*Official* Football Manager 2023 Feedback Thread

[Neil Brock]

Football Manager 2023 is OUT NOW! We're all super excited at SI Towers and hope you feel the same way too. The version has been updated since the Early Access, but before you ask, there isn't a change list. If you want to keep an eye on a specific issue and whether it's been addressed, check out the status of it via our Bug Tracker which we'll be looking to update over the next couple of days. 

This thread of course is for feedback of the full game and will be read by lots of different members of the SI team. We may reply in some instances, as will the forum mods - but can't reply to everything.

As mentioned above, the Bug Tracker is the place for any issues you find with the game. 

For any troubleshooting say for crashes or being unable to launch, read our Technical FAQ which is filled with lots of info that should get you up and running.

What we try to ask every year is we please if you’re raising feedback, try and make it constructive. The full list of our traditional ground rules can be found below:

• Please try to keep any feedback constructive. That doesn't mean you can only be positive, but if you are going to be critical, at least give us your reasons. Help us to help you by giving details.
• Respect other opinions. We don't expect everyone to agree but please take the time to read posts and respect their position. Even if they're wrong. Like REALLY wrong. 
• Please take Tactical Discussion elsewhere. We've seen that these types of threads can see posts focused on the tactical side of the game and whilst this is interesting, it's much more appropriate discussion for our Tactics, Training and Strategies Discussion.
• Don’t make it personal. Attacks and the like won’t be tolerated. SI Staff and our volunteer moderating team will engage where we can, but any abuse makes that much more unlikely.

Now go away and play FM. Unless you've got like two monitors or maybe even a separate device. Or you play in windowed mode. Then you can post here. In fact do what you like. I'm not the boss of you. You're the boss of whichever team you pick. Enjoy! 

[Jack Joyce]

With the full version of FM23 now available, we thought it might be helpful if we gave you a quick update on our short-term plans for the match engine.

While the current match engine is the same one that featured in the Early Access Beta, this doesn't mean that we’re not working on improvements. In fact, we're currently in the process of taking on board the feedback we received from Beta players and looking to incorporate this in a forthcoming major update. We have however, included some animation tweaks with the aim of improving immersion, which as an example, means you'll be less likely to see keepers making odd looking saves with their feet. 

Making changes to the match engine is a delicate and complex business. Changes that we make often result in unforeseen knock-ons that we need to chase down and fix... and those fixes then often have their own knock-on effects as well. In a recent internal update we had an engine that ‘felt’ really good and played really nicely… except that central defenders were racking up 200+ passes in some matches, which is unrealistically high. As soon as we discovered that we had to 'go back in' to address that issue without, of course, losing the parts we liked.

Although we're happy with the engine in the current game, we’re confident that we can improve on it with the right update, but we need a bit more time to make sure we balance things out. Thanks for all of your feedback so far, it’s been and continues to be incredibly useful.

The Match Team

[jlammi]

Fully installed it, do i need to start new game?

[Becanes]

4 minutes ago, Jack Joyce said:

With the full version of FM23 now available, we thought it might be helpful if we gave you a quick update on our short-term plans for the match engine.

While the current match engine is the same one that featured in the Early Access Beta, this doesn't mean that we’re not working on improvements. In fact, we're currently in the process of taking on board the feedback we received from Beta players and looking to incorporate this a forthcoming major update. We have however, included some animation tweaks with the aim of improving immersion, which as an example, means you'll be less likely to see keepers making odd looking saves with their feet. 

Making changes to the match engine is a delicate and complex business. Changes that we make often result in unforeseen knock-ons that we need to chase down and fix... and those fixes then often have their own knock-on effects as well. In a recent internal update we had an engine that ‘felt’ really good and played really nicely… except that central defenders were racking up 200+ passes in some matches, which is unrealistically high. As soon as we discovered that we had to 'go back in' to address that issue without, of course, losing the parts we liked.

Although we're happy with the engine in the current game, we’re confident that we can improve on it with the right update, but we need a bit more time to make sure we balance things out. Thanks for all of your feedback so far, it’s been and continues to be incredibly useful.

The Match Team

You may or may not be able to answer this, but when you say Major Update are you talking about the Christmas update or sometime before that generally speaking?

