Momentum, playing through games and lopsided shot totals

Saul Goodman · 05-05-2018, 07:29 AM

Hey guys,

Just started playing the other day (previously played FHM3) and think FHM4 is a big step forward and very enjoyable. However I noticed that playing through games (I play as GM only but like to 'watch' games opposed to just simming them) it seems to lead to lopsided shot totals in favour of the team who has red momentum more often then not, to the point where one team would end up having 30+ shots and the other team would be lucky to hit about 15 shots - this was especially prevalent which happened if a team hit full momentum early in the game.

I know that in just Anaheim games which I have watched (about 24ish games) I believe only about 5 or so games were both teams within 8 or 9 shots of each other - more often then not one team be it my own team or the other team would get blown out on the shots total. It seemed very rare both teams would be relatively even in shots as one team would hit full momentum and just start getting 3 or 4 shots on goal for every 1 shot the other team gets for the rest of the game and the other team would never be able to claw that difference back as it seemed once a team hit full momentum the other team would never be able to claw it back, as they couldn't match the constant shots on goal the full momentum team would get and thus struggle to generate much offense at all for the rest of the game. It just seemed that a team with full momentum just becomes way too good for the other team to handle (even if it's a close game).

Also in my opinion momentum is a bit too static, and doesn't swing nearly enough (compared to actual NHL hockey) as I said above once a team hits full momentum it seems very hard for it to swing back the other way. I found it a bit strange that a team could score two quickfire goals within a couple of minutes of each other and it would only shift the momentum bar once across, while if a team managed to get 7-8 shots in a row it would almost max the momentum bar. Off the top of my head, I remember a game against (maybe) Winnipeg, where I was up 4-0 and had full momentum, Winnipeg would go on to score 2 goals in about 2:41 but yet I still had full momentum as there was such a gulf in the shot differential that the 2 goals didn't dent the momentum bar at all - it just didn't seem right that a team who suddenly brought it back to a 2 goal game would still have no momentum compared to the team who just gave up a quickfire double. At this point during games if my team is way behind on momentum I almost hope my team gets a PP with 8+ shots to try and swing the bar closer to the middle as that appeared to make more of an impact on the bar then if they scored on the PP straight away.

Along with this, I noticed the save percentages and shot's allowed seemed low quite low. Only about 6 fully fledged starters are even above 0.915 sv% at this point in the season (and I believe only 1 full time starter in Rask is above 0.920 sv%) which seems quite low to me, I believe a goaltender with only 0.910 sv% is in the top 10 in the entire league for sv% as well(which includes guys who have only started 7ish games through the first 25 games). Even starters who had very low GAA (say 2.20) who you would then expect to have quite a respectable sv% would barely be above 0.900 as they tended to face such few shots on such a regular basis (under 20) that they never get chance to build up their sv% as they always seem to give up at least a couple of goals a game, which again comes back to shot totals being a bit lopsided as it seemed trialling teams rarely get much offense going at all. As an example I'm just about to hit December 1 on my game nearly half the teams are averaging under 30 shots allowed per game - many of them around 25-26 shots allowed per game (I believe Vegas are best in my save at a crazy 21 shots allowed per game) - compared to the real life NHL season just gone which had only 4 teams below 30 shots allowed per game through December 1 (San Jose - 28.65, Dallas - 29.24, Ottawa - 29.43 and Carolina - 29.52). The goals per game stat is higher in my 17/18 game then the real life 16/17 NHL season so it's not the offense in terms of goals that seems to be an issue, rather it seems teams just are not generating enough shots in the game currently which then has the knock on effect of affecting goaltending save percentage as goaltenders just don't see nearly as many shots while still giving up a similar amount of goals.

I will grant I'm quite fresh into the season, but I am playing through all of Anaheim's games and looking at the box score of other games in the NHL that are played, but something with the shot totals (which then affects goaltending stats) just seems a little off to me. I'm still playing through the season so I'll be interested to see what happens, but I'm not sure there is going to be such a huge uptick in goaltending performance as even looking in games league wide I'm seeing a lot of teams being held to under 20 shots on a regular basis but still managing to score 2-3 goals on them so goaltenders never get the chance to build up the stats.

As I said at the start, I'm really enjoying FHM4 (played through the night last night

) and looking forward to some FHM5 news, but these are just some observations I've found - especially with playing through my own teams games. I'm not sure if it's different if I simmed through, but I can't imagine there is that much difference if I'm seeing so much shot totals variance in many of the other NHL games that I'm just checking the box score on.

maikgianino · 05-05-2018, 01:49 PM

One of my other least favorite features is momentum.
I don't see it working correctly, most of the times in my experience it doesnt change anything during the game. I would say that my team when gets full momentum receives more goals that when is even.

Aside with Player Roles, those things should be removed or fixed to make them easily and accurate.

JeffR · 05-07-2018, 01:09 AM

I have a few things planned to address the lopsided shot totals. The problem also seems to have gotten worse recently, so I've been trying to figure out what caused that.

Momentum may also need some changes; at the moment the time range it considers goes back quite a long way through the game, into the previous period. That's probably why it's looking fairly static right now; if we shorten the timespan it looks at, that'll result in more movement in the meter.

Saul Goodman · 05-07-2018, 08:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JeffR

I have a few things planned to address the lopsided shot totals. The problem also seems to have gotten worse recently, so I've been trying to figure out what caused that.

Momentum may also need some changes; at the moment the time range it considers goes back quite a long way through the game, into the previous period. That's probably why it's looking fairly static right now; if we shorten the timespan it looks at, that'll result in more movement in the meter.

All good Jeff, thank you for the reply!

