leaguers who do not feel like paying Babe Ruth $9 million a season?

The financial multiplier was not completed to the developer's liking and will be included in an update.

cincyreds · 03-04-2003, 02:45 PM

I am with AgPete.

It would be nice to be able to resign coaches and scouts, instead of losing most of them.

FBPro · 03-04-2003, 04:07 PM

I think that not being able to resign scouts and coaches helps to give things a bit more balance since in some leagues a guy could sign 'em and keep 'em forever. This way there is some movement.

AgPete · 03-04-2003, 10:08 PM

I found out today not to trust the auto-depth manager. I traded for Jose Vizcaino to have a decent utility infielder on my team and the game kept wanting to replace A-Rod with Vizcaino when I faced left handed pitchers. :o

tucker342 · 03-04-2003, 10:28 PM

I wasn't planning on buying for a while, but I just couldn't resist. The amount of record keeping in the game is awesome.

McSweeny · 03-05-2003, 10:44 AM

The patch is now ready and available here:
http://400studios1.inetu.net/files/ootp/ootp501.zip

Here is the ReadMe:

March 5th, 2003:

Welcome to the first OOTP 5 patch, version number 5.01! In order to install the patch, simply unzip the new OOTP5.exe file into your OOTP 5 main folder, for example
C:\Program Files\400 Software Studios\OOTP5

The following things were fixed or enhanced:
- Made salary arbitration an option (advanced league setup)
- Fixed the bug that caused the inidividual hook setting to not being saved
- You can now set a salary cap and cash maximum in manager mode, also editing of
player nicknames for players on the human team is possible now!
- Fixed a bug that you had limited control over your team in manager mode when you edited
the league structure. This does not affect leagues that had this already occur, so
you might want to start a new league if that has happened for you.
- Players coming off the DL now accept the assignment to the minors
- Fine-tuned injury frequency
- Fine-tuned player development, talent hits for established players in their prime
is now less likely
- Fixed the bug that caused the team strategies to be reset when making certain transactions,
like trading or releasing a player.
- Fixed font color problem in trade screen
- Hitting streaks in the league leaders in the sim or main screen are no longer the active
streaks, but the longest of the season.
- You can now sign coaches/scouts up to $200,000 during the offseason, even when you have no
money left.
- Fixed catcher defensive range bug when creating fictional leagues.
- Fixed draft reset bug that caused duplicate players
- Fixed 4 division league problems when the league was expanded to 4 divisions
- Fixed a bug that made certain players that showed up as automatic resign becoming arbitration eligible
after the end of the year.
- Fixed financial problems in historical career leagues, although not in already existing ones.
- Fixed a bug that allowed the owner to make contract extention offers
to computer team players through the trade screen in manager mode.
- The sort in the team screen is now sticky after offering a contract extention
- Manager mode is possible now with one league leagues as well.
- Greatly improved lineup AI
- Fixed bug when backing up/restoring leagues
- Fine-tuned trade AI
- When acquiring a player, he no longer goes to the active roster but rather into AAA.
- Free agents now more often give you more time to react to a computer offer.
- Enhanced the team minor league report!
- Fixed drag&drop problems that some users had.

Enjoy!
Markus Heinsohn
CEO .400 Software Studios

ScottVib · 03-05-2003, 11:04 AM

You beat me, I was going to post that.

Ksyrup · 03-05-2003, 11:14 AM

Scott, was the LH/RH team W/L record bug fixed? Not a biggie, but just wondering, as I don't see it listed.

ScottVib · 03-05-2003, 01:19 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Ksyrup
Scott, was the LH/RH team W/L record bug fixed? Not a biggie, but just wondering, as I don't see it listed.

According to a post in the Beta Forum it was.

Anrhydeddu · 03-05-2003, 01:34 PM

Wow.

Downloading today.

Ksyrup · 03-05-2003, 01:44 PM

I am hopeful that I will get to start a career tonight. I plan on starting a normal fictional career in 2003, probably a 20 team, 2-league. 4-division set-up, but using 4-man rotations and good starting pitcher stamina. I still like it when guys go 300+ innings and actually complete games! And, I think I'll do it in Manager Mode.

That will allow me to check the game out in-depth. After I get a good feel for the game, I'll set up a longer career league in which I simulate 50-75 years of history before taking over a team. This is my ideal setup, as I get much more immersed in a game when there is some history to review. As far as I can tell, I will be able to simulate a bunch of seasons, and then jump into the league in Manager Mode (I hope - at least that what it appears to allow).

