How will you play the game?

goof1016 · 05-15-2012, 07:45 PM

I was wondering how others plan to play the game? Will you want to run a

North American Pro League (NHL, AHL, ECHL,etc.)

European Pro League (KHL, Elitserien, SM-liiga, DEL, etc.)

A Junior Team (WHL, OHL, QMJHL) or College Team (NCAA)

A lower level Junior League in Canada (a CJHL team), or American (USHL, NAHL)

A youth league (Midget or Bantam league).

Or any other way that you can think of, will you be the coach or just a general manager.

I think it would be cool to run my local Bantam team and have players join my team at the age of 13 or 14 and then have them get drafted to play junior and have some play all the way to the NHL.

Let me know what you guys think. I am a big fan of OOTP and still play EHM and look forward to playing this once it is out.

dave1927p · 05-15-2012, 08:52 PM

well i hope for the junior leagues there's a good "Alumni" screen where you can view players that all go on to pro hockey. That's one big aspect of junior hockey and i normally take some pride in my players going on to pro...after winning the memorial cup of course

I'll be starting with an NHL club but i have a ton of scenario games like i'd like to play out eventually.

If it's anything like ootp too i'll be playing alot as a commish and evolving my leagues as well as creating competing leagues and an entirely different fictional world.

landru22 · 05-15-2012, 09:15 PM

I hope to be able to import my fictional league that has been running, one way or another, since 1970 (I was 7 years old then). I sim one season per calendar year. I currently use a sim that does not have a career mode. It is more of a season replay type game. I have to manually adjust player ratings and can't wait for a game that can decide who gets better and who gets worse and execute all of that for me.

Hockey13Playa · 05-15-2012, 09:17 PM

I like being GM, and controlling the team that way. Never really did many coaching duties in EHM, maybe I will try it out in this game.

I would like to either start with an awful NHL team so I can "rebuild" them, or I would like to start in the minors and prove myself to become a NHL GM!

damientheomen3 · 05-15-2012, 09:26 PM

Definitely a 'make myself and my older brother and see how our careers pan out' game for starters.

Hockey13Playa · 05-15-2012, 10:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by damientheomen3

Definitely a 'make myself and my older brother and see how our careers pan out' game for starters.

I always have been a fan of creating myself too and seeing how my career unfolds.

Cole · 05-15-2012, 11:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by goof1016

I think it would be cool to run my local Bantam team and have players join my team at the age of 13 or 14 and then have them get drafted to play junior and have some play all the way to the NHL.

[/COLOR]

I have no knowledge of the programming of this game but I can say with fairly good certainty that you won't be able to play as a bantam team in this game. At least not in the first iteration, I'm sure.

goof1016 · 05-16-2012, 02:37 PM

I think it is not that far out of the realm of possibility. Just look at the game universe of EHM, Football Manager, and OOTP. Then add the EHM and OOTP communities together and you will have quality mods and game customization. For a bantam league you would need age limits, player regions, with flexible rules, and league modifiers. All of these currently exist in OOTP so I expect them to be in the hockey game, at some point.

JeffR · 05-16-2012, 03:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by goof1016

I think it is not that far out of the realm of possibility. Just look at the game universe of EHM, Football Manager, and OOTP. Then add the EHM and OOTP communities together and you will have quality mods and game customization. For a bantam league you would need age limits, player regions, with flexible rules, and league modifiers. All of these currently exist in OOTP so I expect them to be in the hockey game, at some point.

You would also need to adjust the age (and ability level) at which players are created, a contract/rights system that can handle the youth hockey level, and - the real killer - a ratings system that can accurately model a range of abilities from the worst bantam rep player to the best NHLer.

archibalduk · 05-16-2012, 05:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JeffR

and - the real killer - a ratings system that can accurately model a range of abilities from the worst bantam rep player to the best NHLer.

In other words, a 1-20 rating system just wouldn't cut it. I guess in order to really accommodate that, you'd be looking for a 1-100 scale and possibly an adjustment of the balance of attributes. If you think that 1-20 can represent the full spectrum of skill from the worst junior/pro to the top pro and a 1 rating on a 1-20 scale would be the equivalent to a 5 rating on a 1-100 scale, then this would just leave you with the 1-4 range within a 1-100 scale in which to rate a bantam player (sorry for the long sentence!). Please correct me if I've gotten my maths wrong here!

