Official Football Manager 2015 Feedback Thread 15.3.0

[bartdude]

Considering that their beta testers failed to notice that 15.2.1 rebroke a previous fix for saving time, I seriously doubt they have enough to devote one to modding. I completely agree that they should, for a game series that has prided itself on modibility and community involvement over the years, some of what has come up in the past months is extremely worrying to say the least.

At this point in time I've decided that FM16 is extremely unlikely to be worth money for until at least this time next year, if at all, as patching simply hasn't been up to scratch this time around. It's all well and good to go "we'll get it fixed", but when honest concerns are raised here they tend to receive abuse. For those who saw it, the "database modding" incident from the 15.2.1 thread was utterly bizarre.

My own experiences are little different. My concerns of; "the saving time fix being treated as so insignificant that not only did it reoccur, but would probably be left to the winter transfer update" were not only aggressively attacked on here, but ultimately were proven entirely true. All I asked at the time was some transparency on the issue, and if they really were to leave it to update with the winter transfer update, just to make a statement that it was the case. I was instead assured that "they were taking it seriously" and that "it would be updated when it was fixed". The biggest statement of just how bad things have gotten on that front was a moderator literally deleting posts because "we went through this a fortnight ago". This idea that persistent issues can simply be left, without statement, for as long as they please is a disappointing trend that seems to be, if anything getting worse.

This is the thing though, I entirely understand that FM is a large and complex game. I entirely understand that within a few hours of a patch rolling out that the players will cover more game hours than even 100 testers could do realistically in a fortnight. They are also bombarded with "the patch exaggerated injuries", "the patch ruined my form", "the patch ruined my life", almost immediately, in an environment where it is too early to judge whether it's a case of bad luck for the player or an actual problem. My concern though is that there is almost no transparency with how they're dealing with things. If it takes until the winter transfer update to fix major problems, that's fine, but they should be making clear and direct statements in a visible manner about them. Instead what we get is "we don't comment on that", "third party add-ons", "this isn't the area of the forum to discuss this" (though they were told in the other area to discuss it there), etc.

The real key to me though is that they need to nip this worrying trend in the bud now. If they need a bigger bug testing department, then they need a bigger bug testing department. I completely agree that there should be a section entirely devoted to working with the modders, testing steam workshop content and making it clear when they are changing things and how that will affect such workshop content, rather than simply just doing things and letting the modders work it out from there.

I'd also argue that they should make better use of steam's patching functionality. Paradox manages to use it quite well to allow people to use older versions of the game in situations where it might cause issues. Patches which break key parts to one player, and then literally months before they're fixed would be less grating on consumer confidence in this product if they actually had the ability to refuse to update to the latest patch and continue to play with the older one, even after Steam initially tries to update.

Very well said my friend !!

[MGorfain]

Clicking on Restore All at the bottom, should fix your issue.

thanks, i tried it yesterday without luck, but today i only ticked the two that didnt show and clicked on restore all and worked!

[bartdude]

Never have done, amazing how these people assume knowledge of what tens of thousands of other people do when they actually don't have a clue and in fact in most cases just like the sound of their own voices

What a ridiculous statement ! I belong to a group that creates add-ons for FM and I believe we provide the best alternative skins,backgrounds and match balls currently available. We also encourage other creators and allow them to use our files in their own creations,providing the original maker is credited. We believe that what we do enhances the look,feel and atmosphere of FM and the feedback proves there are many thousands out there using these add-ons,so it's hardly assumption. All we ask from Si is a stable,reliable template on which to hang our creations,end of. We have some very talented people within the group so how dare you suggest we "don't have a clue and in fact in most cases just like the sound of their own voices" !!!

