FHM 6 Idea's
 

Just a thought....maybe we should start a sticky thread showcasing what we may like to see in the next FHM and create discussion points from that? but anyway..

*Warning wall o' text*

I used to play a big time football manager player and loved how they improved upon their off field management system every year and I think it is something that would make FHM better.

One of my favourite elements of FM before I stopped playing was the morale and press conference implementation.

Before, during and after every game you had the opportunity to work the press, tell them a little about tactics, trade rumours, a player you were expecting to make an impact or talk about injuries etc. And it would have an impact on the morale and confidence of your team, individual players, the owner and the fan base but the best part is that it made you feel like you were living the life of a real manager and you had consequences to what you said (I remember getting fired because I slammed the team who weren't playing well, then we lost and I got sacked).

I think something like this would add an extra dimension to FHM that would allow you to be more integrated into the game - I don't sim seasons I play them out every game, tweaking lines, minutes, players etc, and like to try live the life, which is the purpose of the game isn't it?

I can see part of this evolve since playing FHM 3 with the odd morale or stat boost/decline when there is a charity event etc where a player every so often does something as well as how the player is feeling in terms of ice time etc, which are really nice implementations.

Take this for instance, if I was chasing a player for awhile, and spent a few weeks trying to figure out a trade with the team he was on that worked, and I was in a pregame press conference and was asked 'there are rumours that you have been pursuing a certain player, or that your looking for a winger to compliment your line', would give us options to confirm/deny or poke the bear.

In turn this could have a few potential effects:

• A positive effect on the player you are trying to sign if you are a successful team.
• A positive effect on some players on your team that may get a boost for excitement of a new player to help the team round out.
• A negative effect on the team that owns the player cause you are stirring the pot and trying to go under them.
• Anegative effect on individuals on your team that may be playing that spot and may feel that you have lost faith in them and that you are replacing them.

and lots of other consequences etc. But this happens every press conference in the NHL and is something greatly missed, at least for me.

Another feature they also have is that you could hold team chats about once a week, as well as individual player chats often. This could allow you to pump the team up down the stretch, or give them the hairdryer treatment to try motivate them to get out of the dirt and start scoring and winning. There was also an option at handing over part way to your captain to try big them up as well, with individual conversations geared towards you wanting more from the player, telling them what you expect from them (which in turn can influence their stats as they work in different areas of there game), this could have a positive impact or a negative, if they feel like your singling them out etc.

I listen to a lot of podcasts, listen and watch a lot of games, and there is always these types of chats about coaches talking to their players individually, or as the team that clearly has an impact and results. And as I play FHM 5 (right now having a 5 game loosing streak after an 11 game winning one) it would be an extra dimension to spice the game up and add to realism.

I know it would be an intense amount of work to implement but would be something smart to be able to play with, as towards the end of the year I get burnt out playing that years FHM because sometimes it just feels like I do the same thing over and over, I would see a format that was something like:

Day of game there is the press conference about the players and the game, with maybe a few chats about the team and the opponent.

At the end of every period you have the opportunity to have a team talk to inspire the team (can have negative consequences) or ask your captain or assistant caps to try inspire the team.

At the end of the game you have another press meet talking about the game, highlighting players talking about opponents etc.

Then during the week you have the options to talk to the team, and talk to individual players to try get them going or to reassure them they are on the right path.

In game chats can have temp boosts to stats or decline, depending on how it went, which influence the game and in the long run influence player/coach relations.

I am a huge FHM fan and would love to see the game continue to get better and better and become more real.

I think it would be awesome to have even just half of the things described :D

I heartily second those suggestions! I too used to play a lot of FM, and I really miss the press conferences and team talks. I really liked building a team with a similar mentality to maximize the benefits of those halftime talks. I'd also love the chance to scream at my defensemen when they give up 20 shots on goal in a single period, or single out a line or goalie for particular praise when they are playing really well.

Exactly. I feel like it would add and an element of feeling like you are the manager.

For instance - I am 4 years into a Canucks game, I have won the Stanley the past two years with a stacked team, and managed the minutes of each player to make sure they aren't unhappy about that.

Due to using my third line has a skill line with a little grit. I reserve my 4th line to being physical which works for my winger and centre, apart from Virtanen who sits on the RW. He isn't too happy about having 4th liner ice time, even though he is on the PK.

