rp1966

I'm really not a fan of mobile/console first UI design. The mouse and keyboard experience is (or should be) significantly different from controller or touchscreen and UIs that are mobile focused always feel dumbed down on PC. However, this is just a preliminary look at a couple of screens and we'll need to see the game in action to really get an indication of how it's going to work. On that subject, I hope that for FM25 SI produce in-depth gameplay videos in the run-up to the release and not their usual 'Miles waffling marketing spiel for half an hour' with hardly any actual in-game footage and no let's play type footage. Show not tell. Especially important for FM25.

International management is quite limited just by its nature (long gaps between matches; not wanting to spend your time actually watch players in games like a real international manager would). The most common complaint has always been the lack of control over training at tournaments so that you can rest players between games. However, one area of improvement I'd really like to see is international management exclusive set of screens for identifying eligible players of appropriate calibre; moving the ones you want into the pool' and then on into the squad. I'd like this in three columns with a filter above all players and above pool. With drag and drop between columns.

I'm now in 2030, so a few more seasons of watching the ME for me. Still would have expected at least a couple of DFKs (for or against) in your 3 seasons. Maybe there's something about the way you play that doesn't create/concede that many freekicks.

I find that a bit surprising - I've seen plenty of direct free kick goals managing Sapporo, Kaiserslautern and now at Lazio (both for and against). The most predictable and commonly scored one seems to be just outside the area on the right hand side taken by a right footer - you can tell when it's going to happen as the wall always looks slightly too far left. Ball is pinged into the top right corner and scored 60-70% of the time*. Those really long range shots seem quite rare, but then they are IRL, too. See plenty in the 20-25yd range. * the other outcomes being hitting the corner of post and crossbar, or the GK flying like superman right into the very corner to turn it round the post. EDIT: Just remembered I was watching Loki Doki yesterday and he had a DFK scored against him with a low kick through the wall - now those really are rare!

Happens a lot. I suspect there's some complacency/determination fiddling going on so that they make a reality of the "you're at your most vulnerable after you've scored" footballing cliché. SI do seem to love coding probabilities that reflect clichés.

I think the biggest reason that SI wouldn't allow modding of the match engine is nothing to do with code complexity - it's all about business. The ME is the area of difference that people most care about when comparing versions. Free up that to modding and SI have a greatly reduced ability to tweak the ME and market it as something 'new and improved' for a new edition of the game. Any ME changes would have to be beyond the scope of the modders to have any impact. Then there's also the fact that it would lift the curtain on how the ME works. Remember that after the Korean mods to the JSON file, SI chose to lock it down and remove the ability to edit it.

Whoever designs the response trees for interactions seems to have the objective of upsetting the balance in your team. Every interaction wants to either generate strife or force you into promises (which will likely cause strife down the line). Much like the transfer system I think it is an area SI feel they can game things to help the 'AI'. I'd go further and say that nowadays only the ME is treated as 'simulation' - everything outside that is fair game for manipulation to try to erode the human advantage. I think that's why those elements are so frustrating and out of line with what we see IRL.

The season's all but over and there's nothing to play for. The first team are in training for next season (FM25), but they'll field the reserves for the remaining matches of this season (FM24 data update).

... and the reverse. Seeing a lot of things that look like they should be penalties accompanied by the 'great intervention' commentary and also something totally innocuous will happen and the VAR box pops up to give a penalty. On those ones it doesn't help that you don't get a replay of the actual penalty incident. But it does seem that there's a bit of a mismatch happening between penalty incidents and the animations we see.

The trouble with this complaint is that the ME's main problem is that it creates far too many chances* and that is, given the length of time it's been a problem, a very difficult thing to resolve. So every time there's a groundswell of 'too many goals' complaints all SI do is nerf attacking play and the ME becomes dull and sterile. The FM 24 ME has already taken a step in that direction - the play in the final third is nowhere near and fluid as varied now as during the beta. Another nerf would kill it completely, leaving it like the awful FM20 engine. * not enough breakdowns of play in midfield or on the edge of the area, far too many defenders putting it out for a corner instead of getting control of the ball etc. Basically real games are much more in the midfield than any FM ME which sees too many attacks complete without mistake or interception.

I play on 3D and comprehensive highlights (TV as main camera and vertical scroll for replays). I almost always choose a team that is mid-table in whatever league I want to play in - I like to have a comfortable first season where I can shape the team to my liking without worrying about promotion or relegation. As far as transfers go I always set no transfers in first window and I take a slow evolving approach to recruitment - I'll only bring in 2-3 first-teamers per season unless forced to buy more because of unavoidable sales. Regardless of where I start I generally end up as a journey man as I find it difficult to resist job offers unless I have grown especially attached to my squad at a particular club. For scouting I always use the scouts - no player search or trawling international squads for me.

I would expect the league selection to work as it does now, but instead of selecting England and the leagues within the country you want active, you will now select England (men) or England (women) and the corresponding leagues to be active in your save. But that would obviously sit within one database so you can mix and match countries and leagues as you see fit.

I'd agree with that. Compared to the initial ME (which I acknowledge often generated too many goals) the attacking play doesn't feel as natural and fluid. Variety is down and if you watch games on comprehensive, too many good chances seem to end in unlikely misses or overly effective defensive actions (not quite the super-keeper or teleporting blocking defenders of some older editions, but heading that way) - It just feels a little obviously nerfed. I know that's a very subjective thing based on the feel of play in the match visualiser, but the initial ME didn't have that feeling. I think matchday feel and realistic play-by-play outcomes were sacrificed for more realistic scorelines at the macro/statistical level/

Yes, I would expect the ME to be another evolution of the existing one - whether Unity has some tricks (better distribution between CPU cores?) that will enable them to increase the depth of the calculations I don't know, but there's a huge amount of embedded knowledge in the current engine so I'd expect it to continue. Match graphics should certainly receive a significant boost, though that relies on SI having employed the services of better 3D modellers and animators. UI is where I think we'll see a distinct break from the FM18-24 look and feel. Will also be interesting to see if they take a different approach to newgen/staff faces.

It's been mentioned plenty of times before. It's a really awful UI design decision. I would expect that people have reported it as being a bug in the past, but I'm not sure SI consider it one - as I say, it appears to just be a stupid design decision that they've double-downed on. I think you'll find some skins have a 'tablet' that stays solid colours regardless of ball position. Not that anything in FM24 matters any more as it's the end of the line for this game engine.