Newbie Questions

[jbgamer33]

Just took advantage of the summer sale and purchased FHM4 and I'm looking forward to learning the ropes.

I should mention that I've never played a hockey sim and of the four major sports hockey is the one I watch and know about the least. Being from Central Illinois I have become more of a hockey fan due to the recent success of the Blackhawks over the past several years. My normal tabletop gaming is Strat-O-Matic on the PC.

FHM4 appears to be a great product, but I have to admit it looks intimidating when you get into it. So, my questions are;
- How are the results calculated? In other words what is the game engine that drives them?
- What would be the suggested "basic" and "easy" way to get going with a particular season? In other words if I want to start by playing a recent Blackhawks season what is the best way to dive in without having too much to pay attention to?
- As mentioned I'm not fully aware of best strategies, etc..when it comes to hockey. I do see you can let the AI set your lines, is this best when starting? How about in game changes other than line changes? What do I look for?

Any other suggestions, tips, or thoughts are appreciated.

Thanks in advance, I'm sure there are others who have been in the same situation as me (I hope).

[Adam B]

Originally Posted by jbgamer33

Just took advantage of the summer sale and purchased FHM4 and I'm looking forward to learning the ropes.

I should mention that I've never played a hockey sim and of the four major sports hockey is the one I watch and know about the least. Being from Central Illinois I have become more of a hockey fan due to the recent success of the Blackhawks over the past several years. My normal tabletop gaming is Strat-O-Matic on the PC.

FHM4 appears to be a great product, but I have to admit it looks intimidating when you get into it. So, my questions are;
- How are the results calculated? In other words what is the game engine that drives them?
- What would be the suggested "basic" and "easy" way to get going with a particular season? In other words if I want to start by playing a recent Blackhawks season what is the best way to dive in without having too much to pay attention to?
- As mentioned I'm not fully aware of best strategies, etc..when it comes to hockey. I do see you can let the AI set your lines, is this best when starting? How about in game changes other than line changes? What do I look for?

Any other suggestions, tips, or thoughts are appreciated.

Thanks in advance, I'm sure there are others who have been in the same situation as me (I hope).

(1) That's a question for Jeff or Sebastian. Although I'm not sure they will answer it.
(2) Since you seem to be a long time fan of hockey, I would really suggest starting with a Historical game. You'll deal with less players, it'll sim faster, and you focus on the main what you want. There's a few changes between in and the modern game, but it's a great way to start - even if it's only going back 5 seasons.
(3) Letting the AI setup is never a bad choice. Start then, although pick your own tactics. Find what works best with your team. After that, start making your own adjustments. The best way is to just play.

As for more things:

(1) We stream every Wednesday at 10pm Eastern on www.twitch.tv/OOTPDevelopments - If you have questions or want to see something specific, Jeff and I can go over it there.

(2) All our streams are archived on our YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/user/OOTPDevelopments - there's lots of good streams we've done covering a variety of topics. I try to list all the descriptions with what we cover.

[jbgamer33]

Thanks Adam.
I'm gonna jump in and just start playing, get some results and make changes or not make changes based on what the results are. Gonna start with the 07-08 Hawks (Kane and Toews rookie years).

Also, I have checked out a some of the Youtube videos and they were helpful with some of the thought processes.