FHM8 Update 8.6.88 is Now Available

[JeffR]

The third update for FHM8, version 8.6.88, has just been released.

To apply the update:

-If you are playing the FastSpring version, just download the setup file and install it over your current installation. There is no need to uninstall or unlicense your current copy! However, you should quit the game before installing it, of course.
-If you are playing the Steam version, the game will auto-update if you have that option active. If you don't see the update in your Steam update queue, you may need to exit and restart your Steam client.
-If you bought FHM from the Epic Games Store or the Mac App Store, the game will auto-update as soon as the update is approved by those sites.

Download link for PC (FastSpring):
Main server: PC Installer Fastspring

Download link for Mac (FastSpring):
Main Server: Mac Installer Fastspring


This is our third "content" update for FHM8, adding new features in addition to fixing problems. Most notably, the user-controlled line-changing option has been added to 2D mode after we worked out the issues that were holding it up. Other new features include the addition of a new Championship screen that announces the winner of your league once the playoffs are complete, some improvements to the Create Player feature, the addition of the new Division IV to the World Championships (along with a few new national teams), and a database update as of early February.


2D Changes:

-added line change controls to 2D mode:

• activated via the "Use Manual Line Changes" button on the Options popup; note that Game Stoppages and the "Full" Watch Mode must be enabled for it to work
• when the option is on, whenever a faceoff occurs (except the opening faceoff at the start of a game/period and after your own team ices the puck), you'll get the the option to choose which line and pair to send onto the ice; it uses the classic engine's fatigue display (green for game fatigue remaining, blue for shift fatigue, the larger the bar the better; the ##/##/## numbers are the overall/offensive/defensive game ratings). Click the box beside the line to choose that line/pair or use the keyboard shortcut (1-9), then click play (or hit the space bar) to resume.
• choosing a line or pair will select it as the line/pair to be sent onto the ice for the faceoff. Once the choices are made, this replaces the normal AI substitution logic. Exception: if players are unavailable due to penalty/injury, the game will make a logical substitution (based on fatigue, position, etc.) for the missing player(s)

-also fixed some minor AI line selection issues (in both 2D and classic)
-2D mode should now produce realistic home/away winning percentages
-increased the number of events leading to a faceoff (faceoffs are still a bit too infrequent, but it's considerably better now)
-various rebalancing done in order to get the stats back in line after the faceoff and home/away adjustments
-improved goalie movement in response to cross-ice passes
-fixed issue with shift fatigue not recovering properly at the end of a period
-fixed rare potential crash while simming/viewing games in 2D mode

Other Changes

-database updated (to approximately February 9 for the playable leagues; for the NHL that's everything up to but not including the Tippett firing. Which I blame on Adam, because after I mentioned I was done with the database work on Wednesday night, he said "and now someone will get fired tomorrow.")
-added a Championship Screen that appears when a team becomes the champions of the user's league (or NHL if he's unemployed)
-made a number of improvements to the Create Player option:

• replaced age selection with specific birthdate
• height, weight, junior preference, preferred number, hand (shoots/catches), second and third nationalities, ethnicity, and secondary position can now be specified
• split Quality into Current Ability and Potential (both on the same 5-star scale as Quality was, but also allow 0.5 steps, so it's 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, etc.)

