Football Manager 2014 - Full Game Out Now!

[Radii]

Originally Posted by AnalBumCover

The big issue I have with this file is that the author who adapted this from FM12 added a level 9 division filled completely with Kentucky clubs (he's from Kentucky). This adaption was originally intended for his own personal use, but because there seemed to be a demand for a league like this, he released it as is.

yeah I just put myself in the 8th level and hope that I don't relegate to kentucky.

[EagleFan]

Originally Posted by Critch

Yeah, when you see a fixture list and it says "Bayern v Man Utd" (for example) if you click on the "v" it'll change to "attend" and you'll see the game play out when it happens. I think it'll only let you attend one game per day.

Sweet. Didn't know that.

[Abe Sargent]

Originally Posted by AnalBumCover

The big issue I have with this file is that the author who adapted this from FM12 added a level 9 division filled completely with Kentucky clubs (he's from Kentucky). This adaption was originally intended for his own personal use, but because there seemed to be a demand for a league like this, he released it as is.

is the West Virginia Chaos in it? From the USL PDL?

[fortheglory]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

What's the collective wisdom on playing MLS (unmodded) in FM 2014? Is it recognizable, stable, workable, long term career kind of thing? Or is the odd (by int'l standards) structure still problematic?

And, if it's as good as it can be gotten, is there actually much fun to be had in doing so? Is there enough "there" there for something that's engaging?

good question..I'd like to know this also.

[Radii]

Originally Posted by Abe Sargent

is the West Virginia Chaos in it? From the USL PDL?

They are in it, they're in here as a semi pro team in the "Colonial Preimer League" in what looks like the 4th tier (MLS #1, NASL #2, three USL leagues #3, then a few regional "Premier Leagues" #4

[JonInMiddleGA]

Okay, I downloaded the 9 level US mod from the link ... and have exactly zero clue what to do with it now.

I've got FM14 via Steam (if that matters).

Somebody wanna tell me like I'm stupid?

[Radii]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Okay, I downloaded the 9 level US mod from the link ... and have exactly zero clue what to do with it now.

I've got FM14 via Steam (if that matters).

Somebody wanna tell me like I'm stupid?

The file goes in:

C:\Users\.your user.\Documents\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2014\editor data


Start a new game. You should get something like this in your new game window:

http://i.imgur.com/2fwhJ5M.png

Select custom and click edit.

You should see a screen allowing you to select the USA Pyramid release, select it and confirm.

Then when you start your game the USA should have a ridiculously large number of players and then when you get to the section where you chose how many playable leagues there should be a large number of those too, plus I think a few new competitions.

[SirFozzie]

If you want an adjusted American League but not one that goes 9 levels, try this one...

Steam Workshop :: American Premier League 0.1

It's made by yours truly

[AnalBumCover]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

If you want an adjusted American League but not one that goes 9 levels, try this one...

Steam Workshop :: American Premier League 0.1

It's made by yours truly

Nice. I know you've been working on this this in previous FM versions. I'm going to give this a try.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Radii

The file goes in:

C:\Users\.your user.\Documents\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2014\editor data ...

Thanks, seems to have worked.

I've taken over the Georgia Revolution (based in Conyers, GA)

As many teams as this mod adds I was almost surprised that Athens United didn't show up

[aran]

I've gotten into FM14 after not spending more than 10 hours in an FM game since 2010 I think. It's been a lot of fun so far, and a little frustrating at times.

I started an experimental Saarbrucken career to try to custom-forge some tactics based on a team. It didn't work very well. I don't know how to deal with having a bad defense. I tend to like to play a countering game, which kind of requires your defenders be at least passable...

Is there any place I can get tactical feedback from my coaches? I hired much better coaches in that game than I have in my primary save (playing as Oxford United and won League 2 first season with crappy coaches and a countering 4-4-2 whose key player for its best run was a DL converted to ML who I picked up on a free and is at 5 star potential and 4 1/2 actual at the age of 18), but I can't find a way to get tactical analysis. I thought I saw something that gave me feedback in my Oxford game--feedback like "Ward seems uncomfortable with the low tempo of our play". I go back to the match screen that I thought showed this and I don't see ANY tactical feedback, even though I know my tactic does have some weaknesses and my coaches should be good enough to pick them up.

