Series Ashez Gives His Views On 2015 And The Series Progression.

[Ashez]

Ashez Gives His Views On 2015 And The Series Progression.

 

I've been playing my beloved Football Manager Handheld since 2006, that means i've been playing this game for roughly eight years which in turn means i'm used to being screwed by the match engine, be it by my striker not scoring or that last minute penalty which robs you of Champions League Glory. However with the series latest release i feel i've been screwed by the company, the reasons for this is on Wednesday the 19th of November i thought i was purchasing the next game in my favourite series but what i got was something completely different. I saw the feature list the day before and i was disappointed that none of them stood out to me as a long term player, however there was news of a new match engine which obviously got the heart pumping. After a frustrating and scattered release i finally got my hands on 2015 and i was eager to go, with out a seconds thought i booted up the game and started to have a look around. Before the game was fully loaded the alarm bells started to ring, one of the first things you see within the game is the start up screen where you select if you want to start a new career or load a previous one, and it was on this screen i thought damn those red block buttons look a tad tacky.

 

User Interface.

 

Due to it being the start up screen i thought nothing of it as it's something i won't see too often and i started a save. Then one of the real problems hit me as i tried to use the new menu system and to tell you the truth it is awkward and frustrating. Every year they decided to change the menu layout and every year it drives fans like myself mad for months! If i'm honest there was no need what so ever to change it after 2013 or after 2014 but once again we have a new interface for 2015 with the only logical reason being it makes the game feel different, rather cheap in my opinion. Anyway the new interface was described as easy to use but i think this is far from the point, to me FMH is known for somewhat awkward menus with layers hidden behind layers but this version not only has that problem it also has an incredibly tacky "pull out" tab which you just happen to knock every time you don't want to use it! I personally was a big fan of the home button which then led to everything else needed on the game and it did it's job beautifully,  this one however really doesn't float my boat. I've currently played five seasons of 2015 plus messing around time which would be roughly ten to fifteen hours worth of time on the game and i still get lost and confused! Like i said i'm a veteran of the series and i know roughly where to find things so i'd hate to be a newcomer to the series as this isn't user friendly in the slightest!

I'd just like to add i play on an Ipod 5th generation so this is based on that and i have no idea what it's like on bigger screened devices.

 

The Match Engine.

 

The match engine was the key feature for 2015 and it was an exciting announcement for most fans, however the feature list failed to reveal that it was going to be a FM knock off. At the games release the engine received mixed reviews but as the days have gone by the engine has come under criticism with the main one being that it isn't FMH. With every year FMH get's bigger and with that it brings more fans in which i expect come from the normal Football Manager scene and maybe this is the type of engine they expect, however this is not what the loyal fans of the series want! In general my views on the engine are that it's unneeded and unwanted and i have these views because they don't suit FMH at all, FMH is meant to be a pick up and play game which you play at a fast pace and get seasons done within a few hours, not a long drawn out affair in which you are bored to tears! SI have three FM series at current with the full one on PCs, the failed FMC on the PSVita (also on PC) and FMH on handheld devices. In theory this should have been three separate ways to play the game, the full PC one is more in depth, the FMC version was a slightly watered down way to play and FMH should have been a fast and furious adrenaline rush.

When you have three series under one type it's important they are all unique and i'll be honest and say i've never played any other version as FMH is the one i enjoy, but with the current direction of FMH being a miniature FM it loses it's appeal and fast, was FMH'15 an attempt to get the feel of the failed FMC onto portable devices?

 

Let's be honest and say all the new engine is, is a few dots dashing and bouncing on a screen, is that really worth throwing away your series? I really can see the appeal if truth be told but that appeal doesn't suit the portable style of the handheld game, i can see the drama as your little dot bounces and apparently the ball hits the back of the net but being able to do all this takes away from the series. FMH should be quick to play and i love the fact i can get a season done and dusted in around two hours and to me that is a massive positive towards the game and with this new engine that isn't even possible, i've even seen reports of some matches lasting fifteen minutes, i'm sorry but that's outrageous for this type of game! In theory this game should be played on the go and not sitting on the sofa so the idea of some matches lasting longer than some bus or even train journeys can take is shocking! I don't intend this to sound disrespectful but FMH should be a simple game in which we can play fast and enjoy ourselves and not one in which we are left twiddling our thumbs. Currently the game is full of bugs and some of these slowness problems could be addressed within later patches (which is an embarrassment all in itself) but i can't see this type of engine ever being accepted with the community, basically everyone on this site has jumped back to the old one and that's where the fun is. Sometimes i really wonder if the creators of the game understand us or even pay attention to what we have to say but most of all i wonder if they actually play the game. The amount of bugs is shocking and the game just isn't fun, Vibe has a community that loves the series and just look at everything we've done to improve it off our own backs, now is seriously the time they pay attention to us and stop going off on their own if they have any chances of saving the series.

