Alright Boys, Here we go! The Football Manager 2012 thread (Game OUT!)

[sovereignstar v2]

FWIW, Steam has a backup and restore option. You just back up the game to a folder, then if you need to reinstall at some point you log into Steam and do a restore and point to the folder.

[Barkeep49]

Originally Posted by fortheglory

I just pre-ordered. It will be my first FM. I hope it's worth it. I have found myself getting bored with pc games of late. Maybe I'm just getting old and don't like games as much as I used to.

I've invested more time in FM11 than any other game I've ever played and I was new to the series in 10 (which would also have to rank among the most time I've played a game). I found this thread a huge help as I was getting used to the game and it will be interesting to hear what someone new thinks of the tutorial system they're implementing.

[Ryan S]

Demo out now. Apparently it could take up to an hour before it is available in all regions.

Site Error

[DaddyTorgo]

Yeah - not available in US yet. I just woke up and checked Steam figuring it'd be today, and don't see it, but the SI website says it's out.

Waiting patiently.

[Big Fo]

Sweet, glad I opened up FOFC during lunch. The download will be completed well before I get home from work.

If you can't find it, just enter steam://install/71280# into your web browser.

[Marc Vaughan]

Typical I nip in here to let you chaps know about the demo and you've already beaten me to it

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by Big Fo

Sweet, glad I opened up FOFC during lunch. The download will be completed well before I get home from work.

If you can't find it, just enter steam://install/71280# into your web browser.

Fuck - how'd you find that. Been trying for the last hour. I <3 you right now.

[Marc Vaughan]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

Fuck - how'd you find that. Been trying for the last hour. I <3 you right now.

We're trying to ensure its tweeted, twittered and posted everywhere as the replication for Steam is being a bit tardy with updating at present ...

(but as I mentioned you chaps beat me to it here )

[spleen1015]

Gonna give this demo a whirl even though I don't know jack about soccer.

[Sweed]

d'loading now. Started out so slow, 200kbs or less. Has now jumped up to ~700-900 kbs, much better.

Had planned on skipping a year with 11 being so good. Yeah, say that almost every year I'll be damned though every year they add just enough to bring me in again. .

[spleen1015]

What do you guys recommend as a newbie approach for this?

My extent of soccer knowledge is just watching USA WC matches.

[MrBug708]

Start with a big team so you have money to work with. Either a giant in England, Spain, or Italy. Assume you might fail and don't get frustrated if you do. If you succeed, so be it. Tactics, I would just go with what you have or the basic 442 to start with.

[MacroGuru]

Just remoted into my home machine and started the Demo download so it will be available for when I get home...Hell, I have barely had time to play with FM 2011

[DaddyTorgo]

T-minus one minute to demo...!!! Unfortunately I won't get to spend significant time with it until I get some of the down-time at this bachelor party this weekend...

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by Marc Vaughan

Typical I nip in here to let you chaps know about the demo and you've already beaten me to it

Hehehe

[MrBug708]

Like the features, it's just going to have to get used to the location of some things

[DaddyTorgo]

GAME ON MOFO!!!!!

[SirFozzie]

Originally Posted by Marc Vaughan

Typical I nip in here to let you chaps know about the demo and you've already beaten me to it

Don't consider us FM-Stalkers, Marc.. just consider us "Highly enthused Football Manager followers"

[spleen1015]

This is a little intimidating.

[MrBug708]

Just go slow. As I said, it's overwhelming but there is a lot of meat to the game

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by spleen1015

This is a little intimidating.

Use the tutorial and the tips. The tutorial has gotten a lot of work lately I believe.

And don't feel free to ask us whatever questions you want to obviously. We've all been there intimidated. Hell...I was so intimidated my first time playing a demo that I put it down and didn't come back to it for years. Worst decision of my gaming life IMO.

[MrBug708]

Marc, I'm cautiously ecstatic based on something I see. What does "Handle Youth Intake Selection" mean? I'm hoping it has to do with the amount of new kids that end up on a team when a season turns over?

[SirFozzie]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

Marc, I'm cautiously ecstatic based on something I see. What does "Handle Youth Intake Selection" mean? I'm hoping it has to do with the amount of new kids that end up on a team when a season turns over?

Bug:

See this post for more on this feature:

Front Office Football Central - View Single Post - The Football Manager 2012 pre-release thread (Demo Out 10/6!)

