Octopus Overlords

Posted: **Fri Jan 28, 2011 11:15 am**

It's that time of the year - Pre-orders now available for Out of the Park 12.

Here's the press blurb:

Lineup Improvements in OOTP 12

PC Gamer called OOTP 11 "a no-doubt, walk-off home run no-brainer to become a part of your game collection," and OOTP 12 is no different. Our All-Star lineup of features gets better every year, and we've again improved many of them during this off-season. We're not done yet, so stay tuned to future newsletters.
2011 Major League Rosters

Here's a treat: the best roster set we've ever produced, from the big leagues' top stars to the guys making their debuts in rookie leagues. All players are individually rated with updated statistics and realistic contract data. Last year's top draft picks are included too. Could Bryce Harper and Stephen Strasburg, with the veteran leadership of newly-acquired All-Star Jayson Werth, help propel the Washington Nationals to the top of the National League East in coming seasons?
Revamped Financial System

The Philadelphia Phillies shook the baseball world this winter when they signed top-flight free agent pitcher Cliff Lee, despite expectations that he would opt for the highest bidder. Now you can do the same with OOTP's improved player contract negotiations, which are more realistic and fun. You can even try to talk your owner into expanding the available budget, letting you squeeze in another All-Star contract. Don't forget to stay on top of the latest free agent signings and other news in the new off-season center, and keep your finger on the pulse of your team's finances with an improved view.

Contract possibilities are now more realistic, including vesting options, buyouts, minor league split contracts, signing bonuses and more performance bonus options. You can even now include remaining contract payments as an option in trades with AI-controlled GMs.
Online Leagues

We're proud to support Official OOTP Online Leagues with a full-featured interface inside OOTP 12. With just one click, you can join a team, and creating a league is just as easy. Commissioners can make their leagues public and advertise open teams, with the ability to accept or deny requests from would-be GMs.

Official OOTP Online Leagues offer several key advantages:

* League files are patches rather than full-size files, saving plenty of up- and download time.
* Reports can be saved in MySQL databases, increasing their upload speed.
* Forget about FTP: team data exports and imports work through the database. That results in improved compatibility and security for the league web site server.
* An export tracker.
* The promise of more great features to come, including online drafts and trades.

Greater Immersion and Realism

Historical leagues benefit from improved AI and real life transactions and as-played lineups as optional features. Thanks to OOTP's sophisticated game engine, you'll be able to enjoy the most realistic historical simulation results possible. How would the 1927 Yankees fare against their 1961 counterparts?

In addition, storylines have been expanded, and there are new ways to interact with your players. News presentations have also been revamped, making you feel like you're part of the hectic 24-hour "better stay on top of this" news cycle that dominates today's sports reporting.
In-Game and Core Engine Changes

Like a manager constantly seeking ways to get the most out of his lineup, we're always tinkering under OOTP's hood. Here's what you can look forward to this year:

* Recoded parts of the in-game AI, making it the most challenging ever in an OOTP game.
* Improved in-game sound, adding better quality sound files and more variation.
* Improved player evaluation AI, resulting in more realistic AI roster moves.
* Recoded parts of the trading AI.
* Recoded parts of the scouting engine.
* Improved injury and recovery system.
* Added WAR (Wins Above Replacement) as a statistic.
* Added a playoff roster for more realistic team transactions.
* Greatly enhanced the world database structure, resulting in more realistic fictional league and player creation.
* Added a simulation module, allowing you to match up two teams from the same league for a set number of games and see the simulation results. This is great for research purposes or just for toying around. For example, how would the 1927 Yankees fare against the 2004 Red Sox?

I'm fairly meh on this year's feature list - to be honest I'm more excited about the talk about OOTP13:

The stadium builder will be introduced alongside the 2D/3D engine in OOTP 13.

The graphics will be good-looking, but not incredibly complex. You'll see the whole field from above, there is no zooming/camera movement. And since it's driven by OpenGL, it will even be running smooth on 10 year old PCs I guess

Think of FPS Baseball '95 as an example, but with better textures...

