MVP Virtual League??

[Gordo]

Had a thought/idea about maybe some type of virtual league where you essentially would coach the computer controlled team (using my PC v PC rosters and slider set).  Just not sure how to pull it off.  Games certainly could be run by the "home" team after coaches set the roster and rotation, and let the game play out.  That would be the easiest.  The IP to IP function doesn't allow you to switch into a coaching/PC type mode, unless you get your manager thrown out and even then sometimes you keep control, so that wouldn't work.  Alternately, I'm wondering how guys could meet up and possibly with the game running in window mode and some sort of chat mechanism (Twitch possibly?), one guy could control the action when the other manager wants to stop and sub in a player, reliever, etc.   Make it like 1 or 2 games / week as scheduling matching times I'm sure could be a bit difficult.

 

Any ideas and/or interest?

[bctrackboi11]

Hmmmm. I'm interested. Never done anything like that before.

[Yankee4Life]

I don't know what Twitch is so I don't think I would be able to participate in this. The only online games I have played with people on our website was IP to IP. I used to play online with a former staff member named Mark who lived in Scotland and we never had a problem playing IP to IP. But that was many years ago.

 

We also had a league in here around thirteen years ago or so. Trues was in it along with Cartersyard and even Hory, who lives in New Zealand. One thing that they did that helped eliminate the lag was that they selected stadiums that they wanted to play in and then they temporarily overwrote the modded stadium in the game with the stadium that came with the original install. It was easy to do because all someone like Trues did was backup modded Wrigley field and use the one that originally came with the game. Every member of the league had to back up the stadiums that they used for this league.

 

Separate data files could not be used either. Everything had to be the same on both ends of the IP to IP online matchup.

[Gordo]

You're talking about human vs. human games.  This is somewhat different.  This would not be an IP 2 IP matchup which is only for human matches.

 

Twitch could be a way to broadcast your game that you play solo as far as I know.

 

I'm just looking for those who are interested ... and maybe that's next to nobody.

[Yankee4Life]

6 minutes ago, Gordo said:

You're talking about human vs. human games.  This is somewhat different.  This would not be an IP 2 IP matchup which is only for human matches.

 

Ok, I didn't know that.

 

7 minutes ago, Gordo said:

Twitch could be a way to broadcast your game that you play solo as far as I know.

 

I'm just looking for those who are interested ... and maybe that's next to nobody.

I'd love to see this happen over the winter.

[BallFour]

Hmmm... this sounds interesting. I'd be down for it. Just need some more information. Would we do a fantasy draft with all available players? Would we be using a modded version, a Total Classic, or default rosters? If there's interest, I could tease my MVP 98 mod for this, just to provide hype. But if you'd rather use more recent rosters, that's totally cool as well!

 

Anyway, count me in!

[Gordo]

No.  I've been in a league previously and a fantasy draft is a headache.  We'd be using the up to date rosters (end of season 19).  It wouldn't be as necessary to get the critical files, really only the roster file so that coaching decisions would be made, as well as making sure everyone is using the same slider settings.

 

Initially I"m thinking the interaction order/play would go something like this (provided all the files and communication tools are in place and the schedule is set) :

• Both "coaches" meet in the viewing platform (Twitch?) with the home team responsible for all controls and set up (set up and substitutions) in the game.  It will be easy to keep an MVP level of sliders to play in this fashion.  The visiting coach may want to run the game in windowed mode (easy to do) on their own computer just to look at subs and bullpen warm-ups changes easily.
• Communication ideally can happen with a headset/audio; video isn't necessary and can actually possibly slow down the frame rate on certain computers.  I would assume that Twitch or whatever viewing mechanism we would use, would have a built in chat in case audio fails.
• Once both coaches acknowledge that the lineups are correct, the home coach starts the game, making sure it is started in MVP level of play and the proper sliders are loaded.
• The game is now viewed by both players.  Both coaches are expected to give their full attention to the game as if they were playing.  If the visiting coach wants a timeout, he would need to communicate that at which point the home coach would carry through and confirm what is wanted being careful not to sub in the wrong player.  (We could get into setting defensive alignments, though keeping it minimal since that can slow down the game tremendously)
• Upon both agreeing the game can be resumed, the home coach resumes the game and play proceeds.

 

So essentially, this is the PC v PC, with the home team controlling the action and both coaches making moves throughout the game.

 

I would recommend downloading the PC v PC rosters and going to the thread for the set up and watching a few games to get a feel of it if you haven't already.  It's not difficult.

[BallFour]

Do the sliders account for bullpen stamina? In my experience when switching between human and CPU control, a reliever you start warming up will be sat back down if the CPU doesn't like that. So are the sliders set so that bullpen stamina is automatically at a higher rate than a cold reliever?

[Gordo]

4 minutes ago, BallFour said:

Do the sliders account for bullpen stamina? In my experience when switching between human and CPU control, a reliever you start warming up will be sat back down if the CPU doesn't like that. So are the sliders set so that bullpen stamina is automatically at a higher rate than a cold reliever?

 

No, when you're online you want to get the game in..... not necessarily make a night of it.  Bullpen sliders would favor warming guys up and keeping them warmed up without any penalty.  But they still need time to warm up even on maximum allowance.

 

If we do this, the main interest would be set it up, watch the game play and make the subs as needed.  That's it.

[BallFour]

Ah okay!

[Gordo]

I recorded a full game to somewhat simulate how this could work .... acting like both managers.  There's one drawback to this:  since it is a PC v PC game, the PC could make a managing decision before you do (e.g., bring in a relief pitcher, a pinch hitter, pinch runner, etc.).  It will also require the home team (game controlling) manager to be on his toes to pause for the visiting manager/team.  But there is one possible solution to this latter point.  

 

Team Viewer would allow dual control on a computer, but I'm not sure how comfortable anyone would be with that.  Largely we'd be a small group and I think we would trust each other during the game to only control the game.

 

The other part is communication.  If we are viewing the game in full screen mode (not sure if Team Viewer can handle that), then we'd need some type of audio communication, like TeamSpeak (I think it's called), but unsure if there's a fee with that.  TeamViewer is free.  Come to think of it TeamViewer might have audio/microphone capabilities.  Alternately, I know you can put TeamViewer in "remote view only" mode, meaning the manager joining the home team computer can view only and not control anything.   In that case, the home manager would need to be attentive and pause right away when the visiting manager requests it, because the game will move along quickly.

 

I'll upload the video later once I get it conditioned and sized properly (from set up to finish it was only a hour).  It wasn't a bad game either and I demonstrated what slight slider tweaking can do.

 

The other consideration would be, as the team manager, have your lineups you want vs L and vs R and be familiar with your relievers so that not a lot of time is spent in set up and when looking around the bullpen for warming up and calling in later in the game.  That is, you should know who your true middle reliever guys are vs. setup guys and closer, despite where they presently are in the roster.