[DaddyTorgo]

Woot - just made myself the better part of an hour to take a crack at the demo!

[Tim Tellean]

I can't transfer my '11 file to '12 so until I get fired in '11. I'll hold off. BTW- I pre-purchased '12 and d/led the demo.
How can I get myself fired real fast

[MrBug708]

OMG OMG OMG - Team Meeting!

[DaddyTorgo]

Wait what...team meetings? cool!

i didn't watch any of the video blogs (cuz I usually read the blogs from work), so I wasn't expecting that.

Default transfer and loan policies - yay!!

[MrBug708]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

Bug:

See this post for more on this feature:

Front Office Football Central - View Single Post - The Football Manager 2012 pre-release thread (Demo Out 10/6!)

Gracias! Too bad the demo won't make it that far, I really want to try it! Like REALLY want to try it. I save/reload so many times until I get a great crop of youth kids. The fact that they could come overseas (as newgens) with some relationship, is amazing!

[MrBug708]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

Wait what...team meetings? cool!

i didn't watch any of the video blogs (cuz I usually read the blogs from work), so I wasn't expecting that.

Yes! I did it with Aresenal in the preseason and I selected the kind of speak I went with Assertively that I we missed winning last year but this is a new year and we'll work harder to achieve our goals. 7 different players had something to say in return (all positively). I asked RVP what he thought and he said Yes, let's make this a memorable one! (The other 6 had nothing else to say after that). I responded that it was the reaction I was looking for and everyone reacted positively to my response

[MrBug708]

I also just requested a trial day!

[SirFozzie]

Let's get the joke out of the way now.

How do I tell Bayern Munich that while there's nothing wrong with it, I'll have to decline.....

(for those who are having problems getting it to load, the line is "Weiser offers FC Bayern's Butt", and it involves Hans-Jorg Butt's agent sending me a "Hey, my guy could be available message)

[DaddyTorgo]

Nit: why can't I request a report from the scouting pool from the "report" section of the profile? Why should I have to go up to the button at the top and do it from there?

[Sweed]

Just moving around the game without really doing anything. I have to say the player cards ARE A THING OF BEAUTY! So much info on the default screen and customizable too. Just picked up a new 23" monitor a couple of weeks ago so not sure how much different it would be on the old 20" but on the new monitor I can show every option except one. Sweet.

Also very cool, in the preferences you can now change attribute colors on the fly without having to tinker with an xml file.

As MrBug708 said, it's going to take a bit to get used to the location of things. Damn, sure would be nice to have a week off when the game releases.

[fortheglory]

The 3d is choppy. Any reason for this?

[Sweed]

Originally Posted by spleen1015

This is a little intimidating.

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

Use the tutorial and the tips. The tutorial has gotten a lot of work lately I believe.

And don't feel free to ask us whatever questions you want to obviously. We've all been there intimidated. Hell...I was so intimidated my first time playing a demo that I put it down and didn't come back to it for years. Worst decision of my gaming life IMO.

Yeah, I think most of us USA players were intimidated with our first FM game. Hell, I tried the demo for two years running only to quickly quit. Then I bought 2006 and stuck with it. Felt totally clueless but between FOFC, MarcV, and the SI boards (they were actually quite nice answering my questions, there's really quite a few Brits that are more than happy to help out a Yank trying to get a grasp on the beautiful game) I was able to get over the hump. It's a lot to digest when you have to learn both the game of football and also player movement(transfers), signings, handling your players, the media, fan expectations, etc. etc.

In the end it is well worth the effort. I have played most of the text sims out there and they are great games. I get more mileage out of OOTP only because I was raised in the US and have always loved baseball. However nothing touches FM when it comes to giving you the feeling you are dealing with real people, in a real world, with leagues that go all the way down to semi-pro (playable) teams.

Stick with it.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by Sweed

Just moving around the game without really doing anything. I have to say the player cards ARE A THING OF BEAUTY! So much info on the default screen and customizable too. Just picked up a new 23" monitor a couple of weeks ago so not sure how much different it would be on the old 20" but on the new monitor I can show every option except one. Sweet.

Also very cool, in the preferences you can now change attribute colors on the fly without having to tinker with an xml file.