__________________

Posted: **Sun Jan 30, 2011 1:25 pm**

I'm in for historical transactions and a better financial system, plus I need to make sure they stay funded to make OOTP13 for the graphics and stadium builder.

Posted: **Sun Jan 30, 2011 3:08 pm**

Not sure if I'll be getting OOTP12. Nothing in the feature list jumping out at me.

Though I'm still enjoying OOTP11. Last night, in my historical sim, I just had my third baseman thrown out of the All-star game for brawling.

Thought that was funny.

Posted: **Sun Jan 30, 2011 3:34 pm**

I did pre order but I think it's going to be tough to beat 11.

Posted: **Sun Jan 30, 2011 5:35 pm**

Frnk55 wrote:I did pre order but I think it's going to be tough to beat 11.

I'm willing to pay $30 for updated rosters and a down payment on development of OOTP13.

Considering the hundreds of hours of entertainment I'll get from OOTP12 it's a bargain.

Posted: **Sun Jan 30, 2011 8:01 pm**

Hurray for tracking WAR! I'd pay $30 just for that and updated rosters (and to fund 13, of course).

Posted: **Sun Jan 30, 2011 9:03 pm**

None of the features interests me, but I will buy it anyway. Of course, depending on how deep and often the stories happen, that could be fun.

Posted: **Sat Mar 05, 2011 9:04 pm**

Starting to get the itch for another online league. If we found a commissioner, who'd be interested?

Posted: **Sat Mar 05, 2011 9:39 pm**

Kelric wrote:Starting to get the itch for another online league. If we found a commissioner, who'd be interested?

The BJHL, formerly GGNL, has one opening if you're interested (at least I haven't heard that it's been filled yet). The open team is Oklahoma. We're in the midst of the amateur draft at the moment and will be starting the 2031 season in another week or so.

If you or anyone else is interested feel free to post on our forum or send a PM to one of the commishes - mjdoom or Josia.

Posted: **Sat Mar 05, 2011 11:33 pm**

Kelric wrote:Starting to get the itch for another online league. If we found a commissioner, who'd be interested?

As I mentioned before, I might be willing to take on the responsibilities of junior, junior commish. But that would only be a perk. You need another senior.

Posted: **Sun Mar 06, 2011 12:03 am**

KW wrote:
Kelric wrote:Starting to get the itch for another online league. If we found a commissioner, who'd be interested?
The BJHL, formerly GGNL, has one opening if you're interested (at least I haven't heard that it's been filled yet). The open team is Oklahoma. We're in the midst of the amateur draft at the moment and will be starting the 2031 season in another week or so.

If you or anyone else is interested feel free to post on our forum or send a PM to one of the commishes - mjdoom or Josia.

Nice to see my old league is still kicking around. Amusing to see Manhattan as the only franchise to have stayed in one location, even though their name did change. I just wasted about fifteen minutes looking over the old Dockworkers' pages.

Posted: **Fri Jun 17, 2011 9:04 pm**

Pre-order's made. If the community doesn't decide to start a new league, those of us looking for a new one should consider joining one together, at least.

Posted: **Mon Jun 20, 2011 12:41 pm**

Markus, yesterday, estimated a 2 p.m. EST release. Get those pre-orders in while you can.

Posted: **Mon Jun 20, 2011 4:21 pm**

It's out for pre-orderers! If you didn't pre-order, you have to wait two days, now.

Posted: **Thu Jun 23, 2011 4:36 am**

I haven't had much time to play but I like the changes that I have seen. All I have noticed is really minor things. Menu enhancements. Tomorrow I will have more time to play with it.

Posted: **Thu Jun 23, 2011 9:26 am**

I'm enjoying it. It seems faster to save and load than OOTP11. I like some of the additions.

I hate the new dark skin but Markus already changed it after I posted about it

It's definitely an evolutionary release but it's a very solid one.

EDIT - One feature I'm enjoying very much is the additional news articles. Periodically I'll get something like this in the mailbox (maybe every Monday - I haven't figure out yet):

I've also seen one for "youngest players" and "best home average". Neat!

Posted: **Thu Jun 23, 2011 3:04 pm**

It's not realistic. Carlos Lee isn't on the list.