[themadsheep2001]

SI's priority in terms of the interface will always be the default skins and making sure whatever template used suits the needs of the default skin in coding and development, while allowing the interface to be modded widely. 3rd party add ons can enhance aspects but in the greater scheme of things they are simply not critical to the game. When all things are balanced, modding needs will always come secondary to something that is inbuilt to the game and a core component

[englandmanager]

one thing i've never understood is why SI always releases 1 skin, and in recent releases has always been a god awful bright skin in light shades, meaning people like me that have sensitive eyes have had to wait for darker skins to be available from 3rd party

why not release 1 light skin and one dark skin? it can't be that difficult surely?

this years default was ok mind, but last years was awful and giving me headaches

[3maldini3]

Can't find where to ask for stadium expansion. have they moved it?

[Some Guy!]

SI's priority in terms of the interface will always be the default skins and making sure whatever template used suits the needs of the default skin in coding and development, while allowing the interface to be modded widely. 3rd party add ons can enhance aspects but in the greater scheme of things they are simply not critical to the game. When all things are balanced, modding needs will always come secondary to something that is inbuilt to the game and a core component

That's where it's priority should be, but that doesn't mean that the modders should be almost completely ignored, and blamed for anything that goes wrong. If a mod was working entirely well, then suddenly a broken mess, something has been changed. I don't think SI should be worrying about every single mod for the game ever made, but for the small handful of very popular ones they should at least have someone dedicated to making sure that the changes don't break them and or people's games when using them. What they do with the information if they find that a patch breaks a mod is a different matter. Whether they fix the problem on their end, or advise the modders on what they think changed and some kind of method to think about sorting the problem, that would come across much better than what is currently done.

This idea that "secondary" means "well who cares" on here is absolutely baffling though. Modding of graphics has been key to a lot of people over the years, and whilst not everyone uses such, there is a considerable number of people who do, and the people who have done so, particularly posting images of the game has helped the game grow over the years, particularly in years past, no doubt. To leave the creators high and dry simply because they see it as "secondary" is a kick in the teeth to an important part of the community.

This is the thing though, I don't download or use different skins for the game, but having done modding for the game in the past (things for myself, so generally a bit rough round the edges) and other games in the past, it's baffling to see such comments on here. The thing is, people on here are suggesting that SI are "one of the good ones" for this, but on current behaviour I could name several others games, just in my experience that are far kinder to their modding community. The comparison is actually shocking when I think of it...

~Other game~

Me: "I think there is a problem with the tag for this particular graphics file"

Them: "Ah yes, we seem to have made a mistake with that, we'll include that fix in the next hotfix"

~Here back in the day~

Me: "I believe there is such a problem here, potentially caused by___"

Them: "Sure, that seems like an issue. Hmmm... you might be right, we'll look into it"

Them later: "Yes, that was the problem, the fix will be included in the next update"

~Here now~

Anyone: "I believe this is a problem"

Them: "Don't you realise how hard game development is!"

This is the thing though, modability is one of the strong points of the series, and whilst it's still very doable, genuine concerns, particularly by modders don't seem to be taken as seriously anymore. Companies like Paradox, which are arguably smaller, work on equally complex games, and produce more of them, actually have staff dedicated to working with modders, discussing with them and making sure that when there are problems, they can be dealt with. They even provide old patches as beta branches in order to allow people to still use older versions when needed, as well as putting forward beta patches as option to all users, so they can be tested by a wider variety of people prior to a full rollout.

Again, SI still make a very modable game, and it is still a strong point, I just feel that how they deal and discuss with the modding community and the community as a whole could be greatly improved at this point, as it comes across as the series moving away from what it once was in that regard.

one thing i've never understood is why SI always releases 1 skin, and in recent releases has always been a god awful bright skin in light shades, meaning people like me that have sensitive eyes have had to wait for darker skins to be available from 3rd party

why not release 1 light skin and one dark skin? it can't be that difficult surely?

this years default was ok mind, but last years was awful and giving me headaches

They used to do exactly that didn't they? For a few years at least. They stopped doing it when the workshop was added if I recall, and basically used the 'dark skin' (I think it was the dark skin) to show people how to use the workshop for the game.

