[Comedian2004]

Having been part of the beta team, I have simulated many, many seasons, I have tried many of the variations that are possible.

I think with most historicals, what you are looking for is a season with total stats at the end of the season to closely match what the MLB had in that season. You also want the leaderboards to be filled with names that were on that leaderboard in that season. You also want the AI to handle the pitchers the same way, using closers and throwing complete games.

You will get that pretty much out of the box. However, you will want to run test simulations seeing what the different options do and how they make the league change. This includes using 1, 3 or 5 day modifiers.

I usually like to change the date of the draft. Since it is a historical replay, you want the players to come in at the same time as they did in real life. So, I usually set it to December 1st. This way, they do not play in that year. The best time is to have it after the end of the season, but before the free agency starts. This will change the way the teams are making their picks.

You could also have it happen in the early part of NEXT YEAR, so they can come into the league, but they will not get a FULL season, depending on when you hold the draft. It is realist for some players, others it is not.

You have to remember the butterfly effect here. A small change can have an enourmous influence on the rest of the league. If Babe Ruth is out for the 1921 season, that has a big bearing on the rest of the league. If Ted Williams is playing in 1943 and 1944, the league has changed drastically.

Now with the autoexpansion, it has created a very fun way to play the game. Start the simulation in 1901 and then sim it until the year you want to start. Plan ahead, as it takes time to get to the later years. Maybe just start out by simming to 1910. Now you have a 10 year old league, ready for you to take a last place team and manage it to the top. Take control as manager and then make trades, etc to get the team where you think they are in better shape.

Then comes the decisions on how to play the game. I may sim a week or a month or so, but then I resign from the team. I then simulate the rest of the year and see how they do. I may stop it here and there and peek at the team. Then I move to next year. I see how well the computer handles the blueprint I set up.

I also like to follow a players career. I will hope in at mid season and find the pitcher with the best record. I go to his profile page and look at his game by game. I can then just hit FINISH DAY and watch as he rests, rests, pitches, rests, etc. You get his line score there and you can see those mean 1-0 losses. I usually watch it until it scrolls off the screen. You can go through a season pretty quick that way.

When I am done playing for the night, I turn the time machine on. I decide what season I want to warp to and tell it to sim to it then go to sleep.

I do strongly suggest using the Almanac for at least saving the box scores and cvs files every year. It does add to the time of simming, but does enhance your simulation to see things that you would not be able to.