We recently had a chance to speak with assistant producer Munraj Hyare about the upcoming Career mode in FIFA 11.

Operation Sports: Do the stats you accrue during your career determine the job offers you will receive when you become a manager, or can you just choose any club? Is it possible to coach a national team?

Munraj Hyare: Yes, how well you perform as a player will affect the offers you get when you retire and become a Manager. As an example, the club you’re playing for as a player will only offer you a role as Player Manager if you reach the status of Club Legend. Unfortunately, it will not be possible to coach a national team this year, but we are aware that our fans are really interested in this feature.

OS: Is this finally the year teams like Burnley will not be competing for the top spot in the EPL each year?

Hyare: Yes, results will be believable to most followers of their respective leagues with the top teams vying for the top spots and the relegation candidates battling for safety. This is not to say there won’t be any upsets, but we won’t be seeing Blackpool make a run at the Premier League title in the first year (unless backed by a very talented player or manager).

Here’s an example of the Premier League top 10 table that I simulated:


OS: For a scouted player that is not real, how does the system determine that player's personality style? Does it just use ratings based around whether or not the player acts like Ronaldinho when dribbling or would the player's origins also come into play? (An example might be that a Brazilian is a better dribbler while an English player is stronger on the pitch.)

Hyare: The scouting feature from prior iterations of Manager mode has not been moved across into our new Career mode. In FIFA 11 Career mode, it’s a new scouting system. The scouts will look at real players and can be consulted on transfer searches and decisions. Before recommending a player to you, they will look at the financial means your club has as well as the type of player you need the most to build a complete squad.

OS: Can you use created teams in Career mode? Or create leagues to play in Career mode?

Hyare: You can customize squads with the players you created via the Creation Center before entering Career mode, but in terms of actually creating a complete team and a custom league, that cannot be done. We have looked into this and the technology behind our Creation Center is still BETA and does not allow us to do this…yet.

OS: Has the injury bug been fixed where you play a game in which a player falls victim to a relatively serious injury yet only stays hurt for a week?

Hyare: We know that this is an issue that frustrated many fans of the Manager mode last year, therefore we have added significant improvements to the injury system. A player can now suffer from different severities of injuries during actual gameplay or during a simulated game. This can result in a player picking up a knock, which will actually allow the manager to still play the player while not being 100 percent match-fit, or a more severe injury that will sideline the player for several weeks or even months.

OS: Will the Cup games have a different atmosphere/feel to them than the league games?

Hyare: Definitely, we’ve added some special audio and visual features to complement the atmosphere and importance of tournament matches and Cup finals.

OS: What has happened to form: in, out, fixed?

Hyare: Form was on our list to refine, but unfortunately we were unable to get to it this year. We weren’t satisfied with where it was at and decided not to include it in the game. That being said, we still think it’s a great feature for Career mode and has lots of potential in the future.

OS: Will AI-controlled clubs be more involved in the transfer market for players they desire no matter what the user-controlled team is doing with its own players? (Barcelona pursuing Arsenal's Fabregas in real life is a good example of this.)

Hyare: AI-controlled clubs will always be looking to improve their squad and ensure they have the star power and depth needed to compete in the league and tournaments. If they are weak in a certain position, they will look to add a player to improve them in that position that is within their budget. Here’s a couple of examples of some interesting moves that have happened around me as I played through a summer transfer period in the Premier League.

(NOTE: These are in-game screenshots from the News system we’ve added to the Career HUB -- reporting noteworthy transfers is one of the many types of news we will broadcast to the user)


OS: Can you change weather before a match like in Madden?

Hyare: Yes, you’re able to customize and set your own weather before each match, but I should mention that we looked at what we had last year and decided to refine and improve our weather system to give more accurate weather depending on what country you’re playing in and what month it is.

OS: Will you folks be incorporating the playoff format for the MLS, the lower leagues (Championship, League1) in England and elsewhere?

Hyare: One of the biggest goals in Career mode for this year was to strive for authenticity. The English Promotion Playoffs will be present in all their glory with each Playoff culminating to a final at Wembley.