[FM21] Skinning & Graphics Information

[michaeltmurrayuk]

With the Football Manager 2021 now out, this thread will contain important information regarding Skinning and Graphics in FM2021.

The various guides and content will be slowly updated where possible during the Football Manager 2021.

Though for the moment most of the information from the past few versions should still apply to FM21 unless otherwise stated.

Also check out the other pinned threads as they will contain more specific details in regards to Skinning with Football Manager 2021.

Whilst if you need technical help then first check out the dedicated FAQ's provided by Sega and SI, if you have encountered a bug then please raise the issue in the Bugs Forum so it can be looked it and if you have any comments or suggestions about the changes made in FM21 then the best place to discuss them is in the General Discussion Forum as these are the most likely places that someone from Sports Interactive will see your comment.

Index of Posts

• How To Locate Your User Data Location.
• Updated: MAC User Data Location.
• Changes To Graphics.
• Competition Specific Match Balls.
• How To Extract The fmf Files.
• Changing the 2D Match Background.

Edited October 7, 2021 by michaeltmurrayuk
updated support link

[michaeltmurrayuk]

How To Locate Your User Data Location

Your User Data Location is where your game content (such as save games and exported tactics) are saved as well as the location to install custom graphics and skins.

Your Default Location should generally be found within the;

Documents\Sports Interactive\

Folder with a sub folder for each version of Football Manager you have run, with the game creating the default files on first run of the game.

The instructions on locating or moving your User Data Location don't seem to have changed for FM21 so please refer to this thread for more information:

 

[michaeltmurrayuk]

Changes to Graphics

I haven't had a chance to check the changes in FM21 yet, but normally;

2D items such as kits, faces, logos and trophies should all be reusable from previous versions, though some ids might need updating and for kits third kits might need adding/removing.

3D Match items such as 3D Kits, Adboards, match balls, player kits might work but sometimes need updating, if you are replacing game files then back them up first to save you having to re-download the game.

And as always skins from previous versions will not work in the new game. Whilst skin related mods might but it depends on whether the underlying code has changed, you can try these but for full compatibility you'll have to wait until the full release of the game as the code may change between now and release.

[michaeltmurrayuk]

How To Extract The FMF Files

It is not currently possible to extract the fmf files from the FM2021 Beta, we will need to wait for the full release of the game when the FM21 Resource Tool is released to extract the files.

For advanced users you can view the contents of the fmf files by opening them in a program such as Notepad++ however it is only recommended to do this if you know what you are doing as this method loses the file structure.

Or not looks like the file structure of the fmf files changed since the last time the older Resource Tool didn't work on the new files, so there is currently no way to access the fmf files until the Resource Tool is released with the full game.

Edited November 12, 2020 by michaeltmurrayuk
removed bit about notepad++

[michaeltmurrayuk]

Competition Specific Match Balls

Looks like we can now have competition specific balls

I'll throw up a proper guide when I get a chance but for now the config xml entry looks like this:

<record from="<FILE_NAME>" to="graphics/pictures/balls/<COMP_ID>/default"/>

Graphics look to be just a plain png with 1024x1024 resolution.

The default licensed ball graphics can be found in the graphics\pictures\balls folder after you have extracted the graphics fmf file so you can use them as a reference point for creating new balls.

[michaeltmurrayuk]

MAC Users

Looks like the User Data Location has changed on MacOS so if you are having trouble locating or installing content then please refer to the below instructions;

All your Football Manager game files can be found in the following location by default:

Users\[Your Mac Username]\Library\Application Support\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2021

By default this folder is hidden, so to access you need to do as follows:

- Open Finder

- Click ‘Go’ from the menu bar

- Press and hold down the ‘Option’ (Alt) key

- This will bring up the ‘Library’, click to enter then go to ‘Application Support’ -> ‘Sports Interactive’ -> ‘Football Manager 2021’

[michaeltmurrayuk]

2D Match Background

The 2D Match Background (during a match) is using a separate file to the normal backgrounds, and whilst you can still change it the instructions are slightly different and it also doesn't seem to like being placed inside a skin.

The match background is controlled by the match_background file however it is a dds file and found in the textures folder which is extracted from the simatchviewer-pc fmf file.

To replace/edit it you'll need to create a textures folder in your User Data Location (Documents\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2021\ folder by default)

Then place your edited match_background file inside this folder and it should be loaded up by the game. (You'll need to turn off the skin cache and reload your skin).