dafuge's FM10 challenge

[dafuge]

The Aim

To take a small club who were previously unplayable in the game from the Blue Square N/S to Premier League and Champions League glory.


The Rules

Just like last year, to make sure that the eligible teams have the correct squads, we will be using a .ddt file to retain the players for those teams. Download Link Alternative download link. If for any reason these don't work, let me know, I'll fix them.

Here's where it needs to go:

Vista - C:\Program Files\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2010\data\db\1000\edt
Steam - C:\Program Files\Steam\steamapps\common\football manager 2010\data\db\1000\edt

Or with the 10.2.0 patch, here:

C:\Program Files\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2010\data\updates\update-1020\db\1020\edt

To make sure it is working, when you set up your game, go to preferences - extra files. You should see it listed and ticked in there like this.

Load a game with the English leagues only, with the Blue Square N/S selected, a large database (or smaller if preferred), the attribute masking, real players and transfer boxes ticked and the add key staff box unticked. It should look like this.

In addition this year, for those of you who want to add to the database to make things more competitive at the top level in the long term, you can set the database level to custom to add the players for the top clubs in each continent. It should look like this. This is purely optional, but no extra players can be loaded on top of this, this is the limit.

The extra levels of detail that you can change while in the game are up to you, as they shouldn't make a difference.

Add yourself as an unemployed manager, the details are not important at all. I like to call mine 'Holiday Man'.

Go on holiday until 25th June, this shouldn't take too long, perhaps about an hour. Saving on 24th June may give you a better choice of teams by reloading the game then going on holiday for one day, I would strongly recommend trying this.

Retire your 'Holiday Man' manager. After spending his entire career on holiday I'd love to know how he spends his retirement.

Add a new manager, the options are up to you but 'past experience' must be set to the lowest possible which is 'Sunday league footballer'. I understand that choosing different nationalities may have an effect later on, but I trust people will be sensible with this. I would expect people to use their own true nationalities.

Whena adding a new manager, choose one of the new clubs promoted to the Blue Square North or South to manage. They should appear in this list which also shows the reputation of the possible clubs. The reputation should act as a difficulty level, the lower the reputation, the harder your game should be.

Isthmian League Premier Division
 
AFC Hornchurch (1050)
Ashford (1100)
Aveley (850)
Billericay (850)
Bognor Regis (800)
Boreham Wood (1150)
Canvey Island (1100)
Carshalton (1050)
Cray (800)
Dartford (1500)
Harrow (1000)
Hastings United (1100)
Hendon (900)
Horsham (1050)
Kingstonian (1100)
Maidstone (1250)
Margate (850)
Sutton United (1300)
Tonbridge (1200)
Tooting & Mitcham (1100)
Waltham Abbey (700)
Wealdstone (1250)

Southern Football League Premier Division
 
Banbury (900)
Bashley (650)
Bedford (1050)
Brackley (600)
Cambridge C (1150)
Chippenham (950)
Clevedon (800)
Didcot (550)
Evesham (650)
Farnborough (1250)
Halesowen (650)
Hednesford (1200)
Hemel Hempstead (750)
Leamington (700)
Merthyr (1200)
Nuneaton (1700)
Oxford City (1000)
Rugby (650)
Stourbridge (600)
Swindon S (750)
Tiverton (1100)
Truro (1250)

Northern Premier League Premier Division
 
Ashton United (950)
Boston United (1300)
Bradford PA (1150)
Burscough (950)
Buxton (800)
Durham (500)
FC United (900)
Frickley (750)
Guiseley (1050)
Hucknall (900)
Kendal (950)
Marine (950)
Matlock (750)
Nantwich (950)
North Ferriby (850)
Ossett Town (700)
Retford (1000)
Stocksbridge (700)
Whitby (750)
Worksop (800)

* reputations updated with 10.3 patch.

It is now up to you to manage this club all the way to the Premier League title and UEFA Champions League crown.

You may not move clubs unless you are sacked.

If you get sacked, you can either take over a newly promoted club that satisfies the original criteria (check the club's league history), or just start again.

Any form of international management is not allowed, until you have completed the challenge.

Assigning parent clubs and loaning players is completely up to the player, although it should be noted that on occasions a parent club can lend players which will make the first season or two slightly less of a challenge. It is completely up to you how you play this one, but everyone knows real men don't use parent club loans. Personally, I like to assign a parent club for financial benefits but never take any players on loan from them.

