Out of the Park Baseball
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| Out of the Park Baseball 2007 | |
|---|---|
| Image:Ootpb logo.png | |
| Developer(s) | Sports Interactive |
| Publisher(s) | Sports Interactive |
| Release date(s) | March 23, 2007 |
| Genre(s) | SportsSimulation |
| Mode(s) | Single player, hotseat-multiplayer, multiplayer using TCP/IP |
| Platform(s) | Mac OS X, Windows |
| Media | Digital Download |
| System requirements | Windows: Windows Vista or XP, AMD or Intel Dual Core 2GHz, 1GB RAM, 1024x768 32Bit display, 1GB HD Space, MS compat mouse & Keyboard
Mac: PowerMac/PowerBook:, PowerPC G5 2GHz, Mac OS 10.4.8, 1GB RAM Mac Pro/MacBook:, Intel Core Duo 2GHz, Mac OS 10.4.8, 1GB RAM **Video card must support Open GL in order to use fictional face generation feature. |
| Input | Keyboard, mouse |
Out of the Park Baseball (sometimes abbreviated to OOTP) is a text-based baseball simulator for career, MLB-historical and fictional play. OOTP was originally written in 1998, when lead developer Markus Heinsohn had the vision to combine a highly realistic replay baseball simulation with career play. His goal was to create a game that satisfied both hardcore baseball fans and casual gamers, who like the idea of running a virtual baseball franchise as well as re-creating realistic statistical contests.
The first version was released in May 1999, with the help of sportswriter Sean Lahman who sold the game through his website [1]. The initial version of the game was very promising and received outstanding ratings from several online gaming sites. The breakthrough release came in 2001, when the constantly evolving and always improving OOTP 3 received outstanding reviews and became the game to beat in the baseball simulation world.
In 2002, Heinsohn joined with several other independent text simulation writers to form the new company .400 Software Studios. The company was responsible for the release of OOTP5. Heinsohn and a few other programmers split away from .400 Software Studios in mid 2003 to continue work on the OOTP series as well as the upcoming Inside the Park Baseball game.
In 2005, the game was purchased by Sports Interactive, makers of Football Manager and NHL Eastside Hockey Manager. Heinsohn remains the primary creative force behind the game. The developers claim OOTP is the most realistic baseball simulation in market. Out of the Park Baseball 2006 is the seventh version of the game and was released on May 31, 2006.
Out of the Park Baseball 2007 is the eighth version of the game and was released on March 23, 2007.
[edit] Game Play
As a text simulation, the game offers minimal graphics depicting a baseball diamond with text indicating positions and action on the field. There is a scrolling text caption that allows the reader to follow action as it unfolds in the game. The game sports robust HTML reporting with enough statistics to keep the most rabid baseball fan engaged.
Many third party developers have contributed to the series by offering utility programs designed to assist the gamer in creating leagues, player files, logos, player face images and many other game enhancing items. True to most text sim ventures, the game sports a robust community of gamers that assist each other in making the overall OOTP experience better than it would be alone.
Out of the Park 2007 is the second version of the game released on a rewritten code base. It will have numerous league structures, including the addition of college and high school levels. Essentially, this allows for the creation of nearly any sort of league one desires, including a close to accurate simulation of the system present in the United States. However, as is common with many smaller games, Major League Baseball licensing is not included. Instead, third-party developers often release these modifications. Features such as a various rating systems, different ways to trade players, morale system, popularity ratings, a weather system, etc. have been added. [1] The features are quite extensive, yet the first release of the new platform was met with much criticism. OOTP Baseball 2006 received a wide array of reviews, some good to solid, some poor.[2] While this had caused a large amount of skepticism in the community leading up to the release of the 2007 edition, in general the new release received significant praise and commendation from its users.
[edit] Other versions
In 2002, Heinsohn released a retail store version of OOTP called Season Ticket Baseball. The primary difference between Season Ticket Baseball and OOTP was for a slightly cheaper price you would be able to buy the game on a disk as opposed to downloading it. There were other minor feature differences between the two versions that explained the lower cost.
A second version of Season Ticket Baseball, titled Season Ticket Baseball 2003] was released the following year as well.
The following season, Heinsohn released a new game titled Inside the Park Baseball. ItPB allowed you to take an individual baseball player and help train and “raise” him to be the best baseball player possible. You followed your player’s career from the time before your draft, through the minor leagues till one day you might get called up to the Major Leagues. Inside the Park Baseball was designed to work together with OOTP5 where you were able to insert your player into an OOTP5 season and see how well you performed.
