Football Manager 2014 Beta Update and Demo FEEDBACK THREAD

[Atytse]

Quick update from the ME side:

Firstly, thanks for all who have posted constructive feedback and provided examples.

Relating to the next ME update, as yet we have no date set and tomorrow will roll out with 1426. Some comments below:

Player ratings - We believe them to be improved from the previous build but are aware that the low starting points can cause anomalies. This will be tuned for the next ME update.

No of goals - Agreed it is too high in some divisions and yes this will be looked at too. I will post some detailed stats from ME1426 shortly btw.

Long shots - While generally I don't think they are too high on average it does appear that some setups produce a number of unrealistic ones. Being looked into.

Tackles - There are actually too many in the current ME, particularly from Full Backs. Read into that what you will. I believe we need to improve the abilities of defending players to prevent shots/crosses etc through body position and tactical fouls rather than sliding tackles. This will not necessarily be nailed in one update. Note also there is no surety that the way we count tackles, interception, dribbles etc matches 100% with the real world stats by Opta, etc.

Keeper distribution - there is no guarantee a keeper will pass short if he feels its too risky. We have seen this working fine internally but any examples of it not working will be logged and looked at for an update.

Finishing - Currently slightly high shots on target ratio in 1426 and this area is always a work in progress.

Cheers,

Paul

Hi Paul, appreciate the update. I posted quite a lot of examples (at least good 4,5 solid threads) in the Match Engine bug forum few hours ago. Would be great if you or your colleague could take a look and review the issues I've raised. Some of those problems do look worrying and would be awesome if it could be fixed for the next ME update.

[Richard76]

The current ME is the one that will be there for release date? That is worrying. Very worrying indeed.

Agreed. Looks like FM14 will be the only release so far that I won't be playing on release day.

Glad I haven't finished GTA yet.

[basqueliverpool]

hope the transfer problems are sorted for release day or Friday. its currently game breaking for me.

[jam jameson]

Tone and expression are hard to perceive on the interweb but we certainly won't ignore critics who can't couch their criticisms in reasonably polite terms, why should we?

that's the right way,thank you!!!

[Bambel]

Do you realise that hovering over the roles will bring up a description of the roles? Should help you out.

Yes I know, but that description is nowhere of any use for me. Additionally there is no single phrase about default settings.

Like I can tell my Midfielders to shoot more and to shoot less. But what are the default settings for a e.g. CM with Defend/Support or Attack duty?

Does my CM on support duty shoots less often than my CM on attack duty? or do I need to tell him?

I don't want to try out all possible scenarios. Vice Versa I don't need a 100% report about the ME.

All I want is a proper understanding.

On former managers I used the bars to set up my players.

I believe nowadays I select CM(a) and he gets a hidden "sometimes" on dribblings and I can tell him to dribble more often -> changes it to "often" or to dribble less so it gets a "rarely" ? Does it work like that? If so what are the default settings for the roles?

How does Team Instruction affect this?

(...)

[srvngrc]

Ok - these are from a soak test using season 13/14 AI teams only.

First EPL:

---------------

Match Engine v1426

Games played 380

Goals per match 2.44

Shots per match 27.06

Shots on target per match 12.67 (47%)

Goals per match (home) 1.39

Shots per match (home) 15.49

Shots on target per match(h) 7.29 (47%)

Goals per match (away) 1.05

Shots per match (away) 11.57

Shots on target per match(a) 5.37 (46%)

Penalties per match 0.19

Penalty conversion 0.16 (84%)

Own Goals per match 0.05

Disallowed Goals per match 0.13

Saves Held 5.99

Saves Parried 3.23

Saves Tipped 1.01

Clear cut chances per match 2.46

Missed clear cut chances per match 0.54

Half chances per match 4.18

Blocked shots per match 3.29

Hit woodwork per match 1.02

Passes per match 1024.49

Passes completed 802.47 (78%)

Passes key 9.15

Crosses per match 44.74

Crosses completed 7.97 (18%)

