Best FM?

[Los_Culés]

Voted for FM12 but my favourite is FM11 (same ME, but a bit less bloated than FM12 which introduced extended teamtalks with different "tones" etc.). Still have FM11 installed and I am now thinking of going back to have some fun (I like FM24, have some promising saves here and from what I can see so far I will definitely not buy FM25, so I will come back to FM24 eventually).

But FM11 is different kind of fun, minimum amount of annoying player interaction (sometimes the interactions are realistic in FM24, I can admit that, but still very annoying much of the time), the engine feels great (if you play the game in a good spirit, I always try to replicate real life tactics/tactical aspects, I am not using crazy tactics or anything like that), all styles can work, people say that Pace is overpowered, might be, but it is like that in all versions, in FM11 numerous times I had my best scorer with Pace < 10, technical players really shine in the engine...

[Minuy600]

I think FM17, FM18 and FM23 all stick out to me here. FM17 was too difficult to me as a novice player (and it still is to a degree), but the visuals and game speed are so incredibly robust that I can't help but pop it back on time and time again. FM18 refined the visuals even more and added some things I can't imagine the game without, and it also is the first new FM I saw come out back in the day.

FM23 is quite simply the most recent game I own and it is incredibly refined and versitile, especially with the new things you could do in the editor. It was also the game where I had my longest save so far recently. I definitely feel like giving it one more go before FM25 comes out, so therefore, I will give it my vote.

[Brother Ben]

16 hours ago, Supermercado99 said:

Side question - best versions of simulation of the football world. The depth of players and teams in the later versions is amazing (especially if you torment your computer by loading them all like me), but I find the movement of the teams and yo-yoing between divisions really boring. Teams rarely bomb through the divisions, and more often than note when relegated to the National League they bounce right back when in real life teams often go into freefall.

I recently fired up CM01/02 with some of the fan made patches and enjoyed the volatility of the leagues. It helps that money wasn't out of control yet, but I saw Stockport get promoted to the Premier League, overspend, go horrifically bankrupt, and a few years later battle to avoid relegation to the Conference. Everton got relegated, lost the Division 1 playoff final, then got relegated again and are struggling in Division 2. Pre-Tycoon Manchester City battled for a couple of years to get promoted to the top flight, won the title, nearly got relegated the next year, are back in the title hunt now, Preston and Ipswich have looked possible EPL winners in a couple of seasons etc... etc... Maybe it's a product of its time (and that as a Wimbledon fan I can play with the last real squad before you-know-what happened) but even with less teams and less players the game world just feels more variable than later versions.

I'm pretty sure this is just the way the quick match engine works as a lot of it is based on reputation so clubs will yoyo up and down quite a bit instead of going into free-fall.

My anecdotal observation is that there is a lot more variance in promotion and relegation when you use full detail.  Considering you are already running all leagues then doing that will seriously tank performance so its a trade off I guess.

[Supermercado99]

18 hours ago, Brother Ben said:

I'm pretty sure this is just the way the quick match engine works as a lot of it is based on reputation so clubs will yoyo up and down quite a bit instead of going into free-fall.

My anecdotal observation is that there is a lot more variance in promotion and relegation when you use full detail.  Considering you are already running all leagues then doing that will seriously tank performance so its a trade off I guess.

I think the finances play into it, clubs getting relegated from the EPL have the parachute payments that stop them from going into terminal decline but I'd love to see more cases of teams imploding and plummeting through the divisions. It's probably not going to happen because of licensing, but even crap chairmen buying out clubs and wrecking them would add some spice.

[JR866Gunner]

Have loved every title however the ones I got the most gameplay out of coincides with no children lol

 

FM05, FM07 and FM10 & 11 stand out to me as the most enjoyable. FM08 was another I really got on well with.

[Malicious Penguin]

On 30/08/2024 at 13:58, MorrisseyMuse said:

Alas it's not in this poll, but I'd say 2008 every time.  It was the last of the original UI era and the peak of the 2D match engine for me.  It was the perfect blend of realism and fast fun, before the evolution towards the current rather bloated mess occured from 09 onwards.

The correct answer

[MorrisseyMuse]

On 14/09/2024 at 20:15, Malicious Penguin said:

The correct answer

Lol thanks 😁 I'm currently updating FM 2008, hope to have a vaguely playable version out in the coming weeks.

[aderow]

On 09/09/2024 at 11:08, Birdman10piyu said:

I still think FM10 had a pretty good ME for it's time.

Iremember discovering Neymar in that version cause he out dribbled my defenders and scored two amazing goals.

Man, I remember how many times Neymar saved me back in FM10. Great memories of that game.

[MorrisseyMuse]

On 13/09/2024 at 12:22, Los_Culés said:

Voted for FM12 but my favourite is FM11 (same ME, but a bit less bloated than FM12 which introduced extended teamtalks with different "tones" etc.). Still have FM11 installed and I am now thinking of going back to have some fun (I like FM24, have some promising saves here and from what I can see so far I will definitely not buy FM25, so I will come back to FM24 eventually).

But FM11 is different kind of fun, minimum amount of annoying player interaction (sometimes the interactions are realistic in FM24, I can admit that, but still very annoying much of the time), the engine feels great (if you play the game in a good spirit, I always try to replicate real life tactics/tactical aspects, I am not using crazy tactics or anything like that), all styles can work, people say that Pace is overpowered, might be, but it is like that in all versions, in FM11 numerous times I had my best scorer with Pace < 10, technical players really shine in the engine...

I may have to give FM11 another go reading this