DMB ATL FAQ

What is DMB?
"DMB" stands for "Diamond Mind Baseball." It is the baseball simulation we use. It is a computer program available from Diamond Mind, Inc. You can visit their website by clicking on the link attached to their name in the previous sentence. But basically the program is a simulation that provides a very high degree of realism, accuracy, flexibility, statistics and reports while still being easy to use.

What is ATL?
"ATL" stands for "All Time League." It is our league using the All Time Greatest Players set from DMB, and the Nippon, Negro League and 19th Century All Time sets created by the Mortimer Brothers. At this writing it combines 1121 MLB players with 162 Nippon League players, 133 Negro League players and 60 19th Century players. It combines Netplay and email-based autoplay together. Autoplay Manager profiles (computer manager settings) are mandatory, while Netplay is encouraged but optional.

What is DMBATL?
"Diamond Mind Baseball All Time League."

What is the makeup of the league?
The ATL has two leagues of twelve teams each, and three divisions of four teams in each league. There is no regular season inter-league play. We play a 154 game schedule, 22 games against teams in the same division and 11 games against teams in the other two divisions of the same league. There is no designated hitter. We have a game-based random injury system. There are no restrictions on playing time for any of the players. Rosters consist of 35 players total, with 25 being active during Games 1-100 of the regular season. There are no league requirements regarding roster composition. Trading is encouraged and there is also a simple free agency system and an annual draft. There are no financial requirements either in real life or on the digital playing field except those minimal ones of owning a computer and the game, having internet access, and having the time to participate fully. There are no enrollment fees, nor any salary-based elements of gameplay.

How many franchises can an owner have?
We are striving for one individual owner per franchise. However, in order to have as few computer controlled franchise s as possible we have allowed owners to have one franchise in each league until such time as we have owners for all franchises. The second franchise is optional, and is only available as long as we do not have owners for every franchise.

What are the rules and regulations fo the league?
They are included in the League Constitution. Amendments and modifications of the constitution will be done by league-wide discussion and vote during the off-season.

Will there be more players added to the league?
Yes. At the very least we will add more Nippon League and Negro League players during the off-season, as well as players from other leagues such as the Cuban League. DMB has said they will update their player set as time goes on. Additionally, as more information is unearthed during research we will appropriately modify the Nippon and Negro League player set. Realism is what we are striving for, even if it is in a completely fantastical setting.

How many games a week are played?
We play 2 series of games each week of the regular season, each series being 4 schedule days in length. Teams will play a maximum of four games a series and a minimum of zero, though the overwhelming percentage of the time the number of games will be four. There are 40 four-day series (give or take), and a two-week (game weeks) break at the two-thirds mark to play a week-long (real-time) series of All Star Games. Additionally we have a 46-game Exhibition Season played in two parts, one week of real time apiece.

What is the Post-Season schedule like?
We use a combination of old and new in our post-season. The Wild Card and Divisional Championships are a best of 5 series. The League Championships are a best of 7 series. The World Series is a best of 9 series. Games will be Netplayed if at all possible, and the boxscores will be distributed to the rest of the league directly after each game.

Do you have a forum?
Yes, we have an email group currently facilitated at http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/DMBATL/ We also have a photo gallery, a files area, a polling place and other amenities.

How do I join?
Send an email to the Commissioner after you have finished reading this FAQ and the Constitution, as well as visiting the group forum and checking out the rest of this website. If this league looks like something you would enjoy, then if there is room for another owner we will be glad to have you. There is a communication requirement, all particpants must be willing and able to communicate with other participants in a timely fashion throughout the season. "Timely fashion" means at the very least within a half-week. There are no other prerequisites except a willingness and ability to participate fully, and a capacity to have fun while enjoying a baseball fantasy simulation.

Can I write articles for the ATL Sporting Life?
Members of the league are encouraged to write articles for the ATL Sporting Life ezine to expand the league's horizons and enrich the gaming experience. We will consider submissions from non-members on an individual basis. There is no payment or exchange of money for anything connected with this league -- and we do not purchase articles. You may use a nomme de guerre (or nomme de plume, if you prefer), or your real name. Either is fine. We will affix your copyright notice to the page if you desire.

Who are we?
Baseball fans.

How Do I Install the League File on my Computer for the First Time?
First, save the file somewhere on your hard drive where you can find it. Then go to the menubar and click on File, then select Create New Empty Database, and then, when the box pops up name, the folder the database will go in (something like DMBATL-2005). You should get a confirmation message that the new database is set up and is the current database (but of course, it is empty at this point). Next go back to the menubar and click on Transfer, and then select Install League Database. A box will pop up and you have to direct the game to the saved database file -- remember where you saved it? Navigate to it and click on it to highlight it, and then click on Open. When it asks you if you are sure, make sure you have the correct database, and then if you do, answer in the affirmative. The game will confirm the successful completion of the installation.

How Do I Install the New League File on my Computer Every Period?
The process is the same as above except that you do not have to create a new database anymore -- you simply make sure you are in the All Time League database is the current one open, and install the new database over the existing one.

Are the League games Autoplayed or Netplayed?
Both. You must always have your team ready for Autoplay, but you can Netplay as many games as you can arrange with the other Owners. There is a set time period for Netplay, and then at the end of that period any games without valid Netplay Results will be Autoplayed. All games are either human-vs-human or computer-vs-computer -- there is no human-vs-computer gameplay. Roughly six days of the week are set aside for Netplay. Two half-day periods are used for Autoplay. The Commissioner or a League President will do all the Autoplay games.

