Computer Basketball Becomes

More Versatile in Version 5

By Glenn Guzzo

Strat-O-Matic’s soon-to-be-released Version 5 Computer Basketball game expands the game’s technological range, adds game-play options and offers several new or enhanced reports.

The technology includes an upgrade to support the Microsoft Vista operating system. The job of adapting five Strat-O-Matic computer games to the new platform has consumed much of the programming time this year, but Version 5 Basketball also supports the new Blogger format.

The Blogger format is incredibly simple to use, once you have set up a free Blogger account. At the end of a basketball game, just click on the “blog” button, enter your Blogger ID information, add your comments and send it off. This is especially handy for keeping leagues up to date, although it’s a feature for everyone who wants to share their passion for Strat-O-Matic gaming.

BOARD GAME INFORMATION

The game-play options should be especially comforting for gamers who began playing Strat-O-Matic basketball as a board game.

Gamers now have the option of displaying board-game information – a popular feature in other Strat-O-Matic games because it shows veteran board gamers how their strategies and player ratings affected the outcome of plays. This goes hand-in-hand with Strat-O-Matic’s “open” game system that gives gamers confidence in the SOM process as well as the results.

The board-game info is displayed in the play-by-play, easily distinguished as red type next to the black type for the conventional play-by-play.

3-POINT OPTIONS

Gamers also now have the option of turning off the computer’s default to incorporate three-point shots automatically into game flow.

“Automatic three-pointers are normally recommended since they are a computer enhancement to the game rules,” the Version 5 help file states. “However, if you are a strict board game player, and wish to simulate the board game as closely as possible, you may wish to check this option to turn off automatic three-pointers.”

INFORMATION, PLEASE

The reports section will add enjoyment in a variety of ways.

The League Statistics report now has a League Awards Report, showing the top 10 “vote-getters” for League Most Valuable Player, Defensive Player of the Year and Sixth Man of the Year Awards.

A new Draft-O-Matic report stores a complete recap of the draft in the game’s Print folder. There’s nothing quite like looking at a draft with 20-20 hindsight to see who made the smart moves, and who didn’t.

Finally, the Computer Manager Report has a new addition: Total minutes by position for all eligible players. Now you can make sure you’ve got the necessary 48 minutes at each position covered before the game begins.

As usual, the list of enhancements includes other improvements – there’s more information in the help file, a variety of bugs have been exterminated and several players from seasons past have had corrections to their ratings. For the full list of improvements, see the Version 5 Features list in the Strat-O-Sphere section of the Strat-O-Matic web site, or check the “What’s New” section of help file in Version 5.