 

Moving away from the slowness and impracticality's of the new engine it also brings a new problem with it and this problem is it's lost it's fun and this problem could even be dated back to last year. When i think of sitting down and enjoying a night on FMH i want quick action and goals galore but since 2013 this has been hindered massively and the fun of the game has turned into frustration. I'll agree that the amount of goals in earlier versions of the game were a little over the top and they did need toning down a little bit but the problem is they've toned it down in the wrong way. Instead of limiting the amount of chances our players are having they've rigged the scoring in a manor that the chances are still created and just not taken, this leads to infuriating instances of when your striker can have 15/15 and not score single goal against a non-league keeper! However while this needs looking into i also feel that it can't be done too harshly as goals equals fun and that's what i want from a portable game, by this i don't mean i want to win every game 5-0 and i'd love a challenge to still be within the game but the goal scoring needs to be high and it needs to be fun. I understand this is a common discussion among fans of the series but the debate always comes down to it's not realistic and we all agree that it's fun as long as the challenge remains. For anyone looking for evidence that this is a popular way to play the game just look through the careers forum of this site and look at how many are goal challenges but most importantly look at the amount of views and comments compared to "basic" saves! The community whats a challenge yet we want goals and the frustration to leave the game, if it's done right and we get the perfect mix it would make the game a dream to play again, it needs to be somewhere between 2013-14's level as 14 was frustrating yet 13 was too goal heavy. I know the series whats realism but us fans don't, we want goals, drama and the ability to do silly things while having fun, save all the boring stuff for the other version of the game!

 

The final issue with the match engine comes down to the tactic's engine which is questionably broken, from mine and many other players experience the logical formations don't work and the wacky ones do, this just isn't right! The thing is a lot of these issues have came about due to the makers of the game trying to break lone striker formations which in most cases they have achieved. The days of selecting a tactic and doing decently with it consistently have almost disappeared and now we're left with a frustrating mess, i understand no tactic should be click and play and deliver one hundred percent of the time but at the same time this is meant to be a pick up and play game, we don't want to be having to constantly work out how to beat opposition, we want to click play and once that match is done we want to click play again as fast as possible. Granted there should be no super tactic as that's just not going to work but with the new engine we're forced to attempt to counter teams at some point of the games cycle and this isn't as much fun as it sounds. Then you have the pointless match reviews telling you where you went wrong but you get these comments once the game is done? Makes sense considering the next opponent will be using something different. Then you have all the pointless rubbish the report contains and no way to know how to solve the problem, for example i use two box to box midfielders but apparently i never have runners from midfield? Then last year i created a quality 433 which did the business yet i always had negative match reports regardless of the result? Also with this assistant comments stuff surely it's basically pushing us all to use one formation? One of my favourite things about the PSP days were we had total creativity, sure some tactics wouldn't work but on newer games i feel like this creativity and fun has been taken from us, there is a reason most tactics on this forum look the same! Basically the system needs looking at, i personally don't want complete click and play but we need something that works better than the current system, i personally found 2014's tactic maker illogical but it was fair once we created something solid but again most peoples formations looked the same. However this doesn't seem likely as one of the makers of the game has said in fewer words that there is no super tactics anymore and we basically have to change often, to be where is the fun in that in and i repeat a pick up and play game? I don't want to have five mins spare and spend it working out how to counter someone, i want to use that time to get a match or two done!

 

FMHVibe And SI's Current Direction.

 

If someone asked me what my favourite thing about FMH is my answer without a seconds thought would be Vibe and as you're all here i'm sure you all have the same opinion as me. This brings me onto the scariest fact of this article and that fact is in it's current direction Vibe will struggle! Think about it, we've recently been told that we'll have to change tactics often and none will last and so on, so where does that leave the tactic's forum if none are solid? Then you move onto the careers forum and as i've already said the popular careers within the forum are based around certain challenges and the more basic careers have always struggled, so when the game forces us to only use this new match engine or when the game breaks all our favourite challenges where does that leave us then? How long do you think the careers section would last if the only careers being posted were people trying to get lower league teams to the Premiership. 

