Alright boyz, here we go!!! Football Manager 05 First impressions

[cartman]

Howdy all,

I pulled an unintentional all-nighter playing this one. Started last night around 10pm, and the next thing I knew, it was 6am! Just woke up from a few hours sleep.

First impressions:

Really like the interface, easy to move around in
In addition to selecting leagues, you can select players from nations to be included. Didn't see a quick way to select all nations, though
I selected 17 leagues to start with (I've got 2GB of RAM, so not a problem! :) )
The coaching seems to be much more difficult, especially if you start with a top flight team. I started with Inter Milan, which is in real life is a collection of egos and basket-cases, and I had a hard time getting the morale up of the team. They didn't seem to take seriously an American coach who speaks basic Italian :)
Definitely new tatics will need to be used. The old trusty Diablo from the last version just doesn't cut it
Can't get Freddy Adu to leave DC United no matter what :(

That's what I've got to report back so far. If anyone has any questions, or wants me to check out anything, let me know!

[Peregrine]

What kind of manual is included with the game? I haven't played CM in a long long time, basically since CM 99, and when I checked out the demo I was confused by a lot of things, including the statistics scale, so hopefully there will be a thorough manual!

[cartman]

The manual is your standard fare, explaining the menu options, and that sort of thing. They do go into a little more depth on the on-field tactics, but not too much. It's around 60 pages or so.

After installation, there is a PDF with the instructions for the Data Editor, and it goes into more detail about the different ratings.

[GoldenEagle]

What about the MLS draft?

[cartman]

What about the MLS draft?

Didn't look for that, I was playing in the Serie A. Lemme see if it is in past news somewhere, or in the history tab of the MLS

[GoldenEagle]

Any chane they snuck in the A-League as a last second addition? :)

[JeeberD]

Any chane they snuck in the A-League as a last second addition? :)

Go El Paso Patriots!!! :)

[jbmagic]

cartman

how do you like this game compare to cm 03/04 which was the best version before?

[cartman]

cartman

how do you like this game compare to cm 03/04 which was the best version before?

first impressions, I like the 2D match engine more. I also like the increased interactions with the media, like slamming the other team's coach before a game! The assistants on the team can have a bigger role as well, you can ask for a team status report, and it will tell you where weak spots are, as well as who are up and comers.

Still only halfway through a full season, so there is much more to uncover!

[cartman]

As for the MLS stuff, I don't see anything about the draft. It may not have happened yet, or I didn't turn on enough detail to be able to see it, since I'm not coaching in the MLS. I'd have to start another game to see about the A league, but my current game lists United States (MLS only) as one of the leagues.

[jbmagic]

is this game newbie user friendly that never play CM or play soccer sim before?

[cartman]

is this game newbie user friendly that never play CM or play soccer sim before?

For a newbie, it could be overwhelming at first, especially with no knowledge of soccer tactics. The manual assumes you are somewhat familiar with this, so it doesn't go into too much depth.

But there is a huge community of players that can help you out. I'd post questions here in FOFC, as you'd probably get a better response than if you tried the official SI Games board. They can be a bit cruel to footie newbs over there... :)

Have you downloaded the demo? If not, DL it and kick the tires. The demo gives you 6 months of in-game time to try things out, which is about how far I've made it in my overnight marathon session.

Once you get into it, you'll see why many people consider this the reference sim for any sport. The level of detail and immersion is incredible.

[Glengoyne]

is this game newbie user friendly that never play CM or play soccer sim before?
I haven't tried FM5, but I am an avid CM03/04 player. I knew nothing about soccer that my 7th grade soccer coach didn't teach me. I knew/know nothing or next to nothing about the star players. I really don't know the first thing about the different tactical options, beyond the few word descriptions in the manual. All of that, and I am an avid and somewhat successful player.

The interface takes some getting used to, but it isn't bad by a very long shot. The reason it takes some getting used to is because there is so much that the game lets you do. After a month or so of solid play, I found myself discovering little helping features in the interface.

All in all, if you have the least bit of interest in the game, don't cheat yourself by not getting it. It is simply the best of the sports management sims, and they continue to improve the product in such ways that the competition isn't closing the gap.

[Peregrine]

One thing that I was having trouble finding in the demo was any way to just sim through the game, instead of having to watch it play itself out. Even adjusting the speed didn't seem to appreciably speed it up for me.

[cartman]

One thing that I was having trouble finding in the demo was any way to just sim through the game, instead of having to watch it play itself out. Even adjusting the speed didn't seem to appreciably speed it up for me.

There is an option, while the match is running, to select Highlight mode. If you don't want to see any 2D stuff, then select Commentary Only.

[Desnudo]

There is an option, while the match is running, to select Highlight mode. If you don't want to see any 2D stuff, then select Commentary Only.

There's also freeware called GEAR that you can use to really zip through the match if you just want to get to the result. You still have to make all the coaching changes though.

[mckerney]

Can't get Freddy Adu to leave DC United no matter what :(

Did you try and tell him about the great keg parties Inter Milan holds? ;)

[tanglewood]

I got it a couple of hours ago also and have started up a game as Barca (my traditional first team to play as in CM games).

One cool little thing is that when setting up friendly matches etc. it now gives an estimate of how much cash you'll get from the gate receipts. Also, the big clubs won't accept freindly matches with you unless offer them a fee for turning up.

Oh yeah, and it's fun telling some nobody manager of a random Belgian lower league team that you really respect him. He went into the whole "Oh my gosh!! Really!??" type mode. :D

[cartman]

Did you try and tell him about the great keg parties Inter Milan holds? ;)

That started to sway his decision, but once he tasted Peroni and Nastro Azzurro, he decided to stay in DC...

:D

[DeToxRox]

this thread is binary code to me. yet i am intrigued.

[DaddyTorgo]

HOW THE HELL DID YOU PEOPLE GET THE GAME ALREADY!?!?!? I paid for priority shipping from Gamespy...Gamespot (whichever is the UK joint, too lazy to check, just got in from Rome) and it's now 2 days later and I don't have it, and yet it looks like people in Texas do!! WHAT THE HELL!!!! ANGRY MAN HERE!

[Senator]

Texans always get special treatment. Having the dude at the top helps.

[cartman]

HOW THE HELL DID YOU PEOPLE GET THE GAME ALREADY!?!?!? I paid for priority shipping from Gamespy...Gamespot (whichever is the UK joint, too lazy to check, just got in from Rome) and it's now 2 days later and I don't have it, and yet it looks like people in Texas do!! WHAT THE HELL!!!! ANGRY MAN HERE!

I had someone pick it up from Duty-Free at Heathrow on Friday, thereby circumventing any shipping delays...

:D

[DaddyTorgo]

aaah. wiseness cartman. I was over in Europe until just today but I couldn't get a satisfactory answer as to if I picked up the game in Italy if I'd have any problems running it over here stateside, so I figured it was best to order it and wait. Anyways, hoping it should be here soon, although I know once it is I'll get NOTHING done. TPB 2005 is killing enough of my days as it is!

[daedalus]

I've been tinkering with the demo. Didn't have much problem getting Adu to sign with Arsenal. Don't know if that was just something different between the demo and the gold.

Anyway, is there a way to control the reserve games and the U-18 games (like you could with the CM3-based games)? Or can you only set the lineup for those and hope your assistant manager is not too terribly idiotic?

[klayman]

Anyway, is there a way to control the reserve games and the U-18 games (like you could with the CM3-based games)? Or can you only set the lineup for those and hope your assistant manager is not too terribly idiotic?Manger Options --> tick Control (reserve/U18) team.

Edit: This was the same as it was with the CM4 series btw.

[daedalus]

Manger Options --> tick Control (reserve/U18) team.

Edit: This was the same as it was with the CM4 series btw.Oooh. I'm, ahem, excited. But y'all didn't need to know all that.

Thanks, klayman. :)

I never got CM4 since I'm still waiting to afford a real computer. There's only so much running that little hamster in the wheel inside my computer can manage.

[andy m]

basically FM2005 is CM03/04 with a nice new front end, improved media interaction, some tweaks and a data update. i guess there might be more going on under the hood :)

still, it's as good as ever :)

[cartman]

aaah. wiseness cartman. I was over in Europe until just today but I couldn't get a satisfactory answer as to if I picked up the game in Italy if I'd have any problems running it over here stateside, so I figured it was best to order it and wait. Anyways, hoping it should be here soon, although I know once it is I'll get NOTHING done. TPB 2005 is killing enough of my days as it is!

For PC games, you won't have a problem with games bought in Europe. While I was living in Italy, I bought quite a few PC games and they all ran fine.

Where you run into problems is with Console games. There are two issues. One, is that they region encode the DVDs the games come on, so unless you've got a modded console, the game won't load. The second problem, is even if you have a modded console, the video output is for a different format. NTSC is what North America uses, but there are a few different formats in Europe, variants of either PAL or SECAM.

[ArlingtonColt]

Well, I played through my first MLS season.. I won it all with the Burn and finished 2nd in the MLS cup... I finally got to the MLS draft (Feb 15th) and it seems that all the players were Americans out of contract/or playing in the A-league (you can't pick the teams but they are there). I didn't get to spend much time looking through the list as it was already 4 am and I had to wake up at 7 am. :(

Also, it seems that I can't offer my players to clubs, is this to stop me from selling Toni Nhleko and getting a real SI striker, or is it an MLS rule? :P

[tanglewood]

basically FM2005 is CM03/04 with a nice new front end, improved media interaction, some tweaks and a data update. i guess there might be more going on under the hood :)

still, it's as good as ever :)
The match engine has had a serious overhaul from the looks of it. It looks like a real football match and everything. :)

[scooter]

For those of us in the US that are interested in purchasing FM2005 but don't want to wait for overseas shipping, GoGamer just posted it as in stock. That coupled with their 2-day FedEx shipping means you could have it by the end of this week. They are pricey though at $49.90. Just thought I would pass on the heads-up.

[Chief Rum]

For those of us in the US that are interested in purchasing FM2005 but don't want to wait for overseas shipping, GoGamer just posted it as in stock. That coupled with their 2-day FedEx shipping means you could have it by the end of this week. They are pricey though at $49.90. Just thought I would pass on the heads-up.

Thank the Lord. :)

I was wondering what was going on with that, as I put in my order a week or two ago, and it has been consistently "out of stock" since then.

I'll go check my email to see if I have a shipping code from Fed Ex yet. :)

CR

[SunDancer]

Oh man, the game is calling me, but I don't want to spend the money. :(

[SunDancer]

Any good reviews out?

[scooter]

Any good reviews out?

