The Only Reason I Can’t Go Back to FM08….

Is TV View. I tried going back to FM08 last night, had an absolute blast, until the lack of TV view began to irk me.

Usually I get a new CM/FM, play it and when I go back and play the previous game I begin to miss the new features. The older games really do start to feel old and just don’t cut the mustard. This feeling, very nearly didn’t happen this year.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve enjoyed FM09, I had an amazing save with Udinese and Roma that lasted months and was as addictive as hell. However, despite it’s problems, I still long for FM08. 09 didn’t bring anything to the table that I was particularly interested in, 3D was never going to be to my liking, press conferences, I was interested in, but didn’t really work out and interaction barely improved at all. Yeah, it had an improved transfer system and players didn’t deteriorate quite so quickly, but I couldn’t care less. I got past those stumbling blocks on 08 and didn’t see them as, as big a problem as some people made out. In my gaming life, the only thing that FM09 has going for it is TV view, which I initially wasn’t fussed on.

When I first got FM09 I was disgusted with it’s 2D view and felt that they had ruined, what seemed at the time to be, the perfect 2D rep in 08. The new timebar made it squashed, and TV View wasn’t an option due to my in game superstitions :o I persevered, trying my hardest to like it, eventually giving in and letting go of my superstitions in order to enjoy the match view in TV View, in time I fell in love. The new view was immense and on the rare occasion that the FM09 match engine threw me a decent match to watch, I sat back and enjoyed in almost full screen glory.

As I said earlier, I cracked open FM08 last night and started a new game. Oh how I had missed the tactics system, all those lovely arrows going whichever way I wanted. Those lovely team talks that I actually understood and a match engine that represented my tactics so well, I could cream myself and not feel the slightest bit ashamed. Unfortunately the initial hysteria subsided with the passing of each match and it’s cramped, rushed, 2D representation. I didn’t miss anything about 09, except TV view and eventually I had to shut down 08 and restart 09.

What’s this guy on about? I hear you ask. Well, not much really. This isn’t a moan, I did enjoy 09. However, it is telling that in all my years of CM/FMing this is the first release that has had to rely on one, small, feature to drag me back. FM08 with TV view, and 09 would be gathering dust in the corner. In other words, FM09 didn’t improve on 08, at all, in my opinion, there are more features in 08 that I miss than features from 09 that I miss when playing 08 :confused: That said, TV View ftw

I think FM09 was by far the worst update the series ever had; on the plus side though, there's potentially a lot of scope for improvement in FM10!

The standard of regens in FM09 is enough for me never to go back. I struggled to get long term games going with FM08 but with FM09 I feel like I could play for 50 seasons quite easily.

I'm with you on the TV view, I wasn't convinced at first but after using it for some time I think it is far superior to the old view.

The standard of regens in FM09 is enough for me never to go back. I struggled to get long term games going with FM08 but with FM09 I feel like I could play for 50 seasons quite easily.

This is perhaps one of the problems with my love of FM08, I never had a problem with newgens, so that part of the game never seemed all that bad. In the same way, I never had a problem selling or buying players, so my view of 08 might well be a little bit blinkered.

However, newgens is one of the few things that actually make me grumble about 09, again, only because I never had problems with newgens in 08 and now the newgens in 09 seem too good.

For me it's the 3D that I miss. I prefer '08 as an overall game, and it's been probably my favourite version since I started playing these games back in 1999. But the one thing I really enjoy in '09 is the 3D view.

I didn't even want 3D when people started asking for it, but I now love it and can't go back to '08 and play without it.

I never got into 3D, not because of the graphics (I don't much care for the likes of Fifa and PES), but because it just didn't feel as if the match engine was producing my tactic as well as 2D representation seemed to show it. I know both will have created the same tactic and reproduced it the same way, it just doesn't look like that (if that makes sense).

I wasn't sure about it at first but found that the sensible soccer style view was brilliant, and for the first time I started watching replays of my goals. I can now never go back to 2D, which I'm amazed at tbh.

I actually like it tactically, it gives me a good idea what my tactics are doing on the field. Admittedly there are some issues with it, but I still find it pretty enjoyable.

Personally... game wise I don't miss the TV view as i play commentary only

the one thing I don't like about fm09 is the inability to do successful league swaps..

but thats just me..I'll wiat for ruttigers A-league bomb to drop and it'll bye bye 09 for atleast a while

The standard of regens in FM09 is enough for me never to go back. I struggled to get long term games going with FM08 but with FM09 I feel like I could play for 50 seasons quite easily.

