[FM2015] USA World Class MLS (8 levels)

[graaa]

I would vote to keep the original MLS team names, New England Revolution and Colorado Rapids. But it's your file and it really should be the way you'd prefer it to be.

What's important to me is people get the experience they want when they play it. It's no trouble at all making a double release - it's less than 5 minutes for me to put 3 clubs back into this file, whereas for others it would take a bit longer to do it themselves (because it's more than just changing the names back, though I know people already know or will figure out what needs to be changed back, I can save everyone a bunch of time because I already know what I've done to the teams and I can just do it myself in 5 minutes). I'll release 2 versions next time.

[Fabulous_FILA]

I'd keep the names, I want my game to be realistic.

[Uncle_Sam]

That's a fair point Uncle Sam. It'd be fairly easy for someone to simply duplicate the NYRB, change the name, stadium, etc. (and I'd release a short guide how to do so for this file).

So that's one vote for changing, one vote for keeping it as is and letting people change it themselves (which is a very practical point and would save me the work).

I'm just curious Uncle Sam, would you change it in your personal game and if so, what name(s) would you choose? New York United, Gotham FC, Metro FC (or some variation of Metro and Metro stars), Brooklyn, or a different one?

I would leave it. I really don't have a problem with the team name. Sponsorship naming has more of a history with soccer than any other sport. There are examples of team names that started with a sponsor and now noone even knows where the name originated. If I did change it I would go back to the MetroStars name.

[graaa]

I know we're all here to play an American league with more excitement in it than the real MLS and (hopefully!) more excitement than the European leagues. Even if you support all the changes I'm making to the league, I recognize that for some, changing some of the existing MLS team names may be a bit too far.

I have my own reasons for wanting to change some of the names, but I believe there is room for my own wishes and for the other popular position that exists in keeping the names. That's why I will be releasing two version side by side - one with the real MLS, NASL, and USL-PRO team names, and one with 10 or so name changes for teams in the previously mentioned leagues. If you are interested in reading my reasons for wanting to change them, please see the bottom of this post because I don't place a high importance of changing peoples minds. There's room for both visions.

It needs to be said that in changing some of the teams I'm attempting to make them as believable as possible. I'm using the editor to connect the old teams through their league history (for example, if I changed New York Red Bulls, you'd still be able to look at their history and see that they were once known as the Metrostars and the New York Red Bulls). I'm also setting stadiums, supporter profiles, ticket prices, rivalries, you name it. Because of all these edits, I'm predicting that anyone who wants to change the teams back could run into a couple of problems doing so because there is some heavy/tedious editing involved to fit the original teams back in from their current (version 0.8) form. That's why I'm going to release a 2nd version with those teams fully integrated into the file in replacement of the new teams (everything else completely the same). I've just prepared about 10 teams for easy switching back into the league.

I do this because feedback has always been important to me in making this file. I've sought feedback from the start and I expect to keep receiving it in the future to make this file as good as it can be. We've had some people following this project from the very start and there's no better way to show my appreciation than to listening to your feedback.

With that said, version 0.9 is coming along swiftly. I've already finished the club finances, attendances, ticket prices, stadium rent, supporter profiles, and now I'm working on connecting retired USA teams to some new ones in this file to create something of a history for them (even if it only goes back a couple years). I've also replaced the U23 team with reserves, and terminated Frank Lampert, David Villa's, and Kaka's loans so they'll be available at the start of the season for their USA teams. Expect a release in a week (or at most 2).

-------

Mission statement: the fine line between reality/fantasy.

Why I've changed some of the team names.

Part of my vision for making the league more exciting is changing a few of the teams to reflect local markets and history in the USA the way most of the teams in Europe do. I've chosen to change some USA teams that were originally marketing themselves to an entire state or region (like New England, Colorado, Carolina, etc) because I'm creating a league where the popularity of soccer in the USA has surged and there is now room for more teams in general and therefore room for teams to appeal to their local fanbase. I think this generates more rivalries that are similar to the college sports rivalries you see between local universities in the USA (and that you see between local teams in Europe) and the ability to take a team based in your favorite city or previously unrepresented hometown in the USA makes this file different from others you might play. That's why I changed New England to Boston, because there is a now Hartford team, a Worcester team, a Springfield team, etc (imagine if Wigan were called "Greater Manchester" after the county they are in, expecting to rope in fans from Manchester, Bolton, Oldham, Bury, etc. Wouldn't that be kind of a joke?).

