JB,

I'll see what I can do for a dynasty. Never really done one before due to time constraints. Sad, but true.

As for the game screen, I think very slow is easy to follow. You shouldn't have too much trouble. I am pretty impatient, so I usually put it everything on super fast. Though sometimes during the play-offs I'll watch a game more closely.

Oh. One more thing, JB. Not sure if you've tried the demo yet, but if you watch the game with the "game view" screen you see a bunch of little snap shots of what's going on. It's a bit herky-jerky (nowhere near as smooth as the 2D sime for FM), but it's certainly good enough to follow what's happening on the ice. You really don't even need to read the captions.

thanks i will try that tip

How in the world did you manage that? Are these ISS Rankings? I've never seen players that highly ranked last beyond the first or second round.

No! Not ISS Rankings. Those were my team's internal rankings. So, following the draft, my newly drafted prospects were ranked that high within the Detroit Red Wings organization.

Argh. Every day, I've been leaving extra work sitting on my desk because I want to come home and grab EHM out of my mailbox. It still hasn't arrived. Really, would the priority shipping have possibly helped me here? :(

I dunno, PT. I kicked in the extra for priority shipping or whatever the higher rate off of gameplay was and mine arrived Tuesday afternoon.

OK, I was trying to figure out how you already had yours while mine still hasn't arrived three days later. That must explain it. Thanks.

One more thing to report. So, after simming to an off-season with the Wings, I returned to my regularly scheduled career with the Capitals. I am in early January at the moment hovering around 9th-10th place in the East. Not great, but Leonsis seems pleased with what I have done.

I have played enough games to develope a certain dislike for some of my players, so I have started shopping around a bit. One of my biggest, no, probably my biggest gripe with EHM 2004 was trading. While it worked sometimes, it so often felt like you were shouting into a deep, dark cave. You would make a proposal. Get rejected. Make another proposal. Get rejected. Etc. Etc. Etc. It was quite frustrating. They really seem to have fixed it this time around. If a team is not interested in a guy you offer, they'll tell you. If they want more, they tell you. They will also be willing to work with different combinations without slamming the door shut in your face (something that happened too often in EHM 2004).

For example, I decided that I wanted to make a run for NJ defensemen David Hale. I inquired and NJ responded that they wanted prospect Jeff Schultz in return. He's the #2 ranked prospect in the Cap organization. An 18 year old 6'6" hulking defensemen who was drafted late in the first round in 2004 (I think). I hate trading prospects. So I countered with Boudamiene (sp), a 26 yr. old defensemen. He's not bad actually, but is a Type IV UFA who isn't interested in re-newing.

So, NJ countered again with Schultz. I countered with Schultz for Hale and first rounder. They countered with Schultz and 2 2nd rounders for Hale and a 1st. I finally countered with Schultz, Boudamiene (he'd been waived), and a 2nd rounder for Hale, a 1st, and a 2nd. NJ accepted the deal.

There was great feedback and the computer AI was willing to work with me on the deal. I was very pleased with the trade, but infinitely more impressed with how it all went down. Very pleased.

Let's just hope Jeff Schultz never develops into a Chara/Pronger type. If so, I will be regretting this one for years...

Are any of you guys running the game on a computer as crappy as mine (P3 900 MHz, 256 MB RAM). If you are and having good results I'll consider downloading the demo, but I don't want to waste time downloading the demo, if its gonna be crappy on my PC.

HB: You've just about sold me on the game with that last post.

the europe version you order is the cd softwrap version?

also anybody know if fm2005 and fm2006 when it comes out is on softwrap version cd?

i hear horror stories, it interferes with people computer if you have a cd writer or cd writer software install on your cpu.

thanks

so how long is it taking you guys to get the game from say gogamer or whatever? curious cuz I may just buy the thing online now i'm so excited :)

I just ordered from Gamespot (GoGamer doesn't ship to Canada) and it won't ship until latest the 10th due to backorder.

