Football Manager 2010

[edyzmedieval]

www.footballmanager.com

So, who's going to be buying it? This is my last one, I have made a pact with God that I won't be buying any more FM games until the day I die. It consumes too much time, and there's women at my door who want to be given some attention.

[Craterus]

Yeah, I'll probably get it.

There are fan-updated databases though so don't worry, edyz, you'll be able to carry on with FM2010 and keep up with the world of football

[Jolt]

For all its worth, tried every single FM. I'm still playing 2007.

[johnhughthom]

I'll not be buying it, absolutely disgusted with the level of copy-protection in the last one. I really don't understand why I have to go through a softanchor verification when I bought it from Steam.

I used to have so much respect for SI, they have always been open on their forums and willing to communicate, but the level of frustration I have endured with FM 09 is unacceptable in my view.

[Craterus]

I'll not be buying it, absolutely disgusted with the level of copy-protection in the last one. I really don't understand why I have to go through a softanchor verification when I bought it from Steam.

I used to have so much respect for SI, they have always been open on their forums and willing to communicate, but the level of frustration I have endured with FM 09 is unacceptable in my view.

Would these problems occur with boxed versions of the game?

And I didn't have FM09 so please elaborate on this frustration.

[johnhughthom]

Would these problems occur with boxed versions of the game?

And I didn't have FM09 so please elaborate on this frustration.

Basically I'm a compulsive uninstall/reinstaller and softanchor doesn't seem to like this. Apparently there are ways round it, but they aren't working for me. Generally I'm OK with copy-protection (though the methods rarely make sense) but I do get annoyed when I buy something and am told I can only install it so often.

To be honest the main reason for my annoyance is the fact I bought it on Steam, so surely Steam knows my copy is OK? I don't understand why they forced people to use Steam,then put on another form of copy-protection.

[pevergreen]

there's women at my door who want to be given some attention.

Lies.

Sounds like a fun game, I saw a copy cheap and was thinking about picking it up.

Is it fun?

[Craterus]

Depends what you want from a game. The A-League is supported and if you're a fan you might enjoy it. If you see an earlier version going cheap, you might as well try it.

[Sarmatian]

The demo's out. I've tried the "vanilla" (only English quickstart, "strawberry" includes all major leagues) and it looks great.

It's much more straightforward thab FM 2009, where many players, especially inexperienced ones, were overwhelmed.

Now, you can set up the way you want your team to play really easy and the game will make slider changes accordingly. Of course, player can still change them manually for some extra fine-tuning.

3d match engine looks better, the game looks more fluid and real. Also, based on my limited play, this version seems to be most bug-free in a long time.


It seems this will be one of the best versions of FM.


Boxed version will only have a dvd-check, no securom and similar heavy DRM, but it means you'll have to keep DVD in drive all the time. Alternatively, you may activate it on steam.

[Boohugh]

I got the demo on Steam yesterday and gave it a try, but only played 1 match so far. Seems ok, just a bit weird getting used to where all the info is (I still occassionally play 2008 which is laid out slightly differently) but not much seems to have changed overall from the older versions other than the addition of the 3d match engine. From the looks of it, 2010 is just going to be a polished version of 2009 (which I didn't bother getting as I'd heard it was fairly buggy) as they've had a year to get the 3d engine working better and iron out any kinks.

I may end up getting it but I'll probably give the demo a little more time before I make any final decision. I have to admit that I didn't really like the tactics editor that much, although I suppose it's good to get you started and you can fine-tune your tactics from there, but perhaps it will grow on me as I use it more. I do think it'll play a little slower than previous versions (it's been an on-going trait as the series has worn on, not something I'm too keen on) unless you choose to ignore all the media stuff, etc. The 3d match engine also makes me want to watch the entire match now for some reason, rather than just the key moments, and at a slower speed which will also slow down the whole game experience.

[Sarmatian]

The match engine is definitely better optimized. I've tried it on the same computer I've played FM2009 and it ran better, even though the graphics are better and you can see the stands and the fans on them.

Yeah, in FM 2009 (and 2010 of course) it'll take longer to complete a season than with older versions but it's more satisfying, imho. I used to read commentary only, even when they introduced 2d match engine but when they switched to 3d I immediately liked it, even if was a bit quirky sometimes. This 3d engine looks great on the other hands. In a few matches I've played I didn't notice anything really weird and it was easier to get my team to actually do what I want them to do.

