Just the facts, Ma'am...

[Cork55]

Originally Posted by battists

Several people have mentioned DMB. Is it everyone's opinion that DMB is pretty much the best out there at PBP?

I have owned DMB since it's days as Pursue the Pennant and it is indeed the King of PbP. It does not try to get too fancy but at the same time it has enough variety that things do not become too repetitive. Jack Wood is a witch with the PbP.

There are some good examples in the replays forum on the DMB web page for those who might be interested.

-Cork55

[battists]

Originally Posted by Cork55

There are some good examples in the replays forum on the DMB web page for those who might be interested.

-Cork55

Any chance someone wants to post some here, and point out what is good or bad about it? (The DMB example, that is.)

[Cork55]

Originally Posted by battists

Any chance someone wants to post some here, and point out what is good or bad about it? (The DMB example, that is.)

Here are a few examples that were posted in the DMB forums. What makes these good are that they accurately describe the play without getting too fancy.

Zambrano works
swung on and a flare to center
out goes the second baseman Grudzielanek
and he makes a backhanded
over-the-shoulder catch!
throw to first
and Lopez is OUT!
some bad baserunning there
I'd make an excuse for Lopez
but none are coming to mind

the payoff pitch to Grieve
the runners are on the move
wait a minute
a BALK has been called!
Backe dropped the ball
while standing on the rubber
and two umpires called it at the same time
Burnitz moves up 90 feet
Barrett moves along to second

Dmitri Young takes his place in the box
0 for 4 in the ballgame
infield back looking for two
2-2 on Young
here it comes
dribbler down the third base side
Politte on it like a cat
and he tossses it to Pierzynski for the out!
Logan stopped in the baseline
not realizing he was forced!

Here's Fred Schulte in the 4 spot today.
Does well against lefthanders at .303.
The 0-1 pitch lifted in the air out to center field.
Backing a bit is Combs, waiting for it and he has it for the out.
--Wait a minute--
It looks like a BALK has been called.
Manush is being sent down to second base.
Schulte moves back into the batter's box and his fly out to center NEVER happened,
annoying Zachary to no end, who throws up his arms in disbelief.

Jason Smith stands in again
3-1
Martinez fires
high popup
straight up, and WAY up there
-- the proverbial homerun in a silo --
Varitek waiting right near the plate
and he has it for the out

-Cork55

[Mr. Capo]

I posted this idea in the PBP thread in the suggestions forum a while ago, but it seems to fit in this thread, too:

How about an announcing team of two: play-by-play, and color. The color announcer can be turned off.

They could even have names, and be hired and fired like scouts or coaches. You could save money by not hiring a color guy. Better announcers could result in more media revenue.

"Flashing the leather," and "Oh-ho, doctor" get pretty tedious. Such stuff could belong to the (optional) color guy. The P-B-P guy wouldn't need to be entirely dry, as in "single to left" or "strike out." It could be like: "fly ball to short left, it falls in for a base hit," or "struck him out swinging on an inside fastball," etc.

[Curtis]

The last time I played Strat-o-Matic, maybe three years ago, the pbp was set up more or less as Mr. Capo has it. You had the option during pregame setup of using a barebones pbp, which sounds just like his P - B - P guy, or a 'full commentary', which sounds just like most of the examples of commentary in most of these posts, except for not having the glaring inconsistencies.

Eventually we all opted to go for the 'colorless' version, just to get more games in, but there were also complaints about repeated players arguing close calls and being threatened with being run when we knew no one could be thrown out of a game.

[disposableheros]

Originally Posted by battists

DreamTeam, if you haven't already, you should really check out the little tool halos17 built. It's a graphical interface to editing the XML file. It's really cool.

Introducing OTE v1

It does get kind of addictive, and what you suggested is certainly doable! (Different XML files for different "announcers.")

do you know if the planned additions are still in the works? searching and copying would be a major enhancement.