(FM 24) US 10 Tier Database and Concacaf Expanded Universe databases

[nielsoncp]

It’s time for this year’s version of the Concacaf and US databases! Because of some conversion issues this is an entirely new database that has a few key differences from the last few years, but I’m excited about this new version. 

 

US Database

The top 7 levels of the us database are now split into an East and West division, with each team playing twice in division. The 8th and 9th levels have 4 divisions, and the 10th level has 8 divisions. For the top seven divisions it's split into an opening and closing season  (February-May and July-October (or December in the MLS Championship.)) In June and July there are a series of tournaments, including the US Open Cup and 19 regional cups happening in June, and league level cups happening in July (The Leagues Cup between MLS championship and the Liga MX, the MLS cup for teams in MLS 1-3, the USL cup for teams in the USL leagues, and the Amateur cup for lowest level teams.)

Most leagues have two promotion and relegation spots, and have between 12 and 16 teams per division. In Divisions 2-7 the winners of the stages win automatic promotion to the next league - if the same team wins both stages the next two teams in the overall table have a two game playoff. There is also  a championship between the East and West overall table winners, and the top division has a 16 team playoff to determine a champion and continental cup competition slots. I also reduced the amount of money available to the us teams, so hopefully that addresses some concerns from previous years. There should be less fixture congestion than previous years (teams play between 25 and 60 games depending on how far you go in competitions.)

 

A few notes:

As you may remember, this database used to be based off of Michael Danger’s US 2030 project. This years I pulled out those teams - I figured they weren’t needed since a lot of those cities have (or will have) lower league teams, so I raised all of those up a few tiers. Most of the current USL expansion teams are present, along with the independent MLS next pro teams - so all of the usl championship teams are now in the second tier instead of the fifth. I also added the MLS expansion franchise in San Diego and kept

Part of why it took so long to put out this db is that I needed to wait for extinct teams to be made playable. I kept our dearly departed San Diego Loyal and Rio Grande Valley FC. I also brought back some of the extinct teams that were in the original Raysox database (like the San Antonio Scorpions, New York Cosmos, and Atlanta Silverbacks) to round out the league.

I added 10-15 players (including at least one goal keeper) to each team in levels 2-7, so you should have a decent starting group to choose from. 

Finally, this year’s known lower level CTD issue is as follows:

In every database I’ve made there is a ctd date that impacts some lower levels. It’s a bug in the game that I can’t fix unfortunately, but you can add to the big thread found here: (Will be inserted when I'm home and have reliable internet). If we get enough critical mass they may address it. The bug this year impacts the 8th level and below and happens on the 4th Wednesday in May. If you quit your job, sim past the day, and then retake the role you will be able to play for another year. I also have it set to default start with level 7, so most people should avoid this bug. 

Concacaf Club Competitions 

I remade the CONCACAF competitions to mimic the new CONCACAF format. There are still four cups (Champions, Gold, Silver, and Bronze), but like the new format US, Mexican, and Canadian teams are immediately sent to the round of 16. 

The qualifiers from Latin America (20 teams, with the top 3 for most competitions except for Belize (which gets 2) and the Caribbean (42 teams, with the top 2 from the 10 best nations and the solo competition winner for the other 22) will be entered into a group stage, and the top four teams from each group will qualify for the corresponding competition. The group stages happen in the summer and knockouts happen in the fall. (This is a change for the 24.3 version)

There are no coefficient points in order to maintain this structure, but each nation has at least one slot (minus Saint Pierre, because you only have three teams and are off the coast of Canada and you messed up a previous version of this db, so I and sending you into exile!)

Canada (and other nations)

In previous versions of this database I made a Canadian pyramid. Because of some of the vagaries of the game (including the way the Canadian Championship is coded) I decided to forego building one this year and instead modified the roster rules and money in the advanced rules for the Canadian Premier League. It’s a closed shop, but you should be able to build a more competitive team than you would otherwise for the international club cups. Similarly I changed the Mexican money and schedule to help keep them competitive. 

Finally, to provide a new way to do a journeyman save, I made database files for 39 of the other nations in CONCACAF. All nations have at least one slot in the Concacaf Club competitions, so you can start out at a Sint Maarten or a Belizian or a Jamaican side and work your way up the ranks. I made all of the rules in the basic mode, so some of the special rules for each division (especially the opening and closing structures of the Latin American and Haitian/Dominican leagues) are not present. It should replicate roster rules, schedule structure, and transfer windows of each nation, so it should give you a starting point for each competition. I’ve also attached a quick start so you can easily add all of the Concacaf competitions quickly. 

