*Official Football Manager 2013 Demo Feedback Thread* Keep it all in here please

[Aytumious]

The players seem to be completely clueless when it comes to chasing after loose balls.

[Chicha_14]

Why is the processes in task manager so high on this demo?

Mines processing at 800-900K, It never used to be like this in last years FM even with 16 leagues running and some 15-20 years into the game. Cannot imagine what its going to be like when the full game is released next week, something like 1200K with a couple of leagues running first season.

Anyone...

[Neil Brock]

Anyone...

Raise it in the tech forums and we'll investigate. Forum here - http://community.sigames.com/forumdisplay.php/295-Crashes-and-Technical-Issues

Thanks.

[Chicha_14]

Raise it in the tech forums and we'll investigate. Forum here - http://community.sigames.com/forumdisplay.php/295-Crashes-and-Technical-Issues

Thanks.

OK Neil no problem.

[Karna]

This please.

And also why are my custom made attribute colours not remembered? Every time I quit the Demo and they play it again it goes back to default colours.

Did you untick Use Skin Cache? I believe it has to be on.

[Fabio MVP]

Did you untick Use Skin Cache? I believe it has to be on.

There is no such option as far as I see. Do you mean ''Use caching to decrease page loading time''? If so, then it's ticked.

[cateyeoncation]

Tried FMC mode, can't find the option of 1st team and youth team coach in staff search.

Also can't find out how to train player with new position and preferred move.

If that's not abnormal please help~

[Sir Alex]

i started with milan and i find the new function with Director of football is not working well.Adriano Galliani can"t sign any player.All players are rejecting Ac Milan???

[Sir Alex]

and why Inter Milano starts with 980 millions debit?

[Kevunited]

and why Inter Milano starts with 980 millions debit?

they have 394 million pound on mine

[Sir Alex]

they have 980 millions euros/1,2 billion dollars on mine.

[mocas13]

quando abro o fm13 demo a pagina inicial do jogo não parece fica o ecrã todo preto

alguma ajudar sff ??

[StormenDK]

Only done a very, very short test run of the demo. But I see that the 'unrealistic' filter in the Player Search still does not filter out players that obviously would never get a work permit. I started a game as Bath City in the BSS, and my AssMan pointed out a young player with great potential ... but he was iranian with no second nationality. Now why would he point me towards that player? ... he would never get a work permit in England, and he should know that.

It has been an issue in older versions too, and I would like it if this was "fixed".

[Neil Brock]

quando abro o fm13 demo a pagina inicial do jogo não parece fica o ecrã todo preto

alguma ajudar sff ??

Try this - http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/319088-*Official*-Football-Manager-2013-Pre-Order-Beta-FAQ?p=8165108&viewfull=1#post8165108

[Loversleaper]

I have tried importing tactics but they keep vanishing... Anyone know why...?

[dfa120374]

This please.

And also why are my custom made attribute colours not remembered? Every time I quit the Demo and they play it again it goes back to default colours.

Yeh I'd like to know this one too.

Thought it was just me not having the correct options ticked/unticked in the Preferences.

Did you untick Use Skin Cache? I believe it has to be on.

Seems to be that it doesn't matter if one or the other or both is ticked/unticked. They seem to be put back to default as soon as you quit the demo and then load it back up again.

EDIT: Correction to that last part. I kept both options ticked AFTER I fixed it (again) to my preferred colours last night just before quitting the game. I have just loaded the demo up there now and it has kept my colour scheme, so not sure what was going on, but I'll probably keep both options ticked.

[Parkera]

Must admit during match when highlights are not showing the box that appears is annoying, prefered just the pitch view, can this be removed? Also in previous FM's you could get ass man feedback pre game about plyers being over confident etc..seems thats no longer visiable untill the match has started which sucks! Otherwise am so far liking it, and still getting the feel of it.

