brightonrock

I've input all the scores (I was intending on doing it for more than just the English Prem) and started a new game. I did this mid-way through to check on my progress and if I'd made any mistakes, and it actually looked okay - the results worked fine, and the players had a reasonable number of goals (i.e. 10/12ish by January). However now I've finished inputting the results for the regular season (i.e. before the playoffs), it's cleared player stats altogether - they only have stats from the cup games that have been simulated. Also, I can't get it to start on the day I want. I've found a way to get it to start on 2nd May, but can't get it to start on the 10th as I want it to. Does anybody have any ideas for how to get the game to start on a specific day? I thought if I added a new nation (e.g. Gibraltar) and set it's season start date as 10th May, then added Gibraltar & England as active leagues, I could select "Gibraltar season start date" and it would work? But it seems to be greyed out every time. Is there a 'cut-off' date for the game that it won't let you start after?

Thanks!!

Hi all, hopefully somebody can help! I want to start a save at a mid-point in the mid-season in FM16, but having input the real results...so for example I could start on February 1st, with the results/league tables accurate to real life at that point. I know to add a league under advanced rules and set it with a start date of Feb 1st, which would start the game at that date - but I can't work out how to input the 'real' results, rather than having the results simulated? Am I being simple? (Probably!!) Any help would be greatly appreciated - thanks!

Ah. I may have to go back to the drawing board then, or at least over to the tactics forum so as not to clog up GD. Thanks for the reply.

How do I set target man supply instructions? I.e. run onto ball/to feet/to head etc? This may have been taken away (or hidden away somewhere!) in fm13 or fm14 but I never really got into either. I've been playing fm12 for 3 years now, so I'm a bit behind the times!

I've not often had the time and/or not got engrossed enough to get really far into the game. The three longest for me were: FM07 - Bolton - 12 seasons, including a UEFA Cup & FA Cup win, and culminating in a Prem/CL double in my final season, upon which I quit. I remember Anelka & Voronin scoring hatfuls as my front 2 with an ancient Figo pulling the strings from set pieces and some all-round wizardry from a certain Sherman Cardenas. Great memories FM08 - a created team which I started in BSS and got to the Championship - 8/9 seasons before becoming corrupted. Some of my favourite ever regens came from this game as I gave myself no money and had to develop youth. A DLC called Jim Atkinson who came through my youth team in BSP & L2 ended up being sold for £1m and went on to play for England. Legend in my eyes. FM12 - Brighton, up to my 15th season, 9 consecutive PL titles and going for a 10th in a row, with 3 FA Cups & 4 CLs. The most successful save I've ever had, with only 1 remaining "real" player in my squad. Hated FM13 so I kept playing FM12 and built somewhat of a dynasty!

We all know about Wonga rates, they probably only sponsored them a fiver for the first week of the deal.

I could be wrong, but as I understand it, an important match is any of the following: (a) a match against an opponent with a higher rep than your team (although I'm not sure how much higher); (b) a match against a rival club (i.e. Tottenham v Arsenal); © a league match against a title rival/relegation rival, i.e. someone you HAVE to beat to mathematically achieve something; or (d) a cup final. I'm not sure exactly how (a) works as obviously if a non-league team drew a Premier division team in the cup, this would qualify - but I don't know whether for example Everton playing Tottenham (who have a slightly higher reputation) would be classed as particularly important, or the game would read the situation as 'just another league game'. Certainly b, c & d are all classed as "big games" because there is something riding on them - e.g. a trophy, or fierce expectation from your supporters.

I can't believe anyone can look at a video of the ME right now and tell me, in their heart of hearts, they think that ball is moving like a real football. If someone from SI says they "don't think it's an issue" then they're either under strict orders to deny it as it can't be fixed, or they're blind. I'm not the sort of person to moan non-stop about the game; as an avid FM geek I have worked very hard over the years and various versions to understand the tactics module, and how the changes you make relate in-match. I've read the epic tactics guides by wwfan and others, and built my own solid tactics rather than download a 'diablo' tactic and moan when it doesn't work. There are far too many people who throw their toys out of the pram because they had three injuries in one game, or a goalkeeper did something stupid etc. Generally I think the game is very solid, things can be improved/tweaked, but generally speaking it gets better year on year. The way the ME looks now though is so off-putting, I can't explain it. The ball skating around just looks so mind-blowingly stupid, I can't watch it. FM12 had no collision-detection to speak of so players could run through each other, and the engine was far too heavily weighted towards pace IMO. But win, lose or draw, it was at least fun to watch and to play. I've had a number of saves on it, of varying success, and even when I've been struggling I've not looked at the ball physics in the ME and thought I was playing Ice Hockey Manager. I realise any 'protest' on my part of not buying FM14 makes little difference to SI, no skin off their nose; I'm just speechless that in threads of thousands of posts, there are only a handful of people who seem to have a problem with this. With all the (seemingly) petty things being criticised, it confuses me why something staring people in the face is seemingly not worth complaining about. Bizarre. ???

