[FM21] Smarter AI - Managers + Staff - Increase the Difficulty

[majesticeternity]

This mod is part of the FM Expansion Packs Megapack. Check out the complete set here: Click to get all 5 Packs

Increased AI Staff and Manager attributes, better squad building, player management, rotation, etc.

Ability Hierarchy Increase:
All staff/managers changed still have a hierarchy or ability ranges. Not everyone has 200 CA/PA. Top managers will still be top managers.
 Average managers will still be worse than top managers. 
For example, a manager with original 150 PA, may now have 160-170 PA.

Attributes increased: CA, PA, Tactical Knowledge, Hardness of Training, Judging PA, Judging PP, Man Management, Motivating, ALL Coaching(except GK), Working with Youngsters

 

Good/Average managers are not terrible anymore:
Limits were set to ensure that good/average managers do not have terrible stats. But they still can have ranges, and individual attributes, and characteristics.
Limits set as Determination not <10, Discipline not <10, Versatility not <12, Will use Subs not <14, Uses youth in low priority cups not <12 for higher leagues and not MORE than 5 for lower league. 
Will make early tactical changes not <12, Will fit players into preferred tactic not <11, Physio is set to 1 (for non-physios).
Squad Rotation not <12, Motivation not <8, Determination not <7, Level of Discipline not <7, Tactical Knowledge not <7.
Judging Player & Team Data are set to 1 (to prevent allocation of Current Ability on unused attributes, for non-analyst staff).
Goalkeeping coaching set to 1 for NON-GK coaches & Physio is set to 1 for non-physios.

More Formation Variety
Increased variation in formations for <180PA managers, to remove the dependency on using primarily 4-4-2, 4-2-3-1, and 4-1-4-1.
This will mean that you will have to watch, adjust, and analyse your matches, as you face different formations and setups.

Other changes:
Added missing ethnicity, hair, skin info for 160 CA+ managers
Added preference to be Assistant Manager to 10 For 80-120 CA managers with 14+ tactical knowledge
Added preference to be HOYD to 10 For 80-120 CA managers with 15+ working with youngsters
Reduced ambition slightly (relative to CA/PA), this will help with better managers getting jobs instead of going without for many months/years

 

 

DOWNLOAD Option 1 - Managers Only: DB - Smarter AI - ONLY Managers - &nbsp;0.01

DOWNLOAD Option 2 - ALL Types of Staff + Managers: DB - Smarter AI - ALL Staff + Managers - &nbsp;0.01

HOW TO USE:

NOTE: You can use only ONE at a time

Place in Documents\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2021\editor data. Start a new save. When selecting the database(before Advanced Setup), be sure to select the checkbox to enable one file.

 

Note on Option 2:

Changing ALL types of staff means that any staff you can hire will be better overall. You can use that to make easier for yourself, or sign only poor staff(leaving the best for the AI clubs) and make things harder.  Whatever you like.  Using the Legendary Managers file is also a good way to increase difficulty of managers you come up against.

*Note:  Poor ability staff haven't been changed much, there are far too many to edit, and there would be little effect anyways.*

 

Feedback and Testing:

With a "new" match engine for FM21, this file may need some tweaks. With so many people saying it's too easy, and managers not attacking, and other issues, I welcome feedback on what needs changed.

Do I need to incrementally buff manager's attacking attribute? Does the AI have poor rotation/subs, and ALL managers need to have maxed Sub use and rotation? Things like that.

 

If you like this creation, and wish to support the hours of work, you can donate below:
(Please know that it will be very appreciated, as everyone in my family have lost their jobs since March)

 

 

OTHER MODS:

Derbies Overhaul

Awards Overhaul

Realistic Weather

3D Competition Balls Pack

Better Crowd Colors

Media Overhaul

Language Overhaul

Realistic Competition Colors

Edited January 30, 2021 by majesticeternity

[CoffeeFueledCurmudgeon]

Thank you 

[Whatawaster95]

Fantastic, this is a yearly must have for me! 

[Mars_Blackmon]

Thanks for this! I doubt we would get an official patch anytime soon that will fix the AI managers being too passive in some matches as it seems to be a database issue.

[majesticeternity]

8 minutes ago, Mars_Blackmon said:

Thanks for this! I doubt we would get an official patch anytime soon that will fix the AI managers being too passive in some matches as it seems to be a database issue.

Yea, I agree with you.

I'm trying to work on a mod to fix that attack issue, it will just need alot of testing and such...

