Bring back baseball

[stebbinsd]

Moe Cronin has a rather hilarious, but still grossly inaccurate, description of how baseball was played. Since ghouls are not allowed in Diamond City, that means the Sole Survivor is the only one around who can correct him, and everyone else believes him instead of the Sole Survivor.

 

Why not get some ghouls and Mr. Handies together and revitalize the sport for real? We've got all the items we need already in the game; baseball bats (aka "swatters"), baseballs, gloves, home plate, you name it. The only item we would need to develop from the ground up is the baseball uniforms. We already have a baseball uniform in the vanilla game, but we would need new textures if we're going to have multiple teams (though I suppose each individual player doesn't need their own unique number; we can cut the mod programmer some slack there).

 

There are four responses you can give Moe as to how baseball was played. Two of them are accurate; you can describe the rules, or you can explain that it was America's pasttime. Suppose, if you chose either of these, you would get a quest to revitalize baseball. You would then have to assemble a pair of teams to do a demonstration game so everyone else could see how it was played. Assemble a large crowd to watch the demonstration game.

 

You would, of course, need at least 19 people (9 for each team, and one umpire). You would fill one of those roles yourself. Either Codsworth or Curie (before she becomes a synth) would be stuck being umpire, since they obviously can't play themselves. Curie, after she becomes a synth, would also be eligible as a player. For the rest, you're probably going to need some ghouls.

 

You would also have to enter settlement mode and build a new stadium for the game. This should also require several rows of seats for the audience.

 

Once the demonstration game is played, the NPCs in attendance would agree to form their own teams and revitalize the sport on a professional level. They would then form teams themselves and go around demonstrating the game to other settlers and thereby recruiting new players. It won't be long before you have a full team - complete with about six or seven substitutes in the event of injuries of chem scandals (see below for the details) for every single settlement you control!

 

You could then build mini-stadiums in or near all your settlements and watch as the teams traveled around the Commonwealth and played baseball to entertain the local settlers! Each settlement rooting for their home team!

 

The ticket sales would bring in astronomical levels of caps for your settlements! We're talking ... around 5,000 to 10,000 caps per game!

 

As far as the gameplay itself is concerned, here's how I figure you would break the mechanics down:

• Running the bases would be a simple matter of pathfinding for the NPCs. Obviously having higher agility would increase the time you can spend sprinting around the bases. Those with 10 agility or above would actually have a good sporting chance of getting an in-the-park home run!
• When batting, whether you hit the ball would mostly be a matter of timing. If you swing the bat while the ball is within the "scoring cube" (an invisible cube directly above home plate; the bottom is knee-high and the top is shoulder high, and the sides are the beginning and end of your bat, just like irl; but the Y axis would also encompass the arc of your swing), then an RNG based on your perception would play out, and if the dice rolls in your favor, you hit the ball. There would be no need to aim your bat.
• Perception governs the accuracy of your ball throw, as well as the accuracy of your swing. 10 perception means you will always through the ball exactly where you want it to go (either in the batter's scoring area, or right into the baseman's glove). With around 16 perception (technically possible, when you combine the bobblehead and five articles of "cunning" clothing; but remember: You have to wear full baseball gear, so unless you have a mod that lets you apply custom legendary effects, finding a full set that qualifies won't be easy), you will always hit the ball as long as it's in the scoring cube (which would, in turn, be determined by the pitcher's perception).
• Strength would govern how fast and far the ball can be thrown and how far it can be hit with a bat (influenced by RNG as well as the speed of the pitch). A strength of 10 would be needed to have a chance a scoring a home run, and buffs beyond that would improve your chances of home running.
• No chems aloud. The modern-day MLB is very, very strict about its ban on steroids and other controlled substances. Either using a chem, or coming to the game with a chem rush already in effect, will instantly disqualify your team.
• The charisma of the players would increase the amount of caps each game brings to the host settlement. Eighteen players of 10 charisma each would bring in about 10,000 caps per game!

 

Anyone else second this request?

Edited December 20, 2016 by stebbinsd

[MaesterAelix]

You could recruit the robot "team" from easy city downs if you have not destroyed them. :D

[stebbinsd]

You could recruit the robot "team" from easy city downs if you have not destroyed them. :D

I told you: Mr. Handies can't play. They don't have legs or arms. They can only be umpire.

 

Ausaultrons shouldn't be allowed to play, since they would have an unfair advantage to human players. That would be the equivalent of the MLB in real life allowing their players to have mecha enhancements. Those are just more passive versions of steroids.