Schedule Help, Clarification, Please

[OldFatGuy]

I know I've read on these boards somewhere that if you use an imported schedule that some people have ended up with two All-Star games. Now, I used an imported schedule last year, and everything worked perfect.

However, I am ready to begin a new season, and I do notice that both buttons under the the All-Star Game Options are checked. IIRC, this is what some suggested caused problems. So I want to clarify before I continue my season.

Should I uncheck the "Automatically Schedule All-Star Game?"

If so, why did it work perfectly last year?

Any help or clarification is much appreciated.

[Le Grande Orange]

Originally Posted by OldFatGuy

Should I uncheck the "Automatically Schedule All-Star Game?"

Yes, provided the schedule file imported has an All-Star Game date specified in it. This can be easily checked by opening the schedule file in Notepad or Wordpad (though it has an .lsdl extension, a schedule file can be opened in either Notepad or Wordpad without issue). In the header information at the top of the file, and look for the following string of text:

all_star_game_day="100"

The number inside the quotation marks indicates the day number of the season upon which the All-Star Game is scheduled to occur. In the example above, it's set to happen on the 100th day of the season. If the number inside the quotes is zero (e.g. "0") then no All-Star Game date is specified.

The "Automatically Schedule All-Star Game" option was intended for schedule files without an All-Star Game and break so that one could be inserted into it automatically by the game. OOTP finds the approximate mid-point of the schedule and then inserts a three-day break and schedules an All-Star Game for the middle day of the break.

Originally Posted by OldFatGuy

If so, why did it work perfectly last year?

Depending on exactly what kind of league setup you were using, you may have just gotten lucky, or it may relate to the way the initial season works.

[OldFatGuy]

Hey, it worked like a charm after doing just as you said. The All-Star game is there, where it should be, even though I unchecked "Automatically Schedule All-Star Game."
I thought I read somewhere that if left checked you would end up with two all-star games. But it didn't happen that way last year, but I didn't want to take any chances.

And on another positive front, I was pleasantly surprised to find that even though I used the same imported schedule, my teams' schedule was NOT identical to last years. I was afraid by using the same imported schedule every year it would result in the exact same schedule every year. While not a gamebreaker, it would've been a bummer. This was a definite pleasant surprise.

Thanks again for helping. Oh, BTW, I see folks post schedule requests here all the time. And I see some very kind and generous folks respond with the requested schedule. I find it hard to ask someone to sacrifice their precious time for free over a game for me. So, I was wondering if you were aware of any step-by-step tutorials anywhere that would teach me how to make my own??? You know, give a man a fish and he eats for a day, give him a fishing pole and he eats for a lifetime.

[Le Grande Orange]

Originally Posted by OldFatGuy

Hey, it worked like a charm after doing just as you said. The All-Star game is there, where it should be, even though I unchecked "Automatically Schedule All-Star Game."

If the schedule file has an All-Star Game date specified in it, all one needs to do is enable the "Hold All-Star Game" option and the game will use the date listed in the file.

The "Auto-adjust date if matching XML file is found" option means that the starting date in the schedule file will be used, overriding whatever date was set in schedule section of the Options tab.

The option to force the schedule start to a certain day of the week means each year the season will open on that day of the week. The schedule file contains a specific starting date, and then uses that in conjunction with the selected day of the week to open the schedule. For example, it's possible to set up a schedule so that it always opens on the first Thursday on or after April 6th. This ensures that weekend series always stay as weekend series each year.

Originally Posted by OldFatGuy

And on another positive front, I was pleasantly surprised to find that even though I used the same imported schedule, my teams' schedule was NOT identical to last years. I was afraid by using the same imported schedule every year it would result in the exact same schedule every year.

OOTP has always done that with its schedules. After each season it basically swaps around the teams within the schedule to vary the matchups each season. I'm not sure of the exact manner by which is does such swapping, though I've always thought it would be nice to give players the option to specifically select how that would happen.

You can also link a series of schedules together. For example, say you wanted to rotate interleague games on a regular basis each season. You could do that by having a series of schedule files which did that, and then by adding the appropriate comment at the end of the file name, OOTP will automatically use each schedule file in sequence, and then start over again once it has finished the last one in the set.

Originally Posted by OldFatGuy

So, I was wondering if you were aware of any step-by-step tutorials anywhere that would teach me how to make my own???

No, not really. It depends on the way one feels most comfortable working with the schedule data. I prefer working with the data presented in a form very similar to OOTP's schedule grid report, as I find that much easier to see and follow; gmo works in a way that I call more mathematically-based and builds up the schedule that way.

There are a few basic tips, such as thinking in terms of series rather than games, working out ahead of time the format of the schedule (that is, how many games against each opponent a team is to play), and determining how many weeks the schedule will run.