I'm also trying to deal with the unique historical themes the USA has had in it's soccer history. For example, the ethnic group period that began in 1933 that produced Open Cup contenders like Brooklyn Italians, Greek-America Atlas, Kearny Celtic, etc is a significant period we could talk about, but in short, for those teams that still exist today, I'm trying to imagine that if they were playing in a USA pyramid where promotion to the leagues of the MLS were possible for such a small team, they would want to broaden their appeal and drop the ethnic association in their name. Therefore I've created teams like Williamsburg FC formerly Brooklyn Italians, Queens United formerly Greek-America Atlas, and Brick City FC formerly Kearny Celtic and many more. I know this is more than most people are interested in reading and people are more interested in playing so thanks for reading this. Either way the project is coming along great won't you say?

[wkdsoul]

I'd probably play both, in fact i may even change a lower non-important division/ teams to dc league

[graaa]

I'd probably play both, in fact i may even change a lower non-important division/ teams to dc league

There's certainly room for that here too =)

I just wish I could figure out a way to make it easier to add extra teams to the file... there are tons of amateur teams that I didn't put in here because I don't even know where to start with them. Hundreds of them. In a perfect world, someone with the knowledge of the teams should be able to put them into this file, but adding a division beneath the 8 I already have as well as integrating them into the clunky regional cups somehow makes it difficult! I certainly encourage people to do it though.

[wkdsoul]

I'll prob just change the team name, add proper cities to the usa and the kits.. leave Clarke Kent as the owner of Smallville AFC, kit in superman colours, and let the team grow from there.

Edit : I;ve swapped out any teams i had badges for in the USUSA Pacific so i'm left with 20 generated teams, i'll over type them inthe USSA DC Fantasy League

Gotham Knights, Metropolis Stars etc.. just the 20 to fill (lucky the miss's is a big DC geek! )

[graaa]

Gotham Knights, Metropolis Stars etc.. just the 20 to fill (lucky the miss's is a big DC geek! )

LOL. coolest thing I heard all day

[Joseph R. Cooper]

Well god damn, I get a concussion and an order to stay away from bright screens for a while, thus no spreadsheet work like I had hoped to be able to put in, its good to see everything is good to go, I'll be playing the hell out of this in the coming days once I get over GTA V on XBONE. Great work graaa.

Also, any intention of putting this up on the Steam Workshop?

[wkdsoul]

LOL. coolest thing I heard all day

[graaa]

Well god damn, I get a concussion and an order to stay away from bright screens for a while, thus no spreadsheet work like I had hoped to be able to put in, its good to see everything is good to go, I'll be playing the hell out of this in the coming days once I get over GTA V on XBONE. Great work graaa.

Also, any intention of putting this up on the Steam Workshop?

Hey Joe! Good to know you've recovered. Just tell the doctor you dimmed the screen on your computer

And yes, I will put this up on Steam.

[graaa]

Wow, you are serious! That's a gorgeous logo... Did you make that?

[wkdsoul]

Wow, you are serious! That's a gorgeous logo... Did you make that?

Na, found that online but looks like i'll have to make the other 19 lol.

Should be fun though..

[Joseph R. Cooper]

Hey Joe! Good to know you've recovered. Just tell the doctor you dimmed the screen on your computer

And yes, I will put this up on Steam.

Thanks, headaches were the worst part of it, screen dimming didn't help as much as I wanted.

And awesome, Workshop updates things automatically on my end so I shouldn't miss updates once everything is done and out. Gonna signal boost this over on reddit when the next release comes since your plans for 0.9 seem more in line with a finished release with 1.0 being a cleaned up version with a few fixes. Looking forward to the CWC and continental stuff being added in, might twitch it as well if my screen capture stuff works as intended.

As for the team names, I am on board with the name changes although not the MetroStars, I've always been partial to Empire City SC/FC which was the original name before Nike and the ownership changed it to the MetroStars. I've thought that the team nickname for that to be "The Evil" and the teams fight song being a vocal rendition of The Empire from Star Wars. The Evil Empire just sounds like a team I'd love to hate.

[wkdsoul]

Damn just noticed the 'Boston' team etc as well,, more badges to make..

i'll prob use defunct teams or baseball/baseketball/NFL logos for the missing teams, not sure how far down i'll go,

I'll prob end up doing the competitions as well, im not great or anything but if anyone wants em when i'm done...