I'm with you on the TV view, I wasn't convinced at first but after using it for some time I think it is far superior to the old view.

I think the newgens in FM09 are too good too often and eventually make the game feel a bit stale.

Also it still seems as though too many world beaters are coming through the youth sides at teams in the 3rd/4th tier of football.

Elrithral - you can make the screen go 'full view' on FM08, which is basically TV View anyway but without the bloody annoying widgets floating about all over the place.

I'm not sure if I've missed the point here but I think TV View on 09 is far inferior to FM08 full screen view.

I've altered the skin I'm using on FM08 and made a 'full screen' button so I can get a screen as big as TV View. Although you can get the same thing by holding down alt-F11 (I think!)

I'll post up a screenshot of my FM08 2D in a minute.

C.

Here you go: http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/3357/pitchflex.jpg

Just as big as TV View and much better looking in my eyes.

Shame about the scoreline though.

Regards,

C.

P.S. I should add that I have made some changes to the pitch since that screenshot. I've removed the red nets and returned them to default. I've also removed the sky sports logo. The 'full screen' button appears to the left of the screen above the tactical links. So I start a match and just click 'full screen'. Super!

How do you access screens like the player ratings from that view?

I should add to the above that I agree with your comments on FM09.

I wish I had properly given up on FM09 the first time that I decided to put it on the shelf and just gone back to 08. Instead, I kept spending some time away from FM and then coming back to give it another try. Trying the same thing over and over and expecting different results has to be a sign of madness, right?

FM09 offered very little in improvement in my eyes. Like you Elrithral, I didn't really care about the main flaws that people talk about in FM08. I thought FM08 was an absolutely fantastic game.

I couldn't care less for FM09's new features. Press conferences, 3D, no arrows etc. FM08 kept calling me back for one more game, while FM09 felt like a total chore to play. Too slow, too bloated and a lack of smoothness about the experience.

I advise anyone who has tired of FM09 to get back on FM08. Maybe make some updates yourself (as I did with the Blue Square South) or download some. Perhaps just use the default database if you're not that bothered about data. Then get the Flex skin downloaded and you'll be away. It is just superb. I love FM08!

You won't miss the 3D when you see how smooth the match experience is on 08. Personally, I think it looks a million miles better than 09. And you can get a 'TV view' by using full screen.

I hope that has helped.

C.

I can't view image hosting sites at work, web filter I had no idea there was a "full view" for 08!!!!!!! I will contact you this evening, via alternative mediums, for more info and then I can get back to my loverly little 08 save.

How do you access screens like the player ratings from that view?

Well, what I do is have the split screen up during the match and it switches automatically between the split screen and the highlights.

On the split screen, I can have whatever I like up, such as match stats, player ratings, formations and so on. I can also switch between them. So no need to exit my full screen view.

Did nobody play like this on FM08? I'm surprised if so! It's great!

Obviously, you don't have the widgets, but I actually found them very annoying.

All the information is there on the split screens though.

C.

I can't view image hosting sites at work, web filter I had no idea there was a "full view" for 08!!!!!!! I will contact you this evening, via alternative mediums, for more info and then I can get back to my loverly little 08 save.

I can't believe you didn't know!

I played like it all through FM07 and FM08. You just had to hit alt-F11, I think, to get full screen.

I always thought it was strange that FM08 didn't have full screen as a button or something. But I found Steklo had a 'full screen' button and thought that it was a great idea.

I really had no idea that people didn't know about this. I found out on these forums when someone posted up the shortcut. I thought it was common knowledge.

C.

But I found Steklo had a 'full screen' button and thought that it was a great idea.

FFS! Excuse my French. Before I wrote this thread I was worried that I might be talking bum because I was sure that I had noticed a "full screen" option on 08, but couldn't find it last night. I used Steklo for a while, last year, that must have been where I saw it I will download Steklo again and get it back, ARGH! All these months wasted forcing myself into 09 saves!

Some screenshots of my match day screen:

My full screen button - http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/7527/fulscreenbutton.jpg

Full screen split screen - http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/89/fullscreensplitscreen.jpg

Full screen highlight - http://img26.imageshack.us/img26/1074/fullscreenpitch.jpg

I think it looks great.

With apologies to the guy who made Flex for the amateurish modifications I've made to his fantastic skin. :o

If anyone wants to know how to get the full screen button on their FM08 skin, then I will try to help. You can get the same effect by using the keyboard shortcut alt-f11. I'm pretty sure that's it. Double check the setting under preferences ---> shortcuts.

