fm2019 mod [FM19][MOD] Background Support Mod

[michaeltmurrayuk]

Football Manager 2019 - Background Support Mod

Whilst the Football Manager 2019 Dark and Light Skins support background images out of the box this year, the default graphics aren't transparent and there is no overlay so you either get none of the background image or the full thing. Whilst the Default Skin has an overlay that completely blocks backgrounds.

This is a simple mod that increases the transparency of most of the boxes (to the same level as Touch Mode which you can see the backgrounds through them) and also adds an overlay to soften the background images so the game content stays readable.

I have also included several files of different transparency levels so you can adjust the strength of the overlay yourself as a suitable level comes down to personal preference and also depends on the skin you are using and the backgrounds.

It should also be compatible with most custom skins, especially ones that haven't touched the default box graphics.

 

 

Installation Instructions.

1. After you have downloaded and extracted the zip file you should have a readme and a folder called boxes.

2. Place the boxes folder inside the graphics folder for the skin you are using, so if you are using the Base19 Skin then your graphics folder should look something like this:

NOTE: If you are using the default skins you will need to download and switch to the relevant Base Skin for this mod to work.

3. After you have done that load up FM19 switch to the Skin you installed the mod inside and make sure the Skin Cache is off and press the Reload/Confirm button.


To Adjust the Overlay Strength

After installing the mod if you browse to the boxes\custom\background folder inside the graphics folder for the skin you added the mod to you'll notice several graphic files these are numbered by the level of opacity - 0 is fully transparent and 100 is fully solid. Whilst I have set the default level to 75 (same as the box graphics).

To adjust this first rename the existing paper file to 75 then rename the file you want to use to paper, next make a copy of this file and delete the existing paper@2x file and then rename your copy to paper@2x. The @2x file is used for the zoom in mode.

To get the game to read your changes make sure the skin cache is off and reload your skin and the changes should apply, it is then just a case of picking a level that suits you.


To Change the Overlay Colour

Inside the boxes\custom\background folder you'll also notice an xml file called !paper, this file controls the colour of the overlay however I have disabled it by default as the Default skin uses a different colour to the Dark/Light Ones.

To recolour the overlay rename the xml file to paper then open it and locate this line:

<colour id="red_replacement" name="ui_background"/>

The name bit determines the colour of the overlay, in the default skin it is set to primary which gives it the same colour as the header for the screen you are on, however I have let it set to ui_background which is the value used by the other skins. To change the colour you can either change this value to a different colour name or you can open the settings file for the skin you are using and change the RGB value of the ui_background.

Football Manager 2019 Background Support Mod Download Page
 

---
Redistribution Terms
You are free to post this content to your website provided:
1. It is not sold or behind a paywall.
2. You don't advertise it as being exclusive to your website.
3. My username and blog address are included: http://michaeltmurrayuk.blogspot.co.uk/

[keysi]

Perfect @michaeltmurrayuk

it works perfectly.

 

Can I have a question about the title bar? Is it possible to reduce the height? Sorry if you answered it already...

[laney25]

hi is there a link to the background pack? thanks

[vonreichsm]

You wrote that i can change the background colour at the setting of the skin. Could you please tell me where?

I didn´t want black/grey backgorunds. I want green backgrounds.

Edited October 23, 2018 by vonreichsm

[Jim-Beam]

Can't get this to work...grrr

[michaeltmurrayuk]

3 hours ago, keysi said:

Perfect @michaeltmurrayuk

it works perfectly.

 

Can I have a question about the title bar? Is it possible to reduce the height? Sorry if you answered it already...

Have a look at this thread should be the same instructions as from FM18:

 

[michaeltmurrayuk]

2 hours ago, vonreichsm said:

You wrote that i can change the background colour at the setting of the skin. Could you please tell me where?

I didn´t want black/grey backgorunds. I want green backgrounds.

It needs to be done via editing the xml files it cannot be done via the in-game options.

You can either enable the paper xml file as stated and change the red_replacement value to the colour of your choice you can see a list of pre-set colours here to use them you need the name and the number so dark green is green 900 so you'd adjust the line to read:

<colour id="red_replacement" name="green 900"/>

If the colour you want isn't one of the preset colours then you'll need to edit the RGB values for the ui_background colour in the settings xml file found in the settings folder for the skin you are using.

