Suggestions

[flamesbandwagon]

I just want to start off by saying that I love this game. I have been a big fan of FHM for a while now and I have spent countless hours playing this iteration and the ones before it. That being said, I would like to offer up some thoughts on fixes and features that would make this game even better.

The waiver wire, this has been an issue not only this game but in past editions. I just saw Cale Makar get put on waivers in my current save which is ultimately why I have decided to make this post. The waiver wire has always been broken, and the deeper you get into playthroughs the worse it gets. I have always remained steadfast in not taking advantage of this clear team building loophole for the integrity of my own game, but it still does cheapen the experience when guys like Makar, Kaako and Lafreniere get placed on waivers due to cpu's being unable to manage their cap situations.

More advanced statistics. As the NHL advanced statistics community continues to become grow, so too should the statistics offered in FHM. I believe that a good job has been done here already, but a stat like xGF specifically should be added to enhance the experience for the stat nerds out there.

Additionally, advanced stats should be included as exportable stats to CSV files like the traditional box stats are. Maybe I am missing something here, but I do not believe they currently are part of the files you can export.

Another option I would like to see added is the ability to play without star ratings like OOTP baseball. I think this would add another challenging way to play the game.

Those are my suggestions, thanks for reading!

[CSIL]

Possibility to change amount of teams in every playable league and possibility to change teams between different leagues without having to go edit every detail and moving all players and everything else... There is so much to do if you want to move one team to different league. Having same option for teams now that we have for players when you go to edit and just change players team. So why this same thing isn't possible for teams? Edmonton Oilers -> go to edit and let's say you want to move Edmonton to KHL so you go to edit screen and change league from NHL to KHL and there you go... Edmonton is now in the KHL...

I know that this is little bit "crazy" but imagine that you have option to change half of NHL teams to KHL teams and this all just for one click. I believe that i would mostly use this option to change teams between finnish liiga and mestis because we don't have relegation games anymore and it really sucks so having this option i would change the last team from liiga to mestis and mestis winner to liiga. If this is could be possible to add in FHM8 it would be awesome but for FHM9 this is my biggest wish because for me this game is almost perfect! And i apologize for my bad english so hope you did understand what i was trying to say

[jmetrow]

Originally Posted by CSIL

Possibility to change amount of teams in every playable league and possibility to change teams between different leagues without having to go edit every detail and moving all players and everything else... There is so much to do if you want to move one team to different league. Having same option for teams now that we have for players when you go to edit and just change players team. So why this same thing isn't possible for teams? Edmonton Oilers -> go to edit and let's say you want to move Edmonton to KHL so you go to edit screen and change league from NHL to KHL and there you go... Edmonton is now in the KHL...

I know that this is little bit "crazy" but imagine that you have option to change half of NHL teams to KHL teams and this all just for one click. I believe that i would mostly use this option to change teams between finnish liiga and mestis because we don't have relegation games anymore and it really sucks so having this option i would change the last team from liiga to mestis and mestis winner to liiga. If this is could be possible to add in FHM8 it would be awesome but for FHM9 this is my biggest wish because for me this game is almost perfect! And i apologize for my bad english so hope you did understand what i was trying to say

Agree that I'd love to be able to move teams between leagues! Also adding the option to have promotion and relegation in custom leagues as well as international tournaments in custom leagues.

[Jaurxe]

Here's some feedback I've been accumulating since FHM7:

1. The mouse's scrollwheel should not scroll through selections of Tactical Settings in the Tactics screen (e.g. Crash the Net, etc.) since you need to scroll on the page itself and sometimes your scrolling will place your mouse over the drop-down, changing the selection without the user noticing.

2. Saving and loading of tactics separate from lines

3. Clicking on header buttons that have a "HOME" page should take you directly to that HOME page, with a drop-down arrow to the side for the selections.

4. The player overview page should remember the last tab selected and return you to that tab when you go back to the player. For example, if I look at a player's Attributes, go to the roster, then click on another player, it should go to the Attributes rather than the first tab.

5. The Tactics page should remember the previous line that was selected and re-select it when I return to the page.

6. The Roster page should have a column for the player's jersey number.

7. The "Continue" button should turn into the "Click here or press ESC to stop simulation" while the simulation is running, since there's no way to "Continue" while the sim is running anyways.

8. The Free Agent (and other search pages) page should save the filter you previously had when you return to it.

9. Saving and loading of particular search filters in general.

10. The player tactics page should remember the last selected player and re-select it.

11. Add a page or sort setting to sort players by the various Tactical Roles so you can sort them by their Fit Score.

12. Clicking on a goal in the boxscore should open up a "highlights" style replay of the goal.

13. Some kind of "Use All" button on tactics screens for when I want to enable all of the sliders. Having to click 9 sliders per line, and per player, is not good.

[Raindrops]

I would like to see the option in the custom league to have them evolve on their own and to have the possibilities for leagues to lose teams.

[gord]

Originally Posted by Jaurxe

Here's some feedback I've been accumulating since FHM7:

...

1, 2, 5, 8, 9, 11 and 13 are all good suggestions.

My roster page has a column for jersey number (NR).

[jumpSeat]

Originally Posted by Jaurxe

12. Clicking on a goal in the boxscore should open up a "highlights" style replay of the goal.

Wouldn't that be freakin' awesome!!

[Castleview]

In historical games when a team is added to a league using the 'Add Team' option, then removed a few seasons later, there should be some way to subsequently resurrect the team again in future while maintaining previous franchise history (player stats and records). At present franchise history can only be maintained for teams that are added/re-added using the 'Add Historical Team' option, there's no way to resurrect a previously created/removed fictional franchise.

