Football Manager Series

I think, and to a degree know that it is much more complex and layered than "oh they sold out" and whilst it might seem that way to some degree I've been at their studio in March for a job interview and they are the most passionate and involved people you could wish for. They just missed the mark this year badly and they want to get it right for 27. Plus a migration like that to another engine was not smooth, and a lot of things could've been handled better, sure, but let's wait and see.
 
BassyBoyYT said:
I think, and to a degree know that it is much more complex and layered than "oh they sold out" and whilst it might seem that way to some degree I've been at their studio in March for a job interview and they are the most passionate and involved people you could wish for. They just missed the mark this year badly and they want to get it right for 27. Plus a migration like that to another engine was not smooth, and a lot of things could've been handled better, sure, but let's wait and see.
Click to expand...
I love to hear of people in the community doing amazing work getting job interviews - I really hope you got it, or if not, you can at least work more closely together in future. Well done on even getting an interview, man.
 
Chris Davies said:
I love to hear of people in the community doing amazing work getting job interviews - I really hope you got it, or if not, you can at least work more closely together in future. Well done on even getting an interview, man.
Click to expand...
Thank you! At the time we decided that it wasn't time yet, mainly because I wanted to finish my bachelor degree. But that said, I find the notion going around that SI is anti modding to be, how to put it, preposterous if I am honest. What was said behind the doors will stay there, but yeah, very positive experience in all of it. So maybe in the future I'll be able to work there, but for now not yet :D
 
SI have never been anti-modding.
They have been the most helpful company I know to help modders and get rid of restrictions.

Every FM with licensing issues they don't put the licensing issues in the main database, they create files which stop the licensing and modding.
You just need to go into a folder and delete those files and the game is then fully licensed.
That's why they put team ids in the database so you can easily add kits, stadiums and player faces.

SI have always been brilliant at that and FM26 was no different. which is really nice when most games today go out of their way to stop mods, with mainly only PC Early Access and indie games still embracing mods.

It is good to hear though that it sounds like they know they royally f**ked up FM26 and they are trying to fix the issues.
But the problem isn't just the UI, it is the game itself for me it is just too slow and skipping menus and going through games just for some reason feels really unconnected this year.
The game is also super easy, never have I gone straight from L1 to Champions League qualification in straight seasons - Normally takes 6/7 seasons minimum not 3 seasons.
The match engine is destroyed with strikerless formations breaking the match engine as defenders mark no-one and the CAM can just score 40+ goals as he is a complete anomaly and the game doesn't know what to do against him.

FM24 was near perfect and got to a point where only small tweaks and features were needed.
I gave FM26 a free pass this year as said all along that FM is also dog sheet when they change to a new engine but FM27 has to not only got to show a massive improvement game wise, it needs a completely redeveloped UI and sorry to say the PC desktop version has to have a complete unique UI to show as much data as possible similar to FM24.
This one skin fits all doesn't work in the slightest, it's like Christmas one size fits all socks - No it's one size fits none.
 
bsmaff said:
SI have never been anti-modding.
They have been the most helpful company I know to help modders and get rid of restrictions.

Every FM with licensing issues they don't put the licensing issues in the main database, they create files which stop the licensing and modding.
You just need to go into a folder and delete those files and the game is then fully licensed.
That's why they put team ids in the database so you can easily add kits, stadiums and player faces.

SI have always been brilliant at that and FM26 was no different. which is really nice when most games today go out of their way to stop mods, with mainly only PC Early Access and indie games still embracing mods.

It is good to hear though that it sounds like they know they royally f**ked up FM26 and they are trying to fix the issues.
But the problem isn't just the UI, it is the game itself for me it is just too slow and skipping menus and going through games just for some reason feels really unconnected this year.
The game is also super easy, never have I gone straight from L1 to Champions League qualification in straight seasons - Normally takes 6/7 seasons minimum not 3 seasons.
The match engine is destroyed with strikerless formations breaking the match engine as defenders mark no-one and the CAM can just score 40+ goals as he is a complete anomaly and the game doesn't know what to do against him.

FM24 was near perfect and got to a point where only small tweaks and features were needed.
I gave FM26 a free pass this year as said all along that FM is also dog sheet when they change to a new engine but FM27 has to not only show a massive improvement game wise, it needs a completely redeveloped UI and sorry to say the PC desktop version has to have a complete unique UI to show as much data as possible similar to FM24.
This one skin fits all doesn't work in the slightest, it's like Christmas one size fits all socks - No it's one size fits none.
Click to expand...
It is exactly this that they from my time there are aware of too. I am not saying 27 will magically fix everything, but now they also have a partnership with Unity to improve Unity's inbuilt UI systems since FM just is the biggest UI game out there, or one of the biggest anyways with the amount of data layered underneath it and that should improve things come FM27, but 28 especially!
 
