General
- A large portion of previous ScummVM specific code has been removed and replaced by all-new custom scripts, which can be loaded in very easily
- All you have to do is place the .scr files into the directory of your game files, it really is that simple 🙂
The reason this was done was because ScummVM was kinda tired of us constantly adding new optional stuff to their opcodes. While some stuff is there for now, most of it has been taken out. But all of what was in 4.0 should be completely available in 5.0
- Commentary has been turned off completely
The commentary has always been a problem with desyncing games. It’s finally being turned off hopefully permanently.
- Fixed a bug where Kimmy Eckman, Maria Luna, Angela Delvecchio, Sally Dobbs and Billy Jean Blackwood would have their stats overwritten incorrectly when they have a boost or a nerf and specific generic players are also present in the game
The player ID array checking for player stat boosts under online conditions has been changed to a 16-bit array instead of an 8-bit array. The array looking for this only went up to 255, so instead of 256 it would start back at 0 and go back up again. This meant if you had, as an example, Maria Luna and Sophie Meyer in the same game, Maria’s stats would be overwritten to be Sophie’s. This should no longer be possible.
- Fixed a bug where Maria Luna’s pink uniform stat boost would not apply to any position other than if she starts in left field when you load in at the strategy screen
Installation
- Download a daily build of ScummVM. Right now it doesn’t matter which one. Select the version that corresponds to your computer (Mac OS or Windows. Linux users may have to find a workaround).
- It may be flagged as a “potential threat” for Windows users but I promise it’s fine. Windows Defender is just silly sometimes.
- Download the “BSO_5_0_TEST_V(x).zip” file (x = version #) from our community Discord Server
- You can find a link to the server via our website.
- The channel name this is listed under is “bso_5_0_news”, under category “BSO-5-0-BETA”
- Currently I’m not actually sure if Discord will flag this as suspicious. If this ends up being the case then I will change that.
- Once you’ve downloaded this .zip file, go to the game directory of Backyard Baseball 2001 and extract the .zip file’s contents into it. There should be 27 .scr files in total, which are the patch files that will be loaded in by this version of ScummVM.
- Note that you need the ORIGINAL PC RELEASE, the Steam version does not work!
- Make sure the “Enable online competitive mods” setting is still checked so that custom teams can still be played.
Player Balance
- Mr. Clanky no longer has infinite stamina
Clanky’s infinite stamina has been abused quite a lot in recent times, so it’s finally getting removed. This should also make him a slightly more fair pitcher to play against.
Offense
A lot of these changes are toward batting powerups as it was one of the biggest priorities.
- You now only gain 1 of any batting powerup instead of a random # from 1-3
- You can now only have a maximum of 1 of any batting powerup
- Hitting a pitching powerup with any batting powerup no longer gives you more batting powerups
- Aluminum Power is removed from the pool of batting powerups, meaning every powerup is now x/10 chance
- Screaming Line Drive is now 4/10 instead of 4/11
- Undergrounder is now 3/10 instead of 3/11
- Crazy Bunt is now 3/10 instead of 3/10
Aluminum Power is the best powerup in the game since it is a free home run. It being removed is the healthiest scenario for balance while keeping batting powerups around.
- Crazy Bunt now only lasts 5 seconds every time instead of anywhere from 5 to 15 seconds
The crazy bunt uptime being extremely variable means sometimes players will chase it for an obnoxious amount of time. It being reduced to the minimum feels the most fair.
- Getting struck out no longer reduces any fatigue for the team
- The offense now reduces 20 fatigue instead of 10 once their batting side has ended
Pitching
- You now only get 1 of any pitching powerup instead of a random # from 1-3
- Heat no longer gives a +5 velocity boost when the batter makes contact
- Powerup pitch base costs have been changed
- Corkscrew: 7 (was 20)
- Cost variance: 4-10 (was 10-29)
- Zig-Zag: 7 (was 20)
- Cost variance: 4-10 (was 10-29)
- Big Freeze: 20 (was 30)
- Cost Variance: 10-29 (was 15-44)
- Fireball: 30 (was 40)
- Cost variance: 15-44 (was 20-59)
- Spitball: 5 (was 10)
- Cost variance: 3-7 (was 5-14)
- Crazyball: 5 (was 10)
- Cost variance: 3-7 (was 5-14)
- Slo-Mo: 5 (was 20)
- Cost variance: 3-7 (was 10-29)
No one ever uses the pitching powerups for two reasons. The first is that they give you a batting powerup if you hit them. The second is that they are extremely expensive to throw. Since hitting them is currently the only way to get batting powerups, the cost of all powerup pitches being noticeably decreased was the more clear solution for now. People probably still won’t throw them, but making them less weak should prove to be effective, especially when a lot of them used to be extremely costly.
- Intentional Walk should now be completely unhittable
- Intentional Walks previously were hittable despite how far outside the zone they are. This is obviously a bug and is now hopefully fixed.
- More Juice is now ONLY given on the first strikeout of a game and then every 4 strikeouts after that (1, 5, 9, 13, 17, etc.).
There have been many complaints about how random it is to get juice, as it is the best powerup in the game. Making it more consistently available and rewarding strikeouts should hopefully be a good solution. Because the juice can only appear every 4 strikeouts, and you can only hold 1 at a time, that means there’s a large incentive to use it.
- Wild pitches can no longer happen
Fielding
- Wild random bounces have been removed
Random bounces are a little controversial already, but the 1/21 chance of a potentially much wider variance in bounciness makes it significantly more frustrating to play against. This has been taken away to make fielding slightly less cumbersome while keeping random bounces.
- The chances of dropping a catch have been lowered across the board
- The chance for the guaranteed drop when facing the exact opposite direction from the ball now also varies based on the coordination stat instead of always happening. Otherwise it is a flat increase of risk
- Ranges from 07% (highest coordination) to 25% (lowest coordination)
Errors are one of the most controversial aspects of the game right now, to the point where it actively makes people not want to play in the first place. So the increase of risk has been drastically lowered while still hopefully keeping them in the game.
- The pitcher now always has an attention stat of 100
Players randomly idling around due to not paying attention is a very funny mechanic, but it is also fairly annoying due to its randomness. The pitcher is one of the least convenient positions for this to happen to, as it effectively stalls games and sometimes gives the offense free bases, so it’s being given the highest attention stat possible to ensure that relaying the ball to them doesn’t happen anymore. The rest of the positions will be left the same for now.