Franchise Hockey Manager Beta v0.9.0 Discussion Thread

[batdad]

Getting some kind of report as to how a player played would be a great thing. Say for example a dman who is considered a defensive, stay at home, physical guy. COach after game should be reporting:

Well...John was a little sluggish today, not moving so well and he got lost in coverage a couple of times"

Or..JOhn was pretty solid today, couple big hits and really protected the slot area. Moved the puck up pretty well.

Or...John was just average today....couple mistakes in his coverage, and really should have had a good hit on Bobby Joe on that one rush, but laid back too much. I would like to see him get in the rush a bit more.

Yeah...not going to be possible I know....so maybe a 1-5 rating or something on each game...a report card from the coach, but it needs to be specialized to waht "expectations" of the player are. By that I mean, expectations for a young defensive dman would be much different than that of a veteran offensive stud. ...so ratings for both could be 5/5 and one would have 4 shots, a couple points and the other could have nothing, be even in plus minus, but had no turnovers, 2 hits and 2 blocks.....with a takeaway or 2."

Keith Ballard could then actually get a good rating from AV (yeah right) and Alex Edler could get a bad one. But it needs to be coded into the game that AV will ALWAYS give AARON ROME a 20/5 rating....because well...he is Aaron Rome and even if not playing for AV anymore ...AV will still dress him ahead of Ballard.

[batdad]

Bought it. Decided to get...had some time, and will see how things go. I may not play it much right now as seems pretty raw, but I need to see for myself.


ETA....Crash #1 ...trying to sign a 20 year old to my junior team. Told he is too old, but he is not. Clicked on Submit...boom.

[benspit]

My first crash was similar - tried to circumvent the NHL draft by offering the London Knights $1,000,000 for Max Domi...they accepted....I offered a contract....boom

[Loosie]

And I'm in! One thing I love right away...your human manager enters a date of birth!. I always hated that being a GM in EHM you never had an age. Of course it'll be interesting to see if you have a long career being a GM in you early 100s

[CeeBee]

The more I play FHM, the more I realize what a great game EHM was/is even with it's problems and limitations. I'm glad the crew at OOTP is doing FHM but they certainly have some big shoes to fill. It will be very interesting to play through this public beta and see where things are come September. I've got my fingers crossed but I'm not un-installing EHM any time soon either.

[Primis]

The more I play FHM, the more I realize what a great game EHM was/is even with it's problems and limitations.

I've been reminding myself for some time that the original NHL: EHM was really kinda' awful, and 2005 was decent but not great. The first version of FHM is not going to be comparable to 2007, it just isn't. It's going to be comparable to the original or, maybe if we're lucky, 2005.

It's not being cruel or mean, it's realistic expectations. The saying with Microsoft has always been "They get it right the third time". So when a new Windows OS releases it's fairly rough, by SP 1 it's getting better, and then by SP2 it's often rock-solid. It's just the reality of development.

I hope everyone keeps this in mind with their expectations. The best and happest FHM user of v1.0 may end up being one that never played EHM, to be honest...

[Loosie]

So the OT bug is kind of annoying. I do have to keep reminding myself that it is a beta and it's really there to play around with and actually try and break to help fix.

One 'bug' or at least unprogrammed part I noticed is junior-aged prospects that are signed cannot be returned to junior. I'll have to look though the boards for it and mention if it hasn't been mentioned.

I signed Josh Leivo in the pre-season and could not return him to Kitchener, but I could send him to the Marlies.

[batdad]

I have seen people talk about the signed junior thing, but not really much in the bug report thread. It should be mentioned to make sure it is driven home that it needs to be fixed.

Also the problem with many 20 year olds being FA and being told they are too old, yet some are allowed to be signed....but not by the GM, by the AGM or someone....in my game the Wes Vanalphabet and Joey Leach were both free agents. As the Giants I tried to sign both and was told they were overage and could not. Yet...other 20 year olds (Ferland, Brock Montgomery) were on rosters for their teams (Saskatoon and Kootenay). Kelowna had Dylan McKinlay.

game crashed when I Tried to sign Leach and then it crashed again when I tried Wes.

