Any tips for a total newbie?

[Qeltar]

Quick backstory: started playing The Show a few months ago, have considered using Franchise mode there but I am having fun playing RTTS and I've read about issues with that mode. Also, I am going to be traveling this summer and I am not taking the PS/4 with me. I have a Surface Pro and thought OOTP might be a good way to enjoy what I am told is an excellent baseball management mode and "scratch the baseball itch" while on the road.

I haven't bought it yet, but I plan to. However, when I look at it, it seems incredibly complex. Is this the sort of thing where I can just dive in and the game will guide me and it all works out? Or are there any things I should know to avoid making mistakes I'll regret and having to start over multiple times?

I'm assuming the general concept is "pick a team and build it to greatness as the GM" but don't know anything beyond that.

Any tips much appreciated. Thanks!

[WaitTilNextYear]

Re: Any tips for a total newbie?

If you want a simple, pick-up and play type of game that you can dabble in for a short while, this is probably not your jam. I also wouldn't consider it the type of game where the game "will guide you and everything will work out." The amount of depth and options is incredible and deep. It will take you several hours just to get the hang of it. You'll also have a lot of questions that you'll only be able to answer by trying it out. Might not be your cup of tea if you want something really simple and quick to play here and there.

[Qeltar]

Re: Any tips for a total newbie?

Thanks for the reply. No, I get that this isn't a simple "pick-up" type game. Not expecting arcade mode or simplicity, that's not what I meant. I like the complexity and am willing to sit down for sessions that take some time.

I'm just wondering how to get started. Sounds like I'll just have to muddle through.

[KBLover]

Re: Any tips for a total newbie?

Try not to do too much at once. Focus on a certain aspect at a time. Like if you want to focus on scouting and scouting budget. Try to hone in on that and see what you like to do. Think about what you want to do - like if you want to get the upper hand on what's going on at the majors, say for trades or scouting your opponents, try to make that happen using the scouting system.

That would teach you about picking a head scout, setting budget, setting how you allocate that budget, how to scout players and read the scouting reports on a player over time.

Things like that might help you break down the game into chunks that you can grab hold of easier.

But, the best way is to experiment and see what happens and what you can do to your team and why it happened. Take it slow and look in detail. It can look like chaos but there's often a reason or a system to it (sometimes it is just chaos, just like real life).

[Qeltar]

Re: Any tips for a total newbie?

Thanks.

Sounds like I need to just dive in, accept that I will likely mess up my first try, and restart later if I want to once I know more.

[KBLover]

Re: Any tips for a total newbie?

Yep, in fact, I would just make some "throwaway" leagues just for that purpose. Just use them to try certain things/settings.

[Qeltar]

Re: Any tips for a total newbie?

Thanks.

I read somewhere that you can start as a GM or as a manager or even a coach.. is this a 'career mode' type deal? Or do you choose to (for example) start as a hitting coach and then stay there or something?

Another dumb question. If I want to GM an entire franchise and want to start with current rosters, I assume there are MiLB players who will develop according to an algorithm. After a few years does the game just generate new random players to replace them? I'd assume so. How well does it do this? The Show makes very weird random players.

[NoDakHusker]

Re: Any tips for a total newbie?

The game is built for career mode play. You can either be a GM or a Manager, or you can assume both roles and control everything. There isn't an option to be a hitting or pitching coach, though(unless I'm missing something I haven't seen before).

The game does generate players as you move forward in time. There isn't a limit to how long your career lasts, so if you play long enough, you can reach a point where all real players have retired and the league is filled with entirely fictional players in the future.
OOTP offers a lot of options over how the game generates these players. You can control player development and aging rates, what countries they might be generated from, ratings modifiers, etc.

I don't really mess with those ratings, because I think the game does a good job with player creation. Though I do make it so players age slightly slower than the game's default setting. OOTP has a lot of options and customization, it can be quite overwhelming at first. If there's something you don't like about how the game plays, there's a good chance it has a setting that you can change to your liking.

[WaitTilNextYear]

Re: Any tips for a total newbie?

http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/board/forumdisplay.php?f=3909

[Qeltar]

Re: Any tips for a total newbie?

Thanks a lot, great info.

So if you start as a coach will you "progress" career-wise into a GM, or is it just a choice?

Actually I guess I will figure that out when I start. Thanks for the replies.

[WaitTilNextYear]

Re: Any tips for a total newbie?

Thanks a lot, great info.

So if you start as a coach will you "progress" career-wise into a GM, or is it just a choice?

Actually I guess I will figure that out when I start. Thanks for the replies.

You can choose what type of job to apply to. You can also install yourself as manager, GM, or manager/GM of any team at any time.

[KBLover]

Re: Any tips for a total newbie?

How well does it do this? The Show makes very weird random players.

There's some weird players but everyone in OOTP has at least some chance of growing unexpectedly and flopping unexpectedly.

So while that raw 22-year-old that looks like a career MiLB journeyman might seem like "why bother?" you just never know.

Most of the time, though, the players make some sense, even the projects. You won't find many SS with a 20 arm or something or CF that run like Yadier Molina.

And with coaches having at least SOME impact on development (unlike The Show), it makes it more likely that guys will show some progress - just...maybe not enough to climb to the bigs. Or stick for very long.

[Qeltar]

Re: Any tips for a total newbie?

Thanks it sounds great.

Normally I wait for Steam stuff to go on sale but this seems like a small company that deserves the support.. plus my first trip is soon. Probably pick it up tomorrow.

(My favorite oddities in The Show are the "A" prospects that mysteriously appear out of nowhere aged 25, the guys with steal ratings 20 points above their speed (which you never see with real players), and my personal fave, the hitter whose heat map is red all around the outside and blue in the middle. )

[KBLover]

Re: Any tips for a total newbie?

You might see the stealing one because it's more governing how often he'll go/try for the extra base (speed) and how often he'll succeed (stealing ability or baserunning), and the likelihood of triples vs doubles (speed).

I don't know if IRL scouts actually grade stealing ability. Seems like that's something that's done on "let's see how he does, if he has a feel". Of course, being a game, it has to have a way to assign a success rate and model what the player does IRL and drive the engine to make sensible results for fictionals.

Basically, it gives OOTP a way to model a guy who doesn't run 40-50 times but also rarely gets caught (like Trout, Marwin Gonzalez, Jose Ramirez, etc.). It doesn't hurt his doubles/triples ability because that's in his Gap rating (and there's also a ratio that can be used to help model his ability to get triples, otherwise his speed is used to model it). I believe the ratings assume a neutral manager tendency. So a manager that runs more will likely let these guys get a few more steals.

My current LF in my Marlins franchise has 50 Speed but 70 Stealing and 70 Baserunning. He's 10-of-16 in steals. In fact my RF has 40 Speed and 70 Stealing. He's 4-of-7 in steals, so a terrible rate and he rarely gets sent.

By contrast, in my 2018, Billy Hamilton stole 100 bases and was hardly ever caught (I think he had a 90% success). In 2019, he had 80 steals. He's 80 speed, 80 stealing of course and probably would be a 90 or 100 if the scouting scale went that high.

[nicholaseck]

Re: Any tips for a total newbie?

https://manuals.ootpdevelopments.com/index.php?man=ootp19

This is the manual for the game. I utilized the hell out of this when I first started playing the game a few years ago. To me it helped understand some of the intricacies of roster rules I didn't fully know.