Thus I guess you'd need to narrow the gap between the worst and best pro on the 1-100 scale in order to allow some scope for rating bantam players. Although they'd be hard to rate, bantam players would surely need more than a 1-4 range within a 1-100 scale.

goof1016 · 05-16-2012, 07:36 PM

I think it would be possible to still work on a 1-100 scale as long as the rate of development and drop off at each level can be adjusted. For example, in OOTP with high school leagues teams have 25 players of which only a handful of players move up and be successful at the next level. Hockey doesn't have the same level of minor leagues but think of it like this.
Majors= NHL
AAA=AHL
AA=ECHL
A+=Lower Pro
A-= Major Junior
SA=Lower Junior
Rookie=Midget
High School=Bantam/Lower Midget

Each level would have age limits for Major Junior to Bantam. The Players progress gradually up the chain. The players are ranked against there current level of competition. This is just an idea. Love to hear some thoughts.

goof1016 · 05-16-2012, 08:05 PM

Just having age limits and certain rules in place (Such as a number of professional games limit, both the AHL and ECHL restrict the number of veteran players allowed on the roster, European teams usually have a limit number of spots available to foreign players), plus with a proper financial system as lower level team will not be able to afford NHL players. This cuts out players from moving backwards for the most part back down the development chain.

dave1927p · 05-16-2012, 10:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by damientheomen3

Definitely a 'make myself and my older brother and see how our careers pan out' game for starters.

lmfao...i do that too with EHM and ootp. Of course i give myself a little more of a boost

That reminds me how i really hope that the game recognizes brothers or sons of ex nhlers somewhere in their bio. Please do this

I've been asking for it for years now in ootp and so far no luck....they claim that players can have sons that have pro careers but there's no way of knowing. Hockey is a big family game, i hope that the feature makes it's debut in this game

Cole · 05-16-2012, 11:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by goof1016

I think it is not that far out of the realm of possibility. Just look at the game universe of EHM, Football Manager, and OOTP. Then add the EHM and OOTP communities together and you will have quality mods and game customization. For a bantam league you would need age limits, player regions, with flexible rules, and league modifiers. All of these currently exist in OOTP so I expect them to be in the hockey game, at some point.

You have to temper your expectations significantly. Keep in mind game like Football Manager and OOTP have been in development for YEARS. This is a first generation game.... I can assure you if you are expecting it to immediately have every single similar feature as compared to long-term franchises like OOTP and FM, you will be greatly dissapointed.

goof1016 · 05-17-2012, 10:33 AM

Of course I don't expect to see all of the features in other more established games (especially during the first few versions), as I understand it takes time to implement and get them to work correctly. However, what makes games like OOTP, EHM, and Football Manager so enjoyable is the amount of immersion and number of small features that add to the gaming experience and in many cases mirror the "Real World". We currently have very little information about this game and I am optimistic that Sebastian and the rest of the team are going to build a pretty great game both in the short term and long term.

dave1927p · 05-19-2012, 01:50 PM

I for one have high expectations, especially since ootp is making it. The reality is that it needs to be on par or better then the competition (not only a 6 year old game in EHM but with ootp and FM) to get past 1 version. And lets face it, it needs features to get other stat based fans buying the game.
Without this, unless ootp is expecting to lose some money for a few versions before seeing any profit there wouldn't be much point in pursuing a new sport sim. It would almost be better to double your dev team for the first version to get the first version more feature-rich so that you lose money on the first version but will have much higher probability of profit on a second version.

I know that ootp sounds like they are fully commited to this after the first version, but in the end they need sales and putting out a product similar to ootp4 would be bound for failure because it won't attract their baseball fans. What i'm saying is i really hope that there are more than 1 version with or without the sales they were looking for as it would build with time...but time is always limited on these projects because of a simple thing called money.

archibalduk · 05-19-2012, 06:19 PM

My expectations are much lower (I'm expecting something that is around about the same quality as EHM 2004, give or take). SI had a similar sized team working on EHM. It took something like 12 - 18 months for them to develop EHM 2004. Similar to OOTP having their baseball game engine to build upon, SI had their FM engine (well, Champ Man as it was back then IIRC). So I guess they're both in similar positions IMO.

I completely agree with you - I really hope OOTP are in this for the long run. I personally feel it is going to take two or three versions before they get into the same sort of stride they're in with OOTP Baseball. I'd also be willing to wait a further year if it meant a much better first version (I have waited five years for a new hockey sim and so I can wait another year if needs be). But I guess this means additional cost/investment in return for one set of sales.

