[FM13] USA/MLS - with Major League Baseball League Structure (2780 teams in pyramid)

** Please Note: I used some information from Milo Bloom's American pyramid database - thank you Milo !!: '>[FM12] American Soccer League Pyramid (Nne Tiers, Twelve+ Cups, Fictional)

Download Link: MLS30_v1.3.dbc

1.1 Update (Nov 11, 2012):

- Level 1 Schedule tweak: Noticed some teams played the same team in back-to-back weeks. Swapped weeks 15 and 17 in the schedule to avoid this happening.

1.2 Update (Nov 30, 2012):

- Level 1 Schedule tweak: moved all MLS Premier NC Conference games to Sunday (including playoffs). All AC Conference games remain on Sat. and NC Conference games moved to Sun. Changed this so can watch games in both conferences.

- Cleaned up the stages and round names in the playoffs. After the last FM update, playoff menu became messed up (listed 3 times) - v1.2 cleans this up so only listed once in menu.

- Removed away goals as a tie-breaker in the MLS Premier league playoffs and the Level 3 tournament (tie-breaker is now: extra-time, penalty kicks) - applies to rounds with 2 legs.

- Misc internal fixes - minor stuff.

1.3 Update (Feb 4, 2013):

- Misc minor tweaks - team reputations, prize money, city populations, etc.

** Modified version: MLS30_v1.1_FullSchedule.dbc

- Level 1 - 36 games, Level 2 - 28 games (with league split) - see Post #28 for details

NOTE: - This file can also be use this file with Football Manager Classic (see post #30 for instructions)

Overview

Think of this as the MLS in about 25-50 years.

Years ago my preference was to have a pyramid structure with many levels (the more levels the better). But I found I often got lost in the pyramid - too much movement and almost impossible to follow several teams from year to year. Also the number of years it would take a team from the lower levels to just have a chance to make it to the top of the pyramid tested my patience and I ended up losing interested altogether.

I wanted a pyramid structure with tons of teams, but with the opportunity for a rapid rise to the top. Level 1 still being the very best. Level 2, still Pro but a stepping stone to the Premier teams and with a last chance for the fallen teams from Level 1 to turn it around before falling into obscurity. Level 3 having tons of teams to keep the game fresh but with a very loose structure to not slow down the game to a crawl. I also wanted to have a pyramid with the ability to follow all of the games and teams at each Level with minimal or no overlap. And most importantly, wanted a Playoff system similar to American sports (Major League Baseball in particular), not too many playoff teams but enough to have meaningful games late in the season and where each game in the postseason is magnified. I know this may not suit others, but this is what I came up with as my ideal pyramid:

- Level 1: MLS Premier League - 30 teams (2 Conferences with 3 divisions each - 5 teams per division) - League and Postseason modeled after 2013 Major League Baseball. Division winners get a bye week, with the wild cards teams playing in Round 1.

- Level 2: MLS Championship - 20 teams - traditional soccer league style with 20 teams.

- Level 3: North American Amateur Teams - 2730 teams - knockout tournament each year - winner has an opportunity to be promoted to Level 2

- Promotion/Relegation playoffs for each level. Teams have to earn promotion by beating the worst team at the higher level

- MLS teams plus approx 32-64 teams from each US State, plus teams from Canada and Mexico

- All 2780 teams have Jerseys, Stadiums, Reserves and U-18 (although currently no leagues set up for Reserves and U-19)

- Even with all of the teams included, the game does not lag and moves fairly quickly. Can probably sim a season in about 10-15 minutes

- All Games/Playoffs at each of the 3 Levels do not overlap. All games at Level 3 are played first, then Season and Playoffs for Level 2, then Level 1 Season and Playoffs. This way all teams and games can be followed at all levels.

- 2 Conferences (American Conference & National Conference)

- Season = 18 games : 2 games vs each team in division (Home & Away), 1 game vs other 10 teams in the Conference - Home field rotates each year for non-Division games. No Inter-conference games.