I'm also not sure what is "safe" in terms of trying to dump players. I had some expensive players who were way overpaid when I started in Saarbrucken but I lived in fear of releasing them because I was under the impression that non-mutual termination would hurt just as bad as paying their wages for the year. Unfortunately this straitjacketed me to pretty poor team composition and it was pretty frustrating.

[Blackadar]

Originally Posted by aran

I've gotten into FM14 after not spending more than 10 hours in an FM game since 2010 I think. It's been a lot of fun so far, and a little frustrating at times.

I started an experimental Saarbrucken career to try to custom-forge some tactics based on a team. It didn't work very well. I don't know how to deal with having a bad defense. I tend to like to play a countering game, which kind of requires your defenders be at least passable...

Is there any place I can get tactical feedback from my coaches? I hired much better coaches in that game than I have in my primary save (playing as Oxford United and won League 2 first season with crappy coaches and a countering 4-4-2 whose key player for its best run was a DL converted to ML who I picked up on a free and is at 5 star potential and 4 1/2 actual at the age of 18), but I can't find a way to get tactical analysis. I thought I saw something that gave me feedback in my Oxford game--feedback like "Ward seems uncomfortable with the low tempo of our play". I go back to the match screen that I thought showed this and I don't see ANY tactical feedback, even though I know my tactic does have some weaknesses and my coaches should be good enough to pick them up.

I'm also not sure what is "safe" in terms of trying to dump players. I had some expensive players who were way overpaid when I started in Saarbrucken but I lived in fear of releasing them because I was under the impression that non-mutual termination would hurt just as bad as paying their wages for the year. Unfortunately this straitjacketed me to pretty poor team composition and it was pretty frustrating.

This has always been one of my biggest frustrations in the FM series. There's data there, but I don't know if it's valuable (much of it doesn't seem to be) and I truthfully don't know how to analyze it to make the appropriate adjustments. I've always thought it's a failure of the game in that it doesn't help / teach you how to analyze the information presented in the match screen in order to make the correct changes. I can't really do it well even after reading some of the 100+ page independent guides out there. I don't know what it means that my left fullback made 20 passes with an 80% success rate while my right fullback made only 4 passes. Is that because the opponents are bringing the ball down the left side? Or are we swinging it that way once we gain possession and attacking up the left side? I've never gotten that part of the game down.

Hence I tend to buy last years' version, download a good tactic and then find players who I believe can execute that tactic. From there on, I don't deviate much. Yes, if the wind is in our fact I'll pass to foot more and things like that, but as far as digesting the stats to determine what changes to make, I'm usually very lost and therefore tend to go by gut feelings.

[QuikSand]

I'm sure this mini-rant is as old as the hills. Alas.

I'm playing the handheld version of FM14, like many for the first time in a while.

I am indeed feeling the usual pull of the game. I like roster-building, and I like taking a small club and developing them upwards. I'm five seasons in with Havant & Waterlooville and we have promoted once and are a major player in the Skrill Premier league now. Okay, that's the usual path.

Okay, the rant.

I am not doing a damned thing. I installed a basic tactic (I am not knowledgeable enough to do anything custom myself) and in short order my "bravely battling" side started scoring like hot monkeys. I signed a few free transfers in and several quickly became league stars, I regularly have 3-5 of the top ten "average ratings" guys in my league now. All for...what? Playing a guy with ratings of 8-14 instead of a guy with ratings of 5-10, it seems.

Another thing... some of the in-game metrics are just frustrating. My starting striker has pretty decent scouted ratings, and for two straight seasons he's a runaway leader in scoring and two time Player of the Year in the Skrill Premier League. So, when his contract comes due, he wants a bump from E300/wk to... E400? Really? I have guys who can barely hold a rotation spot who insist on E800 or more, others who won't even consider my max contract offers... but my runaway best player is universally seen as a humble loser? Shouldn't the results on the pitch factor in at least a little bit at some point?