Markus Heinsohn · 03-05-2003, 03:20 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Ksyrup
I am hopeful that I will get to start a career tonight. I plan on starting a normal fictional career in 2003, probably a 20 team, 2-league. 4-division set-up, but using 4-man rotations and good starting pitcher stamina. I still like it when guys go 300+ innings and actually complete games! And, I think I'll do it in Manager Mode.

That will allow me to check the game out in-depth. After I get a good feel for the game, I'll set up a longer career league in which I simulate 50-75 years of history before taking over a team. This is my ideal setup, as I get much more immersed in a game when there is some history to review. As far as I can tell, I will be able to simulate a bunch of seasons, and then jump into the league in Manager Mode (I hope - at least that what it appears to allow).

Yes, you can do that

McSweeny · 03-06-2003, 01:01 PM

I've been playing my fictional leage quite a bit over the past few days and i must say i am impressed with the game. OOTP4 never held my attention as long as 5 has been.

I took my team to a World Series championship in 10 years. So the difficulty seems to have gotten better. I played in the League Championship Series 4 times losing in 7 games each time before making it to the World Series.

I have over-extended myself on long, expensive contracts to keep my team together and i've got maybe 1 or 2 more years of solid production left before everything goes to hell.

Financially the game seems solid. The AI doesn't let studs slip through the FA market cheaply and it's damn hard to put together a solid team through FA.

The talent drop-offs have been fine. Frustrating at times, but nothing over board.

I love the almanac! It's awesome

I'm not playing in manager mode btw. I hate the idea of not being able to make changes to my league as i see fit.

I'm having a hell of a time so far!

Ben E Lou · 03-07-2003, 07:55 AM

Well, I haven't had time to play much, and even less time to say much. I was able to play some yesterday morning for 2 or 3 hours though, and have some impressions now. I had a conversation with Steve, Joe and a couple of others last night at the party about player development and trading. I just posted this over at the OOTP boards as a follow-up to that conversation, and thought it would be worth putting in this thread as well...

Here's the 4-1-1 on the player I mentioned last night. This is with 5.01:

Quote:

Monday 3/31/2020 :

Jeremy Etheredge plate discipline seems to have faded...
Dino Mcdonald seems to have lost some bat speed, resulting in less contact...
Dino Mcdonald has lost a step. His speed drops to E ...
Dino Mcdonald has lost some momentum, his range at CF drops to C ...
Dino Mcdonald has lost some momentum, his range at CF drops to D ...
Lyndon Weisberg increased his bat control, resulting in more contact!
Lyndon Weisberg has gained more power!
William Brey increased his bat control, resulting in more contact!
William Brey has improved his plate disclipine!
Dennis Birdsell has lost some momentum, his range at 1B drops to D ...

It was a little later (5/5) that his range dropped to "E". He also dropped power on 4/28. I LOVE the less predictable performances, but this a bit extreme. McDonald looks like he'll go from being a perenniel all-star (over the previous 4 seasons he hit .287 with a .519 slugging pct., and he hasn't hit less than 27 homers over the past 11 seasons) to a not-ready-for-AAA scrub by the time the season is over. If this is an isolated case, no biggie (other than me having to deal with the ignomy of getting fired after my first season of my first career

). If this happens on a semi-regular basis, it appears to be a problem. Without getting injured, a consistent star player shouldn't have such a rapid drop-off. It would seem more reasonable to see McDonald go from .283-30-95 (his numbers in 2019 at age 36) to maybe .260-20-70. Right now (June 1st), he's on pace for .234-12-60, but I seriously doubt he'll even hit 10 HR's and drive in 50 runs if he drops any more talent. Dale Murphy had a severe drop-off, but he only put up star-caliber numbers for 6 seasons in a row, and he still managed 5 straight seasons of 18-24 homers even after he dropped from being a threat to hit .300 to hitting under .250.

Don't get me wrong, so far I am VERY pleased with this version (and as you probably know, I've been left a little limp with previous versions). As I said last night, I haven't seen any big problems in trading. At the hardest level, things seem pretty good there. Navigation is much improved, and the little tweaks like the rotation usage and lineup saving have helped me avoid having to micro-manage things nearly as much. Overall, I LOVE the more varied player development. I just think that the drop-off curve may need to be looked at still. But again, if this is an isolated instance, my advice would be not to mess with it. If we routinely see stars become unusable scrubs in one season, then a tweak is in order.

Senator · 03-07-2003, 08:02 AM

Anrhydeddu

Keep me updated on your thoughts. I will not have the chance to buy the game until after the pending War. But I wanted to know your thoughts.

