Alright boyz, here we go!!! (The Football Manager 2011 Impressions/General Thread)

[SirFozzie]

Apparently, it is now go time:

Miles on Twitter (about five minutes ago)

I've just had a call to tell me Steam #fm2011 will be live in the next 45 minutes. Hurrah!

[sovereignstar v2]

BEST FM 2011 ADD-ONS

FACEPACKS
Cut-Out Megapack (Over 70,000 Faces) -- Discussion and Links

LOGOS
Shiny Logos -- Discussion and Links
Metallic Logos -- Discussion and Links

KITS
SS'11 2D Kits -- Discussion and Links

MISC
FM11 Susie Real Names for Clubs, Competitions and Awards Fix -- Discussion and Link **beta version due to be updated in a week or so**
Base Skins -- Link **these skins make for easy modding**

SITES FOR ADD-ONS
Sortitoutsi.net (aka Susie) Note: Best to find stuff via the forums as some stuff isn't entered into Susie's "download library" by the authors
FM Europe **in French so good luck!**
FM-Base
The Dugout Note: Better place for discussion than downloads from what I remember
FM Scout Home to Genie Scout, which I don't believe is out for 2011 yet as of 11/4
Los Wonderkids
FM Fanboys

[SirFozzie]

I asked him on twitter if it was UK only, or world wide, but I think he's getting flooded, don't know if I'm going to get an answer (someone wanna hunt down Marc V? )

[sovereignstar v2]

Game is unlocked like Icy said. Just noticed there is a cool retro 2006/2007-ish Skin included. And just as an FYI, anyone with Steam already has the 11.1 release day patch. Already one up on the pirates!

[sovereignstar v2]

Going to try to keep the 2nd post in this thread updated with what are the best add-ons in my opinion.

[DaddyTorgo]

FML...I was out at a business dinner...hoping that would be the case this year again.

Fuckin busy at work tomorrow unfortunately, but planning on playing all weekend.

HERE I GO!!!!

[Flasch186]

Originally Posted by sovereignstar v2

Going to try to keep the 2nd post in this thread updated with what are the best add-ons in my opinion.

AWESOME... I cant buy it right now though.

[JetsIn06]

Here we go! Playing now!

[DaddyTorgo]

Aaargh. I had a great right back I managed to get in the demo game for not huge amounts of money who was awesome. Come to find out now in the full version he's worth like 3mil more and his team won't sell him like at all!

[bhlloy]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

Aaargh. I had a great right back I managed to get in the demo game for not huge amounts of money who was awesome. Come to find out now in the full version he's worth like 3mil more and his team won't sell him like at all!

This is always the worst part of getting the full game... the guys who were absolute steals in the demo often aren't there anymore

I think the data team fixes a lot of stuff based off the demo feedback which makes sense but it still sucks when you have a good demo team going. I had a sick Newport County team on a good run, hopefully I can still get some of those guys in the full game. Loading up now...

[DaddyTorgo]

NICE!!!

I just signed 37 y/o Roberto Carlos for Juventus. Should give me a nice option at DL for this year on the cheap.

[DaddyTorgo]

holy shit. i just had a crash.

[DaddyTorgo]

ugh. fuck me. i hadn't made it a month so it hadn't auto-saved.

[MrBug708]

Hows the MLS?

Too soon?

[SirFozzie]

Hey all, could I get a couple folks to beta-test the re-created American Premier League? I just want a sanity check, it's mostly the same as the FM2010 version (three levels, 20, 20, 24 teams, a 64 team open cup tournament, and a SuperCup to start the season..

[sovereignstar v2]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

Hows the MLS?

nobody fucking plays the MLS!

[Jon]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

Hey all, could I get a couple folks to beta-test the re-created American Premier League? I just want a sanity check, it's mostly the same as the FM2010 version (three levels, 20, 20, 24 teams, a 64 team open cup tournament, and a SuperCup to start the season..

I'm up for beta testing it. Just tell me what to do.

