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[Mr. Luchador]

The life stealing, Wife Divorcing, pets dying, game that is Football Manager is due to be released next month (5th November). Those familiar with the Franchise will know what to expect, those not so familiar let me take you on a journey - a journey of amazement, spreadsheets, numbers, tactics and rage.

A Brief Introduction for those not familiar with the game...

Previously the game was called 'Championship Manager' and was published through EIDOS. However, in 2004 Sports Interactive, the developers, left EIDOS and joined SEGA. The move cost SI the naming rights, however they were able to keep hold of what made Championship Manager so addictive - the Match Engine and the Database (a large collection of playing and non-playing staff from around the world). The first Football Manager game, the new name for the hugely successful Championship Manager franchise, was released later that year.
It had a different name, but it was the game we all knew and adored for its deep gameworld, giving you the chance to sign star names for your favourite team and lead them to European Domination for years to come. Those familiar with the games will remember their own games with fondness, desperate to share their stories with others and how they discovered the best young player ever to grace the field.

Football Manager is well known for 'predicting' (rightly or wrongly) the future stars of tomorrow - Ronaldo, Romelu Lukaku... Billy Sharp, Mark Kerr... while some of the predictions may not have came true, it was part of the charm (finding the next 'big thing') and made you look out for those players in real life.
The database itself is looked after by a host of dedicated Researchers (usually one for every team) all around the world. Which allows for greater time, and accuracy, then one large company could give to each player at every club. With over 500,000 players and non-players in the FM Database, there are plenty of games and teams to play, and players to sign at all levels.

Not content with that? Football Manager 2010 saw the release of a revamped editor which allows you to create a whole host of new players, and for the first time, new leagues in new countries, or new leagues to existing league structures. One community release saw Superbladesman recreate the English Football Pyramid all the way down to Tier 10 (later someone added even more tiers going down to local regional leagues such as the Northern Alliance). Another saw the entire North America structure recreated with accurate development leagues and college teams, such is the power of the new editor.

Release Date

Demo Date: TBC - Likely within the next 3 weeks

- 5th November 2010
Available via Steam (Preorder now for Sega Collection 1+2)

Playable Leagues
116 leagues from 51 nations, included domestic, continental and international competitions.

Argentina - 1st and 2nd Division
Australia - Hyundai A-League
Austria - 1st and 2nd League
Belarus - Highest League and First League
Belgium - Pro League, Second and Third Division
Brazil - First, Second and Third Division
Bulgaria - 'A' and 'B' Group
Chile - First Division and First Division B
China - Super League and First Division
Colombia - First and Second Division
Croatia - First and Second Division
Czech Republic - First and Second Division
Denmark - Superliga, First and Second Division
England - Premier League, Npower Championship, Npower League One, Npower League Two, Blue Square Bet Premier, Blue Square Bet North/South
Finland - Premier League and First Division
France - Ligue 1, Ligue 2, National, CFA
Germany - First, Second and Third Division
Greece - Superleague, National B Division
Holland - Eredivisie and Ereste Divisie
Hong Kong - First Division
Hungry - Division I and Division II
Iceland - First Division
India - National Football League
Indonesia - Super League, Premier and First Division
Ireland - Premier and First Division
Israel - Premier and National League
Italy - Serie A, Serie B, Serie C1 and C2
Malaysia - Super League and Premier League
Mexico - First Division and Promotion League
Northern Ireland - Premier, First and Second Division
Norway - Premier, First and Second Division
Peru - Premier Division
Poland - Ekstraklasa and First Division
Portugal - Premier League, Second League and Second Division
Romania - Liga I and Second Division
Russia - Premier and First Division
Scotland - Premier League, First, Second and Third Division
Serbia - SuperLeague and First League
Singapore - S-League
Slovakia - First and Second Division
Slovenia - First and Second League
South Africa - Premier Division and First League
South Korea - K-League and N-League
Spain - LIGA BBVA, LIGA Adelante, Second Division B
Sweden - Premier Division, First Division Elite, First Division, Second Division
Switzerland - Super League and Challenge League
Turkey - Premier, First and Second Division
U.S.A - MLS
Ukraine - Premier and First League
Uruguay - First and Second Division
Wales - Principality Welsh Prem

Dynamic League Reputation - a new feature meaning as teams get stronger and perform better on a continental level, the league they play in will also get stronger, attracting more players to want to play in the league and a more accurate modelling of the changing face of world football.