I'm not quite sure what you mean by 'cd softwrap' - but no the CD version doesn't contain softwrap at all, it uses a bog-standard copy-protection system used in many many commercial titles (same one as in FM).

I selected it on the basis of it working reliably on 99.99% of machines and not being intrusive to legitimate users while being a commercial protection system (which is required for a game to get into retail these days).

ok thanks

i guess i was getting confuse when i was reading some post in the SI forum and OOtp forum about softwrap.


i cant wait to get EHM 2005 and i going to wait to get fm 2006.

Just messed around with the demo, and very impressed so far. I think this will be a definite purchase, but will wait for the download to make sure no major issues come up. Keep the reports coming!

~rpi-fan

IRL, he had a horrible playoffs with the Hitmen. At 6'6", he played like he was 5'6".

Is FM available as a download? I looked but never saw that option.

I'll be kicking myself if it's been available that way for a while...

Obviously, Marc can give a more authoritative answer, but I'm 99% certain that FM is not available as a download.

no Fm not available for download.

but EHM 2005 will be soon available to download.

Wow, what a surprise to wake up to. I check my order on Gamespot and it says my item is being shipped today! That means next week I'll probably end up receiving FM2005 and EHM 2005 within days of eachother. :eek:

My life is never going to be the same.

I've started my first Dynasty... check it out here: http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~fof/foru...ad.php?t=39539

Home alone relaxing.. and Gogamer has been opened in a separate browser all morning with NHL EHM 2005 in shopping cart. Must resist $55 purchase........

if we get the EHM 2005 europe version, will we be able to get the Sept update for free too?

or Sept free if you only digital download EHM 2005?


will the digital download come with a manual?

thanks

Does this mean you have to have the CD in the drive to play EHM if you get the CD version?

Yes.

Can someone at SI comment on the future of text outputs, in particular are there going to be anymore? It would be nice to have everything printable, espcially for dynastys.

Eventually I want our games to be able to export themselves as a linked website which will allow people to browse around the major parts of the game (ie. teams, human players etc.) just as if you were in the game ...

That being said, implementing that is a huge task so don't expect it in a hurry ;)

ugh...well I guess I'll wait until the digital download then. I hate having to keep track of CDs (especially in my computer room).

thanks for the response Jeff.

That would be great, but at the present I'm only looking for a txt output for each page, or at least news articles, team reports, and things like that.

Arghgrrrr. My game had better arrive today (not likely).

I hope the North American version comes out before NCAA and Madden.

Ok here's a brief report on my Caps season so far. I have played 1.5 season.

WARNING. There could be some SPOLERS below. I talk about draft picks, prospects, etc.

It's not too detailed or anything like a dynasty, because unfortunately I don't have the time for that. I also cover a lot of what's already been said/known.

Enjoy.


I finally started a career and after much deliberation on which team to lead to glory (or infamy) I decided to take the Washington Capitals. I did this for three reasons: 1) Two words: Alexander. Ovechkin; 2) They are pretty bad, but have a decent crop of prospects (see #1, supra); and 3) I am living here and might as well learn about the organization.
Anyway, here's what's new and improved in EHM: 2005.

1) Training camp. This is much more involved. You can invite players to try out (NHLers, prospects, free agents, etc.) and hold scrimmages. After the 8 day training camp your coaching staff gives you a run down of which try out players they think you should keep or get rid of. It's a good way to get a feel how your prospects are developing, allowing them to get some PT with NHLers. If your camp is a bit small, certain random players come to camp to try out. These guys all suck. They are just warm bodies (in some cases) to fill up the scrimmage rosters.

2) Assistant GMs. This is a nice touch. Your assistant GM will give you a run down of your team needs. He also compiles a "team report" for your team and every other NHL team. This team report provides the following: 1) an organizational-wide depth chart, 2) A list of a team's top 10 prospects, 3) a break down of a team's players by category (e.g., best checker, best skater, best enforcer, most physical, most overrated, most underrated, etc.); 4) a summary of recent performances by position. Assistant GMs, as well as head coaches and head scouts, will also recommend players you should draft with each pick. Sometimes they are pretty helpful, other times not so much.

