I haven't really noticed that, but I have noticed a high number of injuries happening when right after I load the game.

You can always create a new GM and take over the farm club and handle it the way you want. It would be especially useful to change the practice schedules of the farm club, and make sure your guys are playing regularly.

Hmmm... Interesting. Very interesting indeed. I like how you thik, k-man. I may try that. I imagine I could set it up so it wasn't too much of a burden.

Under what filters? I am confused...

Nevermid! Found it.

Sure. You could set it up the way you want, and then place the GM on vacation. There shouldn't be any changes to the roster or practice (if you say no to both of those in the options). Then you can come back and check every once in a while to make sure things are progressing the way you want, and it shouldn't interfer with your game at all.

This is all theory by the way, I haven't actually tried it.

I am going to give it a shot. If I don't like it I can always have him go into early retirement. I'll report back.

So I gave this a shot. It worked pretty well. I managed to hire a good head coach and some decent assistants. I then went on Holiday. I did keep getting an "AHL" screen every now and then, but that wasn't that bad. After a few weeks, however, I got a bit tired of it and retired the GM. Portland then went out and hired a really good GM in my place. He's got good stats. He kept 3 of the 5 assistants and my head coach. I think that should be enough to right the ship. All the coaches have good "Young player" skills and coaching skills to see that my guys develop or, at the least, wont waste away to nothing. If things fall apart their staff wise, I may try this again. Perhaps I will name all of my AHL GM's Winston Wolf from now on.

For this and other conspiracy theories/urban myths/superstitions about EHM (and FM), please refer to the thread here:

http://community.sigames.com/eve/ubb...5/m/1312006441

There is a link to the FM thread in the first post as well in case you want to check what myths the FM players have come up with :D

Edit:
P.S. ...and I did mean to say that there are no special cases coded in for injuries on when they should happen and especially nothing coded to treat human teams any different than other teams.

I see you did end up bothering and that your save game upload must've failed. Don't drop the ball, Karim! :)

Playing a new game as the Flyers and making over the roster i dumped Leclair, Amonte, Burke, Ragnarson, and Brasher (clear up some salary and get younger) bring in Josh Green, Tomi Kallio, Alexi Kovalev, Glen Murray, Anson Carter, Corey Stillman, Valeri Bure, and Alexi Zhitnik. Doing very well was 2nd behind the Devils pretty much all season. We lose a few games and Markov is upset and thinks the team is under achieving(along with Kallio) next thing you know 12 guys are upset with the infighting on the squad. I lost 9 straight games and just kept losing. I started just unloading the unhappy players for peanuts. All the free agents i signed were unhappy. I sorta got the team winning but we ended up missing the playoffs. The team dramatically improved playing all the guys from the Phantoms but the talent level was much less. Now i have 23 draft picks(in this years draft) and a ton of salary to spend.

Yeah, when it happened again I decided to upload it. But FileZilla kept timing out and corrupted the zip. For some reason it didn't see the transfer in progress.

I've downloaded Jim's Solecismic FTP. It seems to have worked; at least I didn't have to fiddle with a multitude of options.

My Capitals team is currently in the hunt for their fourth consecutive Stanley Cup. We're just about to start our first round series against Buffalo. It's not going to be easy. In early March we lost Ovechkin, arguably the best player in the NHL at the moment, to a torn MCL. He's not expected back until around the 3rd round (though luckily we still have Phil Kessell, arguably the second best player in the NHL). At the deadline we ended up trading for an old (36 or 37) Paul Kariya who is in the last year of his current contract to fill the gap, but he promptly went down with a knee injury and wont be available until the second round. We also lost grinder/penalty killing specialist Niklas Hagman.

Even with all these injuries the Capitals still have to be considered the favorites. They finished with 135 points and a deep and talented roster.

I'm in my fourth year with the Flames. We're coming off a year where we were swept by Ottawa in the finals. I loaded up by trading for Nash, Heatley, Horton, Kubina and went out and signed Witt and St. Louis. That's led to 64 wins and 135 points but it won't mean anything if it doesn't lead to a Cup win.

:eek:

Wow. Now that's a stacked line-up! Nash, Heatly, and Horton are all quite young as well. A solid core for the future there...

