El Ricardo's FIFA World Football League (v1.0)

CHANGES IN v1.1:

*Changed first XI rules so as to be more lenient, after receiving a few complaints.

*Added an opening season two legged super cup (FIFA Platinum Super Cup) - winner of Gold League vs. FIFA Cup winner. Having it over two legs is the only way to combat the game playing it at the default 1000 spectator national stadium.

*Fixed 'cup type' error on Diamond Cup (was set to main, when it was to be 'other').

Throughout all incarnations of the game, I have always desired to play super leagues, yet those that I'd played hadn't always been to my liking. Many attempts by me to overwrite leagues failed as I tried to be too 'clever' with the editor, which inevitably led to data crashes as I tried to load the game up. However, now with the new editor, these crashes should become a thing of the past!

I have overwritten a nation called 'Wallis and Futuna Islands' on the game. I renamed it 'FIFA', with this 'nation' more or less acting as the world - I have made it the most attractive country to go and play football! You needn't worry about any sides qualifying for a continental competition, as it seems I've been able to disable it by virtue of using this nation.

Every nation within FIFA + Martinique and Guadeloupe are involved in the league pyramid of 340 teams overall. Obviously the nations with the best record in world football contain more club teams. It was my intention to make this pyramid as balanced as possible while at the same time trying my hardest to accurately reflect relative strength of ability. I therefore set a cap of six teams for the better leagues of the world, which then makes it way down a scale of five, four, three, two and one. Over the last fortnight I have rejigged and edited this distribution thoroughly. It's impossible to please everybody with the selections, but I've selected teams and their starting leagues within the best of my thorough research, and the conclusions I came to. If you have differing opinions, you're free to edit them in.

I suppose you'd like to know how it all works, then?

In a nut shell, there are 17 leagues overall - each containing 20 teams to make a grand total of 340. These leagues are distributed between seven tiers/steps/levels (whatever your preference!) in the following manner:

• FIFA WORLD GOLD LEAGUE (1 league of 20)
  
• FIFA WORLD SILVER LEAGUE (1 league of 20)
  
• FIFA WORLD BRONZE LEAGUE (2 leagues of 20)
  
• FIFA WORLD CHALLENGE LEAGUE 1 (3 leagues of 20)
  
• FIFA WORLD CHALLENGE LEAGUE 2 (3 leagues of 20)
  
• FIFA WORLD CHALLENGE LEAGUE 3 (3 leagues of 20)
  
• FIFA WORLD CHALLENGE LEAGUE 4 (4 leagues of 20)

The promotion/relegation will work in the following way:

• GOLD LEAGUE: 3 RELEGATED (Top four playoff for overall champion)
  
• SILVER LEAGUE: 3 PROMOTED / 4 RELEGATED (3rd to 6th in playoffs)
  
• BRONZE LEAGUE: 2x2 PROMOTED / 3x2 RELEGATED (2nd to 5th for playoffs)
  
• CHALLENGE LEAGUE 1: 2x3 PROMOTED / 4x3 RELEGATED (2nd to 5th in playoffs
  
• CHALLENGE LEAGUE 2: 4x3 PROMOTED / 4x3 RELEGATED (4th to 7th in playoffs)
  
• CHALLENGE LEAGUE 3: 4x3 PROMOTED / 4x3 RELEGATED (4th to 7th in playoffs)
  
• CHALLENGE LEAGUE 4: 3x4 PROMOTED (3rd to 6th in playoffs)

There will also be the FIFA Cup to run alongside the league season. This will basically act exactly like the FA Cup or similar tournament in most nations. it will be straight knock out all the way through, with the semi finals being played at neutral venues with no replays. This will run like so:

• QUALIFYING ROUND: 168 teams (Bottom 9 of each Challenge League 2 (+1 more), all of Challenge League 3 and 4).
  
• FIRST ROUND: 84 winners from the Preliminary Round + the rest of the 172 World League teams to make a total of 256)
  
• SECOND ROUND: 128
  
• THIRD ROUND: 64
  
• FOURTH ROUND: 32
  
• FIFTH ROUND: 16
  
• QUARTER FINALS: 8
  
• SEMI FINALS: 4
  
• FINAL: 2

There are also three secondary competitions which run alongside the FIFA Cup. These are:

• DIAMOND CUP
  80 teams - all of the teams from Gold League, Silver League, Bronze League A and B. Sixteen groups of five which play each other twice - top two qualify for two-legged knockout stage played after the winter break.
  
• EMERALD TROPHY
  120 teams - A two legged knockout tournament involving all teams from Challenge Leagues 1A, 1B, 1C and Challenge Leagues 2A, 2B, 2C. The eight better performing clubs from Challenge League 1 gain a bye to the second round.
  
