Alright boyz, here we go!!! FM 2006 First Impressions

[Sadalia]

Downloaded WWSM on Sunday and am already deeply immersed in my game with Blackpool (the team I've gravitated toward since way back in the original CM). I have to say I've had zero problems with crashing; everything's running smoothly, although I have a fairly crappy computer and am only running the English and Scottish leagues on a small database because I want my first game to run as fast as possible.

I really like some of the things I've seen in the 2D matches. Genuine attacking fullback play seems possible now. And players seem smarter; in my game against Hartlepool last night we had a free kick on the left some way outside their area; I was fully expecting a blasted shot goalward, but instead the kicker curled the ball to the right side if the area, where my winger was racing into space. He controlled the ball and drilled it past the keeper. Nice. I have a greater sense of players actually thinking in this version.

I have zero interest in training, so I really have no opinion on the new system. I hope just setting the coaches on autoassign won't have majorly bad consequences.

I can't put my finger on all the reasons, but I am finding this game a lot more fun that fm2005 (which I liked a lot). The players seem more like people than a collection of stats, and compared to fm2005 good results are harder to come by, which is a good thing.

Great game.

[FrogMan]

started a test game to fool around with in WSM2006 last night. I have yet to sim much, but for now it's running smoothly with 39 leagues in 35 nations. Basically, I'm running England, L2 and up and the top division in Spain and Italy in Europe, and the MLS all on normal detail, and EVERY possible nation's first division in Europe on basic detail, with a normal size database. This is with an Athlon 2000+ (1.67Ghz) w/512mb RAM.

I found it ran reasonably well. I'll do some testing where I'll go on holiday and will sim a long period of time and time it...

Anyway, I love the feel of the game as a whole, even more immersive than FM2005, which may mean that I'll take longer to sim a season, at least at the start...

On thing that's struck me as nice is the fact that I am getting some bids on players put on the transfer list. I mean, you know how you start with some players already transfer listed by your predecessor. In FM2005, I'd never get any bids on these guys. I thought it was mostly because they were big piece of crap kind of players, but both times I've started games with WSM2006, with two different teams, I've receieved either bids, or enquiry for players valued very low but that could have some appeal to lower league teams (but not more appeal than what they would have had in FM2005)...

Anybody has seen more transfer offers coming your way in the 2006 version?

FM

[BYU 14]

Was really starting to get the hang of this with Cambridge City in the South League and had the club playing at a better than .500 clip ver the last 10 matches or so and was only 1 or 2 players away from having all the pieces needed for my style, when suddenly coming off a decisive 2-0 win, and within 4 points of the top 10 teams, I get fired!!

One thing that was buggin me for a couple of weeks, was that my players kept mentioning how they thought we should be performing at a higher level.....I wonder if this influenced the board as my confidence votes had all been good prior to this? I was getting so into the game I was actually pissed for a little while

Anyway, league rival Maidenhead has hired me and it would be a great chance to get revenge on Cambridge, but I think I would rather start over with them........stupid game, making me get attached!!

[Bea-Arthurs Hip]

Just started my second season with St Albans in Conference South. Some Interesting side stories.

1.) First Friendly match of the season Young Striker Scott Martin is Red Carded and suspended for "punching" an opponent.. I fine him and send him to the reserves. He thinks I am unfair, considering his options....Now 5 games into the season he is content and I notice I am now his Favored Personel..Looks like the kid had a little wake up call.

2.) Star Striker Lee Clarke tears his calf muscle in the final game of last season (I should not have even played him ). He was out 5 months and just returned to my line up. I have been given him spot duty until he is fully fit and just about every time he touches the ball match commentary states " he seems a little nervous out there". So obviously he is concerned about the possibility of re-injuring or perhaps he is not fully healed. What ever the case is it sure makes me nervous as hell!

3.) 22 year old midfielder Brian James, who is by far at least a League 2 caliber player, passes up opportunities to play in higher divisions to sign with us. We are paying him $410 a week, which is $200 more then the next highest player, and he is had an incredible start. His value has sky rocketed and this and the other situations really make me feel like these players all have their own personality and makes the experience "real"...