[autohoratio]

I'm not able to launch FM right now - is anyone able to check if this has been changed?

 

[Becanes]

2 minutes ago, jlammi said:

Fully installed it, do i need to start new game?

Only if you want the data changes like Steven Gerard not being at Aston Villa (unless you started the beta after that happened).

[Dagenham_Dave]

7 minutes ago, Jack Joyce said:

While the current match engine is the same one that featured in the Early Access Beta,

Fantastic, I might just hang around here a bit for the meltdown. 

[GOODNAME]

Really hoped for ME changes.. i guess we will need to wait until early December 

[Neil Brock]

2 minutes ago, autohoratio said:

I'm not able to launch FM right now - is anyone able to check if this has been changed?

 

Yes should be fixed. 

[SeaCarrot]

Another year of fake beta done. Another year without knowing of any critical data fixes or bug fixes that would require a new save because SI is the only developer on the planet that refuses to give patch notes when going from beta to 1.0.  

[roykela]

Another year in the footballing trenches. Here we go.

[Neil Brock]

1 minute ago, SeaCarrot said:

Another year of fake beta done. Another year without knowing of any critical data fixes or bug fixes that would require a new save because SI is the only developer on the planet that refuses to give patch notes when going from beta to 1.0.  

As we say in the opening post here, over the next couple of days we'll be updating threads via the bug tracker to indicate which raised issues have been resolved. 

[Gilberto Silva]

What date was the cut-off for data changes out of interest? 

[SC00P0NE]

so when is the database editor rdy on steam?? Oo

[StevehFC]

In game editor £6.99 this year. 

[Ruh Roh]

2 minutes ago, SeaCarrot said:

Another year of fake beta done. Another year without knowing of any critical data fixes or bug fixes that would require a new save because SI is the only developer on the planet that refuses to give patch notes when going from beta to 1.0.  

Yeah, I refunded because something that has been "off" for a while clearly wasn't getting any attention this year either.

But who knows, maybe they did fix it!

[TheArsenal63]

Wow, I thought at least one of the game breaking bugs would be fixed, even one. No ME changes, well I guess I will come back in march.

[kiingallen]

15 minutes ago, Jack Joyce said:

With the full version of FM23 now available, we thought it might be helpful if we gave you a quick update on our short-term plans for the match engine.

While the current match engine is the same one that featured in the Early Access Beta, this doesn't mean that we’re not working on improvements. In fact, we're currently in the process of taking on board the feedback we received from Beta players and looking to incorporate this a forthcoming major update. We have however, included some animation tweaks with the aim of improving immersion, which as an example, means you'll be less likely to see keepers making odd looking saves with their feet. 

Making changes to the match engine is a delicate and complex business. Changes that we make often result in unforeseen knock-ons that we need to chase down and fix... and those fixes then often have their own knock-on effects as well. In a recent internal update we had an engine that ‘felt’ really good and played really nicely… except that central defenders were racking up 200+ passes in some matches, which is unrealistically high. As soon as we discovered that we had to 'go back in' to address that issue without, of course, losing the parts we liked.

Although we're happy with the engine in the current game, we’re confident that we can improve on it with the right update, but we need a bit more time to make sure we balance things out. Thanks for all of your feedback so far, it’s been and continues to be incredibly useful.

The Match Team

Ahh mate… goodnight ☹️😔

[TheArsenal63]

15 minutes ago, Jack Joyce said:

With the full version of FM23 now available, we thought it might be helpful if we gave you a quick update on our short-term plans for the match engine.

While the current match engine is the same one that featured in the Early Access Beta, this doesn't mean that we’re not working on improvements. In fact, we're currently in the process of taking on board the feedback we received from Beta players and looking to incorporate this a forthcoming major update. We have however, included some animation tweaks with the aim of improving immersion, which as an example, means you'll be less likely to see keepers making odd looking saves with their feet. 

Making changes to the match engine is a delicate and complex business. Changes that we make often result in unforeseen knock-ons that we need to chase down and fix... and those fixes then often have their own knock-on effects as well. In a recent internal update we had an engine that ‘felt’ really good and played really nicely… except that central defenders were racking up 200+ passes in some matches, which is unrealistically high. As soon as we discovered that we had to 'go back in' to address that issue without, of course, losing the parts we liked.

