Happy 1st birthday to World Hockey '88!
To celebrate we have an update so big we had to change the version numbering system!
Version 2.0 is a major overhaul of the entire game to address the large majority of feature requests and feedback, and applying an extra layer of polish over the whole experience.
Additions / New Features
System
- Added support for framerates above 60 fps, including unlocked frame cap.
(This feature is somewhat experimental and unavailable in online multiplayer)
Input Handling
- Added the ability to remap controls
Teams
- All teams can now be individually customized with the following parameters:
- Difficulty level per position
- Player name per type per position
- Default Player lineup
- All players of all teams now have unique names by default (over 1,000 built-in names!)
- Added new teams!
- Lithuania
- Estonia
Difficulty
- Added individual difficulty parameters
- Added a setting to toggle adaptive difficulty (rubberbanding)
- Added the ability to define custom difficulty settings
Game Rules
- All game modes now support advanced icing and fighting rules, as well as all new rule additions.
- Added several new rules:
Fighting (Advanced)
- Penalty given to fight winner
Penalties - On/Off
Advanced:
- Max Number of players in the penalty box (1 or 2)
- Length of minor penalty
- Length of major penalty
Tiebreaker (Advanced)
- Overtime period length
Gameplay Modifiers
- Now available in all game modes (including online!)
- Added descriptions
- Added descriptions on how to unlock each of them.
- Added new unlockable modifiers!
- Weightless Players
Players will get launched when they're checked.
- Extra Slippery
Players randomly slip and fall and can knock other players over.
- Supercharged Players
All Players have maximum stats regardless of player type.
Music Player
- Completely overhauled
- You can now skip to the next or previous track with a button press.
- Now supports loop modes (Off, Loop Track, and Loop Playlist)
- Song progress, length, and album artwork is now shown.
World Champion
- Added Beginner & Amateur difficulty levels
- Added "Freeplay" mode, allows full customization of rules and gameplay modifiers but doesn't contribute to achievements.
- World Champion now supports gameplay modifiers and all rule customization options.
Tournament Mode
- Added a new tournament, Baltic Shoreline
- Tournament Mode now supports saving progress!
- Added "Freeplay" mode, allows full customization of rules and gameplay modifiers but doesn't contribute to progress.
- Added two different progression modes "Campaign", and "Full-Bracket"
Campaign Select a team and try to win every round, losing leads to a game over.
Full Bracket All sets are always playable, players can choose teams per-set.
Netplay
- Added support for all game rules
- Added support for gameplay modifiers
- Added support for historic teams
- Added support for full customization
Customization
- Added Arena Lighting
- Added Puck Highlights
- Added alternative Puck Style
- Added the ability to change the center ice logo to one of the two teams (or both!)
Gameplay
- Players now have collision with each other
- Players can now deflect pucks with both their body and head
Improvements
Menus
- All menus have been improved, polished, and/or completely overhauled.
- All applicable settings and rules have the option to reset to default.
System
- Various optimizations
Camera
- Camera position now clamps to the size of the rink keeping the action always on-screen.
This also greatly improves, and fixes a lot of issues with vertical camera mode.
Practice
- Practice Mode now remembers when the controls view is collapsed
Gameplay
- Wristshots can now have verticality
- Face-Off locations after a penalty have been adjusted to follow expected real-world rules.
- You can now switch players when the selected player is knocked down.
- Improved CPU behavior
- Improved Aim-assist
Tournament Mode
- Tournaments older than 1970 now use helmet-less players for all teams
Pucks
- Gravity is much lower
- Better net collision
World Champion
- Current difficulty level now displays in the corner
- Added option to select a random team
Fights
- Fights no longer display the "MASH!" prompt when there are no human players.
Netplay
- Lobby menu now displays lobby name
- Last used lobby name now gets saved.
Changes
Gameplay
- Physics parameters have been significantly adjusted.
Game Rules
- Possible speeds decreased from 5 to 4 (Removed "Steady")
- Supersonic Speed is now unlockable
- Advanced Icing & Fighting rules have been moved from System Settings to Game Rules
Gameplay Modifiers
- Gameplay Modifiers have been moved from Team Setup to Game Rules
Customization
- "Rink Settings" has been renamed "Customization" and includes additional options
- Puck Color has been moved from System Settings to Customization menu
Tournament Mode
- Default value for "Best Of" has been changed from 3 to 1.
World Champion
- New Game is now a sub-menu
- Customization can only be changed prior to starting a new game.
Fixes
Teams
- Fixed several cases where countries use ISO 3166-1 codes instead of their correct team codes.
- Fixed thin vertical blue stripe in the Belgium flag
Crashes
- Fixed crash after attempting to reset some system settings to their defaults
Gameplay
- Fixed two of the faceoff position swap buttons being the same button.
- Fixed an oversight with CPU faceoff pass behavior.
- Fixed icing being called when shooting backwards from the opposing teams zone.
- Fixed player-goalie collision
Localization
- All: Fixed various translations missing / not implemented.
- Finnish: Fixed "Player Settings" and "Edit Lineup" being swapped.
UI
- Fixed Player Location UI displaying for players in the penalty box.
Cosmetic
- Fixed brief screen-jitter during VS sequence prior to a hockey match starting
- Fixed up-facing referee arm band graphics being mis-aligned
- Fixed players leaving the penalty box really slow when there's too many players in the box.
- Fixed being able to control the goalie during the pre-game sequence
- Fixed large vertical sliver on some crowd animation frames
Results
- Fixed changing the ruleset altering the displayed stats.
World Champion
- MAJOR: Fixed Difficulty level never properly being applied when starting a match
- Fixed minor issues with how progress was saved.
- Fixed save file getting deleted if the game was closed during an active champion run.
Netplay
- MAJOR: Fixed several potential causes for desyncs
- MAJOR: Fixed issue where random matches would fail to sync the RNG seed
- MAJOR: Fixed case where player or lobby data does not get sent properly to a joining player
Tournament Mode
- Fixed being able to skip multiple rounds at once by mashing the A button during the result screen.
- Fixed additional cases where CPU vs CPU counts as a win
Save System
- Added failsafe if savefile doesn't load in time before the title screen.
- Added failsafe if savefile doesn't load in time when starting the game via a lobby invite.
Stats
- Fixed team A's stats getting counted twice instead of team B's