 

As you can see it's not that hard to imagine this amazing site to almost fall apart because the game is changing in a way we don't want it to! I don't see it ever getting that bad but it get's my point across, just think though if we did go quiet in the careers and tactics forums what would we be left with? Content maybe? But who would be making content for a site that has no activity in it's biggest areas? So you're left with Iscouts and the promotion of players, if SI continue on this path within years our beloved site could turn into a glorified scouts site, now that is depressing! 

 

Can We Save FMH?

 

Can we save FMH? To be honest i have no idea as the makers don't have a great track record of listening to us but if we all stand as one we have a chance! We've had article after article in the last few days slamming the direction of the series and the only way this will change is if we stand as one! Basically all of us have returned to the old engine just so our £7 seems worth the spend but remember we only got the old engine due to older devices! It doesn't take a lot to work out that this direction is the one the developers want to take and unless we act sooner or later we will be stuck with this new engine which isn't the game we love!

 

I don't care if you don't agree with my views on what the series should be but if you believe FMH is heading in the wrong direction make sure you voice is heard in this thread as we need to let SI know they're screwing up! We are the biggest FMH community and they know that, so they will at least notice us being unhappy, so let's get the point across. If you're viewing this as guest and you agree the series needs to be woken up please make an account and leave a comment and members new and old please share your views. If we don't act the series will continue to go in the wrong direction and it wont be long until FMH leaves us! Just please make sure your voice is heard! Obviously i also want to hear from people who like the new engine and so on but i doubt there is many of them around.

 

Last week i thought i brought FMH but i was wrong, now i want my FMH back!

 

Thank you for viewing and please remember to leave a comment.

[dirtboy]

Long rant

I do agree with most of it though, have to admit I haven't tried the original match engine.

[Ashez]

Trust me it's not something i enjoyed doing, i love this series so much and it's leaving the reasons why i love it behind. I got rather angry while trying to get what i wanted to say out and now i've had my say i feel rather downhearted. The last thing i want to do is bad mouth this game but it's completely forgotten it's identity and it's heading in a direction none of us like, we must fight to get the game back to what it was!

 

I almost posted two similar articles last year but i held back and i'm sorry i can't do it anymore, 2014 was a mess and i honestly thought 2015 would be a make or break year for the series and so far they've failed with flying colours.

 

The only positive is i can still play the game in the old ways, all be it that it's less fun and alot more frustrating. 

[Lee-Roy]

With the amount of whinging I've seen for other games I thought this would annoy me, but I can't deny most of the stuff you've said. Like you I've been following this series since 06 and especially since the start of last gen I've been disappointed at progress. I've struggled terribly getting into this game and I've had to put my issues to the side to enjoy it. Which I am now despite the flaws.

But if Vibe and FMH can no longer work well together, where does that leave us? I'd like to see it lean more towards the pick up and play arcadey style it once was without losing the progress in other areas that make this a great manager sim. But really I couldn't even guess at where the series is heading. More towards the FM audience? It seems that way.

[Ashez]

Couldn't agree more, it does look like it's pushing into the FM market which is sad times for us long term players, looks like few people agree with us though .

My career has had more comments, with the way the game is going fun careers like mine will die and when that happens I'll leave, my fun comes from having fun and not being bored and having to play a new way to suit fans of another series!

[leecutler]

Right guys my opinions

This year's game has been a big let down for me, of all the things the could have implemented they go with this horrible new match engine.the whole reason why I left playing FM was it was too long and at times boring because the amount of time things take, I moved over to FMH and I loved it because when I played games it was so much more quicker I could do a whole season in a matter of hours, but with this year's addition that is not possible.

It just feels like they are trying to turn FMH in FM'S little brother, imo I wanted to see more from the tactical side I.e being able to do individual tactics for each player.

If you take away the new match engine all we have is FMH14, I feel like I have been robbed in buying this game.

it doesnt matter what we wanted on FMH15 SI will ignore us and put on what they want.

[Lee-Roy]

Couldn't agree more, it does look like it's pushing into the FM market which is sad times for us long term players, looks like few people agree with us though .

My career has had more comments, with the way the game is going fun careers like mine will die and when that happens I'll leave, my fun comes from having fun and not being bored and having to play a new way to suit fans of another series!

