Guide how to set up an optimal database for a balanced savegame and ways to increase realism (updated 03. May 21) *links updated*

[Daveincid]

I realized, that many people don't really understand how the setup works exactly. So I made this guide to give you some kind of overview  how it works.  Any constructive feedback is welcome. 

It's impossible to show everyones different way of play. This is only a rough guideline for a orientation.This is my view of fm, so if you are seeing it different, that's completely fine.  Maybe some mechanics changed in fm21 which I haven't tested yet, I will update the guide if necessary.

I created a short video version. It's not as detailed as the thread but it gives you a short overview:

 

 

General:

There are differences between unloaded Nations, view-ony, playable and playable with full details. In a Nation, you can select some leagues playable, view-only, or unloaded. The effect is roughly the same as for a whole Nation:

unloaded Nation 

• No schedule, games are fully simulated in background
• No visible league table
• No full squads (only if you load them via the advanced db)
• No staff (After the first sacking of the real manager, there will be in most cases no new head-coach and other staff members)
• Low transfer-activity
• Games will be simulated with the quick Match-Engine
• Less injuries

Nation view only

• League-schedule
• League table
• No full squads (only if you load them via the advanced db)
• No staff (After the first sacking of the real manager, there will be in most cases no new head-coach and other staff members)
• Low to medium transfer-activity
• Games will be simulated with the quick Match-Engine
• Less injuries

Nation playable

• League-schedule
• League table
• Full Squads
• Existing Staff
• Realistic transfer-activity
• Some games will be simulated with the Full Match Engine.
• increase of injuries

Nation playable + full detail

• League-schedule
• League table
• Full Squads
• Existing Staff
• Realistic transfer-activity
• Games will be fully simulated
• More injuries than only playable

What is the benefit of simulating Leagues in full detail?

You will get more realistic stats and results. The player development takes more calculations into account.  If you simulate other Leagues and Nations with full detail you will get a stronger AI, especially when you play against them.

What slows the game processing speed down the most:

• Setting leagues to simulate in full detail uses multicore pretty heavy. 
•  A lot of leagues playable 
• custom data in general slows down performance. There are big differences what kind of custom data is used. As orientation you can go by file size. Larger files need more processing time. LLM-files for example are quite heavy.
• Incredible amount of players loaded also affects performance. Down to my experience, if you don't load 200k+ players, this effect is not that big compared to the others
• All custom graphics loaded do not have any influence at game speed at all. As far as I know it has some influence in terms of RAM usage

Extra Tip:

As a human manager you have some "benefits" over the AI. You can be much better in transfers because you don't "feel" pressure or concerns which teams have IRL. I think that's a reason why the AI is not that aggressive vs a human player fighting against a specific talent. It looks like a weak programmed AI, for me it is just insane programming-skills by SI-devs.  WIth that in mind, you might not just buy a  wonderkid for 20 million while managing a team that would never do that IRL, even if it would be possible. This gave me a much more immersive game-experience.

Most important Nations to load according to my database for a balanced world (1 highest, 4 lowest)

I usually set number 1 and 2 as playable, 3 view-only and number 4 I don't load at all. This guarantees you a balance between Continents aswell

Spoiler

 1. Most Important (Worldwide Balance)

Egypt

Algeria

Argentinia

Australia

Brazil

China

DR Kongo

Germany

England

France

Iran

Italy

Japan

Qatar

Marokko

Mexiko

Portugal

Russia

Saudi Arabia

Spain

South Africa

South Korea

Tunisia

USA

UAE

 