3) Trading. This has been the most improved area. Trading is much, much, much more dynamic. The other team gives you much more feedback. They tell you why they are rejecting a trade or come back with counter-offers. Other teams are often willing to work with you on a deal, fine tuning things until everyone is happy. I have really enjoyed trading.

4) Finances. The biggest gripe I had was that finances weren't fluid enough. For example, when McShane and I were playing the Islanders and had our first off-season we were totally blind-sided by our lack of funds. We couldn't. sign. anyone. It was ridiculous. Granted it made sense since we were over our budget, but some sort of warning or head's up would have been nice. Also, even when we experimented with dumping salary (trading Yashin for peanuts), there was no effect. Even though we should have been under our budget, we still had no more freedom than before.

5) More in depth scouting. The scout reports tell you a lot more about each player, often giving you a NHL comparison.

This has all changed. You get a constant update as to where you stand in relation to your annual salary budget. As soon as you trade a player or he's picked up on waivers his salary is erased from the books and you are able to use the new found "cap room" to sign new free agents. Re-signing UFA's has also been improved. All is good.

There still seems to be a lack of player personality. It is there, but still limited. Nowhere near what one experiences in the soccer game. Then again, the soccer game has been developing for something like 15 years or so. Give it time.

So... onto the Capitals. I have played through about 1.5 seasons now.

Preseason:

The Caps start off in rough shape. Because of the looming strike (which in this virtual world was thankfully avoided, though this likely means all the teams will be bankrupt in 5 years), the Caps have very, very few NHL caliber players on the roster. When I took over the team basically consisted of: Kolzig, Witt, Zubrus, Halpern, Pettinger, and Whitfield. There was really not much more than that. Some young guys, but not much.

The game starts in late August, which is after the international transfer window, so there was to be no Ovechkin in our first year. I debated whether to go with only a bunch of young and pretty crappy guys who are in the AHL, thus making a run for the "Sidney Crosby Sweepstakes" or sign some NHL free agents and try to compete. Since I hate losing, I decided to go for the former. My success was limited.

Before training camp started I went out and made a splash in free agency picking up the following players: Dancin' Anson Carter, Glen Murray, Alexei Zhitnik, Dan McGillis, Yannick "The Tonic" Perrault, and Petr Bondra. I liked the idea of bringing Bondra back to the Caps.

I invited a bunch of fringe NHL free agents to camp and afterwards signed Todd "Bart" Simpson and Brian Holzinger. These were the only two players who my staff felt we should try to sign.

The waiver draft saw the Caps pick up David Aebischer (Colorado picked up Joseph who was waived by the Wings because they signed Osgood. All of this was very odd) and Nolan Pratt. I waived Pratt a few weeks later. As soon as I re-assigned him to the AHL he demanded a trade, but was claimed by Carolina on waivers. No big loss.

I also signed Petr Sykora. No, not that Petr Sykora. The other one. The one the Wings drafted a few years back. He is in the Caps system at the moment and seemed decent enough. We still needed bodies.

The Season:

The season was not a success. We found our groove here and there, but our goalie play was pretty bad. Oalie The Goalie, in particular, struggled. He was sitting there making $6.5 million and taking a crap in the crease. He tested my anger time and time again. Aebischer was actually out performing him as the season went on.

We were in the running for a play-off spot for a while, but by January we were mired deep in the 10th-11th spots in the East. There was really no hope of making it a run. We were done for.

As is bound to happen with any H_B team at some point during its maturation process, once we started to struggle and things were looking bleak, things turned ugly. Very ugly. We led the NHL in PIMs. The next closest team was about 340 minutes behind us. We averaged over 20 minutes of penalties a game. There were lots of fights. Lots. Brendan Witt (who traded at the deadline) became known as Brendan Witt "The Human Punching Bag." He dropped his gloves a whopping 33 times. He won only 7. It was ugly. We also picked up Scott Parker and Garth Murray, both who fought a ton. Pettinger (before he was traded), Jason Doig (a big d-man), Todd "Bart" Simpson also fought a lot. Alexander Semin, a young Russian winger, with amazing talent (#2 on the team in points) is one dirty bastard. He racked up over 160 PIMs, getting 4 10 misconducts and 2 game misconducts during the season. Dirty.