So I gave up on that, and continued to next day.

And low and behold Wes showed up on my roster....and it said the Giants signed him (did not say who but know it was not me since game crashed without being saved).....

So total loss for me there and turned me off playing Junior for now.

Will try NHL when I have some time

[Loosie]

I did mention it and JeffR responded nearly right away. He said that he logged it as he was working on NHL/CHL transfer agreement last month.

[CeeBee]

The more I play FHM, the more I realize what a great game EHM was/is even with it's problems and limitations.

I've been reminding myself for some time that the original NHL: EHM was really kinda' awful, and 2005 was decent but not great. The first version of FHM is not going to be comparable to 2007, it just isn't. It's going to be comparable to the original or, maybe if we're lucky, 2005.

It's not being cruel or mean, it's realistic expectations. The saying with Microsoft has always been "They get it right the third time". So when a new Windows OS releases it's fairly rough, by SP 1 it's getting better, and then by SP2 it's often rock-solid. It's just the reality of development.

I hope everyone keeps this in mind with their expectations. The best and happest FHM user of v1.0 may end up being one that never played EHM, to be honest...

I never played any early versions of EHM. Didn't even know it existed till 2008. I just hope FHM has a longer life and more versions than EHM and I will certainly be supporting FHM by buying them. I've beta tested before and I know how things go with crashes, features etc.etc. I also understand the new game syndrome with a lot of people, but Riz and SI really put out a good game. Too bad it got dropped after 07 but I am extremely grateful that OOTP(FHM Crew) is giving us a new game

[Lazion]

Started to edit some graphical issues..
In sidenote they should combine current ability and potential ability stars in to one column 'cos that is now little hard to read.


Well.. it ended in this

[Primis]

Do they really have two different, unrelated "CON" columns? That's a huge no-no IMO.

[batdad]

LOL ... I just noticed that. Condition and Contract...same abbreviation.

[m0fownz0r]

So got the game yesterday, jumped right into it and stumble into some issues. Aside from the whole navigation process (advancing the game, player actions, etc) Unless I'm missing something fairly obvious there are no ingame ratings?!?! Another thing, the tactics seem a bit...lacking, simplistic.

On the other hand...man does this game have potential

[batdad]

A couple of things need to be hammered home on FHM site.

1. Hiring coaches absolutely must be possible.
2. Tactical development must be a priority....the default tactic should not be the only one that works.
3. The development model should be something that has more than just 1 way to develop players.
4. The user interface needs to be more intuitive and function a whole lot better than it is now (They are working on this)

These are all things save #1 that I realize are quite complex and need to be worked for a period of time on, and may not be in right away. For me without these things I am not going to be all that engaged in the game.

Right now I am not engaged in it at all....I have to wait a bit before I become interested.

Again...please don't say " Well this is the first version of it..it cannot be like EHM" No it cannot, but they should be striving for making the first release as good as possible and as interesting as possible. They do not have a ton of time left before it is released as a full game....and I hope when it is it is at least as exciting as EHM 2005. But they have ALOT of work to do to get there.

[archibalduk]

I couldn't agree more.

There's a lot of people on the OOTP Forums saying the beta in its present state blows EHM out of the water. Maybe it's the excitement of a new hockey sim or maybe they've not played much EHM, but I really don't think it's anywhere near EHM 2005's level... Yet. There is a lot of potential in the game; the way things work under the bonnet is IMO much of an improvement over EHM 2007. But there needs to be a lot of polish and depth added.

I'm not too worried about the development model; I think this is something that will develop over the summer (I know Jeff has been tweaking the development model for the different nationalities). There is actually an Ageing attribute in the DB. I think once this has been set for players it'll help somewhat in that respect. Although at present I'm finding a lot of newgens at start up who are perhaps too strong (at least in the UK).

