*Official* Football Manager Classic Feedback

[Lucas]

With the release of Football Manager 2013, as always we're interested in hearing all your thoughts in regards to the game, so please keep it all in here.

Here are some other links you may find useful.

FM13 Released - http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/324244-*Official*-Football-Manager-2013-OUT-NOW!

FM13 FAQ - http://www.sigames.com/faq/fm13.php

FM13 Bugs Forum - http://community.sigames.com/forumdisplay.php/291

Changelist between last updated beta and release version - http://bit.ly/RxUqjx

If you're struggling to update your game, please read the following posts:

http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/323815-Important-Information-for-those-who-only-received-a-beta-code-Full-Game-Activation

http://www.sigames.com/faq/fm13.php?id=101

If you're playing FMC, please give us your feedback, we'd love to hear it

[bond1974]

I might have overlooked it - but couldnt find anything about it - it is not possible to use tactics created in the full game in FMC. Is that a bug, if not will it be possible later on in patch?

[Steve1977beyond]

Played it on the demo and absolutely loved it. Most jarring thing at first was lack of coaches - in that I only had the main ones. But I can see why this was done.

Also I have no qualms in it limiting the user to 3 leagues as the more faffing about for the user is fine for experienced pro's but for newbies, if they take a wrong turn then it could mean a too large a database and a sluggish performance...then cue forum posts about i being too slow lol

Disappointed I cant use the editor for it though but no biggie as this is the reason why I purchased FM2013. I was once a very jaded player of FM and yearning for the days gone by. With time now at a premium and also lots of other things to captivate my attention, FMC fits the bill completely. It still has all the depth of Football Manager but it leaves out all the needless micro management that the main game has become. Team Talks are okay but how many times do you say the same things 'cause it works'. FM has become very ruthless so why would you rock the boat with an ill advised tantrum at half time.

I read a review that said FMC is what FM should have become...and I'm inclined to agree.

My only major gripe is I wish these 'unlockables' were well and truly hidden as it makes the release look more like a console game rather than a simulation. If they'l never play a part in FM, I fail to see how they could play a part in FMC - because if the games faster to play, why would you apply an unlockable to speed up something even more?

[barnaby400]

I am not clear on what roles I have left to my assistant and what I am doing. Specifically, contract renewals for youth players. The manual is pretty much only for the full FM2013 and I can't see any way to change staff responsibilities in the classic version?

I like the fast pace of the game in classic mode. I have played all of the versions since the first CM and I felt FM had been losing some of the fun factor with seasons just taking too long. It would be nice if the manual made clear what options did not apply to FMC though.

[barnaby400]

Actually, that wasn't really feedback but a question I guess.

My feedback is that I paid for both games not a lesser price just because I am playing classic. I want FMC to be a trimmed down version it is true but I also don't want to have lots of features excluded that do not seem to be directly related to the gameplay style. The editor is an example. Is this a feature we will get for FMC? I want to able to play classic really and the option to edit the database before a new game would be nice.

[Lucas]

There are no plans to include the editor for FMC for this version, due to the amount of changes involved in making FMC possible this year. It would mean creating a new editor mode just to handle FMC.

[cn06sjh1]

Is this a bug Lucas? http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/325208-Board-Requests

[Lucas]

Is this a bug Lucas? http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/325208-Board-Requests

Replied to it

[MorrisseyMuse]

Loving FMC so far, great addition, thanks fellas!

It's by no means perfect and has been very unjustly thought of as the FM 'another type of fan' (whatever that is..) will play instead (I think it's perhaps been *overly* simplified with some key features like mind games and team talks taken out, which I would love to see put in for FM14), but it's fast and feels a lot less bogged down and frankly dull as the 'main' game does. Hopefully this will eventually become more the direction for the series in the future.

[danclarke006]

Can you only use the FMC unlockables once? I just wanted to play around with them and see what sort of differnece they would make, so i applied them to one "mess about" game, However, i then loaded up my more serious game of FMC, and to my horror when i went to apply it to that game, i could only apply a few of them, like the No wrok permits one. The Son generation one and board override and new stadium have to be added to the cart again!! Is this a bug or something? You can't seriously expect people to pay over and over and over again for these unlockables?

