*UNOFFICIAL* Basic Guide to the Editor

This article is also on www.footballmanagerwiki.co.uk, so if you prefer you could read it !

As you will have almost definitely heard by now (and possibly even tried if you've already got the game!), one of the major new features in Football Manager 2010 is the introduction of a new, much improved editor.

This is capable of everything that the old editor could do, and even more!

The User Interface is also a lot different, which can make it difficult to do whatever you want to do with the editor. Even if you were a master with the old editor, it is likely you will find some areas of the new one difficult to use if you are trying it out for the first time.

Basic Commands

How to open the editor, load a database, save changes and change settings

Firstly, you need to open the Editor. This can be found in the following locations.

If you installed or activated using Steam - C:\Program Files\Steam\Steamapps\Common\Football Manager 2009\Tools\

If you didn’t use Steam at all - C: > Program Files > Sports Interactive > Football Manager 2010 > tools > editor > editor.exe

When you have found the editor, it is a good idea to make a link to the editor either on your desktop or start menu. This ensures you won't have to go through the C: every time you want to find it.

Double click on the editor icon to open it up, and you will find that you won't be able to do anything.

To make the editor functional, go to the File icon in the top left corner. Then go to the second bottom option (Load Database...), which should be just above Exit. This will load the latest database that you have avalible to you.

If you would like to load a custom database that you have made or downloaded, again go to File but this time choose the top option - Load Editor Data.... Choose the custom database you would like to load, and press the Select Button.

After you have made the changes you wanted to, you will need to save your changes. If you want to overwrite the old file (if there is one) then choose 'Save Editor Data'. However if you want to give your file a new name, choose 'Save Editor Data As'.

To change the settings for the database editor, use the 'Settings' button at the top. This will allow you to change Currency, Language and Display Options.

Searching

How to search for something in the database

Near the top left corner there is a box entitled 'Menu'. On this, select 'Database'. On the left side of the screen you should now have another box, this one entitled 'Database'. This will contain a list of everything in the database, and will start with Awards and end with Weather.

Click on the word that is relevant to what you want to search, and the largest box on the screen should change its title to whatever you just selected. Now simply type what you want to search for in the Search Box and the results will appear. Please note that you will have to spell what you are looking for correctly, so the editor knows where to search. You do not need to put accents into search boxes.

Editing the database

How to add something new, edit, copy or delete something from the database

Like if you were searching for something, you have to select 'Database' on the top left box. You then select whatever you want to create something new of (such as People) and the main box on the page should change its title to whatever you have just selected.

From here, you will have to use the buttons in the bottom right corner. Not all of the buttons will be avalible on every page.

'Add' should be used when you want to add something new into the database. Pressing this button will take you to a screen where you can add in information about what you want to add to the database. Complete all of the required fields to add what you want into the database.

'Edit' is for when you want to change something that already exists in the database. After you have searched and the results have appeared, you can click once on the name of what you want to edit and it will be highlighted green. When this happens you can select the 'Edit' button and it will take you to the page where you can edit what you want.

'Duplicate' is to be used if you want to copy something from the editor. If, for example, you wanted to make a second Arsenal team, you could do a search for Arsenal, click once so it was highlighted green, then press 'Duplicate'. This would create an exact replica of the Arsenal team.

'Remove' is a simple one - once you have searched for whatever you want to delete, you click on whatever you want to delete until it is highlighted green. Clicking the 'Remove' button will delete this from the database you are editing.

Adding a new Nation or League

Adding a new competition into a country

When you have loaded up the editor, there will be two boxes down the left of the page. One is entitled 'Menu', the other 'Database'. Between these are two boxes, 'Recent Database Records' and 'Add Nation Rules'.

To add in a new competition, you need to select the 'Add Nation Rules' box.This will bring up a pop-up box which allows you to add a new competition in.

Firstly you will have to select the country you want to make a new competition for. If the country you want to make a new competition for is already playable, it can be found in 'Current Nations'. If it is not yet playable then 'Other Nations' is where you will find it.

