A Banner Year for Strat-O-Matic Hockey

A Banner Year for Strat-O-Matic Hockey
Modern Interface Adds Realism from the Rafters to the Stands
 
By Glenn Guzzo

If the lockout is bumming you out, Strat-O-Matic will skate to the rescue with an exciting new look and three National Hockey League seasons to enjoy.
A new interface that simulates the feel of being in the arena is the highlight of the Windows hockey upgrade now available from Strat-O-Matic.
Strat-O-Matic Hockey 2012 offers a bigger and better game screen with a photographic backdrop of an actual NHL arena. You’ll have the best seat in the house for these display items:

  • A larger scoreboard – Top center of the display, you’ll see all the familiar information, but with larger numbers for time of game, goals and shots on goal. Within this rectangle, you’ll also see the photo of the player in control of the puck (if you have added photos to your season). That simulates modern arena video screens. On each side of the photo, there is space for penalty information. The total package simulates an authentic NHL scoreboard.
  • Home team banners – hanging from the rafters, on either side of the scoreboard, you’ll see the names and numbers of players with retired jerseys and the championship history of the franchise.
  • Eye-level action – In the center of the screen, the familiar ice rink is directly below the scoreboard. To each side, there’s room for the complete lineup of the teams, with the players on-ice highlighted. And below all that is a wide-display of the play-by-play.


That still leaves room for the pop-up card of the shooter or goaltender to appear without overlapping other content, if you have a large enough screen.
 
For added realism, the team banners are season specific. So, for example, if you are playing the 2011-12 Boston Bruins, you will see tributes to such retired players as Bobby Orr, Phil Esposito and Ray Bourque. Another banner will note the championships the Bruins won in the Orr era and the Tim Thomas era.
 
But if you are playing the newly released 1980-81 NHL season, the banners will make no mention of Boston’s 2011 Stanley Cup champion or its 1990 conference champion. If you are playing the newly released 1958-59 NHL season, there will be no mention of Orr, Esposito or Bourque. The championship banner will honor the Milt Schmidt era. If you’d like, you even have the option of creating your own text for your banners. So you can make up unique banner text for your draft league team. Or put your own name up in the rafters of your favorite arena!

Like the interface for Strat-O-Matic Baseball, the content on the new game screen will be in fixed locations.
 
The larger presentation will require higher screen resolution than past versions. So Strat-O-Matic is making the new look optional. Gamers with older computers can revert to the previous game screen. Note that some screen resolutions (like 1024 x 768) are large enough to use the new interface however they are not large enough to have the play-by-play appear below the rink. On those screens the play-by-play will automatically appear to the right of the rink.


Click here to view a sample screen shot of the new hockey interface.