Football Manager 2012 Demo *OFFICIAL* Feedback Thread

[MrPompey]

It seems to me that FM is going quickly towards a larger and different audience, once it was a football simulation for hard-core gamers, while now the game is becoming, year in year out, less challenging and more orientated towards "general" or "casual" gamers.

I don't mean this is a bad or a good thing, just my impression, personally I'm a bit disappointed by some cosmetic 3-d improvements (that will have the main effect to oblige people to update their graphics card or their machines without adding too match to our game experience), but I'm aware that you could gain lots of consensus from that.

I think Football Manager is still a solid and for me enjoyable game,however I can't deny I'm a bit worried for the reasons explained above.

The match engine is just one aspect of the over all management experience in other areas of the games, especially those most criticised in the recent past e.g. interaction and contracts. I've no doubt SI have listened to and prioritised where they feel changes are needed to enhance that experience. Looking at this thread I think they've been very successful

In terms of CPU & GPU upgrade I'd say the FM series has over the years been much less demanding than most top PC games in requiring high end specs to run it. Most people would accept a PC has a shelf life, in terms of performance, of 3 years before becoming very outdated, if not sooner. I'd say a feature of the FM series is that people have been able to play FM on machines with, in today's terms, low performance machines but have still been able to play and enjoy the game smaller databases, less leagues etc. The swap in / swap out leagues is yet another example of allowing low spec machine users opportunity to try different leagues where before they couldn't. Perhaps people have so accustomed to this that having to upgrade their 6 or 7 year old machine (look at some of these threads and you'll see I'm correct) to play at maximum options is something they consider shocking. Too much of a good thing perhaps

I think the game is as hard core as ever but what it does allow is for the gamer to enjoy the game either at an in depth detailed lower level or at a higher level depending on how they enjoy playing it.

Everyone's a winner !

[pigfacemonkeyman]

The match engine is just one aspect of the over all management experience in other areas of the games, especially those most criticised in the recent past e.g. interaction and contracts. I've no doubt SI have listened to and prioritised where they feel changes are needed to enhance that experience. Looking at this thread I think they've been very successful

In terms of CPU & GPU upgrade I'd say the FM series has over the years been much less demanding than most top PC games in requiring high end specs to run it. Most people would accept a PC has a shelf life, in terms of performance, of 3 years before becoming very outdated, if not sooner. I'd say a feature of the FM series is that people have been able to play FM on machines with, in today's terms, low performance machines but have still been able to play and enjoy the game smaller databases, less leagues etc. The swap in / swap out leagues is yet another example of allowing low spec machine users opportunity to try different leagues where before they couldn't. Perhaps people have so accustomed to this that having to upgrade their 6 or 7 year old machine (look at some of these threads and you'll see I'm correct) to play at maximum options is something they consider shocking. Too much of a good thing perhaps

I think the game is as hard core as ever but what it does allow is for the gamer to enjoy the game either at an in depth detailed lower level or at a higher level depending on how they enjoy playing it.

Everyone's a winner !

Yes, everything in the garden is rosy. Now, if only my mate had access to the internet!

[busyliving]

Hey all,

With the new "release anytime clause" in contracts, do you know if players can release themselves anytime or is it just the club?

[Kriss]

Yes, everything in the garden is rosy. Now, if only my mate had access to the internet!

You're not much of a mate are you?

[pigfacemonkeyman]

You're not much of a mate are you?

:confused:

xxxxxxxxxx

[paganizer]

It seems to me that FM is going quickly towards a larger and different audience, once it was a football simulation for hard-core gamers, while now the game is becoming, year in year out, less challenging and more orientated towards "general" or "casual" gamers.

I don't mean this is a bad or a good thing, just my impression, personally I'm a bit disappointed by some cosmetic 3-d improvements (that will have the main effect to oblige people to update their graphics card or their machines without adding too match to our game experience), but I'm aware that you could gain lots of consensus from that.

I think Football Manager is still a solid and for me enjoyable game,however I can't deny I'm a bit worried for the reasons explained above.

