Hi, I'm new and I need help.

First of all I'd like to give you a background on my football management sims experiences.

My first was CM01/02 when I was 6 years old. I never really got into a big save being so young but managed Ipswich when we were in Europe. I can also remember playing as Man U and always playing Arsenal in the Community Shield with Giggs scoring most times.

My next 2 games were CM 05 and 07 with me completely oblivious to the fact there was FM. Then when CM09 was coming out at xmas I found and tried the FM09 demo and was hooked and have since had both FM10 and 11. Now I've got 2 dilemmas which I want to ask your advice on;

1. If you can do the maths you might have worked out I'm only 16. This means I've now started my A-Levels and am wondering if FM will hinder me and if others have advice on how to both play FM and do well in my A-levels.

2. Having downloaded the FM12 demo yesterday I found it hard to adapt (although I'm the same with all demos) and went back to FM11 after 2 hours and only 2 matches (perfectly normal when I start a new game) as I'm loving my current save where I've won the premier league with Man city in the last 3 season with the last one on goal difference. Before anyone says I've taken the easy route I started with Ipswich and made serious challenges to the top 4 as well as a europa league final appearance. In the process I took the England job winning the 2022 world cup last night. Now I'm really enjoying the game and want to see how close I can get to toppling Utd record of premier league winnings. However, I want to get into FM12 and feel if I leave it too long I won't get enough time to play before FM13.

Can you help me choose what to do. Thanks

ps. Great game SI

1. anything you do apart from studying could hinder you in regards to exams. use a bit of common sense and restrict your playing time

2. if you are still enjoying FM11 and aren't ready to give up your save then don't rush in to FM12. new games should take a bit of time to get used to as it shows there are enough differences from the previous version (you wouldn't want to buy the same game twice would you?)

1. Hello , i'am currently in your position (im a A2 taking economics, accounting and history ) i would recomend either setting when you can play e.g. on weekends i dont playany video games before midday ,and i just turned my computer off if it was before 12 as i didnt want to tempt myself, or motivate yourself if you do everything you needed to e.g. me right now ive done my history draft so im "letting myself" play and do fun stuff.

2. i would play FM11 until you get bored or frustrated , then start FM12 , noones guna steal your copy when your not playing it , i played FM09 till january this year then jumped to 11 (contary to marketing belief you dont need everygame in the series

Thanks guys. So would one bit of homework, 30 minutes FM be sensible? Also think I'll stick with FM11 after playing a demo with Ipswich.

personally the idea of playing FM (or any other game) inbetween bits of homework wouldn't work for me as 30 minutes will never be 30 minutes.

i'd spend a few hours on the homework/studying and spend the rest of the night relaxing

What i would do would be one bit of homework then either something less then FM which could suck you in so either read, tv (e.g. a family guy episode) , outside ( you know that big green thing outside? ) . Then yeah feel free and play , thats what i did and i didnt go horribly wrong

If you've got essays to do, make sure you gt them done and then you can play fm to your hearts content.

also if you've got exams and are revising, do 10 minutes of revision and then 10 minutes of fm then repeat. i'm at uni now but still play fm loads. a-levels are just remembering stuff so you should be ok!

As for your choice of version; I think if you've been playing the demo you will probably miss some of the new features when you go back to fm11. buy 12 as soon as possible then have a long career game until 13 comes out.

Prioritize your work - get your studies done first before touching the game. Maximum 1 hour a day, good enough for playing a match (including watching the match on extended highlights and tweaking your tactics along the way).

just leave college.

Depends on your personality I guess. I'm in the "just one more game club" and can play for hours if I'm into a good save, which would seriously hinder any A-levels results. Do your A-level work first and then play FM until your eyes bleed!

I would (and did) use FM or other games as a "reward" for a good day's work/study. Connecting my conscience to the ambition to do well at an exam is in my experience a good idea.

I am weak when it comes to giving up and then go the escape route via gaming, though.

Whatever age you are you need to

(a) work hard

(b) enjoy your life

Maybe in the run up to exams you'd temporarily concentrate on work only...but usually if you can strike a balance you'll do well in life