ALRIGHT BOYZ...HERE WE GO...The Football Manager 2012 THREAD!!!

[Mota]

You might say something is wrong with the difficulty, I will say that for the first time in FM I'm able to win some games.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by HiFiRevival

The massive flaw with the difficulty level has me considering skipping FM'12. I haven't skipped anything since I started with 03/04.

I'm sure it'll be fixed up.

[Grover]

I haven't found this to be particularly easier or more difficult than previous versions.

[Big Fo]

The difficulty doesn't seem to be different to previous versions from what I have played. If you get some good players for whatever level you play at and don't screw up the tactics, you're going to win a lot of games.

[EagleFan]

What am I doing wrong trying to post a video of a highlight? It takes me to a select video to upload screen and I can't find anything to select.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by EagleFan

What am I doing wrong trying to post a video of a highlight? It takes me to a select video to upload screen and I can't find anything to select.

Will walk you through it when I finish this game.

[Grover]

Originally Posted by HiFiRevival

The problem is players accepting contracts at teams/leagues they would never consider and scouts having infinite knowledge they would never have. The transfer market, for those of us who play with a realistic approach, is completely screwed in this edition.

Do you have any examples of this?

I'm four years deep into my game and have yet to see any of this. I like that the scouts automatically comb their area for players. I haven't had any players sign for me on contracts they would never realistically sign either. I tried to sign a 34 year old Xavi and he wanted £110k per week.

For me the game is business as usual. I rely on my scouts to recommend players to sign and they certainly don't seem to have an "infinite knowledge"

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by EagleFan

What am I doing wrong trying to post a video of a highlight? It takes me to a select video to upload screen and I can't find anything to select.

Are you doing it directly in the postgame on the "Upload Video" tab?

If so you just select the radio button of the one that you want to upload at the top of the page and then the drop-down boxes below.

If you're talking about doing it after the fact, let me know.

[DaddyTorgo]

I'm broken-hearted.

Completed my first season in my long-term game. Undefeated (although with like 8 draws). Won the league and the domestic Cup.

Brought in like 8 new players in the offseason - mostly depth players, but 1 key starter (DC Dede) and 2 rotation guys (Afellay and WB/L Alvaro Pereira). Never did find another ST though (I figured Del Piero only had 1-2 years left so was on the lookout for a second striker).

Then Buffon gets injured by Vidal in preseason training (broken leg) and will be out 5-6 months. Transfer budget is depleted so I can't go get a Neuer or Akinfeev and work to transition them in long-term. So I settle for Kameni as a short-term solution/long-term backup for $8mil or so.

Then Buffon announces his retirement. Won't reconsider. I'm crying. Coaches tell me that Del Piero (who scored 17 league goals and 13 assists last year) has declined as a player and is no longer a viable first team player. I'm crying even more now. Cursing the gods. Meanwhile, the acquisition by a business tycoon that was in the works falls through.

Don't play enough preseason games as a result of focusing on all of this, so the season starts out less well than I would have hoped, coming off an undefeated season.

Ale Matri, who last year scored 38 goals in 36 games in all competitions, along with 15 assists (32 goals in 32 league games, and 14 assists) went scoreless in the first 2 games before tallying against Shakhtar in the CL.

The sole bright spots so far:

1. Gylfi Sigurosson has seemed to find his form (after lacking it last year), and will perhaps be the Trequartista that I've been looking for to pair with Matri up top. Depth behind that is thin though, with Vucinic, an underperforming Quagliarella (he hasn't done well in this game despite tearing it up in the demo game), and Del Piero.

2. Willian (AM R/L) who I bought off Shakhtar mid-year last year for $15mil, and who proceeded to post 8 goals and 13 assists in 20 games for a 7.94 league rating, has picked right back up terrorizing Serie A (despite a lil knock keeping him out 2 games), with a 7.8 rating in 2 games. He didn't like playing his old club in the CL though, only registering a 6.9 rating.

