The Realism Thread

[Brother Ben]

For those here who used to frequent the lowerleaguemanager.xyz forum I've managed to get the domain back and restore the main site but the forums are gone unfortunately.

What is there though will be there indefinitely for prosperity though as I've put the payment on auto renew.

Can't see any new stuff going on though as the9llamas is my priority for the time being

[Soulfusion]

1 hour ago, Brother Ben said:

Tough luck there SF. You going to stick around or move on?

I will honour the existing contract with Leamington and work to restore their fortunes. Will be a tricky pre-season as I attempt to balance reduced budgets, offload under performing players and attempt to convince players that want to leave whom I want to retain to give me another season. 

[Junkhead]

After missing FM23, a weird 6 months, with a day off and finally getting my hands on the additional leagues/mods I was after for FM24, it's time....

[\'Appy \'Ammer]

3 hours ago, Junkhead said:

After missing FM23, a weird 6 months, with a day off and finally getting my hands on the additional leagues/mods I was after for FM24, it's time....

Well?.... Did you press Start Game or Go Back?? 😉

[Junkhead]

8 minutes ago, \'Appy \'Ammer said:

Well?.... Did you press Start Game or Go Back?? 😉

Unfortunately for level 9 club Hucknall Town, I pressed Start Game.

[bigmattb28]

4 hours ago, Junkhead said:

After missing FM23, a weird 6 months, with a day off and finally getting my hands on the additional leagues/mods I was after for FM24, it's time....

205 leagues?!? Do you have a Nasa style set up to play the game at that size?

[Junkhead]

Nah, just lots of patience - worth it for the active world and possibilities

[oche balboa]

On 14/12/2023 at 15:31, Junkhead said:

Nah, just lots of patience - worth it for the active world and possibilities

Would love to know all the leagues you are running 

[Junkhead]

2 hours ago, oche balboa said:

Would love to know all the leagues you are running 

In the pub (obviously), but will share later

[Junkhead]

@oche balboa

So after deciding to start a little higher up, I've ditched three of the leagues (but none of the countries);

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

[Spallo]

vor 16 Stunden schrieb Junkhead:

So after deciding to start a little higher up, I've ditched three of the leagues (but none of the countries)

So it is not just me  I will wait till Daveincids new Update in January and go with an even bigger setup to do the pentagon-challenge. Rules are:

1. Europe top 18 nations till tier 4 (except England till tier 6). Top 19-36 till tier 3. bottom third nations till tier 2.

2. South America all nations till tier 3 if available. CONCACAF, Africa, ASIA top 10 Nations till tier 2 and 11-20 tier one.

3. Not sure about the custom database-setting yet (suggestions?)

4. Playing with the Mustermann-iconic skin and Realismpack.

5. Obviously start unemployed without any badges and experience.

My wife and five kids will surely love my dedication, when I tell them on dinner about my football-universe  I am so lucky, that I have a job that pays without much work 

[oche balboa]

On 19/12/2023 at 19:06, Junkhead said:

@oche balboa

So after deciding to start a little higher up, I've ditched three of the leagues (but none of the countries);

  Hide contents

 

 

 

 

Thanks for this. Great range of Leagues 

[bigmattb28]

On 20/12/2023 at 11:46, Spallo said:

So it is not just me  I will wait till Daveincids new Update in January and go with an even bigger setup to do the pentagon-challenge. Rules are:

1. Europe top 18 nations till tier 4 (except England till tier 6). Top 19-36 till tier 3. bottom third nations till tier 2.

2. South America all nations till tier 3 if available. CONCACAF, Africa, ASIA top 10 Nations till tier 2 and 11-20 tier one.

3. Not sure about the custom database-setting yet (suggestions?)

4. Playing with the Mustermann-iconic skin and Realismpack.

5. Obviously start unemployed without any badges and experience.

My wife and five kids will surely love my dedication, when I tell them on dinner about my football-universe  I am so lucky, that I have a job that pays without much work 

One day, I don't know when that will be, but one day mark my words I will have a computer set up strong enough to run this many leagues for a long term save!

[Spallo]

Patience is the name of the game my friend 

Although I have a pretty good PC-setup the loading times are a considerable factor still. 