Playoffs:

- Division winners plus 2 Wild Card teams from each conference qualify

- Wild Card round - 1 game - the 2 Wild Card teams play, all division winners get a bye. The #1 Wild Card seed is home team. If game is a draw after 90 minutes plus extra time, home teams (#1 WC seed) wins and advances.

- Semi Final round - 2 legs - Home and Away - Tie-Breaker: extra-time, away goals, penalty shots.

- Final round - 2 legs - Home and Away - Tie-Breaker: extra-time, away goals, penalty shots.

- MLS Cup - 1 games - Neutral Field - game replayed if a draw, then penalty shots.

Level 1-2 Promotion/Relegation Playoffs:

- Round 1 - team with lowest season Pts from each Conference (15th place) meet in Round 1 - Neutral Field - extra-time, penalty kicks. Loser advanced to Round 2

- Round 2 - Loser from Round 1 plays at home against winner of Level 2 (MLS Championship League) Playoff winner - if a draw - Level 1 teams wins

- if Round 2 winner is from Level 1 (MLS Premier League) - then no Prom/Releg

- if Round 2 winner is from Level 2 (MLS Championship) - then they are promoted to Level 1 (MLS Premier League) and loser is relegated to Level 2 (MLS Championship)

- 20 teams

- Season = 19 games : 1 games vs each team - Home field rotates each year.

- Top 5 teams qualify for the Playoffs with the winner given an opportunity to be promoted to Level 1

Playoffs:

- Round 1 - 5th place at 4th place. If game is a draw after 90 minutes plus extra time, home team (4th place team) wins and advances.

- Round 2 - Round 1 winner at 3rd place. If game is a draw after 90 minutes plus extra time, home team (3rd place team) wins and advances.

- Round 3 - Round 2 winner at 2nd place. If game is a draw after 90 minutes plus extra time, home team (2nd place team) wins and advances.

- Round 4 - Round 3 winner at 1st place. If game is a draw after 90 minutes plus extra time, home team (1st place team) wins.

- Winner of Round 4 will then play in the Level 1-2 Promotion/Relegation playoffs (Round 2) - with an opportunity to be Promoted into Level 1 - MLS Premier League

Level 2-3 Promotion/Relegation Playoff:

- Level 2 20th place team at home against the winner of the Level 3 (North American Amateur Shootout) winner

- if a draw - Level 2 teams wins

- if winner is from Level 2 (MLS Championship League) - then no Prom/Releg

- if winner is from Level 3 - then they are promoted to Level 2 (MLS Championship League) and loser is relegated to Level 3 (North American Amateur Teams)

- Pool of 2730 teams

- No regular season, all teams qualify for a huge Knockout tournament, with the winner given an opportunity to be Promoted into Level 2 - MLS Championship League

- Shootout Tournament divided into 2 separate Stages (Preliminaries and Final 64)

- Preliminaries - 2 legs each Round (Home and Away)

- Final 64 - 1 game each round - Neutral field (Similiar to the NCAA Basketball tournament - The Big Dance)

Level 3 North American Amateur Shootout - Preliminaries:

- Each round 2 legs (Home and Away). Tie-breaker: extra time, away goals, penalty shootout

- Round 1: Placement Round - winners will get a bye and skip to the Final 2048 round, losers will be given a 2nd chance and play in the next round (Playoff Qualifying Round). This is to guarantee Level 3 teams will play at least 4 games each year.

- Round 2: Qualifying Round - Losers from Round 1. Winners in this round advance to the Final 2048 round. Losers eliminated.