To sign a player, you must be able to scout them, this doesn't mean you have to, just he must be accessible to your scouts. If you have a foreign player on a free transfer who is willing to come on trial, you do not need to be able to scout them, as long as you have them at the club on trial so you can get a coach report on him.

No external utilities such as scouting programs should be used and the database should be unedited, this is particularly important with the new changes to the editor. Should SI release a data update, this would be allowed but any other data updates are not. It is advised that people should update using the latest patches as they are released, we have waited for 10.1 before starting so I would expect to see everyone using it from day one.

Use of save game editors is strictly banned, whatever the reason.


Rules for this Thread

Player naming is allowed.

General discussion on tactics is allowed, although people should not refer to downloaded tactics. They are not banned, but I would expect the majority of people to avoid them.

Screenshots for anything are encouraged but please post links to your pictures, don't post them as images as it makes the pages slower to load. Posts included embedded images may be deleted without warning.

When you join the challenge, could you post a screenshot of your manager's profile on the 25th June like this.

Progress of your club should be documented using this thread, we want to hear the story of your club all the way through. Please keep us updated, even if you are doing really badly.

At the end of every season, could everyone post some kind of season review, including at least a screenshot of a league table and the clubs transfer page. If you give this a title in bold it makes it a bit easier to pick out.

Sadly we no longer have the website to track our progress, so there will not be any full tables posted as there have been in the past. I will try and keep a table of PL and CL wins and completions going, so if you win either competition for the first time please make it clear in your end of season review.


How to Post a Screenshot

• While in FM, press Alt and F9
• A picture will be saved to a screenshots folder, in the FM10 folder in your documents
• Upload the image to an image hosting website such as Photobucket
• Post the direct Url to the image here.

How to Add Links

At the top of the forum, go to 'Settings' then 'General Settings' (on the left). At the bottom, select 'enhanced interface' and save the changes. This will give you access to the extra posting tools that make it easier to post links. Once you've done this, highlight the word you wish to turn into a link, then use the link button (looks like a little globe) to paste in the direct Url to your screenshot.

Enjoy

[sheeshy]

And so it begins..

[Peregrine]

Someone let me know as soon as Truro come up.

[ssestig]

Quality. Downloading the ddt file now before getting the game during my lunch break tomorrow. Hopefully I can be either Nantwich or Sutton again.

[Annihilator666]

Excellent!

Hopefully I can get Kendal Town to come up.

[lutontown1991]

Where can we download the leagues?

[ssestig]

Where can we download the leagues?

For what? The teams in the OP are the eligible teams for this challenge.

[Peregrine]

With this custom database, my computer performance is currently rated at one star, as is the expected game speed. This is going to be interesting.

[Gordon Comstock]

looks like my ram upgrade is coming in handy - 4 star for both.

will put my truro dreams on hold.

[Cerneo]

Time for a nice long holiday it looks like.

I will be reloading alot trying to get Leamington, if anyone needs a hard to get team maybe we can trade saves.

[Gordon Comstock]

hmmm, had a crash in late august.

[Lower Leagues Rule]

On the star rating there seems to be a baffling issue there, I am rated at 1 star, yet I can run a holiday season in about 20-30mins...

[adyady]

does the file still go in the same place with the patch?

[Cerneo]

On the star rating there seems to be a baffling issue there, I am rated at 1 star, yet I can run a holiday season in about 20-30mins...

Yeah people have said its a bit buggy, I would just ignore it, FM10 seems very fast already.

[Cerneo]

does the file still go in the same place with the patch?

I think so

[Peregrine]

I think I might go to bed now and leave Holiday Man to it until the 24th of June... I'll make sure to save whatever choices I get in the morning.

[Gordon Comstock]

crash disappeared after not retaining players from top clubs on each continent btw.

[Annihilator666]

And so it begins...

After several reloads trying to get Kendal Town I gave up when they didn't appear. I instead decided to go for Hucknall when they popped up.

Screenshot of personal information page

[Cerneo]

And so it begins...

After several reloads trying to get Kendal Town I gave up when they didn't appear. I instead decided to go for Hucknall when they popped up.

Screenshot of personal information page

Yeah I am trying to not give up hope....Tired of seeing Boston and Nuneaton though already.

[Dibond]

And so it begins again. This time with Nuneaton.

Manager Profile

[Cerneo]

Ok got bored or reloading, picked Cambridge City, now its time to find some players.

[Annihilator666]

I didn't really play the demo much so I'm finding a lot of cool stuff for the first time. I love how on the player instruction screen for tactics the game tells you which attributes are necessary for the role of that position. Should make signing the right players easier...

