Football Manager 2013 - Review of the game done as a diary of club management..Hendon Gooner (Only Easy Day Was Yesterday))
11-04-2012, 03:50 PM
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/video-games/video-game -reviews/9653858/The-Football-Manager-Diaries-Part-One.html (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/video-games/video-game-reviews/9653858/The-Football-Manager-Diaries-Part-One.html)
I thought it would be fun to evaluate this year’s Football Manager in the form of a diary, taking a look at the game’s new features as my fledgling managerial career begins. I’ll be starting unemployed, hunting out my first job and learning the ropes in the lower leagues. Football Manager 2013 comes with two main modes this year, simulation and Classic, the latter of which is a quicker, streamlined version of Football Manager. For the purpose of this diary I’ll be playing in full simulation mode, and will take a look at Classic mode later on. Wish me luck.
Day 0
The job hunt begins. New manager seeks rudderless club for mutual benefit. My CV doesn’t make for the greatest reading. My playing career amounts to two seasons at Sheppey United Under 18s as a slightly unhinged utility player. And by “utility player”, I mean substitute. Later on in life I’m an occasional 5’7” goalkeeper for pub side the Harps Inn in the Sheppey Sunday League. Stellar.
Still, my football management simulation career isn’t to be sniffed at. I’ve taken a Tonton Zola-Moukoko and Cherno Samba inspired Watford to Champions League glory and five consecutive Premier League titles. I also presided over the 100m sale of Christian Chivu, which I think bears mentioning.
(Remember Cherno Samba? As a 15 year old Millwall striker, was tipped to be England’s next big thing. Now he plays for Gambia and FK Tnsberg, a second division Norwegian team. Funny how things work out.)
Anyway, enough reminiscing over past glories. I live in the here and now. Taking every game as it comes. Giving 110%. Onwards to the job centre, I’ll practice my clichs on the way.
Day 1
Six jobs going at the job centre: Blackburn, Bournemouth, AFC Wimbledon, Wycombe Wanderers and Havant & Waterlooville. Frankly I’m not touching the Blackburn job with a barge pole even if I did have the experience; I’ll leave the chicken men to Henning Berg. The others sound like a good fit, CV sent. Now I wait.
Day 2
Interesting feature is the ability to customise your inbox. As I wait for the job offers to come rolling in, my inbox gives me information about Watford as I marked them as my favourite club. Neat. I’m also advised in the hints & tips box that I should have someone with a high corner taking attribute taking my corners. Thanks guys.
The Wycombe and Bournemouth jobs go, with Wycombe hiring Dave Bassett instead. I didn’t mind not getting it, but Dave Bassett?! Come on.
I’m also admonished by The Daily Mirror for applying for too many jobs at once. “Not taking each role seriously” they said. I’m offended, I love all the clubs and have dreamed about managing them since I was a boy.
Day 7
It’s been a week and the phone hasn’t rung. The AFC Wimbledon job went to Peter Reid. Havant & Waterlooville are my only hope.
Day 9
Success! Havant & Waterlooville, the mighty Havant & Waterlooville offer me a part time contract of 500 per week to finish mid-table in the Blue Square Bet South League. The dream starts here. I take it.
Here’s a nice touch. Upon my arrival at the club, I’m called into a meeting with the board to discuss the club’s future. I seem to have two approaches here, mewling sycophant or mardy sod. I go with sycophant, don’t want to rock the boat just yet.
I then have a meeting with my assistant manager, Andy Hillman. In previous games you had to go into the menus to adjust your day-to-day involvement with the club. Here you can set out what you want your assistant manager to take care of and what you’d prefer to take control of yourself. It’s a very clever idea, setting things out immediately and with a bit more clarity than before. I let Andy take control of the reserves and training.
The board helpfully send me a history of the club. I’d regale you with tales of Havant’s past glories, but they were founded in 1998 after a merger between Havant Town and Waterlooville, so there’s not much to tell. Yet. They play at Westleigh Park, and their nickname is THE HAWKS. Which is pretty darn cool. I can get behind a team known as the Hawks.
Day 13
Have arranged an intra-club friendly to get to know the squad a bit better. It’s also my first chance to have a proper look at FM13’s new layout. The complexity of the game in recent years has lead to the UI becoming a bit cluttered; last year addressed the issue and Sports Interactive look as though they’ve gone further. Everything is laid out very neatly, yet I’m somehow getting even more information on the team. Player histories, best positions, attributes and morale. All there at a glance. It’s excellent.
Also a chance to have a peek at the update match engine. Animation is far more fluid, with new camera angles giving it a chunky, closer feel. It’s not FIFA of course, but it doesn’t need to be, one thing FM’s match engine does is give you a clear view of who’s doing what. That seems to be a philosophy carried over to this game. And at least in this first match, there were no glitches or weird goings-on that can sometimes niggle in FM’s animation engine. It’s a little bit more dynamic and pleasing on the eyes too. Though I have to say there is an awful lot of dark grey around the UI, which isn’t overly attractive. But the layout is very neat, with touchline shouts, quick subs and tactics all within clear each.
There’s also a new feature which has your assistant’s observations pop up on the side of the screen like a news ticker. The advice was there in previous games, but tucked away behind a menu. Now you get a quick, unobtrusive snapshot of what’s happening in a game.