-added Division IV to the World Championships (6 teams, winner is promoted to the III-B level; Philippines, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Singapore, Malaysia, and Kuwait now have national teams)
-special abilities can now be edited on the player edit screen
-real captains and assistant captains are now included in the presets file (for playable teams.) This is based on Eliteprospects data, which has some gaps; we'll be working on improving the data manually
-added additional safety checks during importation of multiplayer data to prevent corruption in the main league files
-fixed crash on July 8, 2022 of NHL+AHL+CHL custom games
-fixed broken QMJHL schedule at the start of 22-23 in NHL+AHL+CHL custom games
-limited number of waiver claims by an AI team to 2 per day, so the AI can't evade its normal restriction on waiver claims by claiming a bunch of guys in a single day
-the ratings shown for goalies on the player profile's ratings tab are now adjusted properly for scouting errors
-the two-week buyout option (fixed in the last patch) in the EIHL and some other leagues no longer tells the user that he has to pay the full value of the contract (i.e. salary*years) when he buys a player out, instead of salary/52*2
-fixed issue with the monthly budget reminders disappearing in historical games after a few months
-the IceHL (Austrian) league no longer takes a full month off between the regular season and its playoffs
-adjusted trading AI when dealing with a human player to make it much more difficult to acquire high-value/potential players (approximately 4+ stars) with large packages of players and picks; the AI will now demand that the user include first-round picks and/or at least one high-value player in return
-added Birthdate to the Biography tab of the team roster screen
-if the trade deadline is changed from a date after January 1 to one before it, then changed back to a post-January 1 date, it no longer disappears from the league event menu, preventing teams from trading
-the KHL awards from 2019-20 and earlier are no longer duplicated in the icons on the player screen
-in the league-stats-team stats screen with the Off/Def Ratings dropdown active, the Stickchecking (STC) column now sorts correctly
-when adding a team to a league via the structure editor, the team is no longer selected from the league's country if the league has a region set, and instead chooses from the region (so e.g. a league based in Canada with the "Canadian Province: Alberta" region will no longer get teams from cities in Canada outside Alberta.)
-custom tournaments will no longer fail to record ties in the round-robin stage standings
-one group in some custom tournament formats will no longer play an extra game
-custom tournaments should no longer start too late to avoid a playoff overlap with the regular season schedules
-custom tournaments will no longer produce odd statistical results during games (massive turnover totals, very low player game ratings, etc.)
-the check that makes a player reluctant to sign on another continent made much easier if the player speaks the local language of the team he is moving to (primarily to make Canada/US players more likely to move to UK/Australia/France)
-North American junior-age players are now much less likely to sign with a playable European team
-in the Draft Review email, the best/worst drafts list no longer includes teams with only one pick
-fixed issue where, when adding a new league to a custom game, if a non-hockey country is selected, the teams would fail to sign any players
-in custom games with the NHL included, all the NHL league rights of NHL players are no longer set to free instead of the team the player is contracted to (didn't affect anything, since they were already contracted, but was technically wrong)
-fixed problem with entry-level contracts in custom leagues with no minor league attached, where the player would demand more for their minor league salary than the team could offer
-fixed data issue with the Add Hist Team option on the structure menu in standard games that was resulting in teams importing with the wrong city (which in turn could lead to their generated staff being from the wrong country)
-drag-and-drop should now work correctly in the Epic Games Store version

[Tokyoriit]

will this apply to existing saves?

[hurkadurk69]

special abilities can now be edited on the player edit screen

lets gooooo

[renojedi]

Did not see this specifically mentioned so thought I would ask: has a fix been made to the 2D simulator that will result in more realistic individual goal totals? Many of us have mentioned players (specifically McDavid, Mathews, and MacKinnon)scoring 70, 80, and even 90 goals in a season in an NHL quick start. If it has been fixed, I'd like to re-start my save after applying the update. If not, I will just continue on.

[Swedishgamefreak]

Maybe it's just for me but the "current" roster option gives me opening night roster. Jack Eichel is playing in Buffalo and so on.

Another thing is in 2D mode. If you pause the game, you can see lines from the players. Like it's a debug mode, where you could see where the players will go next.

[jumpSeat]

Originally Posted by JeffR

-added line change controls to 2D mode

-improved goalie movement in response to cross-ice passes

-special abilities can now be edited on the player edit screen

Okay, this is amazing! SOOO happy for these developments!! A huge thank you to Jeff and the entire team. You guys rock! Big Time.

[oldfatbaldguy]

I truly appreciate both the prolonged development effort that have made this such a good game and the responsiveness to concerns raised by the playing customers.

Will these changes affect my save game or do I need to euthanize my GM and spawn anew?

[jumpSeat]

A couple more thoughts...