I went to GameSpot (as that is always the first place I check) and they didn't have a review yet. It seems that they are waiting for the US release as they only have Worldwide Soccer Manager listed. But under there they have their review roundup with scores from other websites. I don't know most of these, but you can check it out yourself:

Eurogamer 9/10
Gamer Archive 9/10
IC-Games 96/100
BBC News Online 9.5/10
Jolt Online Gaming UK 9.1/10
Games Radar UK 90/100

[FrogMan]

For those of us in the US that are interested in purchasing FM2005 but don't want to wait for overseas shipping, GoGamer just posted it as in stock. That coupled with their 2-day FedEx shipping means you could have it by the end of this week. They are pricey though at $49.90. Just thought I would pass on the heads-up.
Quick question: is it still showing at $49.90 for you? Cause for me, it's now showing at $54.90 :eek: :eek: Price increasing by the hour, buy now!!! :D :D

FM

[GoldenEagle]

Maybe that is in Canadian :D

[FrogMan]

nah, $49.90 US would show up as $2,568.99 cdn :p

FM

[portnoise]

nah, $49.90 US would show up as $2,568.99 cdn :p

FM

Imagine, with how the looney's doing, or more importantly how the US buck is tanking, that these jokes will go out of style soon...

Then again, the classics never die. :cool:

Waiting for the game to arrive, ps...

[scooter]

Quick question: is it still showing at $49.90 for you? Cause for me, it's now showing at $54.90 :eek: :eek: Price increasing by the hour, buy now!!! :D :D

FM

You are correct! I know the price went up from $44.90 to $49.90 some time over the weekend (I had been checking daily to see when it would change from pre-order to in stock). Now it is up to $54.90! I'm glad I didn't sit around considering my purchase for too long. Now I'm just waiting for the email notifying me the order was sent out :D

Edit: Just checked the email and the notice has arrived! Expected delivery on 11/10. Sweeeet!

[Desnudo]

Anyone get one that shipped from Europe yet?

[FrogMan]

Imagine, with how the looney's doing, or more importantly how the US buck is tanking, that these jokes will go out of style soon...

Then again, the classics never die. :cool:

Waiting for the game to arrive, ps...
Yeah, crazy, can't think of a day that our South neighbours wil not make fun of our dollar. Nah, they'll still make fun of the funny colors we have on our bills :D

I'm also waiting for the game to arrive. I know it's still way too early, since gameplay shipped from the UK last Wednesday and I picked the regular shipping, but I had some sort of hope today when I checked the mail... *sigh* this is gonna be a long wait...

where did you order from btw?

FM

[GoldenEagle]

Is thar $54 figure the final price?

[Router Help]

For MLS fans there is a thread on the SI boards that lists some of the problems found so far in MLS here: http://community.sigames.com/eve/ubb.x?a=tpc&s=21019056&f=521102691&m=742204675

Major points seem to be that the trading/transfers are really screwed up and that young players like Adu have unprotected youth contracts so big clubs can just swoop in and steal them away. Adu also can't play until he is 16 in the game.

[FrogMan]

Is thar $54 figure the final price?
who knows, it's what they're showing right now... I thought I had seen a starting price of 39.99, but I'm not so sure right now. Even if they started it at 44.90, they've already increased it twice in a matter of days if not hours...

Compared to gameplay and their £24.99+£4.95 S/H for a total of £29.94, they are coming in a bit more expensive. £29.94 comes to about $55.54, but that's with shipping included. Sure, shipping delay may be a bit longer when going overseas...

FM

[SirFozzie]

*grin* it's fun to get in a media war ;)

Me and DC United's new manager (they fired their starting one after a poor start to the season) got into it into the press.

We traded barbs back and forth as we entered our Conference Semifinal series.

I trumped his cry that he doubted I had the skill to be a MLS manager (hello, you jackass, we just won the Supporter's shield).. by taking it public that I considered him a boob and a moron.

He tried to fight back then I hit him with the knockout blow, that DC was going to crash and burn, watching them go down to defeat was so much fun that it might soften the blow if we fail to win the cup :D

Then when it came time for the game, we kicked their heiney 3-0 (won the series 4-1 after a 1-1 draw in DC), and I got the last word, stating we had tactically outclassed DC.

Love it. :D

[FrogMan]

Anyone get one that shipped from Europe yet?
From what I read from SirFozzie's comment, I'd assume he has it, from gameplay iirc...

FM

[SirFozzie]

From what I read from SirFozzie's comment, I'd assume he has it, from gameplay iirc...

FM

I cannot confirm or deny possession of the game. ;)

You fill in the blank.

[DaddyTorgo]

and now you tell me this cartman. after i'm back from Italy. Oh well, hopefully mine gets here within the next couple days.

[GoldenEagle]

You called him a boob?

[Marc Vaughan]

For MLS fans there is a thread on the SI boards that lists some of the problems found so far in MLS here: http://community.sigames.com/eve/ubb.x?a=tpc&s=21019056&f=521102691&m=742204675

Major points seem to be that the trading/transfers are really screwed up and that young players like Adu have unprotected youth contracts so big clubs can just swoop in and steal them away. Adu also can't play until he is 16 in the game.
According to FIFA regulations Adu "can't" have a protected contract at his age .... not sure how the MLS are getting around this irl, apart from perhaps no club being willing to pay the fee involved in poaching him ...

I'll fix the '16' rule, in pretty much every other league in the world because of the above rule (and other stuff) players under 16 can't play in full league matches.

[RPI-Fan]

According to FIFA regulations Adu "can't" have a protected contract at his age .... not sure how the MLS are getting around this irl, apart from perhaps no club being willing to pay the fee involved in poaching him ...

I'll fix the '16' rule, in pretty much every other league in the world because of the above rule (and other stuff) players under 16 can't play in full league matches.

Marc: Any chance that even a small portion of the issues listed in that thread on the SI Forums (for the MLS league) get fixed?

That post is EXACTLY why it would have made sense to have a quickstart available - everybody understands that MLS is very tough to program, and we would have loved to be able to help by picking out inaccuracies when they were easier to fix.

[sachmo71]

Guess I'm about to enter the world of soccer. Got a free copy of this game in the mail, but I'm not quite sure why.

[Marc Vaughan]

Guess I'm about to enter the world of soccer. Got a free copy of this game in the mail, but I'm not quite sure why.
Part of our plans for world domination - using the English honesty technique, send people copies of the game and hopefully they'll feel guilty enough and pay for them ;)

PS. On a more serious note, we're assessing any reported problems and working on fixing them in the patch. Generally I'm very happy with how the game is holding up and the majority of the feedback we've recieved is very positive which is cool :D

[MrBug708]

Gogamer hasn't sent mine out! That's probably because I got it aabout a month ago and it's a lil less then 54 dollars

[GoldenEagle]

Guess I'm about to enter the world of soccer. Got a free copy of this game in the mail, but I'm not quite sure why.

sachmo - that was my copy. I accidently your address by mistake!

So, uh, please send it back. :)

[Eaglesfan27]

I planned on waiting until the first patch came out and/or it was released in the USA. However, after reading all of the feedback and talking to a few trusted friends who have the game, I just ordered from gogamer. It is still 54.90 as of today. Now, I just hope it ships today..... especially since I have Thursday through Sunday off.

[jbmagic]

how is football manager 2005 so far comapre to how cm 03/04 was?

[SunDancer]

Marc,
Any good reviews out yet? I know I asked it before, but wondering if you knew?

Also, how much more "power" computer-wise do I need to run this game over CM 03/04?

[Router Help]

Marc,


Also, how much more "power" computer-wise do I need to run this game over CM 03/04?

It supposedly runs faster than CM 03/04 with similar league/database settings.

[Chief Rum]

Gues what I have....:)

Gogamer is God. One day from shipping.

And to kill those of you waiting even more, I won't be playing it until at least the first patch. :)

CR

[FrogMan]

Gogamer is God.
No, gogamer is retarded. They don't sell/ship to Canada unless I send in my order by mail, paying with a mail order... :(

FM
PS: happy for you that you got it though :)

[Desnudo]

Gues what I have....:)

Gogamer is God. One day from shipping.

And to kill those of you waiting even more, I won't be playing it until at least the first patch. :)

CR

How about you Fed Ex me your copy and I'll send you mine when it arrives from Europe then? I'll even throw in a free t-shirt. :)

[Chief Rum]

No, gogamer is retarded. They don't sell/ship to Canada unless I send in my order by mail, paying with a mail order... :(

FM
PS: happy for you that you got it though :)

Ah, but the question is, is gogamer retarded? Or is that country you live in...:D

Just kidding. That is weird. I wonder why they don't ship to Canada? I would think that would be one of their safer destinations, plus they use Fed Ex, which goes anywhere (or certainly to Canada anyway).

Sorry to hear about your troubles, and I hope (believe) the game will be worth it once you get it.

CR

[Chief Rum]

How about you Fed Ex me your copy and I'll send you mine when it arrives from Europe then? I'll even throw in a free t-shirt. :)

Heh, heh, sorry Desnudo, this one is staying here. ;)

CR

[Eaglesfan27]

I'm sorry gogamer doesn't ship to Canada, Frogman. However, they just shipped my order about an hour or two after I ordered it. It will be here Thursday (with me having Thursday-Sunday off) :)

[MrBug708]

I'm sorry gogamer doesn't ship to Canada, Frogman. However, they just shipped my order about an hour or two after I ordered it. It will be here Thursday (with me having Thursday-Sunday off) :)

Mine was ordered 4 weeks ago from Gogamer and they havent gotten around to shipping it to me

[Chief Rum]

Mine was ordered 4 weeks ago from Gogamer and they havent gotten around to shipping it to me

You should probably check your order than at the web site, Bug, because I know ordered it more recently than that. If I have mine and you don't have yours (nor is it even shipped), obviously there has been a mixup.

CR

[Desnudo]

I cannot confirm or deny possession of the game. ;)

You fill in the blank.

What day did they say they shipped it on?

[SirFozzie]

SHipped it 11/3. Officially received it.. oh.. 10 minutes ago when I walked in and there was a Royal Mail package on my table.

[cartman]

Addictedness rating:

Time to change your underwear.

:D

I love this game!

[Desnudo]

SHipped it 11/3. Officially received it.. oh.. 10 minutes ago when I walked in and there was a Royal Mail package on my table.

Darn, probably at least a few more days to Seattle then.

[MrBug708]

You should probably check your order than at the web site, Bug, because I know ordered it more recently than that. If I have mine and you don't have yours (nor is it even shipped), obviously there has been a mixup.

CR

I checked it and it says the process hasn't started yet. i even tried emailing them this morning and no dice.

[Desnudo]

who knows, it's what they're showing right now... I thought I had seen a starting price of 39.99, but I'm not so sure right now. Even if they started it at 44.90, they've already increased it twice in a matter of days if not hours...

Compared to gameplay and their £24.99+£4.95 S/H for a total of £29.94, they are coming in a bit more expensive. £29.94 comes to about $55.54, but that's with shipping included. Sure, shipping delay may be a bit longer when going overseas...

FM

FM 05 for 15 pounds.

http://www.forest-green.brewersnet.com/fgrshop.html#fm2005

[Marc Vaughan]

Grab it while you can - I've a feeling that the conference clubs might have got some stock as part of the licencing deal and be selling it on (as I doubt that price can be beaten elsewhere) .... if thats so then they won't have many copies at all ...

