Speaking in general soccer terms, off the ball training would be more on the tactical side of things. It would be how a player would gets involves without the ball. It is a very important concept in soccer. A player who is good off the ball can make timely runs to create space for his teammates. I would suggest looking at the tactical training.

I would also like to suggest that everyone pick up a book or two on soccer. It will go along way in your immersion of FM.

Guys: Check your game, you will have problems if you've selected amongst active leagues, the Belgium First Division (and only if that's the only Belgian league you've selected)

helo where is download thx

:D

I'm anxious for it too, but FM 05 will do for now ;)

patience, patience, go to sleep and it'll be there when you'll wake up, just like Christmas ;)

FM

I think I should've slept in. :)

yeah, looks like Santa's little helper are a bit on the slow side for the moment ;)

FM

Darn! Oh well, I have to run to work in 10 minutes anyway ;)

I got out of work early (shelter closed earlier than expected) and I was all excited about downloading the game. I guess it isn't out yet?

nope, isn't, although Marc Vaughan's been suspiciously absent from the board today... ;)


FM

Oh well, I've almost never been so happy to get out of work early (since I thought it would be ready for download), but I'll be happy to play some Civ4 or FM 05 for now :)

For what it's worth, the digital download release for EHM 2005 was a total disaster.

On release day you mean? Is it any better now? I mean have the kinks been worked out?

FM

Well I don't think they ever had a release day set for the digital download of EHM 2005. Supposedly some mumbo jumbo with lawyers and territories and crap like that. Then all of the sudden a link popped up around 11 pm central. Caused a little panic as some were able to get it and some weren't. Then, if I'm not mistaken, it wasn't the version that everyone needed to have, so everyone had to re-download the next day.

I see. Hopefully they have learned something from that fiasco, same way I have learned over the year to double check what file I make available to the masses within my company ;)

FM

We're getting some words from SI guys...


http://community.sigames.com/groupee...3212033861/p/3

FM

I hardly ever go to SIgames' forum and really appreciate the updates Frogman.

Just found something I've never seen before in an SI game - my scout looking for young talents reported back on a young 17 year old defender from the Manchester area.

In his profile it had a 'media outlook' line (or similar) which read 'Touted as the next Wes Brown'.

Seriously cool :cool:

(Although whether being the next Wes Brown is a compliment or an insult to the guy I've not worked out yet :D )

:D

Well, it's pushing midnight in the UK. Looks like we won't be getting the download tonight. I ain't mad about it, but I'm still gonna be a little impatient. I guess it's Civilization IV tonight! :D

Pumpy, I don't even need the new game since I wanna keep on playing my FM2005 career, but I kinda feel down about this... oh well...

FM

Shaddap and pony up the cash. :)

I think FM and I both want the new game, we just want to continue our FM 05 dynasties as well ;)

oh, I will be getting the game, I just won't be starting a very serious career rightaway, thus getting the download today or tomorrow doesn't make that big a difference to me...

FM

Man I was ready at 7am this morning. I even buffed up my credit card.

:(

Looks like it will not happen today folks...


http://community.sigames.com/groupee...3212033861/p/3

FM

In the demo I saw that US keeper Brad Guzan was "touted as the next Brad Friedel."

Same here. I won't start my serious dynasty for at least a few patches. However, I am anxious to see this game in action as I haven't tried the demo at all.

I think you'll be in love, I've played the demo quite a bit. :)

i am very nervous in getting this game. it will be my first soccer sim game.

just hope i will understand how to play the game and understand all the rules.

the depth of this game got my interest. :)

jb...you're italian and you don't understand the rules of soccer?? what!?!?!?

Have a look a Adailton and Grégory Bourillon from Rennes.

yes but grew up in the states.

just never really follow it much accept a little when the world cup is on tv.

just need to brush up on transfers, loans, tactics, what ratigns are important for each position, etc....

aaaaah okay

FWIW, I went into Gamestop today to see if they had any idea when my copy of the game would be in and they said that they did not get it in yet. And they would call when it did come in. I am trying to be patient, but I have my hopes very high. I need that game.

So I finally gave in and tinkered with the demo while I wait for my copy to arrive.

LOVE the new things that have already mentioned (side/position proficiencies, "moves", extra comments). Have not seen any mention of the switch from DM to WB but I dig that.

Still wish for multiple select (ie, select players 1-to-20 and scout). Still wish for more keyboard commands as the clicking is going to kill my wrist and accelerate the onset of carpal tunnel.

Questions:

1) If I have a player (for example, Ryan Smith) who is proficient (let's say, at Accomplished) at the AML slot but is not at the ML slot (let's say, at Unconvincing) and my formation (let's say, a flat 4-4-2) has my wing at the ML slot with an arrow up to the AML slot which should, in theory, have him operate mainly in the AML area of the field when we are in possession. Will he be operating at his more proficient slot of AML, where he should be playing in, or at the lesser one of ML, where he starts out at?

