NHL 94: Hockey Night in Canada 1990-1991 Season

[Drezz]

*** UPDATED V1.1 below ***
What started as a quick and dirty little project to scratch the itch for modding NHL 94 into a Hockey Night in Canada themed ROM, became a full scale experimental playground.

This is the first release of...

 

Based on the 1990 - 1991 season, this mod recreates the league from opening day: October 4th, 1990.
Using the famed "Hockey Night in Canada" branding from the late 80s, this ROM features a number of new innovations.

A completely revamped intro theme, using the iconic HNIC theme instead of the traditional NHL94 theme.

 

A completely custom main menu screen (featuring the 89-90 cup finalists)

 

Team and player introductions by the famed PBP commentator, Bob Cole
(on a completely customized late 80s powder blue HNIC themed background!)

 

In-game menu screen edits
(timekeepers, Zamboni & scoreboard branding, team banners, fonts)

 

In-game menu changes - HNIC branded custom backgrounds, colours and fonts

 

Player Cards brought to you by EA Sports  (in conjunction with the NHL and PRO SET trading cards)

 

Era specific centre ice logos
(shown here: Northlands Coliseum logo in Edmonton)

 

Player sprite modifications for more colour variation and uniform accuracy
(shown here: MTL blue helmets, no shoulder stripe tied to arm/sock stripe colours)

 

Cleaned up large heading font (GOAL!) and HNIC/CBC branded scoreboard (bottom left)

 

Molson 3 Stars of the Game
(Molson was a HNIC title sponsor in the 80s-90s)

 

The hot-shot rookie goaltender takes on the tried and tested former cup champion.
(over 500 original old-school player portraits ingame, as close to the 1990-91 season as possible)

 

Modified goaltender graphics (pads, trapper and NEW masks)

 

...and many more tweaks and graphic surprises and ideas based on the great work of folks like
@clockwise @Jkline3 @AdamCatalyst @Sean@kingraph @smozoma and more...

 

Included in the package:
A custom updated version of NOSE 1.2c beta with additional options to properly change colours in any "Drezz" sprite hacked ROM.

----------

 

Some quick notes about this ROM: 

- This is version 1.0 of the mod. There are bound to be some weird glitches in there somewhere. If at any point you encounter them, please report them to me and I'll see if they can be rectified or improved upon in subsequent patched releases.

- The rosters are based on THE BEGINNING of the 1990-1991 season. Trades and Free Agent Signings were valid up until the 4th of October, 1990. A playoff edition featuring player re-assignments to NEW teams will be released next.

- Team strengths and player overalls/stats were based on the results of the END of the 1989-90 campaign. If you are disappointed at the rating given to X player, please note that ratings were based on how players ended the previous season. Rookies will have lower ratings, regardless of historical significance (Jagr, Blake, etc).

There is a good chance the same player will have accurately expected ratings according to their effort in the 1990-1991 campaign in the followup PLAYOFF EDITION version. 

- There are a large number of hacks to this ROM.

The intro theme.
Custom background and splash screens.
In-game sprite overhaul
Player portraits for ALL 500+ players
Team banners
Fonts

The ROM was modded to create the illusion of playing Hockey Night in Canada from the early 90s as opposed to being a crummy ROM hack of NHL 94 with HNIC graphics. I hope it transports you back in time to a period before modern expansion, the rise of salary caps and the glory days of hockey's heroes like Lemieux and Gretzky.

Enjoy.
- Drezz

 

 

 

 

HNIC 90-91 Season v1.1 (NHL 94).zip

Edited March 26, 2023 by Drezz
Updated to ver 1.1

[Matt55]

Uh...wow! I’m very excited to check it out. Thanks!!!

[AdamCatalyst]

YES!!!!!!!!! So psyched to check this out. It totally transports me back to another time. I love it already. 

[von Ozbourne]

Ah, I miss the days when a player's cap space only meant this:

And the perspective tapering on the sideways logos is a really nice touch.
Looking forward to correcting the travesty of the Jets loss to the Oilers after taking a 3-1 lead. No popcorn allowed!

[Sean]

2 hours ago, Drezz said:

 

Holy [whatever expletive you so choose], is that a perspective warp on center ice?!?!?

Curious about one thing though - why the late 90s Bruins logo?

Edited March 12, 2023 by Sean

[von Ozbourne]

Oh, did Belfour recently face an Al MacInnis blast? It looks like he has a hole in his glove.

Liking the masks. Looks like the old Cooper birdcage.

Edited March 12, 2023 by von Ozbourne

[Drezz]

8 hours ago, von Ozbourne said:

Looking forward to correcting the travesty of the Jets loss to the Oilers after taking a 3-1 lead. No popcorn allowed!

You'll have to wait just a little bit longer until the playoff edition then. The trades will be up to date, in order to enact your revenge.

7 hours ago, Sean said:

Holy [whatever expletive you so choose], is that a perspective warp on center ice?!?!?

Curious about one thing though - why the late 90s Bruins logo?

That is a perspective warp. Not sure if I like it though. There's a false forced perspective ingame and it's not always evident. I may change it back in newer versions.

And good catch on the Bruins logo. Didn't even notice that change.

 

7 hours ago, von Ozbourne said:

Oh, did Belfour recently face an Al MacInnis blast? It looks like he has a hole in his glove.

Liking the masks. Looks like the old Cooper birdcage.