• SAPPHIRE SHIELD
  140 teams - A two legged knockout tournament involving all teams from Challenge League 3A, 3B, 3C and Challenge League 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D. There will be a two-legged qualifying round early on beforehand involving 24 of the lowest performing clubs from Challenge League 4.

As for the league rules, I won't have any player restrictions with regards to nationality - it's a worldwide format, therefore you can buy and play who you like. You will be required to have five U23 players in your match squad, five homegrown club players in your first eleven and a first team squad which will contain seven substitutes.

I also have information with regards to TV and Prize Money, but I won't go in to too much detail now. Basically, I used the Barclays Premier League as a guide for both, then simply upped it a little more. The TV money is spread equally amongst all teams within the same league. There's a healthy amount going to most teams relative to their strength throughout the pyramid - there's no need for parachute payments... at least there shouldn't be!

In order to allow the lowest sides to have some sort of a fighting chance to develop early on, while still maintaining a challenge, I have edited the following:

• All clubs are set as professional.
  
• All clubs have a reputation of at least 1000.
  
• All clubs training facilities at least 5.
  
• All clubs youth facilities at least 10.

This is to reflect a hypothetical 'FIFA World Club Development Fund' set up to aid the less well off sides within the newly created league structure.

Over 250 of the world's top referees have been set to the 'FIFA' nationality as well, so you will see them pop up all over the place to annoy you with bad decisions! Sixteen of the world's most notable stadia have been duplicated and set to the FIFA nation. This is to allow the new 'country' to have decent neutral venues to hold cup semi finals/finals at.

There are other bits and bobs tweaked to try and help the gameplay - such as the transfer preferences of FIFA tending to favour purchasing from the better leagues of the world. Also, the bigger competitions have had their reputations lowered accordingly, so as to further exemplify the supremacy of the international club structure.

If there are any questions, I'll try and answer them. This is by no means a definitive release, as I certainly see that many tweaks and changes will be added over time so as to further develop the project for future builds and versions. This will obviously be in reaction to feedback I receive from the players who use this database.

Without further ado, here's how it's all compiled!

Good idea, how about you make all of the lower divisions leagues of 22/24? That way you can have teams from places like The Vatican and Sealand as well...

you don't rate Everton worthy of a place? I'd have us in ahead of City and Villa

Maybe swap Feyenoord and Fenerbahçe or Ajax and Galatasaray, so you have 2 fierce rivalries in the first season.

Same goes for Boca and Sporting or River Plate and Porto.

Just a quick thought, otherwise it looks great, although you might wanna find a way to add AZ in the game (current Dutch champions)

Like I said, I can't please everyone. If I put one in, another will want the other...

you don't rate Everton worthy of a place? I'd have us in ahead of City and Villa

Villa are above Everton in the all-time Premier League table: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All-time_FA_Premier_League_table

Manchester City are in there because it would be a little silly not to have one of the richest clubs in the world in a worldwide league with the top players they house.

If you disagree, change it upon release.

When it gets released I want to guide one of the teams from the bottom division to the top...

Should go by the all time league table rather than the Premier League, football didn't start in 1992. http://www.rsssf.com/tablese/engalltime.html

But like you said, I can change it when it's released Good luck.

Good luck with this.

Like I said, I can't please everyone. If I put one in, another will want the other...

I know that's impossible, just thought it would add a little extra dimension if you have a few extra fierce rivalries here and there...

Should go by the all time league table rather than the Premier League, football didn't start in 1992. http://www.rsssf.com/tablese/engalltime.html

But like you said, I can change it when it's released Good luck.

But the all time tables are not reflective of who is the best now...

That's precisely why I went on recent tables, either by all time in the past 20 or so years, or by analysing the relative performance of certain teams over a course of four seasons, and averaging out their points. I tried to balance historically significant clubs with the here and now. For the most part, most countries' best teams have always been successful. There are only a few anomalies scattered around.

It's not as though this database won't be changed in future editions, either. If enough feedback comes back from the users that something is wrong anywhere, then I'll of course release a different version rectifying such in future.

But the all time tables are not reflective of who is the best now...

the last 2 years' Premier League tables probably are though...

We've been more successful than Villa and Tottenham over the last 7 years.

Still, 7 years ago is a pretty long time.

Ok then, 2 years.

Just a quick thought, otherwise it looks great, although you might wanna find a way to add AZ in the game (current Dutch champions)

Yeah, they should probably be in ahead of FC Twente. And personally I'd have Man City and Tottenham as the non-big four representatives from England.

But these are small details that can be changed at the users preference after they download. This is fantastic mate, well done.

Tottenham were in one of my many drafts, and AZ were certainly mused over. However, as far as 'all time' tables went, Twente came fourth... and they're looking good for another great finish this season as well. If anything, it was Twente's position in Eredivisie now in relation to AZ that won me over on that choice.

roberto: as a fan, you're always going to be biased when it comes to these things. For the moment, I consider Villa to be in a stronger position than Everton at the moment to be in the 'top six'. As I keep saying, if you disagree, edit it in when it's released. There's no point complaining now as this is my final draft.