[reo hustler]

Just like last year, to make sure that the eligible teams have the correct squads, we will be using a .ddt file to retain the players for those teams. Download Link Alternative download link. If for any reason these don't work, let me know, I'll fix them.

Here's where it needs to go:

Vista - C:\Program Files\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2010\data\db\1000\edt

Anyone having trouble getting this to work?

[Annihilator666]

I didn't download the ddt, loading all the players based in England using the custom database thingy did the trick for me...

[reo hustler]

I didn't download the ddt, loading all the players based in England using the custom database thingy did the trick for me...

You have legit squads? Do I have to use the editor or something? I've never used extra files before.

[Annihilator666]

You have legit squads?

Yea, all the teams that got promoted had their real players.

[reo hustler]

Yea, all the teams that got promoted had their real players.

Okay, cool. Thank you.

[reo hustler]

I found out how to get it to show. About to start now . . .

XP / Steam : C:\Program Files\Steam\steamapps\common\football manager 2010\data\db\1000\edt

[Peregrine]

I'm finally in. With no Truro City available, I plumped for Merthyr Tydfil. I even have a Mourinhoesque jacket as you can see.

Let's see how I do with a striker with a BSS-beating amount of Pace and Finishing but Decisions and Anticipation 1 and Composure 3. It's a shame that there's a rather large data flaw - Gloucester City were promoted with us and IRL Merthyr would be fierce rivals with them. On the game, there's nothing.

[Cerneo]

I even have a Mourinho-esque jacket as you can see.

Well played.

And I have just won the first game, a good sign of things to come I hope.

Also discovered we only sold 48 season tickets...

[Peregrine]

I think I'll wait until the morning to play my first game and get some sleep in the meantime. Strangely, I arrived at the club to be greeted by an assistant manager/coaches/physios etc despite being sure that I unchecked the 'key staff' box. I may have to take a financial hit in order to ship out the dead wood.

[Cerneo]

I think I'll wait until the morning to play my first game and get some sleep in the meantime. Strangely, I arrived at the club to be greeted by an assistant manager/coaches/physios etc despite being sure that I unchecked the 'key staff' box. I may have to take a financial hit in order to ship out the dead wood.

I am 100% sure I unticked it and I still had a assistant and a physio.

[MyNameIsJohn]

Anyone gets Buxton please save and upload.

[Cerneo]

Anyone gets Buxton please save and upload.

I reloaded for about an hour, with so many high rep teams I was not seeing anything lower than 1000+, good luck though.

[Carligula]

I'm shockingly bad at all forms of FM but will give this a try.

Long live the new manager of Carshalton Athletic.

[kaNovi]

Im not sure whether ill should be startin this challenge now or wait untill some of you guys has played several years to see if there is any game killing bugs..
I would hate to start a great game just to find out that the manager contract bug is back again or something else that ruins the game!

So could someone please use every hour of the next week to play the game, so i can get started.

Thx

[Ungface]

yet another year of dafuges challenge cant wait to start after work :>

[Cardiomolester]

Is it photobucket not working for anyone else?

[dafuge]

Where can we download the leagues?

There are no leagues to download, this challenge does not use the editor at all. I'm expecting another challenge to be started that does use it though.

[dafuge]

I found out how to get it to show. About to start now . . .

XP / Steam : C:\Program Files\Steam\steamapps\common\football manager 2010\data\db\1000\edt

Thanks for that. I should have added, if anyone has locations for other ways of installing the game then post them here and I'll add them to the OP.

[kccircle]

i left it to get a year on overnight and discovered the patch. All patched up and travelling a year through time as I type.

Once again I will try for Ferriby

Might have missed it but is Allans website up and running this year?

[ManUtdFan]

Can anyone reccomend a team to start as ? I dont really have any connections with England .

[kabajingai]

Truro, Durham, Hemel Hempstead or Waltham Abbey. Anything else is just nothing really.

I deffo want Durham for sentimental values. Truro could be popular given the fact there are no Cornish teams in the professional ranks.

Check out the wiki entry as well. Seems as if they are something of a sleeping giant!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truro_City_F.C.

[dafuge]

Might have missed it but is Allans website up and running this year?

Sadly not, he's no longer active around here and cannot commit to it this year.

[Steboyuk]

If anybody gets Durham id be very grateful for a save game file.

[ManUtdFan]

Could someone upload a FC Utd of Manchester save game file please ?

[turn it in]

About to holiday now. COuldn't commit to any one club last year. Gonna try and resurrect the once Chelsea of Essex AFC Hornchurch. If not I'll try for Durham having unied near there several years ago. Bring on the holiday.

