Our first update for FHM2, version 2.1.4, has just been released.

General note: Since this is the first update and we wanted to get it to you before the weekend, these are mainly the "low-hanging fruit" of the first reported bugs and requests - things we could fix, implement, and test very quickly. There are other reported issues that will take a little more time to address properly; we haven't forgotten them.

Note on data: This is not a data update, as our researchers are still working on the most recent roster changes. The data changes in this update are mainly fixes for errors that have been discovered.

Your existing savegames will be compatible with the updated game, but any fixes involving the database updates will require a new start to be fully effective.

New Additions:

1. NHL Expansion is now possible at the beginning of the game. To expand immediately, start a new game, do not choose a team (i.e., start unemployed), have Commissioner mode on, and then once the game starts immediately (or after responding to your emails) go to Team + League Controls >> League Edit, hit the Expand League button and create your expansion teams; there's an option to take over either of them in the setup. Save once you've finished expanding, and you can then advance to the next day, when the current teams submit their protected lists, and then the expansion draft the following day.

2. There is now a "Disable Player Info Popup" option on the Preferences menu (via the Start Screen). This will allow users who are experiencing noticeable slowdowns when mousing over players to turn the popup window off.

3. The boxscore now displays the season (or preseason, or playoff, as the case may be) goal and assist numbers for the player in the goal summary.

4. The play-by-play text now announces the assist number for each player who gets one when a goal is scored.

5. A "cannot be fired" option has been added to the Setup/Options screen (bottom right corner) so this can be enabled in a game that's already been started.

Changes:

6. Trading AI will now discount the value of older players more, and will not place as much emphasis on whether or not the player's contract offers good value for the money.

7. Compliance Buyouts are now much less likely to release high-value players.

8. When creating a manager, users can now select a birth year as late as 1997.

9. Expansion Draft AI will no longer select players with serious injuries.

10. Historical auto-expansion option removed (can't be implemented correctly at the moment due to some issues with scheduling, rules, and structure.)

11. Human-run teams can now instantly sign players from certain low-level leagues (the precise ones depend upon which league you are playing), allowing them to quickly fix roster issues when they're required to have a certain number of players, e.g. not having enough prospects.

12. Numerical summary at the bottom of the roster screen now also lists foreigner limits and prospect minimums, and your current number of each type of player.

13. Blind Mode renamed to Fog of War (both options do the same thing.)

14. If your screen resolution's height is at or below 768 pixels, you will now get an error warning with recommendations about how to fix the problem so the game will display correctly.

Bug Fixes:

15. Attributes will no longer be visible in some screens when Fog of War is enabled.

16. Bug that caused in-game lines screen to appear empty in some circumstances fixed.

17. The missing nations on the second nationality field in the player edit window have been restored.

18. The missing teams in the team fields on the player edit window have been added.

19. The CHL draft preview should now list the correct number of players.

20. Expansion draft AI will no longer sometimes skip picking goalies in rounds 2-3.

21. Crash on November 1 fixed.

22. Crash during league setup on some fictional modes fixed.

23. Crash when looking at certain retired players fixed.

24. Crash when attempting to view draft logs of players without drafting team properly assigned in database fixed.

25. Existing contract offers to players taken in the expansion draft should now be removed when they are drafted.

26. Editing non-playing staff should now work correctly.

Data/Miscellaneous:

27. German league teams now have a 32-contract limit and must carry 3 prospects age 24 or under (was formerly 2 under 20.)

28. Missing German nationalities for many dual-nationality German league players added.

29. Slava Voinov's contract with L.A. now properly voided, leaving him a free agent.

30. Broken links on title page of manual fixed.

31. Spelling errors in penalty file fixed.

32. Content of hints file (shown while loading) expanded.