Ken
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Posts posted by Ken
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So those lovable Fins over at nhlgamer.com and #nhl94 on IRCNet are starting up a new summer league, and it appears they're actually using a wiki to run, or, at the very least, to sign up. I asked them if they wanted me to try and recruit any North Americans and they said go ahead, so here goes.
The site is http://nhl94.kulde.net/index.php?n=Main.NHL94Kes%e4liiga, and you can sign up there with your desired number of games and team.
Here are a few things to bear in mind if you actually want to give it a shot...
1. They are located in Finland, and many of them will be willing to play you on an American server up to half the time, but in any case you'll wind up playing a lot of games on a European server (hopefully one in England or France or some place in western Europe). That's a minimum 100 ping, and it'll only go up from there, so you really should be on the east coast or close to it to consider it.
2. They're 7 hours ahead of EDT, though they're largely night owls. Afternoon or early evening game times are best for them if you can manage them, but weekend mornings or afternoons are possibilites, too.
Now that I've scared everyone away, those of you who are left should head over to #nhl94 on IRCNet (http://chat.ircnet.org/ is a good Java chat for IRCNet) and talk to them a bit (and don't give up if no one's around the first time.)
tick, how do you compare to the good players over there?
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I tend to agree! I think 2 months at most then start the playoffs! This wait is killing me!
Of course it's not up to me and I couldnt run this site half as well as Evan does so mabye I should just shut up!
ditto for Evan doing a great job. as I mentioned in the other thread, the reg. season should be much quicker. the dedicated players were half way done with the season after 3 weeks, and waiting around kills momentum.
less games in less time (maybe with less players) would be good.
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Length of league and playoffs:
I think in the next league, their should be less regular season games and/or should be shorts in terms of months. I think we should be able to do the entire league in 2 months. maybe 4 weeks for a regular season, 4 weeks for playoffs.
the guys who are dedicated have no trouble with this schedule - plenty of people played 20-30 games in the first month, and they had no reason to!
plus, playoff seeds aren't that big a deal - in the Campbell for instance there are 6 teams that are very close to each other, and all would have made the playoffs given a 30 team regular season.
the guys who would have trouble with this are the guys who would eventually drop out anyway.
so, I think a 30 game regular season is fine, played over 1 month.
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maybe I'm biased, but I think the Campbell is much tougher than the Wales.
Here are the teams with legit chances to win, imho. hope I don't insult anyone too bad
Philly
Montreal
Boston
Toronto
Winnipeg
Detroit
Chicago
San Jose
Calgary
3 teams from Wales, 6 from Campbell
and 4 are these teams are in the Central, which I think is easily the toughest division
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Because of my lag being one of the highest in the league, Im having trouble getting to goalie control in time on most of the 3 methods I mentioned above.
Everyone I play has an advantage on me right off the start because of having less lag.
Like I said in my post I dont expect to be able to stop all the attempts on those maneuvers, but would like it to come down by at least half of what it is right now.
my guess is that lag has little to do with the problem. Even on the console, there is a delay in switching over to the goalie. it's one of those things you need to do before it's neccesary to do. in other words, switch to the goalie as a rushing opponent is above the circles...switch to the goalie when an opponent is at the boards, preparing to crossover...switch to the goalie when you sense that a one time attempt will soon be started.
if you try to switch to the goalie as an opponent is pulling "the move"...well, then it's too late.
some shots are basically impossible to stop. That's ok. When an opponent scores one of those on me, I mentally tip my cap, and move on, b/c I know that I'm about to do the same thing to him.
some basic defensive keys:
Get your defenders in positions that prevent shooters from getting good shot angles on the goalies.
Clog the center passing lanes to prevent one timers
If your defenders are out of place/incapable of stopping a play, then anticipate what scoring move (one timer? crossover? slapshot? one on one move?) your opponent is about to do, and make the appropriate manual goalie moves/positioning ahead of him in order to stop him.
in the end, it often comes down to who is mentally quicker and more creative offensiviely.
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I suggest next season editing the ROM to have ALL goalies with a MINIMUM rating of 80.
I am slowly getting less interested in this game because I find all the 'good' players only have 3 ways of scoring, which work 60% of the time.
1) Slapper
2) Across the crease
3) One-timer
Lets face it low rated goalies almost always let these shots in then say Roy, Belfour and Fuhr.
If we bumped up the ratings of the goalies these goals wouldnt go in quite so much.
Meaning there would be more competiveness across the league.
This is a serious suggestion and if not taken that way, I may consider not playing next season unless I get a 'goalie' team.
This is not a threat, just trying to make things more fair.
those methods of scoring are all legitimate and fun parts of the game. learning how to score, from various points on the ice and in various situations, is what separates the good players from average ones. also, some teams have better scorers than others, some better defenseman, some are faster, and some have better goalies. pluses and minuses across the board. if you want to artifically change goalie rankings, shouldn't you also want to artifically change the other rankings? just give everyone the same exact team?