Thanks

[Lucas]

Can you only use the FMC unlockables once? I just wanted to play around with them and see what sort of differnece they would make, so i applied them to one "mess about" game, However, i then loaded up my more serious game of FMC, and to my horror when i went to apply it to that game, i could only apply a few of them, like the No wrok permits one. The Son generation one and board override and new stadium have to be added to the cart again!! Is this a bug or something? You can't seriously expect people to pay over and over and over again for these unlockables?

Thanks

Can you report this in the FMC Gameplay Bugs Forum please?

[danclarke006]

I guess you should be able to use all of them over again then? Ok, i've now posted it in that forum. Ta.

[Daniel Monksfield]

I guess you should be able to use all of them over again then? Ok, i've now posted it in that forum. Ta.

Yeah they can be used in all of your saves

[Flohrinho]

I'm just trying to sign a transfer listed player from Manchester City that has set an asking price for 16,5M €.

After I made the offer for him Manchester City is now asking for 33M € instead of the 16,5M €.

Is it because we are rival clubs that they changed their asking price or is this a bug?

[EdH1977]

I have returned to Football Manager, havent played it for a while... main reason for buying it was the Classic mode, for the reasons Miles gave in his video blogs, I dont have much time to play etc etc. Although there may be a few small bugs, I think its awesome, I have bought Fifa Manager for the last few years and that is shockingly bad in comparison..... only thing that lets it down is the editor (sorry I know this has been mentioned before!!!).

If it had some facility to change at least the basic aspects such as player positions etc it would be a 10 out of 10 for me, without the editor, its still an 8, in my humble opinnion.

Edh1977

[scottscotland]

enjoying classic but cant believe the PAID options have appeared. Infuriating , feel the money men/women are trying to cash in on user frustrations while in a state of high emotion.

[EdH1977]

I know what you mean about the unlockables, but to be honest, if they said they could create a unlocklable editor for FMC, I would defo put my hand in my pocket and still think FMC is a great idea and works really well, maybe next year they will develop it further, to be fair it is the first version of the game mode!!!

[County Kenny]

I'm in my second season of FMC now and I am enjoying it, enough that I've actually paid full price for the game for the first time in about five years. I bought FM12 when it was reduced to about £10 on Steam, but gave up after about half a season when it abruptly became much harder.

On the whole I like the streamlined play process, but there are a few things that rankle and some features I miss:

- As in every FM since 2006, my team will play like Brazil but waste chance after chance once they're through on goal. With the tactics pared down and teamtalks and instructions gone, I was hoping this would be ironed out.

- I ended the demo with a team that was winning the league in style, but when I reopened the save in the full game they started playing like relegation fodder. Are SI making the demo easy so people are more likely to buy the game? Because it worked.

- There is a bug where if I select the "Run at defence" shout, all my tactical options remain greyed out until the end of the game.

- I miss having a full backroom team. I enjoyed recruiting my coaches and setting up my schedules. Once I'd done them I rarely made any changes, so it was never a time sink for me.

- There's no option to set assistant manager to schedule friendlies. It seems to happen automatically now, though.

- Scouting is a bit puzzling. He seems to be doing his own thing and I'm not sure how to give him new assignments. Do I need to delete his old search results first?

- It would be nice to run four or five leagues instead of just three: I like to play with England, France, Italy, Spain and Germany, and leaving two out is tricky.

- Opposition instructions are gone. Thank you, they were the biggest time sink of the lot.

- Media interactions feel just about right. Occasional questions from the media are fun, two press conferences a week not so much.

So yeah, good effort on the whole. The only issue that really bugs me is it being too hard to score goals again, the rest are just niggles really. If the player regens work well then hopefully I'll be 20 seasons in and ready to buy FM14 when it comes out.

[RamGuy]

I really love and support the idea of a Football Manager Classic game / mode and all, but there are a few aspects with the current version of it I don't like that much.

The fist part must be about how limited the Classic version really are, you have very limited staff options, you can forget about training up youngster and shape them as you want as you have next to none influence on the training in the Classic mode and overall things just tend to feel a little bit too trimmed down if you ask me.

This of course is a matter of personal taste, but naming it "Football Manager Classic" I expect something in the lines of the good old Championship Manager 01/02 games where we didn't have all this annoyances which comes with all the media hassle, agent interactions and all that nonsense which doesn't really affect the game in any way just makes a season take much longer as you have to be fielding with all kinds of nonsense that takes up more time than you actually spend on trainings, games etc.. the thins that actually matter and are fun.