[SirFozzie]

Download APL.xml

Put this in the editor data directory (for me it was Documents/Sports Interactive/Football Manager/editor data) and start a new game.Use this file instead of the Standard USA file. It starts in January 2010.

[bhlloy]

Might be small sample size but so far I've seen 3 terrible own goals where the keeper could have just picked the ball up but instead the defender slides in and hammers it into his own net.

Other than that, very impressed with the improvements in the match engine so far. This one just "feels" more like real soccer, more goals off balls across the area and headers from crosses rather than a million breakaways a game.

[DaddyTorgo]

grrrr....want to play...football manager.

i'm literally going to have a fucking weekend-long marathon session. minimal sleep and social activities - just FM

[bhlloy]

So I like that they fixed the exploit of getting a really good affiliate and the players listed for loan on that team would almost always accept a season long loan (you could get close to Premiership level young guys in the lower leagues for example) but I think they tweaked it a little too far.

There are scrub players on Swansea (Championship team) who are worth 10k and have no shot in hell of playing any part this season (or future seasons) that have no interest in coming for 3 months to play on my conference national Newport team. Right now having an affiliate seems almost pointless. I'm sure it's due to my reputation being lower than most other conference teams but realistically, a kid who is the 30th on the ladder at a Championship team is going to jump at an opportunity to play ever day in the conference.

[sovereignstar v2]

A new version of the Cut-Out Megapack was released last night (v3, same link as the old one up above). The bad news is that it's only available in two places right now - their premium server or File Factory, which is a free hosting site that makes you wait an hour between downloads. I paid 1 pound so I could download it from the premium server last night all at once. Else you'll have to download 8 massive chunks and it's going to take you most of the day to complete. They said they're going to upload the files to other free hosting sites, but they will not make a torrent this time around.

[GoldenEagle]

Does this year's game have 64 bit support?

[Icy]

I just finish to install 6Gb worth of graphical add ons (players faces, logos, kits, etc) and tweaked some things in the db, now is time to start to play.... if i can decide which league and then which team to manage, i always take a lot of time to decide, read in the wikipedia about the clubs, etc

I thought on starting in Spain, but the yellow cards limits bug is too big for me to ignore (players get a game ban after two yellow cards instead of 5), so i'm trying to decide if to go to England lower leagues as i usually do or to Italy where i have not coached since 09 i think.

Btw, some of the reported crashes seems to have something to be with old graphics packs, so it's recommended to save games often if you use them.

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by GoldenEagle

Does this year's game have 64 bit support?

I've run this version and 2010 fine on Vista 64.

[sovereignstar v2]

OMG I just noticed the custom views finally blend seamlessly between the first team and reserves/u18 teams, so you don't have to create them for each level. Also looks like you can set a view, check out your inbox or league table, then go back to your squad and the view will be remembered. This is a nice change that may or may not have been in the demo.

[GoldenEagle]

Originally Posted by Atocep

I've run this version and 2010 fine on Vista 64.

Yes, but it can take advantage of more than just 2 GB of memory?

[Big Fo]

I didn't pay much attention to what new features were mentioned over time until the game was released. The ability to readjust your season expectations (and the board changing your budget based on what you select) during the midseason transfer window is a nice addition.

I'm eight points ahead of Arsenal and Spurs with a game in hand, I suppose it'd be unrealistic if I didn't change my expectations from title contenders to league winners.

edit: When I changed my expectations, I thought I would get an extra £7m to play with (at the beginning of the season and on January 1, title contenders = £30m transfer budget and winners = £37m transfer budget). I was down to £3.5m so I figured it would move up to £10.5m or so. However, I now have £37m to spend as if I hadn't spent anything during the summer. Is this working as designed?

Blackpool have a chance to be historically bad on my game, six points after 20 matches with only seven goals scored and their goal differential (-37) is more than twice as bad as the second worst team.

[sovereignstar v2]

That doesn't sound right. I looked for stuff at the SI boards and found this -- £27m Transfer Budget From Nowhere - Is This A Bug? -- though no one in that thread is talking about adjusting expectations.

