Earl Weaver Baseball version 1.5 FAQ
by demystifier (the_demystifier hotmail com)
Platform: DOS
Version 1.03
Last Update: 6/04/2003
Emails about the game are highly welcomed, but please put something in
the subject line of the email so I will know it is about the game. This
will help me know it isn't junk and I will probably answer it sooner
than I otherwise would. Also, before emailing me, I ask that you look
at the Table of Contents for this FAQ and Part XI, Frequently Asked
Questions to see if there is a part of this FAQ that deals with what
you are asking about.
Table of Contents:
Part I Introduction/General Description
Part II Starting up on DOS
Part III Starting up on Windows
Part IV Instructions
A. DOS Prompt Instructions
B. Main menu Instructions
C. General Manager Instructions
D. Commissioner Instructions
E. Line up screen Instructions
F. In game Instructions
Part V Stats
A. Hitting Stats
B. Pitching Stats
C. Fielding Stats
Part VI Drafting
A. General Drafting Strategies
B. Special Drafting Strategies
C. How to draft with the commissioner's disk
D. How to draft without the commissioner's disk
E. How to Draft in Windows 95/98/2000/XP
Part VII General Game Strategy
A. Line-ups
B. Offense
C. Defense
D. Starting Pitching
E. Relief Pitching
Part VIII Problems with Windows 95/98/2000/XP
Part IX Passwords
Part X Terminology
Part XI Frequently Asked Questions
Part XII Copyright
Part XIII Acknowledgements
Part XIV Version History
Part I - Introduction
Earl Weaver Baseball v 1.5 was released in 1989 by Electronic Arts. In
its day it was hailed as one of the greatest simulation baseball games
on the market, if not among the greatest ever. It gathered a relatively
loyal following for several years, even spawning a sequel. Some still
consider this to be one of the greatest baseball games ever for PC or
any console system, though because of how outdated it is (and because
it not very compatable with all Windows OS systems after Windows 3.11)
it has more or less died out and isn't played much. The game is for 1
or 2 players at once (like always 2 is more fun), but theoretically
you could have up to 32 teams in a Weaver League managed by 32
different players (Yoiks!). (note: my copy of the game says 1988, but
I don't think it was actually released until 1989 officially). Also,
the game really is harder to ultilize on Windows 95/98/2000/XP, so if
you have an old 386 computer hiding in a closet somewhere, this might
be your time to think about getting it out and dusting it off. I have
included a section Windows problems in the FAQ, so you can still play
even with these problems.
I've tried to create this FAQ in such a way that you can merely high-
light and copy a certain section to print off if that particular
section is giving you trouble, since you can't both look at this FAQ
online and play weaver, unless you have two computers, which most of us
don't. Some stuff may seem unnecessary for some of you familar with
the game, but I've tried to create it as if the person reading it has
never played the game before and is unfamilar with DOS. In other words,
bear with me if you are actually familar with the game. If you want to
skip over a section, I suggest using the find option of your browser to
find the section you want referencing the table of contents.
Part II - Starting up on DOS
To begin with, you must have the game installed on your system (duh).
Get to a DOS prompt. Get to the point where the directory showing
is the one you have the game installed in (usually "weaver" or "ew"
or "ewbb"). Once this is up as the current directory in DOS, type in
"weaver" (just the word weaver, not the quotes) to load up the game.
NOTE: you can type "weaver c" for cga mode that is more compatable with
most Pentium chip computers. This will load the game up with cga
graphics. Of course, if you are on GameFAQs with a Pentium chip or
better (like all of us, you probably need to look at Part III).
Part III - Starting up on Windows
Once you have the game installed in a directory on your system, there
should be an application titled "weaver" in that file. That is your
game. Now, Earl Weaver Baseball (EWB) was never designed for Windows,
and starting it in Windows can cause some problems. To begin with, if
you merely double-click the "weaver" application, the game will look
very bad and will either be too slow to play without being very annoyed
on any speed lower than fast, but will be *way* to fast to play on fast
or super. To solve this, you can either go to the MSDOS prompt and
follow Part II or you can download a batch file for this game at:
http://www.demystifier.org/ewb/ewb.zip
Save the file and then extract the batch file from the zip folder
Double-clicking "weaver" is still fine if you want to merely simulate
weaver games create your own players/stats (see terminology). But to
actually play the game, using cga graphics is necessary on most
machines, which is what _weaver c_ in DOS loads or the batch file
above loads. Also, the batch file has other helpful attributes, namely
that it by-passes the need for passwords.
Part IV - Basic Instructions
A. DOS Prompt Instructions
Other instructions also are available at the DOS Prompt that can select
or deselect various options of game play. As noted before, "weaver c"
will load the game with cga graphics. As follows are other command
line options that can be put after the word "weaver". Note that many of
these options can be accessed from the game internally. Also, if you
want to use several options, you can just put a space between the
variable (ex. if you want a game with DH and no sound, "weaver d q"
should work.
