Druid DR

I read at the time that the graphics for FM prior to FM18 were outsourced to graphical artists, but from FM18 onwards SI did all the graphics in-house. So that probably explains why the downgrade was so apparant. Lets hope SI now have actual game artists back making the graphics these days, instead of programmers without artisitc flair who thought bland stadiums with sun brollies, picnic tables. and blocky buildings were a 'good thing'.

FM17 had dozens of beautiful stadiums, each with cultural differences depending on where in the world you were managing. It also had the best looking pitches, and the best lighting, and about 20 different camera angles to chose from. Then FM18 happened and the game, graphically, went backwards and hasn't recovered. FM is probably the only game series I can think of that got graphically worse over the years. Its such a shame as the match engine itself has progressed and is a marvellous piece of code, it deserves a 3D match engine that does it justice. Maybe this year. Unity engine is capable of great things.

I can only assume they're holding back as they want to amaze us with the new engine and what it can do (graphically). Surely after 8 years we're finally getting a match day experience that is as visually pleasing as what FM17 gave us before the downgrade of FM18 to FM24. A reminder of FM17 in all its glory...

Although FM24 looks like a big step forward compared to the last 6 versions of the game, it still doesn't look better than what we had with FM17. Below are a selection of screenshots from my current FM17 save (yes I'm still playing that version!). I hope the images SI released for FM24 are still work in progress as it'll be a little disheartening if they persist with those generic cornerless stadiums they introduced with FM18. FM17 had a very large selection of stadiums, we need those back imo (or a stadium editor so we can create them ourselves). FM17 in all its glory.....

Sadly, this is where we're at. If SI are proud of this facegen technology (which looks garbage btw), then its no wonder the 3d match graphics and Stadums aren't on their radar. They're more interested in trivial things like wrist watches, fancy suits, and rings for your avatar that can barely even be seen in the game, than the match day experience itself, which is actually the pinnacle of everything we do as mangers during a week leading up to the match. The match day is where everything accumulates, where we see our tactics play out, where we see our new signings perform, where we see our teams achieve glory or succumb to relegation. They've nailed the ME in FM23, it looks excellent, but they've yet again framed it in garbage. There is no more immersion because it plays out in such a dull and uninspiring background, unlike FM17 which was so much more immersive on that front. It's almost like they spent so much time getting the ME into the really good state it's in now and adding useless trivialities like the above, that they neglected the part of the whole FM experience that actually shows the ME off and instead we have worse graphics than those we had 6 years ago, with matches playing out in stadiums that look like an intern knocked up in during his lunch hour using MS paint back in FM18. This excellent ME deserves a far better presentation / arena than what it's got. I hope SI make the whole match day experience a proper headline feature next year. Its way overdue,

FM17 had dozens and dozens of different varieties of stadiums, and all with a their own 'identity' depending on where in the world you were managing. All of them were taken away for FM18, 19, 20, 21, 22, and now 23. Here's a few more.

A stadium editor would be a headline feature worthy of the name "headline feature! Heck, SI could even release it as a paid for DLC and it'd still be massively popular imo. But failing that, the very least they could do is give us back the wealth of different stadiums we had back in Fm17. After 17 they replaced them all with the garbage looking generic ones we've had for the past 6 years. Every time this kind of topic comes up, I'll continue to post screenshots of what we once had... for nostalgia. and to show new players to FM (and SI) how great this game once looked and how a growing number of players wish it'd look like again someday.. A small selection of FM17 Stadiums in all their glory. Please bring them back SI, ... we've been waiting 6 years now.

Yep, small stadiums were really small, many grassroots clubs never even had stands, some just looked like a field with a fence or wall surrounding it. I don't think we get that now in the current FMs, I think every stadium looks like it can hold a minimum of 5000 people. No immersion at all if you're managing a club from the Northern League. One other thing I miss is the wealth of camera angles we once had. They were all removed in FM18 and still haven't been put back.

The thing is though, the graphics on FM were pretty good at one point. They don't need to be on par with FIFA imho, not even a 10-year old FIFIA. FM17 was beautiful, especially its lighting, pitches, and the stadium variety we had. I make no apologies for posting more screenshots from my old FM17 save. I miss those 3D graphics so much, I just wish SI would explain what was gained in FM18 by stripping away the beautiful looking game we had prior to that edition and the 5 editions that followed,

It's even more crazy and sad when you realise the graphics 5 years ago where much better than what they are now. FM17 looks like it was done by a completely different studio to the 5 versions that followed it. I can't recall any other game from any genre where its graphics took a huge step backwards from one version to the next - that being FM17 to FM18 - and then still haven't gotten back to how good they were 5 versions later.