It looks like I'll win the Crosby sweepstakes in my first year with the Oilers (I own 2 of the top 5 draft picks). Assuming I do get the first pick, has anybody played with Crosby right out of junior? Or should I send him back for another year? I am usually very hesitant to play 18 year olds in the NHL, but of course, he might be a special case.

Play him right away. Might want to make sure that most of your coaching staff is good with young players, though.

i played him right away. and he was the brightest star on my sucking Capitals team. Which doesn't say much. But I have no final sesason report, cuz as I have stated below I've kinda...put the game aside because of frustrations with being unsure as to how come I can't seem to win a damn game with a fairly loaded lineup.

Yeah, then I traded a 29 year old Samsonov (my third line winger!) who wanted too much money for Kenndal McArdle (22).

St. Louis - O'Neill - Iginla
Nash - Horton - Heatley
McArdle - Fisher - Michalek

After I lost to Ottawa in the finals, it turned out the difference was that they had three scoring lines whereas I was trying to have a 3rd line checking line. It didn't work. I added all the firepower and managed to beat the Devils in 5 the following year.

Of course, none of this would be possible if I didn't have a $76 milion budget!


DaddyTorgo,

Have you tried just letting the coach control tactics? I've found that more enjoyable (and successful). I prefer just concentrating on being the GM anyway.

yeah i've tried just letting the coach control tactics, and lines and everything. here, just so we have some frame of reference i'll go in and post my lineups and my current record and what-not.

record: 8 - 25- 5 - 1

GF: 100 GA: 155

my tactics are currently set on default (with me in control of them) but that has yet to make a difference from what i can see in all of the trials i've done


lines:

Crosby - Peca - Zubris - Salo - Boumedienne
Carter - Halpern - Rosa - Boughner - Korolev
Orszagh - Perrault - Pettinger - Whitney - Boucher
Semin - ? - ? - Cairns - Hutchinson

okay, so it's not a "loaded" lineup, but with Crosby, Peca, Zubris, Carter, Halpern and Pavel Rosa, I feel like I should have more than 8 wins. My defense isn't great, but it's not THAT bad.

Very nice. Very nice indeed...

I just swept Vancouver to win my 4th straight Stanley Cup.

Here is the line-up (* indicates a fictional player)

Ovechkin - Horton - Kessel
Andrew Ladd - Tomas Pospisil - Zetterberg
Benoit Pouliot - Weiss - Ryan Stoa
Niklas Hagman - Frazee* - Michael Blunden

Jack Johnson - Derek Morris
Phanuef - MacDonald*
Carl Gunnarson - Steve Eminger

Henrik Lundqvist

If you've got Sami Salo as your #1 guy, it's that bad. ;)

Peca's not really a scorer; you'd probably be better off with Carter on the first line and Peca together with Halpern on a checking line. Rosa's pretty one-dimensional, so he wouldn't fit well with them. Semin and Whitney should be higher up on the depth chart; there's not much point in putting guys who'll never rise above being average NHLers (which is most of the team) ahead of them.

Bottom line, you're expecting a little too much from a team that's heavy on guys with very limited upsides. You're probably better off moving guys like Orszagh, Perreault, Boucher, and Boughner for draft picks and giving your better prospects a chance to develop. It'll be at least another season before you're not awful, but if you use that time to get your young guys experience rather than trying to scrape out as many wins as possible, you'll be in much better shape a year or two down the road.

fair enough...fair enough. Yeah my defense is weak, as I acknowledge. That's a major focus for the future for me. I'm not a total hockey dingdong, I do know something about the game, but I definately would say I fit more in the "casual fan" mold. My idea was sorta to have blended lines, lines with a mixture of talent (peca and halpern as the grit and the setup men for crosby and carter respectively, both set to pass really). besides, this is the way that the "ask coach" feature assigns them. Which tells me that maybe that doesn't work as well as it should?