I tested a bit yesterday, how you could make them a bit less, because I had an idea. I am almost on the verge to give the recommendation to start the save in FM23 and port it to FM24. My test was:

1. The setup which was mentioned above in FM24 with the Realismpack and several different league-Updates (Workshop and extern) against a setup from FM23 with the complete Realismpack+Around the Globe Megapack and some other league-updates+Updated transfers/Promotion etc. (CONCACAF is not part of Around the Globe weirdly). Then port the save to FM24 and run it.

2. The second setup had 30 more leagues, but the Realismpack has performance updates for around 60 leagues and some other minor performance-improvements. Although it has 30 leagues more than the first setup with the current mods available (and imo save to use) it runs quite a bit faster. First setup with around 240 leagues and 350.000 database was about 9 min per week on my PC (which is still completely acceptable for me). But the second and bigger setup has just 7min loading time per week. Tested over a three month period unemployed-holiday. 

3. I dont know about stability issues and such, but I am tempted to just go with the second setup instead of waiting for further mods. Its quite a bit faster and the Around the globe pack is imo better than any other available pack, but the modder seems to have stopped developing for fm24. The Realismpack is also more complete to this date and with the update-files you have pretty much all relevant 23/24 informations in the database.

Maybe this is of use for other users who want to try such a global-scale setup. I´d say everything under 12 min loading time per week at the start of a career is feasable in the long term, bit this is obviously completly subjective 

If you have questions about how to set this up - PM me!

Edited December 22, 2023 by Spallo

[dannyo666]

On 22/12/2023 at 13:32, Spallo said:

Patience is the name of the game my friend 

Although I have a pretty good PC-setup the loading times are a considerable factor still. 

I tested a bit yesterday, how you could make them a bit less, because I had an idea. I am almost on the verge to give the recommendation to start the save in FM23 and port it to FM24. My test was:

1. The setup which was mentioned above in FM24 with the Realismpack and several different league-Updates (Workshop and extern) against a setup from FM23 with the complete Realismpack+Around the Globe Megapack and some other league-updates+Updated transfers/Promotion etc. (CONCACAF is not part of Around the Globe weirdly). Then port the save to FM24 and run it.

2. The second setup had 30 more leagues, but the Realismpack has performance updates for around 60 leagues and some other minor performance-improvements. Although it has 30 leagues more than the first setup with the current mods available (and imo save to use) it runs quite a bit faster. First setup with around 240 leagues and 350.000 database was about 9 min per week on my PC (which is still completely acceptable for me). But the second and bigger setup has just 7min loading time per week. Tested over a three month period unemployed-holiday. 

3. I dont know about stability issues and such, but I am tempted to just go with the second setup instead of waiting for further mods. Its quite a bit faster and the Around the globe pack is imo better than any other available pack, but the modder seems to have stopped developing for fm24. The Realismpack is also more complete to this date and with the update-files you have pretty much all relevant 23/24 informations in the database.

Maybe this is of use for other users who want to try such a global-scale setup. I´d say everything under 12 min loading time per week at the start of a career is feasable in the long term, bit this is obviously completly subjective 

If you have questions about how to set this up - PM me!

If porting from 23 to 24 with the realism mod the game gets very wonky/confused ive found....i had to start a new save-Maybe it was just me but probably best to dm Daveincid on this before embarking on your journey-Good luck sir!

[f1dave]

On 14/12/2023 at 23:31, Junkhead said:

Nah, just lots of patience - worth it for the active world and possibilities

My Aussie study is hot enough this summer - if I loaded that, I'm fairly sure my PC would melt through the floor!

[phnompenhandy]

Dave's got a realism pack for FM24 and the Around the World pack for FM24 is pretty much done.  There's no need to start a save in FM23 now.

[Soulfusion]

FM23

Leamington F. C. 

Season 2025/6

"The Brakes"

During May I was called to a Board Meeting to discuss my first four months in post. The Chairman was unhappy that I had not been able to guide the club away from relegation but was willing to allow me to give me more time to cement my position as Manager. Season expectations for 2025/6 was discussed and I was advised that promotion by winning the league was a minimum requirement. No pressure whatsoever then; although the media prediction reinforced the view that Leamington were favorites' for promotion. The promotion campaign was to be achieved with a small transfer budget of £12K and a wage budget of £3,778 p/w (a 10% reduction), understandable though as the finances had become insecure following two relegations and unlikely to improve in the 8th tier of the football pyramid.

