[iPhone]FMH Update 2 Out Now (details enclosed)

I'm pleased to announce that the second update for Football Manager Handheld on iPhone has passed internal QA at SI/SEGA and is now in submission with Apple.

Because we can't schedule an exact release date for this update (it simply comes out once Apple are happy with it) I'm posting details of what is in it here now and will answer basic questions about it before it comes out rather than potentially leave people in the lurch if its released when I'm not available (I'm flying over to Blighty on friday so my online time will be sporadic).

Please note that this update integrates the game manual from being a separate application to actually being 'in game' - because of this the second update will require use of the 3.0 OS version (which is a free download if you haven't upgraded to it already).

# Update 2 (Version 1.4) Fix List

Integrated Manual into game

Fix budget news indicating incorrect transfer budget

Further improvements to the 2d match display

Various minor tweaks to the game match engine

Prevent dialog box dragging

Changed autosave duration to weekly

Implemented adjustments between wage and transfer budgets

Default autosave on for new installs (to prevent people forgetting to save)

Default shake to continue off (to avoid where people have faulty devices)

Tweak wages given to regenerated players

Fix dutch holiday dates

Added Battery display to Manual page area

Added Real World clock display to Manual page area

Added Signal indicator to Manual Page area

Tweaked memory warning trigger point so shouldn't appear quite as often now

Implemented new squad view types

Fixed rare issue where scouting stopped working

Fixed rare issue where link to reserve team disappeared

Slow down growth of club budgets when promoted to the Premiership

Fixed extremely rare crash when doing lots of changes with subs

Tune injury occurance rates

Fix minor glitches in manager and player awards

Tweaked player coach reports

Hope this helps,

Marc Vaughan

PS - Available world wide

Before anyone asks:

* All fixes should operate within existing save games you should be able to continue your games without any adverse effects.

* This is NOT the final update to the game, but until this one has been released and we've collated feedback I can't indicate what will be in any subsequent updates or indeed when they might be released.

* As always please DO give us constructive feedback on the game and help us continue improving it.

* If you're unfortunate enough to have an issue with the game then please let us know and we'll try and help you out as promptly as possible (either post in the bugs thread on this forum or email me directly at marc.vaughan@sigames.com).

Did you see my recent couple of points on the bugs thread re: same club buying all my players and wage budget not increasing?

Yeah I saw the 'same club' one and replied in the thread you posted it, it sounds beculiar but I'm not fully convinced its a bug as I've a feeling there might be factors encouraging it (are your players suitable for the club, did they just get a windfall from selling a player and have money to burn etc.) ..... still I'm trying to repeat it here and will tweak as/if required.

I see there are a couple of wage fixes planned for the second update - hopefully that will fix the wage budget issue?

Yeah I hope so too, if not then obviously let me know

Marc, SI, SEGA,

I said it yesterday in another thread but do it here again:

Your update policy is first class. Looking forward to the wage/transfer budget adjustment feature.

Thanks for your kinds words - much appreciated

I recently bought an Ipod Touch so I have joined the FMH club

Welcome aboard

I have a couple of questions: how long does it usually take for Apple to accept the update and make it available? I have no clue about this.

Its entirely at their discretion tbh, our last update went through their submission process in about 3 days - which would mean potentially this version could be out friday/saturday of this week - but its not something we're directly controlling so no promises.

Also, can I upgrade the game through iTunes and internet on the pc (by synchronizing the Ipod with the pc and iTunes) as I don't have wifi at home? I notice the 2d match engine goes stuck a lot of times and then suddenly there is a goal, has this been fixed already in some degree? It can't be my Ipod Touch as I have the latest generation and the game runs very fast and smooth in all other areas.

I believe you can download and update apps via. the PC (don't see why you wouldn't be able to) without any issues, I expect it should do it more or less automatically (I haven't upgraded apps in that way myself but I've StarWars clonewars on series purchase and that grabs new episodes automatically) - worst case scenario hit the 'buy' button in iTunes and it should tell you that you own the game already and ask if you want to download it again (at which point it'll download the latest version of it for you).

If you have an issues with this side of things once the update is out please by all means email me (marc.vaughan@sigames.com) and help you out ...

PS - Update 3 fixes a LOT of the glitches in the 2d

Hey Marc, the update is great. The new squad view types makes a massive difference! The budget adjuster is a good touch too.

Loving your work!

Glad you're enjoying it - in case you haven't noticed on the new views you can sort individual columns by clicking on their headers.

Thanks for the feedback - plans are 'afoot' (as they say ) for improving selection somewhat for update 3 ... no details available on that side of things yet though .....

- Is there any level of difference between backroom staff of say, Barcelona and Ipswitch Town? Since we can't change/upgrade staff, I believe you should make max their stats out. That makes the advice they give us accurate and consistent. It'll also really help the novices in getting ahead in their game. After all, FM veterans would simply ignore their input (since they know better by looking directly at the stats) and prefer playing FM anyway.

At the moment the staff at all human clubs are 'presumed' to be 15 rated across the board - so fairly decent but not perfect.

- Is it just me or the Ass Man rating of squad players greatly depend on their form? This is somewhat misleading IMHO. Just because David Villa hasn't scored in the last 3 games and has an avg rating of 7 doesn't mean he's the 2nd best striker after Emile Heskey whose last game was a friendly where scored a hatrick and got a rating of 9.