[phnompenhandy]

IRL they're in dire financial trouble and the guy that used to dig them out in in jail for chronic fraud (Berlisconi)

[Fabio MVP]

Yeh I'd like to know this one too.

Thought it was just me not having the correct options ticked/unticked in the Preferences.

Seems to be that it doesn't matter if one or the other or both is ticked/unticked. They seem to be put back to default as soon as you quit the demo and then load it back up again.

EDIT: Correction to that last part. I kept both options ticked AFTER I fixed it (again) to my preferred colours last night just before quitting the game. I have just loaded the demo up there now and it has kept my colour scheme, so not sure what was going on, but I'll probably keep both options ticked.

What both options exactly?

[Herbert Fandel]

Hi I played the Demo yesterday morning and found a few small things. (apologies if its already been commented on)

1 - This is a slightly worrying one, About an hour into the game (real time) and during my first match Firefox opened and showed a webpage claiming to be from a site called 'just giving' asking for a donation to War Child, which then crashed my browser. If it is intentional from SI, then it is a nice touch to help raise the profile of the charity, but really really poorly done. I had no idea weather it could be a virus, could be trusted or what.

2 - EDIT: Also is it correct that "BETA" appears in the bottom right hand corner of the start page of the demo, Just making sure steam has not done something weird downloading my Demo

1 - This is real and not a virus, It only comes up when you click on the advertising hoardings with the charity information on it. I only know because I have clicked on them by accident so many times. Of course it is not good if it crashes your browser.

2 - It is correct that it says BETA, as the version of the game you are playing is pre-release day. In olden days it would be the same as that being stored on discs worldwide, but of course in the modern era of Steam the game will be being worked un right up until release day. Therefore, although we are all playing the game in some form or another, not until release day will we be playing a game that SI have genuinely considered to be the truthful FM 2013, and of course they will keep working on it beyond then.

[TSH]

The match engine has had a complete overhaul for this version, I don't think tried and tested tactics from previous versions are certain to work. I'd suggest changing your tactics if you're conceding 7, 6 and 5 goals in a game in all honesty.

After the "MASSIVE" changes that Miles mentioned now we have the "complete overhaul" of Neil.

Can you actually tells us what they are? Because most of the people can't see them.

I'd understand if you said that there are some improvements but "MASSIVE" and "complete overhaul?"

What are we, as players, not seeing? This is a genuine question.

[Herbert Fandel]

After the "MASSIVE" changes that Miles mentioned now we have the "complete overhaul" of Neil.

Can you actually tells us what they are? Because most of the people can't see them.

I'd understand if you said that there are some improvements but "MASSIVE" and "complete overhaul?"

What are we, as players, not seeing? This is a genuine question.

I am guessing the massive overhaul is in the way things are worked out. The changes might not be easily visible, as we don't see how things are worked out. We see the end result, which is supposed to look like football. In FM12 we saw something that looked a bit like football, in FM 13 we see something that looks a bit like football, so they look similar. How these end results are being achieved could be wildly different.

I can agree with Neil that my tried and tested tactics from FM 11 and 12 are useless here, had to develop new ones, and am very happy about it

[Neil Brock]

After the "MASSIVE" changes that Miles mentioned now we have the "complete overhaul" of Neil.

Can you actually tells us what they are? Because most of the people can't see them.

I'd understand if you said that there are some improvements but "MASSIVE" and "complete overhaul?"

What are we, as players, not seeing? This is a genuine question.

There's been a lot and I'm not a match engine expert, but the main two I'm aware of are the collision detection and the change to the in-game physics. Both of these may not sound like much, but basically have changed the entire way the match engine works and allows us to make further improvements that were simply impossible with the FM12 engine.

[Rafalution]

been playing as Everton on FMC, one thing I noticed was my training intensity was upp'd during preseason when people need to be getting fit. Is this something my ass man should be doing automatically in classic, or something I need to do?

Also in normal FM you can set Ass man to take care of contracts/reserve games or not etc, is there a similar options screen in FMC, and if so where can I find it?