Tackles per match 117.01

Tackles completed 100.44 (86%)

Tackles key 20.04

Headers key 26.22

Assists per match 2.17

RPOs per match 26.57

Interceptions per match 89.76

Offsides per match 5.05

Fouls per match 27.52

Throw ins per match 47.64

Corners per match 13.24

Goals from corners 0.36

Goals from DFKs 0.03

Goals from IFKs 0.19

Yellow cards per match 2.72

Red cards per match 0.17

Major injuries per match 0.41

Minor injuries per match 0.54

Hat tricks per match 0.03

First half goals 50%

Goals by strikers 41%

Goals by midfielders 46%

Goals by defenders 11%

Headed shots 17%

Headed shots on target 44%

Headed goals 14%

Long range shots 40%

Long range goals 5%

Close range shots 27%

Close range goals 58%

Draws 26%

0-0 Draws 7%

Win margin 1.31

3 goal wins 9%

4 goal wins 3%

5+ goal wins 1%

Goalkeeper Rating 6.88

Right Back Rating 6.81

Left Back Rating 6.76

Centre Back Rating 6.81

Right Wing Back Rating 6.78

Left Wing Back Rating 6.83

Def Mid Rating 6.84

Right Mid rating 6.82

Left Mid rating 6.77

Centre Mid Rating 6.85

Right AM rating 6.83

Left AM rating 6.89

AM rating 6.85

Striker rating 6.85

Overall rating 6.83

can you also share real world statistics if possible please?

[milnerpoint]

Yes I know, but that description is nowhere of any use for me. Additionally there is no single phrase about default settings.

Like I can tell my Midfielders to shoot more and to shoot less. But what are the default settings for a e.g. CM with Defend/Support or Attack duty?

Does my CM on support duty shoots less often than my CM on attack duty? or do I need to tell him?

I don't want to try out all possible scenarios. Vice Versa I don't need a 100% report about the ME.

All I want is a proper understanding.

On former managers I used the bars to set up my players.

I believe nowadays I select CM(a) and he gets a hidden "sometimes" on dribblings and I can tell him to dribble more often -> changes it to "often" or to dribble less so it gets a "rarely" ? Does it work like that? If so what are the default settings for the roles?

How does Team Instruction affect this?

(...)

What do the default settings matter? If you want your central mid to shoot more, tell him too, if you want him to shoot less, tell him too.

Stop thinking in terms of the old tactical set up, there are no more sliders or tick boxes, things are set up in a different manor.

You should have no need to know the default settings, what you should know is how you want your player to play, and you should watch how he plays to adjust that as needed.

[daylight]

Player ratings - We believe them to be improved from the previous build but are aware that the low starting points can cause anomalies. This will be tuned for the next ME update.

Cheers,

Paul

Nice one, the low starting points is very confusing at times, the fullbacks going to 5.4 and the assistant saying they should be subbed maybe after only 25 minutes of the first half, just as you are thinking of subbing them they jump up to 6.6 and then a few minutes later back to 5.4, very confusing to try a decipher what is going on.

Looking forward to the update on this.

ME wise the current beta and the release day version is the same. Not sure on other areas.

D'oh!

[PaulC]

can you also share real world statistics if possible please?

I posted some links above if you want more Mr Google is your friend :-)

[phnompenhandy]

Yes I know, but that description is nowhere of any use for me. Additionally there is no single phrase about default settings.

Like I can tell my Midfielders to shoot more and to shoot less. But what are the default settings for a e.g. CM with Defend/Support or Attack duty?

Does my CM on support duty shoots less often than my CM on attack duty? or do I need to tell him?

I don't want to try out all possible scenarios. Vice Versa I don't need a 100% report about the ME.

All I want is a proper understanding.

On former managers I used the bars to set up my players.

I believe nowadays I select CM(a) and he gets a hidden "sometimes" on dribblings and I can tell him to dribble more often -> changes it to "often" or to dribble less so it gets a "rarely" ? Does it work like that? If so what are the default settings for the roles?

