Final Destination: An FM Story

I have previously read in these forums that the result of a match is pre-determined by certain variables, and it is up to the player to change that result through tactical decisions, manager shouts, substitutions, etc. in the actual game. What I've been troubled by is this: does the game sometimes decide that no matter what I do, I will DEFINITELY lose certain matches? In other words, as long as you get the tactics right, is it POSSIBLE to win every game you play, or is it actually impossible?

I would appreciate an official member of SI clarifying this one way or the other, but anyone is free to voice their opinion.

Discuss.

Reminds me a bit of this thread: 30 time reload, but you can't win

I'd assume that it is possible to win every game, just highly unlikely. Obviously the better your club is, the better chance you've got, but you'd have to have some unbelievable luck to go a season unbeaten if your club was only just a bit better than the rest.

The result of a match isn't pre-determined, what happens is once you press play (after confirming your team, tactics,team talk and opp. instructions) the computer plays the game through until half-time, with the match played through to half-time the game can then show you the highlights so when you are matching highlights what happens in those highlights is pre-determined because the game has already played through them. (but the game hasn't decided before the match to make you lose 2-1)

However the second you make a change the game replays the game from that point to half-time. (that's what happens when the processing box appears and why changes are immediate)

The same then happens in the second half, so if you make the correct changes then you could win every match. (or don't make any changes at all, as the game may have scored you a winner in injury time but you don't know about it yet and change your tactics resulting in you losing)

I have previously read in these forums that the result of a match is pre-determined by certain variables, and it is up to the player to change that result through tactical decisions, manager shouts, substitutions, etc. in the actual game. What I've been troubled by is this: does the game sometimes decide that no matter what I do, I will DEFINITELY lose certain matches? In other words, as long as you get the tactics right, is it POSSIBLE to win every game you play, or is it actually impossible?

I would appreciate an official member of SI clarifying this one way or the other, but anyone is free to voice their opinion.

Discuss.

It's not 'pre-determined'. There is processing involved before the match which takes into account a number of variables from the players down to the weather and even the state of the pitch. The result of these calculations is what you see during a match. Everything that happens from the start is calculated to do so. Now if you fiddle a tactic or make any changes at all, the game will re-calculate what you see for the rest of the game. This is what the 'processing' is for. Everytime you make a change this happens again.

Theoretically, every game is winnable, but you have to get an awful lot right for it to be so.

Well you've got the wrong end of the stick as regard the calculation of the results. What happens is that at the start of the match, before a ball is kicked the ME does the calculations for the whole match then and there, using all the different varibles, i.e. team reputaiton, players picked, their fitness, motivation and morale, the tactics used, weather conditions, who's at home, and the fans. After that any tactical changes made by the AI or the player (e.g. subs, new formation) neccessitate a recalaculation of the match form that point in the game on based on all the variables above plus the changes now made.

Up until that 2 second pause before the kick-off there is no predetermined result, it's caculated then and there as a means of allowing the game to represent the match.

There is no way you will definitely lose a match no matter what you do, even FC United away to Man Utd would win eventually given enough reloads, its programmed into the game that both sides have some chance, it just could be miniscule.

Interesting responses, thank you. So I presume the variables can be absolutely everything - butterfly effect in working then - even telling my players to close down a left winger or not telling them to do that could change absolutely everything I presume...

I made this post after drawing 1-1 with Peterborough. I had just won away 2-1 against Newcastle, so I started the same team with just ever so slightly different tactics and all my players were having poor shots and going offside at pretty much every attack whereas in the previous match they'd been doing the complete opposite. It would be interesting to actually see how the everything I do would change the outcome of the match...