[Sharpieman]

Hey, if you order it from there, can you get international shipping to the US?

[Desnudo]

Their website says they have 100 copies.

[Desnudo]

Grab it while you can - I've a feeling that the conference clubs might have got some stock as part of the licencing deal and be selling it on (as I doubt that price can be beaten elsewhere) .... if thats so then they won't have many copies at all ...

What I found interesting is that you can sponsor a player or put an ad The Lawn for really cheap prices:

"Player sponsorship
£175.00 per player
Recognition of backing your favourite player is shown in every matchday magazine
Open to individuals and businesses alike
Pitch perimeter board advertising

Basic price £250+VAT for one colour on 8ft x 2ft foam plastic covered board. (In house board production)
Basic price £200+VAT 8ft x 2ft board. (Own board production)
Period of contract covers 12 months from date of erection with an option to renew for a further 12 months at £150+VAT
Cost will rise for any special artwork or other materials required.
Larger boards can be erected or own boards provided can be erected- prices of such requirements are subject to separate negotiation"

Now I just need to think of something to print.

[FrogMan]

Ah, but the question is, is gogamer retarded? Or is that country you live in...:D

Just kidding. That is weird. I wonder why they don't ship to Canada? I would think that would be one of their safer destinations, plus they use Fed Ex, which goes anywhere (or certainly to Canada anyway).

Sorry to hear about your troubles, and I hope (believe) the game will be worth it once you get it.

CR
well, I don't understand why either, thus why I called them retarded :D

I'm now hoping that gameplay won't take forever to get it to me :)

FM

[FrogMan]

I'm sorry gogamer doesn't ship to Canada, Frogman. However, they just shipped my order about an hour or two after I ordered it. It will be here Thursday (with me having Thursday-Sunday off) :)
That is very cool for you doc!

Don't be sorry about me living in Canada :D I'll keep visiting the mailbox once a day in hope that gameplay will pull through, then it'll be the battle to find free time between all the family activities (taking care of two sons with some karate and swimming lessons mainly) in order to enjoy that gem :)

FM

[GoldenEagle]

I do not think they will ship it to the US.

[Sharpieman]

Then I'll just wait for the US release

[GoldenEagle]

Good to see gogamer is so fast. They would have to be for me to plop down $55.

[klayman]

(taking care of two sons with some karate
You sound like my mom ;)

[FrogMan]

You sound like my mom ;)
hehe, but I do learn some karate, not only drive my oldest to his lessons, so you know, when he'll grow up, I'll be able to keep up with him :D

FM

[Shepp]

I was wondering if anyone can comment on the new feature where the preocessing is done in the background? The only complaint I had about CM03/04 was that I spent way too much time watching the computer processing data.

I have used some of the past posts from this board about league and database sizes to configure my current league. I was wondering if anyone knew of any other place that breaks down what league/ database configuration works best with what hardware?

[RPI-Fan]

Has anyone managed a national team yet?

[Desnudo]

Heh, heh, sorry Desnudo, this one is staying here. ;)

CR

If it wasn't for your selfish attitude, I could be playing right now and you'd have a [almost] brand new Mr. Bubble t-shirt.

[cartman]

only 13,000 more views until this overtakes the OOTP first thoughts thread!

:)

[MrBug708]

It would help if Gogamer acctually started shipping games out....

Halo 2 being released is KILLING me

[Blackadar]

Marc, you guys are REALLY pissing me off by not releasing this in the US yet :)

[Eaglesfan27]

I'm glad I changed my mind about waiting for the USA release. In 12 to 18 hours, I should be starting a marathon FM2005 gaming session :)

[jbmagic]

do eastside hockey game and football manger every get ship to Best Buy store in the US?


they never heard of the game...

[GoldenEagle]

Anyone who has the game, are sim times faster?

[cartman]

do eastside hockey game and football manger every get ship to Best Buy store in the US?


they never heard of the game...

NHL Eastside Hockey manager is already released in North America. FM '05 is supposed to be coming soon as well (end of this month), but it will have a different name in North America: Worldwide Soccer Manager 2005.

[Karim]

No, gogamer is retarded. They don't sell/ship to Canada unless I send in my order by mail, paying with a mail order... :(

FM
PS: happy for you that you got it though :)
I'm coming to this thread late so you may have already made arrangements but for future SI purchases, you may want to try www.gameplay.co.uk (http://www.gameplay.co.uk). EHM arrived here very quickly when I pre-ordered.

[Lucky Jim]

Anyone who has the game, are sim times faster?

Yes. I didn't really buy that they would be from playing the demo, but I can say with absolute certainty that playing on large database for me this time around is like playing on medium in last year's game, and I'm playing with more leagues as well. I've been really impressed with speed. This is coming from someone that tolerated the slowness of previous versions, but was pretty darn frustrated at times. And I have to say I'm really pleased with the speed of fm2005, it may just be comparative to some of the slogging of the last two years, but man it just seems blazing at times. I have a good system but the simming is significantly faster for me, I can't see why this wouldn't be the case for slower systems as well. SI has done a great job with this, the media stuff is much more fun than I thought it would be, may get old fast, but right now I'm having a blast talking crap with my rivals. Other than some issues with tactics changing mid-match which are certain to be patched and which haven't affected me personally really, I've been unbeleivably happy with the game. Game status: "Real football managers don't need food" This is the 4 day mark.

[BreizhManu]

Tried it with 3 other managers in a network game over the internet, game seams to be a little slow in that configuration (while playing alone no pbs).

[FrogMan]

I'm coming to this thread late so you may have already made arrangements but for future SI purchases, you may want to try www.gameplay.co.uk (http://www.gameplay.co.uk/). EHM arrived here very quickly when I pre-ordered.
thanks Karim, yes I've already made arrangements and guess with who? gameplay :)

Ordered last Tuesday, they shipped on Wednesday, hopefully it'll get here soon :)

quick question, what kind of shipping option did you take when you ordered EHM? I took the regular one and I'm trying to figure out if I can keep on being the kid hoping everyday that the gift will be in the mail or if I'll have to wait two more weeks before it even gets close to come to me...

FM

[FrogMan]

Yes. I didn't really buy that they would be from playing the demo, but I can say with absolute certainty that playing on large database for me this time around is like playing on medium in last year's game, and I'm playing with more leagues as well. I've been really impressed with speed. This is coming from someone that tolerated the slowness of previous versions, but was pretty darn frustrated at times. And I have to say I'm really pleased with the speed of fm2005, it may just be comparative to some of the slogging of the last two years, but man it just seems blazing at times. I have a good system but the simming is significantly faster for me, I can't see why this wouldn't be the case for slower systems as well. SI has done a great job with this, the media stuff is much more fun than I thought it would be, may get old fast, but right now I'm having a blast talking crap with my rivals. Other than some issues with tactics changing mid-match which are certain to be patched and which haven't affected me personally really, I've been unbeleivably happy with the game. Game status: "Real football managers don't need food" This is the 4 day mark.
see bolded part, and wow! Good news!!!

Quick question, what kind of system are you running this on?

FM

[BillyNYC]

Does windowed mode work? In the demo, I had problems with it and I'd really rather not use full-screen if it can be avoided.

Also, I'm guessing the main menu is not in Danish (or was it Dutch) as the default like in the demo? :)

[FrogMan]

Does windowed mode work? In the demo, I had problems with it and I'd really rather not use full-screen if it can be avoided.

Also, I'm guessing the main menu is not in Danish (or was it Dutch) as the default like in the demo? :)
Can't answer for the windowed mode, but the problem with the language in the menu was depening on where you downloaded your demo. I didn't have that problem, so hopefully it should be all right for the full version :)

FM

[Lucky Jim]

Quick question, what kind of system are you running this on?

Like I said, I have a good system. 3 Ghz processor, 1 Gig of Ram, hyperthreading. But I'm running a ton of leagues, all of italy, all of spain, all of England, top in Germany, France, Portugal, Holland, Brazil, Argentina, and the MLS. I basically started this game to see how slow it would be with this many leagues and large database, fully intending to have to restart with more manageable settings as something like this would have meant watching a movie during sims with 03/04, but it's been fast. I mean that really and truly. I can't vouch for slower systems, but again I can't see why the speed increase wouldn't be relatively the same across hardware. I don't want to get your hopes too high, as most of my satisfaction has probably come from the surprise of it, but the figure on SI's site about it being 40% faster seems to be about right, maybe a little low even. Once I was through the transfer window it was like 01/02 all over again, which frankly was one of those things I was starting to believe never really happened in the first place, that it was just some bullcrap gaming nostalgia that made me think a cm/fm could run that fast.

So I have a good system, but the difference between last year and this year is undeniably clear to me. I'd say sim times are about half of what they were and you have the option to interrupt them and mess around if you're getting bored anyway. Again I don't want to get your hopes too high, but this has been my experience with the game.

[FrogMan]

oh no, don't worry about getting my hopes up, I see what you mean and also believe that if for you sims look to be faster on FM than they were on CM03/04, they should be also faster on my machine, which will be a good thing :)

Thanks for sharing the info.

FM

[jbmagic]

for people that played cm03/04

what you guys think of footballl manager 2005? much improve, better, same?

[Router Help]

I think most people are reporting speed increases, but Lucky Jim may be getting more of a speed boost then some. I think FM takes advantage of Hyperthreading more than previous versons.

For Marc Vaughan, does this mean FM supports SMP as well?

[FrogMan]

I agree with router help.

My last (and first) version of CM was CM4 and on my game, I was running something like 6 or 7 nations (Italy, Spain, Holland, MLS, Scotland, etc) with mostly the first league, except for England where I had the first 4 levels. It wasn't completely bad, only some slowness at times. If I can play with the same leagues and see it go faster, I'll be a happy man :)

FM

[Lucky Jim]

Agreed about the hyperthreading and whatnot, FM runs like I thought 03/04 might run on this system when I was buying it a few months ago. I was really disappointed by what was a real lack of improvement between the speed on my 800mhz, 256mb, laptop and the slightly improved 3Ghz, 1Gig, desktop I'm talking about above. The code may be optimized to take more advantage of the capabilities of higher end systems, along with hyperthreading. But it's still going to be faster for anyone I'd think, it's just a LOT faster for me right now.

[Eaglesfan27]

I'm so excited. The game arrived an hour ago, and my first career with FM2005 is loading now. I spent an hour fooling around with retain commands (I know you can do it in game, but the DDT file seemed easier in some way) and with some init.cfg commands. Now, my league is creating. I don't have hyperthreading, but I have a Pentium 4 2.2 Ghz with 512 MB. I was tolerating the speed in CM 03/04. I'll be really excited to see how the speed improvement is on this game once my career finishes initializing in a minute.

