Franchise Hockey Manager Beta v0.9.56 Discussion Thread

[CJ]

The maximum attribute is in fact a lot higher. We only really use the 1-20 scale when researching the modern game, but it is useful having the ability to go over the scale in special cases. For example, if you have a particularly aggressive player who amasses huge PIM each season, you can give him an aggression rating above 20 so that he'll get the right number of PIM in game.

Don't worry about the star ratings too much. IIRC they don't work correctly and they will be replaced by a better system which is less precise (in fact I think it is now in this week's public beta).

Okay! That rating system makes sence, I thought it was an error.

[Primis]

One thing to keep in mind with what Laizon showed is that I'm sure OOTP's response would be "But we need to make the screens work for lower resolutions still!".

However I don't think 1280x800 is that unreasonable of a resolution to be considered close to "base". On my old desktop even with a non-widescreen monitor I run 1280x1024. And I know the other desktop we have that's more of a gaming rig and uses widescreen runs 1300-something for res.

And the fact is if you have an old enough rig that you're using lower res than those (standard or widescreen), you probably can't really run FHM or OOTP on it anyways.

So yeah.... Laizon's example is pretty solid and reliable for screen real estate IMHO.

[archibalduk]

I think the only caveat there is laptops. My girlfriend recently bought a Intel Core i5 (Ivy Bridge) laptop and that runs at about 1300 x 768 on a 15" screen. I can't remember the exact width, but it's definitely 768px high - and it's by no means a budget-level laptop.

[Primis]

I think the only caveat there is laptops. My girlfriend recently bought a Intel Core i5 (Ivy Bridge) laptop and that runs at about 1300 x 768 on a 15" screen. I can't remember the exact width, but it's definitely 768px high - and it's by no means a budget-level laptop.

Yeah but 768 is not that far off from Laizon's 800 still. Given the dead space his 800 width showed, I think even a 768 would manage just fine. Screens are clear enough now that even on a 15" laptop screen that should look fine.

[dave1927p]

archi, you certainly do deserve a medal for spending the time on rating the players because you had committed to it, even with your current view on the game.

lazion, love those team colours in the screens.

[archibalduk]

archi, you certainly do deserve a medal for spending the time on rating the players because you had committed to it, even with your current view on the game.

As much as I'm not enjoying the game right now (and am disappointed by this right now), I know things will be better in the future; be it either a post-release patch or FHM 15 - or even FHM 16. This is what keeps me motivated. Also, the OOTP devs are great guys and really have listened to our suggestions over the past 18 months - it's a pleasure to work with them and I recommend to anybody who has the time and knowledge to help out with the research. Granted they haven't had a chance to fix the UI, but I totally understand why - they needed to have something to make it stand out from EHM (e.g. historic and fictional modes) and they've now run out of time to work on the UI (and I think it's fair to say they forced themselves into a corner when it came to announcing release dates).

It'll all come good in the end.

[dave1927p]

archi, you certainly do deserve a medal for spending the time on rating the players because you had committed to it, even with your current view on the game.

As much as I'm not enjoying the game right now (and am disappointed by this right now), I know things will be better in the future; be it either a post-release patch or FHM 15 - or even FHM 16. This is what keeps me motivated. Also, the OOTP devs are great guys and really have listened to our suggestions over the past 18 months - it's a pleasure to work with them and I recommend to anybody who has the time and knowledge to help out with the research. Granted they haven't had a chance to fix the UI, but I totally understand why - they needed to have something to make it stand out from EHM (e.g. historic and fictional modes) and they've now run out of time to work on the UI (and I think it's fair to say they forced themselves into a corner when it came to announcing release dates).

It'll all come good in the end.

glad you see it that way. That's how I see it as well. There is no doubt that ootp is giving us a final shot for a hockey sim; Seeing as how they commited to a second version makes me quite happy and no matter where version 1 ends, there will be a ton of pressure on the franchise and ootp for improvement. Seeing the teams dedication I have little doubt that their are putting everything they have into it and that's all I can ask for....well, that and my 1000 requests.