[demodave]

1 - This is real and not a virus, It only comes up when you click on the advertising hoardings with the charity information on it. I only know because I have clicked on them by accident so many times. Of course it is not good if it crashes your browser.

2 - It is correct that it says BETA, as the version of the game you are playing is pre-release day. In olden days it would be the same as that being stored on discs worldwide, but of course in the modern era of Steam the game will be being worked un right up until release day. Therefore, although we are all playing the game in some form or another, not until release day will we be playing a game that SI have genuinely considered to be the truthful FM 2013, and of course they will keep working on it beyond then.

Cheers.

1.) i suppose this is a post FM11 feature, or i didn't disable hyperlinks in preferences like i usually do.

2.) Yeah i know how it works. I suppose when is a BETA not a BETA. Thought anything released after BETA version is not strictly a BETA even if pre-realese, Anyway that not the problem, If Steam accidentally somehow released some weird/old version to every 1 in a million people, I'd be that guy everytime :-), Im just the guy weird stuff happens to. So just double checking

[Primative]

Hi Guys,

Just jumped in from 2011 version, and i hope its ok for me to ask my question here. In FM13, when i go under "search" -> "players", it now shows me a whole list of players instantly (mine is around 17k++). on the top it states players found in your scouting and knowledge range. May i enquire as to how is this determined? Is the number of players available for me to search determined by the country database i selected when i first started the game? Or this is determined by the knowledge of the scouts i have?

More importantly, and how i came to ask this, is when i was searching for a player i am very interested in in real life, being Pablo Mouche (Argentina) now plays for a club in Turkey premier league called "Kayserispor", he doesn't come up at all. I've clicked all the filters away (e.g. filter out unrealistic target). But when i manually click under the menu -> "world", "turkey", "turkey premier league" then then selecting the club Kayserispor, Pablo Mouche is there! under the list of players. I've even then scouted him by my pool of scouts subsequently. After receiving a report from my scouts (and finding out i can't afford him, sigh), i went back to player search and he is still unsearchable, i.e. when i type Pablo Mouche or Mouche under search for the name, nothing comes up! May i enquire as to why he doens't come up in my search?

Just as added info: I've noticed alot of players born from Argentina in my 17k++ players list, but Pablo Mouche (whom is an Argentine himself) isn't. So what determines which Argentine footballer appears in my list what which doesnt? I've also sorted the 17k++ players by clubs and scrolled down to Kayserispor (a looonnng scrooll down, but i digress), and only 4 players that are from kayserispor appear there. So i guess my 3rd question is, what determines who to populate this list?

Thanks for any assistance guys, i do'nt know why but this has troubled me alot. It would be nice to know, for e.g. i could add more databases or increase my scouting knowledge etc. Great game so far!

[Herbert Fandel]

If you go to 'Your name' > 'Search' > 'Players' it only searches for people your scouts know about. This is determined by where your scouts have been looking, what knowledge they have already, and also the reputation of players in areas relevant to your scouts knowledge

If you go to the search magnifying glass and search there, everyone who you have loaded into the game will be there. This is determined by the database you selected at the start of the game.

If you have got your scouts to do a report on Mouche, and he doesn't appear in the 'Your Name' player search, assuming you have NO filters set, then something is wrong.

[Lazloforce]

Hello!

I have an ATI Radeon HD 4550 Graphics Card in my PC, which (as far as I know) is enough for the game. However, if i choose GPU Assisted (which makes the game nicer - yeah, I know I can change it to Software) most of the screen goes grey, and grey boxes appear on my screen. Can you advise anything for me? Maybe I have a poor Graphics card or I don't know what the problem can be.

Cheers

[Neil Brock]

Hello!