[sovereignstar v2]

Dola

I'd report that one in their bug forum, Big Fo. Just to make sure someone else can chime in (SI or not).

[BreizhManu]

Finishing my first season with Rennes in Ligue 1, so far I like the player's agent and the private discussions with the players, it gives them even more personality.

I've noticed odd though, so far 7 penalty kicks were awarded in the games i watched, and all were missed :s

[Marc Vaughan]

Originally Posted by bhlloy

I'm sure it's due to my reputation being lower than most other conference teams but realistically, a kid who is the 30th on the ladder at a Championship team is going to jump at an opportunity to play ever day in the conference.

Actually no they aren't - there's considerable stigma attached to dropping to play conference level football irl, the divisions above that are viewed as the 'professional' leagues with conference and below being seem as 'semi-pro'.

Few 'professional' players in the upper divisions will accept loans to play in the conference because they fear (1) if they do well it doesn't have much impact because of the perceived standard of the opposition, (2) if they do badly then they'll be percieved very poorly indeed, (3) fear at the lesser training facilities impeding their development, (4) fear that it shows they lack ambition.

If you have a 'link' to a Championship level club as a conference club then I'm afraid you're THEY'RE feeder club - don't expect to get many players from them coming down to you.

The ones who 'might' are those who aren't cutting it in their youths and about to 'bust out' of the club full-stop, ie. transfer listed, contract expiring within a year etc. - but again for the reasons mentioned above its likely they'll be hoping to land a place in a league one/two club (if they are willing to 'step down' it might help if you're 'local' to where they're based presently - ie. same town/area, players won't generally want both a step down in football quality AND having to relocate).

(if your link is to a league one/two club you should find it a little easier to persuade players to join you on loan - but again target the ones likely to leave their parent - if you look at Brighton irl you'll find we loan kids out to the conference level Sussex clubs normally the season or so before they 'bust out' ... I think its an effort on both clubs parts to find them a home and a way to continue their footballing careers)

PS - I wasn't involved in FM PC development this year, but this is what I'd presume with the games behaviour from my knowledge of real-life.

[DaddyTorgo]

Didn't get to play Friday night like I wanted.

About halfway through my first season with Juve. After some minor additions (Jo from Man City on loan, Roberto Carlos back from Brazil, Rafael from ManU on loan) I've managed to take Juve up to #1 in Serie A. Suffered bad injuries to Krasic and Pepe though, and De Ceglie/Giorgious Karagounis (who i brought in on loan also) (sp?) just aren't as great a backups as I would have liked, so I've slipped a bit in my last 3 matches and am now in 2nd (8 pts. behind Inter and 1 ahead of whoever's in 3rd - I forget).

[Big Fo]

I just had my most nervy game yet. I drew Barcelona in the first knockout round of the Champions League and was playing the first leg at their place. The first half was alright, they shaded it but my guys at least had some decent possession and created a chance or two. Early in the second half I went down to ten men and was under siege for the next forty minutes. Every couple of minutes they had another highlight (I watch only the key plays), it was just constant pressure. Every time we cleared the ball it went to Pique or Puyol and came right back at us. They hit the post twice, van der Sar made a number of great saves, and Vidic, and Fletcher were outstanding, constantly mopping up loose balls in the box with Villa and Messi ready to pounce. I couldn't believe when the final whistle blew and we'd gotten out of there with a 0-0 draw.

Hopefully we can keep eleven men on the field at Old Trafford.

Originally Posted by sovereignstar v2

Dola

I'd report that one in their bug forum, Big Fo. Just to make sure someone else can chime in (SI or not).

I went ahead and did this. It seems nobody else has noticed it so far, or at least nobody else in the bug reporting forum.

[DaddyTorgo]

Wooo!

3-0 victory over Catania (#4 team in Serie A). Opens up a 5pt gap between me and AC Milan (#3), and I'm 4pts back of Inter (top team), with both of the derby matches still to play.