I agree, that in general, some teams have advantages over others. This is why a player draft would be a great idea, so players can craft teams that they want. thegr8199, if you think goalie is so important, then you can take Belfour or Roy with your first pick. my guess is that many other top players would not. personally, I'm fine with having an "ok" goalie, b/c good manual goalie control can neutralize many scoring options. I'd rather have speedy players with shoot and pass well, b/c you can't manually improve those things nearly as well as you can improve your goalie.
edit: my guess is that you're complaining b/c LA's goalie sucks. This is true. he does. that's why you need to get better at manual goalie control. Sorry to be blunt, but the problem is not with the game, the problem is with how you choose to play.
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just wondering...
EDIT: ok, I tried to make this a poll, but I guess I'm too old to figure out how forums work. ha.
anyways, just was wondering how old you guys were. I'm 30, and I'm probably one of the older guys.
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For what it's worth me and my old NHL rival used to play all of our games with random teams. To us it just got boring if you always choose good teams with great players, and it was fun to mix it up with crappy teams. It only works well if you are playing a series of games
both people taking random teams is a totally different thing than both people taking crappy teams. the point (I think) is to find out who the best players are (and have fun of course), and this is best accomplished by putting teams on equal footing.
also, if you're going to pick random teams, a 7 game series is nowhere near long enough to overcome the edge that 1 player will (probably) get over the other
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The idea of letting everyone be whoever they want is bad, then everyone is going to pick good teams all the time. If you want to make it fair, make the teams random for every game. That way it will mostly be player ability, but there will also be the chance for upsets, and the underdog to take the title.
I think the league should be set up to give the best players the best chance to win. I see no reason to create rules/systems which hurt good players and help medoicre ones.
assigning random teams does just that...I can't see how this help create a system where 'player ability' is most important. so what if everyone just takes the good teams? I see no problem with that...and it's in fact much better than the luck of draw.
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I intend to make a section on nhl94.com explaining online play, emulators, ROMS, etc so new guys like you can get started without having to ask alot of questions.
About the original NHL94 rom, I have one on nhl94.com at: http://www.nhl94.com/html/multimedia/downloads.asp You'll see the section called "default NHL94.bin file (Genesis)".
-Evan
PS If anyone wants to help with this nhl94 online info page, reply here with things you'd like to see there.
Some ideas:
where to buy a controller adaptor
how to create a game in kaillera, log on, start a game up, etc
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but I also play offsides. I cuts down on breakaways for the other team and keeps the game from getting out of hand, i.e. Scores like 13-1.
playing good defense also cuts down on breakaways. breakaways can also be largely neautralized with good manual goalie play. anywho, it's not b/c a lack of offside rule that causes 13-1 games, it's good players playing bad players that cause 13-1 games.
in fact, if there is a rule/setting that lets good players gain an advantage over mediocre players, I'm all for it.
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Why don't we just let players use whatever team they want? Then no one can complain and everyone's happy.
that is also an interesting idea...as long as we outlaw CHI
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I mean, the original game didn't have drafts! Why have drafts now?
Tick,
The original game didn't have a lot of stuff that is standard in video games now. This is for a variety of reasons. I think that if you can take some really cool stuff from todays games, and blend them into the 94 that we all love, you're only making the game better.
An example: say this community eventually grows to the point where there are 30 or so dedicated, good players. There are going to be some players stuck w/ the Oilers and Islanders of the world, or even worse Ottawa/San Jose. No matter how good these guys are, they will be at a tremendous disadvantage to any good player with a "top-tier" team.
If you and I are equally skilled, and I'm Montreal and you're Anaheim, I'm going to beat you 8 or 9 times out of 10. The draft - in theory - goes a long way towards eliminating these problems, and you should end up with much more balance. And if some people end up with 'better' teams than others, it's b/c they drafted better than everybody else and/or picked players that better suited their style of play. I don't see anything wrong with this, and in fact is a major improvement over the "luck of the draw" draft, or the "first come first serve" draft.
I agree that you need a set of dedicated players to make this work. Also, it's not really a problem if you only have 10-12 teams, b/c then most people get a good team.
As far as the time requirement goes, it's not that big a deal - similar to a fantasy football draft. The draft only takes a few hours, and can be scheduled a month or so in advance so everyone is free. Beforehand, the league puts together a ranked list of all the players (the ranking only needs to be approximate, and nobody even needs to agree on it) if a guy misses his turn or the whole draft, he is just automatically given the next player on the list. this way, even guys who miss the draft get a decent team, and the thing moves along at good speed
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Boston - Amazing & balanced scoring, if their shaky goaltending holds, they're the best.
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Bosto also has the best set (no line changes) of defenseman in the league. Bourque and Sweeney are awesome.
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Please put any ideas, suggestions, comments you have for the nhl94online.com league here. This will help us bring the league to a solid system where we're generally happy with rules, setup, etc.
Thanks.
-Evan
Hi Evan,
I'm just posting the email I sent to you earlier, so others can see. This is a suggestion for future seasons:
"I've been reading about editing the game through NOSE, and a thought occurred to me - have you guys ever thought of doing a draft NHL 94 league? Allowing people to create their own teams would eliminate the inherent advantages some guys get from having better teams, and allow for a new fun factor.