Re-vamped training system - including more basic training schedules and individual training focus where players can be in trained in 14 different skill areas. Plus, a new match preparation area, where you can get your team to concentrate on special focus areas, and train in specific tactics, in the lead up to a match.

Contract Negotiations - making its debut in Football Manager 2011 is a new live contract negotiation system, with a host of new contract clauses. Learn to deal with different types of agents as you try to secure your next big signing.

Football Agents

Improved Interaction - new board request and backroom advice options as well as a new player interaction module allowing you to have private conversations with your players, including lots of options never seen before, taking interaction to a whole new level.

News subscription service - expanded to make the way that news and mail is distributed even more user friendly and immersive. Dozens of additional news items and a new module written to add more intelligence in the news items themselves.

Match View - play under the glare of the floodlights for the first time with night matches and over 100 new animations including player models, stadiums, goal celebrations and much, much more. Not forgetting improvements to what was already the best match simulation on the market.

Differentiated weather conditions - 'Real Time' weather affects changing throughout the match. Can you adjust your tactics to the weather?

New social media feature – upload videos to YouTube and achievements to Twitter and the FM website

Set Piece Creator - allows you to set up your set piece routines

Newgen revamp – takes national traits into account for players characteristics

Squad registration / squad number – separate screens for registering your 25 players for the league season and allocating squad numbers


Web Links

Official Websites
http://www.footballmanager.com/ - Official Website
http://www.facebook.com/officialfootballmanager - Official Facebook Account
http://www.youtube.com/user/sigamesofficial - Official Youtube Account

Community Websites
http://www.sigames.com/ - Developer's Website
http://community.sigames.com/ - Official Community Website

http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/opinion/blogs/football-manager-2010/ - Official Football Manager Blog (by Miles Jacobson - Producer)

http://www.sortitoutsi.net/ - Leading Fan Community

Other Websites
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sports_Interactive
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football_Manager

Twitter Links

http://twitter.com/FootballManager - Official Twitter Account
http://twitter.com/SI_games - Official Twitter Account
http://twitter.com/milessi - Official Twitter Account

 

[Mr. Luchador]

-Reserved for Screenshots and more info-

Hands on Preview - http://thereticule.com/2010/10/hands-on-preview-football-manager-2011/

A phone company once said that it is good to talk, Sports Interactive have heard this message and turned Football Manager 2011 into a game all about conversations. It is no longer about football; it is all about sitting down with your players, with their agents, with the board to talk about things. I never knew talking could be so fun

FM-View Preview - http://www.fm-view.com/2010/10/fm2011-preview/

On this screen are two of the major new features.

Twitter and YouTube.

With Twitter this means that you can set either manual or automatic updates of achievements to Twitter, whilst on STEAM you can publish over 80 achievements to a personal virtual manager’s office on the Football Manager site as well as your STEAM profiles.

YouTube is more fun as you can now upload that wonder goal you keep telling your friends about on MSN and the fansites to your YouTube account. This will include all the various camera views including the new TV view!

--

 

[Requeim]

can't wait

 

[Steverulez]

Awesome OP!
Still playing 2010 atm but can't wait until this one comes out

 

[Yen]

Can't wait but concerned whether my pc can take it (I'm not much of a pc gamer)

 

[LabouredSubterfuge]

This game will improve on near perfection once again. Still the most deep RPG available anywhere.

 

[Willy Wanka]

If they get Dynamic League Reputation right, I probably won't play anything else for months :lol

 

[Jackano]

Count on me!
France & Singapour will be my pick this year (yeah, I usually play only one game but that last above 2050).

 

[zoku88]

Did you get permission. Usually OT's are restricted to a week before release, no?

 

[Morbid Angel]

Dynamic League Reputation is a HUGE addition.

EXCITE

 

[Roxas]

IGN - 1/10, not enough soccerballs flying over the screen for their liking.

