What year is the best version of football manager?

[SebastianRO]

FM 17 .... by a mile because it has the most realistic ME you can imagine. Your team will play exactly like you want them to play. Will you always win ? Of course not, but that's natural, but at least you play the way you want. I own all editions, but nothing comes even close to FM17's match engine.

PS. For me, FM18 is a solid second choice (i am actually playing it at this very moment). I haven't experienced crashes, etc, so it works well for me.

Edited December 25, 2019 by SebastianRO

[Federico]

In my opinion, I think FM17 was fun but had many defensive issues. FM18 was shots on corner that ruined my enjoyment.

I disagree on stating that balls over the top are mostly a tactical issues, surely it's not the opinion of one proving the contrary but the shared experiences by the most with the most different tactical approaches.

Every ME has its own goods and bads, we're more forgiving on certain things rather than others clearly, but what is common is that I don't remember a version universally praised by anyone, at the point that I started thinking one wants to prove he knows about football (and a lot, obviously) by criticising the game.

[Tiger666]

22 minutes ago, Federico said:

In my opinion, I think FM17 was fun but had many defensive issues.

Not sure I've seen as many defensive issues as I have in FM20. Defenders not responding to long balls, not picking up, marking or closing down opposition players, defenders constantly heading the ball to the edge of the area for the opoosition to start the attack again, not to mention nonsense like this happening multiple times a game.

The FM20 12.2 match engine is a mess.

Edited December 25, 2019 by Tiger666

[noikeee]

my favourites - 11, 12, 17

some goofy things but still fairly fun - 15, 18

not a huge fan - 13, 14, 16, 19, 20

[Delvi]

FM 2020 if with third patch they will solve 3 issues:

- ME: over the ball, 1 on 1, players should always follow set piece and given instructions;

- give the option to not allow the board to buy/sell players, I like to build the team by myself;

- fine tuning of club vision and expectations.

[Guest]

4 hours ago, Tiger666 said:

Not sure I've seen as many defensive issues as I have in FM20. Defenders not responding to long balls, not picking up, marking or closing down opposition players, defenders constantly heading the ball to the edge of the area for the opoosition to start the attack again, not to mention nonsense like this happening multiple times a game.

The FM20 12.2 match engine is a mess.

I have lift my embargo of not buying FM20 and my experience so far is similar with this video.

Hoping for 20.3 will fix something? No.

I don't know why SI have decide to move away from FM17.

FM17 was near perfect and required some fine tunning.

[SebastianRO]

6 minutes ago, Cadoni said:

I have lift my embargo of not buying FM20 and my experience so far is similar with this video.

Hoping for 20.3 will fix something? No.

I don't know why SI have decide to move away from FM17.

FM17 was near perfect and required some fine tunning.

My thoughts exactly. FM17 was near perfect, even FM18 was very very good (at least in comparison with FM19 and especially this monstruosity, FM20). But hey ... this finally convinced me to not purchase this game before trying the demo next year. Why should I ? I bought FM19, but still played FM17 and FM18. Then I bought FM20 and now I am still playing FM17 and FM18 ... I hope they fix the problems soon because it is a complete JOKE at the moment.

[Guest]

1 minute ago, SebastianRO said:

My thoughts exactly. FM17 was near perfect, even FM18 was very very good (at least in comparison with FM19 and especially this monstruosity, FM20). But hey ... this finally convinced me to not purchase this game before trying the demo next year. Why should I ? I bought FM19, but still played FM17 and FM18. Then I bought FM20 and now I am still playing FM17 and FM18 ... I hope they fix the problems soon because it is a complete JOKE at the moment.

We should make a lobby "Bring Back 17 ME" 

LOL

[KUBI]

FM 17 was far from perfect, like every other edition was. People always tend to glorify the past. 

I always prefer the latest edition and after one is released I stop playing the prior edition.

If I compare the whole game experience, FM 20 offers a lot more than any other version.

I don't deny that there are issues with the FM20 ME. But I can't remember one ME that did please everyone. 

Saying that, I just live with the limitation of every ME, like I do with VAR decisions, strange player movements, horribly substitutions by managers in real football. 

I'm happy with every tweak, improvement but I also know that every tweak could cause new issues. 

It's still the only game that I play for months.

 

[Tiger666]

4 minutes ago, KUBI said:

FM 17 was far from perfect, like every other edition was. People always tend to glorify the past. 

I always prefer the latest edition and after one is released I stop playing the prior edition.

