2K MLB Front Office Manager

RainMaker · 01-11-2009, 01:09 AM

Get released in just over a week.

2K Sports - MLB Front Office Manager

I think baseball is by far the funnest game to play GM/Manager. Been bummed since OOTP went from a more MLB style game to catering to the Space Alien Underhand Toss Leagues. Might pick this up and at least give it a whirl. Bit worried that they won't have many of the big prospects in the game though.

Anyone else picking it up?

Young Drachma · 01-11-2009, 01:57 AM

Good to know it'll be out in a week. I plan to get it. I can't imagine it'll be worse than anything on our radar. If it's a 2k version of FPS Baseball, I can totally handle that. I'm not asking for a lot. I don't like that it's not unlimited years and I doubt the fact that it's not a complete sandbox sim will make me give up the small market sims, but...I am pleased they're doing it and hope they just improve on it.

I like the sandbox mode of OOTP, just hate the execution in other areas as it tries to do too much.

That said, a good MLB sim with the license and all of the other trappings that our games at this level can't get...is well overdue.

dervack · 01-11-2009, 03:07 AM

It says on the website Jan 26th

RainMaker · 01-11-2009, 03:42 AM

My bad, thought it was the 20th.

JimboJ · 01-11-2009, 08:52 AM

Anyone know what the system requirements are for the PC version?

CleBrownsfan · 01-27-2009, 07:12 AM

Comes out today but it's not getting the greatest reviews... oh well

Young Drachma · 01-27-2009, 10:48 AM

I preordered because I'm a glutton for punishment. They said the PC version didn't end up coming today and it'll be in-store tomorrow, so I'll get it then and I'll write a review.

MizzouRah · 01-27-2009, 01:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dark Cloud

I preordered because I'm a glutton for punishment. They said the PC version didn't end up coming today and it'll be in-store tomorrow, so I'll get it then and I'll write a review.

DC you kill me!

The game will sell somewhat just because it's the first new baseball game of the year.. probably their whole marketing strategy.

CraigSca · 01-27-2009, 01:08 PM

If the game was available via download on day one I may have pulled the trigger.

rowech · 01-27-2009, 01:10 PM

My problem is 2k hasn't put out a regular baseball game that's all that great...how can they crank this out and it be good.

Young Drachma · 01-27-2009, 01:33 PM

I haven't had a problem with 2K games in the past and given we haven't actually had a text sim that was anything like FPS Baseball well since FPS Baseball or maybe MVP was close in a sense.

So if this even comes close, it'll be fine. They're not gonna be "up to snuff" but the reviews mean nothing, because those guys have no idea how to review text sims.

FBPro · 01-27-2009, 03:55 PM

I have the PC version ordered, had today off and wouldn't you know it NO GAME.

lynchjm24 · 01-27-2009, 04:02 PM

Here is all you need to know about this game. No one here even dreams it has a 1% chance of being good. Kevin Goldstein mentioned in his chat yesterday that he heard it's 'HORRIBLE'.

I haven't seen one thing that leads me to believe otherwise. I am actually guessing it's worse then we even could imagine. Daivd Winter Bad.

MJ4H · 01-27-2009, 04:04 PM

Well that would at least be entertaining.

Mustang · 01-27-2009, 04:13 PM

I tried reading the 2K forums, but basically consisted of one guy who obviously hates texts sims going around and pissing on every thread. So, guess I'll see what FOFC says.

dervack · 01-27-2009, 04:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lynchjm24

Here is all you need to know about this game. No one here even dreams it has a 1% chance of being good. Kevin Goldstein mentioned in his chat yesterday that he heard it's 'HORRIBLE'.

I haven't seen one thing that leads me to believe otherwise. I am actually guessing it's worse then we even could imagine. Daivd Winter Bad.

I actually hope that it's decent and falls somewhere between Head Coach 1 and Head Coach 2

Young Drachma · 01-27-2009, 04:36 PM

Who the fuck is Kevin Goldstein?

MizzouRah · 01-27-2009, 05:26 PM

IGN gave it a 6.6

IGN: MLB Front Office Manager Review

Seems like the game is decent, but questionable AI (figured that) and the interface is horrible. The game in itself is fun though... go figure.

Posters who have it over at OS, seem to initially like it.. we'll see after a few days..

lynchjm24 · 01-27-2009, 05:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dark Cloud

Who the fuck is Kevin Goldstein?

