Before I buy, can you tell me......

I haven't played or purchased FM since the '09 version. This was to save a bit of money and also because I got so in to the game I wanted to carry on my saved game for many seasons which I have done. However, out of curiosity I decided to download the FM'12 demo.. and all I can say is wow. Imagine me sitting there looking at the screen in front of me having never even seen a screen shot since the '09 version. The game looks amazing basically.

So I'm very much interested in buying the game itself now. Before I do though, I just wanted to check something. In the FM '09 version I had great success as Liverpool (13 Premier Leagues in a row to date, plus a load of Champions Leagues etc), and this was largely down in my mind to using a wide variety of different actual formations designed specifically to input as and when the opposition changed formation themselves. This sounds counter intuitive as it was changing formations at the start of and within matches on a fairly regular basis so you wouldn't think the players were ever able to get settled into a regular formation that they could trust. Anyway, it worked for me, I had around 20 or so different formations at my disposal.

So basically, is there any way I can load up these formations from my '09 game into the '12 version? They are all obviously saved on my computer. I did have a look on the FM'12 demo and there didn't appear to be an option to do this but I may have simply overlooked it as the range of options blew my mind a bit!

I've since deleted the demo stupidly in a futile attempt to try and resist buying the new game and the inevitable addiction that always follows. So I thought I'd check on these forums for my answer, rather than go through the hassle of downloading the demo again and having a closer look.

So, am I able to load all my old '09 formations? If not, then how many different formations does the '12 version allow you to create itself? Or is the game very different nowadays and allow you to only create 2 or 3 formations but with any more different options and features within them?

Any help much appreciated, thanks, Tom.

You'll have to re-create them all in FM12, '09 tactics files are incompatible with FM10+. You'll also discover that the Tactics Creator is so much more better than the old style (although I personally prefer classic and am playing '09 again myself).. It'll be a bit of a culture shock jumping straight from '09 to '12, mainly because of all the new stuff and the new GUI, but if FM11 is anything to go by then FM12 will be great

Ok thanks. So I'd have to re-create them all, but in a very different way I'm guessing.

But just to check, is there a limit on the amount of different new formations you are able to create and save in FM'12?

There are no limits to the amount of tactics you can create and save, of course. There is a limitation of three tactics that can be trained at the same time, though. However, I assume that if you create TC (tactic creator) tactics with no or few specific player instructions, the shouts you can use in the match will allow you to tailor whatever tactic you're using to your opponent in-game without match preparation penalties.

Ok thanks. So I'd have to re-create them all, but in a very different way I'm guessing.

But just to check, is there a limit on the amount of different new formations you are able to create and save in FM'12?

You now have two options for creating tactics: the old way (classic) or the new way (tactics creator/TC).

The TC is a wizard designed to avoid the use of sliders and to help you make changes very easily "on the fly".

I would suggest that whilst you won't be able to transfer your 09 tactics over, a) you may not need them, but b) if you do, it won't take you long to create them.

And no, there are no limits to the number of tatics you can create.