Football Manager 2022 Headline Features - In The Studio Part 2

[Pezamaria]

I agree with pretty much all of what’s already been said above.

if the staff advice itself has been improved and is worth listening to then the new meetings will be great I recon, but I’m worried it will just be existing stuff regurgitated.

One cool thing it sounds like it’s happening is agents being more proactive. Years ago (maybe 2005) I had a network game with a friend and his top scorer’s agent sent me a video of his performances that season to try and entice me to buy him. Never seen it since but I’ll always remember it and would love to see more like that!

[rdbayly]

The AI bidding logic is so flawed, the irony is that I usually holiday through deadline day. I can’t stomach having to reject 28 identical bids from Chelsea for my left winger.

For the love of God, Read the room guys. If I’m crawling through a desert, I’m not going to be interested in buying a bottle of sand from Fabrizio Romano.

How all of this stuff is presented on the UI is inconsequential compared to the AI driving it.

[Platinum]

Firstly I'll say that I praised the first video as it had some real tangible changes that will improve the game for nearly everyone.

With the features announced in this second video, if the AI is better at transfer decisions and staff feedback is better then these will be good additions. But unfortunately the video only showed staff feedback that we've seen for a few years and didn't showcase any better AI (aside from agents offering more players) and if this is in fact the case then these changes essentially amount to UX/UI changes which will be disappointing as we aren't getting any information that we didn't previously get.

I think getting all staff feedback in one meeting and a slightly better transfer deadline experience are changes that are positive, but to be announced as headline features in the way that they are is disappointing. The Teaser Trailer said "Work closer with backroom staff" but I really struggle to see how this is working closer with them if we are getting the exact same information we previously have.

Again the features announced in the first video are solid and should mean its the best FM we've had (assuming the game doesn't have massive bugs at launch such as with FM21) but if the features in part 2 weren't announced as "Headline features" and rather were just announced as "UI changes" I think they would have got a much much better reception. If in fact they are much more than UI changes then unfortunately the video didn't do a good job of making that clear.

 

[davehanson]

1 hour ago, WelshMourinho said:

The game isn't out for another month so I imagine they have plenty more to show us, even if this specific episode wasn't great.

The Beta is out in 2.5 weeks (approx). I don't think they release any new snippets of info after the Beta has dropped, if memory serves me correct. I would imagine we will get 2 more of these 'In the Studio' videos. I can't see anything massive coming out of the rest of the info.

Disappointing in one way. There is so much to like about FM, so much to dislike. I liked the match engine in FM21, thought it was much better than in FM20, so kind of hope they haven't changed it too much. However, for me, the AI needs a big improvement. The set-pieces need a total re-vamp. They are so outdated, as others have said hopefully they allow us a set-piece coach.

I am actually enjoying a Forest save in FM21 at the moment, so will likely stick with this until Christmas, just don't see the need to change at the moment, there isn't enough (so far) of a difference in the two. 

[Powermonger]

Was expecting a more detailed look at the Data Hub, this seems the most significant change for this release, hopefully this gets covered more in another video.

[Daniel Evensen]

I'm willing to give both the staff meetings and revamped deadline day a play or two before passing judgment.  That said, the staff meeting feature didn't impress me much, and deadline day looked like a reformatted version of what we already have.  Pretty underwhelming overall.

The staff meeting element was particularly underwhelming, actually.  I noticed that they showed very few screenshots of what that meeting looks like.  Based on what I could see, it looked just like the weekly advice emails that I mostly ignore anyway.

I might feel differently if I could disagree with certain pieces of advice, tell my coach that I disagree and why, and have him no longer offer me such ridiculous suggestions.  Then again, I can't even get my AssMan to stop recommending that I take off a star player in a key game because he is one yellow card away from suspension.  If you want to talk about UI improvements, why not start there?

[Powermonger]

33 minutes ago, Daniel Evensen said:

I'm willing to give both the staff meetings and revamped deadline day a play or two before passing judgment.  That said, the staff meeting feature didn't impress me much, and deadline day looked like a reformatted version of what we already have.  Pretty underwhelming overall.

The staff meeting element was particularly underwhelming, actually.  I noticed that they showed very few screenshots of what that meeting looks like.  Based on what I could see, it looked just like the weekly advice emails that I mostly ignore anyway.

I might feel differently if I could disagree with certain pieces of advice, tell my coach that I disagree and why, and have him no longer offer me such ridiculous suggestions.  Then again, I can't even get my AssMan to stop recommending that I take off a star player in a key game because he is one yellow card away from suspension.  If you want to talk about UI improvements, why not start there?