A baseball writer who likes video games. He isn't any sort of authority on baseball video games, he was just passing along what he had heard.

Dervack, we all hope it's good. I think we just all know that it isn't.

Young Drachma · 01-27-2009, 05:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MizzouRah

IGN gave it a 6.6

IGN: MLB Front Office Manager Review

Seems like the game is decent, but questionable AI (figured that) and the interface is horrible. The game in itself is fun though... go figure.

Posters who have it over at OS, seem to initially like it.. we'll see after a few days..

That's a solid review. I don't think any of us expected a very good AI. Nevermind, there is a fantasy mode. So that's all I needed to know. With that, it should be at least as bad as OOTP and for me, that's fine. At least the baseball logic should be sound.

I think "the game sucks" is a relative term and depends on what people's expectations are.

MizzouRah · 01-27-2009, 07:03 PM

Yeah, I don't think I could play this on the 360.. HC never grabbed me like I thought it would.

After it's been out for a few days, I might check it out on the pc. Rosters should be so much better on the pc as well.. I know people will be out there making them current much faster than on the console.

CraigSca · 01-27-2009, 07:05 PM

I wonder how many seasons you can play? So many issues with AI occur only after the real players leave the universe and you're left with the game-created players.

Philliesfan980 · 01-27-2009, 09:21 PM

I don't think I've seen so many people try and look past all of the blemishes of a game to try and talk themselves into playing it.

It just goes to show how starved we are for this type of game on a console.

MizzouRah · 01-27-2009, 09:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Philliesfan980

I don't think I've seen so many people try and look past all of the blemishes of a game to try and talk themselves into playing it.

It just goes to show how starved we are for this type of game on a console.

That's what happens when the first baseball game of the season comes out. We'll see what's being posted after about a week or so.

What stinks is it seems like they did so some things right, but like all sports games, they have to meet a deadline and things do not get fixed before release.

It's too bad, because horrible sales will kill a game like this.

CraigSca · 01-27-2009, 10:03 PM

(buy a PS3, Todd)

Philliesfan980 · 01-27-2009, 10:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MizzouRah

That's what happens when the first baseball game of the season comes out. We'll see what's being posted after about a week or so.

What stinks is it seems like they did so some things right, but like all sports games, they have to meet a deadline and things do not get fixed before release.

It's too bad, because horrible sales will kill a game like this.

You're exactly right. At the end of the day, it seems this will end up being a 5.5-6/10 type game. Playable, but only if you're willing to overlook some key bugs. I also agree with you that this effort might kill off any future efforts, as it apparently did with HC.

MizzouRah · 01-27-2009, 11:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CraigSca

(buy a PS3, Todd)

I need to get a 120GB HD for my 360 first!

MizzouRah · 01-27-2009, 11:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Philliesfan980

You're exactly right. At the end of the day, it seems this will end up being a 5.5-6/10 type game. Playable, but only if you're willing to overlook some key bugs. I also agree with you that this effort might kill off any future efforts, as it apparently did with HC.

It will die out once 2K9 and The Show come out.. BUT the pc version could really go places if the modding community can do some magic.

Young Drachma · 01-28-2009, 06:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Philliesfan980

I don't think I've seen so many people try and look past all of the blemishes of a game to try and talk themselves into playing it.

It just goes to show how starved we are for this type of game on a console.

I'm not playing it on console, I'm playing it on PC.

And I think we all overlook blemishes on games, at least, those of us who play OOTP do.

Young Drachma · 01-28-2009, 06:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CraigSca

I wonder how many seasons you can play? So many issues with AI occur only after the real players leave the universe and you're left with the game-created players.

30 years.

There is apparently a 'fantasy' mode that's like the Commish mode that we're all used to, where you can control more than one team, lord over the league and force trades, etc.

I am always curious when people expect AI in games to be human-like. No game is that good and once everyone is fictional, what's "fair" is relative.

Young Drachma · 01-28-2009, 06:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MizzouRah

It will die out once 2K9 and The Show come out.. BUT the pc version could really go places if the modding community can do some magic.

Given how much they've hacked High Heat over the years and I know the SimCity 4 community has been amazing, it'll be interesting.

But usually, it requires a decent sized audience to make it work.

So we'll see.

Young Drachma · 01-28-2009, 11:13 AM

Apparently my copy is in. I'm gonna go pick it up, since I got to work early and fire it up on the laptop since I'm working late and see what it looks like. I'm really curious to see.