2. Important (Worldwide Balance)

Angola

Aserbaidschan

Bahrain

Belgium

Benin

Bulgaria

Burkina Faso

Chile

Costa Rica

Denmark

Ecuador

El Salvador

Ivory Coast

Finnland

Ghana

Greece

Guinea

Honduras

Irak

Israel

Jamaica

Cameroon

Kasachstan

Columbia

Croatia

Libya

Mali

Nee Zealand

Holland

Nigeria

Norway

Austria

Paraguay

Peru

Poland

Republic of  Congo

Romania

Zambia

Scotland

Schweden

Switzerland

Senegal

Serbia

Slowakia

Slowenia

Syria

Thailand

Czechia

Turkey

Uganda

Ukraine

Hungary

Uruguay

Usbekistan 3. Important (Worldwide Balance)   Albania Equatorial Guinea Armenia Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegowina Botswana Estland Gabun Gambia Georgien Guatemala Haiti India Indonesia Irland Island Jordania Canada Cap Verde Kenia Cuba Quwait Lettland Libanon Litauen Luxemburg Malawi Malaysia Montenegro Mosambik Nordirland North Corea North Mazedonien Panama Ruanda Zimbabwe Singapur Sudan Togo Trinidad and Tobago Turkmenistan Venezuela Vietnam Wales Belarus Cyprus 4. Less Important   Afghanistan American Samoa Andorra Anguilla Antigua and Barbuda Aruba Äthiopien Bahamas Bangladesch Barbados Belize Bermuda Bhutan Bonaire British Virgin Islands Brunei Burundi Cayman Inseln Cook Islands Curaçao Djibouti Dominica Dominikanische Republik Eritrea Eswatini Färoerinseln Fidschi Franz Guyana Gibraltar Grenada Guadeloupe Guam Guinea-Bissau Guyana Hong Kong Jemen Kambodscha Kirgisien Kiribati Komoren Kosovo Laos Lesotho Liberia Liechtenstein Macao Madagaskar Malediven Malta Martinique Mauretanien Mauritius Mayotte Micronesia Moldawien Mongolei Montserrat Myanmar Namibia Nepal Neukaledonien Nicaragua Niger Nördliche Marianen Oman Osttimor Pakistan Palästina Papua New Guinea Philippines Puerto Rico Réunion Saint Barthélemy Saint Martin (France) Salomonen Samoa San Marino Sansibar São Tomé and Príncipe Seychellen Sierra Leone Sint Maarten (Netherlands) Somalia Sri Lanka St Kitts and Nevis St Lucia St Pierre and Miquelon St Vincent and the Grenadines Südsudan Suriname Tadschikistan Tahiti Taiwan (Chinese Taipei) Tansania Tonga Tschad Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu US Virgin Islands Vanuatu Wallis and Futuna Zentralafrikanische Republik

My recommended setup for a longterm or just a balanced savegame:

recommendedsetupbyDaveincid.fmf

 

 

 

detail level

I recommend to set all national teams simulated in full detail as well as the european competition if you play in Europe. You can change this to every other continent if you play there. Also the top 20 leagues. I would set at least the top division and the cup as simulated in full detail.

 

These are some examples of setups that I think people use most. It's not that easy to create a compact overview. I hope it's not too much info

 

- Loading top 5 nations and top 2 in South America playable and top 20 as view only with a small/medium/big db: 

This is the lowest setup I recommend

- Loading top 5 nations and top 2 in South America playable and top 20 as view only with players loaded from the top 20 nations with the advanced-db option: 

You will have a higher player count, and these players from the top 20 will be newly generated in the future. This leads to a more balanced gameworld. It will give you a decent db for low to mid-range systems.

- Loading top 5 nations and top 2 in South America playable and all others as view only with players loaded from all nations with the advanced-db option:

It gives you a big db an a overview of players around the world. IMO it feels much better than the setup above, because there is a wider variety of players from different nations. The loss of processing speed is little but maybe already too much for low-end systems.

- Loading top 20 nations playable, all the others leagues view-only, international games, games from National-Teams and the games in your league simulated in full detail, with small/medium/big db:

This is the start of a balanced world for longer saves. It depends how many playable leagues your system can run at a decent speed. For some it's 15 nations for some 30.

- Loading top 20 nations playable, all the others view-only, international games, games from National-Teams and the games in your league simulated in full detail, with the advanced db-option for all players from first divison and national reputation

This setup Is IMO the general sweetspot for a realistic longterm-save. Mid-range processor recommended.

- Loading all nations playable, international games, games from National-Teams and the games in your league simulated in full detail, with players loaded from all nations with the advanced-db option (ca 194k players):

This setup guarantees you a balanced game world and high transfer activity around the globe. Leagues which aren't available with the vanilla version will have problems in being competitive in the long run. As soon as you are setting games to simulated in full detail, I recommend a modern 8-core 16-threaded processor

- Loading all nations playable, all games simulated in full detail:

Without a monster CPU or plenty of time, I do not recommend this setup. Processing-speed is very long and the gain of realism doesn't really weights up the time of processing compared to the setup above. But if your CPU can handle it, it really does make a lot of fun!

- Loading all nations playable, all games simulated in full detail with all players in the db(ca 500k players):

This setup will give you all players in the db. So there will be a player from 6th. division in sweden without seeing the league being active in the game. This slows down your system pretty much in relation to what you are getting for. I do not recomend this setup.

