What functionality do you get with lowest tier France, Norway and Romania?

[Stuniverse]

I've noticed when loading Norway (all four tiers) as a Playable Nation / Leagues that the option to select fourth tier teams is greyed out and the lowest level teams don't appear on the Job Security screen either.

So it looks like you can't manage a fourth Tier Norwegian team (Third Division).

I understand this is the same for the lowest level / tier in France and Romania as well.

Those leagues / divisions must be in for a reason though, does anybody know what functionality you get with them?

Many thanks.

[XaW]

They are set as view only, and as far as I can tell it's because there are a lot of 2nd/B-teams there. You can manage there if your team gets relegated, but you can't chose to start a team there. Other than that I don't think there's much difference. Also, it's very easy to make them playable through the editor. I did so in my file while also adding the 5th tier.

[Stuniverse]

17 minutes ago, XaW said:

They are set as view only, and as far as I can tell it's because there are a lot of 2nd/B-teams there. You can manage there if your team gets relegated, but you can't chose to start a team there. Other than that I don't think there's much difference. Also, it's very easy to make them playable through the editor. I did so in my file while also adding the 5th tier.

Thanks, @XaW that's very insightful.

17 minutes ago, XaW said:

Also, it's very easy to make them playable through the editor

I use the Pre-Game Editor a lot but I'm not very good with Advanced stuff. How would I make them playable? It's the Norwegian divisions I'm mainly interested in.

Many thanks, again.

[XaW]

1 hour ago, Stuniverse said:

Thanks, @XaW that's very insightful.

I use the Pre-Game Editor a lot but I'm not very good with Advanced stuff. How would I make them playable? It's the Norwegian divisions I'm mainly interested in.

Many thanks, again.:

Well, I've made a file for it here:

If you want to do it yourself, you can just add nation rules for Norway, convert to advanced and just remove this tick for the two groups of 3:

[Stuniverse]

49 minutes ago, XaW said:

Well, I've made a file for it here:

Brilliant, @XaW thank you.

50 minutes ago, XaW said:

If you want to do it yourself, you can just add nation rules for Norway, convert to advanced and just remove this tick for the two groups of 3:

I would like to try and do it myself but, sorry for being thick, but I'm not sure how in the Pre-Game Editor to reach the stage you've taken the screenshot of above. Sorry to be a pain, but could I trouble you for a Step-by-Step Guide please?

Many thanks.

[XaW]

21 minutes ago, Stuniverse said:

Brilliant, @XaW thank you.

I would like to try and do it myself but, sorry for being thick, but I'm not sure how in the Pre-Game Editor to reach the stage you've taken the screenshot of above. Sorry to be a pain, but could I trouble you for a Step-by-Step Guide please?

Many thanks.

Sure. First just open the editor and let the database load so you see this:

The click Rules and select Add nation rules

The select Norway and the "add lower division..."

The click Rules and "Convert to advanced rules"

Then in the drop down select the 1st entry for the 4th tier.

Then expand the tree and go to general, and there is the box to untick.

After unticking do so for one of the divisions 4-6 and after that is done save your file and head up into the Rules -> Test rules and make sure everything is validated.

After everything is verified save the file and load it up in the game.

 

Then just start as you would and you can now select the clubs there.

[Stuniverse]

29 minutes ago, XaW said:

Sure. First just open the editor and let the database load so you see this

Many thanks, @XaW. That looks straight forward enough even for a techno-thicko like myself.

I’ll be out most of the day but will attempt this later today or tomorrow.

🤞 and thank you again.

[Stuniverse]

7 hours ago, XaW said:

Sure. First just open the editor and let the database load so you see this:

Thank you for the step-by-step instructions, @XaW. I think it has worked (see screenshots below).

What would you suggest I test to make sure the database works as it should?

--

On save set-up, the six Tier Four Third Divisions are selectable:

And once the save is up and running, the six Tier Four Third Divisions appear on the Job Security screen.

Many, many, many thanks.

Edited November 12, 2023 by Stuniverse

[XaW]

1 hour ago, Stuniverse said:

Thank you for the step-by-step instructions, @XaW. I think it has worked (see screenshots below).

What would you suggest I test to make sure the database works as it should?

No worries, happy to help!

I always say "do a holiday save for 5-10 seasons to make sure", but this should be safe I think.

[Stuniverse]

8 minutes ago, XaW said:

No worries, happy to help!

I really do appreciate it, @XaW.

8 minutes ago, XaW said:

I always say "do a holiday save for 5-10 seasons to make sure", but this should be safe I think.

That’s reassuring. I was thinking i) check the correct relegations and promotions and ii) check teams in the “unlocked” divisions are playing in the correct cups although, being honest, I have no idea what cups they should be playing in.

Anything else you can think of?

Edited November 12, 2023 by Stuniverse

[XaW]

4 minutes ago, Stuniverse said:

That’s reassuring. I was thinking i) check the correct relegations and promotions and ii) check teams in the “unlocked” divisions are playing in the correct cups although, being honest, I have no idea what cups they should be playing in.

Anything else you can think of?

No, I think SI have the Norwegian Cup correctly selecting teams. Now, there are errors with it, but I've reported those already (in the first two rounds the top tier teams will always be drawn away to amateur sides in real life, but they don't in the game now). Since the league exists in the game, but are just view only, I think you are safe to play, but if you are unsure, just holiday for 5-10 years and if you don't spot any issues, you're good to go.

[Stuniverse]

Excellent, @XaW. Thank you for your help.

[Stuniverse]

It appears to be working @XaW. I've holidayed through six seasons (2023, 2024, 2025, 2026, 2027 and 2028) and for each season:

• The correct number of teams got promoted and relegated
• When a 2nd Team won Second Division, they didn't get promoted and another team got promoted instead
• The divisions maintained the same number of teams
• Playoffs happened although, when a team from a higher division was involved they usually won, but not always
• Tier Four, Third Division clubs competed in the Norwegian cup.

Some clubs had squads with greyed out players, would you advise selecting "Add players to playable teams" when setting up the save?

Edited November 13, 2023 by Stuniverse

[XaW]

2 minutes ago, Stuniverse said:

Some clubs had squads with greyed out players, would you advise selecting "Add players to playable teams" when setting up the save?

I usually add that whenever I play in very lower leagues, as it helps teams at least have squads, so yes.

[ScotchWhisky]

On 12/11/2023 at 02:00, XaW said:

They are set as view only, and as far as I can tell it's because there are a lot of 2nd/B-teams there. You can manage there if your team gets relegated, but you can't chose to start a team there. Other than that I don't think there's much difference. Also, it's very easy to make them playable through the editor. I did so in my file while also adding the 5th tier.

Unless it's changed, this isn't true.  In FM '22, I left a Swedish team after about six years for a Norwegian 2nd division team that was mathematically already slated for relegation.  The board, therefore, was not judging me on that season.  I beat the best team in the league and drew in the two matches I had.  The team got relegated and I got automatically fired once the new season began and had to load a save I made before I took the job.  Interestingly, I then took a job for a team on the cusp and saved them from relegation.  I was surprised that about half the teams were non-promotable B/2nd teams.  I figured that's just how the Norwegian Second Division is.  After nearly a decade managing Flekkerøy, I looked them up in real life.  Only two B/2 teams in the entire league.  Apparently, SIs top teams dominate so much that their B teams become superhuman too after a few years.  Again, at least in FM '22.