Tarkus · 03-07-2003, 10:41 AM

I have an interesting problem with just one player. He's a middle reliever with a rating of 10 ERA, and 9 Hits. He's clearly my best MR. However, when I do the auto-staff thing the AI keeps putting him as 3 MR and mop-up duty. That is, they don't make him a setup guy or one of the first two relievers. All the other auto stuff makes sense, but the AI just doesn't like this guy for some reasons. BTW, when I manually put him in the first setup spot, he ends up with better numbers than any of the other relievers. Has any one else seen this?

Tarkus

Ksyrup · 03-07-2003, 10:50 AM

Yes, I've seen that in past versions as well. Sometimes, you just have to override what the AI thinks with what you want. With MRs, I frequently let the AI set up my pitching staff, then I reconfigure the set-up and mop-up guys the way I want. For instance, the second set-up guy rarely gets used, in my experience, so I put my best MR at set-up 1, then my second best MR at long relief 1 (or mop-up, or whatever that next category is), then put my third and fourth best MRs as backups to those two.

I'm just about to start a real career tonight. I started an historical league in 1969 with the real players (first time I've ever done a true historical league with OOTP), with subsequent years' rookies going into the amateur draft. I skipped expansion in 1977, since I wasn't sure how to stock the teams, and simmed through 1979. It's 1980 right now, and I'm taking over the worst team in baseball - the Padres. I don't have much to work with, there are really no good free agents (and I don't have money to spend on them anyway), and my minor leagues are barren of any position player talent. At least my owner is "normal." Should be fun!

Anrhydeddu · 03-07-2003, 11:17 AM

Senator,

I am honored that you would value my opinion. I did install the game last night with the purpose of checking out the UI and the new menu elements. I simmed through a season so I could experience lineup adjustments, transactions, news, almanac and the draft/fa processes. I was struck as to how many things remained the same - from a game play point of view. It appears that, besides the alamanc/reports, most of the changes are beneath the hood. Finally, the three skins choices are only okay (I found the much-desired wood grain skin to be too yellow - I hate yellow). But I will look for other skins, no big deal.

As far as my desires with OOTP5, replay and continued play is not a problem (unlike FOF) but instead, is the wanting of a challenge when it comes to competing and paying for players. From what I have seen, the game will be more challenging than OOTP4 even though house rules will always be there. But more specifically, I am interested in a challenge when playing a historical career (which is the only way I will play). That is a different animal than what most are talking about (or even tested), so I'm not sure if the challenge changes will apply equally to such a career. In that, I look for the AI to evaluate veterans and young potential stars properly (or at least better).

Using OOTP5 for JBL and any other online leagues will be really good.

With all that, I have to think about my gaming priorities so I'm not sure when I will start a solo historical career (it could be this weekend or sometime later).

HornedFrog Purple · 03-07-2003, 11:21 AM

Quote:

- Fixed financial problems in historical career leagues, although not in already existing ones.

I was just wondering if this was the financial coefficient, or something else.

Ben E Lou · 03-07-2003, 11:24 AM

OK, here's a follow-up to my earlier post. I've been looking at the top HR guys in my universe to see how older elite power hitters like McDonald drop off in OOTP5.01. I found seven power hitters who had eleven or more consecutive seasons of sustained excellence. Here's how they did in the twilight of their careers.

Freddie "Swordfish" Bruner
2003-2013: Max OPS--1.065, Min OPS--.724
2012 (age 34): .292, 49 HR, 132 RBI, .995 OPS
2013 (age 35): .254, 34 HR, 107 RBI, .838 OPS
2014 (age 36): .213, 20 HR, 86 RBI, .652 OPS

Omezo "The Rogue" Munemitsu
2006-2016: Max OPS--1.078, Min OPS--.776
2015 (age 35): .292, 31HR, 94RBI, .888 OPS
2016 (age 36): .281, 22HR, 95RBI, .839 OPS
2017 (age 37): .228, 23HR, 78RBI, .675 OPS

David Macy
2003-2013: Max OPS--.995, Min OPX--.777
No huge drop-of. Last five years of career (ages 36-40): .820, .777, .853, .753, .802

Lance Batson
2003-2013: Max OPS--1.267, Min OPS--.827
2013 (age 35): .321, 39HR, 97RBI, 1.047OPS
2014 (age 36): .254, 32HR, 101RBI, .888OPS
2015 (age 37): .244, 6HR, 26RBI,.757 OPS (only played 42 games before breaking his wrist and going out for the season)

Oswaldo "Stone" Acha
2005-2015: Max OPS--1.179, Min OPS--.777
2015 (age 36): .274, 31HR, 104RBI, .879OPS
2016 (age 37): .279, 25HR, 94RBI, .793OPS
2017 (age 38): .272, 21HR, 74RBI, .768OPS

