Incredible Pc Hockey Game

[NYYWSC96]

This thing rocks......!!!!! Thank g-d a new hockey game is here!!(even though its old)

3 questions:

Does it work online with the original disks?

Any way to get the trapezoid penalty ion the game.

Why do my desktop icons reset after every game?

[yanksrcool05]

I have everything. I've played the game many times before modding too.

Well, everything except that darn disc 2.

I just don't believe in buying games that are somewhere in my house, but at least it's cheap.

[apocalypse]

This thing rocks......!!!!! Thank g-d a new hockey game is here!!(even though its old)

3 questions:

Does it work online with the original disks?

Any way to get the trapezoid penalty ion the game.

Why do my desktop icons reset after every game?

Yes it works perfectly with the original disks... you just install the game and overwrite everything with the mods.

Hmm... there is no such penalty as "trapezoid" in hockey... I'm not quite sure what penalty you're actually referring to... could you be more specific and explain how and when this penalty occurs. :)

[wrigleyville33]

Yes it works perfectly with the original disks... you just install the game and overwrite everything with the mods.

Hmm... there is no such penalty as "trapezoid" in hockey... I'm not quite sure what penalty you're actually referring to... could you be more specific and explain how and when this penalty occurs.

He's talking about the little box like figure behind each net. The goalie isn't allowed to play the puck outside that zone behind his net.

[apocalypse]

Ah... I'm not aware of that penalty. Did they introduce it just recently? It's definitely not in the game if that rule is intact in modern NHL. I couldn't find any documentation of that penalty though... but I might recall reading something about it. I have never seen it called in the real games though.

The usual goalie penalties are "delaying the game" which usually occurs when he shoots the puck to the stands (directly, so it doesn't get reflection from another player or the plexi). They also get interference penalties occasionally. That actually IS in the game but they are extremely rare.

Crossing the red line causes a match penalty for the goalie as well. They only cross it when the goalie fights occur. This is not in the game, but the goalie fights are. You get 1 or 2 per season. :D

[Hoop27]

Ya the rule came in 2 years ago. the area behind the net between the lines the goaltender may handle the puck.

however if the goaltender plays a puck in the corners (beyond the line) they are assessed a minor penalty for delay of game.

There is no way to implement that in NHL 2004 to the best of my knowledge, but to be honest I don't recall a goalie getting called for it this year, and I can only remember one time the season before.

[apocalypse]

Yeah exactly... never seen that called...!! It's probably very easy rule to follow so the goalies don't make mistakes there.

Just out of curiosity... we are constantly examining new ways to mod this game... so also in that sense this interaction might be fruitful for both communities... have you managed to change any operational ingame things in MVP 2005?

We managed to change the replays endless. Or actually it was a certain Russian guy who hasn't been active in the gaming community lately... he has done some remarkable things to the PC NHL series... like camera angle selector... and an online statistics grabber... very similar to MVP 2005 boxscore extractor (which I think is an awesome small program)... you go to the DOSBox and run the executable and the program "grabs" all the information from the memory.

I would LOVE to see that kind extractor done for NHL 2004... so we could put our game stats to txt/html form and share detailed game reports with friends. I believe you guys have a full user page of these user stats and game reports... that's simply an amazing idea...!!

It's not only the game that fascinates me here... it's the DEVOTION and dedication that you have... very similar to ours... our community is smaller though... much less people contributing. Of course we have always been in more difficult position as there were still new NHL titles coming for PC... many people just automatically make mods for the newest title which collects the biggest target audience... no matter how bad those games are. MVP 2005 never really had a competition in that sense.

I'm also interested how the MVP modders reacted when MLB 2k9 came out (received the game yesterday BTW)... we'll be in the same position soon if NHL 2k10 comes for PC. This far 2004 has been the only real alternative for the hardcore hockey fans... but 2k10 might change that quickly. I don't like the 2k8 and 2k9 for 360 though... they have lots of issues and don't really compete with 2004 overall (just imho).

Edited June 24, 2009 by apocalypse

[wrigleyville33]

I really wouldn't worry about a new pc game coming out, because nhl 2k10 and 2k's hockey franchise in all, is completely falling apart anyways. You shouldn't stop just because a new game comes out. Chances are, the people of your community would rather have nhl 04, compared to some crappy 2k game.

[Gordo]

I really wouldn't worry about a new pc game coming out, because nhl 2k10 and 2k's hockey franchise in all, is completely falling apart anyways. You shouldn't stop just because a new game comes out. Chances are, the people of your community would rather have nhl 04, compared to some crappy 2k game.

There was a lot of good to come out of the development team changeover this past year. For us avid hockey game players, we saw a lot of good in the 2K base this past year. They made a lot of snafus, don't get me wrong, but if you don't really play the brand, then......

But this isn't another EA vs. 2K battle thread.

[apocalypse]

I really wouldn't worry about a new pc game coming out, because nhl 2k10 and 2k's hockey franchise in all, is completely falling apart anyways. You shouldn't stop just because a new game comes out. Chances are, the people of your community would rather have nhl 04, compared to some crappy 2k game.