The problem with "Super Leagues" like this is to make the lower leagues profitable and balanced in the long run. After some years the clubs in the lower leagues won't have enough money to cover their wage budgets/loans etc. The result is that the players will flee and after some years the lower leagues will be of a lot less quality compared to the start of the game.

Well, this is what I need to discuss with you all - TV money/prize money. I'll give you my details of what I have at current.

PRIZE MONEY

£210 million spread over the Gold League

Silver League: 0.85 of above amount

Bronze League: 0.75

Challenge League One: 0.50

Challenge League Two: 0.40

Challenge League Three: 0.20

Challenge League Four: 0.18

1. £20m | £17m | £15m

2. £19m | £16.15m | £14.25m

3. £18m | £15.3m | £13.5m

4. £17m | £14.45m | £12.75m

5. £16m | £13.6m | £12m

6. £15m | £12.75m | £11.25m

7. £14m | £11.9m | £10.5m

8. £13m | £11.05m | £9.75m

9. £12m | £10.2m | £9m

10. £11m | £9.35m | £8.25m

11. £10m | £8.5m | £7.5m

12. £9m | £7.65m | £6.75m

13. £8m | £6.8m | £6m

14. £7m | £5.95m | £5.25m

15. £6m | £5.1m | £4.5m

16. £5m | £4.25m | £3.75m

17. £4m | £3.4m | £3m

18. £3m | £2.55 | £2.25m

19. £2m | £1.7m | £1.5

20. £1m | £850k | £750k

1. £10m | £8m | £4m | £3.6m

2. £9.5m | £7.6m | £3.8m | £3.42m

3. £9m | £7.2m | £3.6m | £3.24m

4. £8.5m | £6.8m | £3.4m | £3.06m

5. £8m | £6.4m | £3.2m | £2.88m

6. £7.5m | £6m | £3m | £2.7m

7. £7m | £5.6m | £2.8m | £2.52m

8. £6.5m | £5.2m | £2.6m | £2.34m

9. £6m | £4.8m | £2.4m | £2.16m

10. £5.5m | £4.4m | £2.2m | £1.98m

11. £5m | £4m | £2m | £1.8m

12. £4.5m | £3.6m | £1.8m | £1.62m

13. £4m | £3.2m | £1.6m | £1.44m

14. £3.5m | £2.8m | £1.4m | £1.26m

15. £3m | £2.4m | £1.2m | £1.08m

16. £2.5m | £2m | £1m | £900k

17. £2m | £1.6m | £800k | £720k

18. £1.5m | £1.2m | £600k | £540k

19. £1m | £800k | £400k | £360k

20. £500k | £400k | £200k | £180k

REPUTATIONS

20/19/18/16/15/13/12

TV MONEY

Gold League: £60 million each

Silver League: £51 million each

Bronze League: £45 million each

Challenge League 1: £30 million each

Challenge League 2: £24 million each

Challenge League 3: £12 million each

Challenge League 4: £10.8 million each

Thoughts? I find that's more than enough cash for teams to be getting on with. You may disagree - maybe the lower leagues could be toned down?

I'm not being biased, I'm going off facts.

I'd make the differenc between Challenge League 3 and 4 bigger

I think this idea is very good. Just one question though and is about the new editor. Your new league(s) look very good but they all play in existing ones and continental competitions. E.g. Man Utd play in the EPL and the Champions League, and Miles and Co have said that current leagues and continental competitions cannot be edited. So even if this proposed league does work will Man Utd still not be obliged to play in the EPL and Champions League as you cannot edit these two competitions. And also what then happens to the existing leagues that you have edited, i.e if you have taken the top teams from the EPL than do they not need to be replaced or are they now irrelevant and effectively they do not exist.

I know there are easy answers to these questions but at the moment I can't see them!

existing leagues can't be edited but they can be deleted

existing leagues can't be edited but they can be deleted

Well that was a quick answer! Cheers roberto.

no problem

Two Canadian teams...where's the USL champions Montreal Impact?

Not that I'm from Montreal, but more Canadian representation would be nice.

Just read through the OP and subsequent posts and this does look very appealing - very well done. A lot of thought and effort must have gone into ths. I really hope this does work!

Annoyingly, my game hasn't arrived yet; so I don't expect to get down to editing until Monday or Tuesday.

Here's a question for any who know: what happens on the game when the Russian/Norwegian/Swedish/Finnish teams play in November/December/January/February? I know their seasons don't run in these dates precisely because of their climate... If I scheduled matches in November or February, would it somehow mess up? Would the matches take place at -4 degrees for example?

I intend to have a winter break anyway, but precisely how long it is depends on how the game reacts to those climates.

