FMC (FM Classic) - Your thoughts after having played it

[Konrad0611]

Have one of your players win player of the year and fog of war goes away.

[spankie]

Is there a way not to have attributes hidden by "fog of war" in FMC?

Also, would it be possible to change the attributes so that they do not have coloured backgrounds (if you know what I mean)?

If you don't think one of your players can get player of the year then you could buy it from the store.

You could try downloading a new skin, Stekklo has a FMC skin or the base FMC skin from the SKinning Hideout and modify the attribute colours.

[The Bashful Geek]

Love Classic mode, but two things I'd love to be introduced in a patch (or the next game) is more leagues and countries at one time, and also slightly more detailed finances.

[olkku81]

I love it! For me it's really brought fun back to FM - in fact, I'm playing this now again, having skipped the last 4 or so versions just because for a few years playing FM felt like work and not like fun

Just a couple of things I'm missing, namely the chance to have a say on your affiliated clubs and being able to have more than just a few staff members. The affiliated thing now is purely down to luck: I'm into my 7th season now, having played both in the Finnish league and England, and I'm yet to have an affiliate that would be of any use. I can't loan players out, I can't get players from bigger (affiliated) teams on loan. But then, the loaning system seems to work pretty well manually so it doesn't really affect developing youngsters etc.

The staff thing doesn't really affect gameplay, either. It's just that I've had a few club legends retire now that I'd have like to sign as coaches or scouts of whatever but can't since there's only one slot available for every role... Which is a shame! It gives a nice sense of continuity and belonging to keep some of your favourite players at the club.

Otherwise it's great. One press item every now and then is ok, I was never bothered about training anyway, and the general streamlining has worked wonders for my playing pleasure. Oh the skin is nice, too! So. Not considering switching to full version at all

[ZenPancakes]

I'm with a lot of you guys, I'm a chef, so my time home is pretty non existent, but I've managed to purchase CM/FM every year for close to 20 years, but the last 4 I never played thoroughly. Then FMH was released, and suddenly I was able to put in 15 seasons. Now that FM13 has classic mode, I absolutely love it. The news is such a great one shot of information from around the leagues, I get lost and love reading them, please consider including something like this in a future rev of FMH. Being able to push through entire seasons quickly is fantastic. Now that I gain some time back with Classic, sometimes I'll watch a match in 3d.

One thing I thought for sure would be included was the ability to at the very least, be able to give a player a positive/negative talk to either boost him up, or tune him down. I'm surprised that was left out. I also agree with others that would like more leagues, but for a first release, I think SI did a pretty damn good job. I hope that you guys don't phase out the full FM side of the game to only focus on classic, I think it would be a shame to turn away from it. I don't get as much out of it, but I still play, just not 15-20 seasons.

[Kraiden]

Is there a way not to have attributes hidden by "fog of war" in FMC?

Also, would it be possible to change the attributes so that they do not have coloured backgrounds (if you know what I mean)?

There's an unlockable for it, I believe, called "High Visibility" .

[penza]

I haven't played FMC because there is no editor.. so not really liking it but I wanted to ask do you think ultimately it is easier than the normal version or harder? Cause the normal version is just too hard! in fm12 same tactic and same players I would just destroy everyone.. in fm13 way too hard!

Thanks....

[spankie]

penza - if you're struggling with the full FM game then you will struggle with FMC as the ME is the same.

All I can do is suggest you go to the tactics forum and see what tips you can pick up to help you out.

Your FM12 tactics probably took advantage of a ME issue that has since been fixed, so they'll need to be tweaked in order to get them working. I'm not a tactical expert but the best thing to do in FM13 as a base tactic is to keep it simple and then refine and add to it and see what happens.

[Overmars]

I love this version! The increased speed over the full version of FM is very much appreciated. I have a 1-2 year old laptop, and I was disappointed with the lagging on every mouse click that happened with the full version. FM Classic, however, feels extremely fast. Also, most of what has been streamlined is not stuff that I appreciated in the first place.

If I was to change one thing it would be to have a more customizable database/number of leagues involved. I felt the country/league limit was a bit too restrictive, and I hope future FM Classic versions will allow for a little more flexibility. If I could load the top level from Italy, Spain, England, France, and Germany (plus the second and third levels from the active country) I would be thrilled.