Hector Laguna
2002-2012: Max OPS--1.129, Min OPS--.944
2011 (age 35): .311, 35HR, 107RBI, .989OPS
2012 (age 36): .301, 31HR, 84RBI, .944OPS
2013 (age 37): .243, 10HR, 36RBI, .704OPS

Robert "Chappy" Abrego
2002-2012: Max OPS--1.159, Min OPS--.848
2011 (age 36): .291, 32HR, 96RBI, 1.004OPS
2012 (age 37): .277, 25HR, 94RBI, .848OPS
2013 (age 38): .226, 18HR, 53RBI, .674OPS

Most of these guys had significant drop-offs in performance, though some didn't. None were as bad as McDonald. Looks like a case of REALLY bad luck for me! I can certainly live with that. Even among these seven guys, there's some good variety. From this little more in-depth look, things look pretty solid (except for that fact that McDonald's drop-off is likely to get me fired in my first season.)

Anrhydeddu · 03-07-2003, 11:24 AM

Going over the patch readme, I am reminded that I will definitely try out the Manager Mode when I understand it better. As you know, this has always been one of my pet projects.

Bee · 03-07-2003, 11:29 AM

I was fired in my fictional league after my second season. I took a job with a team that had just finished about 20 games below .500. The owner was a "real nice guy". His expectations for the first season?

win it all. Sadly he was disappointed.

The next season, he lowered his expectations to just making the playoffs, which I was able to accomplish.

Anrhydeddu · 03-07-2003, 11:35 AM

Again, looking through the 5.01 list, I am wondering something. During the extensive testings that went on, did no one notice the font color problem in the trade screen? Or look at the hitting streaks in the league leaders? Or even expanded to 4 divisions?

I am not being critical because some of the testers are friends, and the fact that I develop and test software myself, but I just found this curious, that's all.

Tarkus · 03-07-2003, 11:35 AM

This game sucks! It's totally unrealistic. I'm running the Yankees and I've completed seven seasons and my Yanks have yet to win the World Series! Now, that's just not realistic at all!

Tarkus

Bee · 03-07-2003, 11:38 AM

The question is do you have unlimited money as the Yankees?

ScottVib · 03-07-2003, 02:39 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by HornedFrog Purple
I was just wondering if this was the financial coefficient, or something else.

Nope it was a different problem where too many historical league teams were going broke.

Anr.......,

Some of the readability things can be improved upon by turning off the 3D.

Tarkus · 03-07-2003, 02:44 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Bee
The question is do you have unlimited money as the Yankees?

No, I keep running out and it's really pissing me off!

Tarkus

Tarkus · 03-07-2003, 02:46 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Anrhydeddu
Again, looking through the 5.01 list, I am wondering something. During the extensive testings that went on, did no one notice the font color problem in the trade screen? Or look at the hitting streaks in the league leaders? Or even expanded to 4 divisions?

Hmm, I didn't notice anything in the trade screen but the hitting streaks should definitely be fixed.

Tarkus

Anrhydeddu · 03-07-2003, 02:59 PM

I was referring to the those problems I listed that were found after 5.0 was released and was fixed in 5.0.1. Sorry for the confusion.

Scott: Why were historical teams going broke?

Tarkus · 03-07-2003, 03:07 PM

Hmm, I think the hitting streaks are still messed up. I'll have to verify that.

Tarkus

Ksyrup · 03-07-2003, 03:25 PM

Yes, they are. The same guys are listed as top hitting streak year after year, until someone has a streak that is longer. Then, the new guys sit atop the leader board every year, and so on.

Anrhydeddu · 04-10-2003, 11:01 AM

One of the best things to measure a sports sim AI by is what I call the holy grail - the ability for the AI to properly evaluate players. This is shown in several areas including acquiring free agents, managing rosters (e.g., deadweights) and in evaluating trades. OOTP4 did okay with free agents (as long as you gave them enough money to spend) but just like with FOF4, it fails when it comes to acquiring and managing overpriced/underpriced players.

In my current OOTP5 1960s Cardinals career, I have paid close attention to this to see what has improved. I can say that it still evaluates free agents properly, paying really good money for the superstars and little money for those not deserving much. This makes acquiring free agents a challenge esp. when they don't have a cap and you do.

In the area of managing rosters, it is significantly better than OOTP4. I see many more extensions signed for players that they should keep and it does a good job weeding out overpriced/underperforming veterans (as well as losers in the minors).

