BBS 1/BBS#1.iso/document/gb21.arj/FPSBASE.TXT

Text File | 1994-12-12 | 8.9 KB | 155 lines

FRONT PAGE SPORTS: BASEBALL '94 by Dynamix
Reviewed by Jason W. Birzer

          Computer        Graphics        Memory          Disk Space
Minimum   386/33       VGA-256 Colors  4MB with EMS           15MB
Max/Rec.

Control: Keyboard, Mouse, One or Two Joysticks (Recommended)
  Sound: Soundblaster compatibles, Adlib, Roland LAPC-1 or MT32, MIDI
  Notes:

Reviewed version 1.0 on: 486/33, 8MB RAM, Pro Audio Spectrum 16
    Reviewer recommends: 486, 2MB Disk Cache

The baseball season is over, whether we want it to or not.  But just when
we didn't think we would get anymore baseball, Dynamix comes to the rescue
with FRONT PAGE SPORTS: BASEBALL '94.

The people who brought us FPS: Football Pro, one of the best football games
I have ever played, has done it again with baseball.  With a new camera
system, improved graphics and a new user interface for this game and FPS:
Football Pro '95, Dynamix is not resting on its laurels.  The game is a bit
buggy, and even more hard drive hungry, but I am sure that Dynamix can fix
some of these problems soon.

One of the first things users of Football Pro will notice is the new user
interface.  The interface is totally drop down menus.  It isn't the most
user friendly system to use because of the fact that it is sometimes hard
to find the selection for what you want.  For example, if you want to load
an association, you will first need to select one of the selections under
Association then you can select Load.

What this interface does allow is a lot of options.  Sometimes so much it
can surprise you.  Associations can be defined for as little as 8 teams and
as much as 48 teams (even numbered) in as much as three leagues with three
divisions each.  The designated hitter rule can be on or off in any league.
It also allows you the selection of how long you want the season (Short
season, Half season, and Full season). There isn't a need for a separate
fantasy draft program for this game, because it is a bui lt in option.
There is also a reset teams selection with more control than Football Pro.

One of the best features of this game is the way it handles rosters and
statistics.  Rosters are divided into four parts: An active roster of 25
players, a AAA roster of 15 players, a disabled list, and a low minors
roster of 10 players.  There is an unlimited number of transactions that
can be made between the active roster and the AAA roster.  The low minors
roster is for players drafted in the Amateur Draft.  Players can be put
into this roster if they are under the age of 26 and are released and
resigned the next week.  The roster assignment screen is impressive. on
the top row, all four rosters are listed along with list of free agents
signed, players released, players sent in trade, and players received by
trade for that week.

Players are rated by many ratings, ranging from 0 to 99.  Batters have
ratings for contact hitting, power hitting, speed, fielding for all nine
positions, arm strength, how much of a pull hitter a player is, and how
likely a player will hit the ball on the ground or the air.  Pitchers have
ratings for holding runners, endurance, control, how much of a ground ball
or flyball pitcher he is, and seven different pitches.  For a pitcher to
use a pitch in a game, the pitcher needs a rating of over 30.  A pitcher
can use a maximum of four pitches in a game.  All players have these stats,
so if you need a position player to be a pitcher or vise versa.

You can see a roster of your batters, pitchers, lineups against left
handers and right handers, fielding positions for each lineup, and pitching
staff roles. In the pitching staff roles, you can select who your starters,
and who your long relievers, middle relievers, setup men and closers are.
In any of these menus, the columns can be changed into just about anything.
If you want a certain statistic, it probably keeps track of it.  The
problem is that it is so vast that it can be hard to keep track of.  I
wished that they included some standard data columns that I could quickly
choose from.  The game also includes a separate program to enter statistics
so that you can enter your own teams into the game.

Player transactions have also been improved over Football Pro.  First off,
the selection screen for trades and free agents allow for more than just
position.  It allows selections of left handers, right handers, switch
hitters, to select minimum ratings for players and age limitations. Trades
have the additional choices of which teams to trade with and which roster
the player is on.  There are three players allowed on each side of a trade.
All trades and free agent signing are not resolved until the next day in
the order of record.  All transactions and injuries for that day are listed
under the teams news.  I wish they had included a central location to see
all the teams' transactions.

Now for gameplay.  You can have as much or as little control over the
players as you want.  There are various levels of control for managing,
pitching, fielding, batting and baserunning from total computer control to
total human control for each of these.  There are also other game play
options like injuries, fatigue, the DH rule and others.  When the game is
started, a lineup screen comes up with the lineups of both teams.  This
allows the player to change his lineup before the start of the game.

The player will then be taken to the ballpark, which is one of twelve types
(The Ballpark at Arlington, The Astrodome, Atlanta Fulton County Stadium,
Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Candlestick Park, Comiskey Park, Dodger
Stadium, Fenway Park, Jacobs Field, Royals stadium, Wrigley Field, and
Yankee Stadium).  It was disappointing that they didn't include all of the
ballparks on the CD-ROM, but you can buy the rest of the parks and 48 teams
for $29.95 from Sierra.  Each stadium has its own bitmapped batting screen
with the batter closest to you.  Below the screen is an information bar
with the name of the batter, Primary statistics (Contact Hitting, Power
Hitting, and speed), The pitcher's name and his pitches and ratings, and
the runners on base and their speed rating.  There is also the option of
displaying where the pitch was in relation to the strike zone and a speed
gun.  A note: the batting screen is very disk intensive, if you are using
disk compression, it will be VERY slow.  I would recommend some sort of
disk caching software.

Controls are simple.  Commands are given by a menu.  The player selects an
option by moving the joystick or pressing the appropriate button on the
keyboard and either button one or two.  When the ball is hit, the place
where the ball will land is marked on the field by a circle.  The smaller
the circle, the closer the ball is to the circle.  The controls are very
good and it is very easy to use in any mode.  Fielders can be moved around
for particular batters.

The graphics of the stadia are very good.  There are various levels of
detail that can be selected for people with slower machines.  I ran the
game with everything at the highest level and there was only a slight
slowdown in the graphics.  It is fairly accurate in its display of the
stadia.

The sound isn't that bad.  Umpires call balls, strikes, and outs.  The type
of foul ball call depends on how close the ball was to being fair. There
is also some ambient crowd noise and voices from the stands from vendors
and hecklers.  The disappointing thing is that there isn't much crowd
reaction to what happens on the field.  If someone hits a home run, the
crowd acts like nothing happened.

One of the best parts of this game is the instant replay option.  The new
thing is the Camera Angle Management System (CAMS).  This allows the user
to position the camera anywhere in the ballpark at any angle.  You can also
have the camera track an object, follow an object, and set up different
cameras for each part of the field.  It also has the ability to edit
replays using different angles.

This game isn't without problems, though.  There is a major bug with the
season that won't let me finish my 11th game.  Dynamix is working on this
one.  Also, sometimes, the mouse doesn't want to work.  This can be fixed
by changing screens, but in the standard managing mode, the screen in which
the computer suggests a move is not controllable from the keyboard, so this
causes problems.  The AI sometimes makes some questionable decisions and
relievers who don't pitch through the 5th Inning can get a win.

I am confident, though, that Dynamix can eventually fix some of these
problems.  It is a new and very complex product.  I'm looking for some of
the improvement in this game to appear in FPS: Football Pro '95 real soon.
Once all the bugs are fixed, this game will indeed be worth all the hype.
Even though you can't get the World Series, you can still play ball.

This review is Copyright (C) 1994 by Jason W. Birzer for Game Bytes
Magazine.  All rights reserved.