Great game!!! Now off to promotion!

[Desnudo]

Originally Posted by Sadalia

Downloaded WWSM on Sunday and am already deeply immersed in my game with Blackpool (the team I've gravitated toward since way back in the original CM). I have to say I've had zero problems with crashing; everything's running smoothly, although I have a fairly crappy computer and am only running the English and Scottish leagues on a small database because I want my first game to run as fast as possible.

I really like some of the things I've seen in the 2D matches. Genuine attacking fullback play seems possible now. And players seem smarter; in my game against Hartlepool last night we had a free kick on the left some way outside their area; I was fully expecting a blasted shot goalward, but instead the kicker curled the ball to the right side if the area, where my winger was racing into space. He controlled the ball and drilled it past the keeper. Nice. I have a greater sense of players actually thinking in this version.

I have zero interest in training, so I really have no opinion on the new system. I hope just setting the coaches on autoassign won't have majorly bad consequences.

I can't put my finger on all the reasons, but I am finding this game a lot more fun that fm2005 (which I liked a lot). The players seem more like people than a collection of stats, and compared to fm2005 good results are harder to come by, which is a good thing.

Great game.

I've noticed the attacking fullbacks making overlapping runs, it's cool to see.

I would spend a little time fiddling with the coach assignments. Autoassign is okay, but it won't be as good as doing it manually. If you want 4 or 5 stars for each training type, you need to assign them manually.

I too am enjoying the game a lot. I do have some complaints, all around match gameplay, but I believe most will be addressed in the next patch. Things like moral spikes and dips, crazy defenders crossing into their own 18 or passing to the other team way too much, the giant killer (small teams beating large) issue.

[Fouts]

Originally Posted by McSweeny

is the crashing the only reason you haven't been satisfied with the download version? Maybe i'm just extremely lucky, but i haven't had any crashes

If it weren't for the crashes, I'd play 24/7

Question: How can I tell which (if any) of my players attributes are moving up?

I'd like to think I don't have to replace my whole team to stay in the higher division after promotion. I get a monthly report about certain players getting better in strength, etc., but when I look at their stats nothing jumps out at me.

[RPI-Fan]

The one thing I've noticed early on:

With my FC Dallas team, I was forced to sell Edward Johnson pretty early on (he moved for ~$3.5mil to Ajax Amderstam). Before I sold him, I'd been (successfully) playing a quick, short-passing, uptempo game. Without him, that game plan has simply fallen apart. The old style relied on the "final ball" always having a recipient, and it doesn't now, so I think I'll need to slow things down and take a more direct approach as Carlos Ruiz will have to handle the majority of the workload!

[RPI-Fan]

Originally Posted by Fouts

If it weren't for the crashes, I'd play 24/7

Question: How can I tell which (if any) of my players attributes are moving up?

I'd like to think I don't have to replace my whole team to stay in the higher division after promotion. I get a monthly report about certain players getting better in strength, etc., but when I look at their stats nothing jumps out at me.

On the player card, there is a "training" tab (along with History, Personal, Transfer, etc.)... there are graphs there that will indicate progress that has been made.

[MikeVick7]

A temporary "fix" that has been mentioned in the SI Forums and one that I have been trying for about 4 hours so far with good success is turning off the "Threading" option in the Preferences. It's slowed down the game a little bit, but I haven't had any crashes tonight, as opposed to having one every 5 minutes if I didn't wait for my cooling fan to turn off.

[Booj]

Originally Posted by FrogMan

Good to know. I knew the shipping charges were killers with Gamestop though... You think they'll ship straight to you without charging customs fees? That's one thing I liked last year when I ordered from gameplay. It came to my mailbox without any customs fees to pay, I hate customs fees...

I guess no customs fees on the download could be another pro in its favor

FM

I missed the attempted delivery today, but according to the notice they posted on my door I have to pay $5.35 CDN in customs fees, which is lot less than I was fearing.

