Football Manager Series

Chris Davies said:
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Feels a bit late in the month - I'm getting worrying vibes again...
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WoW, FM series turned completely into PES where they are making announcements about announcements...
The end isn't that far away anymore!
 
FM Updates - Sorry been away past 3 weeks.

FM 26
Data Update 22/09
Logos 2026.03
Trophies 2026.09
Faces 2026.09
License Fix v6.0

FM 24
Data Update 22/09

For latest FM 24 graphics just download the graphics for FM 26 as believe they are all the same and work.
 
Looks a massive step in the right direction, however they don't show enough of it off to see if it is a massive improvement or not.
Does it still take 3 clicks more than FM24 to get to the correct screen, does when looking for staff it takes you back to the main staff screen again.

Improving a few pages with more data will make very little difference if the interface still acts really bizarre and important screens are hidden behind 4 additional menus and clicks.

The UI is the worst part of FM26 but the game itself is still garbage - The match engine needs a lot of work and fixes.
The gameplay speed needs to be improved - FM24 used to take 5-7 mins to do a match - FM26 was taking 15-20 mins.
The game was just too slow and it just wasn't fun - The same goal being scored AGAIN and AGAIN - The original FM on the Spectrum had more originality in goals being scored and that had about 5.
 
Looking at that trailer, they really have gone back to a more FM24-like UI, but with (hopefully) the benefits of the FM26 backend (a wider array of statistics available, though they were well-hidden before).

It might only be a UI video but that was essentially my biggest hope. I'll take this (as a starting point) - but the match engine needs improvements too.

Strikerless being overpowered I don't really care about that much (you can just not use it, i.e not deliberately use a known exploit, and have a fair game) - but shooting is totally broken IMO. You can have a world class striker in the easiest situations and they will blast it over repeatedly. So many of my matches have 20+ shots (even when they're all inside the box) and no goals - clearly to keep scores from being crazy.

EDIT: Oh God... Someone's made a great spot in the trailer though, and this dents my hope somewhat...

 
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I didn't realise there was a "deep dive" article as well: CLICK HERE

Though it doesn't add much detail IMO, and as this guy points out, the horrible "quarter of a page loads, then the rest loads" issue continues (Unity is such a disastrous choice for a UX-based game):

 
It did crack me up when they were mentioning that now, when you click "squad" it now takes you straight to your squad! Shock horror 😂 to be fair to them they can't win at the moment. Their own doing unfortunately after the disaster of the last few years but it's a promising start for me. I'm all for the new look, it's just got to work.
 
Just received a "you didn't get into the beta" email... Absolutely gutted. Really hope another Evo-Webber gets in!
 


Deep dive available too - CLICK HERE.

I'm not quite as impressed by this one. There's still a horrible lag as elements load in (because Unity is not designed for this).

But also, the amount of wasted space all over the place is pretty shocking - and they actively brag about how much better it looks. This, for example...

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You couldn't list the teams horizontally? Or at least halve the size of the list horizontally and stick some stats on the right of it (e.g. recent results, bookies favourite, top scorers, top assists)?

It doesn't feel like a huge improvement...
 
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I feel like FM24, although I'd argue it's better than FM26, has problems of its own and isn't the perfect game it's sometimes made out to be by the community - I loved it, but it was definitely time for something new.

That being said... This is a good point (and I did use this screen occasionally).

All this data must still exist under the hood... How is it still hidden after this much development time?



Translation: "I'm gonna be really honest here: until something like this comes back, I'm not gonna be satisfied. FM is this—it's about analysing, it's about reviewing and re-reviewing; it's not plug & play, it's not FIFA, it's MENU, it's data, it's performance. It doesn't do any good to be able to make whatever tactic you want if you don't have the depth to analyse it."
 
Filippo-Inzaghi said:
Isnt there still a lot of features thst compared to FM24 is removed?

Branding features as "we got it back"..
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Absolutely. We're not getting a new game this year as much as we're getting (some of) FM24's features back, in FM26's skin.

It's great that we're getting that - but then, you could just play FM24 instead. It's true.

I don't really see anything FM27 is doing better than any previous FM at this point - it still feels like they're just very, very, VERY slowly rebuilding the game into what it was before.

But to be honest, it's good enough for me if it means the match engine can get deeper (hopefully).
 
H_G said:
I read a comment from a content created related to SI, he said it's not that easy to " re-add" old feature on a new engine.



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Maybe not. But im a end user. A shift of engine is not my problem.

I do acknowledge that we probably close to was was possible within the old, but the details, level of different owners and importance of living up to the clubs expectations etc. It was perfect and what I want from a manager game. They could stick with 2D and improving every other part forever, if you ask me. Don't care about graphics.

Also... There was several transitions to choose from. They could have chosen to improve the smaller parts with FM24 as foundation for a couple of year, until the switch were more optimal. They had the fanbase and no competition either, to take a decision like that.

Never mind. I will stick to FM24 until the right arguments for a shift are there. No issues for me personally.
 


Deep dive available too - CLICK HERE.

Release date: 10th November.

EDIT: That video... "We focused on performance" the narrator says, as the framerate tanks to about 10fps... God help us all.
 
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Chris Davies said:


Deep dive available too - CLICK HERE.

Release date: 10th November.

EDIT: That video... "We focused on performance" the narrator says, as the framerate tanks to about 10fps... God help us all.
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I'm only 18 seconds in and it's huge red flags. Really worrying they attach so much importance on this side of the game now. Said it last year and I'll say it again, kids will still think this just looks s**t because they've not had the same journey as us, and therefore can't appreciate it the same way which isn't their fault. So with trying to please everyone they end up selling their souls and pleasing no one.
 
TBH it doesn't look that great and they seem to be going down the FIFA route of as long as the presentation is good no one will notice how bad the match engine is.
Some of the graphics just look weird too.

It is a shame they didn't just show a full match so we could make a proper opinion on the game.

The main thing I want to see is the tactical deep dive, if they have another season of Strikerless formations then that will turn me off, as one of the things I miss most about FM is the ability to play different ways but this hasn't really been a thing for a number of years now.
FM24 has the high press formation issues which are overpowered and FM26 is too easy when playing strikerless, although FM26 is just stupidly easy anyway.
 
If we wanted to be positive, we could say the framerate is so bad because the game isn't ready yet and they are being transparent with their marketing material about the current state of the game, after being largely silent in previous years.

But I feel like that's not very realistic as an assessment - if it's running as badly as that now, with (let's face it) absolutely awful graphics, it gives me no faith in the studio as a whole.

You just can't say the switch to Unity was worth it, in any way, shape or form. Not only is it (frankly) shit for UIs, but the match engine looks no better. It seems like an unbelievably stupid decision.

Do we really care more about bouncing hair than the absolute state of the faces (and how long have they looked like bad photofits for)?

But... As always, it's the gameplay that'll make or break it, so it's the trailer I think I'll care about the least.
 
I wonder if Miles has gone quiet through choice after all the disasters, or if he's actually not in control as much as we think anymore. Some of the decisions are hard to believe...and some of the change in direction. Just doesn't feel like he's behind it all. The UI video gave me hope that they were listening to the "old" audience again, but then I watch this and who the hell wants moving hair. It's crazy. And if you're going to do it, then just do it, and certainly don't make it into a feature at ten frames.
 
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