Getting player separation right on NHL2K

[nikethebike]

Hi guys.


I though this would be an interesting thread and hope that some of you old timers would like to join in on the discussion.


As you might know I am working on a roster for NHL2K and use sites with data and other sources to import the data to the game automatically. Since this was made possible, I now have much more freedom than earlier when I manually put hutdb data into the game. The player differentiation on hutdb is not great, you notice differences between players in NHL2K ofcourse but Id like attributes to use a larger spectrum, something I will be able to achieve by converting the hutdb attributes if I want.


What I want to achieve is better ingame player differentiation and better realistic simulation statistics.


Do you guys have any pointers or ideas about this? I'd really appreciate a discussion about how to achieve this in a good way through the player ratings.

[ariookke]

If I understood you correctly, attributes you have imported to the game have now the same value as hutdb.

I don't know if this answer get you anywhere or is too obivious for you (Sorry). In my opinion the next logical step is to respect the game scale. Look what scale the game have used in original roster in specific attribute and convert hutdb values to match the scale.

[nikethebike]

Yes, but at the same time NHL is faster, less physical and more skilled today than it was 10 years ago, which the player attributes should reflect in my opinion and I'm not sure the stats were perfect in the original game either.


Thanks for your feedback, converting them like so should at the least be a very good start.

[nikethebike]

Another thing is if I base the stats on max/lowest from the savefile and import that way then I am afraid that the lowest NHL player will be rated too low as AHL and free agent players are in the game but hutdb are NHL players or overrated players from other leagues basically.

[ariookke]

Yes if you only look at max/lowest then you have that problem. It's simplest way to go, but not practical.

Better way is to first create reference points to original attribute and hutdb attribute. Then compare those points between themselves and calculate convert. You can use average formula and standard deviation formula together to create reference points.

I would say 4 reference points are accurate enough

2 base points:
High Point is (Average + Std Dev)
Low Point is (Average - Std Dev)

2 help points:
Higer Point is (Average from all values that are greater than High Point + Std Dev from all values that are greater than High Point)
Lower Point is (Average from all values that are less than Low Point - Std Dev from all values that are less than Low Point)

Sure it's complicated and hard to explain. I would be keen to do an example of excel spreadsheet for you to see the function and if does it work. My problem is I don't have rosters in excel format.

[daflyboys]

What you want to incorporate from the real game and what the limitations of this game seem to be is going to result in an unrealistic no. of breakaways, unless you set the strategy on "stay back" for 5 v 5 lines and probably on balanced when on the PP.

[nikethebike]

Hmm, you might be right. Well one thing I noticed with the straight import from hutdb is that defensemen get better overalls than forwards. Having d men slightly overrated actually seems to help a bit with that, atleast that has been my feeling when playing.


Also today, a couple of defenders each year are close to PPG players, but in 2010 that was rare and when simming I have rarely seen a PPG defender. 60-70 pts is usually where the best ones end up.

[DJ NEO]

Quote: Originally Posted by daflyboys

What you want to incorporate from the real game and what the limitations of this game seem to be is going to result in an unrealistic no. of breakaways, unless you set the strategy on "stay back" for 5 v 5 lines and probably on balanced when on the PP.

Good point.

I actually found the code that affects this, but it still needs some more work to make it all useful.
Because now I can make them really stay back (skate to their own def zone as soon as the opposite player touch the puck) or to play basically as another forwards Lol