FHM 9

[KnightAttack]

How do you handle an overly talented roster? I don’t think there’s a right answer here but am just curious to hear about your approaches. For example, I tend to trade stars by age 29 in order to get 2-3 first rounders in exchange, and then if I need to trim down my roster further, I eliminate the new guys who are either excessively injury prone or are likely to struggle with adversity or criticism.

In a historical mode I’m currently playing, all my assistant coaches are Excellent, and I leave my players in junior at least an extra year after drafting them, so that they are at least one full star before joining training camp the next season. Then, if after training camp they have not improved to at least 1.5 stars, I send them down. If their projected max dips below three stars, I trade them. I realize it’s fairly mechanical, but I’ve won 18/20 possible cups this way after starting with a fantasy draft in 1926 as NYR.

I’ll admit it’s quite satisfying.

It depends a lot on the type of team/when you're trying to build. That's definitely impressive, but when you're playing Historical you get a little bit of a cheat P) since you know whose got really good potential for the most part. What your saying makes sense, but it's also not always about stars. It's about finding a balance for what your team has/needs. Having 3 snipers on a line isn't nearly as good as having a sniper, a playmaker and say a Power Forward.

But; what your say is what a good GM does. It's tough when guys get injured because you can see the talent is there, but it doesn't always come through. It's a thing real GMs deal with now. Finding out someone isn't a playoff performer (or is) is definitely a reason to hold on or fire someone into the sun.

_____________________

I will just add; anyone who hasn't picked up 8 yet, it's on sale for (less than week now) for 50% off - $19.99 USD on all the usual places. If you've been waiting to pick it up, there's no better time! We're still monitoring 8, but we're also hard at work on the next version (which I'm already excited for knowing what's coming - but alas it's too soon to talk about yet).

 

[CasusBelli]

It depends a lot on the type of team/when you're trying to build. That's definitely impressive, but when you're playing Historical you get a little bit of a cheat P) since you know whose got really good potential for the most part. What your saying makes sense, but it's also not always about stars. It's about finding a balance for what your team has/needs. Having 3 snipers on a line isn't nearly as good as having a sniper, a playmaker and say a Power Forward.

But; what your say is what a good GM does. It's tough when guys get injured because you can see the talent is there, but it doesn't always come through. It's a thing real GMs deal with now. Finding out someone isn't a playoff performer (or is) is definitely a reason to hold on or fire someone into the sun.

_____________________

I will just add; anyone who hasn't picked up 8 yet, it's on sale for (less than week now) for 50% off - $19.99 USD on all the usual places. If you've been waiting to pick it up, there's no better time! We're still monitoring 8, but we're also hard at work on the next version (which I'm already excited for knowing what's coming - but alas it's too soon to talk about yet).

Thanks!

I suppose you're right about historical mode, but I have found some interesting curiosities along the way. For example, Gordie Howe was a point-per-game player only one of ten seasons he spent with me (I traded him for picks and a solid player -- whom I then traded for more picks), and Rocket Richard became more of a playmaker than a scorer (often having 20-60 seasons). Pavel Bure is always a bust. I've consistently found, however, that my overwhelmingly best players (at least toward the early years) have been Sweeny Schreiner, Max Bentley, Marty Barry and Charlie Conacher. Bobby Bauer and Buddy O'Connor seem to perform will with other teams but not with mine. Clancy and Frank Boucher rarely put up points for me. Toe Blake is usually, curiously, a great playmaker but mediocre scorer. Maybe this is partly a function of my having Lester Patrick as my head coach; perhaps his style just results in those performances.

Either way, this game is supremely enjoyable, and I thoroughly enjoy rewriting history as NYR. I should add that, aside from the obvious greats, I wasn't familiar with any of the players I listed above (except Rocket and Howe), so it wasn't exactly a cheat for me. I also enable Fog of War and don't look at Actual Stats when drafting or managing a player. Only after I trade the player do I see if I sold too late or too early by historical standards.

