The third full update (and second content update) for FHM9, version 9.3.96, has just been released.
(Update Feb. 23: We had to do a new version, 9.3.97, to fix an error in the original one that resulted in the new stats being cleared every time a save was reloaded. The game should update to that version automatically.)
Notes:
Thanks to everyone who participated in the open beta for this update on Steam. We've updated the public_beta branch with this version as well, so if you don't leave the beta in Steam you'll still have the same version as everyone else.
We wound up doing quite a bit of under-the-hood work to get more stats out of the match engines; that produces a lot that's available immediately, as well as some stuff that's going to appear in the next update and/or future versions of the game. It wound up being more work than anticipated, particularly dragging useful details out of the classic engine and putting them into a format that matched what the new 2D engine can do. You'll see a number of new stats that are visible during the game and in the boxscores, and a bunch of new additions have been made to the csv data exports. Speaking of those exports, if you haven't had a look at TobyInHR's Advanced Analytics tool for making use of that data yet, it's definitely worth checking out; see his thread on our forums at https://forums.ootpdevelopments.com/showthread.php?t=342429 for the details.
This update slipped a little later than we expected, so the next one (aside from any hotfixes that might be needed before then) will be later than normal as well - rather than shortly after the NHL trading deadline, it's more likely to be towards the end of March. We're hoping to make it a big one; some of the things that didn't quite make it into this update (in-game shot location charts, historical Cleveland-Minnesota-San Jose special drafts) should be in that one. And the later release will let us do a more thorough final update to the data, since that will be the ultimate version of the FHM9 "Current" database.
Changes and Additions:
-additional nationalities can now be added for starting draft/rookie generation in custom games
-rookie draft nationalities are now editable in custom games after the game has begun (July 1 only; the changes won't be apparent until the next group of rookies is generated the following July 1)
-added a number of new stats to the in-game display and stats screen in 2D mode - possession time, shot quality, etc. Shot Quality uses the quality assessment based on the scoring chance definitions originated on the WAR On Ice blog (http://blog.war-on-ice.com/new-defining-scoring-chances/index.html) - the range is from 0-4, with values 1-2-3 assigned depending on the location of the shot and then a further +1 if the shot attempt follows a rebound or or is on a rush and a -1 if it was blocked; the classic engine has had a bunch of conversion mechanics added so it produces similarly results to what the 2D engine does (although there'll be some minor differences; the old engine just isn't as precise when it comes to the location of on-ice events, so we have to make a best-guess in a lot of cases)
-added many new items to csv exports: player potential and ability in player_ratings.csv, a number of new shot-related things in boxscore_summary.csv (including shot quality and shot attempts), and shot quality numbers to the boxscore skater summary
-database for playable leagues updated as of February 12; presets file also given some updating
-added league edit option (July 1 only) to disable waivers entirely for the league (note that the waiver draft is still a separate setting)
-on the player history screen and in the team transaction logs, when a trade is shown that includes a draft pick in a draft that has already occurred, the name of the player who was chosen with that pick is now shown (had to redesign the screen slightly to accommodate this; it may take slightly longer to load particularly lengthy player histories)
-added a new option to the World menu (World section) just under "National Data", called "Regional Data"; this lists the nations (first) and then states that make up each region
-added two new events to the NHL: on June 23, "Off-season Signing Window Begins" and on August 31 "Off-season Signing Window Ends" ao the user gets some notice that they can now start signing people from his unsigned list that are in a league with date restrictions on signing them
-added a draft option: "Serpentine", which reverses the draft order in every other round; initial drafts and some historical expansion drafts will now default to this, and it can be turned on for other drafts on July 1 in commissioner mode
-added another Historical League Editing checkbox option to Manager Options: Update Draft Rules - if this is unchecked, the draft system currently used by the league(s) will remain in place permanently, leaving it checked continues the current behaviour (where they get updated whenever there's a new set of rules, like most years in the 60's and 70's)
-the NHL all-rookie team should now appear in historical mode
-the AI will no longer automatically release overage players for the upcoming season from human-run junior teams
-the "Season-ending Performance Evaluation" modifier to fan happiness will no longer occasionally add huge amounts to the season-ending amount
-fixed issue that mistakenly allowed a human user to make trade offers (and get them accepted) for players with NTC/NMC's who would normally refuse the trade
