If I wanted to try EHM07, are there updated rosters?
Posted: Sun May 06, 2012 11:43 am
Hello, I'm new to the forum, and hoping for some help answering questions.
I remember back in 2008, on a couple of occasions I downloaded the free trial of EHM 07 that would let you play for free up to the trade deadline of the first season, and I would basically trade all the organizational depth of my team, and most of the team except for the stars, for 6-7 more star forwards and maybe 3 star defenseman, and basically just double shift all the stars every game, maybe with a rubbish fourth defenseman thrown in, playing with a short roster, and I would win pretty much every game like 10-3. So I grew tired with the game very quickly, I never ended up buying it to play after the trade deadline, because it was so easy. Players never seemed to get tired or worn down from playing 30 or 40 minutes per game, which means there was no reason not to play them that much, and as a result my teams would dominate. I'm sure if I had bought the game I would have continued on to win the Cup every season. It was just way too easy.
Now it's four years later, there still is not a great hockey management game on the market to my knowledge (or is there a better option?), and since I so desperately want to play one, I'm thinking what if there are updated rosters to EHM07, and I set my own rules to make the game more difficult where no one was allowed to double shift or play more minutes than reasonable? I'm worried the rosters I am able to create through in-game trades with the CPU opponents would still be too good to be beaten anyway, as I don't remember exactly how much my dominance had to do with double shifting players versus just putting together a stacked team, but maybe it's worth a shot trying again. Maybe there is even something in data editor where you can up the effects of stamina in the game so that you won't be able to overplay players without consequence anymore? Does anyone know?
I also had other problems with the game back in the day. I'm a football manager veteran, even though I'm not a soccer fan at all, simply because, flaws and all, it's about a 50x better management sim than anything else I've experienced, in large part due to the match engines which, when properly weighted, are really something brilliant, and you can feel the results of your tactical changes in a very tangible way.
Of course, when my EHM teams were dominating with practically whatever tactics I gave them (I think I put most options to the extremely aggressive option, I had Phaneuf and Pronger and guys like that hitting everything that moved--again, with no wear and tear as a result really, no reason for me not to, which was very unrealistic), there is no reason to change anything, and it takes the fun out of the whole thing. But the bigger problem I had was that the match engine simply sucked compared to the modern football manager engines (even the 2d ones from back in 07 or 08). There were so many I guess you could call them bugs or lapses in the engine where things would happen that didn't look like hockey. Worse, unlike in FM where you can set it to switch to take you to watch the match only during "key" portions, I remember EHM07 didn't automatically switch. You would be having the game go along, having the clock, and there wasn't really a good way for it to take you to the ice and the play during "key" moments. I seem to remember there being a setting that was either way too fast, and you had to slow it down once the play started, or too slow.
Anyway, I assume the match engine still is what it is, no updates(?), but if there were updated rosters for 2012, and it were actually challenging (while still being fair), and your tactical adjustments in game were actually needed and worked as well as they do in FM, and were tangible, even if you can't really experience seeing them in action working like it's really happening like you can in FM's match engine, if all those things were in place then I think I could get passed the poor match engine.
So I'm just looking for thoughts of people who are vets with the game, if they've experienced what I've experienced, if there's a way around the problems, if they think there's a way I can enjoy the game, if I should get it, and then also of course if there is a roster updated as of last trade deadline, with the proper cap hits and contracts and all. Also, I remember I looked to european leagues and all sorts of other leagues to find hidden gem talents, would the KHL rosters all be updated, and all the minor leagues, etc etc etc? I doubt it. Would there just be fake players there or regens you could sign? I don't know a lot of players from other leagues in real life so I probably wouldn't notice the difference. As long as there were players to sign from other leagues and it seemed real, it wouldn't matter if they were updated. Even if the foreign leagues just had the same rosters as in 2007, except for stars and known names like maybe a Jagr, or a Zubov who I think is still there, as long as the NHL rosters were updated, that would work.
Anything those are my concerns/questions. Just looking for some input, thanks very much. I'm hoping, fingers crossed, there's a way for me to finally get into this game and have a challenge and feel like I'm really managing a team in the NHL with everything that comes with it. (It's a shame the best thing about that, watching your team play, even if it's just a realistic rendering on a 2D plain, isn't possible no matter what because the match engine is so bad in this game, but like I said if everything else is in place I guess I can get by that).
