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FMH09 Match Engine Q&A


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  • SI Staff

A few people have asked about the 2d view on the PSP I've compiled a short post to explain exactly how it works which will hopefully reassure some of you about things.

Does how you watch the game change the match outcome?

The game uses only ONE match engine, how you view the match is simply how the information from that match engine is presented to you.

I personally tend to think of things as you either listening to the match on the radio (text commentary) or watching the match (2d view).

Does the 2d slow down the game processing

We've been extremely careful with how including new features has affected the speed of the game, one of the 'fun' aspects of FMH is that its quite nippy to play and we've tried to ensure that this remains the case despite the additions of the 2d match engine and multiple leagues.

Is the 2d identical to the FM PC game?

No the FM PC and FM PSP games don't share the same match engine so there is a difference in how both operate (although obviously both are intended to be as realistic as possible).

In addition to this its worth noting that we've designed the PSP 2d view to be more 'snapshot' than the PC game, it displays only for the critical parts of a move to ensure that matches don't take ages to play out when viewing with 2d enabled.

This means that a move might startup in text and then move to 2d at a critical point, for instance:

Barry has the ball on the left of midfield,

Barry moves the ball forward

Barry crosses the ball

*** Cue 2D view showing Gareth Barry crossing the ball and what happens after

This has several advantages as mentioned it keeps the gameplay nice and fast when 2d is enabled, but it also acts as a very good 'suspense' mechanism which ensures you're drawn into each segment of action as it occurs.

Are squad numbers in the game now?

The PSP game still doesn't contain squad numbers this is simply because doing so increases the memory usage in the game considerably (each player needs a

variable to store his squad number in) and with the addition of multiple leagues to the game we felt that any memory gains we'd made from optimisation were better utilised in increasing the overall player database size.

Hope this helps,

Marc

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nice to hear about this marc thanks

and about squad numbers, could you not just put it in so you can only see your team's numbers? it wouldnt use up much memory, and it would still add what we want into the game

Good idea B10, I watched Part 2 of the FM09 and FMH09 videos looks really good but I didn't watch Part 1 because it was a bit boring should I watch it or is it not interesting ?? :p

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Good idea B10, I watched Part 2 of the FM09 and FMH09 videos looks really good but I didn't watch Part 1 because it was a bit boring should I watch it or is it not interesting ?? :p

thanks..

Part 1 dosent have much on it really, just about the background of FM and all that...not really any info on the game itself

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  • SI Staff
What is the average time of one of these matches Marc, just out of curiosity?

To be honest I haven't timed it and it can vary a fair bit depending on the type of match (ie. an exciting match with lots of shots, fouls etc. will take longer than a dour 0-0 draw).

Its considerably faster than a FM PC match but with 2d turned on slightly longer than with text commentary only, I think its about 'right' personally but then I'm biased ;)

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  • SI Staff
Marc - can you comment on if there is to be any improvements/expansions on the tactics so it all comes to place on the big/2d pitch?

Tactical options haven't changed for this version (trust me the changes we've put into 09 are complicated enough in themselves without adding to our work ;) ).

If you have any ideas for how these could evolve in the future however obviously we'd love to hear them.

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  • SI Staff
nice to hear about this marc thanks

and about squad numbers, could you not just put it in so you can only see your team's numbers? it wouldnt use up much memory, and it would still add what we want into the game

I've considered it - but its not been done mainly because I think it'd cause people to 'notice' their omission more, ie. you'd be playing an opposition team and think hey shouldn't "Richard Jones" be their number 27 not number 9? ...

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So Marc,

Does the match Engine offer replays?

Also, in regards to the transfer market and general market trading in the game, have you and the team improved the selling aspect of the game so as the game buys players off you rather than offering £2.2 Million for Wayne Rooney.

Thanks, and looking forward to purchasing :D

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I've considered it - but its not been done mainly because I think it'd cause people to 'notice' their omission more, ie. you'd be playing an opposition team and think hey shouldn't "Richard Jones" be their number 27 not number 9? ...

thats what i was saying - we could just have the numbers shown on our squad selection screen, there wouldnt have to be any need to see your opponents numbers

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  • SI Staff
So, it still will take about a day give or take to complete a season? (If you have a day off work/school and just play the game all day it's true... One day!)

Yes you should be able to blast through a season in a day or so easily (I find I can do a season in an evening ... admittedly its a LONG evening and often turns into morning at some stage ... ;) ).

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I've stickied this topic so it doesn't get missed by people.

As Marc has said, the inclusion of 2D won't slow the game down at all - we've done our best to make sure that it really only shows the key snapshots of the game. This is purely because we understand that the great thing about the PSP is you can fly through matches on a train journey etc. If we started forcing people to sit through loads of highlights it'd ruin the pick up and play nature of the game (something we're always taking into account when adding new features).

LSD - I don't know about Marc but the only drink I can manage right now is Red Bull, otherwise I'll collapse at my PC and FMH won't be finished in time ;)

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  • SI Staff

Everyone say "Hi" to Glenn - the work him and Richard have been doing on this version of the game* has been fantastic :D

*I've been off doing other things for most of this project rejoining it only for the final push to release ... as such its only right they take the credit for what I believe will be the best ever version of FMH.

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Everyone say "Hi" to Glenn - the work him and Richard have been doing on this version of the game* has been fantastic :D

.

Hi Glenn :D

Well Done! November The 14th!!

I told my mum i was excited about the 14th and she happily asked why, but after i told her about FMH09, she reminded me it was also her birthday :( I reckon Ive got my priorities straight though :cool:

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  • SI Staff
Will any video of 2d demonstration be available till 24.11?

No idea I'm afraid - thats largely up to the PR people, myself, Rich and Glenn are hard at work getting things ready for the relase ..

(but in essence it looks very similar to the engine on FM PC - little circles running around with a pitch the strange and mysterious power to make you swear violently when they miss ;) )

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(but in essence it looks very similar to the engine on FM PC - little circles running around with a pitch the strange and mysterious power to make you swear violently when they miss ;) )

If it makes me swear as much as the text did, I'll have to start a swear box :p

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Do we know if replays are possible yet?

It would be great if we could at least get replays for the current game (before we hit continue) or even better, for the game just gone (after we hit continue). I understand that anything more than this would waste system resources, but to have at least those options would be ace

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No no no, goal replays. Not even I'm cheap enough to pull the old restart/load manoeuvre. With the 2D match engine we might actually want to relive some of those magic goals or simply have the ability to see them if we looked away for a second and missed it

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Yeah I know. In fact I worry a bit that the goals will be just a few 'pre-recorded' animations that we will have memorised barely a season into the new version. I hope it's a bit more fluid than that, but I have my concerns

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No idea I'm afraid - thats largely up to the PR people, myself, Rich and Glenn are hard at work getting things ready for the relase ..

(but in essence it looks very similar to the engine on FM PC - little circles running around with a pitch the strange and mysterious power to make you swear violently when they miss ;) )

i think a few psp's will be thrown :D

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