Regards,

C.

The one thing I liked about the old view (not the full screen one) was that I could easily access any information I wanted while the game was going on, which was particularly useful when watching a full match. At first I wasn't convinced with the new TV view as I didn't feel as in control as before, but by using the widgets I can bring up any information I want while still watching the game, which is perfect for me.

It certainly took a bit of getting used to and probably works better in 3D than 2D but TV view has given me easily accessible information and a decent view at the same time, which I didn't think the previous views did.

I guess I just found the widgets annoying. When I was using them, they were never staying in the same place and kept resetting themselves randomly. Even after the last patch, when most of the problems were fixed, I found that the widgets would sometimes change, so I would have the opposition's details rather than my own. :confused:

I found them generally annoying and they got in the way of the action. I didn't like the way they looked on the screen either. You might be right that it looks better with the 3D Dafuge but it isn't for me. The TV view generally slowed my game down as well and I had some problems with stuttering highlights while watching it.

The FM08 full screen view was my favourite. I found it easy to navigate through the screens using the split screen and I liked the full screen view of the pitch. The highlights are really smooth a look great too.

C.

I have Crouchy to thank for me getting back into 08. I have been playing 08 for about a week and I am really enjoying the experience. The full-screen view on 08 is not too dis-similar from that on 0, except the widgets are there and you don't have to stare at a blank pitch between highlights; it reverts to the page you were on before the highlights.

The whole 08 experience is more fluid and sharper. I enjoyed 09, but feel 08 is far better.

I agree that FM08 was a better game, and in my opinion TV view has been the most successful of the new features. Unlike Crouchaldinho, I've had no problems whatsoever with the widgets, and they are probably the reason I like TV view so much.

I have Crouchy to thank for me getting back into 08. I have been playing 08 for about a week and I am really enjoying the experience. The full-screen view on 08 is not too dis-similar from that on 0, except the widgets are there and you don't have to stare at a blank pitch between highlights; it reverts to the page you were on before the highlights.

The whole 08 experience is more fluid and sharper. I enjoyed 09, but feel 08 is far better.

I have Peter to thank for me getting back into 08.

Almost had second thoughts at one point, but now I'm so glad I did it. In the past month, I've flitted between 09 and 07, noticing varying problems with both, and now I've come back to 08 - my most whined about version - and I realise it's nigh-on perfect!

I complained about the 08 closing down issue - seems to be non-existent now compared to 09. 09 has so many ME issues that haven't really bugged me until now, such as the winger running into the box along the goal line, balls rebounding off players so many times it's like watching dodgeball, shots hitting the bar/posts, terrible instances of first touch, even instances where closing down and general awareness is poor. With 07, it was shots going over the bar and limitless backpasses resulting in corners. On 08, strikers score, wingers bomb down the line and ping in crosses like a young Ryan Giggs, the defence DOES close down (contrary to what I believed before) and everything just feels right.

People have complained about the confidence system in 08 - I haven't seen anything wrong with it so far, plus if anything did go wrong, I'd just use my imagination and put a bit of story to the issue. If I got sacked, then I just imagine there was something that the chairman didn't like about my manager character - perhaps his choice of tie, the car he drove, or the fact that he was sleeping with his wife and that said chairman is plotting to murder him. Whoops, been getting my FM mixed up with Dream Team again!

Then there's the UI - 08 is crisper and faster than 07, and obviously MILES faster than 09. It's so nice to click something and something immediately happens - EVEN on a matchday! I also created an identical game on 08 and 09, with 81 leagues, 32 nations (80 leagues for 09 because of the missing German regional divisions), large db, and the same ddt files loaded. On 09, it took 1 hour. On 08, it took 18 minutes! Think of the difference in processing fixtures!

Oh and no pesky Press Conferences! \o/

Everyone who's disillusioned with 09, save up a tenner and grab 08. And download the Flex 08 skin - I like it more than Flex 09, actually.

Looks like I may be in a minority here, and it could be to do with the way I play, but FM08 was the least enjoyable FM game for me. I really struggled to get into long term games and found myself starting more games than usual. I stopped playing completely at the end of August which is also very unusual for me.

With FM09 I have played just three saves, one of which was lost when my laptop died. I honestly think I will be playing my current save right up until the release of FM10. I'm getting the sort of enjoyment out of FM09 that I haven't had since FM06.

I have Peter to thank for me getting back into 08.

