I hate to say it but Fm09 might have been overly hype.

Just first impressions but The 3d match engine is......not great.

I really don't want to critisise but I think this could be a problem. It seems that, despite what you might have thought, the lack of animations and graphics really does show and the match engine loses everything that was good and realistic about matchday.

Yes, there is still the 2d but this has not changed. The new 2d view does not show ball height and looks a bit cheap. The fact is the 3d is a massive feature in Fm 09 and think how much effort has gone into it, comprimising work and additions to other areas.

If you take out the 3d, big areas of the game have not been changed or bettered.

I reckon they just put the 3d as a smoke screen so we might not notice that they CBA to improve any other aspects.

Even though it isn't the best feature they made? the press conferencing and finance tweaking pwns the 3D

There are some good things too.

The press conferences are cool. Other little things like your assistant commenting on transfers and speculation. More detail on player club historys.

But looking back, why didn't they just enhance 2d? For the first time in fm history the match engine looks messy. The widgets thing is.........its get in the way of the match.

They could have kept 2d, added some angles, shadow, detail etc. Had the manager feedback in a nice neat box under the match. Man...I'm tired and surprised.

Think how much data, time and technology it takes to make 3d?

Player interaction could have been more indepth.

They could have redone the tactics

They could have rewriten training and made it more interesting

Other new features to core gameplay could have been improved

Press conferences and player prefered moves, which are both nice additions, are the only big additions. In a game that was really looking to go up to a new level after a few years of evolution

I haven't downloaded the demo. How right is the OP?

I haven't downloaded the demo. How right is the OP?

I am in the process of downloading it myself so can't give my own opinion but a lot of people have said similar things as the OP.

I haven't downloaded the demo. How right is the OP?

You may disagree but...........man, you know before with 2d it seemed quite simple and left a lot to the imagination but sort of realistic? Seeing it in this 3d suddenly makes it look awful and unrealistic.

Completely agree, 3d match engine is practically pointless, its slow, laggy, has a poor frame rate, and have you seen an injury? The guys run on asif they have a stretcher, then put a "standing" player who is injured on the "stretcher" and take em off.

WTF!?!

The 3D isn't terrible...but if the blatant injuries bug isn't sorted, I won't be buying the game, it's just not a big enough improvement from 08

I supported all the build up but despite a few good new additions the game is an anticlimax.

Come on, this is FM. Everybody knows how they differ from the others. They pride themselves on realsim and total control to the things that matter. This year they have neglected big parts of the game for 3d. Of course it was always going to be extremely difficult but why do it unless it is worthy of FM.

I am afraid I disagree with what is posted here.

First of all it is us users who over hyped it (if you think it has been over hyped) and secondly I am happy enough with the game. I will admit 3d is slow but so is the rest of the game and as I don't minimum requirements I expected it to be slow. To be honsest I am gald it runs at all.

Also one thing I noticed is the transfers may have been sorted as based on one transfer I negotiated, the AI actually negoitated with me.

The thing is that the videos of the 3D match engine actually looked really good, and when you have someone from SI saying (and I quote) "it's come a long way since that video", then technically that's hype. Especially when you have a machine that can play high-end games, but stutters along with the 3D match engine, plus graphical/movement inconsistencies, cartoon-like physics and something which is supposed to "reflect the 2D engine", when actually, in my eyes, it can't be because tactically it's so poor. If it does, then they must've altered the 2D engine as well. And considering the match engine is the heart and soul of FM, it's one big step backwards.

I've been one of the people who, whenever someone turned up on the forums to come up with the idea of 3D, has said "No, it's fine as it is". And that's just it - it didn't need anything adding to it or changed, just some improvements in the 2D ME here and there. But once SI announced the introduction of 3D, I thought "well, they must be pretty confident that this can be done to a decent level" so I was happy to make a pre-order because I believed that if they thought they could, then they must've been ready for it.

But I think they should've left it for a couple of years - the 2D engine hasn't even been perfected yet, and I know it'll never be perfect, but after FM08, if I was in SI's shoes, all I would've wanted to do was improve 2D until it was solid.