You then have the choice of what you want to make. If you are planning on simply adding in a lower division or adding a new competition to a league system that is already there, select 'Add Lower Divisions And Cups To Existing Structure'. If you want to completely redo the league system in a country select 'Create New Competition And Rules'. If you are planning on creating a competition for a currently unplayable nation, selecting 'Create New Competitions and Rules' will be your only option.

'Add Lower Divisions And Cups To Existing Structure'

Leagues

In the bottom left box on the page, you will see a list of some of the competitions. On the Leagues part, the top leagues will already be playable and the bottom one will not be playable. To make the bottom league active, you need to double click on it. This will bring up information on the league in the main box.

The top information box will be the name of the league, and the second information box will be a tick box asking if the league contains Sub Divisions or not. The third box - 'Type' - is the one you will have to change. Currently the field will say 'Inactive Division'. To make this active, simply change that to 'League' via the drop down box.

You will then need to make any changes you want to the league structure, such as dates, prize money, TV Money and Fixture Rules.

Sometimes you will want to add yet another league, one that isn't viewable on the left hand box. To get the option to add a new league, click on the 'Leagues' heading in the bottom left box. This will bring up a list of the currently active leagues (and the one at the bottom that you may have just activated. Select the 'Add' button from the bottom right hand corner to add in a new league.

In most countries, lower league's are regional. An example of this is the Blue Square North and Blue Square South in England. When adding a regional tier into the editor, you will need to set it boundaries. These make sure that you won't find southern teams getting promoted or relegated into a northern division. To set boundaries, you need to set four cities that you want to set as the boundaries for that certain league. Make sure that the leagues you set as boundaries have longitudes and latitudes set. If they don't, you can enter them yourself.

Cups

Unfortunately, when adding in a cup, you have to use an existing structure. Click on the 'Cups' heading in the bottom left box to bring up a list of all active cup competitions in that particular nation. Use the 'Add' button to start the process of adding in a new cup competition.

You will get to choose what type of cup you want to add in. Selecting 'FA Cup' will make your new competition the main cup competition in the country, and the winner qualifies for the continental club competition. 'Super Cup' is to make a cup between two competition winners, much like the Euro Super Cup or the Community Shield. 'Other Cup' will make a cup that runs without anything special at the end and for no real reason, similar to the League Cup (Carling Cup) in England.

You will then have to select the competition format, and you get to choose from the currently existing formats already in place in the country. Picking the teams comes next. To make it two teams from one paticular division, select 'Add' and choose how many players from one division you want to add in. If you want all teams to compete, select all leagues and select the amount of teams per division as the amount of teams in each division. This will ensure every team gets the chance.

Lastly, you need to set the rules such as 'Number of Legs' and 'Sub Rules'. When this is done, press 'Add Competition' and you are done!

'Create New Competitions and Rules'

Firstly, select the country that you want your new league to be in.

IMPORTANT - selecting a country that already has a playable league will overwrite those existing leagues, so you won't be able to play in them on this database.

When you have selected the country, you will need to choose the settings for your new league. These include the day the league table resets and the season start and end dates. Pressing 'Confirm' will take you to the main page of your new competition page. To make any more changes, use the main box to edit whatever else you want to apply for the whole country.

From here, simply follow the steps from 'Add Lower Divisions and Cups To Existing Structure' and click on the 'Leagues' tab. This will allow you to make a new league or cup system for your country.

Files

What will I get from this?

Once you have made all the changes you want to make and saved the database, you will be able to find the file you have created in the following location;

PC – My Documents > Sports Interactive > Football Manager 2010 > editor data

MAC – Documents > Sports Interactive > Football Manager 2010 > editor data

You will find that there are two files in here (although there may be more depending on how many times you have created a new change).

