NHL 25 - Retro 94 Edition by Jkline3 and von Ozbourne

[von Ozbourne]

Hopefully this one's better late than never. As tomorrow is going to be a busy day of turkey and being reminded that family is like beer, best enjoyed in moderation, I figured I'd get this one out tonight so it will be ready for some playoffs with those of us who would rather play games than lie on your aunt's new carpeting in a food coma. As mentioned in last season's thread, this one is not entirely complete in that most of the depth player's photos have not been updated yet [blame nhl.com for taking so long to update] and a few other things like updating some line changes will need to be revisited once a larger sample size is available. Feel free to leave feedback is anything else turns up that may have been lost in the shuffle.

Anyway, it's about time to present:

The Hughes Deluxe Retro Edition.

To start off some additional graphical changes were made to this version starting from the moment you plug your cart in and hit the power button.
 
The second splash screen uses the cluttered on-ice ads section to list all of the required parties including the nhl94.com community website.

Another new addition is the updated menu screen which see the old arena be retired in favour of a modern dressing room. In addition to the logos on full colour uniform background, the player call out will scroll through the entire roster if you can wait long enough.
 
Dave Reid sticks around as the presenter for NHL Network, introducing the newest team of Utah and a one of a few teams in their new look.

Another new look team waits for a redressed Zamboni driver to finish his task, while another team paints a new center ice logo to celebrate their 50th anniversary.
 

Player cards again feature full colour photos. And while some players will have to wait for their new photo to be uploaded to the game art, the top line of each team did see an update.
 
Speaking of lines, most teams are configured to match their season opener line ups, but that will probably be revisited next month some time when more data is available. We also fixed a couple things we didn't like about the back end of player ratings from last year, so hopefully that feels better than last year as well. This version is very much true to the feel of the original NHL'94, but we have been debating an additional, more arcade-like edition. Don't worry, we'll keep a classic version as well.

With Arizona moving to Utah, the playoff brackets did need to be edited, but with the discovery of how playoffs are calculated, a whole lot of randomness was baked in for better variety of first round match ups.
 
Also drawing attention to some minor tweaks to the 3-Stars formula. It should feel a little more logical than the original selections.

Obligatory under the hood and minor graphical stuff:

• Original custom player attribute stats based on NHL24 updates.
• All 832 players have colour photos. Thanks @slapshot67
• Original JKline player sprite mod based on helmet patch for more accurate and varied uniforms.
• Tighter puck collision on boards and net making for pucks that hit closer to the boards sprites and a slighter smaller scoring area on the nets. V1.0 and V2.0 only.
• Pucks that also feature original customized sprites.
• Puck sprites that change with team colours. Thanks @AdamCatalyst
• The nets that those pucks can go in have also had their sprites redrawn.
• Weight bug fix is applied.
• SmozROM Ratings consistency fix - player ratings will match hot/cold overall. Thanks @smozoma
• Freeze Bug applied so no player stats and player name on second line.
• User Records set to "ON" can still cause crashes with Vegas, Washington and Winnipeg so caution is advised.
• Expanded goalie roaming area. Go out to the edge of the trapezoid or out to the face off dots to cut down the angle. Thanks @smozoma
• Goalie can also carry the puck out to the blue line before the automatic whistle. [if play isn't blown for holding the puck too long]
• Yes we know that the goalie can technically go to the red line, but that would mean having to figure out how to assess delay of game penalties and that's not likely to happen.
• Goalie Y-button control hack applied. Thanks @clockwise
• CPU will pull goalie if down by 1 or 2 goals with 1 minute remaining. Thanks @McMarkis
• Edit Lines hack for any player to play at any position applied. Allows for 4-1 Power play lines. Thanks @TheTome
• Benches have been edited so the coach mod has been removed.
• EA Sports watermarks have been updated to modern logo. Thanks @Drezz

• Main menu background hack in use for full custom background image. Also thanks @Drezz

 

That's probably it for now. Feed back of course is appreciated - you know, if it's constructive. I did fix a couple of typos today though, so if you spot one I missed, feel free to get as mad as you want.

Update list:

2.0 version

• All 832 players have new colour photos.
• Player ratings have been adjusted for start of 2025 season.
• Team ratings have also been adjusted for start of 2025 season.

2.1 version

• Board/Net collision has been adjusted to classic setting for less difficult scoring.

Hope you folks enjoy this one.