If you want to improve realism with a special skin, take a look here:

If you don't know if your PC/Laptop is low/mid/high-end you can check the following thread:

https://community.sigames.com/topic/539412-fm21-performance-benchmarking-thread/

 

To discuss about realism in FM21 @Junkhead has created this wonderful thread. Sharing ideas, your own and all other stuff that can be linked in this area.

https://community.sigames.com/topic/539688-fm21-realism-thread/

I have created a megapack to increase the realism of Football Manager 2021, you can find it here:

https://community.sigames.com/forums/topic/545609-fm21-increase-realism-megapack-by-daveincid

There is a great megapack from @davie77 which makes all Nations playable ingame. I worked close together with him and tested his files, so I know about the high quality-standard.

https://community.sigames.com/forums/topic/550750-fm21-around-the-globe-megapack-by-dave-46-completed

I also recommend the data-updates from @pr0

https://community.sigames.com/forums/topic/539013-fm21-transfers-data-update-packs-by-pr0-fmtu/

I finally found my way on social media, feel free to take a look in here to get more informations about my projects for Football Manager 2021

https://community.sigames.com/forums/topic/546553-daveincids-info-channels-for-the-increase-realism-megapack-and-more/

 

 

Cheers

Daveincid

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 13, 2021 by Daveincid
update 03.05.21 New links added

[Fritz13]

Thanks for this @Daveincid

where would a single playable league with the 10-15 top flight view-only leagues fit into the above?

specifically for the transfer activity 

same as the first example of only a single playable league?

[Daveincid]

Gerade eben schrieb Fritz13:

Thanks for this @Daveincid

where would a single playable league with the 10-15 top flight view-only leagues fit into the above?

specifically for the transfer activity 

same as the first example of only a single playable league?

If you load the players for 10-15 top leagues you should see some transfer activity. My experience in fm20 was, that with your suggested setup, later ingame teams which are in a view-only-league will have much more homegrown players in their squad than usual because of lack of transfer activity.

 

Cheers

Daveincid

[Fritz13]

8 minutes ago, Daveincid said:

If you load the players for 10-15 top leagues you should see some transfer activity. My experience in fm20 was, that with your suggested setup, later ingame teams which are in a view-only-league will have much more homegrown players in their squad than usual because of lack of transfer activity.

 

Cheers

Daveincid

Understood - cheers

[obasa_G]

Thank you for posting this @Daveincid.

I would like to ask a question.

Is a set up of one nation playable (England) with players from top clubs and top divisions loaded from all continents good?

[Daveincid]

Gerade eben schrieb obasa_G:

Thank you for posting this @Daveincid.

I would like to ask a question.

Is a set up of one nation playable (England) with players from top clubs and top divisions loaded from all continents good?

you are welcome!

 

good is always relative, in the end it depends on what you plan for your save. IMO from the player count it's very good, this is how I play when I want it a bit faster. I would also load at least the bigger leagues as view only. There will be no significant difference in terms of speed. 

 

Cheers

Daveincid

[LC15]

A really good guide but can I make a suggestion regarding a middle point between the two below setups

Loading top 5 leagues and top 2 in South America playable and top 20 as view only with players loaded from the top 20 nations with the advanced-db option: 

Loading top 5 leagues and top 2 in South America playable and all others as view only with players loaded from all nations with the advanced-db option (ca 194k players):

Loading top 5 leagues and top 2 in SA playable and in terms of the advanced database, rather than loading everything from all nations, loading only players with national or continental rep from each continent - that gives you a nice midway level (r. 50k players) with near all international teams filled and regens for every region whilst remaining at a low enough level for lower spec computers to not slow down too much.

[Daveincid]

vor 1 Minute schrieb LC15:

A really good guide but can I make a suggestion regarding a middle point between the two below setups

Loading top 5 leagues and top 2 in South America playable and top 20 as view only with players loaded from the top 20 nations with the advanced-db option: 

Loading top 5 leagues and top 2 in South America playable and all others as view only with players loaded from all nations with the advanced-db option (ca 194k players):

Loading top 5 leagues and top 2 in SA playable and in terms of the advanced database, rather than loading everything from all nations, loading only players with national or continental rep from each continent - that gives you a nice midway level (r. 50k players) with near all international teams filled and regens for every region whilst remaining at a low enough level for lower spec computers to not slow down too much.