Firstly, you will have the change files work. These will be called whatever you saved them as when you saved them in the editor. If, for example, you made a change so Cesc Fabregas’ common name was CescFab, the file would read as follows (open with Notepad or similar, but DO NOT edit the information in this file);

 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-16"?>

<record>
<record id="rule_group"/>
<list id="files"/>
<list id="db_changes">
	<record>
		<integer id="database_table_type" value="1"/>
		<integer id="db_unique_id" value="5120110"/>
		<unsigned id="property" value="1348693601"/>
		<string id="new_value" value="CescFab"/>
	</record>
</list>
</record>

The other is ‘config.xml’, and this is what makes the files work. You can move the actual change files about in ‘editor data’ as you wish, but ‘config.xml’ MUST stay in the main ‘editor data’ folder. In this config file you will find the following (again, open with Notepad or similar, but DO NOT edit the information in this file.

<record>
<!-- resource manager options -->

<!-- do not translate any comp xml files -->
<boolean id="translate" value="false"/>

<!-- don't need to cache this stuff as it is stored in the database -->
<boolean id="cache" value="false"/>

<!-- don't map this folder -->
<boolean id="auto_map" value="false" />

   <!-- the resource manager should store a list of all files in this folder and it's sub folders, so that the game can get a list of all xml rule descriptions -->
   <boolean id="store_resource_list" value="true"/>

<!-- allow rescanning this folder, so that the game can pick up new editor files without having to rebuild the skin cache -->
<boolean id="allow_rescan" value="true"/>
</record>

Thanks for reading - ask below if you need any help with anything mentioned above!

I'm sure that, as the game gets on, someone more experienced will write a guide on this sort of thing. For now, however, it should be helpful for some editing newbies get used to the Data Editor.

Top work. I'm sure it'll come in useful.

Jammy - it's great work.

Any chance you could add some information from this thread to your guide?

Basically, it is about setting boundaries for regionalised leagues (e.g. step 3 of non-League). As this is going to be without doubt one of the most common uses of the editor, I think it is important to stress that the leagues will not promote and relegate correctly unless boundaries are set. I'm worried that people will add the leagues and then be disappointed when a northern team ends up in the Isthmian Premier by accident, for instance.

I just tried to write it out and explain it myself but I'm afraid that my explanation wasn't very lucid. It came out as overcomplicated gobbledegook!

I was hoping that maybe you might be able to edit some of the material in the linked thread into your guide?

I'm just trying to prevent someone's potential heartbreak when they've played for three or four seasons with their own step 3 edit and suddenly found that Boreham Wood have been moved to the Northern Premier!

Thanks,

C.

I've made this a sticky until such time as an Official Guide appears (or I find out that an official guide is out, at least )

Cheers Nik, I'm sure something a bit better will come along soon enough!

C, I've added something in. I haven't done this myself, so am purely going off that thread. Is anything incorrect or needs explaining more?

In most countries, lower league's are regional. An example of this is the Blue Square North and Blue Square South in England. When adding a regional tier into the editor, you will need to set it boundaries. These make sure that you won't find southern teams getting promoted or relegated into a northern division. To set boundaries, you need to set four cities that you want to set as the boundaries for that certain league. Make sure that the leagues you set as boundaries have longitudes and latitudes set. If they don't, you can enter them yourself.

Question for anyone who has got that far so far.

How do you let the editor know that regional leagues are all from the same tier?

You have a main division, like

English Regional Divisions

then have sub divisions in that,

Northern Prem

Southern Prem

Isthmian Prem

Apologies for sounding thick but how do I change the number of teams in a division?

I am trying to create a new structure for thre Welsh Premier League as next year there will only be one division of 12 teams. However, I want to add a second division of 10 teams aswell. I've been trying to do this all afternoon and the rules are valid but when I try to load the game it won't let me.

Thanks in advance

Firstly, the league needs to be active.

When it is, there should be two fields that you need to fill in.

'Min Number of Teams' and 'Max Number of Teams'.

Set both of them to the amount of teams you want, and make sure that only that amount are in the league on the 'Teams' page.

I have edited what I wanted to and saved the file. Everytime I try to load a new game, the changes are not there, what am I doing wrong?