This is something I'm 'tweaking' (and will likely continue to do) - the visible attributes of players and how the assistant manager rates them is more biased by 'form' than in FM PC ....

Thus if a young striker comes onto the scene and scores in his first couple of games he might be seen and rated far above where he really is initially, this imho is realistic and often happens in real-life .... it makes it a little less predictable with regards to picking up youngsters and spotting that future superstar, all good things imho.

(that being said its not 'perfect' yet - but the initial feedback I've had on this side of things has seemed quite favourable so far )

PS - There will be a third update later on, no release date scheduled yet as I'm still assessing feedback from everyone regarding things.

Marc, is there anyway to incorporate a player/cash system in transfers? Thanks.

Might be at some point BUT it'd be quite a large change and unlikely to make it into an update for that reason.

Are there any good tactics for the iPhone as I am currently real Madrid and three seasons in but can't seem to string 3 wins in a row, getting mostly draws. Trying to play a 442 att or 424 and have tried different instructions but nothing seems to work. Any ideas?

Real Madrid are a class act - definitely go 'attacking', I'd recommend short passing because you've skillful players and I'd probably go the whole hog and play a 4-3-3 myself ..... should lead to exciting matches if nothing else

hi is there any chance that in like September there will be an update with the new season's transfers or will a new version be out earlier next year?

We'll announce future plans in due course - however at present I'm just concentrating on listening to feedback from everyone and working out what to put into the third update.

I think I know the answer to this.... and probably the reason too, but here goes... any chance of making similar changes to the sorting of the shortlist and player search? *fingers crossed*

It'll happen at some point - might be 'post update' (ie. next version) for boring techy reasons (simply put thats a lot of data to sort so it might need rewriting using threading to ensure that incoming phone calls etc. are handled correctly).

Also, a Future Transfers screen would be handy

I'm in favour of this also (and a history page for your clubs transfers) - but it'll need a rejig of the GUI to make space for it properly, so thats one for next version also.

I think I read that one of the fixes for the first update was the ability to view the full players details (swipe across the screens) when in a match, but I am unable to do this.

This hasn't been attempted yet - but is a sensible idea.

An option to return to the very first menu screen may be useful, but then it may tempt people to reload games when they lose matches.

This isn't something which is likely to happen in the immediate future I'm afraid - we're already 'pushing' whats possible on the iPhone and tend to fragment the memory more than more applications, as such trying to reset everything mid-game isn't likely to be wholly stable ... maybe one day when the devices are faster and have more memory, time will tell.

How will data updates be dealt with? Will FM 2011 be released as a fully paid app with new features, or will there be a paid data only update?

Watch this space - next season stuff is still in discussion to some extent and will be announced in due course (we're a fair way off from such things at present so please be patient).

I didn't really mean to go on that much! Thanks again for the great support and your hard work as always.

You're more than welcome - glad to hear you're enjoying the game

I'll take a look into the ratings today - but tbh thats not something I've noticed particularly with my formation/playing style - its possible might be down to your setup somewhat.

This DOESNT mean its not an issue - but it might help me track down whats going on if you could post/PM or email me (marc.vaughan@sigames.com) your full tactical setup so I can copy it here and see what happens.

What's the chances of getting stadium expansion in an update? I've got Bristol Rovers in the Prem and a 12,000 capacity doesn't quite cut it. Plus even after winning the prem, they're still treated like a League 1 team.

You should find over time such things occur naturally behind the scenes on the iPhone game and your budgets will rise as you establish yourself fully in the Premiership.

Please bear in mind in the initial season or two its likely that most chairmen will be concerned about the likelihood of relegation and not go mad financially ...

Just noticed something when I took a international job on aswell as club, on the player search I had it set for defender and centre. But after I took the Belgium jobs it takes away the position option and adds international player option. But now when I look for defenders on the search it only brings up central defenders. Any ideas on this?

You should be able to 'clear' the set option by going to that page and then selecting 'cancel' - that should reset all options.

(unfortunately space is at a premium on the iPhone so something had to 'give' with the design of that page when you're managing international AND club sides)

Even when I clear the options and click confirm I only seem to be able to see central defenders. If I clear all the options then I get every player but still just mainly natural centre defenders. If this isn't a problem then there mustn't be many fullbacks in my game.

If you go to the filter page then click 'Cancel' instead of confirm what happens?

(this should clear any existing filters and thus if there is an issue where the filter has become 'stuck' and isn't visible to turn off manually should rectify it)

Hi!

Quick questions: I'm on update 1 right now and the transfer budget for Arsenal first season is 15.5m GBP. On the PC version its the double of that. Is this supposed to be like this, and how high could I tweak it on update 2?

/Aron.

In update two you can transfer money between wage and transfer budget - so things are more flexible.

Incidentally I've just checked here and on update 3 (out in the near future) the transfer budget for Arsenal (start of game) is 30m and you can adjust it further to 39m if you reduce your available wage budget (however doing that will make it hard for you to spend your transfer budget as you'll be right on the margin with your wage budget and so unable to offer high wages to incoming players).

Yes the update available from iTunes will always be the latest one (which will include all prior updates).