Thank you for your input. Of course this can be an option aswell. In the end you can customize it exaclty how you want it. I am just not a fan of loading players according to their reputation. Some clubs in a league will have benefits vs their direct rivals, so the risk of inbalance in a nation itself or in a league is much higher because some teams will have real players and some won't.

 

Cheers

Daveincid

[LC15]

8 minutes ago, Daveincid said:

Thank you for your input. Of course this can be an option aswell. In the end you can customize it exaclty how you want it. I am just not a fan of loading players according to their reputation. Some clubs in a league will have benefits vs their direct rivals, so the risk of inbalance in a nation itself or in a league is much higher because some teams will have real players and some won't.

 

Cheers

Daveincid

That's a fair point, I haven't come across it myself but can imagine in some leagues where there is wide gaps between teams it could lead to such an imbalance.

[Daveincid]

vor 5 Minuten schrieb LC15:

That's a fair point, I haven't come across it myself but can imagine in some leagues where there is wide gaps between teams it could lead to such an imbalance.

Exactly. This is also down to how the reputation of a player is set in a nation. So you might miss a young wonderkid who didn't made it to national reputation yet. I once made this mistake in a earlier version....won't happen again

Edited November 15, 2020 by Daveincid

[FlorianAlbert9]

Good post. 

On my i5 MacBook with 8gb, in FM20 i usually load First division of top 5 + brazilian + Holland + south Africa + the 2 hungarian division (where i play)  and a 15 view only and a custom db with all player from Africa and the First division player from other continent.

 

But it's seems to me that the youth intake in other clubs are too low,  mostly in the african team (from where, as i said, i load all players)

What Is the best way to increase that? 

 

 

 

 

[Daveincid]

vor 16 Minuten schrieb FlorianAlbert9:

Good post. 

On my i5 MacBook with 8gb, in FM20 i usually load First division of top 5 + brazilian + Holland + south Africa + the 2 hungarian division (where i play)  and a 15 view only and a custom db with all player from Africa and the First division player from other continent.

 

But it's seems to me that the youth intake in other clubs are too low,  mostly in the african team (from where, as i said, i load all players)

What Is the best way to increase that? 

 

 

 

 

Thanks!

So you loaded all african players, from angola to zambia?  Can you define "low" to me? And which other teams do you mean exacty?

 

Cheers

 

Daveincid

[FlorianAlbert9]

11 minuti fa, Daveincid ha scritto:

Thanks!

So you loaded all african players, from angola to zambia?  Can you define "low" to me? And which other teams do you mean exacty?

 

Cheers

 

Daveincid

All continent based with custom options. So i think i get all african players (of the original db). 

Looking a the african team, the very top teams barely get 8  (maybe less i don't Remember now) players at max, while the other good ones, 3 (maybe less) at best. 

A little better from Europe or south american teams. But i would prefer to see more younger like the ones i get. 

Edited November 15, 2020 by FlorianAlbert9

[Daveincid]

vor 8 Minuten schrieb FlorianAlbert9:

All continent based with custom options. So i think i get all african players (of the original db). 

Looking a the african team, the very top teams barely get 8 players at max, while the other good ones, 3 at best. 

A little better from Europe or south american teams. But i would prefer to see more younger like the ones i get. 

this is actually perfect as it should be. Just see it in a general way. A player has an average career-length of maybe 14 years. a squad has around 30 players. So 30/14 is around 2. To keep the whole db balanced, every year there will be 2 players in avg. that retire and 2 quality newgens produced to replace them.  Just imagine what would happen if you get 10 newgens a year in every team? after 10 years ingame there will be way too many players and after 15 years every cpu is going to tell you good bye

 

Edited November 15, 2020 by Daveincid

[Weed07]

I only have the English and Scottish leagues loaded and i add all international players from all continents with a large database. It doesnt give that many players so still runs fast, i didnt play FM20 but on FM19 all nations would get newgen players and all top teams have full squads and there is lots of transfer activity. The only thing missing is seeing other nations league tables.

[FlorianAlbert9]

48 minuti fa, Daveincid ha scritto:

this is actually perfect as it should be. Just see it in a general way. A player has an average career-length of maybe 14 years. a squad has around 30 players. So 30/14 is around 2. To keep the whole db balanced, every year there will be 2 players in avg. that retire and 2 quality newgens produced to replace them.  Just imagine what would happen if you get 10 newgens a year in every team? after 10 years ingame there will be way too many players and after 15 years every cpu is going to tell you good bye

 

Yes, that's right, but i prefer rather to see more youngs promoted and more of them retiring. 

