Still Supported?

[Loto68]

Is this game still being supported? Seriously, haven't heard anything in months. It feels like its been 3-4 months since I heard that 1.5 was in the works, then I haven't seen a dev post since then.

[Nino-33]

Riz's last post was two weeks ago https://community.sigames.com/profile/24596-riz-remes/content/

 

The lack of ongoing public communication and significant explanations regarding future plans has been sporadic since EHM1 was released two years ago, doesn't seem anything's different currently IMO (I get the impression it's still Riz doing the best he can with very limited time to work on EHM)

[Nino-33]

FYI - Riz posted on the HFBoards EHM Thread today: "My time to develop EHM is limited and I've been focusing the little time I have had mainly on the editor, so I've got a big list of gameplay things I want to look at for 1.5 update. As before, this update is "ready when done" since there is a lot to do and test before it can be released." http://hfboards.hockeysfuture.com/showpost.php?p=132120733&postcount=111

 

[Riz Remes]

Yes, EHM is still very much in development but as time is limited, I tend to only post sporadically here nowadays. Work is ongoing for the 1.5 update still, ready when done.

[bobobo]

So are we close to an update?

[Colorado]

I personally would rather see improvements and additions to the game as opposed to an editor.

[vonreichsm]

Something news? Any hope that a new version is coming from EHM?

[FootballManager89]

Crazy 10 months can pass by without an update. I definitely feel like we were mislead into thinking this game was going to be an actual series instead the game is just dead now.

[Nino-33]

2 hours ago, FootballManager89 said:

Crazy 10 months can pass by without an update. I definitely feel like we were mislead into thinking this game was going to be an actual series instead the game is just dead now.

What caused you to think the game was going to be a series?

I've been actively involved with EHM since 2010 as a volunteer tester/researcher and the game was actually "dead" from 2010-2015 (there wasn't even a Forum on this site for it, no updates at all, no comments at all from Riz/SI, etc) but that's not the case now.....a game that you paid $20 for that is still being updated over two years later seems like a good deal to me

AFAIK the new EHM was never presented as anything other than the resurrection of a dead game that Riz would work on in his spare time/sporadically.....I have no idea how anyone could think they were misled; as for the 10 month delay, are sports simulation games usually still being updated years after release? isn't it usually 6-8 months after release all work on the game stops as they move to the next in the series? with never another update again?

[FootballManager89]

7 hours ago, Nino-33 said:

What caused you to think the game was going to be a series?

I've been actively involved with EHM since 2010 as a volunteer tester/researcher and the game was actually "dead" from 2010-2015 (there wasn't even a Forum on this site for it, no updates at all, no comments at all from Riz/SI, etc) but that's not the case now.....a game that you paid $20 for that is still being updated over two years later seems like a good deal to me

AFAIK the new EHM was never presented as anything other than the resurrection of a dead game that Riz would work on in his spare time/sporadically.....I have no idea how anyone could think they were misled; as for the 10 month delay, are sports simulation games usually still being updated years after release? isn't it usually 6-8 months after release all work on the game stops as they move to the next in the series? with never another update again?

Why defend something you don't want? Don't you want them to give frequent updates? Then why would you defend them for not giving you want you want and what we all want.

[Nino-33]

3 hours ago, FootballManager89 said:

Why defend something you don't want? Don't you want them to give frequent updates? Then why would you defend them for not giving you want you want and what we all want.

What makes you think I wouldn't want more frequent updates? IMO it's not about what you or I want, it's about being realistic (if I'm going to wish for things with no sign of being realistic I'll wish for something like world peace or to win the lottery)

And you never answered what made you think it was going to be a series [and I wasn't defending infrequent updates, I was defending the idea that they never said there'd be a series and the idea that the game wasn't dead...I think they've been totally upfront from the beginning about the limited time EHM is getting (so it doesn't seem "crazy" at all to me that the time between updates is so long sometimes), and regardless of how infrequent a $20 game still being updated three years later seems impressive to me]

[Archibalduk]

On 11/4/2017 at 09:49, FootballManager89 said:

Crazy 10 months can pass by without an update. I definitely feel like we were mislead into thinking this game was going to be an actual series instead the game is just dead now.

