Introduction to NPIII

The Second Replay

Introduction to NPIII

As you saw yesterday, I’m actually doing two replays at once.

Those who have been exploring my fledgling YouTube channel already know this. I’ve played a few games here and there, and am starting to get into a rhythm of sorts.

Now, I would love to give you a long and detailed history of the theory behind Skeetersoft NPIII, the way that it fits into the history of baseball simulations, as well as the reasons why I’ve decided to start a secondary replay with such an obscure game. However, I’m afraid that all of that simply won’t fit into a single post.

Instead, we’re going to start going back to the past in this Simology section. We’re going to go back to the early days, back to what we know of the early history of APBA, and we’re going to work our way up to NPIII slowly.

Rather than try to do too much at once with this post, I’ll answer a few quick questions about why in the world I’ve got two projects going on at once.

Why Start a Second Project?

There are two reasons why I really wanted to start a second project.

The first is because of just how playable NPIII is. For a game that has a small, niche fanbase, and that never really had much of an advertising presence, it really is a lot of fun to play.

It’s also really fast. In fact, it’s so fast that I have to remind myself to slow down while playing on camera — something I’m sure you’ll be able to see in the YouTube videos.

The second reason why I wanted to start this project is simply because there is so much to say about baseball in the early years of the deadball era. There are a ton of stories that we should cover, including things that most fans and even historians tend to gloss over.

That’s not to say that the late 1940s or early 1950s are boring in some fashion. Far from it! There is, however, a certain charm to the early days of baseball — those long forgotten days of yore, back when all games were day games, when “scientific” baseball meant stealing bases and bunting, when complete games were expected, and when the game was wild and raw.

Why a Board Game?

NPIII is a board game at heart.

You can’t buy the board game anymore — not new, at least. Skeetersoft no longer sells cards and boards. But it’s still a simple board game at heart, one that is based on simple math and a basic framework that has been around for a century.

So why use it? Why not go straight for a newer, more computer-centric approach?

The truth is that all sports sims are basic games at heart. As complex as computerized calculations might be, the theory behind these games was created by humans, using human logic.

NPIII feels honest to me. This is because the underlying logic is clear and easy to see. In fact, all games with open game engines strike me as honest at heart. We know there are no secret rerolls to force “accurate” results. If something strange happens, we can see clearly why it happened, and can calculate what the chances were if we really want to know.

There’s also something really satisfying about rolling your own dice.

Is it Accurate?

That question is part of what this project is meant to determine.

I know already that NPIII is quite accurate for a game made with this engine. We’re not talking about pinpoint accuracy down to an unbelievable decimal level, of course. However, if you take a stroll over through the NPIII Delphi forums and look at replay results, you’ll see that the results are quite comparable with its competitors.

We’ll learn about the accuracy together, one day at a time — just like we are with the 1949 Diamond Mind season.

What About the Computer Manager?

There’s no computer manager in this project.

That actually is a good thing. NPIII doesn’t mess around with calling pitchouts, making throws to first base, and other things that you’ll find in the more visible computer simulations. It’s easy to set basic offensive strategy, put the infield in when there’s a runner on third base, and just let the dice determine the result.

The best part, of course, is that I control all lineup decisions for both teams. I don’t have to worry about a computer manager taking a big star out for an unproven player here, for example. I also don’t have to worry about pitching changes at odd times, or an overly sensitive pitch count system that can heavily skew results.

Does This Change the Blog?

Nope.

We’re not going to get rid of anything we’ve had going on before. Rather, we’re going to expand.

We’ve got a lot of good stuff coming up on this blog in future weeks, months, and even years. This is only the beginning.

So fasten your seatbelts: it’s going to be a wild ride!