- Rounds 3-7: Final 2048 thru Final 128 - Winners advance to the next round. Losers eliminated

Level 3 North American Amateur Shootout - Final 64:

- Each round - 1 game - Neutral field. Tie-breaker: extra time, penalty shootout

- Rounds 1-5: Final 64 thru Final - Winners advance to the next round. Losers eliminated

- Winner in the Final round will then play in the Level 2-3 Promotion/Relegation playoffs - with an opportunity to be Promoted into Level 2 - MLS Championship League

Dates (based on the year 2000)

- Jul 1-Jul 31: Transfer window - all 3 Levels

- Jun 19-Sep 11: Level 3 Shootout

- Sep 13-Dec 13: Level 2 Regular Season

- Dec 20: Level 2-3 Prom/Releg Playoff

- Dec 23-Jan 3: Level 2 Playoffs

- Jan 10-Apr 28: Level 1 Regular Season

- May 2-May 9: Level 1-2 Prom/Releg Playoffs

- May 12-May 26: Level 1 Playoffs

- Jun 2: MLS Cup

Future version

I have made so many changes to this file, it has become quite large to work with. I may recreate this file from scratch in the future with many more teams at Level 3 with either 5,460 teams, 10,922 teams or 21,844 teams.

Notes

- Switched USA and St Martin - as a result St Martin will be unplayable. Renamed/changed as much as possible back to USA, so will appear to be USA in the game. This was done to increase the number of younger players on teams. For an explanation, please refer to this thread and post (post #34): Post #34

Curious, did you use my database as a base to build this? The team colors in the screenshots are awfully similar. In fact, exactly the same albeit I believe some logos(and most names) have changed.

Looks great.

May have used some teams names and some team colors. Pretty much built the entire database using .Net over 3 years or so.

As someone who knows Milo's DB extremely well, I can confirm that the colour schemes of teams in the screenshot seem to be pretty much identical to those in his DB.

I have no problem with people releasing an expanded or altered version of my database(or possibly in this case, just a lifting of some information). In fact, I find it really exciting. But I did address this in my thread featuring the FM 12 version:

As long as I'm given credit for my work and the file made remains free of charge for anyone to download, then I'm okay with altered versions being released. A link back to the original thread would be nice, not because I prefer my database over others, but that I put in hours upon hours of work, and selfishly I would like some credit for it.

That said, I still would like a PM/message here before a release like Heath has done. Again, please don't release without asking me.

Like I said, it looks great. But if you used my work and released it publicly(albeit an enormously expanded version), and it really looks like you did, I would have really appreciated a heads up.

If you'd like to PM me, so this thread isn't derailed, that would be great.

Milo,

I honestly can't remember if I used some of your team names and colors, apparently I did. I am sorry. If you would like me to remove the download file and close this thread please let me know and I will happily do so without hesitation and absolutely no ill feelings.

I was planning on rebuilding the entire database and file from scratch with random cities and team names, but it might be awhile as it is a very low priority for me at this time. My main priority right now is playing FM13. Rebuilding the file would be done in any spare time I had.

I probably did downloaded your file some time go and really liked the teams and colors.

That's the last thing I want. Your database looks incredible and to deprive the FM community of it would be nonsense.

A simple throwaway line of "I used some information from Milo Bloom's American pyramid database" or something along those lines in your OP and a link to that thread is all I really ask outside of asking permission for anyone wanting to use my work. Like you, I've spent a lot of time doing this work and to not get credit for it can be frustrating.

That's the last thing I want. Your database looks incredible and to deprive the FM community of it would be nonsense.

A simple throwaway line of "I used some information from Milo Bloom's American pyramid database" or something along those lines in your OP works and a link to that thread is all I really ask outside of asking permission for anyone wanting to use my work. Like you, I've spent a lot of time doing this work and to not get credit for it can be frustrating.

No problem, I just added it near the top of Post #1. Again I am sorry. And thank you for your permission. If your link is different from the one I have at the top of Post 1, or changes in the future for FM13, let me know and I'll update your link in Post 1.

This looks superb, defiantly giving it a go

Looks great! Any drafts included?

Looks great! Any drafts included?

Sorry, no drafts. Would really love to have a draft, but as far as I know the only way to keep the MLS Superdraft intact is to use the original MLS structure.

This looks fantastic! A few quick questions on it:

1)Why did you decide to go with the "ties go to favorite team" instead of penalty shootouts? Could see fans getting outraged about that in real life is all.