I have an ATI Radeon HD 4550 Graphics Card in my PC, which (as far as I know) is enough for the game. However, if i choose GPU Assisted (which makes the game nicer - yeah, I know I can change it to Software) most of the screen goes grey, and grey boxes appear on my screen. Can you advise anything for me? Maybe I have a poor Graphics card or I don't know what the problem can be.

Cheers

Post a thread on the tech issues forum and I'll take a look for you - http://community.sigames.com/forumdisplay.php/295-Crashes-and-Technical-Issues

Probably best to include your dxdiag, details here - http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/319088-*Official*-Football-Manager-2013-Pre-Order-Beta-FAQ?p=8165117&viewfull=1#post8165117

Thanks.

[Herbert Fandel]

IRL they're in dire financial trouble and the guy that used to dig them out in in jail for chronic fraud (Berlisconi)

Classic dive

[Primative]

If you go to 'Your name' > 'Search' > 'Players' it only searches for people your scouts know about. This is determined by where your scouts have been looking, what knowledge they have already, and also the reputation of players in areas relevant to your scouts knowledge

If you go to the search magnifying glass and search there, everyone who you have loaded into the game will be there. This is determined by the database you selected at the start of the game.

If you have got your scouts to do a report on Mouche, and he doesn't appear in the 'Your Name' player search, assuming you have NO filters set, then something is wrong.

Hi Herbrt, Thank you for your reply. I did not realise about that magnifying glass search option. I've always searched the "your name > search > players" option. Just for knowledge purposes, i did do a scout report on Mouche, and tried to search for him through the "your name > search > players" option, unticked all filters. And Mouche still does not come up. Would this be an indication of a bug? or working as normal as my scouts did not naturally scout him and i forced them to do a scout report on him.

[Mojby]

The match engine has had a complete overhaul for this version, I don't think tried and tested tactics from previous versions are certain to work. I'd suggest changing your tactics if you're conceding 7, 6 and 5 goals in a game in all honesty.

Ok, for once it is my tactics. i have changed them around and am now getting the type of results i would expect with this Liverpool team - great stuff.

Now that I am not fretting over these a few things i have noticed with the ME:

The ball seems to fly across of the surface of the pitch like it is covered in grease.

Players with the ball when confronted with another player in front of them seem to turn their back on them all the time and then pass it away.

Long shots - the ones I have seen seem to be flying at 300 miles an hour - they are hit and then i have trouble tracking them they are so fast

The goalkeeper seems to get down to the ball far to quickly - i.e they are diving to their left (and right) before the player with the ball has even kicked it (from open play).

Setting training routines - when I set a players and it returns me back to the player selection screen to move to the next player, it keeps returning me to the top of the screen and not to the player I have just changed - so it is frustrating more than anything as I keep having to page down to the next player - hope this makes sense

[tjblackstar]

Good demo,GUI, interactions, and staff responsibilities are things that have significantly improved, best demo yet! however the match engine could do with some improvment, and its annoying how EVERYTIME my striker wins a 1 on 1 header opportunity from a cross on the goalkeeper... It always gets judged as a foul on the keeper and he barley even touches him

[Mojby]

A couple of more things i have noticed:

Too many goalkeeping errors. The ball is stationary in the box following a rebound and the GK just stands there and a forward comes in and scores - just happened twice in the last two games.

Possession - so many games seem to end with one team with 70% or more possession - this rarely happens in real life but it seems to be every other game for me - both me and the opposition.

[dfa120374]

What both options exactly?

The two options being "Use caching to decrease loading times" and "Reload skin when confirming changes in Preferences"

I had those both ticked, BUT I have just loaded up the game again now with those both ticked and the colour scheme has indeed reverted back to the default, so it seems that no matter what option is ticked/unticked they revert back after the game is closed.