-prospect status ("(P)" notation on the roster screen) should now be evaluated correctly in the AHL and ECHL instead of mistakenly being given to some veterans
-if a custom league with 2 conferences, custom playoffs, and the Conferences Separate/Conference Leader Seeded options checked has the playoffs start in the final, the final will now correctly be between the leaders in each conference instead of the top two teams in the league, regardless of conference
-in the top-16 playoff format used by the historical NHL in 1979-80 and 80-81, the four divisional winners are no longer (incorrectly) given the top seeds in the opening round matchups
-the scouting report (named "Recruiting Update") message for NCAA teams should now include all the players it was supposed to (had been missing a lot of the younger ones); additionally, there's now a second section that lists players from the same state as the user's team (will not apply to existing saves, new ones only)
-"team owner" changed to "athletic director" in text that applies to college teams
-if the user has chosen to defer injury treatment for a player and their team begins the playoffs with a bye, the game no longer incorrectly removes the deferral from the player and activating the injury as if the team's season has ended
-if the user is attempting to make a transfer offer to acquire a player from a team that's close to or above their player budget, the game will no longer give the response that the team cannot add that much salary to the payroll, which made no sense since the player would be leaving them
-the nonplayable player movement system should no longer move players to teams in the Under-18 generic league that do not match their nationality
-fixed problem with the previous fix for the issue with some players signing with the user's NCAA team on National Signing Day when they don't compete for them, it had still been occurring occasionally
-fixed contract negotiation interface issue that would make it impossible to submit an upgraded offer to a player in some circumstances in the first week after July 1
-fixed crash on July 1, 1971 in games with the "Draft Rookies/Generate at 17" option off
-attempting to add an all-star game to some historical seasons no longer causes a crash
-when historical teams are imported into a custom game, their team histories will no longer be imported as well (which was mixing their stats with the custom league's history)
-click-and-drag disabled for the standalone/Fastspring version, had been accidentally re-enabled but still causes crashes when used with that version
-slightly increased frequency of team harmony-affecting incidents
-box scores no longer show Bench penalties as "Player Name, Bench, 0 Minutes", but rather "Team Name, Bench, 2 Minutes"
-if a league does not award any points for a loss in overtime, when a team loses in overtime its goaltender ia now credited with a regular L, not an OTL
-adjusted 2D penalty routines to reduce excessive frequency of unsportsmanlike conduct penalties
-decreased willingness of low-intelligence players to go to college teams with strong academic reputations
-the Verbal Commitments draft list should no longer include a few players who aren't actually eligible
-the Spengler Cup should now always include HC Davos
-the Liiga Bronze Medal game will no longer stop after the first season, and is now a single game instead of a 7-game series
-players on teams that win the NCAA championship no longer get the win listed twice on their player screen icons
-the Tactical Settings Fit data has beene added to the in-game version of the tactics screen
-if the NHL schedule is re-generated in a historical game during a season in which the new historical tournaments (Challenge Cup/Rendez-Vous 87) are present, the schedule will now leave a break when it should to avoid regular-season games overlapping with them
-added best-of-3 final for the Suomi-Sarja playoffs
-promotion/relegation between Mestis and Suomi-Sarja should now properly reflect the results of the relegation round tournament
-the iron curtain rule will no longer incorrectly affect draft eligibility for some players in historical games started after its effects no longer apply
-the 1971 WHA General Draft now works properly when the "Generate players at 17" option is turned off in a historical game
-if a historical game is started with the multiplayer and enable historical editing options checked, GM's the commissioner adds are no longer given commissioner status themselves
-the Stats screen now updates everything the Possession numbers at the end of the game if Sim End is used, instead of leaving them where they were when the button was used
-added check to the Goalie Start System for AI teams that will correct over-use of a backup in place of the best goalie
-changed naming and mechanics of generic leagues representing lower divisions in larger countries and elite leagues of very minor countries
-fixed issue with player movement into the Lower Level Colleges generic league (ACHA, Div III, etc.)
-fixed issue with goalie usage change that was leading to the starter playing almost every game
-when NHL teams trades a player that is under contract to them but loaned to a CHL or European team, the contracted team should now transfer properly
-players who fail their academic eligibility check a second time (after being redshirted the first time) are now removed from the team properly
-added some additional generic international leagues to historical mode so all national teams represented in international tournaments have a local league
-added correct NHL trading deadline dates to post-2010 historical seasons