[Lucas]

I think its worth pointing out that FMC is faster primarily because:

1) Less leagues and players are loaded

so if you were able to add more leagues and players, this will directly impact the speed of FMC.

[jon_m]

I think its worth pointing out that FMC is faster primarily because:

1) Less leagues and players are loaded

so if you were able to add more leagues and players, this will directly impact the speed of FMC.

Hey Lucas. I'm a bit confused as surely we're talking about two different kinds of speed here?

There's speed in terms of game processing (as in when I hit the Continue button) and there's speed in terms of game play interaction (as in less features = quicker game play.)

So if you're saying more leagues would impact speed, are you referring to the game processing speed? As surely a bigger database doesn't equal more features?

I think the consensus is that we're all happy to lose a little processing speed to increase the size of the game's data.

Cheers,

Jon

[Lucas]

Processing speed, yes. I think it's important to bear that in mind though however you setup a save game in FM/FMC

[coxy100]

I've enjoyed FM Classic - but ultimately decided to start again with the 'full' version.

Time is precious for me too - I used to sink hours and hours each night into FM, but nowadays it's about 5 hours in total a week. However, there are too many things missing in FMC that I've got used to now. For me the ideal would be like other users have suggested - at the start of FMC you have options on what to turn on / off such as scouting, training etc.

I miss the immersion from the full game - and I think this is easily achieved if we had the option to add bits to FMC if we want to - with the knowledge that of course it would slow it down.

[Lucas]

I've enjoyed FM Classic - but ultimately decided to start again with the 'full' version.

Time is precious for me too - I used to sink hours and hours each night into FM, but nowadays it's about 5 hours in total a week. However, there are too many things missing in FMC that I've got used to now. For me the ideal would be like other users have suggested - at the start of FMC you have options on what to turn on / off such as scouting, training etc.

I miss the immersion from the full game - and I think this is easily achieved if we had the option to add bits to FMC if we want to - with the knowledge that of course it would slow it down.

What immersion are you referring to, exactly and what do you think would add to the experience?

[DJ Sir Matthew]

Processing speed, yes. I think it's important to bear that in mind though however you setup a save game in FM/FMC

But surely being able to limit the leagues to League 2 instead off all the way down to BSS/BSN if you select England, would be benificial for said speed?

Or to put it differently, what would be f.e. be faster:

1. All English leagues down to BSN/BSS

2. English leagues down to League 1, Italian leagues down to Serie B and Belgian leagues down to Jupiler League (Tier 2)

[Riz Remes]

That said, and I think it's a very big issue, is the lack of personalized training. I'm fine not having tutors and individual training, but plz let us have strikers train attacking and defenders train defense (like in FMH)... you end up with very unbalanced teams and that's very frustrating.

Both in FM and FMC the coaching staff do actually train players according to their position under the hood without the need to specifically assign the players to different training routines. So strikers will do more attacking drills and defenders more defensive drills automatically.

[Jibby123]

Before I say anything else; FMC is not for me, simply because I am anal about micro-managing everything I can and don't care how long it takes to complete the season, so was never designed for me.

What I think is positive though and wanted to pass back is that my son (he's 11) is now playing again and it's FMC and only because FMC was released, after he gave FM up for 3 or so years because he was becoming overwhelmed with the full version as he tried to explore more at 7-8. I think FMC is a brilliant idea for those who find the game for the first time, kid or not, as well as those who don't like the micro-management side, or don't have time to whizz through seasons. He's back in to it, and this is the lad who would spend the whole of 20 minutes weekly talk time we had (in Iraq, not prison!!) in 08 telling me about his latest save and now his enthusiasm is back after FM became too full on as he wanted to know more about the game.

[mark b]

Do you have the reserve and under 18 teams on this and also if you choose instant result' what happens with substitutions? e.t.c

[chadi2012]

I love FMC, I didn't buy the game last year, First year I missed. I used to love playing normal mode, but I just don't have the time now. So after reading about the classic mode, I bought the game last week. While classic is not as good, it is perfect for me. I can get through a season now even with my 60 hours at work.

I miss be able to train positions in classic mode, i don't know if a player will get better in a position just by playing there in classic??? Anyone know?

