Football Manager 2021

There is a video below showing gameplay.
It does look identical to PC version, the only difference compared to my experience is he is playing in 1080, so there is so much information missing from the screen.

 
Marching On Together said:
I was going to get the Xbox edition, but not having graphics and real names is kind of a deal breaker for me.
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The graphics, I could maybe live without - But with years of always having them, would be very difficult to get used too.
The licensing patch though, I could never live without that.. Proper competition names and having Juventus and German National Team is an absolute must.
 
bsmaff said:
It doesn't look like anyone has, so I would look for reviews online.

The only thing I would say about it is:
Would expect it to be identical to the PC version, except you can't add any of the additional graphics and mod the game to add Juventus, Germany National Team and several other players missing from the game.
If the above is true then, it pretty much kills the immersion for me, and I would only ever play it, if I didn't have a PC of any kind.
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Thanks
 
FM Small Update:-

Licensing Fix v1.4 - This is the update for the latest patch
Kits - Updated to today (10/12/20) - But there is only about 2 new leagues, so not worth the download.
Faces - Available in the changes folder to 13.02 - Updated 09/12/20
New Data Update for FM21 - Data Update for FM 2020 seems to have been removed.
 
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bsmaff said:
FM Small Update:-
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I know I've said it before, but thanks so much for this. Makes the world of difference to have everything centralised and readily available to download.

I've not invested yet - I barely made it through a season on the last game due to work commitments, and I wasn't sold on the new one based on the major improvements being so, so slight. But I don't think I can resist the "quick chats" stuff (especially with agents), nor the new match engine tweaks, so I'll be back on the wagon at Christmas...
 
Chris Davies said:
I know I've said it before, but thanks so much for this. Makes the world of difference to have everything centralised and readily available to download.

I've not invested yet - I barely made it through a season on the last game due to work commitments, and I wasn't sold on the new one based on the major improvements being so, so slight. But I don't think I can resist the "quick chats" stuff (especially with agents), nor the new match engine tweaks, so I'll be back on the wagon at Christmas...
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TBH, I would skip FM 2021.
There are little to no improvements in the game, and the new Teamtalks and a few other issues in the match engine are not an improvement.
When I get home later, I will take a few screenshots and show you what I mean - But personally I feel FM 2021 is a step backwards.

But I still love it - It's FM...
 
Football Manager 2021 - Part Review:-

So in my previous post, I wrote how I didn't think that FM 2021 was a worthy upgrade from FM 2020.
Don't get me wrong it is still a fantastic game, but for those on the fence it is certainly a non purchase unless it gets to maybe just over the £10 mark.

I have got some examples on this with screenshots, but I don't have some for other bits, and I will probably ellaborate on other bits over the next few days.

Player Conversations:-
This has always been an issue with FM, as every year they change the things you need to say to make a player happy leaving a meeting.
However in FM 2021, it seems no matter what you say or do in Team Meetings the players always feel pissed off and angry with you, and big reds everywhere.
Absolutely nothing you say can make things better, and you just keep digging bigger holes.
I also find this year that if you sign a player they want to normally play a specific role, but again this becomes an issue as even if they play 100% of games but you play them as a target man instead of advanced forward they will demand to leave the club, and you keep breaking promises.
Therefore player conversations have become an issue in this version of FM.

Match Day Experience:-
So they have made a few changes to the match day experience - Mainly a massive overhaul to the amount displayed when in-game, which is kind of better, but maybe too much.
The first change I really dislike is the new Team Talk screen, this has been changed from Angry, Assertive, Confident - To know being gestures - Open arms, Point finger and so on.



TBH, you do get used to this, but it is a massive step back..
There is one - Throw the water bottle, and no matter when you do this you will piss off your entire team.
The other options seem to have very little effect on your Team, it is now more what you say than how you say it - Massive step back.

The match itself, now contains a lot of information on the screen, which personally I liked the minimalistic look of FM 2020, with the option to add more if you desired.



Then comes the tactic screen.
When making a sub the screen comes up really small and you now have to expand it, rather than FM 2020 it came up really big.
This isn't too much of an issue as you just have to keep clicking the expand button.