My biggest problem with this is the ball physics. I can't believe more people aren't kicking up a fuss about it. The decision making of the keeper is strange but not beyond comprehension, the technique required by the attacker to hit it first time is top quality but not impossible, in theory. However the ice-rink style bouncing and acceleration of the ball across the turf like there's no such thing as friction, completely puts me off. I hated FM13 and never got into it for a number of reasons, mostly because the ice skating physics of the ball were absurd. I've vowed to leave it until after January before thinking about getting FM14, when it's been properly patched. I pop in now and again to lurk on feedback threads and gauge what state the game is in - to see a video of the ME in 14.2 and the ball is still moving like its on an air hockey table, is gutting. Clearly it's not considered a problem or it would've been fixed two games ago, as a priority, let alone several patches and updates into this version. Will keep going with my FM12 save at this rate - a flawed ME in many ways itself, but at least the ball moved like, you know, a football, rather than an ice hockey puck.

Nigeria are ranked no1 in the world for me, having won ACON & the World Cup. Slovakia are ranked no2 having won the Euros and lost to Nigeria in the WC final. Meanwhile Brazil/Argentina/France etc have amazing regens but are all languishing in the 20-30ish sort of rank, and barely get through group stages of major tournaments. My save has definitely got a bit weird, I have a Japanese ST who is the world's best (most expensive) player atm, a world class Swiss GK and a ridiculously good, 5* potential (although very injury prone) Greek AML. It's gone beyond the stage where I can argue about realism any more!

On FM07 I had Sherman Cardenas, Nicolas Millan and Goran Slavkovski all in my Bolton team - SC providing an assist for GS in the 121st minute of the CL final to win it. No idea where they all are now. Good memories...

I agree with this. I went back to FM12 because I had a great save going, and although there were still bugs in the 12 ME (players moving through each other, corner bug, susceptibility to pacy poachers etc), the ME was not painful to watch. Please understand that I'm referring to the ball physics, and not the ME itself - not how the players move, interact or their intelligence. I acknowledge the problems with 12 but anyone looking at 13 and saying the way the ball moves "is just a graphical representation" is kidding themselves. A representation of what? I don't understand how a ball can accelerate the further it moves along the ground - friction on any surface, even wet or icy, dictates it will in fact do the exact opposite. In my first game I had a defender head a corner clear from inside his six-yard box. It was a loopy header, not fully cleared, and bounced in the D on the edge of the area. The ball then proceeded to take off like a scalded cat, skip and zip away, accelerating all the time, and roll all the way into the opposition half before another player touched it. That's a ball that has travelled approximately 12-15 yards in the air, in a loopy trajectory, travelling another 40-50 yards, rolling. That is simply not right. I'm not one to aimlessly criticise SI because generally speaking I think the game does improve year on year. But for me FM13 was the most disappointing version for years because the game was incredibly frustrating to watch. I even went back to 2D to try that, but it's the same engine, the same physics, so it still looks stupid. What was most frustrating IMO is the general ME is vastly improved from 12. The animations are slicker, the players seem more tactically aware, most of the stupid things they did in 11 or 12 are completely gone, collision detection is improved - so that's great. But then shining through all that is this weird floaty ball, like I'm watching virtual air hockey. From the ME trailer for FM14 I noticed this doesn't seem to have changed. I do appreciate it's still WIP (some of the shots are ludicrously powerful for example, I imagine that will be toned down), so I'll give it the benefit of the doubt for now. However, I'm personally going to be waiting for the last patch before I dip my toe into FM14. If it's not fixed then I simply won't buy it, I'll stick with my 12 save, regardless of it's own shortcomings.

I regularly use poacher in a 4231. My most successful poacher in that system was reasonably strong and good in the air (14/15) but pace/acceleration/off the ball all about 17. The key was to get a very creative AMC, with extremely high passing/creativity/decisions stats (18+) playing plenty of through balls, and a target man instruction of run onto ball. Wingers crossing often and mixed, and also lots of through balls. Poachers use their pace, movement and finishing to thrive on getting in behind centre backs for one-on-ones, or arriving in the middle on crosses when wingers have beaten a full back. IMO poachers are tailor made for a 4231, as in a 2-striker system they (a) have less space because the other striker will also be trying to get into the box, and (b) they'll usually be wider in a channel between CB and FB attacking either the near or far post, rather than central where they have a bigger target to aim at and more chance of scoring. In a 41221 they can tend to get isolated as there is no support near them and the CM has a longer, riskier pass to play him in, but in a 4231 the AMC is better placed to create and share the goalscoring burden.

I'd love to see the match reports get deeper. At the moment it goes like this: Benzema opened the scoring in the 24th minute with a placed shot. Messi equalised in the 27th minute with a well-timed close range finish. Ronaldo scored the winner in the 64th minute with a powerful close range header. It's dull. I don't know if it's a difficulty with translation of lots of lines of reporting into different languages, but atm it's very basic and very boring. Why not mention the player with the assist? Or comment on a clear cut chance being missed, or a team hitting the woodwork? The 'match report' within the ME knows who got the assist or that someone hit the post. The text commentary knows. So why can't the news report afterwards be a bit more detailed?... Benzema opened the scoring for Real Madrid when he latched onto a through ball from Xabi Alonso to slot past Victor Valdes from 12 yards. The lead didn't last long as Messi poked home a low cross from Neymar just three minutes later. In first half injury time Neymar had a chance to turn the game around but he fired wide from Iniesta's cut-back. Barcelona were denied again in the 55th minute when Pedro struck the crossbar with a header from Xavi's cross. Just past the hour mark Ronaldo made Barcelona pay with a powerful header from Ozil's inswinging corner. It seems that at the moment the descriptions are very basic, and it makes sense to me that it wouldn't be THAT hard to expand upon and make more immersive and interesting.