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

[SirFozzie]

Downloading the game from 400's FTP server.. WOOHOOO!

I love cable.

Here's the information to access it: 400 Software Studios has created a dedicated server for fast FTP access to game setup files. Here is how to download the Out of the Park Baseball 5.0 application setup package via FTP. Note that some of the verbage below may differ based on your operating system. Please click next/continue, etc., after each step below.

1. Open Windows Explorer

2. Click Add Network Place

3. Select the option to specify the address of a web site, network location, or FTP site.

4. When prompted for an address, enter the following as shown below:

ftp://209.235.192.175/

5. When prompted for User Name and Password, select the Log on Anonymously option.

6. Next, enter a description for the new Network Place you've just created. Anything will do.

7. Open the FTP site and browse to the OOTP folder. The version 5 application setup package is ootp5setup.exe.

[McSweeny]

i'm downloading it the old fashion way and it's working nicely... try the european mirror i'm gettin 133k/sec off it

[hunt_nd]

Thank you very much for the information.

-Spielman

[SirFozzie]

Make sure you're getting the full file, I think Markus was in the process of uploading it a few minutes ago when I grabbed it

[hunt_nd]

Dude... FTP _is_ the old fashioned way.



-Spielman

[Joe Stallings]

BTW, if you have Yahoo Messenger, we are having a running voice chat at Recreation & Sports -- Baseball -- User Rooms

[CamEdwards]

two more hours before I go home to download the game... I hope someone's responded to my email before then.

[Joe Stallings]

Cam you dog.

[edm]

thanks for the ftp info. I used a download manager and was able to grab it a 80 KB/sec, and I just finished installing it!

Play Ball!

[Anrhydeddu]

Not even wanting to go over to .400 right now (too many Shorty types), what's the crash issue?

[KWhit]

Their servers got bombarded. Everything's fine now.

[Anrhydeddu]

Which is one of the reasons I purposely will hold off downloading until next week. Patience does have its rewards sometimes.

[CamEdwards]

Originally posted by Joe Stallings
Cam you dog.

LOL... hey, if you're not going to send me a ticket to Atlanta...

By the way, I'd love to join the chat, but the darn firewall at work is preventing me from doing so.

[KWhit]

Originally posted by Anrhydeddu
Which is one of the reasons I purposely will hold off downloading until next week. Patience does have its rewards sometimes.

Of course, I'm already playing the game and you're not.

[Marmel]

How much is this thing?

[SirFozzie]

I can just see Joe and Markus's hosting company's eyes go wide..

"You need HOW many terabytes of bandwidth??"

"This is going to cost you, you know!"

[SirFozzie]

Installing now.. and will be starting a fictional league to check it out

[Tarkus]

8%

Tarkus

[Tarkus]

9%

Wow! Here's a chance for a quick 93 posts!

Tarkus

[SirFozzie]

:P Dialup Much?


Started a 2003 Career League, with a Fantasy draft, and Manager Mode on

waiting for it to crunch the numbers, let's see how it handles the draft.

[Marmel]

What is this manager mode?

[SirFozzie]

Manager Mode

Your manager can be Great Hitting, Great Pitching or Balanced, and they have a special skill: Negotiation Skills, Handling Youngsters, Handling Veterans, Team Chemistry,

I chose: Great Hitting and Negotiations, and signed a 1 year, 400,000 dollar contract to manage, my beloved Red Sox.. talk about pressure from the get go

[SirFozzie]

One bad thing.. selecting scouts/coaches, when I right clicked on one to offer him a position only to be told he didn't like my organization, when I went back to the list, it was back unsorted, so I had to click on the skill again to sort them..

Come on Markus, it's not like we haven't been asking for it for YEARS now

Minor thing, but one that bugs me

[SirFozzie]

Manager mode puts you as the manager/GM of a team (for example in this case, I have a 1 year deal to manage the Boston Red Sox, I have to meet their goals, or I'll find myself looking for a job very quickly)

Apparently there's some life stuff in there as well, your manager can get married, have kids (which apparently turn into future players), all that. It's fluff, but entertaining fluff.

The Manager mode is perfect for dynasty writers however!

[McSweeny]

couple of quick first impressions:

Interface:

Very nice so far. Granted i've just been playing around with my roster, setting up depth chrats, etc etc, but I like what I see. Very crisp.

The Star rating for each player is a nice way to get a quick over view. I think i like it. It'll take a little while though.

I see there is an option for Gold Glove, very cool if it's used properly

Depth Charts, lineups, pitching staff roles, minor leagues stuff and the basic roster screen are pretty much the same as last years version.

Already I'm begining to love how each player is hyperlinked in the reports. This is going to make it a much more enjoyable experience

Coaches and Scouts appear to be the same so far, we'll see if there have been any changes made there as i play

Logos and ballpark files from OOTP4 work with 5 which is nice. I just went back and grabbed a bunch of old logos and custom ballparks and dropped them in and away i go. very nice

That is all for now. I'll be back with more thoughts later. Finances, player development, computer AI, realistic stats, and overall challange are some of the long term changes i'll be looking forward too

[McSweeny]

few more quick things

fired up manager mode and i have an owner who demands immediate results and i'm expected to win it all in my first year. talk about expectations!

anyway, playing out my first game. Sound! The crack of the bat and groan of the crowd. very low key, very cool

back to the game

[McSweeny]

the sim speed seems to be much slower this time around. Not biggie, just an observation

i was browsing the transaction report after the first month of the season. Several vets were released because they refused demotion to the minors!! excellent!

[CamEdwards]

Joe, you are indeed, The Man.

