NCAA Hockey: Road to Tampa Bay (NHL 94) - 2023 NCAA ROMs - Final Update

[AndrewB]

19 minutes ago, BlueJacketRebel said:

I hope this does return next year.

I second that!

[Sean]

10 hours ago, BlueJacketRebel said:

I hope this does return next year. Boston College is going to be a beast with the USA U18 team anchoring it.

Seconded. I am very excited for Cellebrini VS The U18 Team in the Green Line Rivalry Weekend and Beanpot next year.

10 hours ago, AndrewB said:

I second that!

The only question I have right now is WHEN it comes back. Not sure if I will wait until October, or maybe try and get something out before then. It's difficult to "project" lines with college because the turnover is much higher than the NHL.

[Guest]

Chip at it bit by bit all summer. Then fill in the lines and stats in the the last minute.

[Guest]

I was going to wait until tomorrow so I could change my Youtube name, but I couldnt wait. Haha!

 

Edited May 12, 2023 by BlueJacketRebel

[AdamCatalyst]

On 3/24/2023 at 8:32 PM, smozoma said:

Lines can be done in a hex editor , pasting data from a spreadsheet. Check out my NHL93 64-team hack and excel sheet. You'd still have to do each team individually (if changed), but it's easier than doing it in NOSE (https://forum.nhl94.com/index.php?/topic/11734-nhlpa-hockey-93-64-team-rom-snes/)

 

I don't know why, but I didn't take a look at this until now. This is seriously impressive. I don't pretend to understand all of it, but it's along the lines of what I need. I'm going to start a new thread to ask for a little help on this, once I've pushed it as far as I can myself.

[Sean]

I've been a bit homesick for college hockey (mostly because Team USA is steamrolling through the IIHF World's with the help of so many Boston guys...) and started doing work on next year's ROMs. I also saw AndrewB and UltraMagnus chatting about a 2023-24 set, so wanted to update what I was doing in case people want to borrow or whatever. So, here's my attempt at a VonOzbourne-type immersive post in the style of a press release to fill you in on changes.

________________________________________________________________________________________________

NCAA Hockey: Road To The Frozen Four series gets shake-up for 2023-24 season.

BOSTON, MA - NCAA Hockey: Road To Tampa developer Sean will be returning for the 2023-24 season, but fans should expect the project to receive some small structural changes to optimize the player experience.

The "pod" system will be abandoned, in favor of individual projects that optimize the fan experience. Conferences will get their own ROMs with unique presentation packages and authentic playoffs, with additional ROMs for the NCAA Tournament, Conference Playoffs, and Beanpot.

Within these ROMs, every conference team will be represented along with notable "guest schools" (for example: Cornell and Quinnipiac will appear as guests in the Hockey East ROM and Denver and North Dakota will appear as guests in the B1G ROM) and some surprises that have been worked on with conference members will appear in select ROMs as well. Without saying too much, fans can expect to get a unique look into some of the great teams and players in college hockey history.

Edited May 26, 2023 by Sean

[AndrewB]

That's. Great. News.

I really like the idea, as you read, of college conference roms. I also spoke with a third person about it. I'm sure yours will be awesome.

I wondered about the possiblity (since you're using "ghost schools") about using ACHA teams as your "ghost schools"? If, of course, that information and data is available. Just a thought. But maybe I just opened up a bigger bag of worms mentioning the ACHA.

I said worms, didn't want to use the s**t word.

Edited May 26, 2023 by AndrewB

[Sean]

1 hour ago, AndrewB said:

I wondered about the possiblity (since you're using "ghost schools") about using ACHA teams as your "ghost schools"? If, of course, that information and data is available. Just a thought. But maybe I just opened up a bigger bag of worms mentioning the ACHA.

I 100% plan on including ACHA schools as guests on ROMs. The question is just scope right now.

Right now I have mapped out:

- U. of Arizona, who will be playing an exhibition game against ASU this year

- UNLV, who *nearly beat* UAA last year

- Liberty, who regularly plays D1 teams and has a few wins

- Minot State, who plays Colorado Col. and Denver this year

- Robert Morris, but they seem to be playing in AH next year, so don't count that if they do

- The NE10 conference (the only D2 hockey conference in the country), as a majority of AH is a member of this conference for other sports and they have expressed interest in going D1.

I have thought about:

- Some of the ACHA D1/2 expansion candidates with conference ties, like Penn (ECAC via Ivies), Navy (AH via military academies), Ohio (CCHA via MAC), Alabama-Huntsville (Independent in previous life as a NCAA D1 team)

- I'm a sucker for college football... so maybe a small lil ROM featuring SEC/B12/ACC schools with ACHA teams. There is growing interest via events like UNC vs NC State Outdoor game and UGA building an arena on campus.

Edited May 26, 2023 by Sean

[AndrewB]

Beautiful. Thanks for the info (and teaser)!

