How is CM03/04?

[Chief Rum]

All right, we're nearly two weeks and at least one (two?) patches into it.

Tell me how it is, folks. I want to keep tabs on this because I love CM and I would like to get it eventually, but I got burned the last time and I swore I would hold off until I was reasonably sure about the product I was getting.

I have heard about the time issues. They don't really concern me (I don't think), because I never played CM fast. There was just too much going on to ever just sim through a season.

I am looking for feedback on other issues. Old ones, for instance. Did they clean up the stuff that was still wrong with CM4 after EP5? How does it hold up long term, in terms of abilities? Are awards handed out correctly and to deserving individuals? Are transfer offers a realistic part of the game? How is the increased media interaction I have seen mentioned as a design addition since CM44, but still have never really seen (at least not to the extent I thought it was going to be)?

How are the new features? Are they clicking well? Is training much more intuitive now? And for American fans, does the lack of the American leagues have any appreciable affect on your impression of the realism of the game? And on that note, has anyone come close to working up a mod which adds American players and teams (if not MLS style rules, which I assume would have to be added by programmers at SI).

And now what overall new issues/bugs are you seeing? Is SI recognizing the problems and appears to be fixing them, or are they not acknowledging the problems? Are there any bugs that would be considered showstoppers by the normal fan (not as showstopper is defined by SI, but as a fan expecting a realistic soccer sim with certain features)?

Thanks for your input. I am certain I will be buying CM03/04 one day. But I may need to check up[ on things like this a time or two before I jump in.

Thanks in advance for any insights you can provide.

CR

[Chief Rum]

bump. Some of you already have this, no? :)

CR

[Marc Vaughan]

(warning I might be a tad biased ;) )

Its pretty solid and definitely a great game in my totally unbiased opinion :D

Seriously though, check out sigames.com if you want a feel for how things are going - its been recieved pretty well so far.

[Chief Rum]

Biased or not, I look forward to your opinion of it, too, Marc. I know you know better than anyone some of the issues I and others have had with the last one, and you and your crew have always done a good job of beating out the bugs (it just seemed like in CM4, new bugs would crop up, just weird). I am glad to hear the game is being received well.

Incidentally, I was hoping someone here could give me a synopsis, so I wouldn't have to go over to sigames and track it all down. There's a lot to go over there, you know, and I am so lazy. :)

CR

[Critch]

It's still at the post office.

Damn the posties for delivering things when I'm at work then taking them back to the post office. Probably wont get it til Saturday now.

[Easy Mac]

I don't even venture to the SI boards anymore. I used to go there all the time 3 years ago, it was a fun place to chat. But its just gone way down hill since then. Too much petty bickering about "CM sucks" and "CM is God". I just got tired of it. I think it really picked up around 01/02 or so. I dunno, I guess it was the first one to not satisfy all the people or something, or a bunch of assholes decided to ruin a great board. I just don't think you can get good info on the game anymore, there's no thought out opinions.

And I miss SilverBlue (I think, maybe Silverfox) dynasty he did a few years ago. It was the greatest dynasty I have ever read... it used to be in the Hall of Fame, but that got changed when you guys upgraded the board. I think he is the mod of the lower-league forum, or he was for a time.

[3ric]

As for general gameplay, the transfer market moves a lot more. An example, I play in the English div.3 as Rochdale. A division rival, Southend, had a 16-yr old wonder kid with dual English/Turkish citizenship who's starting for them. Since he's on my short list I get a message that Turkish giants Galatasary has stated that the kid's going to play for them in the future. He's flattered, the offer comes, and he signs for them. I didn't see things like that in CM4.

The match commentary and the 2D engine is very much improved. You get messages like "That's his first senior goal", "He knows he had a bad game" that shows an increased awareness of the stats, showing relevant message in the right context. In the 2D view, mistakes is much more detailed - I lost a game once to a mistimed backpass, it's not just poor positioning and slow-footed defenders anymore.

[andy m]

i like it a lot. it's the game that CM4 should have been, much more polished and complete.