I think its pretty obvious why your losing, that team sucks!!!
I wouldnt expect them to be much better then 8-25

hey i hadta suck pretty bad to win the Crosby-sweepstakes, which I wanted to do. i've dumped off a lot of bad-salary to this point and i'm going to die out the rest of this year and then see if i can't get some quality FA defensemen to go with my young forward prospects. I just didn't want to go the "quick fix" route and sign all the top FA's, i wanted to try more of a "rebuilding" game

edit: heyyy...don't knock my "upside" guys. in a couple years they'll be great

My budget was reduced for the first time in a few years. I had a max of $80 million (though I never quite reached that number). After bringing home my foruth consecutive Cup my budget was reduced to US $71 million. We were losing money every year. I was able to trim my roster down to US $68 million, but had to ship Derek Morris off to do so. With Jack Johnson and Morris I had the #1 and #2 d-men in the NHL. I think I should be able to survive sans-Morris. I shipped him off to Buffalo for Braydon Couburn. He's younger and cheaper and will certainly do. Phaneuf really came into his own last year, leading all my d-men in points and leading the league in +/-. I think we will be ok.

I never max out either. I'm usually between $60-$65 million and that gets me what I want. I try and avoid having >$3 million players on the third line. One place I don't sacrifice is defensive depth; my 7th defenceman makes $2 million.

60-65 million? No wonder you guys can field these kinda teams! I'm looking at 40 million as my budget with the Caps in year 2!

I hope you guys enjoy all that money while you still can. Your free-spending ways are almost over.

I play the Caps. I was hovering around $40 million for the first few years. Then it went up to $60 million. I was stunned. I had budgeted for a $40 million roster and all of a sudden had a free run at free agents. Then in a year or to it increased to $70. Finally, it reached $80 million. It's now back down to $71. I tended to keep the pay-roll in the mid-to-high $60s.

Yes. We have lived off the fat for too long.

Once SI releases the patch I think I will scrap my career and start back over with the Wings. I've always wanted to play the Wings but felt like their big budget made it a little too easy. I have played two extended careers in both EHMs. In each career the Red Wings were just horrible. Awful. Perenial doormats of the West who made bone-head move after bone-head move. No more!

Yeah, the player budgets tend to get a little crazy after a few years - I'm looking through an 06-07 game to give Riz an idea of what needs to change with the NHL finances for the North American release, and the payrolls range from $35 to $90 million. When I combine those with adjustments to take the other expenses to a realistic level (they're too low now) and match them up with similar adjustments to revenues (also too low, but not as much), 90% of the teams in the league lose money and the total is something like a half-billion in losses (for comparison, the Levitt Report said the teams lost $273 million in 02-03.)

Then again, maybe that's where we really were headed without a cap.

Its almost like an alternate reality in which the lockout never happens and a 47-year old Chris Chelios is leading the team in scoring.

dola

While earning 17mil a year.

alright. well i'll look forward to my budget jumping up then, so I can sign some marquee free agents to go with my youth.

oh yeah and I've been through another offseason, my team now looks like this, and seems to have had more success in exhibition games.

Ovechkin - Crosby - Guerin
Carter - Skille - Kessell
Semin - Petr (not Peter) Sykora - Lupul
Sejna - Rosa - Bret Hull

Fisher - Mezei
Salo - Ward
Salei - Boumedienne

Ouellett in goal

disclaimer: this is just how the coach setup my lines, I havn't gone through and fixed them up myself, but that's basically my roster. hoping to have more success this coming year

I was wondering what everyone's thoughts about the trade AI. About every dynasty or team report seems to have at least 2 of the top prospeects (Ovechkin, Crosby, Kessel). How are you able to acquire such talent. I agree starting with Washington helps.

Has anyone seen one of these players become a marginal talent like other #1 overalls like a Daigle or Redden.

well let me answer for me at least. I of course had Ovechkin when the game started, and then tanked season 1 to get Crosby, and then tried to win but ended up tanking season 2 (hadn't even brought Ovechkin over so i guess tanking was to be expected) so I won the draft again and was able to draft Kessell (although he was projected to go #3 overall I liked his mix of talent more than the guy who was projected #1). So that's how I did it.

Does the game incorporate a draft lottery to prevent tanking?

yes

Is there an NHL 06 in the planning or is this it for the next few.