EDIT : Just noticed there will be a revised version with the correct names, which i will play for the most part (not counting the DC teams) but any that do exist will in my game.

[graaa]

Thanks, headaches were the worst part of it, screen dimming didn't help as much as I wanted.

And awesome, Workshop updates things automatically on my end so I shouldn't miss updates once everything is done and out. Gonna signal boost this over on reddit when the next release comes since your plans for 0.9 seem more in line with a finished release with 1.0 being a cleaned up version with a few fixes. Looking forward to the CWC and continental stuff being added in, might twitch it as well if my screen capture stuff works as intended.

As for the team names, I am on board with the name changes although not the MetroStars, I've always been partial to Empire City SC/FC which was the original name before Nike and the ownership changed it to the MetroStars. I've thought that the team nickname for that to be "The Evil" and the teams fight song being a vocal rendition of The Empire from Star Wars. The Evil Empire just sounds like a team I'd love to hate.

Ouch dude, take it slow! Don't rush to get back to your old routines. Concussions suck.

Getting it out to more people would be awesome. Steam is a good start and I never thought of reddit and twitch - good calls man. You're right on when you say 0.9 should essentially be a complete beta release. 1.0 would be the place to really clean things up, possibly add logos, do the CWC alternative file etc.

I'm totally digging the new team idea - making a team everyone loves to hate (due to their dominance, of course!) would be a cool marketing strategy. I think New York City is the perfect place for a team with that profile. I'm at this moment imagining it Empire City FC, with nicknames The Evil Empire AND Gotham. Thoughts?

[graaa]

Damn just noticed the 'Boston' team etc as well,, more badges to make..

i'll prob use defunct teams or baseball/baseketball/NFL logos for the missing teams, not sure how far down i'll go,

I'll prob end up doing the competitions as well, im not great or anything but if anyone wants em when i'm done...

Hey, thanks for posting some of your work! You could be a big help with the logos (seeing as I haven't even begun to learn how to put them in yet.) I'll send you a private message when the time is right! stay posted.

BTW, thought you might enjoy this soccer league I found: http://www.gothamsoccer.com/

[wkdsoul]

Nice, pity there is just the one logo.. lol.

I'll make a note of the league/cup names that i dont have logos for already and start to look for pics when i'm bored at work (not got fm with me and cant remember them comp/cup names off the top of my head) i'll make a list.

I'll prob end up changing some of the team names so they match the hockey/baskeytball/amatuer/customs logos i find on the net for the local areas for each team as i go.. but the comps i can upload no problem. (i hope).

EDIT : Just seen the logos site that was posted on page 1, for the team name suggestions, so i'll be using that for a pic resources as well

First effort - needs cleaning but i'm at work so can only use MS paint which sucks..

[clemenceko]

Hey, thanks for posting some of your work! You could be a big help with the logos (seeing as I haven't even begun to learn how to put them in yet.) I'll send you a private message when the time is right! stay posted.

BTW, thought you might enjoy this soccer league I found: http://www.gothamsoccer.com/

WOW! So the gotham league is REAL! Never knew that! Thanks for sharing.

[clemenceko]

Ouch dude, take it slow! Don't rush to get back to your old routines. Concussions suck.

Getting it out to more people would be awesome. Steam is a good start and I never thought of reddit and twitch - good calls man. You're right on when you say 0.9 should essentially be a complete beta release. 1.0 would be the place to really clean things up, possibly add logos, do the CWC alternative file etc.

I'm totally digging the new team idea - making a team everyone loves to hate (due to their dominance, of course!) would be a cool marketing strategy. I think New York City is the perfect place for a team with that profile. I'm at this moment imagining it Empire City FC, with nicknames The Evil Empire AND Gotham. Thoughts?

Nice name! But maybe can I suggest The Empire instead of Empire City FC while Gotham Evil Empire instead of The Evil Empire AND Gotham. My 2 cents worth.

[donnybrook]

I just want to say thanks for making this update. I had no idea the Empire Cup was a real tournament. My Harlem team (bottom tier) had the most enjoyable 2-1 loss ever to New York Red Bulls. If you just looked at their attributes my team should have had no chance against a top team, but with a little more luck we could have taken them out.

