Been Awhile

[OldFatGuy]

In case anyone remembers me, I had an issue with purchasing the game via the disk because I have dial-up internet. That turned out to be a bigger issue than I thought. They sent me the game on the disk, with the manual, but it was the old version. This took two weeks, then it two more weeks to get the disk with the patch. I decided not to even look at the game until I had the most up to date version, so that delayed me. I was unhappy with the situation but will say this, the guys have been trying to work with me to make me happy and I admire that in any business, especially an internet based one (no face to face can frequently mean no trust). Anyway, now I have a new problem and maybe someone can help, maybe not, there may be no help.

I start the game, I try a quick start, I get into the first spring training, and I AM JUST TOTALLY OVERWHELMED. I have never played any version of OOTP before, and maybe that's the problem. This game has so much that I don't know where to start, and then after an hour or two I get frustrated, turn it off, and leave it for a few days.

It's always on my mind though, as it looks so AWESOME. So I come back, try again for awhile, and get frustrated again. Yesterday it was my first crack at a PBP game, and it took as long to play as a RL MLB game. That is certainly not what I expected, or want. But I'm probably doing something wrong there as well.

Anyway, sorry for the length, I'll get to the point. I've read/skimmed the manual, fired up the game several times and the only other thing I know to try is the video tutuorials. Now, with dial-up internet that's a non-starter. So, here's what I'm wondering. Would anyone out there mind burning all of those video tutorials onto a CD and snail mailing them to me??? (I realize there would be a fee involved) And do you think it would even do any good??? Have others like me who are completely overwhelmed come around or do they usually end up giving up on the game?

Man I read these forums to two weeks and the reviews BEFORE I purchased, and it just seems like such a wonderful baseball sim, but I am old and, well, you know what they say about an old dog and new tricks.

EDIT: And a suggestion for the the sellers; wouldn't be a bad idea to include the video tutorials on the disk when people opt for the purchase of the disk.

[spitta]

OFG, Take your time and enjoy. It can seem overwhelming at times but eventually you will understand it more. I've been playing for many years now and still find things I've never seen before.

Try using "one pitch" mode instead of "pitch by pitch" mode. It'll go a lot faster that way.(bottom right in play by play box)

[1998 Yankees]

Originally Posted by spitta

OFG, Take your time and enjoy.

What he said. Never mind the crap about being too old to learn new tricks. This is what gives you away: "It's always on my mind though, as it looks so AWESOME." That means you have enough interest to learn, if you give it time. And if you know how to run a computer, you can learn how to play this game. Stick with it! You'll be glad you did.

Here's my specific advice: Load the quicks-start game, but delegate everything to your AI manager on the Manager Options page. Then, just observe, day by day, what goes on. Look at reports and transaction logs until you get the hang of it. I hope to see you back here someday, OFG, to help us answer these noob questions!

[Kelric]

Start small as well, with a league of 8 teams or something with either three levels of minors or no minors whatsoever. Starting with a MLB-like league with 30 teams and 5 levels of minors (and sometimes six minor league teams) is nuts when you're completely unfamiliar with the game.

Also, when playing out the games you can turn off pitch by pitch and instead have the game 'fast forward' to the pitch that matters in the AB - ball four, strike three, actual contact off the bat. Doing that you can crank a game out in 15-30 minutes depending how fast you read through/have the pbp set/how long the game takes in innings and pitches. I find I usually go through a game in 20 minutes.

[petrel]

Hey, right now I'm a complete newbie and I'm loving the OOTP experience. The depth is nothing short of incredible.

I also downloaded an earlier version of OOTP (v. 5?) and found it almost incomprehensible. Even now, with the new version, I'm learning new things every day. (I came over from Baseball Mogul, a great game but not one offering the depth of OOTP.)

Furthermore, if you have a question, someone will jump in and make a serious attempt to answer. I like that.

--Pet

[OldFatGuy]

Hi Petrel.

[OldFatGuy]

Thanks for all the replies. Since no one is offering to mail me the video tutorials can I take that to mean they don't help much or it would be more trouble than I'm probably thinking??? It's cool either way, I'm just wondering whether to try to acquire them another way (knock on neighbors doors and beg/plead/steal hi-speed internet access ) or if it's your collective opinion they may not help me, and I'm better off just continuing to muddle away and get the feel for it my way.