Ex: instead of 3 youngs promoted, i'd love 8 with 5 that retiring after 2 years. 

That 'cause with more youngs comes, it will be harder find the good ones. (And harder Is a good thing)

Said that, if i create (or download) a user's custom db with a lot more of african players than the original ones, then i will get more youngs, right? 

Edited November 15, 2020 by FlorianAlbert9

[Daveincid]

vor 12 Minuten schrieb Weed07:

I only have the English and Scottish leagues loaded and i add all international players from all continents with a large database. It doesnt give that many players so still runs fast, i didnt play FM20 but on FM19 all nations would get newgen players and all top teams have full squads and there is lots of transfer activity. The only thing missing is seeing other nations league tables.

yes, this is mostly what I wrote in the guide. I  don't agree about the transfer activity in leagues which aren't loaded. They are much less IMO. 

There are more things missing than the leagues tables. In a unloaded or view only league, there will often after some ingame years no head coach and other staff members at all. 

[Daveincid]

vor 1 Minute schrieb FlorianAlbert9:

Yes, that's right, but i prefer rather to see more youngs promoted and more of them retiring. 

Ex: instead of 3 youngs promoted, i'd love 8 with 5 that retiring after 2 years. 

That 'cause with more youngs comes, it will be harder find the good ones. (And harder Is a good thing)

Said that, if i create (or download) a user's custom db with a lot more of african players than the original ones, then i will get more youngs, right? 

The youth intake itself already does this mechanics for you. Often people complain, that most of their newgens are rubbish. They are actually the 5 of your example who retire. It's not realistic if young players are being professionals and after 2 years they retire.

 

[saihtam]

I think it is possible to save choices so maybe there is possibility to share these files for best DB combinations with playable and view only.

[Daveincid]

Gerade eben schrieb saihtam:

I think it is possible to save choices so maybe there is possibility to share these files for best DB combinations with playable and view only.

What I try to share with this guide are only rough guidelines. The goal is, that people understand how the db works and how they can set it by themselfes best for their individual playing-style. This is impossible to create for every individual. Some people only want the top league, some want it down to level 6. 

Cheers

Daveincid

[FlorianAlbert9]

5 minuti fa, Daveincid ha scritto:

The youth intake itself already does this mechanics for you. Often people complain, that most of their newgens are rubbish. They are actually the 5 of your example who retire. It's not realistic if young players are being professionals and after 2 years they retire.

 

Well, but with my intake that Is what happenend. 

At least 2/3 youngs every year left the football 'cause i don't give them a pro contract.

[Daveincid]

Gerade eben schrieb FlorianAlbert9:

Well, but with my intake that Is what happenend. 

At least 2/3 youngs every year left the football 'cause i don't give them a pro contract.

and that's exactly what I said. only 2-4 per year should have the potencial to get a pro contract. 

[FlorianAlbert9]

1 minuto fa, Daveincid ha scritto:

and that's exactly what I said. only 2-4 per year should have the potencial to get a pro contract. 

maybe I haven't explained myself.

Example

I get 12 young. 

I signed 5 with a pro contract. 

2 with a young contract 

I left free the others, maybe 2 signed forca poor club, the other 3 retired

While:

Kano Pillars (nigerian club) get 4 players.

 

[Overmars]

I notice a big difference between playable and view-only leagues. When playing a European save, I prefer to add more playable leagues rather than just more players. The advantages to more playable leagues is that you get more balanced transfer activity, more interesting scouting decisions, more loan out options, and better competitiveness in European competitions. Loading a bunch of extra players without playable leagues can lead to a really difficult selling environment.

The leagues I always load as playable in FM when managing in England are:

• ENG (top 4-5 divisions)
• GER (top 2 divisions)
• ESP (top 2 divisions)
• ITA (top 2 divisions)
• FRA (top 2 divisions)
• NED
• POR
• RUS
• BEL
• SCO
• SUI

The other leagues I pick and choose from are:

• DEN -- usually yes
• NOR -- usually yes
• GRE -- usually yes
• AUT -- usually yes
• SWE
• CZE
• ROU
• UKR
• POL
• BRZ/ARG are fun to add for talent reasons, but I don't really miss them when they're not playable

I then also load the current international and continental rep players from most of South America, USA, Mexico, Japan, South Korea, a few of the bigger African countries, and the rest of Europe.

