Guide how to set up an optimal database for a balanced savegame and ways to increase realism (updated 03. May 21) *links updated*

[SCCP1910]

Hi Daveincid and everyone, this thread was a good read but I'm still indecisive over which DB to use. My computer has an i5-9300HF CPU and 8GB RAM, and my new savegame will be LLM in Britain. Ideally I'd want something more focused on the lower divisions, but that produced realistic competitions for clubs and countries, but my computer might not be able to handle 20+ seasons with 100k players. What do you reckon would be the best one in this case?

[Daveincid]

vor 50 Minuten schrieb SCCP1910:

Hi Daveincid and everyone, this thread was a good read but I'm still indecisive over which DB to use. My computer has an i5-9300HF CPU and 8GB RAM, and my new savegame will be LLM in Britain. Ideally I'd want something more focused on the lower divisions, but that produced realistic competitions for clubs and countries, but my computer might not be able to handle 20+ seasons with 100k players. What do you reckon would be the best one in this case?

Hi Mate, 

As your CPU has 4C/8T and "only" 8GB RAM I personally wouldn't load too many leagues as playable. But there are still decent setups possible. The player-count itself isn't an issue. You can load 150k and your CPU and RAM can handle it, if you don't set too many leagues as playable.

I would use the following setup:

Playable: England (As low as you want you LLM-Save), France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Germany (All First two divisions and the rest view-only below) Brazil Argentina, USA, Mexico, China, South-Korea (Top Division playable, rest view-only below)

View-only: Whole Great-Britain and the Nations I set Importance to 1, maybe even 2)

This way you get a decent db-size, while having arround 25 leagues playable and a lot on view-only. 

If your aim is realistic results it's important to simulate theese competitions on full detail (This is the most heaviest task for your CPU)

Make sure that you don't run a lot of other tasks beside FM, because 8GB is really on the bottom end

I would also play with a big db and load all players from top-division clubs and with national reputation.

If this setup is too much for you, you could reduce the amount of playable leagues (For example only top-division playable outside of England)

I hope I was able to help a bit, it's always difficult to give a  perfect answer, as everyone has different views and needs:)

 

Cheers

Daveincid

Edited March 28, 2021 by Daveincid

[SCCP1910]

Thanks for the quick answer mate 

[CrowBar]

Hi @Daveincid. Great and useful thread. However, I am also stuck in the endless obsession with the perfect balanced setup. And I tend to overdo things, as I always load too much (without much benefit I guess).

What would you recommend for me in my case?:

• 5800X CPU
• 3080 RTX
• 32GB (3660MHZ)  DDR4 RAM
• I'd prefer a setup where I could technically end up in any continent in the game, but probably will start a South-American (Brazil league) game for the first time ever. But not rule out moving out to another continent in the game at some point if things go well.

Also I got a lot of realism mods loaded and almost all extra leagues by Davie added. But I don't think it's really useful to load all of the primary leagues of nations like Turkmenistan (even though I have a hard time NOT loading too many nations playable).

Edited April 9, 2021 by CrowBar

[Daveincid]

vor 1 Minute schrieb CrowBar:

What would you recommend for me in my case?:

In terms of realism/cpu-power? All Nations playable with at least the 1st + 2nd division?

vor 3 Minuten schrieb CrowBar:

But I don't think it's really useful to load all of the primary leagues of nations like Turkmenistan (even though I have a hard time NOT loading too many nations playable).

This is why I made a list (hidden) in my thread prioritizing Nations from 1 (most important) to 4 (least important)  I would play with all Nations playable from 1-3 and 4 I would set as view-only with adding players via the advanced db.

 

vor 8 Minuten schrieb CrowBar:

I always load too much (without much benefit I guess).

In terms of realism you actually can't load enough. But just an example. Did you know that in Iraq they pay up to 100k for their top-players? This is a reason why so many Iraq-players don't move to Europe or more known Nations, because they got decent money there. Same goes to Bangladesh. Foreign players earn more than in Australia. We could argue how "important" this is, but for me personally it matters

Cheers

Daveincid

[CrowBar]

3 minutes ago, Daveincid said:

In terms of realism/cpu-power? All Nations playable with at least the 1st + 2nd division?

