[Challenges / Sign-Ups / Holiday Games ideas thread.]

As a quick trial run, I holidayed through to September 1st using the aforementioned database. Here's what I found:

- Both sides spent roughly 20 million on about five players each. The CAs of the players were all in the range of about 140-160.

- FC Two had not yet spent any money towards improving their Youth Setup.

- FC Two were in 20th place losing all three matches, while FC One had managed to win a game, draw a game and lose a game to sit in 15th.

So, what I would do differently before actually starting the expirement would be:

- Reduce the sides' bank balances to about 20 million. This would be enough to allow them to add a few players, but would hopefully prevent FC Two from investing in their facilities also.

- Allow eleven players (one for each position) to sign-up for each side. This would ensure they had a decent first team, in addition to any signings. I would make each player with a CA of 150, and a PA of 170. This should give them enough ability to hammer out a mid-table finish at least in the first season.

I would post seasonal updates on both sides. Here I would include signings, players of notice, etc. I would additionally put heavy focus on the performances of the Youth Players and compare the youth product for each of the sides.

[Challenges / Sign-Ups / Holiday Games ideas thread.]

So, I'm not entirely new here. I've not been active for a long time. I recently got my copy of FM09, and whilst looking for the patch, I came back across this website and thought, "Oh, yeah..."

Anyway, I've been lurking and reading through some of the threads, and was interested in a small AI Experiment, that may have some potential sign-up elements to it. Anyway, I was just looking for any of the more experienced CSE-ers to give me a few more refinements.

The goal of my experiment is to see what the effect of a good youth setup versus that of a bad one is. So, here's what I've done so far:

- Created two completely clubs, FC One and FC Two.

-- Both clubs have been given a very nice setup:

-- 99 million pounds in the bank; 75 to go on transfers, and brand new 45000 seat stadiums.

-- They've been put into the Premier League in place of Hull and Stoke.

-- Both sides have a moderately good repuation at 7000.

-- Each side has identical chairmen, One Smith and Two Smith, who are good businessmen, and moderately patient, but extremely ambitious.

- Now, here lies their sole differences:

-- FC One has a Youth Acedemy with a 20 rated Youth Setup.

-- FC Two has no Youth Acedemy, with a 1 rated Youth Setup.

Other than this, though, both sides are completely empty. I was considering leaving it completely up to the AI from here, though perhaps it would make sense to create a few (~10) players for each side with equal CAs and PAs to ensure that both sides have enough players.

Any other questions/suggestions/opinions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.