If I compare the whole game experience, FM 20 offers a lot more than any other version.

I don't deny that there are issues with the FM20 ME. But I can't remember one ME that did please everyone. 

Saying that, I just live with the limitation of every ME, like I do with VAR decisions, strange player movements, horribly substitutions by managers in real football. 

I'm happy with every tweak, improvement but I also know that every tweak could cause new issues. 

It's still the only game that I play for months.

 

I agree that FM20 is by far the best version feature-wise, I love everything outside match-day, apart from the numerous bugs. If they can just improve the match engine it will be fantastic.

[janrzm]

I spent 10 minutes thinking about this and I can't answer it.

The fact the we can hark back to a particular version that had better lighting, or another that had a more balanced ME etc, etc tells you everything thats problematic with this games development curve.....

Something that is heading in the right direction in one release can suddenly regress in the next or even vanish in some cases and on it goes.

Super frustrating!!! This year the UI and general gameplay is the best and most immersive its ever been IMO and yet, I'm down on the game because other elements feel like they have regressed in my view.

 

Edited December 25, 2019 by janrzm

[SebastianRO]

23 minutes ago, KUBI said:

FM 17 was far from perfect, like every other edition was. People always tend to glorify the past. 

I always prefer the latest edition and after one is released I stop playing the prior edition.

If I compare the whole game experience, FM 20 offers a lot more than any other version.

I don't deny that there are issues with the FM20 ME. But I can't remember one ME that did please everyone. 

Saying that, I just live with the limitation of every ME, like I do with VAR decisions, strange player movements, horribly substitutions by managers in real football. 

I'm happy with every tweak, improvement but I also know that every tweak could cause new issues. 

It's still the only game that I play for months.

 

I am not glorifying the past, not at all. For me it's the present, since I am playing it currently, not "remembering" it.

Yes, FM20 offers a lot more FEATURES. For me, those features are not worth a single dime since the ME is heavily flawed.

This is not about pleasing everyone. This is not a "meta" we are talking about. This is about balls over the top, 1 vs 1s, shotting into the sidenet bugs that we can ALL see. This is not an opinion, this is a fact. So no, it is not about pleasing everyone.

Yes, I live with this too. I wouldn't call it "limitation" as you put it, because it is clearly not a limitation, but rather a poor implementation. It is the same ME as it was in FM17 and FM18, with obvious updates of course, but: those editions did not suffer from such blatant problems. Again, these problems are not my view or your view, my opinion or x opinion, but rather FACTS.

I am happy with the features introduced for the most part and I would be able to live with those I don't like (poor skin color choice, etc) because that IS MY OPINION. However, I am not able to live with blatant bugs, because that IS NOT MY OPINION.

Good for you and I hope you continue to enjoy it. I clocked 65 hours in FM desperatly trying to like it and overlook the problems. It just doesn't work for me because the main "thing" about a simulation game, this simulation game is or should be, THE Match Engine. Unfortunately, the ME is heavily flawed, so nothing else matters because thats where my enjoyment comes from. From being able to build something that I can actually see replicated on the screen during the match. That creation is redundant since I see a ball over the top in every single highlight, since 99% of the time players REFUSE to make a pass into open space for the striker to attack it, I could go on and on about this joke of a ME, but it doesn't matter anymore.

The only thing that matters is that SI needs to get their stuff together and not release a game in this state ever again. I don't need anyone to tell me that the ME is fine or flawed. I can see that for myself. We all have eyes to see and ears to listen. Denying the obvious makes this entire situation ever more pathetic than it already is.

Edited December 25, 2019 by SebastianRO

[CFuller]

30 minutes ago, KUBI said:

FM 17 was far from perfect, like every other edition was. People always tend to glorify the past. 

Pretty much this. With all due respect, I have no idea why FM12 and FM17 in particular are hailed by certain users as masterpieces while they deride the latest two games as broken messes.

From my FM17 experience, defending was significantly flawed and cross-shots hitting the bar/net were still quite common. And while I never played FM12, I understand that its ME (and lack of a collision avoidance system) made quick strikers like Carlos Fierro horribly overpowered.

Do people want a match engine that's as realistic as SI can possibly make it... or do they just want to see a return to those goal-happy days?

[Tony Wright 747]

6 minutes ago, CFuller said:

Pretty much this. With all due respect, I have no idea why FM12 and FM17 in particular are hailed by certain users as masterpieces while they deride the latest two games as broken messes.