As our struggles continued it was time to start shedding salary and looking towards the future. So, you remember that free agent splash we made at the beginning of the year, well it was time to get out of the pool. Also, certain players started to irritate me something fierce. Those who drew my ire were: Pettinger, Whitflied, and Kolzig...

The trades were fierce, swift, and legion. We traded the following players: Whitfield, McGillis, Glenn Murray, Pettinger, Bondra, Perrault, and Witt.

We waived Kolzig who was picked up by Columbus. I would have traded him, but he had a "no trade" clause so I was stuck. He didn't want to be traded and wouldn't waive. Oh well...

The only veteran free agents who survived the purge were: Zhitnik, Carter, Holzinger, and Simpson.

What we received via trades were: Garth Murray (grinding, physical forward), Aaron Asham, Hannu Toivonen (Finnish goalie who played well for me in EHM 2004), Alexei Ponikarvosky (some big, grinding Russian forward in Toronto), and Braydon Coburn (a big, tough defensive prospect from Atlanta, and a BOATLOAD of draft picks. I ended up drafting 16 players in all.

We finished 12th overall in the East, missing the play-offs by 23 points.

The only positive was Petr Sykora. He won the Calder.
The Draft:

Entering the draft I had a ton of picks. Three first (#7, 24, and 29), four second, two fifth, and one pick in every other round.

Minnesota won the "Sidney Crosby Sweepstakes." I tried to pry the #1 pick overall from them with a variety of trades, but they weren't biting. They took Crosby and I moved on.



I tried to trade up a few more times in the first round. I was looking a great center prospect to play with Ovechkin. There were quite a few really good ones, but I couldn't move up without giving up too much. I finally resigned to my fate and picked at #7. Low and behold there was one center available. All of my people, assistant GM, head coach, and head scout all recommended the same guy. The one. The only. The Slovenian Sensation Anex Kopitar.

I then let a few picks go buy and then traded the #24 pick and a high second round pick to move up to the 10th spot. There I picked the top defensive prospect in the draft, Jack Johnson. Very pleased with this pick.

Here is a brief rundown on the picks and what my scouts say about them:

Anze Kopitar: Slovenian center, "a more talented version of Craig Conroy" (faint praise)



Jack Johnson: American defenseman, "a more talented version of Jovocop" (nice!)



Michael Blunden: Canadian winger, "a more talented version of Pierre Dagenais" (I better hope he is)



Ryan Stoa, Canadian winger, "a more talented version of Keith Tkachuck" (Big shot, but no aggression, so not so much like Keith)



Vitaly Anikeenko, Russian defensemen, "a more talented version of Al MacInnis" (uh, no. Big shot, but lacking defensively)



Ryan Parent, Canadian defensemen, "a more talented, defensive-minded Anders Eriksson" (had I read that more closely, I may not have picked him. I AM TOO FULL OF CHOCOLATES!)



Cody Bass, Canadian center, "a more talented version of Kris Draper" (seems accurate)



Jakub Lev, Czech Goalie, "like Corey Schwab" (all of my people wanted me to take this guy and I did. Not too pleased, but maybe he'll be a late bloomer)



John Vigilante, Canadian winger, "like peter schafer" (I couldn't pass this guy up. No way. I love the name. Unfortunately, he's more talented than tough. Oh, how I wish he was a big, tough enforcer who would bring his own brand of "Vigilante Justice" to the ice...)



Luch Aquino, Canadian winger, "like Michael Ryder" (it was late in the 5th round)



Gary Friesen, Canadian winger, "like Tomas Holmstrom" (seems about right)



Chris Trafford, Canadian winger, "like Scott Walker" (the sun aint gonna shine anymore!)



