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Custom EIHL (GB) ROM - plan of action (and call for help!)


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44 minutes ago, MonkeyHead said:

My effort at rosters is finally at a state where I feel further tinkering will drive me mad. Attached is a ROM derived from the CHL ROM (as it had 3 teams in it I needed...) with them in. I have only edited the rosters, lines, kits, and basic team details, but none of the logos etc, so this isn't for playing, but instead for @UltraMagnus and @LaTormenta to use as they see fit in their own work. Further editing to make team names etc. appear in a ROM correctly might be needed, but all the basics are there to build on. Feel free to use\amend\ignore as you see fit

The rosters are for 14 teams - 10 EIHL, and 4 extras. I have decided against including lower level UK teams, as scaling them with any accuracy considering the gulf in class would be impossible - and also my brain is now mush from doing these 14. Mad respect to the legends here who do the whole NHL, not some minor league...

As for my ratings... eh. The EIHL is comparable in style and quality to the ECHL. The player base is journeymen from NA, older pros from Europe, and some domestic talent. To make the rosters enjoyable to play but also realistic I have avoided too many 80+ or 50- players, with my ratings in context of minor league hockey. Each team and player was based on 2019\2020 stats (thanks EliteProspects), EIHL data, and my own impressions as a long time EIHL observer I think I did ok considering... YMMV.

As for the teams... In rough order of strength:

EIHL Legends - A team made up of non-GB eligible players that hold the best stats over the last few decades. Strong all around.

GB Legends - A team of the best players to ever represent GB, apart from one - Charlie Gardiner (2 time Vezina winner). Had to include him... Made up of a mix of '36 gold medal winners, and players from the last "golden age" of GB hockey in the early 90's. Also strong all around.

EIHL All-Stars - A roster of the current best non-GB players in the EIHL with at least 2 seasons in the league. No one season wonders who show up, take the cash, and leave ASAP. Loaded with goals.

Team GB - Based on 2019 IIHF team, which made a decent showing in avoiding relegation.

Cardiff Devils - League leaders at season cancellation. Solid physical unit.

Sheffield Steelers - Free scoring offensive team, creaky defence.

Coventry Blaze - strong top line, not great depth.

Belfast Giants - defensively strong, not great offense.

Nottingham Panthers - Another defensive bias team.

Guildford Flames - Play a fast brand of hockey.

Manchester Storm - Struggling for goals, best netminder.

Glasgow Clan - Physical team, lacks depth.

Dundee Stars - Weak defensive players.

Fife Flyers - Can score goals. Will struggle without the puck.

 

 

EIHL Rosters.bin 2 MB · 2 downloads

Quick note...how did you add a 3rd goalie to the teams? Disregard. Found it. lol.

Edited by UltraMagnus
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Huge progress. Thanks to @MonkeyHead for streamlining this. 

  • Teams all updated into their spots for the season mode. 3 divisions (Erhardt (NE), Patton (Central) and Gardiner(Pacific) the Atlantic division will be place holders, as well as remaining teams in each division)
  • Banners, Scoreboard, Calendar, Main screen, 1st and 2nd Splash completed.

Here are the remaining items and your input will help.

  • Trophies - include the EIHL trophies or no?
  • Center ices - logos? especially all-stars (EIHL Logo) and national teams (GBR flag)?
  • Player cards - will be only the NLC phots entered.
  • Time Ticker in Game - EIHL Logo or something else?

Probably can be done by end of weekend if all goes well.

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On 2/16/2021 at 12:30 PM, MonkeyHead said:

3 main screens - one of the awful league logo, one of the Giants getting the most recent league trophy, one of a well known player (like Bowns, Ginn, Haddad, Owen, Martin, Herr, Connolly, Fournier- any stats leader).