I have not played this game for a very long time and seem to have lost track of how to edit things!

Cheers in advance.

Load database > Edited what I wanted > Saved the file as 'config' which was the default choice > Load game but changes are not there.

If I go back to the editor and load the database but the load the data editor at the top, the changes are there.

Double post sorry.

I have edited what I wanted to and saved the file. Everytime I try to load a new game, the changes are not there, what am I doing wrong?

I have not played this game for a very long time and seem to have lost track of how to edit things!

Cheers in advance.

Load database > Edited what I wanted > Saved the file as 'config' which was the default choice > Load game but changes are not there.

If I go back to the editor and load the database but the load the data editor at the top, the changes are there.

You know that it isn't a database that you make yeah? Does the little popup appear when you press 'New Game'

Try saving the file as a different name.

When I try to make the French CFA playable, no button to turn the CFA "playable " appears. Help? All of the French competitions are greyed out and I can't edit a thing...

Is there not a drop down box that says 'Inactive Division'? There should be... That needs to be changed to 'Active Division'

i cannot get my database to load and is beggining to get quite fed up with fm10 .

i have saved the database went to new game selected change and it still says default database . HOW DO I USE MY DATABASE

There is only one database, you do not create a database, you create XML Files

When you press New Game, the following box appears yeah? (it may be slightly different)

What does the line 'Editor Data Files' read? Could you please post a screenshot of that box when it appears?

How can we add a new nation? Ex. Soviet Union or Yugoslavia or Gibraltar...

There is only one database, you do not create a database, you create XML Files

When you press New Game, the following box appears yeah? (it may be slightly different)

What does the line 'Editor Data Files' read? Could you please post a screenshot of that box when it appears?

I'm having the same problem but that box doesn't appear. I don't know if that's because I'm not creating the XML files correctly.

Load up the XML in the editor, and press 'Test Nation Rules' on the left hand side of the editor. See if there are any problems

I may be being stupid here now but I was quite good with the last editors.

When I'm trying to set up leagues or cup I have to choose an existing one and edit that one. Can you actually set a league or cup from scratch? If so how?

how do i make my changes take effect in my game

It's probably been answered elsewhere, but how do I add leagues to that structure made by Superbladesman? I want to add some Norfolk leagues to it.

Is there not a drop down box that says 'Inactive Division'? There should be... That needs to be changed to 'Active Division'

No. Every button in France's Add Nation Rules is greyed and unclickable. And there is no Active/Inactive button. I can add the Isthmans just fine in England, so it's not like I don't know what you're talking about...it just looks like France is uneditable, and I suspect it's because of licensing issues.

Ok I created a whole bunch of new competion, a few teams and then added these new teams and some that where in the nation first into the new leagues. I then changed the national league rules and added these leagues instead of the first one. I tried running this but got an crash error when the game was being created. I wen't back into the editor and erased all the original leagues so they wouldn't cause conflict but still this crash error.

I then tried to load the xml file with the info before I changed the national league rules, meaning there would be some unused competitions and teams. That should work right? Well same crash.

I the thought about this one team that I had to create twice, it was kinda like it disappeared the first time, but then I found it once in a while again when attaching players to teams but If I searched for it in the clubs window I would not find it. I even searched by unique ID and nothing. I checked the XML files via notepad and did a search for the ID number and there it is still. Might this be causing the problem?

Can I gleam any info from these dump files I get?

Edit, when looking better through the XML files there seems to be two items that have this ID, both the ghost team and 1 of my cups, I was wondering if I should just take a backup of my XML file and manually erase where this team is referenced in the file but keep the cup?

In the League Details, anybody knows what "Teams for Next Season" and "Teams (Other Division)" are for?

Hi, I am having the same problem as above (not getting the box to select database) it automatically loads the standard. I have tried following the wiki guide and have my files. I have copied and pasted them to the steam location. I tried renaming to the existing default db name but the game would not load saying no db could be found. So, I'm back with the standard but still getting no option to change the database used? Any prompt as to what I'm doing wrong much appreciated.