Logo and Kit Pack

Like last year I made a logo pack for all of the lower league us teams, along with logos for all of the leagues and competitions added here (updated for 24.4): https://drive.google.com/file/d/1P8lXj21olEcrQRyqsO-1Wc5KTwao_t_F/view?usp=drive_link. There are now two kit packs this year - as another user on the Sort it Out SI forum (DonJohn) helped me build the kits for the lower two levels and then did the other eight levels. My version (including team lists, templates and sponsors if you want to make your own with kitbasher) can be found here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-HhDPp20olDFQkoZT4AiSnxWZPZ-BzIe/view while DonJohn's can be found here: https://www.mediafire.com/file/cexphgjqb6imzbg/Test+Kit+Megapack.zip/file

 

24.3 Updates

I made a few adjustments for the 24.3 version that are listed below:

- I properly activated the reserves (levels 1-4) and U19 (levels 1-7) leagues. 

- I added kits and stadiums for each US based team, so teams won't randomly build new stadiums after season 1. 

- I made some tweaks to the later stages of the July tournaments - they now run into Wednesdays in August, providing a bit more space and hopefully reducing fixture congestion a bit. 

- I brought the CONCACAF cup knockouts into the fall, so teams that qualify will get to play in the tournament the year after (instead of waiting two years.)

- I adjusted some things to make sure the correct teams qualify for the Central American group and the Champions League knockouts. 

- I renamed awards that had the same name, and thus were not showing up in game. These and a few other minor cosmetic changes were made throughout the DB. 

I have a few bigger picture adjustments I may want to do in the future (including adding a spring super cup amongst the winners in concacaf and a formal opening/closing structure for the US database), but these are all the upgrades I'm planning for this spring. Gotta spend some time playing and not editing now.

Happy Concacafing all!

 

24.4 Updates (4/11)

• The big one this time - levels 1-7 now have formal opening and closing stages. The winner of the stages win automatic promotion - if the same team wins both stages then 2nd and 3rd in the overall table have a playoff to determine who goes up. Relegation is based off of the overall table.
• I gave each team a modest starting budget, added managers to most teams, and added players to teams in levels 2-7, so you should have some players at an appropriate level for the league when you play a team lower down the pyramid. You will still want to check the add players box though.
• I made levels 1-7 playable by default because of the lower league bug. 
• I added a lot of local media to the US database - you should have 10-15 outlets at your news conferences going forward.
• I registered the appropriate clubs from the US, Canada, and Mexico for the Continental Cups.
• I tried to add a CONCACAF Cup Winners Cup in the spring, but I couldn't get the game to set it up. So, we will call it good for this year and try again in FM 25. Club Competitions - CEUD.fmf

 

 

CEUD Activated Nations.zip Mexico - CEUD.fmf Canada - CEUD.fmf Club Competitions - CEUD.fmf CEUD Quick Start - 24.3.fmf

CONCACAF Club Competitions - CEUD.fmf USA - CEUD.fmf

Edited April 11 by nielsoncp
Updates for V 24.4

[Rob 396]

Excellent work, going to give this a whirl for sure!

*EDIT*

Just setting up the game now, but I noticed that perhaps there's an issue with the Short Name for these league divisions or something? Unless it's a *me* thing - 

 

Edited January 8 by Rob 396

[nielsoncp]

11 hours ago, Rob 396 said:

Excellent work, going to give this a whirl for sure!

*EDIT*

Just setting up the game now, but I noticed that perhaps there's an issue with the Short Name for these league divisions or something? Unless it's a *me* thing - 

 

Thanks for the heads up Rob. I think I fixed it - let me know if there are still issues. 

[Vakama2619]

Hey I'm just curious, will this be compatible with DarthAnimal's Canadian Pyramid and Motobaka's Mexican pyramid?

[nielsoncp]

10 hours ago, Vakama2619 said:

Hey I'm just curious, will this be compatible with DarthAnimal's Canadian Pyramid and Motobaka's Mexican pyramid?

I haven't tried those ones specifically, but if Darth made adjustments to the Canadian Championship it probably will take out the CONCACAF championships. It's a little tough to make databases work together - hence the reason I create a master database and base everything else off of that one. So you can try and report back if it worked. 

[MattyJH]

Is there going to be a Concacaf Super Cup?

[TerrenceJesus8]

Hey dude, fantastic database, I'm having lots of fun with it so far! I did run into a crashing issue on May 24th of my first season, only way around it was to resign my post, sim a day, then rejoin the team. Is this something you have ran into in the past? Hopefully it was just a one time thing.

