Out of the Park Baseball 9

Front Office Football used to consume my time before I was married. It's a pro football numbers game that once had NFL licensing but I don't think it does anymore. They put out a college football game that looked pretty good on the demo but I didn't buy it.

http://www.solecismic.com/index.php

 

Hmm, downloaded the demo version of OOTP 9 from CNet, but can't get it to open no matter what I try. Even redownloaded it, but I try to open it, it gives me an hourglass for about 3 seconds and then ... nothing. Rebooted the computer ... and nothing.

So for now, I'm trying out Baseball Mogul instead.

 

Scorpio, check out Bomber's Statis-Pro Football Page:

http://www.bombersgolf.com/StatisPro/FootBall/home.html

It has some downloadable past seasons, too.

 

Front Office Football still have NFL teams and players. I did purchase the college version....it was pretty solid, but the problem I had was that you couldn't call plays. But the recruiting made up for it.

Relived the 1980 season with the Houston Astros.....man, what might have been with Nolan Ryan, J.R. Richard and Joe Niekro.

 

Damn. So I downloaded the full version of OOTP 9 ... luckily, you have to go through the game embeds before you can purchase the license, so I haven't wasted my money on it ... but I still can't get it to run.

My system has all the requirements, and then some, but I'm on Vista and I know that can get screwy with different programs. I double-click it from the desktop, nothing. Right-click to "open," nothing. Open it from the Start menu, nothing. Try to "run it" from the file folder, nothing. Doesn't even give me an hourglass or act like it's starting ... I just get nothing.

Anybody else on Vista having problems getting this fucking program to load? From all indications, I'd much rather play OOTP than Baseball Mogul (which runs just fine on my computer), but not if I can't get it to fucking open. Help?

 

The first time you run the program, you have to "Run as administrator". Enjoy the game!

 

I plead ignorance on the technical difficulties. I'm sorry. One piece of advice on the game is that if you play an historical season, you're going to want to control all teams or else the computer-controlled franchises will pull stupid trades with each other.

The game needs some work in certain areas, but for what it is, a simple yet sophisticated text-based simulator, it gets a hell of a lot of things right.

 

That did the trick, maniacal1. Awesome.

Off to kick some 1919 Reds' ass ...

 

Buck: Awaiting to hear what you think. If you say it's worth my time, my 1954 Indians are out for some redemption!

 

Oh, it's worth your time.

I've only spent about four hours on it, playing a throwaway Cal League season just to get a handle on it (and to see what it was like to have no control over transactions, like real Single-A teams. Kind of an eye-opening experience, really. A month into the season, boom, my stud closer and slugging 1B were promoted to Double-A and my team went in the tank.)

Just started my 1919 season now, and LJB's right about controlling all teams to limit trades. I didn't do that, so I get trade offers twice a week and half the Phillies are somewhere else already -- it really destroys the integrity of "simulating" a historical season.

But holy shit, is it fun to play. Combines the best elements of MicroLeague Baseball from my youth -- especially the PBP "announcing," which is a delight, and something that's missing from Baseball Mogul -- with the AI of the Tony La Russa games of the 1990s and takes it to a new level with the transactional stuff and the strategy and all the details.

Historical accuracy, so far, seems pretty good. I'm much impressed that they've got Buck Weaver as a switch-hitter in 1919 (he was strictly a righty on the La Russa offshoot "Old Time Baseball" game that I loved.) They get major points from me for that.

One wish is that, instead of the same generic stadium background during gameplay, they used a picture of the major league park you're supposed to be playing at. Put up a colorized shot or animation of the Polo Grounds or Crosley Field when you're playing in New York or Cincy. Wouldn't be too hard to do, I imagine. Now, THAT would make me kill a drifter just to play the game.

So yeah -- is it worth the $40? Absolutely. Can't get enough of it ... and I've barely scratched the surface. Haven't used the forums or found any patches or updates that might make the experience even better. Can't wait to see what's out there.

 

They do have this with the more recent editions of Baseball Mogul. Basically just a picture of each stadium, taken from the press box so you see the whole field. But it's better than generic.


What did you like about OOTP that you didn't like with BM?

My copy of BM is about three or four years old now, so I could go for an update and could consider changing programs.

 

I'm glad you like it. Careful, it's like really strong weed.

These reference sites might help:
http://www.padresfanmods.net
http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/board/ootp-9-mods/166805-padresfan-ootp9-mod-thread.html