[nino33]

Looks like the last beta update before full release will be released tomorrow
Jeff has provided some details on what's been done/what's coming http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/board/3 ... ost19.html

[Primis]

Looks like the last beta update before full release will be released tomorrow
Jeff has provided some details on what's been done/what's coming http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/board/3 ... ost19.html

All that text from Jeff and not a single indication that they're going to fix even some of the bigger non-UI problems still. Far too obssessed with DB work, and have been all along.

[nino33]

All that text from Jeff and not a single indication that they're going to fix even some of the bigger non-UI problems still

Just curious...what non-UI problems are you referring to?

Far too obssessed with DB work, and have been all along.

I don't understand what you mean...

[philou21]

I think there is nice improvements on the AI in specific areas. That's more important for the release than the UI IMO. Nino, I think what he meant is that they are putting too mch energy on the DB instead of the game main core.

[nino33]

Nino, I think what he meant is that they are putting too mch energy on the DB instead of the game main core.

That's what I don't understand.
Sebastian/Malte are the programmers and they have nothing to do with the DB, so they can't possibly be spending to much time on it, and those working on the database (researchers) have nothing to do with the game main core...

[Primis]

All that text from Jeff and not a single indication that they're going to fix even some of the bigger non-UI problems still

Just curious...what non-UI problems are you referring to?

Far too obssessed with DB work, and have been all along.

I don't understand what you mean...

Last time I checked you still can't hire a head coach. That's an absolute, basic, ESSENTIAL component they don't have working. Like a "people are going to laugh your product out of the market" thing. You also can't seem to assign or change upper management/ownership for some weird reason.

One of the things Jeff touted was that they have the Norwegian GET-Ligaen available now. WHO CARES?! The game is still unstable, is missing some absolute key things, and has an awful interface. But OH SWEET MERCY, thank God I can play the Norwegian GET-Ligaen!!!

And then there's this, from Jeff himself:

"Aside from those big-ticket items, we'll be continuing the usual database work and have time blocked off before the deadline to deal with last-minute issues, particularly stability-related ones (and, if those aren't too bad, some non-critical bugs.)"

"Everyone agrees that there are numerous large issues still at large but by God, let's get the Mongolian Junior Fourth Tier League in the game and playable, or else the release will be just embarrassing!!!"

[archibalduk]

I absolutely agree that being able to hire/fire staff should have been in from day 1. Btw, can we join a team mid-season? I've never figured out how I can become a GM of a team if I start the game unemployed.

Regarding the DB work - that stuff is entirely down to the researchers. The leagues are being added as and when the researchers have researched enough data to make it playable (e.g. bio data, TA ratings, templates, schedules and game rules). The devs have no input in the DB side of things other than flicking the switch which changes a league from non-playable to playable. Jeff does do work on the DB (mostly historical mode and tweaking league settings) but that's because he isn't a coder himself.

The reason for blocking off time at the end of the week before release is because all of the league settings are in the database. So if, for example, we find that Swedish teams are signing too many imports, the Regional Preferences for the Swedish teams can be adjusted in the DB. In order to do so, the devs will need full access to the DB to test out the changes. They can't do this whilst the researchers are working on the DB because all of our research has to be first imported into the DB before a new DB can be generated and added to the game. So we have until Thursday night to hand in our research and then the devs have full access to edit the DB again (in addition to the weekly access they have every Tue and Wed). This isn't a bad thing - it actually goes to show how much is not hardcoded and is in fact customisable via the DB.

[nino33]

Thanks for replying Primis! I better understand what you're saying now...
I too feel that stability and key elements should be the focus

[Primis]

Jeff does do work on the DB (mostly historical mode and tweaking league settings) but that's because he isn't a coder himself.

Wait, are you serious?

The apparent main guy in charge of the game, oftentimes the only guy doing anything with the game for weeks on end (by his own admission numerous times in his update posts)... isn't a coder?

