Editors Forum Rules, FAQ & Resources Thread - PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTING

Welcome to the Editors Hideaway, the place to come for all your FM customisation help and advice. This thread is full of the most commonly asked questions in this forum. It's a good place to start for those with absolutely no idea what they're doing but still well worth a read even if you've customised your game with the editor before.

Index

Forum Rules & Etiquette

Frequently Asked Questions

Guides & Tutorials

Download Threads

Editors Forum Rules & Posting Etiquette

Please be as descriptive as possible in thread titles and posts. This makes it easier if you are trying to ask for help, or posting generally.

Any duplicate threads will be closed, if you are unsure use the search function and be sure to look further down this post for all links.

Threads that contain swearing or abuse of any kind will be closed at the moderator’s discretion.

Threads that are just a moan about the game will also be closed, unless it’s done in a constructive manner. I.e. provide examples, stats, and screenshots.

Do not post in caps

Do not use text speech as not everyone has English as their first language.

Also make sure you post in English at all times.

If someone makes a mistake no flaming, instead try and offer assistance and offer them advice, or point them in the right direction.

Abuse of other forum members will not be tolerated. If you disagree with someone fair enough but try and be constructive when giving feedback. Do not simply post something along the lines of ‘you’re wrong’ without trying to back up why that person maybe wrong.

Everyone on the forums will be treated the same.

Try to remember that not everyone’s first language is English. So if someone makes a mistake or their English isn’t that good try and steer them in the right direction.

Don’t get involved in arguments, if you think someone has an issue with you take it to a PM or send one of the forum moderators a message about it. You can also use the report function on a post for such issues.

If a thread is closed by a moderator please don’t make the same thread again, as it’ll be closed and a warning will be given.

Threads will be closed at the moderator’s discretion. If they don’t leave a reason as to why it was closed then send a PM and ask why. But we will always try and leave a reason and steer you in the right direction.

No re-releasing of other people's work without their permission, with or without your own tweaks and edits. You must receive permission from the original author before you start to edit someone else's work, this includes uploading their work and claiming it as yours, uploading their work as an additional download mirror & downloading their work, making your own changes and uploading as your own work. Failure to comply with this will result in your thread/post being deleted and receiving an infraction.

Do Not request donations in exchange for a copy of your work

If you feel a post is unsuitable or does not comply with one of the points listed above, please use the report post button (triangle on left hand side under the users name)

If you are having any other forum related issues please send me a PM

Frequently Asked Questions

Where Can I find the Editor?

If installed on offline systems it can be found in C: > Program Files > Sports Interactive > Football Manager 20xx > tools > editor > editor.exe

On Vista and W7 It can also be accessed by right-clicking on FM20xx icon in games explorer

If installed using steam the editor can be found: C:\Program Files\Steam\Steamapps\Common\Football Manager 20xx\Tools\

If installed on Mac it can be found: /Users/*YOURUSERNAME*/Library/Application Support/Steam/SteamApps/common/football manager 20xx/tools/

What are the Minimum Specs for the Football Manager Official Editor?

Sports Interactive recommend at least 512MB Ram or more for optimal performance, however due to the amount of data stored in the editor you may experience poor or slow performance.

How do I load my file into my game inside FM?

When clicking 'New Game' inside FM, you will get a dialog box appear called Choose Database. Notice in this box it will have section saying Editor Data Files and a 'Change' tick button. Clicking this button will allow you to select which of your files to load into your game.Where Should I save files to?

Whether you have created the files yourself or downloaded them they need to be placed in the following locations for them to be loaded into the game.

PC – My Documents > Sports Interactive > Football Manager 20xx > editor data

MAC – Documents > Sports Interactive > Football Manager 20xx > editor data

Don't overwrite the config.xml file! Instead, you should give your file an original name of your own choice.

There is also an option to compress the editor data files, saving them as a smaller *.dbc file instead of the *.xml. These can be loaded by FM12 without any decompression.

Where can i find the editor data folder

PC– My Documents > Sports Interactive > Football Manager 20xx > editor data

MAC – Documents > Sports Interactive > Football Manager 2012 > editor data

Where can I find a list of community summer 2012 data updates?

Please see this thread

I have created a player with a Current Ability (CA) of 200 and gave him all 20 attributes, why has this not worked in the game?

