EHM 2005 NA

[kserra]

I was just wondering what the buzz was about the upcoming release (Tuesday) of Eastside Hockey Manager...

I've never played the game, though I love the CM/FM series...

Is the game play like FM? Are free-agency, trades, and GM moves done well in the game? Does each team/GM have a different personality?

Basically, I'd like some of your takes on the game--since this board is the one where I get most of my gaming suggestions...

Thanks.

Kevin

[henry296]

http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~fof/forums/showthread.php?t=38683

[MikeVic]

kserra serra. Whatever may be, may be.

Isn't there a song like that?

[Tekneek]

kserra serra. Whatever may be, may be.

Isn't there a song like that?

Que cera cera?

[Honolulu_Blue]

Best game of the year.

It's like a hockey version of CM/FM, but since it's hockey, it's better. (Though not nearly as advanced as CM/FM since this is only the second major release as opposed to the 12th or whatever).

[Schmidty]

I haven't played it in a while. Is the damned patch out yet?

[Honolulu_Blue]

I haven't played it in a while. Is the damned patch out yet?
3 days to a week. Somewhere in there. Very soon.

[Schmidty]

3 days to a week. Somewhere in there. Very soon.

Good. I want to be able to trade Homer for Mac.

[rexallllsc]

I wonder if they'll have increased scoring?

[DaddyTorgo]

I wonder if they'll have increased scoring?
i would assume so, since the rule changes are all in there, and the rule changes are what is resulting in the increased scoring

[klayman]

Best game of the year.

It's like a hockey version of CM/FM, but since it's hockey, it's better. (Though not nearly as advanced as CM/FM since this is only the second major release as opposed to the 12th or whatever).
Although it pains me greatly, I agree with the Samoan Smurf. The game will only be better with the NA patch.

[riz]

I wonder if they'll have increased scoring?

I've tweaked the scoring up a notch yes. Naturally the rules changes will result in some level of changes in scoring in real life, but since there are no hard figures yet on how it will pan out, we've modelled it based on the experiences on similar changes in European leagues etc. For example in my latest soaks, the points leader in the first season had about 97 points IIRC but already in the second season teams had picked up more pace and the leader finished at about 110 points. From there on the points leader racked up between 105 and 124 points. Lecavalier stayed in Tampa for his whole career and put up some impressive numbers, although after a few seasons he had some tough competition from some kid who started out with the Pens...some Sidney or something :)

We're off to US and Canada tomorrow evening for a week with Duffy to do some PR on the North American release so keep your eyes and ears open in the following weeks as our stuff filters through. Judging by what we have scheduled so far, there should be some good text-sim publicity :D

[rexallllsc]

I've tweaked the scoring up a notch yes. Naturally the rules changes will result in some level of changes in scoring in real life, but since there are no hard figures yet on how it will pan out, we've modelled it based on the experiences on similar changes in European leagues etc. For example in my latest soaks, the points leader in the first season had about 97 points IIRC but already in the second season teams had picked up more pace and the leader finished at about 110 points. From there on the points leader racked up between 105 and 124 points. Lecavalier stayed in Tampa for his whole career and put up some impressive numbers, although after a few seasons he had some tough competition from some kid who started out with the Pens...some Sidney or something :)

We're off to US and Canada tomorrow evening for a week with Duffy to do some PR on the North American release so keep your eyes and ears open in the following weeks as our stuff filters through. Judging by what we have scheduled so far, there should be some good text-sim publicity :D

Thanks for the info! Can't wait!

FM05 is the best of the bunch I've played so far, and as a lifelong hockey player/fan (whereas CM/FM got me into Football) - I cannot wait for the leaps and bounds of improvements every year in EHM.

Best of luck, and I can't wait!

[riz]

Thanks for the info! Can't wait!

FM05 is the best of the bunch I've played so far, and as a lifelong hockey player/fan (whereas CM/FM got me into Football) - I cannot wait for the leaps and bounds of improvements every year in EHM.

Best of luck, and I can't wait!

We'll do our best. Currenly we have only two full-time coders on the project and the to-do list for next version is mighty long. But we'll keep on at it :D

[DaddyTorgo]

We'll do our best. Currenly we have only two full-time coders on the project and the to-do list for next version is mighty long. But we'll keep on at it :D
i'm sure you've already had a lot of input on this from the SI guys, but I think the thing in my mind (and probably in the mind of a lot of others) that makes the game SO immersive is the little details. That's in the media interaction, between manager and player, and to a lesser extent manager mindgames and in the fact that say for example when the media is praising a new player signing they will include a little "snapshot" of the players career statistics in the news blurb, so that you don't have to go into his player card to see it. Same for players of the week. I think it's those little things that make the game more immersive. In fact I wouldn't mind holding off on the 2-d playing field for another year if it meant in EHM 06 we would see increased player-to-player, manager-to-player, and manager-to-manager interaction.

does that make any sense? and again i'm sure it's nothing new and you've heard it before, but i just thought i'd offer my 2 cents.

[Icy]

i'm sure you've already had a lot of input on this from the SI guys, but I think the thing in my mind (and probably in the mind of a lot of others) that makes the game SO immersive is the little details. That's in the media interaction, between manager and player, and to a lesser extent manager mindgames and in the fact that say for example when the media is praising a new player signing they will include a little "snapshot" of the players career statistics in the news blurb, so that you don't have to go into his player card to see it. Same for players of the week. I think it's those little things that make the game more immersive. In fact I wouldn't mind holding off on the 2-d playing field for another year if it meant in EHM 06 we would see increased player-to-player, manager-to-player, and manager-to-manager interaction.

does that make any sense? and again i'm sure it's nothing new and you've heard it before, but i just thought i'd offer my 2 cents.

Players/coaches/press relationships is what put all the SI games over the rest, fof has a great football engine if not the best, ootp and/or puresim too, FBCB is a masterpiece and one of the best text sims ever, TPB is another masterpiece, etc etc but none of them have players/coaches etc that look like the real ones, with issues betwen them, with that little things that make you feel you're into a real world and where you are not just playing with a stats engine with an interface over it. I can only dream about more text sims with that features, most of the developers are starting to add manager personalities etc into their games and that is a great step ahead, but of course SI has some years more of experience. I'm really looking forward to the new ootp using that features.

[Karim]

Currenly we have only two full-time coders on the project...
That's damn impressive. Hopefully SI will eventually find it worthwhile to increase the size of the EHM development team.

[WrongWay]

Does anyone know if there will be a Salary Cap?

[DaddyTorgo]

that's a yes on the salary cap