As MrBug708 said, it's going to take a bit to get used to the location of things. Damn, sure would be nice to have a week off when the game releases.

I said this to Foz - the new player cards are AWESOME

[fortheglory]

Originally Posted by Sweed

Yeah, I think most of us USA players were intimidated with our first FM game. Hell, I tried the demo for two years running only to quickly quit. Then I bought 2006 and stuck with it. Felt totally clueless but between FOFC, MarcV, and the SI boards (they were actually quite nice answering my questions, there's really quite a few Brits that are more than happy to help out a Yank trying to get a grasp on the beautiful game) I was able to get over the hump. It's a lot to digest when you have to learn both the game of football and also player movement(transfers), signings, handling your players, the media, fan expectations, etc. etc.

In the end it is well worth the effort. I have played most of the text sims out there and they are great games. I get more mileage out of OOTP only because I was raised in the US and have always loved baseball. However nothing touches FM when it comes to giving you the feeling you are dealing with real people, in a real world, with leagues that go all the way down to semi-pro (playable) teams.

Stick with it.

I am new to this genre of games, and am wondering if OOTP is better than Football Manager. Never played OOTP, and just got the demo for this. I don't want to play both, but just one of them. Which do you recommend?

[Radii]

Originally Posted by fortheglory

I am new to this genre of games, and am wondering if OOTP is better than Football Manager. Never played OOTP, and just got the demo for this. I don't want to play both, but just one of them. Which do you recommend?

FM is better that any other text sim by light years. FM may be too overwhelming for many people, there's an unbelievable amount of things to do, attributes to understand, people to manage. But that depth makes it brilliant. There's a big learning curve, even bigger for many of us in the US who don't consume soccer at the same level many Europeans do, but the payoff if it clicks for you is nothing short of spectacular.

[Miller Time]

Originally Posted by fortheglory

I am new to this genre of games, and am wondering if OOTP is better than Football Manager. Never played OOTP, and just got the demo for this. I don't want to play both, but just one of them. Which do you recommend?

You cannot go wrong with either.

If you are starting FM for the first time, I would recommend taking the game very slow. Learn how to move around and try and understand where everything is situated first. Because there is a large amount of information readily available for you.

Do not get bogged down with the tactics portion of the game just yet, pick a simple 442 or 451 and lightly tinker with things during your friendlies. I have been playing the game for 13 years and I still struggle with the tactics part of the game.

I would also suggest staring with a Man City/United/Chelsea/Liverpool type club. You'll have deep squads and some money to play around with.

Lastly, ask lots of questions, usually someone will respond pretty quick.

[DaddyTorgo]

"View key attributes" toggle on player profiles = a nice shortcut, particularly for the newer players. I like how you can really dial it in also, with exact positions and mentalities. Nice to have it on the player screen rather than just on the tactics screen where it was last year.

Director's Camera is fun view.

Hopefully we get more use of the "offside line" because I always enjoy seeing that, and it's realistic, seeing as we see it like 10-12 times a game sometimes it feels like in real life.

[Marc Vaughan]

Originally Posted by fortheglory

The 3d is choppy. Any reason for this?

There are a myriad of settings for it - give them a play it should help, normally its to do with people having a VERY high resolution and full-screen without dropping the rendering a little ..

[Marc Vaughan]

Originally Posted by fortheglory

I am new to this genre of games, and am wondering if OOTP is better than Football Manager. Never played OOTP, and just got the demo for this. I don't want to play both, but just one of them. Which do you recommend?

I'd recommend them both personally - they're very different games played in a slightly different manner; but both good imho.

(if you want a test 'dip' into OOTP and have an iPhone/iTouch/iPad - download iOOTP and give that a whirl? ... their HD iPad skin for it just came out ... similarly there is FMH available on those platforms which is a faster/less intense/slimmed down version of FM ... although be warned that is very much 'my baby' so I'm kinda biased about it )

[fortheglory]

Originally Posted by Marc Vaughan

I'd recommend them both personally - they're very different games played in a slightly different manner; but both good imho.

(if you want a test 'dip' into OOTP and have an iPhone/iTouch/iPad - download iOOTP and give that a whirl? ... their HD iPad skin for it just came out ... similarly there is FMH available on those platforms which is a faster/less intense/slimmed down version of FM ... although be warned that is very much 'my baby' so I'm kinda biased about it )

In what ways are they different? Which one do you think is deeper/smarter? If this is your baby, I guess you're saying this is the better of the two?

