Football Manager 2021 Early Access Beta Official Feedback Thread

[Bakiano]

Can you make more than three subs?

I think in one game I made four subs.

[anagain]

Just now, Bakiano said:

Can you make more than three subs?

I think in one game I made four subs.

That would depend on the league or cup competition. Can check rules under overview on the league screen.

[Bakiano]

1 minute ago, anagain said:

That would depend on the league or cup competition. Can check rules under overview on the league screen.

I just see it and you can make 5 subs even though when I want to make the fourth change, it doesn't allow me. But it allows if my AM suggest it and I just click it on 'do it'.

[anagain]

1 minute ago, Bakiano said:

I just see it and you can make 5 subs even though when I want to make the fourth change, it doesn't allow me. But it allows if my AM suggest it and I just click it on 'do it'.

You'll want to bug that in the relevant forum then.

[Bakiano]

Just now, anagain said:

You'll want to bug that in the relevant forum then.

I was looking at it but I think in RL you can make 5 subs but only on three occasions. 

 

 

I don't know is that also a rule in FM.

[andu1]

Is it me or is the AI changing too late to a more attacking mentality when losing a game even when the odds are similar? It makes the game a bit easier.

[NickmarJr]

3 minutes ago, Bakiano said:

I just see it and you can make 5 subs even though when I want to make the fourth change, it doesn't allow me. But it allows if my AM suggest it and I just click it on 'do it'.

The 5 subs should only be allowed in 3 blocks, not including half time. So if you make 1 sub at 60, 1 sub at 70mand 1 sub at 75, you won’t be able to make any after that. If you have done that and then clicking do it to your assistant allows the sub then I would say this is a bug worth logging!

[duesouth]

Initial Feedback

I was going to wait for the demo - but after seeing Rashidi's live stream and some of the player movement (plus another lockdown and I'm bored!), I couldn't resist - so took the plunge!

The Match Engine is brilliant.  I picked a random League One club (Hull) and the board wanted me to play a possession based system - so I put together a fairly basic 4-4-2 with a middle block - and I've managed to see what I've been trying to put together on screen in games.  In terms of the ME - for me this is 100% excellent enough quality for it to be the full release ME.  Please don't change anything in this short time, as there will be domino effects and we might lose something.  If changes need to be made, please take the time after full release to do this and be sure it's right (much harder to collaborate due to Covid as well, so another big reason to take more time).

Some of the screens are very different - and after playing FM19 a bunch in the last 7 months, that takes some getting used to.  I gave the press conferences a go, but didn't really like the screen - and have delegated.  Too many clicks needed at the start and end.  I couldn't train my eyes to go to the text - it just didn't feel natural - and the questions are basically the same.

The match UI I think is the key area for improvement between now and full release.  In FM19 the last 10 minute possession bar was a simple way to tell me "if I don't do something here, we're going to concede" and I really miss it.  I also don't like not being able to see the analysis screens at all times - I would normally have a look after 15 or 20.  It feels like you need to play on comprehensive highlights - which I tend not to as on work nights, I don't have much time to play and like to get through a few games relatively quickly.

I'm missing players getting booked, so think that needs to be more obvious - it would help if as soon as someone is booked, the advice comes up to ease off tackles (you don't have to take it, but it would make you aware).  AssMan advice is still rubbish - got recommended to play more direct - said "Do it" and 5 minutes later I'm advised to play short passing - you might as well take that out as it's very conflicting for a new player and more experienced players are just going to ignore it anyway.

As a number of people have pointed out, I miss the "Assist" coming up with the goal scorer - there's certainly space for that.  During the replay, shouts are greyed out, which for me is a good time to "Praise" if I see fit.

I didn't enjoy FM20 I'm afraid - and this was all on the ME for me - and I'm loving it.  Like most companies, I'm sure SI have had challenges because of Covid and while I don't understand much about software development, I certainly appreciate how good the product is under the circumstances and when the pressure was on from the fanbase to improve the ME.

[anagain]

1 minute ago, Bakiano said:

I was looking at it but I think in RL you can make 5 subs but only on three occasions. 

 

 

I don't know is that also a rule in FM.

I believe that was the case in project restart for the PL. There have also been rules where you can't make the 4th substitute until extra time in some competitions.

It would depend on the rules stated in that competition in game. The section is usually quite complete.