As far as trades (where I key on), it is improved. The single most important area, imo, is how they evaluate young superstars making minimal money. This had always been the weakness in OOTP and FOF where we, as human players, can find such players which in turn, frees us to be able to pay for more superstars and significantly reduces the challenge. OOTP5 is much better at this. For example, I wanted to acquire one of the best young pitchers in the game (a 8/7/6, 4-star making $300k). Before, I was able to trade them 2-3 mediocre players, usually MRs and backups to get him ("close but we need more"). Now I cannot do that, even playing to their roster weaknesses, I had give up two good starters in positions that they needed to get him.

I believe the star-ratings is now a big factor in balancing out trades with the AI. Because this pitchers was a 4-star with good ratings, the AI knows its value better despite his low salary. I am not saying it is perfect at all because the one advantage we have is that we can agressively target these players whereas the AI usually do not (this, more than anything else, forces the house rule of having a personal team salary cap). But the OOTP5 AI can now evaluate these players more highly than they did before and that is a good thing.

03-04-2003, 02:45 PM	#153
cincyreds High School Varsity Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Mississippi	I am with AgPete. It would be nice to be able to resign coaches and scouts, instead of losing most of them. __________________ The Dallas Cowboys!! America's Team will rise again.

03-04-2003, 04:07 PM	#154
FBPro College Starter Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: SE	I think that not being able to resign scouts and coaches helps to give things a bit more balance since in some leagues a guy could sign 'em and keep 'em forever. This way there is some movement. __________________ GM RayCo Raiders-est. 2004-2012 Charter member of the IHOF-RayCo GM GM Tennessee Titans PFL 2011-2014 GM Tennessee Titans FOWL 2020-2025

03-04-2003, 10:08 PM	#155
AgPete College Prospect Join Date: Jan 2001	I found out today not to trust the auto-depth manager. I traded for Jose Vizcaino to have a decent utility infielder on my team and the game kept wanting to replace A-Rod with Vizcaino when I faced left handed pitchers. :o __________________ Click here for the FOF2004 World Football League Dynasty (WFL) - Football Goes Global! OOTP5 Psychology Experiment (Incomplete but fun read for MLB fans.) The FOFC All-Time NFL Team - Voted on by FOFC members.

03-05-2003, 11:14 AM	#159
Ksyrup This guy has posted so much, his fingers are about to fall off. Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: In Absentia	Scott, was the LH/RH team W/L record bug fixed? Not a biggie, but just wondering, as I don't see it listed. __________________ M's pitcher Miguel Batista: "Now, I feel like I've had everything. I've talked pitching with Sandy Koufax, had Kenny G play for me. Maybe if I could have an interview with God, then I'd be served. I'd be complete."

03-05-2003, 01:44 PM	#162
Ksyrup This guy has posted so much, his fingers are about to fall off. Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: In Absentia	I am hopeful that I will get to start a career tonight. I plan on starting a normal fictional career in 2003, probably a 20 team, 2-league. 4-division set-up, but using 4-man rotations and good starting pitcher stamina. I still like it when guys go 300+ innings and actually complete games! And, I think I'll do it in Manager Mode. That will allow me to check the game out in-depth. After I get a good feel for the game, I'll set up a longer career league in which I simulate 50-75 years of history before taking over a team. This is my ideal setup, as I get much more immersed in a game when there is some history to review. As far as I can tell, I will be able to simulate a bunch of seasons, and then jump into the league in Manager Mode (I hope - at least that what it appears to allow). __________________ M's pitcher Miguel Batista: "Now, I feel like I've had everything. I've talked pitching with Sandy Koufax, had Kenny G play for me. Maybe if I could have an interview with God, then I'd be served. I'd be complete."

03-04-2003, 10:28 PM	#156
tucker342 Pro Starter Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Iowa City, IA	I wasn't planning on buying for a while, but I just couldn't resist. The amount of record keeping in the game is awesome.

