Announcement: Franchise Hockey Manager Release Date, Preordering, and Beta

[Postman]

Originally Posted by drewst18

Think of it as March 4 as version 1 for $30 and you get a free version 2 in September...

No, please don't think of it that way. Think of it as OOTP Developments paying you $10 to be a beta tester. That means that if the game becomes unplayable due to, say, a corrupted database, you don't get to complain. Rather, you should be prepared to tell the developers what you were doing before the game crashed. A good beta tester is one that can provide clues as well as bugs.

[Steve4evasaints]

Thanks for the information, its good to now have a fixed release date, albeit in September . But I understand why and I think its great that you are accepting pre-orders earlier and offering the beta version

[dave1927p]

I've decided that when i purchase the beta i will be donating the extra $10.00 to OOTP through this:

http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/boar...-donation.html


I really hope we can see an accurate portrayal of goalies in FHM. EHM failed miserably with that. Goalies have up down and out careers and EHM just couldn't handle the down and out part.


Postman, that's an excellent way for people to look at it!

[ElQuapo]

Originally Posted by Sebastian Palkowski

A fictional game start wizard and international play most likely will get some love from us as soon as possible. We already now that you want it.

...and I love you! :-)

[drewst18]

As will I Dave. I will do what everything in my power to make this game a success

[Stinson]

Originally Posted by dave1927p

http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/boar...-donation.html

That's awesome. They're increasing profits without resorting to $60 games, overpriced DLC, scammy micro-transactions, or even just brute force.

That just goes to show why people want to pay more for OOTP's games, while companies like EA are winning Golden Poo awards as the worst company in America.

I think I've got a few dollars laying around that they can have.

EDIT: Hey, 100th post!

[Certain Valor]

To what extent will roster creation be possible with the Beta? I mean to ask... I hope to create an ongoing, updated roster set available for the community, but didn't know if the release of new beta versions would cause me to have to start from scratch every time?

[Orioles1966]

Originally Posted by Certain Valor

To what extent will roster creation be possible with the Beta? I mean to ask... I hope to create an ongoing, updated roster set available for the community, but didn't know if the release of new beta versions would cause me to have to start from scratch every time?

Write down the rosters the old fashioned way, on index cards.

[Certain Valor]

Originally Posted by Orioles1966

Write down the rosters the old fashioned way, on index cards.

That likely would not be very time friendly.

Interestingly, March 4th is the same day as the new Sim City release. It's going to be a busy day.

[sting004]

Originally Posted by JeffR

Definitely a big concern for me. After EHM died, I spent a lot of time playing with the database, trying to get better results out of it. By breaking some of the ratings rules and adhering more strictly to others, I was able to get much more realistic results (which is a pretty good testament to the soundness of Riz's design - things were mainly going wrong at the database end, not in the code.) A lot of the lessons I learned from that unofficial editing wound up getting applied to FHM.

So, this time around, rather than just turning the editors loose with a guide they may or may not follow, the editing process is more controlled and incremental. Build the framework first (get the positions entered, get templates set, enter target abilities, enter potentials, etc.), then worry about individual attributes only after there's enough data in the player that he can look realistic without that detail work. And I'm going to have a lot more control over the final output - I've got access to the whole database this time, and Malte's been nice enough to build a bunch of things into the editor that'll let me audit things to ensure that we don't have, say, hundreds of NHL-level players from Switzerland or the 2012 draftees all turning into superstars.

As for differentiation, with the way we're working on the database, that's something that'll improve as we get closer to release. Early in the beta, there may be a tendency for certain types of players to look alike (less so for NHLers, getting more individuality into them is something we want to do before the beta is released, so after this weekend I'm handing the NHL stuff over to Michael Farkas of Hockeysfuture to start doing the detail work there, a few weeks before it starts on other databases.) That'll be less evident as more numbers go into the DB.

Thanks for the reply, Jeff. I'm comforted that you share my primary concern, too. It seems like you have more control of keeping things realistic.

Out of curiosity, what is the process for determining the individual attributes of each player? Is Michael doing the entire NHL for the detail work or is it being split up among different people?

[erikthered]

Out of curiosity, will the game still be called FHM 13 with the September release?

[AESP_pres]

Why would it be called FHM 13? It's the first release of the game so it will be FHM... the number just like OOTP isn't because of the year but the version.

[erikthered]

Originally Posted by AESP_pres

Why would it be called FHM 13? It's the first release of the game so it will be FHM... the number just like OOTP isn't because of the year but the version.

I'm sorry, maybe I shouldn't have abbreviated it...

Franchise Hockey Manager 2013

[Stinson]

Originally Posted by erikthered

Out of curiosity, will the game still be called FHM 13 with the September release?

My guess is that they'll name it properly when the time comes, bumping it to 2014.

[Austsaint]

Always nice to hear an honest answer from a game company, I will indeed pre-order and follow the game's progress over the coming months. Thanks for letting us know about how it is going and the reasons behind the delay.

[Argamas]

So I'd have to wait a month to throw my money at you?!

Just kidding, the long run is more important, I hope FHM 13 is just a beginning. To convince people we need a solid start. Good luck guys!

[Afino]

Considering this is the first version of the game, I appreciate the time and effort to ensure a smooth as possible opening release in order to not possibly turn off future customers with a rushed, buggy game.

Nice job reaching a reasonable compromise for those who have been waiting a long time while still dealing with the realities of developing a new game.

[lubongo]

thanks for the update guys, i'm a definite March 4th buyer and i'll be donating back at least, if not more than the $10 saving as i've never come across any company that deserves it more.

i did try searching on this but couldn't find anything: now that all the feature priorities have changed with the extra time before version one, can you give a rough idea on when you could get a 2D match engine coded in? obviously i'm definitely not expecting it for version one but with all the features already announced i'm struggling to think of anything else i would like to be included! i know it's not high on the list, and obviously ironing out bugs and stuff is much more important, so is version two possible for this? if not might it be included at some later point? it really helped me get immersed into EHM2007 over the text-based versions before it.

either way, keep up the awesome work guys.

[Orioles1966]

I wonder how the WHA will work as far as teams folding during the season? Will there be two options,play the season complete or play with teams folding?

Always wondering how the first year New England Whalers would have done in the NHL because at the time the NHL was really watered down and the Whalers could have easily made the playoffs.

That will be the good thing about the beta version,you can experiment until the real game is released.

[NormV]

Anyone know if there will be 1 or 2 licenses with the beta release?