readme file
Census-Based Replacement Name Files for Out of The Park Baseball 3 and Season Ticket Baseball

Have you grown tired of the often-ludicrous names generated by the OOTP3/STB2 name generator and its insensitive recycling of one-of-a-kind legendary baseball nicknames of the past? If so, then here is a set of name files for you that will make your teams look, as the politicians say, "a little bit more like America." In fact, they will look a whole lot like America, as the name files were generated based on U.S. name frequency data from the U.S. Census Bureau. The use of these files improves my enjoyment of the game; your mileage, of course, may vary.

I make these files available for the public's use at the public's own risk. I assume no risk or responsibility for any damage or events (or anything else that even the sleaziest lawyer can think of) associated with anyone's use of these files: use is totally at your own risk. If you use these files and your computer explodes, Windows won't boot, OOTP2 will no longer run, your Internet connection goes south, your house is attacked by Formosan Termites, the Braves don't make the playoffs, religious images appear on your bathroom mirrors, unseen creatures from the Dungeon Dimensions drag your family members away screaming in the night, or anything else of any kind goes wrong afterwards, don't bother me about it, because you're on your own, fool. These files are freely available to OOTP and Wizrad Works to distribute with future versions of OOTP or STB or at their own websites. These files may also be posted for public download at any other public website as long as this readme file is included, or emailed to your friends, or distributed via free ftp, CD, or any other not for profit means. Distribution of these files for profit by anyone but OOTP or Wizard Works is strictly forbidden.

How to use the files:

1. Rename your exisitng names.dat and fnames.dat files in your OOTP3 and/or STB directory to oldnames.dat and oldfnames.dat. These are your backup files in the really odd event that you somehow don't like this set of name files as much as you do the original ones.

2. Unzip the files in this archive into your OOTP3 or STB directory or into both if you somehow have both.

3. Right-click on each file in turn and select "Properties" and make sure that both files are read-only (that the read-only box is checked). That way future OOTP/STB upgrades will not overwrite them.

Future custom leagues, new free agents, new rookies, and scouts/managers/coaches will now be automatically generated using these new and improved name files. Enjoy.

FYI: If you are reading this file and you haven't played Out of the Park Baseball or Season Ticket Baseball, then you have been missing out. OOTP offers you endless hours of rich computer baseball play, with career leagues and the ability to use the latest season, generate and use either any past season with historical players, or generate and use your own custom seasons with fictional players. The OOTP website is at http://www.ootp.net.

My thanks to Markus, Andreas, and Steve for a great game, and to the rest of the OOTP community for what they have done for OOTP.

John E. "Malleus Dei" Johnston III
malleus@bellsouth.net