Yeah instead of an email it is an extra dialog panel which can set delivery for weekly, monthly, yearly or never from the looks of it. Seems to be an activity that will slow down play further.

I sort of dislike the Inbox being the focus of attention still. I would much rather things that need attention pop up as an indicator on the menu area it is related to (like how transfers get flagged) and the information required accessed in that particular module.

Edited October 8, 2021 by Powermonger

[alian62]

Would love to see a headline feature on the Pre - Editor and how it has evolved and new features for this year . A lot of players use the editor yet every year so little is said about it . We all love to make our own leagues and see how they are implemented into the game . Creating kits would be another great headline feature to look at as well . Thousands of kit makers world wide yet again nothing is said about it but its a major investment many of us do especially when we are making fantasy leagues or adding leagues to the ones already in the game . 

[rafaelbenitez]

Really enjoyed the first video as the new data hub, animations, pressing triggers and WCB do genuinely feel like headline features and have the potential to alter the way the game is played.

This one was underwhelming because it just feels like a couple of additions that have the potential to get tedious before being skipped like the recruitment meeting from last year.

[Junkhead]

I am usually generally positive about the game, but got to say I'm actually on the fence about if to buy this year. Not only does it seem like a lot of the new stuff has moved from elsewhere, but as a strict LLM, I am doubtful I will see some of the improvements early on.

The data hub is the new addition that I find most appealing, but the chances of me having an analyst for the first 4-5 seasons of my save are slim. 

Would really like to see some of the match engine in action, but at the same time I'm confused as to why it has only been glossed over whereas some lesser features have had 10 minutes. Maybe there is another video on the way.

[DP]

Yay, everyone loves more meetings!

Can’t help but feel SI haven’t really read the room on this one. 

Being continually told who should be taking penalties is not going to be fun. 

Edited October 8, 2021 by DP

[Vali184]

This should've been part 1 because it's less exciting...

[andu1]

Someone from SI must really like long boring meetings. But i like the skin, the dark tone is so much better than the all purple of FM 21.

Since there aren't many groundbreaking additions this year by the looks of it, i hope they spent more time on the AI squad building, tactical decision and tactical flexibility.

[Johnny Ace]

1 hour ago, Junkhead said:

Would really like to see some of the match engine in action, but at the same time I'm confused as to why it has only been glossed over whereas some lesser features have had 10 minutes. Maybe there is another video on the way.

I guess they'll do another match engine video with Dick & Dom fumbling around with the presets tactics

Thing is, we'll see the beta ME & get all excited then within a couple of weeks it'll be patched & completely different 

One thing in the first video was the player movement, they look like they turn a lot snappier than in FM20, where at times it looked like the players where playing with a cast on their foot

[RiverReveal666]

An interesting video. Maybe shouldn't have been called headline features part 2 though, as it sets an expectation. 

I can't remember any clamour for an improved deadline day and yet more staff meetings like there was with improved pressing ect. Unless the backroom staff AI has been vastly improved. Which if it has been improved wasn't talked about in the same way, nor demonstrated like the new pressing system was.

I saw enough in the first video to look forward to release.

 

[XaW]

32 minutes ago, Johnny Ace said:

One thing in the first video was the player movement, they look like they turn a lot snappier than in FM20, where at times it looked like the players where playing with a cast on their foot

Nic Madden talked about how the players are no longer on a "disc" and instead actually touch the pitch and the ball now, so the flow should be more natural. I'm looking forward to the new version even if there is not that many groundbreaking features, at least yet. As usual I guess there are a million little tweaks I'll be more excited about than the headliners anyway.

I'm much more looking forward to seeing how things have changed in squad management and youth development (both for users and AI) to be honest. As those are more things I personally care about since I usually run long term saves and there are improvements possible in that regards.

[FedAt]

10 часов назад, davehanson сказал:

I would imagine we will get 2 more of these 'In the Studio' videos.

I think the way in which the host ended the video suggests that there will be no more "in studio" videos.

[HUNT3R]

Just now, FedAt said:

I think the way in which the host ended the video suggests that there will be no more "in studio" videos.

Yeah, the OP in the first video thread mentions that it's part 1 of 2. There are only 2 parts.

[Johnny Ace]

4 minutes ago, XaW said:

Nic Madden talked about how the players are no longer on a "disc" and instead actually touch the pitch and the ball now, so the flow should be more natural. I'm looking forward to the new version even if there is not that many groundbreaking features, at least yet. As usual I guess there are a million little tweaks I'll be more excited about than the headliners anyway.

I'm much more looking forward to seeing how things have changed in squad management and youth development (both for users and AI) to be honest. As those are more things I personally care about since I usually run long term saves and there are improvements possible in that regards.

