Play-by-Play Primer
Part 2 - Modules
Scott Nichols

Last month I began this Strat-O-Matic play-by-play primer by discussing, in detail, the reasons that play-by-play was added to the baseball game originally and the goals that the pbp 'team' has kept in mind over the years while developing the module to its current state. As you recall, an introduction into the terminology needed to write and 'read' play-by-play (pbp) was also covered.

I want to use this article to show interested SOM players how they can best use the pbp module PLUS how they can most efficiently modify and/or write their own pbp files. The idea of tailoring a pbp files to reflect an individual's own tastes is intriguing to some, but the task may seem Herculean at first glance. Yet, if you follow the steps noted below, you will find that an individualized pbp module can be accomplished in 'only' a matter of hours!

First, however, I will point out three main areas that must be addressed by anyone that wants to experience the pbp module at its fullest potential.

1. Always make sure that names have been assigned to all league and team representatives (ex. league commissioner, umpires, play-by-play announcer, color announcer, manager, attendance, etc.) These are found under Update League ("play-by-play stuff") and Update Team captions. The easiest way to accomplish this task is to order the $5.00 team disc from SOM - not only do you get the team, city and stadium specific pbp files for all teams in that year, but all of these names have been entered for you! Heck, that is worth the $5.00 alone, in my opinion. On the other hand, certainly you may spend the relatively small amount of time to accomplish the same job, if you know the names to use. The need for this data entry is that thousands (literally) of the pbp lines will appear only when these names are available for the computer to 'call upon'. Lines that reference a manager, an umpire, a color announcer, etc. cannot be used if there is no name to substitute for these people! At the very least, fill in the names for your home team's pbp and color announcers, manager and coaches (if you typically tend to manage one team only).

2. Take a moment to set the pbp at the level you prefer. I enjoy full detail pbp with pre-play discussion (where game and season stats are often mentioned), but there are levels for everyone's tastes. Take one game to try them all.

3. There is one 'housekeeping' task that needs to be accomplished by anyone that edits pbp files. It is the intermittent need to delete certain files from the CDROMBB\DATA sub-directory. These files are *.IDX files (USERPBP.IDX and one for each team, ex. 2000NYA.IDX). When the first game is played with a new userpbp.fil (or any of the team files) coupled with a new BASEBALL.EXE game, these files are created and synchronized with that specific BASEBALL.EXE file. This is done to enable the game to locate the beginning of the various categories more quickly in succeeding games (ex. maybe category 46 starts on line 9,644). Frankly, I am not sure of all the import of these *.IDX files, but the fact is that any time you edit a particular pbp.fil (ex. USERPBP.FIL or 2000NYA.FIL, etc.), you must delete its corresponding *.IDX file (ex. USERPBP.IDX or 2000NYA.IDX) since the synchronization will be destroyed. If you do not do this, you will intermittently see odd pbp calls, frequently repeated calls, have some of the coding appear in the pbp call (ex. 9000 010000000 34), and generally weird stuff coming onto your screen. If this occurs, simply delete all of the *.IDX files from the CDROMBB\DATA sub-directory (or better yet, do it any time you edit one of these files - you can do this in five seconds).

4. Remember that you can save your pbp to file and watch games as a spectator. Sometimes it is worthwhile/fun to take advantage of these options (especially to share All Star and World Series games with other draft league members).

5. Also note that you can change the speed of the pbp, the number of lines that appear in the pbp box, the colors and font of the pbp. Set these to your individual tastes.

Now I will discuss what I believe to be the best way to quickly develop personalized pbp files.

1. At the very least, open up the pbp.txt file found in the CDROMBB\DATA sub-directory and skim it so that you will have a good over-all idea of how to read and write the pbp. You can (and must) go back to this file when it comes time for the writing of original pbp lines. If you are really interested, you should print this file out for reference (although using the SEARCH tool found in most editors to look for the definitions of the many modifier and symbol codes you will see when studying previously written pbp will be quite a time saver).

2. Open up the USERPBP.FIL to get an idea of the volume of pbp lines that have been written and read a few from several categories to 'get the idea'. (Remember to delete the USERPBP.IDX after editing this or any team pbp file - do this after you have finished with the entire session)

3. Open up the 2000NYA.FIL (or any other team file you have from a previous year - certain team files demonstrate things a little better than others - you might try 2000SLN.FIL to see how Mark McGwire's 1998 season was done in category 10 - the homerun category (search for @:YC=1998), the 2000BOA.FIL and 2000TBA.FIL and 2000SFN.FIL also demonstrate some nice concepts of using the stadium and city features in the pbp writing). Simply read through (skim) these files to see how the basics are done in these team files.