"weaver x" where the following variables are substituted for x:
a - Play in arcade mode (not recommended, full mode is better)
c - Use cga graphics (recommended 9 times out of 10)
d - Use DH
e - Use ega graphics (if this gives you a problem try cga)
f - Go straight to main menu (not a big deal but useful in a batch)
l - Play the 2 default teams repeatedly. Auto lineups/updates.
m - All teams in first league play 1 round robin in fast stats.
n - All teams in second league play 1 round robin in fast stats.
o - All teams in both leagues play 1 round robing in fast stats.
q - No sounds
s - Turn off announcer
t - Use Tandy graphics (um, no...you don't want to)
v - vga emulation mode (same as option e)
% - Play in fast stats mode. Earl manages both teams. No graphics.
B. Main Menu instructions
Once you load the game, either a "pre-game" menu will come up or the
main menu will autoload (if you use the batch or if you use the "f"
DOS line command). Assuming it is the former, you will be asked for
"Arcade Game" (F7) or "Full Program" (F8). Select "Full Program" (you
really don't want to ruin a great game like this by playing the cheesy
"Arcade Game" mode, do ya?). This will bring up the Main Menu.
On the main menu, there are three main columns, left, center, and
right. On the left will be information about the home team, on the
center information about the visiting team, and on the right
information about ground rules and the aptly named "Things to do". If
you load up the game what I mean is extremely obvious and easy to use.
For both the home and visiting teams you can select:
1. The control instrument. Options are keyboard, keypad, joystick,
mouse. It is highly recommended that you use either the keyboard
and/or keypad. The keyboard uses w (up), a (left), x (down), d (right),
and s/enter key for selecting things on the menu. If you can't figure
out the keyboard perhaps you shouldn't be playing (just kidding,
mostly). Other in game commands will be pointed out later.
2. Manager. Options are You manage, Play and manage, Earl manages. I
have never actually know anyone who actually plays this game, so I
ignore option 2, "Play and manage" right off the bat. Earl manages
means that the computer manages and plays the other team, though you
can still set up line ups and even make changes during games (though,
depending on how you set up your league this could be cheating). With
the You manage option you control everything from a managerial
perspective.
3. Game level. Options are major league, minor league, semi-pro and
sandlot. I've never played on anything but major league level, but I
presume the lower levels are there if you want to beat up on the Earl.
4. Pitches per at bat. Options are "one pitch" and "full at bat". One
pitch mode means that in an at bat, the computer will generate all but
the last pitch automatically and you only actually play the last pitch
of that at bat (assuming the hitter doesn't foul the ball off to
continue the at bat). Full at bat means you go through every pitch in
an at bat. I personally play one pitch. While you do take about some
of the in game strategy (particularily on stealing bases and pitch
outs), it cuts down on game time *a ton* and makes the game more lively
and fast-paced overall. With one pitch mode you can literally play a
full 9 inning game in 5-10 minutes.
5. League or non-league play. I've honestly never played non-league
play, so I can't tell you what is different about it from League play.
I presume it has something to do with not saving stats officially, but
I could be wrong.
This describes the left and center column. The right column contains
Ground rules and Things to do.
Ground rules options are as follows:
1. Select Park (F3). This option lets you pick any park that is in the
current park.dat stats file. If your system runs anything newer than
Windows 3.11, a fair warning to NOT hit Set Path (F5) at this time.
There is a way around this, which I'll explain later in the FAQ.
2. DH rule. Select whether or not to have a DH or let the pitcher hit.
I personally prefer using DH's, though it does change strategy to have
pitchers hit.
3. Regulation game or Arcade. Lets you pick whether to have the game
be regulation or arcade. Pick regulation or Crom, high on his mountain
will laugh at you.
4. Injuries. Select whether to have injuries on or off. If you are
playing a season, you probably want to select to have them on to
increase realism and add an extra element into the season.
Things to do options are as follows:
1. Play ball (P). Pick this to go to line-up screens, where you pick
your line-ups and starting pitchers and then playball.
2. Practice (F5). Lets you practice hitting, pitching, and fielding. I
once messed with this for a whole 10 minutes. It wasn't terrible, but
if you actually want to play a baseball video game, any of the RBI
series on the NES or Tecmo Super Baseball on the SNES would do you much
better. Managing is much more fun than playing with EWB. Stats and
Strategy are what this game is all about.
3. General Manager (F6). Here you can trade, clone, edit or even
create your own players. I will have an entire sub-section devoted to
the General Manager later. But, if your system runs anything newer than
Windows 3.11, a fair warning to NOT hit Set Path (F5) at this time.
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