But if you are saying that you can't make a substitution when you want to, but can if the assistant recommends it, then that sounds wrong. Can't hurt to bug it.

Might want to check known issues, or could tag @Neil Brock and ask if he has any word of there being issues with it. Err, guess I just did that. Any known issues with subs, Neil?

[anagain]

Anyone else had issues when continuing to the next match and the tactics window being non-interactable? The game gave me my tactics screen in a similar way to last year's match flow but with the tactics screen in a sort of pop up window. I couldn't click on anything on the screen. The only way I was able to was to click on the icon at the top right that I can only imagine was symbolising putting the view back on the main screen, or something. As if the manager is moving their notes from a pad to a main screen.

I saw a similar idea in the match screens. If a player wants to open a window just open it. Any idea of opening a little pop up window just complicates things.

I think I can see what SI are going for, but it's either over complicated or not working as intended.

[FixUpDanSharp]

Are Spurs completely awful in anyone elses save? ive started a couple of saves now, they have been relegated in one and sit 16th in another

[Hootieleece]

9 hours ago, Zemahh said:

Out of curiosity, what's the Tactical Knowledge attribute of the Scout you've assigned to provide Opposition Reports (Staff Responsibilities -> Scouting)? I believe that influences the accuracy of their reports, but it's something I'd love some definite info on, because I'm not sure about it myself.

The Tactical Knowledge is a 5 or 6. They are all rubbish at this level.

[andu1]

Strikers are definetely fixed. This guy managed by AI is rampaging through Ligue 1 although his stats are not incredible! 23 goals in 15 games. Never happened in FM 20 even with the best striker in game.

 

[Tiger666]

What am I missing here? How are you supposed to know when one of your players is injured? I had no idea Reguilon was injured until he received the ball.

Doesn't even show it on the tablet

Edited November 12, 2020 by Tiger666

[TomasFM]

The VAR should show the situation in more camera views. This is something mentioned I would like to see aswell! Now the animation is a bit long after a while! And it would add realism and exciting!

[ajt]

Really liking how Club Vision works now. Just finished 6th after my promotion season and the board still expect us to avoid relegation for next season and then become an established team in years to come.

Feels more realistic now rather than having a freak season and the board suddenly expecting you to be challenging for the title the following year 

[anagain]

5 minutes ago, Tiger666 said:

What am I missing here? How are you supposed to know when one of your players is injured? I had no idea Reguilon was injured until he received the ball.

Doesn't even show it on the tablet

Seems to be a lot of missing icons on your bottom bar. Why are there no ratings below most of the names?

[Tiger666]

4 minutes ago, anagain said:

Seems to be a lot of missing icons on your bottom bar. Why are there no ratings below most of the names?

This? Is the injury icon supposed to appear down there?

[Womaz]

I know its a small thing but I really miss the player face on the display of the goalscorer. Come on we all get attached to our players and I want to see their face when they grab a last minute winner 

[Siven]

10 minutes ago, Tiger666 said:

This? Is the injury icon supposed to appear down there?

We dont know where its supposed to be atm, cos the new match UI is a bit of a mess.

[wattzy]

Anyone else just feel that things are just overly ‘gimmicky’ now?

Why the hell have all the players been splashed around the screen for team talks, what was wrong with the lists? And why so many things on the screen during games?

Gameplay wise I’m sure the game will be enjoyable as ever, but feel like some things have been changed interface wise just the for sake of it. 

[hagedisboy]

Wow SI, you did a great job this year. I gave you a lot of stick in the past because I didn't think the ME was very good, but it really is this year. Thank you for listening to us and matching, maybe even surpassing the high expectations of most players. And you did it in the middle of a pandemic. Great work!

 

However, the game is not perfect (ofcourse it's not, how could a video game ever be perfect). Two things I would love to see are:

- Show the name of the player that assisted when a goal is scored. It was in the game previous years but I haven't seen it so far.

- Make it more clear when a player has picked up a knock. I've seen the complaint on here before, so you probably already know what I'm talking about.

Also, there are a lot of penalties given. Maybe a little too many...

 

But, as I said before, overall the game is far better than last year's and I'm genuinely enjoying it so far. Keep up the good work!

[EazyEee]

1 hour ago, andu1 said:

Is it me or is the AI changing too late to a more attacking mentality when losing a game even when the odds are similar? It makes the game a bit easier.

