DP

Also why does it say they have a poor defensive record but are performing ‘above average’ in statistics? Fm is full of little contradictions and mixed messages like this.

Anyone had a keeper sent off yet? 👀

I can’t tell you how much I hate the ranged player value. Such a staple part of FM completely ripped out of the game. Looks so horrible.

If the priorities are elsewhere - ie fixing this module from the ground up behind the scenes - then they may not want to be touching ‘legacy’ stuff too much. I can see an argument for that.

Graphics is far from the only obstacle in the engine. You are aware there is no modern collision detection and physics engine right? They do a great job of creating a realistic illusion but the actual engine itself cannot represent real football until that is addressed.

Because building a stadium is a step too far outside the scope of a manager. Maybe it would be nice if a new stadium is built they could consult you with some options but it should be streamlined rather than you completely designing it.

In fairness, Rockstar don’t have to sell a new game every year. Look at their number of sales compared to FM. SI have to make some sort of profit every year so a release is necessary. Getting the balance right between new stuff and working on background things for the future is the tricky part.

I mean, Minecraft isn’t trying to be any sort of simulation and it’s graphics (ie blocks) are actually a fairly fundamental part of the mechanics of the game. It’s completely non comparable to FM.

Some of their job ads talk about a ‘big technology transition’ working towards the ‘next generation of football manager’ whilst ‘still supporting existing technology in a transition period’. That sounds like it’s quite obvious there are things going on behind the scenes that are just not ready to release yet. It’s clear the current ME is the existing, or legacy, technology they’re talking about.

I would say they are working on a brand new engine behind the scenes - graphically and mechanically - so are reluctant to change too much in the match experience as it’s ‘waste’. Only explanation I can see.

Miles says this is a 2d representation used in news items. If that’s the case, can we just upload a real pic of us for use in news items etc?

Tbf generally there is usually a bit more around other general fixes and changes in the game. I’m sure it’s coming but people are ok to ask when, considering it’s been earlier historically.

One thing that needs sorting in the ME is the replication of great central play leading to goals. In real life you now have KDB and Haaland and Kane and Son with both sets getting ridiculously high assist and goal numbers. It’s hard to reproduce in FM with bias still coming from wide - kind of like the complete opposite of FIFA which is crazy really as FIFA have it closer to real life, at least at the very top level.

It didn’t used to be too bad in the noughties. It’s definitely got worse though, as most of the internet has over the years. There wasn’t as much toxicity around in the early internet days and I suspect social media has a lot to answer for…

The thing that would help is a bit more communication. Paradox are great at writing some dev diaries and talking about plans for future expansions. If SI came out and said ‘there won’t be many new changes this year as we’re focusing on some major changes for next year and this is what we’re doing etc’ it would be great for the community and there would be far more constructive discussion and less criticism imo. A lot here would probably be absolutely cool paying for a refresh this year whilst we wait for some bigger changes that have longer development cycles.

I don’t think anyone is holding back the game intentionally. It’s quite clear there is stuff being worked on in the background that has, potentially, a 3 year development cycle. It wouldn’t surprise me if there were smaller, QOL changes this year whilst major upgrades are being worked on to be released in upcoming editions. Something like a brand new match engine can’t be released iteratively until the MVP is acceptable.

Can numbers be unretired? If not they should be.

It doesn’t really matter. It’s a part of real football that isn’t replicated in the match engine. There has been a case of a keeper being sent off in the CL final. It’s not that it’s hidden, it’s a limitation of the current engine and how players collide. So something that will be developed in the next version of the engine.

Well goalkeepers can’t get sent off for a start. There’s also much, much more variation in play and goals that can be added. Just look around at some of the goals from this weekend and you’ll quickly see some can’t be adequately reproduced in the engine. I also believe player and ball physics isn’t correctly represented right now. I think the animations go hand in hand with a lot of this (it’s not one or the other) but there is plenty that can be changed within the current engine itself.

I agree the AI won’t be anywhere near the squad planner to start. In its initial form it looks like an editable version of squad depth, with the added ability to bring in players from your short list. Fairly easy to code without too many knock on effects for the wider game. However, under the hood I’m still hopeful there are improvements and tweaks to long term squad building - especially at big, established clubs with a structure behind them. This is the only way we’ll see conditions ten/fifteen years in where me as a manager at a big club can have a real ding-dong rivalry for titles with another or multiple other clubs. That side of the game seems to die out as time goes on and it’s a shame. It didn’t used to be this way in the earlier CMs where the systems were easier for the AI to manage.

I think most agree with this it’s just what should be the subject of the small changes that can be grating. Why not refine some of the areas people are interested in such as long term AI manager squad building? Or goalkeepers being able to be sent off? Or general UI? We’re at a point now where it’s difficult to bring in major new features but there is a lot in the game that can be refined - a refinement to the ‘squad depth’ screen, whilst nice, is not what the customers were asking for.

Comes down to peoples definition of ‘dribbling’. What I can tell you is that the game is currently very poor at showing individual flavour for flair players. This means a lot of the sprites appear the same with very few differences or unique character. Bringing sprites to life should be a big priority for the studio, imo. I want to see the difference very visibly between Van Dijk and Phil Jones. I want to see Rashford playing different to Jadon Sancho. It’s not enough right now - if you set their roles the same they’ll play the same way. Man Utd’s Antony cannot be represented properly in the current engine in terms of how he moves and takes on defenders in real life.

He’s probably like me; doesn’t want to play when there are major bugs present. I always wait until at least patch 2 around Xmas.

Isn’t it dependent on whether he got himself a British passport?

Planner is an editable squad depth screen, agent interactions don’t look particularly fun - why not just show this info once the player is scouted rather than a new ‘interaction’ screen, it’s just extra clicks? Interested in recruitment as scouting needed an overhaul tbf.