2) If I have a player who is rated at two position (let's say, left and centre) and he's less proficient at centre. If I set him to train in the centre in the hope of increasing his knowledge in that area, will that hurt his proficiency on the left (or make him lose the ability altogether)? I know it sounds illogical but I was under the impression that it was how it worked in CM 01/02 (which was the last version I was familiar with).

3) Slightly related to Q2 is whether I even need to train the aforementioned player in the centre of the pitch or if I can actually raise his proficiency by simply playing him there once he is already rated there (let's say that I would like to increase an Ineffectual to an Accomplished)?

Thankee. :)

I hope that I don't sound like I'm shitting on SI's efforts to get the download ready, but I'm somewhat disappointed right now. As much as I'd like to support their North American sales, I would've ordered from the UK over a week ago. The FM patches generally come out before the WWSM patches, so it would've been a boost to get FM, and it also appears that I would've had it sooner. I would've had to spend more money, but that wouldn't have bothered me.

At my last check, GameStop's website listed the ship date as November 7. I assume that the download hasn't been pushed back that far, but at this point, I don't know what to think anymore.

I'll still download on the first day that it's available. I just wish things had worked out a little differently.

Could someone give me an idea of the difference between part-time and full-time players? And what impact it has on your team? I have never really utilized signing guys to PT contracts at the lower levels. What impact does it have? Does it have any benefits to your squad?

You're not the only one - we're doing everything we can to get into stores reasonable fast and get decent coverage, unfortunately as always its a tad chicken and egg, until its released in America well it doesn't have the proven sales base there, until it has the proven sales base there stores are reluctant to stock it in reasonably large numbers ... :(


Part-time players will train less (duh? ;) ) however they're much cheaper to keep at a club, which is important for the semi-pro clubs.

You will find however especially in the English conference national that a part-time team has a definite disadvantage against professional teams because the extra training and fitness gives them an edge, especially late into a season ...

PS> Best adjvantage to P/T contracts in the lower leagues is to allow you to keep a very cheap youth/reserve team in case of emergency (reserves) or in case of potential (youth).

I've been playing since I got the game on Monday and I have to say I'm once again having a blast. I've completely set aside Civ IV and am spending every free moment with FM2006 (probably to the detriment of my marriage...).

Thanks Marc, that is the info that I was looking for.

Hey Marc, question.

All my end-of-season loans ended about 2 days before the league table playoffs. Which, needless to say, sucked. :)

Is this actually how the Real World Works? If it ain't...dear god please change it!

while many of us are waiting for the digidownload to become available, I got this question about it.

Is the "try and buy" download going to be one that you have to try with only quickstarts or can you really start a real game that would simply stop working after six months of playing time?

Maybe somebody who's tried the EHM try and buy could answer.

FM

You should be able to start off like you would in a normal game, ie no quickstarts.

cool, thanks.

FM

Judging from this thread (http://community.sigames.com/groupee...3212033861/p/3), the release of the digital download is out of SI's hands. Graeme Kelly has stated that they're waiting for some news, and I assume that that news will determine when the download is released.

What about the ship date, though? Was it actually November 1 or has it been pushed back? I've even seen the game listed on Wal-Mart's site (still as a preorder). I don't know if Wal-Mart will stock the game in-store, but that would be pretty cool. If the download is not ready by the time I'm back near home, I'll stop into Wal-Mart and check for it, although I don't expect it to be there. GameStop seems pretty set on selling it next week. I don't know of any other stores that might be stocking the game.

I feel like I'm hunting for NCAA 2006 all over again, except I don't need to check 7 stores in one day this time. ;)

What we have here..

is a failure to communicate.

Digi-download - we provide the game itself, it then goes to the digi service provider to get 'wrapped' and finally if I remember right Sega America get to host it, so a lot of this is out of our direct control ...

I believe we're waiting on other companies currently, but it shouldn't be too long now ..

we're (not so) patiently waiting Marc :)

Thanks for keeping us updated.

FM

Grant Appleyard just confirmed that it won't be out today.

for those of you not visiting the SI Forums:


http://community.sigames.com/groupee...3212033861/p/3

No real reason why, since I'm still playing and having fun with my FM2005 career, but I feel down with a news like that... :(

FM

As I understand it (far from an official source!)

1. AM L

2. If he's 'natural' in a position, that will never change. In older versions once retrained in a position, if retrained in another position, the first retrained position used to be lost - in this I'm not sure - if it's any help I trained a youth player from D RC into D RLC (accomplished in all 3), then tried to train him as DM as well - he quickly changed back to D RC, but remembered some of his old training, being competent at D L. Whether this is the norm I do not know.