I'm home all day tomorrow so I shouldn't miss them again!

[Coffee Warlord]

Hmm, think I may have found a bug. A VERY quick glance on the SI forums didn't mention this, but I very well coulda missed it.

Transferred out a player for 900,000. Guy had a 50% next of sale clause, which went through. Couple days before I agreed to the transfer, I made certain I got some transfer funds back from my team (30% made available to me, to be exact).

Transfer went through...I actually lost available funds and went to $0 available.

ALMOST positive about the losing funds. I can't be 100% certain there, but obviously I didn't get the cash I was supposed to.

[Marc Vaughan]

Do you have a save game before the transfer went though that I could look at to check? ..

[Marc Vaughan]

Originally Posted by Fouts

If it weren't for the crashes, I'd play 24/7

Question: How can I tell which (if any) of my players attributes are moving up?

I'd like to think I don't have to replace my whole team to stay in the higher division after promotion. I get a monthly report about certain players getting better in strength, etc., but when I look at their stats nothing jumps out at me.

Go to training and look at the attribute graphs for a player - this will show you their changes over the last 12 months, very handy for checking the effectiveness of your training regimes (and showing if that 'crap' player is actually a good one who's just recovering from an injury and getting fit again etc.).

[Fouts]

Originally Posted by MikeVick7

A temporary "fix" that has been mentioned in the SI Forums and one that I have been trying for about 4 hours so far with good success is turning off the "Threading" option in the Preferences. It's slowed down the game a little bit, but I haven't had any crashes tonight, as opposed to having one every 5 minutes if I didn't wait for my cooling fan to turn off.

Thanks for posting this. I haven't had a crash since I turned off "Threading".

[FrogMan]

So, I got no replies the first time around, so I'm asking again:

Originally Posted by FrogMan

Has anybody seen more transfer offers coming your way in the 2006 version?

I'm saying because I offered two players to other clubs yesterday, players that I'm pretty would have never received any bids in '05 but I received 2-3 bids on one (offered for transfer) and one loan offer on a player that I had indeed offered to other club to loan. May be silly, but this adds tons to my enjoyment of the game, as I saw some possibility to unload players I didn't want to keep on the team, a possibility that eluded me for many seasons on FM2005...

FM

[MikeVick7]

Originally Posted by FrogMan

So, I got no replies the first time around, so I'm asking again:


I'm saying because I offered two players to other clubs yesterday, players that I'm pretty would have never received any bids in '05 but I received 2-3 bids on one (offered for transfer) and one loan offer on a player that I had indeed offered to other club to loan. May be silly, but this adds tons to my enjoyment of the game, as I saw some possibility to unload players I didn't want to keep on the team, a possibility that eluded me for many seasons on FM2005...

FM

Didn't mean to leave you hangin' FM. Yes, I was a little thrown off by the new feature where the team just sent out offers to every team, but it definitely is an improvement over the old way of doing it. And yes, I've definitely noticed that it's now easier to dump that unwanted player.

Speaking of transfers...this is to anyone...at what level do teams train full-time as opposed to part-time? I've started a career with Northwich in Conference North and I've been burned by the "bring a once full-time trained player who's attributes take a hit once they only start training part-time" scenario.

Also, why do loaned players continue to train full-time when they are brought in to play for my team? I noticed that you can't switch them to a part-time training schedule.

[Bee]

Yep, I actually mentioned the transfer thing a little earlier in the thread. I've found it a little easier to transfer players out and a little harder to transfer them in. I think this balance is an improvement over previous versions.

I also am very happy they finally got rid of the response from each team saying no to transfers and incorporated all the no responses into one email.

[Coffee Warlord]

Originally Posted by Marc Vaughan

Do you have a save game before the transfer went though that I could look at to check? ..

Possibly. I'll check when I get back home.

[Desnudo]

Originally Posted by MikeVick7

Didn't mean to leave you hangin' FM. Yes, I was a little thrown off by the new feature where the team just sent out offers to every team, but it definitely is an improvement over the old way of doing it. And yes, I've definitely noticed that it's now easier to dump that unwanted player.