03-05-2003, 10:44 AM	#157
McSweeny College Starter Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Somerville, MA	The patch is now ready and available here: http://400studios1.inetu.net/files/ootp/ootp501.zip Here is the ReadMe: March 5th, 2003: Welcome to the first OOTP 5 patch, version number 5.01! In order to install the patch, simply unzip the new OOTP5.exe file into your OOTP 5 main folder, for example C:\Program Files\400 Software Studios\OOTP5 The following things were fixed or enhanced: - Made salary arbitration an option (advanced league setup) - Fixed the bug that caused the inidividual hook setting to not being saved - You can now set a salary cap and cash maximum in manager mode, also editing of player nicknames for players on the human team is possible now! - Fixed a bug that you had limited control over your team in manager mode when you edited the league structure. This does not affect leagues that had this already occur, so you might want to start a new league if that has happened for you. - Players coming off the DL now accept the assignment to the minors - Fine-tuned injury frequency - Fine-tuned player development, talent hits for established players in their prime is now less likely - Fixed the bug that caused the team strategies to be reset when making certain transactions, like trading or releasing a player. - Fixed font color problem in trade screen - Hitting streaks in the league leaders in the sim or main screen are no longer the active streaks, but the longest of the season. - You can now sign coaches/scouts up to $200,000 during the offseason, even when you have no money left. - Fixed catcher defensive range bug when creating fictional leagues. - Fixed draft reset bug that caused duplicate players - Fixed 4 division league problems when the league was expanded to 4 divisions - Fixed a bug that made certain players that showed up as automatic resign becoming arbitration eligible after the end of the year. - Fixed financial problems in historical career leagues, although not in already existing ones. - Fixed a bug that allowed the owner to make contract extention offers to computer team players through the trade screen in manager mode. - The sort in the team screen is now sticky after offering a contract extention - Manager mode is possible now with one league leagues as well. - Greatly improved lineup AI - Fixed bug when backing up/restoring leagues - Fine-tuned trade AI - When acquiring a player, he no longer goes to the active roster but rather into AAA. - Free agents now more often give you more time to react to a computer offer. - Enhanced the team minor league report! - Fixed drag&drop problems that some users had. Enjoy! Markus Heinsohn CEO .400 Software Studios

03-05-2003, 11:04 AM	#158
ScottVib High School Varsity Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: My Computer	You beat me, I was going to post that.

03-05-2003, 01:34 PM	#161
Anrhydeddu Resident Curmudgeon Join Date: Oct 2002	Wow. Downloading today.

03-06-2003, 01:01 PM	#164
McSweeny College Starter Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Somerville, MA	I've been playing my fictional leage quite a bit over the past few days and i must say i am impressed with the game. OOTP4 never held my attention as long as 5 has been. I took my team to a World Series championship in 10 years. So the difficulty seems to have gotten better. I played in the League Championship Series 4 times losing in 7 games each time before making it to the World Series. I have over-extended myself on long, expensive contracts to keep my team together and i've got maybe 1 or 2 more years of solid production left before everything goes to hell. Financially the game seems solid. The AI doesn't let studs slip through the FA market cheaply and it's damn hard to put together a solid team through FA. The talent drop-offs have been fine. Frustrating at times, but nothing over board. I love the almanac! It's awesome I'm not playing in manager mode btw. I hate the idea of not being able to make changes to my league as i see fit. I'm having a hell of a time so far!

03-07-2003, 08:02 AM	#166
Senator FOFC's Elected Representative Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: The stars at night; are big and bright	Anrhydeddu Keep me updated on your thoughts. I will not have the chance to buy the game until after the pending War. But I wanted to know your thoughts. __________________ "i have seen chris simms play 4-5 times in the pros and he's very clearly got it. he won't make a pro bowl this year, but it'll come. if you don't like me saying that, so be it, but its true. we'll just have to wait until then" imettrentgreen "looking at only ten games, and oddly using a median only, leaves me unmoved generally" - Quiksand

03-07-2003, 10:41 AM	#167
Tarkus High School Varsity Join Date: Jun 2001	I have an interesting problem with just one player. He's a middle reliever with a rating of 10 ERA, and 9 Hits. He's clearly my best MR. However, when I do the auto-staff thing the AI keeps putting him as 3 MR and mop-up duty. That is, they don't make him a setup guy or one of the first two relievers. All the other auto stuff makes sense, but the AI just doesn't like this guy for some reasons. BTW, when I manually put him in the first setup spot, he ends up with better numbers than any of the other relievers. Has any one else seen this? Tarkus __________________ Winning may not be everything, but losing isn't anything.

03-07-2003, 10:50 AM	#168
Ksyrup This guy has posted so much, his fingers are about to fall off. Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: In Absentia	Yes, I've seen that in past versions as well. Sometimes, you just have to override what the AI thinks with what you want. With MRs, I frequently let the AI set up my pitching staff, then I reconfigure the set-up and mop-up guys the way I want. For instance, the second set-up guy rarely gets used, in my experience, so I put my best MR at set-up 1, then my second best MR at long relief 1 (or mop-up, or whatever that next category is), then put my third and fourth best MRs as backups to those two. I'm just about to start a real career tonight. I started an historical league in 1969 with the real players (first time I've ever done a true historical league with OOTP), with subsequent years' rookies going into the amateur draft. I skipped expansion in 1977, since I wasn't sure how to stock the teams, and simmed through 1979. It's 1980 right now, and I'm taking over the worst team in baseball - the Padres. I don't have much to work with, there are really no good free agents (and I don't have money to spend on them anyway), and my minor leagues are barren of any position player talent. At least my owner is "normal." Should be fun! __________________ M's pitcher Miguel Batista: "Now, I feel like I've had everything. I've talked pitching with Sandy Koufax, had Kenny G play for me. Maybe if I could have an interview with God, then I'd be served. I'd be complete."