Regardless of the quality of the end product, I'm guessing there will be plenty of users here who will buy it simply to support OOTP's future investment in the game. I know I will be!

GlennN · 05-20-2012, 11:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hockey13Playa

I like being GM, and controlling the team that way. Never really did many coaching duties in EHM, maybe I will try it out in this game.

I would like to either start with an awful NHL team so I can "rebuild" them, or I would like to start in the minors and prove myself to become a NHL GM!

I'm with you. Same as I play OOTP - just as GM, simming the games. That way I get to play many seasons and build a team. Love to watch players grow and develop.

dave1927p · 05-20-2012, 07:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GlennN

I'm with you. Same as I play OOTP - just as GM, simming the games. That way I get to play many seasons and build a team. Love to watch players grow and develop.

there certainly is something special about knowing the entire history of a club (and league) and all the players that have played there.

that's why i'm pumped for an expansion draft.

OctopusEV · 09-25-2012, 04:01 PM

I would start as GM of the Red Wings. Coaching in detail only as much as necessary (no improvement of attributes in EHM otherwise). For this there are coaches. But the direction would be given (playing style, forcing some line combinations, dressing). Better interaction with coaching staff would be from interest. Later I may run my favorite German team - AEV (no money, but tradition). Once the commmunity is ready, I'm interested in historical leagues, like Red Wings in the 80's. Supporting communities is a must for success. OctopusEV

05-15-2012, 07:45 PM	#1
goof1016 Minors (Single A) Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 64	How will you play the game? I was wondering how others plan to play the game? Will you want to run a North American Pro League (NHL, AHL, ECHL,etc.) European Pro League (KHL, Elitserien, SM-liiga, DEL, etc.) A Junior Team (WHL, OHL, QMJHL) or College Team (NCAA) A lower level Junior League in Canada (a CJHL team), or American (USHL, NAHL) A youth league (Midget or Bantam league). Or any other way that you can think of, will you be the coach or just a general manager. I think it would be cool to run my local Bantam team and have players join my team at the age of 13 or 14 and then have them get drafted to play junior and have some play all the way to the NHL. Let me know what you guys think. I am a big fan of OOTP and still play EHM and look forward to playing this once it is out.

05-15-2012, 08:52 PM	#2
dave1927p FHM Moderator Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Brantford, ON Posts: 2,888	well i hope for the junior leagues there's a good "Alumni" screen where you can view players that all go on to pro hockey. That's one big aspect of junior hockey and i normally take some pride in my players going on to pro...after winning the memorial cup of course I'll be starting with an NHL club but i have a ton of scenario games like i'd like to play out eventually. If it's anything like ootp too i'll be playing alot as a commish and evolving my leagues as well as creating competing leagues and an entirely different fictional world. __________________ IN 1964 THE LEAFS WON THE STANLEY CUP :: IT'S ALSO THE YEAR THE CANADIAN FLAG WAS DESIGNED...coincidence?

05-19-2012, 01:50 PM	#16
dave1927p FHM Moderator Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Brantford, ON Posts: 2,888	I for one have high expectations, especially since ootp is making it. The reality is that it needs to be on par or better then the competition (not only a 6 year old game in EHM but with ootp and FM) to get past 1 version. And lets face it, it needs features to get other stat based fans buying the game. Without this, unless ootp is expecting to lose some money for a few versions before seeing any profit there wouldn't be much point in pursuing a new sport sim. It would almost be better to double your dev team for the first version to get the first version more feature-rich so that you lose money on the first version but will have much higher probability of profit on a second version. I know that ootp sounds like they are fully commited to this after the first version, but in the end they need sales and putting out a product similar to ootp4 would be bound for failure because it won't attract their baseball fans. What i'm saying is i really hope that there are more than 1 version with or without the sales they were looking for as it would build with time...but time is always limited on these projects because of a simple thing called money. __________________ IN 1964 THE LEAFS WON THE STANLEY CUP :: IT'S ALSO THE YEAR THE CANADIAN FLAG WAS DESIGNED...coincidence? Last edited by dave1927p; 05-19-2012 at 01:54 PM.