Besides this I am enjoying the game and happy SI added this feature. I still miss FML though, I still do the random search clutching at straws hoping for a release, but I know this is dead Enjoying the new game.

One more thing, I played 3 seasons with spurs and I never seen a free kick go in, I'm glad corners are harder. Anyone else notic this?

[Target Practice]

Mark, I believe that the U18 and Reserve teams are 'merged'. Your youth players are automatically placed into the reserves.

As for substitutions in 'instant result', I've only ever used it very sparingly, but I believe the ass.man handles those. You simply set a gameplan that outlines roughly what you want to achieve from the game (play for a draw, go for a big win etc) and then the ass.man does his best to work to those instructions.

Chadi - yes, I believe that playing a player in a new position enough will cause them to learn that position. I've seen this happen a few times now. I've also noticed that players who don't play a position very often seem to 'lose' that position.

Overall, I'm another convert to FMC. I played about a season or so of FM12 before getting frustrated with all the clicking (and a hideously unfair sacking didn't help), but the promise of FMC and 50% off in the Steam Holiday sale was enough to drag me in for another go, and I'm really pleased I did. I've had a couple of weeks off over Christmas, and have made it 5 seasons in already with my beloved/hated Leicester City.

The big positives for me are the streamlining of training (whoever had this idea, make yourself known - a lot of veteran CM/FM players would like to buy you a beer), and the abolition of the hideously repetitive press conferences. I never liked Team Talks either, as it was either a bit of a lottery if you didn't know how the system worked, or a ready-packaged second-half comeback if you did, so losing those hasn't caused me too much heartache.

There's a few things I feel I'd like a little more control over though - in particular player interaction - if a player is playing well/playing badly, I'd like to be able to tell them so. I've also missed being able to assign mentors, as this is often a big part of the way I play in the early years of a game, combining savvy (and cheap!) veterans with promising (and cheap!) youngsters/regens.

Overall though, this is a fantastic starting point for a new game mode, and it's given the FM series a new lease of life for me. I started playing waaaaaaay back with Championship Manager 2 as a (roughly) 12-year-old (remember when the most you could EVER bid for a player was £20m?), and I'm now 28 years old and have a full-time job and family of my own. As my own life got more complex, so did Football Manager, and the two couldn't live side by side. Football Manager Classic means I don't have to make that choice.

[chadi2012]

Thanks Target. You make some interesting points, It is a good starting point. I'm sure they will improve next year even more.

Also I seen the thing about buy your son as a regen. I prefer to unlock than pay, it says after 10 years service and retirement of a player you will get one. Is this any player that you keep for 10 years till retirement, from the time you start the game not counting current years served? I would love a son in the game, but I rarely keep players past 32. I like to keep a low wage budget etc.

[Target Practice]

I'm not sure, as I haven't got that far yet, but my understanding is that it is any player that remains at your club for 10 years then retires will unlock it, but I'm sure someone with better knowledge will confirm/deny that.

Out of interest, does anyone know if the 'son' has a chance of being any better or worse than any other regen?

[robertcornell68]

I miss be able to train positions in classic mode, i don't know if a player will get better in a position just by playing there in classic??? Anyone know?

Yes. I've trained several players to accomplished in 3-4 months just by playing them in a new position but they all lost one of their accomplished positions at the same time.

[Cesc_cil]

1st - Can you use a edited database in this game mode?

2nd - How do you ask your staff certain things like "take control of friendly matches"?

[20leGend99]

1st - Can you use a edited database in this game mode?

2nd - How do you ask your staff certain things like "take control of friendly matches"?

1) You can't use edited databases

2) Use the instant result feature as it does the same thing

[JR866Gunner]

Just noticed I cannot look at my under 18 squad :-(

[20leGend99]

Just noticed I cannot look at my under 18 squad :-(

Sadly you don't get an U18 squad only a reserve squad. I'm wondering if this having a negative impact on the quality of players coming through in England because alot of my young players don't really seem to be improving because it's hard to play them at the right level.

[spankie]

Just noticed I cannot look at my under 18 squad :-(

There is no U18 squad, all U18 players go into the reserve team. Its not realistic or ideal but it works well with FMC

[Yahooka]

At least a game that don`t take all your spare time.The last couple of years I`ve gradually lost interest because of all the tweaking and nitbits and instruction to ass mans and scouts (and the dreaded press conferences ),so Im very happy with this.