[tjblackstar]

Good demo,GUI, interactions, and staff responsibilities are things that have significantly improved, best demo yet! however the match engine could do with some improvment, and its annoying how EVERYTIME my striker wins a 1 on 1 header opportunity from a cross on the goalkeeper... It always gets judged as a foul on the keeper and he barley even touches him

[Fabio MVP]

The two options being "Use caching to decrease loading times" and "Reload skin when confirming changes in Preferences"

I had those both ticked, BUT I have just loaded up the game again now with those both ticked and the colour scheme has indeed reverted back to the default, so it seems that no matter what option is ticked/unticked they revert back after the game is closed.

The same thing happens to me.

[isignedupfornorealreason]

A few things...

a) On default settings I cannae see the ball in the match engine. It's too damn tiny. My 12 year old nephew agrees. Though he also said I make Wigan play "lovely first touch football" mwahahaha. Ain't I a boss!

Anyway

b) It appears that staff apply for jobs and then say they're not interested in the position regardless. This is in response to job adverts. It was fixed in 12 and 11 I think(?) so I don't like seeing it returning. I believe it was for the head of youth development job. Overlooked error?

c) The interface is really fat, I'm not feeling like I'm clicking less to get through things. Maybe I'm too used to the old styles.

d) Cursory glances say there's nothing in the manual as to what each staff position does. A cursory search on the how to and manual brought 0 results for 'head of youth development' and 'director of football'. Either I'm being thick and I missed it or it's not in. As they're new features I'd expect them to be there, no point putting it in the tutorial as no experience player is going to be bonging around in a tutorial at this stage.

[ddd13]

Some feedback about the match engine issues.

I hope there are easy tweaks and that you will have time to fix that (or an early patch compatible with save games). Because something is wrong with it,no offense.

-Sometimes players look like they are ice skating on the pitch,and their bodies seem unnatural when in possession of the ball.

-The ball looks smaller,and sometimes (on a pass,cross) it bounces away like there is ice on the surface.

-Important:I have my GK distribution to defender collect,but i haven't seen once that happening from a goal kick.

-Important:I am not sure if it also happens on others but my two strikers do not seem to participate in the game at all.At least at the extended highlights that is see,because at the after-match individual analysis everything seems ok. I play a 442 and the two strikers seem lost in the match,all my game and shots is done by wingers and cm's. They can't cooperate at all. Let alone that they tend not to score many goals. I noticed that the AI defends with many many many players around my two strikers. I don't know if it is an issue of my tactics,but i use a common tactic and have never seen that happening over 10 years of the game.

-After a goal kick before the ball lands it seems like it lags a bit.

-Very annoying:I play with extended highlights.After a match starts there is a highlight no matter what.The same when it ends ( that is nice but not if you win or lose 2-0,3-0 for example). And the most annoying of all is that is almost always a highlight after I score.And usually there is a very good chance for my opponent.I have conceded 3 goals like that and i have played around 20 matches.I don't even have time to alter tactics or sth.Really annoying!

That is all i remember.Apart from the match engine which I wish you can fix,everything else seem great in the game.!Kudos.

[loprette]

what's good about the demo: my PC can run it (although, I don't know how many leagues will I get to run in the full game).

what's bad about the demo: it seems like the way that things are displayed are worse than ever. I don't think that sacrificing jugability for a better visual experience is smart when the key attractive of the game is not the graphics.

I'll keep trying to get "hooked" by the game, but so far it doesn't attract me enough to buy it. I find it rather irritating than enjoyable.

[dfa120374]

The same thing happens to me.

Just loaded the demo up now and it's reverted back once again, so I have no idea how it managed to stay on my colours when I loaded the game up a couple of days ago.

Hopefully this will be fixed cos it's a bit of a pain in the arse having to change it all the time.

Some feedback about the match engine issues.

I hope there are easy tweaks and that you will have time to fix that (or an early patch compatible with save games). Because something is wrong with it,no offense.

-Sometimes players look like they are ice skating on the pitch,and their bodies seem unnatural when in possession of the ball.

-The ball looks smaller,and sometimes (on a pass,cross) it bounces away like there is ice on the surface.

