2001 Season Disk Patch

Last updated: December 27, 2001

Using the link at the bottom of this page, you can download a patch for the 2001 Season Disk. The patch is not a complete copy of the season disk; it is a program that applies the changes to a copy of the season disk that you have already installed on your computer.

Please read this page to learn more about what the patch does, how to know whether you already have the corrections, and how to download and install the patch.

Scope of the changes

A few days after the 2001 Season Disk began shipping, we discovered an error in the event tables that govern the batting performance of some pitchers. (The problem doesn't affect how well they pitch, only how well they hit.)

The impact is very small for most of the affected pitchers, but quite significant for pitchers who (a) had a reasonably large number of plate appearances for a pitcher and (b) batted much better or worse than the average pitcher in 2001. So we have corrected the event tables and power ratings for the affected pitchers.

You probably don't need this patch

On December 18th, we made the corrections and updated our master copy of the 2001 Season Disk. If your copy was shipped on or after that date, you already have the correct version, and you don't need this patch.

In addition, we are shipping a corrected copy of the season disk to everyone who was sent the original version. The corrected disks will be shipped before the end of December, by email if you originally ordered the disk that way, or by first class mail otherwise. If you have already installed the corrected disk, you don't need this patch.

If you're not sure which version you installed, you can find out in these ways:

- if we mailed you a diskette, you can look at the diskette label. If it includes the text "Updated 12/18/2001", you already have the corrected version.

- use Windows Explorer to find the sd2001.exe file that you installed. That file might be on a diskette or CD (if it was mailed to you) or it might be on your hard drive (if you requested email delivery). When you find it, check the date. The incorrect version is dated December 10, and the corrected version is dated December 18.

- with the 2001 Season Disk as the active database, open the Organizer window, select the Players tab, and double-click on Mike Hampton to display his player profile window. Click on the Batting tab to display his hitting statistics and look at the power ratings at the bottom. Hampton's power ratings are Pr/Pr on the incorrect version, Vg/Ex on the corrected one.

Downloading the patch

When you download the patch, it is saved on your hard drive in the location that you specify. Before you apply it, you'll need to make sure it is stored in the folder into which you installed Diamond Mind Baseball -- that's c:\dmb8 if you accepted the default location, something else if you chose to install the game elsewhere. It doesn't matter whether you download the file directly into that folder or download it somewhere else and move/copy it there later.

Before you apply the patch

If you plan to apply the patch to a DMB database in which you have invested a lot of time -- playing games, migrating a league, making roster moves, running a draft -- we recommend that you take the precautionary step of using the Backup command on DMB's File menu to save your database. It's always a good idea to back up your files from time to time, and it's an especially good idea when you are about to run a program that makes changes to those files.

Applying the patch

To apply the patch, find the downloaded file -- it's called dmbfix01.exe -- using Windows Explorer (or some other tool for browsing your hard drive). Make sure this file is in the same folder into which you previously installed the Diamond Mind Baseball game. If it's not there already, move or copy it there now.

NOTE: If you try to run the program from a location other than the DMB game folder, you'll get an error message indicating that a DLL couldn't be loaded or a different message indicating that it was unable to find the BASEBALL.INI file.

When you are ready to apply the patch, use Windows Explorer or My Computer to find the DMB game folder and then double-click on the dmbfix01.exe file to start the process. You'll see the following window:

This window displays a list of all of the DMB databases that are in version 8 format. To make the corrections, select the database from the list and click on the "Make corrections" button. If you have installed the 2001 Season Disk more than once, do this for each of those databases, one at a time.

We have built some important safeguards into this patch program:

- if you select a database (such as agt2) that has nothing to do with the 2001 Season Disk, it will tell you that it couldn't find any matching players and therefore did not apply any changes

- if you accidentally apply the patch to the same database more than once, no harm will be done

It takes only a second or two to make the corrections, and the patch program displays a "successful completion" message when it is done. If you want to be certain that the changes were applied, check the power ratings for some good-hitting pitchers, as described in the above section titled "You may not need this patch".

Download the patch program (dmbfix01.exe, 172KB)