“VGB is designed to fill the void between the software-based version of baseball statistical simulation games, and the physical board-game itself. It does so by giving you a virtual gameboard environment that has several user-customizable options.”

CTRL + F to ‘find’ a specific word in the HELP file
Understanding Stat-A-Rama Virtual Game Board (VGB)
Team controls
Stats Form
On-Screen Results Control Panel
Options
Setting up teams
Using logos
Using player photos
Customizing charts for chart-lookup
Customizing chart button names
About VGB
System Requirements

Understanding Stat-A-Rama Virtual Game Board (VGB)

1)    VGB still requires that you have the physical player data cards on-hand in order to play—please support your favorite statistical baseball game manufacturer by purchasing their games, cards, and accessories

2)    Some features of VGB:

a.     Can be used with various baseball simulation board games such as APBA Baseball, Strat-O-Matic Baseball, or Guru Baseball (baseballguru.com). VGB has three 6-sided dice—one that’s white, one that’s green, and one that’s red—as well as a single 20-sided die that is yellow. Or, you can still ‘roll your own’ if you wish…

                                                                          i.      Example: APBA requires two 6-sided dice of different colors; Strat-O-Matic requires three 6-sided dice and a single 20-sided die; Guru Baseball requires three 6-sided dice of different colors. VGB’s electronic dice roll has the necessary dice combinations to allow play with any of these games.

b.     Keep track of runners on-base by dragging/moving game pieces on-screen

c.      Keep track of the box-score on-screen

d.     Roll dice electronically [or roll your real dice if you prefer]

e.     Keep track of outs on-screen

f.       Change the VGB background to your favorite ballpark

g.     Experience ambient ballpark crowd noise during a game

h.     Game result lookup charts POP-UP with the click of a button

i.        Game result lookup charts  are user-customizable to allow VGB use with different statistical games

j.       Player photo display option

k.     Team logo display option

 

3)    Additional benefits

a.     Can be used with various statistical baseball simulation games. Just customize the charts with those from your preferred game, and you’re ready to go

b.     Allows you to use the small confined space at your PC desk to play actual baseball simulation games—no big tables or spaces needed

4)    You can use your favorite ballpark background photos and actual stadium backgrounds for teams rather than the same old worn-out game board

5)    VGB still requires user-accuracy, just like using a clipboard with paper and pencil to record results or using an actual scorebook to chart the game both require. However, VGB is fully editable and allows you to ‘correct’ any data entry errors etc. VGB will not ‘catch’ your data entry errors as it is a “virtual  data recording” environment.

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‘Calculator’ Feature

The numbers 1 through 0 at the top of the box score boxes function like the number keys on a calculator. This allows you to put your cursor into a box, and then click the appropriate number to enter into a box. Boxes will automatically turn yellow when the half inning is over as a reminder to enter a value.

 

 

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Team Controls

Load VIS; Load HOME buttons
-loads the text file document with player names and supplemental data

MOVE or EDIT checkbox
To MOVE a player UP or DOWN the roster list….
[1] click on a name in the list, hold down the left mouse button and go up or down the list
[2] let go of the mouse button when the player who will bat AFTER the player you are dropping is highlighted
(e.g. the name you are dropping will always appear BEFORE the name that is highlighted when you let go of the mouse button)

MOVE or EDIT checkbox
To EDIT a player name or appended data to a player name in the list…
[1] select the player in the roster list to edit;
[2] check the ‘MOVE or EDIT’ checkbox;
[3] type the player name and data into the white textbox exactly as you wish it to appear in the lineup, then…
[4] Uncheck the ‘MOVE or EDIT’ button and double-click the player’s name in the lineup. The player information in the lineup should now reflect the player information you typed into the textbox.