3. I have read an official SI reply somewhere that has said training is more important in progressing retraining than playing, as he will only play 90 minutes a week in matches (or 180 if two games), whereas he can practice far longer than this in a week's training. So while training but not playing will help, the reverse is not true, (or would take an absoulte age)

Well, this whole WWSM situation has been disappointing so far. Again, I'm still going to purchase as soon as the game is available for download, but I think I'll just preorder from the UK next year, just in case this happens again.

Nevertheless, thanks for the effort, guys.

I feel like an idiot for not ordering a hard copy.

I don't know if this was answered before or not, but does height/weight actually make a difference or is it just cosmetic?

Cosmetic. If a guy is really tall, it should already have been factored in headers for example. Weight = strength I guess.

Thanks.

I had been going solely by skills and I just happened to notice last night that most of my defenders were the 5'7" and 150 lb variety.

are you going from experience, first hand knowledge or simply a guess?

I've not even tried the demo enough to see if it makes any difference, but would guess that if they included it in there, it had to be of some use, like a tall striker with some heading but no jumping could still be good, maybe better than a 5' 7" centreback who's jumping like crazy...

FM

A million people have asked this on the SI boards. I formed my answer using the millions of responses. :)

Where's Marc when we need him to answer important questions? :D

woah, a million responses. You read faster that the young geek on "Criminal Minds" :D :p

fwiw, right after posting my comment, I saw one of those millions of questions/comments in the bugs forums... I hope this is something they can tweak with the next patch or something...

FM

he's bugging the digi-download company, which is fine by me ;)

FM

Okay, here's a better description from the man himself.


I think I was reading some bullshit answers. :)

More:


and more..

Is he bugging them to the point that they can get this thing online tonight? :D

Maybe I'm cheap (I never thought so) but I think I'd wait 10-15 days to save $10-15 bucks and/or headaches from probably shipping delays etc.

I almost replied with this exact reply to sovereignstar's "I feel like an idiot for not ordering a hard copy." but though I was the only cheapo out here. Thanks for making me feel better ;)

FM
PS: I know I'm cheap though :p

Getting back to the height thing for a second, I wonder if there's any difference in potential jumping ability based on height. For example, two guys the same current skills and one is 5'7" with jumping at 10, the other is 6'6" with jumping at 10...I would assume that the 6'6" guy might be more likely to have higher future potential in jumping based on what Marc said.

So, in short (for my purposes) the definition of height/jumping I will be using.

Short = Less likely to be a great jumper even with a pretty good rating
Tall = More likely to be good jumper even with a not-so-great rating

What effect does assigning a captain have on a team during a game? Any?

I think you've got it but just to clarify: the jumping rating is all that matters, no matter the height a 20 jumper will be higher in the air than an 18 jumper (again regardless of height). But as a function of anticipating development, or jumping potential, you should bear in mind that a shorter player will most likely not reach the same level of jumping as a taller player might. Height will be an indicator of how a player's jumping might develop.

i didn't get that at all from what MV posted. What I got was that someone with a 20 in jumping would be able to jump let's say 6 inches where someone with an 18 would only be able to jump 4. So therefore if the 18 jumper is already 4 inches taller than the 20 jumper he will get higher into the air...

You're required to have a designated team captain on the field. If he's an inspirational leader, your team can perform better in the clutch.

It starts to drift off after a while but this is the relevant portion to remember:


Height is essentially built into the rating. But it's not fully cosmetic in the sense that young players will give an indication of their potential to develop great jumping based on their heights.

I think the other things are said to explain the reasoning, and not the actual nuts and bolts of the rating.

Here's a small, but important question I want to ask. Is FM 2006 purchasable online, I mean by paying with a credit card and then being sent a registration code or some such? Like EHM is now and what not? I'd really like to buy this game, but I hate waiting for games =(

Thanks fellas.

Take 2
 

Sorry if this has been stated already, but has the game been physically spotted or purchased at any U.S. stores as yet?

No. Not sure if this is earlier in the thread but I think it hits shelves 11/7.

Anyone who thinks being tall is a) makes you naturally jump higher than other players and b) makes you naturally good at heading has never seen Peter Crouch play. Useless sack of shite he is.

No you're not! I am right there with you. I would rather wait and save the money. If Gamestop says that they will have it on 11/7, at least I know 2 things. 1) I will have a hard copy of the game, and 2) my killer 56k won't die trying to download the beast. Lagtime, crashed servers, 350MB files and dialup don't play well together.