Most updated version:

NHL 2025 - Retro 94 Edition v2.1.bin

Old versions for old people:

NHL 2025 - Retro 94 Edition v2.0.bin

NHL 2025 - Retro 94 Edition v1.0.bin

Edited December 2, 2024 by von Ozbourne
2.1 and features

[Toe-Knee]

This is incredible! Thanks for all your hard work😀

[Don Johnson]

There's one possible playoff tree where Vegas plays the Islanders in the first round. 

[Puck Defender]

Really very cool gentlemen. Thanks for all you do.

[Sean]

Oh man, from a color management standpoint, thank god EA had Hughes wear the flying skate jersey instead of the Orca/blue one!

[von Ozbourne]

2 hours ago, Sean said:

Oh man, from a color management standpoint

You have me wondering actually. The behind the scenes is that that image uses about 32-36 unique colours and the Vancouver uniform is using it's own separate palette from the New Jersey colours. All three palettes share the black to white range, but it might have been possible to have the blue to green colours on their own instead.

Although that said, it would have been quite the clash colour-wise, so it was both logistically and aesthetically beneficial for all three Hugheses to stick to the warm side of the colour wheel.

7 hours ago, Don Johnson said:

There's one possible playoff tree where Vegas plays the Islanders in the first round. 

<insert guttural sounds of disappointment> Stupid Utah.
On the plus side, I looked the draws over again and you just had to find the only instance of a mismatch.  That'll be something I'll have fixed for the next patch

[77]

back in my day... i made this for playoff matchups

 

looks like theres a 110 different payoff matchups, this was for 93 though, you get the idea... one home and away vs each team

Edited October 14, 2024 by 77

[smozoma]

That cover image is amazing

It's just 16 colours? Or did you use the multi-palette technique?

[GannErik]

Thank you for the release.

[Don Johnson]

19 hours ago, von Ozbourne said:

<insert guttural sounds of disappointment> Stupid Utah.
On the plus side, I looked the draws over again and you just had to find the only instance of a mismatch.  That'll be something I'll have fixed for the next patch

I only noticed it because I started a playoff as the Sabres which at this point feels like it should be impossible.😭

[von Ozbourne]

3 hours ago, Don Johnson said:

I only noticed it because I started a playoff as the Sabres which at this point feels like it should be impossible.😭

Ah, well there you go. The game was messing with you because it knew that the only way the Sabres were making the playoffs this year was if Vegas were playing in the Eastern Conference Final.

  

12 hours ago, 77 said:

back in my day... i made this for playoff matchups

I have to ask. What do the numbers represent? I'd figure they'd be scores, but some of those look like a basketball score vs a football score.

Edited October 15, 2024 by von Ozbourne

[von Ozbourne]

10 hours ago, smozoma said:

It's just 16 colours? Or did you use the multi-palette technique?

Thanks eh.

Oh yeah no. It would have looked really bad if I tried to make that in only 16 colours so I did end up using three palettes. Luckily the image is very vertically aligned so it wasn't hard to keep track of the different sections. The New Jersey brothers got the first palette all to themselves so it was just the 8 greyscale shades and an array of reds. The second palette is also used by the NHL and NHLPA logos, but since those are greyscale as well, with the first slot dedicated to transparency, that left seven colours left over for the middle Vancouver uniform. I think the third palette used to be for the original '94 NHLPA logo? but with both logos sharing the second palette now, the third one was unused and free to make as many skin tone shades as possible. I don't recall what the forth one is reserved for, but I don't think it would have helped anyway.

[castingsigils]

thanks so much for this, i don't even want to admit how many hours i've logged already.

the only thing i've seen close to an issue is when loading a saved line, the defensemen get jumbled up and are replaced by the same three forwards. i don't know if this is just something that happens with the edits or not so i thought i'd flag it you just in case

[77]

those are games...  using NOSE to edit your play off matchup, CAL home vs CHI away GAME 1, COL home vs DAL away GAME 2, DET home vs EDM away GAME 3...  theres 8 games per DRAW, so maybe i did 4 west games then 4 east games?  super confusing stuff... all i know is it took me a long time to figure it out

thats how i figured out my playoff schedule, so every team is home and away vs every team in the playoff selection (without having duplications)

i wanna say your rom will crash if you dont get it right

Edited October 15, 2024 by 77

[von Ozbourne]

11 hours ago, 77 said:

those are games...  using NOSE to edit your play off matchup, CAL home vs CHI away GAME 1, COL home vs DAL away GAME 2, DET home vs EDM away GAME 3...  theres 8 games per DRAW, so maybe i did 4 west games then 4 east games?  super confusing stuff... all i know is it took me a long time to figure it out

Oooh... Damn I should have taken a better look. I've literally done the exact same thing even going back to the Blades of Steel days. Only difference is that instead of numbering them, I just made a list and X'd out the ones I've used. Not sure if I was just adding a step there.

