Still in need for second patch

Got my FM 09 yesterday. Installed. Updated to 9.1, played the whole night.

As a result I still believe that FM09 still need to be tested by players for a month or so and then second patch from SI to get it worked properly. Which, of course, is no news for those who have played 07 and 08 versions - it has always needed two patches to finally get a good game.

First impressions were somewhat good though, as 3D gameplay and many new features show good creativity of SI and natural development of the series. But there are still minor errors in gameplay (most of them already discussed here in forums).

Things that bother me the most:

1) 3D gameplay is too hectic, especially in TV view and as my computer exceeds all demands to required system I don't even want to know how the game performs in minimum required hardware. But as this sort of 3D engine doesn't need as much of GPU power then I'd say that it's still probably the matter of programming.

2) Gameplay is not smooth. Especially after substitutions or tactical changes. Sometimes gameplay is smooth, but sound isn't, or it sounds very wierd (it's still an issue in 08 that sometimes the sound of fans' celebration or disappointment is played way too early or too late before/after actual situation is played on screen - this has come to 09 as well).

3) In FM I chose "extended highlights", then chose my team view to keep an eye on my men performance. When highlight occured, it automatically switched to 2D screen and afterwards back to my team view until next highlight. It doesn't seem to work that way in 09, and it's a problem because it's easy to miss a highlight or goal.

4) Sometimes after the highlight is shown and the situation ends, 3D view freezes and game clock counts forward until suddenly next highlight begins - it makes following the picture very uncomfortable and could be easily solved by solution mentioned in section 3)

These are not major problems - but enough to say that it needs to be fixed, adjusted, revised to get full gaming experience. So I think I'll be waiting for patch 2 (when it'll be released, January?)

Still, I don't want to be unfair - a lot of things are improven, and it seems for the very first time that SI is actually managed to keep their hands off from things that were perfect already in 08 and concentrated on things that were not developed well in previous versions.

I'm not sure these are things that need patching. It sounds like your computer that's the problem.

1) I don't find the 3D too hectic at all. Try slowing it down and try elevated view.

2) Gameplay couldn't be smoother for me.

3) I've never seen anything like this happen.

4) It all depends on whether this bothers you. It bothered me for about two matches. Now I'm used to it, I don't even think about it.

So I guess I disagree with you on all counts! Good post, though.

More important things need patching in my opnion fx freezing problem some people are having. I can't even play the game cos my game freezes and never gets beside SI's blue logo. Hell, I haven't seen the main menu yet LOL

I'm not sure these are things that need patching. It sounds like your computer that's the problem.

1) I don't find the 3D too hectic at all. Try slowing it down and try elevated view.

2) Gameplay couldn't be smoother for me.

3) I've never seen anything like this happen.

4) It all depends on whether this bothers you. It bothered me for about two matches. Now I'm used to it, I don't even think about it.

So I guess I disagree with you on all counts! Good post, though.

Well it might be right that it's merely a question of getting used to this 3D view, after jumping to 09 from 08. I had most troubles with TV view (player gives long pass or cross, the ball just freezes for 2 seconds in the air and then play goes on etc.) It is better with classic view. Haven't tried elevated view so much yet.

But I have to say I didn't have any error reports or installing-activation issues.

Can I get the first one first please.

Well it might be right that it's merely a question of getting used to this 3D view, after jumping to 09 from 08. I had most troubles with TV view (player gives long pass or cross, the ball just freezes for 2 seconds in the air and then play goes on etc.) It is better with classic view. Haven't tried elevated view so much yet.

But I have to say I didn't have any error reports or installing-activation issues.

I recommend elevated view. I think it's by far the best.

you must have crap computer mate because mine runs perfect and i think the game runs spot on no problems.god can anyone be happy for once with the game instead of whinning

you must have crap computer mate because mine runs perfect and i think the game runs spot on no problems.god can anyone be happy for once with the game instead of whinning

Well the game clearly isn't running properly for him so you can understand he'd be unhappy. He's hardly whining. Have you actually read some of the threads around here?

3) In FM I chose "extended highlights", then chose my team view to keep an eye on my men performance. When highlight occured, it automatically switched to 2D screen and afterwards back to my team view until next highlight. It doesn't seem to work that way in 09, and it's a problem because it's easy to miss a highlight or goal.

I have this as well, very annoing, it did work fine in FM08 and FM07 etc... But know when swithced to the highligts in 2D, and when finished you just see an empty 2D pitch and the commentary below, but not the stats I normally look at, you have to switch back manually.

At least in my case.

I have this as well, very annoing, it did work fine in FM08 and FM07 etc... But know when swithced to the highligts in 2D, and when finished you just see an empty 2D pitch and the commentary below, but not the stats I normally look at, you have to switch back manually.

At least in my case.

Me too, my only real gripe with this game so far

The most annoying glitches for me are that there are far far too many long range goals - I'm currently playing at BSN and the proportion of goals scored from outside the penalty areas is ridiculous. Who would have thought that so many of these lans with 3,4,5 for long shots can ping 35 yarders into the top corner on such a regular basis. Im aware the keepers arent great, but its still daft. Secondly there are far too many instances of hitting the woodwork - its unusual for nobody to hit the post/bar in a game, often both teams do and I've had more than one occasion when one team has hit the woodwork two or three times.

The only thing that really needs fixing for me is the Italian cup crash. The whole league is unplayable until they've sorted that out.

