Alright Boyz, Here We Go!!!! (OOTP9 First Impressions...)

[Ben E Lou]

I've created a 24-team Quickstart fictional league with my settings that improve statistical output, complete with fictional logos.

Download Quick-Start League Here




Here's the league structure...

EASTERN CIRCUIT
Northeastern Division		Stadium	Ovl Park Factor
Baltimore	Blue Claws	Ripken Field	0.937
Massachusetts	Pilgrims	Boston Field	0.967
New York	Enforcers	The Gotham Dome	1.015
Philadelphia	Freedom	Liberty Stadium	0.964
Toronto	Fire	Ontario Colosseum	0.995
Washington	Federals	National Stadium	1.017
Southeastern Division
Charlotte	Cougars	Ballpark Of Carolina	1.106
Georgia	Rattlesnakes	MLK Memorial Stadium	0.977
Havana	Pirates	Castro Field	1.004
Lowcountry	Gators	Ravenel Stadium	0.989
Nashville	Hawks	Hawk Field	0.984
Orlando	Seminoles	Disney Park	1.040
WESTERN CIRCUIT
Coastal Division
Los Angeles	Whales	LA County Stadium	1.058
Oakland	Black Knights	Oakland Park	1.012
San Diego	Sunshine	Sunshine Field	1.017
San Francisco	Gold Rush	The Gold Dome	1.046
Seattle	Steelheads	Gates Stadium	1.049
Vancouver	Lumberjacks	Lumberjack Field	0.961
Southwestern Division
Dallas	Oil Kings	Jock Ewing Stadium	1.019
Houston	Lone Stars	Lone Star Ballpark	0.964
Louisiana	Crawfish	The Crawfish Bowl	0.982
Mexico City	Aztecs	Aztec Stadium	0.984
Oklahoma City	Tornado	Tornado Alley	0.997
Phoenix	Apaches	The Hunting Grounds	0.967

[Cringer]

Originally Posted by Dark Cloud

In this thread on OOTP, I posted my world baseball ranking, based largely on performance/results and baseball infrastructure in said countries. It doesn't include countries that didn't attempt to qualify for the 2008 Olympics, however.

I've included my nations.txt file into it, which could give you a better setup of nations that actually have baseball talent, modified by my ranking and as a result, might make it a lil' easier to do what you're doing.

Or not.

I actually used your rankings to help pick the initial nations. That is why I started with Aruba who wasn't able to field a whole team and I moved them to be a second team in Puerto Rico.

I just restarted it with completely open rosters for everyone. I liked the teams I had set up and wanted to actually get into some play. The history is being built right now with a 20 year sim. It's not what I envisioned but I will still have some fun with it.

[Young Drachma]

Good work on the Quickstart, Ben.

Also, I wonder why it's not possible in-game to track a consecutive games streak. There are other streaks on the streaks page that are there, that one ought to be as well.

[INDalltheway]

How long does it take you guys to sim 10 years or so? This is with full minors and a couple feeder leagues.. It just seems like my computer is taking way too long. I don't have the best computer in the world, but 2gigs of RAM with a decent processor isn't terrible.

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by INDalltheway

How long does it take you guys to sim 10 years or so? This is with full minors and a couple feeder leagues.. It just seems like my computer is taking way too long. I don't have the best computer in the world, but 2gigs of RAM with a decent processor isn't terrible.

Hasn't taken me long per year.. but I have create pictures off, box and game logs off as well.

[MizzouRah]

I just want to give credit where credit is due. I haven't seriously played ootp since 6.5 even though I bought v7 and v8. I would say I basically supported Markus.

Verizon 9 has been so engrossing I've had to make myself go to bed so I could get up for work with at least 4-5 hours of sleep. I'm VERY pleased at what Markus has done since re-doing the interface - an interface I once hated, but Markus has finally made it so it clicks with me.. at least it has after figuring some things out.

My fictional MLB league has taken a life of its own and it's made me a part of it. I'll see how everything else is once I finally decide on a team to manage.