Just looking through the list of fixes and improvements, I can't help but notice this update shows really good responsiveness to the requests and suggestions of the community. Thank you for listening, and even more than that, for actually implementing many of the features the community asked for.

IMO, this update speaks highly of the development team and gives a strong signal that the FHM franchise is well worth (and continues to earn) our support. Once again, thank you.

[Adam B]

Originally Posted by JeffR

Other Changes

-database updated (to approximately February 9 for the playable leagues; for the NHL that's everything up to but not including the Tippett firing. Which I blame on Adam, because after I mentioned I was done with the database work on Wednesday night, he said "and now someone will get fired tomorrow."

Don't hate me because I correctly predicted it.

[Zeke K]

My monthly budget reminders are back! So good to see.

[boscoJJ]

The Abilities selection of Create Player tab doesn't work
It always picks 0.5/5.0 no matter the choices I selected
however,when I create a 5/5 players,it works

[Risk2014]

Hey Jeff Awesome to hear about this. Was the 2D on ice decisions have been added to the AHL or ECHL?

Or we still don't have that option with minors?

[JeffR]

Originally Posted by Risk2014

Hey Jeff Awesome to hear about this. Was the 2D on ice decisions have been added to the AHL or ECHL?

Or we still don't have that option with minors?

Not when you're playing as an NHL team. Hoping to get that into the final update.

[JeffR]

Originally Posted by renojedi

Did not see this specifically mentioned so thought I would ask: has a fix been made to the 2D simulator that will result in more realistic individual goal totals? Many of us have mentioned players (specifically McDavid, Mathews, and MacKinnon)scoring 70, 80, and even 90 goals in a season in an NHL quick start. If it has been fixed, I'd like to re-start my save after applying the update. If not, I will just continue on.

The changes we made to address things like faceoff frequency and home/away advantage required me to go back and rebalance stats generation afterwards. My last test game had the NHL points leader at 123, goals leader at 60, and league goals/game at 6.19.

[JeffR]

Originally Posted by boscoJJ

The Abilities selection of Create Player tab doesn't work
It always picks 0.5/5.0 no matter the choices I selected
however,when I create a 5/5 players,it works

Seems to be behaving a little erratically with the middle ability settings - sometimes it's OK, but in other players it's creating oddly high potentials and ratings. Going to have to take a closer look at what's going wrong there.

[JeffR]

Originally Posted by Tokyoriit

will this apply to existing saves?

Originally Posted by oldfatbaldguy

I truly appreciate both the prolonged development effort that have made this such a good game and the responsiveness to concerns raised by the playing customers.

Will these changes affect my save game or do I need to euthanize my GM and spawn anew?

Depends on the changes - a few things that are set in the database at the start of the game (the Austrian league problem, the Add Hist Team issue with cities, KHL Awards, etc.) won't be fixed in existing saves, but the large majority of changes this time are to game systems and will apply to existing saves.

[sk78]

Originally Posted by JeffR

-database updated (to approximately February 9 for the playable leagues; for the NHL that's everything up to but not including the Tippett firing. Which I blame on Adam, because after I mentioned I was done with the database work on Wednesday night, he said "and now someone will get fired tomorrow.")

Originally Posted by Adam B

Don't hate me because I correctly predicted it.

Tippett, although I like him as a person, should've been fired long time ago. So the only one to blame here is Ken Holland

[oldfatbaldguy]

Originally Posted by JeffR

Depends on the changes - a few things that are set in the database at the start of the game (the Austrian league problem, the Add Hist Team issue with cities, KHL Awards, etc.) won't be fixed in existing saves, but the large majority of changes this time are to game systems and will apply to existing saves.

Thanks, Jeff. The most troubling thing to me was the home-ice disadvantage issue, because I think that would make the playoffs feel weird.

[oldfatbaldguy]

Originally Posted by sk78

So the only one to blame here is Ken Holland

I'm down with blaming Ken Holland for anything.

[skunt3m]

Looking forward to messing around with special abilities - do they have any effect in the classic engine?