If you make the league rules non-line changing, then each team really only needs 1 Goalie, 3 or 4 defenseman, and 5 or 6 forwards. This 9-12 round draft would be reasonable to run & make the ROM reasonably easy to create - I think?"
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My friends and I used to play the same way. Chicago was simply not to be used. Chicago is so ungodly good. Granted Roenick is the best center in the game he is not the reason they are unfair. Roenick can be neutralized through good goalie control.
It's that darn Belfour! He is way too good for a goalie!
it's how good all 6 Blackhhawks are. Roenick is the best overall player in the game, Belfour the best goalie, Chelios a top top defensemen, Larmer is a great wing, Ruutu are a great "3rd" forward, and Smith a great "2nd" defenseman.
Roenick alone doesn't make them the best, but he sure hlps.
with line changes on, their dominance decreases, and teams like Montreal and Calgary can put up better 2nd lines..
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seems like montreal (cause they won the cup that year)and chicago are very dominate teams.AM I mistaken?Or is it just me?
I think CHI is the only team head and shoulders above the others
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In any case, no line changes makes it too easy to mindlessly hammer "C" while on defense, instead of rewarding the player who's a little more moderated with his speed bursts.
until recently, I didn't realize this was a problem..time to rethink my strategies
think you dismiss the value of managing lines too much, and I think it's actually easier to "out line-change" your opponents without penalties because when you have penalties you have more stoppages.this is true, but isn't is also true that having to manage special units (pk, pp) makes it that much harder to keep your key guys fresh? you are more familiar with this than I am, so you're probably right.
I'm not crazy about penalties, but I think having offsides increases the skill required as well.of all the options, this is prolly my least favorite. partly b/c the long "touchdown" pass has been part of my attack for years, since I never played w/ offsides. also b/c - as I mentioned before - offsides slows the game down, and I like keeping the tempo fast
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agreed. sweeney is a tank. as is todd gill. there is more to checking than just the checking stat however.
what else factors into it? I'm trying to think of stats that would favor Sweeney over Bourque...can't think of any off hand. aggresiveness?
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So which is it? Do they add strategic elements, or do they just slow the game down?
I think line changes do add a small strategic element - but I think that anybody who is a decent player, or anybody who can look at an energy meter and realize it's getting low - can incorporate a good line change strategy pretty quickly. Basically, I think it's very hard to "out line-change" your opponent if you are playing w/o penalties, and still difficult to do if you are playing w/ penalties. If this is true, then all line changes ultimately due is slow the game down w/ lesser players.
I agree that there is something interesting about setting the optimal lines for a given team/opponent, but again, I'd rather just have my best players out there flying around scoring goals.
So there are pro's and con's w/ each system, I just prefer the advantages/gameplay that come with playing with your "best 5".
I'm new to line changes, so take this with a grain of salt.
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It's kind of hard for new guys to get into playing NHL94 online. (I know, b/c I am new!). There are questions about emulators, controllers, Kaillera, and maybe most important, getting in touch with other players. I think it could be a good idea to add a "sticky" post to this forum with the AIM addresses of anyone who doesn't mind getting IM'ed to play a game. There are AIM lists scattered around different league sites, but having a master list of AIM addresses in a sticky/pinner post up on this site could be handy for new players getting started.
Anywho, does anyone agree?
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I personally dislike having penalties "on."
- Penalties takes away from the speed and the flow of the game. I like quick arcade style action. (just my opinion of course)
- It seems a lot of the penalties are out of anyones control. Granted a players aggressiveness may have a factor, but it just stinks when you are on your breakaway then the whistle blows cause of a holding penalty that you had nothing to do with.
Just my 2 cents...
Id like to know what others play online? Penalties on? or off?
I "grew up" playing without them.
For the most part, I agree with you.
Penalties slow down the game (making it less fun), they add a mostly random factor to the game (hurting the better players), and they take away from the game in the same way that line changes do (by taking the best players off the ice).
I like playing w/o line changes, w/o penalties, and w/o offsides, b/c that is the fastest game around, and it keep all the best players on the ice. Basically, it's the most fun.
I can see why other guys like the strategic elements of line changes/penalty killing - but in reality these things aren't that hard to get used to, and all it really accomplishes is slowing the game down.
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Hello Everybody.
I'm new to the board and new to this online NHL94 thing. I was pretty decent back in the day and would like to play someone in the old school NHL94 rom. (Maybe this new 2006a version at some point, but I really don't know the rosters)
AIM screen name: backhandfloater
hey there,
you can find the AIM names of a bunch of us at this site:
http://www.nhl94.com/nhl94cup/
(I hope people don't mind me linking there).
also, the Spring league is starting soon, you should sign up!
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I've always suspected that something was a bit off in regards to the checking ability of these 2 defenseman. IMO, Sweeney is the most devasting body checker in the league - he'll take out basically anybody at will. Bourque is very good at body checking, but not as good as Sweeney.
Yet, Bourque has a much higher checking rating. Is it possible that the original game programmers 'reversed' the checking ratings of these 2 guys?
Next Finnish NHL '94 League
in Global Announcements
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who's kgman? he's not playing in the apring league, is he? could you pm me or post him aim?