Football Manager 2014 Discussion

[Grim.Reaper]

Decided to separate the FM2014 discussion from the holiday tracking thread for those interested and did not want to get off topic on that one....but wanted to open this up for general discussions.

KyzBp and Nefaro - I know you guys seem to have experience so would welcome any advice you or others have.

1)  Are there any all encompassing mods out there (i.e. kits, logos, photos, etc.)?

2)  I always get hung up on league setup options, any recommendations on how to set these?  According to the game, my computer is rated as 5-star on everything.

- Leagues
- Nations
- Database Size
- Match Detail
etc.

[Nefaro]

I think this site has logo packs and other such things:  http://sortitoutsi.net/#entry1538207

I recall getting a big logo pack to make sure they were all official ones, such as these:  http://sortitoutsi.net/graphics/logos

EDIT:  I ended up grabbing a Logo Pack from this site http://www.fmscout.com/c-files14.html  because they had relatively "clean" logo packs without any excessive angles or glossiness on them.  Not sure what they have for 2014 however.  The old 2013 version I used doesn't list one for 2014.

As for setup, I usually just pick the individual league or country I plan on playing in and let the rest be simmed.  You don't need to select a bunch of other stuff because it'll just bog down your game and make your save larger.  If you want to be able to switch to a different team in a different league or wotnot then add them as a primary, otherwise don't.

I have only ran full seasons in the MLS as it has some extra stuff I'm used to in american sports, namely the rookie player draft.  Unfortunately I don't like the full-on version of FM since it's just way too bloated with all the pre/mid/post game pep talks, individual player talks, and other crap that I don't find very enjoyable.  You can delegate that stuff to your other coaches on the team but when I was doing so, it even seemed to take a long time to get all that delegation junk sorted by what I did or did not want to handle myself. 

Classic Mode was just more fun for me and covers the same stuff that other sports manager games do, without the extra primadonna pampering, constantly whining players, and wide assortment of speeches.  But it didn't have one of my favorite things to do in sports sims: the rookie draft.  Admittedly, the american league (MLS) is the only one that has an actual draft every year as far as I know so it's probably not high on their list to add it to their Classic Mode, despite pleas for it.  Instead of being able to draft your rookies, the game just automatically sends each team a set of (random?) rookie picks at the end of the year.  It is present in the full sim version, just not Classic Mode.  I'd still rather play in Classic Mode just to avoid all the extra BS that I don't really care about.

[Grim.Reaper]

Thanks Nefaro...as for the league/nation selection, if I only plan on coaching within England, does that mean I should just select that nation?  And if I do that, will I still be able to recruit players from around the world and see how the other leagues perform?  Or will I be restricted to just England?  Probably a dumb question, but this part always trips me up:)

[Nefaro]

There will still be players you can pick up from around the world.  Their leagues just aren't so intricately simmed every day, but they're still simmed by the AI.

It makes your 'turn resolution' and saves go much faster. 

[Grim.Reaper]

Great, thank you!  Might also give classic mode a go as well just to see how things play out first....

[KyzBP]

I usually start in the lowest English league with the intention of coaching my team up the ladder and eventually into the Premiership.  In 13 years of playing this, I've managed it exactly ONE time.  That being said, I think it depends on what level you want to start.  If you're starting at the bottom then you don't need to activate many leagues, just all the English ones and maybe Wales, Scotland, and the Irish.  That should provide you with plenty of players and places for your scouts to roam.  If you're starting with a Premiership team then consider activating more countries, also use the large data base.

I love that the game will install Mods straight from the Steam Workshop.  I use the Scorpio V3 Skin and the FMSK Button Logos pack.  I found both in the Workshop. 

It seems like the hard thing to mod this time is the stadium backgrounds.  I used a file I had from FM12 and it seems to have worked fine but it sounds like other people are having some problems.

Overall I LOVE what I've seen so far.  I use the full mode and do delegate the press conferences but the rest kind of adds to the game.

[vyshka]

I usually start in the lowest English league with the intention of coaching my team up the ladder and eventually into the Premiership.  In 13 years of playing this, I've managed it exactly ONE time.  That being said, I think it depends on what level you want to start.  If you're starting at the bottom then you don't need to activate many leagues, just all the English ones and maybe Wales, Scotland, and the Irish.  That should provide you with plenty of players and places for your scouts to roam.  If you're starting with a Premiership team then consider activating more countries, also use the large data base.