[Daveincid]

vor 2 Minuten schrieb FlorianAlbert9:

maybe I haven't explained myself.

Example

I get 12 young. 

I signed 5 with a pro contract. 

2 with a young contract 

I left free the others, maybe 2 signed forca poor club, the other 3 retired

While:

Kano Pillars (nigerian club) get 4 players.

 

I hope we understand the others logic

So in your example you have overall a pretty decent intake. These 4 players from Kano Pillars are the best ones and are the equivalent to the 5 you signed.  They had in the background also more youth players which just weren't good enough. The AI makes this decision.  

[Daveincid]

vor 4 Minuten schrieb Overmars:

I notice a big difference between playable and view-only leagues. When playing a European save, I prefer to add more playable leagues rather than just more players. The advantages to more playable leagues is that you get more balanced transfer activity, more interesting scouting decisions, more loan out options, and better competitiveness in European competitions. Loading a bunch of extra players without playable leagues can lead to a really difficult selling environment.

The leagues I always load as playable in FM when managing in England are:

• ENG (top 4-5 divisions)
• GER (top 2 divisions)
• ESP (top 2 divisions)
• ITA (top 2 divisions)
• FRA (top 2 divisions)
• NED
• POR
• RUS
• BEL
• SCO
• SUI

The other leagues I pick and choose from are:

• DEN -- usually yes
• NOR -- usually yes
• GRE -- usually yes
• AUT -- usually yes
• SWE
• CZE
• ROU
• UKR
• POL
• BRZ/ARG are fun to add for talent reasons, but I don't really miss them when they're not playable

I then also load the current international and continental rep players from most of South America, USA, Mexico, Japan, South Korea, a few of the bigger African countries, and the rest of Europe.

100% correct as written in the guide Or do you think something is described differently?

[FlorianAlbert9]

4 minuti fa, Daveincid ha scritto:

I hope we understand the others logic

So in your example you have overall a pretty decent intake. These 4 players from Kano Pillars are the best ones and are the equivalent to the 5 you signed.  They had in the background also more youth players which just weren't good enough. The AI makes this decision.  

I understand that. And that Is the problem!

'Cause it is easier find a good player in a group of 4 than in a group of 12. 

You have to scout less and you have less % of mistake the player's value. 

[Daveincid]

Gerade eben schrieb FlorianAlbert9:

I understand that. And that Is the problem!

'Cause it is easier find a good player in a group of 4 than in a group of 12. 

You have to scout less and you have less % of mistake the player's value. 

true story 

[mhaffy]

Overmars - Do you run small database or large database, as small database and fewer players for playable leagues also seems to improve transfer market.

Edited November 15, 2020 by mhaffy

[Daveincid]

vor 7 Minuten schrieb mhaffy:

Do you run small database or large database, as small database and fewer players also seems to improve transfer market.

 

Edited November 15, 2020 by Daveincid

[Overmars]

2 minutes ago, mhaffy said:

Overmars - Do you run small database or large database, as small database and fewer players for playable leagues also seems to improve transfer market.

Medium but I guess the true option picked is "Custom" since I add those extra international players.

[Overmars]

14 minutes ago, Daveincid said:

100% correct as written in the guide Or do you think something is described differently?

I think your guide jumps from a relatively small amount of playable leagues (7) to all leagues loaded. There is a reasonable middle ground of around 15-20 playable leagues that hits the sweet spot for me.

[mhaffy]

2 minutes ago, Overmars said:

Medium but I guess the true option picked is "Custom" since I add those extra international players.

Thanks. I never add extra players - circa 13 nations, 28 playable leagues and large database usually with circa 66k players at start. Planning on going to small database this year with c 60k players at start to hopefully improve transfer market and chances of actually selling my surplus players...

[Daveincid]

vor 2 Minuten schrieb Overmars:

I think your guide jumps from a relatively small amount of playable leagues (7) to all leagues loaded. There is a reasonable middle ground of around 15-20 playable leagues that hits the sweet spot for me.

you are right, I will add the sweet spot option. 

[saihtam]

10 hours ago, Overmars said:

I notice a big difference between playable and view-only leagues. When playing a European save, I prefer to add more playable leagues rather than just more players. The advantages to more playable leagues is that you get more balanced transfer activity, more interesting scouting decisions, more loan out options, and better competitiveness in European competitions. Loading a bunch of extra players without playable leagues can lead to a really difficult selling environment.