Ramzavail · 01-28-2009, 12:44 PM

I'm expecting the worse.

BigPapi · 01-28-2009, 12:58 PM

I picked this up for the PC as well...Will post impressions later.

MizzouRah · 01-28-2009, 01:20 PM

Ok PC guys.. lets hear it!

Young Drachma · 01-28-2009, 01:22 PM

I just picked mine up and I'm installing it now. I won't be able to do much with it until after work, but...I don't want to wait to check it out.

Young Drachma · 01-28-2009, 01:29 PM

First thing is, it tries to install Steam before you can install the game. Dunno WTF that's about, but if I have to be connected to the web before I install, then I'm gonna have to wait until I leave here. Well that's stupid and the manual mentions nothing about it.

Someone @ OS mentioned you can install without internet, but it needs Steam to install the game, so..maybe I just need to restart.

Shkspr · 01-28-2009, 01:33 PM

It's really...REALLY not a good game.

First, minor leaguers are not in. Maybe they're fictionalized; I don't know. But don't take a poor team expecting to promote your studs from the minors; they're not there.

The list setup is wonky. I could only sort free agent lists by overall value, which is graduated in 5 point, 20-80 scale. I could filter for a particular position, but that's about it. I can't see how to sort on individual tools, nor can I seem to sort on potential. So if you want to sign any of those 6 year minor league free agents, get used to your Y button.

I tried trading a bit, but pretty much everyone tradable on my team has no trade clauses, neatly making the trading block function obsolete.

The roster functionality is poor. You've got to scroll through six levels of league to get a feel for everyone on your roster, and of course minor leaguers all show up at their overall skill level of 20. Their potential, again, must be individually checked on their player card. This makes trying to create a path of advancement through the minors problematic. The lact of a clear roster list function means you'll have to scroll two screens between your starting catcher and your backup just to see who you want to play, let alone having to check to see if the kid a level below is ready.

I simmed one day and lack the willpower to go on anymore. Thank god I only rented. But the roster functions are so counter-intuitive that I am not interested in the accuracy of the engine or the AI. I just want to go play another game. ANY other game.

Icy · 01-28-2009, 01:39 PM

I'm reading the impressions thread at OPS and it doesn't look so good, but will wait for more impressions here.

I'm afraid if i buy it will be untouched after the first time, exactly like Head Coach that i only popped once into my PS3. We are looking for a text sim with console graphics, and those games end being nice graphics with nothing behind them.

Young Drachma · 01-28-2009, 01:51 PM

For PC folks, make sure you install Steam. There is no way around it and if you botch the install by trying to have it avoid installing that, it'll make the whole install a lot more annoying that it might have to be otherwise.

https://support.steampowered.com/kb_...9828-SFLZ-9289

CraigSca · 01-28-2009, 02:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shkspr

It's really...REALLY not a good game.

First, minor leaguers are not in. Maybe they're fictionalized; I don't know. But don't take a poor team expecting to promote your studs from the minors; they're not there.

The list setup is wonky. I could only sort free agent lists by overall value, which is graduated in 5 point, 20-80 scale. I could filter for a particular position, but that's about it. I can't see how to sort on individual tools, nor can I seem to sort on potential. So if you want to sign any of those 6 year minor league free agents, get used to your Y button.

I tried trading a bit, but pretty much everyone tradable on my team has no trade clauses, neatly making the trading block function obsolete.

The roster functionality is poor. You've got to scroll through six levels of league to get a feel for everyone on your roster, and of course minor leaguers all show up at their overall skill level of 20. Their potential, again, must be individually checked on their player card. This makes trying to create a path of advancement through the minors problematic. The lact of a clear roster list function means you'll have to scroll two screens between your starting catcher and your backup just to see who you want to play, let alone having to check to see if the kid a level below is ready.

I simmed one day and lack the willpower to go on anymore. Thank god I only rented. But the roster functions are so counter-intuitive that I am not interested in the accuracy of the engine or the AI. I just want to go play another game. ANY other game.

Yikes! Well, that's money saved.

Young Drachma · 01-28-2009, 02:35 PM

Installing so far is a PITA. Steam wouldn't install, apparently it's a common problem that I could google. Now downloading Steam from the web to the machine, to hopefully install the game.

Young Drachma · 01-28-2009, 02:38 PM

Apparently Mogul got endorsed this year:

lynchjm24 · 01-28-2009, 03:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shkspr

It's really...REALLY not a good game.

