FHM 9

[KnightAttack]

Is there any plans on overhauling the inbox system? It's my biggest complant of FHM and OOTP.

I'm going to just going to point to what I wrote above. That being said I would like to hear what your issues are. Personal Message would be preferred.

Does FHM also have the same 'random' mechanic Face-Gen as EA and Football Manager do? I'll never forget I had a white guy with red dreads back in FM17 lol.

I can't say I've seen that look in any yet. There's some randomization, but you're going to get what looks like typical hockey player. You can also do edits quickly. I gave Adam Lowry and Andrew Copp some beautiful mustaches for our playoff run.

 

[37 others]

EHM arguably has a stronger community in terms of data updates etc...

That's my biggest complaint with FHM. The community has given EHM longevity and replayability. The fact that you can't easily create custom roster updates for FHM and that customization is more locked down than in EHM kills the community.

 

[KnightAttack]

That's my biggest complaint with FHM. The community has given EHM longevity and replayability. The fact that you can't easily create custom roster updates for FHM and that customization is more locked down than in EHM kills the community.

I thought for a while about how to respond to this, but in the end I keep coming back to the idea of it being a chicken and egg situation. EHM has many hardcore dedicated fans, and that's great! But many of the things those people do is part of the reason why we continue to support our game throughout the year. So some of our most dedicated fans can spend their time doing other things and different kinds of (for instance) mods.

We continue to build and listen to what our community wants. That isn't to say that opening up and making roster edibility isn't on the list. It is, but the list of what we are working on for the game is long and different things have higher priorities than others. We're constantly listening to what people want and trying to find a way to balance that and make sure it's working in the game and producing the best, most realistic and fun sim we can. We will never be able to satisfy everyone, but we will do everything we can to try.

 

[Empoleon8771]

I'm really curious to see how FHM 6 looks, I've tried to get into the FHM series in the past but it has always seemed super clunky when I've tried to play. I haven't had that issue in OOTP, which I have hundreds of hours on, but I've always had difficulty navigating the UI of FHM in the past. That's one place where EHM shines, it's UI is so well designed that it's incredibly easy to navigate. I have a similar complaint when it comes to Be a GM mode in the NHL games.

From what I've seen, just changing the background has made FHM way more aesthetically pleasing, so that is a big improvement.

 

[Kaapo di tutti capi]

nah il stick to EHM
FHM just sucks lol

While that (in my opinion) was true of 1 through 3, FHM 5 most certainly didn't suck and was really fun to play. Perfect? No. But it was absolutely worth the money.

 

[KnightAttack]

I'm really curious to see how FHM 6 looks, I've tried to get into the FHM series in the past but it has always seemed super clunky when I've tried to play. I haven't had that issue in OOTP, which I have hundreds of hours on, but I've always had difficulty navigating the UI of FHM in the past. That's one place where EHM shines, it's UI is so well designed that it's incredibly easy to navigate. I have a similar complaint when it comes to Be a GM mode in the NHL games.

From what I've seen, just changing the background has made FHM way more aesthetically pleasing, so that is a big improvement.

I mean, we did add a dark mode in a mid-season update last year. But happy you're liking it. We've added a lot of the features from OOTP, but as I said before - no matter what we do, someone will be happy and someone else won't like it. It's a delicate balance trying to find the exact right mix.

 

[Aladyyn]

My main issue with FHM compared to Eastside is that FHM can feel like an 'empty' world. If that makes sense?

EHM, I guess coming from the Football Manager series does a good job of the world feeling more active, I dunno. It's definitely gotten better with FHM 4/5 series though, and as mentioned above, 800+ new news lines added helps with things like this!

The UI being abit of a click fest - I honest think this is a German thing. German devs and every German game I've played (Hello Handball Manager) seems to have this same issue, plus OOTP had this issue for many years too. Obviously you get used to it after some hours though.

I would have liked FHM to focus on just a few leagues first, say the top 10 or something. Some of the lower leagues don't work right, rules aren't right etc. Not a major problem but again its definitely gotten better

But with EHM being very very slow currently or stopped as it seems, FHM is at least providing a yearly updated hockey sim for us all to enjoy.

The UI has been by far my biggest problem with FHM. There are a bunch of things I love about the game (tactics are so damn good and fun) but the interface has been such a chore to me (I have only played 3 and 4 though). I gotta say I've been growing a little tired of EHM, it's been the same game for so long and while it's great there is really only so much I can get from it. Guess it's time to give this series another chance.