No you misunderstood me... we're not going to stop, no matter how the 2k10 turns out. I was more curious how MLB 2k9 has affected you... has it "divided" the community?

There is a lot of good in the 2k hockey games... I have them all (despite 2k9... never bought it because I heard so much horror stories about dynasty crashes, etc)

2k5 is utterly amazing... I would say the AI is almost as good as modded 2004... but the graphics are terrible and dated. 2k7 is probably my favorite... it's a good compromise between old and new... it was the first one with next gen graphics. I'd rate it number #3... after 2004 and 2k5.

I think 2k has the potential to make a GREAT hockey game... they haven't quite managed it yet (save 2k5) but I still wish 2k10 could be something extraordinary. But then again it's been 6 years without a great hockey title for PC... so I'm not holding my breath. I want it for PC because no plasticy console game can never achieve the "soul" that games like NHL 2004 and MVP 2005 have... they can look nice, they can play nice... but it's the hardcore sports fan community that makes the difference.

Personally I don't care where the good game comes from... EA, 2k or even Walt Disney/Buena Vista International...!! But we always have this great old game anyway.

PS: I don't know exactly what happened to the NHL 2004 development team... but I've read from various sources that it was largely the same team that went to create the legendary ESPN 2k5... PC version of NHL 05 (with new dev.team) was just total crap... small children shouldn't see that game as it was so terrible... it was all downhill from 2004 in PC... I never understood why they even put those new titles out... at least the 360 versions look good...!!

[gobluen07]

I signed up and downloaded all the mods, and I must say I was completely blown away by how good this game still plays! Very good stuff. No more nhl 09 for me. I don't even care that nhl 2k10 isn't releasing for pc anymore

[apocalypse]

I signed up and downloaded all the mods, and I must say I was completely blown away by how good this game still plays! Very good stuff. No more nhl 09 for me. I don't even care that nhl 2k10 isn't releasing for pc anymore

Thanks man... yeah... this game has become a small sensation in very short time... everyone who have installed the AI and "total conversion rebuild" have been very surprised.

We never advertised the game anywhere before... but it's very nice that we get more people onboard... the game can become only better from here...!!

Personally, I'm waiting for that 1997 season mod like no other...it'll be great to play with Gretzky, Coffey and Lemieux.

[DJEagles]

Thanks man... yeah... this game has become a small sensation in very short time... everyone who have installed the AI and "total conversion rebuild" have been very surprised.

We never advertised the game anywhere before... but it's very nice that we get more people onboard... the game can become only better from here...!!

Personally, I'm waiting for that 1997 season mod like no other...it'll be great to play with Gretzky, Coffey and Lemieux.

Speaking of Gretzky, Lemieux, etc....I opened your rosters with NHLView, went into the hidden players hoping to pull out Mark Messier, Roy, etc...and could only find Mario. Do you guys delete the hidden players when making your rosters?

[apocalypse]

Speaking of Gretzky, Lemieux, etc....I opened your rosters with NHLView, went into the hidden players hoping to pull out Mark Messier, Roy, etc...and could only find Mario. Do you guys delete the hidden players when making your rosters?

It's a long story but I try to explain some of the reasoning here...

We have to create new players over the hidden players because when you use "create player" option it causes several problems in the game. We want to keep the team lineups somewhat accurate and ANY created player will always be in the simmed games' lineup... no matter what his overall in the attributes is. The AI dresses the players from the minor league (when you get injuries) using their "overall" as a determining factor... but not with the created players... they are ALWAYS in the lineup.

Another problem are the placeholders... if you install the official patch 1.04 that fixes this problem, you won't be able to use things like the replay mod (which is totally amazing addition). So we can't use placeholders anywhere in the rosters... they don't show up correctly at all... no names are displayed...!!

Actually patch 1.03 fixes the placeholders and it works with the replay mod but it breaks some statistics from the interface. For some reason people are obsessive with these official patches... they absolutely want to install them even though we tell them not to.... in our game they won't do ANY good... just break things. They never brought anything else than the placeholder fix and some online tweaks... which are completely meaningless. So never, ever install any of those EA patches to this rebuild...!!

Back to the subject... creating new players over the hidden ones is the only working solution...!! It's not a problem at all... who wants to add retired players to a 2009 season anyway... Of course it's a taste thing... some people love the dynasty but I play the plain season... I never use CPU trades, either... playing with correct accurate teams is the only option for me...!! ;)

Edited June 24, 2009 by apocalypse

[apocalypse]

This got released today... new ESPN interface.

[TribeFan4Eva]

can you play this online whether through a lobby or IP to IP?

[apocalypse]

Yep... people at FHR (it's a Finnish hockey gaming community) played a full, huge online league just recently...!! I'm also aware of two others... there are ongoing online leagues in Russia and Germany... using this exact mod...!!