This is why I made a list (hidden) in my thread prioritizing Nations from 1 (most important) to 4 (least important)  I would play with all Nations playable from 1-3 and 4 I would set as view-only with adding players via the advanced db.

 

In terms of realism you actually can't load enough. But just an example. Did you know that in Iraq they pay up to 100k for their top-players? This is a reason why so many Iraq-players don't move to Europe or more known Nations, because they got decent money there. Same goes to Bangladesh. Foreign players earn more than in Australia. We could argue how "important" this is, but for me personally it matters

Cheers

Daveincid

Ahhh, I didn't even notice that hidden list. Now that is really useful, thanks! Alright, I'll think I'll do what you said and not deviate from that. Appreciated.

[Daveincid]

Gerade eben schrieb CrowBar:

hhh, I didn't even notice that hidden list

Might be a problem of visual presentation I always struggle to represent that much information clearly. After my next update I try to improve the guide

[CrowBar]

I think I went a bit overboard with the added modded leagues (by Davie), I added all of them, and the ones in the 4th tier (as per your hidden list) I only did as view only. But the game explodes itself. Meaning when I save, and try to load later "Can't load the save game". I think I'll have to cut off many of the added modded leagues, haha. Will try it again that way.

Edited April 9, 2021 by CrowBar

[Daveincid]

vor 5 Minuten schrieb CrowBar:

I think I went a bit overboard with the added modded leagues (by Davie), I added all of them, and the ones in the 4th tier (as per your hidden list) I only did as view only. But the game explodes itself. Meaning when I save, and try to load later "Can't load the save game". I think I'll have to cut off many of the added modded leagues, haha. Will try it again that way.

this is strange...this issue shouldn't be connected with davie's files or the size of the database. 

[CrowBar]

On 09/04/2021 at 19:09, Daveincid said:

this is strange...this issue shouldn't be connected with davie's files or the size of the database. 

Yes I figured it out, a faulty out of date file caused it.

[Daveincid]

vor 14 Minuten schrieb CrowBar:

Yes I figured it out, a faulty out of date file caused it.

[TelcontarTargaryen]

Hi,

I just found this thread, and was wondering about your opinion on this: Loading the most imporant nations as fully playable: England, Spain, Germany, France, Netherlands, Italy, Portugal.. maybe Russia, Brazil and Argentina and then loading all, or almost all players through advanced DB (based in nation or nationality for all continents or regions)? Or do you think adding view-only leagues gives greater advantages over not loading them at all.

Would it have any benefit / drowback to load the game at the start with all leagues set as playable, and then switch out most of them to view only, or remove them so just to leave the players generated?

Bear in mind that I have i5 3.3GHz, so not the best machine, but I don't mind a little bit of waiting and slow game given that I tend to play really slow anyway. My idea is to play simultaniously with two different teams / managers.

[Daveincid]

vor 5 Stunden schrieb TelcontarTargaryen:

Hi,

I just found this thread, and was wondering about your opinion on this: Loading the most imporant nations as fully playable: England, Spain, Germany, France, Netherlands, Italy, Portugal.. maybe Russia, Brazil and Argentina and then loading all, or almost all players through advanced DB (based in nation or nationality for all continents or regions)? Or do you think adding view-only leagues gives greater advantages over not loading them at all.

Would it have any benefit / drowback to load the game at the start with all leagues set as playable, and then switch out most of them to view only, or remove them so just to leave the players generated?

Bear in mind that I have i5 3.3GHz, so not the best machine, but I don't mind a little bit of waiting and slow game given that I tend to play really slow anyway. My idea is to play simultaniously with two different teams / managers.

hmmm In your case I personally would load the Nations you mentioned as playable, add leagues as view-only in combination with adding players throught the advanced DB from all top division clubs etc. (I wouldn't load "all" players, I would tick all except "active players" and "players in nation") 

Cheers

Daveincid

[_Ben_]

For someone that has played FM for so long, I'm almost embarrassed to be asking this question! Historically, I've loaded the minimal amount of leagues and no extra players as I've always wanted speed. I've also been a slave to the star ratings and panicked when not having 5* for run speed! However, I've grown to want the realism and much more immersive game world. I've run a test with just one country but every player (~400k) and it was actually not as slow as I imagined. Still, that is probably overkill and not going to help when I start adding in some extra leagues.