I tried to renew his contract cause he is a decent all rounder, but due to his unhappiness he told me he is going to test the market.

But I have no recourse for this. I can only try trade him, which I will. But it isn't ideal - there could and should be an option to tell him that you will attempt to give him further ice time, or for him to work harder and if you notice the changes he can move up a line. But there isn't and he will be traded.

Would be nice to be able to have some form of interaction.

Another small suggestion, maybe we can improve the looks of the default jersey and maybe add a few different versions of it?

Yeah, I just put that exact thing on the to-do list the other the other day. That stripe needs to go, at a minimum.

I would love to see "one-off" games. The ability to play a single exhibition game between any teams (current or historic).

FHM 6 Idea's
 

I would really appreciate more settings for customization. Particularly for injury rate and trade difficulty. Basically settings similar to OOTP baseball.

Training camp would also be welcomed or at the very least a preseason where the AI will expand its roster to experiment with different players and lines instead of playing the same lines as they would if it was the regular season.


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Training camp and a more in depth preseason would definitely be awesome. Being able to get your prospects into some preseason games, and see how they have progressed during training camp would make sense. Being able to bring in players that you haven't signed to contracts yet for training camp and give them a chance to measure their skills.

Also I love in OOTP being able to ask a team what it would take to make a trade work for them. It can be frustrating trying to make a trade and having to tweak it for 15 minutes just to get them to say yes.

It would also be cool to update the draft a bit, making it more of its own thing that you can make trades and just be a little bit more immersive.

With another expansion draft coming in a few years, I think it would be good to re work the current expansion draft as well. Being able to expand more than just 1 team at a time would be nice, I think this was actually possible in FHM 4, and being able to choose from the two different protection formats would be cool too. Sometimes I have to expose a player I want to keep and protect a player I don't want and its frustrating.

I just posted this in a different thread but I'll repeat it here. Keep expanding the PbP. Have the announce mention who is defending on odd man rushes, how the defense is set up, how the offense is set up. More, more more.

Another minor thing, maybe I'm missing smth and it is in the game already..

Anyways in case it isn't, I'd like to have OFF(offenss) as a sortable rating, for example it could be added under skater ratings, right now I can just find it as a rating in the little player popup window, defense (DEF) on the other hand can be found unter skater ratings.

Please can two following things be adressed in FHM 6 ?!

Young players (which are not "next one's") shouldn't be demanding numbers that are already taken by older (better/more popular players) and get mad/unhappy if they don't get it.

Second - AHL call ups (for example in my Colorado save guys like Kosmachuk or Agozzino) shouldn't get unhappy due to low(er) ice time they get. I don't know what they expected when they got called up, to have more minutes than MacKinnon ?!

Please take care of that.

Otherwise game is great, I enjoy it and hope for even better games in future. Cheers :)

Another idea....Hall of fame for leagues/countries that has it, like Czech, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Germany and IIHF Hall of Fame.

Very basic idea but will improve playability: Use space bar to continue on the in-game screen when there are breaks in play. Currently need to click the cross if a penalty and then click play to resume.

Pressing space for this function would be much easier.

You don´t need to click the cross first, just hit play again (saves at least one click if you want ;)).

One more: Setting individual line tactics.

If you click on a player to see his attributes when setting individual line tactics, when you go back to the tactics screen it always has the first line ticked.

So, if you editing tactics on say, your fourth line, and you check a centre's strength attribute, when you go back, the first line is ticked.

I've overridden the wrong line's tactics a couple of times due to this so would be a nice user friendly adjustment.

Thanks, will make sure to fix it.

Small idea, maybe make winning trophy a bigger deal, like I just won the Stanley cup and I sim all games, I didn't get any notification that I won. I thought maybe I mixed smth up and had to go back into the standings screen to see I won the series by 4:1.

So maybe a pop up, small text, congratulations... , with a picture of the Stanley cup. If not that at least a message, maybe a small background, like after not winning the cup for x years/ winning the cup the 3rd time in 4 years/ after finishing out of the playoffs the last 3 years/going from worst to first/.... endless possibilities.

Same could be done if one of your players wins an individual award, pop up, photo of the award..