2)If you decide to play an amateur team, I am guessing you are only guaranteed 4 games? Would you recommend not playing one of those teams then?

3)How did you manage the scheduling in the editor? I thought there were issues restricting games between divisions?

Can't wait to try this out!

Wonder what the effect is of winning the shootout in September and then not playing again until December in the Stage 2 Pro/Rel playoff. Wonder if that hurts.

This looks fantastic! A few quick questions on it:

1)Why did you decide to go with the "ties go to favorite team" instead of penalty shootouts? Could see fans getting outraged about that in real life is all.

2)If you decide to play an amateur team, I am guessing you are only guaranteed 4 games? Would you recommend not playing one of those teams then?

3)How did you manage the scheduling in the editor? I thought there were issues restricting games between divisions?

Can't wait to try this out!

Thank you.

1) Just my preference. I really dislike games (and perhaps league fate) being decided on Penalty kicks and try to avoid it if possible.

My reasoning for Home team (higher seed) wins as a tie-breaker instead of Penalty shootout:

- Promotion./Relegation playoffs - the team at the lower level is given an opportunity to win promotion by beating the worst team at the higher level. They need to "earn" the victory to prove they belong at the next higher level by winning the game outright. I don't believe league-fate should come down to Penalty kicks.

- Level 1 - Wild card Round - was undecided whether to have it here. But I wanted to give the #1 WC seed a bigger reward for having a better season than the #2 WC seed. The #2 WC seed is just lucky to make it to the playoffs - need to win the game outright.

- Level 2 - Playoffs - again wanted to give the team finishing higher a bigger reward for finishing higher. Teams finishing lower need to earn a victory by winning the game outright.

** I can make another version and remove this if you'd like. Easy to do.

2) I think of Level 3 as a huge pool of teams with dreams of making it to the "Show" (The Pros). It's definitely a challenge, putting a good team together to make it to the Final 64 and maybe making it all the way to have a shot at the Level 2 Prom/Releg playoff game.

If you have a fairly good team at Level 3, you should win some rounds and be playing more than 4 games. There is prize money for the winners of each round. I structured Level 3 so if you lose the 1st round (Placement Round) you are given another opportunity in the Qualifying Round (Round 2) in case you happened to be matched up against a really good team in Round 1. Just a note, teams are matched up Randomly at Level 3.

For version 2, I am thinking about adding 2-3 Pre-tournament games for Level 3. These games would be Friendlies and have bearing on the Tournament.

3) I'm not exactly sure what you are asking here. Are you referring to the Level 1 season ?

I created this file with the Advanced Panel from previous years. There's probably very little you can't do with the AP. I don't have access to the AP for FM13. Don't think it's even possible. Really wish it was because I could really use it for FM13. I had to make some changes (the hard way) for this file to work for FM13. By the way, I tested for about 25 seasons in FM13, no crashes and everything seemed to work as intended.

Wonder what the effect is of winning the shootout in September and then not playing again until December in the Stage 2 Pro/Rel playoff. Wonder if that hurts.

Good point. I'm sure it does in real life. In the game, I don't know. But as mentioned in Post 1, I really wanted the Levels to be staggered and not overlap so I'd be able to pay full attention to the games at each level.

I know if I was playing one of those sides I'd schedule friendlies before the playoffs. Not sure what the AI will do, it is a bit "smarter" about this in FM13, so it very well may. Glad to see you can use the advanced panels still on FM13 for scheduling. As for the amateur level, any thought to making the first prelim part a group phase? that way a human player would get more games. I did that with a league I built in FM12, and it worked pretty well. Honestly either way works for different reasons.

I know if I was playing one of those sides I'd schedule friendlies before the playoffs. Not sure what the AI will do, it is a bit "smarter" about this in FM13, so it very well may. Glad to see you can use the advanced panels still on FM13 for scheduling. As for the amateur level, any thought to making the first prelim part a group phase? that way a human player would get more games. I did that with a league I built in FM12, and it worked pretty well. Honestly either way works for different reasons.

