What’s the most exciting position to play in baseball? Pitcher? Batter? Catcher? Outfielders? Basemen? Short Stop?
All good guesses! And yet, all of them are wrong.
No, the most exciting position isn’t even on the field! I’m talking about the position of Team Manager. The thrill of sorting through detailed player statistics and assigning field tasks and batting orders to the players. The riveting excitement of comparing and contrasting performance on either a team by team or player by player basis. The unmitigated adrenaline rush that comes with draft pick negotiations.
Alright, moment of truth time. Did the above actually sound exciting to you? Because if so, do I have the game for you. Out of the Park Baseball 12 is out, and here’s some of what the game offers in this release:
* Revamped Financial System – Contract negotiations are more realistic and fun with revamped artificial intelligence (AI) and the ability for players to now employ vesting options, buyouts, minor league split contracts, signing bonuses, and more performance bonus options.
* Improved trading AI includes the option for trades to include remaining contract payments, and a new Financial Settings tab in the fictional league setup screen lets players easily see if their custom financial settings will work. A new player development screen offers a snapshot look at the player development budget, the organization’s positional depth chart, and more.
* Online Leagues – With minimal clicks, players can apply to manage a team in an online league or set one up as a commissioner. Online leagues can be made public and advertised within the game, and several key improvements increase the upload and download time of data.
* Greater Immersion and Realism – Players have new ways to interact with the athletes on their teams, and expanded storylines add to OOTP’s “alternate history” feel, with a new league newspaper screen that puts the latest league news in one handy place.
* Historical leagues have also been improved with optional real-life transactions, as-played lineups, and automatic calculation of league total stat output modifiers, which keeps the simmed results in line with reality. In addition, all leagues now have a simulation module in which two clubs can be matched up for a certain number of games. That last option is perfect for seeing how teams from different eras would have fared against each other.
* Other Core Engine Improvements: 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; WAR (Wins Above Replacement) as an included statistic; a playoff roster for more realistic team transactions; a greatly enhanced world database structure, resulting in more realistic fictional league and player creation; and more.
Victor Grunn has been a gamer since the days of single-button joysticks and the Atari 800XL. When not lamenting the loss of the Ultima series or setting people on fire in Team Fortress 2, he's an aspiring indie game developer and freelance writer.
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