PS, my holiday manager becomes a travel agent after he retires.

[Gilbster]

Well I have the patch downloaded at least. Shame I have no game to put it on yet! Can't believe Parcelforce failed to deliver yesterday, first time GAME haven't got me a game before launch day.

Anyways to those of you who have started, good luck. I really hope to be joining the fun this evening.

[roberto922]

dafuge - will it be alright if I use your OP as a template for the extended version please?

[dafuge]

Finally, after about half an hour of reloading I got the team I wanted: Tooting & Mitcham

Here's my profile picture

They've got a decent 8000 capacity stadium and finances the right side of zero, so I am confident I can beat the media prediction of 22nd.

[foost]

gl everyone!

Dafuge; did you make a screenshot of some regen for your manager picture, or is there a way to get a 'regen'-head for yourself?

[dafuge]

Dafuge; did you make a screenshot of some regen for your manager picture, or is there a way to get a 'regen'-head for yourself?

I got it from here

[roberto922]

dafuge - will it be alright if I use your OP as a template for the extended version please?

dafuge... I've nearly finished the thread so just wanted to make sure it's alright if I use your OP as a template before I post it

[foost]

Thanks dafuge, downloading Modeller atm to create one

[PaulHartman71]

currently holidaying, hoping to get Billericay.

[DanGLiverpool]

Have to get ready, go get the game, download the patch and then holiday a year.

Really want to complete this this year.

[ManUtdFan]

dafuge , i loaded all players from England : http://i34.tinypic.com/ejxyeh.png , instead of getting the ddtgenerator

Is that ok ?

[dudge7]

Had a couple of failed attempts last year but will try to get it done this time.

I've started as Dartford - personal

[dafuge]

dafuge , i loaded all players from England : http://i34.tinypic.com/ejxyeh.png , instead of getting the ddtgenerator

Is that ok ?

No, you need to use the ddt file. Loading all the players from England gives you a much bigger database I think.

[Gypsum]

Holidaying now... very exciting!

[kaNovi]

COME ON, checked my mailbox 2 times already! cant stand it

[mag man]

I dont get the game until Sunday

[PaulHartman71]

got Billericay on my 3rd reload \o/

Initial Profile

[The_shocker7]

gonna get on this straight away after work!! i want Bognor Regis!!

is there a download for badges / kits / logo's yet?

can someone link me to where i can put my photo in for my manager

Cheers!

[MikaelS]

arrgh stuck at work without knowing whether the game has arrived or not

[dj clark boy]

I'm in n holiday as type will post screen shots as soon as i can

[Rattlesnake_85]

I cant gat the ddt file to appear can some one tell me how to put it on...im on windows 7

[nathansxi]

Have just loaded Hucknall Town! - Will post a manager screenshot once I've had a good look through the squad

[DanGLiverpool]

Boo, my local gaming shop are stocking the game from 1pm, not 10am like they told me yesterday. :|

Bit longer wait then, good luck to everyone this year.

[Gypsum]

And so it begins...

Profile

I've decided to go with my local team, King's Lynn.

[hrbfcrule]

Good Luck to everyone starting

unfortunately my game has been delivered yet , stupid zavvi. When i do get it ill be going for ashford (middlesex) or sutton utd

[Smithers]

I'm on board for this; just installed the game, managed to get it to run (bloody directx update) and have added the ddt file thing.

One question - is it ok if I add other leagues at the start, e.g. if I complete it, I may want to manage somewhere random like Indonesia or Ireland etc if I get bored. Is that within the rules?

[mag man]

I'm on board for this; just installed the game, managed to get it to run (bloody directx update) and have added the ddt file thing.

One question - is it ok if I add other leagues at the start, e.g. if I complete it, I may want to manage somewhere random like Indonesia or Ireland etc if I get bored. Is that within the rules?

Nope. It will give you an advantage of having players from other leagues available.

[Smithers]

Ah ok, cheers.

Off to start my game now

[Rattlesnake_85]

Can some one please tell me how to put the .ddt file on to the game so that it appears in preferences.If any one else installed the game like me from the box.
I have tried putting it in Computer/ACER (C/Program Files(x86)/Sports Interactive/Football Manager 2010/data/db/1000/edt
It doesnt appear ticked. Running windows 7.Please help as i want to get going with this challenge asap.