Speaking of transfers...this is to anyone...at what level do teams train full-time as opposed to part-time? I've started a career with Northwich in Conference North and I've been burned by the "bring a once full-time trained player who's attributes take a hit once they only start training part-time" scenario.

Also, why do loaned players continue to train full-time when they are brought in to play for my team? I noticed that you can't switch them to a part-time training schedule.

It's going to depend on their contract. If they have a full time contract with their original team, they will train full time.

[MikeVick7]

Originally Posted by Desnudo

It's going to depend on their contract. If they have a full time contract with their original team, they will train full time.

At what level do players start training full-time? Is it League 2?

[Desnudo]

Originally Posted by MikeVick7

At what level do players start training full-time? Is it League 2?

I believe Conference National is considered the first full time professional league.

[MikeVick7]

Originally Posted by Desnudo

I believe Conference National is considered the first full time professional league.

Ahh, ok. That helps. Just need to get out of Conf North now.

[rexallllsc]

Originally Posted by Bea-Arthurs Hip

Just started my second season with St Albans in Conference South. Some Interesting side stories.

1.) First Friendly match of the season Young Striker Scott Martin is Red Carded and suspended for "punching" an opponent.. I fine him and send him to the reserves. He thinks I am unfair, considering his options....Now 5 games into the season he is content and I notice I am now his Favored Personel..Looks like the kid had a little wake up call.

Does this happen in the EPL ever? Do we still have to put in a code for stuff like this to happen in the EPL?

[Router Help]

Originally Posted by MikeVick7

Ahh, ok. That helps. Just need to get out of Conf North now.

I've had luck offereing some players full time contracts when my official club status is part time. I'm not sure what they do half the time because my coaches are part time. A lot of players won't accept full time contracts at that level of pay though.

[Butter]

I remember in CM 03/04 seeing a guy punch a referee and getting suspended for something like half the season. Always fun to see those once in a blue moon occurrences in there.

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by rexallllsc

Does this happen in the EPL ever? Do we still have to put in a code for stuff like this to happen in the EPL?

I'm not sure I follow what you are saying? why wouldn't an EPL club have a youngster that they fine because he punched an opponent in a friendly?

FM

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by Bee

Yep, I actually mentioned the transfer thing a little earlier in the thread. I've found it a little easier to transfer players out and a little harder to transfer them in. I think this balance is an improvement over previous versions.

I also am very happy they finally got rid of the response from each team saying no to transfers and incorporated all the no responses into one email.

Oh, I must have missed your first comment. I find it also more realistic that at least one person would be interested in my extra players. I mean I'm playing with Luton Town in the Championship, there have got to be teams in League Two or below for whom the player may be of help. In FM2005, I'd get about 75 emails telling me the player was either not good enough, or that the club thought they couldn't get a player of his caliber to sign with them, without even trying!

Same goes with not being as easily able to buy players off other teams. I mean who would let one of their star players go at face value? I know I don't...

The fax thing also makes more sense, you at least only hear from whoever is interested, instead of going through said 75 emails that all say about the same thing...

FM

[Bee]

Originally Posted by FrogMan

Oh, I must have missed your first comment. I find it also more realistic that at least one person would be interested in my extra players. I mean I'm playing with Luton Town in the Championship, there have got to be teams in League Two or below for whom the player may be of help. In FM2005, I'd get about 75 emails telling me the player was either not good enough, or that the club thought they couldn't get a player of his caliber to sign with them, without even trying!

Same goes with not being as easily able to buy players off other teams. I mean who would let one of their star players go at face value? I know I don't...

The fax thing also makes more sense, you at least only hear from whoever is interested, instead of going through said 75 emails that all say about the same thing...

FM

Hey FM, have you had any players turn down transfers out? I have a young player that's been offered two transfers out and refused both of them because he likes playing for me (even though he's been stuck on my reserve team for most of the last two seasons). I almost feel guilty about keeping him on the transfer list...