Trying to look on the bright side...I'm only 1 win off the league leaders (Napoli/Cagliara/Roma), and just 1 point behind Inter through 4 games, so there's plenty of time to right the ship and go on a tear once my guys gel. But 2 losses out of our first 4 games is a bitter pill to swallow.

And the angry, crying fan in me wants to ship Vidal out for whatever I can get for him because he ended the career of Gigi. He best be frigging careful, that's all I have to say. Asshole.

[Marc Vaughan]

Originally Posted by HiFiRevival

Any example? There are several in this thread alone. Throw in the multiple threads on the FM boards over at sigames.com, and you've got something that has a sizable portion of the customer base upset.

EDIT: Here's an obvious example from the next to last post on the last page:

I know the chaps on the FM team will continue looking into any oddities - I'm around 20 seasons into my current 'test' game (I tend to play both FM and FMH/FMHi along side each other to compare behaviour etc. if you wondered - its a hard life working at SI ) and I think that FM PC is definitely playable; not perfect at present ... but I'm enjoying it at least

(if you wondered Eastbourne are now in the Premiership and presently 4th with 3 matches to go, next year will all being well be our first Champions League season - hurrah )

[Grover]

Torgo - can you try and hire Buffon as a coach? Keep him around if you can!

[jbergey22]

Marc, Have you heard when a possible patch might be coming?

[Coffee Warlord]

It has been a tremendous test of willpower to wait 'till Xmas for this. Fucking responsibility.

(We're going on our belated honeymoon in April, and I kinda promised myself I'd take it easy on spending till then).

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by Grover

Torgo - can you try and hire Buffon as a coach? Keep him around if you can!

I usually try to do this - he hasn't retired yet, but you're right in that it's time to start buttering-up both him and Del Piero for their post-playing career days.

I'm really irritated - I figured I had another 2-3 years of him playing at a World Class level before I had to go out there and find a superstar GK to follow him, so I was targeting a bunch of 16-19 year olds. Now I'm going to have to accelerate that process and pay big money for someone who's already known -- although there is an intriguing 20 year old German who just popped as a wonderkid - I'm kicking myself for not picking him up when he was 19...but his "weakness" was positioning, and I consider positioning+reflexes my two biggest must-haves for a GK, so was looking for someone who was listed as having a dumb weakness like not being able to kick the ball far.

[Grover]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

I usually try to do this - he hasn't retired yet, but you're right in that it's time to start buttering-up both him and Del Piero for their post-playing career days.

I'm really irritated - I figured I had another 2-3 years of him playing at a World Class level before I had to go out there and find a superstar GK to follow him, so I was targeting a bunch of 16-19 year olds. Now I'm going to have to accelerate that process and pay big money for someone who's already known -- although there is an intriguing 20 year old German who just popped as a wonderkid - I'm kicking myself for not picking him up when he was 19...but his "weakness" was positioning, and I consider positioning+reflexes my two biggest must-haves for a GK, so was looking for someone who was listed as having a dumb weakness like not being able to kick the ball far.

You must be looking at Marc-Andre ter Stegen. He's incredible. I got him as a free (!) in my third year, he averaged a 7+ over the course of the season.

[Sweed]

I've read a lot of things on the SI boards about match prep and the, up to, three tactics you practice. Still not sure exactly how things work and thought I'd throw it out here to see what others think or know. Also maybe MarcV would have some insight without having to sift through the SI site with its many posters that all "know" how it works and yet don't seem to agree on anything.

I'm going to use my team's formation as the example keeping in mind any discussion would be pertinent to any other formation.

Right now I practice three tactics all using the same 4-4-2 formation. Depending on opponent and location I have practiced control, attacking, standard, defensive, and counter setups. Doing this has lead to fluid status very quickly for my 442 with mentality, passing etc in varying degrees of development.

First question since I have practiced tactics using control, attacking, standard, defensive, and counter setups and my team is familiar with them do I suffer a penalty if I just switch between these mentalities in-game? In other words I just go to the in-game menu and use the pull down to change defense to attack instead of going to the actual tactic screen and changing to the actual practiced tactic (hope that makes sense)?