I can tell you after about 2 hours of being befuddled I tend to get irritated, but then can't stay away from it either. OOTP and I have been going around in this circle for over two weeks now, sort of funny, sort of maddening, but definitely not something I can continue. Anyway, thanks again, guess I'll keep trying. And another suggestion for the marketers, maybe for old geezers like me a printed manual would help. I don't seem to follow the manual as closely looking on a screen, whereas maybe I would've gotten more out of it laying in bed at night or, most particularly, during my morning constitution, best reading of the day done there . Be cool if that were an option (understand the cost is more).

[eriqjaffe]

Originally Posted by OldFatGuy

I'm just wondering whether to try to acquire them another way (knock on neighbors doors and beg/plead/steal hi-speed internet access

Does your local public library offer internet access?

[OldFatGuy]

Originally Posted by eriqjaffe

Does your local public library offer internet access?

Oh man, that's the ticket!!! I hadn't considered that because when I was looking at purchasing, I went to the local library to see if I could download the game there and bring it home. The only way you could download something at our library was to purchase their disks (were afraid of viruses) and they were 3 1/4 inch diskettes!!!! Can you imagine that for the game itself???

But you're right, no need to copy it to disk this time, I can just view them at the library. Man, you get old your brain just goes completely dead. Thanks for reminding me, like I said after the experience when I was looking at purchasing the game I just totally disregarded the library.

[1998 Yankees]

One more piece of advice that I thought of on the way home: RTFM.

That is, Read The Manual (I leave the other initial undefined in this acronym that the author was using in his exasperation early on, while answering questions that were easily referenced therein).

The economics of this game prevent a printed manual. That's too bad because I'm like you; I like a printed manual in hand to read. I guess you did not take my suggestion to print a few pages out at a time for perusal in the "throne room."

Seriously, though, my understanding and appreciation for this game went up exponentially by reading through the thing from cover to cover. Twice.

First, while I respect those who disdain manuals and just "plow right in" to learn, I know there are things that they miss in a complicated game such as this one because they did not at least scan the manual topic by topic.

Second, the manual is very well done. It is instructive and you will learn much more from it than you will from viewing the tutorials (although those are good too).

Read the manual in sections on your computer. Set a goal of a section at a time and do this while you have OOTP open. You know how (on a PC at least) you can press ALT and TAB together to switch between programs? This would be a good way to observe in your game what the manual is discussing at any point. It seems to me that you will learn things quickly that way while following the suggestions offered above as well.

It's a game, OFG, not a job. The goal is to have fun. Yes, it's complicated and tough to learn but it could not be simple and easy and still hold your attention for very long. If you have the interest in it that you seem to indicate in your previous post, learning it and setting up your baseball universe will turn into fun once you get over this initial hurdle. Let's go!

[myasu]

Hi OFG!

I have a brother who is also a Japanse, does not speak English almost at all and, HE IS FAT!

I told him about this game about 6 months ago because he loves baseball as much as I do, and he purchased this game without even trying a demo!
He had to call me as often as 3~4 times a day to ask me how to play it, but after like couple of weeks, he did not need my help anymore.

Here is my point.
If my brother, who does not really understand English, not young, FAT, could do it, I beliece you should be able to do it!

I am not much of a teacher here, but I would be more than happy to help you if I see you around here!!!

[1998 Yankees]

OFG, I don't think you will need any more encouragement now that these two guys ^^^ have had their say!

[OldFatGuy]

Originally Posted by 1998 Yankees

One more piece of advice that I thought of on the way home: RTFM.

That is, Read The Manual (I leave the other initial undefined in this acronym that the author was using in his exasperation early on, while answering questions that were easily referenced therein).

The economics of this game prevent a printed manual. That's too bad because I'm like you; I like a printed manual in hand to read. I guess you did not take my suggestion to print a few pages out at a time for perusal in the "throne room."

Seriously, though, my understanding and appreciation for this game went up exponentially by reading through the thing from cover to cover. Twice.

First, while I respect those who disdain manuals and just "plow right in" to learn, I know there are things that they miss in a complicated game such as this one because they did not at least scan the manual topic by topic.