 

[Gareth Bale]

I play 2010 over the internet with my mate who lives oversees. It's kind of hard to get solid time in, and the difficulty definately increases somehow when you play multiplayer. But it's one of the most amazing video game experiences ever.

 

[Mr. Luchador]

Did you get permission. Usually OT's are restricted to a week before release, no?

Ah I had no idea, I shall remove the OT tag.

Can't wait but concerned whether my pc can take it (I'm not much of a pc gamer)

If you can play FM2010, you'll be able to play FM2011. Slightly more has been added to the 3D match engine, so that might be the only issue. Processing wise, it'll be the same.

 

[Reno7728]

Dynamic League reputation is going to be amazing, cant wait.

 

[zoku88]

I'm really looking forward to the league reputation stuff. I usually like to start out with HK teams.

 

[Rad-]

Dynamic League Reputation - a new feature meaning as teams get stronger and perform better on a continental level, the league they play in will also get stronger, attracting more players to want to play in the league and a more accurate modelling of the changing face of world football.

Re-vamped training system - including more basic training schedules and individual training focus where players can be in trained in 14 different skill areas. Plus, a new match preparation area, where you can get your team to concentrate on special focus areas, and train in specific tactics, in the lead up to a match.

Newgen revamp – takes national traits into account for players characteristics

I like the sound of these.

 

[Outdoor Miner]

This is the true KING.

 

[spidye]

IGN - 1/10, not enough soccerballs flying over the screen for their liking.

ok, that made me laugh.:lol

 

[Mr. Luchador]

I'd laugh if it wasn't true.

 

[RJT]

I've been playing FM2010 for the first time (bought it on the recent Steam sale), and I love the 3D Match Engine. TV view is awesome.

Dynamic league reputation also sounds amazing, but I usually don't do more than 3-4 seasons with a team, I probably wouldn't notice.

 

[Mr. Luchador]

Aye, you'll only really notice the affects at least 10 years in, though that's not to say leagues can't change sooner. If you look at league evolution over the years they tend to be a on a 10 year cycle.

Russian league has taken 5-10 years to become 'powerful'.
Italian league has been in decline for 10 years.
German league has became very popular in the last 10 years.
The English Premier League took 10 years to even start its development to what it is now.

Of course all of those have outside factors that aren't exactly the same to how Dynamic League rep will work in game.

 

[Jimrpg]

what can they possibly do in this game that they haven't in the last ten?

 

[Mr. Luchador]

what can they possibly do in this game that they haven't in the last ten?

You could say that about any franchise game, however, I did mention some new features in the OP. It'll also have the latest data for the new season too, as well as a new refined Match Engine (goodbye corner exploit).

 

[fanboi]

FUCK YES!

BY JUPITERS COCK!

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

 

[Mael]

I'd laugh if it wasn't true.

And people wonder why Ign is shite...

 

[Suzzopher]

Can't wait. My wife on the other hand is dreading the day it launches.

 

[Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew]

Focusing on Steam deal for it's way too awesome:

Pre-Purchase Football Manager 2011 ($39.99)
Includes 21 items: Football Manager 2011, Comix Zone™, Crack Down™, Ecco the Dolphin™, Gain Ground™, Golden Axe™, Shinobi™ III: Return of the Ninja Master, Space Harrier™ II, Vectorman™, Altered Beast™, Shadow Dancer™, Alex Kidd™ in the Enchanted Castle, Bonanza Bros.™, Columns™, Ecco™ Jr., Eternal Champions™, Fatal Labyrinth™, Galaxy Force II™, Kid Chameleon™, Ristar™, Super Thunder Blade™

 

[Brakara]

Focusing on Steam deal for it's way too awesome:

Pre-Purchase Football Manager 2011 ($39.99)

€49.99 here. Fuck, I hate Steam and their overinflated prices.

I'll get the game eventually though. I mean, someone has to replace that Hodgson fellow.

 

[HarryHengst]

Finally Dynamic League Reputation. Can't wait to turn the Welsh competition into a European powerhouse which makes the Premier League tremble. :lol

You could say that about any franchise game, however, I did mention some new features in the OP. It'll also have the latest data for the new season too, as well as a new refined Match Engine (goodbye corner exploit).