Jan Novak, Czech defensemen, "like Josef Boudemiene" (while I traded Josef earlier in the season, Jan is one of those 26 year old draftees who is ready to play now. All my scouts saw him as a "core player." Since I lacked many core players, I took him in the 8th)



Jukka Voutaleinanen, Finnish center, "like Pavel Demtria with a smaller frame" (another 25 year old draftee who will start)



Drew Fisher, American center, "a bigger better version of Steve Begin" (this happens to me all the time. I fall in love with certain prospects and I need to draft them. So I end up trading other prospects or other late round picks from future years to get guys. Fisher is one of those guys. He's a tough, 3rd/4th line guy. A long shot, but I like him)

Jason Lawrence, American winger, "like Matthew Barnaby" (he's another one of those goes. I wanted him. I got him.)

All in all I love my draft. Many of the guys are already developing nicely. Kopitar and Johnson are playing in the NHL. Though Johnson was a tough signing. There may be with issues with him in the future...

Free agency rolled around and I signed Mike Peca and Mike Dunham. I also traded Zhitnik to Chicago for defensive prospect Brent Seabrook (who apparently is "like Sheldon Suray").

Oh yeah. St. Louis beat New Jersey to win the Cup.

Season 2

Ugh. We started out horribly. I think we won 2 games out of the first 15 or so. We give up a lot of bad, untimely goals. It's killing me. We are really young and pretty bad. We finally started to turn things around a bit. Playing much better. We're now 11th in the East, about 10 points out of a play-off spot.

We made some more deals. I traded Alexander Semin to Florida for Niklaus Hagman and Anthony Stewart "Head" (he's a 21 year old right wing prospect who looks great). I hate to let Semin go, but the deal was a good one. I also picked up Marty Murray off waivers. And most recently I shipped three #2 picks for Dion Phanuef (a 20 year old defensive prospect in Calgary who is like "a bigger Sean Hill."). He should be solid and worth the picks.

According to head coach, Glen Hanlon, we suck. He says we need "a number one goalie, a solid right wing, depth at left wing, depth at right wing, and a blueline prospect." He recommends we go after drafts picks, prospects, and inexpensive young talent. So far, I have been doing that.

The rest of our coaching staff includes former players James Patrick, Ulf Dahlen, and Rob Ray. Don't laugh. Ray is an absolute amazing coach in my game. He's like the second coming of Scotty Bowman or Jack Adams.
We're about 51 games into Season 2. Ovechkin is #1 in rookie scoring (18 goals/18 assists). I brought Kopitar up recently and he's played very well (12 points in 19 games). Jack Johnson has been great (21 points in 45 games).

Current line-up:

Carter - Peca - Sykora
Ovechkin - Kopitar - Zubrus
Hagman - Holzinger - Voutalienanen
Ponikavorsky - M. Murray - Asham

Phanuef - Johnson
Hale - Fahey
Novak - Eminger

Dunham
Abischer
Halpren and Simpson are both hurt. When Halpren comes back, he'll join the 3rd line, the "Triple H" line.

That is all for now.

You da' man!

~rpi-fan

very nice Honolulu_Blue
what type of tactics and tendencies your using?

how is that part of the game? do they follow it well?

I think tactics are pretty important, but I will be the first to admit I am not a tactical mastermind.

I tend to play a "mixed" style and "high forecheck." I can't stand the sound of "passive forecheck", just seems too soft. I have tinkered with the dreaded "trap" and "left wing lock", but have had no real success.

I tend to have my top two lines (offensive lines) play, "mixed", "positional" (sometimes crash the net if there are power forwards), and high forecheck.

For my third and fourth lines I tend to do the same, though will use "dump and chase" for whichever one is more of a "grind line" or "seek and destroy" type of line.

I haven't tinkered with the PK or power-play settings. Though I am giving up way too many SH goals this year, so I will look to change that.

I do change the "fighting" command and "board play", making my more physical players use "power" instead of mixed or finese.