Almost had second thoughts at one point, but now I'm so glad I did it. In the past month, I've flitted between 09 and 07, noticing varying problems with both, and now I've come back to 08 - my most whined about version - and I realise it's nigh-on perfect!

I complained about the 08 closing down issue - seems to be non-existent now compared to 09. 09 has so many ME issues that haven't really bugged me until now, such as the winger running into the box along the goal line, balls rebounding off players so many times it's like watching dodgeball, shots hitting the bar/posts, terrible instances of first touch, even instances where closing down and general awareness is poor. With 07, it was shots going over the bar and limitless backpasses resulting in corners. On 08, strikers score, wingers bomb down the line and ping in crosses like a young Ryan Giggs, the defence DOES close down (contrary to what I believed before) and everything just feels right.

People have complained about the confidence system in 08 - I haven't seen anything wrong with it so far, plus if anything did go wrong, I'd just use my imagination and put a bit of story to the issue. If I got sacked, then I just imagine there was something that the chairman didn't like about my manager character - perhaps his choice of tie, the car he drove, or the fact that he was sleeping with his wife and that said chairman is plotting to murder him. Whoops, been getting my FM mixed up with Dream Team again!

Then there's the UI - 08 is crisper and faster than 07, and obviously MILES faster than 09. It's so nice to click something and something immediately happens - EVEN on a matchday! I also created an identical game on 08 and 09, with 81 leagues, 32 nations (80 leagues for 09 because of the missing German regional divisions), large db, and the same ddt files loaded. On 09, it took 1 hour. On 08, it took 18 minutes! Think of the difference in processing fixtures!

Oh and no pesky Press Conferences! \o/

Everyone who's disillusioned with 09, save up a tenner and grab 08. And download the Flex 08 skin - I like it more than Flex 09, actually.

Agree with a lot of what you've said there Suzie and also another vote for Flex from me too.

FM08 =

C.

Me, Crouchy and Suzie... the FM08 love triangle

Looks like I may be in a minority here, and it could be to do with the way I play, but FM08 was the least enjoyable FM game for me. I really struggled to get into long term games and found myself starting more games than usual. I stopped playing completely at the end of August which is also very unusual for me.

With FM09 I have played just three saves, one of which was lost when my laptop died. I honestly think I will be playing my current save right up until the release of FM10. I'm getting the sort of enjoyment out of FM09 that I haven't had since FM06.

I had a save on 09 that I enjoyed just as much as 08, but I made a terrible mistake and moved clubs when I shouldn't have. I thought long and hard about whether or not moving would ruin my save, decided to give it a go and it didn'y work out. I couldn't get into a game after that.

I doubt you're in the minority re: 08, a lot people hate it even more than 09. For me, I loved 08 because it was my first real taste of FM as I never really had tiem to play 05, 06 or 07. I've heard a lot of good things about 07, perhaps if I had played it more, my opinion of 08 would be different.

I do think that people struggle to enjoy a new game, almost dismissing it immediately, because they enjoyed a previous game so much i.e. love 07, dislike 08 or love 08, dislike 09. It was unlikely that 09 was ever going to live up to 08, considering how much fun I had with 08, so I suppose it was kinda doomed from day one. However, I do think there was a serious dirth of additions in this years game, for those of us who wouldn't/couldn't use 3D.

Looks like I may be in a minority here, and it could be to do with the way I play, but FM08 was the least enjoyable FM game for me. I really struggled to get into long term games and found myself starting more games than usual. I stopped playing completely at the end of August which is also very unusual for me.

With FM09 I have played just three saves, one of which was lost when my laptop died. I honestly think I will be playing my current save right up until the release of FM10. I'm getting the sort of enjoyment out of FM09 that I haven't had since FM06.

Your not alone i enjoy FM 2009 and i prefer it over any previous version ,i am having loads of fun playing , i enjoy 3D and the widgets they give me the information i need and want

There was not much wrong with 08 and there isn't either with 09. Have enjoyed both, at their time. My expertise grows with each iteration a bit and I know feel that I'm understanding some principles of football and how they are presented and simulated in FM better. Studying the tactics forum again, and I'm finally getting results in 09. Seeing, how the instructions work out on the pitch, or where they lack. So, it's more a very subjective experience and I had a great save in Sweden going in FM 08. But somehow, I don't like going back for now.

BTW, if there is one good reason for press conferences, then how they cook up the atmosphere a bit before a derby. I'm sure, I don't wanna miss them anymore.