This is what my laptop specs are:

What would you recommend @Daveincid?

Many thanks

[Daveincid]

vor 6 Stunden schrieb _Ben_:

I've also been a slave to the star ratings and panicked when not having 5* for run speed!

I always begging people to ignore the star rating, because it says much less about speed as you think^^

vor 6 Stunden schrieb _Ben_:

I've run a test with just one country but every player (~400k) and it was actually not as slow as I imagined.

This is what I always said. The players in the loaded database is one of the smallest factors when it comes down to slower processing speed. 

vor 6 Stunden schrieb _Ben_:

What would you recommend @Daveincid?

 

You could go for a similar setup I recommended just the post before:

vor 11 Stunden schrieb Daveincid:

hmmm In your case I personally would load the Nations you mentioned as playable, add leagues as view-only in combination with adding players throught the advanced DB from all top division clubs etc. (I wouldn't load "all" players, I would tick all except "active players" and "players in nation") 

Cheers

Daveincid

Cheers

Daveincid

Edited April 17, 2021 by Daveincid

[_Ben_]

On 17/04/2021 at 11:31, Daveincid said:

On 17/04/2021 at 11:22, _Ben_ said:

 

You could go for a similar setup I recommended just the post before:

Thank you. I appreciate your quick response. 

What are your thoughts on using full detail on a number of/all of these leagues?

[Daveincid]

vor 1 Minute schrieb _Ben_:

Thank you. I appreciate your quick response. 

What are your thoughts on using full detail on a number of/all of these leagues?

you are welcome!

Well in the end I always recommend as much as possible^^ Most important are the international competitions like CL, EL and so on followed by the top-5 leagues. 

Cheers

Daveincid

[Platinum]

On 15/11/2020 at 13:58, Daveincid said:

international games, games from National-Teams and the games in your league simulated in full detail

Hey I was wondering what the difference is between international games and games from national teams?

[Daveincid]

Gerade eben schrieb francis#17:

Hey I was wondering what the difference is between international games and games from national teams?

International Games are "Champions League, Europa League etc", National-Teams should be clear

Cheers

Daveincid

[Platinum]

Just now, Daveincid said:

International Games are "Champions League, Europa League etc", National-Teams should be clear

Cheers

Daveincid

Thank you!

[mibsweden]

Thank you for this thread!

 

What would you recommend för a 10900KF and 32 GB RAM setup?

 

I will be playing in Italy, serie A. Would like some decent speed, but also as much realism as I can get without having to wait for too long on things.

[Daveincid]

vor einer Stunde schrieb mibsweden:

Thank you for this thread!

You are welcome

vor einer Stunde schrieb mibsweden:

What would you recommend för a 10900KF and 32 GB RAM setup?

It's a pretty beefy CPU so:

• If you don't have that much patience

- Loading top 20 nations playable, all the others view-only, international games, games from National-Teams and the games in your league simulated in full detail, with the advanced db-option for all players from first divison and national reputation:

This setup Is IMO the general sweetspot for a realistic longterm-save. Mid-range processor recommended.

• I personally would go for this setup, which does need some patience, but definetly worth the wait IMO:

- Loading all nations playable, international games, games from National-Teams and the games in your league simulated in full detail, with players loaded from all nations with the advanced-db option (ca 194k players):

This setup guarantees you a balanced game world and high transfer activity around the globe. Leagues which aren't available with the vanilla version will have problems in being competitive in the long run. As soon as you are setting games to simulated in full detail, I recommend a modern 8-core 16-threaded processor

Cheers

Daveincid

[Ups81]

Hello @Daveincid

 

Thank you very much again and again for this great work.

I have a silly question which maybe asked lots of times before and you might be sick of to respond but here it is;

I try to use your files and @majesticeternity FM Expansion Packs Megapack as you also referred in your first message

 

Could it be possible that you clarify what is the perfect mix in terms of files to use  in between these two megapack?

Which ones hasn't to be duplicated?