Absolutely, I could listen to Nic talk about the ME all day as that's what most interests me 

There will, Miles usually Tweets out loads of little changes during the buildup, there's still plenty left to come 

[duesouth]

I didn't enjoy this one anywhere near as much as part 1, it has to be said.

As many have said, the Deadline Day stuff isn't something I felt was a priority.  Again, as others have said, if I haven't finished my recruitment way before deadline day, then I've failed as a "manager".  Certainly, if I got 2 or 3 regular starters in on deadline day, it would be fairly deep into the season before my team cohesion was good, and for that reason most "managers"/users will get their business done as early as possible.  Perhaps it will flag up the odd player who suddenly becomes available that's too good to ignore - but for the most part, I think it'll be a bunch of button clicks for very little reward.  We need less button clicks, not more.

The staff meeting - I saw you can set the meetings to "Never" - pretty sure most will do this.  I know they are going for realism with the feature - but step one is to make the feedback from AI staff members even vaguely useful and then you can give us something like this.  I would much rather the scouting meetings were fixed so that they became useful, as at least I can see that they possibly could be in the game.

I'd decided a while ago that I wasn't going to pre-order - I didn't like FM20 at all and FM21, while much better, had too many bugs - particularly early in the life cycle.  I have to admit, after last week I was wavering as I loved the changes to pressing/stamina. However, my big concern is that the pre-release beta will come out - many users who download tactics will suddenly struggle and the FM22 feedback thread will have multiple meltdowns.  SI will react in the 2 week period - too short a period to make major ME changes and we'll have another FM20 ME (remember the pre-release beta of FM20 was too many one-on-ones - which was SI trying to say playing a high line will be punished - and the ME never recovered at any point).

So, I'll probably wait until after Christmas at the earliest and then try the demo.  If they get the pressing/stamina right, I'll buy it - if not, I'll pass.

Edited October 8, 2021 by duesouth

[Johnny Ace]

The part about agents offering players close to deadline day was pretty cool. Last night I had two lefts back's turn me down just before deadline day, I was in a bit of panic as it was a weak spot & I'd spent all summer looking for a new one to fit the tactic after being left rather thin in that area.

If agents had then started offering me left backs, it would've been really helpful. Now, it's who they offer is the thing. Are they going to offer me players beyond my budget without the attributes I'm looking for? Maybe, we'll see, I had a limited budget so offering me £3 million left backs that are snail slow would've been no good so I hope your requirements are picked up on. I picked up a guy for £24,000 off my shortlist in the end 

[andu1]

Curious if there will be a twitch stream from the devs like in the previous years. I liked those more than the features videos.

[Pezamaria]

2 minutes ago, andu1 said:

Curious if there will be a twitch stream from the devs like in the previous years. I liked those more than the features videos.

I saw someone ask this on Twitter and the FM response was “maybe 👀” so I think that’s a yes lol. I really enjoyed last years

[Johnny Ace]

7 minutes ago, andu1 said:

Curious if there will be a twitch stream from the devs like in the previous years. I liked those more than the features videos.

That could be next week if we're done with the headline feature videos

[duesouth]

Hopefully any Twitch stream would feature Nic Madden in a starring role.

[mhaffy]

1 hour ago, XaW said:

Nic Madden talked about how the players are no longer on a "disc" and instead actually touch the pitch and the ball now, so the flow should be more natural. I'm looking forward to the new version even if there is not that many groundbreaking features, at least yet. As usual I guess there are a million little tweaks I'll be more excited about than the headliners anyway.

I'm much more looking forward to seeing how things have changed in squad management and youth development (both for users and AI) to be honest. As those are more things I personally care about since I usually run long term saves and there are improvements possible in that regards.

100% agree with you re AI needing attention and improvement… squad building, transfer decisions, coach feedback on players etc etc… I tend to focus on one long term save and improvements to AI would be most welcome….

 

Edited October 8, 2021 by mhaffy

[Johnny Ace]

14 minutes ago, duesouth said:

Hopefully any Twitch stream would feature Nic Madden in a starring role.

Could easy just sit & watch him play while he talks about what's going on in the match engine 

[Rexel1892]

I have nothing against these features - they seem like nice additions, but it is underwhelming for me personally when I think of all the things which are due a revamp. It just doesn't feel like this announcement warranted its own video, especially after last week's excellent first instalment. 

I am glad that SI are looking at how we interact with our staff and making it more user friendly. Hopefully this is supported by better AI, more variation in ability, dynamic relationships. and distinctive personalities. 