The "hole" was to simulate the webbing in the trapper. If it's too much, I can change it back. Just trying to do something different.

[profit90]

Wow.. loving the graphics, from the backgrounds to the fonts.... incredible, a game changer

This should be the standard font for every rom imo... it fits perfectly with NHL94

Edited March 12, 2023 by profit90

[profit90]

And love the rotated centre ice logos... way better looking !

[halifax]

I tweeted er out bud. Currently at 14 downloads. Hopefully it doubles by end of day today. 

[AdamCatalyst]

10 hours ago, Sean said:

Holy [whatever expletive you so choose], is that a perspective warp on center ice?!?!?

It also looks like he tried to more accurately model the translucent nature of those logos, as their colours blend with the ice colour? Jut beautiful work @Drezz. Truly inspiring.

[AdamCatalyst]

1 hour ago, halifax said:

I tweeted er out bud. Currently at 14 downloads. Hopefully it doubles by end of day today. 

That's not enough! We demand more asbestos downloads!

Will jump on Twitter and do the same. Folks, consider plugging your favourite ROMs in your circles. There's been so many brilliant releases this season, and these hard working guys are too earnest to ask you for something so self-serving.

[Drezz]

Thanks, folks! I appreciate the kind words and giving it a spin.

There have been a lot of great hacks for current eras, but just a few older gen versions from guys like @clockwise and @CoachMac that I love. I want to help add to that list to keep that era alive and exciting.

A lot of cool hacks for other things like ads and music etc were something I wanted to try out. Since the modern day teams and rosters are so brilliantly taken care of, I decided on the era of hockey that really got me excited about the game (80s and 90s)

 

[halifax]

1 minute ago, Drezz said:

Thanks, folks! I appreciate the kind words and giving it a spin.

There have been a lot of great hacks for current eras, but just a few older gen versions from guys like @clockwise and @CoachMac that I love. I want to help add to that list to keep that era alive and exciting.

A lot of cool hacks for other things like ads and music etc were something I wanted to try out. Since the modern day teams and rosters are so brilliantly taken care of, I decided on the era of hockey that really got me excited about the game (80s and 90s)

 

Everyone appreciates the work you and @AdamCatalystand all the other hackers on here do. so thanks!

[von Ozbourne]

4 hours ago, Drezz said:

The "hole" was to simulate the webbing in the trapper. If it's too much, I can change it back. Just trying to do something different.

Yeah, to be honest I figured that was the case rather than it being an accident. I've seen the quality of your work.

I think for me, the ideal "webbing" would need to be half a pixel, but since that is impossible, it's kind of hard to tell which way to round off. The key though is that in full motion, it really gets the point across.

[StevieY]

We need Coach's Corner! LOL

[Drezz]

1 hour ago, StevieY said:

We need Coach's Corner! LOL

I actually was planning on swapping out the intermission music with the Coach's Corner theme, but sometimes you have to put a limit on things LOL

Perhaps for v2!

[profit90]

15 hours ago, Sean said:

Holy [whatever expletive you so choose], is that a perspective warp on center ice?!?!?

That warp to the centre-ice logos adds a subtle yet whole new dimension/feel to the game... absolutely fantastic

This and the new font is something that every rom should try to implement (if they can) moving forward... they are that good !

[Deckard]

Wow, beautiful mod, thanks a lot!

[Gassoff]

Wow! i'm horny! 

Thank you!

[Guest]

I'll give her go because it looks awesome.

[Drezz]

25 minutes ago, Gassoff said:

Wow! i'm horny! 

Thank you!

Enjoy... but down, boy hahahaha

 

[Guest]

Damn dude! thats kill.

And thanks for giving Gretzky respectable ratings.

[Matt55]

Just to help, NOT  complaining: Rangers playercard pictures are swapped around.

The changes do make it feel like a new game - excellent work! I love hockey history!

[Matt55]

Oh - Richer and Corson are flip flopped.

[Sedge]

14 hours ago, Drezz said:

That is a perspective warp. Not sure if I like it though. There's a false forced perspective ingame and it's not always evident. I may change it back in newer versions.

I've only seen the screenshots so far but it does look a little "off" to me on the Hartford logo. It's almost like it's at a sharper angle compared to the rest of the rink or something. It would be hard to do a subtle one within the allotted space, though, and I do appreciate the attempt.

That said, the Edmonton one looks good and I haven't had a chance to check out the others yet.

[EDIT] Most of them look fine, actually. There are only two others that looked a little weird to me (LA and STL) but that could just be because of how the logos themselves are designed.

Edited March 13, 2023 by Sedge

[AdamCatalyst]

5 hours ago, Drezz said:

I actually was planning on swapping out the intermission music with the Coach's Corner theme, but sometimes you have to put a limit on things LOL

Perhaps for v2!

There's a reason they're called "Releases." They're never truly finished, we just have to let some things go, and get it out the door eventually.

[CoachMac]

This is one of my favorites ever.

Great job!

I would have loved to Have been able to do many of the cool touches you did to my Original 6 roms!

[Guest]

Just now, CoachMac said:

This is one of my favorites ever.

Great job!

I would have loved to Have been able to do many of the cool touches you did to my Original 6 roms!

You still can.

[Guest]

I like the darkness of it and how gritty it looks on my TV. Reminds me of watching hockey games with my dad in the 80s.