[scooter]

A little more information on the hyperthreading from SI's forum (with some input from SI folk):

http://community.sigames.com/eve/ubb.x?a=tpc&s=21019056&f=521102691&m=870207645&r=516207645#516207645

I seem to have an issue with FM on my laptop. I got the game yesterday and tried to install it on my laptop. Installation went fine. I go to start up the game, the little "speedometer" screen pops up, but then it just stops - and I mean it's like I never started the program (There is nothing running in the Windows Task Manager). I tried to reinstall, still nothing. I loaded the game on my desktop and it works fine there so it's not the CD.

I had downloaded and played the demo on my desktop, but I had never tried it on my laptop. So I tried that yesterday. I go to start it up and I get one of those "A problem has occured" and do you want to send a report to Microsoft? I'm not sure what the problem is. I have both CM03-04 and EHM that run fine on that laptop so I'm a little baffled. I would think that EHM and FM would have similar copy protection issues, but like I said EHM runs fine.

I'm a little dissapointed because I really wanted the game to be "mobile". Maybe if Marc hasn't gotten bored of reading 3 pages of this thread he can find my issue and give me some ideas of what the problem is (or some of you).

As far as how the game is playing, I like it very much. It doesn't appear like a lot has changed at first glance (aside from the interface), but like someone else said here, the matches seem like real matches now.

[ArlingtonColt]

The game has sucked me in real badly... I won Promotion to League 1 with Yeovil Town and my board awarded me with a 10k budget :P..... now I'm trying to sell some players and get players in on loan to help me keep from being relegated.... good times once again :)

[cartman]

A little more information on the hyperthreading from SI's forum (with some input from SI folk):

http://community.sigames.com/eve/ubb.x?a=tpc&s=21019056&f=521102691&m=870207645&r=516207645#516207645



So, from the sound of one of the posts from a SI guy, it appears that FM '05 is multi-CPU aware. I wonder if this is actually the case? If so, I'm heading over to newegg to look for dual CPU motherboards.... :)

[klayman]

for people that played cm03/04

what you guys think of footballl manager 2005? much improve, better, same?
I'd find it hard to go back to Cm03/04 after playing Fm05, so I would say it was a lot better. The split view on the match screen, putting advertisments for staff openings, and increased media involvment (with manager mind games) are certainly things I would miss in Cm03/04, but you might find that you can live without those things.

[RPI-Fan]

The game has sucked me in real badly... I won Promotion to League 1 with Yeovil Town and my board awarded me with a 10k budget :P..... now I'm trying to sell some players and get players in on loan to help me keep from being relegated.... good times once again :)

Just curious - how are your transfer efforts going? As much fun as I had with CM4, it had some MAJOR flaws (never got to play CM 03/04). Biggest example was that I had this one just tremendously badass forward, Jon Palmer, with my Conference (and after two seasons D3) side Margate, who racked up like more than a goal per game, and almost an assist per game, or something insane like that.

When I realized I wouldn't be able to sign him to a new contract with 1.5 years remaining on his current deal, I tried to move him, but NOBODY at all would bite - this was just ridiculous for a player who was easily the best player in all of Div 3. Likewise, I picked up a stud 17yo wingback for like less than L20k - again totally unrealistic - this guy had absolutely ripped up Div 3.

So in short, are you finding a lot of activity on the transfer market, particularly for lower level teams? Do the top players on lower-level teams command reasonable fees?

Thxs,
~kns

[Godzilla Blitz]

Is anyone able to comment on the difficulty yet? Is it challenging?

[daedalus]

So, from the sound of one of the posts from a SI guy, it appears that FM '05 is multi-CPU aware. I wonder if this is actually the case? If so, I'm heading over to newegg to look for dual CPU motherboards.... :)Finally! A good reason (besides VMWare) to have a dual-processor system! :D

[ArlingtonColt]

Just curious - how are your transfer efforts going? As much fun as I had with CM4, it had some MAJOR flaws (never got to play CM 03/04). Biggest example was that I had this one just tremendously badass forward, Jon Palmer, with my Conference (and after two seasons D3) side Margate, who racked up like more than a goal per game, and almost an assist per game, or something insane like that.

When I realized I wouldn't be able to sign him to a new contract with 1.5 years remaining on his current deal, I tried to move him, but NOBODY at all would bite - this was just ridiculous for a player who was easily the best player in all of Div 3. Likewise, I picked up a stud 17yo wingback for like less than L20k - again totally unrealistic - this guy had absolutely ripped up Div 3.

So in short, are you finding a lot of activity on the transfer market, particularly for lower level teams? Do the top players on lower-level teams command reasonable fees?

Thxs,
~kns

Well usually I don't get their "current value" when I try to transfer my players I end up selling them a bit cheaper than their "current value". For example I sold a young forward who wouldn't resign with me valued at $1.5 for $850,000 (the board pocketed $300,000 of it the scoundrals!). As far as buying players, I can usually only afford the players that are on the transfer market and usually they are older players. I get most of my "stars" through loans and older players that aren't starting for their current club and want out. I don't think you should rip the game for finding a 20yr old gem not every GM has an eye for talent. :)

This game has sucked me in moreso than the 106 hr career I had going with Cheltenham/Blackburn in CM 03/04. I'm lovin this game.

[ArlingtonColt]

Is anyone able to comment on the difficulty yet? Is it challenging?

Sorry for the double post, but it all just depends on how you play the game as to how difficult it is... pick an easy team like Chelsea or Real Madrid and you will have an easier time than if you picked a conference team or an even smaller club. The game is as difficult as you wanna make it.

[Eaglesfan27]

I'm only 4 hours into the game, but I love some of the new features. The new filter mechanism is great. I really like the new look and feel of the tactics screens. I spent 2-3 hours just fooling around with tactics that I think will work best with my team. I also find myself intrigued with the mind games.

[Godzilla Blitz]

Sorry for the double post, but it all just depends on how you play the game as to how difficult it is... pick an easy team like Chelsea or Real Madrid and you will have an easier time than if you picked a conference team or an even smaller club. The game is as difficult as you wanna make it.

Thanks.

It seemed though that last year's version became easy at all levels once you figured out that certain characteristics (speed, acceleration, etc.) were very important in winning matches, and that the AI didn't value them appropriately. You could get inexpensive players that would perform excellently although they were not considered to be solid players by the AI.

Klayman was able to walk a conference team to the Premier Division in a handful of years with little difficulty following this path.

CM 01/02 seemed to have a great balance in this regard, and was the most challenging edition that I've played.

Very encouraging news regarding the speed though. I'm very close to buying this version.

Also, is it easier to print stuff to file/printer this year?

[jbmagic]

so this game the AI teams are smarter and more challenging than cm 03/04?

do you need to be familar with the players to like this game? i have very little knowledge of the soccer players and rules....not as popular here in the united states..

[scooter]

jbmagic, if you are interested in the game, give the demo a try. It is essentially the full game that you can play for 6 months of game time. Some knowledge of the players is helpful, but not required (each one of these games I pick a different country I've never managed in before and pick a team to manage just to "meet" some new players - this time around it's Heerenveen in Holland). As far as knowing stategy, etc. that is also helpful but not truly required. I would just start with the default tactics and try putting different players in different positions (you can even set up your assistant manager to pick the team, run training, resign expiring contracts).

The biggest trick will be coming to terms with buying and selling players. Being from the US, we are much more accustomed to trading players. Everywhere else in the world they prefer to exchange players for money.

Give the demo a try. If you have questions, there are plenty of people here at FOFC that play that can probably answer any questions you may come up with (I suggest starting here as trying to ask newbie questions on SI's forum can be a bit of a shocking experience).

[Sharpieman]

I'd find it hard to go back to Cm03/04 after playing Fm05, so I would say it was a lot better. The split view on the match screen, putting advertisments for staff openings, and increased media involvment (with manager mind games) are certainly things I would miss in Cm03/04, but you might find that you can live without those things.
So, its a lot more than just a roster update?

[RPI-Fan]

Well usually I don't get their "current value" when I try to transfer my players I end up selling them a bit cheaper than their "current value". For example I sold a young forward who wouldn't resign with me valued at $1.5 for $850,000 (the board pocketed $300,000 of it the scoundrals!). As far as buying players, I can usually only afford the players that are on the transfer market and usually they are older players. I get most of my "stars" through loans and older players that aren't starting for their current club and want out. I don't think you should rip the game for finding a 20yr old gem not every GM has an eye for talent. :)

This game has sucked me in moreso than the 106 hr career I had going with Cheltenham/Blackburn in CM 03/04. I'm lovin this game.

Yea', in the game I was talking about, I couldn't move that stud forward *PERIOD* - even when I listed him on a free!!!

And that stud wingback I picked up was pretty obvious... he had great stats, absolutely tore up Div 3 (7.50+ rating average, which is incredibly high for a defender), and was only 17yo!!

So anyways, it sounds like it's a lot better this go around. If you really need to offload somebody it sounds like you can do so, though if you need to do it right away you aren't going to get full market value.

Thanks for the reply!

[MrBug708]

I still hate gogamer

[Karim]

quick question, what kind of shipping option did you take when you ordered EHM? I took the regular one and I'm trying to figure out if I can keep on being the kid hoping everyday that the gift will be in the mail or if I'll have to wait two more weeks before it even gets close to come to me...
Whatever is one step above regular... That's what I usually pick for all on-line purchases.

[Eaglesfan27]

Find a way to contact them. It seems like your order somehow slipped through the cracks. Actually on my receipt their number is listed: 1-888-948-9661. They shipped mine less than 2 hours after I ordered and it arrived today.

[Karim]

I'd find it hard to go back to Cm03/04 after playing Fm05, so I would say it was a lot better.
This is the reason I've avoided FM05 so far. I took one look at the demo and knew if I spent any time with it, EHM would take a back seat.

[jbmagic]

Find a way to contact them. It seems like your order somehow slipped through the cracks. Actually on my receipt their number is listed: 1-888-948-9661. They shipped mine less than 2 hours after I ordered and it arrived today.


how is the manual?

is the game and manual in english when you order it from there?

[Router Help]

I haven't seen this mentioned here yet, and I don't see an official announcement on the SI boards, but Sega's website lists the US release as being on 11/30.

[Eaglesfan27]

The manual is about 60 pages and it covers the basics. It is in English as was the game. The default currency was the Euro and the date was set to the European convention, however, those things were very easy to fix via the preferences screen.

[klayman]

So, its a lot more than just a roster update?
Well, if you accept that most of those things are more than eye candy, then yes it is more than a roster update. If you don't, then it probably is. I haven't played enough to know if the underlying engine is any different (espcially regarding speed attributes dominating the pitch and poor ability regens in later seasons). I'm sure they have been tweaked, but fixed might be another story.

[klayman]

This is the reason I've avoided FM05 so far. I took one look at the demo and knew if I spent any time with it, EHM would take a back seat.
:) I've been having trouble getting back into EHM.

[jbmagic]

i live in california and i never seen EHM in any store i been too.

stores like best buy, citcuit city, compusam, fry's

i have a feeling football manager 2005 will be the same way...

i dont think they send the games to many different usa stores

[cartman]

i live in california and i never seen EHM in any store i been too.

stores like best buy, citcuit city, compusam, fry's

i have a feeling football manager 2005 will be the same way...

i dont think they send the games to many different usa stores

It's distributed by Sega, which isn't exactly a small player.