That.... explains so much, right there. And that's not a knock on Jeff either. Basically, in other words, there have been large stretches of time where the only person working on the game wasn't able to work on the code, and therefore nothing was really being done with it to address problems, bugs, or missing items? So the only guy working on it in those times was working on the DB and tweaking settings?

I don't even know where to go from here. I don't even know if there is anywhere else to go to with it.

[nino33]

Wait, are you serious?

The apparent main guy in charge of the game, oftentimes the only guy doing anything with the game for weeks on end (by his own admission numerous times in his update posts)... isn't a coder?

I thought the fact that Jeff wasn't a coder was common knowledge...and there are dozens of volunteer researchers/testers who have helped out/are helping out

[nino33]

I joined the FHM researcher team at the end of July as the WHL researcher, and the reality is the WHL portion of the database will NOT be ready upon release...but by late September/early October I'm hoping my portion will be in great shape! Regarding FHM I'm thinking the release version will be better than the current beta (current beta is over 3 weeks old), but I'm really thinking/hoping that FHM will be in great shape by the time the NHL season starts

[helmespc]

Jeff does do work on the DB (mostly historical mode and tweaking league settings) but that's because he isn't a coder himself.

Wait, are you serious?

The apparent main guy in charge of the game, oftentimes the only guy doing anything with the game for weeks on end (by his own admission numerous times in his update posts)... isn't a coder?

That.... explains so much, right there. And that's not a knock on Jeff either. Basically, in other words, there have been large stretches of time where the only person working on the game wasn't able to work on the code, and therefore nothing was really being done with it to address problems, bugs, or missing items? So the only guy working on it in those times was working on the DB and tweaking settings?

I don't even know where to go from here. I don't even know if there is anywhere else to go to with it.

There are at least 2 devs that I know of... Jeff just isn't one of them...

[Primis]

There are at least 2 devs that I know of... Jeff just isn't one of them...

Which is why when Jeff has said that those are two are busy working on other OOTP things, he really meant "Nobody is working on FHM right now". And why I'm both boggled that they could just let that happen, and at the same time less-boggled that FHM hasn't really grown or come to shape in months and months.

'k. I'm done venting a bit now. That tidbit took me by surprise though, and I felt it was important to point out to others.

[archibalduk]

Which is why when Jeff has said that those are two are busy working on other OOTP things, he really meant "Nobody is working on FHM right now". And why I'm both boggled that they could just let that happen, and at the same time less-boggled that FHM hasn't really grown or come to shape in months and months.

'k. I'm done venting a bit now. That tidbit took me by surprise though, and I felt it was important to point out to others.

To the best of my knowledge, I don't think Malte has worked on other OOTP things during FHM's development. There have been some times when Sebastian has taken time off to work on iOOTP, however - but not since the beginning of the year IIRC.

Jeff was something like head researcher for EHM. I'm not really sure what his profession is/was, but he certainly knows his hockey and how this can be represented into game logic.

[dave1927p]

in hindsight, they probably should of waited on the fictional mode for the second version and upped the priority on things like hiring head coaches, UI, and bug fixing. People would of been disappointed by that was a given no matter what. The fictional mode in the first version will be pretty basic anyways. Things are always much more clear in hindsight lol

[cdndragoon]

in hindsight, they probably should of waited on the fictional mode for the second version and upped the priority on things like hiring head coaches, UI, and bug fixing.

I absolutely concur. I've been playing EHM since 2004 and have been eagerly anticipating FHM - but not once have I wanted to play a fictional mode. I've tinkered with OHL and AHL, but honestly would have preferred the developers got the release right for NHL (and some of the other key leagues) before digging too deeply into the fictional territory.

Oh well. I haven't played the beta for a couple months - maybe I'll wait until the first couple of post-release patches are completed.

[Animal31]

They should have had build priorities.

Like get the NHL, AHL, and CHL working perfectly for their 2nd build, then move on to whatever comes after, then keep working untill they hit wherever fictional leagues are, then get those working good enough,etc

Its just not fun yet, at all