From my FM17 experience, defending was significantly flawed and cross-shots hitting the bar/net were still quite common. And while I never played FM12, I understand that its ME (and lack of a collision avoidance system) made quick strikers like Carlos Fierro horribly overpowered.

Do people want a match engine that's as realistic as SI can possibly make it... or do they just want to see a return to those goal-happy days?

Yes I believe people do want a match engine that is realistic, but IMO FM20 is not it

[SebastianRO]

1 minute ago, CFuller said:

Pretty much this. With all due respect, I have no idea why FM12 and FM17 in particular are hailed by certain users as masterpieces while they deride the latest two games as broken messes.

From my FM17 experience, defending was significantly flawed and cross-shots hitting the bar/net were still quite common. And while I never played FM12, I understand that its ME (and lack of a collision avoidance system) made quick strikers like Carlos Fierro horribly overpowered.

Do people want a match engine that's as realistic as SI can possibly make it... or do they just want to see a return to those goal-happy days?

You are missing the point. It is not about goal-happy. You can score a lot in FM19 and FM20. It is about the way your team plays. It is about the team playing the way you want them to play. Yes, FM17 had some issues, but were minor. In fact, in comparison with FM20 you can't even call them issues, honestly. You picked the wrong edition (FM20) to make the argument about realistic ME ... because this is everything BUT REALISTIC.

Speaking of FM12, you are right. The lack of a collision system made the poachers overpowered. But collision was never a thing prior to that, so it was "normal". However, looking at FM20's ME, it is a step backwards from FM17 and FM18 and that is why people are unhappy. Speaking of realism, in FM19 and FM20 you BARELY, Barely see a quality through ball from the AMC for the striker to attack into space. In real life, this is the way Barca, City and loads of other teams are breaking down opponents. They don't do it with balls over the top every other 5 minutes, or with shots from afar. Let's not bring realism argument in here, because it is the worst possible edition of FM to suooport it.

[KUBI]

vor 17 Minuten schrieb janrzm:

Something that is heading in the right direction in one release can suddenly regress in the next or even vanish in some cases and on it goes.

Super frustrating!!! This year the UI and general gameplay is the best and most immersive its ever been IMO and yet, I'm down on the game because other elements feel like they have regressed in my view.

 

I think it's the complexity of the game and some modules like the ME. From a general point of view, I never seen various parts that are as well connected as in FM20, especially for long term careers, plus a lot of small improvements, but still some ME issues. But then to fix something where is just a yes or no is easy, but when you have hundreds of variables it becomes very complicated. From FM17 I would like to see the pitch textures. And from some older versions the newgen faces. 

[janrzm]

11 minutes ago, KUBI said:

I think it's the complexity of the game and some modules like the ME. From a general point of view, I never seen various parts that are as well connected as in FM20, especially for long term careers, plus a lot of small improvements, but still some ME issues. But then to fix something where is just a yes or no is easy, but when you have hundreds of variables it becomes very complicated. From FM17 I would like to see the pitch textures. And from some older versions the newgen faces. 

I think there's a general acceptance, certainly on my part that with the current ME it's a hit and miss process trying to get to a good place. Deep down I hope there's a couple of wizards in a dark basement working on a completely new ME that we'll see one day!! 

I totally agree regarding the other gameplay in general, it's excellent and will be superb with patch refinements.

Things like ball physics and that old bugbear the erratic net movement I find incredibly frustrating. Newgen faces, which are somewhat improved but have "blocky" lower res hair styles really are the only obstacle between me and a ten season save now. What happened with the ref's line marker that used to fade but now looks like its semi permanent. Lighting in general and pitch textures have been better in previous versions although thats subjective. And of course, the 3d performance issues despite having a high spec machine.

Edited December 25, 2019 by janrzm

[Guest]

2 hours ago, CFuller said:

Pretty much this. With all due respect, I have no idea why FM12 and FM17 in particular are hailed by certain users as masterpieces while they deride the latest two games as broken messes.

From my FM17 experience, defending was significantly flawed and cross-shots hitting the bar/net were still quite common. And while I never played FM12, I understand that its ME (and lack of a collision avoidance system) made quick strikers like Carlos Fierro horribly overpowered.

Do people want a match engine that's as realistic as SI can possibly make it... or do they just want to see a return to those goal-happy days?

I still remember similar topic from last year, "which FM version was "best" version for you", majority told FM17.

Similar opinions from users here, vote for FM17.