[Mars_Blackmon]

3 minutes ago, majesticeternity said:

Yea, I agree with you.

I'm trying to work on a mod to fix that attack issue, it will just need alot of testing and such...

Yea it seem as if some managers are too slow to make tactical adjustments. 
 

I’ll definitely keep a eye out for that using this mod.

[kamackeris]

so these are now unavailable...are they in the steam workshop or anywhere else ??

[kamackeris]

weird...i can get them now lol

 

[Azza35]

great mod but way too hard  i struggling to beat anyone at home lol and im united i am considered expert at fm    lossed 3 friendlies ill play more see if i can win but something seems off the difficulty definitly increased but maybe TOO HIGH

[Mars_Blackmon]

3 hours ago, Azza35 said:

great mod but way too hard  i struggling to beat anyone at home lol and im united i am considered expert at fm    lossed 3 friendlies ill play more see if i can win but something seems off the difficulty definitly increased but maybe TOO HIGH

That’s sounds promising to me lol. Maybe you need to make more adjustments than you usually had to?

[majesticeternity]

5 hours ago, Azza35 said:

great mod but way too hard  i struggling to beat anyone at home lol and im united i am considered expert at fm    lossed 3 friendlies ill play more see if i can win but something seems off the difficulty definitly increased but maybe TOO HIGH

Well..you are United...so that sounds about right...lol

Actually, friendlies aren't very good at determining what will happen for real competititions.

It's better to get the pre-season going good, focus on getting morale and team cohesion up, and such, and then start the season and test regular competitions.

[Azza35]

lol i sis make many adjustments it sunrealistic

[Azza35]

it just wwoudlent happen in real life losing friendlies like this one match i hit post 7 times  and 4 dissallowed goals ye ok

[Azza35]

 needs adjustments not as fun as vanilla

[Azza35]

i have alll other mods i love them im goin gto try 10 more games and do my best but yeah losing at home  and ive changed tactics  trying everything let you know outcome

 

[Azza35]

and i know friendlies arent good as normal matches but still something feels off  managers sohuldent be this high in stats either i mean wolves manager 20s in all skills yeah right bs

[Azza35]

my next gqame right now is away to aek athens united should easy win and the score is.........................

[Azza35]

and united aint that easy either liver pool city chelsea better

[Elemke]

19 hours ago, Azza35 said:

and united aint that easy either liver pool city chelsea better

Can you stop dude? Jesus...

[freddieos]

OMG thank you for the great work you do on improving FM for more experienced/advanced players such as myself - this improved AI thing makes the game playable. I used most of your mods last year (FM20) without realising or knowing it came from one and the same source. You're a godsend! Thanks again.

[Marittiello1987]

Hi guys!
Congratulations majesticeternity for the job!
Has anyone tried this mod before.?
Feedback?

[Icy]

Thanks for the great job!

One question, do you keep updating the managers after the first season? I mean for Newgen managers that are created and that probably are not up to par with the edited ones and that will lower down the AI level after a few seasons.

[majesticeternity]

13 minutes ago, Icy said:

Thanks for the great job!

One question, do you keep updating the managers after the first season? I mean for Newgen managers that are created and that probably are not up to par with the edited ones and that will lower down the AI level after a few seasons.

This mod can only change the database, so any newgen managers aren't effected, unfortunately.

I use a mod that reduces players retiring and becoming managers, as well as another mod that adds Legendary Managers, so that it is very long into the future until there are alot of poor managers.

[Icy]

Yeah I know it’s a pregame DB. I meant if in your own games you keep updating the managers using the in game editor.

[majesticeternity]

6 hours ago, Icy said:

Yeah I know it’s a pregame DB. I meant if in your own games you keep updating the managers using the in game editor.

Oh, yes I do

[Mcfc1894]

I notice a lot of Managers set Defence Mentality for a lot of away games feel like if that's changed to Cautious instead that would maybe make them more of a threat going forward and less teams having 0 shots in a game 

[freddieos]

I only now noticed that you asked for feedback on the mod for FM21:

It definitely makes the game more challenging, just like it did for FM20. It's a struggle to win the title in any division, you have to actively manage the team and frequently adjust in-game. I win home games against bottom half teams 2-0 or 3-1 compared with 4-0 or 5-0 without it. Away games are challenging, just like they should be. Unbeaten runs of 15+ games are rare, unlike vanilla game. Takes three seasons to take a team predicted to finish 6-8th to the title, just like it would IRL. 