And... of course there are the massive and seemingly uncontrollable swings of great and terrible luck, with effectively the same roster. I try to follow morale, but it's just weird to see a side that is near the top of the table go through a 0-3-7 stretch with nearly every match being out of hand against us.

And the tipsters are intriguing too... kinds fun to see my side indicated as longshots when we are in great form, sitting at 4th on the league table late in the season, and playing against another side who is sitting in 15th place. They come to visit us and they are the heavy favorites? Really?

If I were to don my tinfoil hat a minute, I'd think all this was consistent with a bunch of under-the-hood hooey designed to keep the game interesting. My human-controlled team starts playing well so I don't get depressed, the game just randomly starts assigning some sort of sine-wave pattern of outcomes, and the games played under the hood bear no connection to those played out on my screen. But I'm not going to go there, really.

Anyway... it's a fun game, totally worth the investment of money and time. I just had my top tier of players wiped out by big club raids (including the aforementioned striker, someone finally decided he was worth something, wow), so I don't know whether I will continue or just walk away. But five seasons of mobile and airplane-friendly entertainment is definitely more than I have a right to expect for 5 bucks or whatever it cost.

[aran]

A lot of weird team chemistry stuff seems to happen. Also, small things like changing someone's role in the tactic can make a huge difference. You have eleven guys on the pitch, and if one of them can't pass and finds himself with the ball a little too often, you've got a possession problem. There are so many variables to take into account with club performance, it's incredibly daunting. That's why I think so many FM players eliminate variables by, for instance, downloading tactics or wonderkid guides.

It's amazing what a little bit more attention in certain parts of the game can do, though. I added crossing and finishing to my "opponent instructions" pre-game screen and made marking and closing down decisions based no who are the most threatening. Seems to have improved my oxford side's defense a bit and swung us back to winning regularly.

I also changed my Deep Lying Forward's role from support over to attacking and that seems to have improved his performance quite a bit. I stopped "exploiting the left flank" after my star ML stopped producing ridiculously good results and things seemed to get better.

I also wasn't rotating my squad enough, which led to two of my best players slowly becoming tired and jaded, which would explain why team performance slumped. Putting those two players on 3 week leave actually seemed to improve team performance. Then when they came back at the end of the season those two quality players started performing better, and the team seemed to as a whole be operating more efficiently.

It's hard to say with any certainty what causes what, but as I integrate more aspects of the game into my strategizing, I'm finding my results are improving. There's still a lot of chaos, but I feel like I have some kind of handle on it, whereas before I felt lost when I was in a period of poor form.

[digamma]

So I have gotten back into the full version of FM14. I have not gotten into the Handheld version, despite, I think buying three versions.

In the full version, I'm finding 14 considerably more difficult than earlier versions, at least at the outset. I started unemployed and was hired by Eastleigh 10 games into their season. I took them from 3rd in the league to 12th in the next 10-15 games and was sacked before the end of the season. Now I'm back on the unemployment line and getting laughed at when I submit my resume. In spite of that, it is actually good times.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by digamma

So I have gotten back into the full version of FM14. I have not gotten into the Handheld version, despite, I think buying three versions.

In the full version, I'm finding 14 considerably more difficult than earlier versions, at least at the outset. I started unemployed and was hired by Eastleigh 10 games into their season. I took them from 3rd in the league to 12th in the next 10-15 games and was sacked before the end of the season. Now I'm back on the unemployment line and getting laughed at when I submit my resume. In spite of that, it is actually good times.

I found that the previous experience that you set up when you create a coach has a profound effect on how easy/difficult it is to get a job early on. If you select no experience or Sunday player, you don't have much of a chance if you lose a job early. Select one with more experience and you can start at a higher level and have much more leeway. It took me three careers to figure this out. It's a great way to provide a challenge if you are someone who likes to start unemployed.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

dola

Just upgraded to a laptop with 1080p display. AMAZING difference in how much information is displayed and in the 3D game display. Glad I picked up a new computer.

[aran]

Found tactical feedback for players! You can find it through the recent form part of the player page:

[DaddyTorgo]

Holy crapballs.

Still plugging away in my first Arsenal season. Make it through to the semis of the Champions League, along with: PSG, Real Madrid, and Udinese.