Yeah that is a bit disheartening to me too. I remember back when tactics were wibble/wobble. I was looking so forward to seeing that in the (new) graphics engine back then, but it was removed and replaced by dumbed down tactics (due to the graphics engine, ironicly). Seems to me FM is becoming more about GUI and add-on features, rather than the actual truthful simulation of football games. The real core of the game for me. /sigh.

[salahuddin]

Will EPL Club badges be in the final game?

[milnerpoint]

Yeah that is a bit disheartening to me too. I remember back when tactics were wibble/wobble. I was looking so forward to seeing that in the (new) graphics engine back then, but it was removed and replaced by dumbed down tactics (due to the graphics engine, ironicly). Seems to me FM is becoming more about GUI and add-on features, rather than the actual truthful simulation of football games. The real core of the game for me. /sigh.

The tactics work the same way they did before the TC was introduced, its just the TC has set up templates.

[milnerpoint]

Will EPL Club badges be in the final game?

No SI do not have a license for them, you can download an add on from the editors forum for these.

[salahuddin]

No SI do not have a license for them, you can download an add on from the editors forum for these.

Thank you, apart from that the demo looks good, had to get a different anti-virus but it was worth it. THe ability to add and remove leagues should mean that even a fairly basic PC should enable a global career game...

[milnerpoint]

Thank you, apart from that the demo looks good, had to get a different anti-virus but it was worth it. THe ability to add and remove leagues should mean that even a fairly basic PC should enable a global career game...

Its unfortunately the same with all no licensed leagues, but thankfully the FM community will already be working on this

[paganizer]

The tactics work the same way they did before the TC was introduced, its just the TC has set up templates.

I'm talking before TC... back in the championship days

[mr. president]

1.Is there a way to change the data base size in the demo? there are many players i don't find.

2 Is it me, or arranging tours became very difficult? most teams doesn't want to play against me in tours

[Neil Brock]

1.Is there a way to change the data base size in the demo? there are many players i don't find.

2 Is it me, or arranging tours became very difficult? most teams doesn't want to play against me in tours

No, the database size is set to small. In the full game you will be able to configure the database fully. Thanks.

[krunccrni]

It seems to me that FM is going quickly towards a larger and different audience, once it was a football simulation for hard-core gamers, while now the game is becoming, year in year out, less challenging and more orientated towards "general" or "casual" gamers.

I don't mean this is a bad or a good thing, just my impression, personally I'm a bit disappointed by some cosmetic 3-d improvements (that will have the main effect to oblige people to update their graphics card or their machines without adding too match to our game experience), but I'm aware that you could gain lots of consensus from that.

I think Football Manager is still a solid and for me enjoyable game,however I can't deny I'm a bit worried for the reasons explained above.

I agree with higgins.

Is there any other significant changes in ME of FM 2012 in relation to FM 2011?

[mr. president]

No, the database size is set to small. In the full game you will be able to configure the database fully. Thanks.

In the full game, if i continue with my saved game from the demo, will it still be small database or will i be able to change it?

[mc blue]

Where has my post gone?

I must of been right then, like i said im buying the game anyway, but its a deffo flaw that you have not thought about.

With the account being closed ect, how would FM or steam know, as all people would be playin in offline mode?

[mhaffy]

I have been exploring options to insert columns and in the senior squad selection screen I have added Asst Man view on players Best Position and Best Role.

Disappointed that the information provided for best role was not as complete as that shown on individual players profile eg John Terry's report gives Ball Playing Defender - Stopper.

The Best Role column inserted on selection screen, unfortunately, only says Ball Playing Defender.

There is plenty of space to add the additional, useful, information Stopper.

Any chance of this being addressed in patch?

[Neil Brock]

In the full game, if i continue with my saved game from the demo, will it still be small database or will i be able to change it?

It will be a small database, but if you choose to 'add leagues' you will increase the player count depending on how many leagues you add. Thanks.

[ChelseaSince86]

In the full game, if i continue with my saved game from the demo, will it still be small database or will i be able to change it?

it will be small

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Can someone confirm me taht the game will be release at the 21st October in ALL THE CONTRIES?

