Alright boyz, here we go! FM 2010 first impressions thread

[sovereignstar]

BAD NEWS: My 'System 3D Rating' (preferences->display options) is 1 out of 5 stars. Didn't think the 8600M GT was *that* bad.

GOOD NEWS: I have a new Dell Studio XPS 1645 due to arrive late Oct/early Nov and it's got a better video card

[DaddyTorgo]

backroom advice = awesome
dark skin = much easier to see attributes. less eye-strain

[Flasch186]

I feel like Im learning to swim again in the biggest pool ever and you, Marc, decided it'd be a good learning experience to drop me from a chopper in the middle...

thanks, asshole

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by sovereignstar

BAD NEWS: My 'System 3D Rating' (preferences->display options) is 1 out of 5 stars. Didn't think the 8600M GT was *that* bad.

GOOD NEWS: I have a new Dell Studio XPS 1645 due to arrive late Oct/early Nov and it's got a better video card

mine is 1 of 5 too...lol

[Sweed]

The new gui will take a little getting used to but really like it. Did a quick start in England with Liverpool and took the assman's suggestion to play the reserves in a friendly as it was the quickest way to see a match.

I too have the 1 star 3d rating (nvidia 9400 GT) but the game ran smoothly and looked better than 09. Used the elevated view in 09 but am switching to the sideline view for 2010.

Played around a little with the tactics wizard and touchline shouts. I really like when you click on a player to input player instructions that his attributes are now shown on the tactic screen with positions specific attributes highlighted, very nice.

Only used the default light skin. Pretty used to those with OOTP and FM08 and 09 the last couple of years. Doesn't really bother my eyes but I'll take a look at the dark after reading DT's post.

I've noticed an improvement in the speed of the gui when I make a click. No lag or having to click twice to get a selection to register. Wasn't a big problem in 09 but it was there. 2010 seems to have cured it on my rig.

[RainMaker]

For someone totally oblivious to this game, does it have a universe of real leagues setup already? All the leagues in the world, maybe national teams and their tournaments, etc? I'd love a game like that but am not knowledgeable enough to set that up on my own.

[cartman]

I have an nVidia 8800GTS and am getting 5 stars.

[Big Fo]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

For someone totally oblivious to this game, does it have a universe of real leagues setup already? All the leagues in the world, maybe national teams and their tournaments, etc? I'd love a game like that but am not knowledgeable enough to set that up on my own.

You pick what leagues you want in your universe. Unless you have a supercomputer or a ton of patience you probably want to pick and choose.

Usually I'll go with anywhere from four to ten leagues. You just check a box, you don't have to setup any teams or leagues, this isn't OOTP. All national teams and continental tournaments and the World Cup and stuff like that is in no matter what.

[RainMaker]

Full WC qualifying too? Not just the later rounds?

Sounds pretty good.

[Cringer]

I have pretty much decided I am passing on FM games until there is a native Linux version. That probably means forever or close to it unfortunately.

[Groundhog]

Man, I wish I knew enough about soccer to enjoy this game.

[Shepp]

The Tactics Wizard is going to take some getting used to but I think its an improvment.

The match engine also seems to run smoother. I also like the little things like fans in the stands and weather affects.

My main gripes so far are the press conference selections are either not working right or just not intuitive. I played a match where an oppostion player had a bad game and I was asked how I felt about it. I selected "It helped us but no one likes to see someone stuggle" or something to that effect. The email result said that the player was upset because of my negative response. Seeing that some of the other responses were how happy I was to see him fail I thought I picked the least negative one.

I'm also seeing a holdover bug from FM09. During the half time team talk I don't have an option to change the Oppostion Instructions unless I make a tactics change. I can go in and change it once play resumes but it still kind of a pain.

Overall though I like what I'm seeing and I'll probably preorder this weekend.

[ArlingtonColt]

Groundhog, that was some of the fun for me my first year (98?) you learn pretty quickly and it is well worth it to play the best text sim out there.

[Toddzilla]

Originally Posted by Groundhog

Man, I wish I knew enough about soccer to enjoy this game.