My time at Leamington led me to believe that while we were defensively sound up front we lacked creativity and struggled to convert chances that did come our way. The transfer budget was converted to the wage budget and I was able to keep hold of most of the squad; loan players returned to their parent club and two young ST's were released. Another young winger left to join the Baggies U21's. Evesham were raided for an Attacking Mid, "Ding Dong", and a ST. A third arrival from Evesham, a DC/DM would arrive much later in the season. Another ST, "Weedy" arrived from Harborough and "Major" a WB/M/AM RL secured a contract after arriving on trial. 

A full pre-season with Leamington helped build confidence with the remaining squad and friendly results were encouraging with 3 wins and a draw (against Wigan Ath. U21's). The season started unconvincingly with a win, draw and loss in our first three league matches and an early exit from the FA Cup. A defeat by local rivals Racing Club Warwick in the qualifying round of the FA Trophy could have been damaging but we followed this up with four wins and a draw in the League to climb to 3rd. Two defeats followed before another six match unbeaten run (four wins) saw me shortlisted for Manager of the Month in November and us rise to the top of Southern League Div. 1 Central. At this point it would be nice to report that Leamington cruised to the title with games to spare. However the reality is we did not. Two more defeats against title rivals and another six match unbeaten run in January kept us firmly in sight of the top but from February onwards we became consistently inconsistent. With four league matches remaining the table was tight although the title was still achievable.

. 

 Finally we found some consistency, four successive draws, and almost missed out on a Play-Off spot scoring a late equaliser in our final match against Histon!

In our Play-off semi-final we were insipid and lost 2-0 to Northwood with a whimper.

A season therefore of what might have been. My player of the season was "Old Man River", a 34 year old Centre-Back passed his best. A young ST, "Twisted Wheel", who I almost released at the end of last season but converted to a Right Winger  bagged 16 league goals whilst 12 assists came from "Bus" a right wing back come winger who was the only member of the squad to start all our matches. A special mention to "Captain Jack" who announced he is to retire in May after making a record 424 appearances (70 goals) in two spells with Leamington.

As the season ends I am still to discuss a new contract with the board despite my existing one ending in June. They are talking about next seasons expectations and budgets so I may yet get another crack with Leamington.

Our U18's had a formidable season finishing 2nd in their league.

Previous Club Watch

Shirehampton finished 16th in the Western League Premier Division and were relegated back to Level 10.

[asdfasdfsdfsaddt]

I got sacked which is pretty realistic. I've been fired before in the IRL world.

[Tikka Mezzala]

I feel absolutely gutted to have had such a good season and still miss out on the title. To win 27 out of 30 games, with a team that was expected to finish middle of the pack, and end up empty handed! 

No words. 

[Nonno87]

Hi, lads!

I'm still on fm22 as I seldom find the time to play continuously and my sole save game always spans decades, making me skip one or two fm-versions.

Maybe someone could tell me if player interactions improved in the newest fm, as I'm still running into situations that I just can't get my head around.

For context:

• I'm with Real Madrid at the moment / 2040.
• Since my arrival (almost six years ago) we consecutivly won 5x the First Division,  4x the Cup, and reached 4 Champions League Finals (winning 3).
• Before that, the club struggled for 8 years to win much of anything (1x CL and 2x Cup)
• One and a half years ago I promoted my mid-talented Youth-Goalkeeper (now 20, born and raised in Madrid) to be my new Number 1.
• In the January Transfer Window, Liverpool wanted to sign him (still three years of contract, and a realease clause double his current value).
• After discussing the terms (I always sell players if the money is right) I declined as it was just under his currently presumed value/40MM.
• Now the player is unhappy; as in his words he wanted 'to join a bigger Club'.

Now I'd like to know; how can there be a bigger club than mine?

• The Game tells me that the Spanish First Division is as prestigious as the other three major flights (Premier League, Bundesliga, Serie A).
• My Club is world renowned and ranks first in all of Europe - Liverpool is ranked 8th.
• Liverpool only won two National Cups in the last 20years.
• We are well on our way to expand our title collection (rolling through the CL-Group-Stage and being 12 points in front in the League).
• Dude is a fan of his hometown as well as me, and Liverpool already have an elite Goalkeeper (current Number 1 of the Italian National Squad, 22years old), who won't be pushed off of his throne as my guy isn't and probably won't ever be as good as him.

