AllyJoseph

Uploaded as Alister Montgomery - wisla (v02).fm It's quite a way before the offer though, but its the only other save file i have.

Edit: Sorry, misread the post, ill try and see if i have one.

I have this exact same issue and I have uploaded a bug report and save game. I have a player who is at my club, is out of contract, is under a "bid", he had his work permit rejected and is now just stuck at my club.

The Saudi's are actually doing this IRL though. Jordan Henderson is getting 675k a week to play in front of 600 people. Money isn't an issue to them and I think we need to catch up in our perception of how little it matters to them. They bought Jota for 25m, gave him 500k a week, then decided to not register him or play him at all.

Do the ME changes apply to save games? Is it just the new data that changes with the new DB? I feel like I should know this, but normally I just start a new save, really want to avoid that this year.

On the topic of interviews, my suggestion to change them(and a lot of the bloat tbh) would be to remove them entirely in their current state. In its place have a news item saying the manager said he was "pleased" with a win, "disappointed" with a loss etc. However, make it a rarer event to actually have to comment on something, so for example every few months you may be asked to comment on a transfer target or an injury or a controversial decision. Because these scenarios will now be more focussed and rarer, you can really expand the current dialogue choices and branching dialogue/outcomes. For example, you could start a chain of interview responses which end with you annoying a player, or disrupting another player, or going down in history with a "you dont win anything with kids" or "special one" comment. Each comment would be transparent in what your choice's outcomes could be, allowing for a positive and negative outcome if necessary(example below). Each outcome has a hidden percentage chance based upon "media handling" attribute a manager has. A. He had a great game (Has a chance of improving player X morale/rare chance of becoming favoured personal) B. He had a poor game (Will lower players morale/has a chance to make player unhappy with managers comments/Has chance to motivate player) C. He has more to come (Could upset player/could change players personality to determined) D. I dont want to comment on individual performances. (chance to lower player X hierarchy/chance to have a small improvement on team morale) Obviously this is pie in the sky spitballing, but I'd expect a dev team to have time to really flesh something like this out and form little organic storylines.

I would like to think I addressed that in my other comments. I'm a long term save player, dynamic nations youth ratings was a huge thing for me. I'm well aware of the issues surrounding ai squad building, but as I said before, these issues affect maybe the more hardcore amongst us. I fail to see any football sim that even comes close to FM and id guess you will have 1,000s of hours in the game as do I. For me thats as perfect as its going to get in terms of actually simulating football. Sure tweeks are always welcome and it can always be improved, but why focus on the small tweeks that may not even be measureable when there are glaring issues with graphics, ui and overall presentation. We need the game to push onto the next level polish wise, then we can address the other things. At the minute each game actually feels like its adding unwanted bloat and detracting from the experience. Id rather call what we have perfect and improve rather than call it imperfect and add.

The issue with this game was that it had absolutely no depth passed the surface level. FM already has the depth, its missing the surface level polish of fancy graphics, new UI, QoL upgrades rather than more bloat. Let's also not forget FM has been around and improved upon over 30 years, this had a couple of years development. F1 Manager was made by a company with no sports management sim experience, but are known for their level of polish. Its also the first in at least 3 annual games, they've already begun to improve the main game but its a mile away from finished. It is definitely an example of how sports management games are advancing graphically. We need a sort of happy medium. Slightly worse graphics than this, but much much more depth. FM could spend the next development cycle making no changes at all to their game OTHER than graphics/UI/presentation, and it would be the best management sim to have ever been released. They instead are intent on releasing things most people do not want or more bloating of the game, its actively making the game worse. They have the perfect sim tbh, yes the hardcore like us who come to forum want better match engines, better tactics, better set pieces, but I also bet all of us on here have 1,000's of hours in the game in its current guise. Imagine those thousands of hours pitchside with proper graphics, real stadiums, proper skills, real kits with badges. Players would have so much more personality, TV interviews would feel much more real pitchside. Trophies would mean more....