That's what I thought, too, but after a few weeks, you'll know plenty enough to really really enjoy the game. FM isn't the best text sim, it is far-and-away the best text sim. Trust us.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by Groundhog

Man, I wish I knew enough about soccer to enjoy this game.

This game taught me about soccer again. I've skipped the last 2 years, but it's time for me to dive back in.

[DaddyTorgo]

I did nothing else last night other than play the demo.

I'm still getting used to the new GUI.

I haven't really played with the full tactics-wizard yet, i just picked the 4-1-2-1-2 suggested by one of my coaches and tweaked the roles of a few players, but I thought the process of tweaking those things was very intuitive, and I at least thought I could see the changes that I made reflected on the pitch. It definately does "feel" a lot less like "slider management" and a lot more like "pick the role and the orientation that maximizes this guy's talents or fits within the team structure," which is what it ought to be.

Tonight I'll try the full tactics builder and building something from scratch.

Lots of new media options are good - assman suggestions are great, as are all the buttons on those suggestions to have them implemented without having to go to whatever screen and do it yourself.

Press conferences do seem to have gotten a nice revamp, at least the couple that I did. I also noticed some new team-talk options, particularly for friendly matches, that I liked.

Match-engine looks good - I defiantely saw a bunch of little animations and such that I hadn't seen before, and there seems to be less "herky-jerky"ness.

Will be buried in it again tonight.

[Flasch186]

drowning in it

[DaddyTorgo]

felt like christmas last night between this and the fact that i managed to click "purchase" on nba2k10 and Civ IV while the demo was downloading.

[DaddyTorgo]

apparently the "special steam skin" is going to be a "similar to FM09 skin" i see on the SI forum (unconfirmed)

[DaddyTorgo]

i'm actually DLing onto my work computer because I assume I'll get 5-star graphics, and I want to see just how good it can look. haha

[Qwikshot]

I so will be purchasing it...but I won't download the demo.

[Qwikshot]

dola:

I look forward to all the dynasties that come from this.

[path12]

Did not like the dark skin myself.

There is a lot of improvement in the GUI though -- the whole interface seems more intuitive than it has before. Love the fact that your assistants can recommend something and you just click to have them implement it.

Just played two matches so didn't get too much chance to play around with the new tactics but overall seems easier.

I was going to skip this year. Now on the fence. It strikes me that some of what I was thinking of FM burnout might have been just fatigue at wrestling with the interface.....

[DaddyTorgo]

i guess the attribute colors are easily moddable in the XML files anyways, so that's fine

[DaddyTorgo]

downloaded here at work. looking forward to checking out a match at a higher graphics-level

[Marc Vaughan]

A couple of people have asked about how 'full' simulations the competitions in the game are ...

We try and simulate things as accurately as possible - but generally 'start' the simulation at the earliest round which can directly affect the simulated environment.

For example in England the FA Cup is open to ANY affiliated club in the country, from very very very small town sides upwards.

The game simulates things from the point at which clubs involved in the simulation can start (Second Qualifying round). In real-life 762 clubs contested the FA Cup last year and many of the minnow clubs are far below the level simulated in the game (being wholly amateur teams) and if we simmed the earlier rounds it'd slow the game down hugely without adding much to the simulation at all really.

We DO however have most of the 762 clubs present in the Cup in the database and we do select those who qualify for the simulated rounds as realistically as possible bearing in mind their state in the game at that point.

In case you're interested the rounds missed from simulation for the FA Cup are:

First Qualifying Round
Preliminary Round
Extra Preliminary Round

Incidentally my old hometown of Royston (pop. approx 8,000 people) plays in the FA Cup, this year they did pretty well making it to the 'First qualifying round':

Extra Prelim - Stansted 2 - 5 Royston Town16/08/2009at Bishop's Stortford FC
Prelim Rnd - Hoddesdon Town 0 - 1 Royston Town28/08/2009at Hertford Town FC
First Qual - Flackwell Heath 2 - 1 Royston Town12/09/2009

(ok enough rambling )

[Big Fo]

Midway through October and I haven't felt the need to mess with a slider yet. I've only gone into the advanced settings to make it so I don't have so many guys forward when defending corners, I really like the new tactics creator and player roles system.