The leagues I always load as playable in FM when managing in England are:

• ENG (top 4-5 divisions)
• GER (top 2 divisions)
• ESP (top 2 divisions)
• ITA (top 2 divisions)
• FRA (top 2 divisions)
• NED
• POR
• RUS
• BEL
• SCO
• SUI

The other leagues I pick and choose from are:

• DEN -- usually yes
• NOR -- usually yes
• GRE -- usually yes
• AUT -- usually yes
• SWE
• CZE
• ROU
• UKR
• POL
• BRZ/ARG are fun to add for talent reasons, but I don't really miss them when they're not playable

I then also load the current international and continental rep players from most of South America, USA, Mexico, Japan, South Korea, a few of the bigger African countries, and the rest of Europe.

I do bretty mych the same. I load up to 100-120k players. I sometimes add custom specific nationality also to the mix. But yeah, most EU contries 1-2 leagues as playable and then others as view. Maybe can push harder this year as the optimization is very well done and would benefit it journyman save.

[ivancm]

19 hours ago, Daveincid said:

- Carregando as 20 principais nações jogáveis, todas as outras apenas para visualização, jogos internacionais, jogos nacionais e os jogos em sua liga simulados em todos os detalhes, com a opção de banco de dados avançada para todos os jogadores da primeira divisão e de reputação nacional

20 nations, but how many leagues? 
Another thing, if I'm not asking for much, would you like to post a list of recommended nations for those who play in Europe?

P.S: Sorry for the English, I'm Brazilian.

[Daveincid]

vor 1 Minute schrieb ivancm:

20 nations, but how many leagues? 
Another thing, if I'm not asking for much, would you like to post a list of recommended nations for those who play in Europe?

P.S: Sorry for the English, I'm Brazilian.

sem problemas!

I recommend at least 2 leagues in every nation. top 5 nations maybe 3 leagues.

With 20 nations playable I would say: England, Spain, Germany, Italy, France, Portugal, Russia, Netherlands, Ukraine, Turkey, Belgium, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Austria, Switzerland. From South America Brazil and Argentina, from North America Mexico and USA. If you still have room left I would add Croatia, Serbia, Poland, Romania, South Africa and South Korea.

 

Cheers

Daveincid

[ivancm]

2 minutes ago, Daveincid said:

sem problemas!

Eu recomendo pelo menos 2 ligas em cada nação. 5 principais nações, talvez 3 ligas.

Com 20 nações jogáveis, eu diria: Inglaterra, Espanha, Alemanha, Itália, França, Portugal, Rússia, Holanda, Ucrânia, Turquia, Bélgica, Noruega, Suécia, Dinamarca, Áustria, Suíça. Da América do Sul Brasil e Argentina, da América do Norte México e EUA. Se você ainda tiver espaço, eu adicionaria Croácia, Sérvia, Polônia, Romênia, África do Sul e Coréia do Sul.

 

Felicidades

Daveincid

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! 

[Daveincid]

vor 7 Minuten schrieb ivancm:

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! 

you are welcome

[SineadOConnor]

Daveincid - using your below game setup what is your estimated game speed in stars and is it still quick enough? I don't know how much notice to take of the stars. I have an ok PC (i5-9400 2.9GHz(6 CPUs), 8GB RAM)

but my estimated speed is only 2 stars with the below setup!

In real terms, how slow would you expect this to be versus my usual setup which is just England and Spanish top leagues, with estimated speed at 5 stars?

For example, if a season normally takes me 24hours of my time, is it only going to add on an hour or so, or would it double?!

 

Thanks for this very useful thread.

 I recommend at least 2 leagues in every nation. top 5 nations maybe 3 leagues.

With 20 nations playable I would say: England, Spain, Germany, Italy, France, Portugal, Russia, Netherlands, Ukraine, Turkey, Belgium, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Austria, Switzerland. From South America Brazil and Argentina, from North America Mexico and USA. If you still have room left I would add Croatia, Serbia, Poland, Romania, South Africa and South Korea.

[Daveincid]

vor 10 Minuten schrieb SineadOConnor:

Daveincid - using your below game setup what is your estimated game speed in stars and is it still quick enough? I don't know how much notice to take of the stars. I have an ok PC (i5-9400 2.9GHz(6 CPUs), 8GB RAM)

but my estimated speed is only 2 stars with the below setup!

In real terms, how slow would you expect this to be versus my usual setup which is just England and Spanish top leagues, with estimated speed at 5 stars?