I also tinker with pass/shoot bias, trying to have my snipers (Ovechkin) shoot rather than pass. Same goes for d-men with big shots.

Oh, this reminds me. A couple of weird errors:

1. When setting board battles between: unit, mixed, finese, or power. Instead of power it reads "Power play (Chances - Goals)." Is that right?

2. Also, scout reports for goalies seem to be a bit off as well. Under "Projected Role" it always says: "Third Second Round Replays." Interesting.

I REALLY need to wait for the digital download... although gogamer is calling me.

Any more news on the digital download? Maybe a timeframe.. if it's 2-3 weeks off, I'm buying it from gogamer.


Todd

Well, I just purchased the game via gogamer as my best friend just came over and bought my PSP. :)

Might be a good time to start up a dynasty considering OOTP 6.5 is a week or more away.. and I think an EHM 2005 dynasty would be fun, especially with the Blues.

Two more days! :)


Todd

does the game have sound on the full version? i hear no sound on the demo for play by play.

thanks

Both dumb mistakes by me. First one should just read "Power", second one should be "Third Line" something. When I first did the US-English translation, there was a miscommunication between Graeme at SI and I that resulted in me creating a file with only the translated lines in it and none of the original ones, when he actually needed both, with the lines paired together. To fix that, I had to go back and (with the help of one of the testers) cut-and-paste the translated version line-by-line into a list of the original text.

Problem is, the order of the lines didn't match up exactly, so it was a matter of taking a translated line, hunting down its partner in the original file, and pasting it over. We actually did better than I expected, error-wise, but having 20,000 lines to do made it inevitable there were a few things, like those two, that got mistakenly put in the wrong place. And this was all going on fairly late in the game (and the delay caused by the cutting-and-pasting didn't help the timetable), so testing didn't catch them all.

They'll be changed in the next patch. I actually had them fixed in time for the first one, but the updated translation didn't make it in, somehow.

(And if anybody has suggestions for better, more North American-sounding wording on the news items, let me know. It's better than it was, but I know there's still some awkward-sounding stuff in there.)

Yup. Wasn't in the demo for file size reasons, I think.

if you dont coach your game, does the head coach ever change the tactics?

in the demo i notice the head coach is keeping it at default tactic for ever game. it dont look like he changing it.

Mine shipped!! Should be a fun rest of the week.


Todd

great. cant wait to see a dynasty on your Blues.

Look for it to start on Thursday.


Todd

And... mine... still... isn't... here! Grrr.

Neither is mine. I can't belive I went cheap on shipping...

Mine has shipped!!!



Todd

when I try and get to the sortitoutsi site, it gives me a connection error. So I'm guessing their site is down? I was looking to see what WSM stuff they had for d/l.

My computer is a P3 900 MHz, 384 MB RAM machine running Windows ME. (insert any attempt at a reasonable excuse for running Windows ME here) :D

I just received my copy from gogamer this afternoon before leaving for work. I installed it and the patch. Then I shutdown almost all other running programs. I did leave a screen saver running.

I started the game with minimum database and only the NHL active. Then I let the game run unattended without taking over any team for the next 8 hours. It was able to get through 3 years and 1 month in that time.

While that is not fast, neither is a P3 900 MHz by today's standards. I think it will be quite playable on my system until I upgrade my computer.

A sample of some stats from those 3 years:

The Stanley Cup winners
'05 New Jersey Devils over the Detroit Red Wings
'06 Ottawa Senators over the San Jose Sharks
'07 Vancouver Canucks over the Ottawa Senators

Most team wins in a season was in '05-'06 by the Blues with 59 wins.
And, the Capitals recorded 1402 penalty minutes in '04-'05. Wow.

I ran across another little bug, or so it seems.