I've seen it at both CompUSA and Fry's here in Austin.

[Axxon]

.

CM 01/02 seemed to have a great balance in this regard, and was the most challenging edition that I've played.



Honestly, that's nostalgia talking. Taking a team from conference to premiership in consecutive seasons wasn't that hard. The only challenge at all was winning the conference which you had to do outright.

Going consecutive from div three was a cakewalk once you knew the game. Don't get me wrong though, I loved 01/02 more than any other version until now but to hold it up as some sort of grail to balance or even suggest that it was balanced in difficulty is due more to selective memory rather than reality.

A lot of folks would also win the League Cup with third div teams in the first year and get into Europe as div 2 teams as a result though admittedly that never happened to me. I genuinely stunk in cup matches. :)

[klayman]

Honestly, that's nostalgia talking. Taking a team from conference to premiership in consecutive seasons wasn't that hard. The only challenge at all was winning the conference which you had to do outright.

Going consecutive from div three was a cakewalk once you knew the game. Don't get me wrong though, I loved 01/02 more than any other version until now but to hold it up as some sort of grail to balance or even suggest that it was balanced in difficulty is due more to selective memory rather than reality.

A lot of folks would also win the League Cup with third div teams in the first year and get into Europe as div 2 teams as a result though admittedly that never happened to me. I genuinely stunk in cup matches. :)
While this is true, the difference in the degree of difficulty of accomplishing such a feat was greatly decreased in the CM4 series. It took me 10 different career games to move Hereford to the Premiership in sucessive seasons with the CM3 series, while I accomplished the same feat in CM03/04 on my first try.

[Axxon]

While this is true, the difference in the degree of difficulty of accomplishing such a feat was greatly decreased in the CM4 series. It took me 10 different career games to move Hereford to the Premiership in sucessive seasons with the CM3 series, while I accomplished the same feat in CM03/04 on my first try.

Right but he did say that it had great balance which is what I was commenting on. Better balance than cm4? Probably but great balance? No.

[klayman]

Right but he did say that it had great balance which is what I was commenting on. Better balance than cm4? Probably but great balance? No.
Which is why I followed your quote with "While this is true...".

[Axxon]

Which is why I followed your quote with "While this is true...".

Well, I realized we basically agree but I did want to clarify what the main point of my post was because there was a lot of stuff in my post you could have been referring to and I also clarified that I didn't doubt the point you made. :)

So, I'm taking it we agree then? ;)

[Marc Vaughan]

A little more information on the hyperthreading from SI's forum (with some input from SI folk):

http://community.sigames.com/eve/ubb.x?a=tpc&s=21019056&f=521102691&m=870207645&r=516207645#516207645

I seem to have an issue with FM on my laptop. I got the game yesterday and tried to install it on my laptop. Installation went fine. I go to start up the game, the little "speedometer" screen pops up, but then it just stops - and I mean it's like I never started the program (There is nothing running in the Windows Task Manager). I tried to reinstall, still nothing. I loaded the game on my desktop and it works fine there so it's not the CD.

I had downloaded and played the demo on my desktop, but I had never tried it on my laptop. So I tried that yesterday. I go to start it up and I get one of those "A problem has occured" and do you want to send a report to Microsoft? I'm not sure what the problem is. I have both CM03-04 and EHM that run fine on that laptop so I'm a little baffled. I would think that EHM and FM would have similar copy protection issues, but like I said EHM runs fine.

I'm a little dissapointed because I really wanted the game to be "mobile". Maybe if Marc hasn't gotten bored of reading 3 pages of this thread he can find my issue and give me some ideas of what the problem is (or some of you).

As far as how the game is playing, I like it very much. It doesn't appear like a lot has changed at first glance (aside from the interface), but like someone else said here, the matches seem like real matches now.

Sounds very strange - have you installed any unofficial skins or anything else which might have placed a corrupted file in the installation?

[Marc Vaughan]

i live in california and i never seen EHM in any store i been too.

stores like best buy, citcuit city, compusam, fry's

i have a feeling football manager 2005 will be the same way...

i dont think they send the games to many different usa stores

Distribution of NHL EHM this year has been somewhat 'patchy' unfortunately in the US, this is something we'll be working with Sega to improve for the future ..

[scooter]

Sounds very strange - have you installed any unofficial skins or anything else which might have placed a corrupted file in the installation?

None at all. That was another reason to uninstall and reinstall it. I'm still enjoying the game very much. I just wish I could drag the laptop out in front of the tele to play some FM and watch some football tomorrow.

Edit: I went back and tried to reinstall one more time. Still the same outcome. This time however, I also tried the Data Editor. This at least came up with the same kind of error notice that the demo did. Marc, is there any way you folks can look at the error log file that's created and tell what the problem is?

[GoldenEagle]

If you want more of a challenge, trying doing your own tactics.

[Router Help]

None at all. That was another reason to uninstall and reinstall it. I'm still enjoying the game very much. I just wish I could drag the laptop out in front of the tele to play some FM and watch some football tomorrow.

Edit: I went back and tried to reinstall one more time. Still the same outcome. This time however, I also tried the Data Editor. This at least came up with the same kind of error notice that the demo did. Marc, is there any way you folks can look at the error log file that's created and tell what the problem is?

Do you have any CD/DVD emulation software on your system like Daemon Tools, CloneCD, Alcohol 120%? I've read that some people are having problems when this software is running.

[scooter]

No, I don't have any of that stuff. It's a fairly new laptop - I got it about this time last year. It's a Toshiba with a Mobile P4 2.30 GHz processor with 480 MB of RAM, 60 GB hard drive and Windows XP Home Edition (SP2). It has very little for software on it. I bought it pretty much just to play sims on: FOF, TCY, OOTP5, NHL:EHM, CM03-04. Like I said, I'm a little baffled, all this other stuff works fine. I guess I'll just have to stay tucked away in my home office playing FM on my desktop.

[jbmagic]

Distribution of NHL EHM this year has been somewhat 'patchy' unfortunately in the US, this is something we'll be working with Sega to improve for the future ..

is football manager 2005 going to be the same way?

[FrogMan]

is football manager 2005 going to be the same way?I think that when Marc said "improve for the future" he means for every new releases from SI Games distributed by Sega, which would include FM2005...

FM

[Crapshoot]

One of the questions I have about FM is the transfer market- do stars move to the big clubs over time ? I've always found in CM that plays tend to be under ambitious- and the big clubs come in for your player rarely, and you can usually reject it. I'd like to see more player ambition/desire to move overall - it was one of the things that always bugged me about the older CM's./

[Godzilla Blitz]

Axxon: I think "balance" was a poor choice of words on my part. I was trying to get at the idea that the game engine and AI routines in CM 01/02 were polished to the degree that the game was harder than in CM 03/04. CM 03/04 was a Rubrics cube to me: difficult until I realized the "answer", then easy after that.

I never got that feeling in previous versions of CM. Playing with some basic LLM rules to make things more difficult (fictional players, hidden attributes, limited scouting, own tactics, etc.), I found CM 01/02 to be extremely challenging, and I had more than one game where I lost my job. The careers I ran with that version of the game (and CM 00/01) were some of the best gaming experiences I've had.

It's not that I didn't like CM 03/04, but that I felt the game engine and AI could have used another round of tweaking to tighten things up. And that's basically what I was trying to get at with my question: for those that have played 03/04, does the game AI/engine seem tighter and play a more competitive game?

[Desnudo]

One of the questions I have about FM is the transfer market- do stars move to the big clubs over time ? I've always found in CM that plays tend to be under ambitious- and the big clubs come in for your player rarely, and you can usually reject it. I'd like to see more player ambition/desire to move overall - it was one of the things that always bugged me about the older CM's./

Maybe your players just stink. :cool:

[DaddyTorgo]

Too excited to scroll down and see if this has already been reported: FM 2005 was sitting waiting for me when I just got home....signed delivery (priority shipping) from Gameplay. Boston, MA. Talk to you all...ohhh...in a good 3 weeks when I take my first break for a breath of air!!

[FrogMan]

I'm so excited. The game arrived an hour ago, and my first career with FM2005 is loading now. I spent an hour fooling around with retain commands (I know you can do it in game, but the DDT file seemed easier in some way) and with some init.cfg commands. Now, my league is creating. I don't have hyperthreading, but I have a Pentium 4 2.2 Ghz with 512 MB. I was tolerating the speed in CM 03/04. I'll be really excited to see how the speed improvement is on this game once my career finishes initializing in a minute.
speaking of init.cfg, I wanted to ask, does the "ARSE" command still work?

If so, does anybody play with this command turned on?

I'm curious as I still don't have the game, but I want to be very ready when it gets to me, so I can start my first career as soon as I can :)

FM

[klayman]

Well, I realized we basically agree but I did want to clarify what the main point of my post was because there was a lot of stuff in my post you could have been referring to and I also clarified that I didn't doubt the point you made. :)

So, I'm taking it we agree then? ;)
I don't remember now :)

[klayman]

And that's basically what I was trying to get at with my question: for those that have played 03/04, does the game AI/engine seem tighter and play a more competitive game?
I think at this stage it is just too early to tell. There are conflicting reports (as always) on the SI Boards of the game being to easy/hard, but my own very limited experience has shown that it might be better than CM03/04 is in that regard.

[Eaglesfan27]

speaking of init.cfg, I wanted to ask, does the "ARSE" command still work?

If so, does anybody play with this command turned on?

I'm curious as I still don't have the game, but I want to be very ready when it gets to me, so I can start my first career as soon as I can :)

FM
According to the message boards, it is "DEBUG_MODE", but that doesn't seem to have worked for me as I can't view my chairman's profile. However, several boards state this command works.

[klayman]

speaking of init.cfg, I wanted to ask, does the "ARSE" command still work?

If so, does anybody play with this command turned on?

I'm curious as I still don't have the game, but I want to be very ready when it gets to me, so I can start my first career as soon as I can :)

FM
The ARSE command is the same for the CM4 series which is "DEBUG_MODE" in the config file. I have it turned on, and it allows me to see my chairman's stats and player's dislikes that were not there on a previous game.

[klayman]

Hey!!! I was in the middle of a triple Dola post. How dare you steal my thunder!!!


;)

[Eaglesfan27]

Sorry ;)

[FrogMan]

The ARSE command is the same for the CM4 series which is "DEBUG_MODE" in the config file. I have it turned on, and it allows me to see my chairman's stats and player's dislikes that were not there on a previous game.
cool, thanks. What do you mean by "player's dislikes"?

FM

[klayman]

cool, thanks. What do you mean by "player's dislikes"?

