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Out of the Park Baseball 15

Platform(s): PC
Genre: Simulation
Publisher: OOTP Developments
Developer: OOTP Developments
Release Date: April 2014

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'Out of the Park Baseball 15' Announced

by Rainier on Jan. 24, 2014 @ 12:09 p.m. PST

Out of the Park Baseball is the most sophisticated baseball simulation game on the market, the most immersive, realistic, and customizable baseball experience a fan can ask for!

Play with 2014 Major League rosters (including thousands of individually rated real players down to the low minor leagues, major league ratings are based on the accurate Baseball Prospectus PECOTA projection system), 7 real international leagues, any historical major league replay season from 1871 to 2013, the complete history of baseball in career mode or simply a completely customizable fictional league, including great player photos utilizing the FaceGen engine!

In OOTP 15 you guide your team to glory. Set up your roster, trade players, draft the next superstar, negotiate with free agents, discover talent in the rule-5 draft, keep an eye on your minor leaguers, scout foreign countries or other leagues, it's all here. On top of the GM features, OOTP sports a great baseball simulation engine with stunning statistical accuracy and extensive play-by-play. It is widely regarded as the most realistic baseball game available, by far! You call all the shots from the dugout and see the game unfold before your eyes.

"Every year we make OOTP even more immersive than before, and OOTP 15 takes a huge leap forward with support for 3D ballparks,"  said lead developer and lifelong baseball fan Markus Heinsohn. "We can't wait for our great community to come up with plenty of custom 3D ballpark models, so everyone will be able to admire the flight of a Jackie Robinson home run in Ebbets Field, or a ball smashed off Fenway Park's Green Monster for a looooong single by David Ortiz."

Pre-order details:

  • Now through February 15th, pre-order OOTP 15 for the special price of $34.99 and earn an entry in our best sweepstake yet.
  • The grand prize winner will choose between a 64GB iPad Air, a Microsoft Surface 2 tablet, or a $700 Amazon gift card.
  • Three runners-up will each receive a $100 Amazon gift card.
  • Three of you will get the chance to become immortal by being included in the game as prospects in the 2014 major league first-year player draft. (You select your name, position and basic skill set; your talent will be above average.)
  • Receive a free OOTP 15 Steam key.
  • Get the game three days before its official April release

Everyone who pre-orders between February 16th and three days before the official release in April will still receive the free OOTP 15 Steam key and get the game three days early.

OOTP 15 New Features:

2014 Opening Day Major League Roster Set

Our 2014 roster set includes all Opening Day major league team rosters, as well as the complete minor league system down to the rookie leagues. OOTP 15 also features the Venezuelan and Dominican summer leagues for the first time. All major league (and certain minor league) player ratings are based on Baseball Prospectus' industry-leading player forecasting system PECOTA. The thousands of remaining minor league players are carefully rated by hand by our established research team.

Will Clayton Kershaw maintain his level of excellence and justify his new mega-contract? Will Mike Trout continue his MVP-caliber play in his third full season? How will Masahiro Tanaka perform in the Big Apple?

Will your favorite team have the puzzle pieces it needs to contend for the pennant? Play OOTP 15 and find out!

3D Ballpark Support and 3D In-Game Ball Flight

That's right, we've entered the 3D age and OOTP 15 is the first step toward visualizing full 3D action on the field. You can import 3D ballparks saved in the popular Collada (.dae) format, and the included ballpark editor lets you properly overlay the ball location diagram used by our simulation engine, including adjustment of wall heights, foul territory, and so forth.

The result is a new optional in-game view that renders realistic 3D ball flight in the stadium model. We know that our great community will come up with plenty of custom 3D ballpark models once OOTP 15 is available, so you'll be able to admire the flight of a Jackie Robinson home run in Ebbets Field, or a ball smashed off the Green Monster in Fenway Park for a loooong single by David Ortiz.

Future versions of OOTP will build on this 3D engine and will eventually feature thrilling 3D animations of on-field play, so you'll be able to watch Robinson's home run trot or see Ortiz take a wide turn at first after that single. Exciting times are ahead!

Additional Real International Leagues

Our research team has plenty more in store for you. OOTP 15 includes seven new international leagues that add thousands of real players, including stats and carefully adjusted ratings, to your baseball game experience.

Several league settings have been tweaked or added (for example, a free agent posting system) so we can model league interactions in a realistic manner. OOTP 15 features these international leagues:

  • Japan (including one minor league)
  • Korea (including one minor league)
  • Taiwan (including one minor league)
  • Mexico
  • Cuba
  • The Netherlands
  • Italy

Each league is available as a template, so you can choose which ones you want to include in your OOTP baseball universe. You can scout the next superstar from overseas and watch grizzled veterans leave the US for playing time in other countries (Manny Ramirez, anyone?). Those ex-major leaguers may even eventually attempt a comeback in the US leagues.

Or you can try a totally different experience by managing a team in a small European league. It's up to you, so play the game your way!

New Ratings System

In previous versions of OOTP, the player ratings were absolute numbers based on the hidden internal player ratings. The problem with this approach was that you didn't know if a 60/100 power rating was actually above or below league average. OOTP 15 introduces a new optional rating system which calculates average player ratings for all positions at the start of the season and then displays player ratings throughout the game in relation to those averages. So, for example, you'll know that a 60/100 power rating is actually above the league average (which is always 50 in the 1-100 rating scale) - by one standard deviation, to be exact (for you math heads).

A Revamped Interface

OOTP 15's interface features an extensive overhaul, starting with a default design for widescreen resolutions (16:9 or 16:10), instead of the 4:3 ratio we've used in the past. This results in a cleaner look with more room for statistics and other information. We've also reworked the menus and added tooltips to most menus and buttons, so beginners will find the game easier to navigate.

In addition, we've overhauled the Manager Home, League Scores, League and Game Setup, and other screens, and we've introduced new screens that take advantage of the multi-league baseball universes made possible by the addition of real international leagues. Those new screens give you all the news, scores, schedules, stats, and more from around your game world.

Historical League Improvements

OOTP 15 makes it much easier for you to create the historical league you've always dreamed about. The league creation wizard has been completely redesigned and offers new functionality - for example, you can easily set up a historical league with teams from different eras, or create a fictional league with a historical player pool of your choosing.

More League Options

Each year we add new options to the game, and OOTP 15 is no exception. You'll find useful settings like minor league service time roster limits, options to limit contract lengths, spring training length customization, and more.

And as in years past, OOTP 15 offers a lengthy list of other new features, including:

  • Enhanced player history tracking (yearly salary, 2nd & 3rd place award finishes, grand slams, walk-off hits, 1- hitters, and other game performances)
  • The ability to offer jobs to coaches and scouts while those jobs are still occupied
  • Reworked team control options
  • Teams may retire uniform numbers
  • Improved news stories and in-game play-by-play
  • Improved online league functionality
  • Improved AI throughout the game
  • Improved first-year player draft and negotiation
  • Almost every other area of the game will be tweaked and improved
  • Even more surprise features that will be revealed before the game ships

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