I recently had a run of game misconducts (oops!), which led to a few one game suspensions. I had the oppurtunity to appeal, so I did. (That slash wasn't that bad! There wasn't even any blood! Ok. Well, there was a little blood. But come on, he's a bleeder!) Anyway, while the NHL was considering my appeal my next game came up and my player (Nathan Horton) was suspended for the game. So he misses the game. The next day or so the NHL comes back and says that they agreed with me and the player shouldn't have been suspended. Problem is, of course, that he was already suspended and missed the game!

So the short of it is that while an appeal is pending the player should not serve the suspension. The player should only serve the suspension following the appeal process and if the suspension is upheld.

Bah. That's nothing. Buncha boy scouts. In my dynasty, the '04-'05 Capitals had a whopping 1,688 penalty minutes. I, of course, am their GM. :D

Hmmm.. I had an issue the other day, but then I reloaded the page and it came up just fine.

http://ehm.sortitoutsi.net/


Tons of neat stuff, including team specific skins, team hockey rinks, commentary file, etc...


Todd

Honolulu_Blue

do you coach your own game, or let the head coach do it?

have you notice if you let the head coach do it, that it always picks the default tactic that comesd with the game. it seems like he never changes it during the season.

If you let your coach decide the tactics (by leaving the "Use current tactics" option to NO) then the coach will apply his own tactics in the games, but will not change the tactics you have setup in your tactics screen. So his tactics are done for each game but they do not overwrite the human players own tactics that are show on the screen.

Nice tip, thanks.


Todd

dola,

Hey riz,

I've been reading issues about team morale and terrible winning records over on the forums at SI, does morale have that big of an affect.. and if so does it correlate with massive losing streaks?


Thanks,

Todd

thanks riz.

so there no way to see what kind of tactic your head coach is using for the game?


can you watch the game only, when you let the head coach, coach his own game?

See Stars, Dallas. :)

How do others approach scouting? Particularly when do you send scouts to look at the upcoming entry draft talent, and where do you place them in general? With last years version I usually had them set-up like this:

- Advance Scout
- 2 for Entry Draft
- Scout for my own team (is there any other way to get reports on your own team)
- Schortlist scout

Also, how do you scout your own prospects? And what does "youth players" mean?

how many scouts is good to have?

how many trainers is good to have?

is there a requirement how many you need for scouts, tainers, coaches?

Ask these questions over at SI: http://community.sigames.com/eve/ubb.x

The EHM forums have some good info in them... and these are also questions I've been wondering about.


Joe - how good is the manual?

Not sure, haven't taken a look at it, I actually don't even know where it is at the moment... but for particular's like this, last years wasn't that big of a help.

i dont have the game yet. still playing the gold demo.

Honolulu_Blue said the manual was pretty good. it explains a lot.

i might just order it, or wait for the DD if the price is better.
if not i might wait until it comes to the states.

let me know your view on the manual when you get your game please. thanks

opps wrong Joe.
my name is Joe too :)

The manual is decent for the basics. It's pretty thick actually. But for the little things and details it sort of lets you figure things out for yourself.

This is how I tend to handle scouting. I'll begin at the start of a season.

In August or so, I go to my "Transactions" page and look back at all the recent prospects I drafted or traded for that aren't currently in the NHL or AHL. I dispatch scouts to look at al of them. It takes a few minutes to do, but I like to get a yearly update on how each prospect is progressing.

In September I dispatch my scouts. One is sent to look at youth players: Which I take to mean players betwee 15-18 or so. I send the others to scout the top hockey nations: Canada, Czech, Finland, Sweden, Russia, and the US. I also may look at Slovakia and every once in a while Denmark, Norway, or Slovenia.

Then around Decemberish I send five scouts out to scout the "NHL Draft." After I get reports (usually in March or so), I take a look at the rankings and look for any ranked players (top 200) who I haven't scouted. I send scouts out to watch these guys (this process can take a while), filling in the gaps as it were.

Based on that program I tend to have pretty decent coverage. I am typically very pleased with my drafts unless a particular year is just god awful thin.

I tend to employ around 6-9 scouts or so. Perhaps that's more than I need, but I like scouting.