Now that my 442 is fluid (formation only not all underlying areas) my thought is to add a 541 or some other formation to get an extra defender at the back.
Though my players will be unfamiliar with the formation do they bring some of the mentalities\skills they have been working on to the new formation?

I can't find the post at SI to link to but Riz stated something to the effect that even if you practice a defensive 442 and then switch to an unfamiliar formation that your players will still retain some defensive knowledge since they have been practicing defensive football. In other words these are football players and they do carry experience and knowledge into whatever they are asked to do even into unpracticed or unfamiliar formations. Shouts and changing tactics to unfamiliar areas does not "zero" out mentalities or make your team clueless.

In other words I may be able to play a fluid defensive 442 due to a lot of practice and games played. I then switch to a 541 that I have never or rarely practiced, maybe due to circumstances beyond my control (injury, red card or I just want that extra defender at the back etc). In this case my defense will of course not be fluid buy my players will retain some of that ability due to having spent so much time practicing defensive football. This makes sense to me as these are football players and would have experience to draw upon. Yes they might not be smooth and more prone to mistakes but they shouldn't be clueless.

Long story short it just seems there are so many saying if you change one thing the tactic becomes unfamiliar since you didn't practice it that way. Or even though you are a defensive club that changing your formation and going to an extra defender hurts more than helps because it will screw up your continuity.

Anyway just looking for thoughts and hoping for a nugget or two from MarcV.

Thanks.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by Grover

You must be looking at Marc-Andre ter Stegen. He's incredible. I got him as a free (!) in my third year, he averaged a 7+ over the course of the season.

Indeed. I was trying not to name-drop him, but yes. I could have gone harder after him last year when he was 19, but was scared off a little by his poor positioning and some poor performances in games I scouted. Now they want like 30 mil for him.

I may have to bite the bullet and pay something in that neighborhood and blow 50%+ of my transfer budget on him though.

[Sweed]

dola Found the thread and posted a couple of quotes from Riz

FM2012 difficulty. - Page 13

quotes from a couple of Riz's posts

No, they won't reset to zero whenever you make tactical changes during the match. Yes, once you make some tactical changes to move away from the exact tactic that you had trained to 100% level, the same familiarity won't naturally apply. But depending on the scale of the changes, the players will still have some level of familiarity on the new settings based on what they had trained before and how big your changes in match are. Ie. the playes will adapt to your changes and use their previous familiarity as much as is suitable. Naturally changing the formation has bigger effects than just changing the other parts of the tactics like tempo etc. but you would have to make some pretty drastic tactical changes during the match to lose all the familiarity gained via previous training.

Let's say you have just one tactic setup in match prep and you use direct passing that and have it already trained at 100% familiarity for example. Then you start a match and switch to a shorter passing" style. Naturally this won't affect anything you have set in the training, but during the rest of the match the players are not using the exact same tactic as they had trained with so the familiarity level applied is not the same as shows up in the training. The level applied in the match after the tactical change is based on the level for direct passing, but is naturally lower because of the change.

Naturally if you have multiple tactics trained, then any changes you make during the match are checked against all the trained tactics to see if the new match tactics have been trained previously. And even if they haven't been trained, the players will still keep a part of the trained level of familiarity depending on how much the new match time tactics differ from the ones they had trained for.

[ntndeacon]

I finally bit the bullet. I got this edition. I haven't got to do more than set up the world yet.

[path12]

$29.99 for the Steam sale. Just picked it up.

[gi]

same, was waiting for this deal.

[Barkeep49]

I am glad that I am so engrossed in my 11 game so there's no temptation this year (I broke down unexpectedly last year and got it during the holiday sale).

[path12]

Originally Posted by Barkeep49

I am glad that I am so engrossed in my 11 game so there's no temptation this year (I broke down unexpectedly last year and got it during the holiday sale).

I skipped 11 and was generally burned out on FM for the past couple years but got the bug again a couple months back.