4. The KEY POINT to writing pbp files that will reflect your thoughts and style is to add to those TEAM file(s) that you will use most frequently. For example, almost every game I play involves the NYY. If I make sure that the 2000NYA.FIL is to my tastes, then half of my games will show these pbp calls on the screen (the home team's pbp file is used in conjunction with the USERPBP.FIL in every game and the team file is referenced first). Admittedly, if you manage every team equally, this idea will not work - then try my next idea.

5. If you are unable to 'beef up' one or two team files alone to experience your pbp style (since you manage most all of the teams yourself), you will have to edit the massive USERPBP.FIL. Let me warn you - this is not for everyone - but if you really want to develop the pbp files as a project/hobby, the following is a good method to use. First of all, save the original USERPBP.FIL to a separate file for later use if needed. Then it will be necessary to edit this file and eliminate thousands of pbp lines. If you do not do this, the lines that you add will be 'drowned out' by the thousands already in this file. I would do this in a stepwise fashion myself. For example, I might spend several hours one day creating pbp lines for category 10 (homerun calls). So I would go into my edited USERPBP.FIL and delete most of the current calls selectively (only in category 10 on that day), place my new ones at the top of the list, and give them very high percentages (say 99). It is also a good idea to use the same call for many different base situations, altering it slightly to mention the number of runners scoring on the home run, for example. In this way, you can have one great new call appear regardless of the base running situation. Remember, you need to add a modifier to relate the ball flight as well (ex. @:A4 is a ball that just makes it over the fence, @:B2 is seen on screen when someone has hit a 'monster' homerun - not everyone can hit these, etc. -see pbp.txt for details). On the other hand, if no ball flight modifier is added, the pbp will appear regardless of the direction of flight. Of course, this is an advantage if the pbp call does not refer to any particular ball flight direction! On another day, I may edit category '89' - the pre-game introduction. Then I would dump the ones currently in the big file, and add my own set at a high percentage. Now, I will have my 'own' pre-game introductions appear!

Several other good categories to edit would include 13 (strikeout), 74 (stolen base), 81-83 (what is said after out number one, two or three), 90 (announcing the batter), 92 (batter's stats), 97 (pitcher pre-pitch), 98 (wind-up and pitch - use only when bases empty), 99 (The pitch). If these 10-11 categories were edited in the USERPBP.FIL and the current lines in these categories were markedly reduced, you would attain a personalized flavor to the pbp. That, of course, is the idea!

6. Now let me give a few general 'tips' for use in editing the pbp files.

a) If you place a pbp line at the top of any given category and set the pct. at 100%, it will appear every time that it qualifies (based on the modifiers at the end of the pbp line - for example, if you have added an @:BB, it will come up only for night games.

b) On occasion you may note that even pbp lines set at 100% do not appear. This relates to the fact that the computer, in searching for a pbp line to use, limits the amount of time that it searches - in other words, some pbp lines in a category may not always be referenced in every at bat.

c) Also, Bob Winberry has decided NOT to use the USERPBP.FIL and/or TEAM files for each and every at bat. There will be times when Bob will skip a category (ex. category 92 - discussion of batter's stats) in the interest of overall game time/playability.

d) Always remember when writing pbp lines to go onto to the next line after 248 characters have been entered, do not write more than 5 lines per pbp account in any given category, place an @J (serves as a comma) or an @N (use this as you would a period) at least once every 49 characters. If you simply study a few pbp lines in the USERPBP.FIL you will see what I mean.

e) There is a great new addition to the pbp in 2000. We now have the ability to selectively reference any individual player! Now you can add pbp calls that use nicknames like Rocket, ARod, Junior, Babe, The Iron Horse, etc. Just look at some examples in the 2000NYA.FIL (search for Rocket) or 2000SEA.FIL (search for ARod) to see how this is done - and read the pbp.txt file about this option.

f) Delete 'irritating' pbp lines by opening the appropriate pbp file, searching for the culprit line, and delete it using, for example, the DOS EDITOR.

Well, that will do it for this article. Next time, I will spend the entire article discussing how to write the pbp lines themselves. How can you write virtually ANY line that you hear or think of so that it will appear at just the right time in your games? Please send me any and all examples of pbp accounts that you want me to write. Try to stump the SOM pbp system if you can! <g> Send me any other questions that you would like me to answer as well.

Send them to: David_S_Nichols@yahoo.com