How does Team Instruction affect this?

(...)

You could try that little trick - watching the matches!

[mobywan420]

Are you guys really going to release the game without fixing this MAJOR issue with the transfer system? I have yet to see any mods even acknowledge it. The game is unplayable for me if I can't even make any moves in the market.

[Kriss]

Are you guys really going to release the game without fixing this MAJOR issue with the transfer system? I have yet to see any mods even acknowledge it. The game is unplayable for me if I can't even make any moves in the market.

It's been acknowledged here and in the bugs forum, nobody has said it won't be fixed for release.

[milnerpoint]

Are you guys really going to release the game without fixing this MAJOR issue with the transfer system? I have yet to see any mods even acknowledge it. The game is unplayable for me if I can't even make any moves in the market.

Have you looked? Its been acknowledged about 10 times in the last 5 pages.

[Liquid Cool]

I may just be paranoid but sometimes I feel that when I tell my players to pass short, they are literally kicking the ball with less power. Meaning sometimes the ball falls short of reaching the player. As if, "well you wanted a short pass, so I'm only kicking it 5 metres, even though the team mate is 6 metres away!"

Yeah, I'm seeing more underhit passes as well since the latest update. It was a very apparent issue in FM13, and I really hope it won't be this year.

[daylight]

Not sure if this is a bug or working as intended now.

In past versions of the game the teams formation after you came through the pre-season they had a pretty good understanding of it, I am now through pre-season and 5 games into the season and still the familiarity is almost at rock bottom.

How long before they learn a formation now?

I am playing a 4-2-3-1 with wingers so nothing too crazy.

[Llew_Arshavin23]

It is worth a try. Are you aware of any others who are having this issue with facepacks?

Not to worry. Once I loaded up the game this morning, it all seems to be working as normal. Thanks for your help, regardless.

[BiggusD]

Quick update from the ME side:

Firstly, thanks for all who have posted constructive feedback and provided examples.

Relating to the next ME update, as yet we have no date set and tomorrow will roll out with 1426. Some comments below:

Player ratings - We believe them to be improved from the previous build but are aware that the low starting points can cause anomalies. This will be tuned for the next ME update.

No of goals - Agreed it is too high in some divisions and yes this will be looked at too. I will post some detailed stats from ME1426 shortly btw.

Long shots - While generally I don't think they are too high on average it does appear that some setups produce a number of unrealistic ones. Being looked into.

Tackles - There are actually too many in the current ME, particularly from Full Backs. Read into that what you will. I believe we need to improve the abilities of defending players to prevent shots/crosses etc through body position and tactical fouls rather than sliding tackles. This will not necessarily be nailed in one update. Note also there is no surety that the way we count tackles, interception, dribbles etc matches 100% with the real world stats by Opta, etc.

Keeper distribution - there is no guarantee a keeper will pass short if he feels its too risky. We have seen this working fine internally but any examples of it not working will be logged and looked at for an update.

Finishing - Currently slightly high shots on target ratio in 1426 and this area is always a work in progress.

Cheers,

Paul

Sounds very good that you want to look at non-tackling defending. The low amount of tackles in real life is likely due to the player with the ball having to shield the ball from the pressing defender (in FM there is no need to), and thus his team loses possession because of a lack of precision and success rate - not from being tackled. Also a successful dribble might not necessarily mean that the attacker retains control of the ball; taking on one man and then attempting another will likely lead to walking into a crowd. This is why it is so important that the pressing defender must have cover behind him - otherwise he should stay put. In FM14 my full backs close down the winger completely alone, with the rest of his teammate 15-20 meters away in or around the box. That is terrible defending!

The issue with keeper distribution is not so much that he chooses to kick it long, but that the success rate of possession retention is extremely low in my experience. A goal kick is almost a guaranteed ping back in the face. That, together with an enormous amount of panicked clearances that in no way releases pressure, ensures almost no midfield battle at all. The play is camped in front of both goals.

