Ballpark Editing,Park Factors

PhillieFever · 05-11-2008, 02:45 PM

While looking through the specs for the historic ballparks,I noticed that fence distances and wall heights are incorrect in most parks.My question is will changing them to what they should be make any difference at all as far as player stats go.Example,in Shibe Park from right center to right field there was a scoreboard 50 feet high would adding that have the effect that it should?(less homers,more doubles) or would it not matter at all.Also as far as ballpark effects go,are they just for weather?Thanks for the help guys.

Nukester · 05-11-2008, 05:02 PM

The wall distances and heights dont make any difference, except I believe for some play-by-play calls. Its the park factors that make the difference. So you can set your wall distances to 1000 feet, and there will be just as many homers than if you set the distance to 300 feet, except the HR's will be 1000+ ft shots instead of 300+ ft shots. The park factors are what will adjust totals for that particular park. So for instance if you want the park to have 10% more HR's than an "average" park, you would set the HR factor to 1.10. If you want 20% less doubles than an "average" park, you would set the doubles park factor to .800

Charlie Hough · 05-11-2008, 09:20 PM

PhillieFever, don't conclude from Nukester's posting that you can't insure that wall heights and other park dimensions have an impact on game results. Download Gambo's stadium chart, which is an Excel spreadsheet that allows you to see ballpark factors calculated according to various stadium dimensions and characteristics.

Use the dimensions from the chart to set up your historical ballparks. You can also create your own ballparks or have them randomly generated by using the same spreadsheet. By studying the historical and current ballparks included in the chart, you'll gain a better understanding of how dimensions should theoretically affect OOTP. However, as Nukester pointed out, you have to implement those effects by using the ballpark factors. Simply changing ballpark dimensions will not have the desired result.

PhillieFever · 05-11-2008, 10:16 PM

Thank you both,I appreciate it.I will most definitely use that chart

conception · 05-11-2008, 10:36 PM

The thing with wall heights is that in real life there are still a lot of factors that affect the park factors. Coors Field has always been a huge park fencewise but the thin air makes the ball travel tremendously. Wrigley Field has the wind factor. I don't mind the wall heights being entirely cosmetically.

blackrussian · 05-11-2008, 10:48 PM

im really surprised that foul territory hasnt been included in ballpark factors yet. surely it can represent a few runs a year (+/-) or more depending on the size. fenway park has virtually no foul ground while oakland's park has huge foul territory. im hoping it can be added at some point, since it is not simply a cosmetic feature.

conception · 05-11-2008, 11:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blackrussian

im really surprised that foul territory hasnt been included in ballpark factors yet. surely it can represent a few runs a year (+/-) or more depending on the size. fenway park has virtually no foul ground while oakland's park has huge foul territory. im hoping it can be added at some point, since it is not simply a cosmetic feature.

I've actually thought the same thing, but I realize that foul territory contributes to the park factor avg. It would be nice to have in the game, but the effect on the game wouldn't be too great because the outs would still occur. It would have an effect, however, on certain plays where foul fly balls are caught in the OF and runners score, but these plays are rare.

05-11-2008, 02:45 PM	#1 (permalink)
PhillieFever Major Leagues Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: South Philly Posts: 434	Ballpark Editing,Park Factors While looking through the specs for the historic ballparks,I noticed that fence distances and wall heights are incorrect in most parks.My question is will changing them to what they should be make any difference at all as far as player stats go.Example,in Shibe Park from right center to right field there was a scoreboard 50 feet high would adding that have the effect that it should?(less homers,more doubles) or would it not matter at all.Also as far as ballpark effects go,are they just for weather?Thanks for the help guys. Last edited by PhillieFever : 05-11-2008 at 03:12 PM.

05-11-2008, 05:02 PM	#2 (permalink)
Nukester All Star Starter Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Newburgh, NY Posts: 1,911	The wall distances and heights dont make any difference, except I believe for some play-by-play calls. Its the park factors that make the difference. So you can set your wall distances to 1000 feet, and there will be just as many homers than if you set the distance to 300 feet, except the HR's will be 1000+ ft shots instead of 300+ ft shots. The park factors are what will adjust totals for that particular park. So for instance if you want the park to have 10% more HR's than an "average" park, you would set the HR factor to 1.10. If you want 20% less doubles than an "average" park, you would set the doubles park factor to .800 __________________ Well, I don't really think that the end can be assessed as of itself as being the end because what does the end feel like? It's like saying when you try to extrapolate the end of the universe, you say, if the universe is indeed infinite, then how - what does that mean? How far is all the way, and then if it stops, what's stopping it, and what's behind what's stopping it? So, what's the end, you know, is my question to you. Last edited by Nukester : 05-11-2008 at 05:06 PM.

05-11-2008, 09:20 PM	#3 (permalink)
Charlie Hough All Star Reserve Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 674	PhillieFever, don't conclude from Nukester's posting that you can't insure that wall heights and other park dimensions have an impact on game results. Download Gambo's stadium chart, which is an Excel spreadsheet that allows you to see ballpark factors calculated according to various stadium dimensions and characteristics. Use the dimensions from the chart to set up your historical ballparks. You can also create your own ballparks or have them randomly generated by using the same spreadsheet. By studying the historical and current ballparks included in the chart, you'll gain a better understanding of how dimensions should theoretically affect OOTP. However, as Nukester pointed out, you have to implement those effects by using the ballpark factors. Simply changing ballpark dimensions will not have the desired result. Last edited by Charlie Hough : 05-11-2008 at 09:26 PM.

05-11-2008, 10:48 PM	#6 (permalink)
blackrussian All Star Reserve Join Date: Apr 2002 Posts: 838	im really surprised that foul territory hasnt been included in ballpark factors yet. surely it can represent a few runs a year (+/-) or more depending on the size. fenway park has virtually no foul ground while oakland's park has huge foul territory. im hoping it can be added at some point, since it is not simply a cosmetic feature. __________________ v'

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05-11-2008, 10:16 PM	#4 (permalink)
PhillieFever Major Leagues Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: South Philly Posts: 434	Thank you both,I appreciate it.I will most definitely use that chart

05-11-2008, 10:36 PM	#5 (permalink)
conception Major Leagues Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 317	The thing with wall heights is that in real life there are still a lot of factors that affect the park factors. Coors Field has always been a huge park fencewise but the thin air makes the ball travel tremendously. Wrigley Field has the wind factor. I don't mind the wall heights being entirely cosmetically.