One thing that's been on my mind, though, is when I have a one-star player whose growth is marked as being limited by being in the NHL but who gets angry upon being sent down to the minors. Does being angry impair his development? Am I better off potentially limiting his development by keeping him in the NHL, or should I force him to suck it up and stick with things in the minors until he becomes a 1.5-2 star player?

If I had any suggestions, it would be in the scouting side of things. I'd like to see more detailed and varied reports. I'd be happy to elaborate on that, but I think this post is long enough as it is.

Keep up the great work!

 

[KnightAttack]

Thanks!


One thing that's been on my mind, though, is when I have a one-star player whose growth is marked as being limited by being in the NHL but who gets angry upon being sent down to the minors. Does being angry impair his development? Am I better off potentially limiting his development by keeping him in the NHL, or should I force him to suck it up and stick with things in the minors until he becomes a 1.5-2 star player?


Keep up the great work!

Historical is a little different than current because you'll see a lot more players who are 1 or 1.5 stars who are players who are NHL calibre. So it's possible they could be on your team - but if they aren't playing it's probably going to be a determinant in the long run - even though it'll hurt them if they're angry too. Such is the life of being a GM. :/

 

[filip85]

One thing that has to be solved since it impacts playability and enjoyability of the game is that NHL teams can't sign your players in the last week of August. It happened in several of my Euro saves and I was very pissed to say at least. That problem basically makes stronger Euro leagues unplayable as you are in constant threat of your best player(s) leaving for NHL week or two prior to start of my season.

 

[KnightAttack]

One thing that has to be solved since it impacts playability and enjoyability of the game is that NHL teams can't sign your players in the last week of August. It happened in several of my Euro saves and I was very pissed to say at least. That problem basically makes stronger Euro leagues unplayable as you are in constant threat of your best player(s) leaving for NHL week or two prior to start of my season.

I thought I responded to this, but apparently not. I definitely understand where you're coming from on that. It's a hard cut off on August 31st so it doesn't happen later, but I can see where it could be frustrating if you're not planned around it accordingly. I'll mention it, although I'm unsure if there's much we could do that could change it a more positive way.

The game is on sale at all the regular places for just $9.99 USD right now (through Thursday) for the Summer sale as well.

 

[KnightAttack]

I guess I didn't mention it here; but we are holding a contest (with a chance of you winning our new game) for helping us come up with some new Achievements. Details can be found on our Social Media/our Forums. Entries are still being accepted!

 

[bashbros32]

when should we expect to see an update for this game? don't they usually release around the 2nd or 3rd week of october? that's only a month away and we have no information? Or is it being delayed this year?

 

[KnightAttack]

when should we expect to see an update for this game? don't they usually release around the 2nd or 3rd week of october? that's only a month away and we have no information? Or is it being delayed this year?

We'll have more to say soon.

 

[SENSARMY18]

Myself and a couple other friends have steamdecks and are super interested if this will work on there??? This would be so perfect for playing during commercials and intermission.... Any idea? Has anyone tried??? I only own FHM 5 and couldn't seem to run it very well, clicking around didn't work in a lot of cases.

 

[KnightAttack]

Myself and a couple other friends have steamdecks and are super interested if this will work on there??? This would be so perfect for playing during commercials and intermission.... Any idea? Has anyone tried??? I only own FHM 5 and couldn't seem to run it very well, clicking around didn't work in a lot of cases.

While we aren't officially making it Steam Deck compatible, we've had several people say 8 plays fine on it (you can find more on our Reddit) which is why it is marked as Playable.

That being said, I wouldn't buy FHM8 at this point because...well...we'll have more to talk about soon!

(Edited because I read what I wrote that it sounded terrible, so I fixed it)

 

[KnightAttack]

So just updating this; we posted an update on our Official Forum. We're basically ready to launch, but we're waiting on some NHL approvals before we can officially announce our next title. Hopefully that comes soon though! There's more details on our Forums, but that's the roundabout reason we haven't officially announced things yet. That being said, very excited to show off FHM9 when we can!