[michaeltmurrayuk]

19 minutes ago, Jim-Beam said:

Can't get this to work...grrr

You need to be using a custom skin for it to work, if you are using the default skins then download and switch to the relevant Base Skin. Then follow the install instructions. (You'll also need to source your own background images).

[vonreichsm]

It works now for me. Thank you.

[keysi]

47 minutes ago, michaeltmurrayuk said:

Have a look at this thread should be the same instructions as from FM18:

 

No difference if I change the "height" in the line and it didn't change even if I change the height in the generic/header or title bar from FM18.

but thanks for your reply

sorted it thanks to @vonreichsm, sorry for spam here.

Edited October 23, 2018 by keysi

[vonreichsm]

vor 2 Minuten schrieb keysi:

No difference if I change the "height" in the line and it didn't change even if I change the height in the generic/header or title bar from FM18.

but thanks for your reply

The second will work with the fade. I tried it and it works fine for me.

[bluehefner]

Looks great, thanks!

Edit: Actually just noticed the same issue another person was having above and that's the title bar now being visible through the panels and blocking some of the background, no way to reduce the size of it? Thanks.

Edited October 25, 2018 by bluehefner

[michaeltmurrayuk]

See the above posts for how to remove the extra bit of the titlebar.

[bluehefner]

18 hours ago, michaeltmurrayuk said:

See the above posts for how to remove the extra bit of the titlebar.

Thanks managed to sort it.

Edited October 26, 2018 by bluehefner

[byvirus]

Hello,

How to change font colors in red lines. Thanks in advance.

Edited October 25, 2018 by byvirus

[GerdMuller]

This is just awesome exactly what is needed to make this game look great again! :-D I realized even by just copying the graphics folde from FM 17 i easilyy got the backgrounds and logos down to german 7th tier into the game. Now i just need THIS, so i van see the cities in the background. Dumb thing is it doesnt work me me. Did all the step, downloaded basic skins , copied boxes into them  and new skins even...just doesnt seem to work :-( If i just could pin down which step i did wrong others seem to get this to work. Grrmml.

[michaeltmurrayuk]

21 hours ago, byvirus said:

Hello,

How to change font colors in red lines. Thanks in advance.

You'll need to check the custom club overview xml file you are using as the colours will be declared in that file or you'll need to follow the linked files to find the files that control the individual panels. If you are unable to do that then check with where you got the custom file from as they'd be the best person to advice on how to recolour the text.

[KongeMeier]

@michaeltmurrayuk The last update from SI included some changes to the Dark Skin. Will you update your dark base skin sometime? I believe it's the "old" one you have for download

[luvgisele]

i have read through this thread and have a question. How do I make the background completely transparent...Currently, I have a hazy grey which i would like to make completely transparent in order to see the background picture. thanks for your help.

[michaeltmurrayuk]

@luvgisele If you want to make the background transparent then you'll need to replace the various graphics in the mod with transparent images - you can either edit the images in an image editing program, or take the transparent one from the backgrounds folder rename it and then copy it into the other folders so it overwrites the existing images. Though if you do this you may find it's hard to read most of the text as it will blend into the background image.

[bluehefner]

Would you be able to tell me how to make individual panels solid again? Like the player instructions panel seen on the left of this screenshot? As you can see the transparancy makes it hard to read.

Thanks.

Edited November 5, 2018 by bluehefner

[keysi]

@bluehefner You should look for 'tactics player instructions panel overview' in extracted folders. And place it to skin folder/panels/tactics -> as always clear cache and reload skin

[bluehefner]

2 hours ago, keysi said:

@bluehefner You should look for 'tactics player instructions panel overview' in extracted folders. And place it to skin folder/panels/tactics -> as always clear cache and reload skin

I'm probably doing something wrong but i extracted the panels using the resource archiver from the game folder and found the 'tactics player instructions panel overview' and placed it where you said, deleted the cache and reloaded the skin and it didn't work, i'm probably missing a step.