Actually if you're using NOSE, the program will give you a notification if you have a team listed twice in one draw. That said, it's easy to ignore that message and do it anyway. That's basically my workaround for giving teams a "bye round" in cases where I don't have the minimum 16 teams. Makes for messy replays and you kind of have to make a non-playable duplicate of those teams to make sure the player doesn't accidentally select one.

 

15 hours ago, castingsigils said:

the only thing i've seen close to an issue is when loading a saved line, the defensemen get jumbled up and are replaced by the same three forwards. i don't know if this is just something that happens with the edits or not so i thought i'd flag it you just in case

Huh, I've not heard that one before. I am curious if that is an issue in the original 32-Team hack or if it's related to one of at least a half dozen roster affecting modifications that are included in this version. To be honest, I just never bother saving roster changes, so this would be completely off my radar, but now I'm wondering what's going on there.

[BigIron]

Hey great work as always, just like last year! One gripe I have to say is this year VAN away jerseys look too much like TB, especially the white pant stripe. Other than that keep up the great work, I’m a big fan of your work.

[Ronnie]

Finally downloaded this last night!  It's incredible and plays great!  Thank you @von Ozbourne and @Jkline3 for your excellent work!  :-)

[R0B0T_ST0P]

Really appreciate it! Wish my team wasn't ranked so low (Nashville at 66) but then again after our 0-4 start to the season..

[AdamCatalyst]

oh wow, I completely missed this! Looks fantastic in the screens. Looking forward to giving it a spin this weekend!

[AdamCatalyst]

On 10/14/2024 at 12:29 PM, smozoma said:

That cover image is amazing

It's just 16 colours? Or did you use the multi-palette technique?

I count at least three. 

[supersoundwave]

Wow… this is amazing. Awesome work.

For those wondering, this rom works flawlessly on the Retro Freak. Nothing like sitting on the couch with an old school Genesis controller to play this incredible game!

Edited November 2, 2024 by supersoundwave

[von Ozbourne]

Alright, looks like it's time for an update. Although I should point out that if the previous one was more of a "late pre-season" edition, this one is more a "late opening night" edition.

The big changes that make this one a 2.0 rather than a 1.1 version are

• Some roster shuffling has been completed.
• All players now have updated photos.
• [except for a couple exceptions like Swayman, whose contract issues caused him to miss picture day and even the NHL website is using a year old image]
• Team ratings have been adjusted to reflect some performance changes since last season.
• Some lines have been shuffled to reflect newer groupings that were put together once the regular season begain.
• Some teams have changed starting goaltenders to reflect who's taken over the net.
• Oh and Vegas is only in the Western Conference now.

Graphics remained constant, other than also figuring out how to use some more tile spaces and changing the frames on the title screen because it appeals to my need for visual balance more than the original ones did.

A clearly labelled version 2.0 will also be included in the original post.
Enjoy, hopefully.

NHL 2025 - Retro 94 Edition v2.0.bin

Edited November 5, 2024 by von Ozbourne

[Ronnie]

Awesome @von Ozbourne!  Cant wait to play the updated version tonight!  :-)

[Dobby9988]

Мне нравится очень круто

[grimmace92]

Just curious.  Where do you guys get the player ratings from when creating these roms?

 

[Jkline3]

11 hours ago, grimmace92 said:

Just curious.  Where do you guys get the player ratings from when creating these roms?

 

It's a little bit of this, a little bit of that... The raw ratings are mostly based on various stats, some traditional and some fancy new ones. I've found the NHL Edge data to be particularly useful because it's the first consistent source (that I've found) that puts numbers to skating and shooting speeds. Those were always tricky for me. If a player's scouting reports called him a "mobile defenseman", how do you translate that into ratings? Now there are some numbers available to help guide those decisions. I also use a lot of player comp stats to match how certain player types were rated in the original game.

Then I throw everything into the blender and adjust the ratings to reflect the style/era of whatever league I'm rating and rebalance everything so that there is enough difference between players to make it noticeable in-game. I try to stay generally faithful to the spirit of the original game. No fun if everyone is a 90+ overall.