 

[Rigafan]

The UI has been by far my biggest problem with FHM. There are a bunch of things I love about the game (tactics are so damn good and fun) but the interface has been such a chore to me (I have only played 3 and 4 though). I gotta say I've been growing a little tired of EHM, it's been the same game for so long and while it's great there is really only so much I can get from it. Guess it's time to give this series another chance.

UI is pretty much the same, too many clicks to do things and some odd choices, the team staff page is still horrible to navigate too - however it looks nicer and cleaner.

As mentioned while the UI isn't the biggest deal (and most of us are too used to EHM UI too!) it does stop me playing FHM as much but beneath the UI is an actual good engine.

One tip is getting used to using the shortcut bar. I still don't do this myself but it does help if you can get in the habit of it.

 

[MikeK]

Anyone here playing the early access beta? First impressions?

 

[Smirnov2Chistov]

Anyone here playing the early access beta? First impressions?

Haven't seen any yet, but the trailer looked clean!

 

[Green Snow Storm]

Pretty excited to fire this up later tonight. I didn't get early access because I like buying my games with Steam.

 

[KnightAttack]

Pretty excited to fire this up later tonight. I didn't get early access because I like buying my games with Steam.

The game should be live at 12pm Pacific. We tried an earlier release last year and there was some issues, so this should avoid that.

 

[Rigafan]

Anyone here playing the early access beta? First impressions?

I played a little.

The UI and colors could do with some touch ups, nothing major just be careful picking a team that has yellow for example, white text on yellow background isn't easy on the eyes. Coach screen and some of the tables could do with a bit of attention - again nothing major just would make it look even nicer/cleaner.

Game seems to run much faster, for me anyway. One thing I didn't like with FHM 3/4 was the sim speed was so slow. This one seems to sim by nicely. The engine seems as good as ever.

I didn't try any fictional or historical just basically loaded the KHL and clicked around/simmed a few. I was more testing than playing though!

Overall though I can't wait for my days off to load up my first save!

 

[JoelWarlord]

Bought it in large part because I was interested in the historic rosters, extremely disappointed with how much is missing. Started a file as the 16-17 Canadiens team and Price and Weber are on 3 year contracts worth 8M and 5.5M for some reason, Petry is signed for 3 years 1.08M, and basically all the other contracts are gone. Bunch of player rights missing, I had to sign Mete, Juulsen, and some other prospects as UFAs because I only had a total of 35 players in the organization including contracts and unsigned prospects.

 

[KnightAttack]

Bought it in large part because I was interested in the historic rosters, extremely disappointed with how much is missing. Started a file as the 16-17 Canadiens team and Price and Weber are on 3 year contracts worth 8M and 5.5M for some reason, Petry is signed for 3 years 1.08M, and basically all the other contracts are gone. Bunch of player rights missing, I had to sign Mete, Juulsen, and some other prospects as UFAs because I only had a total of 35 players in the organization including contracts and unsigned prospects.

To be clear though, Juulsen, Mete and your other prospects aren't UFA's - they just haven't been signed. Montreal still has their rights, that's why they show up on the depth chart.

Thanks for letting us know.

(EDIT: I was wrong. See the post below for the reasons. My apologies).

 

[JoelWarlord]

I just started my game to check and yes, something isn't working with the contracts. We will look into that right now. To be clear though, Juulsen, Mete and your other prospects aren't UFA's - they just haven't been signed. Montreal still has their rights, that's why they show up on the depth chart.

Thanks for letting us know.

In that specific case of 16-17 Canadiens I don't think they were on my depth chart. I could be wrong and I don't have game access to check but I think they were off the depth chart entirely. I did see some guys like Poehling who were FA's but Montreal still had the rights, but as far as I can remember Juulsen and Mete were both UFA (along with some other somewhat notable B-tier prospects from other teams).

Glad to hear it's being looked at, I'm enjoying the game overall and I like a lot of the changes/improvements from FHM6. My regular file starting from 19-20 has been fun, but I was also excited about the historic rosters so it'd be great to have the contract situations fixed.

 

[KnightAttack]

In that specific case of 16-17 Canadiens I don't think they were on my depth chart. I could be wrong and I don't have game access to check but I think they were off the depth chart entirely. I did see some guys like Poehling who were FA's but Montreal still had the rights, but as far as I can remember Juulsen and Mete were both UFA (along with some other somewhat notable B-tier prospects from other teams).

