Anyone tried OOTP 2007 yet?

[JimboJ]

I'm on the fence about buying this, although I will probably at least try the demo at some point. I'm interested to know if anyone else has tried it yet, and get your thoughts on it.

[jono]

I'm thinking about trying the demo too but hearing that the game has a 500+ page manual is making me think twice, by the time I finish the manual the 21 day demo will be over.  I love baseball but the game may be way too deep for me.

[akcranker]

I'm going to download the demo and try and.. and who needs manual??

[dneely]

I was on the Beta team and like the new version! I hated the 2006 game and never played it after a month or so. Yes it does have a 500plus page manual, but that is more because of the depth of the manual and the details it goes into. The game is MUCH easier to navigate and even an old foggy like me can easily set it up and play. My biggest complaint's are still no sounds or in-game graphics like I enjoy in PureSim. But that is the designer decision and not a deal breaker for me! I love the simplicity and ease of play in PS and the depth in OOTP 2007 is scary. But you don't have to get caught up in all that and the multi levels of minors in countries around the world unless you want it.

Try the demo, give it some time!!! it does have a steep learning curve but once you get used to it I have found it easy and fun to play

[puresimmer]

Guys, this is heresey! Don't leave me please!

Just kidding OOTP has always been a great game.

Shaun

[JWW]

Interesting, I read some stuff about OOTP 2007 on another forum.  I still have 6.5 on my computer and think it was a great game.  I read all the stuff about 2006 and don't know if I want the complexity of 2007. 
 
Anyway, I had not played with PS 2007 since last fall, so I checked this forum after remembering I was missing some updates and updated all the way to CE3 and just simmed a season with my fictional league.  I saw some nice things with the updates, and this game has just about the complexity level I live.  Now I"m going to go look at some of the add-ons I was reading about a few minutes ago.
 
Bottom line:  The release of OOTP2007 resulted in me updating PS2007 and playing it some more.

[mking55]

I have purchased every version of OOTP since V2. Although I always found too many problems with it (too easy to win, idiotic GM AI's) and had to stop playing solo I ran a few online leagues and participated in others for a few years. I always bought the game without the demo because I like to support the efforts of independant sports game developers. However, OOTP2006 was a huge disappointment in almost all ways and I didn't play it very long. Once bitten, twice shy.

I downloaded the demo of OOTP2007 and tried it to decide if I would buy it. I have nowhere gone into all the features but for the type of game I play I was satifsfied enough to purchase it again. The few reviews I've read on their forums indicate the same level of satisfaction that I experienced. They hated 2006 and with 2007 they feel the game is back on track.

Of course, try the demo first. It's a 21 day demo which is good but you can only play each season for 6 months so you don't get to try out the offseason which has always been one of my favorite parts of playing (draft, free agents). But from what I saw I'm willing to take the chance that the offseason will be fine.

I like that OOTP and PureSim are so different. I love PureSim and I feel I can play both and have 2 different gaming experiences. My only real "problem" is that I hate "house rules" and it's still too easy to win every year. I did computer programming for many years as my job but never had to do anything as complex as a baseball game GM AI would be. The challenge is enormous. I don't feel OOTP or PureSim has succeeded to create enough of a challenge to stop me (and others I'm sure) from kicking butt. I'm amazed at the efforts of the developers to have done what they have done but that all elusive AI that challenges you to the fullest is still somewhere in the future, if at all.

[lynchjm24]

ORIGINAL: puresimmer

Guys, this is heresey! Don't leave me please!

Just kidding OOTP has always been a great game.

Shaun

Didn't you leave us? [:-]

[:)]

[puresimmer]

ORIGINAL: lynchjm24

ORIGINAL: puresimmer

Guys, this is heresey! Don't leave me please!

Just kidding OOTP has always been a great game.

Shaun

Didn't you leave us? [:-]

[:)]

Last time I checked there have been 3 free CE updates, with a 4th coming today.

[Nukester]

Well, I hated OOTP2006 (I have versions 2,3,4,and 5 also. Dont have 6) which prompted me to check out PureSim for the first time. After reading about OOTP2007, I did decide to buy it. I havent mucked around with it much yet, but the updates in the interface and the historical aspect of the game sound like a step in the right direction for me.

However, that said, I have to say that I really think PS is a great sim, and was bummed that Shaun wasnt going to do PS2008.......but then there was the CE edition announcement, the release of the SDK, then an update, then another update, then another update....and I was like "wait a sec....this game isnt dead. Maybe PS2008 wont be published under the official name of PS2008, but afer a few more updates, you could probably call the game PS2008 if you really wanted to".

[jearly]

I'm in agreement with mking55 - PureSim and OOTP are different enough to have two different Gaming experiences. I was also one that Very much disliked OOTP 2006, but after reading reviews that the fun was back like in 6.5 I went ahead and prepurchased it. I must say to this point I have not been disappointed. If you experienced the earlier versions of OOTP - I think you will like this. (Custom League setup, Logo importation, Team Colors, and Face Gen add alot of nice things)

Since this is actually a PureSim Site thou - I must say - Shaun I will be sticking with you, This is a great game, and I have always been impressed with the commitment you have to it. But, mostly I'm stickin is cause its a blast to play.

[Nukester]

ORIGINAL: jearly
Since this is actually a PureSim Site thou - I must say - Shaun I will be sticking with you, This is a great game, and I have always been impressed with the commitment you have to it. But, mostly I'm stickin is cause its a blast to play.