Although we're happy with the engine in the current game, we’re confident that we can improve on it with the right update, but we need a bit more time to make sure we balance things out. Thanks for all of your feedback so far, it’s been and continues to be incredibly useful.

The Match Team

Are you going to stick to your regular 2 update cycle per edition, and are we expecting the next update in march as usual?

[akkm]

9 minutes ago, Jack Joyce said:

With the full version of FM23 now available, we thought it might be helpful if we gave you a quick update on our short-term plans for the match engine.

While the current match engine is the same one that featured in the Early Access Beta, this doesn't mean that we’re not working on improvements. In fact, we're currently in the process of taking on board the feedback we received from Beta players and looking to incorporate this a forthcoming major update. We have however, included some animation tweaks with the aim of improving immersion, which as an example, means you'll be less likely to see keepers making odd looking saves with their feet. 

Making changes to the match engine is a delicate and complex business. Changes that we make often result in unforeseen knock-ons that we need to chase down and fix... and those fixes then often have their own knock-on effects as well. In a recent internal update we had an engine that ‘felt’ really good and played really nicely… except that central defenders were racking up 200+ passes in some matches, which is unrealistically high. As soon as we discovered that we had to 'go back in' to address that issue without, of course, losing the parts we liked.

Although we're happy with the engine in the current game, we’re confident that we can improve on it with the right update, but we need a bit more time to make sure we balance things out. Thanks for all of your feedback so far, it’s been and continues to be incredibly useful.

The Match Team

Boom...hi Jack,

Even though lots will have wanted an update on launch I really feel that's the type of communication which people have been asking for so thanks for being transparent and giving us an insight into what's been going on behind the scenes...that's helpful. It makes sense what you say re getting things right before releasing an update

Well done

 

[badgerwhacker]

I was having a look back through my post history the other day to check on the response to my posts regarding a few bugs in FM23 to discover I've only really posted here in recent years in a critical manner. I've felt there's been a lot of features added over the years at the expense of resolving some pretty key issues which have affected my love of the game and the immersion levels.

I just want to thank the team at SI for the ME improvements, animation work and the scouting in FM23. The ME and the scouting in particular have been major issues for me in recent years. I still think there's improvements to be made on scouting and data on non-playable leagues but gone are the days of having to scout the same player 3/4 times to get no progress.

So in amongst some unjust criticism over the lack of features, you've made a few of us very happy. I can't wait to get stuck in. Thanks again 

[metal_guitarist]

2 minutes ago, SC00P0NE said:

so when is the database editor rdy on steam?? Oo

pre-game editor is available on Steam, as is the in-game editor. 

[Neil Brock]

1 minute ago, TheArsenal63 said:

Are you going to stick to your regular 2 update cycle per edition, and are we expecting the next update in march as usual?

We released six major and minor updates last year, seven if you include the one during the Early Access Beta phase. 

[themadsheep2001]

2 minutes ago, TheArsenal63 said:

Are you going to stick to your regular 2 update cycle per edition, and are we expecting the next update in march as usual?

It's usually 3 updates (depending on issues) and the next one has never been only in March. Not sure why you've made that up tbh 

[SeaCarrot]

Why it needs to be so cryptic who knows? What makes SI so special they are unable to post a changelog?

Now we have go scour through bug threads in coming days to hope they've touched something? Unreal. I know FM is a time sink but do you really need to waste our time here as well. The disrespect for customers and their time is monumental. 

[bucket]

7 minutes ago, SeaCarrot said:

Another year of fake beta done. Another year without knowing of any critical data fixes or bug fixes that would require a new save because SI is the only developer on the planet that refuses to give patch notes when going from beta to 1.0.  

This is so so wrong. 🥱🫣

[SC00P0NE]

4 minutes ago, metal_guitarist said:

pre-game editor is available on Steam, as is the in-game editor. 

aye, had to restart steam

Happy editing, everyone!

Spoiler

 

Edited November 8, 2022 by SC00P0NE

[TheArsenal63]

1 minute ago, Neil Brock said:

We released six major and minor updates last year, seven if you include the one during the Early Access Beta phase. 