[Europia79]

On 11/22/2022 at 11:16 PM, Sean said:

Hey all, 4.0 just went up.

heya @Sean I'm a little confused on the versioning ?  ...From reading thru all these posts, I am assuming that you reset the version back to 1.0 because this project went thru several brand changes ?  ...So... essentially, I'm curious that the download on the 1st page is the most up-to-date, which was last modified on 3/22/2023 and that 1.0 is the correct version ?  ...Or is 1.0 a mistake ?  Thanks !!!

Edited June 2, 2023 by Europia79

[Sean]

On 6/2/2023 at 7:25 PM, Europia79 said:

heya @Sean I'm a little confused on the versioning ?  ...From reading thru all these posts, I am assuming that you reset the version back to 1.0 because this project went thru several brand changes ?  ...So... essentially, I'm curious that the download on the 1st page is the most up-to-date, which was last modified on 3/22/2023 and that 1.0 is the correct version ?  ...Or is 1.0 a mistake ?  Thanks !!!

The Road to Tampa 1.0 is the latest version. Rosters will be as of after Conference Playoffs. 

[Shawn Sears]

Will the new format still allow you to match up any of the 64 teams against each other like this years version allowed you to do with the pod system because that would be fantastic?

[Sean]

On 6/9/2023 at 7:55 PM, Shawn Sears said:

Will the new format still allow you to match up any of the 64 teams against each other like this years version allowed you to do with the pod system because that would be fantastic?

Probably not. The "pod" set up was a lot of work and hindered the amount of customization/depth I could add.

BUT there will likely be a End of 1st Semester "Top 32" ROM, and a Pre-Tourney "Top 32" ROM.

 

So this will mean:

- authentic playoffs

- better league focused presentation

- more focus on individual ROMs being polished

 

Part of the reason for this change is that I am finishing school this winter, so I won't have the time to to mass updates like the pods require, and the other is that there are more than 64 teams I would like to include this year (and there will be more than 64 teams in the NCAA as soon as next year depending on how expansion goes). So the pods would need a rework at some point anyways.

TLDR: this set up allows me to make better work with less wasted time

[AndrewB]

4 hours ago, Sean said:

So this will mean:

- authentic playoffs

- better league focused presentation

Are you, Sean, able to do conference tournamnets that don't include the "guest schools" you have included in each rom; select which teams can be and can't be in tounaments? I think it would be a little "strange" if the NCHC Tourney had Minot State in it. My opinion.

It's sounding really, really good from what you've shared. More focus and customization on individual conferences is amazing, plus the actual 32 teams in the National Championship. Now hopefully an NHL95 like this will be close behind for regular season (you know who I'm talking to).

Thanks!

P.S. Was there/is there now any thought on a D3 college rom? You've gone this far in...

[Sean]

27 minutes ago, AndrewB said:

Are you, Sean, able to do conference tournamnets that don't include the "guest schools" you have included in each rom; select which teams can be and can't be in tounaments? I think it would be a little "strange" if the NCHC Tourney had Minot State in it. My opinion.

It's sounding really, really good from what you've shared. More focus and customization on individual conferences is amazing, plus the actual 32 teams in the National Championship. Now hopefully an NHL95 like this will be close behind for regular season (you know who I'm talking to).

Thanks!

P.S. Was there/is there now any thought on a D3 college rom? You've gone this far in...

So I actually found a way to not only prevent teams like Minot State from being in the tourney (which is easy via EARE), but ALSO make it so only the “conference” teams can host games. I want it to be as realistic as possible, so I think it’ll be a nice touch (for example: NESN wouldn’t carry the game if BU played @ Michigan, but they’d get the inverse).

[Shawn Sears]

I am sure it will be amazing. I am a big fan of your work. If there is anyway that the University of Washington could make an appearance as a ghost school that would be amazing 💜 💛 🏒 🥅

[Sean]

42 minutes ago, Shawn Sears said:

I am sure it will be amazing. I am a big fan of your work. If there is anyway that the University of Washington could make an appearance as a ghost school that would be amazing 💜 💛 🏒 🥅

I know UW is in the “dynasty” mode thing that went up here, along with a few other PAC-12* (pending whatever happens next with realignment) schools. 
 

These ROMs are not on the same “base” as the new ones, so the custom in game music isn’t there, along with some other noticeable but not major  differences.

 

[Guest]

Adam Fantilli is a Blue Jacket. I knew there was a reason I watched Michigan games.

Edited July 1, 2023 by BlueJacketRebel

[Sean]

16 hours ago, BlueJacketRebel said:

Adam Fantilli is a Blue Jacket. I knew there was a reason I watched Michigan games.

Happy he didn’t get stuck in Disney Land with the league’s mascot, Trevor Zegras.

[Guest]

35 minutes ago, Sean said:

Happy he didn’t get stuck in Disney Land with the league’s mascot, Trevor Zegras.