[Colonial]

Hi! Absolutely adore this mod for FM23 and couldn't be happier to see it on FM24; it made me immediately trash my other save and start again with this!

A few issues I've noticed so far while playing as Charleston Battery in the AP ML1 Eastern Conference, if it helps.

1) When registration time comes along, I get 4+ requests in a single day asking me to submit my team registration and I have to manually do every single one to advance.

2) What I assume are weekly awards are always showing up as such with no name:

 

I only use your databases, license fix databse, and portrait/kit/logo packs, so I don't think it's anything on my end, but maybe the goal name has to do with the license fixes? Thanks!

Edited January 15 by Colonial
forgor

[nielsoncp]

On 12/01/2024 at 21:08, MattyJH said:

Is there going to be a Concacaf Super Cup?

Hi Matty! It was a bit of a challenge to do the db this year, so I'm going to hold off on adding anything new until the March update I think. So for the next eightish weeks, no. Check in after that!

[nielsoncp]

On 14/01/2024 at 14:50, TerrenceJesus8 said:

Hey dude, fantastic database, I'm having lots of fun with it so far! I did run into a crashing issue on May 24th of my first season, only way around it was to resign my post, sim a day, then rejoin the team. Is this something you have ran into in the past? Hopefully it was just a one time thing.

Terrence! I'm glad you're enjoying it. Yes, unfortunately this has been an issue the last few years. Last year it was level 3 and below, so I'm glad it starts lower down the pyramid this year (I think around level 8 in my tests.) Unfortunately I think this is an in game bug - I'll eventually start a bug post and you can share your game files in there. Also, my guess is that you'll always have a crash around the 4th Wednesday in May FYI (if it's the same issue as last year.)

[nielsoncp]

On 14/01/2024 at 21:26, Colonial said:

Hi! Absolutely adore this mod for FM23 and couldn't be happier to see it on FM24; it made me immediately trash my other save and start again with this!

A few issues I've noticed so far while playing as Charleston Battery in the AP ML1 Eastern Conference, if it helps.

1) When registration time comes along, I get 4+ requests in a single day asking me to submit my team registration and I have to manually do every single one to advance.

2) What I assume are weekly awards are always showing up as such with no name:

 

I only use your databases, license fix databse, and portrait/kit/logo packs, so I don't think it's anything on my end, but maybe the goal name has to do with the license fixes? Thanks!

Thanks Colonial! I'm glad you're enjoying it. My guess is that I have the same name for the awards across the multiple levels, or its similar enough that the game isn't recognizing it as separate from the levels above. I'll add it to my list for a future release. As far as the multiple registrations go, I had the same thing happen. I'll poke around at some point and figure out if that's on my end. Thanks again for playing - I'm glad you enjoy it!

[anitamui]

is it possible to make a standalone version of your concacaf comps

[TerrenceJesus8]

18 hours ago, nielsoncp said:

Terrence! I'm glad you're enjoying it. Yes, unfortunately this has been an issue the last few years. Last year it was level 3 and below, so I'm glad it starts lower down the pyramid this year (I think around level 8 in my tests.) Unfortunately I think this is an in game bug - I'll eventually start a bug post and you can share your game files in there. Also, my guess is that you'll always have a crash around the 4th Wednesday in May FYI (if it's the same issue as last year.)

Huh I figured it was the same bug from last year, you're correct on the date too (late May). I am playing in D9 right now.... Are you confident its Level 7 and below? With the way your database is set up, I would honestly just not load level 8 through 10 and cancel Relegation from USL League 2 down, because those are Amateur Leagues. Wouldn't really mess with my immersion too much.

Edited January 16 by TerrenceJesus8

[MattyJH]

Do you know how continental qualification works in Mexico?

[nielsoncp]

On 16/01/2024 at 17:05, TerrenceJesus8 said:

Huh I figured it was the same bug from last year, you're correct on the date too (late May). I am playing in D9 right now.... Are you confident its Level 7 and below? With the way your database is set up, I would honestly just not load level 8 through 10 and cancel Relegation from USL League 2 down, because those are Amateur Leagues. Wouldn't really mess with my immersion too much.

I tested it pre-release to see which levels were affected by the bug, and the first time I had a CTD was in level 8. I think everything above should be fine - let me know if that isn't true. Thanks Terrence!

[nielsoncp]

On 17/01/2024 at 09:16, MattyJH said:

Do you know how continental qualification works in Mexico?

It's the default qualification system - so I think priority is given to the apertura and clausrua winners, and then distributed from there based on playoff and league positions. You'd have to dig into the editor to see more detail. 

