ALRIGHT BOYZ...FOOTBALL MANAGER 2015 ANNOUNCED

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by Grover

Massively, massively agree with this. I also want ALL competition stats and not just league stats for previous seasons.

Of course. Absolutely.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by Grover

I am so ready for this game.

Hehe - reminds me of when I used to write whole-team depth+squad rotation charts in my college notebooks during boring lectures.

aka "here's my 3 AML's...top one plays 6/10 games, 2nd plays 3/10, 3rd plays 1/10" etc.

I was a budding rafa benitez.

Versus now where I tend to ride my first team players more - 50+ appearances a season (between league, cup, CL) is not unheard of.

[Barkeep49]

DT: I tend to ride my first team players a lot which always concerns me about player development. What are your strategies around that?

[Alan T]

Originally Posted by Barkeep49

DT: I tend to ride my first team players a lot which always concerns me about player development. What are your strategies around that?

I ride my first team super heavy. Unless they are tired, I'll play the starting 10 in the EPL games, the Champions cup league games, FA Cup, and League Cup games. I generally have a pretty solid servicable fill in jack of all traits guy that can cover both wings and AMC (plus Striker if I can get away with it).. and another that covers both MC and maybe AMC. Then I usually have 1 spare DL/DR combo guy and a spare DC.

With injuries or the few rest days I give, that group of 14-15 guys all get regular playing time. Any young prospects that don't seem to fit in that 15 block, I send out on loan where they will get regular playing time.

I then fill in the other spots (like an extra Defensive back, extra midfielder, extra striker and my backup GK who never ever plays) with guys that are mid-age guys that I am ok with being on the team only one year. In fact, I've never had a GK that didn't ask for a transfer at the end of the season due to lack of playing time.

I only once got in a bind where I had 9 midfielders out and literally had no one to cover the spot, so put a winger there for a day or two.

[Grover]

Originally Posted by Barkeep49

DT: I tend to ride my first team players a lot which always concerns me about player development. What are your strategies around that?

Depending on where I am in the league, # of competitions, etc. I try to have a fairly decent rotation. Riding the same starting XI throughout the entire season, you will absolutely start to see a dip in form toward the end of the year.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by Barkeep49

DT: I tend to ride my first team players a lot which always concerns me about player development. What are your strategies around that?

In what regard - you mean developing the youth behind them who won't get playing time because you're riding the first teamers?

Or something else?

[DaddyTorgo]

Since I'm bored.

2017/2018 I count 62 matches - not including friendlies, in all competitions.

Looks like the rough average for my "Key/First Team" guys was in the mid 40's

Bernard started 54 (!!), scored 8 and had 26 assists.
My top striker started 48, subbed on in 2 more. Scored 36 times.
Ozil started 49, subbed on in 1 more. Scored 14 and had 30 assists
My 22 year old stud MC/DM (Lucas Romero) started 48
Jack Wilshire started 44 (17 goals - 14 of them on PKs. He's a fucking glory hound. If I gave those to my striker he would have shattered Henry's record)
Steven Caulker started 47


Someone like Aaron Ramsey on the other hand, who was a solid squad-rotation midfielder, started 18 and came on as a sub in 10. Similar for a Yann M'Vila who started 26 and came on as a sub in 2 more.
My second-striker of the pair I generally rotated between 2 guys, each with 20-30 appearances.

I definitely rode Bernard and Ozil very hard that season though - I didn't have the depth behind them I was comfortable with. In the season before that (2016-2017) Bernard basically split time with another guy (some due to injury, some due to the other guy being on a goal-scoring roll).

As far as the young players:

-Now that I'm in England with Arsenal I'm trying to pay attention to homegrown status. It's never been an issue for me with the CL in other countries though. But I try to keep the real good young players in my system playing for my youth teams until they get that homegrown status (assuming I buy them in time for them to have a chance at it). I compensate for the less game-time by training the shit out of them. Sure, some of them may get injured or burn-out (I probably have a high turnover of youth), but the ones that survive will have been through the crucible and will come out ready to play.
-Once they get homegrown status, or if I'm not worried about that, or I want to take the gamble on a loan-year getting them up to first-team fringe status, I loan their asses out. Only to places where they'll play first-team or key though.
-The "elite" ones (4-5 stars) I generally try to get them playing 20-30 games (both of those second-strikers for example) for my first team, against teams lower in the table, or in the domestic cups. Probably under 15 games if they're under the age of 20, rising to 30ish if they're wonderkids. But I keep an eye on their performance to see if I'm stretching them too much.

