This update is out a little later than we'd hoped for; a number of smaller delays combined to push us a bit off-schedule, our apologies. This time around, we've added new things in a several different areas, some of them relatively new (expanding on the media relations system) while others fulfill longstanding requests (enabling some editing for leagues, primarily European, that previously had all their editing options locked down) The promotion and relegation system in particular got some major changes; instead of being restricted to a two-league setup, you can now set up long chains of leagues with promotion/relegation systems. The late release has pushed into the time we'd had allotted for the final update, so that one is likely going to be out a bit farther past the NHL trading deadline (March 8 this year) than normal; most likely late March or possibly early April.
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; this normally happens when the problem is inherent to data created at the start of the save.
New Features:
1. Added new Media Relations choices and results:
- the GM will now occasionally get the option to respond to media praise of a player, rather than just criticism
- player reaction to the GM's media handling is now more uncertain - depending on the player's (hidden) Handle Critics/Handle Failure/Handle Success ratings, he may respond as the GM hopes, but the more "difficult" players will have a higher chance of responding in a negative way, while other players are more likely to take criticism constructively instead of always being upset by it (this applies to postgame media commentary only, when responding to media critcism over an off-ice incident the player will still expect to be defended by the GM and will respond in the expected way if he is/isn't)
2. Added New Promotion and Relegation Options:
- the number of promoted/relegated teams can now be changed via a new option in the League Rules section for leagues with the "XXX Relegation League" league type: "Number Promoted"; options are 1, 2, or 3, but the maximum numbers is (number of teams in either the promotion or relegation league, whichever is lower/2, fractions rounded down)
- if the 2- or 3-team option is selected, then that number of teams are promoted to the higher league and relegated to the lower league, based on the following preferences: For relegation, 1) All non-playoff teams, in reverse order of the regular-season standings, then 2) All other teams except the league champion, in reverse order of the regular-season standings (i.e. impossible for a champion to be relegated, since a relegation setting can never be more than 50% of a league's number of teams); For promotion 1) The league champion 2) The remaining teams, in order of the regular-season standings
- multiple leagues can now be connected in a promotion/relegation chain: all leagues created via the "Add Promotion/Relegation Fictional League" option can now create further relegation leagues (e.g. League ABC is created using the Promotion/Relegation option, then League DEF is created as its Relegation League. If the user creates another promo/rel league at that point, they will get the option on league type for "DEF Relegation League" where formerly there would only be the option to create a new Major League); the maximum reputation (league value) for the 3rd (and lower) levels of the league is (League Value of Promotion league - 0.01) so the number of leagues will be limited by the league value of the top-level league - the lower that is, the fewer leagues that can be chained together for promotion/relegation, e.g. a league with a league value of 0.10 could only have 9 leagues below it
- mechanically, the second (and lower) promotions work exactly the same as in a 2-league system - teams get promoted from the lower league into the upper league, and the same number get relegated down
3. Enabled limited editing (info tab, roster rules and game rules) for leagues that previously had all editing options blocked due to significant hardcoding in their setup (structure/schedule-related options are still blocked, though, since those are the areas where editing would definitely break the league mechanics)
4. Monthly starting points, ticket price and arena completion date are now editable (in commissioner mode) on the the team edit screen
5. Added draft logs to the csv export
Fixes/Other Changes:
-the database is updated; unfortunately, the delay in releasing the update means it's already a bit out of date - non-NHL rosters are as of two weeks ago, while the NHL is accurate as of early last week; QMJHL and SPHL have their new names (and their logo names have been changed to match)
-added 2022-23 international tournament team results
-the csv export's player_master.csv file is no longer missing "Hand" entries for retired players
-fixed a Media Relations design issue that was causing almost all GM-media relations to deteriorate over time
-the historical re-draft option now works properly for for Seattle in 2021
-regular tournaments (Champions League, Memorial Cup, etc.) are no longer editable - that was an unintended consequence of making custom tournaments editable, and would break the pre-set tournaments if it was used for them
-fixed logic error when teams were making a pre-draft trade for a draft pick, which could result in them exchanging a player for a pick that was not worth nearly enough for him
-US College conference tournaments that start with 8 teams are now seeded correctly
-in years where the waiver/intraleague drafts are active, the draft list on Team-History-(seaason, then Draft tab) is no longer showing the players selected in those drafts as well as the entry/amateur draft
-fixed mouseover text for the OPS and DPS columns on the player screen's season stats tab
-Stanley Cup playoffs will no longer be listed multiple times a month on the scouting screen
-clicking the "Training" tab on the team screen twice will no longer switch to the Scouting screen on the second click instead of remaining on the current screen
-the Minimum Scouting Level filter will now work correctly instead of e.g. showing levels C-E when B is set as the minimum
-the July 1 start option is now disabled for Historical Challenges (having it enabled wasn't intended, since it could significantly affect the difficulty of some challenges)
-fixed extraneous history data for most starting staff in standard games (they were showing a "hired by" date in 2015, even if they didn't start with a team in that season)
-the fan happiness penalty for trading a newly-drafted player will no longer apply to players taken in the waiver/intraleague drafts
-the 1913-14 Stanley Cup (the first NHA vs. PCHA Cup) now occurs correctly in the spring of 1914
-if a team in a multiplayer leagues lapses the rights to a player, then exports their file, it will no longer crash the commissioner's game when he attempts to import it
-when teams are added to a historical game using the "Add Historical Team" option, their player payroll will now be adjusted correctly to the historical financial level for the current year
-fixed potential crash during saving caused by broken data in the media settings
-fixed issue causing some players in custom games with imported historical leagues to import with all ratings set to 0
-added as many NHA-era staff as I could find so the teams don't always have to resort to fictional staff as replacements for fired GM's/coaches
-the schedule at the top-right corner should now show past game scores correctly during the playoffs
-added "personal reasons" injuries for Hart/Dube/Foote/Formenton/McLeod to the presets file that will keep them out for all of 2023-24; since the league has given the teams cap relief for their salaries, this is the best way I can think of to accurately represent their teams' roster situations for this year (since the game will put them on injured reserve and free cap space that way)
-various minor text and UI fixes