I don't think friendlies can be scheduled the way I have Level 3 setup. I would have to hard-coded the friendlies into the file, which is possible. Since I have so many teams at Level 3, any kind of group organization kills the games speed and brings it to a crawl. I believe it's the grouping of 2730 teams that kills the speed. I played around with having Level 3 Region/State Cups, with the winners going to the Level 3 Final 64 - worked but was way too slow.

I can not use the AP with FM13. As far as I know there is no way to enable it for FM13 and from what I've heard there won't be. Makes maintaining this file much, much more difficult.

Hello Dim, I know this is your file, but would there be any chance of changing the amount of games teams play during the regular season? For example so teams in the MLS Prem play 30-38 games or something like that. And the Championship sides play home and away. I'm loving the file, but would like to be able to do this and as I understand it, sadly that isn't possible on FM13 since the advanced panel no longer works!

Either way astounding work mate!

Hello Dim, I know this is your file, but would there be any chance of changing the amount of games teams play during the regular season? For example so teams in the MLS Prem play 30-38 games or something like that. And the Championship sides play home and away. I'm loving the file, but would like to be able to do this and as I understand it, sadly that isn't possible on FM13 since the advanced panel no longer works!

Either way astounding work mate!

Yes, it is possible. I can set the leagues to play any number of games.

My personal preference is to have fewer games, so each game has more importance and more of an event than a match. Originally had 14 games, expanded to 18. And also kept Level 2 at 19 games (instead of 38 or 28) so teams at Level 2 wouldn't generate more game revenue over Level 1 teams.

I will create another "side" version with more games. I know there are many (probably the majority) who prefer a full season schedule over a shorter one. Please allow some time for this version. I would need to hard code in a new schedule (each game) - time consuming. I'm also currently experimenting with other stuff, like adding Pre-Tournament Friendlies to Level 3, and something outside of this file (adding Prom/Releg to the original MLS rules to keep the Draft and MLS rules in place).

How about 36 games for MLS Premier : play each team in division 4 times, play other teams in conference 2 times (Home and Away) ? (would basically double the current schedule).

For MLS Championship, there are 2 options:

Option 1: 38 games, Home and Away against each team (as in the English Premier).

Option 2: 28 games. League split after playing 1 game against each team in the league. So after 19 games, the league splits (1st-10th place and 11th-20th place). If you are in the Top 10 after 19 games, the final 9 games are played against the teams in the top 10. If you are in the bottom 11-20 after 19 games, you play the remaining 9 games against teams 11th-20th place at the time of the split.

Please let me know if you'd prefer Option 1 or 2 for Level 2 - MLS Championship.

Will start work on this after I'm able to add in the Level 3 Pre-Tournament games, so I won't have to duplicate that on 2 separate files.

That sounds brilliant mate, thanks very much for your effort! Absolutely loving the file even with a smaller schedule to be honest, but I reckon a longer schedule could interest a lot of people. As for the Championship I'd say that a split would fit the file more in general and the the quirks of American sports more.

Adding promotion and relegation to the original MLS rules would be incredible, too. Many have tried and failed, including myself, since the inception of the editor!

That sounds brilliant mate, thanks very much for your effort! Absolutely loving the file even with a smaller schedule to be honest, but I reckon a longer schedule could interest a lot of people. As for the Championship I'd say that a split would fit the file more in general and the the quirks of American sports more.

Adding promotion and relegation to the original MLS rules would be incredible, too. Many have tried and failed, including myself, since the inception of the editor!

My personal preference would also be having a split for Level 2. Like the quirks.

I will also change the dates for all 3 Levels so the season/tournament games run concurrently instead of staggered. This way there will not be any long layoffs for a team in the Promotion/Relegation playoff. No more than a week or 2 at most between matches. Working on the new schedules now. I'm kinda of liking this more and gaining my interests. Will have this done sooner than later, but still would like to add about 10 Pre-Tournament games or so for Level 3. Will shoot to have it done by Monday or so.