I guess people are looking for different things. I can see that this new set up is a godsend for some people, but the older style of FMH is what suited a lot of people as well and it was that style that goes hand in hand with Vibe.

First person to complete a 1kc with the new engine can have a whole pack of cookies from me.

[Ashez]

Great points LeeC!

Yeah that is a problem it's just a shame it's our game that's being ruined! I can see the point as the FM community is bigger and stronger than ours which will result in more money, but we're the ones missing out and it's not fair.

Things will not change unless we stand up, don't be scared not to have your say as what's the worst that can happen?

As LeeC has said somewhere else it would likely get to the point where old FMH players have to resort to playing old versions of the game for fun and for the game we all love! Why have Vibe then ignore us! Why have a concept for 8 years then ignore it? Why take the fun away? So many questions and it's rather sad

[leecutler]

Great points LeeC!

Yeah that is a problem it's just a shame it's our game that's being ruined! I can see the point as the FM community is bigger and stronger than ours which will result in more money, but we're the ones missing out and it's not fair.

Things will not change unless we stand up, don't be scared not to have your say as what's the worst that can happen?

As LeeC has said somewhere else it would likely get to the point where old FMH players have to resort to playing old versions of the game for fun and for the game we all love! Why have Vibe then ignore us! Why have a concept for 8 years then ignore it? Why take the fun away? So many questions and it's rather sad

Imo they have seen how some FM players are like towards FMH players "unrealistic" is a word always thrown at FMH, so SI have tried to make it more realistic by this new match engine so that FM players are like, oh new match engine looks more "realistic" maybe I will try it.

Before long there wont be a original match engine it will all be enhanced so we are forced to play this small version of FM and FMH will be no more and all the challenges that people love doing on vibe will be gone

I dont like the direction FMH is going and I feel we as fans have to say something and make a stand and say "NO SI", I have spoke to many people about the direction of FMH and they feel the same but alot of people are not vocal about there opinions they would rather not say anything

[Lee-Roy]

Has that actually been confirmed? Smells like speculation to me

[leecutler]

Has that actually been confirmed? Smells like speculation to me

Not confirmed, but thats how it feels that SI are trying to capture the FM audience which is there decision, but we as FMH fans will suffer

[Ashez]

Couldn't have said it better myself, we need people to step up and be heard if not nothing will change!

As for the realistic argument it drives me up the wall! Yes the engine is more realistic but it's also boring but let's remember that the main feature of 2015 is an EDITOR! And this editor is used to change anything you want to make the game unrealistic including editing players or even adding yourself to the game! That any many other points throws the realism argument out of the window and it's a subject that really makes me laugh!! Do I want FMH to be realistic? In some ways yet but if this game was realistic it would be throwing away it's fun and charm, if you want a detailed and in depth realistic game you play FM and not FMH!

The out roar has came this year over others as this year the game tried to be something it's not and has never tried to be! In this one addition the whole concept of FMH and style of the game has been destroyed and forgotten .

[Lee-Roy]

Has that actually been confirmed? Smells like speculation to me

Not confirmed, but thats how it feels that SI are trying to capture the FM audience which is there decision, but we as FMH fans will suffer

Right. So when you say "this will happen" you actually mean "this is how I feel" right?

Cos they're two very different things to say.

[leecutler]

Has that actually been confirmed? Smells like speculation to me

Not confirmed, but thats how it feels that SI are trying to capture the FM audience which is there decision, but we as FMH fans will suffer

Right. So when you say "this will happen" you actually mean "this is how I feel" right?

Cos they're two very different things to say.

Everything I wrote is how I feel, but thats how I feel the direction FMH is heading for.

[Lee-Roy]

Okay. I got confused when you said that FMH won't have the original ME. I didn't realise that you felt it won't have it.

[Ashez]

It is speculation but surely it'll get to the point where it's the new engine or nothing? Seems pointless to support both?

Look at the PSP for instance, once they moved on to IOS they stopped doing anything with it apart from an update, then they let it die out.

To me the old engine will have the same fate, it'll have minor alterations if any for a year or two then once most people's devices can handle the new engine the old one will be quietly slipped out the door.

