Hey guys and welcome back to our FMS Podcast series two. Episode four features a discussion on the absence of sliders in FM14, which is a very heated topic within the community. We also cover the usual sections from the To Madeira Corner to Tactic Fantastics and more. Scroll down and click play to hear our Football Manager podcast.
The FMS Podcast will be available in the tab near the top of this site, through iTunes and in each episode post (see below to play today’s episode.)
Football Manager Podcast, Series Two, Episode Four
Hosts: Darren Smith and Jake Lenahan.
Duration: 1 hour 6 minutes
Content: Today we discuss the absence of sliders in FM14, is it the way forward and how has this huge change in tactics effected this years edition. Next up we discuss one of the best cheap wonderkids in FM14 and tactic fantastics will offer an insight into how you create tactics and what not to do. LAstly we finish on the quiz and listeners questions from the previous episode.
Want to listen to series two, episode four of the FMS Podcast? Its simple, just click the play button below!
If you don’t have time to listen right now and would rather listen through your iPod on the way to work or school, why not subscribe to our RSS feed, its simple and takes seconds…all you need is iTunes and to click this link here. That will direct you to our iTunes page where you can find all the episodes and subscribe through iTunes on your computer. Please note episode 3 has just been uploaded so iTunes will need a little time to get everything updated, therefore the download may not be available straight away.
Alternatively just go to iTunes on your iPhone/iPod/iPad then find the podcast section and search for Football Manager Story Podcast, the download will be available there.
As always we are happy to hear your thoughts, so if you have a specific question you’d like answering in the next Podcast, just leave a comment below. Not all the questions can be featured and only a handful will be chosen, we’ll basically pick the ones that we feel the other listeners will find interesting.
eightnight
24 апреля, 2014 at 12:19
Hi Guys. Good to have you back. I must confess I support Darren in his frustration having to do with Jakes constant Asia questions. Come on, Jake: Indonesia?? Really? By now it seem to be a cheap (yeah I said it) ploy to win the quiz as one could just spend an afternoon digging up questions from this vast continent. If you do the same to «study» for the quiz, it is much harder, as you would have to remember names and such which are way outside of our western cultural norm. I have a minor i psychology and I can tell you cues are very important in memorizing. I.e if said cues are missing/absent as would be the case when one would study such names, one would be very hard pressed indeed to come up with an answer.
This does not equate to «no questions from anywhere but England», as the majority of high level football is played in parts of the world that has cues in terms of language (latin or greek heritage). My tip for you Darren is to spend some time browsing Russian leagues, players, etc, to test Jakes thesis. The difference in remembering and internalizing factoids will be evident.
I dont mean to bash Jake, as I enjoy 99% of the podcast, but Asia is to football what England is to skiing ;)
Darren Smith
24 апреля, 2014 at 18:38
Haha, finally someone on my side :) Must admit the big issue is being able to process the names and remember them, thats essentially why I never have and never will manage in Asia, just doesn’t interest me at all and gives me a headache as ignorant as that may sound.
You heard it Jake, the listeners have spoken!! Well, listener, but it’ll do for me. :)
AndersLimpar
24 апреля, 2014 at 15:45
Always great to hear another episode guys. Thanks for the work, especially considering the tough slider-discussion this time. Listeners question: Since the new tactic-system was (supposed) to be a move towards more realism, in which other section of the game (e.g. scouting, man-management, finance) is a move towards realism much-needed?
Darren Smith
24 апреля, 2014 at 18:39
Thanks Anders, we’ll be sure to include your question in the next episode.
Gaurav Chaddah
24 апреля, 2014 at 20:22
Great podcast guys, really interesting debate on the sliders. I’m on the side which thinks the sliders should of stayed in the game… I know that many say that the game is moving on and developing and the new system is so much better however to make it just doesn’t make as much sense, it sort of takes the game aspect away and just trying to be a bit to realistic, it’s in my opinion made creating a tactic from not being to hard to pretty hard now, I’ve had a lot of trouble this year and usually just ended up downloading from yourself.
Must admit I’m in agreement with above… Jake’s questions are pretty harsh and tbh have been for as long as I can remember, I think it’s time you got him back ;)
I have a question for the next episode: What is the longest time you can remember playing FM for non stop or even have you ever played all night ect ect?
Darren Smith
24 апреля, 2014 at 21:39
Thanks Gaurav, the slider topic can be tough to approach and as I said in the Podcast, it does feel like there isn’t really a right or wrong way to go, just potentially the wrong execution I guess. We’ll look at your question next episode mate.
Ryan Daly
25 апреля, 2014 at 17:44
Good to see your back lads. On the sliders, I don’t think there is a need to go back to the sliders, but I do think that there needs to be more of a graphical representation of what your tactic is doing, to help you decide where the problems are. By the way, where abouts is the average positions screen ? I have never been able to find it.
Darren Smith
25 апреля, 2014 at 19:09
I agree that we don’t need the sliders back too, but I am not so sure that the current system will ever work to the full satisfaction of those pro sliders either so its hard to see what they could do to improve that…maybe more analytical tools etc. As for average positions, when in the match engine click on ‘analysis’ and ‘performance’ its in the drop down menu on that page.
Shrewnaldo
27 апреля, 2014 at 22:47
Gents, really enjoyed the podcast. That’s the second one I’ve listened to and both have been excellent. Must be a difficult thing to pull off without a lot of gaps and stumbling over your words so kudos for that.
I’m really chuffed that my article in CCC has been the catalyst for further discussion and even more pleased that I seem to have changed someone’s mind, or at least reclaimed them from the ‘undecided’ group! If nothing else, it’s just nice to see that my article has given people food for thought.