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by Bee

Hey FM, have you had any players turn down transfers out? I have a young player that's been offered two transfers out and refused both of them because he likes playing for me (even though he's been stuck on my reserve team for most of the last two seasons). I almost feel guilty about keeping him on the transfer list...

I've not played enough with '06 but it's happened to me a few times in FM2005. Similar to you, the guy had not played with the first squad in about a season and a half, with Q.P.R. in the EPL, and he refused twice to sign to a Championship team, saying he didn't want to go play for a lower level team. I was like "YOU DUMBASS! YOU ARE NOT PLAYING WITH US ANYWAY!!!" I think I ended offering a mutual termination... heh.

FM

[FrogMan]

I just remembered this afternoon that there are a few EB Games stores in Quebec City, so I called a couple of them. The first one, cutting me off after "Worldwide Soccer Manager", first told me that it was an old game and they didn't have in stock anymore. When I said the "2006" and the fact it had just been released, the guy said he didn't have it in his system, but had been asked about it lately and he didn't think they'd have it. When I told him that Gamestop has it online and that both EB Games and Gamestop are now in the same family, he told me something along the line of "well Gamestop is in the States and Quebec is a whooooole other world, I can't help you". When I insisted a bit and asked him kindly if he couldn't look into making a special order, he told me "well, I can't build it for you, take your credit card and buy it online"... So stupidly idiotic, I couldn't help but laugh at him...

Called another place and while the guy also told me it wasn't in the system, he told me it wasn't impossible that it would be added at some point. He also couldn't make a special order but told me I could call back every once in while to see if it's been added. I told him he gave me a much better service than the other fellow in the other store and he laughed a hearty laugh. Guess he knew who I was talking about

FM

[Eaglesfan27]

Just had another crash with WSM06. This time it said there was a serious error and that a file was generated. I can send it to you if you want, Marc.

[scooter]

Originally Posted by rexallllsc

Does this happen in the EPL ever? Do we still have to put in a code for stuff like this to happen in the EPL?

I think the code you are asking about is the old "arse" command*. I think that is a relic of the old CM days and hasn't been in the game for some time.

* The "arse" command was a "secret" easter egg that unlocked strange behavior in players (like punching referees).

[rexallllsc]

Originally Posted by FrogMan

I'm not sure I follow what you are saying? why wouldn't an EPL club have a youngster that they fine because he punched an opponent in a friendly?

FM

I thought I read once that without the code (ARSE) players wouldnt do things like that - as they (SI) were worried about getting sued? Something to do with mischaracterizing players.

[MikeVick7]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

Just had another crash with WSM06. This time it said there was a serious error and that a file was generated. I can send it to you if you want, Marc.

Eaglesfan - Have you tried unticking the "Threading" option in the preferences yet? This stopped my WWSM06 from crashing last night.

[Ramzavail]

what does threading do? I have to check if I have my game(s) with this on, but I have yet to have a crash with my downloaded FM

[Ramzavail]

Originally Posted by FrogMan

The fax thing also makes more sense, you at least only hear from whoever is interested, instead of going through said 75 emails that all say about the same thing...

FM

I love this new addition.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by MikeVick7

Eaglesfan - Have you tried unticking the "Threading" option in the preferences yet? This stopped my WWSM06 from crashing last night.

Nope. I guess I will try that, but I like using my computer's hyperthreading function. However, it seems like a reasonable temporary solution.

[path12]

Originally Posted by MikeVick7

Eaglesfan - Have you tried unticking the "Threading" option in the preferences yet? This stopped my WWSM06 from crashing last night.

My download version was crashing also until I tried this. It was crashing to desktop every week or so, now three months game time and nothing. It does slow it down though.

[Marc Vaughan]

Originally Posted by path12

My download version was crashing also until I tried this. It was crashing to desktop every week or so, now three months game time and nothing. It does slow it down though.

Sounds interesting - might help us with tracking this down ('tis something we're working on) ...

[MikeVick7]

Originally Posted by path12

My download version was crashing also until I tried this. It was crashing to desktop every week or so, now three months game time and nothing. It does slow it down though.

