How to feel more immersed in your game world?

[Domoboy23]

Hello,

Does anyone have any tips on how to feel more immersed in their game world? I even struggle to tell you who are near the top of the table in my own league unless I'm chasing them!

I got to a point last year where I felt utterly un-immersed in the game and that I was just going through the motions. I read some FM career updates and stories and looked at the level of detail some people go into and felt inspired and since then made a conscious effort to slow down and take it all in. Look at the opposition scout reports, go into training etc. But it's incredibly hard, not because I don't enjoy doing it but because habits are so hard to break.

I think the biggest thing I've noticed when I compare my experience from FM 2007- 2015 to now is... I could play in my game and tell you the names of the top scorers for a lot of the teams in my division. The players who had been at certain clubs for a long time, their new exciting youth products, the leading players in the divisions below and follow players and managers journeys even if they hadn't been at my side and I had no right to have an easy sight or connection with them! This was great. Especially if you ended up signing a player who you remembered from 3 seasons previous had hacked down your captain with two feet and felt that sense of reminiscence.  I remember being in about 2050 on FM13 and if you were to select 5 top flight PL AI owned newgens I'd be able to tell you their last clubs, styles of play and their achievements!

Now? I struggle to name players in AI sides. Keep track of their movements, clubs that have had takeovers, sackings, top scorers. I couldn't name you the winner of the last few World Cups in-game unless I check. Or whose top of the PL and which big sides are in crisis. I put this down to the UI and also the social feed. I hate the social feed, it's full of gunk. I try to customize it so that I can be made aware of manager sackings, awards, transfers and club takeovers to feel immersed in the wider game world and yes that does make them appear. But I'd much rather I were able to choose that club takeovers and big game events display in my inbox, so that I can notice things I have chosen and said I have an interest in! It's no use having it in a social feed that I don't look at because it's full of the same twitter catchphrases.

Any suggestions welcome!

 

[rusty217]

Personally I maintain a bunch of spreadsheets alongside the game with stats etc.

I have a spreadsheet of winners of the UCL, Copa Libertadores etc. Based on the club/nation lists here but updated as more teams win in my save https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA_Champions_League#Performances_by_club

I have all time league tables for the top 7 or so leagues in Europe. I always have an all time time table for them for my save alone, for some of them I have a 2nd full all time table too. It's a bit of work putting 100+ historic seasons of data into a table though, so IIRC I've only got the full all time tables for England and Germany at the moment. With the rest being just from the start of my save.

I track hattricks in the top 7 European leagues (very useful for keeping up to date on which teams/players are doing well since you need to check results every week) and the UCL.

Basically I like to track records/statistics that exist in real life but aren't (currently) tracked in game.

[Lempicka]

I tend not to race through saves anymore. I tend to play at a slower pace these days and this gives me a chance to trawl through the leagues, keep an eye on future talent and dominant clubs in domestic leagues.

There's so much detail in the game and if you just click through to you next match - you miss out on so much.

 

[Steve1977beyond]

Know what you mean, the last time I got proper immersed was during covid and  wrote about it in a blog! 

 

https://pressfiretoplay.wordpress.com/2020/05/10/football-manager-2026-world-cup/

[Dreambuilder]

Focus on homegrown club talents. Look in their information where they are born. Perhaps a local talent from your neighbourhood that can develop alot? =) Producing homegrown and homegrown at club talents is my biggest joy with the game at the moment.

[JAwtunes]

Great question. I find I don't get immersed if I play too quickly too.

I try to increase my immersion by keeping a record of each season, in spreadsheets like others have mentioned. I also have a recap every few years to look at the top players in the world, international tournaments etc, and record these too 

[Daniel Evensen]

On 31/03/2023 at 15:08, Lempicka said:

I tend not to race through saves anymore. I tend to play at a slower pace these days and this gives me a chance to trawl through the leagues, keep an eye on future talent and dominant clubs in domestic leagues.

There's so much detail in the game and if you just click through to you next match - you miss out on so much.

 

Yep - this is exactly what I do.  I limit myself to a match a day.  I've found myself thinking about my squad in the evening, and really anticipating the next day's game.

[Etebaer]

I allways start my own Club - sadly in the Career mode bcs Create a Club has some flaws preventing mods from working - so it is a little tricky but it works in the end with the purchase of the Steam Editor, so i can change my colours etc.

The Club name i have to change in the league name file but that is a minor nuisance as well the inability to edit the club badge.

And then i start from the lowest possible league to work my way into the Top-Tier.

 

Ofc i have done that for quote some years and it was more immersive in the past than it is now bcs it becomes sort of a routine and some of the old stars you were happy to offer a retirement contract for 1 or 2 seasons in exchange for hier experience and brillance are no longer in the game and the "younger of a generation" these old stars are the less i really connect to them.

 

The Stars from todays football are not my Stars anymore for a lack of individual personality that seems rooted in their natural character and not in the marketing product a player is made by its agents and clubs. There will probably a time when i have reached a distance to football that my real football displeasure haunts my ability to enjoy this game!

Edited April 4, 2023 by Etebaer

[eXistenZ]

only talk to your players if you really really need to, cause the terrible programming will instantly remind you that you are talking against a poorly scripted program. "so yeah we conceded every shot on target and my goalkeeping got me only a 6.2, but in my eyes i played brilliantly and im utterly schoked you dont agree"

 

On a more serious note, try smaller clubs with a bit of history or some quirks about them in some more obscure leagues. And defo dont race through seasons. In a evening session I go though 4-5 games max, at most an ingame month. And i take a break of a few days after the season is over instead of rolling into the new one immediately

 

[phd_angel]

Hello. Not "feeling it" is common but, the way you described it surprised me a bit. Memorizing names of AI players and league table leaders, or worrying about not getting into cumbersome, poorly designed game features don't sound very appealing to me either. Maybe you've outgrown FM a bit, maybe you have a healthier relationship with the game. There is a limit in the number of hours or mental energy we should be spending with any video game. So, kudos for you, you are not memorizing names of AI players or wasting your time with flawed FM features! You can still find enjoyment in a different perspective and rhythm with FM. You'll get it. Congrats!