Customizing Injuries

Both on-the-field and off-the-field injuries are customizable in OOTP! Like most other customizable files in OOTP, the injuries files are Comma-Separated Value files.

The text file that controls the injury data in OOTP is injuries.txt. This file is located in the data\database directory in your OOTP Developments installation directory (typically within your documents folder).

Like the name files, the injury data is transferred to a file called injury.dat in your saved game directory when the game is created, so that after the creation of a game, you must use the re-import injuries file function in Game Setup >> League Setup.

Injury data is used, unsurprisingly, any time an injury occurs in your league.

Understanding the Injury File

The injury file stores thirteen pieces of data for each injury, as follows:

Field #	Value	Description
1	Minimum Injury Time	The minimum number of days the player will be injured with this injury.
2	Maximum Injury Time	The maximum number of days the player will be injured with this injury.
3	DTD %	This number should be between 0 and 100. If this number is greater than 0, this injury will be considered a 'day-to-day' injury. Furthermore, the % of loss in player performance will be around the number entered here. So, if this is set to 10, then the injury is day-to-day, and will cause somewhere around a 10% loss in performance. There are some variables involved, so it might not be exactly 10%.
4	Career Ending Possible Boolean	If this is 0, then there is no chance for this injury to be career-ending. If it is 1, there is a chance for the injury to be career-ending.
5	While Pitching/Throwing Boolean	If this is 1, then this injury might occur while the player is pitching or throwing. Otherwise it is 0.
6	While Running/Sliding Boolean	If this is 1, then this injury might occur while the player is running or sliding. Otherwise it is 0.
7	Collision Boolean	If this is 1, then this injury might occur when the player is in a collision. Otherwise it is 0.
8	BPB/Fight Boolean	If this is 1, then this injury might occur when the player is hit by pitch, or is in a fight. Otherwise it is 0.
9	Illness Boolean	If this is 1, then this injury might occur due to illness. Otherwise it is 0.
10	Body Part Code	The body part code is a number from 1 to 4, representing broad categories, as follows: 1-Arm (from the shoulder to the fingers) 2-Legs (from the abdomen to the feet) 3-Back (back, rib cage) 4-Other (head, illnesses)
11	Diagnosis	Description of the injury.
12	Descriptive phrase	A description of the injury that fits gramatically into the in-game text.
13	Frequency	The rate of occurrence of the injury with 1 = rare and 5 = common

Note: The order of the injuries in the injuries.txt file is not important.

Editing the Injury File

There are two main ways of opening the injuries.txt for making changes. The first way is through a text editor program (such as Notepad). This way is recommended for simply viewing the file, or making a small number of changes. The second way is by changing the file extension to .CSV and opening it within a spreadsheet program (such as Microsoft Excel).

Let's say you decide that you want to introduce the possibility that some of your players will contract serious illnesses. Here's a quick example of how you could do this exclusively using a text editor program. Let's create an option of 'mononucleosis':

1. Close OOTP, if it's open.

2. Back up the injuries.txt file in your OOTP directory. This means save it in the same location as a different name. Copying and pasting work!

3. Open injuries.txt (the original, not the copy).

4. Scroll to the end of the file. Create a new row, and type the following: '15,90,' This is saying that players who contract mononucleosis will be out somewhere between 15 and 90 days. Your new row should look like this so far:

15,90,

5. Type the following in your new row: '0,'. This is saying that the injury is not a day-to-day injury. Your new row should look like this so far:

15,90,0,

6. Type the following in your new row: '1,0,'. This is saying that mononucleosis might be season-ending, but cannot be career-ending. Your new row should look like this so far:

15,90,0,1,0,

7. Type the following in your new row: '0,0,0,0,1,'. This is saying that mononucleosis cannot occur in throwing, running, in collisions, or when hit by a pitch. It can happen only due to illness. Your new row should look like this so far:

15,90,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,1,

8. Type the following in your new row: '4,Mononucleosis,'. This is saying that mononucleosis is part of the body part 4 category ('other'), and that it is called, of course, 'Mononucleosis.' Your new row should look like this:

15,90,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,1,4,Mononucleosis,

9. Type the following in your new row: 'mononucleosis,'. This is saying that the game will refer to the injury as 'mononucleosis' in the in-game text. If the injury were usually preceded by a preposition, you should add it here. Your new row should look like this:

15,90,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,1,4,Mononucleosis,mononucleosis,

10. Type the following in your new row: '1'. This is saying that the injury is rare. This is on a scale of 1 through 5, with 1 being rare and 5 being common. Your new row should look like this:

15,90,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,1,4,Mononucleosis,mononucleosis,1

11. Save the file and quit. A good idea is to use Save As, and make two saves: one as injuries.txt and the other save including your league name or what the injuries are. This way, if you have multiple injury files, you can keep track of which is which easier. In the next OOTP game you create, mononucleosis will be an option in your game. You can also use the Re-Import Injury Database for using the updated injury file.