The only thing I've noticed is that AI managers tend to do the majority of their tactical changes very late in the game, 80th minute or later when the game is beyond them. Is there a way of changing that for next version?

Edited December 27, 2020 by freddieos

[majesticeternity]

1 hour ago, freddieos said:

I only now noticed that you asked for feedback on the mod for FM21:

It definitely makes the game more challenging, just like it did for FM20. It's a struggle to win the title in any division, you have to actively manage the team and frequently adjust in-game. I win home games against bottom half teams 2-0 or 3-1 compared with 4-0 or 5-0 without it. Away games are challenging, just like they should be. Unbeaten runs of 15+ games are rare, unlike vanilla game. Takes three seasons to take a team predicted to finish 6-8th to the title, just like it would IRL. 

The only thing I've noticed is that AI managers tend to do their tactical changes very late in the game, 80th minute or later when the game is beyond them. Is there a way of changing that for next version?

That sounds perfect!

Actually, alot of managers have very high "make early tactical changes"....so...i think that's due to SI changing things and making the AI not react until the last minutes of the game, unfortunately...

Only change possible would be to make EVERY manager at 20 early changes...but not sure that would do it even then

[freddieos]

I've since paid it a bit more attention and I would say they do the majority of their changes very late on, not all of them though. Are you getting the same? Or you not playing yet? Still obsessively correcting the game? 

[majesticeternity]

1 hour ago, freddieos said:

I've since paid it a bit more attention and I would say they do the majority of their changes very late on, not all of them though. Are you getting the same? Or you not playing yet? Still obsessively correcting the game? 

I decline to answer....lol

If you want, you can note the managers who are making very late changes, and i can look in the file and see what  they're set at.

[freddieos]

Nah it's fine as is

[dillonbarrett1997]

Noticed this decreases the amount of goals scored. For example the premier leagues leading goal scorer was Chris woods with 18 goals and la liga was Messi with only 17.
 

Update: After some test it may just be fm in general lol

Edited December 29, 2020 by dillonbarrett1997

[Heywood JaBlowme]

What if we remove a League you have preloaded or add some Leagues that you don't have? Would this have any adverse effect?

 

Thanks in advance

[CoffeeFueledCurmudgeon]

14 hours ago, dillonbarrett1997 said:

Noticed this decreases the amount of goals scored. For example the premier leagues leading goal scorer was Chris woods with 18 goals and la liga was Messi with only 17.
 

Update: After some test it may just be fm in general lol

Pretty sure top scorer volumes have been reported as unusually low this year, might be compounded by tactical exploits too.

[freddieos]

I'm currently using this and in the 7 seasons so far, goals are scored as in IRL. Top scorers 25-30 goals a season, 8-10 in UCL etc. 

@dillonbarrett1997

Edited December 30, 2020 by freddieos

[majesticeternity]

8 hours ago, freddieos said:

I'm currently using this and in the 7 seasons so far, goals are scored as in IRL. Top scorers 25-30 goals a season, 8-10 in UCL etc. 

@dillonbarrett1997

Interesting. I wonder what the difference is, in the games, to cause one low scoring and one higher scoring

[majesticeternity]

14 hours ago, Heywood JaBlowme said:

What if we remove a League you have preloaded or add some Leagues that you don't have? Would this have any adverse effect?

 

Thanks in advance

It doesn’t change leagues, only staff. I’ve never had it crash or had any reports of it. 

[Heywood JaBlowme]

36 minutes ago, majesticeternity said:

It doesn’t change leagues, only staff. I’ve never had it crash or had any reports of it. 

Did you only edit staff for leagues you have pre loaded? If I add Serie A & La Liga, will the staff in those leagues be significantly weaker? 

[majesticeternity]

15 minutes ago, Heywood JaBlowme said:

Did you only edit staff for leagues you have pre loaded? If I add Serie A & La Liga, will the staff in those leagues be significantly weaker? 

no, i edited staff from all the major nations, and alot of minor ones too

[Heywood JaBlowme]

9 minutes ago, majesticeternity said:

no, i edited staff from all the major nations, and alot of minor ones too

Alright, thanks.

[moz08]

Does this work with a custom db, such as the Japanese pyramid? Thanks.

[majesticeternity]

2 hours ago, moz08 said:

Does this work with a custom db, such as the Japanese pyramid? Thanks.

yes. it only changes staff, nothing else.

