Franchise Hockey Manager 4 announced

[Alessandro]

To be released next Oct. 6, you can preorder now with a 10% discount.
Seems to be a jump similar from FHM 2 to FHM 3, not too many major news, but some interesting new stuff and improvements of the core mechanism.
While I don't like historical play, the new historical challenges look cool (like try and repeat the 1950 canadiens dinasty, etc., there's 30 challenges, one for NHL team except Vegas of course).
I wrote a little round-up here: http://www.sportsgamersonline.com/franc ... manager-4/

[BKarchitect]

Yeah, definitely waiting on reviews...FHM has always looked glossier and more "modern" but I've never found it as playable - and that's with EHM still having a bunch of flaws.

The preview said improved stat and historical tracking which IMO, is one of the continuing sore spots of EHM...I desparately wish EHM had better historical stat tracking. So you could go back and look at statistical league and team screens from past seasons. And visualizations/graphs of statistical data. And graphical player and team "Trophy cabinets". Stuff like that.

That would be my #1 wishlist item for EHM, even over a more modern interface or improvements to the game engine. Things that make you feel immersed in a career/dynasty over the years and things that make it easier to track progress.

[MWE]

Is the British Challenge Cup playable now? also the CHL?

[dani9]

Yeah, definitely waiting on reviews...FHM has always looked glossier and more "modern" but I've never found it as playable - and that's with EHM still having a bunch of flaws.

This. And of course there is no option to have different styles of logos for different sizes

[SkierP20]

Yeah, definitely waiting on reviews..

Yup.. Bought FHM... Skipped FHM 2 because FHM was so bad.. Got my money back for FHM 3. My biggest reason for passing is that the lead dev cant seem to get through a release of each game without accosting someone who writes a negative review of his game. Not very becoming for a fantastic franchise like OOTP. Then there's player development...

Looks like the farm system management is not improved. Your AHL coaches will play players as they see fit with no way for you, as the GM, who drafted that guy, to have any sort of influence over how your franchise's minor league affiliates develop their players.

HUGE oversight.

[Andrew K.]

Waiting for reviews is great. Discounts on pre-orders are usually worth it. Lots of great features in FHM 4 this year though.

https://www.ootpdevelopments.com/franch ... ager-home/

But a quick rundown of new stuff!


Be Vegas and re-do the expansion draft!

Completely customize your hockey universe!

New Historical Challenges!

and an additional Challenge Mode!


In addition to being the only PC Hockey Sim OFFICIALLY LICENSED BY THE NHL®! Which means current and historical rosters available for the entire history of the NHL®.

So while its a great idea to be a smart consumer and wait for a review or 3, get hyped about this game and look to pre-order for a discount.

[Sebastian Palkowski]

Is the British Challenge Cup playable now? also the CHL?

Yes to the CHL (the new structure from this year) and a no to the British Challenge Cup. The later was very close to be added so I see a good chance that it will be added in one of the following updates after release.

[Sebastian Palkowski]

Yeah, definitely waiting on reviews..

Yup.. Bought FHM... Skipped FHM 2 because FHM was so bad.. Got my money back for FHM 3. My biggest reason for passing is that the lead dev cant seem to get through a release of each game without accosting someone who writes a negative review of his game. Not very becoming for a fantastic franchise like OOTP. Then there's player development...

Totally agree with you on all points! It is something I worked hard on in the last few months (to impulsive sometimes) and being a father now helped me a lot to get much more relaxed. In the end people want the same as I, they want a good game, and I need to listen and make sure we add/fix/tweak/change the stuff people don´t like. I can´t change the past but I can at least make sure to not fall back into the same old patterns.

Looks like the farm system management is not improved. Your AHL coaches will play players as they see fit with no way for you, as the GM, who drafted that guy, to have any sort of influence over how your franchise's minor league affiliates develop their players.

HUGE oversight.

It is improved somehow, now you can at least give your farm team HC instructions on his usage priorities (e.g. use prospects, veterans, ...). Believe me, it is something I would love to further improve and I hope it will in the future.

[nino33]

Waiting for reviews is great. Discounts on pre-orders are usually worth it. Lots of great features in FHM 4 this year though.

https://www.ootpdevelopments.com/franch ... ager-home/

But a quick rundown of new stuff!


Be Vegas and re-do the expansion draft!

Completely customize your hockey universe!

New Historical Challenges!

and an additional Challenge Mode!


In addition to being the only PC Hockey Sim OFFICIALLY LICENSED BY THE NHL®! Which means current and historical rosters available for the entire history of the NHL®.

So while its a great idea to be a smart consumer and wait for a review or 3, get hyped about this game and look to pre-order for a discount.