[keysi]

6 minutes ago, bluehefner said:

I'm probably doing something wrong but i extracted the panels using the resource archiver from the game folder and found the 'tactics player instructions panel overview' and placed it where you said, deleted the cache and reloaded the skin and it didn't work, i'm probably missing a step.

I added the background mod to my skin and also this panel tactics player instructions panel overview.xml to the folder I wrote earlier and it works without the problem.

[bluehefner]

Tried it with yours and it still didn't work, i have also added the manager picture mod to the same folder and that works fine.

I would have thought there  would be an extra step to remove the transparancy from the player instructions panel, rather than it just working by pasting  the original panel because wouldn't the mod still apply the transparency to the panel?

Really i'd like the whole tactics screen a solid colour as i feel like a background picture on that screen isn't as beneficial.

[keysi]

If I would edit something in this default panel it would be in this panel I shared as it's the same I use right now.

[michaeltmurrayuk]

On the above file (you may also need to alter the match one as well) change the appearance line to point to a solid graphic i.e. boxes\bordered\solid\paper

or Alternatively rename the graphics found in this folder for the Mod: boxes\bordered\standard\right\ - renaming them will disable them and force the game to use the default solid ones (easier to rename than delete as you can change the name back to re-enable them without having to redownload the mod).

[BAD-RELIGION]

Works on the dark and Light skin but not on the default one, have no idea why since I put the Boxes folder exactly on the one...

Edited December 2, 2018 by BAD-RELIGION

[stevemc]

Hi @michaeltmurrayuk which graphic are these panels linked too? I'd like to make them a fraction more transparent...

Thanks...

[beanos36]

Hi, I'm posting on this thread instead of opening a brand new one

Hope @michaeltmurrayuk can help please

Similar to the user above, the panels on the match day screen are pretty dark and not as transparent as i'd like but yet on my one the panels on the home page and rest of the game are perfectly transparent. Cant seem to get the match day in between highlights panels more transparent during the game to see the stadium pictures. Ive attached 2 pictures for example. One on the normal home screen with perfectly transparent panels and one on the match screen with dark panels. Can anyone help to advised how to get the match days one more transparent like the home screen ones? Thanks

[BAD-RELIGION]

I was wondering the same, trying to put backgrounds on matchday as well...

[hr.geisler]

On 25/10/2018 at 11:09, bluehefner said:

Looks great, thanks!

Edit: Actually just noticed the same issue another person was having above and that's the title bar now being visible through the panels and blocking some of the background, no way to reduce the size of it? Thanks.

I've tried many time and many different things, still havent been able to remove or reduce the title bar height. I'd really appreciate it if someone would provide a solid method to do so. Thanks

[brunovks]

 

I could not put a background photo, where should I put it and use which name in the picture, can anyone help me?

[stevemc]

Is anyone doing a FM2020 version of this for the Base Skins?

[wkdsoul]

22 hours ago, stevemc said:

Is anyone doing a FM2020 version of this for the Base Skins?

Panels will prob work as they are already. 

[Tyburn]

I can confirm that this does work for fm20. 

[corn_onthecurb]

Just now, sidslayer said:

I can confirm that this does work for fm20. 

I tried and it didn't work. Did you do anything differently?

[Tyburn]

55 minutes ago, corn_onthecurb said:

I tried and it didn't work. Did you do anything differently?

Sorry. The technique is the same, but I did it manually. Locate the folder in whichever skin you are using that has the overlay xml (think it’s backgrounds? off the top of my head) and swap out the overlay transparency box for one that suits you from within these boxes folder. Obviously rename it “overlay”.

edit* I should add that I used this on the dark is darker skin, which is pretty much a base skin.

Edited November 8, 2019 by sidslayer

[toffee71]

On 05/11/2019 at 20:23, stevemc said:

Is anyone doing a FM2020 version of this for the Base Skins?

 

1 hour ago, sidslayer said:

edit* I should add that I used this on the dark is darker skin, which is pretty much a base skin.

The dark is darker skin I've tried copying it graphics/background folder to the base skins and it doesn't work but I have also tried it with the skin FM Base Skin'20 and it works with that and it's not a bad skin.

