Exclusive Interview with OOTP Baseball Developer Markus Heinsohn

[Ben E Lou]

Markus Heinsohn, lead developer of the OOTP series, was kind enough to sit down with OS this morning to provide an exclusive interview in the midst of what is a very busy week for him. The latest version of the game, Out Of the Park Baseball 9, will be released tomorrow.

OS: Thanks, Markus, for taking the time to do this during release week. What new feature or features are you most excited about in this version of the game?

MH: First, thanks for giving me the opportunity for this interview! The features I love the most are the new scouting system, the better AI, the revised player development and the ball animation & replay function. The new historical features are great as well, the results are now extremely realistic and the AI picks the right lineups & pitching staffs, which is great for guys who like to replay single seasons.

Our extensive interview continues here.

[CMH]

Very nice interview. Like to see Markus pretty much shut down any preconceived thoughts on the SI/OOTP breakup.

I also do enjoy his dream to include a 3D element to the game similar to MicroLeague.

Very excited about tomorrow's release. OOTP got me into text-games and it's pretty much the only one I play regularly.

[markprior22]

I've been hooked on this series since version 3. I am very excited about the upcoming release and the future of OOTP in general. This game is an addiction for a baseball fan like me which may not be something to brag about but I can't imagine my life without it. Markus...thanks for all your hard work and the countless hours of enjoyment you've provided.

[tinman]

Re: Exclusive Interview with OOTP Baseball Developer Markus Heinsohn

I've never played this series before but am pretty sure I'll be ordering it today. The screenshots above have real logos and photos of the players. Is that a mod or is that included in the game? I know the real players will be in the game but I wasn't aware that the actual logos and photos would be available.

If it is a mod, how do you go about getting it?

Thanks...

[Ben E Lou]

Re: Exclusive Interview with OOTP Baseball Developer Markus Heinsohn

I've never played this series before but am pretty sure I'll be ordering it today. The screenshots above have real logos and photos of the players. Is that a mod or is that included in the game? I know the real players will be in the game but I wasn't aware that the actual logos and photos would be available.

If it is a mod, how do you go about getting it?

Thanks...

It's a mod, but it can be accessed from within the game's add-on central link. Check the link at the bottom of the first post for details, but here's a snippet:

New for OOTP9 is “Add Ons Central”, selectable from the Game menu. From this screen you will be able to download and install mods from this website and others, without having to leave the game. In many cases, the game will even install the files for you in the correct location! My first contribution to Add Ons Central will be a MLB2008 ALL-IN-ONE MOD that will include all the logos, player photos and ballcap/jersey artwork needed to compliment the 2008 MLB Rosters that will ship with the game. Look for it after installing the game and I hope you enjoy the efforts of Icy, Oxidizer, CubbyFan, CBLCardinals, Jonah Falcon, hewhoms, Matter23, and Gambo. Make sure to tell ‘em “THANKS!” the next time you see them on the OOTP Forums...

[tinman]

Thanks Ben... I missed that last sentence. That pretty much sealed the deal. I just pre-ordered.

[Spectre]

Re: Exclusive Interview with OOTP Baseball Developer Markus Heinsohn

I can't wait

I may play single player again

[CubbyFan23]

Re: Exclusive Interview with OOTP Baseball Developer Markus Heinsohn

Hope you guys enjoy, very excited about this year.

[PadresFan104]

Crossing my fingers that the link from this article doesn't cause the file server to crash!!! Hits are going up exponentially today! :^)

[Spear]

Yay, only one more day. Don't need to go to stores and hunt it down either! Best baseball game is only one quick away, and the pre-order price can't be beat, only couple hours left of that though.

[Ben E Lou]

Crossing my fingers that the link from this article doesn't cause the file server to crash!!! Hits are going up exponentially today! :^)

Heh. Let me know if it causes a problem, and I'll remove it.

[LingeringRegime]

Does anyone know what time the download is dropping?

[Ben E Lou]

Does anyone know what time the download is dropping?

Markus mentioned 2:00pm EDT.

[PadresFan104]

Re: Exclusive Interview with OOTP Baseball Developer Markus Heinsohn

Heh. Let me know if it causes a problem, and I'll remove it.

LOL... No problems so far... I went from 70 hits a day on Monday to nearly 375 hits on Tuesday and 480 hits today and going strong...