Everything is just so well done and nothing seems "added on" from the team picture of the World Series winners, to the top 3 performers of the day when simming a day.. it's just everything a baseball fanatic could ever want.

[Young Drachma]

I like playing with real life teams, but I find that it constrains me so much and I end up spending WAY too much time trying to get stuff perfect and so little time playing. I decided to jettison all of that for right now and to just use one or two quickstarts and just get into the business of actually running a team.

[Cringer]

Originally Posted by INDalltheway

How long does it take you guys to sim 10 years or so? This is with full minors and a couple feeder leagues.. It just seems like my computer is taking way too long. I don't have the best computer in the world, but 2gigs of RAM with a decent processor isn't terrible.

I am going onto several hours now for simming 20 years. It is odd because when I was doing this season by season and watching stuff it seemed to go faster. That might be in my head though.

[INDalltheway]

Does the game run faster on XP? It's taken about two hours to sim 4 or so years. Basically what do I need (specs wise) to be able to run this game at a decent speed?

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by Dark Cloud

I like playing with real life teams, but I find that it constrains me so much and I end up spending WAY too much time trying to get stuff perfect and so little time playing. I decided to jettison all of that for right now and to just use one or two quickstarts and just get into the business of actually running a team.

It would me too.. if I was using real players. I had teams recalc according to their payrolls at inception.. so it's like a whole new league.. but with real team names.

I'm slow simming for now.. will probably get about 5-10 years in before I decide who to take over. I'm hoping the Cardinals will be medicore for however many years I decide to sim before taking over a team.

[Ajaxab]

Originally Posted by Cringer

I actually used your rankings to help pick the initial nations. That is why I started with Aruba who wasn't able to field a whole team and I moved them to be a second team in Puerto Rico.

I just restarted it with completely open rosters for everyone. I liked the teams I had set up and wanted to actually get into some play. The history is being built right now with a 20 year sim. It's not what I envisioned but I will still have some fun with it.

One thing you can do to help even out the talent is to change each nation's capabilities in the 'Explore World' option under 'Manager'. I am trying to create a completely European league semi-based on a UEFA structure. To get good talent on my clubs, I've edited the 'Baseball Quality' of the nations I'm using and then used the 'Fill Teams with Fictional Players' option. That seems to work as I'm getting good talent out of Holland, Italy, England, etc.

[Cringer]

Yeah that could help, maybe I will give that a spin some when I fire it up again. Right now I started the league over with free rosters and simming 20 years. I have messed around and that is it, I want to start playing this game.

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by INDalltheway

Does the game run faster on XP? It's taken about two hours to sim 4 or so years. Basically what do I need (specs wise) to be able to run this game at a decent speed?

I'm wondering too. I'm going to restart and try simming a league with no minors or financials or anything else and see how far I can get. I just want a history really, so I can dive in and then do all the pruning to get going with things. I've been testing for the past few days to be certain I could do what I wanted to do. Now that I know I can, I need to go ahead and try.

But honestly, I dunno what specs are optimal. It does seem to be running slower for me this year compared to past years, though. I dunno. I didn't notice a slowdown during testing and others seem to be doing okay.

[Ben E Lou]

Originally Posted by INDalltheway

How long does it take you guys to sim 10 years or so? This is with full minors and a couple feeder leagues.. It just seems like my computer is taking way too long. I don't have the best computer in the world, but 2gigs of RAM with a decent processor isn't terrible.

It shouldn't take long at all. The two biggies from what I can tell are:

1. Don't save all those box scores and logs.
2. Turn off your antivirus software.

With 24 teams and all levels of minors, I was getting around 6 minutes per season in a quick sim. My new system is getting less than 2 minutes per season, but with AV on and boxes and logs on, even it really slows down.

[Ajaxab]

Like Sky, er, Ben E Lou, turning off the antivirus sped things up considerably for me. I felt like the game was just chugging with a 20 team league and one level of minors, but then turned the antivirus off and can run a 40 team league with three levels of minors much faster than the 20 team league I had set up before.

