The sixth and final update for Franchise Hockey Manager 5, version 5.8.69, has just been released. Please post any problems/bugs you run into in our Steam discussions board or the [URL="http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/board/forumdisplay.php?f=3949"]Bug Reports Forum[/URL] on our website. Your existing savegames will be compatible with the updated game, but some of the update's fixes may not retroactively correct certain problems in existing saves. Changes: [U]Gameplay:[/U] -database updated to February 25 (i.e., immediately post-NHL trading deadline); in addition to the usual playable league updates, most nonplayable leagues received substantial roster updates; NHL attendance base levels updated to current 2018-19 amounts; corrected RFA/UFA contract-expiry status for a number of NHL players -added randomization ("Randomize Starting Scout Bias") option in setup for starting scouting opinions on NHL draft-eligible (and younger) players (will completely randomize the player's consensus opinion value, which can significantly change the scouting evaluations, making scouting and drafting in early seasons much more unpredictable) -offensive rating penalties to fatigued players increased -added an additional fitness reduction to skaters playing an excessive number of minutes in one game -new csv export files added: schedules, team_records, conferences and divisions -most playable leagues received an expansion to their list of leagues that they can sign players directly from; generally this are still very low-level leagues; notably EIHL teams can now sign players directly off NIHL Division 1 rosters (had previously been only Division 2) -NHL rights on drafted KHL and Swiss league players will now remain until player reaches UFA age (approximates defected player rule) -user's active roster limit is now removed during the playoffs as it is during exhibition games -uniform number assignment system now automatically gives the players the number they want if available (i.e. the change we made in the last update is now extended to any desired number, not just if it's the preferred one), so the user only gets a message if a player needs a uniform and the one he wants isn't available -player fitness after playing a game will now be slightly lower -adjusted the system we added last update that lowers fitness by 10 when being sent up/down from farm teams: if the new team is in the same city as the old one, adjustment is 0 instead of -10. If state is the same, adjustment is -5. If country is the same, -10. Otherwise, -15. -all players on a user's farm teams are now scouted to A-level, even if they're not actually contracted to the user's team -during an initial draft, if a user's team's remaining salary budget is < (league minimum salary * (number of remaining rounds + 1), the team will only be able to pick players who will get a contract with a salary equal to the league minimum. -average Aging rating for generated players adjusted upwards by a small amount, should result in slightly fewer players declining early -SHL transfer frequency between AI teams reduced, and SHL teams will now occasionally make player-for-player trades [U]User Interface:[/U] -reworked tactics screen, adding more explanatory tooltips and removing unnecessary elements, and option to have the AI reset the tactics -in the Exit Auto-Play options, 0.5 star level options added to "When a player is available on waivers" so they can be set at 0.5, 1.5, etc. as well as the integer values -added new news item to announce players (with contracts) being added to the team on July 1 in historical (no draft) mode -added new news item to announce retirement of staff who aren't in GM and/or head coach jobs -when viewing a player's scouting reports, using the arrow button to change players will now change the report as well, not leaving it stuck on the report of the first player viewed -on the player profile, the Consensus Opinion and Central Scouting graphs should now correctly display ratings lower than the user's scouts for players who are underrated -using the league menu to open the Champions League or Memorial Cup schedule/stats/history pages, then the standings tab, will no longer result in a blank page -when viewing one team's roster screen, then switching to a different team via the team menu, the Action Menu will no longer disappear until the roster tab is clicked on -standings screen on manager home page should now show the playoff line in the correct place in non-conference leagues -in the box scores, the single "OT" column for scoring and shots on goal has been split into one for each OT period - OT,OT2,OT3, etc. -the "Champions" section of the international tournament history screen should now show the proper number of championships won for that tournament -the tournament (CHL/Memorial Cup) history screen now includes the historical champions in the leaders in the Champions section, not just the teams that win tournaments after the game starts -fixed colouring of the Historical Challenge successful/failed popup in dark skin (had been dark blue on black) [U]Bug Fixes:[/U] -.fg files with special characters in them should now import properly, both via the automatic import and manual selection via the Import PhotoFit option on the Picture menu) -1974-75 and 1975-76 WHA schedules restored to correct as-scheduled versions (as opposed to as-played versions where teams stopped playing midyear, which made Minnesota historical challenge extremely difficult) -the 1926 Stanley Cup (which should be between the NHL and WHL champions) should now occur properly -when KHL teams make unsuccessful contract offers to a player, their free agent budget will no longer continue to be reduced by that amount even after the player signs elsewhere or the user ends negotiations -Montreal and Toronto historical challenges should now trigger properly and award achievement at correct time -Vancouver Millionaires historical challenge now correctly awarded when the player wins the Stanley Cup, not their league championship -check to prevent resigning from international team while tournament is underway should now begin with roster deadline date for tournament (had been allowing resignations prior to opening game of tournament, which could lead to crashes if roster had not been completed prior to resignation) -when an OHL/WHL/QMJHL team releases a player, his rights for all 3 leagues will now be properly set to "none", making him signable by any CHL team -"Select Player Usage" function for farm teams should now work properly in multiplayer -fixed roster status issue for players on NHL contracts who move directly from a junior team to an AHL/ECHL farm team -the player_master.csv CSV export file will no longer assign ID's of -1 to players generated after the start of the game -playoffs in custom league setups should now work properly when the format is changed after the first season; in some cases they were failing to start -various other small text and data fixes