For me a very strong no thanks to "get hyped"

I can't stand the hype/PR approach, and everything about it that FHM did in the first couple versions just validated all of the negativity I feel about hype/PR

The fanboys seemed to stop posting when version 3 came out - I've always supported the idea of "let the (quality of) the game sell itself" and I hope they build on the version 3 style and don't return to the hype/PR/fanboy approaches of versions 1 and 2



Your post doesn't do much for me either to be honest...the "official rosters" don't mean much if anything that I can tell, I've no interest in "challenges" and the ability to "completely customize" is IMO simply not true (it's far, far less than you can do with EHM); what you can do is "easier" with OOTP but I've never been interested in fake/fantasy teams and the unrealistically small hockey world is a problem I can't get past - I need dozens of countries and many dozens of pro leagues and international play and many thousands of players...I need a "world" to immerse myself in)



I've no interest in the modern game, and while I love all things historical the "NHL/WHA only" historical hockey world of OOTP has no interest to me

I bought FHM1 and FHM2 and FHM3 to support development....but at almost $50 Canadian and no chance I'll play it (and development seemingly secure, given they have a multi-person development team plus $ for the NHL Licence, and and even a Hockey Community Manager) I think I'll be passing on buying right away this year



That's just my view...as the saying goes "your mileage may differ"

[nino33]

being a father now

That's fantastic news! Congratulations! My daughters (27 and 29 now) are the great joy of my life

In the end people want the same as I, they want a good game, and I need to listen and make sure we add/fix/tweak/change the stuff people don´t like. I can´t change the past but I can at least make sure to not fall back into the same old patterns.

As I've said previously publicly and in PMs I most definitely recognize and respect you and your efforts (even on those occasions when we don't agree HaHa)

Your honesty and efforts over the recent years are something I really admire Sebastian (and you've almost always "taken the high road" for awhile now IMO)



Best wishes to you with FHM4

[archibalduk]

In addition to being the only PC Hockey Sim OFFICIALLY LICENSED BY THE NHL®! Which means current and historical rosters available for the entire history of the NHL®.

So while its a great idea to be a smart consumer and wait for a review or 3, get hyped about this game and look to pre-order for a discount.

I have supported FHM for many years either by researching the UK leagues (I stood down a couple of years ago now) and testing (admittedly I have done relatively little this time around because my work commitments have limited my free time - but at least the various UK changes have been implemented following my feedback). I really want FHM to succeed and I think if you compare FHM 3 and 4 against FHM 1 there is such a massive improvement. I still struggle to find the game particularly immersive, but it really does improve with every release. I really like the dev team too - they listen to feedback and really want to please their customers (compare that with EA Sports for instance).

Notwithstanding the above, what I've quoted above is exactly what I hate about PR for some games. I far prefer honest advertising rather than the studio telling everyone to get hyped. Granted advertising has to concentrate on the positives, but the above is too much for me at least. Just tell us like it is rather than telling people to throw money at you. And this is why IMO it is far better to wait for reviews when an advertising campaign tells people to get hyped.

I still don't really understand why the NHL licence is such a big selling point (judging by the capitalised text). The real NHL teams, leagues and player names were used even before the licence was obtained - and all other team/league/player are names are used for other leagues in the absence of any other licence.

[zbguy]

I'm gonna buy it mainly to support it, FHM3 miles ahead of where it was in the first two iterations in terms of playability. But the one thing OOTP-type games have that I think sets them apart is the customization options, and FHM4 isn't quite on OOTP's level yet. The ability to create your own baseball universe in OOTP is the main selling point for me and it looks like they finally have all the pieces they need to replicate that level of customization in FHM, but this wasn't the year to put them all together. So I'm hopeful FHM5 will be the first game of the series that truly feels like an OOTP-style game.

[Sebastian Palkowski]

being a father now

That's fantastic news! Congratulations! My daughters (27 and 29 now) are the great joy of my life

Very nice. My adventure just began but the first 6 weeks are the greatest weeks of my life so far. Two girls sound like a lot of fun around the house.

Your honesty and efforts over the recent years are something I really admire Sebastian (and you've almost always "taken the high road" for awhile now IMO)

Best wishes to you with FHM4

Thanks, I really appreciate your words as I worked hard on me in the past. And also thanks for the good wishes, we put a lot of work into FHM 4.

[Filip Croatia]

To be released next Oct. 6, you can preorder now with a 10% discount.
Seems to be a jump similar from FHM 2 to FHM 3, not too many major news, but some interesting new stuff and improvements of the core mechanism.
While I don't like historical play, the new historical challenges look cool (like try and repeat the 1950 canadiens dinasty, etc., there's 30 challenges, one for NHL team except Vegas of course).
I wrote a little round-up here: http://www.sportsgamersonline.com/franc ... manager-4/

Holy Adam Oates ! I didnt know you are writing about other sports games as well

I can't wait for FHM 4, game took giant steps from 1 to 2 then to 3.

