Football Manager 24 (free!)

[maxjam]

FYI Football Manager 24 is free on Epic Store for a week from today (05/09/24)

(includes the data editor, so you can see the ratings they have given Goudmijn and Zetterstrom etc 😛)

Worth picking up for free if you haven't already, one of the best and 'most feature complete' editions of late imho and will almost certainly be better than FM25 later this year - which is missing a lot of existing features as it struggles to hit the release deadline after porting to a new graphics engine.

[DarkFruitsRam7]

Had to swear off FM for the foreseeable. As addictive as crack.

Edited September 5 by DarkFruitsRam7

[MaltRam]

41 minutes ago, DarkFruitsRam7 said:

Had to swear off FM for the foreseeable. As addictive as crack.

Crack is for wusses. Real addicts choose FM.

[maxjam]

1 hour ago, MaltRam said:

Crack is for wusses. Real addicts choose FM.

I justify its immense time sink as it now being a viable career path!

https://inside.fifa.com/about-fifa/organisation/news/fifae-partners-with-sports-interactive-to-launch-the-inaugural-fifae-world

https://www.fifa.gg

[Day]

2 hours ago, DarkFruitsRam7 said:

Had to swear off FM for the foreseeable. As addictive as crack.

You should have been around when Championship Manager was around, that game was like having a crack, heroin, alcohol, gambling addiction rolled into one.

As a teenager I did manage to give up one thing, that was personal hygiene.

[The_Sheriff]

5 hours ago, maxjam said:

FYI Football Manager 24 is free on Epic Store for a week from today (05/09/24)

(includes the data editor, so you can see the ratings they have given Goudmijn and Zetterstrom etc 😛)

Worth picking up for free if you haven't already, one of the best and 'most feature complete' editions of late imho and will almost certainly be better than FM25 later this year - which is missing a lot of existing features as it struggles to hit the release deadline after porting to a new graphics engine.

What are you playing it on? I have downloaded it/ got it for free but can't find it within my android...

[maxjam]

7 hours ago, The_Sheriff said:

What are you playing it on? I have downloaded it/ got it for free but can't find it within my android...

On my PC.  Dunno how Epic Store/FM work on a mobile tbh never used it.  I assume it gives you the mobile version and not the full version?

[Day]

Football Manager 24 mobile and touch are completely different games compared to the desktop version. 

[admira]

15 hours ago, Day said:

You should have been around when Championship Manager was around, that game was like having a crack, heroin, alcohol, gambling addiction rolled into one.

As a teenager I did manage to give up one thing, that was personal hygiene.

I used to play it at work (I can say that now I’ve left). I even used to wait until I was the last one in the office on a Friday so I could pack my PC in my car boot, play it all weekend at home, and be first in the office on a Monday to get it back!

I even once logged a call with IT support because CM1 had stopped working due to a windows upgrade. I fed them some story about how I play it in the background when running long reports and they actually came and fixed it!!

Took Shrewsbury Town to European Cup glory!!

[KBB]

My cm and fm ritual is as follows.

Never ever play as derby as my real life bias will impact on the game.

Never ever play as a premier league club.

Its sad but I sim the first season with the lowest playable English league loaded (the level 10 data add on is amazing for this) and see which team finishes bottom of the lowest playable league. Then start a new game as them and play till I win either the premiership, fa cup or champions league. Never move clubs. I really enjoy the lower league saves and its great to play for years and see what happens in game.

Have owned pretty much every copy of cm from the first days on the amiga 500 and moved to fm when the switch happened with the development team.

Its addictive. Wow is it addictive.

[Carl Sagan]

OMFG - I downloaded it (thanks) but don't seem near an actual match yet. That's an hour of my life I'll never get back!

[ramit]

16 hours ago, Carl Sagan said:

OMFG - I downloaded it (thanks) but don't seem near an actual match yet. That's an hour of my life I'll never get back!

An hour?  OMG, never press continue the first day until you've checked every player and staff member in the database.

3 days minimum.

[KBB]

3 hours ago, ramit said:

An hour?  OMG, never press continue the first day until you've checked every player and staff member in the database.

3 days minimum.

If you haven't set your scouting network to look for wonderkids in South America or Africa within the first 5 minutes are you even taking the game seriously?

My first five minutes are spent filtering interested players by height and getting the tallest striker with the best jumping reach on a free transfer that will join a level 10 side. 38 years old? 6ft 7 and jumping reach of 18? Yes please. Then filter by pace and get the 2 fastest wingers I can find? Random 18 yr old released by Waterford with 17 pace? On a free? Yes please.

[Carl Sagan]

33 minutes ago, KBB said:

If you haven't set your scouting network to look for wonderkids in South America or Africa within the first 5 minutes are you even taking the game seriously?

