Options for a Start Date in the Official Release

[grindline]

Apologies if this is obvious in-game but I'm waiting for the Mac version so I can't check.

I really want to be able to control my team during the 2013 Entry Draft. Can I start a game just before the draft (after the Stanley Cup Finals have finished) or do I have to start at a given date?

If the answer is that I have to start at the official beginning of a season will the September release force me to begin in September 2013 with the updated rosters or will there be an option to start in September 2012?

Basically I desperately want to draft this year but if beta saves are not compatible with the final release, which comes post-draft, I get the feeling I will have to start my Blue Jackets game with somebody else having used my three lovely first-rounders.

[joehelmer]

Logically the game should start in time for the pre-season for the 2013-14 season, either in late August or early September, like EHM did/does (in EHM you can choose to either start in August or September).

[geckon]

It's not possible in the current beta and I don't know whether it will be possible in the final release.

[mgom27]

Change start date or year would be good

[joehelmer]

Originally Posted by mgom27

Change start date or year would be good

You can always play a historical game and start from any season from 1947/48 to 2011/12.

[JeffR]

Originally Posted by grindline

If the answer is that I have to start at the official beginning of a season will the September release force me to begin in September 2013 with the updated rosters or will there be an option to start in September 2012?

It'll start in September 2013 with the updated rosters. There won't be an option to start earlier, other than the historical game.

[Nino33]

Originally Posted by JeffR

It'll start in September 2013 with the updated rosters. There won't be an option to start earlier, other than the historical game.

Really? That's awful news! You mean one won't be able to mod the game's start date?

I've created a 1974 database for EHM, and was looking to do so with FHM too; a user created "historical database" (complete with major junior. college, minor pro and EU elite leagues) is the reason I'm interested, and I was hoping/expecting with FHM I'd be able to overwrite the modern game to create such a database

[Vikke]

Originally Posted by Nino33

Really? That's awful news! You mean one won't be able to mod the game's start date?

I've created a 1974 database for EHM, and was looking to do so with FHM too; a user created "historical database" (complete with major junior. college, minor pro and EU elite leagues) is the reason I'm interested, and I was hoping/expecting with FHM I'd be able to overwrite the modern game to create such a database

I'm guessing it won't be an issue in a fictional game, though, which you'd be playing, right?
I think what Jeff's saying is that for a standard game, starting in the 2013-14 season, the starting date will be set at, for example, September 1st. Meaning you can't do like in EHM and choose August 15th or whichever dates were possible.

[dave1927p]

Originally Posted by Vikke

I'm guessing it won't be an issue in a fictional game, though, which you'd be playing, right?
I think what Jeff's saying is that for a standard game, starting in the 2013-14 season, the starting date will be set at, for example, September 1st. Meaning you can't do like in EHM and choose August 15th or whichever dates were possible.

Currently there is no fictional mode and it does sound like they are trying to implement it (perhaps in time for the first version) but it really seems like timing will be difficult to meet. To allow the user to change the start date would be a reasonable compromise for some people like myself so if there is no fictional mode i hope they reconsider this.

[archibalduk]

Originally Posted by JeffR

It'll start in September 2013 with the updated rosters. There won't be an option to start earlier, other than the historical game.

Will there be an option to start later?

I can't find the posts right now, but it was mentioned by Sebastian on a couple of occasions in the public forum that FHM would include a customisable start date. Is this no longer the case? Or is it simply that it won't feature in v1?

[archibalduk]

P.s by "start date" I mean the starting season.

[mgom27]

Edit Standings would be good but hen we would want updated Stats and so on to.
If we were able to use Templates then we could choose start year when start a new Game that would be the only way to change Date.

[Lukas Berger]

Originally Posted by Nino33

Really? That's awful news! You mean one won't be able to mod the game's start date?

I've created a 1974 database for EHM, and was looking to do so with FHM too; a user created "historical database" (complete with major junior. college, minor pro and EU elite leagues) is the reason I'm interested, and I was hoping/expecting with FHM I'd be able to overwrite the modern game to create such a database

You should be able to do that with historical mode. If FHM follows the OOTP model then the game will only create a historical league with NHL teams.

But you can add other players and teams, either to the initial db for use in each game you start, or once the game is loaded and created, you can edit the save to include new teams, players, stats etc, then upload your saved game as a new league template.

I don't know for sure that this is how FHM will work, but it is how OOTP works. Since the two games seem very, very similar I suspect that they'll handle the historical leagues the same way.

[drewst18]

Originally Posted by archibalduk

Will there be an option to start later?

I can't find the posts right now, but it was mentioned by Sebastian on a couple of occasions in the public forum that FHM would include a customisable start date. Is this no longer the case? Or is it simply that it won't feature in v1?

I am sure that I am in the vast minority here (even the devs may not agree), but I think this should not be included in the game, the same reason it is not included in EHM and other games don't allow it.

It for sure puts a damper on some the edit features, but the "new year" is a major selling point for these games. Hell EA can throw new rosters on same game and sell it. If you eliminate the draw of new year/new rosters then there is sales going to be missed.

You may think that the consumer gets screwed, but really its the devs, because you say you buy newer versions for features not roster updates, but they still need to spend a remarkable amount of time adding those roster updates and schedule updates.

Would you buy FHM 15, if it shipped with same rosters as FHM 14? Maybe, but likely not. So the team has no choice but to spend say 2 months going through each player, re-evaluating them, changing contract, history, team so on and so forth....

By not including a custom start date it allows them to get some sort of return on that work, otherwise the community could just change the 2014 year to 2015 update the rosters and because the game devs spent so much time doing that themselves there may not be huge improvement year to year and then no reason to buy the new version.

The customization is huge, but really tbh the only reason to include a future dated custom start date is if the project dies and we as a community want to continue updating the roster like we have in EHM. Otherwise it will just cut into sales.

