How to create your own field of dreams in MLB The Show 21

by Brian Bencomo

Ever since I started watching baseball when I was 10 years old I’ve been fascinated by baseball parks. When I was younger, I bought a big book all about ballparks, from modern ones to historical ones. I’ve been to about a dozen across the country and hope to one day visit all 30 MLB teams’ stadiums.

As a big ballpark fan, when I found out MLB The Show was unveiling a new feature called Stadium Creator, in which you get to design your own field of dreams, I needed to get my hands on the game and test it out.

It’s something fans of MLB The Show have been wanting for a while. Frankly, it’s a feature that baseball fans will love even if they don’t play video games. It’s also the type of thing that fans of games like Zoo Tycoon and RollerCoaster Tycoon will love.

The level of detail you can put into your ballpark is incredible. So, how do you do it? Here’s a quick rundown of some of the coolest things you can do in Stadium Creator.

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Starting templates

When you first pop into Stadium Creator, you’re given the option to use one of 30 different stadium templates, but that’s just the start. They’re really there to serve as a starting point from which you can add and subtract as you please or inspire you if you choose the Blank Canvas template.

Lets Snow park features snowy slopes and snow-covered mountains beyond the outfield walls. Red Canyon Run and Red Rock and Roll make it look like your ballpark is set somewhere near the Grand Canyon. The Island and Big Bridge Ballpark both feature a bridge in the distance and have a coastal feel. There’s also Cornfield, which looks like, you guessed it, the field from “Field of Dreams.”

Want to give your ballpark a more collegiate feel? Use the Campus Park template. Want to create your own Jurassic Park? Start with the Dino Lair and place all the dinosaurs you want beyond the outfield walls. Blank Canvas has no features other than the field and some stands, so if you really want to start from scratch, this is the template to use.

One thing to note is that there’s an easy mode and a pro mode when you’re creating a stadium. You can see the option to change it at the bottom left corner of your screen when you start. Using the easy mode won’t allow you to move objects like scoreboards, trees and props around, so make sure you’re in pro mode to have full creative control.

Everything is customizable

Once you pick your starting template, it’s time to start customizing. You can shift the outfield wall heights, change the material they’re made of and move them in closer or farther away, adding little nooks and crannies as you see fit. There are some limits to the wall heights, however. They can go as high as 40 feet and as low as 2 feet. During one ballpark build I made the right field wall about 25 feet high and changed the material to brick.

One thing that’s annoying about changing the wall material is that there doesn’t seem to be a way to change all the walls at once. Instead, the walls are composed of different segments, and you have to change each segment individually, which can be tedious.

Image credit: MLB The Show screenshot

During one Stadium Creator session, I added a big office/hotel building beyond the left-field wall and added a guitar-shaped scoreboard. It’s one of 48 different scoreboard designs you can choose from. Next to it I added a crab sandwich stand. This ballpark was set by the ocean, so why not? You can also add taco stands, hot dog stands, or choose from any of the other 23 different kinds of concession stands to add throughout your park.

On the top right corner of the building I added a Pride flag. You only have two basic flag options: Pride or a US flag, with a few different variations for each. This seems like a missed opportunity. Why not have more flag options? Why not have flags for lots of different countries and causes? With so much variety in everything else, I think it would have been great to see more variety in the flag options.

You can change the way the stands are configured, add an upper deck if there isn’t one, alter the pattern of the grass field and add one of 27 different signs like ones that say “Hit It Here” or “Stand Up To Cancer.” There are seemingly endless ways to customize your stadium, and I can easily see myself sinking countless hours tinkering with how it looks.

Weird odds and ends

There are dozens of statues you can choose to decorate with. There are the standard baseball player statues and bear and tiger statues that you might see in actual ballparks around the country, and then there are the more exotic gorilla and whale-on-top-of-a-baseball statues.

You can even place a flying saucer beyond the outfield walls. Oh, and an airplane. And a hot air balloon. And dinosaurs. Did I mention a flying saucer? There’s actually two different options for that one.

Image credit: MLB The Show screenshot

During one Stadium Creator session I used a Blank Template and created a fun dinosaur-themed area behind the right-field wall with dino skeletons, a Brontosaurus, waterfalls, palm trees (there are 16 different palms to choose from) and a swimming pool. I could have also added a giant water slide but couldn't quite fit it in, though that might have been the perfect finishing touch.

You can be as weird and outlandish as you like, or you can keep it traditional and give your ballpark a more throwback feel. That’s really the beauty of Stadium Creator. You can make of it what you want.

Giving your ballpark a retro feel

One thing you can’t seem to do is put a statue or any other object in the field of play. I tried to save one of my stadiums with a statue in center field and Stadium Creator wouldn’t let me. That’s actually kind of a bummer because, in reality, there used to be flagpoles and monuments in center field on the field of play at old Yankee Stadium from the 1930s to 1970s. That’s probably not a good idea in the real world, but in the case of a video game, I don’t see why that can’t be a fun option.

Speaking of vintage stadiums, I noticed that one of the options for the center field hitter’s backdrop was a structure called “Polo Station,” which is based on the structure that used to be in center field at the Polo Grounds where the New York Giants used to play. Hitter’s backdrops tend to be pretty boring, so I decided to use this cool old-timey-looking structure during one of my ballpark builds.

There are several items available to use to give your ballpark a retro feel. One of the buildings you can add is an old elevated train station. You can also add old brick buildings and historic rowhouses beyond the outfield walls if you want your park to feel more like Chicago’s Wrigley Field. Of course, you also can add ivy to your outfield walls to give it the perfect vintage touch.

With MLB The Show releasing Tuesday for PlayStation, and, for the first time ever, Xbox, I can’t wait to see what players will create.

Lead image credit: Sony

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