Sept 2006 wil be the release of EHM 2006

The last 10 #1 picks from a save game that's in 2019 (it's also from a few patches back, so that may have changed things):

2007 - big star, 875 career points in 11 seasons
2008 - took a while to develop, eventually became a #1-2 defenseman in his mid-20's, never been an all-star or won an award
2009 - star, has hit 100 points twice
2010 - goalie, was terrible his first few seasons but improved after getting traded, probably in the top 5-10 in the league now
2011 - huge rookie year, was an all-star and ROY, hasn't quite made it back to that level since but still a good #1-2 guy
2012 - steady 50-60 point guy
2013 - 20-30 points his first four years, then had a breakout year with 75
2014 - another dependable 50-60 point forward
2015 - goalie, starter in Columbus for two years but hasn't been spectacular and spent a little time in the AHL last year
2016 - goalie, starter on a very bad Colorado team so his numbers aren't great, but seems to be doing well given the circumstances
2017 - 65+ points his first two years, looks like a potential star

No total failures, but no guarantee of getting a franchise player with the #1, either. And the second-overall picks were a lot worse. The 2013 #2, a forward, set a personal best for goals in a season last year: 3.

So when's the next patch coming out? :D

I'm pretty happy with the beta patch I'm using right now, but I don't get to make the decision. ;)

Yes, every season features the normal draft lottery. So tanking does not guarantee you the top pick.

first real success!! beat the Pens 5-1 in the second game of the year!

man that feels damn good

Congrats!! It does feel good, doesn't it? It's great thrashing a team like that.

5-3 win in my 4th game (after a second loss, now 2-2). Looks like my offense is coming alive.

edit: mired around .500, but hopefully a 2-1 win over last year's Stanley Cup Champion NJ Devils will be a catalyst!

The 2.02 patch is now released. Download link is http://www.sigames.com/downloads.php?type=view&id=352 (be careful to select the correct version, i.e. the boxed one or the downloadable try-and-buy), list of changes at http://community.sigames.com/groupee...5/m/7602097741.

Savegames should work fine with it - I've played a season and a half in it with a game started with the last patch version with no problems. This'll (barring the discovery of serious issues) be the last patch before the North American release updates the game to the 2005-06 season - at that point there'll be a free patch that'll do the same for current owners of the game.

whooT!

Jeffr

thanks

I'll jump back into my Devils career in a couple of hours. I can't wait!

Is there a screen that shows past drafts by round for all teams?

Go to the one of the draft screens and use the arrow keys in the top right. You can go back quite a ways.

If you want to see it one team at a time, go to the team screen and then Transactions - View - NHL Entry Draft. You can go back through the years and it'll list every draft pick for that team, by year, that's still around in the database as a player or staff member (so it'll go back into the early 60's for some of the Original 6 teams whose old draftees are a scout or coach somewhere.)

This is for individual teams, correct? I've looked at those but is there anything like:

http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/draft/nhl1997e.html

I thought Riz mentioned that there was a draft 'recap' without the NHL totals. I'd like to see how my first rounder is doing against other first rounders or to see which guy I should have taken with my pick.

The screen looks a lot like that, though I don't think (I could be wrong) that it gives you NHL totals for points and such. It does give you a list of all players drafted (in the order they were drafted and who drafted them), but I am not sure what additional information the list provides.

There are two different versions within the game. You can see your team's selections on a year-by-year basis.

You can also see the overall draft on a year-by-year basis, with all the teams. Best way to see that screen is to go to one of your player's information tabs, click on the section where it shows the draft year he was picked in. It will show that entire draft year, which can be sorted in many different ways (by name, by overall selection).

Unfortunately, it doesn't include career NHL stats on that screen (maybe something Riz can add in the future...shouldn't be that hard to do)

Does the new patch overwrite the "unfake" package?

Yes, but the most recent unfake download had a ton of problems anyway (mostly with affiliations and the like). They're saying they'll be releasing an update shortly.

Alright, I downloaded this to give it a try and I have two questions (well, really a multitude of questions that can probably be solved with answers to both of these questions).

1) Is there a walk-through that might steer me on what I should be doing (like Marc's excellent quide to FM)?

2) If I buy the online version, is SI going to release the NA patch for it?

dola: Maybe as a third, what utlities/downloads should I look for?

1) No, but there are several sites that have good info on them that are linked earlier in this thread.

2) Yes

Where exactly in this thread (it is only 18 pages long :))?

I've never really looked through this thing, but maybe it'll help.

http://ehm.sortitoutsi.net/index.php...le&fileid=4287

Thanks.

yes if you start a new game.


but no for saved dynasty you have

Where can utilities and add-ons be found? Long thread...thanks :)

What if you put the unfaking on top of the patch? Then what?