[thomit]

I think you're showing the Skinning Hideout, Michaelmurray and Radestock grave injustice, now, Some Guy. Or would you argue that these guys are less than very helpful to modders with problems?

Anyway ... this discussion hardly belong in this feedback thread, I would think.

[Dr. Hook]

Can't find where to ask for stadium expansion. have they moved it?

Board on the sidebar menu, then in about the middle of the screen is a board request drop down menu

[Dr. Hook]

I think you're showing the Skinning Hideout, Michaelmurray and Radestock grave injustice, now, Some Guy. Or would you argue that these guys are less than very helpful to modders with problems?

Anyway ... this discussion hardly belong in this feedback thread, I would think.

Yes, you're correct Thomit. Patch feedback only here, please.

[SCAMP-TFC]

The Romanian national manager isn't showing in the game again this latest update

I Had to go into the editor and delete his management retirement date and start a new game to include him

Also what has happend to Cardiff home and away kits? Can't seem to change the kit style away from the standard ones in game....

[deggesim]

My old save loaded fine, in the middle of an unbeaten run and that's continued so of course nothing to whinge about...yet.

Only thing I have noticed though is that my tactics screen custom views won't stay the same. Tried recreating a custom view but when I leave tactics screen and go back it's showing up differently.

It seems whatever is last in the list disappears whenever I leave the screen. It's not really a problem as I just added a column I wasn't interested in at the end and let that one disappear but it's not something I noticed before the update.

+1

Same issue here.

Another issue after the patch: during a match sound randomly disappear after a tactic change.

To let it work again, I have to go to the main screen, modify settings (disable and enable sound) and go back to the match.

[3maldini3]

Board on the sidebar menu, then in about the middle of the screen is a board request drop down menu

Iv'e tried there, should be under facilities right? It isn't :S

[thomit]

I can't find it either. But to be honest, in my opinion it's ok if it's gone. That shouldn't be of the managers concern; a new or improved stadium should be solely a chairman & board matter.

However, I don't think it's gone for good. My guess is that it's merely a UI change; there are no longer any greyed-out options visible either. They have probably just removed completely options that you can not ask for, for various reasons. For example; I have no option to ask for better facilities at all - but then I know that all facilities at my club are already at the top level, so...

[RTHerringbone]

Iv'e tried there, should be under facilities right? It isn't :S

Is the stadium still expandable? The option will only appear if it is.

[3maldini3]

Is the stadium still expandable? The option will only appear if it is.

It's Anfield...

[KingCanary]

Bit concerned the 'keeper catching a ball and the stepping out of play' issue from FM14 has made a return- just happened to me three times in one game. Will keep an eye out...

[Gorando]

Uefa has confirmed cup runners up dont qualify for europe anymore. Is this implemented in the game?

[HUNT3R]

Uefa has confirmed cup runners up dont qualify for europe anymore. Is this implemented in the game?

When was it confirmed?

[HUNT3R]

Bit concerned the 'keeper catching a ball and the stepping out of play' issue from FM14 has made a return- just happened to me three times in one game. Will keep an eye out...

PKMs of this in the ME bugs forum will always be appreciated.

[Guest]

Uefa has confirmed cup runners up dont qualify for europe anymore. Is this implemented in the game?

Noted & if it hasn't been done already I will raise this with the dev team.

[andu1]

This is AI vs AI, nothing wrong with the patch? I am gutted... maybe I'll just go back to FM14...

For me, the last good patch without these nonsensical scores was the one before 15.2. Please at least provide an option to choose what patch to run...

[yezzko]

+1

Same issue here.

Another issue after the patch: during a match sound randomly disappear after a tactic change.

To let it work again, I have to go to the main screen, modify settings (disable and enable sound) and go back to the match.

Hi deggesim, for me the sound will work again when i disable and enable it during match in settings in top right corner.

[tmolvik]

Hi,

Is there any reason why, i.e after making a transfer bid, you're being sent to the second last player you looked at? I can't see any reason for this and if there is no obvious reason that I don't see, I can understand why it's not fixed. Surely it can't be a big thing, but it's extremely annoying having to make a new search to get back to the player you were working on.

