Strat-O-Matic’s Hat Trick
Review of Version 3.0 Computer Hockey
Will Kolodzie
Strat-O-Matic
Computer Hockey is an accurate, realistic reproduction of
hockey, complete with many options and features appealing to a
variety of customers. Many individuals play the game with their
Strat-O-Matic board game cards, and the computer version
certainly lends itself for such experiences. The most popular
option, however, comes with the “card image” option. This
function reproduces the card information within the computer
game itself, sans the format and aesthetics.
Strat-O-Matic
isn’t the typical "arcade" sports game found on a PlayStation
console. Neither does it share many similarities with other
computer hockey titles that let you manage the lines, but not
control the action on the ice. Strat-O-Matic hockey appeals to
the text-simulation crowd. Results are determined through
individual player cards with the occasional reference to an
outside chart. Joysticks and control pads take a back seat to a
rich, detailed game play that relies on your managerial
decisions, lineups, and strategy. You make the call whether to
take that outside shot or penetrate inside. You decide when to
pass and when to shoot, when to “ice” the puck and when to
skate.
Strat-O-Matic
has produced two previous versions of its computer hockey game
for the PC, both of which received considerable attention and
positive comments. Although the “hockey” market represents a
small portion of the overall customer base, almost like the
little toe in comparison to its bigger brother, the Strat hockey
enthusiasts represent a die-hard group of gamers who demand the
ultimate effort from the company. They won’t accept a computer
product that doesn’t look and feel like a Strat-O-Matic game!!
Evaluative
Model
Three questions arise with the release of each
Strat-O-Matic upgrade.
Did the company
provide a sufficient number of additions or enhancements?
Do these
enhancements increase the playability or enjoyment of the game?
Does the product
have any glaring flaws or mistakes that distort or diminish its
quality?
Draft-O-Matic
The
“Draft-O-Matic” module provides a nice compliment for the game,
creating a host of new options and alternatives for the
Strat-O-Matic hockey fan. The unit provides a fairly even
distribution of talent across the particular league and doesn’t
create a significant number of shortages or deficiencies in
terms of usage.
“Draft-O-Matic”
also helps evaluate card strength or value for any Strat-O-Matic
hockey set, past or present. Some draft leaguers may use DOM as
a method for preparing for their upcoming rookie or free agent
drafts. As in the baseball game, DOM also finds great use in
making player selections for those who miss their allotted draft
times.
You don’t want
to criticize player selection too heavily, but you don’t want
questionable draft picks that stick out like a sore thumb or bad
disk. A few years ago, a SOM competitor came under heavy
criticism because its DOM module selected Darin Erstad over Alex
Rodriguez. Many in the Strat community had a good laugh at this
example.
Though
Strat-O-Matic, or any company for that matter, cannot create the
perfect drafting element, as the styles and tastes of individual
gamers provide too great a scope and variety for such an
endeavor, the Version 3.0 centerpiece performs its designated
task, creating a realistic draft league, or helping play-by-mail
leagues complete their draft, and in doing so, offers a wealth
of playing opportunities and experiences for the Strat hockey
fan.
Other New
Additions
The company played their cards close to the vest
on this one, creating expectations for only a small smattering
of new trappings or embellishments for this upgrade. Outside
of the new Draft-O-Matic, people weren’t expecting much of
anything for Version 3.0.
Strat-O-Matic,
contrary to expectations, added a number of items.
The “Export
Stats Function” exports virtually all of the statistics
maintained within the game to .CSV files, easily utilized by any
spreadsheet program.
The new
“Details” reports illuminates team performance in a variety of
areas, such as Intimidation success, short-handed proficiency,
or face-off percentage.
The “Find
Player” function comes across as particularly useful for those
in draft leaguers, or for those of us who might not know the
team association for particular players in a league. This
flourish works very quickly, replacing the tedious task of
hunting (clicking) on teams throughout a league.
The “Computer
Manager Screen” includes relevant player information (stats and
ratings) for all sections. This provides easier programming,
particularly on such things as shot or possession order.
Before Version 3.0, you had to click back and forth over
multiple screens because of the missing information.
The “Quick
Finish” enhancement allows users to finish out a blowout or
monotonous game situation. Trailing 3-0 to Giguere and the
Mighty Ducks in the third? “Quick Finish” saves you the time
and trouble of playing out this affair?
Quick Finish -
In the middle of a blowout and want to get on with the next
game? Simply select Quick Finish from the Game menu item and
you'll get the final box score.
Version 3.0 also
has new sorting and filter capabilities, such as shooting
percentage and goalie minutes. The latter takes particular
significance for some draft leagues, making this category a
handy reference.
Strat-O-Matic
also provides an “Auto Save Box Score” option, preventing those
moments when you fail to save the game boxscore.
Game Player
The game's interface is navigable and easy to
understand. The game looks fantastic with an 800 x 600 screen
resolution but a little empty with a 1024 x 768 screen. In fact,
it is modeled after the company's computer baseball game.
There are four modes of "manual" play: Human; Computer; Human
Lines, Computer Decisions; and Computer Lines, Human Decisions.
