Good Afternoon Hockey fans / Beer leaguers / Old School retro sports gamers! Just going to show what I have been working on. Again, a ton of system stuff and I'm upgrading everything for more polish with menus, No wonk Back button crap. But the past 2 weeks, I have been working on the Eco System that will be present in Light the Lamp Hockey. I will detail some of the new systems, the big changes with players and more importantly... Tell the story of one Big Bennet to whom came through one of my tests this week. [h1] Bringing the Farm [/h1] Depending on your role in the season, (player or coach) you will have access to a few tools at your disposal to help cultivate your talent. Whether what you have in front of you to start or what you are trying to build towards. It will start in our new Roster management screen. I have come up with some ways you can evaluate your talent. This takes the form of Statistics and New attribute Systems that I'm using to elevate the game to another level that I have been craving since the game entered Early Access. The System that I am developing will provide an interesting challenge to those that choose player or coaching routes with the teams they want to develop. When all is implemented, players can leave, retire, have on and off nights. Have attendance issues and more. As the coach and owner, you will be responsible for keeping the team happy while maintaining your own goals you have for the team. Do you want to be an ok skill level team with a great fan following? Or will you pass on your own marketability in favor of going to the rink and destroying the competition. It really is up to you and everything has it's own give and take on to how you achieve that. [h1]Using your Gut[/h1] Before you bring new players on, you will have access to their past stats... which leads me to the story of one of my prospects... There were actually 2 players that came through that I wanted to mention. But the main focus we will look at is Big Bennet. The other one I had to pull aside just because the player's name was Butter Terror. So I'm looking forward to seeing the combinations that form and who knows, maybe Butter Terror is a late blooming Wayne Gretzky.. you never really know! But let's look at Mr Big Bennet's stats.... [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/42085480/7218b9287c98e0fc43dd788da7b2d34fa3aaf589.png[/img] So... um.. for the uninitiated and some new stats I came up with just for the game going from left to right we have. GP = Games Played | G = Goals | A = Assists | Pts = Points | Lap = Average lap around the rink speed (in seconds) | Chem = Chemistry *More on this later* | BtlW = Puck Battles Won | BtlL = Puck Battles Lost So from this information I know that Mr Bennet, is a once in a blue moon goal scorer and an ok team guy. He has an average speed, And is not good when the puck is not in his hands. However, does this mean he is a good shot blocker? is he more of a tieup guy while another player gets the puck away? Does he just blast people? My concerns are immediately at the Games played aspect, is he close to being burned out? With 10 games a season, then this player has played over 7 seasons. What happened to his team? Well I have issues with players not showing up so I'll just slot him in the sub catagory and run an open hockey session and see if he is a good fit. Well he better be or I'll have to refund his season fee if I decide to cut him which could in turn mess up the locker room since no one is as hardo as I am. But...what if Bennett is actually an elite sniper when he wants to be and then all of a sudden he just starts sniping, we beat teams, 6-0 on the reg and then because he is a sub I get a "Ringer" Complaint filed on me and then a game gets forfeited. All are very real scenarios. But hey... one game at a time right! and have fun! [h1]Just the right Chem[/h1] Taking the place of the persona stat, we have the chemistry system. There are 4 Chemistry Tiers, A-D. When you pair the players with the same Tiers for example, A line of "A"s , then they will properly run a formation in the offensive and defensive zone as well as have a steady stream of confidence. The downside being. if you are running this line and they are not getting the job done, well it may be too conservative, too perfect, and Beer league is won with bad bounces and a guy being at the right place at the right time. So as you can imagine, the positioning changes with a more varied lineup. But this comes at a cost. If you have a really varied chem lineup, you may have a varied response to losses, and goals against. But also they may get that real dark horse confidence if things just start clicking. It's up to you, the coach, to experiment and see what could be your Excalibur to slice through the Butter Terrors of the League. [h1]Forward and Forward [/h1] It's been quite the slog but I'm happy to share this progress with you all! I can't wait to release this freaking thing in a completed state soon, As for now, really no idea when. But I'm feeling great about where this is leading me and the game as a whole. Thanks for the Patience and See you all soon! And watch the SPHL... it's pretty great!