 

There hasn't been any misleading. This was what SI said on the day of the original release of the Early Access version (link):

 

Quote

3. Is there an estimated time frame as to when the Early Access period will cease? Will the game continue to be developed afterwards?

It will be months rather than years, but we haven’t set anything concrete. As for post ‘release’ development? That depends on the situation we find ourselves in. If it does well, then it becomes a fully licensed annual release. If it doesn’t, then that depends on whether Riz and the other members of the team have time to add to it in their spare time.

 

The game was in early access for around 8 months and since then it has been developed by Riz in his spare time (just as they said would be the case if the game didn't sell enough).

[Riz Remes]

The situation at the moment is the same as before. As explained above, all the major updates since the game went from Early Access to Full Release have mainly been worked on by me alone. And for the last few months this year, I've been extremely busy with FM18 development cycle, which has meant there has been little time for EHM unfortunately. But the work on 1.5 update is still very much ongoing and once FM18 is out, I'm hoping to put some more time and effort on it.

And yes, the 1.5 update is not just the built-in editor, but will again feature a bunch of gameplay improvements and bug fixes. There are not going to be any more big new features added at this stage, outside of the editor but general gameplay improvements and tweaks are being done.

[Riz Remes]

On 11/4/2017 at 11:49, FootballManager89 said:

Crazy 10 months can pass by without an update. I definitely feel like we were mislead into thinking this game was going to be an actual series instead the game is just dead now.

I'm not entirely sure where it was promised that EHM was returning to a yearly release cycle or continued periodical updates ? For the Early Access period we promised bi-weekly updates and that we delivered all the way until the full release on Steam. We've done several major updates to the game after the full release, going from 1.0 to 1.4 version all without any extra cost to the customer over the very reasonable original price of the game. After full release, I don't think many games tend to have regular updates and we certainly haven't promised a post-release update schedule anywhere.

I'm sorry to hear you are disappointed with the lack of recent updates, but the prospects of the EHM project were clearly defined when we released the Early Access version and we are following the roadmap as planned post-release. That is to keep on supporting the existing game the best I can with any time that I can spare from my regular FM duties. The original Early Access release of EHM on Steam was only possible following a huge personal investment of my own spare time, working on updating the old game to the state where we could even consider a new release. But that was before our first daughter was born, so I obviously had a lot more spare time to put on EHM back then and I'm not going to be able to work at the very same rate outside of office hours these days.

The 1.5 update will be released when it's ready and done. After that, we'll have to see what the future holds for EHM, but even if the 1.5 ends up being the last major update to the current game, there are always some future plans that we hope to put together one day.

[Swell86]

I love the game Riz.  I've poured a lot of hours into this version of EHM, and you've definitely given me my money's worth.  I've been playing since the freeware days and have some fun memories going all the way back to it.  I wish hockey fans around the world would all get into this game the way football/soccer fans do the FM series so you could get a full team working on the annual release everyone on this forum would so like to see.  I truly appreciate your labor of love.

As a father of three (9,5,& 3 years old) I'd say spend as much time with your children as you can.  I can't believe how fast they grow!

[filip_croatia]

RIZ - will 1.5 update bring new format for Champions hockey league ?

[Riz Remes]

On 12/9/2017 at 19:35, filip_croatia said:

RIZ - will 1.5 update bring new format for Champions hockey league ?

Yes, the plan is to add support for the new format in 1.5 as well (it's actually next on my to-do list after I finish a small Olympics related tweak I'm working on). I'm hoping to also add some more customization for the licenses given to include teams in continental comps to allow people to have more say in what leagues take part etc.

[filip_croatia]

I assume that Olympic tweak is to have non-NHL-ers at Olympics ?

[SoftyPants]

1174 hours on steam. But who's counting, eh? Love the game, Riz, as it stands, and any extra stuff is sweet, whether we wait for it for a week or a year!

[Riz Remes]

On 12/11/2017 at 14:39, filip_croatia said:

I assume that Olympic tweak is to have non-NHL-ers at Olympics ?