[wkdsoul]

cleaned it up a bit... looks ok,

this'll be more like in game - >

and GOTHAM FC -> for anyone interested http://oi62.tinypic.com/258r0a9.jpg

used a promo pic from the Bane scene for the stadium

[graaa]

Nice name! But maybe can I suggest The Empire instead of Empire City FC while Gotham Evil Empire instead of The Evil Empire AND Gotham. My 2 cents worth.

It seems like enough people like the name 'Empire' in the team and the name 'Gotham' in the nickname. I don't think everyone will be able to agree on all the variations of the name that are possible lol. Everyone is free to change the names to fit their personal tastes, and of course, I'll have the separate file with the New York Red Bulls still in it for people who prefer the original.

[graaa]

I just want to say thanks for making this update. I had no idea the Empire Cup was a real tournament. My Harlem team (bottom tier) had the most enjoyable 2-1 loss ever to New York Red Bulls. If you just looked at their attributes my team should have had no chance against a top team, but with a little more luck we could have taken them out.

I had no idea it was a real cup either! lol. The cup names were all fictional to me when I made them - pure coincidence.

About your Harlem/NYRB game - those are the sort of scenarios I'm looking for with the regional cups! Glad you're enjoying it.

[graaa]

cleaned it up a bit... looks ok,

this'll be more like in game -

and GOTHAM FC -> for anyone interested http://oi62.tinypic.com/258r0a9.jpg

used a promo pic from the Bane scene for the stadium

Wow... love it. Keep it up wkdsoul. Would love to use those competition logos!

Your Gotham FC work is top notch as well. You've got some skills man.

[wkdsoul]

Wow... love it. Keep it up wkdsoul. Would love to use those competition logos!

Your Gotham FC work is top notch as well. You've got some skills man.

still working on readable colours and making the usa mls theme run through them all but nothing much on a work at the min so it passes the time.

[donnybrook]

The Empire Cup College Showcase, sponsored by Adidas, is a youth team tournament.

http://www.empirecup.org/EmpireCup/index_E.html

"The Empire Cup College Showcase is the premier college showcase in the Northeast. It draws nearly 100 coaches each year due to high level competition, great natural grass facilities, and great atmosphere"

[wkdsoul]

- banner to contain southwest, pacific etc as needed

[Uncle_Sam]

I kind of think you should play around with the new MLS logo. It has all that space on the left of the logo to play with.

[wkdsoul]

I kind of think you should play around with the new MLS logo. It has all that space on the left of the logo to play with.

which is the new one? I've a pack that includes an MLS one for my game, but i can interate it into the cups/other divisons.

[Uncle_Sam]

[Uncle_Sam]

And I meant the space on the bottom right.

[wkdsoul]

Oh yeah i have that earmarked for some of the cups later on..

There are loads of comps in this pack.. lol

i've this for the mls cup so far.

[graaa]

Here's something I just found out - editing around 400+ kits takes a long time!

Just finished giving a home and away kit to every club. There might be some duplicates in there - I haven't completely checked (and the odds are that the only way to spot a duplicate will be through pure chance) but I've been pretty thorough and making sure there's a LOT of variety with the kits.

I've decided to put the history editing on the backburner - I've managed to dip my toes in and add every winner/runner up of the US Open Cup into the history, but I've realized that the work I still need to do with adding league history to teams will take a long time as well and it doesn't really affect much how the game plays, so I'm going to put it off until after the 0.9 release. '

The only thing I have remaining now is to add rivalries. I want all 588 clubs to have at least 1 rival, so this could take several days if something doesn't come up.

Again, here's a list of what's been done so far for 0.9

1) Removed U23 teams, added reserves

2) Club Attendances set

3) Club Training/ Youth facilities set

4) Stadium rent and ownership set

5) Ticket Prices set

6) US Open Cup History back to 1914 added

7) Added Supporter Profiles

8) Added Kit Colors

9) Terminated Frank Lampert’s, David Villas, and Kaka’s loans so they are available at start of 2014 season.

10) Added in championships for each USASA league where top team of each group plays each other - winner's name goes in "Past Winners" of the league.

11) Fixed the "Past Winners" missing problem with MLS and MLN - the winners of the Prime Cup and Xbox Championship respectively become "Past Winners" of each league.

[wkdsoul]

pic

I'll use this for the MLS League 1 east and west.

[wkdsoul]

in game pic.. prob have the leagues done over the weekend, then start the cups, just need to a list, far too many

[LawsonJM0]

Don't know how I missed this league - consider it done!

If you need someone too make kits for all the remaining teams, please let me know. Il be more than happy to help.