I remember back in 2008, on a couple of occasions I downloaded the free trial of EHM 07 that would let you play for free up to the trade deadline of the first season, and I would basically trade all the organizational depth of my team, and most of the team except for the stars, for 6-7 more star forwards and maybe 3 star defenseman, and basically just double shift all the stars every game, maybe with a rubbish fourth defenseman thrown in, playing with a short roster, and I would win pretty much every game like 10-3. So I grew tired with the game very quickly, I never ended up buying it to play after the trade deadline, because it was so easy. Players never seemed to get tired or worn down from playing 30 or 40 minutes per game, which means there was no reason not to play them that much, and as a result my teams would dominate. I'm sure if I had bought the game I would have continued on to win the Cup every season. It was just way too easy.
Now it's four years later, there still is not a great hockey management game on the market to my knowledge (or is there a better option?), and since I so desperately want to play one, I'm thinking what if there are updated rosters to EHM07, and I set my own rules to make the game more difficult where no one was allowed to double shift or play more minutes than reasonable? I'm worried the rosters I am able to create through in-game trades with the CPU opponents would still be too good to be beaten anyway, as I don't remember exactly how much my dominance had to do with double shifting players versus just putting together a stacked team, but maybe it's worth a shot trying again. Maybe there is even something in data editor where you can up the effects of stamina in the game so that you won't be able to overplay players without consequence anymore? Does anyone know?
I also had other problems with the game back in the day. I'm a football manager veteran, even though I'm not a soccer fan at all, simply because, flaws and all, it's about a 50x better management sim than anything else I've experienced, in large part due to the match engines which, when properly weighted, are really something brilliant, and you can feel the results of your tactical changes in a very tangible way.
Of course, when my EHM teams were dominating with practically whatever tactics I gave them (I think I put most options to the extremely aggressive option, I had Phaneuf and Pronger and guys like that hitting everything that moved--again, with no wear and tear as a result really, no reason for me not to, which was very unrealistic), there is no reason to change anything, and it takes the fun out of the whole thing. But the bigger problem I had was that the match engine simply sucked compared to the modern football manager engines (even the 2d ones from back in 07 or 08). There were so many I guess you could call them bugs or lapses in the engine where things would happen that didn't look like hockey. Worse, unlike in FM where you can set it to switch to take you to watch the match only during "key" portions, I remember EHM07 didn't automatically switch. You would be having the game go along, having the clock, and there wasn't really a good way for it to take you to the ice and the play during "key" moments. I seem to remember there being a setting that was either way too fast, and you had to slow it down once the play started, or too slow.
Anyway, I assume the match engine still is what it is, no updates(?), but if there were updated rosters for 2012, and it were actually challenging (while still being fair), and your tactical adjustments in game were actually needed and worked as well as they do in FM, and were tangible, even if you can't really experience seeing them in action working like it's really happening like you can in FM's match engine, if all those things were in place then I think I could get passed the poor match engine.
So I'm just looking for thoughts of people who are vets with the game, if they've experienced what I've experienced, if there's a way around the problems, if they think there's a way I can enjoy the game, if I should get it, and then also of course if there is a roster updated as of last trade deadline, with the proper cap hits and contracts and all. Also, I remember I looked to european leagues and all sorts of other leagues to find hidden gem talents, would the KHL rosters all be updated, and all the minor leagues, etc etc etc? I doubt it. Would there just be fake players there or regens you could sign? I don't know a lot of players from other leagues in real life so I probably wouldn't notice the difference. As long as there were players to sign from other leagues and it seemed real, it wouldn't matter if they were updated. Even if the foreign leagues just had the same rosters as in 2007, except for stars and known names like maybe a Jagr, or a Zubov who I think is still there, as long as the NHL rosters were updated, that would work.
Anything those are my concerns/questions. Just looking for some input, thanks very much. I'm hoping, fingers crossed, there's a way for me to finally get into this game and have a challenge and feel like I'm really managing a team in the NHL with everything that comes with it. (It's a shame the best thing about that, watching your team play, even if it's just a realistic rendering on a 2D plain, isn't possible no matter what because the match engine is so bad in this game, but like I said if everything else is in place I guess I can get by that).