That makes sense re: momentum and as you said would explain why it looks a bit static. Glad to hear that there may be some changes coming as I think it's a really good feature and adds something new when watching/coaching the games that I haven't seen else where.

Also I was wondering do fights or hits get considered for momentum?

05-05-2018, 07:29 AM	#1
Saul Goodman Minors (Double A) Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: Perth, WA Posts: 125	Momentum, playing through games and lopsided shot totals Hey guys, Just started playing the other day (previously played FHM3) and think FHM4 is a big step forward and very enjoyable. However I noticed that playing through games (I play as GM only but like to 'watch' games opposed to just simming them) it seems to lead to lopsided shot totals in favour of the team who has red momentum more often then not, to the point where one team would end up having 30+ shots and the other team would be lucky to hit about 15 shots - this was especially prevalent which happened if a team hit full momentum early in the game. I know that in just Anaheim games which I have watched (about 24ish games) I believe only about 5 or so games were both teams within 8 or 9 shots of each other - more often then not one team be it my own team or the other team would get blown out on the shots total. It seemed very rare both teams would be relatively even in shots as one team would hit full momentum and just start getting 3 or 4 shots on goal for every 1 shot the other team gets for the rest of the game and the other team would never be able to claw that difference back as it seemed once a team hit full momentum the other team would never be able to claw it back, as they couldn't match the constant shots on goal the full momentum team would get and thus struggle to generate much offense at all for the rest of the game. It just seemed that a team with full momentum just becomes way too good for the other team to handle (even if it's a close game). Also in my opinion momentum is a bit too static, and doesn't swing nearly enough (compared to actual NHL hockey) as I said above once a team hits full momentum it seems very hard for it to swing back the other way. I found it a bit strange that a team could score two quickfire goals within a couple of minutes of each other and it would only shift the momentum bar once across, while if a team managed to get 7-8 shots in a row it would almost max the momentum bar. Off the top of my head, I remember a game against (maybe) Winnipeg, where I was up 4-0 and had full momentum, Winnipeg would go on to score 2 goals in about 2:41 but yet I still had full momentum as there was such a gulf in the shot differential that the 2 goals didn't dent the momentum bar at all - it just didn't seem right that a team who suddenly brought it back to a 2 goal game would still have no momentum compared to the team who just gave up a quickfire double. At this point during games if my team is way behind on momentum I almost hope my team gets a PP with 8+ shots to try and swing the bar closer to the middle as that appeared to make more of an impact on the bar then if they scored on the PP straight away. Along with this, I noticed the save percentages and shot's allowed seemed low quite low. Only about 6 fully fledged starters are even above 0.915 sv% at this point in the season (and I believe only 1 full time starter in Rask is above 0.920 sv%) which seems quite low to me, I believe a goaltender with only 0.910 sv% is in the top 10 in the entire league for sv% as well(which includes guys who have only started 7ish games through the first 25 games). Even starters who had very low GAA (say 2.20) who you would then expect to have quite a respectable sv% would barely be above 0.900 as they tended to face such few shots on such a regular basis (under 20) that they never get chance to build up their sv% as they always seem to give up at least a couple of goals a game, which again comes back to shot totals being a bit lopsided as it seemed trialling teams rarely get much offense going at all. As an example I'm just about to hit December 1 on my game nearly half the teams are averaging under 30 shots allowed per game - many of them around 25-26 shots allowed per game (I believe Vegas are best in my save at a crazy 21 shots allowed per game) - compared to the real life NHL season just gone which had only 4 teams below 30 shots allowed per game through December 1 (San Jose - 28.65, Dallas - 29.24, Ottawa - 29.43 and Carolina - 29.52). The goals per game stat is higher in my 17/18 game then the real life 16/17 NHL season so it's not the offense in terms of goals that seems to be an issue, rather it seems teams just are not generating enough shots in the game currently which then has the knock on effect of affecting goaltending save percentage as goaltenders just don't see nearly as many shots while still giving up a similar amount of goals. I will grant I'm quite fresh into the season, but I am playing through all of Anaheim's games and looking at the box score of other games in the NHL that are played, but something with the shot totals (which then affects goaltending stats) just seems a little off to me. I'm still playing through the season so I'll be interested to see what happens, but I'm not sure there is going to be such a huge uptick in goaltending performance as even looking in games league wide I'm seeing a lot of teams being held to under 20 shots on a regular basis but still managing to score 2-3 goals on them so goaltenders never get the chance to build up the stats. As I said at the start, I'm really enjoying FHM4 (played through the night last night ) and looking forward to some FHM5 news, but these are just some observations I've found - especially with playing through my own teams games. I'm not sure if it's different if I simmed through, but I can't imagine there is that much difference if I'm seeing so much shot totals variance in many of the other NHL games that I'm just checking the box score on. Last edited by Saul Goodman; 05-05-2018 at 07:35 AM.

05-05-2018, 01:49 PM	#2
maikgianino Minors (Double A) Join Date: Mar 2018 Posts: 147	One of my other least favorite features is momentum. I don't see it working correctly, most of the times in my experience it doesnt change anything during the game. I would say that my team when gets full momentum receives more goals that when is even. Aside with Player Roles, those things should be removed or fixed to make them easily and accurate.

05-07-2018, 01:09 AM	#3
JeffR FHM Producer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Kelowna, BC Posts: 16,623	I have a few things planned to address the lopsided shot totals. The problem also seems to have gotten worse recently, so I've been trying to figure out what caused that. Momentum may also need some changes; at the moment the time range it considers goes back quite a long way through the game, into the previous period. That's probably why it's looking fairly static right now; if we shorten the timespan it looks at, that'll result in more movement in the meter.