Also, although minor leagues are unplayable, it should be possible to edit/change the minor league affiliate of any parent team to any other existing minor league team.

Also make it possible to edit and rename the minor league structures.

[mike302]

Would love to have a start season today option.

[renojedi]

1. I'd like the option (which is in OOTP so maybe it can be borrowed from there) to generate team photos and players cards on demand.

2. In the expansion draft, I would like to not have to pick goalies first. I can combine all skater picks from the default forward and defenseman categories but still have to pick 3 goalies first. It would be nice to pick in whatever order I want as many times there are plenty of good goalies but only so many good skaters.

Of course, the #1 thing I would like, which is a known bug and hopefully will be fixed, is realistic stats. By next edition we really can't have modern NHL players scoring 70-80 goals a season or user controlled teams that always are at or near the bottom in the league in PIM no matter what setting or players are chosen.

[jumpSeat]

My suggestions in no particular order:

1) Would love to see 'edit special abilities' included in the GUI.

2) Would be positively head-over-heels for a subtle visual cue (in the 2D engine) for big hits.

3) Would greatly appreciate an improvement in 2D goalie tracking, (so goalies don't remain stationary while the opposition wins the faceoff back to the point - fires a quick cross ice pass to the other point - and shoots into an empty net).

I know the holidays are over, but this little wish list would certainly bring them back for me!

[oldfatbaldguy]

Sometimes I wonder if the lack of goaltender movement you're seeing is an actual flaw in the match engine, or just in the animation. Maybe if he's not going to make the save, it shows him not moving at all. Goalies in hockey and soccer sims going back forever have stood still on shots that went two inches wide or got to the goal line a fraction of a second after the period ended. It's not what you'd see irl but the result isn't wrong.

I do see flaws revealed by the animation, although I can't stress enough that this part of FHM is vastly improved and that's why I'm addicted to the franchise for the first time.

Here's one: When players are playing out of their usual position because of a special-teams situation that has expired -- for example, a forward who was on the point, or a defenseman who is playing as a forward because he just left the penalty box and there are already two defensemen -- they stay in that position until the next line change. Even if there's a whistle and a faceoff, that D who got called for hooking almost three minutes ago is still on and he's still at right wing. That's not realistic.

[jumpSeat]

Originally Posted by oldfatbaldguy

Sometimes I wonder if the lack of goaltender movement you're seeing is an actual flaw in the match engine, or just in the animation. Maybe if he's not going to make the save, it shows him not moving at all. Goalies in hockey and soccer sims going back forever have stood still on shots that went two inches wide or got to the goal line a fraction of a second after the period ended. It's not what you'd see irl but the result isn't wrong.

Yeah, that's a good thought, and you may well be right. As I said in the other thread, (in the situation I described), I have no issue with the goalie being beaten, merely that he remains unresponsive throughout the entire sequence. Between you and me, I'd far prefer he take a wild stab at it and miss rather than remain stationary. Now, as you say, whether that's an issue with the tracking logic in the engine or merely a glitch in the animation is above my pay grade.

Originally Posted by oldfatbaldguy

I do see flaws revealed by the animation, although I can't stress enough that this part of FHM is vastly improved and that's why I'm addicted to the franchise for the first time.

I couldn't agree more. The 2D engine has come so far so fast that in all good conscience, I can't bring myself to be overly critical. This type of game development is a marathon not a sprint, and I'm very thankful for all the progress that's been made.

I got into FHM because of the debut of the 2D engine in version 7. But this year, it's just so much better. Like a fine wine, it's getting better with age. So I'll keep dreaming of even more improvements, ('cause that's just how I roll), but never to the point of spiting what we already enjoy.

Originally Posted by oldfatbaldguy

Here's one: When players are playing out of their usual position because of a special-teams situation that has expired -- for example, a forward who was on the point, or a defenseman who is playing as a forward because he just left the penalty box and there are already two defensemen -- they stay in that position until the next line change. Even if there's a whistle and a faceoff, that D who got called for hooking almost three minutes ago is still on and he's still at right wing. That's not realistic.

Definitely something I see quite often. Thanks for pointing it out and just imagine how happy we'll be when this becomes a thing of the past.

[Xavier's Crown]

I would like to see defensive dmen scoring higher on GR and * rating. They tend to be undervalued.

[kibasan]

Originally Posted by Xavier's Crown

I would like to see defensive dmen scoring higher on GR and * rating. They tend to be undervalued.

I've been thinking this for awhile too. I'm in no way an Islanders fan, but it's borderline criminal that Adam Pelech has only two stars to his name by 2022!

[oldfatbaldguy]

There are some little things about the 2D that could improve the visualization of the game. It would feel a little realer if the teams changed ends between periods. Some way to see whether players shoot left or right -- little sticks poking out of the boxes?

These aren't a big deal but they'd help a little.

[alko]

There are lot of minor things, but one major issue. Speed in the later seasons.

Could it be somehow more optimized? After 2060 season it is really slow.

Yeah, i dont have top PC now, its actually 7 years old. But the game is runnig very fast until 2050s season even on my machine.

[daigle91]

Would love to be able to play historical junior leagues.

[redtiger7]

To play agaisnt an historical team in exhibition mode using the team from one of my ongoing games, a team that I crafted and built.

[wiggleman83]

Originally Posted by redtiger7

To play agaisnt an historical team in exhibition mode using the team from one of my ongoing games, a team that I crafted and built.

I'll take this one a step further. I want to be able to take my end-of-season rosters from games I'm playing and pit them against one another. I want to find out which of my champions is actually the strongest and things like that.