From: balzano@mary.fordham.edu (BALZANO-SILVIO)
Subject: A wish for a computer game for the Mac
Organization: Fordham University
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41    
Date: Tue, 21 Jul 1992 16:46:00 GMT
X-Posted-From: mary.fordham.edu
X-Posted-Through: sol.ctr.columbia.edu

The article below is a response I sent out to a person on comp.sys.mac.games.
I think it is also appropriate to post it to this list for feedback and
discussion.  Please let me know what you guys think.

The article follows below:

In article <15360@ucdavis.ucdavis.edu>, fzchen@othello.ucdavis.edu writes...
>I can't stand it any more!!!! I've had a Macintosh since 1984 (yep
>my first Mac had the signatures of all those original engineers on 
>the inside protector).  In the 8-9 years since the Macintosh was release
>there has not been one, ONE, great baseball game.  

You ain't kiddin... ;-)

>This happens to me once a year.  I just snap.  It's usually between
>the months of July through September when baseball fever is raging
>in me.  Just once I'd like to replay that game I saw on TV and
>win it.  I'd let Righetti pitch to Bonds.

Or see what would have happened if the Yankees had descent pitching.  I think
everyone who loves baseball and has a Mac feels this way.

>I went to Egghead today and saw Earl Weaver II, Tony LaRussa, 
>MicroLeague 4(4, they just have II for the Mac), and HardBall 3.
>Shit, when the PC was 9 years old in 1990, they had a great game
>that worked in full screen color(Earl Weaver). I was pretty excited 
>when I heard Earl Weaver was coming out for the Mac.  Boy, what a let
>down.  Blatantly, it sucked.  The 2 HardBall games were OK but they
>tend to lose their playability quickly.  What's up here??

Wow, you liked HardBall 2?  I thought it bit the big one.  I WANT SIMULATION!
I WANT A REAL TEAM WITH REAL PLAYERS! (I know, I said this before, sigh).
I WANT MY BASEBALL, NOW!!!!!  (Are you listen all you software companies, and
you know who you are...)

>There's a lot of great games out there right now in full screen and
>full color(that's another thing, I hate ECA's annoying tendency of making
>their games so their only 9".  Give us a choice will ya!).  It's not
>like it can't be done.  I'm sure there is a market for baseball games
>also.  Given that there are 4 games on the PC and they come out with
>new ones every year, it must be fairly competetive.  It seems to me
>that a baseball game with the choice of strategy or action play would
>be a good seller.  Most selling games tend to be games that older people
>with a pocketbook will buy.  Baseball simulations fall right into that 
>category.  

Here, here!

>All right, now that I've bitched let me give my ideal game that
>could be done now.:
> 
>Realistic statistical simulation - i.e. real Major league stats with
>extra ratings to balance out the player-stamina, agility, speed, etc.
> 
>Different levels of involvement - I liked the way the first Earl Weaver
>(on the PC, never bothered with the Mac crappy port) let you play one
>pitch per at bat, a full at bat, or complete action control of the at/bat.
>How about a dialog that let you shut down different levels of control.
>Anotherwords, I could control fielders throws and baserunning, but hitting
>and pitch calling would purely statistical.
>I also liked the way you could have Earl manage at different levels. Which
>brings me to my next feature:
> 
>Challenging AI - No pansy opponents from the computer please.  Give 
>different levels of thoughness, or let people build managing AI's a la Playmaker
>Football.
> 
>League Play/Editing features - A feature sorely missed in the Mac Earl.
>This came with the pc version.  As of yet, you still can't edit players.
> 
>Use of the Mac Interface to an advantage - The mouse would be the best
>tool yet in playing a strategical simulation.  Imagine positioning your
>players by dragging them within a region to a different area of the field.
>Or pitching by placing the cursor in the batters box and clicking to throw
>the pitch.  Menu's and popup menus for strategical choices. Dialog boxes
>Help, Apple Events, OEC....whoops got a little too carried away there.
> 
>Full Screen Color - This game would have to minimally support the LC 
>12" color.  C'mon.  Sure there are a lot of people with B/W macs, but
>the times they are a changing.  Perhaps something like Spectre, where 
>the outer border of the 13" screen could be used for something non-
>essential (like crowds).  Be creative.  At least fool me into 
>thinking I'm play a game in 8-bits in 13" color.
> 
>Sound!! - Yeah.  Even the original Hardball used digitized sound.  Better
>use lots of it.
> 
>Network play -  Yep. Friday at 5:00 I get together with my buddy at work
>and we play a game across the company's network.  I can't see what
>strategy she's playing.  She can't see mine.   (Note the politically 
>correct gender)

Great wish list.  I don't think I could add to it.

>In summary, I want a game that's as good as any PC game and maybe a little
>better BECAUSE of the Mac interface.  The sorriest thing about ported games
>is that the Mac OS often becomes a nuisance to game play.  Look, the Mac
>has built in 4-channel sound.  Everything from the LC up supports 8-bit 
>color.  Menu's/QuickDraw, its all built in.  USE IT!!!  SimCity was the
>first great Mac game because it was the first to uniquely use the Mac
>GUI to its advantage.  A baseball simulation needs a good GUI (who doesn't?).
>Make it fun for a 12 year old Nintendo jock as well as a 45 year old
>manager who's reflexes and cholesterol level aren't as good as they
>used to be.  Simple, Hot, and Deep is the motto Trip Hawkins used to
>have, I believe.  
> 
>Oh well.  Until then I'll play games in my head or start pricing a
>minimal PC system to see if I can afford a machine to play baseball.
>There is no joy in Macville.....
>
>--MeatHead
>p.s. If anybody says, "Well why don't you write one", I say, "Hire me!!".

Well, I got the bug in my head (thus my previous posting), so I started poking 
around.  Like I said, HardBall is disappointing.  I liked MicroLeague on my 
Commodore 64 better.  I called Strat-o-Matic (the ultimate statistical 
baseball board game IMHO), to see if they had come out with a Mac version of
their computer game (they have IBM, Apple II, and C-64).  The guy told me that
they don't have, nor are they planning a Mac version.  WHAT KIND OF BS IS THAT?
I think that these people don't realize that the market for a descent baseball
game is there.  Now is the time to act.  Stop ignoring the Mac people who
might want to make that big trade, bunt instead of swing away, or go to the
World Series.  And until then, I might actually go purchase SoftPC to run a
descent game or resurrect my C-64.

In conclusion, I ask all the game makers out there: PLEASE, PLEASE, GIVE US A 
GOOD BASEBALL GAME FOR THE MAC!  I feel a lot better now.

Silvio Balzano
Yankee fan, former MicroLeague Baseball Manager (1977 Yankees)
Internet: balzano@mary.fordham.edu
BITnet: BALZANO@FORDMULC
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball.fantasy