Obviously I hope to draw Udinese for a path to the finals.
No dice. I get Ronaldo.

First leg - AWAY at the Bernabeau.

No Ribery (cup tied to Bayern). No Ozil or Jack Wilshire (they vitally needed a rest, match fitness in the low 80s because I had needed to keep playing them due to an injury to Bernard in order to try to catch Chelsea in the league). Fortunately Bernard was back to being healthy (just barely).

Arsenal 2 (Cazorla '23, Mitrovic '30 (p) - Real Madrid ZERO!!
They had 2 shots on target, one by Ronaldo and one by Benzema.

Holy fuck does that ratchet up the tension about 1000 degrees.

2nd Leg, at the Emirates.

Bookings aplenty - 3 yellows for each side. Gareth Bale goes down with an injury in the 45th minute. We play our usual match for the first half and don't start playing more defense until around an hour in. Madrid muster 17 shots, only 3 of which are on target. 2 by Benzema, 1 by Isco. NONE by Ronaldo.

Game finishes 0-0.

We're moving on to the Champions League final at the Millennium Stadium to face...(drumroll please)...PSG.

[Alan T]

I had a pretty fun way to win the Champions League as Arsenal in my past season. Somehow Galatasaray made it to the finals vs me, they beat Manchester City in the semi finals while I had to get past Bayern.

I ended up winning the finals 4-0 in perhaps my easiest title yet. Galatasaray didn't even make it to the group rounds this season, getting eliminated in the best placed playoffs.

[vex]

Originally Posted by aran

Found tactical feedback for players! You can find it through the recent form part of the player page:

Thanks, I stumbled upon that once and hadn't been able to find it since.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by Alan T

I had a pretty fun way to win the Champions League as Arsenal in my past season. Somehow Galatasaray made it to the finals vs me, they beat Manchester City in the semi finals while I had to get past Bayern.

I ended up winning the finals 4-0 in perhaps my easiest title yet. Galatasaray didn't even make it to the group rounds this season, getting eliminated in the best placed playoffs.

Haha - nice!!!

[Coffee Warlord]

Playing the last match of the season tonight.

Win, we promote to the Premier League. Go Port Vale!

[Arles]

I made the mistake of having no coaches with over a "7" for tactical knowledge (most in the 1-3 area) on my Skrill Premier Lincoln team. It means most area greyed out for opposition advice and the ones I can ask advise only to tight mark the opposing striker. So, essentially, I am forced to scout and setup instructions each game (bleh). I will be replacing my assistant with a 10+ for tactical knowledge in the offseason

[Scoobz0202]

10 games to go in my Chelsea save. 5 point lead in the premier, just beat Juventus 5-1 in the first leg of the first knockout in the Champions Cup @ Juventus. In that match, though, lost Eden Hazard for 5-6 months with a broken leg on a harsh tackle by Lichtsteiner where he received a red card.

2013/14 English Player of the Year, Supporters Player of the Year, and 3rd in Best Player in Europe.

13/14 - 35 apps, 13 gls, 15 assists, 7 PoM, 7.48 Rating
14/15 (So Far) - 25 apps, 13 gls, 15 assists, 9 PoM, 7.68 Rating

The end of the year just got a little bit more interesting.

Side note - In FM can a injury that serious have serious changes to a players ratings?

[bhlloy]

Yeah, from my experience that will hurt a bunch of his ratings because he obviously won't be training during that time. I don't think it should be permanent enough that it hits his PA (although somebody might correct me on that) but it's certainly enough that he will have to work to get back to the level he was at before

[flere-imsaho]

A serious injury will affect ratings temporarily simply because he's not training. He'll also need recovery time to get back to match fitness (more than, say, pre-season training), so plan for that.

A serious injury also can affect ratings permanently, in the sense that either his "ceiling" may come down (mainly for a younger player) or those ratings simply won't go back to where they were, pre-injury (mainly for an older player). But that's can, not will.

Thus, it's good to keep an eye on his recovery, especially if he's going to want a new contract in 1-2 years.

[Coffee Warlord]

Just get your players hooked on painkillers. They'll never get injured.