From Miles:

The problem with Gamestop's date is that last week it said 11/1. Monday it said 11/2. Today it says 11/7. At this rate, FM2007 will be out before we even see WWSM2006. I guess I'm still waiting though. My wife talked me into waiting until Christmas so I could get it as a gift. So as long as it comes out before then... :cool:

I have seen him play. He isn't the be all end all for strikers but when used properly he can be an assett to team. He may not be in the top 20 in strikers in the EPL but he is in the top 40. Did you see him last season in Southampton? Espcially after Redknap came aboard he was either setting up or scoring almost all of their goals. Either way he is good target man although not as good as you may expect for someone with his size.

Basically he is good if you use wingers to get to the byline and cross the ball so he can run onto it. If you use him in build up play he is better on the floor than in the air.

Southampton used him like this - he did well.

Liverpool do not have wingers - he doesn't look so good.
England did not have wingers against Austria and hit it long to him - he didn't look so good.

To be fair to Benitez he is trying to sign some Chilean winger, and did try and get Solano, but at the moment Crouch is screwed - he hasn't got the wide men to give him the service he needs, and he hasn't got the pace himself to be effective without them...

He's decent on the ground for such a big guy. He's got a nice touch, although watching the Liverpool game last night he just looked ungainly and out of place. I was amazed at how much he'd regressed since he did look good at Southampton last year.

But to be perfectly honest, I want my 6'7 striker to strike the fear of god into opposition defenses. At Cardiff we had Leo Fortune-West for years and although he was a complete donkey he was a very effective lower divisons player.
Crouch needs to bulk up and work on the aspects of the game he should be good at given his size. He could then be a true dangerman, instead of being lanky, awkward and easily pushed off the ball. Going back to the Liverpool game, the number of times he lost out in the air to defenders who must have been giving up 5 inches on him was comical.

And top 40 striker in the Premiership isn't really a complement when you think he is on the European champions and he's supposed to be the great hope for the England team. He's got a lot to prove given the money they paid for him.

Got home from work a bit ago, and I find myself disappointed that WWSM 06 isn't out today via download, but it's really quite illogical. I'm having plenty of fun with FM 05 and I want to play Civ 4 whenever I have free time.

So, I'm off to play Civ 4 (but I still can't wait for WWSM 06 to come out ;))

Other than the Civ 4 bit, you and I are eerily similar. Read my earlier reaction to the file probably not being available today :)

FM

Sega's website is advertising in a pretty decent-sized banner "IN STORES NOW". Check out www.sega.com. That's interesting.

If you click "Buy Now", it takes you to Gamestop's website, which says release of ETA: 11/7/05.

Why is it so difficult, every year, to get ahold of this game in the U.S.?

Because PC Games don't sell in stores any more, except for maybe 3 or 4, it's completely gone over to theconsole side.

BTW, playing FM2006 via remote access is.. bizarre :D

I blame France.

I'm having a blast with Civ4, but I keep checking to see if the download is out yet.

Speaking of lack of PC games in stores. One of the Gamestops I went to the other day is now down to about 4 feet of space for computer games! 99% of the store is console games and one tiny little space has just the newest and biggest selling PC games.

I've not seen a proper reply to this question, but what you are talking about is exactly what we are all waiting for, the digidownload release of WorldWide Soccer Manager 2006, which is essentially FM2006 marketed for the US. It was originally supposed to be available on November 1st and well, we're now November 2nd/3rd and it should be available any day now...

FM

I went to Gamestop on Nov 1st and they said it was due sometime in November. WTF! I checked the shelves and they had 1 copy of WWSM 2005 (for 39.99). I laughed.

EF27 is right, the place is being taken over by console crap (I haven't played console games since the PS1 came out).

Edit: The same mall has an Electronic's Boutique, but they didn't even know what I was talking about when I asked about Worldwide Soccer Manager 2006. So here I wait for the download....

For the life of me I can not figure out how to get it set so I can watch highlights of games like the CL or EPL. I have started another game on full detail for the English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Scottish, Dutch, and possibly Portugese leagues. A round of CL games just completed, and I went to see the highlights for a Liverpool game, and there are no buttons for watching highlights on the overview screen. Where does this get set in FM2006?

Got game. Have wood. Bye life.

Better than nothing since I can't ever seem to get an official source to answer any of my question. Appreciate your input, JR'sS! :)

For a game so nice, I'll dola not once but twice.

As an aside, while tinkering with the Demo, I did find out that the arrow keys will work as keyboard shortcuts. You can now use it to go back and forward.

Luckily, I had some tissues nearby. That was a good save, by me.

And Kleenex[tm].

The arrow keys have been shortcuts like that since the last patch of FM2005. Prior to that, I used to use alt-arrow, as I do in IE...

Most important shortcut, but I'm sure you know about it, is the space bar to continue :)

Oh, and you should have made a trip to whatever Kleenex wholesaler in your area *prior* to starting your career ;)

FM