Please Help...Database/Getting Started Issue

[raidermike]

Hi Guys,

A friend and I are trying to start a new historical league using OOTP 11 and I have a few questions on how to best go about doing that.

We are each going to take an expansion team (Dbacks/Rays) and begin with the expansion draft. Do we have to create a historical league for 1997 and then simulate through it to get to the 1998 expansion draft or is there a way to start with the draft?

We don't want to use any fictional players and we are looking to have the "real" rookies generated, but placed into the amateur draft (instead of being placed on their historical teams). At that point, we aren't concerned with the "historical accuracy" of the league. Instead, we're going to just let the chips fall where they may and kind of "rewrite" history. Which database should we be using under these circumstances?

Lastly, I did a quick test setup using the default database and I notice teams have an "extra players" list instead of actual minor league systems. Is there an easy way to switch it to minor leagues? We don't even mind if rookie leagues and low A aren't included, but it would be nice to have at least A, AA, and AAA. Tracking prospect progression is one of the most fun features in the game.

Thank you in advance for your help!

[Charlie Hough]

Originally Posted by raidermike

We are each going to take an expansion team (Dbacks/Rays) and begin with the expansion draft. Do we have to create a historical league for 1997 and then simulate through it to get to the 1998 expansion draft or is there a way to start with the draft?

Yes.

We don't want to use any fictional players and we are looking to have the "real" rookies generated, but placed into the amateur draft (instead of being placed on their historical teams). At that point, we aren't concerned with the "historical accuracy" of the league. Instead, we're going to just let the chips fall where they may and kind of "rewrite" history. Which database should we be using under these circumstances?

Just use the default Lahman database. The key is simply to use your league settings to make sure that there is a draft scheduled and that rookies are NOT assigned to their real life teams.

Lastly, I did a quick test setup using the default database and I notice teams have an "extra players" list instead of actual minor league systems. Is there an easy way to switch it to minor leagues?

Yes. You probably used a default setting from the historical game wizard, or maybe you went into the advanced mode and didn't realize that you have to create the additional minor league levels.

If you use the wizard and pay attention to the steps, you can add minor league levels as you're about to create a new game. I usually use the wizard for the first several steps of the setup process, and once I get to the final screen that asks for my personal info and managerial choices, I go into the advanced mode. That way I can access many more settings and adjust them accordingly.