This is due to the weighting of the attributes, some of them have more weighting (e.g physical) take up more points than others (technical & mental). To make a player as effective as possible, give higher attributes to key areas depending on the players position e.g. a striker will need higher finishing, first touch, technique & composure but could have low Free Kicks, Throw Ins, Corners & Marking.

What are the boundaries for minus potential?

They are as follows:-

-10 = 170-200 PA

-9 = 150-180 PA

-8 = 130-160 PA

-7 = 110-140 PA

-6 = 90-120 PA

-5 = 70-100 PA

-4 = 50-80 PA

-3 = 30-60 PA

-2 = 10-40 PA

-1 = 0-20 PA

Why is the German National team greyed out?

This is due to licensing issues as Sports Interactive dont hold the required licence to be able to use players from that nation in the national team, due to licencing issues this can't be discussed on the Sports Interactive forums so please do not ask about this as the thread will be closed.

Can I edit international or continental competitions?

Yes, you can re-create competitions (see advanced FAQ below)

Why can I not go back in the editor to see recent screens I was on like in FM2009 editor?

The ability to view screens you were recently on in the editor still remains, however it does not appear on tree menu as in previous versions, you now can view this by clicking the [Recent Database Records] button.

Can I edit the amount of prize money a club gets in the editor?

Yes you can but it would involve having to recreate the entire nations league structure and editing the prize money.

Can I remove or add point deductions to clubs?

Yes you can but it would involve having to recreate the league structure and adding in the points deduction.

Where can I find how to create a new nation rules or how to add leagues to existing leagues?

Videos of how to create these can be found at http://www.footballmanager.com/index.php?p=videos

For creating new nation rules view –

For adding new levels to existing leagues view - Football Manager Data Editor –

I have created an XML (or DBC) file, but it is not appearing in game?

Firstly make sure you have saved the file to the editor data file. If this is correct, you should try the following.

If the file is definitely saved, you should delete your cache and then remove the config.xml file from the editor data folder.

How to delete your cache files

First of all you need to turn on hidden files and folders. Go to My Computer and at the top select 'Tools' then 'Folder Options'. Then go to the 'View' tab and select 'Show hidden files and folders'

Windows XP:

1. Open 'My Computer'

2. Navigate to C:\Documents and Settings\<Username>\Application Data\

3. Go into the 'Sports Interactive' folder

4. Delete any 'Football Manager' folder

Windows Vista:

1. Click 'Start'

2. Click your username on the Start Menu

3. Click on 'AppData' and then 'Roaming'

4. Go into the 'Sports Interactive' folder

5. Delete any 'Football Manager' folder

Mac OSX:

1. Open Finder

2. Select <User>

3. Navigate to Library\Caches\Sports Interactive

4. Remove any “Football Manager” Folder

How do I merge multiple editor files?

You cannot merge files where league rules have been edited in both files. Merging is also really intended as a Power User feature, in some respects, and should be avoided where possible - if necessary, you can merge 'person' changes into a league-edited file, for example.

In this example, there is no need to merge the files, as multiple xml or dbc files can be loaded into the game and be run side-by-side (see below). Any custom id numbers will be re-assigned by FM10 upon creation of a new game.

Can I load multiple files into the game?

Yes, you can load as many different xml files into a new game. However some files can prevent other from working if you have made many changes to leagues and structures.

Can I download files from other users to use in the editor?

Yes, you can download other users XML files they have created and load them into your game by putting them in the editor data folder.

I have created multiple XML files but I get errors when loaded them into Football Manager

If you have multiple xml files created some of the changes you have made may affect another xml.

Example:

Removing side from MLS and moving them into English league in one file & Having a new USA league with new structure using same teams. The second xml would not work if loaded together as the MLS side from the first xml will have been moved and USA league will not recognise correct number of teams.

I've loaded multiple editor files into FM12, and the game re-assigns the custom team/player id numbers each time. How can I get my custom graphics (e.g. facepacks) to work?

(answer courtesy of Francis Cole)

As the ids of created players will change all the time you need to set up the custom graphic config file differently to not use ids. For example:

record from="angha" to="graphics/pictures/person/martin angha 22-1/portrait"/>

This sets the file angha.png to the player Martin Angha who is born on 22/1 (you don't need to put the year).

How can I set up regional divisions?

A good example of how this works is the English Blue Square North and South, so check that out! In this case, there are actually three divisions entered into the database - the BS North, BS South and a special third one called something like 'Blue Square Regional Divisions' which does not have any teams entered. When you add this last one in, you can specify the divisions that are in this level.

