Alright boyz, here we go!!! Out of the Park Baseball 13 First Impressions

[jbergey22]

The pre-order emails were just sent out and this is now available to the pre-order people.

[spleen1015]

I think I am going to play with real rosters for the first time since OOTP3 or 4.

[Ksyrup]

I have it downloaded and ready to play, but I won't be able to play until probably after 7pm.

[CraigSca]

For what it's worth, really quick download and licensing was no problem at all.

[Ksyrup]

Yes, I saw the email on my phone before I left for work and had it downloaded and licensed in about 5 minutes.

[Big Fo]

Uh, if you use the MLB quickstart you may want to consider toning down the abilities of the created players before the draft pool is revealed. I count 14 starting pitchers with a potential of 70+ on the 20-80 scale and 12 more in the 60s.

For hitters, the entire first page (22 guys) have potentials of 77 or more (!) and 60 players have potentials of 60 or more.

I play with scouting off btw. I'll have to do some editing before I get to the actual draft.

[Ksyrup]

Did you turn off the steroids option?

[Big Fo]

I did turn off suspensions, maybe the players feel they have license to juice.

The up and down arrows on the team transaction screen is a nice addition, showing which players are improving/declining on a screen that you visit a lot anyway.

[MizzouRah]

Going to import my league once the playoff start!

[TroyF]

I just created a league with the random historical players model. It was a blast just going through all of the lineups. The poor Cubs got a 36 year old Ryne Sandberg. The Brewers got a 38 year old Babe Ruth.

On the positive side, the Mariners ended up with a 23 year old Pete Rose and a 26 year old Sandy Koufax.

I think I'm going to probably start a career today with this model. Looks like it will be fun.

[lungs]

I usually haven't played with real rosters probably since OOTP5. Usually I take a look at the Brewers roster and see how far off and out of whack the minor league system is and end up going all fictional.

This year I install the game and open up the Brewers roster and it's pretty damn good. Not perfect but that'd be asking too much.

[Comey]

I've spent the last week doing countless random debut replays. I love them.

One note of caution: Some stats will seem out of whack. For instance, last night, I had Babe Ruth enter in the steroid era. He hit 88 homers in a year, and produced 1,004 homers for his career. Deion Sanders in the Dead Ball era? He had 53 triples in a year (with only ten doubles, which actually falls in line with his real life stats).

The key here is to suspend your perception of reality, because that's exactly what's going on here. This isn't set in historical accuracy. This is merely a hypothetical test. What would Player X do in Year Y? So if you see someone who does something outrageous, don't fault the game. It sits pretty well in line with what could happen.

That said, it's also wildly addictive. I'm running a 1901-2012 sim again, but this time getting team pages from every year, so I can discuss the lineups, rotations, and craziness that goes on. In one sim last night, the Senators had this as a 3-4-5:

Don Mattingly (27 y/o)
Tommy Henrich (23)
Mickey Mantle (19)

The one thing I didn't get to see is Pedro Martinez in the Dead Ball era. I had it set up days ago, but I screwed something up in the initial process. I want to see that.

[Ksyrup]

How does that work for a multi-year sim? Is it only one version of each player, and it's just random as to how old he is when he enters the league? Each year, the game has random historical players at random ages available for drafting?

[LastWhiteSoxFanStanding]

Originally Posted by TroyF

I just created a league with the random historical players model. It was a blast just going through all of the lineups. The poor Cubs got a 36 year old Ryne Sandberg. The Brewers got a 38 year old Babe Ruth.

On the positive side, the Mariners ended up with a 23 year old Pete Rose and a 26 year old Sandy Koufax.

I think I'm going to probably start a career today with this model. Looks like it will be fun.

Originally Posted by Comey

I've spent the last week doing countless random debut replays. I love them.

One note of caution: Some stats will seem out of whack. For instance, last night, I had Babe Ruth enter in the steroid era. He hit 88 homers in a year, and produced 1,004 homers for his career. Deion Sanders in the Dead Ball era? He had 53 triples in a year (with only ten doubles, which actually falls in line with his real life stats).

The key here is to suspend your perception of reality, because that's exactly what's going on here. This isn't set in historical accuracy. This is merely a hypothetical test. What would Player X do in Year Y? So if you see someone who does something outrageous, don't fault the game. It sits pretty well in line with what could happen.

That said, it's also wildly addictive. I'm running a 1901-2012 sim again, but this time getting team pages from every year, so I can discuss the lineups, rotations, and craziness that goes on. In one sim last night, the Senators had this as a 3-4-5:

Don Mattingly (27 y/o)
Tommy Henrich (23)
Mickey Mantle (19)

The one thing I didn't get to see is Pedro Martinez in the Dead Ball era. I had it set up days ago, but I screwed something up in the initial process. I want to see that.