Other issue:-
The other issues I will probably expand on as I play it more often, but the general game feels pretty much exactly the same except for the weird issues above.
Brexit is an absolute bitch - Not just in real life, but on the game too - The same rules now apply for EU players as the rest of the world, so you can no longer sign youngsters from EU countries, as they have not played the correct number of international games and so on, therefore making it incredibly difficult to sign young players and build for the future.

Fixes:-
The big fixes I noticed this year, is they have really fixed the board interactions.
So in FM 2020, they basically accepted all your requests, so you could have 15 coaches at Exeter City in L1 if you keep asking for it all the time, and the board pretty much gave you everything you asked for.
After 2 years with Exeter this time, they have allowed just 1 additional coach and have improved the training facilities after being promoted to L1.
All other requests have been rejected due to Financial constraints and unlike FM 2020 - The classic but were being left behind, does not stick, and the board will litterally always be on the stance which is best for the club financially.
This does make the game obviously harder, but feels much more realistic that you are actually being constrained by the club due to finances.

Those are my initial impressions, and I am sure I have probably missed an awful lot out.
I will actually make notes next few times I play and add to this.
 
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@Chris Davies
Don't get me wrong it is still a very enjoyable game.
And I am sure after a few patches they will get the balance better - It is just, if you have not purchased yet then I wouldn't bother, until it is cheaper after Christmas maybe and you can get it for under £15.
It is only if your like me and a diehard FM player, that you obviously buy the game year after year - I have purchased every single FM on release day since Championship Manager 2 was released in 1995, back in the good old days when I saved my birthday money to purchase on release.

I also feel, alot of the changes that have been made to the skin and display is mainly built with the Xbox in mind.
I mean some people will probably love the additional information on the screen, which for me is just too much during the match day.

However it works better the other way round, if you play FM on a 4K monitor there is so much more an better information on the screen in menu's where in HD you have to make a few more clicks.
 
What's people's opinion on how the match engine works in this? I know the game is lauded for its huge amount of stats and complexity of processing but does it play out genuinely fairly and is the amount of time and thinking put into formation tweaks, picking exactly the right players for the right occasions, etc actually rewarding and worth the effort?

I'm just a bit sceptical when I see people say that such-and-such a formation seems to be the go-to formation this year/most years, which makes it seem like there's perhaps not really so much depth if you just need to pick the golden formation.

I tried the demo and played one match (took me about an hour to wade through everything and finally get onto the pitch), only to then to see my team, which was playing a friendly against the reserves, create a hatful of chances and miss them all, meanwhile the reserves create only about 3 chances and score 2 of them. Too many years of PES and its obvious cheating, which clearly overrides stats and tactics, leaves me cautious about whether it's worth investing any more time on this.

Are there enough matches where your team is dominated and sneak a win to balance out the matches when the cpu wins despite being dominated? Are there matches where the cpu peppers your goal with shot after shot but just can't score?

When you lose, is it apparent why you lost - eg. you could see how you were outsmarted by the cpu tactics? Or the cpu had a particularly good gk or very strong attackers?

Can you identify weakness in the opposition and exploit them, eg. cpu is playing an inexperienced low-stat kid at left back and you can target attacks down that side to some tangible effect?

Also, I recall a few complaints last year about too many 1-on-1s. Has that been rectified.
 
I didn't play FM 2020 enough to find out what the OP tactics were, but in 19 I got better results using 4-2-3-1 gegenpress regardless of whether it suited the players or not or the quality of the opposition. Gradually swapping in better players over the seasons was then the only thing that made a difference. Apart from that it was just about babysitting all of the players morale by constantly "Praising Conduct" which only ever elicits a positive response, and picking the correct option in team meetings.

Each FM seems to have these quirks that once you realise how it's working under the hood, it makes it pretty straightforward to find a winning tactic and boost your team's morale enough to constantly grow the club - most of the supposed depth/complexity hardly seems to make an impact.

It probably works better as a role-playing kind of game where you try to replicate a certain playing style or philosophy rather than as a game that you try to win.
 
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So near - Yet so far...

FM.png



FM2.png
 
Chris Davies said:
I was looking for Exeter!
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I took Exeter to the Championship, then got offered the Derby job.
Took them to the Champions League and was offered the Man City job.