 

[CasusBelli]

Really starting to think EA had something to do with the delay.

 

[KnightAttack]

Really starting to think EA had something to do with the delay.

Not at all. The NHL is...well, they're just understaffed liked a lot of our companies right now (at least in the Legal department).

We've had a little more dialogue, but we can't announce an official release yet. But the good news when we do announce, the release won't be too far behind

 

[CasusBelli]

Not at all. The NHL is...well, they're just understaffed liked a lot of our companies right now (at least in the Legal department).

We've had a little more dialogue, but we can't announce an official release yet. But the good news when we do announce, the release won't be too far behind

I've meant to ask for some time: do coaching preferences impact players' development? For example, I play exclusively Historical Mode, and my first order of business is to hire Lester Patrick as my Head Coach and Jack Adams, Conn Smythe and Frank Selke as Scouts (and then make them Assistant Coaches once their coaching attributes are sufficiently high). I see, however, that these guys have different Goalie Handling, Favor Veterans and Innovation preferences. To what extent do they impact my roster? (I should note that my rosters tend to be young -- one or two guys no older than 32; most of the squad under 27.)

Separately, what are your thoughts on "Percent of Talent from Statistics"? From a math standpoint, if we add more weight to stats, there should be greater variance in player performance -- with under-performers heavily under-performing and, similarly, superstars dominating the league to a greater degree than they historically would have. In other words: there's a mean-variance tradeoff in the simulation, with the mean representing the inherent talent of the player and the variance being the "reinforcement" or a sort of autoregressive factor (with the periodicity of the autoregression determined by user-defined weights on historical statistical performances).

I realize the above uses some technical terminology in their more vernacular senses, but I've typed this pretty rushed, so apologies for any inaccuracies / confusions; would be happy to clarify.

 

[KnightAttack]

I've meant to ask for some time: do coaching preferences impact players' development? For example, I play exclusively Historical Mode, and my first order of business is to hire Lester Patrick as my Head Coach and Jack Adams, Conn Smythe and Frank Selke as Scouts (and then make them Assistant Coaches once their coaching attributes are sufficiently high). I see, however, that these guys have different Goalie Handling, Favor Veterans and Innovation preferences. To what extent do they impact my roster? (I should note that my rosters tend to be young -- one or two guys no older than 32; most of the squad under 27.)

Separately, what are your thoughts on "Percent of Talent from Statistics"? From a math standpoint, if we add more weight to stats, there should be greater variance in player performance -- with under-performers heavily under-performing and, similarly, superstars dominating the league to a greater degree than they historically would have. In other words: there's a mean-variance tradeoff in the simulation, with the mean representing the inherent talent of the player and the variance being the "reinforcement" or a sort of autoregressive factor (with the periodicity of the autoregression determined by user-defined weights on historical statistical performances).

I realize the above uses some technical terminology in their more vernacular senses, but I've typed this pretty rushed, so apologies for any inaccuracies / confusions; would be happy to clarify.

If you're running solely as a GM, yes it will impact some players because the coaches will favor some players over others.

As for the latter, I leave it as it is standard set. Some people like to move it more because it helps them understand how "good" or "bad" a player with more helpfulness from the stats, but I like seeing some guys show up from nowhere to become borderline Superstar players. Take this years Stream game. We picked up Brad Tiley - who while he had a decent minor league career, only played in 11 NHL games. He was expected to be depth, and that's just about it. Instead though, he became a rookie of the year powerhouse and has been putting up 60 point seasons even when he left us in an Expansion Draft. It's funny but so cool to see when that happens!

On another note; FHM9 news is dropping tomorrow on our Twitch channels at our regular time (10pm Eastern). We'll have the trailer, release date, new information, and of course questions with Jeff if you want to check it out!

 

[CasusBelli]

The excitement is real.