Glad to hear it's being looked at, I'm enjoying the game overall and I like a lot of the changes/improvements from FHM6. My regular file starting from 19-20 has been fun, but I was also excited about the historic rosters so it'd be great to have the contract situations fixed.

You know what, I'm sorry. I had to go back and look. It's something we're looking and building towards but right now real contracts aren't in historical. Player rights will be on their team, but building and collecting all that information is going to take a significant amount of work (and making sure it works right).

So right now, all contracts are generated. Although it will vary depending on every time you start.

(I edited my previous post because I don't want to mislead anyone who may read it by mistake).

 

[Green Snow Storm]

After pumping 20 or so hours into this I've came away impressed. They didn't completely overhaul much, but I really like the new aesthetic. I love that you can easily get players to take long term deals now if the money is right. They've really built on FHM 5 and improved a ton. The sim produces some pretty realistic numbers which is a must when it comes to scoring leaders and so on. There are still faults, but it's a solid step forward. Note that I just play a normal game with the 2019-20 season and beyond and don't touch historical stuff.

 

[KnightAttack]

After pumping 20 or so hours into this I've came away impressed. They didn't completely overhaul much, but I really like the new aesthetic. I love that you can easily get players to take long term deals now if the money is right. They've really built on FHM 5 and improved a ton. The sim produces some pretty realistic numbers which is a must when it comes to scoring leaders and so on. There are still faults, but it's a solid step forward. Note that I just play a normal game with the 2019-20 season and beyond and don't touch historical stuff.

I'm glad to hear you're enjoying it. If you want to discuss anything, feel free to send me a PM as well.

 

[the paisanos guy]

It's been a couple of iterations since I've played... have the preseason and draft been beefed up at all?

 

[KnightAttack]

It's been a couple of iterations since I've played... have the preseason and draft been beefed up at all?

Preseason now officially has training camp - so you can offer PTO's and have unlimited rosters rather than send players up and down from the AHL. As for the Draft, what specifically are you wanting to ask?

 

[ResilientBeast]

So I play FHM mostly to just mess around and have fun simming alternate pasts, and I noticed in FHM 5 that the game does track all star teams.

Does FHM 6 actually provide an easy way to see the AST teams year by year like on another awards tab or something?

 

[Matt UK]

Preseason now officially has training camp - so you can offer PTO's and have unlimited rosters rather than send players up and down from the AHL. As for the Draft, what specifically are you wanting to ask?

Just a suggestion but maybe put training camp in the calendar. There's not a great deal of reference to it imo

 

[mrhockey193195]

Has 6 closed the feature-gap between regular mode & historical mode? If I remember, prior versions of FHM didn't have fully fleshed out minor leagues in historical mode, as an example.

 

[KnightAttack]

So I play FHM mostly to just mess around and have fun simming alternate pasts, and I noticed in FHM 5 that the game does track all star teams.

Does FHM 6 actually provide an easy way to see the AST teams year by year like on another awards tab or something?

Off hand I don't think it's changed, but I'll look into it and get a definitive answer. If it doesn't, it's a good suggestion anyway.

EDIT: Yeah, just confirmed it hasn't changed. To quote FHM Producer Jeff: "It's a little more complicated to do than the regular award histories because of the way they're stored. It's on the to-do list, but no ETA."

Just a suggestion but maybe put training camp in the calendar. There's not a great deal of reference to it imo

Something we may look at, but the game will literally stop you (unless you have Do Not Disturb on) and give you a Training Camp Development Report, as well as possible story lines (although the most common is someone showing up to camp out of shape).

Has 6 closed the feature-gap between regular mode & historical mode? If I remember, prior versions of FHM didn't have fully fleshed out minor leagues in historical mode, as an example.

We've added non-playable Minor Historical Leagues in...FHM5 I believe. 6 has them again. It will be some time before we get there, but it's something we're working towards. Currently Jeff is re-rating a lot of players that hadn't been redone yet, and then the plan is to get in and rate every player ever drafted (obviously a big project - currently it's only players in the NHL). Playable Minor Leagues are likely quite some time away since it's going to involve rating thousands of additional players, finding schedules, and figuring out how to properly replicate seasons. I mean, Minor League Hockey was basically a disaster until 2009/2010ish when teams finally got individual affiliates. That of course doesn't even begin to touch the multiple leagues, teams (and leagues) folding mid-season issues.

The big additional this year was having Historical Evolution changed. We're still working and building it more, but you can do some fun things like stop the WHA from collapsing, or keep the league at 6 teams, etc.