I Can't Host Netplay Games! Why?
Apparently some our GMs have had the same problem that I had hosting Net Play games. I emailed Luke Kraemer at DMB about it and he pointed me in the right direction to fix the problem, so if you're reading this you're in luck. Basically what happened to me, and may also be happening to some of you, is that the game was reading my internal IP adddress, meant only for my home network, and not the one actually used on the net. The giveaway is if the game tells you that your IP begins with 192.168. Those numbers are reserved for internal networks. So you just need to determine what your external IP is. A simple way is to go to one of these two sites:

http://www.whatismyip.com or http://www.chamisplace.com/asp/info.asp?f=ip

They'll give you your IP right off. Use that to host and you're good to go. Another method you can use to get your IP to simply type IPCONFIG in a Command window, or the "Run" box on the start menu. On some systems you'll just get the internal address however.

There is still one other potential problem, however. Your firewall is most likely blocking the port the game uses to enable Netplay. If it's is doing its job it is, anyway. You'll have to manually open the port (32158 is the port number). The procedure differs for each router, so you're on your own on that one, but it's normally an easy procedure. If you're stuck, however, email Luke at support@diamond-mind.com, and he'll walk you through it.

If you're using the firewall built into Windows XP, go into Control Panel, Windows Firewall and click the Exceptions tab. You can add the Diamond Mind Baseball program and have it use port 32158. If you are using ZoneAlarm go into Program Control from ZoneAlarm's Control Center and mark the game as being allowed to have Access and be a Server on the internet.

How Do I 'Export Netplay Game Results'?
The Host of the Netplay game has to save the stats, boxscores, etc (we save everything) at the end of each netplay game. Before the deadline and after no more games will be netplayed by that host, the host must export the statistics to a ZIP file, and email it to the Commissioner. Here is the procedure:

Start the Game
On the Menubar find and click on Transfer
Select Export Statistics
Make sure the teams that played the netgames are highlighted, and then click on through
Make sure the games that were netplayed show up and are highlighted for export, and click on through
There should be no transactions, if there are make sure they are not selected and click on through
Give the file an appropriate name as well as the .ZIP extension, save it
Send the file as an attachment in an email to the Commissioner

How Do I 'Export my Manager Profile'?
The procedure is the same as exporting game results, except that the important bit is highlighting your team -- as that is what saves the Manager Profile into a file. Here is the procedure:

Start the Game
On the Menubar find and click on Transfer
Select Export Statistics
Make sure your team is highlighted, and then click on through
There should be no transactions, if there are make sure they are not selected and click on through
Give the file an appropriate name as well as the .ZIP extension, save it
Send the file as an attachment in an email to the Commissioner

What is the Weekly Procedure?
Normally, Manager Profiles are due to the Commissioner Tuesday midnight and Saturday midnight every week. If there are any changes to this routine, everyone will be notified via our DMBATL Yahoo! email group.

Roster drops, free agent signings and trade confirmations must be sent in to the Commissioner by this same deadline: Tuesday and Saturday midnight.

Netplay result files are also due to the Commissioner at this same deadline: Tuesday and Saturday midnight.

Games will be run Wednesday and Sunday, normally in the morning. If all goes smoothly, the league will be sent out again by noon.

Netplay games can happen anytime after the league file is sent out and until the deadline for sending the results in. Autoplay games will happen sometime between midnight and noon on those days, depending on my schedule. A League President, will be the backup for this in case the Commissioner is unable to perform this task for whatever reason.

This part is important: all Roster Changes (additions or subtractions) must be done by the Commissioner after autoplay and before the league file goes out for netplay. Notification is sent to the Commissioner by all concerned parties before the deadline, and the Change will go into effect for the next series of netplay games. Owners must also tell the Commissioner if the new players involved will be active or farmed, or the Commissioner will simply replace new for old (if old were farmed then new would be also, and vice versa).

Other Roster Modifications that do not necessitate a Roster Change (i.e. farming, promoting, disabling, activating) can be done by Owners after the netgames are completed. This MP will be exported and sent to the Commissioner at the same time Owners send in their netplay results -- but it will be in a different file to ensure it gets applied.

MP Tweaks (lineup, rotation, depth chart and tendencies changes to the Manager Profile) can happen at any time and are not subject to any oversight. These changes can be sent in with the Netplay Results, or instead of the Netplay Results if no netplay games are played.

All Roster Changes and Modifications occur between series -- after the 4th day of the current 4-day series and before the 1st day of the next 4-day series. No Roster Changes or Modifications will happen during a series. Any set of netplay results sent in with roster changes that happen during the 4-day series will not be valid.

Important: any netplay results sent in with Roster Changes during the 4-day series will invalidate the netplayed games and the Manager Profile. Roster Mods and Roster Changes occur only between series, never during a series.

So, to sum up: every Tuesday and Saturday midnight you will send the Commissioner up to three files:

Netplay results in one file (and/or MP Tweaks)
MP Mods (farming, promoting, disabling, activating) in another file
email with desired Roster Changes/moves/trades/signings/etc

The step-by-step procedure followed on Game Day is:

Deadline for Game Results, MPs, Trade Confirmations, Free Agent Requests, Special Instructions
Game Results input
Manager Profiles input
Autoplay games are run
Trades executed
Free Agent arbitration decided
Special Instructions input
New League File sent out
Netplay Period

Additionally, you can always simply send instructions in via email for the Commissioner to modify your Manager Profile for you.