ADMIN NOTE: Please do not bypass the swear filter.

[MWE]

Is the British Challenge Cup playable now? also the CHL?

Yes to the CHL (the new structure from this year) and a no to the British Challenge Cup. The later was very close to be added so I see a good chance that it will be added in one of the following updates after release.

Also will the EIHL be with the new 12 team league rather than seasons 10?

[Sebastian Palkowski]

Is the British Challenge Cup playable now? also the CHL?

Yes to the CHL (the new structure from this year) and a no to the British Challenge Cup. The later was very close to be added so I see a good chance that it will be added in one of the following updates after release.

Also will the EIHL be with the new 12 team league rather than seasons 10?

Yes, it will be with 12 teams.

[Epic]

When you have player wearing #9 and you add another player with the same number, he'll automatically get #99. How can you put out a hockey game like that? It might be fixed in the new edition, but with so many flaws in the previous versions not been paid any attention, then I'm not getting my hopes up. FHM is basically an expensive, flawed product.

[nino33]

I haven't read it yet, but just noted an FHM4 Change List posted by JeffR that I thought was worth sharing for those who might be interested http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/board/s ... p?t=281549


EDIT - when I think of "change list" I think of new features/improvements from the previous version...the linked list is a lot more (things like noting bug fixes on new features make the list much bigger than it is based on the definition I mentioned)

[MWE]

I wanted to ask a question about historical play

Say if I wanted to be the Nordiques would I be able to be them from inception all the way to current day and beyond or will they cease to exist when they did in real life?

[Sebastian Palkowski]

I wanted to ask a question about historical play

Say if I wanted to be the Nordiques would I be able to be them from inception all the way to current day and beyond or will they cease to exist when they did in real life?

The Quebec Nordiques became the Colorado Avalanche in 1995 and the same happens in FHM (so you continue to play the franchise up to 2017 and beyond).

[MWE]

So the Nordiques then turn into the Avalanche in 95?

[Sebastian Palkowski]

So the Nordiques then turn into the Avalanche in 95?

That is right, it is basically the same franchise that moves to a different city but keeps all records and stuff.

[celislanders1]

Anyone got it yet and played better than previous versions ??

[maxrsp]

Hi All, I've bought this year's FHM4 for the first time so I can't comment on it relative to previous versions but here is my two cents as a long time (10+ years) EHM player:

I appreciate the more modern and often more intuitive interface as well as it being officially licensed by the NHL which saves a bit of work if you're playing NHL rosters. The Vegas expansion draft is also a really cool feature. Having the integrated ability to edit (via Commissioner mode) is great. I've not yet had it long enough to play the Challenge mode but it also seems interesting. In terms of the game sim itself - my initial impression (only 2 days in) is that it is a bit lower scoring but the jury is out on that until I have a couple seasons worth of game results to compare.

On the downside there are a couple things which I think are glaring problems (or I'm too stupid to figure them out):

1. Having line tactics hard set is getting on my nerves - who are they to say my third line cant be offensively minded and has to play a 2-way game?!?! There is a great player role system but then they take away my freedom to use players how I want tactically

2. No player comparison screen - really???

Overall I'm glad I bought the game and I'm more than happy to support Hockey sims so the developers will stay with us. It's good fun, a nice change, and I can see myself playing it quite a bit more just to be sure I have a good grasp on all its mechanics.

That said, it seems to me that a fully modded EHM game (rosters, logos, facepacks, etc) remains not only functionally viable but a more cost-effective alternative since OOTP insists on the console-like approach of releasing a full price revision every year.

Review over - tangential rant ahead...

Dear OOTP, I wanted to assist you in generating a higher market share (and therefore profit) by introducing a concept alarmingly foreign in today's business world - customer focus vs sales focus. By releasing a full price version of the game every year you may think you're driving more profit but in fact you are lowering your overall sales volumes as players like myself will simply skip versions that we don't feel bring enough value or innovation. This pattern has in-fact been proven on EA Sports games like their own NHL and Madden NFL franchises. If you instead moved to an approach where each new version is discounted 40-50% if you own the previous version then you will find your overall revenue would net about the same but you would have a consistently higher active installed base because players would be far less likely to skip versions. This would lead to a more engaged and committed fan base which I'm sure you understand the value of.

When you focus on the customer the sales take care of themselves. I'm pretty sure they used to teach that in business school...

[Buho]

to maxrsp
totally true
there was almost no difference between FHM2 and 3 (apart from that weird "tactical system" which I didn't like at all). so this year I read press release, flipped through a bunch of screenshots and decided I won't buy FHM4 (and most probably 5)