Alt-tabbing between FM '09 viewing / posting on this forum, banning and loving tracks on last.fm

I occasionally take a glance, at the game shelf at I scan the previous tiles. Fm '08, FM '07, FM '06... Other than clicking continue, there is something that has drawn me to each version, as much as some additions need "Work" I wouldn't go back. I just wouldn't and I don't know why I wouldn't play FM '08 I am more likely to and probably would buy FM '10 I'd wait this time till some patches are released and it's cheaper.

/That and I am playing probably the longest game save of my life.

Looks like I may be in a minority here, and it could be to do with the way I play, but FM08 was the least enjoyable FM game for me. I really struggled to get into long term games and found myself starting more games than usual. I stopped playing completely at the end of August which is also very unusual for me.

With FM09 I have played just three saves, one of which was lost when my laptop died. I honestly think I will be playing my current save right up until the release of FM10. I'm getting the sort of enjoyment out of FM09 that I haven't had since FM06.

Agreed. I normally have around 3 save games per edition of FM, but I had several on FM2008 as I just couldn't get into it.

I've only had 2 on FM2009 so far though and have no intention of starting a new one yet, if at all. FM2009 is the most realistic and enjoyable FM game yet. FM2008 was still a good game, but not an improvement on 07 and contained too many frustrating elements which even saw me going back to 07 for a period before one of the patches was released.

FM07 is the best in the series in my humble opinion.

08's a better game than 09 (I guess I should add IMO as a disclaimer). 09 has more bugs, is slower, has a poorer ME, has a shocking 2d interpretation of said ME and introduced an annoying 'feature' in press conferences.

This isnt to say 09 is a bad game, its just worse than 08.

Me, Crouchy and Suzie... the FM08 love triangle

Add myself (I still play 08 more than 09) and Elrithral and we've got ourselves a love pentagon!

Add myself (I still play 08 more than 09) and Elrithral and we've got ourselves a love pentagon!

Yeah. For now, it's a

It just struck me how much quicker this game is... I've gone from September to December, watching extended highlights, In about two hours, when, in 09, it took about triple that time.

I'm with Dafuge (must be a teacher thing!) - I found FM08 didn't engage me much at all. I really enjoyed FM07 (but that was probably a lot down to Sheffield United being in the Premiership immediately) and I had a 20+ year career on it ... I didn't get past 3 on FM08 although I couldn't place my finger on why right now. FM09 has improved on FM08 for me - the TV View being particularly good although I can never get rid of the nagging feeling I win less on 3D - and I am maybe in the minority but I prefer the tactical side of 09 too. However, the press conferences are a bind (if the AssMan does it, he gets it wrong; so I have to do it and it annoys me to death) and there are certainly some improvements to be made but I am confident SI will do this for FM10.

After a lot of help from Crouchaldinho I have finally got full screen working and it is absolutely fantastic. Like to say a really big thankyou to Crouchy, for his patience mainly, and hopefully giving me something to lok forward to FMwise over the next few months.

FM07 is the best in the series in my humble opinion.

Totally agree, I am still playing 07 thanks to updating the databse when I need to every season.

The gameplay is smooth and virtually glitch free compared to 08 and 09, much more user friendly.

Whenever I tried to play 08 or 09 I simply couldnt stand to watch the amount of times players would simply stand there while the opposition would just run past unchallenged. Infuriating to say the least, 07 gives you ease of game play without all the fuss of changing your tactics every two min during a game, even though sometimes you have to (which I dont mind so long as it isnt every game and against ridiculous opponents, e.g 2-0 up playing as man utd against non league side in the cup with ten mins to go then losing 3-2 cos i didnt go defensive, yea right!). 07 doesn't have poxy press conferences either which is like breathing oxygen again after playing the suffocating 09.

Board confidence has no problems, transfers are simple enough, money is simple enough, player confidence is easy enough to manage, life is good on 07 lol

My only problem is theres no more transfer updates being made for the series i cant get on with football manager 09 every time i install it back on my pc im guranteed to take it off again within a few minutes..

Any off you know if a on going update is being made?

Are the stupid decimal point ratings being dropped for FM2010 does anyone know? God-damn it I hate them. "Stevie-G is playing rather well, I'd give him a 7.7 rating me thinks. 0.1 better than Torres methinks" I just can't get immersed in that shizzle.

My only problem is theres no more transfer updates being made for the series i cant get on with football manager 09 every time i install it back on my pc im guranteed to take it off again within a few minutes..

Any off you know if a on going update is being made?

There are a few updates in the Editors Hideaway.