In my workplace we have a manufacturer (call them X) produce professional wireless microphone systems. They have amazing FEATURES, but the lack of EU and worldwide service (based in US the company), low quality construction - durability they lost a significant amount of market share and sales. What this company does? Unveil new product with amazing features, which you can't found it in other manufactures; despite unfinishing previous models. And life goes on. There is a small amount of people owning these products from X company, because at that price you can found more quality, better customer support. So, SI and FM needs competition. Just saying. Back to the topic.

Edited December 26, 2019 by Guest

[CFuller]

What year did that poll take place then? 2017? 

There was a big favourite FM poll earlier this year, and FM19 won with 26% of the vote, so I'm not sure which poll you're talking about.

[Guest]

It wasn't a poll thread.

BTW, interesting.

https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/397246-longest-single-game-of-football-manager

[lloyd1990]

What year is the best version of football manager?

 

Features:

FM20. Without question it's the best featured version. I love the addition of Club Vision and the Development Centre. 

 

Match Engine:

FM17's Match Engine. Forget the result,  a team's playing style was clear. Last Match Engine to successfully implement short through balls and low crosses. Long balls and high crosses are now more prominent in the latest versions.

[enigmatic]

The FM17 match engine is, let's be honest, mostly popular because it was laughably easy to beat once you knew how. The AI had absolutely no ability to defend against an extra man in midfield, even if they were a full division better than you, you'd be able to use that possession to reliably create chances by overloading the middle of defence and playing simple short passes and cutbacks and your opponents wouldn't hit you on the break and rarely scored long shots.

FM19 had the majority of the features of the last one and a better ME defensively [so long as you don't mind lack of striker movement and it also being a little bit easy]. This ME is more balanced, but at the cost of a lot of watchability and goal variety.

 

 

[Tony Wright 747]

43 minutes ago, enigmatic said:

The FM17 match engine is, let's be honest, mostly popular because it was laughably easy to beat once you knew how. The AI had absolutely no ability to defend against an extra man in midfield, even if they were a full division better than you, you'd be able to use that possession to reliably create chances by overloading the middle of defence and playing simple short passes and cutbacks and your opponents wouldn't hit you on the break and rarely scored long shots.

FM19 had the majority of the features of the last one and a better ME defensively [so long as you don't mind lack of striker movement and it also being a little bit easy]. This ME is more balanced, but at the cost of a lot of watchability and goal variety.

 

 

No nothing to do with being easy to beat, but players doing what you asked them to do, tactics that looked like you intended, and better graphics.

[Dagenham_Dave]

1 hour ago, Tony Wright 747 said:

No nothing to do with being easy to beat, but players doing what you asked them to do, tactics that looked like you intended, and better graphics.

I thought you hadn't played a version of the game since FM16? 

[Tony Wright 747]

24 minutes ago, Dagenham_Dave said:

I thought you hadn't played a version of the game since FM16? 

Played the demo Dave, didn't think the difference was great enough to buy, I hadn't bought FM16 until after the March update anyway and thought I would wait until 18 but wasn't impessed.  Thought about buying it now, but not keen on having denuvo.

Edited December 26, 2019 by Tony Wright 747
omission

[Guest]

50 minutes ago, Tony Wright 747 said:

Played the demo Dave, didn't think the difference was great enough to buy, I hadn't bought FM16 until after the March update anyway and thought I would wait until 18 but wasn't impessed.  Thought about buying it now, but not keen on having denuvo.

I have lift my embargo for FM20, I don't know why.

Funny thing is, regarding my main issues about UI & UX (terrible mistakes) this year and not so much about ME, FM20 Demo has better ME from 20.2.3 (in PoV).

[Sanel]

FM 2005/2012 by a mile. 

 

2012 oh man.. the days. I remember having like 6/7 games with smaller clubs climbing to the top for at least 10-15 years. Played it almost every day. The UI, players, skins, just everything clicked. 

Edited December 26, 2019 by Sanel

[Dagenham_Dave]

I can no longer play any version prior to FM14 due to those damn sliders. Hated them at the time, so happy they took them away. 

 

[kingjericho]

My favourite for a long time was FM11, such a great interface and a pretty good ME.

FM15 was good albeit I rememper people calling it too easy. Coincidentally it was the only version in which I successfully completed dafuge's challenge.

I'd have to say FM18/19 the best. FM18 because it was possibly the peak of the last 5 years of work on numerous improvements. FM19 basically took the good things from FM18 and added the new tactics screen.

[Tony Wright 747]

1 hour ago, Dagenham_Dave said:

I can no longer play any version prior to FM14 due to those damn sliders. Hated them at the time, so happy they took them away. 

