Are PC Sims Too Easy?
Is it a blessing to play a complex sim?
Are PC Sims Too Easy?
I spent some time the other day watching a man named Jeffrey Guterman do a live stream of a Strat-O-Matic Super Advanced game.
I’ve got to admit that I really started to get interested in the broadcast. Jeff was doing all sorts of calculations off camera, and seemed to know exactly which board to turn to.
It’s been a while since I last played with Strat’s Super Advanced game, and I admittedly found myself a little bit lost. I remember the Super Advanced Fielding Chart giving me headaches when I last played, but I don’t remember many of the mechanics. I need to brush up.
But that got me thinking.
Are complex games better for us than simple ones?
This is particularly pertinent when it comes to modern PC sims. When I play Diamond Mind Baseball, the truth is that I don’t actually do much. I set the lineup, push a button to either initiate a pitch or an at bat, and sit back and let the computer do the work.
Skeetersoft NPIII is slightly different, but not all that different. I’m basically rolling dice and letting the computer do all the heavy lifting.
The question, though, is whether it’s actually more fun this way.
Is it better to look through the boards yourself? Does that make you more engaged with the game?
Is it better to have a completely open game engine? Diamond Mind, Action PC Baseball, Digital Diamond Baseball, and OOTP all have closed game engines — which means that results are determined in a way that is completely hidden from the player. But if that’s the case, are you really playing the game?
What do you think? Comments are open to everybody.
Daniel, interesting post. To answer your question in a word, "no."
I purchased the APBA Master Game hoping that it would add detail and texture to playing the game. I appreciated all the possibilities when I examined the boards. However, when I tried to play games, what I found was that it was a chore moving from board to board and rolling the dice several times to find out the result of plays. In your video you described it as "algebraic." Most of the effort had little to do with baseball or managing. It mostly involved the physical activities of rolling dice and flipping boards. Add to that the near impossibility of keeping stats in those days before the advent of the PC, I soon gave up the effort.
Finding and buying Diamond Mind Baseball in 1998 was a godsend. In my season replays, I use the original schedules and manage both teams. I only use the computer to make base running decisions other than stolen bases or hit and run plays. I set the lineups and pitching and pinch hitting decisions for both teams in all games. The DMB program computes the stats. It takes about a half-hour to play a normal game and 9 months to a year to complete a season. In addition, I use Jack Wood's upgraded play-by-play as well as Trilogy and the Indexer.
All of that provides the baseball realism, immersion and complexity that is lost (for me at least) in playing "complex" board games.
When I was a boy and then a young man I enjoyed the heavy lifting of the CD world. APBA and Strat mostly. But now I rather not play CD and enjoy the PC Sims. I admit I am late to the PC offerings but prefer them. I experimented with Strat about 15 yrs ago and absolutely could not finish one game. It seemed too easy, like cheating almost,
So I stopped. Fast forward to about a year ago and I’m a PC newbie. Strat, Dombrov, NPiii (thanks to your videos), Action PC, inside Pitch, and APBA for Windows. The fun is able to complete a game and I hope a season. CD now , for the most part, is a chore. Thanks for interesting content.