Franchise Hockey Manager 4 - Part 2

[smetana]

Downloaded FHM 5 today. Noticed the Ottawa Senators are missing picks from the Karlsson trade, also noticed Josh Norris is not in the game. Is this something that will be fixed relatively soon?

Also being able to start a game on July 1 is a good idea though it kind of defeats the purpose if rosters are the same as opening night.

Would like to add I am a big fan of the new interface, still getting used to the setup but it is much easier to navigate.

Josh Norris is in the game, his rights were not set properly to his new team. I've already fixed it.

Also added the draft picks as best is possible. Like KnightAttack said, conditional picks are tough to get in the game perfectly (because we don't know if the condition is met in the future).

 

[ted2019]

Yeah, a teaser trailer (full trailer still to come) and our first live stream about the game is now up on our YouTube page.

I have a question. Does the team ever plan on adding NHA/PCHA teams in the future?

 

[KnightAttack]

I have a question. Does the team ever plan on adding NHA/PCHA teams in the future?

Pacific Coast Teams were added last year. I'm not sure how much further we'll go back just due to limited knowledge on leagues prior to the NHL being formed, but never say never.

It's possible we may, but I think Jeff probably wants to update player ratings first, but that will take quite a bit of time.

 

[Korpse]

Whoops, will get the Norris fixed. As for the picks, it's hard for us to do conditional picks because that's what they are. It's maybe best for you to set it yourself in Commissioner Mode.

The July 1st is more for starting with expansion teams or redoing rules. It was a fairly late add and we can't undo the database changes. May be something we consider another year.

I understand the issue with conditional picks, though there are examples of conditional picks being in the game, see SJS 2019 1st. But Ill have to look into using commissioner mode to make those tweaks myself. Is there a guide that could help me understand how to use the mode?

And it appears Josh Norris . I searched Josh Norris rather than Joshua Norris, must have missed him when I went to the Sharks page. That makes sense for the July 1 feature.

Thanks for the reply, love the work you guys do.

 

[ted2019]

Pacific Coast Teams were added last year. I'm not sure how much further we'll go back just due to limited knowledge on leagues prior to the NHL being formed, but never say never.

It's possible we may, but I think Jeff probably wants to update player ratings first, but that will take quite a bit of time.

Sorry, I meant the PCHA to go with the NHA. Trying to type too fast.

 

[KA Olimb]

Opinions on FHM5? I didn't try any of the previous versions so this is my first go.

Short review based on 17 hrs of playing:

+ The simming feels very realistic. For example, offensive defensemen actually exist, which is something EHM always struggled to achieve.

- I wish they could improve the game interface. Menus feels unnecessary clunky and complicated, f.ex, it takes forever to set up lines and tactics especially when it's so easy to misclick.

 

[Green Snow Storm]

Opinions on FHM5? I didn't try any of the previous versions so this is my first go.

Short review based on 17 hrs of playing:

+ The simming feels very realistic. For example, offensive defensemen actually exist, which is something EHM always struggled to achieve.

- I wish they could improve the game interface. Menus feels unnecessary clunky and complicated, f.ex, it takes forever to set up lines and tactics especially when it's so easy to misclick.

I’ve got the game but hesitant to start a game and pump hours into it before the goaltender issue is fixed. Based on your 17 hours of play do the leagues top goaltenders have fairly realistic stats?

 

[Daximus]

I’ve got the game but hesitant to start a game and pump hours into it before the goaltender issue is fixed. Based on your 17 hours of play do the leagues top goaltenders have fairly realistic stats?

One thing I've noticed is the goalies stats are always relatively off. Scoring stats are always correct but for some reason the number of shots is never where it should be for lower tier players. So goalies aren't getting those easy saves to beef up their totals.

 

[billbillbill]

I've purchased every version of FHM because I don't want the project to die. This is the first version I can see myself actually sinking some time into, just because the new interface and tactics system are so much better. Granted, I haven't spent enough time with the game to experiment with the tactics and find out if the different options actually do anything... but the old system was not fun at all. The interface just makes more sense to me. I don't feel that I'm fighting against it to do what I want. I find that it gets steadily less responsive the longer you run the game, though. I've also been getting a lot of random crashes.

The game spits out reasonable stats for forwards and defensemen. Right now penalties and powerplay goals are too low and top forwards take too many shots. I think Daximus might be right about the lower tier players. I think they're just getting run over in general. I've seen some crazy plus-minus numbers for elite players with good linemates.

Overall scoring is pretty good in 2018-19 but seems to creep up over time - I ran a hands off sim and scoring peaked 6.39 goals per game in 2022-23. It's down to 6.29 in 2023-24, not sure if it will continue to drop. Goalie stats are way off. They are aware of the problem. We'll see.

 

[KA Olimb]

I’ve got the game but hesitant to start a game and pump hours into it before the goaltender issue is fixed. Based on your 17 hours of play do the leagues top goaltenders have fairly realistic stats?

I've only tried playing 15-20 games in historical mode as the 95/96 Blackhawks
I haven't paid closely attention but to me it seems that the top goalies have around .89 - .90%. My goalies usually let in a boatload of goals in few shots. Maybe I need to make tactical adjustments.