-Important:I have my GK distribution to defender collect,but i haven't seen once that happening from a goal kick.

-Important:I am not sure if it also happens on others but my two strikers do not seem to participate in the game at all.At least at the extended highlights that is see,because at the after-match individual analysis everything seems ok. I play a 442 and the two strikers seem lost in the match,all my game and shots is done by wingers and cm's. They can't cooperate at all. Let alone that they tend not to score many goals. I noticed that the AI defends with many many many players around my two strikers. I don't know if it is an issue of my tactics,but i use a common tactic and have never seen that happening over 10 years of the game.

-After a goal kick before the ball lands it seems like it lags a bit.

-Very annoying:I play with extended highlights.After a match starts there is a highlight no matter what.The same when it ends ( that is nice but not if you win or lose 2-0,3-0 for example). And the most annoying of all is that is almost always a highlight after I score.And usually there is a very good chance for my opponent.I have conceded 3 goals like that and i have played around 20 matches.I don't even have time to alter tactics or sth.Really annoying!

That is all i remember.Apart from the match engine which I wish you can fix,everything else seem great in the game.!Kudos.

After playing my first match yesterday I noticed this myself. The players seem to slide about a bit too much and after passing and crosses as soon as the ball lands it just seems to skid on and roll faster

Hopefully they are just small fixes though.

[Kaiser_Tottenham]

downloaded the demo, really i couldn't get big imporvements in the game, not worth to spend around £40 in my country to be honest.. But willing to buy it this time as my machine stop working at all when i'm running Football Manager via steam, so it's frustration i need to save the game much and still lose some of work after such accident. This is the 2nd year in row i'm not happy that much about the new features, apart from add/remove leagues anytime.

• the 3D match getting tom improve each version, which i'm satisfied with it, but that's what we expect from each game.
  
• the new rules, the scouting chief is the only one of these thing could be really important. The others:
  

- Director of Football (important notice) : I understand it's introduced as option for some people who like it or not, but oh my God, how on the earth the manager can appoint him or sack him. Really shocking and hopefully SI can fix this in next update until big imporvement in FM14 ( at most ) .. I think the best situation for this feature, If the club is losing some stature or had poor financial results and not meet the club expetation, then the club talk to the manager about introducing DoF style above the manager, and it's up to the manager, to accept it, or risking his job by offer his ultimatum to the club or ask for more time or accept it ( depends on his time at the club and his reputatition ) . And if the manager left, the new job title 'advert' should be head coach, and higher reputation managers like 'Mourinho-Redknapp' should force 'Manager title' with all responsibilties for ins and outs, or the club goes for less reputation and appoints head coach, should the club wish to force cut-spending and transfer policy.

- as for Reserve Manager or U18 Manager, i wish we can apply for these jobs in FM14, and human managers can get the top job as caretaker when first team manager is left. and Until this momment, it's nothing new since we could manage these things before, including GK coachss, Fitness coaches.Training Camps, couldn't see this, i think i can

• The tone added to press-conferece is a bit important.
  
• couldn't get the training camps yet, will to send my feedback when i experience it
  

still my main wishes in wishlist: training schedules + the benfites for each region ( in tours ) are yet to be introduced, also resignation process need slight imporvement.

don't know why SI focus on change of the skins and add some dialogos/buttons in the game or in the skins which all already in the game.. they did it from FM11 to FM12, and now from FM13 and a load of examples, like the talk with Assistant Manager about friendlies etc.. It's OK as change & Imporvement, but this shouldn't be count as new feature. New features mean new idea to the game which help to enjoy this feature during the whole year when you play, not enjoying it for the first time play and then you find it boring after some weeks..

i wish if SI add more procces to resination decision, giving reasons for the departure or more improvements in DoF feature, rather change in skin etc..

anyway, I would like to thank SI for their good work

[TSH]

There's been a lot and I'm not a match engine expert, but the main two I'm aware of are the collision detection and the change to the in-game physics. Both of these may not sound like much, but basically have changed the entire way the match engine works and allows us to make further improvements that were simply impossible with the FM12 engine.