05-19-2012, 06:19 PM	#17
archibalduk All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: UK Posts: 1,209	My expectations are much lower (I'm expecting something that is around about the same quality as EHM 2004, give or take). SI had a similar sized team working on EHM. It took something like 12 - 18 months for them to develop EHM 2004. Similar to OOTP having their baseball game engine to build upon, SI had their FM engine (well, Champ Man as it was back then IIRC). So I guess they're both in similar positions IMO. I completely agree with you - I really hope OOTP are in this for the long run. I personally feel it is going to take two or three versions before they get into the same sort of stride they're in with OOTP Baseball. I'd also be willing to wait a further year if it meant a much better first version (I have waited five years for a new hockey sim and so I can wait another year if needs be). But I guess this means additional cost/investment in return for one set of sales. Regardless of the quality of the end product, I'm guessing there will be plenty of users here who will buy it simply to support OOTP's future investment in the game. I know I will be! __________________ Webmaster of The Blue Line Eastside Hockey Manager & Franchise Hockey Manager community and resource Last edited by archibalduk; 05-19-2012 at 06:21 PM.

09-25-2012, 04:01 PM	#20
OctopusEV Bat Boy Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Bavaria, Germany Posts: 4	GM for my favorite teams I would start as GM of the Red Wings. Coaching in detail only as much as necessary (no improvement of attributes in EHM otherwise). For this there are coaches. But the direction would be given (playing style, forcing some line combinations, dressing). Better interaction with coaching staff would be from interest. Later I may run my favorite German team - AEV (no money, but tradition). Once the commmunity is ready, I'm interested in historical leagues, like Red Wings in the 80's. Supporting communities is a must for success. OctopusEV

05-15-2012, 09:15 PM	#3
landru22 Major Leagues Join Date: Jul 2010 Posts: 440	I hope to be able to import my fictional league that has been running, one way or another, since 1970 (I was 7 years old then). I sim one season per calendar year. I currently use a sim that does not have a career mode. It is more of a season replay type game. I have to manually adjust player ratings and can't wait for a game that can decide who gets better and who gets worse and execute all of that for me.

05-15-2012, 09:17 PM	#4
Hockey13Playa Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2012 Location: Michigan Posts: 2,541	I like being GM, and controlling the team that way. Never really did many coaching duties in EHM, maybe I will try it out in this game. I would like to either start with an awful NHL team so I can "rebuild" them, or I would like to start in the minors and prove myself to become a NHL GM!

05-16-2012, 02:37 PM	#8
goof1016 Minors (Single A) Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 64	I think it is not that far out of the realm of possibility. Just look at the game universe of EHM, Football Manager, and OOTP. Then add the EHM and OOTP communities together and you will have quality mods and game customization. For a bantam league you would need age limits, player regions, with flexible rules, and league modifiers. All of these currently exist in OOTP so I expect them to be in the hockey game, at some point.

05-16-2012, 07:36 PM	#11
goof1016 Minors (Single A) Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 64	I think it would be possible to still work on a 1-100 scale as long as the rate of development and drop off at each level can be adjusted. For example, in OOTP with high school leagues teams have 25 players of which only a handful of players move up and be successful at the next level. Hockey doesn't have the same level of minor leagues but think of it like this. Majors= NHL AAA=AHL AA=ECHL A+=Lower Pro A-= Major Junior SA=Lower Junior Rookie=Midget High School=Bantam/Lower Midget Each level would have age limits for Major Junior to Bantam. The Players progress gradually up the chain. The players are ranked against there current level of competition. This is just an idea. Love to hear some thoughts.

05-16-2012, 08:05 PM	#12
goof1016 Minors (Single A) Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 64	Just having age limits and certain rules in place (Such as a number of professional games limit, both the AHL and ECHL restrict the number of veteran players allowed on the roster, European teams usually have a limit number of spots available to foreign players), plus with a proper financial system as lower level team will not be able to afford NHL players. This cuts out players from moving backwards for the most part back down the development chain.

05-17-2012, 10:33 AM	#15
goof1016 Minors (Single A) Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 64	Of course I don't expect to see all of the features in other more established games (especially during the first few versions), as I understand it takes time to implement and get them to work correctly. However, what makes games like OOTP, EHM, and Football Manager so enjoyable is the amount of immersion and number of small features that add to the gaming experience and in many cases mirror the "Real World". We currently have very little information about this game and I am optimistic that Sebastian and the rest of the team are going to build a pretty great game both in the short term and long term.