[Anrhydeddu]

I have a 1 year deal to manage the Boston Red Sox, I have to meet their goals, or I'll find myself looking for a job very quickly

Imagine that. I recall someone asking for the exact same thing in a certain football game.

[Anrhydeddu]

Originally posted by McSweeny
i was browsing the transaction report after the first month of the season. Several vets were released because they refused demotion to the minors!! excellent!

Very nice.

[Ksyrup]

Would like to hear what the BB/K numbers look like for superstar pitchers (or just those who perform well in any given year), and ditto for superstar hitters (or guys with high batting averages in general). That's one of the things I'll be looking at when I finally get home tonight and strt playing.

I think this will be more of an issue for computer-generated players than those that come with the game. I hope I don't hear that X pitcher went 23-5, 1.55, but with 95 BBs and 65 Ks. Or that X hitter went .357, 45, 128, with 28 BBs and 164 Ks.

I thought we had decided to let SkyDog start this thread? Someone else seems to be hungry for attention today and stole his thunder.

It is just not the same unless he does it. I can't post in this thread anymore, I just can't bring myself to do it.

HornsManiac

[Anrhydeddu]

HM must have said something.

[Tarkus]

Originally posted by SirFozzie
One bad thing.. selecting scouts/coaches, when I right clicked on one to offer him a position only to be told he didn't like my organization, when I went back to the list, it was back unsorted, so I had to click on the skill again to sort them..

Come on Markus, it's not like we haven't been asking for it for YEARS now

Minor thing, but one that bugs me

I've never had that problem since all good coaches always love my organization.

Tarkus

[Ksyrup]

That is annoying and should be fixed.

[Schmidty]

My first impression? The Wood Maple skin looks great!!!

[vtbub]

I'm very happy.

Sounds are good, love being able to see the out of town lineups.

Playoffs are customizable.

Manager mode seems very appealing.

[TroyF]

Ksyrup,

Just finished a season with fictional players and a 24 team league.

Hitters:

League leader in BB had 127 along with 136K.
League leader in OBP and BA had 106BB and 68K

Pitchers:
League leader in ERA and K's had 380K's (yikes) and 73BB.

Only one other pitcher had 300+K's, everyone behind the second guy had 248 or fewer K's. The best BB/K ration was 26/155.

TroyF

[McSweeny]

G GS W L SV ERA IP HA R ER BB K
32 32 21 3 0 3.51 235.2 241 103 92 53 140

cy young winner in the AL my first year

[McSweeny]

dola

that's 53 walks and 140 strikeouts

[Ksyrup]

Woo-hoo! Thanks guys.

How do the stealing and speed ratings look? I know a guy can be a good base stealer but slow, and vice versa, but do you see less A/E and E/A types around?

[McSweeny]

i haven't seen any A/E E/A types, but i haven't looked that far. Things like stealing, bunting, and hook can be set for each individual player which is awesome by the way

[Ksyrup]

Yes, that is cool. I know Marcus said that the individual manager tendenceies will be set by the AI, I wonder if the AI will also set individual player tendencies as well? That would be very cool. A feature like that is really not worth much to the human if only the human can take advantage of it - which is why I either never bothered setting the manager tendencies before, or had to do it for every team, which was a pain and not worth it.

BTW, how does Spring Training look? What's different about it?

[McSweeny]

doing all the off-season stuff right now. Free Agents appear to be done the same this time around. I haven't looked in depth at all yet because I have no money available to me. So finances look good early(fingers crossed).

the ammy draft seems to have a wider curve of talent. A few superstars, lots of average guys, and a bunch of scrubs. There are plenty of guys available in rounds 2-4 who have some potential. A/A/A and A/F/G types. Even some A/F/F and F/F/A tyep guys around late. I'm curious to see how the development curves have been fixed. Note: I just noticed my draft was on 10 rounds. That could be why the talent pool was deeper.

Not much new in the way of spring training. Every thing appears to be the same there.

that is all for now... i'm taking a break before i run it through it's paces in a smaller fictional league

[Maple Leafs]

There's some concern on the OOTP boards about players "hitting the wall" in their early-30's (like they do in v4 in their late-30s), as well as huge talent swings (Brilliant to Fair in one sim, etc). Anyone seeing that?

Also, how are the cpu/cpu trades? Realistic? Any of last year's problems in that area resurfacing?

[Anrhydeddu]

One of the things I most anticipated is a more robust trade interface. Have they done anything beyond what they included in 4.2 (counter-offer)? And with counter-offers, are you seeing more of them or better ones?

[Ksyrup]

Yes, I saw the same thread (started by TRO and Subby) about player talent ratings severely dropping by their early-to-mid 30's. It sounds like this was an issue that was caught in beta, but either has come back or is a fluke. If it is an issue, at least it's one that is known and should be taken care of pretty quickly.

[Ksyrup]

Dola.

FYI, here's the link to that thread:


http://www.400softwarestudios.com/board/showthread.php?s=&threadid=25629&perpage=15&pagenumber=2

[Neuqua]

Originally posted by Maple Leafs
Also, how are the cpu/cpu trades? Realistic? Any of last year's problems in that area resurfacing?

Hmm, running a "test" league and STL just traded SP Matt Morris (7/7/6, G/G/G) and a prospect SP (G/G/G) for a backup C Ramon Castro (F/A/G).

Anyone else catch anything?

Neuqua

[Maple Leafs]

Originally posted by Neuqua
Anyone else catch anything?

Have they fixed that annoying bug where the Cubs always win the World Series in online leagues?