First, minor leaguers are not in. Maybe they're fictionalized; I don't know. But don't take a poor team expecting to promote your studs from the minors; they're not there.

The list setup is wonky. I could only sort free agent lists by overall value, which is graduated in 5 point, 20-80 scale. I could filter for a particular position, but that's about it. I can't see how to sort on individual tools, nor can I seem to sort on potential. So if you want to sign any of those 6 year minor league free agents, get used to your Y button.

I tried trading a bit, but pretty much everyone tradable on my team has no trade clauses, neatly making the trading block function obsolete.

The roster functionality is poor. You've got to scroll through six levels of league to get a feel for everyone on your roster, and of course minor leaguers all show up at their overall skill level of 20. Their potential, again, must be individually checked on their player card. This makes trying to create a path of advancement through the minors problematic. The lact of a clear roster list function means you'll have to scroll two screens between your starting catcher and your backup just to see who you want to play, let alone having to check to see if the kid a level below is ready.

I simmed one day and lack the willpower to go on anymore. Thank god I only rented. But the roster functions are so counter-intuitive that I am not interested in the accuracy of the engine or the AI. I just want to go play another game. ANY other game.

Typically these games look good at first and suck as the flaws become known. This one is a disaster from the word go and will probably set the genre back instead of advancing it.

Exactly what anyone being honest with themselves expected.

Young Drachma · 01-28-2009, 05:45 PM

If you're not connected to the internet, the game WILL NOT install, because it tries to install Steam and then connect to the web, before it'll do anything. Just an FYI for those who buy it on PC. Save yourself a few hours of hassle (or in my case, discovering a trojan, having to restart your entire machine before you get to do that..)

Young Drachma · 01-28-2009, 06:27 PM

So far:

- Menu response time is non-existant. It's like you're typing and it doesn't always know what you just did.

- It's obviously a straight port to PC.

- The menus are jarring, but I got used to them quickly. I think the real problem was that it's quite different from a text sim, in that, it's not a text sim in the traditional sense.

- The only way to play this, is in fantasy mode. The career mode is 30 years, fantasy mode is unlimited. In fantasy mode, you can edit players contracts and everything and the names of non-MLB players. You can make trades and control more than one team, too.

I haven't gotten further into it beyond that. I can't see ever playing a game like this on console and I don't think it'll set the genre back, because independent publishers will keep making text sims and big box companies will continue to throw bones at us that won't be what we want because making an OOTP clone will never make them rich.

This could've been better executed for sure. It's not fast, in the OOTP vein, but nothing really is.

So I dunno, my initial impressions are that it's probably more trouble than it's worth, but unlike say, that stupid geo-political sim I bought last week that isn't really even playable or give me much of an incentive to go back in and mess with it, this one will give me something to do when I'm itching to actually see my players, but don't want to mash buttons and that's all I wanted. But I suspect I'm in the minority there and that my expectations for it weren't really all that high.

darkenigma510 · 01-28-2009, 07:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dark Cloud

If you're not connected to the internet, the game WILL NOT install, because it tries to install Steam and then connect to the web, before it'll do anything. Just an FYI for those who buy it on PC. Save yourself a few hours of hassle (or in my case, discovering a trojan, having to restart your entire machine before you get to do that..)

What I don't understand is why I can't buy this game on Steam if it requires Steam!

Young Drachma · 01-28-2009, 10:13 PM

PastaPadre has more thoughts, with some screenies and I agree with most of us thoughts:

Further Impressions of MLB FOM | pastapadre.com

BigPapi · 01-28-2009, 11:09 PM

As noted by others- incredibly cumbersome- and oddly unresponsive menu system. So annoying to click on the same thing three and four times to move through the menus. Still, this looks like it could have been something with a little more effort.

I went messing around in the file directories to see if I could find the rosters. (This might be more enjoyable with up-to-date rosters and real minor league prospects.) It appears they are in .big format- not .csv or something simple as I had hoped. Not sure anyone will care enough to even mess with anu of this....Guess we'll see.

This whole thing looks like something 2K is working on to glue together with the MLB2KX series sometime soon- and they just decided to see if it could hold it's own.

Young Drachma · 01-29-2009, 07:30 AM

.big is just a file extension that's full of INI files or something. I googled it and other games use it and have hacked it for their purposes by modders and so, there is at least a possibility they'll have something.

