Any interest in a Contintental League save, circa 1961?

[uruguru]

Originally Posted by Déjà Bru

This save has reignited the flames of OOTP for me! Not that it takes much — it happens periodically with the slightest of sparks, sometimes even by spontaneous combustion — but your project was the lit match this time. Thanks again.

The authenticity of the names really helps with the immersion, at least for me. I know the coaches of this time as well as the players, so seeing a completely fictional slate of coaches always throws me off a bit. I would totally help research all of these for the game if it was ever implemented as a default feature.


Glad you are enjoying it! I just had 77 minor-league offers accepted.. woot!

[Pelican]

I can't really complain. I've been able to sign some decent free agents, including Sandy Koufax coming off a bad year and thus at a discount, great stuff but no control. Missed out on all the big guys, whose demands continually escalated, and probably they did not prefer the Continental League. Speaking of which, the other Continental teams have been pretty passive in notable FA signings, although like me active in the Rule V Draft. Maybe they too are getting outbid or guys want to play in the NL and AL.

I lost out on Camilio Pascal and Jackie Jensen, plus a guy I never heard of, Aldo Salvent, who had a breakout year with Cleveland and then retired at age 31. I unretired him, and the A's signed him to a huge seven-year contract. Maybe that was for the best.

Trades have been wild, even after I set AI trade frequency back. Hank Aaron, Frank Robinson, Willie Mays and others changed teams. The Yanks have Ernie Banks and Ken Boyer, to go with Mantle and Maris. But no pitching.

Just realized that I still have about fifty spots to fill in my minor league system, and at this point I may let the AI pick those players for me. The good news is, I currently have around fifteen age and talent-appropriate guys at each minor league level, so just need to fill in positions, mostly pitchers.

The big lesson is that free agency all at once with eight new teams bidding is chaotic - the owners' worst nightmare. No wonder guys are coming out of retirement to play.

[Pelican]

Also, I need to load the schedule files. I just started Spring Training, and noticed the schedule is blank for regular season and for Spring games. I'm fine with the round robin, and can load that. Any advice on that process??

[uruguru]

Originally Posted by Pelican

Also, I need to load the schedule files. I just started Spring Training, and noticed the schedule is blank for regular season and for Spring games. I'm fine with the round robin, and can load that. Any advice on that process??

When the preseason starts, go to the schedule editor (League Settings->Options->Edit League Schedule) and load the Continental.lsdl schedule. That will schedule 154 games for each of the 24 teams.


Please read the Spring Training section in the READ_FIRST.txt file for more info on that.

Also, I am to the Free Agency Filing and there have been 5 trades so far. The frequency is set to Average, and it seems like there's always a flurry of trades when the post-season starts.

[Pelican]

Thanks! It really is a cool sandbox! Resetting trades from Normal to Very Low has settled things down. And what I saw was more free agent movement, or trades in anticipation of not being able to keep superstars who were going to follow the money. On that, I’m curious how teams can afford these inflated salaries within their 1961 budgets. In Montreal, I am benefitting from high ticket sales, particularly season tickets, for added revenue. Some MLB teams have gotten outbid repeatedly. When you look at that cool drop-down that shows year-to-year changes by WAR lost and gained, it is devastating for some teams.

Todays’s task, after loading that schedule file, is to fill out my minor league roster. Still plenty of minor league free agents for that. Then, onto Spring Training. (Will setting the regular season schedule also cause the game to populate the Spring Training schedule? I may try to create Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues, with interleague play in both places.

[uruguru]

Originally Posted by Pelican

(Will setting the regular season schedule also cause the game to populate the Spring Training schedule?

Yes, if you do it before Spring Training is supposed to start. If you load the schedule when the Preseason begins, you should be fine.

[Pelican]

All good. The schedule loaded, and the Spring Training games miraculously appeared as well. (On off days, I scheduled games for the CL Mounties with AL and NL teams.).

I managed to sign enough players to fill out my minor league teams. Not sure about the 35-man rosters. Seems like the guys wo’t get enough playing time. I am going to change the rosters back to 25 at most.

At the major league level, I lost out in bidding for Ralph Terry, the last prime SP left. My rotation was Don Newcombe, Sandy Koufax, and a trio of rookies. Somehow, I managed to acquire Frank Larry and Johnny Podres, by shopping Turk Farrell and Hal Smith. Now, the young guys will have time to develop in AAA. My bullpen i strong, with Lindy McDaniel and Hank Aguirre.

In the preseason predictions, the Mounties are chosen to finish first in a close race. The Yanks are the choice over Baltimore in the AL, and the Giants are slight favorites over the Dodgers in the NL.

[uruguru]

Originally Posted by Pelican

All good. The schedule loaded, and the Spring Training games miraculously appeared as well. (On off days, I scheduled games for the CL Mounties with AL and NL teams.).

I managed to sign enough players to fill out my minor league teams. Not sure about the 35-man rosters. Seems like the guys wo’t get enough playing time. I am going to change the rosters back to 25 at most.

The game recommends that your lowest level of minors should have rosters of at least 35. In the official game, the bottom levels generally have unlimited rosters (although this is really a limit of 200).

In the preseason predictions, the Mounties are chosen to finish first in a close race. The Yanks are the choice over Baltimore in the AL, and the Giants are slight favorites over the Dodgers in the NL.

Sounds impressive!

[niu354]

Oh man, I can't believe I just found this. Been working for hours on almost the exact same thing. On the bright side, I figured out how to do it without having to start in 1960 and fast forward...

[Scottiedog43]

Thank you for sharing uruguru.
I’ve thought of doing this a few times myself.
The Continental League has always fascinated me.