digitgopher / showdown-model

Creating statistically accurate MLB Showdown baseball cards.

#MLB Showdown

"MLB Showdown, meet Sabermetrics"

This project makes MLB Showdown cards that are realistic representations of players. Season metrics are transformed into statistically accurate cards that play as true-to-life as possible.

Detailed model description.

Status

• Card charts (distributing the 1-20 values): Implemented, but still under development.
• Points: TBD
• Speed: TBD
• Fielding: TBD
• IP: TBD

Usage

    php formula.php u p db Rpath [ dist [ num_opp ] ]
        u = MySQL username
        p = MySQL password
        db = database name
        Rpath = path to R executable
        dist = Method to generate random opponents. Default (and only recommended option) is 'discrete'. Options:'discrete','continuous','single'.
        num_opp = Number of opponents of each kind to generate. Default is 200. If 'single' is chosen num_opp is always 1.

• Data is found here, specifically cards-tables.sql for card data and [yyyy]_all.sql for MLB season data.
• R and required libraries (truncnorm, rjson, RMySQL) used in the default case. If single is used for num_opp, R is not needed so pass a dummy argument. In this case a distribution of opponents won't be available, as there is only one defined opponent card representing a 'standard' batter/pitcher.

Premises

• Game design is enhanced with increasingly-lifelike players.
• Statistical accuracy leads to innovative card sets.
• There is an elegant beauty in producing cards from a well-designed algorithm.
• One of the most difficult concepts in chart creation is 'cutting small differences'. Many cards look very close. The differences should be defined by a technical process rather than the human eye and gut feelings.

Related

Developed alongside this project are a card data visualization and a game statistics simulator. Additionally, card data was compiled in an easy-to-use format.

About MLB Showdown

Play baseball with trading cards, where 20 sided dice are rolled to determine the result of an at-bat. See the rules of the game. Example pitcher and position player cards.