Like when I make offers for my unsigned draftees, I get messages like: I'll sign if no other teams matches that offer, or your offer is the best I have recieved so far. Maybe when it comes to signed young draftees it should be a different wording?

I mean this post in a completely constructive manner, so please don't feel I'm being hyper critical as I like the game and want to see it reach its potential.

For me the two areas which require the most improvement in FHM 6 are during the actual games and the general navigation/user friendliness of the game as a whole.

In-game, I'd say there needs to be feedback to explain why a team isn't performing and what needs to change in the tactics. Maybe I'm just not very good at the game, but the tactical stuff still feels very random (which I know it isn't) but I think that is because the information isn't portrayed clearly enough: why is my team not playing well, what are my options to change it? We know in the settings that certain tactics are more effective against others but when in a game, this becomes irrelevant.

With regards to the user-friendliness of the game, it still feels that most things require a click too many to get to and some screens don't give enough relative information. I think EHM despite becoming quite dated is still superior in this aspect of the game and the developers would do well to study has easy it is to navigate and find information and look to apply a similar approach to FHM 6.

A couple of quick examples being the player attributes can't be utilised via the training screen, and the player's average game rating doesn't show on thier first page, the trade block screen also feels hidden.

Only my opinions of course.

You could also add a screen showing the development (rating changes) of players over a longer period, like ootp has it. For that would be a pretty major addition. Like it is now you just get messages, that are going to be deleted sooner or later and if they aren't nearly impossible to find later on.

I would like a screen that maps the exact changes in the salary cap on the dates it changes.
When the offseason starts show the cap+1%
Show what the will be on opening day when it drops
Show the cap change over the course of the season based on the teams current cap obligations.

A screen that shows all players under contract and all player the team holds right to. All of this information on one screen would be great.

Custom Views. I like the stock views offered and there are times I would like to build my own.

(in GM mode)

In the preseason you want to test out younger, inexperienced players, and the only way to that atm, is by sending down your top guys to the AHL, and bringing up your lower guys. Which isn't realistic. Could there be a tab where we simply put the top guys as a healthy scratch/reserve list so that they are inactive for some preseason games so that the auto coach can use the lesser skilled players?

Thanks

-A save lines feature
-Expand by 2 (or more) teams (Sorry, simply adding a team doesn't work as it's populated by half star players for years)
-Zoom out player portraits so we can see more of the jersey. (Any way to zoom oput so we can see bottom waist stripes?)
-Notifications when a staff member reties
-Custom games using NHL historical rosters
-Clicking on a player's profile in the training screen to see their profile
-Option to view player ratings in a chart view on the lines screen

You have this on the depth chart I guess

This is probably as niche as possible, but can you put an ability freezer in the Edit Mode of players while playing as Commissioner? As in, you hit a checkmark that says "Freeze Attributes" and his attributes and ratings never change for better or for worse. I have it in Football Managers 15-19 and I freaking love it and would love to see it in FHM. Like I said, probably niche as all get-up, but I certainly hope it's not a daunting hassle to input if you happen to give it a confirmation.

After a fel seasons playing as GM the game gets a bit “every day”, a thing that would change that would be the ability to add a second manager on your save :)

I, as a swede, would love the opportunity to play with both my local team and also to play with an NHL team.

Another thing that would be great is to loan or get loan offers from SHL/ALL/Local times for players in AHL or first round prospects :)

Kool nayme

Would love the the 2nd view but as I have been following the forums lately it doesn't seem likely at all for FHM 6 but might come some version later.

The contract management thing I agree though, would be a blast to have that in the game!

Listen, for the most part I want to leave this thread alone, and just see if anything of interest comes up. I enjoy reading it. But the suggestions need to be helpful.

Realistically, we do want to add more animation in. It's on the list. We've heard it time and time again. But it's not something that you can just do overnight. It takes time, energy, and a whole lot of resources to get right. Jeff mentioned it already in another thread, so I will again: FHM6 will not have 2D (or 3D) graphics.

Really, glad seeing you are actually reading this thread.

I tried to say the same as you in a way, that 2D won't be next year but probably in the future.

Other than that I'm trying to give small but helpful suggestions.

