fm2018 FM18 - Skinning/Graphics Information

[michaeltmurrayuk]

With most of you now downloading the freshly released full version of FM2018, this thread will contain important information regarding skinning and graphics in FM2018.

Full guides and base skins will follow sometime this weekend after I have had a chance to see what has changed from the backend.

If you need technical help then first please check out either the dedicated FM2018 FAQs page on the forum or the FM2018 Bugs Forum.

If it is a skinning related issue then please check out the pinned threads for FM2017 as most of the information in them will still apply,

Football Manager 2018: How To Locate Your Default Saving Location
Football Manager Touch 2018: How To Locate Your Default Saving Location
Football Manager 2018: How to change your Saving Location

Football Manager 2018: Changes to Graphics
Football Manager 2018: How to Make the Sidebar Icon Only
Football Manager 2018: How to Turn Off Background Music
Football Manager 2018: Can I add a Picture to My Manager?
Football Manager 2018: How to Extract the fmf files
Football Manager 2018: How to Change the Colour of the 3D Match Ball
Football Manager 2018: How to Extract the fmf files
 

[michaeltmurrayuk]

Football Manager 2018: How To Locate Your Default Saving Location

 

With the removal of the Saving Location feature from the preferences menu it is no longer possible to locate your Saving Location from within the game.

However depending on the OS you are using your default Saving Location will be located in one of these folders:

Windows

C:\Users\[Your Windows Username]\Documents\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2018\

Mac

/Users/[Your Mac Username]/Documents/Sports Interactive/Football Manager 2018/

Linux

/home/documents/Sports Interactive/FM2018/

Your Saving Location is where the game stores any user generated files, this can be files generated by the game such as Save Games (though you can still customize your save game location from the save game menus in game), saved shortlists, tactics or custom views, or it will be where you put any custom graphics you have downloaded such as skins, kits or logos.

Note that with the BETA at least FM2018 isn't creating the graphics folder within your Saving Location, so if you are adding custom graphics you will need to create this folder before adding custom graphics.

 

[michaeltmurrayuk]

Football Manager Touch 2018: How To Locate Your Default Saving Location

As the Touch version of Football Manager 2018 is now a separate game in your Steam Library it uses slightly different folder locations to the main version of the game.

With the removal of the Saving Location feature from the preferences menu it is no longer possible to locate your Saving Location from within the game.

However depending on the OS you are using your default Saving Location will be located in one of these folders:

Windows

C:\Users\[Your Windows Username]\Documents\Sports Interactive\Football Manager Touch 2018\

Mac

/Users/[Your Mac Username]/Documents/Sports Interactive/Football Manager Touch 2018/

Linux

/home/documents/Sports Interactive/Football Manager Touch 2018/

Your Saving Location is where the game stores any user generated files, this can be files generated by the game such as Save Games (though you can still customize your save game location from the save game menus in game), saved shortlists, tactics or custom views, or it will be where you put any custom graphics you have downloaded such as skins, kits or logos.

Whilst the process to change and locate your Saving Location has changed for FMT18 the subfolders (such as graphics and skins) that you put user generated content into hasn't changed and as such you should follow the same procedures as in previous versions.

Also note that with the BETA at least FMT2018 isn't creating the graphics folder within your Saving Location, so if you are adding custom graphics you will need to create this folder before adding custom graphics.

[michaeltmurrayuk]

Football Manager 2018: How to change your Saving Location

(Screenshots are from FM17 - but the process is the same in FM18).

Like with FM2017 you are no longer able to adjust your Saving Location (User Data Location) from within the Preferences Menu.

This feature was removed because it was apparently causing confusion among users, however it is still possible to adjust your Saving Location if you don't want it in the default location, however you now need to add a command line to the game launch options.

(NOTE: You only need to follow the below instructions if you want to move the location, these instructions aren't needed if you are just wanting to add content to the default location).

To do this follow the instructions below:

- Go into Steam -> Library -> Games view.

- Locate Football Manager 2018 and right-click on the game.

- If you are using the Touch Version then locate Football Manager Touch 2018 and right-click on that game.

- Select 'Properties'

- Click 'Set Launch Options...'