 

Thanks  

[Daveincid]

vor 6 Minuten schrieb Ups81:

Hello @Daveincid

 

Thank you very much again and again for this great work.

I have a silly question which maybe asked lots of times before and you might be sick of to respond but here it is;

I try to use your files and @majesticeternity FM Expansion Packs Megapack as you also referred in your first message

 

Could it be possible that you clarify what is the perfect mix in terms of files to use  in between these two megapack?

Which ones hasn't to be duplicated?

 

Thanks  

I really answered this question several times. There are files which really clash and files I personally just do no recommend for a realistic save-game. 

In general:

- Do not use other mods which may conflict with my megapack at the same time. This includes files which changes:

- Youth Ratings

- Market Values

- Transfer Preferences

- Sponsorship

- Finances

- Languages (only Switzerland)

- League Reputations

 

I created a list of files which I recommend to use for the best FM-Experience down to my opinion, which can be found on my Patreon.

 

Cheers

 

Daveincid

[Daveincid]

Update 03.05.21 (links added)

 

There is a great megapack from @davie77 which makes all Nations playable ingame. I worked close together with him and tested his files, so I know about the high quality-standard.

https://community.sigames.com/forums/topic/550750-fm21-around-the-globe-megapack-by-dave-46-completed

I highly recommend the graphic-files and the realistic-injuries-file from @majesticeternity which can be found in the editors hideaway download forum too.

https://community.sigames.com/forum/834-editors-hideaway-download-forum-fm21/

I also recommend the data-updates from @pr0

https://community.sigames.com/forums/topic/539013-fm21-transfers-data-update-packs-by-pr0-fmtu/

Cheers

Daveincid

[Safe Hands]

Has anybody experimented with adding and removing playable leagues. I'm interested in balance of international competition.  Example let say I have Chile loaded as playable but not Columbia.  Would it balance itself out if I alternative every year between the 2 being playable and view only. 1 year Chile , next columbia. Would this balance so they both got a good influx of new players and being competitive over course of a long term save

[Safe Hands]

Has anybody compared leagues loaded on touch pc version against full. Wondering if on touch you can load lots more playable leagues against full without it impacting the speed

[maxeneize]

Hey! This a very nice guide, quite informative. I would appreciate your opinion on something.

I am planning on doing the european alphabet challenge in which you jump from one league to the next after you win the title. I will start in Albania, then Andorra, Armenia and so on.

Would you recommend loading all the league or add/remove them as I go? How would affect only losding european leagues affect the rest of the world? Do you have any tips? Thanks in advance!

[Daveincid]

vor 10 Minuten schrieb maxeneize:

Hey! This a very nice guide, quite informative. I would appreciate your opinion on something.

I am planning on doing the european alphabet challenge in which you jump from one league to the next after you win the title. I will start in Albania, then Andorra, Armenia and so on.

Would you recommend loading all the league or add/remove them as I go? How would affect only losding european leagues affect the rest of the world? Do you have any tips? Thanks in advance!

hey mate, I'm glad you like it

If you have at least a mid-range-PC you could load league 1-3 in the Top 5 Nations as playable and 6-15 Nation only the Top-Division. All other Nations you could set to view-only in combination with the advanced db (loading players from all top division clubs worldwide or Europe only ).

Cheers

Daveincid

[maxeneize]

Thanks for the advice. Would the processing time be consistent or it will take longer the more seasons I play? My setup is a ryzen 1600af, 16 gb ram @3200 and a rx570. I forgot to mention that in my previous comment

[Daveincid]

vor 1 Minute schrieb maxeneize:

Thanks for the advice. Would the processing time be consistent or it will take longer the more seasons I play? My setup is a ryzen 1600af, 16 gb ram @3200 and a rx570. I forgot to mention that in my previous comment

the first season usually is a bit faster due covid (less games and transfer activity). After that it will get slower. Down to my experience the game doesn't slow down massively as further you go, but it does. With that CPU it might take some time, but FM isn't about speed

[Engin]

Hi,

The file named "recommendedsetupbyDaveincid.fmf` is not available.

How to find it?

EDIT: I had to login first

Edited June 19, 2021 by Engin
Question solved.