Is it just the UEFA 5-year Coefficient Ranking, where the Premier League and Bundesliga are ranked higher at the moment'?

I love the game, but little things like that just break the immersion for me as I'm trying to play it as realistic as possible. (Although I doubt that it's realistic, that a German Nobody with no skills, no coaching license or player past makes his way from Germany's 7th tier to Real Madrid - pushing Tübingen into the Oberliga, BFC from the Reginalliga into the Bundesliga, and Freiburg to runners-up and a Europa League-Title - so, just wondering). In fm20 it felt even more exagregatted when I made 1. FC Köln the new European Kings with more than a dozen CL-, Bundesliga-, and Cup-Titles as well as richest club and a 90k-Stadium - with players still calling for bigger clubs as if we were still playing in the Second Division fighting for scraps.

Cheers 

[pompeyfan]

On 09/03/2024 at 12:04, Nonno87 said:

Hi, lads!

I'm still on fm22 as I seldom find the time to play continuously and my sole save game always spans decades, making me skip one or two fm-versions.

[b]Maybe someone could tell me if player interactions improved in the newest fm[/b], as I'm still running into situations that I just can't get my head around.

For context:

• I'm with Real Madrid at the moment / 2040.
• Since my arrival (almost six years ago) we consecutivly won 5x the First Division,  4x the Cup, and reached 4 Champions League Finals (winning 3).
• Before that, the club struggled for 8 years to win much of anything (1x CL and 2x Cup)
• One and a half years ago I promoted my mid-talented Youth-Goalkeeper (now 20, born and raised in Madrid) to be my new Number 1.
• In the January Transfer Window, Liverpool wanted to sign him (still three years of contract, and a realease clause double his current value).
• After discussing the terms (I always sell players if the money is right) I declined as it was just under his currently presumed value/40MM.
• Now the player is unhappy; as in his words he wanted 'to join a bigger Club'.

Now I'd like to know; how can there be a bigger club than mine?

• The Game tells me that the Spanish First Division is as prestigious as the other three major flights (Premier League, Bundesliga, Serie A).
• My Club is world renowned and ranks first in all of Europe - Liverpool is ranked 8th.
• Liverpool only won two National Cups in the last 20years.
• We are well on our way to expand our title collection (rolling through the CL-Group-Stage and being 12 points in front in the League).
• Dude is a fan of his hometown as well as me, and Liverpool already have an elite Goalkeeper (current Number 1 of the Italian National Squad, 22years old), who won't be pushed off of his throne as my guy isn't and probably won't ever be as good as him.

Is it just the UEFA 5-year Coefficient Ranking, where the Premier League and Bundesliga are ranked higher at the moment'?

I love the game, but little things like that just break the immersion for me as I'm trying to play it as realistic as possible. (Although I doubt that it's realistic, that a German Nobody with no skills, no coaching license or player past makes his way from Germany's 7th tier to Real Madrid - pushing Tübingen into the Oberliga, BFC from the Reginalliga into the Bundesliga, and Freiburg to runners-up and a Europa League-Title - so, just wondering). In fm20 it felt even more exagregatted when I made 1. FC Köln the new European Kings with more than a dozen CL-, Bundesliga-, and Cup-Titles as well as richest club and a 90k-Stadium - with players still calling for bigger clubs as if we were still playing in the Second Division fighting for scraps.

Cheers 

BiB I'd say it was a lot worse and these issues happen far to frequently, young players complaining about lack of matches just after signing, then the rest of the squad complaining about how the player is being treated and they should play and its my job at stake (after winning 4 league titles in a row and 2 Cl's I'm sure my job wouldn't be at stake for not playing a young player) if I don't, then when one of the players who backed them is dropped to play them he up complains about not playing and the whole circle starts again.  2* young players who have just signed as squad players or less playing time reckoning they should be picked for the CL squad ahead of 4* & 5* established international players, reckoning they're as good. Every time a player complains about something or wants  a new contract they're always angry etc right at the start, never conciliatory which is how a normal person would first approach a boss rather than get their back up straight away especially when asking for a new contract.  There is rarely the option to say to a player exactly why they haven't been playing. Players complaining about lack of game time 2 or 3 matches into a new season, players complaining about not playing when they've been injured or dropped due to tiredness and the squad complaining on their behalf, and every time there is a complaint it is a no win situation.  Players demanding new contracts 1 or 2 matches before the end of a season or just before a cup final or title decider and upsetting the squad when IRL they'd wait till after the season was over.  Players asking to leave just after a transfer window closes then complaining about lack of effort to sell them.