[Tyburn]

1 minute ago, toffee71 said:

 

The dark is darker skin I've tried copying it graphics/background folder to the base skins and it doesn't work but I have also tried it with the skin FM Base Skin'20 and it works with that and it's not a bad skin.

I haven’t used this mod on the skin. I’ve used the technique described above. If your skin has a background folder with “overlay” then swapping out the overlay transparency box file for one of the transparency boxes in this mod will work. 
 

I haven’t looked at a base skin yet. Does it not have a background folder with overlay?

[toffee71]

5 minutes ago, sidslayer said:

I haven’t looked at a base skin yet. Does it not have a background folder with overlay?

The base skins from here

No there is no background folder, and I tried last years method with no joy, and also now tried with the backgrounds folder from dark is dark which as I said above doesn't work on the base skins but do work with the FM Base Skin'20

Edited November 8, 2019 by toffee71

[Tyburn]

Interesting. I’m sure there is a way for it to work on a base skin, but as dark is darker is pretty much the generic skin anyway, and this works for that skin, it’s a decent option to start with.

[TCSSkin]

I’ve been meaning to write some guides, but due to some health issues and exhaustion from work (I’ve done 92 hours in two weeks lmao), I haven’t got the energy and motivation atm

[Tyburn]

I’ve been messing around a bit more with this and the technique used in this mod, regarding the use of boxes and paper files, doesn’t seem to work on anything atm. Or rather I can’t seem to get it to work anyway.

Have been trying to make the in match widgets more transparent to no avail. 

I think I read somewhere that this technique may have to wait for the full version to drop. Is this correct?

[Tyburn]

So, if anyone is interested, to get the base20dark skin to have a user defined opacity I've copied the background folder from the dark is darker skin and put it in the graphics folder. I've then used the opacity boxes from this mod to adjust the overlay file. (by replacing it with one of them and renaming it overlay). I've then copied the client_object folder from dark is darker and moved it into the panels folder in the base20dark skin.

Specifically I believe it is this code that needs to be added to the client_object.xml after the background widget code (dark is darker already has this):

<!-- background box - covers entire screen -->
        <widget class="plain_box" appearance="backgrounds/overlay"/>

Now to try to get something to work in the split screen matchday page. I'm trying to make widgets opaque, but have had no luck whatsoever with dark is darker. I've read countless guides, tried multiple things (i'm no modding expert that's for sure - i'm fairly sure it's code that needs adding to a config file, but what?) and just couldn't get the game to read the files/changes I've made to the skin. Going to try to see if I can get something to work with this base20dark skin. If anyone has an idea, or has managed to get match widget opacity changed, or/and the grey border outer_pitch texture opaque I'd love to hear from you!

Edited November 12, 2019 by sidslayer

[VP.]

Backgrounds are fine in the Dark is Dark skin for me other than the match report screen, there's no transparency for some reason? Admittedly the screenshot isn't too bad due to the picture in view but on most its impossible to see any text.

 

This one shows it better.

Edited November 12, 2019 by SortitoutsiVP
Different picture

[Tyburn]

You need to adjust the overlay file with one of the transparency files from the mod. I’m using 30 as my overlay but if you’re finding it hard to read use a higher number.

*edit: Having relooked at your images it seems there is NO overlay over ONLY that box. Odd. Must be the same for me, hadn’t noticed. Thankfully it’s not a super important box

Obviously white backgrounds with white text is a problem. Just got to find a sweet spot.

Edited November 12, 2019 by sidslayer

[corn_onthecurb]

I still can't get this to work.

Can someone please upload and share their setup

[Enos]

On 12/11/2019 at 12:02, SortitoutsiVP said:

Backgrounds are fine in the Dark is Dark skin for me other than the match report screen, there's no transparency for some reason? Admittedly the screenshot isn't too bad due to the picture in view but on most its impossible to see any text.

 

This one shows it better.

I'm having the exact same problem with the TCS skin (which I love).  I'm going to have to either stop using background pictures or find another skin as I cannot seem to get this to work for me in FM20.