[Big Fo]

One of those what do you think of this regen and how would you train him posts:



I think this kid might have a 185+ PA, my assistant (19 for judging potential) gives him 4.5 stars for potential which is more than Rooney, Vidic, Ozil, Neymar, etc. (my best players) have.

He'd probably be great at his default position when he gets older (with the passing, creativity, decent defensive and mental stats already) but I just wonder if that speed might be kind of wasted in central midfield and maybe he'd be just as good on the wing I had him focus on dribbling and crossing for a year or two.

[AlexB]

Box to Box Midfielder for me - not enough flair for out wide, not enough finishing for up front, not enough tackling/bravery/strength/agreession for central midfield

But pace and stamina to keep runing all day - he'll be your workhorse

[Balldog]

Originally Posted by Big Fo

One of those what do you think of this regen and how would you train him posts:



I think this kid might have a 185+ PA, my assistant (19 for judging potential) gives him 4.5 stars for potential which is more than Rooney, Vidic, Ozil, Neymar, etc. (my best players) have.

He'd probably be great at his default position when he gets older (with the passing, creativity, decent defensive and mental stats already) but I just wonder if that speed might be kind of wasted in central midfield and maybe he'd be just as good on the wing I had him focus on dribbling and crossing for a year or two.

I recruited a kid with the same name in CH2K8!

[Marc Vaughan]

Middle of the park or just behind the strikers as a play maker for me, look at training him in a few useful PPM's to assist him in that role if you decide to give it to him ... they make make a big difference to a players suitability.

I'd recommend:
Plays One-Twos
Tries Long Range Passing
Gets Forward whenever possible

(just my take)

You will however need to make sure that his physical lack (ie. size/agression) is made up by whomever is playing alongside him if you put him in a straight MC role ... I'd recommend him as an AMC in a 4-4-1-1 with the wingers inclined to cut in and support the striker (mobile preferably for through balls fed to him) with this chap pulling the strings behind him.

[Big Fo]

I sometimes forget about the PPMs for whatever reason, though I know they can have quite an effect.

Typically my team uses a 4-2-4 (at least that is what the game calls it when you have the wingers start from AM L/R instead of M L/R) with one defensive player and one all-rounder in the middle. He'd be better off as the all-rounder for sure.

I'm only on my third season now but in my game and from screenshots others have posted, it seems like they're some real nice newgens this year. And I am hoping that my initial feelings about top teams seeming more aggressive and smarter in the transfer market turn out to be true.

[Karim]

I'm simply not seeing enough compelling reasons to upgrade from FM11. I'm really enjoying this version more than I have in several years.

Maybe once all the patches are out and it's discounted, I'll reconsider.

One thing SI may want to consider is making the previous year's saved games compatible with the most recent release.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by Karim

One thing SI may want to consider is making the previous year's saved games compatible with the most recent release.

Won't ever happen. Too many changes to the code each year (league rules, etc).

[Ajaxab]

Originally Posted by Karim

I'm simply not seeing enough compelling reasons to upgrade from FM11. I'm really enjoying this version more than I have in several years.

Maybe once all the patches are out and it's discounted, I'll reconsider.

One thing SI may want to consider is making the previous year's saved games compatible with the most recent release.

+1 Reading Sfraser's tips got my '11 career going again. I went from taking Unterhaching from the depths of the German pyramid to the Bundesliga and parlayed that into a job at Ajax where we've won 4 league titles in a row, got to 2 Champions League semifinals and a Champions League final. Still haven't won that big trophy though.

Ajax is an interesting place to manage in that you don't have a whole lot of competition in the league (FC Twente, PSV and Feyenoord are about it), but there's always the challenge of Europe. You also don't have a ton of money to spend and the bigger European clubs are always on your doorstep making offers for your best players. I try to hold them off as best as I can, but it isn't always possible. Without the tv cash of the Premier League in the Eredivisie, accepting some of these big offers is tempting as well. That makes advanced planning that much more important and the challenge that much more compelling. You can't just buy anybody you want and always have to be thinking about what you do if a Man City or Barca make that offer that can't be refused.