You can also load rosters pretty effortlessly, so it does make it possible at least in PC land to load someone else's rosters into the game before you start a fantasy career.

I played some more last night, but the sim speed is a lot slower than I'm accustomed to, so I couldn't really invest much more time with it because it just wasn't moving all that fast.

I suspect a patch might address at least some of the warts, that is, if the OOTP fan boys posting over at the 2K forums aren't irritating them too much yet.

01-11-2009, 01:57 AM	#2
Young Drachma Dark Cloud Join Date: Apr 2001	Good to know it'll be out in a week. I plan to get it. I can't imagine it'll be worse than anything on our radar. If it's a 2k version of FPS Baseball, I can totally handle that. I'm not asking for a lot. I don't like that it's not unlimited years and I doubt the fact that it's not a complete sandbox sim will make me give up the small market sims, but...I am pleased they're doing it and hope they just improve on it. I like the sandbox mode of OOTP, just hate the execution in other areas as it tries to do too much. That said, a good MLB sim with the license and all of the other trappings that our games at this level can't get...is well overdue. __________________ FBCB / FPB3 Mods Last edited by Young Drachma : 01-11-2009 at 01:57 AM.

01-11-2009, 03:07 AM	#3
dervack College Prospect Join Date: Jun 2005	It says on the website Jan 26th __________________ Semi-updated with my ramblings. Semi. But more recently, updated lots. Please check it out and let me know what you think The Year That Wasn't: My Chicago Cubs 2003 Replay Blog

01-27-2009, 07:12 AM	#6
CleBrownsfan Pro Rookie Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: C-Town	Comes out today but it's not getting the greatest reviews... oh well __________________ *XBox Gamertag:* Pronk32 FOOL-X - Cleveland Naps FOOL - Cleveland Cyclones SLOP - Cuyahoga Spiders

01-27-2009, 01:08 PM	#9
CraigSca Pro Starter Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Not Delaware - hurray!	If the game was available via download on day one I may have pulled the trigger. __________________ She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah! She loves you, yeah! how do you know? how do you know? Last edited by CraigSca : 01-27-2009 at 01:09 PM.

01-27-2009, 03:55 PM	#12
FBPro College Starter Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: SE	I have the PC version ordered, had today off and wouldn't you know it NO GAME. __________________ 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

01-11-2009, 03:42 AM	#4
RainMaker Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Chicago, IL	My bad, thought it was the 20th.

01-11-2009, 08:52 AM	#5
JimboJ High School Varsity Join Date: Aug 2003	Anyone know what the system requirements are for the PC version?

01-27-2009, 10:48 AM	#7
Young Drachma Dark Cloud Join Date: Apr 2001	I preordered because I'm a glutton for punishment. They said the PC version didn't end up coming today and it'll be in-store tomorrow, so I'll get it then and I'll write a review.

01-27-2009, 01:10 PM	#10
rowech Pro Starter Join Date: Feb 2006	My problem is 2k hasn't put out a regular baseball game that's all that great...how can they crank this out and it be good.

01-27-2009, 01:33 PM	#11
Young Drachma Dark Cloud Join Date: Apr 2001	I haven't had a problem with 2K games in the past and given we haven't actually had a text sim that was anything like FPS Baseball well since FPS Baseball or maybe MVP was close in a sense. So if this even comes close, it'll be fine. They're not gonna be "up to snuff" but the reviews mean nothing, because those guys have no idea how to review text sims.

01-27-2009, 04:02 PM	#13
lynchjm24 College Benchwarmer Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Hartford	Here is all you need to know about this game. No one here even dreams it has a 1% chance of being good. Kevin Goldstein mentioned in his chat yesterday that he heard it's 'HORRIBLE'. I haven't seen one thing that leads me to believe otherwise. I am actually guessing it's worse then we even could imagine. Daivd Winter Bad.

01-27-2009, 04:04 PM	#14
MJ4H Coordinator Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Hog Country	Well that would at least be entertaining.

01-27-2009, 04:13 PM	#15
Mustang Grizzled Veteran Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Wisconsin	I tried reading the 2K forums, but basically consisted of one guy who obviously hates texts sims going around and pissing on every thread. So, guess I'll see what FOFC says. __________________ You, you will regret what you have done this day. I will make you regret ever being born. Your going to wish you never left your mothers womb, where it was warm and safe... and wet. i am going to show you pain you never knew existed, you are going to see a whole new spectrum of pain, like a Rainboooow. But! This rainbow is not just like any other rainbow, its...