Finding the same, the stronger sides are not aggressive enough, just beat Liverpool with Fulham with a higher XG, they didn't really turn the pressure on until the last 10 mins ...

[fm2020.smith]

feedback so far. 

game is good, didnt like the ski at first but it grows on you.

still a lot of work to do.

wingbacks dont cross like hardly ever, they always want to get right to the byline. trent and robertson nil assists 

little or no skill, no one is going past players like in fm20 they seemed to have sorted that and now we are back to square one of pingball football not the midfield battle si said this was supposed to represent 

keepers sliding across the goal like on skates. si said this had been sorted but a lot of players still gliding around

tactics are very hard to implement as no one takes any notice.

that heart thing for me just doesnt work, the percentage works as you can measure a players response on fitness and put it into number quite easily by doing the fitness tests. thats how you measure pro sportspeople you dont just put a graphic on them and try and make it look pretty for the console users.

on fitness thats gone back to beta 2020 as now players are tired after a game and claim they need a rest. van dijk can barely play 2 games and yet needs to have his leg falling off in rl to miss a game 

[Tiger666]

Just now, wattzy said:

Anyone else just feel that things are just overly ‘gimmicky’ now?

Why the hell have all the players been splashed around the screen for team talks, what was wrong with the lists? And why so many things on the screen during games?

Gameplay wise I’m sure the game will be enjoyable as ever, but feel like some things have been changed interface wise just the for sake of it. 

Yes I hate the look of a lot of the screens now.

[HUNT3R]

1 minute ago, wattzy said:

Why the hell have all the players been splashed around the screen for team talks, what was wrong with the lists? 

 

It's all in the spirit of focusing on you as manager. The players are circled around you as you deliver the team talk.

[andu1]

3 minutes ago, EazyEee said:

Finding the same, the stronger sides are not aggressive enough, just beat Liverpool with Fulham with a higher XG, they didn't really turn the pressure on until the last 10 mins ...

Yep, they put pressure when it's too late. You would expect a team like Liverpool to press hard as soon as possible not wait for the last minutes.

[DazRTaylor]

2 minutes ago, HUNT3R said:

It's all in the spirit of focusing on you as manager. The players are circled around you as you deliver the team talk.

Yeah I get what they are trying to do with it but this bit doesn’t work IMO.  I didn’t put it on my feedback post earlier on but I agree with the poster a few pages back saying there is a lot of space in the middle not being used.

[kalokalitokalo]

I was quite critic with FM 20 and after the feedback and streams where I could watch match engine I decided to go for it. What to say, great work SI!

 

I've simulated until 2040 and I see that most of the managers (if not all) have 4-2-3-1 as prefered formation. This problem I read it was happening in the past version also. 

Does it happen the same to others?

 

 

 

[Tiger666]

23 minutes ago, anagain said:

Seems to be a lot of missing icons on your bottom bar. Why are there no ratings below most of the names?

Ok I have all the ratings here but he got injured again and there's no notification. Am I supposed to be watching these little hearts all the time to spot if a player gets injured? Your Assistant Manager used to notify you if a player got injured.

[andu1]

4 minutes ago, kalokalitokalo said:

I was quite critic with FM 20 and after the feedback and streams where I could watch match engine I decided to go for it. What to say, great work SI!

 

I've simulated until 2040 and I see that most of the managers (if not all) have 4-2-3-1 as prefered formation. This problem I read it was happening in the past version also. 

Does it happen the same to others?

 

 

 

Yes happens to me too. It would be best if you could open a thread in the bugs forum for SI to check. I know that the initial design was that AI managers could use successful formation over time but it seems just that formation is considered successful by the game

[Siven]

15 minutes ago, HUNT3R said:

It's all in the spirit of focusing on you as manager. The players are circled around you as you deliver the team talk.

And in cases like interviews, we have a big empty space in the middle of the screen, which looks bad and wastes good screen space.

[grff]

12 minutes ago, Tiger666 said:

Ok I have all the ratings here but he got injured again and there's no notification. Am I supposed to be watching these little hearts all the time to spot if a player gets injured? Your Assistant Manager used to notify you if a player got injured.

<snip>

The assistant still points this out on the dugout section of the match screens but is hard to spot with all the irrelevant info that is also flashing up.

[Tiger666]

1 minute ago, grff said:

The assistant still points this out on the dugout section of the match screens but is hard to spot with all the irrelevant info that is also flashing up.