Not that there was much to tell here. A thrilling 0-0 draw between the Hawks first team and reserves. I wonder what I’ve gotten myself in for. There’s a lot of work to be done.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/video-games/video-game -reviews/9653858/The-Football-Manager-Diaries-Part-One.html (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/video-games/video-game-reviews/9653858/The-Football-Manager-Diaries-Part-One.html)
I thought it would be fun to evaluate this year’s Football Manager in the form of a diary, taking a look at the game’s new features as my fledgling managerial career begins. I’ll be starting unemployed, hunting out my first job and learning the ropes in the lower leagues. Football Manager 2013 comes with two main modes this year, simulation and Classic, the latter of which is a quicker, streamlined version of Football Manager. For the purpose of this diary I’ll be playing in full simulation mode, and will take a look at Classic mode later on. Wish me luck.
Day 0
The job hunt begins. New manager seeks rudderless club for mutual benefit. My CV doesn’t make for the greatest reading. My playing career amounts to two seasons at Sheppey United Under 18s as a slightly unhinged utility player. And by “utility player”, I mean substitute. Later on in life I’m an occasional 5’7” goalkeeper for pub side the Harps Inn in the Sheppey Sunday League. Stellar.
Still, my football management simulation career isn’t to be sniffed at. I’ve taken a Tonton Zola-Moukoko and Cherno Samba inspired Watford to Champions League glory and five consecutive Premier League titles. I also presided over the 100m sale of Christian Chivu, which I think bears mentioning.
(Remember Cherno Samba? As a 15 year old Millwall striker, was tipped to be England’s next big thing. Now he plays for Gambia and FK Tnsberg, a second division Norwegian team. Funny how things work out.)
Anyway, enough reminiscing over past glories. I live in the here and now. Taking every game as it comes. Giving 110%. Onwards to the job centre, I’ll practice my clichs on the way.
Day 1
Six jobs going at the job centre: Blackburn, Bournemouth, AFC Wimbledon, Wycombe Wanderers and Havant & Waterlooville. Frankly I’m not touching the Blackburn job with a barge pole even if I did have the experience; I’ll leave the chicken men to Henning Berg. The others sound like a good fit, CV sent. Now I wait.
Day 2
Interesting feature is the ability to customise your inbox. As I wait for the job offers to come rolling in, my inbox gives me information about Watford as I marked them as my favourite club. Neat. I’m also advised in the hints & tips box that I should have someone with a high corner taking attribute taking my corners. Thanks guys.
The Wycombe and Bournemouth jobs go, with Wycombe hiring Dave Bassett instead. I didn’t mind not getting it, but Dave Bassett?! Come on.
I’m also admonished by The Daily Mirror for applying for too many jobs at once. “Not taking each role seriously” they said. I’m offended, I love all the clubs and have dreamed about managing them since I was a boy.
Day 7
It’s been a week and the phone hasn’t rung. The AFC Wimbledon job went to Peter Reid. Havant & Waterlooville are my only hope.
Day 9
Success! Havant & Waterlooville, the mighty Havant & Waterlooville offer me a part time contract of 500 per week to finish mid-table in the Blue Square Bet South League. The dream starts here. I take it.
Here’s a nice touch. Upon my arrival at the club, I’m called into a meeting with the board to discuss the club’s future. I seem to have two approaches here, mewling sycophant or mardy sod. I go with sycophant, don’t want to rock the boat just yet.
I then have a meeting with my assistant manager, Andy Hillman. In previous games you had to go into the menus to adjust your day-to-day involvement with the club. Here you can set out what you want your assistant manager to take care of and what you’d prefer to take control of yourself. It’s a very clever idea, setting things out immediately and with a bit more clarity than before. I let Andy take control of the reserves and training.
The board helpfully send me a history of the club. I’d regale you with tales of Havant’s past glories, but they were founded in 1998 after a merger between Havant Town and Waterlooville, so there’s not much to tell. Yet. They play at Westleigh Park, and their nickname is THE HAWKS. Which is pretty darn cool. I can get behind a team known as the Hawks.
Day 13
Have arranged an intra-club friendly to get to know the squad a bit better. It’s also my first chance to have a proper look at FM13’s new layout. The complexity of the game in recent years has lead to the UI becoming a bit cluttered; last year addressed the issue and Sports Interactive look as though they’ve gone further. Everything is laid out very neatly, yet I’m somehow getting even more information on the team. Player histories, best positions, attributes and morale. All there at a glance. It’s excellent.
Also a chance to have a peek at the update match engine. Animation is far more fluid, with new camera angles giving it a chunky, closer feel. It’s not FIFA of course, but it doesn’t need to be, one thing FM’s match engine does is give you a clear view of who’s doing what. That seems to be a philosophy carried over to this game. And at least in this first match, there were no glitches or weird goings-on that can sometimes niggle in FM’s animation engine. It’s a little bit more dynamic and pleasing on the eyes too. Though I have to say there is an awful lot of dark grey around the UI, which isn’t overly attractive. But the layout is very neat, with touchline shouts, quick subs and tactics all within clear each.
There’s also a new feature which has your assistant’s observations pop up on the side of the screen like a news ticker. The advice was there in previous games, but tucked away behind a menu. Now you get a quick, unobtrusive snapshot of what’s happening in a game.
Not that there was much to tell here. A thrilling 0-0 draw between the Hawks first team and reserves. I wonder what I’ve gotten myself in for. There’s a lot of work to be done.