Not sure if you've seen my tweet about it, but yeah the Olympics related functionality tweak was to add a new extra rule that can be added to custom North American leagues to prevent them from sending players to participate in the Olympics. 

[Riz Remes]

7 hours ago, SoftyPants said:

1174 hours on steam. But who's counting, eh? Love the game, Riz, as it stands, and any extra stuff is sweet, whether we wait for it for a week or a year!

Much appreciated

[filip_croatia]

7 hours ago, Riz Remes said:

Not sure if you've seen my tweet about it, but yeah the Olympics related functionality tweak was to add a new extra rule that can be added to custom North American leagues to prevent them from sending players to participate in the Olympics. 

I am not much of twitter guy, although I have an account

One more thing to add - Triple Gold club (OG Gold, WC Gold and SC )

 

 

14 hours ago, SoftyPants said:

1174 hours on steam. But who's counting, eh? Love the game, Riz, as it stands, and any extra stuff is sweet, whether we wait for it for a week or a year!

Near 800 hours

[Viking]

On 2017-12-14 at 02:57, SoftyPants said:

1174 hours on steam. But who's counting, eh? Love the game, Riz, as it stands, and any extra stuff is sweet, whether we wait for it for a week or a year!

Yeah, I'd like to thank the devs (IE Riz, I guess) and the TBL-crew for EHM and all support around it. I still love this game. I only wish I had more time to play it.

[filip_croatia]

Can we expect 1.5 by the end of January ?

[alko123]

Perfect game, played it veeeeery very long. But posted 2 crash reports in last month and there is zero reply to that. If you could at least write, that you will check it. Then we will see, it is not dead. 

[Colorado]

Any update news Riz? Also, (having played FHM 4, I do prefer EHM), is there any chance of making the game run quicker? I'm got a average-above ave spec laptop and it's painfully slow running a handful of leagues compared to newer Football Manager games (with far bigger databases/leagues) and FHM 4. 

Do appreciate it's a one man band, but a nice update would be gratefully appreciated and welcomed! 

[gerry58]

It's is not dead but sure looks like a zombie

[szczepek25]

The game is dead? Nothing about this...

[Riz Remes]

Sorry for the lack of updates here, but this year has been a hectic one for me with regards to FM work, which has meant very little time allocated for any EHM development since early on in the year. The 1.5 update is still very much in the works, even though progress has been even slower this year than the year before.

Unfortunately due to my work commitments with FM this year, any major works on the EHM update would have required me to work outside of normal office hours (much like I did earlier to bring EHM back to Steam). However, as noted before, that has not been possible as we have a little daughter now in the family and family time supersedes any personal EHM dev time still. I'm hoping that once the FM19 cycle eases up a bit later in the year, I will again have more time to work on EHM and finally finish the 1.5 update.

[Harper]

On 06/07/2018 at 02:52, Riz Remes said:

Sorry for the lack of updates here, but this year has been a hectic one for me with regards to FM work, which has meant very little time allocated for any EHM development since early on in the year. The 1.5 update is still very much in the works, even though progress has been even slower this year than the year before.

Unfortunately due to my work commitments with FM this year, any major works on the EHM update would have required me to work outside of normal office hours (much like I did earlier to bring EHM back to Steam). However, as noted before, that has not been possible as we have a little daughter now in the family and family time supersedes any personal EHM dev time still. I'm hoping that once the FM19 cycle eases up a bit later in the year, I will again have more time to work on EHM and finally finish the 1.5 update.

Congrats on the family expansion Riz! I missed that when it was first announced.

[Yankee112DK]

On 06/07/2018 at 08:52, Riz Remes said:

Sorry for the lack of updates here, but this year has been a hectic one for me with regards to FM work, which has meant very little time allocated for any EHM development since early on in the year. The 1.5 update is still very much in the works, even though progress has been even slower this year than the year before.

Unfortunately due to my work commitments with FM this year, any major works on the EHM update would have required me to work outside of normal office hours (much like I did earlier to bring EHM back to Steam). However, as noted before, that has not been possible as we have a little daughter now in the family and family time supersedes any personal EHM dev time still. I'm hoping that once the FM19 cycle eases up a bit later in the year, I will again have more time to work on EHM and finally finish the 1.5 update.