On Steam it will be available everywhere at the same time (Except the countries without release [Korea/China/Germany etc])

But the Retail version is delayed by a week for New Zealand for some "Supply" reason...For us Kiwis it is better to purchase through Steam though, as it costs about half the price, and you get it on time (Admittedly at Midday on 22nd )

[higgins]

The match engine is just one aspect of the over all management experience in other areas of the games, especially those most criticised in the recent past e.g. interaction and contracts. I've no doubt SI have listened to and prioritised where they feel changes are needed to enhance that experience. Looking at this thread I think they've been very successful

In terms of CPU & GPU upgrade I'd say the FM series has over the years been much less demanding than most top PC games in requiring high end specs to run it. Most people would accept a PC has a shelf life, in terms of performance, of 3 years before becoming very outdated, if not sooner. I'd say a feature of the FM series is that people have been able to play FM on machines with, in today's terms, low performance machines but have still been able to play and enjoy the game smaller databases, less leagues etc. The swap in / swap out leagues is yet another example of allowing low spec machine users opportunity to try different leagues where before they couldn't. Perhaps people have so accustomed to this that having to upgrade their 6 or 7 year old machine (look at some of these threads and you'll see I'm correct) to play at maximum options is something they consider shocking. Too much of a good thing perhaps

I think the game is as hard core as ever but what it does allow is for the gamer to enjoy the game either at an in depth detailed lower level or at a higher level depending on how they enjoy playing it.

Everyone's a winner !

You raised some good points here Mr. Pompey, I agree about the add/remove leagues new feature, not about the rest.

I perfectly know that the match engine is just one aspect of the game, but to me "under the hood" engine will always be more important than frills, I'll explain better and I'll be clear here: I was, I am and I will be very fond of this game, probably.

I'm not blind, if I bought every release of CM/FM since 1995 while I bought just one copy of Fifa Manager, it's because FM is a strong football simulation the other is nothing more than some polished polygons dancing on a computer screen.

This is why I'm a bit worried now, I think there were things to be addressed in version 11.3, I could make a list but programmers should know them better than me.

When I heard from Paul C. that they focused on other aspects of the game like 3-d or player interaction my doubts became stronger: the 3-d is ok for me, but I can't see any major improvements in that area, just slight differences, on the other hand lots of people discovered that their machines, more than capable to run well FM 11, were having issues to handle the "improved 3-d".

Of course we're not talking about out-of-date machines (we're not playing COD anyway).

The benefit-cost ratio of these changes would be negative, in my opinion; but you know, it's just an opinion.

[VladTepes]

It will be a small database, but if you choose to 'add leagues' you will increase the player count depending on how many leagues you add. Thanks.

Good news! I'm enjoying my Ipswich demo game - probably the most bug-free (as far as I've noticed anyway) FM demo I've ever played and the first time I'm probably going continue my demo game once I've got the game proper.

[busyliving]

Hey all,

With the new "release anytime clause" in contracts, do you know if players can release themselves anytime or is it just the club?

[Colorado]

Don't want to go through the previous seventeen pages to find out but where is the option to request the assistant to search for search for certain loan players?

[TheBunk]

The demo is fantastic. I did consider not buying the game this year (Had them all since CM97/98) but the demo caused me to pre order the game.

Everything feels well polished/improved and the ME is pretty much spot on at the moment.

Can't wait for the release now.

[Pompey1978]

Yes, everything in the garden is rosy. Now, if only my mate had access to the internet!

I hope he's not had his beard forcibly cut recently - they say Amish-on-Amish crime is on the rise.

[The Welsh Lad]

Don't want to go through the previous seventeen pages to find out but where is the option to request the assistant to search for search for certain loan players?

On your home screen. Top right hand corner 'Ask Assistant'. If its not there your scout is already compiling a report

[pigfacemonkeyman]

I hope he's not had his beard forcibly cut recently - they say Amish-on-Amish crime is on the rise.

Bliss some say it is. I do hope they are right, for your sake.

[Freeman21]

What is the SI policy regarding buying game CD Keys from different websites around the internet? Are there certain online stores "banned" by SI ? I would sure need some info regarding this.