The computer game also has the ability to autoplay a single game
or an entire season within a matter of minutes. This is great
for individuals interested in recreating or reliving a past
season. You can manually play the games of your "favorite" team
and let the computer do the rest.
The game screen
has 4 main panels: rink, scoreboard, play-by-play, and team
roster panels. For a text-simulation game, Strat-O-Matic hockey
is much more interactive than possibly imaginable. There is a
great "on ice" feel to the game. The game design allows players
to make decisions regarding shooting, passing, penetrating, and
of course, intimidating. The detailed player ratings, one of the
secrets behind the board game's success, are brought to the
forefront throughout the game.
The play-by-play is a nice touch to the game. It supplements the
drama as it unfolds in the game. The commentary is a bit
repetitive, but not enough to qualify as irritating. There are
settings for normal or detailed commentary. This module is
customizable with any text editor. Strat-O-Matic made a nice
addition to this module in Version 2.0.
Computer
Manager
The game's computer manager has the most features
available in any text-based hockey simulation. The vast amount
of settings provides tremendous control over the game action.
The computer manager sets default lineups, starting goalies, %
of time played, and forward line combinations and defensive line
combinations.
The goalie
section defines situations when you pull your goalie and whom
you select as the "extra" skater. There are priority lists for
shot order and ANY PLAYER possession order. The line section
orders the forward lines and defensive pairing on the ice. There
are settings for each period of play, overtime, and special
teams. The team section customizes intimidation and deflection
tendencies, not to mention lead and trailing situations. This is
only the tip of the iceberg. Extra points are awarded for the
small learning curve as the computer manager is very easy to
program.
Statistics
Version 3.0 provides a wide range of specific reports and
statistical categories. The boxscore is a dream for any stat
fanatic. It looks and reads better than anything you'd find in
your local newspaper. Very informative, it's a nice treasure for
remembering your Strat gaming experience.
Team stats include goals and shots by period for the team and
its opponents. The primary stats provide almost everything you'd
want to evaluate your team's offensive performance. Secondary
stats contain power play, shorthanded, a neat breakdown of
outside, inside, and breakaway shots, and ice time reports.
Though Version
3.0 adds a nice “Details” section, the game still needs a
“Newspaper Style Recap” and “All Star” Voting sections. The
Newspaper Style Recap, a standard "Strat-O-Matic" staple in
their baseball and basketball games, is missing here. The game
doesn't generate award recipients at the end of a season replay
either. Someone needs to win the Hart Memorial trophy!
Past Seasons
Strat-O-Matic offers 19 past season disks for
this game, available as additional purchases. Each past season
disk costs $20.00, and Strat-O-Matic offers discounts for
multiple purchases. Imagine Phil Esposito trying to score a
goal against John Davidson. Experiencing the all-time greats of
the past like Gordie Howe, Wayne Gretzky, and Bobby Orr presents
playing alternatives not found anywhere else. These past
seasons present a wonderful alternative for those who dislike
the lack of offensive capability in the modern game.
Board/Computer Differences
Unlike the Strat-O-Matic baseball game, where the
MAX rules really take the game away from its origins, the
computer hockey game maintains a strict correlation to its board
counterpart, albeit not as closely as that found in the computer
football game.
The computer
game uses 35 action deck cards per period. The board game
generates accurate power play goals, but not power play attempts
or percentages. The computer forces “certain cards” into the
game on a more frequent basis, generating the necessary
additional penalties for accurate power play opportunities.
The programmers
also added a greater home ice advantage into the game. This
rule is optional, and works by adjusting the action deck. Many
of the “hard core” customers might not use this feature as the
changes occur internally within the game. Strat-O-Matic
customers, as a whole, define themselves not only by their love
of the product, but also the desire for a visible game engine.
Manual/Help
Files
The programmers accomplished a serious task in
creating the manual/help files, particularly in terms of
clarifying situations left cloudy or vague by the original board
game rules. For instance, on a failed penetration attempt
against a short-handed team, if the position that would gain
control of the puck is open, it is a loose puck situation.
Bugs/Data
Fixes
Strat-O-Matic continues its excellent work in
correcting the “minor” issues that occur on occasion in this
game. Version 3.0 corrects 10 problems found in the previous
version, and adjusts some inaccuracies in the card data. For
instance, the 1978-1979 Bob Sauve card has the wrong save
percentage printed and calculated for his card. Strat-O-Matic
enters the player cards manually, not through the use of a
computer program that scans or transforms the board game images
into organized data. Naturally, some mistakes will occur with
such a process. Criticizing Strat-O-Matic for natural, human
error comes across as unfair. If anything, the company deserves
praise for resolving these inaccuracies in a timely and
forthright manner.
Summary
The “Draft-O-Matic” addition makes Version 3.0 of
Strat-O-Matic computer hockey into one of the better games in
the market today. Veteran Strat customers will like this game
because it mirrors the outstanding qualities of the board game.
The game play, statistical package, and programmable computer
manager are the strengths of the game. Newcomers will find the
quality of the product impressive and very realistic. The game
plays just like professional hockey.
Final
Scores