I originally purchased DMB a few years ago out of curiosity. I have played Strat-O-Matic for over 30 years and its computer game from its inception and am currently in a league using that game. But in recent years, I found myself wanting something different, thus my trying DMB.
At first, DMB didn't seem to be for me. I tried a 1969 replay but gave it up after about a third of the season and put DMB away. But this year I came back and am glad I did.
Currently I'm about a third of the way through a 1924 Washington Senators replay and loving it. Why? Because I discovered that I was missing baseball.
With SOM, I found that I was playing Strat, not baseball. Maybe it was because I had 34 years invested in the game, but a major league manager just isn't hoping for a lucky "split" draw when the game's on the line. And there were just too many things that just can't happen in Strat (an error on a bunt, for example).
With DMB, I'm making baseball decisions. Maybe NOT having an "open" game engine helps here. But I can see instances where, for example, that my decision to start the runner gave me an extra base, or when I timed a pickoff throw just when the opposing baserunner is leaning, picking him off. No other game has DMB's pitch-by-pitch mode, but without it, you lose a lot of baseball.
Sure, no game is perfect. But while a rap on DMB is its lack of graphics, I have found that this enhances my own imagination. A liner into the gap takes on a different look when you picture it yourself, rather than see the same graphical representation over and over that some games offer. I guess that's why they call it Diamond "Mind," huh?
And Jack's play-by-play prose is the best I've seen (I've also tried ActionPC). Again, combining with Tom Tippett's game vision, the game just comes alive in your head like no other.
I realize I'm preaching to the chior here, but I saw someone ask in another thread why someone chose to play DMB. Maybe because it's the closest thing to the real thing that we have going right now.
At first, DMB didn't seem to be for me. I tried a 1969 replay but gave it up after about a third of the season and put DMB away. But this year I came back and am glad I did.
Currently I'm about a third of the way through a 1924 Washington Senators replay and loving it. Why? Because I discovered that I was missing baseball.
With SOM, I found that I was playing Strat, not baseball. Maybe it was because I had 34 years invested in the game, but a major league manager just isn't hoping for a lucky "split" draw when the game's on the line. And there were just too many things that just can't happen in Strat (an error on a bunt, for example).
With DMB, I'm making baseball decisions. Maybe NOT having an "open" game engine helps here. But I can see instances where, for example, that my decision to start the runner gave me an extra base, or when I timed a pickoff throw just when the opposing baserunner is leaning, picking him off. No other game has DMB's pitch-by-pitch mode, but without it, you lose a lot of baseball.
Sure, no game is perfect. But while a rap on DMB is its lack of graphics, I have found that this enhances my own imagination. A liner into the gap takes on a different look when you picture it yourself, rather than see the same graphical representation over and over that some games offer. I guess that's why they call it Diamond "Mind," huh?
And Jack's play-by-play prose is the best I've seen (I've also tried ActionPC). Again, combining with Tom Tippett's game vision, the game just comes alive in your head like no other.
I realize I'm preaching to the chior here, but I saw someone ask in another thread why someone chose to play DMB. Maybe because it's the closest thing to the real thing that we have going right now.