Given they were down to 10 men for like the entire game.

[DaddyTorgo]

Nice. Just picked up a young kid (21) who has 3.5 star potential (and is 2.5 star now), D/WB/M/AM R for 2.1 million. Love me some bargin buys!

[EagleFan]

I finally got into the game enough to keep a dynasty going two versions ago. With that said, I loved last year's version even more and that pulled me away from the previous version (and thus the dynasty).

If I am enjoying last year's version enough and am not a major soccer enthusiast (I don't need to have all the players on their curent roster as I don't even know what their current roster would be anyway), is it worth it for me to get this year's version or am I better off staying with last year and maybe waiting for the next version to see what changes?

[sovereignstar v2]

Originally Posted by EagleFan

I finally got into the game enough to keep a dynasty going two versions ago. With that said, I loved last year's version even more and that pulled me away from the previous version (and thus the dynasty).

If I am enjoying last year's version enough and am not a major soccer enthusiast (I don't need to have all the players on their curent roster as I don't even know what their current roster would be anyway), is it worth it for me to get this year's version or am I better off staying with last year and maybe waiting for the next version to see what changes?

If you're still having fun with it, I'd hold off. There's nothing groundbreaking in this version, just some polishing and a few neat things here and there.

[Shepp]

Originally Posted by EagleFan

I finally got into the game enough to keep a dynasty going two versions ago. With that said, I loved last year's version even more and that pulled me away from the previous version (and thus the dynasty).

If I am enjoying last year's version enough and am not a major soccer enthusiast (I don't need to have all the players on their curent roster as I don't even know what their current roster would be anyway), is it worth it for me to get this year's version or am I better off staying with last year and maybe waiting for the next version to see what changes?

I would try the demo if I were you. I was going to skip out on this years version too but after I played the demo I changed my mind. I'm still loving my FM10 save so I'll probably hold off on 2011 until the final patch comes out at the end of February.

[Alan T]

Originally Posted by Shepp

I would try the demo if I were you. I was going to skip out on this years version too but after I played the demo I changed my mind. I'm still loving my FM10 save so I'll probably hold off on 2011 until the final patch comes out at the end of February.

I did the same. Wasn't going to buy this year, but liked the demo enough that I made the plunge.

[DaddyTorgo]

Nifty new feature - your assman will look thru your shortlist automatically and tell you when guys are 6 months away from expiring. So you don't need to worry about remembering or whatever.

[kingfc22]

Dumb question but I'm too lazy to look it up, but I'm sure the answer is no.

Can you import a FM10 saved game?

[Sweed]

Originally Posted by kingfc22

Dumb question but I'm too lazy to look it up, but I'm sure the answer is no.

Can you import a FM10 saved game?

No you cannot.

[DaddyTorgo]

Ugh - I just held Inter scoreless for 75 minutes and then lost via a screamer from Cambiasso from long range.

[aran]

I'm surprised this thread hasn't blown up. The new features look great and seem like they'd make the game significantly more immersive (which is crazy considering how immersive the game already is.)

[DaddyTorgo]

Maybe we're all too busy playing to post??

LOL

[Flasch186]

I cant buy it right now

[Big Fo]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

Maybe we're all too busy playing to post??

LOL

Starting on Thursday night, I'm about to finish a season. I haven't done much this weekend aside from play FM11 while watching a ton of college football, NFL, and soccer games. I went to a movie on Saturday, that's about it. Maybe a bit sad but at least the game is quite good.

[bulletsponge]

im waiting for the disk version

[DaddyTorgo]

Couple of great signings. Pipped Inter and Napoli for Mirel Radol to provide me with a third solid DC for $2.8mil

Pipped Barca and Real Madrid for Vinicius, a 17 year old Brazillian striker who lets set to develop into something solid, for $3.7mil.

And I've still got the guy coming in at the end of the year who finished 2nd in the Serie A Italian Player of the Year award (the midfielder).