Project Isekai no Yakyu - Alternate universe league in Japan

[tehsuigi]

An object at rest tends to stay at rest. And sometimes, inaction can lead to the point of divergence. If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice, after all.

During World War II, austerity measures forced the owner of this team to merge with another corporation, with their comglomerated team nickname "Great Ring" being a literal translation of the ancient name for Japan, yamato (大和). The thinking was to create a team name that represented the people of the country, like the Yankees or Canadiens.

After the war, the team and its owner spun off from the other corporation, and thus the search began for a new team name, preferably a bird since the company logo had wings the original owner decided to keep the team's name out of non-chalance, minus the "Great" part of it. They had bigger things to worry about.

After making Osaka their home for the first 30+ years of league history, a new ballpark and an exclusive fanbase called them to the west. Add in one deep-pocketed new owner, and you have the makings of a dynasty.

Fukuoka Rings

It's fun to try and work in greyscale, really. Might have gotten a bit White Sox-y in the away jersey, but I had that road look in my mind since Day 1.
Cap and alt jersey font is Rockwell Extra Bold, jersey font is BOEING-style.
The interlocking rings are from a PowerPoint deck by PresentationGO (!) that I recoloured with silver gradients.

Another triple jersey set - white home, grey road (and darker than the others since it's a team colour), and a black alternate.

[tehsuigi]

N.b. I will not be making designs for the independent leagues now that they've been excised as well. Stick with the in game fictional ones for those.

[tehsuigi]

Here's an example of the diverging point being the masses. You can't predict how people will react some days, and this is a perfect example.

After starting life as named after an express train, then as a symbol of atomic power's optimistic future, the less popular Tokyo franchise was once again searching for an identity in the mid-1970s. The previous name wasn't exactly popular with fans either.

At the All-Star break, the team owner announced that this would be their new team name for the next season. The fans made their voice loud and clear: they wanted the old name back, and the owners would capitulate they loved it. So the name stuck, right as the team finally found its footing.

Tokyo Jaguars

This one basically was spawned entirely from the inktycoon/Getty Images design that I found online. Not even a colour adjustment, which means another team is going to be wearing green in this league.
The logo font is Varsity Regular, with Adventuring Regular used on the alternate.

The design for home and road is heavily influenced by varsity jackets because the ballpark the Jags play in is also home to Tokyo's collegiate baseball league. The alternate? ehhh, I wanted to have some fun with the snakeskin.


And that finishes the Nihon League! The next three teams are all Zenkoku League - will try to finish before January 7.

[39_Ringo]

Sometimes reality likes to spin itself around... Maybe not directly, but things can diverge in reverse.

One of the founding teams of the Nihon League in 1936 alongside the Tokyo Kinshi, this team while initially trying to represent itself as the main team of the Kansai area, later shifted its focus to representing Osaka proper as more teams popped up around the Keihanshin area. Seeing themselves as the stars of Kansai, despite their market share being taken by two up and coming teams, in 1960 this long shifty team, being the only team to compete in both the Nihon League and the Zenkoku League, settled on the moniker of...

Osaka Stars





This is probably one of the few teams where I had a completely original idea when it comes to the logo. It's simple, but it gets the job done, with 5 5-point stars representing the 5 districts of Osaka Prefecture, with a big center star uniting them all. I would've done a 43 star circle for the municipalities but... that would get way too crowded.




I actually did this uniform set before the Arrows but never bothered to showcase it beforehand. Uniform font is Leckerli One by Gesine Todt. All uniforms on my end will be in one giant zip containing logos, caps, textured jerseys, and pants when all teams are completed and showcased.

[20_range]

Originally Posted by 39_Ringo

It's simple, but it gets the job done, with 5 5-point stars representing the 5 districts of Osaka Prefecture, with a big center star uniting them all. I would've done a 43 star circle for the municipalities but... that would get way too crowded.
.

Boca Juniors

[tehsuigi]

Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names can be an inspiration and a diverging point. See here...

Tokyo had a team in the Zenkoku League at the outset, and they were trying their best to be respectable. Reusing the "Senators" nickname from a previous entity, they were granted entry to keep the ZL at 6 clubs. During their first year of operation, the team was nicknamed the Tokyo Blue Stockings by the media after an influential feminist magazine from earlier in the century. It wasn't meant as a compliment, so the team changed it to something more emotive but the team liked the idea so they ran with it.

After a time, the Tokyo Blue Sox (changed from Stockings) would come under new management, who gave the team a more imposing name that still sounded similar and eventually moved them out of the crowded Tokyo area to an unclaimed market - Sapporo.

Sapporo Bruisers

In katakana, buruu sokkusu and buruuzaasu are sound-alikes, thus the change in that direction.
The logo is by Brandon Lamarche from what looks like a WHA team in Philadelphia. You know Japan would love a kangaroo mascot! And yes, I had to hand-outline the roo to remove the bell background from the original.
Font is Kernit, outline on the logo and filled on the jerseys.

