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The Fictional League Creation Wizard walks you through the steps required to create your own completely fictional baseball universe:
Step 1 - League Structure
In Step 1 of the Fictional League Creation Wizard, you define the structure of your league: how many subleagues, how many divisions, and how many teams you will have.
At the top of the screen is a drop-down where you can select predefined league structure. The Fictional League Creation Wizard has a set of thirteen predefined structures. These are just starting points; you can still adjust the actual league structure if you wish! Next, adjust the number of subleagues, divisions, and teams in your league, using the drop-downs. As you create a structure, OOTP will randomly select cities and nicknames for your team. You'll be able to edit these later. You can have:
- 1 or 2 subleagues
- 1-50 divisions per subleague
- 2-50 teams per division
Note: The more teams your league has, the more slowly it will perform. Bear that in mind, particularly if you have an older computer.
Rather than creating your own league structure, you can also choose a real world configuration for your league. There are eight variations available, reflecting the real world leagues available in the game. If you choose one of these, the wizard will automatically advance to the next step.
When you are done, click Next Step.
Step 2 - League Nation and Names
In Step 2, you define the league nation for your league and customize the names of your leagues, subleagues, divisions, teams, and nicknames.
First, select a League Nation. Each league must have a home nation. OOTP comes with a list of every nation in the world today. However, for those who want to create a totally fictional world, the nations used in the game are customizable. See Nations, Cities, and Player Origins for more information on customizing nations. Nation selection affects the nationality of players and personnel in the league but has no other impact. For example, creating a U.S. league won't automatically create 'better players' because the level of baseball is higher in the U.S. than in other countries.
Use the rest of the screen to customize your League Name, League Abbreviation, and customize the subleagues, abbreviations, and any team names and nicknames. You can click the Randomize Cities or Randomize Nickname buttons at any time to have the computer recreate all team names and nicknames. These names and abbreviations are used extensively in the game in reports and news articles, so be sure to pick something you like. See League Name Setup for more important information about league name setup.
You can also decide whether or not you want minor leagues. Check the box for each level of minor leagues that you want to have in your league. If you choose not to have minor leagues, your league will use a reserve roster. The Fictional Wizard only offers 5 levels of minor leagues, but OOTP can create any kind of custom minor league structure. If you want to have a more complicated minor league structure, such as one in which there are multiple leagues at Triple-A level, you can drop into Advanced Mode. When you are done, click Next Step.
Step 3 - League, Draft, and Schedule Settings
In Step 3 of the Fictional League Creation Wizard, you make some decisions about your league, its inaugural draft, and schedule.
First, decide which real season is to be used as the standard for your fictional league. Year standards determine financial settings (such as typical player salaries) and league strategy settings (such as how often players bunt). For example, if you select 1905, the financials and statistics of your league will be very similar to those of the real 1905 MLB season.
Decide whether or not you want to hold an inaugural draft. In an inaugural draft, all players are placed into a draft pool, each team starts out with no players, and the first event in your league will be to draft players onto teams. If you don't hold an inaugural draft, each team will start out with a full roster of players.
Finally, select your schedule options. Choose a start date for your season, the number of games each team will play, and the length of a typical series between two teams. When you are done, click Next Step.
Step 4 - Scouting, Player Ratings, and Facegen Settings
In Step 4 of the Fictional League Creation Wizard, you make some decisions about your league's scouting accuracy, ratings scale, and use of FaceGen.
First, you define the accuracy of the scouting system (assuming the league is non-historical), the type of numerical scale used to display ratings and potentials, and whether or not the ratings you see are absolute values or are relative to the league currently selected in the League Menu.
You can also specify which players and staff members have pictures created for them using FaceGen technology, and how those pictures should be colored. When you are done, click Next Step.
Step 5 - Universe, Profile, Play Mode, and Team Selection
In Step 5 of the Fictional League Creation Wizard, you make some final decisions about how your league is set up.
First, decide on a name for your game and the starting year for your game. You can also decide how often the game will save automatically - daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly.
Then, select a name, nationality, and birth date for your manager.
Next, decide whether or not to play in Commissioner Mode. If the Play in Commissioner Mode check box is selected, this manager is also the commissioner and has the ability to interact with the game in many ways that managers can't. You can also choose to act only as a General Manager, in which case on-field management will be handled by your manager, and whether or not you cannot be fired.
Finally, select a team to manage. During league creation, you can choose to manage any team in your league. You can choose to start unemployed, but be careful - once you start the game, you are at the mercy of team owners, who might not want to hire a greenhorn like you! Read more about human manager identities in OOTP for more information.
When you are done, click Start Game! OOTP will process all the information you have selected and drop you onto the Manager Home Screen screen. If you want to add more leagues into this world, you can do so through the Game Setup option (Game menu >> Advanced section >> Setup and Options).