[MrPompey]

You raised some good points here Mr. Pompey, I agree about the add/remove leagues new feature, not about the rest.

I perfectly know that the match engine is just one aspect of the game, but to me "under the hood" engine will always be more important than frills, I'll explain better and I'll be clear here: I was, I am and I will be very fond of this game, probably.

I'm not blind, if I bought every release of CM/FM since 1995 while I bought just one copy of Fifa Manager, it's because FM is a strong football simulation the other is nothing more than some polished polygons dancing on a computer screen.

This is why I'm a bit worried now, I think there were things to be addressed in version 11.3, I could make a list but programmers should know them better than me.

When I heard from Paul C. that they focused on other aspects of the game like 3-d or player interaction my doubts became stronger: the 3-d is ok for me, but I can't see any major improvements in that area, just slight differences, on the other hand lots of people discovered that their machines, more than capable to run well FM 11, were having issues to handle the "improved 3-d".

Of course we're not talking about out-of-date machines (we're not playing COD anyway).

The benefit-cost ratio of these changes would be negative, in my opinion; but you know, it's just an opinion.

Opinions are always good and healthy debate is healthy for the game.

The way I look at it is that SI each year have a set number of project days to spend on FM changes. I think this year because the ME is considered stable (see Paul C's post) then they have focused their project days on other activities. As I mentioned interaction and contracts have improved. Behind the scenes and seperate to FM12 they may well be updating the ME but on this occassion given themselves 2 years to make the changes and get it stable.

I think this is the reason why the feedback is so good this year because we have a stable ME.

I think this year they've taken time to stabilise the game and improve areas that have come in for strong criticism in the past. Fingers crossed we'll see something new or significantly improved in FM13

I think the FM following is so big now that there is such a contrast in the types of gamers that play FM so it have become difficult to please everyone. You seem like you have some good ideas and passion so perhaps have a good think on this and add a post to the dreamers / improvements thread. SI do look at these and a popular post with good debate may will result in a change

In terms of the in games graphics they just give a visual representation of what is happening in the ME. I think this is gradually evolving. If you started back in the old days then it was just text and your imagination though I do recall one release that had audio commentary by John Motson!!

In terms of buying every CM / FM since the very first CM released on the Amiga I'm proud to say I'm that person

[DJ Sir Matthew]

I had to ask myself, ....did you find the answer ? manager/profile/top right. If it is not there you either have no Ass Man or he is already on a Loan Reporting Mission (the button isnt there then).

:-)

Yes, it did find the answer, thanks! I feel truly enlightened

[Bluebeard]

I actually have found the contract negotiations are less good in this version compared to last. No-one seems to be willing to negotiate anything down, or if so then hardly at all. Is this because I'm playing as Man City, and everyone knows they can afford megawages/bonuses/fees?

[Kriss]

I actually have found the contract negotiations are less good in this version compared to last. No-one seems to be willing to negotiate anything down, or if so then hardly at all. Is this because I'm playing as Man City, and everyone knows they can afford megawages/bonuses/fees?

Probably is I'd guess, in lower league football I can get players to come down a long way from their initial demands, staff seem much less amenable to negotiation though.

[Kriss]

What is the SI policy regarding buying game CD Keys from different websites around the internet? Are there certain online stores "banned" by SI ? I would sure need some info regarding this.

It's not SI who set any such policy, Steam are responsible (possibly in consultation with Sega) but how could a banned organisation provide a key?:confused:

[havokunited]

I got a screen resolution of 1024 x 768 ( 32 bit) (60Hz)

so what does that mean?

will i be able to see everything because i heard people saying that people can't see some attributes or can't access a particular function and what have not

[Scab]

You'll need to run in fullscreen to meet official requirements. If you go into window mode the title bar and task bar steal pixels from that 768px height which will force the game to hide part of the panels. If you absolutely want to play i window mode the best you can do to avoid this problem is turn on task bar hiding.

[Gundo]

I have an issue were by when I view all players found by one of my scouts and I change the view to -Scout Main Details, click on a player, then click back button to go back to the previous screen, the view has defaulted back to -General Info view???