I'm not creating any new comps. I've just renamed some existing comps and moved one free agent to a club.

I have loaded the editor and saved my database, but when loading game i do not get the option of what database to load, how do i fix this problem?

To the people having problems with not getting to choose a database

Try loading up your XML in the editor, and press 'Test Nation Rules' on the left hand side.

I doubt it is that, because it would just make that country inactive, but it's worth a go.

I'm not sure what else it could be, perhaps someone with a bit more experience with the editor will be able to help.

I am having the same problem-not getting to choose a database and when I cant even load up my xml in the editor. Need serious help. Thanks!

Have you tried what I just suggested?

Have you tried what I just suggested?

Got the same problem, cant even load the xml i created in the editor.

I have no idea what the problem is then, tbh. Have you given the Editor FAQ a read? It may have something that can help

I found that the editor doesn't save the .xml in a custom data directory, but the default one. If you are using a custom data directory, you need to copy the .xml from the default to your custom (or save it there to begin with...).

No help/confirmation of my French problem, then?

to be able to load your database when the box comes up with the load database leave it on default as you can choose anything else BUT tick the change box in bottom right hand corner of that box it wil then load your databases you pick which one or one's you want to load and away you go

the box does not even come out for my case.

Hi

I've loaded my xml file with various changes, especially adding new players.

However, when I try to load a new game, the game crashes at the point where i'm adding a new manager and this is definitely because of my edited xml file (it works fine when I de-select it) - does anyone know what the problem is?

the box does not even come out for my case.

Then your .xml isn't saved where the game wants it to be.

However I have placed my xml file in My Documents\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2010\editor data and it is still not working.

boGeY, email it to jammy@footballmanagerwiki.co.uk and I'll have a look.

SSGTroyer, I'll have a look for you now.

Hi

I've loaded my xml file with various changes, especially adding new players.

However, when I try to load a new game, the game crashes at the point where i'm adding a new manager and this is definitely because of my edited xml file (it works fine when I de-select it) - does anyone know what the problem is?

To be blunt, I'm afraid I don't know what the problem is. Sorry...

Have already done so. Thanks.

SSGTroyer, did you say you were trying to activate the CFA? If so, your problem is that it is already an active (playable) league in the game, and you can't edit those.

Have already done so. Thanks.

Thanks

I put the file straight into

C:\Documents and Settings\James\My Documents\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2010\editor data

and it appeared when I started a new game straight away.

In the editor data folder, is the only file in there the file you sent me? Or is there a config file?

there is also a 1kb config file in the exact same folder.

SSGTroyer, did you say you were trying to activate the CFA? If so, your problem is that it is already an active (playable) league in the game, and you can't edit those.

Then why can't I select a CFA team when I start the game? And when I "Add Nation Rules" to France, CFA is what pops up, not CFA2?

please help me arsenal2111, tried everything to allow my changes to work in m

y game..jus cant do it...cheers mate

Yeah, that's how it should be.

In C:\Documents and Settings\YourName\My Documents\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2010

is there a folder called Editor 2010?

There is My Documents\Sports Interactive\Editor 2010 and it is blank. I have tried copying both xml files over there and it still does not work..

Then why can't I select a CFA team when I start the game? And when I "Add Nation Rules" to France, CFA is what pops up, not CFA2?

So, when you 'Load Database' in the editor

• 'Add Nation Rules'
  
• 'Add lower divisions and cups to existing structure'
  
• 'Current Nations' > 'France'
  

what leagues show on the left? Could you post a screenie of that screen for me please?

please help me arsenal2111, tried everything to allow my changes to work in m

y game..jus cant do it...cheers mate

What problem are you having?

There is My Documents\Sports Interactive\Editor 2010 and it is blank. I have tried copying both xml files over there and it still does not work..

Yeah, that's meant to be empty. Not sure what it's meant for, tbh.

Did you say that you can't load the file you sent me in the editor?

Try mydocs/si/fm10/editor data