Right. I didnt really express that in my post above, but I should have added that I certainly am going to keep my PS experience going. I think its a great game, and am intrigued with what Shaun can do with it in the future. Ill definitly be around for awhile

[lynchjm24]

[/quote]


Last time I checked there have been 3 free CE updates, with a 4th coming today.
[/quote]

Touche Salesman.

[dneely]

I have NO intention of leaving PureSim, I love this game and Shaun has proven he is going to continue to update, refine and improve a great game. I don't have enough free time but I intend to play both OOTP and PureSim and do various and different projects and leagues with both.

[akcranker]

Well I played around with the demo for a few hours last night and wow there's alot in OOTP.. I took over one of the bottom tier teams.. I think below A level..

I do like the pitch by pitch decision making you can make while managing a game and I like the pbp which seems very in depth and tells you how the batter has done for the day.  Which to me seems like it will pull from the batters stats later in the season and say something like "Pujols has 72 homers this season, can he hit #73 today?".  I've seen pbp kinda like that in my first game.

The thing I didn't like about the managing game was no sounds.. and no ball flight.. I love in Puresim being able to watch the ball.

[ravinhood]

Well you guys know me I rarely ever buy a game retail, but, I got OOTPBB 2007. It's excellent. The FaceGen is excellent, no more boxes with question marks in them. FaceGen is like a random map generator we all love in games and it gives each player their own unique face. You can also click thru faces and beards and backgrounds until you find the face that you want for that player. The computer will always generate one anyways if you have FacGen turned on.

The trading AI is up to par with "my" standards on "hard" settings. It still has some issue with it's average minor leaguers giving them away, but, if you house rule it to 3 players for 1 the rest of it's trading habits are great. It's also better at getting younger players and not paying out the ying yang for older players whos stats have dropped off the charts. It also has "make this trade happen now" features that basically have the AI tell you what it wants for their player(s). This is usually an most common one of your 25 ML players or someone off your 40 man roster. Rarely or actually so far never have I seen it ask for a draft pick or money. It also has a new feature called "shop player" which brings up a list of teams and players they are willing to offer for that particular player. This is a great new feature and can save you hours of trading time.

There is also so much more you can do with your coaches now as you can set their strategy for how you want them to coach just like you can set your own. You have lots more scouts now instead of just one. You can send them in all different directions to scout or have them all scout something at the same time and just like players you'll have to determine which scout you can trust most. Though just like in real life no scout is perfect.

It has draft pick trading now. Probably one of my favorite features of the new game. Now you don't always have to give up your star players in trades you can give up prospects instead thru draft pick trading.

With the new ways you can adjust and setup the game and modifiers you can get historical accuracy much much better than before. It's almost like the real thing now to me.

I recommend it of course, but, it's always been my favorite statistical baseball game since Front Page Sports Baseball 98. The only thing for me that is still missing is player animations batting, hitting and running the bases and throwing outs. Maybe in the future someday.

You can also now manage a minor league team, basically start out at the bottom and try to work your way up into the majors. This is another role playing element of the game you just don't see in other games. Try going from Single A to the majors it ain't easy baby. lol

It is true this version has no sound, I actually don't know why Markus chose to exclude sound, but, it doesn't make it a bad game because it has no sound. That's bascially just fluff anyway and if you are a baseball simmer you know that the fluff really doesn't interest you if the rest of the the game has no stuff. For those that like to coach it has all the bells and whistles you mostly could want. All that pitch by pitch stuff (I never play that, too boring and takes too long lol). I don't mind watching it like in FPSBB 98, but, I don't want to have to call a pitch every single time.

To me it's like a major overhaul of 6.5a, but, of course it's not perfect and it does have some design issues I'd rather have been fixed or changed like the auto default top of the page scroll bar every single time you back space back to a page with a scroll bar. If you got used to 6.5a you'll have to get reaquainted with where things are again for sure. It doesn't have the full page features of 6.5a in several places and you have to call up other windows to get to some stats that you want more often than none. You can also create and edit your own uniforms now from caps, to shirts to logos and team names, this portion will be modders dream come true. I'm no modder, so, I'll just download what will be offered and there's going to be lots of stuff modders are doing for this portion. Like team names across players chests on their jerseys.

The main thing I see at the official site is many people are excited over the accuracy of the stats. The high ERA's of 6.5a are a thing of the past also. Pitchers that pitched 2's and 3's ERA's are pitching 2's and 3's ERA's. I'm more of a fantasy simmer myself, more interested in building a dynasty than playing a season over. Though I will use actual players of the present to start out my fantasy leagues.@MKing55 If one is willing to put in the time setting up the game and the strategy for each team I think they will find a very challenging and fun experience with OOTP 2007.

[Crimguy]

I bought OOTP after playing the demo all week.  Fun game.  PureSim seems like more fun.

However, being a FM player, I really enjoy the depth of OOTP, and the greater number of player attributes.  Facegen is surprisingly cool, and the pitching rotation setup is very nice.

[PadresFan104]

I'll never leave the PureSim family, but I have to admit that I am having a good time with OOTP this year, having bought it last year, but only spending about 15 minutes with it before I erased it from my HD.  I just started a dynasty thread here where you can see some screenshots from the game...

[puresimmer]

As long as you guys don't desert me.

BTW, I am coming out of my 4 month semi-retirement soon. This is in my blood

[SirWolf1960]

Sure, drop a bombshell like that by saying, "Oh, by the way."!!! [:D]
 
I am happy for the news. I hope your family supports that decision. I'm pretty sure those of us on this board do.  [:)]
 
Steve