Right, it's kind of a temporary solution to the crashing problem until the next patch comes out. (Hopefully) And yes, it definitely slows down the game, but it stops it from crashing every 5 minutes.

This is something I read over at the SI boards.

[Marc Vaughan]

Originally Posted by MikeVick7

At what level do players start training full-time? Is it League 2?

It depends on the players contract - if you've the budget turn one or two players in the lowest league full-time, it can really make a difference to a team if you pick the right players ... they'll be fitter and can have a bit more of an 'edge' to their skills.

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by rexallllsc

I thought I read once that without the code (ARSE) players wouldnt do things like that - as they (SI) were worried about getting sued? Something to do with mischaracterizing players.

Okay, I see what you mean now but punching an opponent, as mentionned by Jari's shorts is hardly something new in terms of real life stuff. I've seen numerous times in game commentary of FM2005 the line "xxx has been kicked by yyy" and while I don't remember the term punching being used, I'd assume it's just as possible without the ARSE command...

FM

[FrogMan]

fwiw, sendit.com has FM2006 selling at £17.99 with shipping at only £1.60 for Canada and USA. That's £19.59 or $33.63 in US dollars. Still a tad more expensive than the download, but it's the best deal for FM2006...


I know some people ordered from sendit last year, so I'm only mentionning it...
FM

[FBPro]

Is there any significance to a club that is continually mentioned in your news that appears to have an unstable manager situation and a box asking if you want to "declare interest in job"?

[Pumpy Tudors]

Originally Posted by FBPro

Is there any significance to a club that is continually mentioned in your news that appears to have an unstable manager situation and a box asking if you want to "declare interest in job"?

Besides the obvious, I don't really know. I really don't think it's any more than asking if you want to declare interest in the job.

[FBPro]

Yeah, just found it kinda odd that probably once a week this email pops up and always with the opportunity for me to declare interest.

[SirFozzie]

it could be an impetus to push the coach on the edge of being fired over the edge..


"We want to fire this guy because we think someone else can do it better.."

Then you declare interest, as if to say.. "Fire him and Hire me!"

If they consider you a better fit.. guess what happens? They dump the guy and come looking to hire you!

[portnoise]

Originally Posted by FrogMan

fwiw, sendit.com has FM2006 selling at £17.99 with shipping at only £1.60 for Canada and USA. That's £19.59 or $33.63 in US dollars. Still a tad more expensive than the download, but it's the best deal for FM2006...


I know some people ordered from sendit last year, so I'm only mentionning it...
FM

Isn't sendit.com the place that sold shall-we-say-dubious copies of fm2005 for a sweet-looking price?

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by portnoise

Isn't sendit.com the place that sold shall-we-say-dubious copies of fm2005 for a sweet-looking price?

hrm, maybe, but I thought they took them back and sent replacement ones if you asked...

FM

[sovereignstar]

So I have barely had any time to get into FM lately. Part of the problem is that I need large chunks of time to get into the game as it's one that requires my full attention.

Another problem, which I'm sure many newbies have had, is that I've got little to no ability to read my current team and determine what kind of tactics/system I should start with - who should I keep/get rid of? And what kind of attributes should I be looking at for this new system?

I've read Marc's hints and a couple of articles on Susie, but I'm still just "dinking" around in the game and not getting any progress made. I don't want to move ahead if I don't have some goals for my team set. I'm kind of compulsive like that - I need to know exactly what I'm doing and where I'm going. And right now I don't. I started a game with the Belgian team Aalst (3rd Division A). I've got quite a bit of money to work with - 100k transfer money and I can more than double my current wage level.

What are the chances that someone could briefly run down that team and tell me what they see? What would you do with the team personally? Have any of you other guys been in my situation and do you have some other tips for me?

I love reading about the game and I love browsing around in it, but with my limited time (and limited soccer knowledge) it seems likely that this game will get pushed to the side again soon if I don't make some sort of progress. Thanks for any help any of ya'll can provide.