He very respectfully hinted at returning to college like Cooley if they drafted him. Columbus was his choice of top drafters. Its close to Michigan. He's playing for CBJ but its either this year or next. Anaheim was never.

[Sean]

7 hours ago, BlueJacketRebel said:

He very respectfully hinted at returning to college like Cooley if they drafted him. Columbus was his choice of top drafters. Its close to Michigan. He's playing for CBJ but its either this year or next. Anaheim was never.

He signed today so he is ineligible for NCAA action. So he at least would be playing AHL next year. 

[Guest]

Thats a good signing. No need to risk injury anywhere else. So far the depth cart has him on Line 2. That shouldn't last long.

[Sean]

Hi.

I made a promise I won’t be able to keep. So I wanted to let everyone know now - I am slightly shifting my focus away from this specific project, which might cause some delays. 

This is because I am working with the folks from the NHL Legacy Revamped mod to create a College Hockey fork. NHL 14/15/LE are *my* generation’s NHL 94 in a sense, so this is very exciting to me! This is a very ambitious project as the NHL LE modding community is rather new, so it will take a good amount of time/effort to create new templates/guides/explore the possibilities in the game. I can provide more info to anyone interested 

I hope no one is TOO disappointed, and I will do my best to get something out for this project here during the season.

[Guest]

42 minutes ago, Sean said:

Hi.

I made a promise I won’t be able to keep. So I wanted to let everyone know now - I am slightly shifting my focus away from this specific project, which might cause some delays. 

This is because I am working with the folks from the NHL Legacy Revamped mod to create a College Hockey fork. NHL 14/15/LE are *my* generation’s NHL 94 in a sense, so this is very exciting to me! This is a very ambitious project as the NHL LE modding community is rather new, so it will take a good amount of time/effort to create new templates/guides/explore the possibilities in the game. I can provide more info to anyone interested 

I hope no one is TOO disappointed, and I will do my best to get something out for this project here during the season.

You do you and what makes you happy. I dropped in over there a few times to check things out. Looks really interesting and promising.

Don't worry. I have enough ROMs to keep me occupied.

 

[Sean]

Just wanted to give a peek at the next level to this project, my NHL: LE mod. Lots of possibilities, but here’s a draft of what BU looks like (pending white glove tweak). 

edit: modding new games is at times a lot more meticulous than fun... this may be put on hold to focus on the cool s**t we do here

Edited August 19, 2023 by Sean

[Guest]

Dude! That game is gonna be killer.

[Sean]

On 6/15/2023 at 10:39 PM, Shawn Sears said:

I am sure it will be amazing. I am a big fan of your work. If there is anyway that the University of Washington could make an appearance as a ghost school that would be amazing 💜 💛 🏒 🥅

Well, I'm sure this is a touchy subject... but they fit pretty naturally as a cheat-code/guest school in the eventual B1G ROM now.

[brianski71]

First I've checked in on this project in months, and like everyone else, I'm blown away!  A couple questions...I could totally be making this up, but didn't someone create box art for this project awhile back?  If so, is there any way we can get it posted?  And if not, that sounds like a great project for someone more talented than me!  Haha.
 

Also, is there an updated Discord link for that new NHL Legacy project?  I'd love to check that out!  Keep up the amazing work!

[Sean]

14 minutes ago, brianski71 said:

First I've checked in on this project in months, and like everyone else, I'm blown away!  A couple questions...I could totally be making this up, but didn't someone create box art for this project awhile back?  If so, is there any way we can get it posted?  And if not, that sounds like a great project for someone more talented than me!  Haha.
 

Also, is there an updated Discord link for that new NHL Legacy project?  I'd love to check that out!  Keep up the amazing work!

There was a box art… but I lost my laptop to water damage. Thankfully, my actual working files are backed up and I started making my to-do-lists and such today. I’ll be sure to make box art this coming season. 

Here’s an invite to the NHL Legacy Discord. I discontinued my NCAA project over there (this is still very much alive) because working in LE wasn’t really my speed, but may do something with NHL 2k11 because of the easier texture swapping and lower overhead for people to run the game. 

Thanks for checking in!

[brianski71]

Sucks to hear about your laptop!  I just bought a new (mini) PC and I'm setting it up with all emulation stuff now.  LaunchBox is a nice little program to keep everything nice and tidy...just thought it'd be awesome to have box art to make it look like all the other Genesis games on there.  An NHL 2K11 update of any kind would be great!  I've been playing a little 2K hockey recently and I definitely miss it.  Not even as any sort of 2K fanboy, just as a change of pace to EA hockey.  Glad to hear this project is alive and well!  I love college hockey, but I'm without a dedicated favorite team, as I went to a D3 school and root for Pitt in D1 sports and neither has varsity hockey.  I feel like a kid with NHL again, as this project helps connect me to real-life college hockey.