Quick question about OOTP

[billyo]

I want fun AND good simulation. I have been reading about all the PC baseball games. Is this the best on the market? Do you guys play anything in addition to OOTP?

[Unlucky 13]

Re: Quick question about OOTP

I want fun AND good simulation. I have been reading about all the PC baseball games. Is this the best on the market? Do you guys play anything in addition to OOTP?

I've recently started checking into the game myself. I only play offline single player franchise mode in sports games, and I fear that The Show is basically going to ignore those features going forward. I want a deep owner/GM mode more than anything.

[saintrules]

Re: Quick question about OOTP

Before buying OOTP I was a long time MLB The Show player. I started with 2005 and bought the game on and off till MLB The Show 17, as well as playing any major sports game (Madden/2K/etc) under the sun. I never play online, come to think of it, I think the last online match I played was Madden 2009 for a random head to head in which the other user lagged out. I am strictly, 100%, offline franchise.

I decided to sell my PS4 and unsurprisingly regretted not having a platform to play baseball on in the Summer months.

A couple of users on these forms pushed OOTP in a few of their posts and I decided to get it just to see what all the fuss was about. What I ended up finding was one of the best built sports video games I have ever seen, even with being (mostly) a text based sim. Whether you're a casual MLB fan or the deepest most analytical fan out there, you're going to find something extremely fun to do in OOTP. One of the biggest features for me is the on-the-field action which I think was a feature they added within the last couple of games. Being able to physically see a player hit a pitched ball makes a world of difference for me.

It looks like a pretty intimating platform if you just YouTube videos on it, but once you get into it, things clear up. I'm still finding more and more things about the game as I haven't spent an enormous amount of time in it, but I have the general gist down pat.

I'm not downing any bit of MLB The Show as I think it's an incredible game in it's own right, but comparatively, The Show could never replicate baseball like OOTP does. If OOTP had a football and basketball game, I'd never buy 2K or Madden again.

[saintrules]

Re: Quick question about OOTP

Here's a good tip:

There's a dumbed down version of the game on the app store from OOTP for a few bucks, it's the perfect thing to get to see if you like a text based sim. It's actually a really fun app and to be quite frank, it gets pretty in depth with League News etc. I'd try it before you delve into OOTP or at least get it until OOTP 20 comes out.

[KBLover]

Re: Quick question about OOTP

I want fun AND good simulation. I have been reading about all the PC baseball games. Is this the best on the market? Do you guys play anything in addition to OOTP?

If you find team building and managing virtual people as much as virtual lineups fun, then you'll be fine with OOTP.

There's a lot to do, there's a lot of ways to create a universe for yourself.

Like someone on the OOTP boards put it - this game is a baseball simulator, not just a MLB simulator.

It, of course, can do a pretty good job of giving up MLB-style numbers and such, but eventually, the league will ebb and flow along its own course due to various things like talent fluctuations, both of existing players, developing prospects, and incoming talent.

For example, there was a stretch in my Angels save, currently in 2043, where extra base hits were THE thing and just about every hitter coming in was huge on them and base running - needless to say, doubles and triples skyrocketed for a while - the all-time single-season doubles mark fell, repeatedly, and steals are still in something of a revival.

The XBH have calmed back down to more usual levels (though still on the high side), but now the NL is an a dead-ball era and Japanese players are everywhere (I called it the "Japanese Invasion" when it happened lol).

You have some control over this kind of thing. You can set how much international players come in, where they come from, where "hidden players" can be found, what offseason "owner meetings" and "collective bargaining" changes can take place (for example, DL time is 12-days, service time is 8 years until FA now, you can get expansion, etc.).

You can decide if you want full-blown international leagues in your save and their players having the change to interact with your league (and international doesn't just mean outside-USA - you can always manage a NPB team or create a league based in another nation, making USA players the "foreigners"). You can set up feeder leauges like a college system that will produce the draftee for your amateur drafts, etc.

I love that organic changes so I leave all that on as I want to be a participant, not a god, of my world, but you have the freedom to turn all that off and do it yourself based on your own created storyline for your world.

And if you need to see action, there is a simplified, though useful, animations engine that plays out the results per PA. Taking control is limited to being the manager and base coaches, basically, so you call the strategies, make decisions (game will pause and ask: "do you send the runner around third?", for example), make personnel moves, put on signs, etc.

Only thing complete absent from OOTP is taking player-level control like the typical console/action-based sports game.


That's about the long and short of it from my view. Think you might find it fun? Give the game a shot!