[archibalduk]

Originally Posted by drewst18

I am sure that I am in the vast minority here (even the devs may not agree), but I think this should not be included in the game, the same reason it is not included in EHM and other games don't allow it.

[...]

The customization is huge, but really tbh the only reason to include a future dated custom start date is if the project dies and we as a community want to continue updating the roster like we have in EHM. Otherwise it will just cut into sales.

I appreciate that and completely agree with the commercial reasons for not including a customisable start date. My query is more that it seemed OOTP/Sebastian had indicated that this would be included in game and I wondered whether they had now changed their mind.

My interest in there being a customisable start date is for the very reason you mention at the end of your post - I don't want to be stuck with an old start date in the event the game ceases development. That's pretty negative thinking, I know. But having been through the pain of being stuck with a 2006/07 start date for something like 5 or 6 years before I figured out how to change it, I'd rather not go through that again (and hopefully we won't because FHM will see many many years of success and development).

I agree it would have the potential to affect sales because some users may choose to buy FHM every other year, etc because they can just use the later start date in any event with their existing copy of the game. Although I do think there would be more of an incentive to purchase the game each year as it'll be a lot more than just a roster update (unlike EA's annual NHL "offering") and will include new worthwhile features, etc (just like the OOTP series has provided).

But as I say, my query is more whether OOTP have had a change of heart.

[pens66]

I don't think it is reasonable to compare EA with the devs of FHM. EA is a multi million (billion?) dollar company and the others are a group of people who have had comparatively big success with a baseball sim and now get their feet wet in hockey territory.
So I think the FHM devs are, at this point, in no position to think how they can maximize their profits while putting in the minimal effort into the first version (!) of their game.

EHM was what it was, because it was based on the Championship Manager game. This has a hard-coded start date and so Riz had not choice but to work with that.

But that's actually the major thing FHM has over EHM: the customization options we all know from OOTP. To cut back on those would be stupid in my opinion.

By the way, while we're at it: I don't understand this obsession with up to date, accurate rosters. We're talking about a hockey sim with long term appeal. The rosters will be overhauled within a couuple of years of in-game time and totally unrecognizable after ten seasons. Putting all this time into super correct rosters is very, very time consuming. I'd rather have a working hockey engine and moduls around it which allow me to accurately sim a hockey world.

[Matt Arnold]

Originally Posted by pens66

I don't think it is reasonable to compare EA with the devs of FHM. EA is a multi million (billion?) dollar company and the others are a group of people who have had comparatively big success with a baseball sim and now get their feet wet in hockey territory.
So I think the FHM devs are, at this point, in no position to think how they can maximize their profits while putting in the minimal effort into the first version (!) of their game.

EHM was what it was, because it was based on the Championship Manager game. This has a hard-coded start date and so Riz had not choice but to work with that.

But that's actually the major thing FHM has over EHM: the customization options we all know from OOTP. To cut back on those would be stupid in my opinion.

By the way, while we're at it: I don't understand this obsession with up to date, accurate rosters. We're talking about a hockey sim with long term appeal. The rosters will be overhauled within a couuple of years of in-game time and totally unrecognizable after ten seasons. Putting all this time into super correct rosters is very, very time consuming. I'd rather have a working hockey engine and moduls around it which allow me to accurately sim a hockey world.

I know the rosters are basically out of date as of the release, but for example, I would have a hard time playing the current OOTP version and seeing Trout be a marginal outfielder, for example. I can understand him following a different path a few years down the line, but at least we need players who are current good to be good to start the game, and players who currently suck to suck in the game.

Now, I don't care if Crosby is ranked a 19 or a 20 in skating, as small, individual changes shouldn't matter too much, but I should be able to take a roster, sim the entire season, and see numbers that are reasonably close to the production that players actually put up.

[Lukas Berger]

Originally Posted by UWHabs

I know the rosters are basically out of date as of the release, but for example, I would have a hard time playing the current OOTP version and seeing Trout be a marginal outfielder, for example. I can understand him following a different path a few years down the line, but at least we need players who are current good to be good to start the game, and players who currently suck to suck in the game.

Now, I don't care if Crosby is ranked a 19 or a 20 in skating, as small, individual changes shouldn't matter too much, but I should be able to take a roster, sim the entire season, and see numbers that are reasonably close to the production that players actually put up.

Yeah, exactly. Having the rosters set right influences so much that goes on in the game in future seasons. Yeah, stuff changes but the changes are based on the initial settings. If you don't get things right to start, there's no difference between playing with the real rosters and playing a fictional league.

It's something the the roster team in OOTP works very, very hard on. In fact I'd say it's absolutely one of the most important parts of a game like OOTP or FHM. It's essential to get the rosters right, or as close to accurate as possible.

Otherwise there's really no point in having real rosters, which would lose both games a ton of sales.

[JeffR]

Originally Posted by archibalduk

Will there be an option to start later?

I can't find the posts right now, but it was mentioned by Sebastian on a couple of occasions in the public forum that FHM would include a customisable start date. Is this no longer the case? Or is it simply that it won't feature in v1?

Just to clarify my answer: the question, as I understood it, was whether or not it would be possible to have the option to start the modern game in either September 2013 with 2013-14 rosters, or September 2012 with 2012-13 rosters. That's what I was answering in the negative; it's not going to be possible to revert the rosters to an earlier date outside of the historical game. I didn't mean to imply the starting year and date wouldn't be changeable.

[Austsaint]

The one thing I actually liked about EA's NHL series was the ability to start before the draft and change history a little, if I didn't like a F/A pickup or a draft pick I could change that and make the team feel like my creation. I know FHM will not have this feature but it will still allow me to have the chance to make my team how I want it to be.