Divisions - this was a bugbear for me. Used to have 3. Erhardt (Cardiff, Belfast, Sheffield, Nottingham - easily strongest), Gardiner (Dundee, Fife, Glasgow - scots competition), and Patton (Coventry, Manchester and Guildford). This was dropped in 2019-2020 for a straight 10 team league. I was thinking of having 3 small conferences with blank placeholder teams. You could split this into a North\South geographically, or East\West if 2 works better). Could easily pad to a full four with lower division teams... Going for just the 10 EIHL teams makes most sense though as the quality gulf to lower divisions is vast. 6 games v each team gives a 54 game regular season.

Names would be better for banners as we have some awful logos.

Player photos would be nice - should be available somewhere!

Ill do 2 versions of the banners. One with the logos and the other with the names. Give two different feelings.

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8 hours ago, UltraMagnus said:

Huge progress. Thanks to @MonkeyHead for streamlining this. 

  • Teams all updated into their spots for the season mode. 3 divisions (Erhardt (NE), Patton (Central) and Gardiner(Pacific) the Atlantic division will be place holders, as well as remaining teams in each division)
  • Banners, Scoreboard, Calendar, Main screen, 1st and 2nd Splash completed.

Here are the remaining items and your input will help.

  • Trophies - include the EIHL trophies or no?
  • Center ices - logos? especially all-stars (EIHL Logo) and national teams (GBR flag)?
  • Player cards - will be only the NLC phots entered.
  • Time Ticker in Game - EIHL Logo or something else?

Probably can be done by end of weekend if all goes well.

Might as well include our awful trophy names.

Centre ice? Logos please. GB teams could have the flag. All stars should probably have EIHL logo.

Thanks for the cards - a nice touch.

Ticker could be Premier Sports logo as they are the most decent broadcaster...

Also, in those screenshots, it reads "ranksing"... (and the Belfast banner needs to be teal and red or green, with cardiffs being red and green. Logo banners wont have that issue).

Edited by MonkeyHead
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6 hours ago, MonkeyHead said:

Might as well include our awful trophy names.

Centre ice? Logos please. GB teams could have the flag. All stars should probably have EIHL logo.

Thanks for the cards - a nice touch.

Ticker could be Premier Sports logo as they are the most decent broadcaster...

Also, in those screenshots, it reads "ranksing"... (and the Belfast banner needs to be teal and red or green, with cardiffs being red and green. Logo banners wont have that issue).

Ill have those all updated. The Ranksing part I mistyped only after take the screen shot, but will have it cleaned up for sure.

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15 hours ago, UltraMagnus said:

Hello Gents

Here is some of the action for the game so far.

image.png

That looks great.  That's the edited logo I sent over, right?  It looks a lot better than the standard one, which would probably look ridiculous when shrunk.  Hopefully it looks half as good in the NHL '94 version!

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On 2/24/2021 at 10:49 PM, MonkeyHead said:

My effort at rosters is finally at a state where I feel further tinkering will drive me mad. Attached is a ROM derived from the CHL ROM (as it had 3 teams in it I needed...) with them in. I have only edited the rosters, lines, kits, and basic team details, but none of the logos etc, so this isn't for playing, but instead for @UltraMagnus and @LaTormenta to use as they see fit in their own work. Further editing to make team names etc. appear in a ROM correctly might be needed, but all the basics are there to build on. Feel free to use\amend\ignore as you see fit

The rosters are for 14 teams - 10 EIHL, and 4 extras. I have decided against including lower level UK teams, as scaling them with any accuracy considering the gulf in class would be impossible - and also my brain is now mush from doing these 14. Mad respect to the legends here who do the whole NHL, not some minor league...

As for my ratings... eh. The EIHL is comparable in style and quality to the ECHL. The player base is journeymen from NA, older pros from Europe, and some domestic talent. To make the rosters enjoyable to play but also realistic I have avoided too many 80+ or 50- players, with my ratings in context of minor league hockey. Each team and player was based on 2019\2020 stats (thanks EliteProspects), EIHL data, and my own impressions as a long time EIHL observer I think I did ok considering... YMMV.

As for the teams... In rough order of strength:

EIHL Legends - A team made up of non-GB eligible players that hold the best stats over the last few decades. Strong all around.

