Agents and Contract Negotiations
As you already know from the previous announcements agents were added into the game to add more realism to the contract negotiations and transfer market. I was quite curious to see this feature at work and I can tell you that it could be very useful. Many agents will come to your club offering players and that could be annoying sometimes but it can also help a lot. For instance, my club only allowed me to send scouts in Europe but I managed to sign a player for Argentina because his agent came and offered him, otherwise I never would have found that particular player. The good thing is that you can set filters for the agent player offers, like only youth prospects, or only free transfers and so on.
Agents have their own profiles and attributes, some of them are greedy or impatient negotiators and knowing that could help you to handle negotiations better. You can also make friends with them in time and that could bring some benefits.
When you offer a contract to a player his agent will want a fee, as it happens in real life football. That means more money out of your club but it also has a positive aspect: sometimes if you increase the agent’s fee you can get away with offering the player a smaller wage than requested! The contract negotiations screen is surely improved comparing to FM 10, you will have the impression of having a real negotiation in which you are giving and taking until reaching an agreement. Or until one of the parties storms out of the meeting in discontent :)
Board and Player Interaction
In Football Manager 2011 interacting with the board or with the players is one of the biggest improvements. You will have much more options to speak about to the board, including increasing the number of staff allowed or expending the scouting range. I required the board to expand the club’s scouting range at some point and they agreed, now I can send the scouts all over the world and not only in Europe. Another great thing is that you end the discussion whenever you like so you can discuss stadium expansion, transfer budget and parent club in one meeting!
Interacting with your players in much easier now and you can go in much more depth than ever before. There is a wide range of issues that you can discuss and it goes in a similar way with the board meetings, you can discuss several issues in just one meeting.
The best thing about it is that you can really feel it’s like a discussion, the player reacts instantly and then you can react too and so on. As you can see in the screenshot below you can speak to a player about his performances but you can also try to persuade a player to remain at the club when he feels that he wants to move on. You can also threaten players that they will get transfer listed unless they start performing, I couldn’t think about an issue that I would want to discuss and that is not already present in the game.
Training and Tactics
The training module has also been reworked, there are a few pre-designed schedules that you can use for defenders, midfielders and forwards but you can also create your own. The biggest change is the new match preparation section where you can train specific areas of the game. For instance, I used «team blend» during pre-season to help with the squad gelling, now I’m focusing on «attacking movement» to improve my team’s performances in the opposition half. As you can notice you can train up to three different tactical set-ups, that surely adds realism to the game.
The screenshot below explains a bit of that tactical training and the progress that my team has made in understanding what I require them to do on the pitch. By the way, I am using the same «Magpies 4-4-2 tactic» that I’ve designed for FM 2010, the tactics creator is absolutely identical. Back to the match preparation, you can see that the team is now comfortable with the formation but they are still trying to get used to the closing down requirements.
The tactics creator is exactly the same as in FM 2010 but there is a new feature called «set piece creator» where you can tweak everything from who takes a corner to where the players should be on the pitch. The roles that you can assign are basically the same but this gives you a much better idea of where your players are at a corner kick or even a throw-in.
Match Engine
Last but not least, the 3D match engine definitely looks better, especially in the «TV» camera mode. I have uploaded a video for you to see but it might give you just a taste of how the match engine looks like, it’s a lot better inside the game. And so far it seems that it does not require a top notch PC to run decently, I have a rather old computer but the matches worked very well.
That’s about all I could say about Football Manager 2011 for now but feel free to ask questions and I’ll do my best to find answers for you inside the game. You have to remember though that I have a preview version and the actual game that will be released on the market might have a few differences. What I can say from the bottom of my heart is that from what I’ve seen Football Manager 2011 is definitely worth buying. Miles Jacobson was right, it’s the best football management simulation game that they have ever made! I have already pre-ordered my copy, I’m sure that you will do the same soon :)
Pre-order Football Manager 2011 (PC)
!
ravenie
8 октября, 2010 at 15:51
I have already pre-ordered. Looks like a fantastic game.
Johnny Karp
8 октября, 2010 at 16:38
It is a great game Ravenie, you’ll see on November 5th :)
Laxeyman
8 октября, 2010 at 16:40
I have already pre ordered too, the game looks great! I particularly like the agent discussions and the discussions with the players look good as well. Thanks for the info Johnny :)
Mícheál
8 октября, 2010 at 17:27
Cant wait for fm 2011 to come out it looks brilliant. Ive preordered mine too.