I don't have the time to keep up with the forums as much as I should so maybe this has been addressed, but a few pages ago the argument against graphical improvements seemed to be "losing the lower spec computer customer base". Rubbish. A massive improvement in graphics with ray tracing, in 4k, needing a 4080 wouldn't stop them watching the game in 2D or commentary only. The only thing it would do is sate the annoyance of people who want improvements(which is a massive growing voice) or, snag a new demographic. How many copies did F1 Manager sell? It's "engine" is rubbish, the game is a shell, but it sold off the hype of being the first F1 Management game in years and also its impressive graphics. I'd probably not just look at my own sales data, look at the management game space, some management games sell like crazy. All that aside, lets say that our 2005 laptop users still want to watch the match engine. Most other games would allow the user to tweek a HOST of graphics. Let these users watch "3d classic" on "low" settings, let top rig users watch on "ultra". FM looks worse than FIFA Manager 2013. There's apps on mobiles which has better textures and stadiums. Smackdown 2 had better crowds ffs. Then you look at all the stuff OOTP Baseball series crams into its game, it just feels like FM has really got too comfortable with its status as the top dog and industry leader that its dropped the ball. How much longer trying to hold onto that older customer base(which they could keep with tweeks) will they actually start to lose others, or how much money do they leave on the table yearly with people who now buy bi-annually, or maybe once every 3-4 years. I love the game, I love seeing names of people I've never met who have worked on the game since I was a kid still working on the game. I'd never call their dedication or passion for the project into question. However, I do think they've perhaps got too comfortable in being successful regardless of what they release. Please, for the love of God, just give us something, anything.

I think my overarching point here is that we need a remarkable improvement. If they put out anything similar and just texture updates its not enough. We should be looking for more realism and people with high end machines should really be able to see it. I've always hated a lot of the defences of graphics over the years, things like its not the focus of the game irk me somewhat. If they are not the focus of the game, remove them entirely. Same with "lets not alienate people with bad machines". We already have 2d. Add graphics filters. Let people tweek what they have. If we call FM a AA game, and you look at other AA games, we are decades behind, quite literally decades. As for mobile games, we can pretty much emulate ps3 games on android phones, the tech world has moved on significantly. Theres no excuse for a giant football in a corner or a brick wall randomly with an ambulance behind it. If we are licensing clubs, we should have licensed stadia. If you cant do real players close up, have placeholders but give regens more character. Theres an imense scope for improvement and radio silence about it. I think that should not get a free pass which is my major worry.

I know people keep saying that graphics should be likethe 2017 game but I think that's entirely letting them off the hook. Look at the state of what some mobile games can produce now. Laptops and tech has come a long way. Yes it is silly to expect FIFA or even F1 Manager level graphics. But honestly, being able to see players faces, actual textures, real fans, better regen faces...these things should be way above the level 2017 produced. I'd personally be disappointed with anything other than a total overhaul of ALL the graphics/UI. The match engine needs to be showing dribbles and flair, it needs to be of a 2022 level, the ui needs completely changing so its not the same as we've had for 10 years, everything needs that new coat of paint. Not just two or three old features repackaged, the whole thing. If they did nothing but visual improvements for the next 12-24 months and gave us no other new features it'd be the best FM they put out in years. In the intrim maybe release a int fix/upgrade and a set piece upgrade.

I'm late to the party, but I am also sharing my disappointment here. For someone who has bought every single iteration of the game since the early 90's, I was really really hoping for graphical and UI improvements that just are non-existant and I can't stomach the lack of listening to the fan base who are screaming for set piece management, international management changes etc. Also, have they fixed dynamic youth? That conned me into buying last year and wasn't even working as expected. I have a very worrying feeling that we're stuck with this for the next 10 versions as the base code needs a complete re-work and why would they when they are still selling the game like crazy. Max profit, minimum effort. I'll be playing the older versions and keeping an eye out for actual improvements. I doubt enough people are going to vote with their wallets to change things, but the complaints are getting louder each year now. They desperately need some competition to help them push the envelope.