On another note:

I played 3-6-1 counter in a match and still didn't manage to prevent the opponent playing through the tightly packed midfield. The string of perfect passing was not affected by anything I did. Mostly, my midfielders just stood there watching, walking here and there without ever getting close to an opponent.

I will be happy providing a .pkm with a full minute-by-minute analysis once I get home from work, and post it in the ME bugs forum as well. I'll try to avoid sarcasm

[Liquid Cool]

ROFLMAO(ATC)

I just had Everton comeback from 2 goals down against me with 15 minutes left. I'd taken a two goal lead early, and then lost my LB to a red card for a 2 footed scissor-kick lunge, even though my team's set to stay on feet... so, I countered for the rest, and was doing well, until the game decided Everton were going to come back!

The 2 goals were as follows: 1rst) a long pass to the opposition's lone fwd, saw my CB run away, giving the CF a one on one, where my GK ran away from the net, toward the sideline, before the opp. CF was even within 15 yards of him... allowing a simple open net tap in. 2nd) My GK caught the ball, threw it to one of my CBs, who then, under no pressure, passed it pack to my Gk, who then, under no pressure, laid it off nicely to the opp. CF, with a crisp 5 yard pass, so they could again finish with a nice empty net tap in.

The ticker read: "Everton have clawed back from 2 down!"...

um, yeah... sure...

Did you save a .pkm of the match and raise the issue in the bug forum?

[Rhazmuz]

Not sure if this is a bug or working as intended now.

In past versions of the game the teams formation after you came through the pre-season they had a pretty good understanding of it, I am now through pre-season and 5 games into the season and still the familiarity is almost at rock bottom.

How long before they learn a formation now?

I am playing a 4-2-3-1 with wingers so nothing too crazy.

Yea, familiarity with formations seem to generate slower than last year. Not sure if this is intended or somwthing which requires an adjustment.

[MichaelBrown]

On my mates save, one of his full backs received a 1.8 rating, which is the lowest I've ever seen. Is this related to the issue of full backs being useless?

[Bambel]

You could try that little trick - watching the matches!

you should read then what i wrote there.

[milnerpoint]

you should read then what i wrote there.

Well if your not interested in watching the games and learning from them, no one can help you.

incidentally, how did you work it out on the old system?

[MichaelBrown]

Also, he's not on the forums and he's just said this to me:

''everytime I put a bid in for someone

it keep changing it to 350k

bid 5m for someone

comes back saying they rejected my 350k bid''

[Kriss]

Also, he's not on the forums and he's just said this to me:

''everytime I put a bid in for someone

it keep changing it to 350k

bid 5m for someone

comes back saying they rejected my 350k bid''

Read back through the thread a bit? It's all documented.

[srvngrc]

Thank you. I just didn't see your posts.

Isn't woodwork per match a bit much?

[Kriss]

Thank you. I just didn't see your posts.

Isn't woodwork per match a bit much?

Yes, not as overmuch as a lot claim but it is on the high side.

[Casual]

For me the two biggest things that need to be fixed at the moment are awful full back ratings and crazy turnarounds that happen a lot. Last night I was leading 4-1 at home agianst an outsider an then they pulled back to 4-4 and almost beat me in the end. I played conventionally not agressive, wanted to retain posession and calm everythng down but there was no way. This used to be the case in many FM's before and not only with AI teams, but my teams turning it around unrealistically as well.

Once you get the "feeling" its gonna go down it's like there is nothing you can do to stop it :/

[Preveza]

I just want the AI to be more Intelligent lol

Example, Im managing Braintree Town and my striker, Holman scores 30 goals in one season. IRL, surely clubs would take interest and enquire about him?

But this never happens. Just want the AI to be more proactive when signing my players and other AI players purely on standout seasons etc from individual players

[tlm_77]

I can't wait, as always.

Over the many years, I've seen so many people on here going on about the ME being flawed but although there have been some obvious nuisances with the ME, to be honest, that part of the game has never really been a big issue for me, as long as my team wins haha.

Seriously though, the ME is a marvel and yes there's issues but it must be an amazingly complex 'thing'.