Haven't had any success so far adding Prom/Releg to the original MLS rules - don't know if it's possible with FM13 but it's something that I'd really want. Currently trying to modify the Comps.dbc file and the .xml file from the basic editor to make this happen. I need to do some research with the Comps.dbc to see how the other leagues are set up and try to replicate it for MLS within the Comps.dbc. I was able to make this work for FM11, didn't really try with FM12 as I spent all my time with the file in this thread.

3th levels isnt playable. should it be or is this correct

3th levels isnt playable. should it be or is this correct

Thanks. I will look into this. I have a couple of things I can try to fix this.

In testing, I never tried managing a team at Level 3 - just watched some matches and made sure the Tournament went as intended.

EDIT/UPDATE:

It appears the only way I can make Level 3 playable and to manage a Level 3 team is to create a League for Level 3 with Groups (instead of just having the Shootout/Tournament). I tried creating a straight League with 2730 teams - crashed. However, I was successful in creating a League with Groups and having all 2730 teams at Level 3 playable - 39 Groups of 70 teams. But even with 0 games scheduled, the game runs excruciatingly way too slow to be playable. Therefore, I will leave Level 3 as is with just the Shootout/Tournament and unfortunately not able to manager a team at Level 3. The game runs pretty quick as is and I'm happy with the speed. Since teams are unplayable at Level 3 I will also not be adding in any Pre-Tournament games as the games at that level would be irrelevant anyways.

What a huge amount of work! Always impressed with the commitment something like this takes. Only suggestion I'd make is even at Championship level you've resorted to all 'traditional US' type nicknames. I don't think that's the way the league is trending, nor at NASL level either (USL still requires a nickname for their teams at present). A few more worldly type names would probably make for a better mix as uninspired as a United, City, Rovers etc...can be (and I don't just mean traditional English names either).

If you'd like to help me over at FMNA, we'll be doing a lot of projects to tag onto FM13, adding in NCAA being the biggest. Help is always welcome.

Thanks for the suggestions, however my preference is to have the US traditional type nicknames - gives them more of an identity.

Shaping up to be an absolute brilliant file! Looking forward to the extended schedule version with or without level three.

Hello Dim, I know this is your file, but would there be any chance of changing the amount of games teams play during the regular season? For example so teams in the MLS Prem play 30-38 games or something like that. And the Championship sides play home and away. I'm loving the file, but would like to be able to do this and as I understand it, sadly that isn't possible on FM13 since the advanced panel no longer works!

Either way astounding work mate!

I posted the download link for this file in Post #1 (under Modified Version).

Changes in this version:

Level 1

- Number of games increased from 18 to 36. Teams plays other teams in division 4 times, play the other teams in Conference twice (home and away).

- Season date: Aug 30 - Apr 28

Level 2

- Number of games increased from 19 to 28. League split after 19 games (1st-10th and 11th-20th). Teams in top 10 then play each team in Top 10 one more time. Teams in bottom half will play teams in bottom half once more. 28 games total.

- Season date: Sep 28 - Apr 6

Level 3 - Tournament Dates

- Nov 23 - Apr 5

** Modified schedule at all level so there is not a huge lag between Promotion/Relegation playoffs for teams.

Brilliant mate, can't wait to get stuck into this. Downloading now!

How to play this file in FM Classic Mode

** I read this somewhere in another thread and it works !!!

1) Click to start a new game with Football Manager (NOT Football Manager Classic)

2) New Career Game

3) Choose database and select the file and confirm button

4) Check Nation: USA

5) Select Level 3, but DO NOT hit the Start Game button, instead in the very top right corner of the screen, to the left of the Continue button, click the FM menu and select Quit to Start Screen.

6) Now click Football Manager Classic and then New Career Game

7) Now all 3 Levels should show under USA, click Start Game and you will be using the file in this thread for FM Classic.

