How does actually scouting range work?

[Caccio]

Despite being a regular FM player ever since 2007, I must admit, that I still ain't totally familiar with the way how "scouting range" works in the game.

This may be, because I always choose to manage the weakest possible teams from lowest devisions, mostly English Conference (Vabarana) Borth/South, can hire mostly local, english, or eventually irish/welsh scouts, (,eamimg their nationality and knowledge base), so I usually don't manage to increase our scouting range mzch.

As far I know, (actually guess), if I would hire a let's say french scout, with french and (let's say( german knowledge base, that would increase my scouting base a bit, making some so far unknown french and german players available for me to scout and sign.

Players, whose existance my scouts didn't know about at all before.

However, there is something what puzzles me about this matter:

Namely: The "approximate player count" feature in the game.

I simply can't fidure out how it actually functions, and in which way it influences the scouting range in the game.

To explain my inquiry more accurately, I shall demonstrate it with an example from the game:

There is a pretty good hungarian nationality player called Tamás Kádár, who plays in the polish club Lech.

That player normally exists in the initial, priginal game database, I could find, and try to sign him when I started the game with hungarian leagues included as playable.

However, when I start and play the game with english leagues added only, I cannot see him in the Lech team, (even after I scouted it and played a friendly with them), as if he doesn't even exist at all. (I still saw only those 4 names from Lech team players who were already present before my scouting and friendly match)

Normally, despite of that, Lech does have their full team when I start with polish leagues added, so not only those 4 players are known, but round 16-20 pf them, most of them with pictures even. (I am using the Facepack addition)

Still, after the match vs them, and my scouting of the team, Lech had only those 4 known, contactable players in my "english competition" game.

And those 4 players were the only real, existing Lech players who actually played against my team in the friendly match, all the rest were totally randomly created, so non-contactable ones.

Neither Tamás Kádár, nor the other, in reality existing Lech players were shown and present except those 4.

Now my question is the following:

In order to find, reveal, make those other (actually existing) Tamás Kádár and Lech players available for contact, (without any editing, since I consider using the in-game editor for cheating), do I have to hire some hungarian or polish scouts in my english database game, or it would be useless, they would not be revealed even then, since they are only present when I add hungarian and/or polish competition at the start?

I persume the initial player database keeps expanding during gameplay, after all I keep spotting new, so far "unknown" players appearing during scouting, so is there a chance, that Tamás Kádár will, or can still appear in my english competition game, (normally after hiring/using hungarian scouts), or in order to make him available, I MUST restart the game with hungarian competition added?

And: In order to be able to reveal the complete Lech team, will I have to hire/use polish scouts, and they will reveal it step-by-step by time, as my career advances, or I will have to add polish competition by start as well?

In case I must add those national competitions on the very game start, what is the actual use of scouting range increase, and how does it function in the game, in which way it manifests by/during scouting?

Does it result in revealing totally fictional, randomly made domestic and foreign players only, or will include the real, existing ones by time as well?

[Caccio]

In addition:

Since I always insist on maximum possible game realism, especially in sport-manager-simulating games, I will next time start with ALL initial, meaning original competitions, with lowest playable divisions even, which are included in the game, totally regardless how much that will slow the game-performance down.

Due my pretty strong computer, both the tactical/planning phase, and all my played/watched matches will still run totally smoothly, at maximum settings, and the waiting time between game-days......that I will sacrifice for the significantly increased level of game-realism.

[Sankalan]

In my understanding, the game contains data about some 350k players, loading all of whom would need a really good computer. If you do, I would suggest first simming till the end of the first season and check if the game goes past it, as this is the time the game has a really hard time issuing out contracts to all players.

If you start the game with any lower number of players, say a large database then the game would calculate as to which teams you will be interacting with based on your initial loaded leagues. For any other team, players would not be loaded, or only the highest reputation players will be loaded. If you ever happen to play against these teams, they will be filled with grey players.

If during the game you load a new league, All teams of that league will get players loaded, but these will be randomly generated white players(similar to regens, only they can be of any age).

In all other cases, the game will keep the total number of active players constant, new regens will appear as and when older players retire.

Further, scouting range is not same as world knowledge. World knowledge depends on where you and your backroom staff(not only scouts) are from. But scouting range is a geographical area set up by the board where you can send your scouts. Generally, scouting range is a subset of world knowledge. However, if a player is playing outside your world knowledge zone, you won't be able to scout him any further.

Finally, irrespective of your world knowledge and scouting range, any loaded player can be found(with a face but no attributes) by the search box.

[Caccio]

Thanks for this brief answer, it made me sure I will have to restart with all possible initial competitions. in order to "pull out" the maximum of the game realism level.

I will restart as soon the game update (version) 3.0 appears anyway, since I would hate to miss any of the new improvements it will include. I just hope my computer "can take it'. (will try to finish the already started "english database" season till then)

I still have one last question left:

You said the following: "However, if a player is playing outside your world knowledge zone, you won't be able to scout him any further."

I already started a game with ALL the initial selectable competitions and divisions added, just to see how fast/slow it runs.

Normally ALL the notable teams have a full squad of real, "white color" players in it, whose most stats I normally don't know at the start, I will have to scout them.

But as you say, EVEN IN THIS CASE, I will be allowed to scout only those players inside my "world knowledge" range?

Like...since I play in english league again, (as usual), I still won't be able to initially scout, and offer a contract to Tamás Kádár, not even now, when I can actually see him???

Actually, I probably will be able to approach him, since I doubt Poland would be out of my "world knowledge zone", but for example I won't be able to initially approach african and asian players?

(sorry, I should have tried this out before deleting the saved game, which I did right after I found out what I wanted, since I intend to start one only after version 3.0 arrives)

[michaeltmurrayuk]

A clubs scouting knowledge will determine what players appear on the player search screen, whilst a teams Scouting Range will determine what players you can actually get scout reports on and what competitions/regions/nations you can send scouts to scout.

So if you were playing in England and had a Scouting Range limited to just England, then you wouldn't be able to assign your scouts to scout the Polish league (even if you have the Polish league enabled) or any player based in Poland.

However if you had a staff member with knowledge of Poland then depending on what filters you have enabled on the Scouting screen you'd be able to see Polish based players in your player search screen you wouldn't be able to actually scout them, but you'd still be able to sign/trial/loan them you'd just be doing it blind.

Further to that Scouting Range and Player Knowledge doesn't affect what players you can sign, for example you'd still be able to sign/trial/loan African and Asian players you'd just have to find them manually - by either searching through the teams or if you knew there names putting them in the search screen, however you wouldn't be able to use any of the ingame tools to reveal any more information about them (unless you trialled or actually signed them).

[Caccio]

Thanks, if "club's scouting knowledge" you mentioned in the 1st sentence equals to "world knowledge", then everything is clear to me now!