Helpful Hint for CM 03/04

[Desnudo]

I'm sure some of you know this little trick already, but for those that don't:

When you're running a medium DB you'll notice that your free coach hiring options are next to nill. There simply isn't anyone available and that situation doesn't seem to change over time. It's all good if you're playing as Chelsea and can sway anyone to come to your side and pay the fee. Lower league, you're out of luck. The same can sometimes be said for players. This is where the "Retain Nation" command comes in.

For those not familiar with it, you can create a command line in a .ddt file that tells the game to retain all players and coaches from a specific nation(s). To create this file:

1. New file in notepad
2. Type in as many of these lines as you want: "RETAIN_NATION_PLAYERS" "Nigeria"
3. Save the file as a .ddt file into your CM 03/04/data/db folder
4. Start a new game.


I've found using this command for say, England, when playing as a Conference side helps a lot both for finding coaches and players. It adds a touch more realism as well. My own file looks like this:

"RETAIN_NATION_PLAYERS" "Nigeria"
"RETAIN_NATION_PLAYERS" "Guatemala"
"RETAIN_NATION_PLAYERS" "Scotland"
"RETAIN_NATION_PLAYERS" "England"
"RETAIN_NATION_PLAYERS" "Egypt"
"RETAIN_NATION_PLAYERS" "United States"
"RETAIN_NATION_PLAYERS" "Colombia"
"RETAIN_NATION_PLAYERS" "Iran"
"RETAIN_NATION_PLAYERS" "Iceland"
"RETAIN_NATION_PLAYERS" "Mexico"
"RETAIN_NATION_PLAYERS" "Brazil"
"RETAIN_NATION_PLAYERS" "Argentina"
"RETAIN_NATION_PLAYERS" "Sweden"
"RETAIN_NATION_PLAYERS" "Norway"

[Eaglesfan27]

That is a VERY helpful hint that I wish I knew before I started this career. I assume like the debug command, that it will only take effect when starting a new career?

Stuff like this almost makes me want to start a new career, but I'm so engrossed in my current career with Hull that I can't bring myself to restart.

[QuikSand]

4. Start a new game.


Ah, there's the rub.

[Honolulu_Blue]

That is a VERY helpful hint that I wish I knew before I started this career. I assume like the debug command, that it will only take effect when starting a new career?

Stuff like this almost makes me want to start a new career, but I'm so engrossed in my current career with Hull that I can't bring myself to restart.

I am in the same boat...

[ice4277]

I feel dirty starting over sports games with new careers if I've played more than five or six games already.

Definitely good advice though, wish I would have thought of it when I started.

[Chief Rum]

Or you can be like me and go large database, full details on every single league!

Of course, you will have to deal with an exceptionally slow sim, but it's actually not much worse (for me) than some lesser settings I have done.

I love the realism. It kicks ass. :)

CR

[ice4277]

Yikes!! That would take AGES to run on my PC. Trust me, I would love to be able to do that, but, man you really do have some patience :) Although, I think the database probably will have as much to do with the speed as the number of leagues being run.

[andy m]

how long does it take to play 1 week on that setup Chief Rum? and how much RAM do you have, and what is your CPU speed? :)

[Chief Rum]

I have an AthlonXP AMD 3200. I forget exactly how fast that is, but the number in the title is close (somewhere between 2.5 to 3.0 GHz). I have a 1 G of RAM (or 1.024 :) ).

It's a nice computer, but I was also using this set up with my previous computer, just a couple weeks ago, an AthlonXp 1600+ (1.4 GHz) and 768 M RAM.

Weekly speed depends on the week you're in. During the transfer windows, particularly in late July and August, it really bogs down, going probably an hour-plus per week. It goes a little faster in the winter transfer window, and in the offseason transfer window (June to mid-July).

Outside of the transfer windows, it hums along pretty good. I can get through a week anywhere from 20-40 minutes at most, assuming I don't have to stop for a match or something (usually I do, of course).

I just do two things at once. For instance, right now, while CM03/04 runs in the background, I am running my first OOTP6 game. I switch over to CM03/04 on occasion to see how it's coming along. Or I'll just surf the net or watch porn...I mean movie trailers... ;)

CR

[FrogMan]

Klayman did some very impressive tests with different league settings and the use of a .ddt file.

the thread is below:
http://dynamic2.gamespy.com/~fof/forums/showthread.php?t=18913

I am still experimenting with my first ever CM game in CM4, which I got on a great bargain. I will definitely restart very soon and will use a .ddt file...

FM

[The Afoci]

Does this, the retain nation US, bring Freddy Adu back in the game? I tried it with United States, but couldn't find him, do I need to put american or is he just not in there?

[sovereignstar]

Does this, the retain nation US, bring Freddy Adu back in the game? I tried it with United States, but couldn't find him, do I need to put american or is he just not in there?
Have you applied any of the roster updates (ie Calcio or CM Sorted)? Without either of these he isn't in the game.

[sovereignstar]

Dola-

And remember this "hint" will only work with careers started after createing the retain_nation command.

[BreizhManu]

And remember another thing the nation name must be written in the language you play the game, not in englsih (e.g "RETAIN_NATION_PLAYERS" "Norway" will become "RETAIN_NATION_PLAYERS" "Norvege" for somebody playing in french) else it won't work.