[UKFootballScore]

A lot of points I agree with but I feel during the patches they will iron out and perfect the issues that have come up and by simply being able to set the match to only comm and very fast and it only being 2-3 minutes per game maximum! If they can perfect it to he able?to do that then it will be quality,

Its only the match engine that is questioning the pick up and play element and they will surely have to improve upon iti personally feel a new style of viaualisation would have sufficed as in a new stadium view or maybe 4-5 different size stadiums and instead of a yellow ball have an actual ball and that would have been all good imo no need to release this engine yet which is what i said in my video

[Ashez]

That sentence shouldn't have to be said about any game! Even if they don't want to have bug testers all they'd need to do is play it themselves to find the problems, hell they could have given me early access and I'd have found more than they would! To think these bugs should be fine until March when the proper update comes out is bloody embarrassing!

As I've said before how will having faster matches work if we're meant to react to the new engine? It's not a case of this engine being too early it's a case of it not being wanted! The FMH engine has worked for 8 years and people have gone back to using that over this FM wannabe!

I actually watched your video last night and it sounded like you were clutching at straws for positives. "I like seeing the dots celebrate or be subbed off", that's a gimmick and not a feature! It's especially not a feature that should make the rest of the game crap. As I said I see the appeal but as someone who plays without highlights it means nothing to me.

Also as I've said above the engine isn't the only problem with the game, it's lost it's identity without a doubt.

[Scott]

As I've said before how will having faster matches work if we're meant to react to the new engine? It's not a case of this engine being too early it's a case of it not being wanted!

 

A new realistic match engine has been one of the most requested features for a few years.

[UKFootballScore]

I disagree that its not wanted tbh like Scott said it has been wanted for years on wishlists so they have done it I just think they could have worked on a little more and released it next year

[Ashez]

I think that opinion is more split than it seems, granted it has been requested a lot but at the same time a lot of people haven't requested it. There are features that have been requested 100 more times than that and those haven't been added.

Tbh that's a fair argument and I don't have much to say back to it, however even with a more realistic match engine the game has to be fun and different from FM. You also have the fact where is that being wished from? FMH fans or fans of FM? Granted that's a question we'll never know the answer of but for everyone who plays on com only I can't see it being that big of a feature.

It also speaks volumes that when we get this requested feature everyone moans about it and hardly anyone uses it, maybe it's a case of people not knowing what they want or fully understanding what a realistic engine would mean, it's not like it's ever been explained what the consequences would be.

I disagree that its not wanted tbh like Scott said it has been wanted for years on wishlists so they have done it I just think they could have worked on a little more and released it next year

It still wouldn't be fun and fast paced action as FMH should be. As I've said the match engine isn't my only problem with the series, myself and others also had problems with last years which I've explained within here.

[Lee-Roy]

Ash if somebody isn't going to read the entire article yet still comment disputing what you say then they don't warrant a reply

[Ashez]

Lol, this game has us two very cranky at the moment

[leecutler]

I disagree that its not wanted tbh like Scott said it has been wanted for years on wishlists so they have done it I just think they could have worked on a little more and released it next year

Yes everyone wanted a new match engine what about everything else the fans wanted did we get them? NO we didnt, the new match engine is too much its slow and boring a bit like PC FM, so would you want to just play enhanced engine in the future? Becsuse thats the direction FMH is heading in (imo).

[Ashez]

You also have the fact that a realistic engine and this engine we have don't really mean the same thing. Why couldn't we have more realism with the current system? Why did it have to jump into the realm of FM to get realistic?

[Scott]

Ash if somebody isn't going to read the entire article yet still comment disputing what you say then they don't warrant a reply

This about me, UK or someone else?

[Lee-Roy]

anyone it applies to

[leecutler]

You also have the fact that a realistic engine and this engine we have don't really mean the same thing. Why couldn't we have more realism with the current system? Why did it have to jump into the realm of FM to get realistic?

Yes we want realism but do we want this horrible engine that in future thats all we will have is enhanced, so 1000 goal challenges and other great challenges will go down the toilet with FMH and then everyone will just stop playing FMH

[UKFootballScore]

End of the day its a lot about speed on FMH and 12-15 minutes per game is a joke! The most annoying aspect is the fact once you've started your career you cant then change to the other engine as sometimes I might want to watch the match and others I want to speed through as quick as possible

Ash if somebody isn't going to read the entire article yet still comment disputing what you say then they don't warrant a reply

I'm not disputing what he said just disagreeing he didn't say don't comment if you disagree just that he didn't care if anyone disagreed so why does that warrant you saying that?

[Ashez]

I disagree that the speed is the only worry but never mind that, this thread is about standing as one to get the game we want, not to fall out among ourselves. I understand this can get heated as it's a sensative matter but we need to act as one.