My first five minutes are spent filtering interested players by height and getting the tallest striker with the best jumping reach on a free transfer that will join a level 10 side. 38 years old? 6ft 7 and jumping reach of 18? Yes please. Then filter by pace and get the 2 fastest wingers I can find? Random 18 yr old released by Waterford with 17 pace? On a free? Yes please.

I know nothing of this. It's why I stopped playing videogames after Derby's Lara Croft. Epic also made the Kerbal Space Program thing free, but who has time for all of this? 

[ramit]

8 hours ago, KBB said:

If you haven't set your scouting network to look for wonderkids in South America or Africa within the first 5 minutes are you even taking the game seriously?

My first five minutes are spent filtering interested players by height and getting the tallest striker with the best jumping reach on a free transfer that will join a level 10 side. 38 years old? 6ft 7 and jumping reach of 18? Yes please. Then filter by pace and get the 2 fastest wingers I can find? Random 18 yr old released by Waterford with 17 pace? On a free? Yes please.

We all have our ways, some more maniacal than others.

Some wonderkids are missed by the scout in the earlier versions of Manager that I played, so to do it right, I went through every team myself, checking on price, contract length, second nationality and such.  Found the best 16 year old central defender in a tiny club somewhere in Africa, as well as many other gems.  Also if you wait for a scout report, some bids may already have come in on a player and he's not affordable anymore.  Getting in front of the line can have no substitute.

My basic general requirements for all players outside of keeper were decent pace, acceleration, positioning, anticipation and first touch, plus acceptable other mental attributes. 

Central defenders had to have better than average determination, tackling, marking, jumping and teamwork.

Fullbacks must be fast and relatively strong, be able to cross and pass and marking being more important than tackling, stamina a big plus, along with a bit of creativity.  These are some of the hardest to find IMO.  A player capable of playing both fullback and wingback being gold.

Wingers had to have great pace to be able to track back when needed, plus have some flair, technique, off the ball and crossing.

Central midfielders are of various types of course, but creativity, passing and teamwork generally required along with acceptable technique. 

Strikers need decent finishing of course, but high first touch, acceleration and off the ball are imperative and flair and teamwork helps of course, as does agility, balance and technique.

Keeper needs better than average agility and balance and positioning, along with shot stopping, jumping and some high mental attributes, such as determination and generally not under 187cm tall.

Am likely forgetting some important aspects, but that's basically how I choose players.

I never start higher than in league 2, so those stats take notice of that fact to begin with.

Edited September 7 by ramit
small addition

[maxjam]

28 minutes ago, Carl Sagan said:

I know nothing of this. It's why I stopped playing videogames after Derby's Lara Croft. Epic also made the Kerbal Space Program thing free, but who has time for all of this? 

I put 100s of hours into it every year and have done for probably 30yrs 😛 

It can be daunting at first, there is soooo much to do but once you get the hang of things it becomes second nature.  The learning curve can be quite severe if you've never played before (or not played for a while) but its well worth sticking at imho, its one of those games where there is no right way to win and it can be approached from a number of different angles. 

TBH I spend a long time in pre-season, my first in-game day or two can take hours!  But then you can run through the season 'relatively' quickly.  Day one is usually spent assessing the squad and sorting out tactics.  Hiring/firing staff and sending my scouts out to search for players.

I generally have a couple of saves on the go, a Derby save and a lower league save - as @KBB notes you can install mods to take the game down to tiers 10-12 and go on a journey taking your local Sunday League team to the PL.  

A couple of good starter guides can be found here;

 

 

[Day]

Do you all still save before a cup final or promotion winning game and reload the game if you lose?

As kids, we all did it, anyone that says otherwise is lying.

[KBB]

1 hour ago, Day said:

Do you all still save before a cup final or promotion winning game and reload the game if you lose?

As kids, we all did it, anyone that says otherwise is lying.

Ah save scumming. Very controversial topic in the fm community. When I was about 10 yeah of course.

[maxjam]

4 hours ago, Day said:

Do you all still save before a cup final or promotion winning game and reload the game if you lose?

As kids, we all did it, anyone that says otherwise is lying.

Of I did it when I was younger, who didn't? 

I haven't 'cheated' in any game for years now however.  Another game I used to really enjoy was 'The Forest', spent hours in that game avoiding cannibals, building bases, surviving etc - really, really enjoyed it.  Then I discovered you could mod it... 

I started small, changing a few minor things to remove some of the tedium but ended up making myself overpowered removing all of the challenge.  I stopped playing shortly after and have never been back.  Pity, it was a good game but I'd ruined it.  I've not modded a game for anything other than appearances since, all it does it kill the enjoyment/challenge. 

Edited September 7 by maxjam

[ThePrisoner]

My FM addiction has dissipated this last year, mainly because I cannot tear myself away from Balatro.

Edited September 7 by ThePrisoner