Edited June 26, 2009 by apocalypse

[apocalypse]

We're now getting a similar program as the amazing box score extractor for MVP 2005. The Russian coding guru, Egorgiy has arrived and is coding the program for NHL 2004 as we speak.

THREAD

Actually I got the idea for such program from here. Our rebuilt game extracts game stats to the ingame menus (unlike MVP), but now we can share "game stories" and "season stories" with other users in the forum this way.

Thanks to tywiggins for the idea. :)

[Maestro23]

We're now getting a similar program as the amazing box score extractor for MVP 2005. The Russian coding guru, Egorgiy has arrived and is coding the program for NHL 2004 as we speak.

THREAD

Actually I got the idea for such program from here. Our rebuilt game extracts game stats to the ingame menus (unlike MVP), but now we can share "game stories" and "season stories" with other users in the forum this way.

Thanks to tywiggins for the idea.

:yahoo:

[apocalypse]

Ok... new interface version 3.5 out...!!

It includes a boxscore extractor. All boxscores of your all season/dynasty games go automatically to \nhl 2004\stats\ folder. Now you can archive all stats from your individual season games. Viewable in txt or html format... stats are easy to share in the FM forum with tags.

SCREENSHOT

Thanks Egorgiy!

DOWNLOAD LINK

[apocalypse]

A few screenshots from my Nashville season.

[apocalypse]

Hi guys... remember this thread?

Here's an excerpt from my ongoing Nashville season

GAME 2, playoff 1st round, the Western Conference in General Motors Place, Vancouver BC

I made small changes. Scratched Ortmayer and dressed Jones. I also moved Arnott to the 2nd line and gave David Legwand a chance to run the show in the 1st.

Vancouver was clearly dominating the first 10 minutes but besides the puck possession and lots of shots they didn't have any serious scoring chances. Rinne was playing very solidly and took their pressure very calmly.

It's not like my NSH team has a lot of big physical players... the size can't match the 90's Flyers team but I still decided to play very physically. The ref let the players play tonight... so I ran Sundin, Sedins and other 'Nucks key players in every possible occasion. No space = no shots, no goals.

Here's Greg deVries showing the right playoff attitude.

14:04 David Legwand scored the first goal. It was a great feeling. No other hockey game comes even close... you really have to EARN your goals when it's playoff time. It really is a rewarding thing when things start rolling.

Then came the game winning goal. And what a goal... Sullivan sneaked to the front of the net and the Big Man Jason Arnott gave him a perfect pass.

There are onetimers, and then there are amazing onetimers. This was the latter.

Vancouver scored the 1-2 goal right after that. Beautiful combination of D.Sedin-Bieksa. Apparently I was still feeling great and too comfortable for that great Arnott-Sullivan goal.

Start of the 3rd period... Darcy Hordichuck is always a great player when the playoffs start. As I said previously, his goals ended my previous LA season. In this game he recorded 3 shots on goal.

Time for Wade Belak to do his job. You can see from Hordi's face that Belak is too much for him to chew. Win for Belak and the emotion boost for NSH right from the start of 3rd period. Who says there is no fighting in playoff hockey?

The rest of the game was Steve Sullivan - Jason Arnott show. The Big man and the Little Man recorded 0+3 and 3+0 tonight.

A hat trick for Steve S, Arnott being the catalyst once again. Not so many hats in the road games.

After the 1-3 goal, here's what I did. Don't neglet these settings, they ARE useful.

Great 1-4 win, and the series is tied 1-1. Much easier to move back home now.

Man of the match.

SCORING / PENALTY SUMMARY:

VANCOUVER 1

NASHVILLE 4

1st period

04:31 NSH PEN M.ERAT Roughing, minor

14:04 NSH GOAL (0:1) D.LEGWAND J.DUMONT, S.WEBER

2nd period

11:19 NSH GOAL (0:2) S.SULLIVAN J.ARNOTT

12:03 VAN GOAL (1:2) D.SEDIN K.BIEKSA, J.HANSEN

15:30 VAN PEN D.HORDICHUK Hooking, minor

3rd period

00:28 VAN PEN D.HORDICHUK Fighting, major

00:28 NSH PEN W.BELAK Fighting, major

13:52 NSH GOAL (1:3) S.SULLIVAN M.ERAT, J.ARNOTT

19:34 NSH GOAL (1:4) S.SULLIVAN M.ERAT, J.ARNOTT

[JoshC77]

I am SO glad that you posted in this thread again.....I never saw it the first time. I just purchased NHL 2004 off of Amazon and am downloading these mods. The only NHL game I have is 2008 and I tried downloading some mods; but the game interface smells like a console port and the gameplay feels like NBA Jam on the ice.

Thanks for introducing us to this!

Edit: By the way, you have any screenies of Nationwide Arena in Columbus?

Edited September 7, 2009 by JoshC77

[apocalypse]

Sure.

[JoshC77]

OMG that is beautiful.....can't wait till I get my shipment in ;)