Posted: **Thu Jun 23, 2011 3:57 pm**

I'm eager to hear impressiOOns. Though I think I may be done with this series as any in-depth binges (starting with OOTP3 and all the way up to OOTP11) lead me to some horrible wrist pain. I only took me 7 versions (or near enough) to learn my lesson.

But I'd still like to hear from folks who're playing. Well, the OO folks, at least.

Posted: **Thu Jun 23, 2011 4:29 pm**

Me too, i'm on the fence with it. Seeing the feature list, not enough there for a full new iteration, on first glance. I have OOTP 11, is 12 really worth the money?

Posted: **Thu Jun 23, 2011 8:11 pm**

MindToyGames wrote:Me too, i'm on the fence with it. Seeing the feature list, not enough there for a full new iteration, on first glance. I have OOTP 11, is 12 really worth the money?

Simply put... no. If money is a concern then you should stick with OOTP 11. There are a couple of features that I like. But the most noticable ones are things like... the staff page is easier to track. All your staff are on one page and at a glance you can see exactly when their contracts run out. Many pages have little tweaks that have made managing easier, but overall the changes are very minor.

There are supposedly things like stories but I haven't seen any yet. My advice is if you are able to, then drop $40 on this indie game to support Markus.

Posted: **Thu Jun 23, 2011 11:56 pm**

Some guy named Curt stopped by the OOTP forums to chat about OOTP.

Spoiler:

Posted: **Fri Jun 24, 2011 12:14 am**

Better not be like that time "Marcus" posted on OO. He posted a positive response to one of my inquiries, and everything.

Posted: **Fri Jun 24, 2011 12:32 pm**

Exodor wrote:Some guy named Curt stopped by the OOTP forums to chat about OOTP.

Spoiler:
Curt Schilling

Curt's a big gamer so that's not all that surprising. Seems like a really cool guy. Unlike the other gaming baseball player. Todd Pratt... God he seemed like such a tool from the way he acted with the community.

Posted: **Sat Jun 25, 2011 2:10 am**

Octavious wrote:
Exodor wrote:Some guy named Curt stopped by the OOTP forums to chat about OOTP.

Spoiler:
Curt Schilling

Curt's a big gamer so that's not all that surprising. Seems like a really cool guy. Unlike the other gaming baseball player. Todd Pratt... God he seemed like such a tool from the way he acted with the community.

Did he not buy/start a game developing company that was supposed to be working on an MMORPG? That was years ago, what happened with that?

Posted: **Sat Jun 25, 2011 6:34 am**

baelthazar wrote:
Octavious wrote:
Exodor wrote:Some guy named Curt stopped by the OOTP forums to chat about OOTP.

Spoiler:
Curt Schilling

Curt's a big gamer so that's not all that surprising. Seems like a really cool guy. Unlike the other gaming baseball player. Todd Pratt... God he seemed like such a tool from the way he acted with the community.
Did he not buy/start a game developing company that was supposed to be working on an MMORPG? That was years ago, what happened with that?

Schilling's studio is called 38 Studios. They're doing kind of a unique thing with their MMO property.

First up is Reckoning, and open world, Oblivion-style RPG (single player) developed jointly by Curt's company and by Ken Rolston and Big Huge Games that is set for release this fall. Went from being kind of marginally on my radar to being something I'm very interested in based on good feedback at E3.

Then, next year, same world setting, MMO developed by solely by 38 Studios.

Posted: **Mon Jun 27, 2011 8:50 pm**

Finally got internet at the new apartment. PC is not really set up yet, not good for gaming. Have the monitor on an end table with the mouse and the keyboard in my laptop. Looking forward to downloading OOTP12 when I can, though.

Posted: **Thu Jul 21, 2011 2:14 pm**

Just completed the 2011 season with the included MLB rosters.

Texas won the series over Colorado.

I have no idea what the hell happened in the NL East. The Nationals?

As you can see my KC team stunk it up just like the real Royals. I did pull off a mid-season trade with Seattle for Michael Pineda which helped us improve later in the season.

I got Moose and Hos into my lineup and Moose put up a nice .321/.343/.556 line. The rotation is still terrible but Pineda gives me a #1 to build around.

