BBL Challenge Tour

The BBL Challenge Tour is a set of ten challenges designed by Eauxps I. Fourgott and Gmchappe. While the idea and a few challenges came from a collaboration, the challenges and coach files were mostly set in stone by Eauxps.

The challenges were originally meant to serve as a barometer for incoming users who were finding Backyard Baseball for the first time in a while. The ten games vary in difficulty, but they are, on average, quite difficult compared to traditional Backyard Baseball League games.

### Game Files

The files are available for extraction/download at the following link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Q92qMa9wthhOnHfcSP6V7XmI8\_NHY6Lj/view?usp=sharing

### General Rules

Each scenario has a different set of players for the user and the CPU. Instead of simply winning the game for a record at the end of the Tour, there are four challenges for each Tour "stop", and the user is awarded points for accomplishing the goals.

There are a total of 50 points available at each Tour stop. The user can earn 20 points for completing the main objective. There are three secondary objectives for 10 points each.

The games do not need to be completed in a particular order, although re-playing a single stop before completing the whole Tour is highly discouraged. It is recommended that the games be recorded or streamed to verify the completion of certain tasks, but it is not required, and a box score is normally sufficient to prove that the tasks have been completed. All screenshots are DM'd to a Tour Official - namely, Eauxps, Yurya, or Chappe - on Reddit or Discord.

Generally, cheesy strategies and AI manipulation are highly discouraged for completing challenges. For a guideline regarding the rules to follow, see Backyard Baseball League Season 5(Lulu) rules.

### Tour Stops

There are 10 stops on the BBL Challenge Tour:

1. Home Run Challenge
2. Strikeout Challenge
3. NL Master Challenge
4. Right vs. Left Challenge
5. Defensive Challenge
6. AL Master Challenge
7. Coach's Choice Challenge
8. Walks / Stolen Bases Challenge
9. Bipolar Challenge
10. BBL Master Challenge

### Challenge Descriptions

#### Home Run Challenge

One of the more straightforward matches, the Home Run Challenge has the user playing as the Mighty Bombers with the following lineup:

* Achmed Khan
* Pablo Sanchez
* Keisha Phillips
* Marcellus Marx
* Zena Fromme
* Debby Nagasawa
* Fred Benson
* Felix Grant
* Todd Helton

The opposing defense, playing as the Texas Rangers, is especially tough. The venue is Steele Stadium.

The objectives are:

* Hit at least 10 home runs (Main; 20 points)
* Hit a grand slam (requires screenshot verification; 10 points)
* End the game with an equal number of hits and runs (i.e., no LOB; 10 points)
* Hit at least 15 home runs (10 points)

#### Strikeout Challenge

This challenge focuses solely on defensive skills - specifically, pitching. The user's team is comprised of a variety of players with no specific common strengths:

* Randy Johnson
* Pete Wheeler
* Mr. Clanky
* Bobby Higginson
* Jorge Garcia
* Stephanie Morgan
* Lisa Crocket
* Chucky Flinder
* Vicki Kawaguchi

The objectives are:

* Strike out somebody with ALL NINE members of the team (Main; 20 points)\*
* Give up no runs (10 points)
* Pitch a no-hitter (10 points)
* Pitch a total of 5 balls or fewer (10 points)

\*partial credit was awarded for this goal -- 3 players with strikeouts will give the user 5 Tour points, and 6 players with strikeouts will give the user 10 Tour points.

For a player to count as having struck a hitter out, they must pitch the entire at-bat (no coming in just to pitch strike three), but powerups are allowed. Participants are also requested to not deliberately extend the game into extra innings to open up more strikeout opportunities.

#### NL Master Challenge

For this challenge, the user is given the roster of the BBL Season 3 Chicago Cubs, which were the worst team in the National League at 1-11 when the Tour was created. The roster is:

* Earl Abbott
* Matessa Sturges
* Todd Helton
* Lance Lambert
* Jason Giambi
* Perry Marx
* Ronny Dobbs
* Nancy Chin
* Umberto Anders

The opponent is BBL Season 3's National League All-Star Team. The venue is Cement Gardens.

The objectives are:

* Win the game (Main; 20 points)
* Win by at least 10 runs (10 points)
* Get a hit with Jason Giambi, who was the least successful player on the Cubs (10 points)
* Give up 5 or fewer runs (10 points)

#### Right vs Left Challenge

Prepared to be a brief respite for those challengers who are going through the Tour in its specified order, this challenge presents an interesting quandary. The user's team consists of powerful left-handed hitters as the White Wombats:

* Marky Dubois
* Maria Luna
* Ken Griffey Jr.
* Julie Dunkel
* Jennifer Goodfellow
* Mikey Thomas
* Robert Young
* Shawn Green
* Jim Thome

And the opponent is entirely right-handed hitters. The venue is Playground Commons, whose short left field fence is favorable for righties. The objectives are:

