EHM The Blue Line

Shadd666 wrote:An other good thing may be the possibility to have a real staff when you're the GM of an international team,with coaches,maybe scouts,a specific training program,and so on... Making it a real sim of managing international teams!

This would be excellent to see. And along with that, take away that mysterious force that always changes my tactics and lines for int'l teams no matter what my manager settings are.

One thing to keep in mind as the game develops is that they do have to prioritize their resources that whatever they add/address/refine brings the most game improvement to the most people. While this may not lead to developments spot-targeting people's personal "key issues"; leaving them saying things like "Unless it has 'x' I'm not buying it as that is the KEY issue with the game."

Such things are a matter of persepective though as at this point picture that there is a set of sliders on a board; they are all powered by the same collective pool so if you bump up development time spent on one area such as Vipers Oily's newly revamped full "Streetfighter 3D" fighting engine would cost time to be spent to refine how players icetimes are distributed which some people might see as more important. Obviously that's a "for effect" extreme example but the 2D engine is also one of these things; in that there are many people who the way they play never interact with that screen so they wouldn't care if it were in real-time high def.

So keep that in mind; as I mention often one of the great things about EHM is that it gives people many ways to approach their game but it's SI's job to bring the most improvements to the most gamers with each version. Personally as a closer spectator than most to the process I trust Riz and the Big G to make the right calls but there really are a ton of variables in everything related to the game's development. I'm psyched though as I trust the SI Crew

in that there are many people who the way they play never interact with that screen so they wouldn't care if it were in real-time high def.

Not that I'm trying to say you're wrong, but in the case of the 2D game engine, I think many more people would use that aspect of the game if it was done in a better way (the 2D game engine). I for one would definately use it, eventhough I have never thought of using the one they have now. The reason being that the real-time engine offers endless amounts of info about the quality of your team... which is essential for a GM, or coach (depending on how you play the game).

But then there's the fact that something like a 2D engine takes huge amounts of time and work... which I think EHM 2005 needs used in other more basic areas first, like you were getting at.

An FM syle 2d engine would be very good, and even if it was weak in this edition, it might be worth a shot. But the most important changes needed are better interface, and improved tactics and training.

Also, an interesting addition might be an option to play as head coach only (not as GM).

Personnaly,i believe they'll make a good game... Certainly not a perfect one,as they won't be able to implement all those little things that some players want,but the next version will be a good improvement i think... And,if the EHM community still give many propositions to the devellopers,the game will become better and better by the years.

Actually,there are a LOT of improvements to do,so be sure that they won't be able to make all of them for the next version.

I think that the things that will be added or corrected in the next version are already set,so it seems to be useless to make propositions now...

The best approach to have,according to me,is waiting for EHM07,and then judge what still miss and what should be improved... And DON'T FORGET to also say WHAT IS RIGHT!!!!!

All my devoted encouragements to the devellopers Make us dream on the ice!

I hope they have a fantasy draft available and fix the UFA problem. Just those things alone will go a long way.

Elias26 wrote:I hope they have a fantasy draft available and fix the UFA problem. Just those things alone will go a long way.

SI usually go for a more simulation type game rather than arcade so i'd guess that fantasy drafts won't be in

SI usually go for a more simulation type game rather than arcade so i'd guess that fantasy drafts won't be in

I fail to see how the option to run a fantasy draft would arcade-ize the game

Simply because it does not simulate real life, or something that would ever happen in real life, it is less of a simulation game. Given games are bracketed into simulation and arcade, I guess that is what was meant, and FWIW I agree.

I'm not sure whether OOTP represents a step in this direction for SI though, as you seem to be able to do all sorts of custom and fantasy leagues there, so I wouldn't rule out them going down this road as they look for dollars

i just though of something else that would be cool IMO. After every game you can read a newspaper artical about the game. It would tell you about a good fight or a cool goal and give you some player comments and maybe build up some player vs player rivals.

hluraven wrote:Simply because it does not simulate real life, or something that would ever happen in real life, it is less of a simulation game. Given games are bracketed into simulation and arcade, I guess that is what was meant, and FWIW I agree.

I'm not sure whether OOTP represents a step in this direction for SI though, as you seem to be able to do all sorts of custom and fantasy leagues there, so I wouldn't rule out them going down this road as they look for dollars

I guess one could call that "arcade"(I personally see 'arcade' as games/features like NHL Hitz, NFL Blitz, or the very fun 'Sir. Mod' for Battlefield 2, all of which completely ignore reality in order to make things fun), but if it gets that picky, I don't think it would make a difference for EHM to have something as little as a fantasy draft... considering I am not the GM of the Kitchener Rangers OHL hockey team, nor will I ever be the GM of any hockey team(especially at age 17)... I certainly will never become a GM by picking what team I want, and having the current GM automatically fired so I can step in... and if I were to force my way into the role, my job description as a GM would not include making tactical changes, setting line-ups, or dressing players for games. So to me, it sounds like EHM is already too much of a PC game to rule out simple things such as a fantasy draft.

Elias26 wrote:I hope they have a fantasy draft available

A quote from Riz on Hockey's Future:

The fantasy draft is on the wishlist for the future and will one day get in I'm sure. It's just a bit more complex to implement when you're dealing with a whole hockey universe in the game rather than just one individual league.

Pretty clear that it is not this time, but will happen.

Around the NA release Riz actually was having conversations with people on the SI Forum about if they did one what they'd like to see so he's gotten feedback on it already and has looked into from a coding standpoint; it joins however a long list of things they want to add (keep in mind Riz himself has a giant list of things he'd love to get into the game as well!) it's just a matter of actually getting the development time to add it in and test it sufficiently before a release that is the tricky part.

We're getting closer and closer of September,which is said to be the month of EHM07's release...and still no news,no official release date,and no demo version...

Anyone knows something interesting?

They've had a press release ready for ages now,an announcement was originally planned for end of may, but it's been put back due to factors out of their control. As far as I know they haven't changed the release date or anything like that

Shadd666 wrote:Anyone knows something interesting?

I shore do All I can say though is every week we get a new 'build' of the game containing the latest additions/fixes etc and it's coming along nicely, no need to worry about it making it's deadline I don't believe.

This is nothing more than a slightly educated guess as I honestly have no idea but given they are shooting for a late September release like the console games usually have (they come in right around when NHL camps start up usually) I'd say by the end of the month there should at least be a firm date if not an outright release of the gold demo. But that's just a personal guess based upon last versions general timeframe.

I can say that we are planning on creating a new facecard template since the vintage card style is a few versions old now and we'll be going with something closer to the look of what UpperDeck has become known for with their "insert set" cards in recent years. I've still got to gather more money to bribe Devils88 to undertake the project but I think it will be a fun update and a little somethin to match up with '07 as well.

I think Riz said it would be late september for a release on the SI boards

Thanks guys

The facecard project sounds really good to my hears

Marc Duffy just said there will be an announcement today at 4pm BST, so 8 hours from now.

sweet

hluraven wrote:Marc Duffy just said there will be an announcement today at 4pm BST, so 8 hours from now.

Can someone post the link or the announcement when it comes out? Thanks

will do

I'm closing this thread now that the announcement has been made, so you guys can head over to the new thread