Masking the real player names

V4ND3RP00L · Post by **V4ND3RP00L** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 6:09 pm

Do any of you ever start a game off where you don't choose to use the real players name? If you haven't, then you might want to do it in order to have fun without using a database from here or other places.

Now, that is only if you want to just play the original game with the default database.

Cause it completely shakes things up and changes every players name. On top of that, it erases every single stat from the game. Which means you can write your own NHL history or whatever league you decide to play in at that time.

The only thing that stays there is what teams won the Cup at the end of the year.

Anyway, it will also switch some of the attributes up a little as well. Such as Ovechkin and Crosby aren't built up as good as they are when you start the game normally. They are a little down, but you can see their consistancy rating and they are either 19 or 20.

Which means they will do very well, don't you think? By the way, if a players consistancy rating is high, like 15 and up or atleast over 10. Then that means they tend to be very consistent with their ratings, right? I am only wondering, because I haven't been able to find too much information on that issue.

All in all, it's fun to try the game out that way. I am about to start up another game and see how it goes with doing the game this way.

Oh yeah, you can see extra ratings for certain coaches and players also. Such as their effort to throw money towards your team and some other stuff, it's cool.

Post by **batdad** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 8:59 pm

And the players are still on the same teams they were on with their real names. So you can still tell who is who just by looking at the team rosters at the start of the year and the players themselves.

There is a whole thread on consistency rating not to far from this one. It is called the regen thread. Ask there.

And yeah, I wish I could remember what the setting was to start the game this way (mask real names or something) because then I would change this thread title as well. It is not specific enough.

Folks, please remember to name your thread specifically, not generically. If we want it to be generic we will title it : THE OFFICIAL GENERIC THREAD.

OR:*&*()&*&#*(@(#& *This game sucks......*&*(&(&*(&*(*(&( or something.

Post by **vilifyingforce** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 9:05 pm

batdad wrote:And the players are still on the same teams they were on with their real names. So you can still tell who is who just by looking at the team rosters at the start of the year and the players themselves.

That's why you do a computer controlled fantasy draft, and include prospects, really shakes the teams around and gives fantasy contracts, some of them being brutal!

Post by **B. Stinson** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 10:05 pm

I've tried this quite a few times throughout the EHM versions, but I've never stuck to it. Mainly due to batdad's first point - players are simply renamed, and very easy to spot.

Though, the things you pointed out, JP, really do make it a great feature... and definitely worth using when you want something different.

P.S. Happy St. Patrick's Day to my fellow Irish descendents and Irishmen!

Post by **vilifyingforce** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 10:16 pm

I'm hoping once the smetana roster is fixed I'm going to roll it into an online game. A lot of guys will be harder to spot if their attrib's have been changed around a bit. I'm wondering if I can remove draft history, it'd help hide the guys a bit better, and, I think it would overcome some of the fringe guys who do really well, Peter Metcalf, Cory Murphy, Martin Lojek, etc. Or maybe use the original db.

Post by **batdad** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 10:26 pm

Smetana will not be fixing his roster. At least I do not think so. No response from him in what? 3 months? He may know what is wrong, but has not responded nor done anything about it on SI forums to my knowledge.

(And I believe the problem is using a hex editor to change things around..it contaminated the base)

To do the save game roster edition..someone will have to start all over again.

At least that is the case IMHO...which of course, is never humble

Post by **vilifyingforce** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 10:38 pm

Well, after everything he's done and all the effort plunged into this thing you'd figure he'd at least come out and say it's screwed, but, maybe that's just too painful to admit defeat. I'm just looking for a new challenge for an online league. Too bad this game didn't have the mod-ability that ootp does....hmm...maybe it's time for a sports change...

Post by **batdad** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 11:00 pm

No not suggesting that at all. Just saying I don't think it is fixable. I think he would have to start over. Oops..did not mean to have people think I was trashing him. He put alot of time into that saved game, here and working on it. Tis too bad in its incarnation it did not work.

Who knows maybe in a month or two he will have started it over, and he will get a new version out. without using hex editing.

V4ND3RP00L · Post by **V4ND3RP00L** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 11:20 pm

Sorry that I didn't name the thread title correctly. From what I know and I was not just asking what the place was to do such a thing in the game.

I was just simply asking if any of you around here have done this to shake it up a bit.

As for the setting, it's when you choose in the screen whether you want this league or that one. Then you also choose whether it will be enhanced or standard.

Down at the bottom where you choose to do the fantasy draft and so forth. The option to not use real player names is the 2nd box.

As for it just masking the names, it technically doesn't do that at all. If you don't believe me, start the game normally and look at Crosby or Ovechkin. Look at the ratings and you will see that they are really high, mostly all in the green or yellow, mostly green.

Then mask the names or start the game all jumbled up and go to the draft and view Crosby or Ovechkin then from there. You'll see that they aren't as highly rated in the green as they are normally. The game tends to change the name and the way that they are rated.

Not enough to ruin the game or the fun of having Crosby or Ovechkin on your team, but it tends to knock the levels down for the younger players like them and even Staal as well.

I think it is mostly due to them being able to jump back up into the 20's very easily or the green in that regard.

So all in all, sorry about not naming the title correctly. Didn't think that it would cause confusion or problems. As for the consistancy stuff, I will go to the regen thread and read over it again.

I have been through it once and honestly didn't get any answer to some of the questions that I had in my head. But heck, I'll just post the question there on what it all means and what it can tell you for the player.

Thanks to all of you who posted.

Post by **batdad** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 11:25 pm

No..I was just wondering what the option was called, so I Could change the title.

I am goin to call it Masking the players names.

V4ND3RP00L · Post by **V4ND3RP00L** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 11:27 pm

No problem.

pens66 · Post by **pens66** » Tue Mar 18, 2008 11:11 am

I once edited the database to have a hockey universe truly dominated by Canada. I edited the NHL to a Canadian only league (an Ontario Conference and a Western/Quebec/Atlantic Conference) and changed a ton of the player's nationalities to Canadian as well. 95% of the best players in the world were now Canadian.
Then I started a new game and played with fake names. Ironically a Russian winger called Anton Poleschuk won the first four Art Ross trophies with 150+ points

The Montreal Royals and the Toronto Metrostars (yeah, I know I suck at thinking of good team names) won the first four Cups.

This stuff is really funny. Especially, that you can completely write your own league's history from scratch. I made notes of various records and always looked out if they were broken by someone. I also took pictures of All-Stars to have their histories saved when they retired. That was own my little Hall of Fame.
I onced had this running for over ten years with one savegame. But I didn't take that many notes back then.
I think I have to do this again

gibson41 · Post by **gibson41** » Tue Mar 18, 2008 1:30 pm

I don't know if it was mentioned before, but it actually shakes up rosters a bit. The core stays the same, but I spotted a slovakian D on the Oilers roster. In real, they do not have any slovakian D. So...there you go...

V4ND3RP00L · Post by **V4ND3RP00L** » Tue Apr 01, 2008 4:53 am

That is the weird thing sometimes and needless to say it doesn't matter to me if they change what country they are from or whatever, but it can change the way that national games are played, you know?

You might see Canada end up like Japan and so on and we all know that would be a big crock.