Help Wanted...Another CM4 Problem

[Chief Rum]

Okay, I want to use the ARSE command, but it appears to not be working for me.

I right-clicked on the desktop and selected to start up a new Text file. I changed its name to init.cfg. Then I opened it with Notepad and wrote in the appropriate commands, with quotes, and nothing else. Then I saved it, once again to init.cfg and making sure that I saved it with the extension "All Files" instead of "Text" (.txt). Then I copied it to my CM4's Data folder.

But I should be able to see chairman profiles if ARSE is working, correct? Yes, I also started a new game with the file in place.

I seem to be following all the instructions to a tee, and it still isn't working. So hopefully one of you for whom it is working can tell me what I am doing wrong.

Sorry if I sound frustrated, but the effort I am expending just to get this game working the way I want it has been extensive and seemingly endless and with little solutions placed in obvious places anywhere. If it weren't for the great times I had with CM3, I probably would have given up on this a whil ago.

Thanks in advance for any help you guys can give me.

Chief Rum

[BreizhManu]

get this Init.cfg file and put it in your data directory, should work (it has ARSE, BIG_BALL and GROUND activated)

[Chief Rum]

BreizhManu, you're the man. Shouldn't you be in bed? You are in France, aren't you?

Anyway, I haven't clicked on your link yet, but I'm guessing it's the same link (or the same thing) as one fellow over at sigames named onesimo. I clicked that about ten minutes ago and am now waiting for a new game to load up (takes about 12 minutes on my machine witht he leagues I have loaded up).

The file I got from the link from the guy at sigames had the file as an actual CFG. It was suggested in there that XP "secretly" tags Text files with the .txt extension, even when it doesn't show and you don't wish to save it that way. Stupid Microsoft!

Obviously, I have XP, which up until now I have had no serious complaints about.

Hopefully this will work. I'll be back when I see for sure. So much I think I could love in CM4, if only I could get the game going the way I want it. Cross your fingers.

Chief Rum

[Chief Rum]

I am officially ARSEd!

Weird thing, though. It advanced me all the way to January, 2003. So that kinda sucks. I am taking over a team in the middle of its season now, rather than the beginning (and it hasn't been a good season for them either).

I have a question on the Chairman stats. The categories appaer to be the coaching categories. I seem to recall the CM3 categories for this were chairman-related skills.

I am thinking that maybe it's supposed to be chairman skills, but for some reason it is labelling them with the coaching skills set. Assuming this is true, if someone could tell me what in set A (coaching skills) matches with what in set B (chairman skills), I would appreciate it.

For example, the old chairman skills would tell me how patient a chairman is or how stingy he is with his money. It does me little good to see chairman skills if all I'm finding out is how good he is at coaching goalkeepers!

Thanks for the help all.

Chief Rum

[Ryan S]

Originally posted by Chief Rum
Weird thing, though. It advanced me all the way to January, 2003. So that kinda sucks. I am taking over a team in the middle of its season now, rather than the beginning (and it hasn't been a good season for them either).

It is much more likely this has occured due to you accidentally setting the game to start with another league's start date when you set up the career. Arse should not affect this in any way.

And yes, I really should be in bed right now........

[Chief Rum]

Actually, I never thought Arse did that. I suspected it was something I did when I started the league. I wish I knew what, though. I selected the same leagues as before, so I can only assume the order in which I selected the leagues had something to do with it.

But then I suspect this was why this load up took 35 minutes or so (they simmed the league forward a few months). Maybe I'll start another one and I'll be sure to check the start date.

ANy idea about the coaching skill listings under the chairman thing? That is, if I catch you before you go to bed.

Chief Rum

[GoldenEagle]

I am going to go out on a branch here and say the coaching stats really do not matter. However, his style of play, etc. might be what he would look for in a manager. Again just a guess, and I really have no evidence to support it, but it makes sense to some extent.

In fact, if he is better at coaching goalkeepers than outfielders, he may look for a more a goalkeeper orientated coach.

[Chief Rum]

Oh, yeah, Golden Eagle, I know how the coaching skills could be used to extrapolate how this owner is. And if I hadn't played an ARSEd CM3, I probably wouldn't have thought different of it.

But in CM3, it was different. Chairmen had their own skills, most of which were definitely chairman skills. There were only two or three crossovers to coach-type skills (like I believe Motivation was one, for instance). It would make sense to me if some small error int he ARSE code didn't actually rename the skills like it's supposed to, but that the ratings given still apply to an appropriate skill.

I was hoping that maybe someone knew what the actual skills are supposed to be. It would help much more in getting a picture of the chairman I am working for (which, of course, was the point in having those chairman skills in the first place, I thought).

I hope I don't have to wait for Marc to wake up.

Chief Rum

[klayman]

I don't think they're the same numbers, Chief. The only way would be to use an editor. I'll download one and compare my chairman's stats and see if they are the same, but I think the only way to find those stats you are looking for is through an editor. ARSE has other benefits, though.

As for the league starting in Jan, there is a start date button included with the leagues. Mine always defaults to USA start date, even though I'm starting in the English league. My guess is that one those Jan start dates was clicked on when it wasn't when you originally started.

[klayman]

Ok, I've loaded an editor and checked my chairman's stats and there is no correlation between the chairman attributes and coaching stats that are shown, that I can see. For example, my chairman has a 1 in resources yet doesn't have a 1 in any coaching stat.

