Over the years the Out of the Park Series has gained a very loyal following because each new version of the game has given the player more options, better playability and increased realism. Out of the Park Developments has continued this process in 2004 in its never-ending pursuit to make the game "As Real As It Gets".

Now, after another year of intense research, analysis and re-programming, Out of the Park Developments is proud to announce that OOTP 6.0 will go live today, Friday, April 16th, at noon EST! Please use the download links at the bottom of this newsletter to step up to the plate!

The game engine has been completely re-written from the ground up. Based on the latest comprehensive research, each event has been remodeled for complete statistical accuracy. This is not to be taken lightly, as each phase of the game has been broken down, re-assessed and put back together again. A unique statistical approach was used to evaluate the true value of a player's hitting, pitching and defense, creating a game that is true to the sport we love.

New advanced options have been added to increase the level of realism the players faces as a general manager.

Out of the Park 6.0 retains the standard 25-man active rosters (though this can be changed to a different number if desired), but now offers the option of full 40-man rosters as well. This increases the strategy involved when playing as a general manager, especially when it's paired with the Rule 5 draft, option years and minor league free agency – three new or improved features in OOTP6!

The game now fully implements a Rule 5 draft in the off-season, allowing the player to draft unprotected players from their league rivals. As in real baseball, these players MUST remain on the 25-man active roster the following year, or the drafting team risks losing him.

Arbitration and free agency have been fine-tuned, as the game now determines a player's eligibility based on ML service days. Therefore, calling up a late season prospect does not hurt you in the pocketbook prematurely as it had in previous versions.

The concept of placing a player on waivers has been introduced as well - allowing the human player to make after trading-deadline deals to shore up his/her team for the pennant race. Employing the waiver system is also the route one must use to send a player to the minors if he is out of minor league options.

Customization has always been a key feature of the Out of the Park series, and it remains to this day. Don't want to play with minor league option years? Want to change the length of time it takes to clear waivers, or change the number of days required to qualify as one year of ML service? No problem. Out of the Park 6 allows you to make these changes and dozens more, putting YOU in control of the game, rather than making the game control you.

Player development algorithms have been changed and now more closely reflect real life. The truly great player tends to be able to play major league ball earlier and his skills will allow his career to end later than the typical ballplayer. Players no longer have a predictable pattern to their career, increasing the complexity of general management decisions. Now you must decide if that 38 year old outfielder who just batted .300 and hit 25 homeruns for you- was that his last good year, or does he have a few more left in him?

Of course, if you're not happy how players develop in OOTP, we've added the feature to allow YOU to fine-tune these algorithms yourself by changing a few numbers in one of the setup screens.

OOTP's lineup and general management decisions used to be completely based on the players internal ratings. OOTP6 has changed this. Now, the computer AI will not only look at his ratings, but his current and past performance as well. So, if the computer's cleanup hitter is going through a horrific slump, it’s much more apt to drop the player in the batting order until he can come around. This makes the computer AI much more alive and dynamic, increasing the immersion in solo leagues, as well as increasing the challenge.

The in-game AI has also been revamped, making the computer field manager more astute when it comes to pinch hitting, pitching changes, substitutions and game strategy.

However, in keeping with OOTP's loyalty to user customization, the player can change the percentages that the AI uses for this feature as well.

Complexity in the amateur draft has been increased geometrically. Now, the game differentiates between players drafted out of college and high school. College players usually don't have as much upside, but they're a safer bet to perform as expected. High school players usually have a lot of raw potential that may or may not pan out.

OOTP6 will give you clues (via a brand new detailed scouting report) about the best players, but there's always a chance that the certain #1 draft pick will be a bust, while a late round pick may tap some hidden potential and become a star.

No matter which way you go, just remember to keep money on hand to pay the signing bonus that your top pick will demand!

Broadcast games live over the internet: Commissioners can now broadcast a game to the league FTP server, while it unfolds. This allows leagues to feature live “Game of the Week”, All-Star Game, and Post-Season games, if they so desire.

More options when it comes to player ratings: You can now set the ratings to 1-5, 2-8, 1-10, 1-20, 1-100 or, turn them off completely for the ultimate challenge!

Historical league imports from the Lahman Database have been improved for increased accuracy.

Stealing tendencies have been added to the league era settings.

You can now include cash in trades!

Multiplayer leagues can now easily use FTP to send/receive a player's Spring Training plan.

A new CSV-compatible import/export routine for schedules. Import any schedule from league history and use it in OOTP!

One button automatically generates depth charts based on your lineups.

...and myriad other small features!

A boon to multi-player leagues, full head-to-head play over the Internet!

Download the OOTP6 setup file here:

OOTP Developments File Server (USA)
Download from European Server
Download from 1st Mirror
Download from 2nd Mirror

Website

Company Site
OOTP6 Site

Message Board

Release Party & OOTP6 Discussions
First Aid - OOTP Trouble-Shooting & Tech Support

Thanks for your patience, for all your suggestions, and for your ongoing support during development and beta testing! Have fun with OOTP's latest and greatest release version!