How can I get this to stay on -Scout Main Details?

Apologies if I'm being abit thick, just can't seem to find a solution.:o This also happened to me in FM11.

Great work on FM12, it's looking awesome so far.

Help appreciated.

[MrPompey]

I actually have found the contract negotiations are less good in this version compared to last. No-one seems to be willing to negotiate anything down, or if so then hardly at all. Is this because I'm playing as Man City, and everyone knows they can afford megawages/bonuses/fees?

I always do this with both players and staff. Have you tried using the lock buttons at all?

[mhaffy]

Enjoying exploring new information, layouts etc in advance of full game being released. Addition of players best position and role is very welcome addition.

Are the coach report star ratings based upon the player being deployed in his best postion AND role : David Luiz is a Central Defender. operates best as Limited defender given duty of stopper.

Is it possible to find out how much rating reduces in deployed in different role, say Ball Playing Defender, stopper or Ball playing defender cover for instance?

Presumably a players best duty/role may change over time as attributes etc develop with training and/or tutoring?

[Neil Brock]

the game really seems polished so i wont talk about good sides and just concentrate on the downsides.

Graphics- as I play on laptop (and a good, really good one) i cant see any improvement here. While last year i was able to play in 2d, this year i had to go to stone age and turn on 2d classic as anything more is just not playable. by mistake i had replays for goals set to be displayed in directors camera and to see the replay of what in 2d looked as amazing goal by gareth bale, in directors cut it looked like stanley cubrick's movie. and here i don't think about stanley's artistic skills but long hours his movies take. the replay virtualy took 10 minutes while my players were disappearing on pitch and changing colours. at one moment i saw a guy in black on the left touchline and thought how cool they made referee occasionaly step in the pitch. then i have realized it was essou ekotto changed his kit coulours due to bug.

so, for me graphics part is pretty much useless, and im sure it is for a lot of people who play this game on the notebooks. though, i believe it wasnt a bad decision as a lot of people play it on desktops as well.

next remark is regarding GUI which is generally really good, but when you click on player, then click on his history, then attributes and so on, to get to initial point you need to do all these steps backwards which is highly annoying.

well, thats about it. surprisingly polished game it seems for now.

Sounds like you're running a graphics card with old drivers or simply quite a bad card. What graphics card is it?

[ShyBaldBuddhist]

Really like the new layout on the player overview page, and figure this is as good a place as any to bring up a small request up for future releases.

Where it has the players positions shown in the bottom right hand corner. Could you add the option to have this in text rather than a picture. I'm colour blind and a table of multicoloured dots is of no use to me. Also the option to change one of the views to show PPM's would be appreciated, would be more useful than career achievements.

[omaroo]

Could anyone tells me the cons of this years version.

[milnerpoint]

Could anyone tells me the cons of this years version.

They have removed the insta win button

[pigfacemonkeyman]

They have removed the insta win button

And replaced it with individual team talks. (couldn't resist)

[omaroo]

sorry but whats the insta win button.

[phnompenhandy]

sorry but whats the insta win button.

a joke :o

Only con is you need a decent computer to play the game - specs are a bit higher than in the past.

And some licensing issues - if you live in Germany or China for example.

[scunnyblue]

Hi SI

Been play your games for years never before been moved to post. I really like the demo . The new features like team meeting and tone in conversations really add a new dimension to the game . Couple of minor points. Playing ipswich town league cup somthing like 2nd or 3rd game into the season . I find myself with somthing like 7/8 of my first team squad away on international duty yet i am still expected to play the cup game . Dunno if anyone else has had this or if been reported before but quite annoying.. thou being a genuis manager that i am i still managed to win the game. Second point also play villa for a while . Either i am a genuis or there is a major flaw with the game . in the 20 games or so upto xmas i managed to get emile heskey to score 15 goals ... we all know this would never happen

[markyosullivan]

I can't find where I go to get my assistant to get a loan report for a certain position. E.g. Find all the players who are D© to loan.

[KUBI]

I can't find where I go to get my assistant to get a loan report for a certain position. E.g. Find all the players who are D© to loan.

Manager Home screen --> top right.