 

I still play FM12 sometimes when I want a bit of fun, But I know what you mean, It's like a different game really

[noikeee]

On 25/12/2019 at 22:00, CFuller said:

Pretty much this. With all due respect, I have no idea why FM12 and FM17 in particular are hailed by certain users as masterpieces while they deride the latest two games as broken messes.

From my FM17 experience, defending was significantly flawed and cross-shots hitting the bar/net were still quite common. And while I never played FM12, I understand that its ME (and lack of a collision avoidance system) made quick strikers like Carlos Fierro horribly overpowered.

Do people want a match engine that's as realistic as SI can possibly make it... or do they just want to see a return to those goal-happy days?

I want to have goal-happy fun that doesn't require too much suspension of disbelief and still feels mildly rewarding tactically. Which was what those games had.

[FM_Prospect]

I cannot say I'm enjoying FM20, I think the match engine from FM17 was pretty good and I enjoyed FM17 the most.

FM20 probably looks the best and has some really nice features.

FM17 for ME, and general balance of Enjoyment.

So out of the last few iterations I'd say FM17, FM16, FM19 would be my top 3.

Edited February 23, 2020 by FM_Prospect

[mick1]

Fm 17 / 15 / 12 

[Sourav B]

On 25/12/2019 at 21:16, anagain said:

I think it is harsh to suggest the match engine has gone backwards. I personally don't recall much about FM17. As I said in another thread it's all about the current version for me. What exactly is unbalanced about the match engine?

If you mean the balls over the top issue then you need to work on your tactic. There may be some tweaking needed, but in no way is it as bad as many have suggested. FMers are inclined to go very attacking in game. Tactics need to be balanced, but people go all out and leave space behind that teams are obviously good at utilising in FM. If SI think there's a problem, and have said so, then I won't argue with it. I just know that I don't really see it because I try to keep things balanced (or, at least, I don't really feel negatively affected by it because I adapt to teams doing it). I'm no tactical expert. It's all about knowing what the opposition will do.

I'm going to have to load up FM17 at some point and see why it is hailed as so bloody good.

It's about your tactics playing long balls on top of defenders and too many ccc. I haven't played FM20 but I watch it a lot on yt I find that long ball tactic overpowered and tou can score and create way too many chances with lower tier players against bigger opponents

Edited February 21, 2020 by Sourav B
Nn

[Footix]

CM 01/02 👍

[saihtam]

So has the FM20 updates made the game a tad better considering other games?
Really thinking about hitting up FM17 or 18 and to find out if any of them have data updates for 18/19 or 19/20 season.

[LOVEFMyeah]

FM 18 Simply the best !!

[FMFutbol]

FM17

[saihtam]

1 hour ago, LOVEFMyeah said:

FM 18 Simply the best !!

 

20 minutes ago, FMFutbol said:

FM17

Could you elaborate, just curious.

[FMFutbol]

2 hours ago, saihtam said:

 

Could you elaborate, just curious.

well its pretty simple for me, I couldn't stop playing FM17. If I look at hours played from FMs 13-20, FM17 is by far the one I spent the most time on.

[JoePalestine]

I really enjoyed FM14. Played it till I got a laptop capable of playing FM17 as it wouldn’t run well on my machine I had. I didn’t play 18 either, FM19 everything properly changed, I did enjoy that though. Only got FM20 two weeks ago so can’t comment too much but I’m not going to stop playing it, it’s feature rich compared to 14

[crusadertsar]

So is the general consensus that FM17 had the best ME? What do people think especially after the latest FM20 update?

[Djuicer]

9 minutes ago, crusadertsar said:

 What do people think especially after the latest FM20 update?

I cant say which ME I liked most. Played every game (some more, some less) that has been released after CM4. I think I too enjoyed 17.

 

At this point I think 20s ME is decent. Its good in a lot of ways but at this point it feels as if its just lacking some..spark, or creativity or like. It should be more like Ronaldinho and less systemized like Liverpool ( I guess its quite accurate according to IRL football as we last saw it). Overall though I like almost all of the new features on 20. The mentoring system is IMO not flawless yet, but I think it will become very good over time.

[crusadertsar]

24 minutes ago, Djuicer said:

I cant say which ME I liked most. Played every game (some more, some less) that has been released after CM4. I think I too enjoyed 17.