[dannyo666]

What are folks thoughts on the best version of FM since the Steller work of the realism mod by @Daveincid?...where in game graphics do not count and FM24 also does not count...

[Brother Ben]

4 hours ago, dannyo666 said:

What are folks thoughts on the best version of FM since the Steller work of the realism mod by @Daveincid?...where in game graphics do not count and FM24 also does not count...

I always think of FM as an RPG so the best version of the game for me is where my save has the best story or drama.  

[dannyo666]

14 hours ago, Brother Ben said:

I always think of FM as an RPG so the best version of the game for me is where my save has the best story or drama.  

Yeah im the same...Im currently playing 15 and have an  amazing save- i just dont want that to get stale so looking at a new  career save to bounce between,i thought 22 was very good but thats just my opinion-im open to be corrected....i didnt get much time on 21....

[RandomGuy.]

20 hours ago, dannyo666 said:

What are folks thoughts on the best version of FM since the Steller work of the realism mod by @Daveincid?...where in game graphics do not count and FM24 also does not count...

Im enjoying it. Simmed a year then took charge of Chelsea.

Season 1 Man City strolled the league and im into December of season 2 and theyve lost just twice. They signed Nico Williams from Bilbao and playing him. Arsenal and Liverpool are really strong too and are spending money. Liverpools main signing been Crisante.

Players seem less moany, but the away game recovery seems harder. I travelled away to Qarabag and then a home game 3 days later and had to fully rotate due to it.

Even Tel and Moukoko, who can be neglected by AI managers this year, are playing regularly and developing 

[Daveincid]

vor 1 Minute schrieb RandomGuy.:

Im enjoying it. Simmed a year then took charge of Chelsea.

Season 1 Man City strolled the league and im into December of season 2 and theyve lost just twice. They signed Nico Williams from Bilbao and playing him. Arsenal and Liverpool are really strong too and are spending money. Liverpools main signing been Crisante.

Players seem less moany, but the away game recovery seems harder. I travelled away to Qarabag and then a home game 3 days later and had to fully rotate due to it.

Even Tel and Moukoko, who can be neglected by AI managers this year, are playing regularly and developing 

That's how it should be  Happy to see some feedback like this

[dannyo666]

24 minutes ago, RandomGuy. said:

Im enjoying it. Simmed a year then took charge of Chelsea.

Season 1 Man City strolled the league and im into December of season 2 and theyve lost just twice. They signed Nico Williams from Bilbao and playing him. Arsenal and Liverpool are really strong too and are spending money. Liverpools main signing been Crisante.

Players seem less moany, but the away game recovery seems harder. I travelled away to Qarabag and then a home game 3 days later and had to fully rotate due to it.

Even Tel and Moukoko, who can be neglected by AI managers this year, are playing regularly and developing 

You playing 24?

[RandomGuy.]

6 hours ago, Daveincid said:

That's how it should be  Happy to see some feedback like this

Honestly just thank you for it, its reignited my love for the game.

5 hours ago, dannyo666 said:

You playing 24?

Yeah.

[Tikka Mezzala]

On 08/03/2024 at 18:10, Tikka Mezzala said:

I feel absolutely gutted to have had such a good season and still miss out on the title. To win 27 out of 30 games, with a team that was expected to finish middle of the pack, and end up empty handed! 

No words. 

I have to be experiencing some kind of curse. I don't even think I really ought to change the tactics. We won 27 out of 30 in season one, and then 25 out of 30 in season two. Those are title winning numbers most of the time. 

We ended up losing 2-5 at home to Strathaven three games from the end. We were leading 1-0 until we went down to 10 men early in the game, and then chaos ensued. So had we been better disciplined and not got a player sent off in that game, we could very well have gotten the required result. But that moment changed the course of history. Our only league loss of the season, too. 

I've never known anything like this. 