 

[Habsfan18]

New Features for FHM 9:

-US College Hockey is now playable. Since college hockey has some unique challenges, we've added a number of special mechanics to college team management, including a unique player recruitment system, details like managing scholarships and academic eligibility, qualification for the postseason tournament, etc.

-added Injury Deferral: you can now choose to defer injury treatment for some types of injuries until after the season ends. That will let you keep the injured player in the lineup with reduced performance and a risk of making the injury worse. That will allow you to keep the player in the lineup for key games at the end of the year or in the playoffs, but you'll need to balance that against the possibility of getting the player healthy as soon as possible

-the team harmony system has been completely redesigned: "problem" players will now potentially create many more headaches for their General Manager, who'll have to keep a careful eye on their team as off-ice incidents can lead to the formation of divisive cliques and inter-player conflicts that can send player morale plummeting

-added all-star games (in multiple formats) to leagues outside the NHL, as well as older formats (like the defending champion playing the rest of the league's all-stars) for the NHL in historical mode.

-added the World Junior Championships tournaments to historical mode, going back to 1974

-bonuses can now be included in player contracts, using the the real NHL bonus mechanics (also works in historical after 2004)

-KHL players can now buy out their own contracts if they get an NHL offer, making them easier - but potentially more expensive for the NHL teams to sign

-historical mode now includes pre-set injuries and suspensions, so players who were injured or suspended at the beginning of your first season will begin the game like that

-new Player screen: made a number of interface changes, to make data easier to find with fewer clicks, and fix some omissions, redundancies, and inconsistencies.

-the Tactics screen will now provide much better feedback on whether or not the players in your lineup are a good fit for your chosen tactics, showing which players are particularly good or bad with each tactical option

-trading now includes a "Make this Work" option that will instantly tell you which player(s) you can add to a deal to get the opposing general manager to accept it

-players with No Trade and No Momevement clauses now have individualized lists, displayed with their contract data, of which teams they're willing to waive their clause for, allowing them to be traded

-traded draft picks can now be given Protected status, which will defer the pick to the following season if it's higher than a specified level - so you can trade away your first rounder but be secure in the knowledge that you won't have thrown away the #1 overall pick if your season ends in disaster

-owner expectations and feedback have been overhauled; in addition to telling you where in the league they expect to finish in this season, they'll also tell you what they anticipate next season's outlook will be.

-player histories now include seasonal averages over the course of the player's career

-player popups now show stat projections for the current season

-added league Notes (second tab on the League-League Notes screen, after Rules), which provides a text description of the league's background and unique rules

 

[bashbros32]

Seeing the comment on the OotP forums:

"SI has no problem doing that because they have a core team of 100+ people, where ours can be counted on one hand. So we need to be a bit more abstract, for now."

from JeffR breaks my heart a little bit...

Is hockey really that unpopular that 9 years into a new project we still have <5 people working on this game, 1 working on EHM in his spare time, and the smallest team possible that isn't indie size at EA working on NHL?

this news sucks.

However on a more positive note, I am super excited for FHM9 and it's changes! the team they DO have works hard and accomplishes a significant amount year after year!

 

[filip85]

Seeing the comment on the OotP forums:

"SI has no problem doing that because they have a core team of 100+ people, where ours can be counted on one hand. So we need to be a bit more abstract, for now."

Can you give a link ?

 

[bashbros32]

Can you give a link ?

New for FHM9 - OOTP Developments Forums

New for FHM9 FHM9 - General Discussion

forums.ootpdevelopments.com

post #19, final paragraph... it's in response to writing either code or lines of dialogue for a conversation system being implemented.

 

[filip85]

Seeing the comment on the OotP forums:

"SI has no problem doing that because they have a core team of 100+ people, where ours can be counted on one hand. So we need to be a bit more abstract, for now."

from JeffR breaks my heart a little bit...

Is hockey really that unpopular that 9 years into a new project we still have <5 people working on this game, 1 working on EHM in his spare time, and the smallest team possible that isn't indie size at EA working on NHL?

this news sucks.