FM
hmm. You know what. I'm not really sure. I heard it on the SI Board, and when I started a new game recently, I noticed one of my players disliked another of my established stars at the start of the game, which I hadn't noticed previously. I thought that is what they were talking about on the SI Board, but now I'm thinking that it should be there without the debug mode or not. So I'm not sure if players start of with poor relationships with other players unless you're using the debug mode (I know they can develop poor relationships regardless, however).

[GoldenEagle]

Where is the cheapest place to order it from. GoGamer is charging $60, and I feel that is a bit too much.

[cartman]

Where is the cheapest place to order it from. GoGamer is charging $60, and I feel that is a bit too much.

Unfortunately, with the weakness of the dollar right now, anything ordered from Europe is going to be expensive. You might be able to get it for $50 to $55 if you hunt around.

[GoldenEagle]

I wonder what the price will be Stateside? I do not think they could price it over $40. I think I will wait.

[Eaglesfan27]

Well, I just hit a bug that crashed my game and made me lose a month of game time (several hours real time) I know it was silly for me not to save more frequently. My autosave would have done its thing in just 2 game days as well.

I can't seem to navigate the SI forums well, so for the SI team this is what happened (also something for others to avoid):

I went to train one of my midfielders in playing the right side of the field (he was only rated at MC), but when I realized that it would change him to MR and he wouldn't be both MC and MR, I hit cancel. That is what seemed to trigger the error which said something to the effect of "array out of range" and then the game crashed and closed :(

Hopefully, this will be fixed with the first patch. Right now I'm discouraged as I just lost 4 big wins and my first manager of the month award.

[DaddyTorgo]

this game is owning my life now. I can't seem to do anything other than play. Everything else is...falling apart around me, but I don't care because my first career is going so well (given it's with Real Madrid...so sue me I enjoy playing with a big club for my first career to get a handle on the game's universe from the top-down so-to-speak). Another year or two with Madrid (3-4 more days at this rate??) and I'll trade them in for a smaller club. But....OMG is this game awesome. Thanks MV and SI!

[RPI-Fan]

I've ordered this; should get it early-to-mid next week. I plan on playing my first career with the USA National Team, since nobody else seems to have commented on the National Team Management over at the SI Boards - my goal will be to make the 2006 Semis in Germany - I might even do a mini-dynasty over here on my quest.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Is this right?

http://www.gamestop.com/product.asp?product%5Fid=646041

[scooter]

Is this right?

http://www.gamestop.com/product.asp?product%5Fid=646041

Worldwide Soccer Manager is the name that Sega is going with in the North American release. It should be the same as Football Manager in Europe (except for the name of course)

[FrogMan]

Worldwide Soccer Manager is the name that Sega is going with in the North American release. It should be the same as Football Manager in Europe (except for the name of course)
Yeah, and if they're advertising Worldwide Soccer Manager, it will be the American release that will come at some point in Q1, 2005...

FM

[RPI-Fan]

Yeah, and if they're advertising Worldwide Soccer Manager, it will be the American release that will come at some point in Q1, 2005...

FM

What happened to 11/30/04????

[scooter]

Pumpy's link lists 11/16/04. I seem to remember that the SI folks have been kind of hedging as to the NA release date, but that it would be later this month. Anyone checked the Sega site?

Edit: SEGA of USA's site lists 11/30/04 as the release date for Worldwide Soccer Manager in the US.

[FrogMan]

What happened to 11/30/04????
that Q1 date came from the Gamespot news report from another thread here, the one asking if Sega is happy. That's where I took the possible American release date...

FM

[GoldenEagle]

I would love if it were released on 11/16/04 - maybe someone should email GameStop? I think I may do that.

[Eaglesfan27]

Pumpy if you don't want to wait (and don't mind paying 15 dollars extra) you can order Football Manager 2005 from gogamer, and have it in a few days. I just did a search for Football Manager on their site when I wanted to order.

[Pumpy Tudors]

I don't want to wait, but I also don't want to spend the extra $15 with ESPN College Hoops and Pirates coming out. I guess I'll just keep playing EverQuest 2 and Total Pro Basketball for a while, and then I'll grab FM sometime in December. Too many games!

[Eaglesfan27]

I'm also really excited about ESPN College Hoops coming out next week :)

You're right.. too many good games out now.

[Eaglesfan27]

Dola -

I just hope ESPN College Hoops don't have any dynasty killing bugs like last year (I couldn't get past being unable to un-redshirt my center in the middle of the season.)

[Desnudo]

I'm also really excited about ESPN College Hoops coming out next week :)

You're right.. too many good games out now.

This does seem to be like a great time for buying games. I seem to remember last holiday season being rather blah. It's good to see some quality again.

And if my Euro-FM isn't here by Monday, I'm going to throw a temper tantrum.

[Marc Vaughan]

Well, I just hit a bug that crashed my game and made me lose a month of game time (several hours real time) I know it was silly for me not to save more frequently. My autosave would have done its thing in just 2 game days as well.

I can't seem to navigate the SI forums well, so for the SI team this is what happened (also something for others to avoid):

I went to train one of my midfielders in playing the right side of the field (he was only rated at MC), but when I realized that it would change him to MR and he wouldn't be both MC and MR, I hit cancel. That is what seemed to trigger the error which said something to the effect of "array out of range" and then the game crashed and closed :(

Hopefully, this will be fixed with the first patch. Right now I'm discouraged as I just lost 4 big wins and my first manager of the month award.
Sorry to hear that - I'll test it out tomorrow and ensure its fixed as soon as I can replicate it.

The release has been very stable generally and the feedback we've recieved so far has been largely positive.

We're beavering away of a patch at the moment which will (hopefully) be released in the near(ish) future and address the majority of issues raised ... unfortunately the bug in the real-world match engine which lead to the 5-4 scoreline in the Arsenal - Spurs match won't be rectified as part of this update ;)

[Eaglesfan27]

Sorry to hear that - I'll test it out tomorrow and ensure its fixed as soon as I can replicate it.

The release has been very stable generally and the feedback we've recieved so far has been largely positive.

We're beavering away of a patch at the moment which will (hopefully) be released in the near(ish) future and address the majority of issues raised ... unfortunately the bug in the real-world match engine which lead to the 5-4 scoreline in the Arsenal - Spurs match won't be rectified as part of this update ;)
Thanks for the reply Marc. I have the save file (from almost a month before the crash) if you need it, but I doubt it is universe specific. However, just let me know if you want me to zip it up and send it to you. I'm also glad to hear tha patch will hopefully be released in the nearish future :)

[SirFozzie]

Sorry to hear that - I'll test it out tomorrow and ensure its fixed as soon as I can replicate it.

The release has been very stable generally and the feedback we've recieved so far has been largely positive.

We're beavering away of a patch at the moment which will (hopefully) be released in the near(ish) future and address the majority of issues raised ... unfortunately the bug in the real-world match engine which lead to the 5-4 scoreline in the Arsenal - Spurs match won't be rectified as part of this update ;)

Hey Marc.. while you're taking requests.. I'm getting a CTD in September of my 2nd season, when it sims out the final days of September (I'm New England in MLS). Can I upload a save somewhere that you can look at?

[FrogMan]

WOOHOO!!!!


The wife just called to tease me, no not the way you perv would think, but simply to tell me that a package saying "software" on it had just arrived in the mail, WOOT!!!!! :)

Sadly, there's still half a day of work to do and I have karate tonight, sigh... oh well, we'll find some time at some point :)

FM

[FrogMan]

dola, wanted to comment on the speed of mail. Not bad at all, gameplay shipped it on Wednesday November 3rd and it got to me on November 15th, so a little less than two weeks, with regular shipping...

FM

[Eaglesfan27]

Enjoy it tonight :)

[RPI-Fan]

I get to go pick mine up from FedEx tonite.:)

[bamcgee]

I'm playing as Roma, and the first thing on my to-do list was to get rid of Antonio Cassano, the supremely gifted jack-&ss. Barcelona put in a bid of $19mm plus 20% next sale, which I immediately accepted and turned it into Carlos Tevez at $11mm.

Now, the cool thing is that after the sale, the News read something like "Barcelona fans show discomfort at the signing of Roma's Antonio Cassano, fearing he could become disruptive to the team's chemistry." How could the fans know this, given that there is no rating for being a jack-&ss and all of his other ratings are fantastic? Unless there is a jack-&ss rating that isn't immediately obvious? Is Teamwork the indicator for this sort of thing, or does that only affect on-field performance?

Unfortunately he's got 5 goals in 2 matches (Tevez has 1), but it will be fascinating to watch what develops. What a great game.

[cartman]

I'm playing as Roma, and the first thing on my to-do list was to get rid of Antonio Cassano, the supremely gifted jack-&ss. Barcelona put in a bid of $19mm plus 20% next sale, which I immediately accepted and turned it into Carlos Tevez at $11mm.

Now, the cool thing is that after the sale, the News read something like "Barcelona fans show discomfort at the signing of Roma's Antonio Cassano, fearing he could become disruptive to the team's chemistry." How could the fans know this, given that there is no rating for being a jack-&ss and all of his other ratings are fantastic? Unless there is a jack-&ss rating that isn't immediately obvious? Is Teamwork the indicator for this sort of thing, or does that only affect on-field performance?

Unfortunately he's got 5 goals in 2 matches (Tevez has 1), but it will be fascinating to watch what develops. What a great game.


Im my game, the owners sold Vieri to Roma. I just have sat back and let Adriano take over the show. He was hurt the last six months of the first season, but he's leading me to the trebel so far in the second season. I can't believe I wasn't fired for finishing 6th in the Serie A!

[RPI-Fan]

Could someone be so kind as to post here or PM me on how to do the following two things:

1) Run Windowed mode on a monitor that doesn't support it in-game
2) Activate the ARSE command or equivalent thereof (and cue me in as to what precisely it does).

TIA,
~rpi-fan

P.S. Anybody interested in a US National Team dynasty?

[Desnudo]

Could someone be so kind as to post here or PM me on how to do the following two things:

1) Run Windowed mode on a monitor that doesn't support it in-game
2) Activate the ARSE command or equivalent thereof (and cue me in as to what precisely it does).

TIA,
~rpi-fan

P.S. Anybody interested in a US National Team dynasty?

Why don't you just ALT-TAB out?

[RPI-Fan]

Why don't you just ALT-TAB out?

Because it messes up my taskbar sometimes - particularly in the middle of simming when it is most useful to do other programs.

[klayman]

How could the fans know this, given that there is no rating for being a jack-&ss and all of his other ratings are fantastic? Unless there is a jack-&ss rating that isn't immediately obvious? Is Teamwork the indicator for this sort of thing, or does that only affect on-field performance?


There are hidden ratings for Controversy, Professionalism, and Temperment, among other things.

[klayman]

Could someone be so kind as to post here or PM me on how to do the following two things:

1) Run Windowed mode on a monitor that doesn't support it in-game
2) Activate the ARSE command or equivalent thereof (and cue me in as to what precisely it does).