[DaddyTorgo]

This should really be in the 2014 thread though...haha.

[AnalBumCover]

For fans of the alternate universe USA league, there appears to be an ambitious project already in the works for FM2015.

Sports Interactive Community

It's 8 levels deep, and boasts 500+ teams.

There's already a version 0.3 to be used for testing in FM2014.

[Ryche]

Originally Posted by AnalBumCover

For fans of the alternate universe USA league, there appears to be an ambitious project already in the works for FM2015.

Sports Interactive Community

It's 8 levels deep, and boasts 500+ teams.

There's already a version 0.3 to be used for testing in FM2014.

That just might change my mind on buying 15.

[bbgunn]

Originally Posted by Grover

I'm glad I'm not the only one that does this. I do it in Notepad now, though. You know, treehugger liberal and all.

I tend to buy FM in roughly three-year cycles (bought FM14, FM11, FM07, FM05, CM 01/02...). I don't plan on buying FM2015 unless there is a kick-ass addition. But I'll be following.

EDIT: And yes, before any of you say it, some match-fixing events would be nice, too.

[DaddyTorgo]

FM 15 screenshots. Just saw these posted on reddit so I don't have the official SI linky yet.

http://imgur.com/a/N8LBC

[vex]

Saying deleted.

[DaddyTorgo]

Hmmm - interesting.

Well I hadn't seen them on the official site or anything - maybe they were leaked unofficially and somebody got to the leaker and asked them to pull them down...I dunno.

[DaddyTorgo]

We're delighted to announce the 49 countries you can watch the ‪#‎FMDoc‬ outside the UK.

Read the full list at Sports Interactive, the developers of Football Manager - An Alternative Reality: The FM Documentary - coming soon

If your country isn't listed it will be available digitally in a couple of weeks.

emphasis mine

[riz]

FM15 new features video here:

#FM15 New Features Video [Out November 7th] - YouTube

[flere-imsaho]

Haha, every time this thread gets bumped I get this hope that it's the actual announcement, and then I find out that no, it's....

riz
SI Games

OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG!!!!!!!!

[DaddyTorgo]

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Although I stand by my suggestion to have hot models do the videos.

[DaddyTorgo]

At work, so haven't watched the video, but release date is 11/7.

Sooo...expecting demo/beta/whatever you want to call it in...two weeks?

[flounder]

I have to say that the match engine looks a lot better. I like having the ability to yell at my players during the match, too.

[DaddyTorgo]

Torn - if I go home and watch this I'm going to have a hard time continuing my careers in FM14 over the next couple weeks.

And I need to finish at least one more season - I've got a striker who's on 23 goals after 14 games in all competitions. Club record is 35 in all competitions, so he's going to SMASH it, and I can't wait.

Kinda validates paying $100m for him when he was 18.

[lighthousekeeper]

Originally Posted by riz

FM15 new features video here:

#FM15 New Features Video [Out November 7th] - YouTube

Literally beer tent feature @ 7:30

[flere-imsaho]

Interesting.

With FM14 I found that my 2008 iMac really chugged on the 3d graphics, which seemed sort of incongruous as this really doesn't seem all that more sophisticated than other games, circa 2008, that run/ran just fine.

But the new graphics look nice.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by lighthousekeeper

Literally beer tent feature @ 7:30

Haha - I said this to Foz too. I may be in the minority, but I like the improvements to stadiums & surroundings - feel like it will make me more engaged in some sense.

Stoked about the new changes to scouting. Seems like it's the way it always should have been in some ways.

Hopefully the new UI will indeed be an improvement and not be too jarring.

Match engine improvements to make it more realistic-looking are always welcome.

Not really stoked about the "managerial style" thing - seems a bit RPGish. But as long as it's not overpowered it's just one screen, one time.

Media improvements might be good, if they're not overwhelming. I usually hire an AssMan who's good at that stuff and send him to most of them after a couple years of "building my personality" anyways.

[flounder]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

Not really stoked about the "managerial style" thing - seems a bit RPGish. But as long as it's not overpowered it's just one screen, one time.

Yeah, I'm not so sure about that either. It seems like something that could be really fun to use, but it has the potential for disaster.