I meant strictly ME since that's the meat and potatoes of Football manager?

[Nick_CB]

I hope they fixed the bug with the air duels

[Phil930]

Congrats to all at SI!

Can’t wait to download and start another year - 30 years into this problem now. Looking forward to a great game!

[Jack Joyce]

2 minutes ago, TheArsenal63 said:

Are you going to stick to your regular 2 update cycle per edition, and are we expecting the next update in march as usual?

We're currently working towards an update before Christmas, we'll be updating before March.

 

2 minutes ago, akkm said:

Boom...hi Jack,

Even though lots will have wanted an update on launch I really feel that's the type of communication which people have been asking for so thanks for being transparent and giving us an insight into what's been going on behind the scenes...that's helpful. It makes sense what you say re getting things right before releasing an update

Well done

 

Communication is really important - even if its not always the news people want to hear. But believe me, everyone on the team is working hard on improvements and has been throughout the beta period and hopefully you'll see that work soon!

[SeaCarrot]

1 minute ago, bucket said:

This is so so wrong. 🥱🫣

Feel free to name a single developer that creates a 'beta' for 'bug finding' and then posts ZERO information about any that were fixed or addressed in release. But you'll have a hard time. 

 

Drop the Beta terminology and call it pre order early access only and the complaint will leave. As that's what it really is. 

[Harrymcintyre]

To be fair, the ME is playing great as it is, take ur time, SI. You’ve clearly done a great job with it this year. 

[TheArsenal63]

1 minute ago, themadsheep2001 said:

It's usually 3 updates (depending on issues) and the next one has never been only in March. Not sure why you've made that up tbh 

I haven't made anything up (why would I, that's such an odd thing to accuse me of), from memory (and I've been playing this game for a while), there's usually an update on release for the ME, then any major bugs get addressed in march. I might be misremembering but this happened on FM20.

I'm pretty sure your last ME update has always been along with the winter update. And on some versions (depending on severity) it's always been march.

[esca]

So if we submit data changes will only be applied in winter DB update, correct ?

 

Other that that the update will focus on bugs and ME changes ?

[TheArsenal63]

6 minutes ago, Jack Joyce said:

We're currently working towards an update before Christmas, we'll be updating before March.

 

Communication is really important - even if its not always the news people want to hear. But believe me, everyone on the team is working hard on improvements and has been throughout the beta period and hopefully you'll see that work soon!

That's all I wanted to know, thanks for letting us know. I'll come back when those updates are in.

[themadsheep2001]

Just now, TheArsenal63 said:

I haven't made anything up (why would I, that's such an odd thing to accuse me of), from memory (and I've been playing this game for a while), there's usually an update on release for the ME, then any major bugs get addressed in march. I might be misremembering but this happened on FM20.

I'm pretty sure your last ME update has always been along with the winter update. And on some versions (depending on severity) it's always been march.

You're misremembering, as that typically isn't the cycle. In fact last the year the first ME update (post release, as there was one on release) dropped early December. 

[ajw10]

31 minutes ago, Jack Joyce said:

With the full version of FM23 now available, we thought it might be helpful if we gave you a quick update on our short-term plans for the match engine.

While the current match engine is the same one that featured in the Early Access Beta, this doesn't mean that we’re not working on improvements. In fact, we're currently in the process of taking on board the feedback we received from Beta players and looking to incorporate this in a forthcoming major update. We have however, included some animation tweaks with the aim of improving immersion, which as an example, means you'll be less likely to see keepers making odd looking saves with their feet. 

Making changes to the match engine is a delicate and complex business. Changes that we make often result in unforeseen knock-ons that we need to chase down and fix... and those fixes then often have their own knock-on effects as well. In a recent internal update we had an engine that ‘felt’ really good and played really nicely… except that central defenders were racking up 200+ passes in some matches, which is unrealistically high. As soon as we discovered that we had to 'go back in' to address that issue without, of course, losing the parts we liked.

Although we're happy with the engine in the current game, we’re confident that we can improve on it with the right update, but we need a bit more time to make sure we balance things out. Thanks for all of your feedback so far, it’s been and continues to be incredibly useful.