NOTE: each player name on the left side of the = sign within the team file must be identical to the player photo name within the teams player photos sub folder, or the player photo will not load [See “Setting up teams” directly below for team file configuration]

Example: player name within team player file is Ed_Charles=3B-3 ......so, player photo MUST be named Ed_Charles.jpg

INN Reset button
-sends all on-screen game pieces/images back to their default on-screen position
-updates the boxscore manually if desired

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Stats Form

*The Stats Form provides a means to automatically tabulate results, which can then be exported to an HTML report or XLS file format
*Pitching changes will add the new pitcher name to the Stats Form automatically
*Any cell can be manually edited on the Stats Form; just click on the cell and enter/edit a value, then hit the ENTER key to save

 

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On-Screen Results Control Panel

This panel contains a button for nearly every result that can occur from a dice roll. Results are recorded for both batters and pitchers; results appear under the player name on the ‘Stats Form’

1B, 2B, 3B, HR = single, double, triple, homer

BB = record a walk

PO = popout

DP = double play

RBI = record RBI

STATS = launch the stats form

FO = flyout

K = strikeout

TO = runner thrown out/tagged out

GO = groundout

LO = lineout

*SB = stolen base ‘reminder’ button

*NOTE: To record a ‘stolen base’ statistic, hold down the CTRL key and Left-Click on the top part of the base runner who stole the base. You will receive a confirmation message box when the statistic is recorded.

 

NOTE: other than a ‘strikeout’, outcomes that result in an OUT are not specifically recorded despite having buttons available. This may be a future statistical feature of the program. [E.g. you must manually record how many double plays, popouts, flyouts etc occurred; VGB will not do this for you]

Triple-Play: Just record a DP and then record a GO … this will record 3 outs

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Options

*Extra innings boxes for innings 11-20 if necessary
*Mute dice sound
*Hide controls [hide the on-screen play result control box]
*Crowd noise; ambient crowd/ballpark background sound
*Photo size; change size of photos
*Show dice roll
*# of OUTS; can manually adjust/correct the current # of outs [allows for data entry error correction]
* Random Ballparks; after loading a new ballpark one can select this checkbox to have a new random ballpark selected automatically simply by clicking the ‘Ballparks’ button again. Random ballparks will always be selected from the ‘Ballparks’ folder. Uncheck this box to manually load ballpark photos.

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Setting up teams

-team files must be created in text file format with a .txt extension
-player first and last names can be represented naturally—with a space between first and last name; or with a separation character such as an ‘underscore’ _ character
-each player name must occupy a single line of the team text file
-if appending the player name with additional information such as ‘position’ and/or ‘fielding rating’,  the equal sign = must be used as the separator (as seen in the image below)
-if for some reason you want to edit the data appended to a player’s name while a game is in  progress, you can manually change the data using the respective white edit-lineup text boxes directly below each current pitcher’s name. You must check the ‘Move/Edit’ box to do the edit—you must Uncheck the ‘Move/Edit’ box when finished.

Here’s how to edit a player’s appended data in the roster/lineup while a game is in progress:
[1] Highlight the player name you wish to edit in the team roster listbox
[2] Click your cursor into the long white box below the ‘current pitcher’ label [it’s right below the team roster listbox]:
     a. Type in the name of the highlighted player exactly as it appears in the list, then…
     b. Change/edit the appended data etc.
     c. Double-click the highlighted player name in the list box—the name in the listbox should now reflect the change/edit you made

EXAMPLE of appending Strat-O-Matic fielding rating, steal rating, and running rating to a player name in the team file to save time looking it up on the cards:
Pablo_Sandoval=3b3.1b4.sE.r11         [3rd base = 3; 1st base = 4; stealing = E, running = 1-11]

*NOTE: the included KCA1963 team file [seen here] is a good example of efficiently appending information to player names
* it’s always best to have the team files properly prepared ahead of time as opposed to making a bunch of edits during a game; edits are NOT saved to the team file, so you’ll have to edit the team file anyway if you want them to be permanent

 

