Welcome, Robbie
The OOTP19 tutorials are very good
The manual is also very useful
Searching for "recalc" and then choosing the "historical" page brings you here
http://manuals.ootpdevelopments.com/...-settings-page
Quote:
Player Ratings
The historical Player Ratings control how the OOTP engine rates historical players.
Option Description
Recalc player ratings based on real stats after each year Forces OOTP to recalculate player ratings (both actual and potential) after each season based on how the players performed in real life. For example, if in the next season in real life a player performed at a much higher level, his OOTP ratings will increase automatically. If this is enabled it overrides the potential ratings calculation method chosen in the Advanced Options of the Historical Game Creation Wizard. If this is not enabled, players will improve normally according to their OOTP potential ratings.
Ratings recalculation base Defines whether to base ratings recalculation on a 1-year, 3-year, or 5-year span.
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And searching for "Player development" and choosing the second "player development" options gets you here
http://manuals.ootpdevelopments.com/...er_development
Quote:
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Players' current and potential ratings change over the course of a season or a career, according to OOTP's player development model. As soon as players are created, they begin developing across the spectrum of their ratings. A number of factors can affect a player's development. Some of these can be controlled, and others cannot. Some of the key development factors are described below:
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To answer your questions
1 and 2) Yes. At the end of the current season/beginning of the new season, the game will project new statistics for all players based on their real life performance in that year and those projections will be reflected in their ratings.
3) The player development engine forgoes real life and uses the factors listed in the above link (age, coaching, performance, randomness, etc) to create career trajectories for the players in your game.