 

[KA Olimb]

Is it possible to quit a game without saving?

 

[KnightAttack]

Opinions on FHM5? I didn't try any of the previous versions so this is my first go.

Short review based on 17 hrs of playing:

+ The simming feels very realistic. For example, offensive defensemen actually exist, which is something EHM always struggled to achieve.

- I wish they could improve the game interface. Menus feels unnecessary clunky and complicated, f.ex, it takes forever to set up lines and tactics especially when it's so easy to misclick.

You know you can click and drag?

I’ve got the game but hesitant to start a game and pump hours into it before the goaltender issue is fixed. Based on your 17 hours of play do the leagues top goaltenders have fairly realistic stats?

One thing I've noticed is the goalies stats are always relatively off. Scoring stats are always correct but for some reason the number of shots is never where it should be for lower tier players. So goalies aren't getting those easy saves to beef up their totals.

We're continuing to work on improvements. In an early test build, save stats were good - but then something changed when on a recent release build. We are still working on tweaks but the latest build - and update should be updating soon.

I've purchased every version of FHM because I don't want the project to die. This is the first version I can see myself actually sinking some time into, just because the new interface and tactics system are so much better. Granted, I haven't spent enough time with the game to experiment with the tactics and find out if the different options actually do anything... but the old system was not fun at all. The interface just makes more sense to me. I don't feel that I'm fighting against it to do what I want. I find that it gets steadily less responsive the longer you run the game, though. I've also been getting a lot of random crashes.

The game spits out reasonable stats for forwards and defensemen. Right now penalties and powerplay goals are too low and top forwards take too many shots. I think Daximus might be right about the lower tier players. I think they're just getting run over in general. I've seen some crazy plus-minus numbers for elite players with good linemates.

Overall scoring is pretty good in 2018-19 but seems to creep up over time - I ran a hands off sim and scoring peaked 6.39 goals per game in 2022-23. It's down to 6.29 in 2023-24, not sure if it will continue to drop. Goalie stats are way off. They are aware of the problem. We'll see.

We're working on some of the issues. I've seen some improvements in my test games. We will continue to work on it.

Is it possible to quit a game without saving?

Not really, I mean, you can close the game in Task Manager to close the game and that would do it, but that's it. If you do that though, you risk corrupting your save. I recently had someone tell me they had an issue with their save, and they had just completed a perfect 82-0-0 Season. The chances of that happening are....slim to none without crashing the game multiple times.

 

[umwoz]

Goalie stats went from bad to weird.

Top tier teams like Winnipeg, Nashville and Boston missing playoffs.

Really love the interface, tactics and much of the game. But this is a text sim that doesn’t simulate well. Until then I really can’t sink time into it.

 

[KnightAttack]

Goalie stats went from bad to weird.

Top tier teams like Winnipeg, Nashville and Boston missing playoffs.

Really love the interface, tactics and much of the game. But this is a text sim that doesn’t simulate well. Until then I really can’t sink time into it.

Just a note from the Patch, and as Smetana said:

-significant changes to shooting and shot choice routines; it looks like we have shot totals around the right level now (mostly by adding more shots from defencemen); goalie save percentages have risen significantly as a result, but modern NHL scoring is still a bit too high, particularly in the first few seasons, because the goals coming from the extra shots roughly matched the effects of changes made to lower shooting effectiveness. We'll continue to work on that, it's partly a systems issue and partly a data one. It does eventually stabilize at a level closer to current scoring numbers as game-generated players begin to dominate the player pool.

 

[smetana]

Goalie stats went from bad to weird.

Top tier teams like Winnipeg, Nashville and Boston missing playoffs.

Really love the interface, tactics and much of the game. But this is a text sim that doesn’t simulate well. Until then I really can’t sink time into it.

Small sample size. Good teams have bad seasons from time to time. Injuries, underperformance, etc. If you sim 100 seasons, the teams you mentioned will miss the playoffs on occasion. 90 times out of those 100, they will not miss the playoffs. I'm not guessing about it--I sim around 100 seasons every week.

As far as the simulation itself, the game produces realistic numbers with two exceptions: Goalie save % and defenseman shooting %. Lingering issues that have been a problem for several versions. And i believe they've been just about worked out, according to my latest testing.

 

[MXD]

This one seems just about like every other FHM. General overhaul of a few notions (developpement seems much better in this one than in 3 and 4, where every damn player ended with high technicals but low physical/mentals) Some new interesting features (random historical start, tactical customization), some ... decidedly less interesting features (no proper role on special teams, so your two-way first liner with an excellent shot that you deploy as a sniper at 5-on-5 and on the PP is a ... Sniper on the 3rd wave of the PK, which seems very dumb), with balancing regarding results having to be made and some layout issues having to be ironed out.

I'm prefering it to EHM since FHM2.

 

[mrhockey193195]

I have a very silly question about FHM (or EHM for that matter). I used to play freeware EHM, and my big gripe was that young players (prospects), while correctly being rated lower than older NHLers, had their physical attributes downweighted more than they should have. As in, you would never find a draft-eligible prospect with good speed or a good shot.