First season in charge with a load of half random / experienced players and a few half decent youngsters
Mainly spent the season selling off deadwood with a season profit of over £450m, including the signings I made.
De Bruyne at the age of 35 was still my best player and managed to achieve a very near perfect season my only slip up was a 3-3 draw away at Watford.
I lost one game all season and that was the EFL Cup 3rd round - A 4-1 away defeat to L1 Charlton.
Without having to play in the Champions League and having a few extra mid weeks off, really helped my team with extra recovery.
So next season, I personally feel, I won't be able to achieve a perfect season as I will do way more squad rotation and with extra games in the Champions League.

I have just never been anywhere near that close to a perfect season before - I have been invincible before with over 100 points but never anywhere near that perfect.
 
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February Graphics Update:-

Graphics:
Kits - 16/02/2021 - Few minor kits updated but nothing major - So not really worth an additional download
Faces - 13.05
Metallic Logos - 2021_03

Files:
Data Update - 11/02/21
 
bsmaff said:
Football Manager 2021 Release Day - Graphics Update:-

Kits:-
Updated 24/11/20

Player Faces:-
v13.00 - Updated 03/11/20

Metallic Logos:-
v2021.01 - Updated 03/11/20

Real Name Licensing Fix:-
v1.1 - Updated 24/11/20

Files are available to download from:-
https://1drv.ms/u/s!AtsC_3_xeYYCge5lORS3CSXTv98JNA?e=N3aOz7
Password - evoweb
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Just a quick FYI - I've downloaded the MetallicLogos_v1 just now and it seems as though there are tons of club logo files missing? (The "normal" and "small" folders are missing entirely!)
 
Chris Davies said:
Just a quick FYI - I've downloaded the MetallicLogos_v1 just now and it seems as though there are tons of club logo files missing? (The "normal" and "small" folders are missing entirely!)
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I will have a look at it.
I have started to download the file to check it is 6.4GB so should contain everything.

Just downloaded it and says file is corrupt - I will download the full update again later and upload.
 
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Hello @juce.

I am contacting you out of a matter of the heart. I have wanted to write to you for months, yes, for years. It is about the following:

Because of you there is the possibility to use mods in the game "Pro Evolution Soccer", so that many things in the game look realistic or halfway realistic. I would like to thank you personally for that. You have my greatest respect that you have created something like this and made it available to the community.

Let's be honest, has "Konami" ever written to you and asked if you would like to help with future "PES games"?

Saying thank you to you is one reason why I am writing to you. The other reason is a question that I'm extremely hopeful you'll say yes to, or perhaps have already dealt with yourself.

In the game "pes 2021" is created by many mods the possibility to be able to see in the game realistic-looking stadiums, to be able to hear catching chants and much more. Unfortunately, the game "pes" lacks an extensive league structure. That is, there are hardly any countries where there are 2 leagues. I think that is terrible. My wish would be that there are very many countries where there are, for example, 3 leagues. It would be fantastic if you could play from first to third league in Germany, for example. Only then does a "champions league" make any sense to me at all.

In the alternative game "Football Manager" from the company Sega, this league diversity is super given. Unfortunately, and this makes me sad for years, there are no mods in the "FM" that do exactly what is possible in the "pes".
= to be able to see realistic looking stadiums, to be able to hear catcher chants and much more.

This is the reason why I also turn to you. Could you see if it is possible to use the "sider" also with the Fm. Or something like that.

I would cry with happiness and get goose bumps all over my body if I could play the "FM" with my club Holstein Kiel, and when the match day starts, see the real stadium, hear catch chants.

I would also buy you the FM2021 ( and next pes 2022) voluntarily for testing purposes, so that you can test.
:)
I am very happy to hear from you. I hope you write to me in private.

best regards from Germany
 
mr. old_school said:
you mean March (first) Update - second Update comes in some days/weeks, right?

Logos: Metallic Logos v4 new Version, right: Link: https://sortitoutsi.net/graphics/3/download

but: your " Faces v13.06 " - what do you mean? that: Link: https://sortitoutsi.net/graphics/style/1/cut-out-player-faces

but: " Licensing Fix v3.0 " - Link, what do you mean?

@juce i "hope" you answer me/us - good Boy.
#56
:)
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The licensing fix gets rid of all the issues with SI, in regards to licensing.
So it puts Juventus/Germany back in the game along with changing all the competition names.

March update - Means the March graphics update - Nothing to do with SI game patches.
 
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