For EHM 2005, try:

http://ehm.sortitoutsi.net/index.php...l&game=ehm2005

BTW, for those who were continually getting the crap kicked out of you despite having a good roster (like me), has this patch helped AT ALL?

with new patch i recommend starting over. so you can see the full affect of it. Its pretty solid so far.

i would wait for unfake new version before you apply that over EHM latest version

Yeah, so I've had the game for like 2 hours and already seeing crashes.

How does one return the digital download version for a refund?

LOL

Why would you even pay before playing the try and buy?

Refund information here.

But multiple crashes in the first two hours of using the game is very odd. Is it version 2.0.2? (I assume the download was update with the new version, but I'm not sure.) When are the crashes happening?

Doesn't sound like he's interested in helping.

Edit: I bet you're using the unfaking DB.

i second this question!! anyone?

there are a few things i did that helped me

1-get rid of players over 30. Older players may look great but don't get the results any longer. If a guy is on the top 2 lines and isn't getting 20 goals then its time to look for another option. Alot of guys can be dealt for a 2nd round pick(and 2nd round picks usually are solid guys).

2-get as many two way players as possible i normally do a search for at least a 14 on acceraltion speed checking hitting pokechecking these are your penalty killers and 3rd and 4th lines, don't be afraid to match lines either.

3-don't use the same players for penalty killing and powerplay.

4-if your not i recommand rotating your training schedule so players work on everything at some point in the year.

If you look at my Flyers dynasty i have a bunch of good, very good reputation players and went to the cup finals. Only Gagne and Pitakanen are superb players on my team.(when i do a trade they are usally the only 5 star guys i have a few 3 star guys that play well for me game in and game out).

If you have any specfic questions just let me know and i will help as much as i can.

Big help, Sov. Thanks. So Condors, are you saying not to be tempted by the older FA available at the begining of the season? I'm trying this with the Thrashers, and have so few players that I always make runs at the older stars that are available early. Should I not? Who should I look for early?

I think the key is defence and the goaltender. In the two dynasties I have played, I never really had a stacked lineup, but some fairly solid players up front. I didn't start winning on a regular basis until I got 5-6 solid d-men however.

the key also is never let your Head coach handle practice.

because they dont handle everythig on the practice screen.

The walkthrough said he always lets the coach handle pratice, but he sets the coaching assignments because the head coach doesn't usually do that. Is that true?

It would save you a bunch of time if you just made those two lines your signature.

I'll start again tonight. So what's the practice thing about the 3 duties per coach? Explain it to me like I'm really dumb. Thanks :)

On the practice screen, it's the number of categories you've got assigned to each coach in the bottom-left corner - e.g., the first guy might have Conditioning, Tactics, Offensive Skills, and Defensive Skills assigned to him (I actually use 4 instead of 3). By default, each coach is set to work on all of them, but the theory is that stretches out them out too much and won't get optimal results (and from what I've seen of the way practice time management works in the game, it's a good theory.) Reducing their workload a bit, especially when it's focused on the things they coach best, should help players improve faster.

You can be a little more selective about the over-30 guys. If he still has a good stamina rating, he's probably worth keeping. And even with guys whose stamina and physical ratings have started to slide can be good to have around for their leadership value (assuming their influence and hidden mental ratings are solid), if you manage their icetime properly.

why on default it spread out to all? i think it should be set to 3 or 4 on default

i wish if you assign head coach to practice they handle all of the practice screen. as of now they dont.

yes

and also coach dont handle the % for powerplay, powerkill, general on the practice screen.

This is what we call the "Logan's Run" management system. :)

I have had quite a few 30+ year old guys play pivitol roles for the Caps, uncluding Skau Koivu, Jeff O'Neil, and Derek Morris. Koivu was a 3rd/4th line center and first unit PK. O'Neill was a first/second line center and had power-play time. Morris did everything at the ripe old age of 33. These guys are all extraordinary players, so it may be different for "regular" guys. I wouldn't know. Most of my guys in my Caps dynasty (4 straight Stanley Cups!) are still under 30. Also, I am not sure the 30+ rule would apply to goalies either.