[Rattlesnake_85]

hahaha oh dear ignore the smiley.didnt mean to do that

[Rattlesnake_85]

Can I just load a game without the .ddt
That would mean the promoted teams would have no players at the start.
Is this within the rules?
sorry for the consistent posting just want to get up and running one way or the other

[dafuge]

Can some one please tell me how to put the .ddt file on to the game so that it appears in preferences.If any one else installed the game like me from the box.
I have tried putting it in Computer/ACER (C/Program Files(x86)/Sports Interactive/Football Manager 2010/data/db/1000/edt
It doesnt appear ticked. Running windows 7.Please help as i want to get going with this challenge asap.

Does it appear at all?

[kccircle]

The ddt is a 2-3 second download you know - its very easy to do


On another note - has anyone seen Ferriby come up yet?


I have saves for FC United, Kendal and Bradford PA at the moment

[Rattlesnake_85]

Does it appear at all?

It doesnt appear in the preferences at all, its only the holland one

[mag man]

It doesnt appear in the preferences at all, its only the holland one

Was the game running when you put it in that location? You could try quitting and then re-opening FM

[Rattlesnake_85]

Was the game running when you put it in that location? You could try quitting and then re-opening FM

yea i thought that might have been the problem but no tried after quitting aswell still no cigar

[turn it in]

Here we go then kids and true to my word Ian Smithe my holiday manager decided to become a travel agent after a year on the dole checking the numerous football news outlets for job opportunities and getting nowt. The straw that broke the camel's back was when I waltzed in from nowhere after an hour of job hunting to take the AFC Hornchurch job.

The Hornchurch board said that having a true local could help take the club forward.

I be here.

22nd is what is predicted but I know these boys. They are capable of so much more and the fact that fellow former Essex non-league big boys Canvey have been promoted as well means that we have a rivalry straight from the off.

Bring it on...

[Rattlesnake_85]

ok going to try again.
do i open or save the file download

[mag man]

ok going to try again.
do i open or save the file download

Save the file to the folder.

If this fails you could download a save game from someone else as that should have players retained.

[Smithers]

I've been trying for an hour now to get Oxford City into the BSS but it hasn't happened yet. Has anyone got a save where they've been promoted?

[Burrator]

Ok, decided to try following this challenge to the letter this year (been doing something similar for many years). Got Billericay on my first load amazingly. Profile

[Gypsum]

Had my first friendly against AFC Wimbledon, went 3-0 down early on. So changed to a more direct counter-attacking style and we start tearing them apart. Thanks mostly to a new signing, regen Craig Rodger. 16 for pace, 17 for acceleration and 12 for heading should make him pretty useful... 5 for finishing though! We still lost 3-1, but I learned a lot in the process.

Scotland seems to be the place to go to find young, free players.

[kccircle]

Am forwarding to the season after - despite reloading several times I dont want to be boston, kings lynn, carshalton, merthyr etc

Will see who i get

[help!!!]

Holidaying atm, I will finish the challenge this year

[TheStoneMonkey]

Getting in on the ground floor this year, day one. Set up my holiday manager this morning, but had to leave for work before holidaying him. Will be back later tonight to post my profile, team etc.

Hoping for either Nantwich or Buxton (preferably Buxton) this year.

[YNWALFC]

After a age of reloading i have settled for Bradford PA

Here is my manager profile

[Gordon Comstock]

Finally, after about half an hour of reloading I got the team I wanted: Tooting & Mitcham

Here's my profile picture

They've got a decent 8000 capacity stadium and finances the right side of zero, so I am confident I can beat the media prediction of 22nd.

tooting and mitcham can get promoted this year?

hello london team! I know who I want now.

[senorcoo]

Got in too late last night to holiday my game. I will be holidaying once I get in today in 6 hours. I hope some of my Portuguese countrymen will follow me to whichever little backwater I end up at!

[ManUtdFan]

Wanted to start this challenge as soon as i got the game and with the holidaying done , i am the new manager of Dartford .

The interesting thing is that i dont have any staff at the club ...

[mag man]

Wanted to start this challenge as soon as i got the game and with the holidaying done , i am the new manager of Dartford .

The interesting thing is that i dont have any staff at the club ...

Should there not be staff if you use the retain file?

[Deano_NUFC]

is the ddt file patch compatible? ive put it in the correct place, just doesnt seem to show up on extra files in preferences

[mag man]

It is patch compatible.

For those having trouble do you load the file before you create the game.

[Charlesbeams]

Will start this at some point over the weekend probably, hoping to get Whitby.

[PaulHartman71]

I'm going to have to restart, I used too large a database and it's taking ridiculously long just to view a player's screen. I've been reloading on a new save for about half an hour now, haven't got Billericay yet