Is that the thing that pops up between highlights?

[ajt]

new player trait? this guy is a regular Fatboy Slim or something 

[anagain]

Match Experience Feedback

I finally have the time whilst playing a match to provide my feed back on it.

1. In the build up to the match I pressed the continue button to go in to match day and was presented with my team selection and tactics on what appeared to be a tablet pop out, or such like. It may well be a bug, and I will report it tomorrow when I have more time, because I couldn't click on anything on the screen apart from a little icon top right that seemed to put the pop out tactics window back onto my main screen.

I gave feedback on this above, but I'll echo it here. I see no need for any sort of pop out window here. It just overcomplicates things.

2. I went through the usual pre match build up, and i like the mini team meeting style screen that gives feedback from players and coaches. What I would like to see in the future is a way to interact with players that may be aggrieved that they're not in the team. I was watching the Harrogate Town documentary on BTSport the other week and there was a segment that showed the manager calling Jon Stead in to the office to tell him he wasn't starting the next game. I'd love to see that in FM. Very often I will find I have players that aren't performing and it feels right that I might call them in to the office to say they're not starting and why. The same goes for tactical choices and me wanting to start a player because he has a certain ability I feel is needed for a tie.

Currently the only thing we can really do is say you're resting a player, but that conversation rarely goes as I'd like to see it. I actually tend to just rest them rather than face a problematic conversation. Players in the real world would, I feel, accept a manager's reasons for resting them. They just seem to get upset in FM.

3. On to the further match build up, and I got to the pre-match team talk. This was pretty standard in that I just spoke to the team. I then went to check tactics before going back to finish my team talk; something I often did in FM20. Alarmningly I found i couldn't return to my team talk. There needs to be a way to switch between tactics and interactions before the match. I don't know if the game was opening tactics in a pop out, but I couldn;t find an icon to close that and return to my team talk.

4. At half time I decided I wanted to speak to players individually after I had given a general talk to the team. Why does it select every player on my team when I switch to the individual tab? Just deselect everyone.

I also can not see fitness anywhere on the team talk screen. To me that is an omission.

Hence I switched to tactics. And now I can't get back to my team talk.

This needs to be an urgent fix before release. The need to switch back and forth between tactics and team talk screens is a must pre-match, at half time and full-time. A manager should have everything available to them. I think I have seen a dev talk about this being needing of a fix, but I wanted to mention it here.

5. The actual match window. I like it. As much as I liked the widgets on my screen I didn't like that they covered the pitch. There were often problems wth the widgets not sticking between matches as well as me wanting them to be more alterable.

The new match screen condenses what I need and gives me a nice view of the match. 

I like the scorebar. It's smaller, looks nice and I like the interactable nature of it that allows you to bring up a stats and events window. It's compact and stops clutter.

Now, the player views at the bottom of the screen. I like how they are tucked away at the bottom of the screen and not hiding the game. They do still have all the information I need though. I can click on that player's box for more details such as position.

I would like to be able to mouse over the icons for a quick glance though. I tried mousing over the fitness and happiness icons but got no mouseover. There should be mouseover capability here. There doesn't even seem to be any mouseover or the ability to click on the player to see a fitness description.

The Tablet

I like the tablet. It has the same functionality as the widgets, but keeps everything tucked away rather than, as I said above, cluttering the screen up. However, I see no reason why the tablet can't be expanded. It seems to have been designed so you can bring it up and have a quick glance at useful information.

The thing is I am on 1080 resolution so i thought I'd be able to have more tabs. Rather than having the game pause if I change a tab why not let a player drag out another tab, if they want it?

I'm in two minds really. I made the above image and I'm not as sure I'd need it as I was 5 minutes ago. It could be an option though that some people might like.

6. As many have said the between highlights (I'm on comprehensive so don't see too much of the between highlights screen) is a little cramped. I believe it has been acknowledged by SI that the pass map is impossible to read.

Overall

Overall I like the changes to the match view. As much as I grew to love the widets I can see that the clutter free new look is helpful. Everything I used is still there, but the few small changes I have mentioned could serve to perfect things. Chief among them is the need for mouseovers on the bottom player bar and the need to be able to switch back and forth between team talks and tactics windows as much as one would like.

 

That will have to do for now. Run out of time.

Edited November 13, 2020 by anagain

[superposh]

Initial thoughts.... Pretty good. Match engine seems to be a big upgrade on previous versions. The match UI will take some getting used to. I don't mind the heart icons instead of the percentages for fitness. 