However on a more positive note, I am super excited for FHM9 and it's changes! the team they DO have works hard and accomplishes a significant amount year after year!

Basketball fans can only dream about having a game like FHM 8/9 or EHM...
If we exclude EA Sports from this conversation as greedy and lazy corporation, EHM series had a bad luck due to piracy issues. In one interview Miles Jacobson said that the demand for the game in USA/Canada was higher than amount of copies they could send there (still time of physical copies). I am 100% sure that during next five years we will see new EHM game from Riz and SI.
Regarding FHM, OOTP main project is their baseball game. They had rough start with their hockey game but slowly narrowed the gap between them and EHM. Yes, they are on version 9, but baseball game is on version 23, and FHM 9 still looks better than OOTP 9. So, I think future is bright...

 

[KnightAttack]

Seeing the comment on the OotP forums:

"SI has no problem doing that because they have a core team of 100+ people, where ours can be counted on one hand. So we need to be a bit more abstract, for now."

from JeffR breaks my heart a little bit...

Is hockey really that unpopular that 9 years into a new project we still have <5 people working on this game, 1 working on EHM in his spare time, and the smallest team possible that isn't indie size at EA working on NHL?

this news sucks.

However on a more positive note, I am super excited for FHM9 and it's changes! the team they DO have works hard and accomplishes a significant amount year after year!

Hockey isn't unpopular, but it's the 4th (and slipping to 5th) most popular sport (in NA) for a reason.

Don't get Jeff wrong, we're doing just fine, but he's trying to illustrate a point about the difficulties of being an Indie developer versus being a giant publisher. Line writing takes time regardless. Adding the stories, and even the announcements for retirements or points took me a few hundred hours to write. There is some small variations (and large ones too), but it's an underappreciated thing people don't really appreciate. But as Jeff was trying to illustrate, if we do it incorrectly and don't have enough variations or there is other issues (whether that be spelling or coding - we do check - but sometimes things get through) those are always the things most criticized.

We've been working hard on 9, and look forward to having a lot of fun with it! I hope you enjoy it too when it's available to purchase Tuesday.

 

[bashbros32]

Basketball fans can only dream about having a game like FHM 8/9 or EHM...
If we exclude EA Sports from this conversation as greedy and lazy corporation, EHM series had a bad luck due to piracy issues. In one interview Miles Jacobson said that the demand for the game in USA/Canada was higher than amount of copies they could send there (still time of physical copies). I am 100% sure that during next five years we will see new EHM game from Riz and SI.
Regarding FHM, OOTP main project is their baseball game. They had rough start with their hockey game but slowly narrowed the gap between them and EHM. Yes, they are on version 9, but baseball game is on version 23, and FHM 9 still looks better than OOTP 9. So, I think future is bright...

IDK about the history of the game prior to EHM:EA, but isn't EHM based on the same engine/code as EHM 2007? if thats the case doesn't that mean there have been 3 updates in 15 years?

EHM:EA, EHM and the 1.5 we just got?

Makes me happy we have FHM making strides every year with updates the community is asking for.

 

[CasusBelli]

Hockey isn't unpopular, but it's the 4th (and slipping to 5th) most popular sport (in NA) for a reason.

Don't get Jeff wrong, we're doing just fine, but he's trying to illustrate a point about the difficulties of being an Indie developer versus being a giant publisher. Line writing takes time regardless. Adding the stories, and even the announcements for retirements or points took me a few hundred hours to write. There is some small variations (and large ones too), but it's an underappreciated thing people don't really appreciate. But as Jeff was trying to illustrate, if we do it incorrectly and don't have enough variations or there is other issues (whether that be spelling or coding - we do check - but sometimes things get through) those are always the things most criticized.

We've been working hard on 9, and look forward to having a lot of fun with it! I hope you enjoy it too when it's available to purchase Tuesday.

Tuesday on MacOS as well?

 

[KnightAttack]

Tuesday on MacOS as well?

From Fastspring, and Steam, yes. For the App Store? Unlikely. They take a while to review things.