TIA,
~rpi-fan

P.S. Anybody interested in a US National Team dynasty?
1. I'm not sure about this one. I think your resolution has to be 1280 x 1024 or higher to run windowed mode. If your monitor can't support that res, I wouldn't really recommend running the game in that mode then. However, that said, it is usually a command line after the program file that can force windowed mode. Something like -windowed. If you add it to the end of your fm2005.exe file that might work. No promises.

2. In the data folder there is a file with called init.cfg. Right click on it and make sure the read only box is unticked. Then open the file up with notepad. You'll see something along the lines of Chelsea "Suger Daddy" or something like that in there. Above that line enter in "DEBUG_MODE" with the quotes and hit return. Save the file. Start a new game.

[samifan24]

2. In the data folder there is a file with called init.cfg. Right click on it and make sure the read only box is unticked. Then open the file up with notepad. You'll see something along the lines of Chelsea "Suger Daddy" or something like that in there. Above that line enter in "DEBUG_MODE" with the quotes and hit return. Save the file. Start a new game.

What does doing that do? (I don't have the game)

[Eaglesfan27]

It is supposed to make it so you can see your chairman's stats, and negative comments about your players. I'm positive I entered it properly into my game, but for some reason it doesn't seem to be working for me. However, I'm the only one I've heard of who has had that problem.

[Router Help]

Don't forget to delete the files in the INC folder as well. This restores correct names some French teams, the German national team, Oliver Kahn, and some others.

[Eaglesfan27]

Don't forget to delete the files in the INC folder as well. This restores correct names some French teams, the German national team, Oliver Kahn, and some others.
Can you clarify please? I thought we were supposed to put Germany in quotes as well as a few other countries (Japan and France maybe?) but I haven't heard about deleting any files.

[Sharpieman]

Can anyone tell me whats the difference betweeen standard shipping and the international priority shipping? Like how much faster the international shipping will be to the states?

[Chief Rum]

I tried to do this, but it didn't work in the game I loaded up. :(

I think I put it after "SUGER_DADDY", though, so does that matter?

I heard about the problems with Kahn, but I never heard about these possible solutions. Any more detail on if all files in INC should be removed, or these other words to toss in (:Germany" in quotes?) would be much appreciated.

As for the init.cfg file, I think the reason it may not have worked for me is because I have XP. It automatically appends the notepad three-letter designation at the end of files opened with Notepad, even if you tell it not to. So I don't think the game recognizes the file after I make changes to it.

I remember someone once had a downloadable init fiel for us XP users. It would be nice to see that again.

In any case, help with making sure I have the init file right would be much appreciated as well (I hate how I have to load up a whole new game to see if it works--that takes forever, even with smaller leagues/databases).

CR

[Router Help]

Can you clarify please? I thought we were supposed to put Germany in quotes as well as a few other countries (Japan and France maybe?) but I haven't heard about deleting any files.
Removing fake.Inc, france.Inc, and nleague.Inc will restore the correct names for French teams, Oliver Kahn, and Japanese teams. Doing the quotes thing works too, but it's easier to just remove the file. You can open each file in notepad to see what they do.

[FrogMan]

Can anyone tell me whats the difference betweeen standard shipping and the international priority shipping? Like how much faster the international shipping will be to the states?
assuming you are talking about gameplay, well you can compare between me and SirFozzie. SirFozzie took priority and his game shipped on the 3rd and he received it on the 9th, so Wednesday to the following Tuesday. I took regular, my game also shipped on the 3rd and arrived today, the 15th. Given, I live in Canada, but I'd assume the longest part of the thravel isn't really the one on North American soil :) SirFozzie also had preorderd quite earlier than I did, since I ordered the game only on the evening of November 2nd, eastern time...

Just got back from karate, gonna install that baby right now :)

FM

[Desnudo]

assuming you are talking about gameplay, well you can compare between me and SirFozzie. SirFozzie took priority and his game shipped on the 3rd and he received it on the 9th, so Wednesday to the following Tuesday. I took regular, my game also shipped on the 3rd and arrived today, the 15th. Given, I live in Canada, but I'd assume the longest part of the thravel isn't really the one on North American soil :) SirFozzie also had preorderd quite earlier than I did, since I ordered the game only on the evening of November 2nd, eastern time...

Just got back from karate, gonna install that baby right now :)

FM

Damn you're not making me optimistic. I'm heading downstairs to check the mail now. Seattle, shipped on the 3rd, not arrived yet. Normal shipping. Next time I'm definitely going priority.

[Eaglesfan27]

I tried to do this, but it didn't work in the game I loaded up. :(

I think I put it after "SUGER_DADDY", though, so does that matter?

I heard about the problems with Kahn, but I never heard about these possible solutions. Any more detail on if all files in INC should be removed, or these other words to toss in (:Germany" in quotes?) would be much appreciated.

As for the init.cfg file, I think the reason it may not have worked for me is because I have XP. It automatically appends the notepad three-letter designation at the end of files opened with Notepad, even if you tell it not to. So I don't think the game recognizes the file after I make changes to it.

I remember someone once had a downloadable init fiel for us XP users. It would be nice to see that again.

In any case, help with making sure I have the init file right would be much appreciated as well (I hate how I have to load up a whole new game to see if it works--that takes forever, even with smaller leagues/databases).

CRI also have XP. I've been kicking myself trying to figure out why my "DEBUG_MODE" wasn't working correctly. Interestingly, I had XP when I started playing CM 03/04 and at that time the command worked fine. In any case, if anyone has a downloadable file for the init.cfg I would appreciate a copy too please.

Edited to add: Maybe I downloaded the init.cfg file for CM 03/04... I just don't remember doing that.

[SirFozzie]

you can probably rename the file just fine from the DOS command prompt

[Eaglesfan27]

This is very odd. I downloaded a file from the dugout that is supposed to fix the German and Dutch teams as well as Oliver Kahn. I was going to put it into the data/db/inc folder (as per the instructions attached to the file.) The odd thing is that my game doesn't have an inc folder in the db directory. All it has is an hof folder. CR, are you also missing the inc folder? Is it possible that the absence of this folder is causing our problems with the "DEBUG_MODE" command?

[jbmagic]

what does DEBUG_MODE" command do?

[DaddyTorgo]

with XP, or any brand of windows for that matter, after you're done editing the init.cfg file, you can just click in the dropdown box below it to switch the file type to "all files" and then add .cfg to the end of the file, which will keep it a .cfg file

[Eaglesfan27]

What form of encoding should the init.cfg file be saved as? ANSI?

[scooter]

This is very odd. I downloaded a file from the dugout that is supposed to fix the German and Dutch teams as well as Oliver Kahn. I was going to put it into the data/db/inc folder (as per the instructions attached to the file.)

I also downloaded the file from the Dugout and it worked fine for me. If you installed FM into the default directory the file "fake.lnc" should go in:

C:\ProgramFiles\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2005\data\db\lnc\all

I don't know anything about the Debug thing. I've never played the game with the arse command so I guess I don't know what I'm missing.

And a note to Desnudo: I've ordered plenty of things from Gameplay via their normal international shipping. I would check the mailbox between 10-14 days (that's "shipping" days) after it was shipped - so probably in the next couple days.

[Eaglesfan27]

That is the wierd thing. I downloaded the game into the default directory, but I don't have an Inc directory or an All directory. The only directory I have under data\db\ is a hof directory. Why didn't my game install that directory when I installed it? Is missing that directory messing anything up?

[DaddyTorgo]

What form of encoding should the init.cfg file be saved as? ANSI?
yes (or at least so I believe)

[Chief Rum]

Grrr...the stupid init.cfg file still isn't working for me, and I have done everything in this thread. Another 4-5 hours wasted waiting for my stupid new game to load up. :mad:

I think XP is a great OS 99% of the time, but that 1% of the time like this just really chaps my hide.

Please, if anyone has an init.cfg file set up that works for FM2005 and a little bit of web space, please upload it to that web space for a while so we can download it without having to do editing ourselves. Thanks.

CR

[cougarfreak]

Why would this be XP's problem, and not FM's problem? I'd say XP is one the the more popular OS's out there.

[Router Help]

If you open up your init.cfg file in notepad and save it as "init.cfg" with the quotes, it will save the file properly without the .txt extension. You won't have to worry about choosing to save as all files or about the encoding.

[scooter]

That is the wierd thing. I downloaded the game into the default directory, but I don't have an Inc directory or an All directory. The only directory I have under data\db\ is a hof directory. Why didn't my game install that directory when I installed it? Is missing that directory messing anything up?

Strange, because I don't have an hof directory in there. Are you sure you're playing FOOTBALL Manager? :D

[Eaglesfan27]

Strange, because I don't have an hof directory in there. Are you sure you're playing FOOTBALL Manager? :D
Positive. Also, I can view the HOF in the game. It has Alex Ferguson and a bunch of other guys ;)

[FrogMan]

A list of the fixes that will be in the first patch has been posted over at SI Games this morning...

http://community.sigames.com/eve/ubb.x?a=tpc&s=21019056&f=521102691&m=486205426

too much for me to repost here...

FM

[Router Help]

No release date yet, but there is some info up on the SI site about the first patch. I'd post the changes and fixes here, but the list is very, very long. You can read for yourself here: http://community.sigames.com/eve/ubb.x?a=tpc&s=21019056&f=521102691&m=486205426

[FrogMan]

beat ya to it :p

FM

[Router Help]

http://www.rvns.com/pics/emot-crying.gif

Beaten by a Canadian http://www.rvns.com/pics/emot-canada.gif

:D

[Router Help]

The only MLS fix I see so far in the list is this:

- Tuned attendances in MLS ALL Stars Match

Nothing about the transfer issues or young players like Adu not being able to play. :(

[FrogMan]

http://www.rvns.com/pics/emot-crying.gif

Beaten by a Canadian http://www.rvns.com/pics/emot-canada.gif

:D
:D

[Chief Rum]

Why would this be XP's problem, and not FM's problem? I'd say XP is one the the more popular OS's out there.

It's XP's fault because it unnecessarily forces a file it doesn't recognize to conform to one of its programs. Previous MS OS's didn'tr do that. It's a big hassle for nothing.


If you open up your init.cfg file in notepad and save it as "init.cfg" with the quotes, it will save the file properly without the .txt extension. You won't have to worry about choosing to save as all files or about the encoding.

Thanks Router Help, that sounds like just the solution I needed.


The only MLS fix I see so far in the list is this:

- Tuned attendances in MLS ALL Stars Match

Nothing about the transfer issues or young players like Adu not being able to play. :(

Well, to hgelp those of you who don't have access or don't want to go through a bunch of searches or long threads to find it, here's the skinny from what I understand about FM and the MLS.

First of all, someone apparently dropped the ball on the rules for the MLS. SIGames didn't even get them until late August. It's unclear if this was the fault of SI or its USA researcher (the way I read it, sounds like they would pin it on the researcher). The disappointing thing, of course, is that pressure wasn't applied sooner to get those rules, or that no one bothered to just go to the MLS Web site, where I understand all of our "weird" rules are listed.