Question... Can I turn the advertising boards off? I play in 2D, the boards moving and flashing is distracting and driving me slightly mad. 😒

[Tiger666]

Yeah I can't get on with this match UI at all, I think it's awful. It's just so busy, there's far too much going on here. I hope this can be skinned.

 

 

I'm coming from FM17. I'm essentially getting all the information here in a much cleaner easier to read way:

 

 

[anagain]

43 minutes ago, Tiger666 said:

This? Is the injury icon supposed to appear down there?

I just mean there's no happiness icons below every player's name, or match ratings. In my game I can see happiness icons and match ratings the whole game.

As in my post above. I included an image for one of my players. 

[TWG85]

Really liking the match engine thus far. Very smooth & some really nice additions. Loving the full back interceptions down the line. 

 

Only issues:

-On the bright green pitches during daytime games really struggling to see the ball.

-My inside forward isn't really behaving like an inside forward.

-Can't get my team to knock balls in behind for my advanced forward. Got on pass into space, tried higher tempo, tried playing more direct. It's just not happened.

 

Only played six competitive games though, so still early days. 

 

Edited November 12, 2020 by TWG85

[Domoboy23]

20 minutes ago, andu1 said:

Yes happens to me too. It would be best if you could open a thread in the bugs forum for SI to check. I know that the initial design was that AI managers could use successful formation over time but it seems just that formation is considered successful by the game

If this is a bug, would this require a new save? Or could the fix be implemented?

[MrManagerMan]

I think SI have done an amazing job on the game this year. Wasn’t expecting much if I’m honest what with COVID etc etc but that ME has been excellent in my game so far. Under the hood and graphically. The new match day UI is taking some getting used to though I must admit. Still not sure about it but I suppose we will get used to it as the game is played.  I hope the ME does not get tweaked before full release. Leave it as is. 
 

 

[Roncatto99]

I seem to be playing Carabao Cup and Europa Cup games on a Sunday?

[Johnny Ace]

29 minutes ago, ajt said:

new player trait? this guy is a regular Fatboy Slim or something 

Nah, has been in at least the last 3 FMs. Have never seen in-game what it actually does though 

[riccardo88]

Hi guys,
I want to express my disappointment regarding tactics that have been the same for years now and it is unthinkable that in 2020 
you are still not able to have types of tactics or be able to emulate tactics in different transitions such as in possession and non-possession.
not to mention that they have taken away the percentage in strength and condition in which it was an advantage 
so by doing it I really feel disoriented.
the rest at the end is almost the same as the previous one.
pity I was expecting a lot much more more more more.

[Gingerdilligaf]

Every league loaded,large database & running superfast. Hopefully it stays this way by season 10

[ajt]

7 minutes ago, Johnny Ace said:

Nah, has been in at least the last 3 FMs. Have never seen in-game what it actually does though 

ahhh okay haha, who knows! 

[grff]

41 minutes ago, Tiger666 said:

Is that the thing that pops up between highlights?

Yeah, screenshot below...

Spoiler

 

[Tiger666]

4 minutes ago, grff said:

Yeah, screenshot below...

  Hide contents

 

Urgh.. so I have to wait until there's a break in play, then pause to read the dugout to notice if someone has a knock.

[anagain]

58 minutes ago, Tiger666 said:

Ok I have all the ratings here but he got injured again and there's no notification. Am I supposed to be watching these little hearts all the time to spot if a player gets injured? Your Assistant Manager used to notify you if a player got injured.

I do agree the assman feedback doesn't seem obvious atm. I meant to put that in my feedback post but ran out of time.

That image is what I expected to see on the player bar on your first post on this.

Were you making a sub when you took the first screenshot? I have noticed that when a sub is imminent the interactibility with the players is taken away. 

As for the injuries, I'm afraid I don't know yet because I've had no injuries in a match yet. 

I did however bring on a sub that had an orange tagged injury (rather than a full red and unavailable one - what's the proper term for that hehe) and he had a little cross on his player box on the bottom bar. 

I would bug your experience with a saved match and a game save. It does seem that something is wrong there.

I play in 3D and you were on 2D. I can't imagine why but possibly a 2D UI problem. Can't think why they'd be different though. 

Something to do with number of highlights maybe. I play with extended.

Best these things are found now.