Hey folks,
each year we add tons of new features and tweaks to the game, and this year is no different. Here is the current list of new features and improvements. Since we still have two weeks of beta testing left, there likely will be some more additions. Also, this is an incomplete list, as we usually make so many changes that we forget to write them down.
Major Changes & Additions
- 2018 rosters
- New in-game screen & 3D ballparks & player animations
- Manual voting for end of season awards
- New scouting report text & player development graphs
- Tournaments may optionally take teams that already play in other leagues
- Improved in-game AI: double switches, closer/starter usage in playoffs
- Added the option to choose between six different interface fonts
- Added team leader tabs to the pre-game screen
- Manager home page now has customizable sized widgets
- Modified internal ratings calculations. Adjusted global options for ratings display.
- Recoded many screens
- Added 800 fictional team logos
Minor Changes & Additions
- Added flag for user gender
- Added the Pacific Association independent league
- Can now set a league/tournament with schedule length of 0 to create a quick custom playoff-only bracket
- Added the option to lock the league total stats (historical leagues) while keeping league total modifier recalculation active. This enables users to have a static stats enviroment.
- Added arm angle rating for pitchers
- Historical leagues now support minor leagues and roster limits when playing with real life MLB transactions & lineups
- Added L/R split stats to historical leagues. These are used for player ratings calculations and can also be displayed in the career stats.
- Improved historical simulation accuracy
- Improved defensive ratings in historical leagues
- Added 1908 & 1909 as-played lineups to historical league database
- More accurate and realistic 19th century historical league and team database
- Added accurate single game records to historical database and default MLB games.
- Added the option to choose between Opening Day and End of Season rosters in the historical exhibition mode
- Improved draft pick trading AI
- An AI team's fantasy / expansion / FA draft strategy now depends more on the GM's preference ratings, eg. wether he prefers veterans or prospects or hitters over pitchers and vice-versa.
- Unsigned high school draft picks now either go to college and re-enter the draft 3 years later or junior college and re-enter the draft the next year.
- Added RA9-WAR for pitchers, player defense breakdown by difficulty
- Added an "Extremely Low" injury frequency setting
- Columns can be sorted on the batter vs pitcher tab in the player profile screen
- Auto-load player pictures will search for BBRef-Minor-ID first
- Improved team color dialog
- Injured players no longer need to be immediately replaced in-game
- Fixed bug which caused interactive storylines to not trigger
- Added playoff history to league history page
- Moved languages and ethnicities into world.xml file. 1 to "n" languages possible now
- Can now skip player creation when adding a league to a world already in progress
- The middle mouse button now acts as a "page back" button
- Support for page navigation buttons on advanced mouse devices added
- The cursor keys up / down now let you scroll through player lists while viewing a player profile
- Added filter in coach lists for available jobs
- Added speed factor 1000 to real time simulation speed selection
- Countless other small improvements and fixes
I'll update this list during the next two weeks if we add more stuff or remember things that have been added already but not logged
Cheers!
Markus
Update 3/4:
- Added arm angle rating for pitchers. This is used for platoon splits. Historical DB contains arm angles for historical players
Update 3/5
- Added accurate single game records to historical database and default MLB games
- Added the option to choose between Opening Day and End of Season rosters in the historical exhibition mode
Update 3/6:
- Added ability to clear player strategies for all players on team
Update 3/8:
- Top prospect lists increased from 20 players per team to 30 players per team
Update 3/13
- Unsigned high school draft picks now either go to college and re-enter the draft 3 years later or junior college and re-enter the draft the next year.
- Can continue historical exhibition games in the historical exhibition mode
- Added league strategy settings for SP hook and RP hook. This allows finer control over pitcher usage patterns.
Update 3/14
- An AI team's fantasy / expansion / FA draft strategy now depends more on the GM's preference ratings, eg. wether he prefers veterans or prospects or hitters over pitchers and vice-versa.