[lighthousekeeper]

I dunno, anytime I see FM feature list announcements, I feel like I'm in Groundhog Day. Every year the same:

- Revamped UI! "it's no longer that clunky crappy mess it used to be - now everything you need is right at your fingertips"
- Media interaction improvement (but when will it no longer be a tedious repetitive bore?)
- Training improvements: alternating each year between "this year we've made training management more realistic" and "this year we've made training management less tedious"

And also each year a statement along the lines of "The moving of save games between versions is incredibly complex because the database/features constantly evolve and the competitions change according to real-life which makes evolving an existing game very difficult." Duly noted. But dudes - you've had 15+ years to work on this. For how many more years can this excuse be used?

[DaddyTorgo]

Tell you what though - I have a ton of success in FM. LLM or big clubs, either way. And I don't spend much time at all on training - I certainly don't micro-manage it.

And yet somehow (scouting, buying large volume, working my youth players hard and seeing who survives it) I seem to end up with loads of good young players most of the time.

[lighthousekeeper]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

Tell you what though - I have a ton of success in FM. LLM or big clubs, either way. And I don't spend much time at all on training - I certainly don't micro-manage it.

And yet somehow (scouting, buying large volume, working my youth players hard and seeing who survives it) I seem to end up with loads of good young players most of the time.

yeah - so do most people. what does that tell you about the game? it leaves me feeling that a lot of the options available to players are pointless and that there really has some emptiness under the hood.

usually i play as LLM, take over a crap team, ignore training completely, brainlessly respond to media interactions, take the default tactic, and still get promoted in the 1st (or sometimes 2nd) season. i think most everyone does. it just leaves me with the feeling that the game has a built-in advantage for the human player, and that certain in-game settings (e.g. training, media, tactics) are a waste of effort.

[bhlloy]

I think some of the off field AI is still very, very poor - AI managers tend to not play any of their young players which means they never develop, do a very bad job of strengthening their squad when needed and signing players that fit into the tactics they are using.

I actually disagree that the easy part is getting promoted in the first season, I've had LLM games where I've had to wait until the third season to get up. What is undeniably easy (and I think that's what DT is getting at) is hoarding young talent, getting it to develop by giving it game time (something the AI refuses to do) and ending up with a squad of world beaters

The other thing I would disagree is about morale no mattering under the hood. IMO another huge area where the human can kick the AI ass, some morale boosting friendlies, some team talks and choose the obvious options in the media talks and it's very easy to end up with superb morale across the board, which can make a mediocre team play way above it's expectation. Just my two cents

[flere-imsaho]

Apparently there will be a similar video describing the updates for FMC15.

Hopefully riz will be so good as to alert us when that's posted as well.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by bhlloy

I think some of the off field AI is still very, very poor - AI managers tend to not play any of their young players which means they never develop, do a very bad job of strengthening their squad when needed and signing players that fit into the tactics they are using.

I actually disagree that the easy part is getting promoted in the first season, I've had LLM games where I've had to wait until the third season to get up. What is undeniably easy (and I think that's what DT is getting at) is hoarding young talent, getting it to develop by giving it game time (something the AI refuses to do) and ending up with a squad of world beaters

The other thing I would disagree is about morale no mattering under the hood. IMO another huge area where the human can kick the AI ass, some morale boosting friendlies, some team talks and choose the obvious options in the media talks and it's very easy to end up with superb morale across the board, which can make a mediocre team play way above it's expectation. Just my two cents

Hopefully some of the AI squad management stuff is improved. That's definitely where the game could take a big leap forward in being more difficult.

Sometimes I sell some of my world-beaters on almost just to provide myself a challenge and make room for new ones.

Ex: In my Juventus savegame I sold 2 Italian strikers, 22 and 23 years old who are the starting pair for the national team, both to Atletico Madrid for a combined $70m.

I could have broken them apart - but I figured by selling them together at least I'll try to create some team that's strong.

And yes - selling the two of them in order to keep an Englishman and an Argentine and a Frenchman trifecta at striker did feel like something that the team in reality would not do - but to be fair I've had Evans since he was 18 (he's 25 now) and he's basically the best player in the world (26 goals in 15 games so far this season. 6+ seasons of 20+ goals since he joined the first team) and a team Icon, and the Argentine scored 30 goals last year and is a perfect foil for him tactics-wise, and the French kid a Legend of the club already too.

[RainMaker]

I agree. I like a lot of the little features they add but the AI needs massive improvement. This is my thoughts on a lot of sims though. OOTP has this same issue.

I'd give up some of the bells and whistles for a game that challenges me much more.

