OOTP10 Suggestions: Play-by-Play

[battists]

This suggestion thread is designed to collect suggestions for the next version of OOTP, on the following topic:

Play-by-Play

Includes
- Anything related to playing out your games, including feedback on the screens, new features, comments on play-by-play text, etc.

Excludes
- Anything outside of the "in-game engine"

Instructions
We will use this thread to collect suggestions on the above topic. Later on, we hope to present this information back to the community in a way that would allow you to vote and prioritize certain features.

If you would like to participate, here are the rules!

1. Only 1 suggestion per post.
2. Suggestions must be on-topic for the thread.
3. Constructive, non-inflammatory suggestions only.
4. No comments on others' suggestions are necessary. That means, we don't need 15 posts in the thread saying "Great idea!" or "I agree!"
5. Please don't link to other forum threads as your way of making suggestions. ("My suggestion can be found HERE.") If it's important enough to you that you want it in this thread, then it should be important enough to put it in the format I've asked for here!
6. You can certainly post suggestions that conflict with or build upon earlier suggestions.
7. Mockups are welcomed, they really help Markus see what you're interested in accomplishing.

Format for Suggestions

Suggestion
What is your suggestion? Be as specific as possible; include the screen you're talking about, if applicable.

Reason
Why do you think this is important? If this is to correct what you perceive as a problem in OOTP 2007, what is that problem? Be as specific as possible.

Priority
In your opinion, how important is this suggestion?
High (MUST have), Medium (should have), Low (nice to have))


Handy Cut-and-Paste Suggestion Form:

Suggestion


Reason


Priority


Thanks for participating!

Steve

[robc]

Suggestion
Have baserunning control. Have prompt for taking extra base or tagging up. Show pertinent ratings to make decision, including where the fielder is, their arm rating, the runners speed, etc. If all people don't like this feature perhaps make it an option that can be turned off.

Reason
Makes the game more immersive and your choices affect the outcome.

Priority
Medium

[robc]

Suggestion
A realistic bullpen. Have pitchers tire when left in the bullpen and when they are constanly warmed up and sat down.
Reason
Makes the game more immersive and your choices affect the outcome. Adds more strategy and has consequences to putting someone in the pen.

Priority
High

[Eugene Church]

Suggestion
Make a comment in the PBP when a pitcher retires all three batters in a row.

Examples:
"An easy 1-2-3 inning for [%game pitcher]."
"[%game pitcher] sets [%game teamab] down in order."
"Three up, three down for [%game pitcher]."
"[%game teamab] is retired in order."
"[%game teamab] goes down in order."
"[%game pitcher] gets [%game teamab] in order."

Reason
Would add more realism to game PBP.
Common comment for sportscasters during game.

Priority
Low (it would be nice to have)

[Eugene Church]

Suggestion
PBP commentary when pitcher strikes out the side.

Example:
"[%game pitcher] strikes out the side in the [%game inning]."
"[%game pitcher] got all three outs on strikes."
"That's three strikeouts for [%game pitcher] this inning."
"[%game pitcher] struck out the side."
"[%game pitcher] got 'em all on strikes this inning."
"[%game pitcher] got three strikeouts this inning."
"[%game pitcher] fanned three batters this inning."
"[%game pitcher] picked up three strikeouts in the inning."
"Three batters went down out on strikes this inning."
"All three outs came via strikeouts this inning."
"That's three Ks for [%game pitcher] this inning."

Reason
common for sportscasters to comment when pitcher strikes out the side.
They almost always make a reference to it.

Priority
Low (it would be nice)

[dickysty]

Suggestion

Have last years players stats lines available under current seasons in player areas of the BNN Broadcast screen.

Reason

It's great to compare current vs last seasons stats at a quick glance.

There seems to be plenty of room to fit this information.

Priority

Medium

[dickysty]

Suggestion

In the BNN Broadcast screen under the current batters information add BB and K's.


Reason

More information for better immersion.


Priority

Low

[Afino]

Suggestion

- For game 7 of the World Series, the PBP reads "This is THE game, there is no tomorrow for the loser!". Well, there's no tomorrow for the winner either.

If possible, for World Series game 7's, take the "there is no tomorrow for the loser" out and add in something else, like "8 months of hard work all comes down to this!"

Reason

- Clarity! And my OCD'ness

Priority

- Low

[jmknpk2]

Suggestion

PBP Speed Option. Add an additional option "Instant top", where the text scroll bar starts at the top of the text (instead of the bottom as it currently does), hopefully with only the first line of text showing.


Reason

This would allow user to scroll through the play-by-play at their own speed (which may vary from play to play and even line to line during a given play), without knowing the result ahead of time. Current "Instant" has text scrolled to the bottom, with the ultimate result showing. This is good for zooming fast through the game, just glancing at the results (don't remove the current option, it is handy). I want to read all of the text at my pace by using the scroll bar, but don't want to see the result (the bottom of the text), until I'm ready to scroll there.