 

At this point I think 20s ME is decent. Its good in a lot of ways but at this point it feels as if its just lacking some..spark, or creativity or like. It should be more like Ronaldinho and less systemized like Liverpool ( I guess its quite accurate according to IRL football as we last saw it). Overall though I like almost all of the new features on 20. The mentoring system is IMO not flawless yet, but I think it will become very good over time.

Totally agree, I love all the new features. That's why it's so hard to go back to older ones. But watching games on the pitch there's definitely some spark missing. It's like watching Greece at 2004 Euro rather than Brazil at 1982 World Cup  But that's modern football for ya. In that way it's realistic I guess. Defenses in real life have become very tough to break down and we don't see as many high scoring games in top flight any more.

I was just think that's a football sim the ME should be more flexible where it should represent any type of football well and from any era. And right now I find creating any kind of central passing play is a real struggle. I keep trying though!

Edited May 8, 2020 by crusadertsar

[Sourav B]

On 09/11/2019 at 01:17, Dagenham_Dave said:

Features wise, FM20 hands down. 

Match engine wise, I'm hoping they can sort this out for release, but for now, my favourite match engine is still FM17. It's as close to perfect as they've ever managed. And that's not just rose tinted specs. I played a new save on FM17 prior to the current beta dropping, and it was as good as ever. 

Marry FM20's features with FM17's gameplay and you've got the single greatest game in gaming history!

you are sooo f***ing right and the gfx too. I commented earlier that FM17 has the best gfx during a game and also the lighting looks better than the latter ones but the actual point is they play how you want your team to play!

[Fond Foat]

I have been enjoying my FM2020 save, but after reading this thread I decided to load up a new save on FM17 just to see if what people are saying here is true. It was a version I never got to play with much.

Well, yeah. There is not that much difference really. Some of the things that frustrate me in FM20 are not as obvious in FM17, but I miss the newer features too much to revert back to an older version.

I felt the final patch of FM13 gave us a pretty balanced ME.

Edited July 15, 2020 by Fond Foat

[Travis Bickle]

On 25/12/2019 at 22:00, CFuller said:

Pretty much this. With all due respect, I have no idea why FM12 and FM17 in particular are hailed by certain users as masterpieces while they deride the latest two games as broken messes.

From my FM17 experience, defending was significantly flawed and cross-shots hitting the bar/net were still quite common. And while I never played FM12, I understand that its ME (and lack of a collision avoidance system) made quick strikers like Carlos Fierro horribly overpowered.

Do people want a match engine that's as realistic as SI can possibly make it... or do they just want to see a return to those goal-happy days?

FM12 and FM17 were great version of FM. 

No version is going to make everyone happy, and undoubtedly they had ME flaws. But back then it felt like what mattered most was the football. The game as a tactical exploration. I'd sit with FM open, whilst watching football matches, keenly taking notes and trying to figure out how to implement various tactical systems. I've said this before, but it has become clear that there is only one or two ways to efficiently win at FM20. 

You mention goal-happy days, I'd rather that strikers were scoring too many one-on-ones rather than by far not enough. This is basic. 

I've gone over this enough times, I don't feel it necessary to do so again because I am sure SI are working on FM21, but it would be nice if we could have more engaging debates with SI over what exactly football looks like. Because I think that is where most disagreements over the ME are. 

[Etebaer]

So far i prefer the 2013 and the late 2020 versions over the others i played.

With the exception in that detail that FM2017 was the last Version were Trikot Kits would be applied ingame in the 3D part as they were designed via the ingame designer - since the 2018 Version the ingame kit designer works only partially and has many not fixed flaws (the Stand Alone Editor shows it has the same flaws).

Edited July 10, 2020 by Etebaer

[Arijit]

For me FM15 or FM17 are two best FM in last decade. If you don't have any, then I suggest FM13, my third fav.

[enigmatic]

On 08/05/2020 at 14:50, crusadertsar said:

So is the general consensus that FM17 had the best ME? What do people think especially after the latest FM20 update?

It's a general consensus mostly among people who liked match engines that were trivially easy to exploit  FM20 is far from flawless and still pretty easy to beat, but it's more balanced [at least post-patches] and its biases more realistically targeted towards modern football [high pressing, playing out of defence] and less towards quirks [shadow strikers not marked properly, opposition unable to handle an extra man in midfield at all]. It's also much better than FM17 for long shots and convincing dribble animations. But everyone likes match engines more when they suit their style of play. FM17 was great for playing attractive passing play through the middle because the defending was so passive and wide players didn't help out when outnumbered in the middle at all.

 

Edited July 13, 2020 by enigmatic