Front Office Football Central  

Go Back   Front Office Football Central > Archives > FOFC Archive
Register FAQ Members List Calendar Mark Forums Read Statistics

Reply
 
Thread Tools
Old 06-03-2005, 12:41 PM   #201
Honolulu_Blue
Hockey Boy
 
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Royal Oak, MI
Quote:
Originally Posted by jbmagic
Honolulu_Blue

this game sounds great so far. i cant wait for you to do a dynasty. i hope you can go in detail when you do your tactics and tendencies. thanks

is the view the game screen slow now when you put it on very slow? is it easy to follow?

thanks

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.
__________________
Steve Yzerman: 1,755 points in 1,514 regular season games. 185 points in 196 postseason games. A First-Team All-Star, Conn Smythe Trophy winner, Selke Trophy winner, Masterton Trophy winner, member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, Olympic gold medallist, and a three-time Stanley Cup Champion. Longest serving captain of one team in the history of the NHL (19 seasons).
Honolulu_Blue is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-03-2005, 12:46 PM   #202
Honolulu_Blue
Hockey Boy
 
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Royal Oak, MI
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.
__________________
Steve Yzerman: 1,755 points in 1,514 regular season games. 185 points in 196 postseason games. A First-Team All-Star, Conn Smythe Trophy winner, Selke Trophy winner, Masterton Trophy winner, member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, Olympic gold medallist, and a three-time Stanley Cup Champion. Longest serving captain of one team in the history of the NHL (19 seasons).
Honolulu_Blue is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-03-2005, 12:47 PM   #203
jbmagic
Pro Starter
 
Join Date: Apr 2004
Quote:
Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue
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
jbmagic is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-03-2005, 03:07 PM   #204
Karim
College Starter
 
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Calgary
Quote:
Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue
After the draft I checked my "team report" to see where the players I drafted were rated in the top prospects. Six of the players I drafted were ranked as follows: 1, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 12. Not too shabby.

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.
Karim is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-03-2005, 03:27 PM   #205
Honolulu_Blue
Hockey Boy
 
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Royal Oak, MI
Quote:
Originally Posted by Karim
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.
__________________
Steve Yzerman: 1,755 points in 1,514 regular season games. 185 points in 196 postseason games. A First-Team All-Star, Conn Smythe Trophy winner, Selke Trophy winner, Masterton Trophy winner, member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, Olympic gold medallist, and a three-time Stanley Cup Champion. Longest serving captain of one team in the history of the NHL (19 seasons).
Honolulu_Blue is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-03-2005, 05:49 PM   #206
Pumpy Tudors
Bounty Hunter
 
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
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?
__________________
No, I am not Batman, and I will not repair your food processor.
Pumpy Tudors is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-03-2005, 07:19 PM   #207
Honolulu_Blue
Hockey Boy
 
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Royal Oak, MI
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pumpy Tudors
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.
__________________
Steve Yzerman: 1,755 points in 1,514 regular season games. 185 points in 196 postseason games. A First-Team All-Star, Conn Smythe Trophy winner, Selke Trophy winner, Masterton Trophy winner, member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, Olympic gold medallist, and a three-time Stanley Cup Champion. Longest serving captain of one team in the history of the NHL (19 seasons).
Honolulu_Blue is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-03-2005, 07:42 PM   #208
Pumpy Tudors
Bounty Hunter
 
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Quote:
Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue
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.
__________________
No, I am not Batman, and I will not repair your food processor.
Pumpy Tudors is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-03-2005, 07:49 PM   #209
Honolulu_Blue
Hockey Boy
 
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Royal Oak, MI
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...
__________________
Steve Yzerman: 1,755 points in 1,514 regular season games. 185 points in 196 postseason games. A First-Team All-Star, Conn Smythe Trophy winner, Selke Trophy winner, Masterton Trophy winner, member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, Olympic gold medallist, and a three-time Stanley Cup Champion. Longest serving captain of one team in the history of the NHL (19 seasons).
Honolulu_Blue is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-03-2005, 07:58 PM   #210
General Mike
Pro Starter
 
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: The State of Rutgers
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.
__________________
Boise Stampede
Continental Football League
Jacksonville Jaguars GM North American Football League
Nebraska Coach FOFC-BBCF
Rutgers & Washington coach Bowl Bound-BBCF
General Mike is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-03-2005, 08:00 PM   #211
RPI-Fan
Pro Starter
 
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Troy, NY
HB: You've just about sold me on the game with that last post.
__________________
Quis custodiets ipsos custodes?
RPI-Fan is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-03-2005, 08:00 PM   #212
jbmagic
Pro Starter
 