The way I currently play, I attempt to look away from the text and pull the scroll bar to the top, however, too often I can unintentionally see the result of the play before I can get to reading the beginning of the play.

Priority

High

[Afino]

Suggestion

- When a pitcher is doing well, mentioning that "____ has set down 9 in a row!" or "____ is really rolling, retiring 12 (other team) batters in a row!"

Reason

- Another common sportscaster comment during the game

Priority

Low

[georgehounddog]

Suggestion
Add the option of having a baserunner runner steal / run & hit / hit & run on a pitch other than the 1st pitch when simming an AB at a time.

Reason
I sim an AB at a time and I usually find myself running on the 1st pitch 95% of the time (probably out of laziness / impatience).

Priority
Low - just more convenient for people playing the game the way I am.

[Afino]

Suggestion

- At the end of the game, currently it mentions that a pitcher who goes a complete game only gave up x number of hits if he had a complete game/shutout.

I'd like for it to also include if a pitcher went a complete game but NOT a shutout, but still allowed less than five hits.

Example: "_____ has a ____-hitter, striking out ____!". Currently, this line has "shutout" after "hitter".

Reason

It would be nice for pitchers who give up a solo homer and that's it or struck out a large number of batters to also be recognized at the end of the game.

Priority

Low

[Eugene Church]

Suggestion:
When the game goes into extra innings, make some reference to it in the PBP.


"The score is tied and we go to extra innings."

"The score is all knotted up and we go to overtime."

"It's overtime for the Red Sox and the Rays. We'll have to play extra innings."

"The game is tied at the end of nine innings. Get ready for extra innings."

"That the end of regulation. The score is tied and it's extra innings for Boston and Tampa."

Reason:
This is commonly done in broadcasts and would improve the PBP.

Priority:
Low (it would be nice)

[Eugene Church]

Suggestion:
Add a play result to the PBP. Have a runner forced out at third base on a groundball with runners on first and second:
6-5, shortstop to third base
4-5, second base to third base
3-5, first base to third base
1-5, pitcher to third base
2-5, catcher to third base

Also have the runner thrown out at third when there is a runner going from second to third (no one on first base).
6-5, 4-5, 3-5, 1-5, 2-5

Reason:
This is a play result that should be in the game.

Priority:
Low (it would be nice to have)

[Eugene Church]

Suggestion:
Add a play result to the PBP having a runner thrown out at home on a groundball to third base, shortstop, second base, first base and pitcher.
This would occasionally happens when the infield is playing in.
It should also happen when they are playing normal depth.

Reason:
It is a play that happen occasionally in the game.

Priority:
Low (it would be nice to have)

Also have a play result where they throw late and do not get the runner.

[Eugene Church]

Suggestion:
Add a play result: Have a runner score from third when runners are on first and third and no outs and the defense attempts a double play.
In real life, I have never seen a team not score from third when the other team attempts a double play when the infield is in.

Reason:
It seems strange in the game that a runner never tries to score from third (with runners on first and third) when the infield is in and they attempt a double play.

Priority:
Low (it would be nice)

You might also add a play result, where the runner on third is tripled up at home on the same play.

[Eugene Church]

Suggestion:
Token for team nicknames for team at bat and team on defense in the PBP.
Token for team on defense in the PBP.
I have seen the token for the team at bat: [%game teamab] in the PBP. I have not seen the token for the team on defense used: [%game teamdef]. It may exist, I just have never seen it.

Reason:
It would improve the PBP and make it sound more natural.

Priority:
Low (it would be nice)

[injury log]

I haven't really thought this through, but thought I'd get it down here at least:

Suggestion

Rare events. The history of baseball is littered with once-in-a-decade or once-in-a-century events- Steve Bartman catching a ball from the stands, Morganna running onto the field, hidden ball tricks, George Brett's pine tar incident, Joe Niekro caught with sandpaper, batters batting out of order, players not touching a base, power failures in the stadium, balls getting lost in players' shirts (Chris Truby, 2001), not to mention the very rare pbp events: unassisted triple plays, 9-3 forceouts, and all the other odd pbp combinations you can find in retrosheet. I think there was a discussion in Design last year of real life plays missing from OOTP (are there rundowns in OOTP for example?).

Reason

Running into these events on *very* rare occasions in OOTP would add a bit of colour to the game, and would make it seem more true to life.

Priority

Low to Medium.

[injury log]

Suggestion

Feed injury data to the pbp.

Reason

When injuries occur in OOTP, the pbp should mention what happened - 'Looks like Wotring hurt his elbow on that pitch... The trainer is coming out to look at him... etc'. A text field (body part- 'elbow', 'finger', 'knee' etc) could be added to injuries.txt that could be fed to the pbp.

Priority

Low.

[Afino]

Suggestion

Please fix the problem where rain delays sometimes do not show up in the PBP text.

Reason

I've had several instances (see this thread) where rain delays will not show up in the PBP text. I wouldn't know if there was a rain delay except for when my starting pitcher is "exhausted" far before he should be. This doesn't happen every time, but I'd probably say over half of the time.

Priority

Medium to High