A question for the next podcast: if, as I suspect is the next major change to be made in the franchise, attributes are removed and gamers are simply left with the star ratings for various roles (and perhaps the hexagon for Jake’s sake), would you continue to buy and play? If so, what change in the interface would it take for you to stop playing?
Darren Smith
28 апреля, 2014 at 12:13
Thanks Shrewnaldo, we appreciate the kind words. It does mean a lot especially seen as the Podcast is so personal featuring our voices and all.
The piece written on CCC was excellent and deserved a mention and discussion. I knew there was some controversy over the sliders being removed but hadn’t realized how much until I read your article and then looked into it further. I hadn’t properly thought about the subject before, I liked the idea of making the game more realistic but it wasn’t until reading your piece and contemplating the mechanics of the change that I really formulated a proper opinion on it.
We’ll definitely address your question in the next episode, can feel myself getting angry just thinking through my answer already lol :)
HUNT3R (@WallyJonck)
28 апреля, 2014 at 22:14
I’m only 10 minutes in so far, but I think you guys have so far hit the nail on the head. It’s not about being pro-sliders and I’ve told Shrewnaldo that as well. We’re moving to a more realistic system and the sliders are history. I feel you aren’t arguing that sliders be brought back, but that we still need a visual indicator of some kind.
It is still important to have some sort of visual reference or indicator to show us how our instructions are affecting different areas. The sliders gave us that and especially for people who are more visual, this is needed. An example I used on the SI Games forum, was the D-Line being higher for the more attacking strategies. You’ll automatically have a higher D-Line when using an «Attacking» mentality compared to «Control» which in turn has a higher line than «Standard». This is without even touching the «Push higher up» or «Drop Deeper» instructions. I wonder what percentage of people know this? That’s just one example that can be improved and the same can be said for other instructions like closing down, for instance.
It has been a hot topic on twitter and on the forums (fora?) and I’m very confident that SI will have paid attention to the different views and we’ll almost certainly see an improved system for FM15. I just hope that a visual indicator is added to the Tactics Creator in some way.
HUNT3R (@WallyJonck)
28 апреля, 2014 at 22:33
I’d like to also add that the UI and instructions shouldn’t be ambiguous. We had the same with sliders, where most people thought they knew what the mentality slider meant, but very few actually did. We have a similar problem, especially for newer players.
We need a system where you know 100% what you’re instructing. It might not work, but then that’s your fault tactically rather than misunderstanding what an instruction does.
Darren Smith
29 апреля, 2014 at 12:16
Exactly, I personally do not have an affiliation to sliders and I am not drawn to going back to them, however, I do definitely want to go back to how direct and transparent they were compared to the new system, that is my issue. So they should find a way of making the new system more flexible and also more transparent (wrong wording maybe but you know what I mean.) As you said, the problem is even veterans will be left guessing with the current system, so even though the new system was made to welcome newcomers, it could actually do the opposite as newbies will have no idea what they are doing wrong as they won’t even fully understand the impact of their instructions. Its hard enough to expect experienced players to understand what an attacking strategy will do to their default defensive line, never mind someone who is new to the game.
HUNT3R (@WallyJonck)
29 апреля, 2014 at 13:11
I think it’s just as confusing for new players now as it was back then. Back then, people thought they knew what every slider did, but few really did.
Now it’s more of the same. Do people really know what the difference is between an Enganche and a Trequartista? Really? Do they understand that choosing a target man role, will set the team to supply balls to that target man? Do they realise that short passing in general, will play passes to his feet and direct will mean balls will get lumped to him to flick on with his head or chest it down?
There’s no doubt in my mind that the current system is an improvement. It’s easier to understand football terminology like pass into space, drop deeper especially for newer players. I’m not new to the franchise and I had a good handle on the sliders, but I appreciate the new system because it’s easier to use.
Information about what your instructions mean need to be clearer both in text description and an additional visual aid. What form that visual aid will take is a conundrum that I hope SI has an answer to for FM15.
Darren Smith
29 апреля, 2014 at 20:32
Hopefully they do listen to the feedback, what that will result in I’m not sure. The tooltips need to be more detailed at least but as mentioned they have to find a way to make it completely clear what a combination of instructions will do to the tactic. Whether some form of new graphical display will come I am still in doubt, purely because I can’t imagine what they could introduce, but we’ll see I guess.
Pedro Fontan
1 мая, 2014 at 12:42
Great work again lads a great listen and some really in depth discussion, and thanks for answering my question. I’m going to have to go against the current and side with Jake a bit. I do think we need to have some sort of knowledge on other leagues and footballing nations other than just the major ones (England, Italy, Spain, Germany etc…) Although I will also admit that I could only name one club from Indonesia and that’s because I have played with them xD
As for the sliders I do believe that the current system is a big step towards a more realistic way of setting up tactics and a strategy when taking on a team. Although I do think that SI should incorporate into the current system, some sort of graphical indication of how different instructions affect the way players adapt to the game. One thing I have noticed is that now when you choose the option to «contain» during a game, the players will automatically waste time on set pieces, goal kicks etc.. Where as before you would have to choose through a slider how much you wanted to waste time, which could be a bit silly really. So to summarize, while I do think sliders gave a much more visual representation of how your tactics were affected by different settings I still think that as a «football simulator» rather than a game which seems to be Miles’s vision, the current system works better towards that idea. And you can get a much better idea of what different instructions do and if your players are corresponding to that on the pitch by actually watching a match and taking notes, like a true addict ;)
Darren Smith
1 мая, 2014 at 18:46
Thanks Pedro, glad you enjoyed the episode. I’m going to test your theory on the quiz questions in the next episode. ;)