Join Date: Apr 2004
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
jbmagic is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-03-2005, 08:05 PM   #213
DaddyTorgo
Hall Of Famer
 
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Massachusetts
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
DaddyTorgo is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-03-2005, 08:10 PM   #214
Booj
High School JV
 
Join Date: Feb 2003
I just ordered from Gamespot (GoGamer doesn't ship to Canada) and it won't ship until latest the 10th due to backorder.
Booj is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-03-2005, 08:12 PM   #215
Marc Vaughan
SI Games
 
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Melbourne, FL
Quote:
Originally Posted by jbmagic
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
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).
Marc Vaughan is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-03-2005, 08:15 PM   #216
jbmagic
Pro Starter
 
Join Date: Apr 2004
Quote:
Originally Posted by Marc Vaughan
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.

Last edited by jbmagic : 06-04-2005 at 02:14 PM.
jbmagic is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-03-2005, 09:29 PM   #217
RPI-Fan
Pro Starter
 
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Troy, NY
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
__________________
Quis custodiets ipsos custodes?
RPI-Fan is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-03-2005, 10:54 PM   #218
Karim
College Starter
 
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Calgary
Quote:
Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue
Let's just hope Jeff Schultz never develops into a Chara/Pronger type. If so, I will be regretting this one for years...

IRL, he had a horrible playoffs with the Hitmen. At 6'6", he played like he was 5'6".
Karim is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-03-2005, 10:56 PM   #219
Karim
College Starter
 
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Calgary
Quote:
Originally Posted by jbmagic
also anybody know if fm2005 and fm2006 when it comes out is on softwrap version cd?

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...
Karim is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-04-2005, 12:13 AM   #220
Pumpy Tudors
Bounty Hunter
 
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Quote:
Originally Posted by Karim
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, I am not Batman, and I will not repair your food processor.
Pumpy Tudors is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-04-2005, 03:32 AM   #221
jbmagic
Pro Starter
 
Join Date: Apr 2004
Quote:
Originally Posted by Karim
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...


no Fm not available for download.

but EHM 2005 will be soon available to download.
jbmagic is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-04-2005, 06:45 AM   #222
Booj
High School JV
 
Join Date: Feb 2003
Quote:
Originally Posted by Booj
I just ordered from Gamespot (GoGamer doesn't ship to Canada) and it won't ship until latest the 10th due to backorder.

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.

My life is never going to be the same.
Booj is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-04-2005, 12:36 PM   #223
Joe Canadian
College Prospect
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada
I've started my first Dynasty... check it out here: http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~fof/foru...ad.php?t=39539
Joe Canadian is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-04-2005, 12:45 PM   #224
MizzouRah
Hall Of Famer
 
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Troy, Mo
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........
MizzouRah is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-04-2005, 02:15 PM   #225
jbmagic
Pro Starter
 
Join Date: Apr 2004
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
jbmagic is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-04-2005, 09:06 PM   #226
Bee
Pro Starter
 
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Fairfax, VA
Quote:
Originally Posted by Marc Vaughan
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).

Does this mean you have to have the CD in the drive to play EHM if you get the CD version?
Bee is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-04-2005, 11:25 PM   #227
JeffR
High School JV
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Kelowna, BC, Canada
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bee
Does this mean you have to have the CD in the drive to play EHM if you get the CD version?

Yes.
JeffR is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-05-2005, 10:27 PM   #228
Joe Canadian
College Prospect
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada
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.
__________________
Steve Davis (Joe Canadian)
GO LEAFS GO!!
GO FOG DEVILS GO!!
LETS GO JAYS!!
EHM 2005 DYNASTY: A New Philosophy in Toronto!
Joe Canadian is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-06-2005, 03:16 AM   #229
Marc Vaughan
SI Games
 
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Melbourne, FL
Quote:
Originally Posted by Joe Canadian
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
Marc Vaughan is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-06-2005, 06:02 AM   #230
Bee
Pro Starter
 
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Fairfax, VA
Quote:
Originally Posted by JeffR
Yes.