[Coffee Warlord]

Ha! First friendly of the season, Sparta Prague comes to visit us.

And they set off a flare in my stadium.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Playing with the 9-level U.S. mod (8 levels active, I didn't want to coach in the Kentucky HS ranks). A glitch or two here and there but this is really a different experience than I've had with FM before.

I'm not entirely sure how realistic an experience it is -- I mean, are the 5th/6th tier clubs really rolling with 15/16 year olds as regular starters against players sometimes ten years older than that? -- but it's definitely interesting.

First time I've ever been told that 2 hours away was too expensive to travel for a friendly.

First time I've ever had Reserves that basically existed in name only. Stamina and fitness are so bad that we have to be more than two deep at every position to come close to handling multi-week stretches of 2 matches per week.

First time I've ever had half the roster be on p/a deals instead of an actual contract ... which brings me to a question:

Board gives you a salary budget and staying under that has some value in terms of your job performance. It's comically easy to stay under it when at least half your top 22 players will only agree to non-contract terms as per appearance guys. Obviously those costs affect the final bottom line but it feels like this is sort of easy to abuse. Shouldn't those dollars come out of your transfer budget or something? I mean, if it can do the math to adjust your salary limits when you raise/lower your transfer budget then it seems like it could do some math to adjust the salary limit as you spend money on those p.a. guys.

[flere-imsaho]

Jon - I've definitely had those limitations when I've managed very small teams in the lower leagues of European nations like Wales, N.I., Norway, etc.... So it's not unique to the customized database.

On the non-contract, per-appearance guys. While it can be easy to abuse, you also have 0 protection if someone else wants to poach them, which is the real drawback. It can be a serious limiting factor to progression unless you can find a way to increase the team's revenues enough. It ends up being a tightrope between being able to keep your good players long enough to advance before they get poached, and not over-reaching on salary for those you get on "real" contracts should your revenue shrink again.

[Radii]

I promoted out of level 8 of the NA league system in my first season, I finished 5th (top team promotes, 2nd-5th playoff for a 2nd promotion spot) and got hot at the right time. I think the amateur aspect of it has let me get into it a bit easier, I felt a little less obligated to spend tons of hours scouring transfer markets to try to upgrade the team. Instead my options were pretty limited and I got into playing easily.


I'm moving up the "Atlantic Coast Amateur League". Looking at the previous season, there were 19 amateur teams and 1 semi-pro team... the semi-pro team went 28-0-0 with a +68 goal differential. I assume that's an error in the league file, but whatever, they're gone now.

For now I'm poaching a couple of the best players from the league I just left. Seems like its still a very very long road to becoming even semi-pro.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Radii

'm moving up the "Atlantic Coast Amateur League". Looking at the previous season, there were 19 amateur teams and 1 semi-pro team... the semi-pro team went 28-0-0 with a +68 goal differential.

There are actually several clubs in the lower that are undefeated in mine through August 1st (give or take approaching 20 games without a loss). Every single one is some sort of "Academy', such as IMG Academy, Bradenton Academy, Match Fit, etc. Their players are about 2 levels higher than what they ought to be, presumably in real life / real structure they'd be damned good like this but would have players age out of the program AND not be promoting anywhere.Among the things I'm curious to see is how long they remain dominant as they move up the ladder.

[PilotMan]

Originally Posted by flere-imsaho

On the non-contract, per-appearance guys. While it can be easy to abuse, you also have 0 protection if someone else wants to poach them, which is the real drawback. It can be a serious limiting factor to progression unless you can find a way to increase the team's revenues enough. It ends up being a tightrope between being able to keep your good players long enough to advance before they get poached, and not over-reaching on salary for those you get on "real" contracts should your revenue shrink again.

This is exactly the experience that I've had coaching in NI. Virtually no money to improve the team unless you can grab a top 3 spot or win the All-Ireland Cup to get the Euro or Champions Cup spots. Top teams stay on top, pool is very small.

[AnalBumCover]

I'm editing the 9 level USA league to remove the bottom Kentucky level. I just don't like the fact that it's so heavy in one state. It's quite an task because they guy who created this file added all those KY clubs in a few major cup events. I'll also edit some other clubs to make their statuses make sense with the level of play they are in.

