Ver 1.73 Overseas Moves, New Contract Desk and Help Guides

Version 1.73 is out. The centerpiece is overseas moves. Strong players cross the ocean, put up numbers over there, and eventually come home. That whole arc is now part of running your club. We've also rebuilt the Contract Desk (contract renewal, FA, free agents, trades) and the Reinforce screens (domestic and international scouting), and added a full set of in-game Help and first-time guides so newcomers don't get lost.

Players who take on overseas leagues

• Players with a track record in Japan now declare for an overseas move. If it's one of yours, you get a notice. You can't hold them back. The destination is chosen from several overseas leagues to match the player's level
• Posting is in too. When a player under contract asks to be posted, you decide as the club whether to allow it. Allow it and you receive a transfer fee; refuse and the player's loyalty drops
• You can follow a player's stats abroad. Milestone news (wins, home runs) shows up, and the off-season review gets an "Overseas Moves" section
• Released players may head overseas, and draft prospects may go abroad before turning pro. Foreign players may move to their home league or a third country, and come back to Japan later
• Players abroad are included among Japan's candidates for international tournaments. The Player Directory gets a section for them

The scramble for returning players

• A player whose overseas stint is over comes back to the free-agent market. Any club can sign them, not just the one they left
• Other clubs go after promising returnees too. Players who fit a club's needs or have high ratings get offers early
• We adjusted how the free-agent market clears. Players who go unsigned for a long time retire depending on their age

Overseas seasons in the player's year-by-year stats

• Year-by-year stats now list overseas seasons in sequence with domestic ones, with a total for each overseas league and a combined domestic/overseas total at the end
• Years spent in the U.S. are shown as Majors or Minors

Contract Desk, retuned for ease of use

• Contract renewal is now a list plus a negotiation panel. Sorting players into keep / release / farm and confirming is clearer. Also fixed the screen being cut off top and bottom when selecting an FA applicant
• The trade screen is rebuilt. Other clubs' candidates are loaded only when needed, so switching clubs is instant
• In-season free agents and trades now share the off-season desk's look and controls. The age and position filters are in the same place

Reinforce screens (domestic and international scouting) reorganized

• Domestic scouting puts the scouting fee and the search right under the filters, then "Scouting visits" with buttons for high school / college / corporate & independent. This year's class gets more room on screen
• Added sorting (default, name, age; international also by asking salary) and the "Watched only" / "Shortlisted only" filters. The number of players shown is displayed
• Added a "Reset search filters" button. Changing or resetting filters never discards the players you've already found
• The international list keeps its scroll position when you select or star a player

Help and first-time guides

• A "Help" button now sits at the bottom of the season screen, at the top of the match screen, in player details and on the training screen. During the season or a match, F1 opens it too. The game pauses while you read
• The top of Help shows "Notes for this screen": what sorting applies to, what locking does, how to swap players, and other essentials for the screen you're on
• The first time you open a screen you get a short guide: the home screen right after starting a new game, roster, training, reinforce, finance (sponsors, goods), records, your first schedule / stats / staff / draft, and your first manually managed game. Close it once and it won't come back
• The first-time guides can be reread any time from "Screenshot guides" in Help. "Show the first-time guides again" in Settings resets them

Save and share player cards

• From player details you can now save a player card as an image, with the face, ratings, bio and last season's stats
• Load a card image via "Import" in Settings or from the card screen, and that player joins your club's farm team as a new player. You can bring a player a friend developed into your own league
• After saving, you're offered to open X, Threads or Reddit. Attach the image yourself

Match control panel

• Commands, substitutions and viewing settings used to fight for one row. Viewing settings now sit in two rows on the right. Disabled buttons are grey, and on/off toggles read ○●
• While choosing bunt or steal details, the unusable command buttons are hidden to make room for the options. The defensive shift and the Space key hint are separated
• Hovering Auto, Skip, Pitch-by-Pitch, Pitch Call, Pinch/Chance stop and Substitute shows a short explanation

How draft prospects look

• A pitching prospect's number of pitch types is shown as your scouts' read on it, like the other ratings. Unscouted, there's a margin; tournament scouting and private workouts narrow it
• The signature pitch is only revealed by scouting. Until then it isn't shown

Other improvements

• Faster title screen loading, first opening of the Player Directory, and "Next" in contract renewal. Face images use far less memory
• Reviewed every Player Directory bio. Fixed mismatches such as bench-player text on a regular starter, and added more variety
• Reworked the layout of the finance screens (tickets, stadium renovation, sponsors, goods, contract management, uniforms) and fixed the Game Rules page in Settings overflowing horizontally
• Tidied up how club and league names are written in-game

Bug fixes

• While watching a game, runners advancing on a passed ball weren't shown on the bases until the at-bat ended. Fixed, and the play-by-play now says who advanced to which base
• Tournament scouting charged a fee even for a category with no eligible prospects. Fixed; the button is disabled when there's nobody to scout
• On the schedule calendar, sending a rotation pitcher to the farm made the same pitcher's start show up on consecutive days. Fixed, and the probable starter now matches the game
• Fixed the trade completed message not appearing, and the broken "before opening day" screen in international tournaments
• Fixed a player returning from overseas disappearing if no club signed them that off-season

Thank you as always for your reports and requests.