GB Legends - A team of the best players to ever represent GB, apart from one - Charlie Gardiner (2 time Vezina winner). Had to include him... Made up of a mix of '36 gold medal winners, and players from the last "golden age" of GB hockey in the early 90's. Also strong all around.

EIHL All-Stars - A roster of the current best non-GB players in the EIHL with at least 2 seasons in the league. No one season wonders who show up, take the cash, and leave ASAP. Loaded with goals.

Team GB - Based on 2019 IIHF team, which made a decent showing in avoiding relegation.

Cardiff Devils - League leaders at season cancellation. Solid physical unit.

Sheffield Steelers - Free scoring offensive team, creaky defence.

Coventry Blaze - strong top line, not great depth.

Belfast Giants - defensively strong, not great offense.

Nottingham Panthers - Another defensive bias team.

Guildford Flames - Play a fast brand of hockey.

Manchester Storm - Struggling for goals, best netminder.

Glasgow Clan - Physical team, lacks depth.

Dundee Stars - Weak defensive players.

Fife Flyers - Can score goals. Will struggle without the puck.

 

 

EIHL Rosters.bin 2 MB · 2 downloads

That is outstanding work.  Take a bow!

(And you are goddamn right that we had the best tendy in the league!  God knows if he is coming back in the autumn, although it looks unlikely if he keeps being bounced around the ECHL.)

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On 2/24/2021 at 11:23 PM, UltraMagnus said:

@LaTormenta Ill help out the the NHL94 version as well. This is a life saver. Literally, craves out 4 days of work. 

The rankings from @MonkeyHead's ROM?  That makes sense to be, but the rosters might be slightly different due to me using a combination of Elite Prospects and each team's website for the rosters (with some two-way youth team players included in a couple of the teams).  It is a shame that there is no easy import / export of the changed rankings (unless there is a tool that I have not seen).  Inputting the stats must be a pain in the ass!

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3 minutes ago, UltraMagnus said:

I'm working on cleaning them up a bit. Since, the colors are limited to the home strips in NOSE. 

I'd have no issue with a couple of the home kits being tweaked slightly to add colours that are missing.  I was thinking about doing that before I lost my patience with my awful editing skills!

Thanks a million for this.  I am sure that @MonkeyHead would agree that we both owe you a virtual beer! 

And, @MonkeyHead - we will have to try and work out some online thing at some point, so we can put the rosters to the test!  I will be all over updating the '94 ROM as soon as the rosters for next season are announced (assuming that the bloody league does not fold!).

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1 minute ago, LaTormenta said:

I'd have no issue with a couple of the home kits being tweaked slightly to add colours that are missing.  I was thinking about doing that before I lost my patience with my awful editing skills!

Thanks a million for this.  I am sure that @MonkeyHead would agree that we both owe you a virtual beer! 

And, @MonkeyHead - we will have to try and work out some online thing at some point, so we can put the rosters to the test!  I will be all over updating the '94 ROM as soon as the rosters for next season are announced (assuming that the bloody league does not fold!).

I'll do some of 94 edits to spread the wealth. Since, the 95 version is moving quickly. 

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14 minutes ago, LaTormenta said:

That looks great.  That's the edited logo I sent over, right?  It looks a lot better than the standard one, which would probably look ridiculous when shrunk.  Hopefully it looks half as good in the NHL '94 version!

Yup. It has made it easier to do the edits with what you provided. Only thing is some of the sizing needs to be adjusted to get them to work. Such as ice logos. The graphics get lowered in quality unless we update the strips. But overall it works with some adjustments. 

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1 minute ago, UltraMagnus said:

Yup. It has made it easier to do the edits with what you provided. Only thing is some of the sizing needs to be adjusted to get them to work. Such as ice logos. The graphics get lowered in quality unless we update the strips. But overall it works with some adjustments. 

I thought as much.  I was struggling to resize them without losing the quality and the transparency, which is why I sent over the full versions.  I got some really good results from using IrfanView after reducing the colour index in Photoshop, but the transparency was lost.  I'm looking forward to playing both ROMs over the coming weeks!