- Copy the following into the dialogue box: --user_data_location="<path>"

- In the <path> section, enter the exact path you wish the folder to be generated (ie D:\Users\ etc)

So for example if you wanted your Saving Location to be G:\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2018

You would add the following text to the dialogue box:

--user_data_location="G:\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2018"

So your Launch Options box should look something like this for Football Manager 2018:

Whilst your Launch Options box should look something like this for Football Manager Touch 2018:

Note that this folder location needs to already exist on your hard drive before setting the launch option, then when you next launch FM2018 the game will automatically generate the needed subfolders (such as games and skins). There also shouldn't be any problem with setting both your Full and Touch Mode Saving Locations to the same location, which should save you having to duplicate any custom graphics you have downloaded. You should also be able to set it to the same location as you used in FM17 to save you having to copy over custom graphics (though I'd backup any saved games to make sure you don't overwrite them).

If done correctly the contents of your custom User Data Location should look something like this after having run the game with the launch option set:

Also note that if you have any already created anything in game with the default location set (such as save games, shortlists, or tactics) you will need to manually copy the items over to your new location. Also the BETA versions aren't creating the graphics folder so before you add any graphics you'll need to create this folder yourself.

To reset your Saving Location to the default position you just need to delete the command line and on your next restart of FM18 the game will go back to using the default location. (Again you'll need to maunaly copy over any existing files from your old custom location to the default location for them to be read by the game).

[michaeltmurrayuk]

Football Manager 2018: Changes to Graphics

I haven't had a chance to check the changes in FM18 yet, but normally;

2D items such as kits, faces, logos and trophies should all be reusable from FM18, though some ids might need updating and for kits third kits might need adding/removing.

3D Match items such as Adboards, match balls, player kits might work but sometimes need updating, if you are replacing game files then back them up first to save you having to re-download the game.

3D kits from older versions will not work correctly in FM18 as due to the new match engine the template has changed, however we won't have access to the new template until the full game is released.

And as always skins from previous versions will not work in the new game. Whilst skin related mods might but it depends on whether the underlying code has changed, you can try these but for full compatibility you'll have to wait until the full release of the game as the code may change between now and release.

[michaeltmurrayuk]

Football Manager 2018: How to Make the Sidebar Icon Only

Like in FM17 you can make the sidebar show icons only by adjusting a setting in the preferences menu instead of having to edit the xml files.

From the Preferences -> Interface menu on the left side under General Settings is an option 'Sidebar icons-only' if you tick that the sidebar will display icons only no matter your screen resolution.

[michaeltmurrayuk]

Football Manager 2018: How to Turn Off Background Music

A new feature in FM18 is the background music that will play on the main menu, however if you don't like this music it can be turned off from the Preferences -> Overview Menu - Look under Match options on the bottom left and there will be a 'Play background music' option you can untick.

It might be possible to change the music, but that will have to wait until I have had time to look at the game files.

[michaeltmurrayuk]

Football Manager 2018: Can I add a Picture to My Manager?

Like in FM17 it is no longer possible to add a picture to your Manager. Whether the mods that re-enabled this will work in FM18 is unknown and will need to wait until we have access to the game files.

On the plus side you can now edit your manager from within the game (option on the Manager Profile Screen) so you can change your tie colour when you move clubs

[michaeltmurrayuk]

Football Manager 2018: How to Change the Colour of the 3D Match Ball

Like in FM2017 we can now recolour the 3D Match Ball from within the game.

If you goto the Preferences -> Interface -> Skin Colours screen.

At the bottom are options for the Standard Ball Colour and Winter Ball Colour.

To change the colours just click the colour bar and a colour picker will popup, select your new colour and click ok.

To undo your changes just click the 'Restore Default Colours' option.

Couple of things to note:

- This will only affect the currently selected skin.

- Whilst it won't affect a match in progress it will apply to your next match without having to exit FM.

- It only seems to affect the 3D Match Ball.

- I haven't go to Winter yet so I don't know if it will apply your winter ball colour to all competitions or not.

[michaeltmurrayuk]

Football Manager 2018: How to Extract the fmf files

To extract the fmf files for Football Manager 2018 you need to use the FM18 version of the Resource Archiver Tool.

This needs to be download separately through Steam. It can be found in the Tools section within Steam. To get to it do the following;

Open Steam -> Library -> Tools -> Football Manager 2018 Resource Archiver. And then double click or right click and select Install Game.

The initial run may require to install direct X files.

If you do not know how to use the Resource Archiver Tool then there is a User Guide included with it that can be accessed from within this location inside your Steam Folder: \SteamApps\common\Football Manager 2017 Resource Archiver\ (yes it's last years version as this one doesn't have one but they are the same)

Note that the Football Manager 2018 Resource Archiver will read and extract both the Football Manager 2018 and Football Manager Touch 2018 fmf files.