I'll see what happens from here. Turned down Man Utd's offer of a job because I want to see my kids develop. It would be great to be at Old Trafford one day, but it's too tough to leave players I hope will turn into future stars.

[bulletsponge]

Originally Posted by Ajaxab

+1 Reading Sfraser's tips got my '11 career going again. I went from taking Unterhaching from the depths of the German pyramid to the Bundesliga and parlayed that into a job at Ajax where we've won 4 league titles in a row, got to 2 Champions League semifinals and a Champions League final. Still haven't won that big trophy though.

Ajax is an interesting place to manage in that you don't have a whole lot of competition in the league (FC Twente, PSV and Feyenoord are about it), but there's always the challenge of Europe. You also don't have a ton of money to spend and the bigger European clubs are always on your doorstep making offers for your best players. I try to hold them off as best as I can, but it isn't always possible. Without the tv cash of the Premier League in the Eredivisie, accepting some of these big offers is tempting as well. That makes advanced planning that much more important and the challenge that much more compelling. You can't just buy anybody you want and always have to be thinking about what you do if a Man City or Barca make that offer that can't be refused.

I'll see what happens from here. Turned down Man Utd's offer of a job because I want to see my kids develop. It would be great to be at Old Trafford one day, but it's too tough to leave players I hope will turn into future stars.

a bonus for Ajax, no wp issues or player restrictions. so you can sign lots of Africans or SA when they turn 18

[Bobble]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

Won't ever happen. Too many changes to the code each year (league rules, etc).

I agree that it won't ever happen but not because there are too many changes to the code. It's because they feel that it isn't worth the effort (which, I guess, you could say is "too many" changes to the code -- "too many" to make it worth their while, not because it's difficult to do).

As long as all you want is to keep playing your last version save with it's league structures, etc. just using the new features of the current version, it's not technically difficult to do a save game "updater". They're not interested in doing that because they feel most of their customers want to play with the most recent transfers, etc. Front Office Football Central - View Single Post - Football Manager 2012 Anticipation thread......

I guess they're right because otherwise some 3rd party would have made a saved game updater by now on at least one of the versions over the years.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by Bobble

I agree that it won't ever happen but not because there are too many changes to the code. It's because they feel that it isn't worth the effort (which, I guess, you could say is "too many" changes to the code -- "too many" to make it worth their while, not because it's difficult to do).

As long as all you want is to keep playing your last version save with it's league structures, etc. just using the new features of the current version, it's not technically difficult to do a save game "updater". They're not interested in doing that because they feel most of their customers want to play with the most recent transfers, etc. Front Office Football Central - View Single Post - Football Manager 2012 Anticipation thread......

I guess they're right because otherwise some 3rd party would have made a saved game updater by now on at least one of the versions over the years.

That post to me says "too difficult to do" more than "too many to make it worth our while...Fuck You consumers."

[Marc Vaughan]

I agree that it won't ever happen but not because there are too many changes to the code. It's because they feel that it isn't worth the effort (which, I guess, you could say is "too many" changes to the code -- "too many" to make it worth their while, not because it's difficult to do).

Actually YES it is incredibly difficult to do - especially when you consider the complexity of the various league structures the fact there are umpteen million different leagues/cups/nation combinations* which could be active at any point in time and numerous variables within the game which are added/removed each iteration which would have to be initialized for the new version of the game.

It 'could' be done - yes, however the result would probably be sub-optimal and destroy the appeal of the save game which was upgraded. That is to say the appeal of a save game is the universe you've created and got to intimately know - you expect certain behavior from it and the players within it according to your knowledge of that world.

If we upgraded your save to a new version and the new variables initialized in a manner which caused that world to then function differently it'd probably destroy your belief in it and potentially in our products ... this is one of the big reasons (ignoring the fact that implementing such a feature would be a huge time sink each iteration and we couldn't 'guarentee' it'd work in all save situations) why its not done.