Thanks for all the news Jonny!!
dami
8 октября, 2010 at 17:37
can’t wait for the final version to be released…though I hope they add facebook to the social networking sites…
Johnny Karp
8 октября, 2010 at 19:21
There are some programs that can automatically publish your twitter updates to facebook so I guess that shouldn’t be a big problem.
dami
8 октября, 2010 at 21:37
The youtube videos doesn’t work for me,hope you can look into it…
Johnny Karp
8 октября, 2010 at 21:40
Sorry, it was my fault. They should be working just fine now.
hils
8 октября, 2010 at 17:41
Cannot wait to get fm 11! Thanks for the info!
Jean Paul Borg
8 октября, 2010 at 22:56
Hey Johnny, is there any website or info about the requirements because I need to know them so I can make sure they run on my pc, ain’t gonna wait until I get my laptop in december that’s for damn sure!
Johnny Karp
9 октября, 2010 at 11:59
Jean Paul, these are the specs that were published on Steam.com:
o OS: Windows XP/Vista/W7
o Processor: XP : 1.4GHz or Faster, Vista/W7 : 2.0GHz or Faster
o Memory: XP : 512MB RAM, Vista/W7 : 1.0GB RAM
o Graphics: 128MB Supported Chipsets — Nvidia FX 5900 Ultra or greater; ATI Radeon 9800 or greater; Intel 82915G/82910GL or greater. Earlier cards may only display 2D Match Viewer Mode and are not supported
o DirectX®: Version 9.0c (included)
o Hard Drive: 2GB
o Sound: DirectX 9.0c compatible
Calin
9 октября, 2010 at 07:48
Congrats, Johnny, it’s quite an achievement to receive the preview version and actually get the chance to play FM 2011!
The training section looks very cool and I’m really curious how will this affect the game in the long run.
And now… will you start the Craiova story already or wait for the full game to be released?
Johnny Karp
9 октября, 2010 at 11:56
Thanks Calin. I will wait for the full game to be released, the poll will be open until November 5th.
mariano
9 октября, 2010 at 08:50
Looks very nice!
Nice assist by Caraglio in the first goal:)
Johnny Karp
9 октября, 2010 at 11:54
It was a good assist, Caraglio seems to fit in well. Do you know him?
mariano
9 октября, 2010 at 14:00
No, i haven´t been living in Argentina for ten years now, so don´t watch Argentinian games, but i wonder which will be the potential ability of Fabbiabi in FM 2011, in FM 2010 was 155, i guess now will be 38……
Aceleration 3
Speed 2
Agility- 3
But he is doing really good out of the pitch, in the night clubs, he was released from River , took 6 month holiday and now he is in ALl Boys.
Is the new Maradona but without the TALENT:)
Johnny Karp
9 октября, 2010 at 14:50
You can’t even compare Fabbiani with Maradona, no way!
Kevin
9 октября, 2010 at 09:52
Hi Johnny
This new version looks just superb and you were right baout the new «TV» camera mode. Can you save and load videos to this site without going through You Tube?
Thanks
Johnny Karp
9 октября, 2010 at 11:54
No, you have to go through YouTube. The video files can be saved to your computer too but they are automatically uploaded to Youtube and it wouldn’t make much sense to upload them again to the website when they can be embedded from Youtube.
Martin
10 октября, 2010 at 11:52
Hey Everyone, I Haven’t Posted In Quite A While, Looks Like I’ve Missed Out On Quite Alot ! Anyway, The Game Looks Great, And I Actually Have Some Money To Buy It ! Woo ! LOL
Johnny Karp
10 октября, 2010 at 12:03
Hey Martin, nice to see you commenting here again! You did miss out on quite a lot indeed ;) I hope you will enjoy the new game, it’s great that you already have the funds to buy it.
Jack
11 октября, 2010 at 13:15
Doesn’t look too bad to be honest, so glad you will be able to field 3 formations now without the players having no idea what they are doing. I’m not that impressed with the highlights though, as the following questions spring to mind.