Now, most of the following for what I say is bad news, I am afraid. :(

Now that they have the rules, they are even just now just discussing exactly what to do about the MLS, how far they go with fixes, what's beyond the scope of a patch, etc. And it seems very likely next year's expansion can't be in it--they aren't licensed for that.

Basically, the patch looks like it could be out fairly soon, considering they have been working on it since early Octboer and already have a number of issues fixed. But the MLS looks like a major overhaul, and they haven't even decided exactly hopw they want to go forward with it. Not good. :(

Short of some amazing turnaround in quick decision-making and coding, it seems unlikely the issues we want addressed in the MLS will be in the first patch. And that does make one wonder if they'll bother.

The good news is that this game is supposed to be sold in the U.S. and does have the MLS logo prominently featured within when you load it up. I do think the MLS is more important to them than it has been in the past, so I do think SIGames will be seriously considering what they can do for the league. They have already been told by MLS fans over there that no one who is familiar with the MLS will buy FM2006 if they play this MLS in FM2005 (and I think they know that quite well).

In one thread, one of the SI-affiliated workers posted that MLS fans shouldn't give up on FM2005 yet, intimating what I have stated above about them looking to address it.

So do I hold out much hope? No, quite frankly, sly wink promises aside. But there's a little hope. I just wouldn't expect it out of this patch. :(

CR

[Router Help]

Disappointing. SI needs to dump their USA researcher. He was complaing a few years ago on the boards about how much work he had to do and that no one would help him. I emailed him and said I would help in any way I could, but he said he could handle it himself. :rolleyes:

[RPI-Fan]

SI's excuse is unacceptable to me.

They didn't release a quickstart - all these problems would have been largely avoided had they done so.

Why did they feel the need to release a Greek quickstart, which has pretty much EXACTLY the same rules as all the European leagues, while ignoring MLS?

Just a stupid, stupid decision.

[Eaglesfan27]

That is very disappointing news about the MLS. :(

[superbama]

Horrible one of the greatest games on the planet could give Americans one more reason to shun "soccer". You've got to believe that this will be fixed for the North American release....there is no way they will want to embarrase themselves with the current build.

[jbmagic]

Horrible one of the greatest games on the planet could give Americans one more reason to shun "soccer". You've got to believe that this will be fixed for the North American release....there is no way they will want to embarrase themselves with the current build.


whats wrong with it?

i waiting for the USA release

[Galaril]

whats wrong with it?

i waiting for the USA release

They screwed up the MLS.It kind of sounds and looks like they thought the yanks don't know soccer so they won't notice.

[jbmagic]

how did they screw up the MLS? what did the game do wrong?

[Router Help]

how did they screw up the MLS? what did the game do wrong?

http://community.sigames.com/eve/ubb.x?a=tpc&s=21019056&f=521102691&m=742204675

[jbmagic]

http://community.sigames.com/eve/ubb.x?a=tpc&s=21019056&f=521102691&m=742204675


wow thanks

i hope they patch this up soon

[RPI-Fan]

wow thanks

i hope they patch this up soon

Keep in mind that managing in the lower English and other European leagues is still (from what I hear) as addicting and quality as ever.

[DaddyTorgo]

Love this game. And I doubt that I'm far from the only person over here stateside who RARELY even bothers to play in MLS. If I am going to load up a game of FM2005 and try to do anything on this side of the pond it's usually national-team focused. So yes, I wish the problems with MLS would be fixed, just for posterity's sake, but it's not at all a dealbreaker for me, and I would suspect not for a lot of others too?

[Eaglesfan27]

Keep in mind that managing in the lower English and other European leagues is still (from what I hear) as addicting and quality as ever.
I definitely think it is. However, I also was really looking forward to having a quality MLS dynasty with FM 2005. As of right now, that isn't possible for me.

[RPI-Fan]

Love this game. And I doubt that I'm far from the only person over here stateside who RARELY even bothers to play in MLS. If I am going to load up a game of FM2005 and try to do anything on this side of the pond it's usually national-team focused. So yes, I wish the problems with MLS would be fixed, just for posterity's sake, but it's not at all a dealbreaker for me, and I would suspect not for a lot of others too?

I probably like MLS (a lot) more than the average FM buyer, but I agree, it's still not a dealbreaker for me. However, if they were going to mess it up THAT bad, I wish they would have not even put it in, and instead coded other better features for other leagues and/or int'l management.

[McSweeny]

Love this game. And I doubt that I'm far from the only person over here stateside who RARELY even bothers to play in MLS. If I am going to load up a game of FM2005 and try to do anything on this side of the pond it's usually national-team focused. So yes, I wish the problems with MLS would be fixed, just for posterity's sake, but it's not at all a dealbreaker for me, and I would suspect not for a lot of others too?

yep, i feel pretty much the same way

[Eaglesfan27]

The MLS being messed up is not a deal breaker for me. I still am enjoying managing in England. However, I hope they fix the MLS not only because my own desire to play a good dynasty with an MLS team, but because I think the problems will hurt the series reputation with any new fans who are first trying the series here in America.

[RPI-Fan]

The MLS being messed up is not a deal breaker for me. I still am enjoying managing in England. However, I hope they fix the MLS not only because my own desire to play a good dynasty with an MLS team, but because I think the problems will hurt the series reputation with any new fans who are first trying the series here in America.

Just curious - how is England management comparing to 01/02, CM4, and/or 03/04?

<i>Edit: Anyone please feel free to answer this - particularly re: CM4</i>

[scooter]

Love this game. And I doubt that I'm far from the only person over here stateside who RARELY even bothers to play in MLS. If I am going to load up a game of FM2005 and try to do anything on this side of the pond it's usually national-team focused. So yes, I wish the problems with MLS would be fixed, just for posterity's sake, but it's not at all a dealbreaker for me, and I would suspect not for a lot of others too?

I'll also echo these thoughts. I tried the MLS back in CM01-02 after playing with other European teams - it just seemed weird to play the same teams over and over again. I prefer the idea of having bigger divisions and only playing a team a couple times in a season.

All that being said, I do hope that they can get the MLS working properly. I know SI have had big hopes on breaking into the US market and I know they wouldn't just throw the MLS together and leave it that way. I had an email from Miles Jacobson, their managing director, from about three years ago where he was talking about the troubles they had with getting CM distributed in the US with their old publisher and that they really wanted to do it. I just hope that this doesn't give the "uneducated" the wrong idea about what SI Games is all about, because they have always put together quality products.

[Desnudo]

Lack of promotion and relegation plus the weak playoff system, transfer setup, and no continental cups makes the MLS unappealing to me to play. It would be nice to see them get it right though. If they can manage Brazil, you'd think they'd be able to handle MLS.

[JonInMiddleGA]

http://community.sigames.com/eve/ubb.x?a=tpc&s=21019056&f=521102691&m=742204675

I'm just ... speechless.

And that don't exactly happen often

Egads, what a clusterfuck the MLS looks like in this thing.

[superbama]

Just curious - how is England management comparing to 01/02, CM4, and/or 03/04?

<i>Edit: Anyone please feel free to answer this - particularly re: CM4</i>


If your speaking of managing the national side....mmmm....one word....Amazing. They've finally started tracking national team stats on the selection screen (not their club stats). And the end game having their condition,current form AND their posistion all on one screen makes this game Ohhhh so much more playable.

I to could really care less about playing the MLS , i'd do it if I got bored or something but Sega is pushing a NA release....you'd just think they'd have the MLS dead on. In the december issue of FFT Miles was quoted "We're getting our first American release for this one" I could just see him rubbing his hands together. BTW no mention in the article of our fav SI employee :(

[Godzilla Blitz]

I hate to be negative, but I just can't imagine FM 2005 selling well in the US, no matter what Sega does with marketing.

First, it's the wrong sport for the US market. Most potential customers will not even look at the game when they see that it's about soccer. Football, maybe, but soccer, no.

Second, text-sims in general don't match well with the American culture. In general, we're an active, fast-paced, superficial culture, and text-sims are slow-paced, imaginative, and thoughtful games.

Third, fantasy sports leagues, mostly football, are where I think your potential customers' focus lies in the US. If you could somehow catch that group's attention, you've got a chance, but your potential customers are used to a fantasy-style, interactive experiences, not solitary ones about a sport they could care less about. Tough sell.

The game's got a chance if "success" is defined as achieving sales similar to those of niche titles like OOTP and FOF, but I think the game gets killed if expectations are to sell along the lines of major releases.

Be nice if I was wrong, as I actually think there are a lot of people out there that would really enjoy text-sims if they gave them a decent chance, and FM would be a great place to start. Personally, I've got a handful of friends that I think would love text-sims if I could get them to sit down and try one for a couple of hours, but I've never been able to get them to the starting gate.

[Crapshoot]

that's sad. I couldnt care less about the MLS on a personal level, but any hopes SI had of a great US release are out the window- what a shame. Im fairly surprised Marc and co punted on this- it seems out of character.

[RPI-Fan]

If your speaking of managing the national side....mmmm....one word....Amazing. They've finally started tracking national team stats on the selection screen (not their club stats). And the end game having their condition,current form AND their posistion all on one screen makes this game Ohhhh so much more playable.

I to could really care less about playing the MLS , i'd do it if I got bored or something but Sega is pushing a NA release....you'd just think they'd have the MLS dead on. In the december issue of FFT Miles was quoted "We're getting our first American release for this one" I could just see him rubbing his hands together. BTW no mention in the article of our fav SI employee :(

Nono, I mean managing lower or upper level clubs in England.

In my brief stint managing the US Nats thus far, I've found int'l management to be quite dry.

[jbmagic]

is there a difference between different leagues?

if so what kind of things beside just different teams?



i hope sega does a better job in selling this game to the US to alot of different stores like Bestbuy, Fry's, compusa, circuit city, EB, etc

EHM i never saw in any store here in California as of today so far...

[Eaglesfan27]

I'm really enjoying managing Scunthorpe right now. However, I find it hard to prevent my defense from playing like a sieve. Fortunately, Musselwhite is making some big saves (despite relative modest attribute ratings) and we are doing much better than the prediction that we would be relegated. However, the season is still young. I can't really comment on comparisions to the other games as I only played CM 03/04 and I only really played Hull before being offered a job at Man U where I stayed. However, I'm enjoying this game quite a lot. I'm pacing myself playing it though because I know I will probably want to restart once the first big patch comes out. Yet, if I get too far into my career that won't work as I will become too attached to the team. I just hope I can get the debug command to work when I restart after the patch.

[Eaglesfan27]

is there a difference between different leagues?

if so what kind of things beside just different teams?



i hope sega does a better job in selling this game to the US to alot of different stores like Bestbuy, Fry's, compusa, circuit city, EB, etc

EHM i never saw in any store here in California as of today so far...
There are many that can answer this better than I can. However, I can say from my limited experience that there are major differences between leagues in different countries. Some countries limit the number of foreign players you can use. Some have some very odd rules. The strategy really changed when I tried to manage in a few different countries.