Franchise Hockey Manager 3 - Discussion Thread

[archibalduk]

The release date and features of Franchise Hockey Manager 3 have been announced today. The game will be releasing on 17 October but those who pre-order will have access to the gold beta on 14 October and will get 25% off the retail price (the retail price is $39.99 and the pre-order offer price is $29.99). FHM 3 is the first version to include an NHL licensing of the team names, logos, etc.

The features announced so far are:

• Officially licensed by the NHL®! Teams will have their real logos, insignias, and uniforms along with the Stanley Cup® Championship and post-season awards!
• All-New 'Path To Glory' Mode: A streamlined and more approachable way to play, with improved game and information flow as well as news from around the world that impacts your experience.
• Generate your GM/Coach, assign your skills as you wish, start low and work your way up - or take the helm of your favorite team and take it to the Stanley Cup® Championship!
• New Role-Based Tactical System: Allows the coach to choose from a variety of pre-set tactics to build their team's "system" and then assign players specific roles that fit into that system.
• Much, much more to be announced soon!

Here is the pre-order link: http://store.esellerate.net/s.aspx?s=ST ... 1348230811

[ClassicSwarley]

I must say, the official licensing has increased my interest in this game quite a bit. I'll be on the lookout for more announcements, this could be my first FHM game that I get

[m0fownz0r]

It appears to be getting some frictions finally, however, I would still wait to hear from certain people of this community before I purchase my 2nd FHM version.

[nino33]

For me, while it's only such a short time after the announcement (so lots of details unknown and no game to actually try/hear about others trying)...I have more positive feelings than I've had since before FHM1 came out

Why? Because it seems they're (IMO) finally making decisions that they should in order to produce a quality game; last year it seemed (IMO) like not much had been learned from the fiasco that was FHM1, but this year...there's no online play! While this is of course not a positive, the explanations given by Marcus and Sebastian are a positive to me - it couldn't be done in a quality way, so they didn't put out a poor quality way and when they can have a quality online experience they'll add it back in (makes total sense to me) + they're focusing on the modern mode primarily (what most people play) to try and make it as high quality as they can (and they're being open and honest about their reasoning for their decisions)

Like I said, it's been a short time and LOTS is still to come, but so far I'm impressed (I think they may finally be on "the right path" - quality first!)

[ujlien]

could someone explain me what are the big difference between FHM3 and EHM ? I've played a lot EHM (1200+hours) but i've never tried Franchise Hockey Manager.
For an hockey addict is it worth it?

[bruins72]

The thing that really caught my eye about this one is the way it's handling tactics. It seems more approachable. I like the idea of setting up roles for each player to take on and what they're supposed to do.

This one looks a lot better than the first two versions did but I'll still wait to hear from some other folks around here once they've played it before I buy it.

[ujlien]

i've just noticed that the pre order is cheaper if i buy the pre order copy in usd instead of cad. 30$ usd is just shy under 40 canadian dollars. If i use the CAD currency on their website it's listed to 42.86. Only 3 bucks, but hey!

[Sebastian Palkowski]

i've just noticed that the pre order is cheaper if i buy the pre order copy in usd instead of cad. 30$ usd is just shy under 40 canadian dollars. If i use the CAD currency on their website it's listed to 42.86. Only 3 bucks, but hey!

Unfortunately we have no influence on the exchange rate, sorry.

[Sebastian Palkowski]

The NHL deal is big for us. It is a long term deal, something we worked a long time on in the past months (and still do). After 8 years away from the PC the NHL is very protective (but also very cool to work with) and sometimes it takes a bit longer until they understand what type of game FHM is. But over time it will get easier and next year should be much smoother.

For the features that are not announced so far (stuff like international teams and tournaments, Central Scouting, the new tactics and player roles, more details on the Paths to Glory mode ...), the NHL has to review all our material before we can post it, so it will take some time to get moving with it. But the pre-order phase is a few weeks, so if you want to wait, that is cool and you still can get the discount and in addition the game will be discounted for the first week as well (but not 25%).

As some people already mentioned, we concentrated on the modern game, day to day stuff the most (of course fictional and historical still have most of the stuff as well) and of course some people are not happy with it but that is the way we want to go and we will continue it, even if we can´t make everyone happy.

So if you have any questions, feel free to ask. When I can answer them, I will.

[RomaGoth]

I want to mention this here since it has become a rather big issue over on the OOTP forum:

This game will not have any online mode upon release. It was noted by the developers that this is something they want to implement again at some point, but they are focusing on perfecting the single-player game at this point.

Just an FYI to those of you who like the online leagues.