*We had a new producer on the project many many years ago who innocently said he wanted to test all the possible league start combinations to ensure that there weren't any crashes in that side of the game.
At that time there were only 16 nations in the game and while you could have up to 16 active at a time you couldn't select individual league levels for them - that meant there were a possible 20,922,789,888,000 different combinations of selections available for startup (ignoring the fact you could vary database size) - presuming 10 could be done each hour and ten testers were actively undertaking this task that would have meant only 23,884,463 years worth of testing to verify this ... once I explained the situation he agreed that it probably wasn't practical
(so if you consider the permutations possible back then and then factor in that the complexity has INCREASED hugely since then ...)

[MizzouRah]

I know I do this every year and basically just can't get into this series, most of it being I don't understand most of the game.. but..

I always have a hard time knowing what to setup initally?

I want to start as manager of Everton, but what other countries should I enable? I have a dual core pc with 3 GB of ram running W7. I'm very much a n00b with this series, so I'm not looking for the whole world to be running in the background, but I always wonder what is enough?

[Big Fo]

You should run a few other countries with that kind of PC imo. If you don't really follow any foreign leagues and just want the top ones, add the top division in Germany, Italy, and Spain in addition to England. I always like having the USA in there so there are more American players in the database (though there are more complicated options where you can retain all players of certain nationalities, the top players on each continent, current national team players from each continent, etc.).

[lcjjdnh]

Originally Posted by MizzouRah

I know I do this every year and basically just can't get into this series, most of it being I don't understand most of the game.. but..

I always have a hard time knowing what to setup initally?

I want to start as manager of Everton, but what other countries should I enable? I have a dual core pc with 3 GB of ram running W7. I'm very much a n00b with this series, so I'm not looking for the whole world to be running in the background, but I always wonder what is enough?

Not directly related to your question, but if you have a hard time getting into the series, I highly recommend the handheld game if you have an iPhone/iPad (or PSP assuming that version is similar--Marc would know). Still a really fun game--with much more depth than most--but much simpler to ease into than the full PC version.

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by Big Fo

You should run a few other countries with that kind of PC imo. If you don't really follow any foreign leagues and just want the top ones, add the top division in Germany, Italy, and Spain in addition to England. I always like having the USA in there so there are more American players in the database (though there are more complicated options where you can retain all players of certain nationalities, the top players on each continent, current national team players from each continent, etc.).

Thank you, I mainly watch the premier league and Barcelona when they are on (is that LaLiga?)

I guess I'm asking for anyone who manages a PL team, what setup is normal or somewhat "standard"?

EDIT: Also, what about the MLS? I read on another site it's fully functional in the game with all the rules/drafts/etc.. what do you load if you want to play the MLS?

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by lcjjdnh

Not directly related to your question, but if you have a hard time getting into the series, I highly recommend the handheld game if you have an iPhone/iPad (or PSP assuming that version is similar--Marc would know). Still a really fun game--with much more depth than most--but much simpler to ease into than the full PC version.

I don't have a handheld unfortunately.

[Marc Vaughan]

Originally Posted by MizzouRah

I know I do this every year and basically just can't get into this series, most of it being I don't understand most of the game.. but..
I always have a hard time knowing what to setup initally?
I want to start as manager of Everton, but what other countries should I enable? I have a dual core pc with 3 GB of ram running W7. I'm very much a n00b with this series, so I'm not looking for the whole world to be running in the background, but I always wonder what is enough?

I would say if you're a total newbie to the series then simply run a single nation, England if you want to manage Everton ... that'll keep things relatively simple and quick - other nations clubs etc. will run a 'lite' simulation so they'll still be there, compete for players and be active in competitions as required.