[Sweed]

Originally Posted by fortheglory

I am new to this genre of games, and am wondering if OOTP is better than Football Manager. Never played OOTP, and just got the demo for this. I don't want to play both, but just one of them. Which do you recommend?

FM is deeper and gives a more "total real life" experience. IMHO there is no debate about this, it's not even close. That is not a dis of OOTP. OOTP delivers a realistic baseball world but with Markus and Andreas being the only programmers it isn't going to have the depth of FM. IE not as good a newspaper\media model, nor as good a "dealing with real human being" feel to it.

My love of OOTP is due to growing up in the States with baseball. I can't imagine what it would be like to have grown up in Britain with football as my passion and being able to play FM. A lot of my time has been, and still is, spent figuring out intricacies of the game that I imagine are second nature to a Brit.

You can't go wrong with either and if you can swing it I would encourage you to get both. Maybe FM now and OOTP in the spring when 13 comes out.

[Marc Vaughan]

Originally Posted by fortheglory

In what ways are they different? Which one do you think is deeper/smarter? If this is your baby, I guess you're saying this is the better of the two?

LOL - Bear in mind I'm biased, I've worked at SI for nearly 15 years now and been involved in creating all our products .... so bear that in mind.

Firstly I think one of the things is that the number of games in a season is higher in baseball than in soccer (football) - that affects the style of how people play the games (ie. its easier to concentrate on a match by match basis on a soccer sim because there are fewer individual games in a season).

FM has a lot of depth - so does OOTP, but they're in different ways and areas - I love the historic leagues being available on OOTP (and would love this to be possible on FM, unfortunately it isn't) and its very customisable in setup ... on the other hand FM is probably more interactive on a personal level with players/media and having the huge myriad of leagues, clubs etc. is kinda neat also ...

As I said neither is 'better' or 'worse' imho - they're both good games in their own right and very different in playing style and approach.

(I'm trying very hard not to be overly biased here ... someone else chime in and save me )

[SackAttack]

Crazy how much deeper FM12 looks just at first glance than FM11, and I haven't even gotten to some of the stuff I'm looking forward to, like contract negotiations.

I'm also cautiously optimistic about the fact that FM12 seems to be running faster for me than FM11 did, but I suspect that's because it's a quickstart, and not my usual "England down to L2 with players from other nations added" database.

Less enthused about the fact that matches won't run in the background anymore. No more stepping away to make dinner and leaving FM matches running minimized in the background so I can see if IMs are popping up while I'm away.

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by Marc Vaughan

(I'm trying very hard not to be overly biased here ... someone else chime in and save me )

OOTP wants to be FM, but it's too schizophrenic to really drill down and get there.

That's really my only knock on OOTP. There's so many things that Markus wants to do with that game that development of it often feels scattershot. Particularly when there are things that need some TLC, and instead of getting that TLC, we see new features popping up. That can lead to areas in need of redress getting ignored for a few versions.

With FM, it feels like there are specific areas of focus with each version. Instead of throwing everything at the wall and hoping it works out well, different parts of the engine seem to get love with each new version. Not that stuff gets excluded, but that each year you get a lot of little tweaks with the stuff that isn't being focused on, and some real heavy lifting on the stuff that is, if that makes sense.

But for the sound-byte answer, I think FM is the better game, but if OOTP had FM's depth and polish, I'd play that and never give FM a second look.

[MrBug708]

The negotiations were nice. The maximum value is the lowest available drop down menu option, unlike previous versions. And if you lock a certain part of the contract, like salary per week, you will see other aspects go up drastically

[Big Fo]

A tip for any people new to the game and looking to sign some players/play around with negotiations during the six months of the demo: If you negotiate monthly payments on a transfer fee and don't just pay a lump sum up front, only the first 12 months of payments count against that year's transfer budget. And since the demo only lasts 12 months, you don't have to worry about next year's budget being affected.

[illinifan999]

Originally Posted by SackAttack

Less enthused about the fact that matches won't run in the background anymore. No more stepping away to make dinner and leaving FM matches running minimized in the background so I can see if IMs are popping up while I'm away.

Wait...what? I realize I'm missing something glaringly obvious, but can you elaborate on this?