[mouli]

Really nice thread Daveincid.

I wanted to ask, I am a mid table team in Ligue 1 France and I wish to scout, analyse and sign players from mediocre leagues in Europe ( Norway, Belgium, Russia etc.). How would you recommend setting up these countries so I can scout their players, look at their stats and sign them?

[Daveincid]

vor 2 Minuten schrieb mouli:

Really nice thread Daveincid.

I wanted to ask, I am a mid table team in Ligue 1 France and I wish to scout, analyse and sign players from mediocre leagues in Europe ( Norway, Belgium, Russia etc.). How would you recommend setting up these countries so I can scout their players, look at their stats and sign them?

Thank you mouli,

If you want to look at their stats I would set the top-league as playable and even consider simulating them on full detail. Stats will be more accurate this way.

Cheers

Daveincid

[mouli]

18 minutes ago, Daveincid said:

Thank you mouli,

If you want to look at their stats I would set the top-league as playable and even consider simulating them on full detail. Stats will be more accurate this way.

Cheers

Daveincid

appreciate the quick reply.

can I look at stats in view only leagues? and can i scout players and look at their attributes in view only leagues?

[Daveincid]

vor 24 Minuten schrieb mouli:

appreciate the quick reply.

can I look at stats in view only leagues? and can i scout players and look at their attributes in view only leagues?

yes you can, but the stats are much more random compared to a full simulated league.

[wazzaflow10]

@Daveincid

Does having youth leagues on full detail affect development? I know youth players develop mostly from training but if leagues are on the quick engine and matches are based on club reputation the players from larger teams would generally perform better. That would seem to be better for development right? For a fully immersive game (on the higher end of your guide)  is it required to have these games played on full detail too so that clubs stay balanced in development?

[Daveincid]

vor 6 Stunden schrieb wazzaflow10:

@Daveincid

Does having youth leagues on full detail affect development? I know youth players develop mostly from training but if leagues are on the quick engine and matches are based on club reputation the players from larger teams would generally perform better. That would seem to be better for development right? For a fully immersive game (on the higher end of your guide)  is it required to have these games played on full detail too so that clubs stay balanced in development?

It does have an effect, but it's much smaller than in senior-games.  As you said youth players mostly develop from training.  I wouldn't simulate youth-games on full detail, because the effect is too small compared to the additional processing time. It won't affect the balance overall. I would simulate international youth-competitions on full detail and the one in your league, that's all.

Cheers
Daveincid

[wazzaflow10]

5 hours ago, Daveincid said:

It does have an effect, but it's much smaller than in senior-games.  As you said youth players mostly develop from training.  I wouldn't simulate youth-games on full detail, because the effect is too small compared to the additional processing time. It won't affect the balance overall. I would simulate international youth-competitions on full detail and the one in your league, that's all.

Cheers
Daveincid

Thanks! 

[WelshMourinho]

I've got 73k player count with about 10 playable top divisions (and some second divisions), have I left myself a bit thin in terms of the balance of how many quality players will be generated?

Edited July 6, 2021 by WelshMourinho

[Daveincid]

Gerade eben schrieb WelshMourinho:

I've got 73k player count with about 10 playable top divisions (and some second divisions), have I left myself a bit thin in terms of the balance of how many quality players will be generaterd?

The balance isn't about quality, it's about how widely spread they are, worldwide. the player count in general isn't a indicator about how many quality players are generated. For example: If you load all players from oceania and north america you will have less quality players if you load a similar player amount with players from south america and europe. Both options aren't good for a balanced save-game. If you load all top-division players worldwide or all clubs from international competitions you will get quite a balanced setup.

 

Cheers

Daveincid

[John Joe O'toole]

Hi,

 

if you have detail level set to none on say premier league, should you still be able to see the goals of that match?

 

thanks 

[Daveincid]

vor 2 Minuten schrieb John Joe O'toole:

Hi,

 

if you have detail level set to none on say premier league, should you still be able to see the goals of that match?

 

thanks 

Not 100% sure but I don't think you can watch the goals.