The biggest obstacle I'm running into right now is that the top division, MLS, is the hard coded league and I want to replace that with a fictional, more customizable league. But when I move the teams from MLS to the created competition, the teams revert back to MLS every time I test the file. Any suggestions?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Down to the home stretch of my first season with the 9L USA mod, trying to make the playoffs in the Atl Coast Premier League. We're playing well, I've found a trio of young strikers that are clicking well, feels like they're getting better every match with just 4 left to play. Sitting in 4th place, just 1 point out of 2nd (first is 21 points ahead of the field). I just beat the previous 4th place team to jump past them in the standings and then this 48 hour sequence

ST #1 - my leading scorer ... out 4 weeks twisted knee in the win

ST #3 - my hottest new find 3rd in goals in less than half season ... broke down in training, sports hernia out 6-7 weeks

AMC/MC #1 - leads my midfield, the ONLY true MC on the entire roster ... yellow card limit, one match suspension

Ass't Manager - considering an offer from another club (one of those unbeaten superpowers down below) ... I only have 2 coaches on the senior squad

Our next match?
Against the league leaders who are 19-4-1 so far this season.

#FML

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

I just beat the previous 4th place team to jump past them in the standings and then this 48 hour sequence

ST #1 - my leading scorer ... out 4 weeks twisted knee in the win

ST #3 - my hottest new find 3rd in goals in less than half season ... broke down in training, sports hernia out 6-7 weeks

AMC/MC #1 - leads my midfield, the ONLY true MC on the entire roster ... yellow card limit, one match suspension

Ass't Manager - considering an offer from another club (one of those unbeaten superpowers down below) ... I only have 2 coaches on the senior squad

Our next match?
Against the league leaders who are 19-4-1 so far this season.

#FML

Naturally we won the match 3-0

Played a 5-3-2 for the first time all season, I guess they weren't ready for that.

Watching that play out was a LOT of fun.

[Easy Mac]

Originally Posted by AnalBumCover

I'm editing the 9 level USA league to remove the bottom Kentucky level. I just don't like the fact that it's so heavy in one state. It's quite an task because they guy who created this file added all those KY clubs in a few major cup events. I'll also edit some other clubs to make their statuses make sense with the level of play they are in.

The biggest obstacle I'm running into right now is that the top division, MLS, is the hard coded league and I want to replace that with a fictional, more customizable league. But when I move the teams from MLS to the created competition, the teams revert back to MLS every time I test the file. Any suggestions?

You just need to create a new top level in the u.s. and tell it what teams go in the league.

[AnalBumCover]

Originally Posted by Easy Mac

You just need to create a new top level in the u.s. and tell it what teams go in the league.

That's what I had been doing. It's just that when I ran the "Test Competition" it reverted the teams back to MLS.

Anyways, it turns out I just had to save the file, close out of the program and reload it. This morning everything worked out.

[fortheglory]

How is the regular MLS in this version?

[Radii]

So my USA level 7 Amateur team(the one just promoted from level 8) got some youth players in on trial at the start of my new season. I liked some of them and signed them as Youth prospects. Since we're an amateur team I didn't even pay attention to anything, just did it.

Now I'm listed as a semi-pro team, I never saw a notice about the change from amateur to semi-pro, and all of those youth contracts are worth $70/week. All my starters are still amateurs though.

The finances screen now tells me I have a budget of $2,090/week, and I'm spending $837/week. But at the Feb 1 update (offseason starts Jan 1 here) the board tells me that my management of finances is horrible and we're leaking money and that's going to become a problem.

WTF happened? Did I force the team to go semi-pro by accident? I'm not even certain the youth thing is when the amateur-semipro shift happened.

[AnalBumCover]

I've edited the level 9 fantasy usa database and removed the Kentucky clubs. So the new database is 8 levels deep.

I've also cleaned up database so that the clubs at the higher levels are all professional, bottom clubs are amateur, and those in the middle are semi-pro.

This should be a workable database. I've only tested it one season. Please let me know if you run in to any problems or have any other suggestions to enhance the database.

Here's the link to the file.