Note as with Football Manager, Level 3 in FM Classic is still unplayable (only viewable).

This looks very nice, I'm going to try out it soon. Just wondering what the story is with the players on the teams? are they just Regen players?

This looks very nice, I'm going to try out it soon. Just wondering what the story is with the players on the teams? are they just Regen players?

Yes, Regen players.

To update this file from FM12 to FM13 - I needed to recreate every team (including all MLS teams) in order by Longitude for the East-Central-West sort to work correctly within the Conferences. The sort by Longitude no longer worked from FM12 to FM13. As a result, all MLS teams were duplicated and will now have a newer ID # than the original.

Uploaded a minor update (v1.2) - see post #1 for download link:

1.2 Update (Nov 30, 2012):

- Level 1 Schedule tweak: moved all MLS Premier NC Conference games to Sunday (including playoffs). All AC Conference games remain on Sat. and NC Conference games moved to Sun. Changed this so can watch games in both conferences.

- Cleaned up the stages and round names in the playoffs. After the last FM update, playoff menu became messed up (listed 3 times) - v1.2 cleans this up so only listed once in menu.

- Removed away goals as a tie-breaker in the MLS Premier league playoffs and the Level 3 tournament (tie-breaker is now: extra-time, penalty kicks) - applies to rounds with 2 legs.

- Misc internal fixes - minor stuff.

How did you do this? Advanced editor

Dim13, can you clarify something for me? In this file you can only play as a Level 1 (30 teams) or 2 (20 teams) club but cannot play with a Level 3 (2730 teams) club? Thanks for clarifying.

Dim13, can you clarify something for me? In this file you can only play as a Level 1 (30 teams) or 2 (20 teams) club but cannot play with a Level 3 (2730 teams) club? Thanks for clarifying.

Correct. You can not play Level 3, only Levels 1 and 2.

I was able to make Level 3 playable but it slowed the game down way too much.

How did you do this? Advanced editor

Advanced Panel from previous years. Also maintaining it with a previous version of the AP. Had to tweak a few things to get the file to work with FM13.

Good work mate

Alright mate, haven't got a season going with this yet, as I'm currently filling rosters with players and the like in the editor. Just wondering though whether or not things like the Lamar Hunt Open cup and Canadian Championship still work with this file. And how the Concacaf Champions League works?

Alright mate, haven't got a season going with this yet, as I'm currently filling rosters with players and the like in the editor. Just wondering though whether or not things like the Lamar Hunt Open cup and Canadian Championship still work with this file. And how the Concacaf Champions League works?

If they are, it's by default. I haven't done anything with those cups. I was only looking to create a self-contained league, like Major League Baseball and the NFL, where the only focus was on a league championship.

Thanks the response dude, haven't actually taken a look yet. I'll report my findings though. If I was to upload the file within a previous advanced editor, would it be possible to add competitions to your database, like the Open Cup etc.

Brilliant, cheers mate!

Thanks the response dude, haven't actually taken a look yet. I'll report my findings though. If I was to upload the file within a previous advanced editor, would it be possible to add competitions to your database, like the Open Cup etc.

Would be a scheduling nightmare. The schedule is pretty tight now for Levels 1-3.

Would be a scheduling nightmare. The schedule is pretty tight now for Levels 1-3.

Haha fair enough, maybe I'll give it a miss then! Just wanted to play around with a few things myself as always wanted an extended MLS set-up with promotion and relegation. Plus using the 2012 Advanced editor is a somewhat of a nightmare compared to previous versions!

This looks really good and I'm looking forward to trying it out, however. When it loads up in game, I get a few odd things that show up, and just want to make sure I'm doing all I need to get it running properly.

1st, after making sure it's selected in Editor Data Files (it's the only data file I have btw) and starting a new career, in my list of Nations and under North America there is listed, Mexico, St. Martin and USA. However, St Martin has a yellow triangle with an ! inside it and USAs flag is the Frence flag.

