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How Do Online Leagues Work?
Online leagues in FHM5 are fairly simple, and work along the same lines as the online league model that has been used for many years in Out of the Park Baseball: A group of players decides to start an online league. One player becomes the commissioner. This is the person who will 'run' the league. Some online leagues have a mix of human- and computer-controlled teams.
The players who initiate an online league decide on the league configuration - which league they'll play in, who gets which team, house rules, and so on. The commissioner creates the game on his computer, and then provides a copy of the league files to the other players. The managers download the game files and then open up the game. Once they are in the game, they can make changes to their teams, such as setting up lineups. Once they are done making changes, they prepare team files with those changes, upload them, and the commissioner retrieves them and imports the changes into the master copy of the game. The commissioner usually then auto-plays a pre-determined number of days and posts a copy of the league files again.
This process repeats itself throughout an entire hockey season. League events such as playoffs, free agency, and drafts are handled in different ways in different online leagues. For example:
There is no 'right way' to handle these things. But the fundamental process continues: make changes, export, import, auto-play, new league file, repeat.
To participate in an online league, all you need is a copy of FHM5 and the ability to connect to the internet so that you can download league files and export your changes.
The person running the league (usually the commissioner) typically needs access to a web server with and FTP hosting capability. Most online league commissioners create web sites for their leagues, some of which can be quite extravagant. Generally, commissioners are reasonably web-savvy.
All members of an online league must have the same version number of FHM5 installed.
The players who initiate an online league decide on the league configuration - which league they'll play in, who gets which team, house rules, and so on. The commissioner creates the game on his computer, and then provides a copy of the league files to the other players. The managers download the game files and then open up the game. Once they are in the game, they can make changes to their teams, such as setting up lineups. Once they are done making changes, they prepare team files with those changes, upload them, and the commissioner retrieves them and imports the changes into the master copy of the game. The commissioner usually then auto-plays a pre-determined number of days and posts a copy of the league files again.
This process repeats itself throughout an entire hockey season. League events such as playoffs, free agency, and drafts are handled in different ways in different online leagues. For example:
- Trades can be discussed in a forum and, once approved by the commissioner, added to the game via the commissioner's "Force Trade" option in the trade window (but only after the game has been advanced to the desired date, since making the trade prior to that will make the team's uploaded lineup invalid.)
- Drafts can be conducted by teams sending in draft lists for each round, or conducted on a forum or a chat program. In either case, the commissioner makes all the picks.
- Signing and releasing of Staff members (coaches, scouts, etc.) can be handled by having the commissioner approve and make all such moves, and resolving any conflicting requests.
There is no 'right way' to handle these things. But the fundamental process continues: make changes, export, import, auto-play, new league file, repeat.
To participate in an online league, all you need is a copy of FHM5 and the ability to connect to the internet so that you can download league files and export your changes.
The person running the league (usually the commissioner) typically needs access to a web server with and FTP hosting capability. Most online league commissioners create web sites for their leagues, some of which can be quite extravagant. Generally, commissioners are reasonably web-savvy.
All members of an online league must have the same version number of FHM5 installed.