Just a matter of time before the next exploit is fonud. I give it a week. :lol

 

[Mr. Luchador]

Just a matter of time before the next exploit is fonud. I give it a week. :lol

I'd like to think it'd be more than a week, or not at all!

 

[StealthGoblin]

Love it. Upgrades sound awesome.

 

[Plasma]

The new football agents thing they've added in seems pretty good, always seemed a bit old fashioned that you would just be sending emails back and forth and never really talking to them.

Looking forward to the demo, in the meantime I'll keep playing 2010 with the transfer updates.

 

[Moobabe]

There's a corner exploit.... wait... what?

 

[pix]

There's a corner exploit.... wait... what?

Yeah if you set all your attackers on the posts, and send a single guy outfront of the bos, you will score 80% of your corner kicks, as no one will defend the guy in front of the box.

 

[Rad-]

Corners overall are very broken in FM2010. Even a simple corner instruction "aim corners to far post" nets way too much goals if you have a guy with good jumping/heading there.

 

[Wes]

Once more unto the breach dear friends

 

[Tim the Wiz]

Damn, I'll be buying this game every year until the end of time, won't I?

 

[industrian]

I really wish I had my old PC that could ace FM09 at it's highest settings with multiple countries running simultaneously. I got Bradford City to the knockout stages of the CL, motherfuckers!

I figure FM2012 is when I'll jump back in (I plan to buy a top-spec PC next summer). It's either that or I install it on my work PC (quad core, 4GB ram) and get fired for missing three deadlines in a row - even though I'd be at work 16 hours a day, 6 days a week.

 

[pix]

Anyone know what team they will manage this time around? I am probably going to try to bring a team up from Blue Square to Premier.

 

[graywolf323]

I really enjoyed the 2010 demo when I played it a couple months ago so I caved and preordered 2011 mostly because of the awesome preorder bonus :lol

 

[StealthGoblin]

Anyone know what team they will manage this time around? I am probably going to try to bring a team up from Blue Square to Premier.

Grays Ath.

 

[Mr. Luchador]

Embargo was lifted today so the first reviews based on the preview code will probably start to surface over the weekend.

http://thereticule.com/2010/10/hands-on-preview-football-manager-2011/
http://www.fm-view.com/2010/10/fm2011-preview/

 

[Mr. Luchador]

Official Trailer Released: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7NWffZDjUA

 

[Mr. Luchador]

More Previews: http://www.fm-base.co.uk/forum/f109/fm-base-football-manager-2011-preview-t48971.html

Steam

Like on Football Manager 2010, there will be 80 Football Manager 2011 Achievements if you activate your game via Steam. The details of these achievements aren't available yet, but from what I have seen so far there is a good mix of achievements again.

On the Steam Store page for Football Manager 2011 it mentions that 'Steam Cloud' is enabled. Hopefully this will mean being able to sync saved games with any computer you use Steam on. There is a 100MB limit though and each new saved game is probably going to be around 10-20MB in size. It will be interesting to find out just how this works.

http://www.fm-scene.net/2010/10/07/146/

 

[pilonv1]

Newgen revamp – takes national traits into account for players characteristics

Hopefully this means less DCs with 4-5 for heading/jumping or wingers with low passing attributes. Any more links to this?

 

[HarryHengst]

Hopefully this means less DCs with 4-5 for heading/jumping or wingers with low passing attributes. Any more links to this?

It probably means that South-American players are aggressive fucks who get 9 red cards a season, while Portugese players are wimps who fall down when you look at them. :lol

 

[NHale]

It probably means that South-American players are aggressive fucks who get 9 red cards a season, while Portugese players are wimps who fall down when you look at them. :lol

 

[Mr. Luchador]

It probably means that South-American players are aggressive fucks who get 9 red cards a season, while Portugese players are wimps who fall down when you look at them. :lol

Not too far wrong!

South American's will tend to be more technical able than say English players of similar ability over all (CA), where as the English players will be more physically developed and less technical.

It'll also help mould their hidden mental attributes too.

 

[Mr. Luchador]

Demo out on Thursday.

 

[Jackano]

Demo out on Thursday.

Thanks for the info. I'm really hyped this year!