Just wanted to voice my support and gratitude at the beautiful game EHM. 

And a little idea - what if you licensed the best roster updates from EHM-TBL or others and sold them as 'official roster update DLC' via Steam? I think a lot of people (like myself) would gladly pay 3-4 € every 4-6 months to get updated rosters and meanwhile support the game. It could be a nice little revenue stream that you guys could share with EHM-TBL without much work on your side.

[Harper]

17 hours ago, Yankee112DK said:

Just wanted to voice my support and gratitude at the beautiful game EHM. 

And a little idea - what if you licensed the best roster updates from EHM-TBL or others and sold them as 'official roster update DLC' via Steam? I think a lot of people (like myself) would gladly pay 3-4 € every 4-6 months to get updated rosters and meanwhile support the game. It could be a nice little revenue stream that you guys could share with EHM-TBL without much work on your side.

I doubt SI has a license to generate revenue off of a data update that has real leagues/players in it. And acquiring that license would likely negate any revenue from sales.

[lina5000]

Le 17/10/2018 à 04:10, Harper a dit :

I doubt SI has a license to generate revenue off of a data update that has real leagues/players in it. And acquiring that license would likely negate any revenue from sales.

Simply needed to voice my help and appreciation at the excellent diversion EHM. :commendation: 

Also, a little thought - imagine a scenario where you authorized the best program refreshes from EHM-TBL or others and sold them as 'official list refresh DLC' by means of Steam. I figure many individuals (such as myself) would readily pay 3-4 € each 4-6 months to get refreshed lists and in the interim help the diversion. It could be a pleasant little income stream that you all could impart to EHM-TBL absent much work on your side.

[Harper]

12 hours ago, lina5000 said:

Simply needed to voice my help and appreciation at the excellent diversion EHM. :commendation: 

Also, a little thought - imagine a scenario where you authorized the best program refreshes from EHM-TBL or others and sold them as 'official list refresh DLC' by means of Steam. I figure many individuals (such as myself) would readily pay 3-4 € each 4-6 months to get refreshed lists and in the interim help the diversion. It could be a pleasant little income stream that you all could impart to EHM-TBL absent much work on your side.

I'm sure there would be a market for such a thing. It's that the NHL/NHLPA would want it's cut for the rights to use the registered trademarks and player likenesses.

[R_Andy]

I didnt here of this game but i think i might get it today reviews looking good and 50% off right now to 02.11 

tonite i will read this forums eastside hockey pages n the reviews properly

but it looks really good looking quickly

 

[GerdMuller]

If you have any interest in NHL and managing , get it. It holds up until today and i play it regularly and still prefer it to modern games like FHM 5 . Also the online leagues still go strong and theres a lot of passon of the Players for them. And we all know "soon" Riz will put out a  huge free update. :-) After all we have known for years now. :-)

[Sebban]

How does this come along? Dead? Would love that this game got same support as FM games have! More leagues would be lovely too

[Ivanoff]

4,072 hours for me (French player). Keep up the good word @Riz Remes !!
If I win on the french lottery tonight, I will pay for your time on 1.5 on all future updates
Thanks to keep this excellent game alive!

With the new version oft TBL roster, I will now have more hours on your game!

For french players, we have open a topic on Hockeyarchives forum : https://forum.passionhockey.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=15487

[filip_croatia]

Best money - entertaiment ratio ever...

 

I am hoping for 1.5 update...

[Rigafan]

On 02/04/2019 at 17:52, filip_croatia said:

Best money - entertaiment ratio ever...

 

I am hoping for 1.5 update...

I'm sure it is! I hope it is! @Riz Remes managed to bring EHM back from the dead so I'm sure he won't forget about the update - just family and things isn't it, we understand.

 

Also.. Can't we protest to @Neil Brock 

 

1. Its a scandal to have a Finnish guy working on a soccer game! (he must be an excellent coder!)

2. I'm clearly an economist so here goes - EHM has 100,000-200,000 users according to certain websites. Now lets take the middle ground, 150,000 users, at the base price that is just over £2m! So unless Riz is EXTREMELY well paid by SI that should be more than enough to have him work full time on EHM again! 

