Starting a save with fake player names

[Dagenham_Dave]

First of all, does anyone actually do this? 

Also, been thinking about the AI squad building issues and how I personally think real life players at the start of the game are the cause of the imbalance leading to the same players playing for the clubs well into their 30s. 

Has anyone done a long term sim of the game using fake players from the start. I know these players just replace the real life ones, but as there's no issue with licencing, their personalities would (I assume) be better spread. I'd be interested to see if 6-10 years down the line the starting XI for Chelsea (for example) still has all the same players well into their 30s or whether the gameworld would be better balanced for the lack of real life players and their faultless personalities. 

I'm not interested enough to the extent I would do this myself, as I actually like playing the game, but for those peeps who like to experiment, could be an idea. Would be interested to see the findings, that's for sure. 

Anyone up to the task?

[Junkhead]

I often play with fake players, particularly if I start a save in the summer which makes the squads out of date.  Actually had quite a lot of fun with it in the past - it does make things a little more interesting with personality spread.  They do replace real players, but there IS some variance to nationalities here & there.  Player histories also disappear so after a few seasons it can get quite difficult to identify who players were.

[Dagenham_Dave]

7 minutes ago, Junkhead said:

I often play with fake players, particularly if I start a save in the summer which makes the squads out of date.  Actually had quite a lot of fun with it in the past - it does make things a little more interesting with personality spread.  They do replace real players, but there IS some variance to nationalities here & there.  Player histories also disappear so after a few seasons it can get quite difficult to identify who players were.

Did you find any difference in AI squad building playing this way?

[Junkhead]

Not that I noticed, but that doesn't mean it wasn't there.

[wazzaflow10]

I've done it once I think on FM22 and into the future but quickly abandoned the save b/c i couldn't get into that version.

I didn't know they modified personalities. I thought it was just randomly generating some facts like name and maybe nationality. The personalities thing is one that slightly breaks immersion for me since all the real players have neutral at worst.

Back to your original question. I think the hard part about any of these experiments is so much of the world depends on what you've loaded. Too small a db and leagues loaded results in crazy high fees, not enough players or newgens to fill out the world. Too large and players are cheap and top teams probably hoard talent. I kind of wish SI would give you more info at game start to create a balanced save (or not if that's your thing) rather than playing 5-10+ years and realizing that something you did 500 hours ago ruined your save.

[FrazT]

I tried this strategy a couple of times over the years but gave up early in the save- I couldn't get past not knowing the current players in my mind, especially when looking at my opponents and figuring out who to pay special attention to.

[Dagenham_Dave]

3 minutes ago, wazzaflow10 said:

I didn't know they modified personalities. I thought it was just randomly generating some facts like name and maybe nationality. The personalities thing is one that slightly breaks immersion for me since all the real players have neutral at worst.

 

Yeah, this is exactly the point and why I feel that this is one reason that AI teams hang onto older players for longer. 

Real players personalities are restricted by licensing, therefore I'm working on the assumption that since the players on the other mode are 'fake' they are not bound by licensing therefore the personalities can be more evenly spread. I've never played this mode, so I've no idea. 

[priority76]

Yes, I love a good fake players game.  I remember I once signed Lewandowski but in that reality he was Greek.  Last year I had a game in Iceland I was about half a season in to it before I realised I ticked the 'use fake players' button.

[Marinho]

One alternative would be to sim far ahead and then create a new manager. Takes a while but can just have the game sim while at Work or overnight. Of course that adds more randomness in terms of teams as well.

[wazzaflow10]

2 hours ago, Dagenham_Dave said:

Yeah, this is exactly the point and why I feel that this is one reason that AI teams hang onto older players for longer. 

Real players personalities are restricted by licensing, therefore I'm working on the assumption that since the players on the other mode are 'fake' they are not bound by licensing therefore the personalities can be more evenly spread. I've never played this mode, so I've no idea. 

Yeah no clue what factors matter to the AI. Not sure how you'd measure AI squad building at scale with the tools we have available either. Interesting idea though.

[dankrzyz]

4 hours ago, Junkhead said:

Not that I noticed, but that doesn't mean it wasn't there.

I often do fake names and have never noticed anything like what Dave was asking. I’d assume the software looks at the all the dozens of bits of standard data of a player, but doesn’t have any type of “supplemental” information tied to a real person by a given name. SI could confirm. 

Even with fake player names, or newgens for that matter, the AI in previous versions tended to overvalue older players… perhaps it overvalued player reputation? Some of the AI roster building changes touted for FM24 might help that.

Edited November 11, 2023 by dankrzyz

[Mykal]

On 10/11/2023 at 18:52, Dagenham_Dave said:

First of all, does anyone actually do this? 

Also, been thinking about the AI squad building issues and how I personally think real life players at the start of the game are the cause of the imbalance leading to the same players playing for the clubs well into their 30s. 

Has anyone done a long term sim of the game using fake players from the start. I know these players just replace the real life ones, but as there's no issue with licencing, their personalities would (I assume) be better spread. I'd be interested to see if 6-10 years down the line the starting XI for Chelsea (for example) still has all the same players well into their 30s or whether the gameworld would be better balanced for the lack of real life players and their faultless personalities. 

I'm not interested enough to the extent I would do this myself, as I actually like playing the game, but for those peeps who like to experiment, could be an idea. Would be interested to see the findings, that's for sure. 

Anyone up to the task?

I cant get the fake players option to work, all its doing is removing the photos, so I end up with all the same names in the same teams and no regen faces

[dankrzyz]

I’ve had this experience in FM24, too, and it’s been reported in the Bugs forum. 

[AndrikoDS]

I don't follow football and haven't done for years, so every time I play it might as well be 'fake' players. It is an aspect I wish SI would make more of - incorporate some full on fantasy universe stuff like Out of the park Baseball with custom leagues etc, and maybe even use all the old data they've gathered over the last 30 years to allow historical starts (I'd love a crack at the Cup Winners Cup!). I doubt there is much call for it though.

As I understand it, the 'fake' players option at present just changes the names and not much else.