Just 1 question if someone has a answer to if it`s normal or a bug : Im playing 1`st season with Bor.Monchengladbach in Germany and I also participate in CL.

My transfer budget is £450.000 and Im able to renew my own squads contracts at the end of 2012,but when Im trying to offer a contract to a player outside my squad Im only able to offer him max £ 1000 :confused: !!!!!

I`ve tried to tweak the transfer budget to give myself a bigger wage budget,but it didn`t help either.And of course the board is not willing to increase the budget either,even when the budget is in plus each month.I`ve never had so little money to give contracts with before so right now I feel like playing with Crawley,but with big club expectations !!!

[Lucas]

At least a game that don`t take all your spare time.The last couple of years I`ve gradually lost interest because of all the tweaking and nitbits and instruction to ass mans and scouts (and the dreaded press conferences ),so Im very happy with this. Just 1 question if someone has a answer to if it`s normal or a bug : Im playing 1`st season with Bor.Monchengladbach in Germany and I also participate in CL.My transfer budget is £450.000 and Im able to renew my own squads contracts at the end of 2012,but when Im trying to offer a contract to a player outside my squad Im only able to offer him max £ 1000 :confused: !!!!! I`ve tried to tweak the transfer budget to give myself a bigger wage budget,but it didn`t help either.And of course the board is not willing to increase the budget either,even when the budget is in plus each month.I`ve never had so little money to give contracts with before so right now I feel like playing with Crawley,but with big club expectations !!!

This is presumably because the wages you have offered and projected wage budget (should the players all accept), exceed the wage budget you have.

[Yahooka]

This is presumably because the wages you have offered and projected wage budget (should the players all accept), exceed the wage budget you have.

Thx for the answer.Just have to continue to pester the board again !!

[Andy 23]

I've not touched "full fat" FM once. FMC is exactly what I was hoping it would be; fast, minimalistic, simple, hassle-free, fun, no nonsense. It takes me back to the days of the old Champ manager where I just bought some players, picked a team, and played some matches.

That's what I'm looking for too. The only thing that ruins FMC for me is the player search screen. The lack of decent players has genuinely ruined seasons where I simply couldn't sign better than 1star goalkeepers, and attribute masking means I have to instruct my scout to individually report on everyone which is such a waste of time.

I may try the full simulation mode and delegate as much as possible to DoF and AssMan just to see how quickly I'm able to rattle through that mode in comparison to FMC.

I think I may try that.

[gaviero]

attribute masking means I have to instruct my scout to individually report on everyone which is such a waste of time.

If you do the "kids" challenge with someone like Litex or Shakhtar you'll be able to do instant result all the way through and at the end you'll unlock the attribute unmasking

[robertcornell68]

Sorry, please ignore.

[Rafalution]

do clubs not start with massive debt in FMC? Neither Inter or Milan have anything?

[leovii]

I mainly use FMC for network games due to its streamlining and speed and also enjoy playing FMC singleplayer if I feel like managing a big club as you mainly just wanna make big signings and see if u can win it all in a few seasons.

The only time I prefer the full fat version is if i want to get really stuck into all aspects of managing and building up lower league teams on long term games as u have more access to developing youngsters and bein able to communicate with your players both in match and through general options in talk to player screen.

I do not think one version is better than the other both are challenging both can be frustrating and both can be rewarding just feel its great to have the option to either play the addictive retro feel of the old cm series on fmc or the more indepth micromanaging and absorbing full fat version.

[drhay53]

I should say at first that I only played FMC for about 2-3 hours before going back to full mode. That's my disclaimer.

My thing about FMC versus the full version is that most of the options that are forcibly removed from you in FMC can be removed at your discretion in the full version. Don't want to hire any staff? Set your director of football or board president to do it. Don't want to scout? Set your chief scout to set all scouting assignments. Don't want to set up training? Use ask assistant.

For me FMC is unnecessary because the number of tasks you can delegate in the full version has increased very well. If I'm not happy with the way the game is running something, I can change it. If it's doing fine, I delegate the task.