[moz08]

Sorry, just to clarify, so only staff in FM21 are affected by the Smarter AI, i.e. if there are staff in the Japanese pyramid db that aren’t in the vanilla game their attributes won’t change?

[majesticeternity]

27 minutes ago, moz08 said:

Sorry, just to clarify, so only staff in FM21 are affected by the Smarter AI, i.e. if there are staff in the Japanese pyramid db that aren’t in the vanilla game their attributes won’t change?

correct.

you would have to edit their stats in that pyramid file.

Using the Editor, you can bulk select and edit, based on your personal criteria.

[moz08]

Thanks for your replies.

How easy/time consuming is it to edit attributes for staff, i.e. if I want to do it for staff not in the vanilla game? To be honest I haven’t edited anything in FM for years.

Edited December 31, 2020 by moz08

[majesticeternity]

30 minutes ago, moz08 said:

Thanks for your replies.

How easy/time consuming is it to edit attributes for staff, i.e. if I want to do it for staff not in the vanilla game? To be honest I haven’t edited anything in FM for years.

not much, if it's just the japanese added staff. you would go to people, non-players, and filter and sort by job preference, then lay out your guidelines. like, do you want ALL physios over 10 to be 20? or ALL to be 20 no matter what? and so on.

maybe you don't care about physios, and just want to focus on head coaches and assistant coaches.

[moz08]

I might get back to you, via this thread, if that’s ok, when I actually download a custom db, and have the editor in front of me. I’m not sure exactly what I want to do with it until I see the custom db and editor, if you see what I mean.

If nothing changes, there will probably still be ‘is the game too easy’ threads in 5 years time. The point is some (more experienced) players find it too easy, and others don’t, and there’s no shame in this. The game should be for everyone to enjoy, whatever their level of experience, so why not have difficulty levels, just as FM Touch/mobile are different versions for customers with different requirements?

One of the arguments against difficulty levels is that they would be too complex to implement, but you’ve  shown how relatively  easy it would be.

I’d like to think the argument against having difficulty levels is weakening, and FM will have them eventually, just as SI eventually conceded the game was too time consuming for some. Whatever happens, though, thanks for doing this, and, hopefully, paving the way.

[majesticeternity]

2 minutes ago, moz08 said:

I might get back to you, via this thread, if that’s ok, when I actually download a custom db, and have the editor in front of me. I’m not sure exactly what I want to do with it until I see the custom db and editor, if you see what I mean.

If nothing changes, there will probably still be ‘is the game too easy’ threads in 5 years time. The point is some (more experienced) players find it too easy, and others don’t, and there’s no shame in this. The game should be for everyone to enjoy, whatever their level of experience, so why not have difficulty levels, just as FM Touch/mobile are different versions for customers with different requirements?

One of the arguments against difficulty levels is that they would be too complex to implement, but you’ve  shown how relatively  easy it would be.

I’d like to think the argument against having difficulty levels is weakening, and FM will have them eventually, just as SI eventually conceded the game was too time consuming for some. Whatever happens, though, thanks for doing this, and, hopefully, paving the way.

you're welcome!

Feel free to message me if you need help with the editing.

[smeagoltonez]

First of all, thank you very much for this addon, it's a great idea!

Before I go ahead & get started on a save, I just want to check something. I just quickly checked the database & it seems that while the staff attributes have been improved along with the Current Ability, they don't quite match up & so I believe that the attributes will gradually decrease over time. Is this correct?

For example, David Moyes at West Ham has a Current Ability of 160 but his high attributes cause him to have a 'Recommended Current Ability' of 200. Doesn't this mean that his attributes are too high for his current ability & so they will gradually decrease until they are in line with his Current Ability of 160 again?

Thanks very much!

[majesticeternity]

4 hours ago, smeagoltonez said:

First of all, thank you very much for this addon, it's a great idea!

Before I go ahead & get started on a save, I just want to check something. I just quickly checked the database & it seems that while the staff attributes have been improved along with the Current Ability, they don't quite match up & so I believe that the attributes will gradually decrease over time. Is this correct?

For example, David Moyes at West Ham has a Current Ability of 160 but his high attributes cause him to have a 'Recommended Current Ability' of 200. Doesn't this mean that his attributes are too high for his current ability & so they will gradually decrease until they are in line with his Current Ability of 160 again?

Thanks very much!

I can’t really say for sure, as RCA seems to not be quite accurate. 
 

but yes they probably would decrease. The idea was that not every manager would have 200 PA, though. So it’s fine if it decreases some.