And although JPBO and [LEAGUE REDACTED] teams don't usually have non-letters as small logos, I liked the boxing glove enough to separate it out.

Just two jerseys in this one - our other pinstriped team, and a sharp blue/red combo away.


Other two teams will come one-a-day this week!

[tehsuigi]

There's just no excusing for bad tastes, and when good advice falls on deaf ears. That's the only rationale behind this divergence.

With the Kobe Thunder and Osaka Bulls merging, the Zenkoku League was stuck with a quandary - it can't run a 5-team schedule without massive migraines. So it would have to either contract or expand - the latter was deemed more feasible (and lucrative).

The winning bid came from a firm who would play in Sendai, in the under-marketed Tohoku region of Japan, and would commit to invest substantially in overhauling the existing ballpark there.

The team's name would come from the mountain-dwelling eagles local avian population, even if every English-speaker was begging them to please not go with the name.

Too bad. Now foreign tourists are always asking how these guys are doing by using a truncation of their name.

Sendai Woodpeckers

With the Swallows gone, of course my puerile mind had to get another cheeky nickname into the league.
Colours are inspired by the Japanese green woodpecker who is native to the Sendai region.
Logo is from this Dhimas Design abstract art with the coif shaved off; I really like the subtle S in the negative space. Small font uses the wings from this Freepik logo distorted and merged into the font's W.
Font is Königsberg Regular.

We don't have a green team yet in the JPBO (or at least, we won't once the Kobe Thunder get merged out of existence), so this was a perfect fit. The off-looking red cap with black brim was done to mirror the woodpecker itself, who sneaks onto the jersey Cardinals-style.

[tehsuigi]

Our final team is also the one with the weakest divergence point, because no one knows exactly how the team in [LEAGUE REDACTED] got its name.

The final team in the Zenkoku League originated in Fukuoka, where the Rings currently play. The team started as the Pilots, as the owner had a relationship with Pan Am Airways, and wanted to honour that connection. That relationship went south, and the team was left looking for a new identity.

No one knows how they settled on this team name, but they've kept it ever since, including a relocation to the northern Tokyo suburb of Saitama.

Saitama Panthers

Found the logo as a concept on Dribbble designed by Yury Orlov, recoloured to orange because we don't have an orange team in JPBO right now.
Found the font he was using, Hardsign, but only the Layered version is freely available for personal use. That's what's on all the jerseys and the small logo.

Another three-uniform set - home white, road orange, and a black panther alternate that eschews a team name altogether. The panther itself is from here.


And that completes my set of uniforms! The top post has been updated with the link to the complete A Set mod.

[39_Ringo]

(My uniforms are done as well, I also de-[LEAGUE REDACTED]-ified all 12 stadiums we're using. I just keep forgetting to actually showcase mine, sorry)

[tehsuigi]

Originally Posted by 39_Ringo

(My uniforms are done as well, I also de-[LEAGUE REDACTED]-ified all 12 stadiums we're using. I just keep forgetting to actually showcase mine, sorry)

And the uniforms for the B Set are now on Google Drive and in the top post!

I'm honestly tempted to just punt on the A Set quickstart until OOTP 24 to make sure whatever I create is kosher. What do y'all think?

[39_Ringo]

In fact, I'm going to show the modifications I made as well as reveal the stadium names for Set B of the project.

Fukuoka Vipers: Fukuoka Dome
Modifications: Just a simple one here. The logos initially shown on the widescreen scoreboard have been updated to reflect the JPBO.


Hiroshima Phoenix: Hiroshima Municipal Stadium (original model is Mazda Zoom-Zoom Stadium Hiroshima)
Modifications: logos on the outfield scoreboard have been changed to reflect the Hiroshima Phoenix.


Kobe Thunder: Kobe Sports Park (original model is Koshien Stadium)
Modifications: none.

Kyoto Aces: Kyoto Dome (original model is Belluna Dome)
Modifications: none.

Matsuyama Arrows: Matsuyama Stadium (original model is ZOZO Marine Stadium)
Modifications: Wall colors have been changed to a darker blue to reflect the Arrows' brand identity of navy and tan. An outfield scoreboard showing the player at bat has been modified to wear a Phoenix cap.


Sendai Hawks: Miyagi Baseball Stadium
Modifications: I did one change to this one and it's pretty obvious: the screen in the outfield has been changed from showing Masahiro Tanaka up close in a [redacted] uniform to an advertisement showcasing the Hatsune Miku x Domino's promotions from 2013. Miku is in the Creative Commons, so I wanted to put her in here somewhere.


Nagoya Dolphins: Nagoya Dome
Modifications: This one had the most modifications of them all because the scoreboard is split into 3 parts, all of them containing [redacted] imagery. The outfield walls have been changed from blue to red and the empty outfield seats in center field have been colored maroon. The scoreboard now features a giant JPBO logo on the left side and the graphics now have a teal background, with logos accurate for the Nagoya Dolphins.


Osaka Stars: Osaka Dome
Modifications: Scoreboard graphic now just showcases all 12 teams of the JPBO instead of a [redacted] player. Scorecards on said screen have been updated to reflect a match between the Stars and Thunder.


Sapporo Cranes: Sapporo Dome
Modifications: Like most other stadium modifications, the scoreboards have been updated to match the Cranes. This time, the teams present are the Cranes and Thunder.


Tokyo Jaguars: Shrine Stadium (original model is Meiji Jingu Stadium)
Modifications: This one has the most obvious modifications. The dugouts have been colored yellow to match the Jaguars primary color, and the outfield walls have been painted black with a grass texture, similar to the walls around Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio.


Tokyo Golden Kites: Tokyo Dome
Modifications: The original "G" on the scoreboard has a lowercase k next to it for "Golden Kites". This one is so minute I initially considered not bothering to change, but I decided to do so anyway.

Yokohama Astrals: Yokohama Stadium
Modifications: The outfield walls are now painted purple to reflect the Astrals primary color scheme, and the scoreboard has been completely overhauled to reflect the stadium's presence in JPBO. It even features the correct Japanese names for the Astrals and Jaguars.


EDIT: Also also, I forgot to mention this earlier, but the updated .prk files now have accurate coordinates and weather data attached to them instead of being set to default values. Saves a bit of time later on.

[three_eyed_owl]

As much as I want my hands on the quickstarts ASAP, I think waiting until OOTP24 to make sure everything goes well and there is no crossover with any potential drama with [REDACTED]

[tehsuigi]

Originally Posted by three_eyed_owl

As much as I want my hands on the quickstarts ASAP, I think waiting until OOTP24 to make sure everything goes well and there is no crossover with any potential drama with [REDACTED]

I have an idea, and it involves creating the league from scratch instead of using a save with the [LEAGUE REDACTED] overlaid with the mod.

[tehsuigi]

Okay, we have quickstarts! (and yes, I did have to rebuild the JPBO from scratch to avoid accidentally bringing any actual players from [LEAGUE REDACTED] over)

The A Set quickstart includes MLB, the B Set quickstart does not, both are set up for 2022 start dates.

Next up after a break - historical A Set uniforms because I'm a dolt.

[tehsuigi]

After a week of silence, a project bump - I've started on the historical jerseys! In particular, the ones that teams will be using in 1950, the next quickstart I'll be releasing for the A Set.

The Tokyo Express (now the Jaguars) take direct inspiration from the Fredericton Express minor league hockey team. The jersey font is Pro Full Block skewed way to the right to indicate motion.


The Shimonoseki Whalers (now the Yokohama Astrals) are likewise mimics of the New England Whalers, with Lily Script as the jersey font.


These two teams will show up again in later historical designs, especially since the Whalers have a few moves scheduled ahead.

Next post will be the Zenkoku League at its outset - all six teams are different!

EDIT Jan 16: spaced out the Express road jersey lettering to make better use of the jersey front. That will be included in the full 1950 mod set.

[tehsuigi]

Should be finished the 1950 quickstart today, including grey historical road uniforms for the Dolphins and Cubs (!), but I wanted to bump this quickly to say that the A Set quickstart loads safely and does not get scrambled by the latest patch.

EDIT: Then again, I still haven't been upgraded to Build 108 sooo...

[tehsuigi]

Thrilled to announce that the 1950 Uniform Set is complete, as is the A Set 1950 Quickstart! Please check the first page for downloads - I've included the historical content into the regular A Set uniform file just to minimize links.

The A Set 1950 quickstart includes MLB and the minor leagues, as well as the 12 teams of JPBO as they were at the start of this universe. That includes the Zenkoku League historical designs as shown here.

Note that ballparks uniforms are not included in the QS to save on space.

[tehsuigi]

Now that the 1950 Quickstart is being run through until it hits 1975 for the next Quickstart, I need to make the jerseys that will become active as teams move and change nicknames.

The first two changes are in the 1950s.

Shimonoseki was too small for the Whalers, so after 5 straight seasons without a pennant, they moved east to Kawasaki. With the change, gold changes to blue, and a new logo appears. They rewarded their new fans with a title in 1956.


As for the Osaka Divers, they got tired of the jibes from opponents about "taking a dive" and getting snorkels left in their locker rooms on the road, even despite five titles in the 1950s. Time for something a bit more menacing...like a Bull.


These uniforms are now present in the overall A Set compilation, including making the nouveau Osaka Bulls (nee Hyogo Gladiators) dated 2005-3000.

[Sandklown]

I Just wanted to say thank you for the hard work and most importantly time that goes into leagues like this.. Not having a japan league isnt as imteresting. Keep up the good work

[uknownick]

Lets go Suigi!!!