HLM25 is out!
- Thread starter Ajex12x
- Start date
It’s great. I’ve fully converted from EHM. I’ve been working on from scratch-rosters with some special Easter eggs (let’s call them HLMX when I release them) ever since 2024 came out but I had to spend the better part of the year breaking down the mechanics and understanding the file structure and building everything. Not quite there…but soon.
abo9
Registered User
- Jun 25, 2017
- 9,145
- 7,262
I enjoy both. Desktop I tend to give myself a challenge with hard settings, mobile I cheese it hard and force trades to make my dream team
I started a test game with the default rosters last night (no changes other than unfaking all the names). I agree that there are some very smart/fun systems in the game. If the AI is actually able to manage the cap and construct plausible rosters then it's close to surpassing EHM and FHM in terms of what I'm looking for in a hockey management sim.
My biggest pet peeve initially is the lack of nuance in the rating system. In the default DB, the best forwards are also the best defensive forwards. Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Nikita Kucherov and Artemi Panarin are all going to be perennial Selke contenders. Maybe BK's DB will be better in this respect, but with only 9 attributes, it may be a necessary evil to get players like McDavid to 98 or 99 overall.
Re: scoring, here's some very quick and dirty analysis from my sim:
Goals Leaders
56, 53, 45, 45, 43, 43, 43, 42, 42, 42, 42, 41, 41, 41, 40, 39, 39, 38, 38, 37
vs in the real NHL
69, 57, 54, 51, 49, 48, 47, 46, 46, 44, 42, 42, 42, 41, 40, 40, 40, 39, 37, 37
Assists Leaders
90, 72, 66, 66, 66, 65, 62, 62, 62, 62, 61, 61, 61, 60, 60, 59, 59, 59, 57, 57
vs in the real NHL
100, 100, 89, 75, 71, 69, 66, 65, 64, 63, 62, 62, 62, 60, 60, 59, 59 58, 57, 57
Points Leaders
131, 120, 114, 110, 100, 100, 98, 97, 96, 96, 94, 94, 93, 92, 91, 91, 90, 90, 90, 90
vs in the real NHL
144, 140, 132, 120, 110, 107, 106, 104, 103, 98, 96, 94, 94, 94, 92, 90, 90, 89, 89, 88
We are definitely missing some top end scoring. This may be a ratings problem - I'm not sure if adding more separation between top end players and the rest would solve this.
My biggest pet peeve initially is the lack of nuance in the rating system. In the default DB, the best forwards are also the best defensive forwards. Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Nikita Kucherov and Artemi Panarin are all going to be perennial Selke contenders. Maybe BK's DB will be better in this respect, but with only 9 attributes, it may be a necessary evil to get players like McDavid to 98 or 99 overall.
Re: scoring, here's some very quick and dirty analysis from my sim:
Goals Leaders
56, 53, 45, 45, 43, 43, 43, 42, 42, 42, 42, 41, 41, 41, 40, 39, 39, 38, 38, 37
vs in the real NHL
69, 57, 54, 51, 49, 48, 47, 46, 46, 44, 42, 42, 42, 41, 40, 40, 40, 39, 37, 37
Assists Leaders
90, 72, 66, 66, 66, 65, 62, 62, 62, 62, 61, 61, 61, 60, 60, 59, 59, 59, 57, 57
vs in the real NHL
100, 100, 89, 75, 71, 69, 66, 65, 64, 63, 62, 62, 62, 60, 60, 59, 59 58, 57, 57
Points Leaders
131, 120, 114, 110, 100, 100, 98, 97, 96, 96, 94, 94, 93, 92, 91, 91, 90, 90, 90, 90
vs in the real NHL
144, 140, 132, 120, 110, 107, 106, 104, 103, 98, 96, 94, 94, 94, 92, 90, 90, 89, 89, 88
We are definitely missing some top end scoring. This may be a ratings problem - I'm not sure if adding more separation between top end players and the rest would solve this.
Scoring is not really a ratings issue, it's a scoring slider issue. The slider makes a BIG difference but it does tend to move all scoring, not spread scoring leaders out more.
In HLM24 testing, if the scoring slider was set at exactly middle, I calculated annual average goals per game for the league and it came out less than the current NHL (past 3-4 years). But if I slid it one up from the middle, it ballooned the scoring too much, well past current NHL averages for team goals-per-game.
I haven't run the same multi-year testing in HLM25 yet. My hope is that the slider settings can be adjusted to approximate the current NHL environment goals-per-game - but I doubt you'll ever get the "bell curve" of top scorers to feel exactly the same as real life.
As far as ratings go - yes, one of the fundamental issues with HLM has been how ratings are essentially equally rated between offense and defense no matter what the position or role is. In order for the top superstars to get "high ratings" - it is by necessity that they have high defensive ratings. It's definitely a flaw in the game. Whether my database, the default database or anybody's database. Of course, with guys less highly rated you can start to "shape" the weight of their offensive/defensive split a bit better. But you are correct in your assumpetion about superstar-level players.
If you are curious, overall rating is the average of:
Shooting *1 + Passing*1 + Off Awareness*1.5 + Shot Blkg*1 + Hitting*1 + Def Awareness*1.5
In other words, the two "Awareness" categories count extra. Face-offs, Discipline and Injury Proneness do not calculate into overall rating.
If you change McDavid to a defensive defenseman, he will still have the exact same rating as he does as a playmaking center, if the attributes are all the same.
Aside from producing annoying Selke Trophy results, I can tend to ignore this flaw for the sake of having a game which simply plays and edits "faster" than a more detailed sim like EHM. That's why even in its newly upgraded 25 form, HLM is definitely not a direct "replacement" for EHM or FHM if you are looking to micro-rate 25 attribute categories for 10,000 players each.
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