So sorry, CR, but it doesn't do what you want it to.

[Chief Rum]

That's weird, klayman. Why are we given coaching stats for our chairmen? I don't want my chairmen any closer to the pitch than the stands, and when I'm practicing, I don't even want him int he park!

I know CM3 actually gave you the pertinent chairman stats and not this stuff. Why on Earth is this different? Please, Marc, if you're out there, let me know what's up with this, why was it changed, and is it possible to make it the way it was before (the way it should be, I think, too).

Also, klayman, if you could tell me where to get the editor, I would appreciate it. I could at least check things out that way if there is no normal way to see these stats.

I know ARSE has other benefits, and I'm very thankful for them, considering all this stupid crap I was going through trying to get it to work earlier.

Chief Rum

[klayman]

I got them from the Editors Hideout in the SI Forums.

The first one I tried was Jonny Rivers Editor. Unfortunately it doesn't give the hidden attributes of the staff members. (I've included it here just in case you want to look at it).

The 2nd one I used was Michael Nygreen's Editor which was a lot better, and allows you to view the chairman's stats. However, it is a pre-game editor, so any stats you see at 0 are random (my chairman's patience was at 0 for example) so it could be anywhere from 1-20 when you start the game. In other words, if you are planning on playing a league that has a lot of chairmans with 0 stats, this won't help you at all.

The 3rd one I know of is Mind Compression's editor. I haven't used it as the previous one gave me the answer to your question. However, it is apparently real time editing, so you should be able to see the chairman's stats without any problem. But like I said, I haven't used it, so I don't know how safe it is for your game or how to set it up. It might not even include chairman stats in it.

Sorry it's not easier to get those stats. I agree that it seems kinda of weird, as there is almost no reason to include the ability to get the chairman's stats if they are not relevant. Hope this post helps you though.

[illinifan999]

Is there any way to edit your coaching stats. For me, I have 10 and 13's across teh board. I don't know if this affects you getting a job, but if it does I would like to bump a few of them up.

[BreizhManu]

It doesn't affect you from getting a job, in CM3 only your Potential Ability did have an influence on the job you were able to get, don't know if it's the same in CM4.

[ice4277]

Chief,

If I'm not mistaken, the chairmen's stats in CM3 were always shown, you did not need to use ARSE to view them. For CM4 I believe they did away with the always-visible chairman stats. This doesn't explain why they currently have coaching stats, but I think it may have something to do with the ARSE command showing data that wasn't truly designed to be shown...

[Karim]

Since ARSE is opening up things that SI legally wasn't supposed to show, I'd be surprised if the Chairmen's attributes from CM3 reappear.

I have ARSE activated with Telford in the Conference. Halfway through season 1, I really haven't seen much difference.

[Chief Rum]

ice and Karim,

I don't remember it that way, but it has been a while. I could have sworn the chairman stats were only released in CM3 with the ARSE command.

Note that what stats we get now (be they coaching or chairman) still only come with the ARSE command. I'm pretty sure that chairman stats have always been linked to the ARSE command, and that SI couldn't legally do it in an unARSEd game.

As for the legality of it, that's why SI doesn't publically support the command word or make any mention of it beyond the community boards (which even then isn't brought up by official SI personnel, if I recall). Heck, even Marc's Hint & Tips, which go specifically into the config files and how they work, doesn't mention ARSE as one of the possible command words.

Saw that Marc was online last night, and responded to other threads. I wonder if he's avoiding us. If he cannot respond to us here because of the legality of the ARSE command, I hope he happens to run into someone who can. Perhaps a private communique?

Chief Rum

[vtbub]

WTF is ARSE?

[Chief Rum]

It's a special command that can be added to a config file in one of CM4's folders to trigger certain more extreme effects that can't normally be included in the game. You know, tougher personalities and reactions, or things reflecting negatively on people in the game that can normally be expressed (or otherwise the real guys would sue, things like that). I'm sure there are other effects as well (like, supposedly, seeing your chairman's stats), but that's the gist of it.

Chief Rum

[ice4277]

Chief,

I think they may have originally had the chairman stats in the game normally, then at some point had to take them out because of possible legal issues. But I am almost positive they were in the regular game for a while.

[Chief Rum]

Well, then they never really removed them. They just made them accessible with ARSE instead. I did get the game long after it was released, so if they changed something initially I probably missed it. But I know I still have this capability on my old CM 02-03 game (which is ARSEd).

So I figure you're right that it may have come with the game originally, but it most certainly wasn't that way when I finally got it. I had to use ARSE to see chairman stats, but they were available.

Chief Rum

[ice4277]

Yeah, it was definitely prior to 02-03, I think a year or two before that. Also, as to what has been said earlier about ARSE, I too have not really seen it make much of a difference in anything else either. I never used it on any version of CM3 so I don't have a reference to know firsthand what it does. From what I can remember, it allows coaches and news reports to give negative info about players' attitudes and actions. I don't have any players on my squad right now with attitude problems, and I usually make an effort to stay away from them in general, so that might be why I haven't seen much in regards to this. Nice win by your Ducks tonight, also.

[Chief Rum]

Thanks, we certainly needed it. It was nice to see the team playing harder, the way they had before, rather than the lackluster efforts we all saw in New Jersey.

Chief Rum