Building the "perfect" baseball game, a thread

[Yankee4Life]

3 hours ago, Kccitystar said:

 

I've been taking some courses on Unity's learning site, which have been super helpful. It's all entirely free if you want to pick it up and learn the engine

 

I have played it all. Front Page Sports I think is the spiritual successor to TLR in terms of how well it can sim

 

Are you sure about that? The first Front Page Sports came out in 1994 and of course I bought it because it was baseball but it was a disappointing game. A game company called Dynamix came out with it but there were some more editions of it and the one from '98 was an improvement.

 

Front Page Sports 1994

 

 

Tony Larussa Baseball II. This came out before Front Page but has a lot of good things going for it. I still play it to this day.

 

 

Hardball 5 is another one I play a lot. A very good one.

 

 

 

 

 

[sabugo]

23 hours ago, Kccitystar said:

 

I've been taking some courses on Unity's learning site, which have been super helpful. It's all entirely free if you want to pick it up and learn the engine

 

Probably a bit over my capabilities, but I'm willing to give it a read.

[laroquece]

On 8/11/2023 at 4:28 PM, Yankee4Life said:

Hardball 5 is another one I play a lot. A very good one.

 

 

 

 

Man I play a lot this game too, one of my favorites.

[WacoKid]

I read through this thread a bit, saw some mention in of moddability being of utmost importance or not.  In my opinion, if anything is opening up options to the player in regard to the rules of the game.  Think internationally too.  We’ve seen rule changes here in the MLB recently.  And a big selling point for this game could be rule customization that allows the player to somewhat emulate the game over different time periods and in different countries.  Rules affect how a game is played.  Allow a more physical game with breaking up double plays and hard nosed plays at the plate.  
 

You could even dive into unwritten rules like the option for retaliation for pimping a homer.  Things like that tell the story of the game from different time periods and set the game up how you want it to be played.  It isn’t flashy stuff for a video game but as an element it could set the game apart.  

[WacoKid]

On 11/10/2022 at 2:16 PM, Kccitystar said:

Gameplay design - Traits

 

Another gameplay idea that I think would be solid to any potential baseball game is the implementation of a fully loaded trait system/player personality model. 
 

Something really cool and add a little more strategic depth from a GM/managerial perspective, trait sets for players that have affects both on and off the field.  
 

An on the field trait you could call Nails, where a player plays through minor injuries without negative effects.  
 

Or an off the field one called Hollywood, where they may be somewhat of a toxic clubhouse personality.  
 

When making trades, draft decisions or putting someone in a clutch situation you make the player look beyond the numbers and find what best fits the needs of that situation, trade or draft pick.  

[Devlin]

On 8/11/2023 at 10:28 PM, Yankee4Life said:

 

Hardball 5 is another one I play a lot. A very good one.

 

When I read this I had to log in and write something about it: I modded Hardball 5 a bit. Added a lot of player portraits and extended the legends league to 16 teams. Was a pain to figure it out. Unfortunately, walks and strikeout are not really present in Hardball 5 and the CPU hits too many home runs. Other than that, the simulation is pretty good and you lose your fair share of games. The perfect game for me would look like HB5 or Oldtime Baseball with a simulation like High Heat or OOTP. Maybe an AI-tool can add something like that in the future.😄

 

Here are some of the players I added/updated. I just love the art style.

[Yankee4Life]

Do you still have these mods you made Devlin? I'd love to use them in my Hardball 5 game. I still play it!

[laroquece]

1 hour ago, Devlin said:

 

OMG this looks great!!!

[Devlin]

I'm glad you like it! Yes, I still have everything, even though I haven't really touched anything for the last couple of years. But if there is interest, I can upload it.

In order to not hijack this thread, I'll probably open a new one and sort through it there.  

[Yankee4Life]

4 minutes ago, Devlin said:

I'm glad you like it! Yes, I still have everything, even though I haven't really touched anything for the last couple of years. But if there is interest, I can upload it.

In order to not hijack this thread, I'll probably open a new one and sort through it there.  

 

Yes, good idea. And thank you!

[Kccitystar]

I'm still trying to figure out a name. Been using "untitled baseball game" for now but it could be better!

[sabugo]

OK, here are some suggestions:

- Going, going... gone! 
- Double Play (If you want to pay a little tribute to the roots of the MVP Series)
- Total Classic Baseball (If you want to pay a little tribute to all the work that has been done here)

 

[Yankee4Life]

I like all of those suggestions.