I love that the game will install Mods straight from the Steam Workshop.  I use the Scorpio V3 Skin and the FMSK Button Logos pack.  I found both in the Workshop. 

It seems like the hard thing to mod this time is the stadium backgrounds.  I used a file I had from FM12 and it seems to have worked fine but it sounds like other people are having some problems.

Overall I LOVE what I've seen so far.  I use the full mode and do delegate the press conferences but the rest kind of adds to the game.

LLM :) It's the only way to go

[Grim.Reaper]

Simply love the user interface in this game, just easy and awesome for a text simulation...if only front office football could learn from it!

Couple more questions.

1)  Is there a report/screen that shows what the game feels the top teams are in the league based on the players it has (not based on stats, standings, wins, etc.)?

2)  When I do a worldwide player search and I look for goal tenders as an example.....I look at there stats and it tells me how many game appearances they had.  But under the section where it says how many wins/loses/draws they had, they are always blank.  Would be nice to know how successful they are, but seems to be missing.  Is this a bug or on purpose for some reason?

[KyzBP]

Simply love the user interface in this game, just easy and awesome for a text simulation...if only front office football could learn from it!

Couple more questions.

1)  Is there a report/screen that shows what the game feels the top teams are in the league based on the players it has (not based on stats, standings, wins, etc.)?

2)  When I do a worldwide player search and I look for goal tenders as an example.....I look at there stats and it tells me how many game appearances they had.  But under the section where it says how many wins/loses/draws they had, they are always blank.  Would be nice to know how successful they are, but seems to be missing.  Is this a bug or on purpose for some reason?

1) I don't think there is.  I think the closest you'll get is in the League Screen it shows each teams promotion odds.

2) I'm no help there.  I don't think it's a bug though.  I seem to remember that from previous editions.  It should populate once the initial season gets underway.

I totally agree with you about the interface.  I have honestly not been this impressed by a game in a long time.

My problem is I couldn't locate the Pre-game Editor.  I couldn't start as a fictional, empty team.  I took over the Concord Rovers of the Skrill South.  I still haven't played a game yet.  I've been spending a lot of time exploring the game.  This was a great $25 investment.  My wife may think otherwise though.

[Grim.Reaper]

Not sure if you found the editor yet, but you need to go into steam->tools and you'll see the editor listed there for install.

As for the W/L/D, I simmed through half a season an no w/l/d stats...gk in my league are ok, but these are the ones I am scouting where they are blank...not sure.

The more I play, the more I appreciate the interface...just real easy.

[KyzBP]

Not sure if you found the editor yet, but you need to go into steam->tools and you'll see the editor listed there for install.

Thanks Grim!  I was having no luck in finding it.

[Grim.Reaper]

Nefaro, do you know of another site that hosts those facepacks and graphics?  You need to login to the one you gave, which I have no problem signing up for.  But I have tried twice now and the validation email to activate never makes it to.  I have checked all spam/junk folders, no luck.

[KyzBP]

Grim- If you bought this through Steam there are a bunch of mods for the game through Steam Workshop.  Installation is as simple as a mouse click.  If not, here are some other sites to check:

FM-Base: http://www.fm-base.co.uk/forum/graphics-downloads/

FMScout: http://www.fmscout.com/c-files.html

Sortitoutsi: http://sortitoutsi.net/

FM-View: http://forum.fm-view.net/files/

The Dugout: http://www.thedugout.tv/community/forumdisplay.php?f=281

Most of these will include instructions on where to install everything.  It's not complicated but I just fell in love with the one click installation on Steam.

Let us know what you go with.

[Grim.Reaper]

Grim- If you bought this through Steam there are a bunch of mods for the game through Steam Workshop.  Installation is as simple as a mouse click.  If not, here are some other sites to check:

FM-Base: http://www.fm-base.co.uk/forum/graphics-downloads/

FMScout: http://www.fmscout.com/c-files.html

Sortitoutsi: http://sortitoutsi.net/

FM-View: http://forum.fm-view.net/files/

The Dugout: http://www.thedugout.tv/community/forumdisplay.php?f=281

Most of these will include instructions on where to install everything.  It's not complicated but I just fell in love with the one click installation on Steam.

Let us know what you go with.

Good point. let me see if the mods I wanted exist there

[KyzBP]

I went with the Scorpio V3 Skin and the FMSK Button Logos pack.  They work nicely together.  I highly recommend the Scorpio V3 skin at minimum.