Second, the manual is very well done. It is instructive and you will learn much more from it than you will from viewing the tutorials (although those are good too).

Read the manual in sections on your computer. Set a goal of a section at a time and do this while you have OOTP open. You know how (on a PC at least) you can press ALT and TAB together to switch between programs? This would be a good way to observe in your game what the manual is discussing at any point. It seems to me that you will learn things quickly that way while following the suggestions offered above as well.

It's a game, OFG, not a job. The goal is to have fun. Yes, it's complicated and tough to learn but it could not be simple and easy and still hold your attention for very long. If you have the interest in it that you seem to indicate in your previous post, learning it and setting up your baseball universe will turn into fun once you get over this initial hurdle. Let's go!

I too am crazy, no actually anal, about reading manuals. When my son still lived at home and we would buy a new Intellivision (old game I know but there used to be a system long time ago pre-nintendo) the FIRST thing I would do is have us (me) read the manual, drive the poor lad nuts. He just wanted to play. Been that way since. Whenever I buy a game, I read the manual BEFORE I ever install it. I'm just finding it so much more difficult to follow onscreen (must be a mental thing) and I printed out over 100 pages and purchased a new ink jet cartridge before I tired of that. I know its beayitching, but I wish they would offer the printed manual as an option for an extra $10/$15 bucks, I would spring.

Anyways, again, thanks for all the replies. I'm gonna go to the library this weekend and view the tutorials and see if that helps. And I'll keep plowing through it at least until I get so frustrated I do finally just give up. One or the other will happen I guess. World won't end either way.

EDIT: Although I will say for others on the fence, if this has taught me anything, it has taught me the value of the demo. I think if I had tried the demo I may have just shied away, or maybe not I dunno it's SO VERY INTRIGUING, but it wasn't an option with me with dial-up internet access. If you can, try the demo before purchase. Highly recommend it.

[Kelric]

Seriously, try a small league and go slow.

Ask more questions on here.

What exactly are you having trouble with?

[1998 Yankees]

I think we lost him, Kelric. The game's not for everyone.

[OldFatGuy]

Lost me??? Woww nellie, slow down. I just posted I'm going to the library this weekend and gonna give the video tutorials a try. Are those tutorials THAT bad?????????

[magnet]

FWIW, I didn't even know video tutorials existed for this game.

Happy to help!

[OldFatGuy]

Originally Posted by Kelric

Seriously, try a small league and go slow.

Ask more questions on here.

What exactly are you having trouble with?

I did just that, using the initial quickstart 16 team league with no minors. First off, no job. OK, I know I CAN go into commish mode and take a job, but what if I don't, will I EVER get offered one in such a league???? After all, it was my thinking that when I did figure the game out it might be more fun to have to accept a job rather than picking my own (another step of realism). So what do I do in the meantime??? Well, sim I suppose. So I did that for awhile. Stats started appearing, I began to want to follow up on some info, learn where to look, etc.

And the thing is I read the first 100 pages of the manual, which was quite a bit about menus and where to find stuff, but then whenever I sit down in front of the game I still feel lost. The user interface is unlike anything I've ever used in a baseball game, so finding out where to do simple things turns into 15-20 minutes of trial and error or searching the manual.

The other day I started a PBP game, went so slow I couldn't believe it, and then there was no way to stop it (I had the computer control everything as I just wanted to watch). I tried everything, finally had to walk over to the wall and unplug the computer.

The thing is that the depth this game offers; the way facegen and unis and caps personalize and "make real" the players, the ability to use Lehman to use RL historical players, among many, many, many, many more attributes that make this game seem SO AMAZING, I just don't want to give up yet.

In short when I start the game I feel like a little leaguer at Yankee stadium, sort of like I know I'm way out of my league, but man I'd like to get there someday. I dunno, like I said, I'm gonna keep trying for awhile. Then, also like I said, if I succeed and play for years or if I finally give up the world won't end either way, it is just a game after all.

[1998 Yankees]

Originally Posted by OldFatGuy

Lost me??? Woww nellie, slow down.

Hmmm. Nope, I don't think you have it in you. Sorry.

[OldFatGuy]

Could be right.