I had no idea about this feature. This could be the tipping point for me in getting the game. Thanks for the info!

[dfisher]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

How does that work for a multi-year sim? Is it only one version of each player, and it's just random as to how old he is when he enters the league? Each year, the game has random historical players at random ages available for drafting?

From what I understand, the players are randomly selected at a random age for the inital year of the league. From there, they are randomly selected to enter the draft at the age of their rookie year. Each player will only appear once.

[Comey]

Originally Posted by dfisher

From what I understand, the players are randomly selected at a random age for the inital year of the league. From there, they are randomly selected to enter the draft at the age of their rookie year. Each player will only appear once.

This.

[SirFozzie]

Interesting.. I was going to hold off this year because it seemed to me to plateau.. but now ill have to look into buying this when the pre order exclusitivity period ends..

[Comey]

I would. This game has rekindled my love of the series. Between Real-Time Simming, league associations, regional league formation, and random debut, not to mention the rather sizable tweaks and additions (seems to be more this year than in years' past), this game has blown me away. It's also very, very stable right out of the box. I don't remember a beta where I had next-to-no crashes.

[spleen1015]

The new Team Home screen is money, baby.

[MrBug708]

Any chance to get the pre order lifted for FOFC?

[MizzouRah]

I've spent hours just looking over my imported league... it's beautiful and this interface is the best in any game I own.

[korme]

Regional league formation? I've tried to do this manually many times in previous versions, but if this works like I imagine, that will be very exciting!

[JeeberD]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

Any chance to get the pre order lifted for FOFC?

+1

[jbergey22]

Where were you guys yesterday? You could have pre-ordered til noon on April 5th

[JeeberD]

Work. And school. And mowing the lawn. And taking care of my kid. And appeasing the wife...

[jbergey22]

Originally Posted by JeeberD

Work. And school. And mowing the lawn. And taking care of my kid. And appeasing the wife...

If I remember correctly he has opened it up early to the public previously so you might get lucky.

[cougarfreak]

Originally Posted by MizzouRah

I've spent hours just looking over my imported league... it's beautiful and this interface is the best in any game I own.

What part (time) of your season did you import?

[jbergey22]

Originally Posted by cougarfreak

What part (time) of your season did you import?

The best time is Dec 31st so you get to start the new season with all of the new features. A lot of things happen on Jan 1st in the game so its best to get it done prior to that.

[heybrad]

Originally Posted by JeeberD

+1

+2

Yes, I'm late to the party, but money is paid. Hook a brother up.

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by cougarfreak

What part (time) of your season did you import?

This is the first year I imported right before the playoffs started, I just had to play my playoff games with the new broadcast screen.

So far, so good.

[Ksyrup]

What's the definition of worthless? 32-year old Steve Balboni on a minor league roster in 1901.

[Ksyrup]

This is fun just to set up and let sim. One team has 34 year old Jeter and 32 year old Pete Rose; another has Carlton Fisk and Yogi Berra.

[Ksyrup]

Ha! Sammy Sosa lead the NL in HRs in 1901 with 12.

[BYU 14]

Originally Posted by Comey

I've spent the last week doing countless random debut replays. I love them.

One note of caution: Some stats will seem out of whack. For instance, last night, I had Babe Ruth enter in the steroid era. He hit 88 homers in a year, and produced 1,004 homers for his career. Deion Sanders in the Dead Ball era? He had 53 triples in a year (with only ten doubles, which actually falls in line with his real life stats).

The key here is to suspend your perception of reality, because that's exactly what's going on here. This isn't set in historical accuracy. This is merely a hypothetical test. What would Player X do in Year Y? So if you see someone who does something outrageous, don't fault the game. It sits pretty well in line with what could happen.

That said, it's also wildly addictive. I'm running a 1901-2012 sim again, but this time getting team pages from every year, so I can discuss the lineups, rotations, and craziness that goes on. In one sim last night, the Senators had this as a 3-4-5:

Don Mattingly (27 y/o)
Tommy Henrich (23)
Mickey Mantle (19)

The one thing I didn't get to see is Pedro Martinez in the Dead Ball era. I had it set up days ago, but I screwed something up in the initial process. I want to see that.

Are you using neutralized stats? I haven't seen this yet and this is what I am uusing, just curious.

[TroyF]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Ha! Sammy Sosa lead the NL in HRs in 1901 with 12.

This is the most fun I have had in a baseball sim. I could see myself playing with this feature for the entire year.

[Ksyrup]

I'm not sure I want to do anything other than sim results out, but it's pretty cool/fun. I'm looking forward to seeing how the stars are dispersed throughout 100 years, and whether some great players got buried and some no-names got an opportunity to star, just based on who was in the league at the same time.

