A hotfix for FHM11, version 11.1.24, has just been released.
The fourth post-release update, this is a little bit more than a hotfix but not quite a full update, so we'll stick with calling it a hotfix. The changes are mainly changes that took a little longer to implement and test properly, but there are also a few smaller things that were reported recently and made it in. The next update, barring the discovery of any urgent game-breaking problems, will be the first proper "Update", probably in mid-late November, when we'll also add the current database start option with updated rosters.
Your existing savegames will be compatible with the updated game, but some issues that are data-dependent may require a new game before you see them; also, see the note below regarding a crash during the 4-Nations Cup that may require some additional help if you're already getting the crash in your save.
Changes:
-made a number of adjustments to AI trading mechanics and frequencies: should be a lot more transfers in Europe now, a few trade types that hadn't been working properly have been fixed, and a handful of the newer playable leagues are now using transfers properly when they weren't previously
-added 2023-24 playoff/promotion/relegation changes to Finnish Liiga, Mestis, and Suomi-Sarja
-fixed jobs for a large number of staff in the modern database that had changed from "Assistant Coach" to "Player", which effectively removed them from the game
-fixed repetitive invalid playoff format error for the AHL in historical mode; this will fix the problem in saves that were created prior to the update
-if any teams in the league have an empty roster (e.g. pre-draft expansion teams), clicking on the Demographics Report will no longer crash the game
-players are no longer missing their AHL stats on their career stats screen at the start of a new historical game
-the new check that forces teams to try trading good players before putting them on waivers now looks at player's potential, rather than their current ability
-the Busts screen for the WHL's Draft Surprises report no longer uses the CHL Import Draft rather than the WHL Bantam draft
-removing teams from the WHL at the start of a new game will no longer cause a crash a few weeks later
-the "Re-sign star player" owner goal will no longer be targeted at players who have already signed extensions
-the "Re-sign star player" owner goal will now complete properly when the player is re-signed
-the "Acquire some chemistry" owner goal will no longer be used if all the potential chemistry targets are ineligible to play in the league
-the major role determination for defencemen at the start of a new game will now select the Two-Way Defenceman role when appropriate instead of only using offensive/defensive templates
-new expansion teams in a standard game no longer get assigned newly-generated GM's and Head Coaches with reputations of 0 (which was also leading to very quick firings of those guys); they'll hire a GM and Head Coach from the existing staff pool (this was already working properly for the other staff roles)
-corrected warning on the popup that appears when the user attempts to hire a head coach to reflect the changes to GM-only mode that now allow the user to retain control over lineups, etc.
-fixed data error in one of the hotfixes that broke all AHL affiliations in historical games that were started with the new version of the game
-historical AHL teams multiple affiliations now work correctly at the start of a new historical game, i.e. they'll have both parents instead of only one
-fixed potential crash during 4-Nations Cup; this fix will work on existing saves, but only if the 4-Nations tournament hasn't begun yet in the current season (if that's the case, we can still fix your save manually, please let us know and we'll make the fix for you)
-European teams will no longer make transfers for players in the North American college leagues
-fixed problem with 23-24 Arizona stats for players in historical database, which was leading to the team being empty in a 2023 start
-fixed issue causing responses to user-made contract offers to say that the user's own team had made a better offer to the player
-added NCAA to the "Rights" filter on the player search screen
-fixed a few more player data errors
And, finally: after all these years, we may have fixed the long-standing facegen bug that would, every few times the game was started, break the facegen images so only the bottom-left quarter of them was displayed, requiring a game restart to get them back to normal. The fix is as weird as the problem; basically, we're using a rendering mode that's intended for Macs, but on the Windows version of the game. Do we know why it works? Not really. But does it work? Apparently so; we've started many test games since making the change, and no one's seen the bug reappear yet. Either it's fixed, or much, much more rare now. And it doesn't seem to be causing any other problems, despite the odd implementation. Fingers crossed that this has corrected it for good.