* Win the game (Main; 20 points)
* Hit more HR's than the opposing team (requires box score verification; 10 points)
* Hit a HR with at least 3 different players (10 points)
* Hit a grand slam (requires screenshot verification; 10 points)

#### Defensive Challenge

Based on an idea originally suggested by Mavfatha, Challenge 5 is a test of using an effective defensive strategy against the AI. The roster consists of players that may have one specific defensive strength, but they are all generally considered mediocre at defense:

* Kimmy Eckman
* Billy Jean Blackwood
* Jocinda Smith
* Dmitri Petrovich
* Ernie Steele
* Chico Pappas
* Albert Pujols
* Star Moonbeam
* Annie Frazier

The AI lineup is formidable, but not overpowered offensively. The venue is The Dirt Yards, which is avoided in league play due to its RNG on grounders. The objectives are:

* Give up no runs (Main; 20 points)
* Give up 5 or fewer hits (10 points)
* Pitch a no-hitter (10 points)
* Commit fewer than 5 errors (10 points)

#### AL Master Challenge

Challenge 6 was created at the conclusion of Season 3, and only one team remained winless: The Baltimore Orioles. The challenger's task is to play with the Orioles Season 3 roster against the American League All-Stars, represented by the Monsters. The Orioles lineup is:

* Reese Worthington
* Peggy Hefferman
* Hannah Peavy
* Mikey Thomas
* Lena Ng
* Mickey O'Connor
* Melvin Berger
* Angela Delvecchio
* Jose Meisenheimer

This challenge is a parallel to the NL Master challenge, and the objectives are very similar:

* Win the game (Main; 20 points)
* Win by at least 10 runs (10 points)
* Get a hit with Mickey O'Connor, who was the least successful player on the Orioles (10 points)
* Give up 5 or fewer runs (10 points)

#### Coach's Choice Challenge

In this challenge, the rosters are not predetermined. The user must pick a player from each round of the Season 3 BBL Draft to create a team. The Challenge Tour administrators will then create the file with the chosen roster playing an AI team that is of the same approximate skill level.

The objectives are:

* Win the game (Main; 20 points)
* Get a hit with each pick from the last three rounds of the draft (10 points)
* Have a player hit for the cycle (10 points)
* A custom secondary objective based on the roster selected (10 points)

#### Walks / Stolen Bases Challenge

In this challenge, the only skill that the user will be tested on is plate discipline. The focus is to draw as many walks as possible, with a secondary emphasis on stealing bases. The user's roster is mostly good players, though it won't make a difference in the quest for drawing walks:

* Jimmy Rollins
* Luanne Lui
* Kenny Kawaguchi
* Nomar Garciaparra
* Dante Robinson
* Brad Radke
* Ricky Johnson
* Wing Kwan
* Jay Green

The AI roster has many solid players as well, but none of them can pitch very well. The objectives are:

* Draw 5 walks (Main; 20 points)
* Draw 10 walks (10 points)
* Steal 10 bases (10 points)
* Never strike out (10 points)

#### Bipolar Challenge

This challenge showcases one of the best aspects of Backyard Baseball: the hidden boost and slump conditions that are often referred to as "good" and "bad" days for each roster. There are many automatic good day and bad day conditions that are utilized in these two rosters. The challenger's roster is:

* Marky Dubois
* Sally Dobbs
* Angela OR Tony Delvecchio (challenger's choice, as either player gets a boost when playing against the other)
* Maria Luna
* Billy Jean Blackwood
* Ronny Dobbs
* Barry Bonds
* Sammy Sosa
* Ken Griffey Jr.

The rosters were designed such that bad days typically dominate the user's team and good days typically dominate the AI team. The objectives are:

* Get hits with all five players having bad days (Main; 20 points)
* Win the game (10 points)
* Hit a home run with each player who's having a good day (10 points)
* Prevent any AI player who's having a good day from getting a hit (10 points)

This is one challenge that favors streaming or a video with regard to verification on the objectives. Nobody can tell from the box score who had good or bad days (except for the in-game "automatic" days, such as Marky having a good day on the same team as Billy Jean). The challenger should keep this in mind before playing and find some way to verify that the good/bad days *for both sides* have been accurately captured.

#### BBL Master Challenge

As the name implies, this challenge is the most extreme one of the Tour. The user's roster is not set - it is up to the challenger to create the best lineup against a formidable team at Sandy Flats. The AI roster is:

* Jay Green
* Leah Wayne
* Julie Dunkel
* Henri Deschenes
* Marsellus Marx
* Pablo Sanchez
* Barry Bonds
* Ken Griffey Jr
* Joe Green - a custom player, Jay Green's brother, who has every stat maxed and infinite stamina.

The user can choose from the remaining 30 backyard kids to make the lineup, with no restrictions (although it should be noted Maria Luna cannot be boosted to "Pink Maria"). The objectives are:

* Win the game (Main; 20 points)
* Give up 5 or fewer runs (10 points)
* Get a hit with every player (10 points)
* Have a player hit 1.000 for the day (10 points)