Instead we have got something I would call "Football Manager Light" which falls in the middle of the Football Manager Handheld series and the classical Championship Manager games. We loose quite a bit of customization and flexibility compared to the classic games and it all feels somewhat "dumbed down" like the Handheld series which wasn't exactly what I had hoped for but it's certainly a step in the right direction.

It all feels somewhat wired all things considered, because the Classic version doesn't really connect or have anything to do with the "full" version, so it acts like it's own separate thing, almost like it's own game instead of a mode within the full version like it acts out to be. As the database in different, we are very limited in our choices of leagues and we can't use our customized databases with the Classic version at all I feel it could simply have been a whole separate thing to begin with and not a mode within the game.

And having all these unlocks is disappointing and shouldn't belong in the full game at all. If the Classic mode had been it's own separate game for a low price I would be okay with paid unlock's but not within a full priced game like this.

Now I'm torn between whether to run the full game with the complete experience, where I can fully develop my own team and players and not be limited by the game in many ways and having to live with all the nonsense making a season take forever or going with the classic mode and live with it's limitations..

You should really consider making things more optional in the main game, if we had been able to turn of media interactions, agents and all that nonsense spamming our inbox day in and day out and making a season take ten times long compared to before they wore added to the game most of us wouldn't need the classic mode to begin with. And currently I feel like the classic mode should be come it's own separate game with it's down database and solutions if you aren't planning to incorporate it better into the game.

[Colorado]

I've spent a bit of time now playing both the full version and FMC and must say, that I largely agree with the above poster.

The lockable options don't really bother me as their not essential in any way but the lack of control of the database is probably the biggest negative about FMC in it's current state.

The feel of it is very refreshing and the whole experience is 'click and go'. I'm one of those people who have grown up with FM and as my life has changed I'm no longer able to sink days and hours of my spare time into playing, so am a prime candidate for FMC.

As the above posters says, I too am currently torn between the two versions and have been unable to settle on a game in either. The future for FMC has to be customisation and layers. What we have this year is very good base to work off. I would think that's pretty much how SI view it also.

[gazza8]

There are no plans to include the editor for FMC for this version, due to the amount of changes involved in making FMC possible this year. It would mean creating a new editor mode just to handle FMC.

Thought i had fallen back in love with the game all over again

But the fact you cant update your fmc game with new transfers etc takes away the realism for me, you say that the mode is designed to bring back older players with limited time, but then we have to play an out of date game while the full game players can keep up to date

I think this mode was released primarily as a side show and an attempt to make money from the dlc and indeed no where near the "slimmed down" football manager game for players who dont have a spare 6 hours a day.

Hopfully next year will include this, so il stick with fifa for a year

[Leon_fogo]

Hi friends, one thing I always notice in fm, is the fact that teams always hire the same players, not much change is so, I wonder if you have any way to broaden, diversify hiring market?

Set in Brazil!

[akubaem82]

Please make PPM & tutoring available in FMC because the attribute is important... U see, when new generated player came in, there is no way to teach them PPM... Then when u get to 2020, there is very less player with PPM...

One more suggestion, if FMC cannot do that, at least make the Instant Result button with Match Plan available in FM13...

[spankie]

The assistant manager does make players learn PPMs.

Training has been changed in FMC, so now playing games is far more important then the training. SO in theory tutoring isn't needed, just an assistant manager with the right mental attributes.

[Sikker]

Why can't I make my ass man take care of contract renewals for reserve team?

Shouldn't the ass man take care of tutoring, now it's not possible to do it ourselves?

Why can't I make my ass man take care of match preparation?

If these are already in FMC please guide me to where as I sure can't find it

[spankie]

Why can't I make my ass man take care of contract renewals for reserve team?

Shouldn't the ass man take care of tutoring, now it's not possible to do it ourselves?

Why can't I make my ass man take care of match preparation?

If these are already in FMC please guide me to where as I sure can't find it

1. Because there are no options in FMC to let your ass man take control of certain things. SI left it like this as otherwise the ass man will always hand out contracts to players who you don't want to keep. It's far easier if you control that. It would be a nice option however as long as we still have the final say in the inbox just like signing new players. I'd rather my ass man didn't hand out new contracts to be honest as my reserve team is full of players I don't erally want or have no current use for in the first team.

2. I don't know if turoring is in the game. I hope that the change in the way in which players improve will still give them a chance to improve their mental attributes, depending on the quality of your ass man and his attributes.