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5 hours ago, LaTormenta said:

Thanks a million for this.  I am sure that @MonkeyHead would agree that we both owe you a virtual beer! 

@MonkeyHead @LaTormenta @UltraMagnus

Seriously, all three of you deserve a virtual beer – this is looking amazing! Awesome work all of you. :D

On 2/24/2021 at 10:49 PM, MonkeyHead said:

The rosters are for 14 teams - 10 EIHL, and 4 extras. I have decided against including lower level UK teams, as scaling them with any accuracy considering the gulf in class would be impossible - and also my brain is now mush from doing these 14.

Is there any interest in seeing a version for the lower leagues with National League and Division 1 North/South maybe? Would mean 1 team getting left out, though.

Of course, it'd have to be in the distant future for heads to unmush and would need a bigger group to contribute to the research.

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5 hours ago, LaTormenta said:

Inputting the stats must be a pain in the ass!

Oh god, it was torture. Enjoyable torture, oddly enough, but questions like "how fast is DeLuca compared to Ulmer" became tedious.

 

As for Ginn - expect to see my lot swoop in for him to fill the Bowns shaped void. Lord did give him a start for Greenville, so clearly had eyes on him 

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9 hours ago, UltraMagnus said:

Sorry Gents, got majorly tied up this week and wasnt able to complete the schedule. Will have some time to do so over the next few days.

@UltraMagnus - No need to apologise!  We are just grateful that you have volunteered to use your free time help with the '94 and '95 mods, as the whole thing must be very time-consuming!

(Plus, I started this thread in 2019, so I am in no position to moan about timings!!! :D)

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@UltraMagnus - That looks very impressive.  Great work!  I'm looking forward to this and the '94 one something crazy. 

The EIHL has just announced a very short season with 4 teams that is due to start in a couple of weeks (@MonkeyHead - it's a crazy idea but hockey is hockey, eh), so this is just in time!

 

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Gotta say I am not sold on the "4 team" format, rather than some other naming mechanism (regions, or suchlike), but glad GB players will get some ice time before the world championships. Might have to root for your lot, as I cant see myself cheering Steelers, Panthers or the Blaze, even though they won't really be those teams, what with the odd draft and all that.

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40 minutes ago, MonkeyHead said:

Gotta say I am not sold on the "4 team" format, rather than some other naming mechanism (regions, or suchlike), but glad GB players will get some ice time before the world championships. Might have to root for your lot, as I cant see myself cheering Steelers, Panthers or the Blaze, even though they won't really be those teams, what with the odd draft and all that.

Yeah, it's got "we need to do something to get funding and also run a quick cash grab" written all over it.  Personally, given the short series, I'd have preferred a "no imports" rule (excluding dual nationals already in the UK), as some teams are going to have to either coax people out of retirement (Dane Byers might end up coming back for us...) or pay through the nose to get a "name" for a few weeks.  It'll all be very interesting and will sell jerseys but I wouldn't have minded just waiting until September / October.  The atmosphere is what sells it, as it's not like pubs are going to be open broadcasting the games.   

Also, given that my NHL TV and AHL TV passes are around £125 for every game played by every team, it is going to be a shock having to pay £10 / £15 per game for the webcasts.  Not bank breaking by any means, just annoying, especially as the coverage is generally a bit sketchy (which is fair enough, given that the commentators generally do it for free).

Yeah, I cannot see the Steelers in particular picking up any neutrals...  And, in fairness, I remain convinced that a good number of people in the UK could not pinpoint Coventry on a map if their lives depended on it!

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@MonkeyHead - Quick Q, now that the EIHL draft (which was actually quite a lot of fun!) is over.  Do you have a spreadsheet of your player ratings for NHL '95 or, if not, do you know if there is an easy way to extract them?  They would help massively with updating the NHL '94 ROM.  I could go through the NHL '95 ROM, loaded into Gens, and note them down, but it feels like a lot of work!

And reckon Batch will be a good fit for us?!

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