Cheers

Daveincid

[craiglowerson1984]

Hi Dave, 

 

Could you advise on a decent world set up for this spec laptop. ( Just wanting to travel the world with a rule of Maximum 3 years at a club and 1 National Tournament if a national team)

AMD A10-7300 Radeon R6, 4C+6G, 1.90GHz, 8GB ( Says only 6.95GB Useable, no idea why I'm not that tech savvy) 

Cheers in advance fella

[Daveincid]

vor 4 Stunden schrieb craiglowerson1984:

Hi Dave, 

 

Could you advise on a decent world set up for this spec laptop. ( Just wanting to travel the world with a rule of Maximum 3 years at a club and 1 National Tournament if a national team)

AMD A10-7300 Radeon R6, 4C+6G, 1.90GHz, 8GB ( Says only 6.95GB Useable, no idea why I'm not that tech savvy) 

Cheers in advance fella

Hi Craig,

Well...as much as your patience is capable of. It's on the lower end of the scale. Maybe worth loading only the league you are managing as playable and switch it when you want to go to the next Nation.

Cheers
Daveincid

[kshkong97]

Hi Daveincid! Love your work, could you please advise a setup for me! Thank you so much!

Plans:

Will only be managing primarily in the English Premier League. Will be managing a Tier 10 or Tier 6(Chester/Dulwich Hamlet) club and goal will be to win the Champions League. 

Would still love to have as many nations as playable as possible, however would prefer only those nations that would in one way or another contribute/affect the english league/champions league.

Specs

CPU - AMD Ryzen 7 2700x (8 core 8 threads)

Ram - 24GB 2400mhz

GPU - GTX 1080
 

Thank so much dave!

Edited July 9, 2021 by kshkong97

[Daveincid]

vor 2 Minuten schrieb kshkong97:

Hi Daveincid! Love your work, could you please advise a setup for me! Thank you so much!

Plans:

Will only be managing primarily in the English Premier League. Will be managing a Tier 10 or Tier 6(Chester/Dulwich Hamlet) club and goal will be to win the Champions League. 

Would still love to have as many nations as playable as possible, however would prefer only those nations that would in one way or another contribute/affect the english league/champions league.

Specs

CPU - AMD Ryzen 7 2700x (8 core 8 threads)

Ram - 24GB 2400mhz

GPU - GTX 1080
 

Thank so much dave!

Thank you kshkong97

I would go by this: (and include all Nations of Great Britain as playable too)
 

- Loading top 20 nations playable, all the others leagues view-only, international games, games from National-Teams and the games in your league simulated in full detail, with small/medium/big db:

This is the start of a balanced world for longer saves. It depends how many playable leagues your system can run at a decent speed. For some it's 15 nations for some 30.

[kshkong97]

1 minute ago, Daveincid said:

Thank you kshkong97

I would go by this: (and include all Nations of Great Britain as playable too)
 

- Loading top 20 nations playable, all the others leagues view-only, international games, games from National-Teams and the games in your league simulated in full detail, with small/medium/big db:

This is the start of a balanced world for longer saves. It depends how many playable leagues your system can run at a decent speed. For some it's 15 nations for some 30.

Thanks for the advise! Is there a difference in transfers or anything at all if you have a nation in view-only? I heard that the only purpose of having it in view-only is that you get to view the matches statistics thats all.

 

Also! Would you recommend having any advanced db setup (Such as having all players in national teams loaded in England) for example if i were to have 20 nations playable?

 

Thanks again!

[Daveincid]

Gerade eben schrieb kshkong97:

s there a difference in transfers or anything at all if you have a nation in view-only?

there is less transfer-activity because after some time, there won't be enough staff-members anymore. This is why I recommend at least the Top 20 Nations as playable, to hold the balance.  It's still much better as to not load the Nation at all. 
 

 

vor 1 Minute schrieb kshkong97:

Would you recommend having any advanced db setup (Such as having all players in national teams loaded in England) for example if i were to have 20 nations playable?

I recommend using the advanced db setup as much as possible. Simply load all players from top-division-clubs worldwide and those with national reputation.

 

[kshkong97]

Sorry, what i meant is whether there's a difference if you don't load a nation vs loading it in view-only. 

Thanks so much for your quick responses!