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Using logos

-logos should be JPG file type
-optimal display of logos will be achieved when logo size is 150 x 150—other sizes will work too
-logos MUST have the same name as the team text file they are to be associated with, or they will not load

Example: 
Logo name: KCA1963.jpg 
Team text file name: KCA1963.txt

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Using player photos

-player photos should be JPG file type
-
optimal display of photos will be achieved when player photo size is 200 x 280—other sizes will work too
-player photos MUST be located in a SUB-folder within the ‘PlayerPhotos’ folder—this SUB-folder MUST have the SAME NAME as the team text file

Example:
Name of SUB-folder with team player photos:  1963KCA
Name of team text file: 1963KCA.txt

-Every player photo in a team sub-solder must correspond with the same name in the team text file

Example: player name within team player file is Ed_Charles=3B-3 ......so, player photo MUST be named Ed_Charles.jpg
Example: player name within team player file is Diego_Segui ......so, player photo MUST be named Diego_Segui.jpg

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Customizing charts for chart-lookup

-You can replace the chart images in the ‘Charts’ folder (located within the program folder) with your own custom JPG format charts for the board game of your choosing.
*You’ll have to have a little bit of “courage” or “guts” to do this because you need to get into your program installation folder on your PC to do it. Consult the more tech-savvy users in your simulation forums for assistance if you’re unsure of how to do it. Most baseball simulation gamers have already customized their program folders by adding logo packs, player photo packs, and ballpark photo files.

-You can create and launch a copy of the ‘Rules’ in HTML format—provides easy access to the rules when needed
-The first (top) chart button on the main interface launches Chart01.jpg; the second button Chart02.jpg; the third Chart03.jpg and so on….
-You can make JPG scans of your charts, recreate them in Excel or MS Word or some other program, and then create a JPG of them via screenshot or some other means—once you have a JPG of a chart, you can REPLACE the relevant chart in the ‘Charts’ folder with your chart image.
-You CANNOT change the names of the images in the ‘Charts’ folder, but you can change the image itself to whatever you want.

Example:
If you want your chart to launch with chart button #3, name your image Chart03.jpg and replace Chart03.jpg that is already in the ‘Charts’ folder—button #3 will then launch your custom chart.

User-customizable charts/files MUST have the following names:
Chart1.jpg, Chart2.jpg, Chart3.jpg, Chart4.jpg, Chart5.jpg, Chart6.jpg, Chart7.jpg, Chart8.jpg, Chart9.jpg, Rules.html

*Chart JPG files for Charts 1-9 must be located within the ‘Charts’ folder
*Rules.html must also be located in the ‘Charts’ folder

NOTE: the ‘Charts’ folder is located inside the ‘SARBB’ installation folder located within the ‘Program files’ folder on your PC. You can find your ‘Program files’ folder here:

*Windows 7 and Windows XP: C:\Program Files
*the ‘Program files’ program installation folder will always be at the C:\ location on your PC

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Customizing chart button names

-CTRL + Click will allow you to edit the caption of each of the 6 chart buttons—Double-Click to SAVE once you’re done editing
[Note: On some PC’s you may need to tap CTRL once, then hold CTRL down a second time while clicking the chart button]

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About VGB

Stat-A-Rama VGB was created by Dr. Jeffrey Howard of Northern State University as a means to deal with a cluttered desk and lack of space to play baseball simulation games. Out of necessity the idea was born to use the computer screen as a virtual gameboard to place all the physical elements of the game into a virtual space-saving environment. Stat-A-Rama is FREE to use and no donation or other remuneration for its use is required. Stat-A-Rama is not responsible for any damages that may occur from improper use or unforeseen occurrence due to installation and use.

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System Requirements

Pentium 4 or higher CPU; 1GB RAM; Windows XP, Windows 7 recommended, previous versions of Windows may work but have not been tested. 1280 x1024 screen resolution or higher for proper reproduction of interface and graphics.