03-07-2003, 11:17 AM	#169
Anrhydeddu Resident Curmudgeon Join Date: Oct 2002	Senator, I am honored that you would value my opinion. I did install the game last night with the purpose of checking out the UI and the new menu elements. I simmed through a season so I could experience lineup adjustments, transactions, news, almanac and the draft/fa processes. I was struck as to how many things remained the same - from a game play point of view. It appears that, besides the alamanc/reports, most of the changes are beneath the hood. Finally, the three skins choices are only okay (I found the much-desired wood grain skin to be too yellow - I hate yellow). But I will look for other skins, no big deal. As far as my desires with OOTP5, replay and continued play is not a problem (unlike FOF) but instead, is the wanting of a challenge when it comes to competing and paying for players. From what I have seen, the game will be more challenging than OOTP4 even though house rules will always be there. But more specifically, I am interested in a challenge when playing a historical career (which is the only way I will play). That is a different animal than what most are talking about (or even tested), so I'm not sure if the challenge changes will apply equally to such a career. In that, I look for the AI to evaluate veterans and young potential stars properly (or at least better). Using OOTP5 for JBL and any other online leagues will be really good. With all that, I have to think about my gaming priorities so I'm not sure when I will start a solo historical career (it could be this weekend or sometime later).

03-07-2003, 11:24 AM	#171
Ben E Lou Morgado's Favorite Forum Fascist Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Greensboro, NC	OK, here's a follow-up to my earlier post. I've been looking at the top HR guys in my universe to see how older elite power hitters like McDonald drop off in OOTP5.01. I found seven power hitters who had eleven or more consecutive seasons of sustained excellence. Here's how they did in the twilight of their careers. Freddie "Swordfish" Bruner 2003-2013: Max OPS--1.065, Min OPS--.724 2012 (age 34): .292, 49 HR, 132 RBI, .995 OPS 2013 (age 35): .254, 34 HR, 107 RBI, .838 OPS 2014 (age 36): .213, 20 HR, 86 RBI, .652 OPS Omezo "The Rogue" Munemitsu 2006-2016: Max OPS--1.078, Min OPS--.776 2015 (age 35): .292, 31HR, 94RBI, .888 OPS 2016 (age 36): .281, 22HR, 95RBI, .839 OPS 2017 (age 37): .228, 23HR, 78RBI, .675 OPS David Macy 2003-2013: Max OPS--.995, Min OPX--.777 No huge drop-of. Last five years of career (ages 36-40): .820, .777, .853, .753, .802 Lance Batson 2003-2013: Max OPS--1.267, Min OPS--.827 2013 (age 35): .321, 39HR, 97RBI, 1.047OPS 2014 (age 36): .254, 32HR, 101RBI, .888OPS 2015 (age 37): .244, 6HR, 26RBI,.757 OPS (only played 42 games before breaking his wrist and going out for the season) Oswaldo "Stone" Acha 2005-2015: Max OPS--1.179, Min OPS--.777 2015 (age 36): .274, 31HR, 104RBI, .879OPS 2016 (age 37): .279, 25HR, 94RBI, .793OPS 2017 (age 38): .272, 21HR, 74RBI, .768OPS Hector Laguna 2002-2012: Max OPS--1.129, Min OPS--.944 2011 (age 35): .311, 35HR, 107RBI, .989OPS 2012 (age 36): .301, 31HR, 84RBI, .944OPS 2013 (age 37): .243, 10HR, 36RBI, .704OPS Robert "Chappy" Abrego 2002-2012: Max OPS--1.159, Min OPS--.848 2011 (age 36): .291, 32HR, 96RBI, 1.004OPS 2012 (age 37): .277, 25HR, 94RBI, .848OPS 2013 (age 38): .226, 18HR, 53RBI, .674OPS Most of these guys had significant drop-offs in performance, though some didn't. None were as bad as McDonald. Looks like a case of REALLY bad luck for me! I can certainly live with that. Even among these seven guys, there's some good variety. From this little more in-depth look, things look pretty solid (except for that fact that McDonald's drop-off is likely to get me fired in my first season.) __________________ The media don't understand the kinds of problems and pressures 54 million come wit'!