1. Why are some of the Craiova and Bistrica players wearing yellow shirts? (1st goal)
2. Why does the back post trick still work on corners?
3. And finally why are keepers continually beaten on their near post from free kicks? I mean how often does that happen in real life?
I mean I love FM don’t get me wrong, and I’ll definately be buying the latest edition, but the match engine still seems to be quite rigid and time and again you can score the exact same goals.
Johnny Karp
11 октября, 2010 at 18:06
Thanks for the comment Jack, I’ll be trying to answer.
1. There is that obvious glitch on the first goal, you are right. I guess it will be corrected in the retail version of the game.
2. I wouldn’t call that a trick since the player who scored that goal is the tallest lad in the whole league, 2 meters and 4 centimeters to be exact. Before I signed him I didn’t score any goals from corner kicks.
3. I’ve seen that happening in real life but anyway, it’s the only such goal that I’ve seen in around 15 league games I played in FM 2011 until now plus a few friendlies.
Sears
12 октября, 2010 at 23:54
FM11 looks great Johnny! Cheers for the insight mate, fantastic post yet again.
Johnny Karp
13 октября, 2010 at 03:27
Thanks Sears, I hope you will enjoy the new game.
Zak
15 октября, 2010 at 16:16
Great game and a good pre view with lotsf insight the conversations with players look great
Johnny Karp
15 октября, 2010 at 20:51
Thanks Zak, I hope you will enjoy the game.
Sergio
27 октября, 2010 at 09:54
Hi,guys im new to the whole football manager experience i first heard of it from Glen Johnson and how fantastic the game is.I downloaded the vanilla version of the demo yesterday but could’nt play it on my laptop because i dont have Directx 9.0c but i have directx 11 so i couldnt understand why it did not work.To cut a long story short my bro installed the demo on my older pc which has a radeon 9550 graphics card and it plays fine but the game is so complex and for a newbie its alot to digest.Can you guys perhaps tell me about a site that will give me hints about how to manage my team and tactic etc.Will the game be released on November 5th worldwide?
Johnny Karp
27 октября, 2010 at 10:53
The game will be released on November 5th is most countries, you have to check with your local stores. Or you can get the game as a digital download through Steam, you’ll be able to get it on November 5th regardless of your country of residence. The demo should have worked if you have Dx11, I can’t understand why it didn’t either. You could try to reinstall directx and see if that changes anything. If you are a complete newbie to the game I would suggest waiting for the game manual, that’s the best resource for a beginner. Until then you can discover some things on your own by trying the demo, there is some in-game help as well.
Sergio
28 октября, 2010 at 11:18
Thanks! I’ll just buy the DVDs when it is released here and i will install directx 9.0c that comes with the game disks, i just dont hope i wont have to connect to the internet like the demo wanted me to in order get directx 9.0c installed.It will come with disks right and no internet required to install and get the game playing?i had some bad experiences with steam just to play empire total war.
Johnny Karp
28 октября, 2010 at 12:35
DirectX should be included on the disk, I’m quite sure about that. You can always get it from other sources though, I can’t understand why you don’t just download Directx from the Microsoft website or other websites if you don’t want to install it through Steam.
Iain
28 октября, 2010 at 20:31
Hi, i don’t really write on these sites but i have been on this one quite a bit and been reading some of the stories, anyway i downloaded the Vanilla demo a couple of days ago and was wondering if the english and scottish clubs would be getting the proper kits and badges because they don’t have them in the demo ? maybe its just my PC though.
Johnny Karp
29 октября, 2010 at 06:17
Hi Iain. I don’t know if the proper kits and badges will be available in the game but if they won’t then you will surely be able to download them as unofficial game add-ons. In fact, I will make such things available for download here like I did with the previous versions of the game.
Iain
29 октября, 2010 at 17:06
hi, ok cheers for answering that, i had a look last night at all the teams and i couldn’t find any teams with badges of kits, but if there is none in the game, i will definetly be downloading them of this website.
Johnny Karp
30 октября, 2010 at 09:46
I just remembered that the Vanilla demo is a lighter version, easier to download but without some of the graphics in the Strawberry demo. But again, if the badges won’t be available there will surely be an unofficial solution to that.
josh
2 ноября, 2010 at 10:39
hi, this is great! :) it works for mac right??
Johnny Karp
2 ноября, 2010 at 17:59
It has a Mac version, surely.