[luka_zg]

A: Hey, let's put Fabrizio Romano in our promo video!

B: What for?

A: We'll have him talk about deadline day!

B: Ok...and?

A: And we'll sell it as a new super improved feature!

B: Oh..but wait, it is still boring, non essential stuff as before and no one really have any use of it.

A: Doesn't matter man, we have Fabrizio Romano and we'll make it a headline feature.

[TioPatinhax]

Sorry if this has been asked already, but will the Newcastle takeover be present in FM22?

[DarJ]

4 minutes ago, TioPatinhax said:

Sorry if this has been asked already, but will the Newcastle takeover be present in FM22?

Yes, it had to be done by Monday at most to make it into the game 

[TioPatinhax]

13 minutos atrás, DarJ disse:

Yes, it had to be done by Monday at most to make it into the game 

Thank you, i hope it will be there. And sorry to ask again, but are these people taking over Newcastle going to build “another” Man City at Newcastle, and is that what we should expect in the game?

[Lexis]

What the community asks for:

- Better AI both inside the match and in the long term career

- New graphics engine to not feel in the 2000 era, although I'd argue we had better looking games back then than this thing 21 years later.

- Better set piece editor

- Improved international management experience

What we get:

- Data Hub showing us the same data just prettified.

- New backroom staff talks, just like before but with different screens and information put together in a slightly different way.

We are literally paying for largely reskins of the same game year after year while you are ignoring the core things this game needs to make it better. It's not lack of backroom staff suggestions that we stop playing the game or not buy it in the first place. It's also not the previous stats screens not giving us enough stats. Do you really need more hints?

Edited October 8, 2021 by Lexis

[XaW]

14 minutes ago, Lexis said:

- Better AI both inside the match and in the long term career

- New graphics engine

Both of these things are (sort of) implemented and talked about in Part 1. Nic talks about a new animation engine specifically and improved player AI.

[Lexis]

9 minutes ago, XaW said:

Both of these things are (sort of) implemented and talked about in Part 1. Nic talks about a new animation engine specifically and improved player AI.

That is not a new graphics engine. It's a far cry from that. We keep patching the engine we got with FM10/11 or whatever. And truth be told, it's not better in all areas. 

Better AI both inside the match and in the long term career. Don't we hear that year after year? Is that not worth a revamp already and significant improvements? I was referring more to the coaching AI inside a game.

Edited October 8, 2021 by Lexis

[Johnny Ace]

42 minutes ago, TioPatinhax said:

Thank you, i hope it will be there. And sorry to ask again, but are these people taking over Newcastle going to build “another” Man City at Newcastle, and is that what we should expect in the game?

How can anyone possibly know that? 

[FedAt]

15 минут назад, Lexis сказал:

Better AI both inside the match and in the long term career

or at least some variability in AI managers tactics, most of them using same 4-3-3, across different leagues and countries. I think I saw only a few times any other tactic of AI opponent in fm21.

[rusty217]

Weekly staff meetings? eww, sounds like they'll be a real pain in the arse!

Couldn't care less about deadline day either. If anything the regular hourly stops annoy me and waste time. I always get my transfer business done way before then (also kind of OCD about player records so would never sign a player that has 1 or 2 appearances for another club that season already) and I also refuse to sell players on deadline day since there's no time to replace them.

[Mars_Blackmon]

13 hours ago, Platinum said:

Firstly I'll say that I praised the first video as it had some real tangible changes that will improve the game for nearly everyone.

With the features announced in this second video, if the AI is better at transfer decisions and staff feedback is better then these will be good additions. But unfortunately the video only showed staff feedback that we've seen for a few years and didn't showcase any better AI (aside from agents offering more players) and if this is in fact the case then these changes essentially amount to UX/UI changes which will be disappointing as we aren't getting any information that we didn't previously get.

I think getting all staff feedback in one meeting and a slightly better transfer deadline experience are changes that are positive, but to be announced as headline features in the way that they are is disappointing. The Teaser Trailer said "Work closer with backroom staff" but I really struggle to see how this is working closer with them if we are getting the exact same information we previously have.

Again the features announced in the first video are solid and should mean its the best FM we've had (assuming the game doesn't have massive bugs at launch such as with FM21) but if the features in part 2 weren't announced as "Headline features" and rather were just announced as "UI changes" I think they would have got a much much better reception. If in fact they are much more than UI changes then unfortunately the video didn't do a good job of making that clear.

