Its Official - Expansion is coming post-release

[puresimmer]

I have some great news. I spent all weekend doing a comprehensive implementation of expansion. It was the nightmare I expected Getting the HTML Almanac to robustly handle the fact that the league structure can now vary by season was an intense coding session. Re-working the scheduling stuff was fun too…

Basically the feature allows the league to expand to any of the supported configurations and allows you to move teams around at your discretion to any division simply via selecting the team from a dropdown. There is an expansion draft with roster protection (like what we had in PS 2005)

The feature is 100% complete so, I may release a 1.1 update sooner than even I was planning. One other thing I am considering now that I have robust flexible expansion is looking at providing an option for auto-expansion based on history when playing with real players. That said, you can now at least manually expand your association to mirror history

Here are some screen shots for those that are interested.

http://www.puresim.com/exp1.jpg
http://www.puresim.com/exp2.jpg
http://www.puresim.com/exp3.jpg
http://www.puresim.com/exp4.jpg
http://www.puresim.com/exp5.jpg
http://www.puresim.com/exp6.jpg
http://www.puresim.com/exp7.jpg
http://www.puresim.com/exp8.jpg
http://www.puresim.com/exp9.jpg

[JudgeDredd]

Looks great and should please some people (from what I've read) but I have no idea what these terms or anything means.

I can see there is going to be a big learning curve here!

[Nothingman]

I'm impressed. The game isn't even out yet and you pretty much have the first patch ready. Not only that but the patch contains a rather large addition like expansion. Great work once again.

[Steely Glint]

Great news. Good work.

[tbear2b]

This is great news! Even though it's one of those bells that wouldn't stop me from buying the game, it really adds to the experience of both historical AND fictional leagues.

One question: Will associations started with the initial release version still give you the option for expansion once you upgrade OR if I want to use expansion should I just wait until the upgrade is available before I begin an association? I just don't want to get really deep into an association and then have to start over because I can't use expansion at all.

Thanks!

[puresimmer]

No worries, you will be able to make an association "Expansion Compatible" via the options dialog on PS 2007 v1.1 when it arrives, so feel free to start cranking your association up in v1.0.

[rjolley]

Ok, that's very kool. I was expecting expansion to look very similar to the last version with the addition of arranging teams as desired. I'm very happy to see the addition of the expansion draft, however. Very nice touch.

Will the computer shuffle players around to put them on the 25-man roster to protect them from the draft?

[spartacus007]

Hooray! This is why I love PureSim. Not many developers are willing to do this sort of work just based on customer requests. I'm excited now.

[Amaroq]

Very nice, Shaun!

I'm particularly looking forward to running 1900 to 1901, adding eight teams as the A.L. comes into existance!

[motnahp]

This is certainly not a make-or-break thing for me, but will it be possible for us to change the divisions of teams we already expanded with, in order to balance out our leagues (to counteract PS 2005's tendency to put two expansion teams in the same division [;)])?

[cdvalenta]

This is great news! Very nice indeed.

You already have one satisfied customer and the game hasn't been released yet!

My credit card is ready with anticipation...

[MizzouRah_slith]

ORIGINAL: Amaroq

Very nice, Shaun!

I'm particularly looking forward to running 1900 to 1901, adding eight teams as the A.L. comes into existance!

First of all, thanks Shaun!!! My credit card is ready. Wow, I'm excited!

Amaroq, since you're a historical buff, is 1901 a good place to start - I assume that's the point when a true AL-NL league came into exsistance. I guess I want to know if records starting being kept in 1901 or was it 1900?

Thanks,


Todd

[jeremy7227]

1871 is the best place to start [:D]

Shaun this is AWESOME!!!! I am so happy that you added this feature. [&o]

THANK YOU SHAUN!

Jeremy

PS: That is officially the most emoticons I have ever used in single message.

[jeremy7227]

Best baseball sim, ever.

[Amaroq]

1901 has been my favorite place to start - especially without the expansion feature, or when expansion was limited to 2 teams at a time, because you couldn't model the 1900-to-1901 jump, which required adding 8 teams at a single go.

You have a constant-team-format for the next 60 years - and if you can get through 60 years before Shaun releases the expansion update, I'll tip my cap to you! [:D]

Also, "Modern" records are counted, I think, from 1901.

...

You will encounter a few frustrations with 1901, those are namely
- there aren't quite enough 'real' players, so you may wind up with 10-point-scrubs in your 35-man roster (though they'll go away quickly as new players are created)
- the pitcher usage won't be quite right (the AI will use a 'closer')
- players who played as both a position player and a pitcher will have to 'choose' one.
- Babe Ruth will be a pitcher, not a slugger.

...

The other years I would recommend are

1919 - WW I is over, the war filler-players are gone, the F.L. has folded, the Babe has made the transition to the outfield, the dead-ball era is almost over, and you'll get to enjoy the legendary Yankees of the twenties and thirties. (Whether on your team, or providing a challenge for you to defeat!)

1946 - IRL, the 'closer' is beginning to exist, so the AI's pitcher usage feels a lot more realistic. The WW II filler-players are all gone, and you get to witness the careers of all those legends from the fifties.

1876 - Once Shaun delivers expansion, I think I'm going to try my hand at an 1876 campaign, starting with the formation of the N.L., and adding the A.L. in 1901. Twenty-five years of an era I don't know much about will be an entertaining addition to my historical repertoire!

...

I hope we'll wind up with a library of those years as 'templates', with the correct ballparks, some neat logos, etc.

[33sherman]

This is great news. I pretty much only play historical careers from 1901-onward, so I was actually holding off until this was added. Thanks, Shaun! No more Montreal Expos ending up in the AL!

[besbol]

Shaun,

By all means, please add accurate historical expansion. I'd like to start a 1901 team and run it fro 100+ years with all the real teams. I have been running a semi-accurate sim with team name changes and ballparks being changed manually. I'd like to see those details change year to year as well. Of course, park dimensions change year to year, especially in the past. Records of these changes in the early 1900's are slim to non-existent. However, when a team moved to a new park, I'd like to see that reflected in a historical sim automatically versus changing them manually. For those interested, I'm working on a spreadsheet that shows team name and ballpark changes and the years they occured. I hope to have this finished before long. The biggest hassel so far are the frequent corporate name changes for recent parks even though the park location hasn't changed.

[puresimmer]

ORIGINAL: besbol

Shaun,

By all means, please add accurate historical expansion. I'd like to start a 1901 team and run it fro 100+ years with all the real teams. I have been running a semi-accurate sim with team name changes and ballparks being changed manually. I'd like to see those details change year to year as well. Of course, park dimensions change year to year, especially in the past. Records of these changes in the early 1900's are slim to non-existent. However, when a team moved to a new park, I'd like to see that reflected in a historical sim automatically versus changing them manually. For those interested, I'm working on a spreadsheet that shows team name and ballpark changes and the years they occured. I hope to have this finished before long. The biggest hassel so far are the frequent corporate name changes for recent parks even though the park location hasn't changed.

Would you mind sending me a copy when you are done?

[Langer]

Dear Sir,

You rule.

Signed,
A-soon-to-be-owner of Puresim 2007.

[jeremy7227]

I have a csv file with all team nickname changes and the year they occurred 1876 to present. If you'd like it to get yourself started or cross reference drop me a line and I'll email it over.

Jeremy