US High School Great Lakes League

[hockeygodz]

I'm currently working on, and interested in submitting to TBL if you want it, another league for US High School. It is called Great Lakes and will consist of high schools from Michigan, Ohio, and possibly Indiana and Illinois. I have already incorporated the EHM high school teams in Michigan and Ohio that are in the original US high school West database. I am checking records and such to add more prominent HS programs from these states and have so far completed Ohio. Although its not a playable league I wanted to add in high schools I'm familiar with from the region I grew up in just to have them in the game.

If TBL is interested in the addition I need help making sure everything is correct so I can submit/post the necessary files so they can be downloaded from the site and will work in the game (you know, technical mumbo-jumbo an extreme novice such as myself would need)

Also, if anyone could help me with how to convert a pic to be able to use as a logo in EHM I'd appreciate it so I can get team team and comp logos where needed. Even if TBL doesn't want the league submitted I will still use it in my own database and would like to have logos for the schools.

Thanks!!

[archibalduk]

I'm very happy to put your DB update on our filefront server. We're very enthusiastic of anyone who takes the time to create addons for EHM! Do you have a list of player details for each new team and the league details? Have you been keeping the data in a spreadsheet or anything like that? I'm just thinking that maybe it would be helpful for Lidas' 08/09 roster update.

With regards to your logos, you need to convert them to PNG format. The PNG format has an alpha layer for transparency and so that's why it's used in EHM. You need to use a graphics program that has the ability to save in the PNG format (e.g. Gimp (a free software package), Paint Shop Pro, Photoshop). More info about the PNG formate can be found in this thread

More details about the files that can be used in EHM can be found in this thread. Here's a quote from me in that thread:

Just to reiterate the new image sizes of logos:

• 'Huge' must be 120 pixels high.
• 'Large' must be 70 pixels high.
• 'Medium' must be 45 pixels high.
• 'Small' must be 50x19.

The width of huge, large and medium logos is not important.

This thread explains where addons go within the EHM directory structure.

[hockeygodz]

Thanks for the help Archibalduk!!!

As of right now I've just been working on getting basic info. Details and colors are easy. I do not have the info on any spreadsheet, but if there is a basic spreadsheet model I can transfer the info - that shouldn't be a problem.

I've been using the other high school leagues/teams as a basis for club info such as reputation, training, fan support, etc., as well as researching the schools programs and state tournaments over the last several years in order to get an idea of who to put in, find logos, research rivals, etc.

I don't think I'm going to incorporate the actual players onto the rosters, but I did put in the age parameters when creating the league. I don't have a problem with "fantasy players" if no one else does, but if it will make the game more enjoyable I can research rosters and put the actual players in. I do plan on researching coaches/staff since that would seem to be a more stable constant.

Converting the logos should be easy then since I have 2 of those programs - now it's just a matter of time and workload.

I do have another question: If I have to create or rename an arena, create a city, etc., do I have to do anything for it to be able to be used in the 08-09 update? For example, I've had to rename several arena, create the city of Findlay, Ohio, and create a number of rinks already. Or is this something I shouldn't worry about?

Thanks again!!

[archibalduk]

I don't understand what you question is regarding arenas and cities. What 08/09 update are you referring to? Do you mean if you were to share your data with Lidas (who is working on an 08/09 update)? If so, you just need to list what cities you created and what arenas you created/edited. I can't guarantee he'll add any of this to his update, though. I believe creating arenas and cities can cause instability. This useful thread has a lot of info with regards to the limits of editing EHM.

With regards to a spreadsheet, take a look at this. That spreadsheet allows you to record any data for newly created players. Obviously you don't have to fill everything in; just the basics (name, DOB, nationality, club contracted to, club playing for, ability, potential, position).

[hockeygodz]

Yeah, I was referring to Lidas' update because you had mentioned it, but obviously it's not mandatory that my stuff be put into it.

My concern with the arenas/cities is that I have created one or two new cities for some of the schools since they are not in the original database (Findlay, Ohio for example) and I've renamed several arenas for teams (Toledo Icehall to Sylvania Tam-O-Shanter for example). I did not want these creations/renames to crash the game since one of my database copies is the only one that has them and they wouldn't mesh with the original/updated database that many of us use in our games. You answered this question with the instability comment. I can either just use the original databases' arena names or put "unknown" in that field since "unknown" will bypass any possible problems with a created city.

The player spreadsheet should be easy. I will probably just include the more prominent players from each team and let the game create the majority of the rosters like it seems to do with the non-playable rosters anyway, and I'll use the high school east/west players as a basis for ability and potential.

Is there any sort of spreadsheet I should for the teams or what's the best way to turn in that data?

[archibalduk]

You could either create your own spreadsheet or just post the info in a text file. You just need to list the basic team info. So long as we can understand what is what then it will be fine

[hockeygodz]

Okay, then this actually shouldn't be too much of a problem other than time.

If I get stuck somewhere I'll research the forum and post if needed.