What annoys me each year is the AI, not the ME.

Each year, some things appear to be forgotten, such as the player search screen resetting to the top of the list when you click on a player then back, like the squad screens reshuffling the players into different orders each time you click on a squad.

There's loads of stuff like that that annoys me the most but every year, the release day game seems to have sorted nearly all of that up always, then we get free patches to 'tidy up and improve'.

Overall, I'm without doubt a fan boy too because the game is superb and it must take such massive efforts each year to churn it out.

I play other games too, CoD and so on and I unashamedly ordered a day one edition Xbox One for the 22nd yonks ago and I'll play on that loads but I love being able to switch between the Xbox and games I love on that and my PC for FM.

I personally cannot wait til 00:01 in a few hours...

Only downside these days are no fresh, new manual to sniff

Positives, no queuing at bloody Asda at midnight - people who shop in Asda at midnight are......odd.

[jam jameson]

a matter of reflection about how much the ME is tactic-responsive...i was playing with Bury against MUTD, friendly match in the first season...they had a 4-2-3-1 formation, I had a 4-1-2-1-2 formation, therefore without wide midfielders. First match: 10-0 for United, a complete rout, useless to say that their wingers completeley destroyed my poor defense...First thought was to blast the ME and label it as bad, arcade and so on...then I tried to play again the match...first half with the same formation, result 0-3...second half Bury with 4-4-2, final result of the match 1-3...for United no more free run on the flanks, no more easy ball in the area, no more easy CCC...i do not know ho do you rate such a matter, in my opinion it promises to provide great difficulty and great challenge for us the managers...

[le_crab]

hope the transfer problems are sorted for release day or Friday. its currently game breaking for me.

amen to that. I love FM its the only game I play, been playing the game since cm93/94 and the game even prompted me to get my fa coaching badges that's how much I love the game but after yesterdays update and seeing the transfer activities I cant bear to put the game on. Hope this gets sorted.

[Lazarus]

I hope you are also looking into set pieces. What happens (almost every game for me, sometimes even multiple times) is the following: On free kicks and especially corners the ball is played flat along the ground directly to the feet of a player (standing on the near post when on a corner) who is completely unmarked and then has a clear shot at goal (Noone marking him and noone in between him and the goal). It looks quite ridiculous and the outcome is a very high amount of goals scored this way.

This happens for both the player and AI.

[Bardi Golriz]

Hi guys,

Could someone please tell me how I change a players attributes from numerical to graphical view? I've tried looking in preferences but cannot find it anywhere....so frustrating.

Thanks

I'm afraid to let you know this preference was removed, because 1) very, very few people were using it, 2) it wasn't actually being consistently used throughout the UI (i.e. only replaced the numeric attributes on the player's Attributes panel) and 3) was causing issues with the layout when applied.

[Colorado]

I've just bought the digital download and the game has installed fully on steam. I thought it only installed 99% until 00:01?

[Bardi Golriz]

Why can you only hide Action Bar in full screen and not windowed screen. Is this a bug or part of the set-up?

This is part of the setup. Full screen = less interface, more pitch. Non-full screen = more interface, less pitch.

[blala]

okay , can anyone tells me what will be the difference between current beta and the full game :confused:

[Bardi Golriz]

So, I've finally got my hands on the demo- I expect to be all up in this thread very shortly.

However, one thing I haven't seen anyone note is that nicknames don't seem to appear in 3D mode any more- although they're there in the commentary, they don't appear above the players heads. As I have two defenders with very similar surnames (Tom Gilbey and Tom Gibley), I'd renamed them (Gill and Gibb respectively) to make it clearer which was which when watching the match, to no avail.

Can you please log this in the UI bugs forum (http://community.sigames.com/forumdisplay.php/350-User-Interface)?

[Torwin]

I'm afraid to let you know this preference was removed, because 1) very, very few people were using it, 2) it wasn't actually being consistently used throughout the UI (i.e. only replaced the numeric attributes on the player's Attributes panel) and 3) was causing issues with the layout when applied.