01-27-2009, 04:36 PM	#17
Young Drachma Dark Cloud Join Date: Apr 2001	Who the fuck is Kevin Goldstein?

01-27-2009, 05:26 PM	#18
MizzouRah Hall Of Famer Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Troy, Mo	IGN gave it a 6.6 IGN: MLB Front Office Manager Review Seems like the game is decent, but questionable AI (figured that) and the interface is horrible. The game in itself is fun though... go figure. Posters who have it over at OS, seem to initially like it.. we'll see after a few days..

01-27-2009, 07:03 PM	#21
MizzouRah Hall Of Famer Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Troy, Mo	Yeah, I don't think I could play this on the 360.. HC never grabbed me like I thought it would. After it's been out for a few days, I might check it out on the pc. Rosters should be so much better on the pc as well.. I know people will be out there making them current much faster than on the console.

01-27-2009, 07:05 PM	#22
CraigSca Pro Starter Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Not Delaware - hurray!	I wonder how many seasons you can play? So many issues with AI occur only after the real players leave the universe and you're left with the game-created players. __________________ She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah! She loves you, yeah! how do you know? how do you know?

01-27-2009, 09:21 PM	#23
Philliesfan980 Banned Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Exton, PA	I don't think I've seen so many people try and look past all of the blemishes of a game to try and talk themselves into playing it. It just goes to show how starved we are for this type of game on a console.

01-27-2009, 10:03 PM	#25
CraigSca Pro Starter Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Not Delaware - hurray!	(buy a PS3, Todd) __________________ She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah! She loves you, yeah! how do you know? how do you know? Last edited by CraigSca : 01-27-2009 at 10:03 PM.

01-28-2009, 11:13 AM	#32
Young Drachma Dark Cloud Join Date: Apr 2001	Apparently my copy is in. I'm gonna go pick it up, since I got to work early and fire it up on the laptop since I'm working late and see what it looks like. I'm really curious to see.

01-28-2009, 12:44 PM	#33
Ramzavail College Starter Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Strong Island, NY	I'm expecting the worse.

01-28-2009, 12:58 PM	#34
BigPapi Mascot Join Date: Feb 2007	I picked this up for the PC as well...Will post impressions later.

01-28-2009, 01:20 PM	#35
MizzouRah Hall Of Famer Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Troy, Mo	Ok PC guys.. lets hear it!

01-28-2009, 01:22 PM	#36
Young Drachma Dark Cloud Join Date: Apr 2001	I just picked mine up and I'm installing it now. I won't be able to do much with it until after work, but...I don't want to wait to check it out.

01-28-2009, 01:29 PM	#37
Young Drachma Dark Cloud Join Date: Apr 2001	First thing is, it tries to install Steam before you can install the game. Dunno WTF that's about, but if I have to be connected to the web before I install, then I'm gonna have to wait until I leave here. Well that's stupid and the manual mentions nothing about it. Someone @ OS mentioned you can install without internet, but it needs Steam to install the game, so..maybe I just need to restart. Last edited by Young Drachma : 01-28-2009 at 01:30 PM.

01-28-2009, 01:33 PM	#38
Shkspr College Benchwarmer Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: Amarillo, TX	It's really...REALLY not a good game. First, minor leaguers are not in. Maybe they're fictionalized; I don't know. But don't take a poor team expecting to promote your studs from the minors; they're not there. The list setup is wonky. I could only sort free agent lists by overall value, which is graduated in 5 point, 20-80 scale. I could filter for a particular position, but that's about it. I can't see how to sort on individual tools, nor can I seem to sort on potential. So if you want to sign any of those 6 year minor league free agents, get used to your Y button. I tried trading a bit, but pretty much everyone tradable on my team has no trade clauses, neatly making the trading block function obsolete. The roster functionality is poor. You've got to scroll through six levels of league to get a feel for everyone on your roster, and of course minor leaguers all show up at their overall skill level of 20. Their potential, again, must be individually checked on their player card. This makes trying to create a path of advancement through the minors problematic. The lact of a clear roster list function means you'll have to scroll two screens between your starting catcher and your backup just to see who you want to play, let alone having to check to see if the kid a level below is ready. I simmed one day and lack the willpower to go on anymore. Thank god I only rented. But the roster functions are so counter-intuitive that I am not interested in the accuracy of the engine or the AI. I just want to go play another game. ANY other game.