[KingCanary]

PKMs of this in the ME bugs forum will always be appreciated.

Can I generate a PKM if I've continued past the game in question?

[HUNT3R]

Can I generate a PKM if I've continued past the game in question?

Just click on the fixture (scoreline) and save the PKM as you normally would.

[tmolvik]

Hi,

Is there any reason why, i.e after making a transfer bid, you're being sent to the second last player you looked at? I can't see any reason for this and if there is no obvious reason that I don't see, I can understand why it's not fixed. Surely it can't be a big thing, but it's extremely annoying having to make a new search to get back to the player you were working on.

Actually it's not second last player, but second last screen. I've tried to clear the cache.

[kevgaleuk]

Not sure if this is mentioned but since updating there seems to be something slightly squiffy with the pre-game editor. Basically when you select on a person to edit (from searching or selecting someone from a team) they either only come up with the first page (personal details) or they appear but its right at the bottom of the window so that only the first couple of pages are visible. If you close out from looking at them (i.e. click back on the database link) and go back in it tends to be rectified

[HUNT3R]

I'm still playing FM 2014, ive given up buying the game when it is released as its a waste of time, i now wait until the final patch to buy, but this year is different, i'm not sure if its worth it, i would like some guidance, is this years worth buying ? has the final patch done the trick ?

Play the demo.

[deggesim]

Hi deggesim, for me the sound will work again when i disable and enable it during match in settings in top right corner.

Thank you for the suggestion.

[HUNT3R]

is the demo patched the same as the game ??

It is according to other users on the forum.

[srvngrc]

AI transfers are still awful..

After a few years good teams turn into a decent team.

[hluraven]

As I understand, the demo is the fully update game, although without the winter data update. I could be wrong, haven't tried it myself.

[fidelitywars]

Overall, I'm pleased with this patch - the insane, schoolboy pinball football of the previous patch has largely disappeared and scorelines/chance creation seem relatively realistic now (although i'd still contend that the level of finishing isn't quite sorted yet). As such, I'm back to really enjoying the game once more - only issues I have are: I'm seeing a pretty huge number of goals disallowed for offside. Anyone else noticing this? I'm willing to accept that it's something i've mis-judged tactically as my main forward (who has 'likes to try to beat offside trap' as a preferred move) has been flagged an absurd 92 times in 21 games. That said, he has scored 14 and assisted the same amount in those games so i'd be hesitant to alter his role too much.

Anyway, the major gripe for me seems to be the amount of fouls given/tackles made in this patch. I'm managing in Serie A and 24 games in, 11 players (all AI controlled) are averaging over 10 successful tackles per game. That's a stratospheric number - IRL, the most prolific tackler in La Liga (Atlético's Gabi, whose club play with lunatic-intensity) has made 64 tackles all season, which gives an average of around 3 per game...

[amadora]

Don't know whether this has been reported as a bug or mentioned somewhere, but it seems that clubs in (smaller) inactive leagues don't sign any players for years. I've holidayed until 2017 and clubs in such countries as Finland, Estonia, Georgia, Moldova, FYR Macedonia and Montenegro have not signed any players, have not checked other countries. Witnessed that in earlier versions too.

[brawler]

Considering that their beta testers failed to notice that 15.2.1 rebroke a previous fix for saving time, I seriously doubt they have enough to devote one to modding. I completely agree that they should, for a game series that has prided itself on modibility and community involvement over the years, some of what has come up in the past months is extremely worrying to say the least.

At this point in time I've decided that FM16 is extremely unlikely to be worth money for until at least this time next year, if at all, as patching simply hasn't been up to scratch this time around. It's all well and good to go "we'll get it fixed", but when honest concerns are raised here they tend to receive abuse. For those who saw it, the "database modding" incident from the 15.2.1 thread was utterly bizarre.