BassyBoyYT said:
It is exactly this that they from my time there are aware of too. I am not saying 27 will magically fix everything, but now they also have a partnership with Unity to improve Unity's inbuilt UI systems since FM just is the biggest UI game out there, or one of the biggest anyways with the amount of data layered underneath it and that should improve things come FM27, but 28 especially!
Click to expand...
That's good to hear, because it's painfully obvious that Unity is not a UI engine. The constant flickering between screens with "pop-in" like you're playing GTA on PS2 is really shocking.

It sounds like development was just one fuck-up after another, to speak frankly. From what I've heard (but it's nothing official obviously), the head of their coding department essentially promised that everything would be ported into Unity in a sensible timeframe, and it turned out that was a huge miscalculation.

But mix that in with some more terrible decisions (like switching to an engine that clearly isn't built for your game) - and terrible project management (deciding that the inbox system had to go, and then u-turning on it when the game wasn't fun any more*)...

...some form of FM had to be released in order for the studio to continue (given license agreements etc., let alone having to keep money coming in), so we got the dreadful release that we got (and there's no denying it is - look how poorly it runs on non-PC platforms).

But now, to me, it feels like they've made so many mistakes they've sort of painted themselves into a corner.

They've spent all this time getting the game into Unity, so they're stuck there now, and they've created a UI that is objectively worse than FM24's, but it seems like they won't accept criticism of it (with Miles saying, to paraphrase, that it's only the "long-time players" who have a problem with it).

Do you see them actually reworking the UI to make it closer to FM24's (so that it makes a lot more sense) or do you see them sticking to the current layout, which I just don't find fun to play at all?

Usually at this point of the year I'm hammering FM and getting my last season finished before the new game comes out. Right now I have zero desire to play it because of how bad the UI is, and that's what worries me most.

*Also, I hope one day we get to see some screenshots of what the "inboxless" game looked like - it sounds interesting to me...
 
Chris Davies said:
That's good to hear, because it's painfully obvious that Unity is not a UI engine. The constant flickering between screens with "pop-in" like you're playing GTA on PS2 is really shocking.

It sounds like development was just one fuck-up after another, to speak frankly. From what I've heard (but it's nothing official obviously), the head of their coding department essentially promised that everything would be ported into Unity in a sensible timeframe, and it turned out that was a huge miscalculation.

But mix that in with some more terrible decisions (like switching to an engine that clearly isn't built for your game) - and terrible project management (deciding that the inbox system had to go, and then u-turning on it when the game wasn't fun any more*)...

...some form of FM had to be released in order for the studio to continue (given license agreements etc., let alone having to keep money coming in), so we got the dreadful release that we got (and there's no denying it is - look how poorly it runs on non-PC platforms).

But now, to me, it feels like they've made so many mistakes they've sort of painted themselves into a corner.

They've spent all this time getting the game into Unity, so they're stuck there now, and they've created a UI that is objectively worse than FM24's, but it seems like they won't accept criticism of it (with Miles saying, to paraphrase, that it's only the "long-time players" who have a problem with it).

Do you see them actually reworking the UI to make it closer to FM24's (so that it makes a lot more sense) or do you see them sticking to the current layout, which I just don't find fun to play at all?

Usually at this point of the year I'm hammering FM and getting my last season finished before the new game comes out. Right now I have zero desire to play it because of how bad the UI is, and that's what worries me most.

*Also, I hope one day we get to see some screenshots of what the "inboxless" game looked like - it sounds interesting to me...
Click to expand...
Their only choice was unity since it was the only engine at the time that allowed to release the game on all platforms they needed to release it. Along what you said it is just cumulative. And let's face it Miles isn't gonna sit here and say "aye lads our game is shite". They cannot do that since it'd be the death of a game pre release. I know a bit already so I'm not allowed to speak on the matter, but I am positive about it. Sorry but NDA's aren't cool hahaha!
 
SI are looking for beta testers...



Registration is open here: https://footballmanager.firstlook.gg/

The fact that they stress "please be honest about your level of experience" says to me that they're actively chasing a younger, less interested audience - not the long-time players.

I feel a bit sick with worry for the future - I need (a good) FM in my life...
 
The more I think about this, the more I feel like SI are a different company now. I've never heard of "FirstLook" so I went and checked out their website (https://firstlook.gg/) and... They seem like a fairly pointless, scammy analytics startup for games that you'd expect an indie studio to use.

SI have done betas before and been able to track issues via their own code. Is Unity so bad that they've had to sink to third party help? And we're stuck with Unity forever now?

I'm so worried about the future. It's like SI have gone from a big player to a new studio with no expertise in their own game overnight. It could truly be the end of FM for me...
 
I really don't trust any of the footie game companies anymore. Megacorp is killing football games. The hiring strategy of just hiring people that doesn't love the sport or understand the sport also doesn't work out anymore.
 
How normal is it for a game that typically releases in November to be in an alpha state in September?

 
Uploaded a new DB update.
This will include Rodri to Barcelona.
Will update again on Friday and Monday.

But I am sure if anyone is like me they are likely waiting for the end of the transfer window before actually starting a new game.
As pretty certain the Premier League will continue to spend billions without signing any truely world class players.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom