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Simulation
Review: Out of The Park Baseball 6
by Daniel
Paulling
February 5, 2005
Download here: http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/ootp/purchase.php
I love this thing to death. By thing I mean the baseball simulation
game Out of the Park 6 (sometimes abbreviated OOTP6). What else
would I be talking about? When fans are sitting inside on those
wintry days (especially in the northeast), the only baseball being
played is in the Caribbean leagues. But now fans can put together
their own team, their own dynasty. And I, for one, love it. But
don’t just take my word for it.
“OOTP Baseball is the best simulation I've ever played. It
puts you right into the game. Best game I've ever played,”
said a longtime OOTP Gamer who I met in one of my leagues.
I am currently in two leagues, both of them a challenge. In Virtual
Simulation League (VSL),
I have the controls of the Arizona Diamondbacks. Through a series
of trades, I’ve rebuilt my team the way I wanted it to be:
solid defense and great offense. That’s the beauty of this
game. You can blow up any team you want and build a team you want
from scratch. (We currently have three open teams, the Tigers, Reds,
and Pirates, in case you’re interested.)
The other league I am in simulated to the year 2020 before starting
over with the 2005 season. In this one, the Back to the Future League
(BTTF - http://www.bttf.ootp-online.com/), I have the reigns of
the Anaheim Angels. Sometimes you’re lucky enough to be given
a good team from the outset, but you have to put them into the World
Series.
The creator and Commissioner of BTTF Steve Strzepek on OOTP6: “I
use to be in many Diamond Mind baseball leagues, a sim of previous
seasons, and then I found OOTP3 back in 2001 and loved it enough
after joining one league, then two and three, so I started my own
-- BTTF -- and quit DMB all together. The biggest reason was that
there was so much flexibility with OOTP, and with OOTP6 there are
so many options that mirror real life baseball like waivers, free
agency, rule V, option years, coaches, and spring training.”
The hardest things -- “website creation and maintenance”
-- are easy to get out of the way if you have a league member or
friend with HTML prowess.
The question you must be asking yourself right now is what makes
it so great? What makes OOTP6 worth the purchase price? I’m
glad you asked.
The great part of OOTP6 is that it is such a realistic game. If
you find a league, you can take over an open team and build the
team the way you want it to be built. Throughout the entire season,
you will make the executive decisions of which players to hold onto
and whom to waive; whether or not to add a player in the Rule V
draft; which coaches to sign for your team; how to spend your players’
Spring Training; whether or not to re-sign your players once they
hit free agency; and many other facets of the game that receive
little or no attention from people who aspire to be Major League
general managers.
The only hindrances of OOTP6 are for those people who aren’t
technologically adept. It took me a few tries to get the process
down of downloading a league file (which allows you to edit your
team) to exporting (which is how you send your updated team), but
I’m sure most other people will get this easier. Another factor
is if you want to simulate your own league, you must find your own
league file to start things off, like all the players and contracts.
These two drawbacks were easily taken care of with help from friends.
And the best part of OOTP6 is the chance to make friends who share
a common interest: baseball. For anybody wishing to do a little
GMing of their own, go ahead and get this game; it’s worth
the twenty dollars (http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/ootp/purchase.php).
(Author’s Note: I would like to thank the fine folks at OOTP
for allowing me to test their software. It was definitely a great
experience.)
Give this one 3.5 out of four possible balls.
Our Rating System is
based on a four ball system as follows:
One Ball: Average. It has something to say but is nothing
special.
Two Balls: Something men usually have - also means its a
cut above average, and worth reading/owning.
Three balls: Stands out from its peers and is highly recommended.
Four Balls: More than just what two men have when hanging
out together, it means it is an exceptional book that truly earns
a walk - straight to the local book store to get a copy.
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