[Colonial]

Hey, another thing I've noticed with these awards is a rookie manager with 11% win ratio and -59 goal difference won Manager of the Year? the ML1W champion who beat me in the final got 2nd, and I got 3rd with my ML1E championship & Carolina Cup. Not sure if this is a FM issue or a mod issue? I was thinking maybe he got brownie points for avoiding relegation but he got relegated hard? Thank you again. <3

 

 

[themodelcitizen]

Some coach of the year awards for tournaments with weird playoff systems are glitched, you might be able to get around it by assigning a specific competition to the overall table (like MLS does with Supporters' Shield) and award it to that instead.

The award names showing as blank are because you've duplicated awards but not changed the "short name" - because it often shows as what you want already, for example when duplicating USLC's "Coach of the Week" for USL1, say, you might just change the long name because that needed changing. You do have to change the "short name" at least once or it will show as blank by default. It can be changing one letter, tabbing away, and then clicking back in and changing it back (you can see on the list of "changes" for the award that it's now registered a change).

[TerrenceJesus8]

On 18/01/2024 at 13:44, nielsoncp said:

I tested it pre-release to see which levels were affected by the bug, and the first time I had a CTD was in level 8. I think everything above should be fine - let me know if that isn't true. Thanks Terrence!

I didn't save a problem when I loaded USL2 and up which is good

[MattyJH]

How did you make the logos?

[nielsoncp]

On 03/02/2024 at 16:11, MattyJH said:

How did you make the logos?

For most of them, I found the logos through google, created a config file, and loaded them in game. Each team has a unique id, so when I match the picture to the id in the config file it loads up in game. There were a few I had to make myself (the worse ones, usually) - and a tutorial like this can help give you an idea of how you can do it. 

 

[nielsoncp]

Hi everyone - wanted to provide a quick note that these files are now updated for 23.4. The major changes are below: 

24.3 Updates

- I properly activated the reserves (levels 1-4) and U19 (levels 1-7) leagues for the US. 

- I added kits and stadiums for each US based team, so teams won't randomly build new stadiums after season 1. 

- I made some tweaks to the later stages of the July tournaments - they now run into Wednesdays in August, providing a bit more space and hopefully reducing fixture congestion a bit. 

- I brought the CONCACAF cup knockouts into the fall, so teams that qualify will get to play in the tournament the year after (instead of waiting two years.)

- I adjusted some things to make sure the correct teams qualify for the Central American group and the Champions League knockouts. 

- I renamed awards that had the same name, and thus were not showing up in game. These and a few other minor cosmetic changes were made throughout the DB. 

[omarsorto6]

Thank you bro I need these files especially after the open cup news today .

[nielsoncp]

5 hours ago, omarsorto6 said:

Thank you bro I need these files especially after the open cup news today .

Yeah...

[nielsoncp]

Also, a quick note (as I just loaded up my save from 24.1) - it looks like there is a bug in the newest data update that wipes out homegrown statuses of players in long term saves. You can post your experience in this thread to help highlight the issue for SI: https://community.sigames.com/bugtracker/football-manager-2024-early-access-bugs-tracker/all-other-issues/all-players-lost-their-homegrown-status-r22164/.

[nielsoncp]

Also also - it looks like the homegrown player issue is pretty wide spread, so I removed (or modified) the homegrown rules for the US, Canadian, and Mexican Dbs. You can find them attached below.

USA - CEUD - No HG.fmf Mexico - CEUD - No HG.fmf Canada - CEUD - No HG Rules.fmf

[TerrenceJesus8]

Hey man, just an FYI, looks like your graphics got a bit messed up after the update. Specifically the League Logos

[nielsoncp]

20 hours ago, TerrenceJesus8 said:

Hey man, just an FYI, looks like your graphics got a bit messed up after the update. Specifically the League Logos

Yeah... unfortunately that happens every time they update the database to created teams and clubs - they change the uids and it's a bit of work to get it sorted afterwards. Here is the updated logos: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1P8lXj21olEcrQRyqsO-1Wc5KTwao_t_F/view?usp=drive_link. That file also contains the kits for the created clubs, so they should appear in game correctly. 

[nielsoncp]

Also, I just updated the files for the 24.4 database, and made a few changes:

24.4 Updates (4/11)

• The big one this time - levels 1-7 now have formal opening and closing stages. The winner of the stages win automatic promotion - if the same team wins both stages then 2nd and 3rd in the overall table have a playoff to determine who goes up. Relegation is based off of the overall table.
• I gave each team a modest starting budget, added managers to most teams, and added players to teams in levels 2-7, so you should have some players at an appropriate level for the league when you play a team lower down the pyramid. You will still want to check the add players box though.
• I made levels 1-7 playable by default because of the lower league bug. 
• I added a lot of local media to the US database - you should have 10-15 outlets at your news conferences going forward.
• I registered the appropriate clubs from the US, Canada, and Mexico for the Continental Cups.
• I tried to add a CONCACAF Cup Winners Cup in the spring, but I couldn't get the game to set it up. So, we will call it good for this year and try again in FM 25. 