For example, if a season normally takes me 24hours of my time, is it only going to add on an hour or so, or would it double?!

 

Thanks for this very useful thread.

 I recommend at least 2 leagues in every nation. top 5 nations maybe 3 leagues.

With 20 nations playable I would say: England, Spain, Germany, Italy, France, Portugal, Russia, Netherlands, Ukraine, Turkey, Belgium, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Austria, Switzerland. From South America Brazil and Argentina, from North America Mexico and USA. If you still have room left I would add Croatia, Serbia, Poland, Romania, South Africa and South Korea.

Hi SineadOConnor

It is quite difficult to say it in hours.  Because I guess this 24 hours is not only raw processing, it's how you play the game. The game has a minimum setup which takes some processing-time. with every league loaded (especially playable and with full details).  Processing will need significantly more time than your usual setup. But for the total time for a season I think it won't be more than 36 hours. You can compare your cpu in this thread to get a bit of a feeling about the processing-time.

Cheers

Daveincid

 

[wazzaflow10]

I want to clear up any confusion - is this assumption still accurate?

 

 

Edited November 17, 2020 by wazzaflow10

[Daveincid]

vor 7 Minuten schrieb wazzaflow10:

I want to clear up any confusion - is this assumption still accurate?

 

 

yes, I'm pretty sure there was some opimisation under the hood all theese years, but it haven't changed much.

Cheers

Daveincid

[mhaffy]

On 15/11/2020 at 21:23, mhaffy said:

Thanks. I never add extra players - circa 13 nations, 28 playable leagues and large database usually with circa 66k players at start. Planning on going to small database this year with c 60k players at start to hopefully improve transfer market and chances of actually selling my surplus players...

Have been reviewing nations and playable leagues that I run for FM21 beta have settled on 17 nations (up from usual 13), 30 playable leagues (up from usual 28) and small database rather than the large database that I usually choose. This gives me circa 65k players at the start of the FM21 beta versus usual setup that gives c66k players. Game speed is shown as 2 stars, same as usual setup, but i am hoping that the optimisation and speed improvements referred to in a tweet from Miles will mean that my game speed will actually be better than usual despite still showing 2 stars.

Edited November 17, 2020 by mhaffy

[Daveincid]

vor 2 Minuten schrieb mhaffy:

Have been reviewing nations and playable leagues that I have and for beta have settled on 17 nations (up from usual 13), 30 playable leagues (up from usual 28) and small database rather than the large database that I usually choose. This gives me circa 65k players at the start of the FM21 beta versus usual setup that gives c66k players. Game speed is shown as 2 stars, same as usual setup, but i am hoping that the optimisation and speed improvements referred to in a tweet from Miles will mean that my game speed will actually be better than usual despite still showing 2 stars.

Sounds solid. I would just think about adding players via the advanced db aswell. It won't slow down your game that much.  Generally I won't give too much about the star rating at all. Just start a save and test it if you feel comfortable with the speed. The increase from speed from fm20 to fm21 is in my tests even higher than miles tweeted.

 

Cheers

Daveincid

 

[mhaffy]

17 minutes ago, Daveincid said:

Sounds solid. I would just think about adding players via the advanced db aswell. It won't slow down your game that much.  Generally I won't give too much about the star rating at all. Just start a save and test it if you feel comfortable with the speed. The increase from speed from fm20 to fm21 is in my tests even higher than miles tweeted.

 

Cheers

Daveincid

 

Thanks - would be great if actual game speed (not save speed) is greater than the circa 14% that I believe Miles tweeted. Two stars is what I usually play with and find fine so any improvement would be a bonus. Not planning on adding any extra players via the advanced database as concerned of potential impact on transfer market and my ability to offload unwanted players.

[BamBamBam]

I've never changed the full detail option before. Does it really make that much of a difference?

[Daveincid]

vor 1 Minute schrieb BamBamBam:

I've never changed the full detail option before. Does it really make that much of a difference?

in terms of realism or speed?

[Double0Seven]

Hey for the sweet spot setting, could you show me how it looks like in your setup screen? 

Is it supposed to look something like this? 

[Daveincid]

vor 39 Minuten schrieb Double0Seven:

Hey for the sweet spot setting, could you show me how it looks like in your setup screen? 

Is it supposed to look something like this? 

I just updated the guide with screenshots. I would add the continenal club competitions for Europe too.

 

Cheers

Daveincid