[watravaler]

Problem:

Just downloaded the demo, and when the download was completed, I hit open file, and my CPU asked me to choose a program to open the file. I've never had to choose before, for any demo/game download, so what type of file is this? And what "program" do I need. Again, it's simply the file (Setup_FM2010_Vanilla_Demo) you get right after the initial demo is downloaded, and for some reason it isn't associated with anything. Thanks in advance...

EDIT: Nevermind, I simply added .exe to the file name and now it's working.

[sovereignstar]

Just my opinion, but..

1. I think we should try to keep all FM-related talk in this thread, going as far as renaming this thread to the typical 'Alright Boyz etc.' when the demo being out is no longer relevant. Really don't think a new thread needs to be started when someone gets a UPS tracking number or their Steam download is 69% done.

2. Let's put the soccer gaming forum to sleep for good (even if we can't physically)

[sovereignstar]

Originally Posted by Big Fo

Midway through October and I haven't felt the need to mess with a slider yet. I've only gone into the advanced settings to make it so I don't have so many guys forward when defending corners, I really like the new tactics creator and player roles system.

Last night I quickly developed a hunch that the default tactics will be much more of a safe bet than they used to be.

[lighthousekeeper]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

dark skin = much easier to see attributes. less eye-strain

that's what she said

[aran]

Getting acquainted with the demo has impressed me with the quality improvements to the interface. It feels much smoother and easier to use. (I'm using the dark skin.)

I love being able to implement backroom staff's ideas in one click. Also, lots of relevant information is displayed on screen at the right time. I don't have to click around as much as I felt I had to in the past. That's awesome.

[DaddyTorgo]

i went on a buying-spree last night of guys who were transfer listed. mostly crap, but it was still fun to bring a bunch of guys in - particularly Riquelme to Juventus.

I also loaned in for the season a couple guys, so that's definately working well as intended too.

Can't wait to get my hands on this game!

[DaddyTorgo]

oh, and filtering by contract status is hugely improved...you can now actually search for guys in the last 6-12 months, or who are just youth players, or any of the MLS designations...

[DaddyTorgo]

one thing i'd like to see added is filtering by "squad status" so if i only wanted to see guys who were backups (and presumably less expensive) on other teams I could do that, or if i only wanted to try to poach another team's starters i could.

[Icy]

I just started a game with R.Madrid, as usually once the game is released i play with low division teams, so i wanted to feel what is to manage a big club.

- I prefer the dark interface, never been a fan of light ones. It's a good design, not fancy but functional, i would say following the new web 2.0 trend.

- With me being a soccer tactics nut, that enjoys tweaking each player and a few times per match, i thought i wouldn't find really useful the new tactical interface, that i thought it would be only used by players without a lot of soccer knowledge.

I was totally wrong, it's awesome what can you can tweak with a few selections, specially if you have some soccer terms knowledge, as it's perfectly defined what each option does.

For example, i wanted C.Ronaldo to play like he does in R.Madrid, starting at the wing but moving towards the area with his incredible dribbling and scoring skills. I just had to place him as AMR and then select in the drop box that i wanted him to play as "Inside Forward". The result was amazing, he did exactly what i wanted and played like the real Ronaldo, scoring a couple that way in our first friendly.

In past year game, if i placed him as AMR, he would play more like a traditional one, running the wing and crossing to the area by line. To make wingers to dribble towards the area instead of crossing was really hard if not impossible past year, unless you used some tricks like swapping the wingers.

- I love also the new "touchline instructions" that are premade setups/instructions you can give anytime to your players or team during the game, not needing to pause, go to tactics, make changes, go back to game, etc as you needed in the past.

I have not checked yet if you can customize those "touchline instructions" in the game, but even if it's not possible, it should be really easy to do them in xml files like past year you could with tactics.

- Analysis tool during games: INCREDIBLE. You can select any player and see a graphic on the filed of each pass he mad, shoot, cross, etc etc. Incredible deep tool to analyze what your players are doing. I'm really really surprised by this one and find it invaluable.