[graaa]

in game pic.. prob have the leagues done over the weekend, then start the cups, just need to a list, far too many

Love it... nice skin too!

=LawsonJM0 If you need someone too make kits for all the remaining teams, please let me know. Il be more than happy to help.

Thanks for the offer! I just finished the kits yesterday. Work is progressing well on the rivals... I'm going alphabetically by state and am currently on Quebec... Texas will take awhile but I should be done in a day.

[willster98]

are the kits the ss templates or just SI defaults?

[LawsonJM0]

Love it... nice skin too!

Thanks for the offer! I just finished the kits yesterday. Work is progressing well on the rivals... I'm going alphabetically by state and am currently on Quebec... Texas will take awhile but I should be done in a day.

once all the kits are done, il knock up some SS ones if they havent been done already

[dim13]

Testing (version 0.8) - after the 1st season, from 2015-2029 Boston plays the Western Conference and San Jose Earthquakes in the Eastern Conference.

If you add a sort to Stage 0:

- sort by Longitude (descending).

should then sort the East/West conferences correctly.

[fsquid]

yes on the Bed Bulls thing. It is their name, it is their arena.

[wkdsoul]

Woo hoo.. got the comp icon size working as well..

EDIT : I cant find the ID codes for the under 18 groups.. anyone help?

[graaa]

are the kits the ss templates or just SI defaults?

once all the kits are done, il knock up some SS ones if they havent been done already

They are the SI editor defaults - I don't have any skills with using the SS templates or logos and stuff. If you do end up making some SS kits for the project, remember we have permission to use the logos/designs from Raysox and PCGB's site and I did use a bunch of their teams (around 30) so don't forget to include their awesome designs!

http://pcgdstudios.com/america-league-2/

http://boards.sportslogos.net/topic/96415-raysoxs-us-soccer-2030-football-manager-mod/

[graaa]

Testing (version 0.8) - after the 1st season, from 2015-2029 Boston plays the Western Conference and San Jose Earthquakes in the Eastern Conference.

If you add a sort to Stage 0:

- sort by Longitude (descending).

should then sort the East/West conferences correctly.

Either through luck or by not paying attention, I have yet to see a flip like that in the MLS division yet. Did you have the MLN loaded below it? Funny things could happen if you don't have the MLN loaded (although a flip shouldn't have happened). I'll incorporate your suggestion. Another good catch dim13.

[wkdsoul]

leagues are done... graa, can you get the under 18 league id? i cant even in FMRTE

Album for those interested on how they look. http://tinypic.com/useralbum.php?ua=K9DlYwTRMmMv%2B2zof0NhPw%3D%3D&type=images

[dim13]

Either through luck or by not paying attention, I have yet to see a flip like that in the MLS division yet. Did you have the MLN loaded below it? Funny things could happen if you don't have the MLN loaded (although a flip shouldn't have happened). I'll incorporate your suggestion. Another good catch dim13.

Sorry, what is MLN ? Xbox MLS National League ? I had Level 8 selected and was using all 8 levels and leagues.

The sort by Longitude should probably also to added to the Xbox MLS National League (as well as the Verizon MLS Premier League).

[graaa]

Yeah, it's the (new) abbreviation for xbox MLS national. Just applied the fix - I was hoping that using "group regions" and setting team and stadium cities/coordinates would be enough. Were you testing it in game or in editor? I've only been testing in editor and looking at each MLS and MLN year's "test" report so maybe thats why I hadnt seen a flip.

[LawsonJM0]

They are the SI editor defaults - I don't have any skills with using the SS templates or logos and stuff. If you do end up making some SS kits for the project, remember we have permission to use the logos/designs from Raysox and PCGB's site and I did use a bunch of their teams (around 30) so don't forget to include their awesome designs!

http://pcgdstudios.com/america-league-2/

http://boards.sportslogos.net/topic/96415-raysoxs-us-soccer-2030-football-manager-mod/

im on the database now. il make some notes of the teams & the unique id's & make a start on them

when will the new updated database be out so I can work along side the colours you selected graaa?

[dim13]

Yeah, it's the (new) abbreviation for xbox MLS national. Just applied the fix - I was hoping that using "group regions" and setting team and stadium cities/coordinates would be enough. Were you testing it in game or in editor? I've only been testing in editor and looking at each MLS and MLN year's "test" report so maybe thats why I hadnt seen a flip.

This happened in the game.