[Apathetic Lurker]

I'm having a bit of a problem. set up a fictional league with minor leagues starting in 1871. Ran league for 30 years for some history. noticed that Major and Minor league stats are both included in the accomplishent page and the HOF. What settings do I use to disable minor stats from showing up in the record books?

[Anthony]

i don't sim by season, i sim by month. it goes by VERY quickly for me. that's with a full MLB league will all levels of minor leagues, Japan Pro League, Domincan Winter League and the Cape Cod League i created. i only have box scores and game logs on for my team, but since i don't watch them or read them i'm going to turn those off.

one thing i fucked up was when i created the Cape Cod League i had it (unbeknownst to me) set up as a Major League. this caused all the financials to be the same as the MLB. this is really like a short season A ball or rookie league, played on the tiny island of Cape Cod. i set all the financials to be lower, but all the current players are paid like pros and it generated A LOT of pro level players. is there a way to reset this? there's no way to delete the players and i just want a mass recalculation of the salaries/financials.

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by Hell Atlantic

one thing i fucked up was when i created the Cape Cod League i had it (unbeknownst to me) set up as a Major League. this caused all the financials to be the same as the MLB. this is really like a short season A ball or rookie league, played on the tiny island of Cape Cod. i set all the financials to be lower, but all the current players are paid like pros and it generated A LOT of pro level players. is there a way to reset this? there's no way to delete the players and i just want a mass recalculation of the salaries/financials.

You should be able to reset the numbers to your liking in the Game Setup -- League Setup -- Rules section and then go to Functions on the bottom right and you can recalculate team payrolls and then player salaries for that particular league.

[INDalltheway]

I'm not sure what my problem is. I've done all the things suggested in the FAQ thread on OOTP Developments forum. I guess I will just deal with it and maybe buy a new desktop to go along with the laptop.

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by INDalltheway

I'm not sure what my problem is. I've done all the things suggested in the FAQ thread on OOTP Developments forum. I guess I will just deal with it and maybe buy a new desktop to go along with the laptop.

Just wait for the first patch and see if that helps anything. It'll be out today they've said.

[Chubby]

Is it just me or does scouting drive you insane? I turned it off but I wonder how others are thinking on it.

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by Chubby

Is it just me or does scouting drive you insane? I turned it off but I wonder how others are thinking on it.

I've always played with it off. Too much work. I do like text scouting reports, but they're akin to putting a blindfold on to walk around your house.

Sorta silly and not particularly effective.

I've tried to create feeder leagues and only have the draft players come from there and that way, it at least forces me to scout those kids based on their performance, but...short of that, I dunno. I've never had much use for scouting in the game, especially since player development isn't really what it ought to be, renders scouting kinda useless.

[Pumpy Tudors]

I'm tempted to buy this game tonight after the first patch is out. I guess what I want is something that's nowhere near a MLB league. I want about 8 teams in the "major" league, two affiliated lower leagues (like AAA and AA), a feeder league or two, and then maybe a couple of independent leagues scattered about. I'm not worried about setting up the league structures, but I am concerned about setting up finances and making the feeder leagues generate major league level talent down the line. Is it going to be difficult to get this done?

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by Pumpy Tudors

I'm tempted to buy this game tonight after the first patch is out. I guess what I want is something that's nowhere near a MLB league. I want about 8 teams in the "major" league, two affiliated lower leagues (like AAA and AA), a feeder league or two, and then maybe a couple of independent leagues scattered about. I'm not worried about setting up the league structures, but I am concerned about setting up finances and making the feeder leagues generate major league level talent down the line. Is it going to be difficult to get this done?

Nah, it won't be too difficult. I've figured out how to get the feeders to generate talent now. I've run into a problem more of making sure they don't make players "too good" versus them being good enough.

The independent league situation can be a pain, but I find that you really want to make sure those leagues can't sign players from other leagues and that you make sure the talent from there is good enough that they SHOULD want to leave. I haven't mastered that part yet with this version, but the feeder situation I have down pretty good.