[riz]

Originally Posted by lighthousekeeper

And also each year a statement along the lines of "The moving of save games between versions is incredibly complex because the database/features constantly evolve and the competitions change according to real-life which makes evolving an existing game very difficult." Duly noted. But dudes - you've had 15+ years to work on this. For how many more years can this excuse be used?

It's not really an excuse but simply a matter of productivity. When making bigger changes in games like these where the structures are as complex as they are, it is often significantly more efficient to start from a clean slate and code the new functionality from the ground up without any ties to the old legacy system.

So instead of spending 20 hours coding the new system and then 40 hours (or even more depending on the differences) coding a system to convert old saved games to work with the new system, it usually makes more sense to just implement only the new system as it is.

Originally Posted by flere-imsaho

Apparently there will be a similar video describing the updates for FMC15.

Hopefully riz will be so good as to alert us when that's posted as well.

Will try. I've personally preferred FMC these past few years myself as the amount of time I can invest in playing games is limited

[riz]

And here is the new features video for FMC 2015:

#FM15 - New Football Manager Classic features [Out Nov 7th] - YouTube

[flere-imsaho]

OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG

*gasp*

OMGOMGOMGOGMOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG

[flere-imsaho]

With the caveat that I had to watch with the sound off, I'd say I'm quite happy with the added features. It's not too much and looks like it won't impede the pace of the game.

The ability to control training at the individual level a bit more is an addition I'm quite happy about.

For the future I think these are my top feature ideas:

1. Make the "instant result" button available at any time in a match. I'd love to press it when I'm already winning 5-0.

2. I'd love an option, during setup, where you can add custom players to the game, via a wizard is preferable. Basically I'd love to put my two sons into the game with world-class potential, defined positions, and random stats.

But looks like a great update. Can't wait!

[Icy]

Only thing I miss from FMC is to able able to play with custom databases, like the English lower level ones, or the Spanish 3rd division or for example right now, where there are updated databases available to this season but not able to use them in FMC, only un full game.

[Flasch186]

I shut down my '14 game. I'd left Gateshead after being their 8 years and getting repeated promotions but everywhere I went to manage...it just wasn't the same. Bounced around like an unwanted foster child and finally just gave it up in Italy. '15 cant come soon enough.

[flere-imsaho]

I'm in my 20th year in charge of formerly-amateur-level Birkiebeineren in Norway. We now routinely win the league & cup and in Europe tend to either a) finish 2nd in group and go out in the first knockout round or b) finish 3rd in group and get knocked out in the quarterfinals of the EURO Cup.

It's slow progress at this point. The board won't upgrade the stadium past 11,000, and I can see that's not going to change, as the surrounding area has a population (IRL) of like 20,000 people. But even if I had a higher earning power, past a certain point players won't join us because the level of competition is too low.

It's still super-fun, however, but I have this feeling that it'll take another 10 seasons of careful squad building to have a realistic chance of winning the CL (maybe 5 seasons for EURO Cup) and that's probably being a bit optimistic.

[nilodor]

Originally Posted by Icy

Only thing I miss from FMC is to able able to play with custom databases, like the English lower level ones, or the Spanish 3rd division or for example right now, where there are updated databases available to this season but not able to use them in FMC, only un full game.

I have hopes that this is in Classic mode this year, or at least custom players. It looks like it may be with the expanded database options on startup.

[SirFozzie]

If the demo is out two weeks before release, it will be out this weekend.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

If the demo is out two weeks before release, it will be out this weekend.

yesssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss it will. my precioussssssss!!!!

[Ryche]

Just got beta code in my email, should be soon. Just ended my last career in FM 14 so I'm ready.

[DaddyTorgo]

Really???

BOOYA

*loads up Steam to prepare*

[DaddyTorgo]

I'm getting...excited.

[Ryche]

Beta came out Wednesday morning last so hoping the same this year

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by Ryche

Beta came out Wednesday morning last so hoping the same this year

I hadn't remembered that. Nice.

[bulletsponge]

cant come out soon enough. i stoped playing fm14 only 2 months ago, to give myself a rest before fm15 comes out. well now im itching to play

[MacroGuru]

So question for someone that may have done this.

Has anyone tried to run 14 on a Surface Pro Tablet? I am going to be getting a Pro 3 for my Bday from my girlfriend and I am curious.

[HerRealName]

Originally Posted by MacroGuru

So question for someone that may have done this.

Has anyone tried to run 14 on a Surface Pro Tablet? I am going to be getting a Pro 3 for my Bday from my girlfriend and I am curious.

Yes I have a Pro 3 and no problems running FM14 at all.