For those still on the fence about OOTP12... if you have OOTP11 it's probably not worth the money unless you want to support Markus. There are a few minor improvements but not enough to really justify a whole new release. That said I love the series so much that I was perfectly happy to spend the $29.99 pre-order price for slight improvements.

Posted: **Fri Jul 22, 2011 6:19 pm**

Oh, hay a young guy on wiavers, let's check him out:

Holy shit.

Posted: **Fri Jul 22, 2011 6:37 pm**

Suspended for two seasons? Why? Did he murder an umpire?

Posted: **Mon Jul 25, 2011 9:25 pm**

The weird thing is it's not even listed in his history. I wonder if it's a mistake in the roster set.

In my other, long-running historical league, I present the 2010 World Series matchup

Somewhere, a Yankees fan's head just exploded.

Posted: **Tue Jul 26, 2011 2:18 pm**

Sudy Nym wrote:Suspended for two seasons? Why? Did he murder an umpire?

No, a 21-year-old Dominican. Current rights belong to the Giants, free on bail, can't get a US visa to play organized ball here.

Posted: **Tue Jul 26, 2011 2:35 pm**

Angel Villalona

In November 2009, it was announced that Villalona was released on bond, but would still face the murder charges. The victim's family asked a judge to drop the case, prompting Villalona's release, which appears related to a reported monetary settlement of approximately $139,000 that Villalona reached with the deceased's family. Villalona would have stayed in jail awaiting the former charges without the settlement. The prosecutor, however, still plans to prosecute Villalona.[7]

In March 2010, it was reported that Villalona will appear in court for a preliminary hearing on April 27, according to a report out of his hometown of La Romana. According to the report, the judge will consider the evidence and determine if the case will go to trial. Villalona has been free on bond since the settlement, but his U.S. visa has been subsequently revoked. [8]

As of April 2011, there has been no further news related to the trial or pending charges.

Posted: **Tue Jul 26, 2011 3:45 pm**

Yeah, sorry, he's a hitter, and currently the Giants have the rights to him, but he's not playing on an affiliated minor league team due to the visa issues related to the murder charge.

Posted: **Tue Jul 26, 2011 3:50 pm**

I didn't go after the info to try and dispute what you posted, I was honestly curious about the specifics.

Posted: **Tue Jul 26, 2011 3:53 pm**

Here's about the best info available on the guy. Didn't realize the Giants threw $2.1m at him back in 2006...biggest bonus they've ever paid to sign a Latin American ballplayer.

http://optionedtofresno.blogspot.com/20 ... angel.html" target="_blank

Posted: **Wed Oct 26, 2011 12:38 am**

So each player in OOTP has an "injury history" rating that vaguely describes how susceptible they are to injury. Until today I had no idea that there was an "iron man" rating.

The first player I've seen with that rating?

Mark Prior

(This is in my long-running league that started in 1969 and imported draft classes every year. I'm now in the 2013 season.)

Ever wonder how he would have performed if his arm hadn't exploded?

Um. That's OK, I guess.

Posted: **Wed Oct 26, 2011 10:39 am**

Why was he used as a reliever for a game in 2007?

Posted: **Wed Oct 26, 2011 12:24 pm**

Isgrimnur wrote:Why was he used as a reliever for a game in 2007?

Hard to say. Maybe he got booted from the rotation due to poor performance?

My guess is some extra inning game where the entire bullpen was tired.

Posted: **Wed Oct 26, 2011 12:27 pm**

Exodor wrote:
Isgrimnur wrote:Why was he used as a reliever for a game in 2007?
Hard to say. Maybe he got booted from the rotation due to poor performance?

My guess is some extra inning game where the entire bullpen was tired.

That happens to me sometimes. I also play with coaches who make their own roster decisions (in OOTPX) so a fifth starter can get bumped to spot starter/long relief during injuries or tests to see if players are ready for the majors.

Posted: **Wed Oct 26, 2011 11:31 pm**

OOTP 12 is on sale for $19.99 now. Is it worth the upgrade from 11, or just carry on with the older version?

Octopus Overlords

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