In fact, I think everything on your list will be much improved by September. The UI is a particular concern to me, however. It follows OOTP's menu system and so I don't know how far the devs will want to deviate from that. I have no problem with OOTP's navigation system, but I'm finding in FHM that it can take many clicks to get to certain screens (too many clicks IMO). I hope they improve the scoreboard in the in-game view too. It's a small thing, but I really dislike the brushed metal look. I'd much rather see a more authentic scoreboard. I also hope we see a bit of team colours on the various screens (i.e. a bit of a coloured bar behind the white text displayed below the team/player names on the Roster Screen, Player Profile, etc).

Another particular concern of mine is the accuracy of league rules. They're very basic at the moment. I've always thought that EHM nailed many of the rules. I think one reason for FHM lacking in this respect (at least outside of the NHL, Canadian major juniors, etc) is because they're trying to avoid hardcoding, etc. It must be much harder to code things flexibly like this.

I know the game is a beta and I'm sure things will be much improved come September. I don't mean to sound overly critical of the game. I'm really a big fan of its potential and the team behind it. They're putting a phenomenal amount of work into this project and they're really listening to the fans. I also think under Jeff's direction this game will go very far in the long run. But this is a long term project (I hope!) and it'll take a couple of versions to get the level of depth EHM 2007 had (it took EHM about 4 years to get to that point after all).

[batdad]

Thanks Archi. I was actually wondering if someone might come in here and rip me for being too critical. I think this game has A MASSIVE AMOUNT of potential. But it seems very very very raw, even for a beta.

I want to help, and I have put some of my concerns on their site. But...it seems guys are more worried about finding the small bugs and glitches that should be easily fixed. I know fixing crashes is huge, but there are guys already on there worried about freaking jersey numbers. And whether scouts and coaches have good enough attributes...never mind the players.

Sorry....but my main worry is the logical intuitiveness of the interface, followed very very closely by the development model (Which yes Jeff R will be all over, and great) and definitely TACTICS.

These are huge parts to the game...along with being able to hire a coach. Pretty sure that is near the very TOP of a GM's duties in the sport.

I realize that they want to stay close to the OOTP model for the interface...that is great. (I have never played it) But this is a game that is unique in comparison to ball, and the user has many different needs than a baseball management game player. It needs to be VERY LOGICAL and INTUITIVE.

Some say EHM was not intuitive...but for the most part it was for me. And I take awhile as you know to learn new tricks.

League rules are going to be very very difficult. As proven by the overagers (those 21 and up) that are signing in the WHL, OHL and CHL. The age limit is a simple one, I would think....and it is not implemented correctly at this point. That alone worries me.

But they do have some time....not a ton of time,but some time before the release.

I can tell that they are focussed on big issues that do get reported. Which I am thankful for. I just hope they do not run out of time before release day. They need to make this at least as good as EHM 2005. ANd here is the rub....EHM 2007 killed the series. It was not good enough to make money (Plus piracy)....and I am not even shooting for that goal with this version of FHM....I would hate to see it dead before it starts.

Don't think I will...just worried a bit because I am not engaged with this game right off the bat as I was with EHM. Could be just the beta factor, but I think it is more than that.

[CeeBee]

I couldn't agree with both of you more. Right now it's definitely a work in progress and IMO EHM blows it out of the water at this point in time. I hope it is a viable project long term and as such will get my full support but right now it's not at all comparable to EHM. The potential is there to be better but it's a long and winding road..... got my fingers crossed on that issue.
As for the goo goo gaa over on the FHM site. The new game excitement which will wear off quickly enough as it always does on any game site, to be replaced with the smaller core group who will stick with something long enough to learn it, mod it and support it..... sorta like this site

[Primis]

Thanks Archi. I was actually wondering if someone might come in here and rip me for being too critical. I think this game has A MASSIVE AMOUNT of potential. But it seems very very very raw, even for a beta.

One of the Old Guard over on FHockey.com has been messing with it and his thoughts echo most of these. He called it "unplayable", and then in the next sentence said he can see all the stuff is there and that it's looking to be shaping up awesome. So "unplayable" and "awesome". He also said that he can see it looks like the simming engine will be fast if you want it to be, and you should be able to bang out entire seasons in a reasonable amount of time.

