The Beta: What to Expect

[archibalduk]

Originally Posted by Garethw87

I will also use the EPL. Manchester ofcourse. I find it crazy how the NIHL Division 1 is being put on the game... thats such a low level of hockey!

Hopefully the Swiss NLA makes it onto the game. That's what EHM missed badly for us Europeans.

It always bothered me that the NIHL was unplayable in EHM so I'm pleased to be able to research it for FHM. But yeah, it'll probably be the lowest playable league in the game.

[Methodz]

Hope the OHL gets done sooner rather than later, along with the NHL it's my favorite league.

[Sebastian Palkowski]

Originally Posted by Le Grande Orange

Presumably it works like OOTP in that the slate of games in the schedule remains the same but the opponents within the schedule match-ups are rotated each year. So as long as the league structure or the length of the schedule isn't changed, the same schedule file can be used for multiple seasons.

Thats exactly how it works.

The FHM schedule generator will be disabled at least for the first build. Generating schedules is not an easy task and our generator is far from perfect. But it has more options then the one in OOTP (you can schedule inter-conference games). We just had no time to test it properly so expect it to be enabled in one of the first new builds.

[Sebastian Palkowski]

Originally Posted by Orioles1966

Will there be exhibition seasons or exhibition games between leagues or league all-star games?

Seasons that go past the 2012-13 season,if there is no schedule generator,where do the schedules come from?

What schedule will be used for the shortened 2012-13 NHL season?

Can the game times be edited?

Exhibition season (pre-season games) not but they will be added sooner then later. Allstar games the same.

For schedules see my other post but basically the same schedule will be used but with rotated teams so you never play the same schedule twice.

Regular game time is always 60 minutes (with 3 periods). You can edit the Overtime time for regular season games and PO games separately.

[Orioles1966]

Originally Posted by Sebastian Palkowski

Exhibition season (pre-season games) not but they will be added sooner then later. Allstar games the same.

For schedules see my other post but basically the same schedule will be used but with rotated teams so you never play the same schedule twice.

Regular game time is always 60 minutes (with 3 periods). You can edit the Overtime time for regular season games and PO games separately.

I should have stated the start time for games. I prefer plenty of afternoon games on the weekends,where the NHL schedules mostly night games.

[tward13]

Originally Posted by Orioles1966

I should have stated the start time for games. I prefer plenty of afternoon games on the weekends,where the NHL schedules mostly night games.

Really?

[Orioles1966]

Originally Posted by tward13

Really?

You will be able to play more games in Real Time if there are afternoon games unless you want to play each game individually,which would take forever especially in larger leagues,not so much so for smaller leagues.

Its like having NHL Center Ice. You can watch the last few minutes of alot of games if the games are spread out time wise. Monday through Friday games are limited to night games but I plan to have neutral site double-headers(When its playable) and this will stretch out the games start times.

Thats what I do with OOTO13. Start scheduling games for 1pm and late games around Midnight(for Hawaiin teams home games).

[drewst18]

I can't tell if this ^ is trolling or serious at this point.

Starting to feel bad for devs...I have no idea what this post means. There is no real time simulation like OOTP, so start times won't make a difference. I don't know how it its programmed but start times I can assure you right now have next to no impact. If it does, no offense but I think its been time horribly mismanaged.

[tward13]

Originally Posted by drewst18

I can't tell if this ^ is trolling or serious at this point.

Starting to feel bad for devs...I have no idea what this means, there is no real time simulation like OOTP. I don't know how it works but start times I can assure you right now have next to no impact on what you can view. If it does, no offense but I think its been time horribly mismanaged.

I'm just continually amused by his obsession with rather bizarre things like neutral site double headers and manipulating game start times.

I do have a feeling the devs and others will be less amused when these posts get in the way of fixing or working on things that more than .00001% of the users care about.

[russwg1970]

Ok, I looked throughout the thread and didn't see any mention....

Is the NAHL going to be in? If so, I'd just have to drop my pants.... I live in Topeka and am a big fan of the Topeka Roadrunners.

Not a big deal either way as I'm without a doubt getting the game... But I'd be shocked if that league was included.

[tcblcommish]

Originally Posted by tward13

I'm just continually amused by his obsession with rather bizarre things like neutral site double headers and manipulating game start times.

I do have a feeling the devs and others will be less amused when these posts get in the way of fixing or working on things that more than .00001% of the users care about.

I chuckle at the neutral site games and stuff too but I can understand that people want certain things out of a simulator like this one. This kind of issue, I am sure if it's not there, will be on the backburner and not priority for the Devs

[Alessandro]

Originally Posted by russwg1970

Ok, I looked throughout the thread and didn't see any mention....

Is the NAHL going to be in? If so, I'd just have to drop my pants.... I live in Topeka and am a big fan of the Topeka Roadrunners.