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.
Bee is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-06-2005, 09:37 AM   #231
Joe Canadian
College Prospect
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada
Quote:
Originally Posted by Marc Vaughan
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

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.
__________________
Steve Davis (Joe Canadian)
GO LEAFS GO!!
GO FOG DEVILS GO!!
LETS GO JAYS!!
EHM 2005 DYNASTY: A New Philosophy in Toronto!
Joe Canadian is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-06-2005, 10:10 AM   #232
Pumpy Tudors
Bounty Hunter
 
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Arghgrrrr. My game had better arrive today (not likely).
__________________
No, I am not Batman, and I will not repair your food processor.
Pumpy Tudors is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-06-2005, 10:58 AM   #233
GroundCat
Banned
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
I hope the North American version comes out before NCAA and Madden.
GroundCat is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-06-2005, 11:16 AM   #234
Honolulu_Blue
Hockey Boy
 
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Royal Oak, MI
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.
__________________
Steve Yzerman: 1,755 points in 1,514 regular season games. 185 points in 196 postseason games. A First-Team All-Star, Conn Smythe Trophy winner, Selke Trophy winner, Masterton Trophy winner, member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, Olympic gold medallist, and a three-time Stanley Cup Champion. Longest serving captain of one team in the history of the NHL (19 seasons).
Honolulu_Blue is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-06-2005, 11:28 AM   #235
RPI-Fan
Pro Starter
 
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Troy, NY
You da' man!

~rpi-fan
__________________
Quis custodiets ipsos custodes?
RPI-Fan is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-06-2005, 11:32 AM   #236
jbmagic
Pro Starter
 
Join Date: Apr 2004
very nice Honolulu_Blue
what type of tactics and tendencies your using?

how is that part of the game? do they follow it well?
jbmagic is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-06-2005, 11:54 AM   #237
Honolulu_Blue
Hockey Boy
 
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Royal Oak, MI
Quote:
Originally Posted by jbmagic
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.
__________________
Steve Yzerman: 1,755 points in 1,514 regular season games. 185 points in 196 postseason games. A First-Team All-Star, Conn Smythe Trophy winner, Selke Trophy winner, Masterton Trophy winner, member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, Olympic gold medallist, and a three-time Stanley Cup Champion. Longest serving captain of one team in the history of the NHL (19 seasons).
Honolulu_Blue is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-06-2005, 01:08 PM   #238
MizzouRah
Hall Of Famer
 
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Troy, Mo
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
MizzouRah is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-06-2005, 01:24 PM   #239
sachmo71
The boy who cried Trout
 
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: TX
Quote:
Originally Posted by GroundCat
I hope the North American version comes out before NCAA and Madden.


sachmo71 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-06-2005, 08:25 PM   #240
MizzouRah
Hall Of Famer
 
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Troy, Mo
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
MizzouRah is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-06-2005, 08:31 PM   #241
jbmagic
Pro Starter
 
Join Date: Apr 2004
does the game have sound on the full version? i hear no sound on the demo for play by play.

thanks
jbmagic is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-06-2005, 09:17 PM   #242
JeffR
High School JV
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Kelowna, BC, Canada
Quote:
Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue
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.

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.)
JeffR is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-06-2005, 09:17 PM   #243
JeffR
High School JV
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Kelowna, BC, Canada
Quote:
Originally Posted by jbmagic
does the game have sound on the full version? i hear no sound on the demo for play by play.

thanks

Yup. Wasn't in the demo for file size reasons, I think.
JeffR is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-06-2005, 10:00 PM   #244
jbmagic
Pro Starter
 
Join Date: Apr 2004
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.
jbmagic is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-07-2005, 01:40 PM   #245
MizzouRah
Hall Of Famer
 
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Troy, Mo
Quote:
Originally Posted by jbmagic
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
MizzouRah is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-07-2005, 01:48 PM   #246
jbmagic
Pro Starter
 
Join Date: Apr 2004
Quote:
Originally Posted by MizzouRah
Mine shipped!! Should be a fun rest of the week.


Todd

great. cant wait to see a dynasty on your Blues.
jbmagic is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-07-2005, 02:56 PM   #247
MizzouRah
Hall Of Famer
 
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Troy, Mo
Quote:
Originally Posted by jbmagic
great. cant wait to see a dynasty on your Blues.

Look for it to start on Thursday.


Todd
MizzouRah is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-07-2005, 06:02 PM   #248
Pumpy Tudors
Bounty Hunter
 
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
And... mine... still... isn't... here! Grrr.
__________________
No, I am not Batman, and I will not repair your food processor.
Pumpy Tudors is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-07-2005, 09:04 PM   #249
Karim
College Starter
 
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Calgary
Neither is mine. I can't belive I went cheap on shipping...
Karim is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-07-2005, 10:30 PM   #250
MizzouRah
Hall Of Famer
 
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Troy, Mo
Mine has shipped!!!



Todd
MizzouRah is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On
Forum Jump


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 03:04 PM.



Powered by vBulletin Version 3.6.0
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.