As they got older, all those attributes would increase. That trajectory ended up being very unrealistic. You'd see a prospect with speed of 60/100 increase to 85/100 (as if a guy like Jason Allison would turn into Sergei Fedorov). In real life, 18 year olds can be as fast, if not faster than NHLers (see: Chris Kreider), can have as hard a shot as many NHLers. The biggest difference ends up being IQ on the ice, ability to make plays quickly, etc. Strength is one of those attributes where you *do* see players have steep trajectories from the ages of 16 to 25, so that one ended up making some sense.

That's a long way of saying, how do these games handle young players and their physical attributes vs. mental attributes?

 

[KnightAttack]

I have a very silly question about FHM (or EHM for that matter). I used to play freeware EHM, and my big gripe was that young players (prospects), while correctly being rated lower than older NHLers, had their physical attributes downweighted more than they should have. As in, you would never find a draft-eligible prospect with good speed or a good shot.

As they got older, all those attributes would increase. That trajectory ended up being very unrealistic. You'd see a prospect with speed of 60/100 increase to 85/100 (as if a guy like Jason Allison would turn into Sergei Fedorov). In real life, 18 year olds can be as fast, if not faster than NHLers (see: Chris Kreider), can have as hard a shot as many NHLers. The biggest difference ends up being IQ on the ice, ability to make plays quickly, etc. Strength is one of those attributes where you *do* see players have steep trajectories from the ages of 16 to 25, so that one ended up making some sense.

That's a long way of saying, how do these games handle young players and their physical attributes vs. mental attributes?

In FHM5, physical attributes will increase faster in younger players > meaning you can see prospects go from looking slightly prepared at the NHL draft to possibly making your NHL roster depending on development. The mental attributes will increase as well, but not as fast as physical attributes.

 

[mrhockey193195]

In FHM5, physical attributes will increase faster in younger players > meaning you can see prospects go from looking slightly prepared at the NHL draft to possibly making your NHL roster depending on development. The mental attributes will increase as well, but not as fast as physical attributes.

Got it. So will you see a 17 year old, projected for the 1st/2nd round in the NHL draft, with a very top speed rating (e.g., Hagelin, Kreider, McDavid, Ehlers, etc.)?

 

[KnightAttack]

Got it. So will you see a 17 year old, projected for the 1st/2nd round in the NHL draft, with a very top speed rating (e.g., Hagelin, Kreider, McDavid, Ehlers, etc.)?

I'm not sure if they'll ever be maxed at at the draft or year one, but they'll be higher than the average. Skating is broken into 3 parts with Speed, Acceleration, and Agility, and for instance right now in like our Stream Quebec Nordiques game - Maxim Cajkovic - who is maybe the fastest guy in this next draft class is currently sitting at 14/15/14 respectfully, which puts him near/at the top of the draft class and he'll likely still see improvement throughout the year as well.

 

[umwoz]

Anyone else notice that trade offers when "shopping players" are quite terrible?

I'm in year one with the Islanders and at the deadline shopping Anders Lee(on pace for 35 goals a year after 40) and nobody offers me more than a 2nd round pick.

 

[KnightAttack]

Anyone else notice that trade offers when "shopping players" are quite terrible?

I'm in year one with the Islanders and at the deadline shopping Anders Lee(on pace for 35 goals a year after 40) and nobody offers me more than a 2nd round pick.

Even though his cap hit is reasonable, he's being paid a lot of money the next couple of seasons. What time a year are you shopping them? Shopping is great for making immediate moves, but you're not always going to get exactly what you want. A 2nd round pick is pretty nice for a player with 3 years left on a contract who'll be be 30+ when the contract expires. If you want a better offer though, try placing him on the trade block especially about a month before the trade block.

 

[Kaapo di tutti capi]

Anyone else notice that trade offers when "shopping players" are quite terrible?

I'm in year one with the Islanders and at the deadline shopping Anders Lee(on pace for 35 goals a year after 40) and nobody offers me more than a 2nd round pick.

I don't even bother with trades - unless you're willing to get fleeced, there's no point.

 

[Alessandro Seren Rosso]

Anyone else notice that trade offers when "shopping players" are quite terrible?

Well, you get overpaid when a buyer wants to buy, but when a seller wants to sell, then it's likely that he'll get underpaid.
It's how it works. The more you are desperate to sell something, the less you get.

 

[umwoz]

Even though his cap hit is reasonable, he's being paid a lot of money the next couple of seasons. What time a year are you shopping them? Shopping is great for making immediate moves, but you're not always going to get exactly what you want. A 2nd round pick is pretty nice for a player with 3 years left on a contract who'll be be 30+ when the contract expires. If you want a better offer though, try placing him on the trade block especially about a month before the trade block.

We must have our wires crossed here. Anders Lee is a UFA at year's end.

He was on the block since mid-January, and got nothing but UFA for UFA offers.

Well, you get overpaid when a buyer wants to buy, but when a seller wants to sell, then it's likely that he'll get underpaid.
It's how it works. The more you are desperate to sell something, the less you get.

In what world would a 28 year-old, about to be(in game) 3 straight season 30 goal scorer, have no buyers? Especially under $4M.