 

Thank you @Neil Brock for you consideration on this matter.

[Nino-33]

9 hours ago, Rigafan said:

EHM has 100,000-200,000 users according to certain websites. Now lets take the middle ground, 150,000 users, 

Wow! that's a lot! It's been out for four years and on Humble Bundle and on-sale multiple times, I'm sure that plays a part in sales...

I wonder about those high numbers for "users" based on it's a Steam only game and the TBL Rosters have 30K in subscribers in the workshop https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=567307051 - are there really over 100 thousand EHM users who use fake player rosters?

Also, the number of players playing at any one time is apparently in the 500 range https://steamcharts.com/app/301120 - is that a normal amount playing for 100K users? I'd think it'd be way higher, but maybe not

[Rigafan]

45 minutes ago, Nino-33 said:

Wow! that's a lot! It's been out for four years and on Humble Bundle and on-sale multiple times, I'm sure that plays a part in sales...

I wonder about those high numbers for "users" based on it's a Steam only game and the TBL Rosters have 30K in subscribers in the workshop https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=567307051 - are there really over 100 thousand EHM users who use fake player rosters?

Also, the number of players playing at any one time is apparently in the 500 range https://steamcharts.com/app/301120 - is that a normal amount playing for 100K users? I'd think it'd be way higher, but maybe not

Its surprising how many posts on steam forum you see asking for real rosters. I try my best to monitor it and let everyone know about TBL!

 

And with the numbers, you said it right, sales, humble bundle etc will play a part in the total so some people will have the game who don't even know or care I guess?

 

If we look at Football Manager 2018 on steam it says 1m - 2m owners and the highest concurrent was around 72,000 at once. We are told that FM sells around 1m copies each year doesn't it? So the data can't be THAT far out for EHM surely?

[JCourtney]

It's kind of crappy with all the profits they make every year on new versions of Football Manager they can't seriously invest any of that into another product.   There is seriously only one person working on Eastside Hockey Manager as a side hobby?  I mean Eastside would never be on the same level as Football Manager, but it's still just a bad showing they won't make new releases.  A bad showing that will all the money FM is bringing it that none of it will go towards new products.  

I mean the excuse last time was piracy wasn't it?  I mean it's 2019, there are plenty of DRM solutions that would take care of that issue.  All you really have to is keep pushing out updates, and that makes everyone forget about pirating it.  Just have some always online element that is constantly making the game update and game crackers wouldn't even be able to keep up. 

I mean as it stands right now Eastside is pretty much unplayable if you use broken tactics.  Too easy.  You're pretty much forced to play GM mode only otherwise it'll be too easy.

 

[Colorado]

I would love to see this game brought up to date and given some TLC. 

I haven't come across the 'broken tactics' issue from my experience although I don't touch them much.

I tried FHM 5 and even though it's more up to date, it's not the the pull EHM has. 

Let's hope it gets a revamp at some point. 

[Amarante]

On 20/04/2019 at 16:13, JCourtney said:

It's kind of crappy with all the profits they make every year on new versions of Football Manager they can't seriously invest any of that into another product.   There is seriously only one person working on Eastside Hockey Manager as a side hobby?  I mean Eastside would never be on the same level as Football Manager, but it's still just a bad showing they won't make new releases.  A bad showing that will all the money FM is bringing it that none of it will go towards new products.  

I mean the excuse last time was piracy wasn't it?  I mean it's 2019, there are plenty of DRM solutions that would take care of that issue.  All you really have to is keep pushing out updates, and that makes everyone forget about pirating it.  Just have some always online element that is constantly making the game update and game crackers wouldn't even be able to keep up. 

I mean as it stands right now Eastside is pretty much unplayable if you use broken tactics.  Too easy.  You're pretty much forced to play GM mode only otherwise it'll be too easy.

 

What great money you think FM is making?. Don't you think that most of that have to go into the next version of FM Licensing fees, staff, misc you think FM makes so much in profit that they just can invest into a new product