03-07-2003, 11:24 AM	#172
Anrhydeddu Resident Curmudgeon Join Date: Oct 2002	Going over the patch readme, I am reminded that I will definitely try out the Manager Mode when I understand it better. As you know, this has always been one of my pet projects.

03-07-2003, 11:29 AM	#173
Bee Pro Starter Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Fairfax, VA	I was fired in my fictional league after my second season. I took a job with a team that had just finished about 20 games below .500. The owner was a "real nice guy". His expectations for the first season? win it all. Sadly he was disappointed. The next season, he lowered his expectations to just making the playoffs, which I was able to accomplish.

03-07-2003, 11:35 AM	#174
Anrhydeddu Resident Curmudgeon Join Date: Oct 2002	Again, looking through the 5.01 list, I am wondering something. During the extensive testings that went on, did no one notice the font color problem in the trade screen? Or look at the hitting streaks in the league leaders? Or even expanded to 4 divisions? I am not being critical because some of the testers are friends, and the fact that I develop and test software myself, but I just found this curious, that's all.

03-07-2003, 11:35 AM	#175
Tarkus High School Varsity Join Date: Jun 2001	This game sucks! It's totally unrealistic. I'm running the Yankees and I've completed seven seasons and my Yanks have yet to win the World Series! Now, that's just not realistic at all! Tarkus __________________ Winning may not be everything, but losing isn't anything.

03-07-2003, 11:38 AM	#176
Bee Pro Starter Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Fairfax, VA	The question is do you have unlimited money as the Yankees?

03-07-2003, 02:59 PM	#180
Anrhydeddu Resident Curmudgeon Join Date: Oct 2002	I was referring to the those problems I listed that were found after 5.0 was released and was fixed in 5.0.1. Sorry for the confusion. Scott: Why were historical teams going broke?

03-07-2003, 03:07 PM	#181
Tarkus High School Varsity Join Date: Jun 2001	Hmm, I think the hitting streaks are still messed up. I'll have to verify that. Tarkus __________________ Winning may not be everything, but losing isn't anything.

03-07-2003, 03:25 PM	#182
Ksyrup This guy has posted so much, his fingers are about to fall off. Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: In Absentia	Yes, they are. The same guys are listed as top hitting streak year after year, until someone has a streak that is longer. Then, the new guys sit atop the leader board every year, and so on. __________________ M's pitcher Miguel Batista: "Now, I feel like I've had everything. I've talked pitching with Sandy Koufax, had Kenny G play for me. Maybe if I could have an interview with God, then I'd be served. I'd be complete."

04-10-2003, 11:01 AM	#183
Anrhydeddu Resident Curmudgeon Join Date: Oct 2002	One of the best things to measure a sports sim AI by is what I call the holy grail - the ability for the AI to properly evaluate players. This is shown in several areas including acquiring free agents, managing rosters (e.g., deadweights) and in evaluating trades. OOTP4 did okay with free agents (as long as you gave them enough money to spend) but just like with FOF4, it fails when it comes to acquiring and managing overpriced/underpriced players. In my current OOTP5 1960s Cardinals career, I have paid close attention to this to see what has improved. I can say that it still evaluates free agents properly, paying really good money for the superstars and little money for those not deserving much. This makes acquiring free agents a challenge esp. when they don't have a cap and you do. In the area of managing rosters, it is significantly better than OOTP4. I see many more extensions signed for players that they should keep and it does a good job weeding out overpriced/underperforming veterans (as well as losers in the minors). As far as trades (where I key on), it is improved. The single most important area, imo, is how they evaluate young superstars making minimal money. This had always been the weakness in OOTP and FOF where we, as human players, can find such players which in turn, frees us to be able to pay for more superstars and significantly reduces the challenge. OOTP5 is much better at this. For example, I wanted to acquire one of the best young pitchers in the game (a 8/7/6, 4-star making $300k). Before, I was able to trade them 2-3 mediocre players, usually MRs and backups to get him ("close but we need more"). Now I cannot do that, even playing to their roster weaknesses, I had give up two good starters in positions that they needed to get him. I believe the star-ratings is now a big factor in balancing out trades with the AI. Because this pitchers was a 4-star with good ratings, the AI knows its value better despite his low salary. I am not saying it is perfect at all because the one advantage we have is that we can agressively target these players whereas the AI usually do not (this, more than anything else, forces the house rule of having a personal team salary cap). But the OOTP5 AI can now evaluate these players more highly than they did before and that is a good thing.

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