01-28-2009, 01:39 PM	#39
Icy Pro Starter Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Toledo - Spain	I'm reading the impressions thread at OPS and it doesn't look so good, but will wait for more impressions here. I'm afraid if i buy it will be untouched after the first time, exactly like Head Coach that i only popped once into my PS3. We are looking for a text sim with console graphics, and those games end being nice graphics with nothing behind them. __________________

01-28-2009, 01:51 PM	#40
Young Drachma Dark Cloud Join Date: Apr 2001	For PC folks, make sure you install Steam. There is no way around it and if you botch the install by trying to have it avoid installing that, it'll make the whole install a lot more annoying that it might have to be otherwise. https://support.steampowered.com/kb_...9828-SFLZ-9289 Last edited by Young Drachma : 01-28-2009 at 02:43 PM.

01-28-2009, 02:35 PM	#42
Young Drachma Dark Cloud Join Date: Apr 2001	Installing so far is a PITA. Steam wouldn't install, apparently it's a common problem that I could google. Now downloading Steam from the web to the machine, to hopefully install the game.

01-28-2009, 02:38 PM	#43
Young Drachma Dark Cloud Join Date: Apr 2001	Apparently Mogul got endorsed this year:

01-28-2009, 05:45 PM	#45
Young Drachma Dark Cloud Join Date: Apr 2001	If you're not connected to the internet, the game WILL NOT install, because it tries to install Steam and then connect to the web, before it'll do anything. Just an FYI for those who buy it on PC. Save yourself a few hours of hassle (or in my case, discovering a trojan, having to restart your entire machine before you get to do that..)

01-28-2009, 06:27 PM	#46
Young Drachma Dark Cloud Join Date: Apr 2001	So far: - Menu response time is non-existant. It's like you're typing and it doesn't always know what you just did. - It's obviously a straight port to PC. - The menus are jarring, but I got used to them quickly. I think the real problem was that it's quite different from a text sim, in that, it's not a text sim in the traditional sense. - The only way to play this, is in fantasy mode. The career mode is 30 years, fantasy mode is unlimited. In fantasy mode, you can edit players contracts and everything and the names of non-MLB players. You can make trades and control more than one team, too. I haven't gotten further into it beyond that. I can't see ever playing a game like this on console and I don't think it'll set the genre back, because independent publishers will keep making text sims and big box companies will continue to throw bones at us that won't be what we want because making an OOTP clone will never make them rich. This could've been better executed for sure. It's not fast, in the OOTP vein, but nothing really is. So I dunno, my initial impressions are that it's probably more trouble than it's worth, but unlike say, that stupid geo-political sim I bought last week that isn't really even playable or give me much of an incentive to go back in and mess with it, this one will give me something to do when I'm itching to actually see my players, but don't want to mash buttons and that's all I wanted. But I suspect I'm in the minority there and that my expectations for it weren't really all that high.

01-28-2009, 10:13 PM	#48
Young Drachma Dark Cloud Join Date: Apr 2001	PastaPadre has more thoughts, with some screenies and I agree with most of us thoughts: Further Impressions of MLB FOM \| pastapadre.com __________________ FBCB / FPB3 Mods

01-28-2009, 11:09 PM	#49
BigPapi Mascot Join Date: Feb 2007	As noted by others- incredibly cumbersome- and oddly unresponsive menu system. So annoying to click on the same thing three and four times to move through the menus. Still, this looks like it could have been something with a little more effort. I went messing around in the file directories to see if I could find the rosters. (This might be more enjoyable with up-to-date rosters and real minor league prospects.) It appears they are in .big format- not .csv or something simple as I had hoped. Not sure anyone will care enough to even mess with anu of this....Guess we'll see. This whole thing looks like something 2K is working on to glue together with the MLB2KX series sometime soon- and they just decided to see if it could hold it's own.

01-29-2009, 07:30 AM	#50
Young Drachma Dark Cloud Join Date: Apr 2001	.big is just a file extension that's full of INI files or something. I googled it and other games use it and have hacked it for their purposes by modders and so, there is at least a possibility they'll have something. You can also load rosters pretty effortlessly, so it does make it possible at least in PC land to load someone else's rosters into the game before you start a fantasy career. I played some more last night, but the sim speed is a lot slower than I'm accustomed to, so I couldn't really invest much more time with it because it just wasn't moving all that fast. I suspect a patch might address at least some of the warts, that is, if the OOTP fan boys posting over at the 2K forums aren't irritating them too much yet.