[Sebastian Palkowski]

And to be perfectly clear: at this point there is absolutely no plan to add it as a patch later (just want to make sure nobody buys the game and expects it). Right now we focus mostly on the single player, modern, day to day game.

I want to mention this here since it has become a rather big issue over on the OOTP forum:

This game will not have any online mode upon release. It was noted by the developers that this is something they want to implement again at some point, but they are focusing on perfecting the single-player game at this point.

Just an FYI to those of you who like the online leagues.

[RomaGoth]

could someone explain me what are the big difference between FHM3 and EHM ? I've played a lot EHM (1200+hours) but i've never tried Franchise Hockey Manager.
For an hockey addict is it worth it?

I have enjoyed both for different reasons. FHM2 is more statistically driven while EHM is more coaching/less customizable. I have been playing EHM since 2005 but am enjoying the FHM games now a little bit more because it is a different game. I tried getting into the new EHM (EA or 1) but with the bug reports and the same GUI as previous versions (even kind of worse imo) I haven't played it very much in several months.

I have hopes for both of these games going forward, this is a market that is severely underappreciated and under utilized.

Thank you Riz and Sebastian (and Jeff and Markus as well)!

[archibalduk]

As some people already mentioned, we concentrated on the modern game, day to day stuff the most (of course fictional and historical still have most of the stuff as well) and of course some people are not happy with it but that is the way we want to go and we will continue it, even if we can´t make everyone happy.

So if you have any questions, feel free to ask. When I can answer them, I will.

And to be perfectly clear: at this point there is absolutely no plan to add it as a patch later (just want to make sure nobody buys the game and expects it). Right now we focus mostly on the single player, modern, day to day game.

I really appreciate the clear plan and being upfront like this from the start. I feel FHM 1 struggled in part because there was too much effort to please everybody rather than first concentrating on the core. The game definitely looks like a big step forward.

[ujlien]

i've just noticed that the pre order is cheaper if i buy the pre order copy in usd instead of cad. 30$ usd is just shy under 40 canadian dollars. If i use the CAD currency on their website it's listed to 42.86. Only 3 bucks, but hey!

Unfortunately we have no influence on the exchange rate, sorry.

It's really not a big deal, dont worry! I'll buy it anyway haha

[VonCurry]

Gotta love it when the market has two games that have to compete against each other. Cool things like official licensing show up. I'm a big fan of EHM and really don't know much about FHM but having it "official" will get me watching it..

Now the question for myself, is it more realistic than EHM? The game I currently play.

[Ukko]

I'd be very interested in playing this along EHM, I will also wait a bit for the vets' feedback, in order to see how different/better/interesting it is compared to EHM.

[MWE]

Will this be available on Steam?

[Sebastian Palkowski]

It will be on Steam and you can already buy a Steam Key on our site (or of course wait and buy it directly on Steam later).

Will this be available on Steam?

[ClassicSwarley]

Is there a plan to add achievements for this game on Steam?

[Sebastian Palkowski]

There is no plan because it already has (Steam-)Achievements. I think we have around 50, the one you would expect (win all the different leagues) and more obscure ones like start a game with only players from the teams nationality or sign a player from your home town and so on.

Is there a plan to add achievements for this game on Steam?

[ClassicSwarley]

Wow, that's awesome to hear!

[matbur]

Firstly, I like the fact that someone actually direct involved in making the game is posting here so that's a definite thumbs up to start.

I currently play EHM but understand it's not going to be released again so FHM 3 could well be my go-to hockey sim. I will follow this thread to follow developments and to get the views of others before purchasing.

I'd like to ask will the game have licenses for other leagues mainly the AHL and CHL, and if not, would there be third-party customisable databases?

[Sebastian Palkowski]

I'd like to ask will the game have licenses for other leagues mainly the AHL and CHL, and if not, would there be third-party customisable databases?

At the moment only the NHL is licensed so we ship the game with only NHL logos. All other teams have random team logos but it is possible to use your own logo packs (this year we will have Steam Works support but it is possible to use them with the eSellerate version as well).

For the future we always look for adding more leagues officially to the game but everything has to fit before we can do more deals.

[zbguy]

I have a couple of questions about FHM3:

1. Can FHM2 saves be imported into FHM3?
2. Has there been any additions to what can be edited in the game? Like League rules and such?

Thanks

[dave1927p]

I have a couple of questions about FHM3:

1. Can FHM2 saves be imported into FHM3?
2. Has there been any additions to what can be edited in the game? Like League rules and such?

Thanks

1. No
2. I'm not sure