Thanks for the answer.

What is the gain for us players? How is that reflected in the way we play?

The differences until now are minimal from what I can see and new problems have arisen.

Again, genuine question.

[leemcilwaine]

Has the option to manage the reserve/Under 18s teams been removed, or am I missing something?

[Robert the Spud]

I'm finding it a struggle to see the ball! Has it been reduced in size or something? My vision is perfect for those wondering!

I'd also like to know why pre-season starts on the 17th of July, or perhaps this is just for the demo?

Also, I preferred the old way of the staff screen layout, i.e- you could see which were coaches, which were 1st team coaches, which were youth etc. More easy to follow.

[wally13]

I'm finding it a struggle to see the ball! Has it been reduced in size or something? My vision is perfect for those wondering!

I'd also like to know why pre-season starts on the 17th of July, or perhaps this is just for the demo?

Also, I preferred the old way of the staff screen layout, i.e- you could see which were coaches, which were 1st team coaches, which were youth etc. More easy to follow.

I think there's a new feature now that lets you choose when pre-season starts although i know you wont of choosing anything as i presume you noticed this at start of season , but it's maybe why your seeing the start as 17th

[Fabio MVP]

As I already asked I would really like to know why is the game starting on July 17th? It always used to start at the begining of the July.

[bigman]

wow, really struggling to win a game on the demo lol i'm arsenal and it's pre season but it seems my defence is leakier than an old mans bladder

is the game tough for everyone or are my tactics messed up?

[Robert the Spud]

Tactics bigman. Though there are obviously some issues with the ME. I'm just not liking the new ME, it's a step back from FM12, not a progression. Everything seems much smaller and hard to see, and the movement of the players worse, and i still cannot see the damn ball.

[Svenc]

PaulC admitted that the decision to include the overhauled engine was done just a few months back, and that he knew that placing it into FM at this point was two steps ahead and one step back. From my limited experience with playing the demo I can definitely see what he is getting at. Whilst it's nerdtastic that FM is now simulating the 90 minutes in full, rather than the "one-eight of a second sim" of old, and new animations as well as the physics are clearly visible (though in need of balancing still), other major balancing issues appear in stark contrast to that.

In FM's engine of old, a reasonably aggressive playing superior side facing an inferior by and large was able to cause trouble to the inferior opposition. It was able to put them under constant pressure, win back the ball early, dominate possession. In FM 2012, match ups between teams but three to four tiers apart would often result in the inferior team barely getting a single shot on target or otherwise, most noticably in the domestic cup competitions. Perhaps the engine of old was a bit over the top in that, but still.

In a recent friendly between Rangers and Rangers reserves I had the reserves topping the possession statistics as far as twenty minutes into the game, and that wasn't because they opted to park the bus and frustrate their superior opponents, but they were easily allowed to form passing triangles and pass the ball nicely between them far into the Ranger's half. Even telling the side to play more aggressively didn't really change this. Most bizarre of all was a passing statistic that previously only the best of teams employed - or those that shied away from any risk whatsoever: Around more than thirty minutes in the possession stat was fairly equal, something like 48 to 52 - whilst for both sides a whopping 85% + of passes reached their desired target! I watched this match in full, remembered that just a few weeks ago I was watching my Luxembourg side on FM 2012 being barely able to string together a coherent sequence of passes away in Azerbaijan and the equally mediocre skilled opposition not faring any significantly better (something like 65% in passing success for both), and I thought: Yup, there are still some patches to go before this iteration of the ME reaches the point were the old one left off.

However, the additions will likely make it worth that while and trouble. Assuming that SI's aim is getting there again or even surpassing the old engine in this regard. I'm really curious whether PaulC has already put together the elaborate statistics he usually collects, including detailed numbers on various league levels and competitions incorporated into the game.