[Kccitystar]

On 8/17/2024 at 1:20 PM, sabugo said:

OK, here are some suggestions:

- Going, going... gone! 
- Double Play (If you want to pay a little tribute to the roots of the MVP Series)
- Total Classic Baseball (If you want to pay a little tribute to all the work that has been done here)

 

Untitled Baseball Game is #1, Dugout Heroes is my #2 and Pennant Fever is my #3

 

[sabugo]

Isn't there a game called 'Dugout Heroes' already? 

[Jim825]

There was an online game called MLB Dugout Heroes:
 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/MLB_Dugout_Heroes

[Kccitystar]

5 hours ago, sabugo said:

Isn't there a game called 'Dugout Heroes' already? 

 

3 hours ago, Jim825 said:

There was an online game called MLB Dugout Heroes:
 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/MLB_Dugout_Heroes

 

ok so Pennant Fever moves up to #2.

#1) Untitled Baseball Game
#2) Pennant Fever
#3) Power Baseball Pro
#4) Full Count Baseball
#4) Attempting to buy a dead trademark on the cheap

[Yankee4Life]

KC who is the guy in your avatar?

[Kccitystar]

3 minutes ago, Yankee4Life said:

KC who is the guy in your avatar?

 

Me in MLB The Show's "Road To The Show" career mode. I'm a power slugging left handed first baseman for the Yankees, who haven't developed a natural one in quite some time.

[Kccitystar]

Just sharing some thoughts, maybe a deep dive into what I'd want a Franchise mode to look like:

Franchise mode in my opinion needs to be approached like a sports management RPG, full stop. In baseball, every team defines success differently depending on what expectations owners have, which can vary. If you break down the most common aspects of RPGs, you have "classes" and "characters" within those classes, so this is what I proposed:

Team Types:
Dynasties, which would be powerhouse teams with a history of success and high expectations
Rising Stars, so like teams on the cusp of greatness with young talent and growth potential
Underdogs, teams that are overlooked but have potential to surprise everyone

Rebuilders, teams starting from the bottom, focusing on long-term growth and development

The goal is to spend up to 20+ years as a GM for a team, with goals set by the team owner. The ultimate objective is to establish and maintain a championship window, aiming for one or multiple championships. You'll also need to build/maintaining prestige for your team by investing in building your fanbase (whether that's through ticket sales/promotions/sponsorships/media deals) and maintaining your team's budget for developing talent, planning for the future while balancing fan interest which can fluctuate based on how good the team plays. The classes (Dynasties, Rising Stars, Underdogs, Rebuilders, and an extra one I'll call Mavericks) each have specific goals and challenges related to their championship windows when you get there.

It would create distinct gameplay experiences for each class while maintaining the overarching goal of winning championships. Since every team has their own type of owner with a personality type that influences team budgets, job safety, financial targets/playoff appearances, etc it should give you endless hours of gameplay. Every class would have their own set of challenges:

Dynasties, being the establishment powerhouses that they are, would have teams whose goals would probably involve extending their championship windows, maintain a level of dominance and consistency with frequent playoff appearances, like your Dodgers, Braves, Astros, Yankees teams, for example.

Rising Stars would be teams whose championship windows are right around the corner, who probably have owners who will lean towards suggesting to you, as GM, to make trades/moves that could accelerate their ability to get into the playoffs and beyond for a championship while balancing your organization's player development pipeline so you don't set the franchise's opportunity for a championship back if you don't succeed.

Underdogs would be teams with potential but it's on you as a GM to overcome limitations and obstacles tied to the team, whether that's working around budgets, leveraging player quirks to balance team chemistry, cultivating a solid fanbase that can support you and give you the homefield advantage through positive fan feedback (I can go into deep detail into this as a follow up) that you need to establish a winning culture.

Clearly you can see where I am going with this.

I mean, at least that's how I've visualized the mode. Mostly all of the interaction is going to be text driven but I'm pretty good with dialogue and coming up with good ideas, and AI's a useful tool these days in helping me brainstorm things and put good concepts together.

[Kccitystar]

Some more deep dives:

So about the fan feedback mechanism I was alluding to earlier: Franchise Mode can include a social media platform called "DiamondChatter", or DC for short. DC would be an in-game social media platform that would feature posts resembling tweets ("pitches") from a variety of people within the in-game universe in Franchise. This is the list I have so far of people you'd come across on this feed:

• Official team accounts that post updates, announcements, promotions or (if applicable) updates on upcoming talent and prospects in the minor league system
• Sports journalists that cover the league
• Local sports journalists that cover your team
• Loyal fans that are invested in your franchise or in Career mode on your development as a player, (these are your franchise/player "day ones" and the "ride or dies")
• Fans of rival teams that can provide friendly banter during important games or an important series
• Former players/coaches that can reminisce about past glory or, in some cases in career mode, provide advice guidance at times on on what you can do as a player to maintain positive success, or give you some hints on how to bust out of a slump
• Baseball bloggers who might focus on specific aspects, like prospects, analytics, or how your actions impact fantasy baseball
• Content creators who can create hashtags or memes in support or in derision of your team
• Fictional parody accounts that would be a caricature of real life athletes/players