Speaking of which, Robb Nenn played at the same time as his dad. And he lead the NL in saves one year... with a mighty 6!

[DanGarion]

WTF, the key for PC and Linux isn't the same. Dammit.

[DanGarion]

Can't someone get around the Pre-Order early release by just having the download link...?

[TLK]

Originally Posted by JeeberD

+1

Originally Posted by heybrad

+2

Yes, I'm late to the party, but money is paid. Hook a brother up.

Same here. Pissed I waited until this morning to purchase.

[spleen1015]

Originally Posted by DanGarion

Can't someone get around the Pre-Order early release by just having the download link...?

[Galaril]

Originally Posted by TLK

Same here. Pissed I waited until this morning to purchase.

+1000 I am actually pissed enough at myself that since I missed the pre-order I probably won't buy it. I am a impulse buy and heard the good feedback went to order saw it won't be out for the public till the 9th-10th by the then I am sure I will have lost the impulse buy. I already got Puresim 4 so that will have to do I guess.

[Shkspr]

Pre-orders don't get to wait for good feedback. That's why they're pre-orders. Some past customers trusted that this would be worth their time and money so much that they paid months in advance for the benefit of a few dollars off and a few days head start.

It's actually a pretty chickenshit move for anyone who waited until after the April 5 deadline to discover that there's some really cool features to decide that now it's safe to get the benefit of the three day headstart. I imagine Markus finds the income from January, February, and March pre-orders to be fairly critical dollars that help him bridge the sales gap in the game's crunch time. Nobody would be clamoring to bust in on headstarters' fun if the release turned out to be a dog (and we all know that the series has been capable of laying a turd), so those who took a risk and shepherded the game to release with pre-order dollars earned the three days headstart. The rest of you who waited for reviews and feedback didn't.

Besides, by Tuesday we'll all know that the financial model still sucks, trading is still too granular, and the aging algorithm is still borked, so all of you who want to plunk down money this weekend will wish you hadn't in 72 hours anyway.

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by Galaril

+1000 I am actually pissed enough that since I missed the pre-order I probably won't buy it. I am a impulse buy and heard the good feedback went to order saw it won't be out for the public till the 9th-10th by the then I am sure I will have lost the impulse buy. I already got Puresim 4 so that will have to do I guess.

How can you be pissed? The thing has been available for preorder at least since when I preordered it back on 1/20.

Good grief...

Btw, the financial model for modern MLB is fine, trading has been MUCH improved.. can't comment on the aging algorithm I applaud Markus for what he's done in just one year, the UI alone is worth the $$$.

[Arles]

Originally Posted by TroyF

I just created a league with the random historical players model. It was a blast just going through all of the lineups. The poor Cubs got a 36 year old Ryne Sandberg. The Brewers got a 38 year old Babe Ruth.

On the positive side, the Mariners ended up with a 23 year old Pete Rose and a 26 year old Sandy Koufax.

I think I'm going to probably start a career today with this model. Looks like it will be fun.

This is a lot of fun. I started out with a 27 year old Harmon Killebrew and a 24-year old Cal Ripken. I'm also grooming two young players in a 21-year old 1B named Kent Hrbek (for Twins fans) and an 18-year old 1B with a ton of potential named Jim Fregosi.

[Shkspr]

Gonna be a long year this year on the South Side...

[Comey]

Originally Posted by BYU 14

Are you using neutralized stats? I haven't seen this yet and this is what I am uusing, just curious.

I am in this test run, and it's looking a bit better. Haven't gone through the records and such yet, but it's looking decent.

[Comey]

Originally Posted by Arles

This is a lot of fun. I started out with a 27 year old Harmon Killebrew and a 24-year old Cal Ripken. I'm also grooming two young players in a 21-year old 1B named Kent Hrbek (for Twins fans) and an 18-year old 1B with a ton of potential named Jim Fregosi.

Hrbek has destroyed in test runs I've had. Just killed the ball.

[Galaril]

Originally Posted by MizzouRah

How can you be pissed? The thing has been available for preorder at least since when I preordered it back on 1/20.

Good grief...

Btw, the financial model for modern MLB is fine, trading has been MUCH improved.. can't comment on the aging algorithm I applaud Markus for what he's done in just one year, the UI alone is worth the $$$.

Pissed that I didn't see this not pissed at Markus.

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by MizzouRah

Btw, the financial model for modern MLB is fine, trading has been MUCH improved.. can't comment on the aging algorithm I applaud Markus for what he's done in just one year, the UI alone is worth the $$$.

The random historical players league is worth the money. Seriously, best feature in text sims. This is amazingly fun.

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by Galaril

Pissed that I didn't see this not pissed at Markus.