Adding A New N. American Top Tier Pro League
Posted: Fri Apr 21, 2017 3:56 pm
This isn't a question about how to do something, so relax everyone.
I almost posted this in another general thread, but I instead opted to start a new thread here because the eventual info might be of use to others along the line. Mainly having to do with what effects trying things in the editor has long-term on gameplay. Hopefully this works as a place for this.
What I have done is to take the TBL 9.4 DB and create a whole new 10-team International Hockey League, using the SPHL as a template.
* IHL league rep is 18.
* IHL team reps are equivalent/in line with the lower-reputation NHL teams like the Arizona Coyotes.
* No league salary cap.
* IHL team budgets in the $25m-$40m range. This is perhaps excessive, and I may pare it down at some point. But erring on the high side for now.
* Put a number of teams in big markets with big venues. So Detroit, Seattle, Houston, Atlanta, etc... along with some smaller markets ( like Birmingham, Salt Lake, Indianapolis).
* 56-game schedule ripped off directly from the SPHL, and SPHL playoff format (BECAUSE I'M LAZY, OK?). 8 of the 10 teams will make the Turner Cup Playoffs.
* Team rosters are 20 dressed, 26 max on roster. 26 may be a little high, we'll see. 20 to dress may be too high also, and maybe 18 is more the way to go eventually. But for now, 20 it is
* Went through KHL, DEL, SHL, Swiss NLA, etc teams and released a bunch of Americans and some Canadians to free agency. I have 250-ish roster spots to fill after all.
* Also released a few select (maybe a dozen between the two?) AHL and ECHLers to free agency as well to help bolster the UFA pool a tiny bit.
* Also released maybe 7 or 8 Europeans total across al leagues to free agency, to see if they'd sign or not (in addition to the Europeans already as UFA's).
* Set IHL max salaries for the most part to just slightly beat the max KHL ones, if it comes down to it.
* Started game with Large DB.
* IHL Enhanced. NHL, AHL, ECHL, KHL, SHL, Liiga, Swiss NLA all on View Only.
* Added additional Junior Players hoping that maybe this will help the player pool down the road.
* Retained all players from Canada and USA, just in case.
* NHL-style rules.
* Re-created about 10 of the IHL awards in the game, just for fun and because I hadn't ever added in Awards yet.
Besides playing around in my new sandbox here, I have a number of questions here, and want to see if the game answers any of these:
1.) A few years down the road, will the game's player pool still support this league and its level of play, since it's something fairly new?
2.) With their finances the way they are, will teams be able to poach some NHL players every now and again?
3.) Will any Europeans eventually go along with this league, given its reputation and team reps are second only to the NHL, and that it seem there's decent money to be made? Or will the game remain incredibly segregated outside of the NHL?
4.) Will this 10-team league basically strip leagues like the KHL of their American and Canadian imports long-term?
5.) With no league-wide salary cap, can the Indy's, Salt Lakes, and Louisvilles compete with the Detroits, Seattles, and Houstons?
6.) What effect would the IHL have on say the AHL's ability to sign vets to AHL-only contracts.
7.) Will the NHL plunder the IHL for players at some point?
8.) With its 56-game schedule, does this work better for the older players that the IHL is going to inevitably skew towards (the 30 and over crowd)? Or does the game not even care?
9.) How high will IHL teams be willing to spend for guys?
In more general terms... what happens plopping this league into the game's top tier ecosystem, I guess?
I almost posted this in another general thread, but I instead opted to start a new thread here because the eventual info might be of use to others along the line. Mainly having to do with what effects trying things in the editor has long-term on gameplay. Hopefully this works as a place for this.
What I have done is to take the TBL 9.4 DB and create a whole new 10-team International Hockey League, using the SPHL as a template.
* IHL league rep is 18.
* IHL team reps are equivalent/in line with the lower-reputation NHL teams like the Arizona Coyotes.
* No league salary cap.
* IHL team budgets in the $25m-$40m range. This is perhaps excessive, and I may pare it down at some point. But erring on the high side for now.
* Put a number of teams in big markets with big venues. So Detroit, Seattle, Houston, Atlanta, etc... along with some smaller markets ( like Birmingham, Salt Lake, Indianapolis).
* 56-game schedule ripped off directly from the SPHL, and SPHL playoff format (BECAUSE I'M LAZY, OK?). 8 of the 10 teams will make the Turner Cup Playoffs.
* Team rosters are 20 dressed, 26 max on roster. 26 may be a little high, we'll see. 20 to dress may be too high also, and maybe 18 is more the way to go eventually. But for now, 20 it is
* Went through KHL, DEL, SHL, Swiss NLA, etc teams and released a bunch of Americans and some Canadians to free agency. I have 250-ish roster spots to fill after all.
* Also released a few select (maybe a dozen between the two?) AHL and ECHLers to free agency as well to help bolster the UFA pool a tiny bit.
* Also released maybe 7 or 8 Europeans total across al leagues to free agency, to see if they'd sign or not (in addition to the Europeans already as UFA's).
* Set IHL max salaries for the most part to just slightly beat the max KHL ones, if it comes down to it.
* Started game with Large DB.
* IHL Enhanced. NHL, AHL, ECHL, KHL, SHL, Liiga, Swiss NLA all on View Only.
* Added additional Junior Players hoping that maybe this will help the player pool down the road.
* Retained all players from Canada and USA, just in case.
* NHL-style rules.
* Re-created about 10 of the IHL awards in the game, just for fun and because I hadn't ever added in Awards yet.
Besides playing around in my new sandbox here, I have a number of questions here, and want to see if the game answers any of these:
1.) A few years down the road, will the game's player pool still support this league and its level of play, since it's something fairly new?
2.) With their finances the way they are, will teams be able to poach some NHL players every now and again?
3.) Will any Europeans eventually go along with this league, given its reputation and team reps are second only to the NHL, and that it seem there's decent money to be made? Or will the game remain incredibly segregated outside of the NHL?
4.) Will this 10-team league basically strip leagues like the KHL of their American and Canadian imports long-term?
5.) With no league-wide salary cap, can the Indy's, Salt Lakes, and Louisvilles compete with the Detroits, Seattles, and Houstons?
6.) What effect would the IHL have on say the AHL's ability to sign vets to AHL-only contracts.
7.) Will the NHL plunder the IHL for players at some point?
8.) With its 56-game schedule, does this work better for the older players that the IHL is going to inevitably skew towards (the 30 and over crowd)? Or does the game not even care?
9.) How high will IHL teams be willing to spend for guys?
In more general terms... what happens plopping this league into the game's top tier ecosystem, I guess?