Overall i like what i'm seeing, 3D games look better, even when the hardware analizer is a bit pessimistic, and with a top PC and graphic card only gave me 2 stars out of 5. But i can't notice any slow down or framerate issue in the 3D engine with all maxed out.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by Icy

I just started a game with R.Madrid, as usually once the game is released i play with low division teams, so i wanted to feel what is to manage a big club.

- I prefer the dark interface, never been a fan of light ones. It's a good design, not fancy but functional, i would say following the new web 2.0 trend.

- With me being a soccer tactics nut, that enjoys tweaking each player and a few times per match, i thought i wouldn't find really useful the new tactical interface, that i thought it would be only used by players without a lot of soccer knowledge.

I was totally wrong, it's awesome what can you can tweak with a few selections, specially if you have some soccer terms knowledge, as it's perfectly defined what each option does.

For example, i wanted C.Ronaldo to play like he does in R.Madrid, starting at the wing but moving towards the are with his incredible dribbling and scoring skills. I just had to place him as AMR and then select in the drop box that i wanted him to play as "Inside Forward". The result was amazing, he did exactly what i wanted and played like the real Ronaldo, scoring a couple that way in our first friendly.

In past year game, if i placed him as AMR, he would play more like a traditional one, running the wing and crossing to the area by line. To make wingers to dribble towards the area instead of crossing was really hard if not impossible past year, unless you used some tricks like swapping the wingers.

- I love also the new "touchline instructions" that are premade setups/instructions you can give anytime to your players or team during the game, not needing to pause, go to tactics, make changes, go back to game, etc as you needed in the past.

I have not checked yet if you can customize those "touchline instructions" in the game, but even if it's not possible, it should be really easy to do them in xml files like past year you could with tactics.

Overall i like what i'm seeing, 3D games look better, even when the hardware analizer is a bit pessimistic, and with a top PC and graphic card only gave me 2 stars out of 5. But i can't notice any slow down or framerate issue in the 3D engine with all maxed out.

funny, i started a game as real madrid yesterday also, and did the same thing with C. Ronaldo. It's amazing to watch him play just like he does in real life, cutting in and dribbling. Try also enabling him to "Roam" more Icy - that'll give him more tactical freedom and you'll see him popping up all over. And it's great all the tiny little things that you can do as tweaks - and I also very much appreciate how everything is defined for you there and it explains what the different roles and positions do with each of the different mentalities.

[DaddyTorgo]

OMG...something I just noticed (playing at work is a baddddd idea)

when you're selecting player roles and duties on the tactics screen...down below where it shows the attributes it highlights the important ones for that role/duty. So you can match it up real easily. so if i look at benzema for example and go "why is he only a 6.8 while higuain is playing an 8.4" i can find the right role/duty for his skill-set even easier.

wonderful.

[MizzouRah]

My yearly question.. how does a beginner begin to get into this game?

I love soccer, heck I run a local soccer club, but FM has always been so damn daunting for me.

Are you going to hold classes for beginners DT?

[watravaler]

Stupid question, I'm sure, but I hope one ya can help me:

I don't want to watch the match/2-D/3-D/whatever, I just want to quick sim it like in FOF, where you just get the score. I don't see any button for this, or any "sim and leave game" button while in the game. Is this possible, or do I have to watch every game?

[Ronnie Dobbs2]

Have to "watch" every game. Best option is to select "No Highlights" and play it full speed.

FM is a slow process but once you embrace that fact its wonderful.

[aran]

I think you're missing out on much of what FM has to offer if you don't watch the games--at least the highlights. Since soccer is a sport with a lot of skills that don't manifest themselves in statistics, it'd be too easy to miss how your tactic is failing if you quick sim. You need to see how your players are behaving on the field in order to ensure they're playing well AND to how you want them to play. Match rating only goes so far.

[flere-imsaho]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

BTW, nice new option under squad "Make available for Reserves until Match Fit"

Uh, sorry, I just wet myself.

Originally Posted by Icy

I just started a game with R.Madrid, as usually once the game is released i play with low division teams, so i wanted to feel what is to manage a big club.

...

Wet myself again (based on Icy's description).