Beyond that keep hitting continue, ask your assistant manager and backroom staff for advice and watch the world unfold around you - you'll pick things up fairly quickly (be warned though Everton is a fairly 'hard ask' irl they have a very good manager who gets the best out of their squad so the expectations might not be the easiest - I'd personally suggest taking a low league team, I use Eastbourne Boro and see how far up the league you can get them ... teams in the lower reaches tend to be far more easy going on their managers - not least because they can't afford to sack them at the drop of a hat ).

[Marc Vaughan]

Originally Posted by lcjjdnh

Not directly related to your question, but if you have a hard time getting into the series, I highly recommend the handheld game if you have an iPhone/iPad (or PSP assuming that version is similar--Marc would know). Still a really fun game--with much more depth than most--but much simpler to ease into than the full PC version.

I'd definitely HEAVILY recommend the iPhone or PSP version of the game*, not least because its these I work on these days

The new PSP version is already out and the iOS version will be with us before Christmas, not much longer to wait ...

*The PSP and iOS versions of the game 'started out' sharing an identical codebase, but in later iterations the iOS version has started to evolve ahead of the PSP somewhat because it has more memory, processor power etc. available.

[Marc Vaughan]

Originally Posted by MizzouRah

I don't have a handheld unfortunately.

(you know what to ask santa for? .... just saying )

[Big Fo]

Originally Posted by MizzouRah

Thank you, I mainly watch the premier league and Barcelona when they are on (is that LaLiga?)

I guess I'm asking for anyone who manages a PL team, what setup is normal or somewhat "standard"?

I have a pretty good PC that I built around 18 months ago and like having a lot of players and leagues running, so mine is pretty large.

(background leagues: gives standings and stats but doesn't load every single player and the matches are simmed without much detail) - top divisions of Argentina, Brazil, France, Germany, Netherlands, Mexico, Portugal, and Russia

(foreground leagues: standings, stats, all players, and I even set full detail for the top divisions of these to better compare players) - top four divisions in England since I plan on managing Man Utd long term, top two divisions in Spain and Italy, all three levels of the USA setup I created.

This still runs pretty quickly for me. More time is spent between matches reading news and looking at players than waiting for results to simulate.

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by Marc Vaughan

I would say if you're a total newbie to the series then simply run a single nation, England if you want to manage Everton ... that'll keep things relatively simple and quick - other nations clubs etc. will run a 'lite' simulation so they'll still be there, compete for players and be active in competitions as required.

Beyond that keep hitting continue, ask your assistant manager and backroom staff for advice and watch the world unfold around you - you'll pick things up fairly quickly (be warned though Everton is a fairly 'hard ask' irl they have a very good manager who gets the best out of their squad so the expectations might not be the easiest - I'd personally suggest taking a low league team, I use Eastbourne Boro and see how far up the league you can get them ... teams in the lower reaches tend to be far more easy going on their managers - not least because they can't afford to sack them at the drop of a hat ).

Thanks, I'll look for a lower league team then and try to work my way up the ladder.

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by Marc Vaughan

I'd definitely HEAVILY recommend the iPhone or PSP version of the game*, not least because its these I work on these days

The new PSP version is already out and the iOS version will be with us before Christmas, not much longer to wait ...

*The PSP and iOS versions of the game 'started out' sharing an identical codebase, but in later iterations the iOS version has started to evolve ahead of the PSP somewhat because it has more memory, processor power etc. available.

You need an Android version. I have a Kindle Fire.

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by Big Fo

I have a pretty good PC that I built around 18 months ago and like having a lot of players and leagues running, so mine is pretty large.

(background leagues: gives standings and stats but doesn't load every single player and the matches are simmed without much detail) - top divisions of Argentina, Brazil, France, Germany, Netherlands, Mexico, Portugal, and Russia

(foreground leagues: standings, stats, all players, and I even set full detail for the top divisions of these to better compare players) - top four divisions in England since I plan on managing Man Utd long term, top two divisions in Spain and Italy, all three levels of the USA setup I created.

This still runs pretty quickly for me. More time is spent between matches reading news and looking at players than waiting for results to simulate.

Thanks, I guess I'll go with just England for now and expand later.. which I believe is something you can do in v12 now?