4) Sometimes after the highlight is shown and the situation ends, 3D view freezes and game clock counts forward until suddenly next highlight begins

Very annoying.

I have this as well, very annoing, it did work fine in FM08 and FM07 etc... But know when swithced to the highligts in 2D, and when finished you just see an empty 2D pitch and the commentary below, but not the stats I normally look at, you have to switch back manually.

At least in my case.

In practice it means that if you're viewing match on screen, you have to pause from time to time to give yourself couple of minutes to check player stats, assistant comments etc. Let's say you pause in every 10 minutes (8-9 times during one game) and have to manually switch to different panels to get full information about the game. Even if you'd pause in every 20 minutes, it still disturbs the rhythm of the game so you can't really enjoy it.

Btw, to one lad who commented earlier - it's not whining, it's called feedback. I'm not saying I'm sorry that I spent £30 for FM 09. I feel that SI have worked well during this year and although the result is not perfect, still the game has improved in many ways. But it's somehow typical that although initial patch is released with the game it still needs fine tuning with second patch and it always has been that way.

I have to say that actually the best new feature is assistant manager comments. Although some of what he says I see myself (e.g. my forward misses too many long shots) and a lot of it is connected to 'long-shots-bug' (he constantly says that my players attempt too many long shots or are able to shoot only from long range and same can be told about opposition too). But nevertheless it's a good feature that could be fine-tuned really well in FM 10.

The assistant comments are actually quite cool, just a couple of pointers on some things. When I asked him for a team report he said my right back was rubbish and suggested a better one who I could get on a free and not even my scout had spotted.

how about the fact that when you go to a 4-4-1-1 from 4-4-2 or anything like that you get duplicate players, i.e. 2 bullards playing amc, and 2 johnsons playing fc, darn annoying and has gotta be real easy to fix surely

how about the fact that when you go to a 4-4-1-1 from 4-4-2 or anything like that you get duplicate players, i.e. 2 bullards playing amc, and 2 johnsons playing fc, darn annoying and has gotta be real easy to fix surely

Quite annoying, but it only happens on the tactics screen. It doesn't happen on the pitch itself. I can live with it.

how about the fact that when you go to a 4-4-1-1 from 4-4-2 or anything like that you get duplicate players, i.e. 2 bullards playing amc, and 2 johnsons playing fc, darn annoying and has gotta be real easy to fix surely

You'd be surprised. The problem is, that sort of thing is likely to be best solved only by isolating various lines of code, one at a time, and checking whether they cause it. Maybe I'm wrong, but I'd suspect that's not the sort of bug where the programmer would know straight away what exactly caused it. It's like a fly - damned annoying and nearly impossible to hit.

More important things need patching in my opnion fx freezing problem some people are having. I can't even play the game cos my game freezes and never gets beside SI's blue logo. Hell, I haven't seen the main menu yet LOL

Try playing in windowed mode.It worked for me, appreciated it's not worked for everyone.

still need a second patch....

well we wouldnt if the game was tested properly.

The assistant comments are actually quite cool.

I wish their in-game tactical advice was more varied though. What's there is useful, but limited. What about "We should consider switching to a 3-5-2 to counter their style of play", or "Put a pacey striker on, their centre backs are slow"?

I wish their in-game tactical advice was more varied though. What's there is useful, but limited. What about "We should consider switching to a 3-5-2 to counter their style of play", or "Put a pacey striker on, their centre backs are slow"?

That's what I was talking about. The idea of assistant comments during game is incredible. There's a lot of ways how to develop that idea further. The first one that comes to my head is that the depth, level of detail and usefulness of these comments are related to assistant manager's tactical understanding rating, so there could be possible that if he has low tactical understanding, his advice may be also wrong.

What concerns proper testing - as far as I know (and I've been browsing this forum since 2006) there's always a lot of players that are disappointed with SI's inability to test this game enough before release. And practically always the second patch is necessary (IIRC, last year it was closing down bug that made FM 08 totally unplayable without patch). On the other hand - they still have just one year to develop next game and it's understandable that testing period could be rather short in the final end of the year.

So talking about necessity of second patch is not so much a complaint, but just a fact that more demanding players just have to accept. In this forum I remember posts of people who calmly said that they don't bother even to install new game before second patch is released.

However, to give some credit to SI - they usually are able to fix all bugs in second patch. Of course, huge amount of end-users' feedback

will make this process a lot easier.

What about the Serie C, Polish and Belgium bugs. They are game breakers.

That's what I was talking about. The idea of assistant comments during game is incredible. There's a lot of ways how to develop that idea further. The first one that comes to my head is that the depth, level of detail and usefulness of these comments are related to assistant manager's tactical understanding rating, so there could be possible that if he has low tactical understanding, his advice may be also wrong.

There is so much potential here. For example, I just had twenty minutes to chase the game against Notts Forest, but all he could say apart from the usual on OIs was "We'll never score if we don't get shots on target". Yes, OK, but I want to know HOW to organise my team to get more shots away! We only had one shot in the entire game, it was painful to watch...

I'd like to say, that I enjoy the game very much (addicted already).

That being said, I dont think the match engine is great, I see to many passes hitting their target in the back, too many assists from the keeper, too many amazing goals from 40 yards (often from sides finding themselves behind) and I often see goals that are ruled to be own goals, but really aren't...

I'm not having any performance issues, and love the new 3d view!

Edit: fixed some typos