[billyo]

Re: Quick question about OOTP

Thanks everyone, I am going to give OOTP a try.

[WaitTilNextYear]

Re: Quick question about OOTP

Thanks everyone, I am going to give OOTP a try.

Good call. Give it some time to sink in also. Rome wasn't built in a day. lol. I starting playing OOTP a little over 5 years ago and am still tweaking things.

[billyo]

Re: Quick question about OOTP

Where do I check to make sure I have all the updates for 19?

Just picked up and started an all time Braves team and was surprised that Dale Murphy and Lew Burdette was not on there.

[KBLover]

Re: Quick question about OOTP

Where do I check to make sure I have all the updates for 19?

Just picked up and started an all time Braves team and was surprised that Dale Murphy and Lew Burdette was not on there.

If you got it on Steam, you don't have to worry about that. Steam will do what it does for all games (queue/start updates as they are pushed out).

Otherwise:

http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/board/forumdisplay.php?f=3935

Patches are stickied and you can check the last version against your version of the game.

[Unlucky 13]

Re: Quick question about OOTP

If you got it on Steam, you don't have to worry about that. Steam will do what it does for all games (queue/start updates as they are pushed out).

Otherwise:

http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/board/forumdisplay.php?f=3935

Patches are stickied and you can check the last version against your version of the game.

Does that mean that there's no need to wait for the new version to come out, like we would for The Show or Madden?

[WaitTilNextYear]

Re: Quick question about OOTP

Does that mean that there's no need to wait for the new version to come out, like we would for The Show or Madden?

I'm not 100% sure I understand the question, but let me take a crack anyway...

If you are talking about updating a current game with patches, then how you do this or if it happens automatically depends on whether you have the Steam version or e-Sellerate or App Store-- and whether it's PC or Mac--all that makes the actual procedure a bit different. For example, I have a PC and the e-Sellerate version purchased directly from OOTP (not through Steam) and whenever an update is available, the game prompts me about that when I open the program. Then I go to the OOTP developments forum and find the appropriate download link, re-download the game, re-install and that's that.

Most of the settings that you input into your game (saved games, artwork, menu options, mods, game settings) will not be affected at all when a new version/patch is installed. Some small things (for example, in-game camera views) are overwritten when an update is installed. You can make backup files for certain things if you are worried about anything getting messed up. Some changes that come with a patch/update do require that you start a new save for those specific changes to take effect--a new roster update is a good example of something that wouldn't be implemented into a save already in progress. If there are changes that require a new save game, that will noted be somewhere in the patch notes.

[billyo]

Re: Quick question about OOTP

Guys, I downloaded it instead of getting off steam. 1. How do I get updates?
2. When the new game comes out, would you recommend steam? 3. Could I still carryover saved data if I switch to steam from a downloaded version?

Probable dumb questions, but I don't know the answers.

[WaitTilNextYear]

Re: Quick question about OOTP

Guys, I downloaded it instead of getting off steam. 1. How do I get updates?
2. When the new game comes out, would you recommend steam? 3. Could I still carryover saved data if I switch to steam from a downloaded version?

Probable dumb questions, but I don't know the answers.

1. On loading, the game will prompt you when a new update is ready and you can click on the link or otherwise go to OOTP developments forum to find the download link.

2. Can't say...never bought it from Steam.

3. Steam or direct versions wouldn't affect that. The Steam or direct from OOTP basically just controls how you get your updates and whether you're tied in through Steam or not. All of your files will be generated locally on your computer so you can just drag and drop various files into/out of different folders as needed.

[itsmb8]

Re: Quick question about OOTP

Guys, I downloaded it instead of getting off steam. 1. How do I get updates?
2. When the new game comes out, would you recommend steam? 3. Could I still carryover saved data if I switch to steam from a downloaded version?

Probable dumb questions, but I don't know the answers.

Dont buy from steam. Buy directly from the OOTP site because they get 100% of the money that way. Other than that, just download updates from the OOTP site and all data is locally stored, steam is just a way of starting the game.

[beastmode2013]

Re: Quick question about OOTP

Steam and Origin versions should update automatically, though the Origin version tends to lag behind on updates by a couple days normally.

If you like baseball and/or very, very deep management, do no hesitate picking this up. Optional "Ultimate Team" mode is available as well. HIGHLY moddale and customization is virtually limitless. The dev team even frequently publishes updated seasons/rosters throughout the regular season i.e. all-star break and playoffs. OOTP 20 is out in about a month for around $15 more than 19, if you want to wait a bit for an even more polished product.