Good luck with this. It looks amazing.

I'll be downloading it if available.

Have you got working reserve leagues? If so how?

Yes, I'm currently in the process of sorting the pyramid out, with working reserve leagues. It's easy - just tick the two boxes in the 'general' part of the nation rules.

I should I have it ready to go for full testing by the weekend. I don't want to release this until it's just right.

Yes, I'm currently in the process of sorting the pyramid out, with working reserve leagues. It's easy - just tick the two boxes in the 'general' part of the nation rules.

I should I have it ready to go for full testing by the weekend. I don't want to release this until it's just right.

I've tried that and it does nothing, I have no reserve leagues working on my db.

Yes, I'm currently in the process of sorting the pyramid out, with working reserve leagues. It's easy - just tick the two boxes in the 'general' part of the nation rules.

I should I have it ready to go for full testing by the weekend. I don't want to release this until it's just right.

My reserves aren't working either. Have you changed the nationality of all the clubs, or left them alone?

I've changed them all.

I've changed them all.

I've left them as their original nation, maybe that's why mine doesn't work.

I think I'll wait until the end then create a second version with all teams as the same nationality. Then I can run both versions and see what differences there are in-game. Not looking forward to changing the nation of all these clubs, have about 900 so far with more to come!

I also deleted reserve/B teams affiliated to the teams themselves - like Shakhtar-2, Bayern II etc.

I also deleted reserve/B teams affiliated to the teams themselves - like Shakhtar-2, Bayern II etc.

I think this is likely to be the problem.

I think this is likely to be the problem.

If you changed all the nationality of the clubs won't that affect the regens and therefore cripple the longterm playability? i.e Bayern wont produce germans and barcelona wont produce spanish?

If you changed all the nationality of the clubs won't that affect the regens and therefore cripple the longterm playability? i.e Bayern wont produce germans and barcelona wont produce spanish?

That's what I thought the case would be, hence I haven't changed them.

No, it produces regens by the location of the stadium of the club. I've found a way around the 'imposter' regens anyway - the country I edited over (Wallis and Futuna Islands) which has now become 'FIFA', is the only non-EU country in the database. There's a ruling in the leagues that says clubs cannot have non-EU players in the squad. Problem solved!

Looks very promising! I will surely try this out when it is released! Keep it up!

Do your teams buy players from their nation? ie: IFK Gothenburg would buy mostly scandanavian players in real life but when you change the nation to be whatever your superleague nation is do they now buy players from that region predominately?

Also, what languages are the players learning as time goes by? The nationality of the superleague will effect this. Thats why I didn't want to change 'nation' from the real clubs.

I think it's more of a question of the habits of the individual manager than the team itself with regards to transfer targets.

The languages I've set are the official languages within FIFA - though set enough to reflect an 'overall' predominance of the language in the world as a whole. So it's English, Spanish, French, German, Portguese and Arabic I believe. I cant see why the languages matter too much, so long as most bases are covered.

Im looking forward to you finding and solving more problems with this complex World League edit...there are a lot of these types of edits in this forum at the moment..but im going to stick my neck out and say that this one is filling me with the most hope! good luck and keep reporting back with all the stumbling blocks and triumphs..Nice one!

omg i love it!

Fantastic, good luck with it

Another triumph - no continental qualifiers! Ran a few seasons of testing today, and I noticed that none of the clubs actually qualify for the Oceanian equivalent of the Champions League. This is very good news.

I've also sorted a problem with regards to neutral venues not being used in the semi-final/final of the cup competition. This is purely because my created 'FIFA' nation doesn't actually have any stadia to use. I sorted this by duplicating around 15 of the world's top stadia and locating them within the country. There's technically 'two' San Siros/Nou Camps etc., in the database, but there's no way of telling on the game. This is purely for cosmetic reasons. Before, I had the final of the cup being held at the 1000 capacity national stadium. This will not happen any more - the game will select from the likes of Wembley/Santiago Bernebeau/Azteca/Stadium Australia etc.

I have a few more tweaks to finish with regards to the lower clubs (kit colours, and a decent starting budget for the lowest clubs) as well as a few other bits and bobs to make the whole thing a little more better. I'd say a provisional release date is some time over this week end. That's provisional however.

Cant you do the same principle but with continents ie america's, asia, africa, europe ????

Looks pretty good Ricardo. Im waiting to try your fifa league

I've decided on the league rules governing all teams. I'd like some feedback:

Fixtures:

First eleven must contain at least 5 home grown players from club.

Match squad must contain at least 3 U23 players.

Squad:

Maximum of 28 players registered per squad.

Discipline:

Yellow cards - 5, 9, 12, 14, 15 etc. (1 immediate match ban).

Red cards - 3 immediate match ban per red card.

The transfer window is as it is in real life.

There is also a winter break between the last two weeks of December and all of January.