My First Ever OOTP

[Mackrel829]

I've just bought OOTP '23 and it's my first introduction to the franchise. I've watched a couple of videos about the game but was wondering if anyone had any general advice for a new player about the best way to set up the game. I'd like a realistic and challenging experience rebuilding the Reds.

I also wondered if anyone could answer a more specific question for me. I'd like to adjust the trade difficulty and injury frequency settings for my save. Can I set this up with the real MLB 'start tdfay' option or do I need to set up a 'custom league' for this?

Thanks in advance!

[Suntan Superman]

Quote: Originally Posted by Mackrel829

I've just bought OOTP '23 and it's my first introduction to the franchise. I've watched a couple of videos about the game but was wondering if anyone had any general advice for a new player about the best way to set up the game. I'd like a realistic and challenging experience rebuilding the Reds. I also wondered if anyone could answer a more specific question for me. I'd like to adjust the trade difficulty and injury frequency settings for my save. Can I set this up with the real MLB 'start tdfay' option or do I need to set up a 'custom league' for this? Thanks in advance!

My general advice for games like this is to always make sure that you're having fun. The best way to end up not liking this or not having fun is to put too many rules on yourself or convince yourself that it's not realistic when it is something that will be fun. Not saying you shouldn't have limits, but always check yourself on it. It's a sandbox game so there's a lot of leeway.

I'd also figure out if you want to manage the games. Managing the games and figuring out the stuff underneath all of the lineups and such can be a challenge, so I would personally not do it right away, but at the same time, if it's something you want to do, I would dive in right away.

One other piece of advice before we move on, don't be afraid to re-start. You're gonna make mistakes, and it's okay to re-start. Last year it ended up being "New Game 6" that I took 12 years in to the future

As far as set-up goes for the leagues, depending on how I'm feeling or what I'm doing I load MLB and US Independent Leagues, if I'm doing a shorter-term I might load more leagues as well, but I'm not terribly interested in managing in the Nippon league or the KBO so I normally leave them alone. You'll still get FAs to sign from there as well as posted players so they aren't necessary to load.

You can set it up afterwards in non-Challenge mode games. I will be honest in saying that "Challenge Mode" does nothing for me and I've never used it so I can't speak as to whether you'd be able to adjust those options with that selected.

[TrustTheProcess]

I would say do all the tutorials to give yourself a general sense of what is going on. I learned a couple new things and I've been playing for the last decade or so

[Dolenz]

Quote: Originally Posted by Mackrel829

I also wondered if anyone could answer a more specific question for me. I'd like to adjust the trade difficulty and injury frequency settings for my save. Can I set this up with the real MLB 'start tdfay' option or do I need to set up a 'custom league' for this? Thanks in advance!

There are settings for your leagues where you can set the trade difficulty level and another where you can set the frequency of injuries. This year they actually have injuries as two separate settings, long term injury frequency and short term injury frequency.

There is something called a live start where you give it the date and it should have the correct rosters and records I believe.

There are youtube video tutorials and for advice and feed back they have a pretty active forum on their own website with lots of helpful people. There are so many settings. You can make it as easy or difficult as you want.

I did something different this year. I set up a fictional league with the standard MLB teams and divisions. I have not done a fictional league before but it may help with my issue where I get to hung up on my preconceived notions about the real players.

EDIT: I am restarting with some easier settings. Long term injuries to key players just kills my motivation. So I am restarting same as above but I am turning off Long Term Injuries and setting short term injuries to occur less frequently. I am also turning off player morale, team chemistry and coach cohesion.

[drtrix]

I would highly recommend joining an online league. You will learn and grow with other GM's and to me it is way more immersive than just competing against the AI.

This is a great place to fine one,
https://forums.ootpdevelopments.com/...lay.php?f=4032