Now if I could just get my reserve team manager to actually arrange friendlies throughout the year, I'd have no complaints about task delegation!

[Peter001]

FMC is excellent for me due to the time. In just a few hours a week available a FMC game is perfect!

The only thing I would like to see next year is that you get the possibility to choose what leagues are simulated. If I want to play a game with Everton, I don't need the Blue square south league(or whatever the name is).

[Andy 23]

I should say at first that I only played FMC for about 2-3 hours before going back to full mode. That's my disclaimer.

My thing about FMC versus the full version is that most of the options that are forcibly removed from you in FMC can be removed at your discretion in the full version.

That's not the full story though. You can delegate team talks and press conferences to your assistant, but he might do a bad job of it. In FMC, they simply don't exist.

[mayday87]

I must say that FMC has rekindled my love for the game. I used to have a lot of time for FM when I was at University, but when I graduated and started working it became more and more difficult to get beyond a few seasons. Even then it would take my months to get through a season. I began to miss the old days of being able to whiz through a season in a day.

Don't get me wrong, I love the detail and depth to which the game goes. However there's a point where it crosses the line and becomes too time-consuming and tedious. For me, FMC is like a friend with benefits. You have a bit of fun, without all the unnecessary baggage.

[KingEric07]

Instant Result is the greatest thing since sliced bread! With the right tactic you can whiz through a season in 3-4 hours sometimes.

One thing I'd like on FMC14 is the option to select an order of substitutes for the assistant to bring on

[Lucas]

At the moment the assistant takes various factors into account before making a subsitution, given the player he will be taking off he will choose who he considers the best for the job.

[defyqa]

My friend & I just started an FMC online game. We really love it and will probably try to win all the possible leagues and cups. But since it's an online game, the store is greyed out. This left me wondering: will the international management automatically unlock after one of us wins manager of the year 3 times, or is it impossible to manage national teams in FMC online mode?

[cultfan28]

i bought FM13 just because it had this classic mode, couldn't bother with the full game because it takes so much time (makes it more like work than a game)

2 things should be added :

1) possibility to select more leagues, 3 is too small

2) possibility to praise players

[Old Hand]

I'm another who's come back to FM more or less because of the Classic mode. I'd played FM all the way from about '95 or '96 but gave up for a good few years

because of the length of time it took to play. Couldn't commit a lot of time and it just wasn't satisfactory.

The new FMC is fantastic. I agree that the scouting seems a little lacking but I think it's just a matter of adjusting to the new way of doing it.

For me, it's the pèrfect gameplay mode. Long may it continue!

[mrwoodz]

Just turned to FMC to give Dortmund a try. Had become frustrated with this year's version of the full game. Players seem to have got over sensitive to team talks in full fat game. And I was struggling to find tactics that worked.

So I tried this version to get to an adapted tactic quicker. And admittedly with a good starting squad that Dortmund have it is hard to tell if I have everything right, but I am undefeated through first season, except a defeat in one leg of a CL knock out match.

I don't like the way you are just randomly awarded a feeder club like I was at end of first season.

I miss the team talks in some ways despite my complaints.

I think a little interaction with players would be nice - I know a player will eventually take to a position if you play him there enough - and it is right this takes longer for some players than others. But if you have a youngster that is not advanced enough to play yet - but looks like they could be good for a different position there is no way to suggest training for that other position.

Another thing I miss is being able to suggest to an older player to start coaching.

Also - maybe not FMC related - but is there nothing you can do with under 17 players in Germany? They are too young to play for Dortmund or Dortmund II who play in 3rd division. (The leagues don't allow under 17s to play at all.)

[Dagenham_Dave]

I love FMC, but can't seem to find a way to subscribe to things. For example, although my team isn't in the Champions League, I'd like to see details of the matches pop up like they do for Capital One Cup and FA Cup matches. At the moment, I've got to hunt for them.

It's not a major thing, but it's kinda annoying.

[Lucas]

You can use Screen Flow in the Preferences (in the Profile sub tab), but there isn't a way to subscribe to News items I'm afraid.

[Colorado]

Yeah I realised screen flow was still in there this week - neat feature but a little too hidden away for FMC.

It's a really neat feature.

[Dagenham_Dave]

Thanks for that, works great.