[Jlsegafan2001]

On 10/13/2024 at 1:27 AM, von Ozbourne said:

Hopefully this one's better late than never. As tomorrow is going to be a busy day of turkey and being reminded that family is like beer, best enjoyed in moderation, I figured I'd get this one out tonight so it will be ready for some playoffs with those of us who would rather play games than lie on your aunt's new carpeting in a food coma. As mentioned in last season's thread, this one is not entirely complete in that most of the depth player's photos have not been updated yet [blame nhl.com for taking so long to update] and a few other things like updating some line changes will need to be revisited once a larger sample size is available. Feel free to leave feedback is anything else turns up that may have been lost in the shuffle.

Anyway, it's about time to present:

The Hughes Deluxe Retro Edition.

To start off some additional graphical changes were made to this version starting from the moment you plug your cart in and hit the power button.
 
The second splash screen uses the cluttered on-ice ads section to list all of the required parties including the nhl94.com community website.

Another new addition is the updated menu screen which see the old arena be retired in favour of a modern dressing room. In addition to the logos on full colour uniform background, the player call out will scroll through the entire roster if you can wait long enough.
 
Dave Reid sticks around as the presenter for NHL Network, introducing the newest team of Utah and a one of a few teams in their new look.

Another new look team waits for a redressed Zamboni driver to finish his task, while another team paints a new center ice logo to celebrate their 50th anniversary.
 

Player cards again feature full colour photos. And while some players will have to wait for their new photo to be uploaded to the game art, the top line of each team did see an update.
 
Speaking of lines, most teams are configured to match their season opener line ups, but that will probably be revisited next month some time when more data is available. We also fixed a couple things we didn't like about the back end of player ratings from last year, so hopefully that feels better than last year as well. This version is very much true to the feel of the original NHL'94, but we have been debating an additional, more arcade-like edition. Don't worry, we'll keep a classic version as well.

With Arizona moving to Utah, the playoff brackets did need to be edited, but with the discovery of how playoffs are calculated, a whole lot of randomness was baked in for better variety of first round match ups.
 
Also drawing attention to some minor tweaks to the 3-Stars formula. It should feel a little more logical than the original selections.

That's probably it for now. Feed back of course is appreciated - you know, if it's constructive. I did fix a couple of typos today though, so if you spot one I missed, feel free to get as mad as you want.

 

Hope you folks enjoy this one.

Most updated version:

NHL 2025 - Retro 94 Edition v2.0.bin 2 MB · 158 downloads

 

Old version for old people:

NHL 2025 - Retro 94 Edition v1.0.bin 2 MB · 428 downloads

That's pretty nice! Say, how did you give the players colour photos?

[grimmace92]

On 11/27/2024 at 12:22 PM, Jkline3 said:

It's a little bit of this, a little bit of that... The raw ratings are mostly based on various stats, some traditional and some fancy new ones. I've found the NHL Edge data to be particularly useful because it's the first consistent source (that I've found) that puts numbers to skating and shooting speeds. Those were always tricky for me. If a player's scouting reports called him a "mobile defenseman", how do you translate that into ratings? Now there are some numbers available to help guide those decisions. I also use a lot of player comp stats to match how certain player types were rated in the original game.

Then I throw everything into the blender and adjust the ratings to reflect the style/era of whatever league I'm rating and rebalance everything so that there is enough difference between players to make it noticeable in-game. I try to stay generally faithful to the spirit of the original game. No fun if everyone is a 90+ overall.

I'm starting a league over on the discord using your rom.  It really is fantastic.  Really awesome work.  Thank you for spending the time to do it.

Edited November 29, 2024 by grimmace92

[von Ozbourne]

On 11/27/2024 at 1:17 PM, Jlsegafan2001 said:

That's pretty nice! Say, how did you give the players colour photos?

I think it was some of the original wboy tutorials where he pointed out the eight grey tone palette that is used almost exclusively by the photos. It shares white and black with the main menu and the message was something like "don't edit these colours because you'll mess up this". Or at least my interpretation of it anyway. But I looked at it later and tested that I could change the other six colours without affecting anything else. I first tested that on a mod that used NES-style character art. It worked out alright there, so the next logical leap was to see about finding six colours that could encompass a decent range of skin tone.

It did mean that it took a little longer to colour correct all 832 player photos so they would still look nice when reduced to eight colours as opposed to only worrying about lightness and contrast for the greyscale versions, but I was able to sort out some automation in photoshop that would at least take care of most of a team at a time. Anyway, it was just nice to find out that the player photos used their own colours because that meant the option was there.

[grimmace92]

Couple of quirks.  I had a pass shot go clear through the net lol.  Hopefully it uploads correctly here.  Also someone had 4 guys in the box and the rom produced an error whhen they expired.    

Edited December 1, 2024 by grimmace92