Look

that's why I did not want 3D Match engine.FM's a light game on graphics,and to be honest,it's hard to implement in such a game

The thing is that the videos of the 3D match engine actually looked really good, and when you have someone from SI saying (and I quote) "it's come a long way since that video", then technically that's hype. Especially when you have a machine that can play high-end games, but stutters along with the 3D match engine, plus graphical/movement inconsistencies, cartoon-like physics and something which is supposed to "reflect the 2D engine", when actually, in my eyes, it can't be because tactically it's so poor. If it does, then they must've altered the 2D engine as well. And considering the match engine is the heart and soul of FM, it's one big step backwards.

I've been one of the people who, whenever someone turned up on the forums to come up with the idea of 3D, has said "No, it's fine as it is". And that's just it - it didn't need anything adding to it or changed, just some improvements in the 2D ME here and there. But once SI announced the introduction of 3D, I thought "well, they must be pretty confident that this can be done to a decent level" so I was happy to make a pre-order because I believed that if they thought they could, then they must've been ready for it.

But I think they should've left it for a couple of years - the 2D engine hasn't even been perfected yet, and I know it'll never be perfect, but after FM08, if I was in SI's shoes, all I would've wanted to do was improve 2D until it was solid.

Yeah I can see where you are coming from and you do have a point. Maybe SI did hype it but I think it was over hyped by many users on here as well. So far I am quite happy with it especially as I did not think I could even run 3d at all so that it runs slowly is no surprise to me.

If it is slow on much better machines than mine that is a problem and I fully agree.

You people are always on some depressive tip like nothing is ever good enough.

I am afraid I disagree with what is posted here.

First of all it is us users who over hyped it (if you think it has been over hyped)

Yea we didn't put Che Guevara on the homepage ok

You people are always on some depressive tip like nothing is ever good enough.

Absolutely. Some people have played one game others have played none yet there is this great problem.

I have played a couple of games and honestly, the 3D has blown my socks off (and I'm playing on a laptop).

The etnire game experience also feels smooth. I will undoubtably experience some issues as I go through the demo but I will be buying on day one.

Just first impressions but The 3d match engine is......not great.

I really don't want to critisise but I think this could be a problem. It seems that, despite what you might have thought, the lack of animations and graphics really does show and the match engine loses everything that was good and realistic about matchday.

Yes, there is still the 2d but this has not changed. The new 2d view does not show ball height and looks a bit cheap. The fact is the 3d is a massive feature in Fm 09 and think how much effort has gone into it, comprimising work and additions to other areas.

If you take out the 3d, big areas of the game have not been changed or bettered.

I was thinking the same thing after my first two Matches, but you really have to be patient and watch a few more. I recommend the extended view, its very good for watching tactics and everything. The match engine is superb! The players see many more options than they did in 08 (i.e. my fullbacks dribbling inside to find a good pass when I have instructed them to run with ball often, and realistic and high quality touch-passes between players in an attack). To see which foot they are using is amazing! And the players play in a way that they are individuals rather than all performing the same actions in the same positions or have the same skills. I just saw Rooney outrunning a defender who was a metre or two in front of him to get to a ball. It was beautiful. I disagree about the graphics, they seem like viable representations of realistic player movement, plus the fact that I am not watching a confusing swinging camera makes it very sweet.

I agree with you that the 2D view is a disappointment though, the screen is too small, the colouring is bad, etc etc.

You can't take out the 3D because that is part of the game!

I also like many of the touches they have put into the game, i.e. improved news screen, realistic transfers (so far) (I am experimenting and trying to push it to it's limit at the moment), better sorting of screens, good player rating system, and probably a lot more I have forgotten or missed!

My big summary of FM09 so far would be that while there have only been small steps in most parts of the game, there has been a giant leap in the match engine (not just graphical but also the actual engine), and in my opinion you can't ask for much more from a game that comes out every year. Downloading the demo was a great choice, I am now looking forward to the full release lots and lots!

Also, I love the match summaries after the game. It feels like each game is specifically written, describes each goal in detail and everything.

I'll give the demo some more time. I don't understand how they can make 3d but can't improve the 2d. The new 2d is poor. The thing with 3d is although it does play like the 2d seeing that match engine with those animations makes the whole engine look poor.