For a promoted/relegated club to be placed into the 'correct' division within a level, there are two methods; it's advisable to use both! For this, each club should therefore have two pieces of info added:

1. a stadium, located in a city which has longitude and latitude values set. Each individual league can then have geographical boundaries set - i.e. a box, where up to 4 cities (also with set longitude and latitude values) define the limits of the box. It's not always necessary to set all four cities - if a region has one boundary against the sea, for example, then this entry may be best left blank.

2. regional competition settings. If you navigate to each club, you will set a competition tab, and within this each club has a tab for setting regional divisions. Add a Level box (e.g. '6' in the Blue Square Regional example), and enter the appropriate division the club should go into at that level (e.g. Blue Square North or South). Repeat as necessary for all levels and all clubs.

Without setting 2, clubs at a level will be reshuffled each season. Without setting 1, clubs won't have a reasonable fallback position should their chosen division be over-subscribed.

It takes time, but the results can really be worth the investment.

My FA Cup needs more than 256 entrants, but each time I try to set the correct number it reverts back to 256! Help!

You can fix the problem with large FA cup entrant numbers by editing the xml directly.

Open the xml file in Notepad, and search for '256'. One of the earlier entries will be the number of teams entered in the FA Cup; it should be fairly obvious. Edit it, and save the change. Make sure to keep the file as an xml file, and not a txt file, or even an xml.txt file!

Then, load up the editor again and load the db and your file. The number of entrants should now be correct! Don't touch it, or it will revert to 256 again... Instead, sort out the entrants and rounds etc. manually. Make sure the number of entrants add up to the correct figure!

Guides & Tutorials

Downloading the official Football Manager Editor through Steam - Click Here

This explains how to download the official Football Manager Editor through steam.

Unofficial Basic Guide to the Editor by arsenal_2111 - Click Here

This is an unofficial guide to the Football Manager Editor created by Arsenal_2111

Official Introduction to New FM2014 Editor Features - Click Here

This is a run through of the new features in the Football Manager 2014 Editor

Unofficial Guide to creating and using EDT, DDT and LNC files - Click Here

EDT, DDT and LNC files are files that you can create that allow to both edit the game without the use of an editor and also allow you to choose what countries or clubs players will be loaded in a game. They are very convenient to create and use as they can all be applied to any database very easily by just putting them in the right place on your computer. They also quite small in size so they are convenient to upload and share with others.

Advanced Users Only: Some Advanced Tips and Tricks for the Editor - Click Here

This helps give you an idea on how to solve certain issues you may have when using the editor

Official Editor Suggestions Thread - Click Here

This thread is for editor suggestions for future editions of Football Manager

Creating a Seperate nation from teams in England by nine iron - Click Here

Testing a database, generally, financially or for stability by nine iron - Click Here

If your thread seems to have disappeared from the main Editors Hideaway Forum and it its related to a download for either FM12 or FM13, please check the Editors Hideaway Download Forum as has probably been moved there.

Why has a Download Forum been created?

The download forum was created a few months ago and is being pushed as the focal point of the Editors Hideaway Forum. After discussion with the Tactics & Training Forum Moderators, who currently have a separate download forum and the members who contribute to the Editors Hideaway it was decided that to try and make the Editors Forum more user friendly and easier for people to find a database that suits them.

How will this benefit me?

1. It will make your download easier to find, as it is less likely to fall down to the page and get mixed up with the general editor discussion & help/support threads

2. People will visit the Download Forum for all 3rd party & community created content so they are more likely to download if its easier to find.

3. It will help remove the clutter from the main Editors Hideaway Forum and make things more tidy and organised.

How can I help make my downloads easy to find?

Firstly ensure you are posting any custom databases or tools in the Download Sub-Forum

Secondtly, please ensure all your thread titles are set as follows:

[FM Version] [Description of download] WIP (only if work in progress)

I can't find the thread I started, help!

Please check the Download Forum to see if its been moved there. Make sure your forum settings are set so you can view threads from any date as there is a two month cut off, you can do this by:

- Click Forum Actions

- Click General Settings

- Scroll down to the default thread age cut off and select show all threads

- Scroll to the bottom and click save

Please do not be offended if your thread is moved here as it is a way to de-clutter the forum and make the downloads you create more accessible.

Any problems please send me a PM

Cheers,

Michael

Editors Forum Moderator