OOTP Baseball:Perfect Team/Tournament Modes
Tournament Modes describe the overall setup and environment that can be used in Perfect Team. Note that most tournament mode options apply to both traditional tournaments as well as Perfect Drafts.
Number of Teams
Tournaments vary from as few as 8 teams, to as many as 256 teams. Generally speaking, the larger the size of the tournament, the longer it will take to play, but the bigger prizes that can be won.
Round Options
Tournaments are often grouped into several "types" of tournaments based on the general tournament structure. Most tournaments run with a traditional Best of N structure (ie. best of 5 or best of 7), where each round is a traditional tournament bracket. Some tournaments may increase the length of the final round (ie. they may be a best of 5 for the majority of the tournament, but the finals run as a best of 7). Do or Die tournaments are best of 1 (each round is a single game).
Another common and popular tournament type are round robin tournaments. Traditionally they will match 4 teams in a pool, and depending if it is a single, double, or triple round robin, each team will play 3, 6, or 9 games. At the end of the pool stage, the top 2 teams in each bracket will advance to an elimination tournament.
Double Elimination tournaments are set as a modified double elimination, where when a team loses a round, they are placed in a relegation bracket. If a team loses a round from the relegation bracket, they are eliminated. This format will proceed until there are 4 teams left, at which point the final teams will showdown to find a champion.
Other tournament types may be released when tournaments are changed.
Year/DH/Park
Another option that can be modified in tournaments is the general run environment. By default, tournaments are played in a "modern" setting that roughly follows modern baseball rules, with the statistical environment being similar to 2010. Tournaments may also be set in a different year, in which case they will reflect the run environment of that year (as well as some rule changes, such as the 3-batter rule).
Whether a tournament uses a DH or not is another option that can be set. This will not match the historical usage, each tournament may be set differently for that.
Also, a tournament may be played in a different park than the traditional Neutral Heinsohn Park. This can cause the tournament to be slightly pitcher or hitter friendly, have increased or decreased power, or change the lefty/righty balance.
All 3 options are shown together on the tournament list. If the tournament is played in a non-neutral park, an * is listed in the column and the hover text will display the park factors (for Average and HR, displayed as L/R factors).
Era and Ballpark Factors
Tournaments and Leagues can be ran with different Eras and Ballparks. The impact on gameplay can be seen in the base game on the Stats and AI page as the League Totals and Modifiers will change for each year you choose based on real life totals. In the database folder in your game install you will see a files named era_ballparks.txt and era_modifiers.txt. Although these files may mismatch with what's in game, they give a good indication of how the game differs from a "Modern" baseball run environment.
See Year Era Factor Table by clicking here
See Park Factors Table by clicking here
Eras
The base game, and Perfect Team by extension, bucket the years into Eras that in addition to the modifiers as described above affect pitching. One of the most important things for PT players who play era based tournaments is to understand the number of Starting Pitchers (SPs) and Relief Pitchers (RPs) you need for an era. The following table summarizes the Eras, as well as the number of pitchers needed.
| YEAR start | YEAR end | Era name | SP count | SP Pitch Count (PC) | RP count |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1871 | 1900 | The Early Years | 1-2 | Until their arm falls off | 5 (but largely unused) |
| 1901 | 1920 | Deadball | 2-3 | Until their arm falls off | 5 (but largely unused) |
| 1921 | 1945 | Rebirth | 3 | High | 5 (but largely unused) |
| 1946 | 1960 | Golden | 3 | High | 5 (some pen usage) |
| 1961 | 1979 | Boom | 5 | ~160 | 5 (some pen usage) |
| 1980 | 1992 | Defensive | 5 | ~120-145 | 5-6 (RP fatigue needs to be considered) |
| 1993 | 2004 | Power | 5 | ~105 | 7 |
| 2005 | 2015 | Modern | 5 | ~105 | 7-8 as every RP will be utilized |
| 2015 | 2024 | Post Modern | 5 | ~95 | 7-8 as every RP will be utilized |