I'd say there's a very high likelihood that this will replace WoW for me.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by MizzouRah

My yearly question.. how does a beginner begin to get into this game?

I love soccer, heck I run a local soccer club, but FM has always been so damn daunting for me.

Are you going to hold classes for beginners DT?

sure Mizzou. I'll do whatever I can to get you into the game. Hell...I think we got AlanT at least a little into 09. And I hope if he felt overwhelmed by 2009 that he gives 2010 a chance at some point too.

And it seems like with the redesigned GUI (more webbish) and the advisor-system it should be easier than ever to get into it.

frankly for most beginners i almost recommend playing a "starter" game where you almost don't even worry about your team/tactics for the first year...let your assman handle that (you can have them select the squad every week and keep the default tactic) and spend the first year just getting accustomed to transfers, personnel-management, press conferences, etc.

once you feel you have got a handle on that then it's time to layer on the tactics and the gameday management.

with all the backroom advice in this version and the new tactics wizard being much more "real world" than the old slider-based system, i honestly think it will prove to be much easier for new players to pick up.

[Big Fo]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

with all the backroom advice in this version and the new tactics wizard being much more "real world" than the old slider-based system, i honestly think it will prove to be much easier for new players to pick up.

Yeah definitely. It's the perfect time for anyone who is curious to give the game a shot.

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

sure Mizzou. I'll do whatever I can to get you into the game. Hell...I think we got AlanT at least a little into 09. And I hope if he felt overwhelmed by 2009 that he gives 2010 a chance at some point too.

And it seems like with the redesigned GUI (more webbish) and the advisor-system it should be easier than ever to get into it.

frankly for most beginners i almost recommend playing a "starter" game where you almost don't even worry about your team/tactics for the first year...let your assman handle that (you can have them select the squad every week and keep the default tactic) and spend the first year just getting accustomed to transfers, personnel-management, press conferences, etc.

once you feel you have got a handle on that then it's time to layer on the tactics and the gameday management.

with all the backroom advice in this version and the new tactics wizard being much more "real world" than the old slider-based system, i honestly think it will prove to be much easier for new players to pick up.

Great idea DT! I think I'll do just that!


Thanks!

[DaddyTorgo]

fabsolutely. any questions, feel free to keep em coming

[watravaler]

Originally Posted by aran

I think you're missing out on much of what FM has to offer if you don't watch the games--at least the highlights. Since soccer is a sport with a lot of skills that don't manifest themselves in statistics, it'd be too easy to miss how your tactic is failing if you quick sim. You need to see how your players are behaving on the field in order to ensure they're playing well AND to how you want them to play. Match rating only goes so far.

Yeah, I'm starting to see that, wish my CPU could handle 3-D(it's at least 6 years old...sigh)...If FOF had this type of "detail", it would be amazing. As it stands, I'm starting to dig the new-layout. I could never get into the older versions of FM because I'd go crazy within 15-20 minutes trying to figure everything out, but the "wizard" and the updated layout really makes everything much easier to understand. I have a feeling this could go down, in my book, as the best text sim I've ever played. Can't wait till the 30th!

EDIT: Still wish I could quick-sim the friendly matches...

[Ronnie Dobbs2]

You can have your assistant manager take over the friendlies and then they will be simmed for you.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by watravaler

Yeah, I'm starting to see that, wish my CPU could handle 3-D(it's at least 6 years old...sigh)...If FOF had this type of "detail", it would be amazing. As it stands, I'm starting to dig the new-layout. I could never get into the older versions of FM because I'd go crazy within 15-20 minutes trying to figure everything out, but the "wizard" and the updated layout really makes everything much easier to understand. I have a feeling this could go down, in my book, as the best text sim I've ever played. Can't wait till the 30th!

EDIT: Still wish I could quick-sim the friendly matches...

you can. go into the "TEAM NAME" menu and go to "team settings" - set your ass man to be responsible for friendly matches. It's farther down, not the "arrange them" option, but if you scroll down you'll see it.

if your cpu can handle the 2d matches you'll at least get some idea out of them how well your tactics and instructions are doing also. not as fun to watch as 3d, but you get the same amount of info pretty much (at least as far as positioning and movement).