I need to start compiling all these help posts. :)

Thanks,

Todd

A slightly easier way to do this is to go to the roster screen and use the filter menu and check the unsigned prospects. That will give you a roster screen of every player not currently under contract to you that you hold rights to.

This is very true.

grrrrr :-( I want this game now :-(

See above to get to the prospect screen. On each player, under the action menu, click scout player. It's a pain, but you have to do that for each one. A nice "scout all prospects" button in the scouting menu would be a welcome addition.

Youth players are just that. In the WHL, the youth players scouts for players that are between 12 and 16, 2 years under the drafting age, and 1 year older. I would suspect that the NHL youth players does the same thing, only probably 16 to 19 or 20 years of age.

Any word on the downloadable version?

i am waiting for the download as well

Posted by Marc Duffy (of SI) on the SI Forums on June 5:

The contracts are still bouncing around legal, but not so long now.

And on June 7:

It's looking like the tail end of this week / next week

Woot... glad I decided to wait for download version and didn't get from GoGamer.

At the rate so far, the lockout will be over by the time this game gets to me... :D

Never.... EVER.... pre-order and cheap out on shipping....

You almost made me regret my purchase from gogamer, then I checked my email and read that it will be delivered tomorrow. :p


Todd

Look for the Moose Jaw dynasty to begin at the tail end of this week or the beginning of next week!

My game just arrived today here in New Orleans, so you're probably only a day or two off. I hope so, anyway.

Time to lead the Devils to glory!

I am getting seriously flooded with offers for my backup goalie Ari Ahonen right now. I don't really want to trade him, but the front office wants me to win the Cup this season. If I can get one more scorer, I may have to make a deal.

riz, I love this game. Great job!

How is player interaction compared to FM 2005?

Compared to FM 2005? Almost non-existant. Compared to EHM 2004, pretty good.

I would second this suggestion. I spent far too much time with last year's version of EHM clicking the scout player button 800 times or more per season trying to scout all the players available for the WHL draft (I was the Brandon Wheat Kings). It would be perfect to be able to select a group of players or to select "scout all prospects" like klayman suggests. This change would seem to be something easy to implement. It would make the game much more enjoyable for me.

Ari Ahonen?? Not sure I'd be praising the game... :)

~rpi-fan

There should be some sort of logic in the code that stops things like that from hapenning. Or even better. Some logic in the code that keeps the Red Wings from ever winning a game. :)

is it true if you change tactics a lot, that the players will have a hard time to adjust and not play well?

anybody know how the waiver thing works on EHM?

for people that have the game does the manual cover how waiver works in EHM?

thanks

Actually, the manual doesn't provide a very good description of how the waiver draft works.

Here is a detailed explanation of waiver rules from NHL.com:

http://proicehockey.about.com/gi/dyn...html%23waivers

Hey, Ari Ahonen is going... to... be... a... star.

Right?

Ha ha. It's November 15 in my game, and Glen Sather has already dropped the ax on his coach in New York. Now I really love this game!

Wife called.......some game just came.

:eek:

Don't worry Primelord.. we WILL beat Detroit!!

What are you going to do, GM the Wings? :)

But not Colorado, and that's the important thing. :)

I'll be happy extending our playoff streak to 25. :)


Todd

Its not as evolved as FM2005, not least because FM has a 8 year head start on the games maturity ...

However imho its very good and solid, so much in fact that we've borrowed some ideas from it for FM2006 ..

WHAT DID YOU BORROW!?!?! WHAT DID YOU BORROW?!?!?!

It has finally arrived. Adios :D

Am I the only one who plays (or will play) strictly as a GM? I admit that I choose which players dress and which don't, but I don't set lines or strategies. I let the head coach handle that. Hell, I don't even watch the games. I just look at the boxscore and stats. I was tempted to ask whether I was really missing the way the game was "supposed to be" enjoyed, but since I'm having fun, it doesn't really matter if I only choose to do certain things. I just want to know if anyone else has decided to do this the same way, out of curiosity.

If/when I get the game, this will be the way I play.