Honolulu_Blue

how does 5 stanley cup in row look for you.

that amazing, you make the game seem easy :) you have a nice group of young players.

cant wait to see how you do with the salary cap? probably more challenging :)

I stay away from the over 30 crowd but Kariya, Allison, Demitra, Deadmarsh, Holden, and Green can bolster your forwards Evgeny Korolv, Mcallister, andy delmore, daron quint can help you in the defense and Jean Sebstion Aubin is a solid keeper. Don't be afraid to sign guys and trade them next season. Also keep a look in the wavier draft for guys that can help you out(personal favorite tactic of mine). Also i have signed Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre who can play right wing or right defense and Maxim Kuznetso (sp) Korolv can be very good and is only 26 years old.

Also i don't like giving away draft picks in the first 3 rounds(unless i know the guy is young and ready to step right in). The 2005 draft you can pick up alot of guys who can contribute the talent pool seems pretty deep don't ignore some of the older players(although i don't draft guys over 26).

I play the Flyers and usually my third line before dealing would be Brashear, Primeau and Kappanen and turn on line matching accourding to the team report Primeau and Kappanen are my best center and right winger but they are also my best defensive forwards. I bascially set my third line first and then fill in the rest. (i also would try to move all 3 of the guys i mentioned for younger versions)

Just started the Quest For Five. I would have to say the Caps are still the favorites to win it. I finally had to give up one of my "core" guys which hurt. Zetterberg was headed to UFA land at the end of the season, so I shipped him to LA for 2 2nd rounders. I siged UFA Jon Cheechoo and at a reduced price because he was just coming off a long injury. So far, so good. I still have most of my "core" guys: Ovechkin, Weiss, Norton, Kessell, Jack Johnson, Phanuef, Eminger, and Lundqvist in goal. Pospisil is becoming a key cog and Sota and Blunden are coming into their own. We're #2 in the East after a month or two of play.

Can't really explain the success I've had. I don't tinker much with tactics. The team sort of runs itself. I just keep a look out for the best coaches and scouts and always try to have a good core of younger guys. I think Lundqvist was a huge, huge part of things. He's amazing. I don't feel confident with anyone else in goal.

As for the cap, I think it will make it much harder. Harder to build a team and much, much harder to trade (due to cap implications for both sides). I will likely restart (which I imagine you have to) once the Super Patch comes out. I'll take the Wings as it was always meant to be. ;)

They are there! In the drop-down menu in the upper left, you can look at NHL career totals for the entire draft class.

Awesome feature, just a little obscure.

Hell, I work on the game and I didn't know that! Sweet!

The new, post-2.02 unfaking patch is out:


They scaled back the AHL/ECHL affiliation changes in this one, so no more Marlies. :( But I figure that and others will be included with the game/data update for the NA release. I figure I can wait until then. :)

Riz

Is start date to be before buyouts and draft or the start date to be after all the rosters are sorted when the NA patch comes out?

Sweet! I wonder what part of the game the new unfaking version will fuck up now!!

The N.A. patch will include all transactions (buyouts, Entry Draft, free agent signings, etc) up until the end of August or thereabouts.

After.

I'm still in my second season with the Devils (I had put the game on hold until the 2.0.2 patch, so I'm just getting back into it). I'm about 3/4 of the way through the season, and I have decided to look at the stats of all the guys I drafted this year. I realize that none of my guys are playing in the NHL, but I am amazed that the best stats have come from my 9th round draft pick. Center Jason Walters, the 253rd player selected in the 2005 draft, has put up 82 points in 63 games for the London Knights. The Knights are dominating the OHL, and he's only third on his team in points, but he's still having a great season. He'll definitely come to camp with my Devils next season, and I think he'll be a great player for me in 2007 after spending a year in Albany.

Unfortunately, my second-round pick, goalie Aleksandr Tryanichev, is having very little success over in Russia. He's playing backup to Anaheim's second-round pick (the Ducks picked 9 spots before I did), and his team is just terrible. His GAA is 2.70 and his save percentage is 0.911. Compared to the rest of the Russian Elite League, those numbers stink. His record is only 3-7. Since I know that Martin Brodeur isn't going anywhere anytime soon, I don't need to rush this kid, but he's not getting any playing time right now. I have a feeling that Tryanichev will never find his way into a Devils uniform, even though I've only held his rights for a few months. I feel bad for him. :(

Lamest. Question. Ever, but how do you pronounce ' Barrie '? As in Barrie Colts of the OHL. Is it Bar-ree or Bear-ree?