[anitamui]

would you like to make a standalone version of your Continental comps file?

[nielsoncp]

On 12/04/2024 at 08:06, anitamui said:

would you like to make a standalone version of your Continental comps file?

Thanks so much for asking anitamui. The short answer is, not as CONCACAF currently operates in game. The longer answer is - because at least three competitions (Canadian Championship, MLS, and the Leagues Cup) cross boundaries, there are a number of weird, hardcoded continental rules for CONCACAF. It makes it hard to create mods for the CONCACAF club competitions, because if you miss something it can still verify and then just not appear in game - I actually a couple of weeks plus this year because I made a continental competition for my mod and it just wouldn't show up in game. This reality makes me reluctant to put in the time and effort into it if it isn't something I'm interested in or going to use. So, again, thanks for asking, but I won't be doing that for 24 - we'll see if there are changes in 25 that make it more manageable. 

[Colonial]

On 11/04/2024 at 16:43, nielsoncp said:

Yeah... unfortunately that happens every time they update the database to created teams and clubs - they change the uids and it's a bit of work to get it sorted afterwards. Here is the updated logos: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1P8lXj21olEcrQRyqsO-1Wc5KTwao_t_F/view?usp=drive_link. That file also contains the kits for the created clubs, so they should appear in game correctly. 

Hey bud, I can't access this file, it's asking me to request permission? Dunno if that's on my end or not!

[nielsoncp]

12 hours ago, Colonial said:

Hey bud, I can't access this file, it's asking me to request permission? Dunno if that's on my end or not!

That was on my end. It's updated and should be accessible now. 

[joseluiscarrasco97]

why is attendence so low in Major League Championship finals?  i saw a team play in the final with 20k attendence in a 80k stadium. looked like a Chicago FC game

[Dillon481]

Does this get rid of the Salary cap and Registration/Contract rules for mls

[nielsoncp]

 

On 07/05/2024 at 13:25, Dillon481 said:

Does this get rid of the Salary cap and Registration/Contract rules for mls

Yes - it makes the US operate like most of the rest of the world. You too can now hoard and overpay wunderkids. 

[Dillon481]

Another question If i changed the playoff type for Major league West/East to like only the Top 4 making it,Top 2 or even just the winners of each conference face each other. would that mess any up like concacaf or any of those competitions?

Edited May 13 by Dillon481

[nielsoncp]

17 hours ago, Dillon481 said:

Another question If i changed the playoff type for Major league West/East to like only the Top 4 making it,Top 2 or even just the winners of each conference face each other. would that mess any up like concacaf or any of those competitions?

Yes. I spent a solid 2-3 days trying to figure out how to shrink the playoffs for this new version, and couldn't make it work. I think it's a design choice I made when I created the db that I can't easily unmake now (and doesn't have an easy fix for someone else to do.) Sorry about that!

[Dillon481]

Yeah no problem and the mod is amazing btw!

[Dillon481]

anyway i can fix these two everything else is correct,But the logo and kit for Rhode island are in the files but for some reason they are not making into fm24 and the Major League 2 is only like this on some tabs like how it is in the pic on Job Center

[Dillon481]

I even changed Rhode Islands ID to the one in the Kit Config to match it but that didn't work either.

Edited May 14 by Dillon481

[Colonial]

Super small thing I noticed to fix for your next version: the Charleston United SC club that competes in the Carolina Classic is I assume supposed to be in SC next to my beloved Battery, but it's based in Charleston, Illinois in the database!

 

Edit: I also "won" the ML1 Eastern Conference three times in one season. I assume that's opening stage + closing stage + overall but wasn't sure if it's intended to all be the same "trophy" or if it's just an unfixable byproduct of trying to implement these stages and an inability make them separate a la Apetura & Clausura trophies.

Edited May 21 by Colonial

[Colonial]

On 14/05/2024 at 14:00, Dillon481 said:

I even changed Rhode Islands ID to the one in the Kit Config to match it but that didn't work either.

Did you make sure there are two kits in the Edit Kit Details drop down so there's a kit for it the images to tie to? I had that issue with the Savannah Clovers in a previous DB and it was driving me insane.