My own experiences are little different. My concerns of; "the saving time fix being treated as so insignificant that not only did it reoccur, but would probably be left to the winter transfer update" were not only aggressively attacked on here, but ultimately were proven entirely true. All I asked at the time was some transparency on the issue, and if they really were to leave it to update with the winter transfer update, just to make a statement that it was the case. I was instead assured that "they were taking it seriously" and that "it would be updated when it was fixed". The biggest statement of just how bad things have gotten on that front was a moderator literally deleting posts because "we went through this a fortnight ago". This idea that persistent issues can simply be left, without statement, for as long as they please is a disappointing trend that seems to be, if anything getting worse.

This is the thing though, I entirely understand that FM is a large and complex game. I entirely understand that within a few hours of a patch rolling out that the players will cover more game hours than even 100 testers could do realistically in a fortnight. They are also bombarded with "the patch exaggerated injuries", "the patch ruined my form", "the patch ruined my life", almost immediately, in an environment where it is too early to judge whether it's a case of bad luck for the player or an actual problem. My concern though is that there is almost no transparency with how they're dealing with things. If it takes until the winter transfer update to fix major problems, that's fine, but they should be making clear and direct statements in a visible manner about them. Instead what we get is "we don't comment on that", "third party add-ons", "this isn't the area of the forum to discuss this" (though they were told in the other area to discuss it there), etc.

The real key to me though is that they need to nip this worrying trend in the bud now. If they need a bigger bug testing department, then they need a bigger bug testing department. I completely agree that there should be a section entirely devoted to working with the modders, testing steam workshop content and making it clear when they are changing things and how that will affect such workshop content, rather than simply just doing things and letting the modders work it out from there.

I'd also argue that they should make better use of steam's patching functionality. Paradox manages to use it quite well to allow people to use older versions of the game in situations where it might cause issues. Patches which break key parts to one player, and then literally months before they're fixed would be less grating on consumer confidence in this product if they actually had the ability to refuse to update to the latest patch and continue to play with the older one, even after Steam initially tries to update.

One of the best constructive and truthful posts i have read on here.

[isignedupfornorealreason]

~Here now~

Anyone: "I believe this is a problem"

Them: "Don't you realise how hard game development is!"

Outside of a select few developers - that is the 'general party line' thesedays anywhere. I've always found it very amusing that Modders can, given six months to a year churn out better DLC/Mods than the official developers can. As for why, that's up in the air but I like to think that with Modders, they have the time and enjoyment to do so whereas official devs are just doing the 9-5 grind.

Whether that's what SI devs feel is another matter.

I do think there needs to be more transparency on things though. I never knew until 15 that face and logo packs actually grey out some player interaction choices and I only found out by a chance remark by one of the SI Staff on some obscure post somewhere on here. That's daft. It needs to be more clear, more apparent because I do think the majority of the fanbase (or at least those who have been around since the most infamous fanbase "Sort it out SI" has been) immediately download the game and patch it up with all the real names and logos / face packs.

NB. I love Susie, I just think by now Susie should be a 'joke' rather than something we can all look at and go, 'yeah, they kinda have a point!'

Back on topic; I've re-installed the game, but I have a job thing to do so by the time I get around to a new save I think FM16 will be out. Bummer.

[Xeneize12]

It's completely broken! how is it possible that my team ends up getting 20-30 shots vs 1-2 80% of the games I play? It happened when I played with Barcelona it happens now with Boca Juniors, a team that should not be dominating this much at all... I don't mind a couple of blow out games vs much weaker teams, but doing that vs teams the same caliber than mine such as River Plate, Velez or Estudiantes is just wrong...

This is been happening since at least FM2009

[vascobailao]

just begin a save with liverpool as usual... game began in December of 2013!!!!! SI, what have you done to the awesome 15.2 version??