I am on the forms all the time, whether I reply or not. I just don't reply if something has already been answered better than what I can. Do not mistake not posting for not listening or reading. I am here and reading a lot, as are Jeff and Sebastian. My job is to make sure your voices are heard and I am, but the thread needs to be constructive for that to be possible.

Some of you might know I'm into facegens. Not a priority for sure but maybe you could feature the facegens of staffmembers a bit more prominently. Like in the staff overview page there could be a facgen next to every name and info.

I dont know if its been suggested before, would to have the ability to Save Lineups and Tactics.
Having to redo your whole lineup because you have an injury is a pain.

Unfortunately it would not fit in the minimum resolution (would look great otherwise).

In my opinion it would be great if the contract negotiation/extension functionality could be made more realistic. At least playing the NHL or any other league with a salary cap, I find it too easy to build a stacked team by getting some young players on the rise and give them low-money / long-term contracts.

Player asks seem to be based mainly on experience (games) whereas I think it would be better if also points production and ice time in the most recent season could be added as factors, or be given more weight, for determining player asks. This seems to be mainly an issue with players coming off their ELCs. As it is now, players coming off 40+ point seasons can still ask for around 1 million USD contract extensions. This routinely leads to too cheap contracts for those players.

I also think that unproven players (players in the minors without significant NHL experience) should never be asking for 3-year extensions. In real life those guys normally sign 1-year, max 2-year extensions.

Thanks for a great job guys!

College Leagues
 

I would really like to see college leagues. This would eliminate the contracts that have been questioned before! :p:p

Seriously, I have played around with using college teams, but it doesn't work in that 35 year old college players just doesn't cut it. But, I still use them just to see the uniform kits. Having a real college/school or academy system would be great.

Just my 2 cents

Would love to be able to play single exhibition games. Simple, "one-off" games. As it is, I would have to create a season. And even create tournaments for historical teams.

While at lunch for work or traveling, would be nice to just play a simple game.

Is the ability for nations to become IIHF members and enter into tournaments a thing in this game? If not, that would be a cool feature.

The Roster Screen allows more information to be displayed.

Yes, absolutely. I am a fan of your idea, I was just hinting that while we wait for an eventual implementation, you still have that

-Hall of fame to induct players that have broken/set career records when they retire. (Especially in custom leagues)
-Team records (most wins, most points, most championships, etc...)
-Ability tro choose who on your team gets their number retired/honored
-Team history screen in chronological order. (i.e.: don't put the most recent season before the first)
-Ability to adjust injury frequency (We can adjust trade frequency and goal totals, but not this?)

One of my idea is....

Able to start a years up to the default game... mean FHM5 is season 18-19. During the summer time, we will get the real draft done... and some real signing. So will be fun to update ourself the roster and start a dynasty from 19-20 for example until we get the new version of FHM.

In FHM6 I want to be able to do expansions in historical seasons (basically the automatic evolution in OOTP) and be able to make other "major leagues" without having to create a whole new game.

The Contract offer screen is clunky.
- Increase the size of the +/- salary buttons?
- Leave the drop down "dropped"? The I can just click the available menu item without opening the menu over and over.
- Button to make all years same value, quickens and simplifies negotiations
- Percentage of the cap the salary offered represents? Just to get a sense of what I am spending.

Rosters-
Injury depth chart/call up chart
In online leagues (I sim solo a week at a time usually) we often sim weekly. The commissioner will often have to run the AI to cover injuries.
I would like a simple if/else set up that allows me to set basic lineup rules in the event of injuries that the AI can run
If Player x is injured replace with player y &

Player y replaces player x in line ups
OR
Player y placed on line (1-4 Offense) or (1-3 Defense) and move players up t next line until vacant line is filled

Default behavior would be to just replace the injured player with the sub

It would give a little more control over the team while simming more than one day at a time.

I have a couple of other I will post when I get a handle on wording them well.

Love the game, absolute blast to play.

AN option to automate Assigning numbers please

Is there a way to lock a player at a line level?
I am missing it if there is.

In the Line Screen:
Separate Assistant Create Lines into
Create Offensive Lines
Create Defensive Lines
Create All Lines

So many good ideas here! All the devs gotta do now is toget a pen and paper, write them down and just keep adding until you run out of time for the game to drop, lol.