[INDalltheway]

So I was wrong to assume that using the task manager to shut off my virus protection would actually shut it down.. I have it shut down now and speeds are on par with all of you. Thank goodness, but this would have made the 100 years a lot faster if I would have figured this out.

[Ben E Lou]

Originally Posted by INDalltheway

So I was wrong to assume that using the task manager to shut off my virus protection would actually shut it down..

Good point. I have to use administrative tools and disable it. Task Manager doesn't do it.

[Balldog]

Question: If I wanted to create league with 8-10 teams but have all the MLB players in that league, is that possible?

[Pumpy Tudors]

Patch has been delayed until Monday night, Eastern time.

[Young Drachma]

I've stopped using facegen for now. I don't mind it, but it causes me to spend way too much time on jerseys and logos and junk. I'd rather play for a while. So I'm taking it back to old OOTP days when that wasn't an option. It makes for a better experience for now.

[path12]

Is anyone else having trouble hiring a scout? I keep getting messages that they have better offers on the table, but when they sign their salary is like half of what I've offered.......

[bhlloy]

Did they get rid of the "Player Development" screen? I can't find it on the home page any more.

If so, how are people tracking their prospects development?

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by bhlloy

Did they get rid of the "Player Development" screen? I can't find it on the home page any more.

If so, how are people tracking their prospects development?

It's a big debate on the OOTP boards. Basically, the assumption is that people play with scouts. But if you don't, there isn't an easy way to track minor leaguer development. Other than stats.

[bhlloy]

Brilliant. Can you turn scouts on once you have already started a career, then?

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by bhlloy

Brilliant. Can you turn scouts on once you have already started a career, then?

I think so via the game options.

[Anthony]

i won the World Series championship in the 1st season of my career! Mets had the teamwork to make the dream work. aquiring Roy Oswalt at the trade deadline (and him going undefeated for the rest of the season) was what the doctor ordered. and my Tokyo Connection - 2 Japs i got via trade - boosted the offense immensely. Oswalt wound up winning the Cy Young. great season.

[TwinCitiesFan]

Sorry if I missed this some place but has anyone ever tried setting up a NCAA baseball universe with some type of high school teams as feeder leagues?

I am thinking about trying this but if it's a crazy idea then I won't bother.

Thanks

[Anthony]

i know i renamed the MLB College feeder league "NCAA College" and just entered in the names of actual colleges. that's as far as i went. i already had wasted too much time entering in real names of the Japan league, Dominican Winter League and Cape Cod League teams along with graphics and the color theme of each team. i didn't care much about putting in real logos of NCAA teams, i just like to avoid fake teams whenever possible. i didn't bother with high schools though.

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by TwinCitiesFan

Sorry if I missed this some place but has anyone ever tried setting up a NCAA baseball universe with some type of high school teams as feeder leagues?

I am thinking about trying this but if it's a crazy idea then I won't bother.

Thanks

You'll need to start with a fictional universe that you turn into a college league and then you can have high school feeders. I've done it before and it works pretty well...I took all of the D-1A teams and then had a 64-team College World Series bracket.

[samifan24]

While I think this game is a lot of fun, there are still little aggravating things that the computer does which don't make much sense. For example, there is no reason why a backup outfielder should pinch-hit and stay in to play 2B when a team has a perfectly capable infielder sitting on the bench. Also, there is no way a team would force its closer to throw six innings in an extra-inning game when there are two other healthy relievers in the pen. Finally, I turned down AI trading to "low" but it's May and there are trades every couple of weeks in my 24 team league. There are all little things but frustrating nonetheless.

[SirFozzie]

Originally Posted by TwinCitiesFan

Sorry if I missed this some place but has anyone ever tried setting up a NCAA baseball universe with some type of high school teams as feeder leagues?

I am thinking about trying this but if it's a crazy idea then I won't bother.