So I think a lot of people can understand the criticism, FWIW.

[MWE]

How do you play this game full screen?

[CeeBee]

game start-up screen- preferences tab. Have not tried it yet but it's there.

[KiwiDevils]

Once you have changed the preferences you have to restart the game for it to go to full screen.

[Loosie]

Thanks Archi. I was actually wondering if someone might come in here and rip me for being too critical. I think this game has A MASSIVE AMOUNT of potential. But it seems very very very raw, even for a beta.

I want to help, and I have put some of my concerns on their site. But...it seems guys are more worried about finding the small bugs and glitches that should be easily fixed. I know fixing crashes is huge, but there are guys already on there worried about freaking jersey numbers. And whether scouts and coaches have good enough attributes...never mind the players.

Sorry....but my main worry is the logical intuitiveness of the interface, followed very very closely by the development model (Which yes Jeff R will be all over, and great) and definitely TACTICS.

These are huge parts to the game...along with being able to hire a coach. Pretty sure that is near the very TOP of a GM's duties in the sport.

I realize that they want to stay close to the OOTP model for the interface...that is great. (I have never played it) But this is a game that is unique in comparison to ball, and the user has many different needs than a baseball management game player. It needs to be VERY LOGICAL and INTUITIVE.

Some say EHM was not intuitive...but for the most part it was for me. And I take awhile as you know to learn new tricks.

League rules are going to be very very difficult. As proven by the overagers (those 21 and up) that are signing in the WHL, OHL and CHL. The age limit is a simple one, I would think....and it is not implemented correctly at this point. That alone worries me.

But they do have some time....not a ton of time,but some time before the release.

I can tell that they are focussed on big issues that do get reported. Which I am thankful for. I just hope they do not run out of time before release day. They need to make this at least as good as EHM 2005. ANd here is the rub....EHM 2007 killed the series. It was not good enough to make money (Plus piracy)....and I am not even shooting for that goal with this version of FHM....I would hate to see it dead before it starts.

Don't think I will...just worried a bit because I am not engaged with this game right off the bat as I was with EHM. Could be just the beta factor, but I think it is more than that.

Yes there are people worried about finding small bugs and glitches. But it takes people finding everything. I was one of the guys asking about jersey numbers, because that is something I would like to be able to do. Is it essential? No. Is it a make or break feature for me? No, but it's something I'd like to have. I asked about it now instead of waiting because I'd probably forget.

I agree it is very unpolished. In playing out games I cringe every time the game is tied late right now. I agree that hiring a head coach is critical. I haven't dabbled into tactics or development yet. I've never been a tactics person with EHM, just have never been able to really do much with it, so for me the tactics are a lower priority.

The interface does need some work. It does take a lot of clicks to get where you want to go, and when exiting the in-game play it would be nice to be at the game summary screen.

There are roster movement/contract issues to be worked out. And the injury bug.

Everyone has different ideas of what is important to them, and I trust the OOTP development guys to prioritize them to what their ideas are.

[batdad]

I realize that Loosie. Was not really meaning to criticize you specifically. It was a general statement. Alot of the bigger issues are not getting a ton of play over there. And they need more on those. of course I want to have control over things like jersey numbers. But I would rather them spend their time on making league rules correct and making sure the interface is very solid. Then later....much later worry about the small things. You have pointed out a few things on the site, big and small.

[Primis]

I realize that Loosie. Was not really meaning to criticize you specifically. It was a general statement. Alot of the bigger issues are not getting a ton of play over there. And they need more on those. of course I want to have control over things like jersey numbers. But I would rather them spend their time on making league rules correct and making sure the interface is very solid. Then later....much later worry about the small things. You have pointed out a few things on the site, big and small.

Interface is huge. A clunky interface is one of the big reasons the original NHL EHM struggled to find an audience. 2005 fixed a lot of the issues, but... why wait until the second go?

Features are features, but the game has to work and flow right first.