3. What match preperation? All I have is an option to select what pre-match training to give them and that's easy to change with a couple of clicks every time the scout comes up with a report on the next opponent. If you're talking about OI and teamtalks then they aren't in the game and I don't miss teamtalks in the slightest. OIs would be useful as I sometimes would like to "target" the opponents playmaker.

[Sikker]

I haven't seen any of my young players change personality. That's why I asked about if the ass man takes care of tutoring.

Match preparation - when you decide whether to focus on defense or attacking set pieces and the like...

[akubaem82]

The assistant manager does make players learn PPMs.

Training has been changed in FMC, so now playing games is far more important then the training. SO in theory tutoring isn't needed, just an assistant manager with the right mental attributes.

How does it work then? Automatically or we need to ask him specifically which PPMs to learn to a particular player?

You mean to say, the better Asst Mngr we had, the better the training will be? Well I Hire a great Asst Mngr, but after 3 seasons, Raheem Sterling really seem not to developing any better even though he is a 5 star player, and I play him 40 games a season... From my previous experience in FM, determination & work rate is the key to fast training development.. determination can be achieve through tutoring... But without tutoring, its hard for us to develop any wonderkid we had, even though we put him as a key player...

[TRC]

I haven't played the full mode yet, but as Newcastle I'm able to send some of my best reserve players to Gateshead (BSP) on loan, surely they would reject them. Gateshead had a midfield of Roman Amalfitano and Ferri Bodde at one point.

[Im not Mozzer]

I prefer FMC but the edited database issue is a problem.

[Zer0defex]

FMC is a great idea but it's too watered down probably for the sake of game speed, but to me it's gone too far. A few tweaks could see it improve and offer a proper alternative to FM and still require far less time investment.

- Option to increase player database size to at least include large.

- Under 19's.

- Tutoring.

- Editor.

- Position training.

[Kev_Tilly]

I've enjoyed playing FMC. I think that it has been a bold step to try to split the game to cater for the more casual user. I probably fit the FMC stereotype - bought every game since I was about 12 and now I have a job, a kid and no time etc etc - though I still spend the same amount of time thinking about the game ... I'm just not actually playing it. And the new game works quite well for this, it's a good first attempt.

For me the biggest fall down has been the exclusion of classic style tactics within FMC. I could never understand in the past why SI let two versions of the of tactic creation exist. I could understand how we got there, some people couldn't let go of the sliders whilst others wanted simplification. But, I've always thought that you should be able to flip back and forth between the two tactic models so that classic tactics could have shouts and tactic creator tactics could have additional complexity if the player wanted to tinker. In the previous games this was a very minor annoyance, but now with the exclusion of classic tactics in FMC it becomes quite important. I think that managers will look to the forums for tactics and find that there are great classic tactics out there but not tactic creator equivalents. Or, will become frustrated continuously looking to see if which model a popular tactic has been developed in. And FMC will suffer as an attractive option because of this.

Part of the attraction of FMC to a casual user is to be able to pick the game up on a ad hoc basis and manage with the soul selling success of Jose or Pep. Nobody wants to manage a big club through mid table mediocricy for a couple of seasons and then get the boot. You want that killer tactic, but can't put in the development time. Give me a "Diablo" tactic as an unlockable, I'd pay for the whole game twice over for that feature!

I'll be going back to the full game now but I hope this chain of development continues. I'd also agree with RamGuy, that the key to getting this right for the casual user lies down the route of making the full game customisable down to a basic style game, instead of multiple versions of the game.

Otherwise, great start.

[gazza8]

I prefer FMC but the edited database issue is a problem.

if you look around youl see how you can use an edited database

[EdH1977]

Hi,

I have posted some positives about FMC, I thnk its a great concept and perfect for me... only thing missing was the editor but was told by one of the admin that it was not possible to change the database for FMC and that a new editor had to be created.

[Lucas]

if you look around youl see how you can use an edited database

Not supported.

Hi,

I have posted some positives about FMC, I thnk its a great concept and perfect for me... only thing missing was the editor but was told by one of the admin that it was not possible to change the database for FMC and that a new editor had to be created.

See above.