USA Pyramid Level 8 ver 1.0

[britrock88]

Damn, I just finished doing the same yesterday, ABC. But thanks on behalf of everyone else!

On this topic, are you guys filling the rosters if you're playing 8 levels deep? I'm in the Appalachian Premier League (hey, Radii ) with greyed-out players, my scout can't find any recommendations, and it appears that this is the case all the way up to the USL levels (3-4).

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by britrock88

On this topic, are you guys filling the rosters if you're playing 8 levels deep? I'm in the Appalachian Premier League (hey, Radii ) with greyed-out players, my scout can't find any recommendations, and it appears that this is the case all the way up to the USL levels (3-4).

Hey, we're in the same league

If you mean that setting about filling rosters that you choose during new game set-up then yeah, i'm pretty sure I chose that.

Finding players hasn't been nearly as challenging as finding any that were willing to move to Conyers, GA and play for the Revolution.

[PilotMan]

It's too bad we really can't get a mp league going using this mod. How interesting would a bunch of LL managers in podunk towns, all going after the same kids make it?

[vex]

I would sign up for that.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Question, based on the U.S. 9 level mod & based on the fact that I haven't played with a modded FM universe in years (if at all, honestly I don't remember)

I've completed one season at like level, umm, 6. Players were predictably bad, but I managed to scrap my way to a third place finish. Several, heck, most of my productive players were teenagers. Basically 3.5 to 5.0 yellows for this level per my really bad Scout (He was like a 7 current / 9 potential).

Off season I luck into a great new 16/16 scout.

I assume that means he'll give me a much more accurate view of my existing players, so I'm not surprised when I see lower ratings for a lot of players.

What surprises me - and what I'm asking about it - is the enormous amount of talent that came from my youth pull and even from "grey" players that the game generated to fill out my Reserves roster for the first friendly of the season.

Based on Mr. 16/16 assessment, I believe my starting eleven would have 4-5 players that aren't just young, they're like 14-15 years old. They're rated even more strongly than last year's kids were by the old scout but meanwhile several of my very productive kids last year are now rated about half what they were. More importantly they're playing in the preseason friendlies like their new ratings, guys who couldn't miss suddenly can't get without 10 yards of the goal with a shot.

It's almost as though the scout view is dictating the ability & performance instead of simply being a more/less accurate view of what they really are ... but that's not possible, right?

[EagleFan]

Are these new players? Could make sense if assuming that a better scout would see and bring in better players.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by EagleFan

Are these new players? Could make sense if assuming that a better scout would see and bring in better players.

Youth pull occurred before that scout was hired (I literally found him days later, my guess is that he's a regen of an uberscout or something). He was Obscure, so I snatched him up for three years at $25/wk. Prior to him the highest rated scout even willing to discuss terms with my minnow had a current ability of 9.

What's making this hard for me to get my head around is a lack of experience with mods & such, I don't know if that has anything to do with things or not (afaik the mod only touched league structure, players are generated the same way as always ... right?)

From that group, according to my scout at least, I got
4.5/5.0 players at DR, AMC and ST, a 4.0/5 DL and MC. All 14 y/o.

That's with poor youth facilities, basic junior coaching and basic youth recruitment.

And yes, I'm looking at them in the context of the senior squad, not the U18s.

Meanwhile, several young players (15-17 y/o) who were rated 3.5 to 5.0 for Ability last year by the previous scout are now 1.5 to 2.5, or in a case or two have dropped from 2.5 yellow to 3.0 blue. And they've played like ass in friendlies after being solid starters to outright stars last season.

Similar trends, not as extreme as far as I can tell, exist with other clubs in the league that I've looked at.

It just feels ... broken.

[Radii]

Originally Posted by AnalBumCover

I've edited the level 9 fantasy usa database and removed the Kentucky clubs. So the new database is 8 levels deep.

Awesome! Thanks. Since I seem to have fucked up my team in my first run, I'm downloading this and starting over. I edited the High Point team in the Appalachain league to once again reside in Wake Forest and edited their stadium, but no changes past that.

Originally Posted by britrock88

On this topic, are you guys filling the rosters if you're playing 8 levels deep?

Yep, I did.