The Match Team

Does one of the animation tweaks include fixing defenders standing still, waiting to be pressed?

Edited November 8, 2022 by ajw10

[smgers]

6 minutes ago, TheArsenal63 said:

I haven't made anything up (why would I, that's such an odd thing to accuse me of), from memory (and I've been playing this game for a while), there's usually an update on release for the ME, then any major bugs get addressed in march. I might be misremembering but this happened on FM20.

I'm pretty sure your last ME update has always been along with the winter update. And on some versions (depending on severity) it's always been march.

Is there not one usually just before the festive period?

[themadsheep2001]

Just now, smgers said:

Is there not one usually just before the festive period?

Yes, and Jack has confirmed that's the plan for FM23 too. 

[TheArsenal63]

1 minute ago, themadsheep2001 said:

You're misremembering, as that typically isn't the cycle. In fact last the year the first ME update (post release, as there was one on release) dropped early December. 

I might be , but I could have sworn  FM20, possibly 19 and 21. I'd have to look back, but there was solid 2 versions where there was major issues with the ME that wasn't resolve until march. It was more of surprise than the norm when we got an ME update before march to fix the major issues reported in the bug tracker

It's fine now anyway since Jack has confirmed there will be one before Christmas.

[SmurfDude]

Coming down with the flu so going to take the day off work and play this in bed all day. Cheers SI

[kertiek]

well it is disappointing not having changes on the match engine on release but i understand that they probably tried to address some of the problems reported but i have to agree with them, if the end product was not good enough after implementing some changes is better to push those changes for a few days (hopefully) and release an update with something more polished.

any change on the match engine is like trying to balance a spider web, u move one side and the whole web changes, i rather wait than have some fixes but with new annoying bugs.

at the same time am not saying that after they update the match engine everything is going to be perfect, probably am going to be reporting bugs as i have done before but i appreciate the position they took on holding the changes on the match engine because they didnt like the state of it.

Edited November 8, 2022 by kertiek

[Mcfc1894]

 player values have bugged since the update 

[Dagenham_Dave]

Like the way the game clock no longer shows 'paused' when you pause it, so you can actually see the time, was one of the little annoyances in the beta. 

[Smallen]

Just now, Mcfc1894 said:

 player values have bugged since the update 

This was in the beta for those two players right at the start of a save too. Weirdly seems to correct to something more realistic after a couple of weeks iirc

[TheArsenal63]

Just my two cents before I log off until the next update. The bugs for this version of the ME are....not small, there's some extremely bad defending, lots of people have reported it and other issues.

I appreciate the communication from Jack and Co, it;s better to know than not to and it hasn't been historically so good here. So i appreciate that, but I have to also say, to release this game with those major issues, that's really not on man. You guys need to have better development cycles, it always seems like (even with the confirmed wider alpha testers) that fixing core issues are left for an update post launch.

Maybe you push too many changes in your cycle, or too few developers on the ME, or maybe the QA time is not enough, but surely at some point the ME released at launch should be (minus any minor updates) the one that fans get to play all year? Balancing updates are fine, but these are structural issues, entire play styles don't work, defenders go on a walk on counters (clips of this everywhere).

I don't think anything I say here really matters to SI but wanted to just write it up in case. You are possibly the only single player (mostly , I know multiplayer exists) game in my library where I have to stop playing until an update post launch since the core experience is highly flawed at release.

That's my bit anyway, hope the december update fixes most of the big issues and I can get back to playing it.

[d d]

Can you still make the text larger like you could in FM22?

[Rober82]

No ME changes, got it. What about data update? I see the folder is still 2300.

[bucket]

27 minutes ago, SeaCarrot said:

Feel free to name a single developer that creates a 'beta' for 'bug finding' and then posts ZERO information about any that were fixed or addressed in release. But you'll have a hard time. 

 

Drop the Beta terminology and call it pre order early access only and the complaint will leave. As that's what it really is. 

They have external testers, that “plays” the game even before the beta comes out and addresses a lot of the bugs in game. Name one company that releases a perfect game on 1st release, then name another company that then releases a fix soon after. You can’t.