 

The feed can be fairly dynamic in updates based on recent actions and results, reflecting the current state of your franchise. It can also generate special posts for significant events, like your team making a major trade at the deadline (resembing those ON THE MOVE social media posts MLB loves to make), breaking a losing streak or clinching a playoff spot, for example. There would be a meter shown on the main UI displaying the current state of fan engagement based on fan sentiment from posts on the feed so you have that info at a glance. Content that gets generated on the social feed are merely reactions that reflect on the player's team management decisions and on-field performance, and the posts can be categorized as positive, neutral, or negative. 

By having a diverse array of voices and perspectives, DC could offer a really robust view of the baseball world within your game. I feel like it would enhance the realism but also provide different angles and narratives that can affect the game's world and the player experience in unique ways. I want the player to feel empowered in how they craft their team's story, their legacy as a GM and cement themselves as a legend in their team's lore.

DC can also play a role with trades and free agency as well, if you consider the social media feed to be a way to gauge league feedback. A team with a good perception on DiamondChatter would give you pretty good odds on contract negotiations or trades since your team would be seen as a good place to play, but a team with negative perception on DiamondChatter might give you a degree of difficulty in negotiating contracts or working out good trades with other teams to improve your own. It presents a good challenge on balancing short-term gains against long-term fan engagement. The idea behind DC in this mode is to offer a more nuanced approach to team management, where not every decision is a definitively good or bad one, but can have a range of impacts on the team's success in the long term.
 

I will emphasize that in Franchise mode, the player is not in control of DC. It's merely a league feedback mechanic that defines how the league sees your team and how your team's fans see your team, so for Franchise Mode, you'd have posts ("pitches") in DC that can be considered positive, neutral, or negative:
 

• Positive events like wins, win streaks, signing popular players/keeping fan favorites, good trades, player milestones, etc. lead to encouraging posts which boost team morale and fan support. This boosts team morale/chemistry, increases fan support, and gives an random percentage increase in the financial aspects like ticket and merchandise sales.
• Neutral events like uneventful periods (no major positive or negative developments in team performance or management decisions), maybe average performances or expected outcomes just maintain the status quo until the next series or game. It creates a good buffer when you split a series or if you're in first place and you sweep a last place team to plan and strategize for future games or the next series without feeling pressure to react to significant events or changes.
• Negative events (like losing games, a guy getting hurt, a guy underperforming) can lead to critical posts which can negatively impact team morale and impact team attendance and revenue. The pressure in turning things around when there are negative reactions on DiamondChatter creates an extra layer of challenge to go from negative to neutral and hopefully into the positive.
   

The idea behind DC in Franchise mode is to help motivate the player in promoting effective team management, keeping your loyal fans engaged through good financial management (like ticket prices, promos, merch, etc.), and maintaining steady on-field performance trending upward. It's also meant to be a mechanic that can increase or decrease the odds of success in Franchise, like simulating games, similar to the classic team momentum system from MVP Baseball 2005 or the hot/cold system from March to October on MLB The Show.

[Jim825]

2 hours ago, Kccitystar said:

 

Me in MLB The Show's "Road To The Show" career mode. I'm a power slugging left handed first baseman for the Yankees, who haven't developed a natural one in quite some time.

So in other words, you’re the next Nick Johnson?  
 

Hope you can stay healthy.

[Yankee4Life]

24 minutes ago, Jim825 said:

So in other words, you’re the next Nick Johnson?  
 

Hope you can stay healthy.

 

With a beard? How did he get on the team with a beard?

[Kccitystar]

1 minute ago, Yankee4Life said:

 

With a beard? How did he get on the team with a beard?

 

I want to say that in this timeline, Hal has loosed the facial hair tradition to be neatly kept rather than clean shaven 😅

[Yankee4Life]

32 minutes ago, Kccitystar said:

 

I want to say that in this timeline, Hal has loosed the facial hair tradition to be neatly kept rather than clean shaven 😅

 

Ahh, I see. Well then, ok.

 

Off topic but I have never had a mustache or a beard. Before I went in the service I did not shave and when I got out of boot camp you were allowed to have one but there were quite a lot of rules to follow if you had one. So I decided not to and I have remained that way ever since even as a civilian.

 

Ok, back to this game!