 

[Nonno87]

Am 10.3.2024 um 21:20 schrieb pompeyfan:

BiB I'd say it was a lot worse and these issues happen far to frequently, young players complaining about lack of matches just after signing, then the rest of the squad complaining about how the player is being treated and they should play and its my job at stake (after winning 4 league titles in a row and 2 Cl's I'm sure my job wouldn't be at stake for not playing a young player) if I don't, then when one of the players who backed them is dropped to play them he up complains about not playing and the whole circle starts again.  2* young players who have just signed as squad players or less playing time reckoning they should be picked for the CL squad ahead of 4* & 5* established international players, reckoning they're as good. Every time a player complains about something or wants  a new contract they're always angry etc right at the start, never conciliatory which is how a normal person would first approach a boss rather than get their back up straight away especially when asking for a new contract.  There is rarely the option to say to a player exactly why they haven't been playing. Players complaining about lack of game time 2 or 3 matches into a new season, players complaining about not playing when they've been injured or dropped due to tiredness and the squad complaining on their behalf, and every time there is a complaint it is a no win situation.  Players demanding new contracts 1 or 2 matches before the end of a season or just before a cup final or title decider and upsetting the squad when IRL they'd wait till after the season was over.  Players asking to leave just after a transfer window closes then complaining about lack of effort to sell them.

Thanks for your reply!

And yeah, in my present save I thankfully seldom encountered the whole team (or at least a couple of players) complaining, because of some dude demanding playing time who clearly is miles away from getting into the squad on match day. I've had the 'a regular player demands more playing time', although he's starting in every important match and 75% of the matches, where we are favortites by a long shot - meaning 40+ games in around 60. It somehow resolved itself after a few seasons - maybe because I keep a closer look at their happiness; squad composition; winning titles; or me playing them predominantly in the league - I don't exactly know. All in all, most of the interactions and the options they include feel not as realistic as they might could be. And the complaining about matches, when it's just a couple weeks into the season is truly weird.

The 'wanting a new contract before having the decisive League-Games and Cup-Finals' occurs almost every year. Maybe it even is somewhat realistic, as the agent thinks 'we're playing a great season; my player's on a high, and the club surely wants to get the negotiations out of the way to not go into the deciders with a grumpy player/squad'. It's annoying, but I can cope with it. It's more off putting when an agent knocks at my door when their player had his first alright game, which in their minds should net them a better contract - after just having signed a new contract at the beginning of the season. But it doesn't happen as frequently to me to be much of a nuisance.

Other than some of the main player interactions/demands as well as them getting angry way too easily, there are only a few things that tick me off a little (all still fm22 and my current save at RM):
- Youth intake: The worst YPs are fine with a youth-contract (netting them a few thousand a year); the best demand between 100-300k p. a.; and the average ones often call up a million and more. I guess the bad ones know that they are bad; the good ones know that they'll get a big contract soon enough; and the average ones, well... think that this is the first and might be the last time that they can get some good money from one of the biggest clubs?!
- Competition: I think it got a lot better, but I still often think 'what the hell are they doing over there' when it comes to transfers and their squad composition. But I guess it is fine, as I find myself thinking the same when watching some of the real clubs and how they behave.
- Loans/Reserves: Every year I've got a bunch of great youth players in my U19 and second team(which is also a top-team in the Second Division). Some demand loans, and some I'd like to loan. Most of the time I ask for a little compensation; often followed by demanding nothing at all.  But 9 out of ten times only clubs lower than my reserve squad come knocking - although it's mainly about players just inches away from playing a role in my squad. (When it comes to reserves as a whole, there are/were a lot of things that don't work as they should, imo. But that might be a discussion for another time.)

I love the fm-series. After playing Anstoss aka On the Ball as well as Bundesliga Manager in the early 90s(which were both great, fun series), I never thought of being able to play a Football/Manager-Sim that sophisticated. So having just a handful of minor gripes is more than fine with me.

Cheers and happy Easter

[twattyatkins]

Hey guys, is anyone on this thread still playing the LLM way?

My laptop died a few months ago so haven't played in a while, but finally got a new one last week.

I couldn't decide where to start my journey, so I wandered over to the LLAMAs website and asked the trusted old grey llama to point me in the right direction.

To all Warrington fans, in advance I'm deeply sorry for what's to come..........