Fm09

I was wondering if anyone associated with FM or someone whos knows the ins and outs of buisness could answer my question;

When SI announce the release date of say FM09 surely the game must be finished before that date, so why can't we purchase it sooner??

Cheers in advance and sorry if it's a stupid or pointless question but im curious

I don't really understand the question?

The game is being worked on right until it goes off for production.

yes, but say they said the game wil be out on 1/10/08 (just an example) the game MUST be finished a while before there for them to give an accurate release date, so why isn't it available as soon as its completed?

The release date is when the game will be available in stores, not when the code is completed. It has to be printed and distributed before it can be sold, which is a large logistical concern as it's not just Ter sat with a DVD burner. Until it's distributed to the retailers, it's not available to purchase. It could be possible for a digital download version to be made available before a physical product, but that's unlikely as Digital is a supplemental version.

yes, but say they said the game wil be out on 1/10/08 (just an example) the game MUST be finished a while before there for them to give an accurate release date, so why isn't it available as soon as its completed?

Your not thinking about anything else.

1. Making the millions of copies of the Game

2. Make all the Boxes / Instructions

3. Distrubiting the game throughout the UK / World

^^ that can't happen over night

Ah right thanks, i imagined they just had a warehouse full of finished games weeks before the release date, just sitting there waiting until a good time to transport them to shops

yes, but say they said the game wil be out on 1/10/08 (just an example) the game MUST be finished a while before there for them to give an accurate release date, so why isn't it available as soon as its completed?

No, that's not right at all. It's a constant evolution.

It is finished a month before the release date usually but then SEGA has to do everything that Halfpipey says. Thats why we get the demo usually, a month before the actual release.

So is the demo the finished product? but like shorter

The Gold demo is, yeah.

Taa for explaining this to me mate

It's all good

I'm just glad this wasn't another FM09 thread asking when it is going to be released!

lol, naa and if i did then i would have got jipped bu everyone on the forum

Once the game is "finished" it goes through an intensive final test phase

I hope this year there won't be that many bugs since it goes through such rigorous testing. Only time will tell.

yes, but say they said the game wil be out on 1/10/08 (just an example) the game MUST be finished a while before there for them to give an accurate release date, so why isn't it available as soon as its completed?

I promise you this. They don't stop working on the game right up until the moment they ship it. So giving a release date has nothing to do with the completion of the game.

Think of it like this.

You're at work. Your boss hands you an assignment due in in 2 weeks. A few days later, you have it almost ready, and tell him it'll be on his desk within 10 days, and not 2 weeks. So, you've given him his proverbial "release date" - but the content isn't complete.

Somebody mention Demo. Is it possible to transport my saved game from demo to full game?

Somebody mention Demo. Is it possible to transport my saved game from demo to full game?

It usually is but can cause some problems, it's a good idea to start a new game.

The game is always in shops maybe from about a week to a few days before its sold. Thats why FM always set the date for the friday and then make it the day before because loads of the shops break the release date and sell it before the actual date.

It's not stores that break it, well, it's the online retailers like play etc. They send it out a few days early to make sure people get it in time for release but they usually get it one or two days before.

Ye^^ i got mine a few days early :D i was sooooooooooo happy

Just giving a bit of insight into the industry, and I don't work for SI so this is industry info, not SI-specific:

For most annual-installment games, the process is at least 10 months in length, sometimes as long as 20.

Identifying the feature set for next year's game is usually done before this year's game completes, so for SI, summer of '08 is when they would be discussing the design goals for FM'10, and what they're going to put their resources into.

Major feature revisions might start in summer '08, with a couple of senior architects looking at it, but most of the team will still be focused on FM'09 at that time.

Once FM'09 launches (fall '08), most of the team will take a well-earned vacation, say two to four weeks. Then the majority of the team will come in to work on FM'10. Stuff will probably start a bit slowly, say, through December, as people take a bit of a natural "breather", look at bugs for FM'09 patches, etc.

By January, though, things will be in full swing as major feature development cranks out: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, probably, will see the most progress on the game. QA (the test team) may be asked to test specific modules as those modules are completed.

By about four months until launch (May '09, for SI's case), the game is usually considered "Feature complete", and is ready to enter full testing. If the company have an "alpha" team, those testers would receive it. QA begins their heavy testing period.

About six weeks until launch (mid-August?), the game would start getting "locked down". Depending on the company, the process will differ, but its not uncommon to have a "Bug Council" that will decide whether a bug is worth the risk of fixing at this late date, can be targeted to a future patch, or should be assigned to next year's game. For the most part, only "showstoppers", e.g., major broken functionality, crash bugs, etc, are worth the risk of a late fix .. If there is a "beta program", those testers would probably receive the game at around this time.

SI take their final DB update with transfers from the end of the summer window, e.g., August 30th, so let's figure that DB update gets in by a week later, then they have to focus on testing the DB update for a week or two.

By about two weeks prior to the launch, the team are working on making their "gold master CD", so bug fixes are very few and far between, and testing will be focused on the installer, not the game itself. When the gold master is signed off on, it is sent off to the production facility, and the distribution process outlined earlier begins.

Of course, after the launch, and depending on the company, there may be patches - SI have a phenomenal service record in this department, which I don't think we-the-community give them enough credit for. So, some team members may remain focused on FM'10 through December '09 and that January '10 data update .. eighteen months after it all started.

So, "Why can't we buy it earlier?" ... basically, we get to buy it at the earliest date that SI think it is "ready" and can run it through the production and distribution process.

You did your homework, thanks for the info Amaroq, made for "interessting" reading

Well said Am. Interesting to read about how the industry works. I'm assuming you're in it yourself? If so - please PM Me, as its something I've always been interested in

I would Love to get into this sort of buisness. Seems like dedication is needed to be frank.

The process everybody goes through is unbelievable.

I give a clap to everybody involved.

If you want to get into the business, you should keep an eye out for testing opportunities on next year's game.

Was it not around this time that SI released the first pictures of the games?

grade - no its usually towards the end of the summer.

Ter - Any ideas if they are going to release info in blogs again this year as it worked quite well last year and i enjoyed reading them.

Well i don't know when was the first screenshots of FM05, FM06 and FM07 were released, but it was defenetly around this time.

But, On FM08 I can say the first screenshots with the new features were announced in July 27th, 2007. And even I can tell you the time it was posted the press release announcing the new feature and Screenshots of FM08.

How do i know that? well just check out on the news page it is last link there.

I don't want to rush anyone with FM09, since I want a really good game that I can enjoy for the entire year until FM10 is released (the patches of course go without saying will defenetly make the game eve better). But since FM08 was major letdown on me, personally, I'm just eager to see what is in stored forFM09.

FM10 .. does anyone else think it doesn't sound right? i hope it isn't acctually called FM10

It will be probably be called Football Manager 2010, but my guess is as good as mine

my guess is as good as mine??..it normally is

They will have something daft soon like, Football manager - World Manager or something stupid..Like GTA go from GTA 3 - vice city etc etc