[L-Wiz]

ok so im really interested in this FMC option as i too am jus struggling to find the time for the full game. in my FM 12 im only on my 6th season! Is there an actuall official list of inclusions/exclusions of FMC compared to full game just so i get an idea of whats involved.

is there an "instant result" button/option for friendlies? if so that would be superb.

also is the tansfers/contract still the same as main game as i wouldnt want that to be changed.

i just want to do without all the press conferences, and media interaction.

i didnt mind team talks so happy for them to go.

not fussed about editor either.

however 1 point that worries me is only having 3 leagues available? i prefer my FM careers as a journey man and like the idea of having a few countries/leagues to select from. doesnt have to be loads but atleast 5-8 would be prefereable.

im trying to get a really good understanding of FMC before purchasing. is there a Free demo available?

thanks

[Lucas]

You can try the demo, it's free on Steam.

I wouldn't want to give it all away

[L-Wiz]

You can try the demo, it's free on Steam.

I wouldn't want to give it all away

cheers i will 100% be trying this shortly.....

[pikeal]

In my opinion, FMC has revitalised FM for me. I just could not get into a game for the past few seasons on the full fat version. I just don't have enough spare time on my hands. Yeah there's a few things I would like to add/take away from FMC, but for me the joy of having an hour or so play every night where I can get through 6-7 games, is where the fun is at.

One thing I do miss is the private player chats as I like to encourage my older team members to become part of the coaching staff when they get to a certain age. Now, whilst I can see Jari Litmanen wants to become an assistant manager (and boy would he be a brilliant one with those mental stats!), there is no way for me to tell him that. I just have to wait for nature to take it's course.

[Columnarius]

Is the blocking of the upper part of the pitch by the logo expected when viewing a match in 2d mode?

[Columnarius]

Also, it seems a bit strange that while shouts have been retained, you can't group shouts in the tactics screen. If you are going to retain a feature in Classic such as shouts, I recommend retaining the parts of the feature that make them useful. Having to add the 5 shouts I want to start each match with is not ideal.

[Lucas]

Is the blocking of the upper part of the pitch by the logo expected when viewing a match in 2d mode?

Not sure what you mean here but this could be an FM issue as well.

Also, it seems a bit strange that while shouts have been retained, you can't group shouts in the tactics screen. If you are going to retain a feature in Classic such as shouts, I recommend retaining the parts of the feature that make them useful. Having to add the 5 shouts I want to start each match with is not ideal.

Thanks for the feedback, much appreciated - something we could consider in future.

[Columnarius]

Maybe its just the skin/mods I added? Sorry, I should have double checked that.

For me, the Logos that show the two teams in the match are much larger in Classic than in then in the full game. It causes them to occupy part of screen over the pitch.

Here's a screenshot for reference.

http://www.screencast.com/t/wmDv7yrDgG

Cheers.

[Columnarius]

It would still be nice to apply shouts before kickoff. This doesn't seem possible in Classic as the option doesn't appear anywhere I can see. I'm forced to pause right after kickoff and apply them and hope the other team doesn't quickly score before they are applied.

[Columnarius]

This might be because of my specific hardware but the news screens that slide in when the game is processing and then transition out again when processing is done is too fast to be useful. I understand the concept - you are trying to provide interesting and non-repetitive things for the user to read but its far too brief to work.

In contrast, the game tips that appeared during processing in previous years' games were short enough you could read them before processing finished.

It ends up being a lot of visual noise that is distracting rather than useful.

[BCFC_Mike]

I'm guessing you still get features such as takeovers in FMC?

Am tempted to start one, as I just can't get the momentum to start a full blown career atm.

[Lucas]

Yeah Takeovers do happen - happened to me, nothing special mind in my case, just a change of owners.

[Target Practice]

It would still be nice to apply shouts before kickoff. This doesn't seem possible in Classic as the option doesn't appear anywhere I can see. I'm forced to pause right after kickoff and apply them and hope the other team doesn't quickly score before they are applied.

Seconded!

Match engine issues and that irritating 'clubs offering loans they can't afford' bug aside, this is currently my only real frustration, which I guess is a tribute to just how good a job FMC has been.

[Columnarius]

Also...

I see the Affiliated Clubs screen but no way to initiate a find for an affiliated club. Is this feature in or out of Classic?

[Columnarius]

One thing missing (I think) is assigning your assistant to manage friendlies. They schedule friendlies (although there's no option I can find to control that) but they won't manage during them. I think some Classic players (especially after season 1) would appreciate speeding through friendlies.

I guess the Instant Match Result button somewhat does the job but could be streamlined a bit more.