[edyzmedieval]

Good thing FM2010 is good and polished, because it's going to be my last one. Girls are awash with my looks, and FM doesn't help my situation.

[Craterus]

Downloaded the demo, haven't played yet.

edyz, it's not hard to juggle both if you're really committed to the cause...

[Sarmatian]

Any girl not willing to deal with FM is not worth your time.

[Craterus]

Going from FM08 to this, I feel pretty bombarded with information. I didn't know where to start so I got scared and quit. How vital is all this 'meeting the staff' and so on. It just confused me.

[Sarmatian]

Not really. It's just an easy way to get the breakdown info about your team, like how good is the team's passing ability compared to the rest of the league, which players are good choices for penalty takers and so on.

The mechanics underneath are pretty much unchanged from 2009. Can't remember 2008, I think I've just played the demo on that one, but it can't be really that much different. If you're an experienced FM player, you should be able to catch up pretty quickly.

[Craterus]

I'll get there (probably going to load it up now), it's just a bit daunting...

[naut]

Looks good. DRM is a DVD in drive style thingy. So that's fine. Looking forward to trying the 3d engine.

3d thingy is cool, but, uh, not very polished to say the least. The interface is a lot nicer, I prefer it to the older layout. But, it feels like they haven't updated the database. All in all I do like it.

[Jolt]

My first great find. Marco Verratti, from Pescara (I think)

EDIT:

[johnhughthom]

550 000 Euros! Bargain. Is he going in your first team?

[Sarmatian]

Nice find, but still lacks several key attributes for a AM in my book. Depends how much he can improve.

[LeftEyeNine]

Decisions - 8. Thumbsdown :///

[Jolt]

Nice find, but still lacks several key attributes for a AM in my book. Depends how much he can improve.

Don't forget, that in Portuguese. And the attributes are alphebetized according to it. For instance "Cabeceamento" (the first one) is Heading.

[naut]

Changed my mind. I don't like it. Well at least not until the data editor is released.

[johnhughthom]

Isn't PC gaming just a joy? MY graphics card (Radeon HD 4650) which can play Empire at pretty high graphic settings and just let me play Risen with everything maxed has decided that FM 10 is much too difficult for it to play. I can't finish a match without my drivers stopping responding. So I have had to put my trusty old Radeon X1300 back in to play.

It's worth it though, I can't believe all the reviews are saying same old, same old. It's the most refreshing FM for quite a while, the new tactical set up is great and there are so many new little features to find. Loving it so far, now to finally finish that trip to Fleetwood...

[Boohugh]

May sound obvious (and sorry if you tried it already!), but did you try updating your graphics drivers?

Personally, I'm not going to even consider getting it until a certain bug is fixed that I've read about. It's not really game-breaking, but it's enough of an annoyance to put me off getting the game. I'll put the details in spoilers in case you don't want to know about it, because it's a case where if you don't know about it you can play just fine without really noticing, but if you do know it will really bug you!

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Basically, when you finish a match every player on the pitch gets a rise of 9-12% in their condition, but any players you sub off don't! This makes the whole idea of taking players off to rest them for the next match pointless as they'll be more tired than the ones you leave on. Until they fix that bug (the subbed players should get the bonus too) then match substitutions, a fairly major part of the game I'm sure you'll agree, are basically pointless unless you get an injury and knowing about it somewhat ruins the immersion for me.

I'd be interested to hear what anyone else playing the game thinks though. What are your favourite features? What is the pacing like compared with older versions? Stuff like that .

Edit: And no, the bug wasn't fixed in Update 1 released yesterday

[johnhughthom]

That's a pretty shocking bug, have SI said anything about it, couldn't find anything on their forum and they are usually pretty upfront about things like that.

[Boohugh]

They stayed silent in most of the threads about it (apparently it was present throughout the whole of FM2009 too, despite being aware of it the whole time), however I did find one thread a couple of days ago where they replied that they would try to get it looked at in the next patch as a priority and were sorry they didn't make it a priority in Patch 1.

[naut]

Pretty good player I found:



Checked the editor and he has bags of potential. Hard to get though outside of Korea or in countries with foreign player limits.

[Craterus]

What was his potential?