[Firehammer]

~Other game~

Me: "I think there is a problem with the tag for this particular graphics file"

Them: "Ah yes, we seem to have made a mistake with that, we'll include that fix in the next hotfix"

~Here back in the day~

Me: "I believe there is such a problem here, potentially caused by___"

Them: "Sure, that seems like an issue. Hmmm... you might be right, we'll look into it"

Them later: "Yes, that was the problem, the fix will be included in the next update"

~Here now~

Anyone: "I believe this is a problem"

Them: "Don't you realise how hard game development is!"

.

The ME and the AI team is very difficult to develop but the key point is that SI stop to support the game after the 3rd patch, because they have to start working on the new one. It is clear that the IA has a problem with aggressive and attacking tactics, and they should find a solution for FM2015 and not for FM2016. I know they are a small team, but with this policy the risk to lose customers in the future is very high.

[themadsheep2001]

Again can people keep the feedback to 15.3 only.

Thanks

[Sussex Hammer]

Not sure what to make of the patch. Parts of it are decent but I am not sure if players finishing is skewed or goalkeepers are now too good. I am having pretty much the same amount of chances than the previous patch but not scoring the chances I was prior to it. It's a tad confusing because I am not sure what it is. Keepers make some unbelievable saves that look impossible but then only rate at 6.9 and yet I am sure my strikers are also hitting them too close to the keeper compared to the last patch. Shots into the corners seem rare and point blank saves from headers and crosses seem a little to high.

However seeing Sergio Aguero fall over his own feet whilst dribbling with no one near him was an absolute gem!

[Shambolic]

In my game the high scoring games are back, but only games in which I am involved. Here's the most recent;

Results before that one have also been 3-1, 4-0, 5-1, 6-0, 6-2 and 7-2

[Some Guy!]

In my game the high scoring games are back, but only games in which I am involved. Here's the most recent;

Results before that one have also been 3-1, 4-0, 5-1, 6-0, 6-2 and 7-2

What is your tactical set up?

[RTHerringbone]

Symbolic, could you give an overview of your tactical approach please? Mentality, Roles, Duties etc.?

Nobody generating these matches has yet shown any details to give these crazy games any context.

[FM1000]

Remember FM 14 and the last patch? Even though the game still had room for improvement it was a good well balanced game. What happened this time around? Forget about the bugs and broken features ( :cough: player interaction :cough: ) i am talking about the match engine. How is it balanced in any way or form?

[endtime]

Just want to share a cool moment I noticed in my game, this is AI vs. AI Rangers vs. Celtic, with Rangers leading 1:0 the Celtic GK goes up the pitch in added time and gets the equaliser, never seen this before

[RTHerringbone]

How is it balanced in any way or form?

What, in your experience in your game, is not balanced? I can see why people with crazy score lines and shot counts could be frustrated, but it simply is not the universal experience for everyone, which speaks volumes.

[Some Guy!]

Remember FM 14 and the last patch? Even though the game still had room for improvement it was a good well balanced game. What happened this time around? Forget about the bugs and broken features ( :cough: player interaction :cough: ) i am talking about the match engine. How is it balanced in any way or form?

...the match engine is quite good from what I can tell, and the game is quite well balanced. Some people are having issues with player interaction and such, but my own tests aren't really showing anything odd, and at this point SI would be gathering information. If there are such issues, I'm sure they'll look to a hotfix, but simply stating "it's wrong" without examples, backing or posting pkms, saves and such to the bugs forum isn't going to help fix any such issues.

[GeorgeD]

In my game the high scoring games are back, but only games in which I am involved. Here's the most recent;

Results before that one have also been 3-1, 4-0, 5-1, 6-0, 6-2 and 7-2

This happens when both teams decide to go gung-ho, and the backline is simply unable to cope with overloading pressure. It's really worrying if the mods keep dismissing it as one-offs and blaming it on teams using attacking tactics, when so many screenies of abnormal shot counts and scorelines are repeatedly posted. If the ME is really working well as intended, then there should be no such occurrences even when teams decide to push men forward. Closing down and defensive intelligence really needs to be fixed. They need to be looking at PKMs where teams are playing with more adventurous mentalities, which is when such defensive deficiencies are most evident.