2nd, I assume the above is how it's supposed to be and continue on with the start of my career as usual. I select all my Nations, including USA (St Martin is not selectable) and move on to New Game Overview. Here I see USA still has the Frence flag and lists 3 Levels of league, named accordingly. I again figure this is just an overview of what the last screen showed me, so I move on to Start Game.

3rd, Add New Head Coach...So all the basic stuff is there and seems all well and good, until I look at my Nationality. It states I am a Saint Martinier, which I figure has something to do with the St Martin nation I saw on the other screens. So I figure I'll just switch it to American (cause there is no United States) and move on. Now I go to select my Favorite Team, I scroll down the list to find USA...I see St Martin again, neat I think, but no USA. I figure maybe it's all tied to St Martin, so I hover over it to view the leagues and it shows xLevel 1 (odd), I hover over that and there are all the MLS teams. This is where I figure something is wonky and decide to ask on the forums.

So, any thoughts? Is this correct, is there something amiss, should I quit and play Far Cry 3?

Thanks in advance and take care,

This looks really good and I'm looking forward to trying it out, however. When it loads up in game, I get a few odd things that show up, and just want to make sure I'm doing all I need to get it running properly.

1st, after making sure it's selected in Editor Data Files (it's the only data file I have btw) and starting a new career, in my list of Nations and under North America there is listed, Mexico, St. Martin and USA. However, St Martin has a yellow triangle with an ! inside it and USAs flag is the Frence flag.

2nd, I assume the above is how it's supposed to be and continue on with the start of my career as usual. I select all my Nations, including USA (St Martin is not selectable) and move on to New Game Overview. Here I see USA still has the Frence flag and lists 3 Levels of league, named accordingly. I again figure this is just an overview of what the last screen showed me, so I move on to Start Game.

3rd, Add New Head Coach...So all the basic stuff is there and seems all well and good, until I look at my Nationality. It states I am a Saint Martinier, which I figure has something to do with the St Martin nation I saw on the other screens. So I figure I'll just switch it to American (cause there is no United States) and move on. Now I go to select my Favorite Team, I scroll down the list to find USA...I see St Martin again, neat I think, but no USA. I figure maybe it's all tied to St Martin, so I hover over it to view the leagues and it shows xLevel 1 (odd), I hover over that and there are all the MLS teams. This is where I figure something is wonky and decide to ask on the forums.

So, any thoughts? Is this correct, is there something amiss, should I quit and play Far Cry 3?

Thanks in advance and take care,

This all looks correct. As stated near the end of Post #1, I switched USA and St Martin to increase the number of youths players on the teams. There were a few things I was unable to switch between USA and St Martin:

Notes

- Switched USA and St Martin - as a result St Martin will be unplayable. Renamed/changed as much as possible back to USA, so will appear to be USA in the game. This was done to increase the number of younger players on teams. For an explanation, please refer to this thread and post (post #34): Post #34

Ahh crap, miss that. My bad then, sorry.

Take care,

No problem. Post 1 is rather lengthy.

Did some testing with FM12 and the lack of youth signings on USA teams was very noticeable after several years. Switching to St Martin did fix this problem. I don't know if this problem still persists with FM13. Maybe I'll do some more testing at a later date, but not now. It would be a lot of work for me to switch everything back from St Martins to USA to test for FM13. Don't have the motivation or the time right now. Sorry.

As far as I remember when I last checked this problem still exists in FM13, teams won't get an intake of youth players.

No problem. Post 1 is rather lengthy.

Did some testing with FM12 and the lack of youth signings on USA teams was very noticeable after several years. Switching to St Martin did fix this problem. I don't know if this problem still persists with FM13. Maybe I'll do some more testing at a later date, but not now. It would be a lot of work for me to switch everything back from St Martins to USA to test for FM13. Don't have the motivation or the time right now. Sorry.

Sadly this database doesn't work. The following message appears 'minimum number of teams for USL-PRO West (25) conflicts with maximum number of teams from the competition required (20)' The USA can not be selected as a playable nation as a result of this error.