I, for one, was always using it, since the first time I laid my hands on FM several years ago... the wall of numbers I've got now is just so sore for my eyes :/

Is there a possibility of the bars being re-added at some point in the future, perhaps through a skin or something?

[lmarsha_926]

I am managing Peterborough and I have no problems is scoring or winning games

My win ratio is 70% after 55 games

My goals to game ratio is 2.38

My first game in the Championship I won 3-2

I am also finding alot of injuries, after the 1st game of the season i have 6 injuries none carried over from last season

[Babak G]

I am managing Peterborough and I have no problems is scoring or winning games

My win ratio is 70% after 55 games

My goals to game ratio is 2.38

My first game in the Championship I won 3-2

I am also finding alot of injuries, after the 1st game of the season i have 6 injuries none carried over from last season

Which build version?

[jonythompson]

Sometimes when my assistant tells me to play player x instead of player y, player x will be a different position to player y but have a shared first position.

My example is that I play Steve Collins at LM for Colwyn Bay, and my assistant keeps telling me to play Rob Hopley instead of him, despite the fact he can't play LM and can only play as a Striker (a position they both share.)

This is the only minor issue I've had so far. Nothing major. Good improvements from last year, looks neater too! Great game as always!

[le_crab]

I've just bought the digital download and the game has installed fully on steam. I thought it only installed 99% until 00:01?

Did you not get the beta access? Or is it too close to full release.

[Bardi Golriz]

I, for one, was always using it, since the first time I laid my hands on FM several years ago... the wall of numbers I've got now is just so sore for my eyes :/

Is there a possibility of the bars being re-added at some point in the future, perhaps through a skin or something?

The guys at the Skinning Hideout might help.

[Kraftwerk]

Transfer system is still pretty annoying imo. Very start of the game and Chelsea bid 400k up front and 9m over 30 odd months for Pedro (he's valued at 22m!). I negotiate a bit with them and end up suggesting they pay 22m up front which they find unacceptable.

Why is it so hard for the human player to sell players for a consistently good profit yet the AI gets about 3 times the value for every player?

[Rekoil]

Hmmm "Auto-Hide action bar (full-screen only)" is ticked on mine, but it's not hiding it whether I'm on full screen or not.... any ideas????

[Dagenham_Dave]

Fullbacks in my game tackle fine. I don't really see this issue that others are having.

Of course, if I watch my game on just 'key highlights', I don't see a lot of tackling from defenders on account of the fact that the highlight being shown will either be a goal or a really good chance, meaning if the chance has come from out wide, it stands to reason the full back won't have got the tackle in.

Watch the games on extended or comprehensive, and you'll see plenty tackles by your fullbacks. I do, anyway.

[Colorado]

Did you not get the beta access? Or is it too close to full release.

When I ordered it, I was told that it didn't include beta and would only be playable upon release. I put in the key on Steam to do the pre-download expecting it to pre-install until midnight and the full game loaded.

[Pipo2525]

When I ordered it, I was told that it didn't include beta and would only be playable upon release. I put in the key on Steam to do the pre-download expecting it to pre-install until midnight and the full game loaded.

Did the editor come with your download?

[lmarsha_926]

Which build version?

The newest one

[runebinder]

I like how there is interaction with players out on loan in FM2014, doesn't feel fully implemented though. Whenever I talk to the managers of teams where my players are loaned to, as they promised to give them first team but they are not playing, the responses from the managers is always the same no matter what tone and conversation options I choose.

What would also be cool to link into this is giving an option related to this when turning down a loan offer. For example I am managing Liverpool and had a couple of conversations with David Weir regarding Conor Coady as they'd promised to give him first team football but were not playing him. Both conversations ended with me choosing the option along the lines of I'd have to take this into consideration in future if they offered to loan my players. Later I get an offer from them to extend Coady's loan. Would be a really nice touch to have a response to rejecting the offer along the lines of broken promise of first team football or similar.