Thanks

I did 2 versions for OOTP2007, one with 291 College teams (all D1-A, and a 2nd version with about 120 teams with logos, and all that

[Young Drachma]

I released my market size calculator for OOTP today. You can check it out here.

[Ben E Lou]

I've been playing a bit this evening. I must say that I'm impressed that the AI knows that I need a second baseman. I've been contacted with some decent offers, just about every one of them improving my 2B situation.

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by Ben E Lou

I've been playing a bit this evening. I must say that I'm impressed that the AI knows that I need a second baseman. I've been contacted with some decent offers, just about every one of them improving my 2B situation.

What is this playing you speak of?

I need to do that tonight, too.

[kcchief19]

Originally Posted by Ben E Lou

I've been playing a bit this evening. I must say that I'm impressed that the AI knows that I need a second baseman. I've been contacted with some decent offers, just about every one of them improving my 2B situation.

Based on my one season of playing so far I would agree with this. Although my team needs everything, I'm weakest at 2B, SS and 3B and almost every offer I get is to fill one of those positions. Of course, they all want my starting pitching, which is my strength. Nice. And I get quite few offers were people are offering me a veteran developed infielder for my SS prospect who is a few years away from being good.

My other kudos is to OOTP for finally nailing what I've always wanted in terms of historical play. I started a career in 1968 and fast simmed to the end of the season, whereby I took over the expansion Kansas City Royals and ran the expansion draft. The whole thing worked flawlessly. It's taken a few tries to get there, but for guys who like historical play and especially building a team from scratch.

[kcchief19]

In regard to scouting, has it changed dramatically since OOTP8? I'm curious because I have scouting turned on and I have I scout, but in OOTP8 you had the whole team of scouts that you had to assign to an inordinate number of chores and tasks. Is that all guy? Now I have the OSA scouting and my scout but that's it.

If scouting has been dumbed down from v8, I'm fine with that. I somewhat feel like OOTP8 with scouts turned is a scouting sim, not a baseball sim.
Am I missing something?

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by kcchief19

In regard to scouting, has it changed dramatically since OOTP8? I'm curious because I have scouting turned on and I have I scout, but in OOTP8 you had the whole team of scouts that you had to assign to an inordinate number of chores and tasks. Is that all guy? Now I have the OSA scouting and my scout but that's it.

If scouting has been dumbed down from v8, I'm fine with that. I somewhat feel like OOTP8 with scouts turned is a scouting sim, not a baseball sim.
Am I missing something?

Now there is just a scouting director who does it all or whatever. I don't play with scouts on, but the numerous scouts thing is out and now there is just one guy who does what they used to do and sends you scouting reports from the field.

[Ben E Lou]

Originally Posted by Dark Cloud

Now there is just a scouting director who does it all or whatever. I don't play with scouts on, but the numerous scouts thing is out and now there is just one guy who does what they used to do and sends you scouting reports from the field.

So far, I'm liking the scouting. It's quite cool to get an e-mail from my scouting director about a prospect ("hidden player") that he uncovered in Mexico.

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by Ben E Lou

So far, I'm liking the scouting. It's quite cool to get an e-mail from my scouting director about a prospect ("hidden player") that he uncovered in Mexico.

Is the kid actually from Mexico? Or does he say he's in Mexico, found a kid there who was from Norway? Because that's happened to me and it kills it for me.

[Galaril]

Originally Posted by Dark Cloud

Is the kid actually from Mexico? Or does he say he's in Mexico, found a kid there who was from Norway? Because that's happened to me and it kills it for me.

I missed what the the "hidden players" feature was?

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by Galaril

I missed what the the "hidden players" feature was?

From the manual (I didn't wanna give you the wrong info)

Select the Create and Maintain Hidden Players check box if you want the game to create hidden players in nations outside of the league nation. A hidden player is an unscouted player who does not appear in the game until a team has scouted a nation and found that player. See the section on international scouting for more information on scouting hidden players.

If this option is not selected, no hidden players will be created, and international scouting will be disabled. Additionally, if you have turned scouting off, you will be unable to access hidden players, even if this check box is selected