 

I agree. I like the addition but the fact that it’s a headline feature without any acknowledgement of AI enhancements in the same area is disappointing. It’s kind of polishing a turd tbh. Not to go there,  but it’s why I wasn’t “thrilled” about woman’s football. I feel like other areas of the game need to be refined first. The fact is, another version of the game is being released without AI improvements in certain areas, International Management updates, update to set peices and a stadium editor…Do we really expect all of those things to make it into the game in 2-3 years? Past history doesn’t support this.

 

With that said, the fixes to pressing and the new animations are enough for me to buy the game lol.

[kandersson]

More dynamic interactions with agents and generally a more prominent role in the game for them would be a key addition. As much as we dislike agents they're a big part of football IRL so the game should reflect that in some way. Hopefully agents will be able to help (or not, depending on relationships with manager) both buying and selling players - maybe help offloading some deadwood on deadline day thanks to their connections with specific teams. Btw I've been forcing my players to fire their agents for the past 10 editions of the game, I don't think this should be happening so easily. Also the option of hiring an agent for a manager should be considered as this is often the case IRL and has a huge impact on transfers.

Staff meetings look like the kind of feature that I'd set on 'never' very quickly, which is actually an upgrade from 'every 6 months' which I think was the minimum for backroom advice of past editions. Let's just say I'm not a fan.

Anyway the real highlight of this blog are obviously new regen faces and hairstyles. The dreadlocks/Predator hairstyle has the potential to become a real FM icon.

Edited October 8, 2021 by kandersson

[Mars_Blackmon]

Also the fact that people in this thread don’t even have a need to use deadline day says that the AI transfer market needs an update. It’s just way too easy to squad build when the AI is so passive.

[Manjusaka]

What's the meaning of a deadline day revamp if the transfer AI has not improved?

What's the meaning of a staff meeting revamp if suggestion from staff has not improved?

They have not learnt anything from the failure of last year's scouting meeting.

[Manjusaka]

5 小时前, Johnny Ace说:

I guess they'll do another match engine video with Dick & Dom fumbling around with the presets tactics

Thing is, we'll see the beta ME & get all excited then within a couple of weeks it'll be patched & completely different 

One thing in the first video was the player movement, they look like they turn a lot snappier than in FM20, where at times it looked like the players where playing with a cast on their foot

I remember last year the beta ME looked promising then they said there was a bug about morale giving the player an advantage. After that fix the ME felt different. So this year I would take the ME show with a pinch of salt.

[FedAt]

26 минут назад, Manjusaka сказал:

They have not learnt anything from the failure of last year's scouting meeting.

I don't think they consider it a failure 😂

[TioPatinhax]

Shaping up to be the most underwhelming FM in recent years

[Crispypaul]

The recruitment meeting is a good idea implemented poorly IMO.   It's fine in the lower leagues but less so in the elite leagues.

I'm currently Liverpool manager in 2035/36 and I mainly get random players on loan lists that aren't good enough or players I've scouted already.

[jimbo22]

Popped into my head but I really hope they've sorted the transfer business done in game.

Team wants transfer listed player valued at 5million but transfer listed for 10m

Team  offers 5million, rejected.

Team offers 5million with only 3million up front rest in addons. Rejected.

Team offers less than 5million. Rejected.... Player is now unhappy.  (excuse, certainly on here anyway is that the AI is trying to unsettle the player)

 

I want to buy a player transfer listed for 5 million. Offer 4.5m Rejected

offer 4,999,999 Rejected.

 

Its been like this for a number of years and I cant be the only one this happens too. 

[BrightLad5]

I actually think the revamp to the deadline day and the addition of staff meeting have legs.

If implemented correctly, both would add a huge amount to the game. I never personally notice any great rush from selling clubs or agents come deadline day, so maybe this feature will provide more budget players, ones that need to move clubs so will accept lower transfer fees and wages. Certain save types will find this hugely important such as those playing money ball type saves.

A lot does depend on the AI though, particularly with staff meetings. Again though, for certain saves and challenges having to rely on your staffs advice is important and this meeting could be a clear and concise way to get the information required.

we shall see though. Hopefully see a stream with the ME in action soon!

[janrzm]

6 hours ago, Mars_Blackmon said:

Also the fact that people in this thread don’t even have a need to use deadline day says that the AI transfer market needs an update. It’s just way too easy to squad build when the AI is so passive.

Totally. You know there's an issue when you need to stop yourself signing some players because it feels too easy to attain them while the AI snoozes.....

[Mars_Blackmon]

1 hour ago, janrzm said:

Totally. You know there's an issue when you need to stop yourself signing some players because it feels too easy to attain them while the AI snoozes.....

Yea I’ve compromised in the last few versions. I only use the DOF transfer target feature to get players. It brings me down to the level of the AI somewhat.