Not a big deal either way as I'm without a doubt getting the game... But I'd be shocked if that league was included.

It won't make the beta and I fear the game too, but with the editor you will be able to make a league playable. And expect that after the game is out I will do the same things we did with EHM...

[JeffR]

I just added some details about which customization features are going to be working to start with; see the bottom of the original post.

[hluraven]

Originally Posted by archibalduk

It always bothered me that the NIHL was unplayable in EHM so I'm pleased to be able to research it for FHM. But yeah, it'll probably be the lowest playable league in the game.

As someone who has only ever watched/supported a team at this level, this actually worries me. How on earth will the attributes be above 1 for anyone compared to every other player, it is very rare for an NIHL player to make the EPL let alone Elite League or higher, I am worried that NIHL players will ineveitably be too good purely because you can't rate them low enough to be accurate!

Many British rec players, hardly a good standard compared to the rest of the world, are better than NIHL players, they just can't be bothered to play regularly (or the foreigner limit kicks in). I just can't see any objective ratings that could reflect just how bad this level is compared to every other countries leagues.

[Orioles1966]

Originally Posted by tcblcommish

I chuckle at the neutral site games and stuff too but I can understand that people want certain things out of a simulator like this one. This kind of issue, I am sure if it's not there, will be on the backburner and not priority for the Devs

If you would read all the threads you would know that it has been mentioned many times by the Devs that neutral site games would be possible (unless they decide otherwise).

[Orioles1966]

Will the games be played in Real Time in the first beta version?

Don Cherry never appeared in an NHL regular season game but he did appear in one playoff game during the 1954-55 season. Is he in the player data base?

[CeeBee]

Geez Orioles... give it a break allready. Yeah, I like Don Cherry too but can't you wait a few more days and find out for yourself? Every time Jeff or Sebastien comes on here is time away from what they should be doing. If it's post totals you're after, well, find a forum that's for posting for no good reason and post away.

[daveawrit]

Originally Posted by JeffR

I just added some details about which customization features are going to be working to start with; see the bottom of the original post.

Looking at the list, that is a lot more than I expected for this early version of the beta, and I am looking forward to playing even more now.

Thanks for the hard work guys!

[archibalduk]

Originally Posted by hluraven

As someone who has only ever watched/supported a team at this level, this actually worries me. How on earth will the attributes be above 1 for anyone compared to every other player, it is very rare for an NIHL player to make the EPL let alone Elite League or higher, I am worried that NIHL players will ineveitably be too good purely because you can't rate them low enough to be accurate!

Many British rec players, hardly a good standard compared to the rest of the world, are better than NIHL players, they just can't be bothered to play regularly (or the foreigner limit kicks in). I just can't see any objective ratings that could reflect just how bad this level is compared to every other countries leagues.

Hard to say at this point. But one thing I really want to avoid is overrating the NIHL'ers in comparison to the EPL and EIHL (and in fact there's no point in including the NIHL-1 if it cannot be accurately rated - even though I wouldn't be able to coach my beloved Invicta Dynamos). I've veered on the side of caution when setting the TA ranges (the FHM equivalent to EHM's CA rating system) because I don't want a repeat of EHM - i.e. where NIHL players were grossly overrated in comparison with the EPL. So there might be scope to raise the NIHL ratings marginally if needs be - but it's very hard to say right now and we need some Brit fans like yourself to help gauge the skill gaps between the 3 Brit leagues.

More pertinently, we need to make sure that the EIHL TAs are correctly set in comparison to the rest of the world. E.g. how does it compare with the Danish and Norwegian elite leagues (which are broadly of the same skill level as the EIHL when you take into account the skill of the top EIHL import players) and how do mid/lower-level ECHL'ers and low-level AHL'ers perform in the EIHL compared with the rest of the EIHL (i.e. if you sign an ECHL'er or AHL'er in game for an EIHL team). This is by far my biggest concern.

Maybe we should start a Great Britain testing thread once the beta has been released.

P.s. what's your NIHL team (Streatham perchance)? I'm an Invicta and Manchester Phoenix fan myself (although the only Manchester games I make these days are when they're at Slough).

Originally Posted by archibalduk

Maybe we should start a Great Britain testing thread once the beta has been released.

This is a great idea! and Archi, as my post about the NIHL - Im happy it's there ofcourse! Was just surprised! It will be fun to start at such a low level, as budgeting in the EPL on EHM was hard enough!

You comments about EHIL skill levels compared to say Denmark/Norway I'd say are totally right. We see it all the time. A player will come from ECHL > EIHL have a decent season then off to > Denmark/Norway and if they don't perform then usually come back! Phil Osar comes to mind as he went AHL - ECHL - EIHL - NORWAY - EHIL then back to NORWAY