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Chat The Issue With The 442 Bug


Ashez
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The Issue With The 442 Bug

Bugs in Football Manager Mobile have become as expected as the inclusion of the next big wonder kid, every year we expect the first few months of the game to be dampened with the community trying tirelessly to stamp out as many bugs as they can as soon as possible. In recent years three bugs come to mind as especially frustrating and almost game breaking, the first being the stamina bug, the second being the loan release issue and the third one being the AI constantly using a 442. Thankfully the first two were fixed which made the game instantly better but the 442 bug doesn't seem to be going away. The question of has it been fixed has been constantly danced around and let's be honest if it wasn't going to be in 2017 they'd be preaching it to the high heavens as its one of the fans biggest complaints. Obviously it could be improved upon in 2017 which could limit how often the issue happens but due to the quietness on the subject I don't believe it will be completely fixed in time for release. 

But why is this tactical bug such a big deal? Why does it annoy us so much? 

When i think about this bug I have two major issues which come to mind. The first issues being the predictability it brings to the game. I'm not going to pretend a game about dots and numbers is especially exciting to start with but when every opponent does the same thing game after game the point of the experience soon disappears. Each match should be a new experience but when you know within seconds the opposition will turn to the same formation time after time what's the point? Isn't the point of the game for the fans to face off against the biggest names in the business? How's that work when every single team uses a cookie cutter formation? What makes playing Mourinho fun when he's stealing Tony Pulis's playbook? Why face Barcelona when they don't play the Barca way? It just strips all the life out of the game. 

My second gripe only recently hit me but when it did my mind was blown in a frustrating tornado of annoyance. The issue with every single team using a 442 is any formation weak to it is instantly useless. I've made no secret of my issues with how bland tactic creating has got but when you have such an issue which limits you this hard it's beyond a joke. I've had so many ideas fail due to my formation not being good enough but could that be due to it being weak against the almighty 442? That's tough to say but it's no mistake that my favourite formation recently has been a 433 and let's remember a 433 is very strong against a 442 due to its ability to out number the opposition in key areas. Is this also why we've seen the three at the back formations become popular again due to their ability to also stifle a 442? This is a massive issue that I haven't seen spoken about, granted the bug brings various issues to the table but this one breaks the game completely? What are our options? Hard counter the 442 with formations which fair well against it or just try our luck and hope for the best? I'm not going to bore you with the ins and outs of tactics and what counters what but the information is readily available via Google. The main point here is whenever we're creating formations we have to keep the 442 in mind, if you happen to be weak against it scrap the idea right now. 

Don't get me wrong we all expect our tactics to have difficult match ups as certain opposition will counter us but we should never be forced down certain routes due to bugs within the game. Another big complaint with the game is how the goals scored seems harsh compared to shots taken but even this can be impacted by this bug! If a team is playing two banks of four their defence is going to be hard to get through which leads to long shots and wasted opportunities, on the other hand the AI are likely out numbering your defence and scoring more of their chances due to the freedom they have with two up top. This rather big bug is bringing so many more issues to the table than we ever dreamed.  

It's really an infuriating tactical issue as it leads to so many questions we shouldn't be having to ask like do I need to play only one wingback as I can't allow my CB's to be left exposed verse two attackers plus midfield support. Should I play three at the back so my cb's aren't two on two? Do I have someone covering midfield if a striker drops deep? Do I have enough up front to get through two banks of four?

We should be asking ourselves these questions and many more before we face up against a 442, we should not however be forced to think like this for every single match in the game. I'm not even going to touch upon the odd AI team selections and other issues with the engine as I truly feel this bug is shocking, I can't believe we have a bug that is this limiting and this to me game breaking. 

I hope this article was all for nothing and that 2017 will have removed this issue completely but I don't expect much. What if it isn't fixed by release? Could it be during the year? Well if this year wasn't enough time to solve the issue who knows. What if it's an unavoidable issue with the engine in general? So many questions which only time can answer but all I know is this needs to be addressed. I know this subject has been mentioned on multiple times but I wanted to have my say while bringing some points to the table I haven't seen mentioned before. 

Thank you for reading and please remember to leave s comment. 

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Leaving the boredom and repetitive nature to one side the simple answer is you can't tactically match up to it so don't waste your time trying. 

Logic dictates you come up with a tactic that destroys a 442 and as soon as the AI switch to that tactic you change and blast them away. 

The reality is that doesn't work. SI will never admit to it but it is a cheat tactic as is the 451 and 4411 on the OME. I'm not for one second saying SI have programmed this into the game but it is there none the less. Those 3 formations are more powerful than the sum of their parts (only when used by the AI, not human player) and can completely nullify all sorts of formations be it wide, narrow or by putting greater numbers in certain positions. 

The long standing response from the creators is the game doesn't know which team is AI controlled. That may be the case but there is no escaping the AI is part of the game and can understand it better than any human player can. It will use certain formations because it knows they are overpowered and perform better than they should. 

Like I say, the logical answer would be to spend time creating an anti 442 tactic and revert to it when needed. Unfortunately there is no consistency and you may destroy the AI for a few games and then lose heavily for the next handful even if your players and team is far better/morale is high/team is 100% condition/ players playing in the correct position etc etc. Therefore there is no obvious answer. If it's in the game in 2017 then the game is not fit for sale. 

Edited by billy2shots
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You guys have hit the nail on the head and this has been the biggest issue I've had with the game

I get that there is always a hint of things not being realistic but everyone from Newport Co to Barcelona switching to a 442 is a joke, especially when they start with a completely random tactic then the players just slot into a 442 with the players showing reds and yellows as their placed in unfamiliar positions 

I get that teams change tactics during a game if it's not going their way but for EVERY team to switch to the most basic of tactics is a joke and a huge insult to the fans who buy this game every year

I don't want to believe that SI has programmed this in but with the amount of people reporting the problem surely it should be the first thing on their list to get right

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Can I just have a moment to talk about another bug that is really making me question whether to buy the next instalment or not

Every now and again my game loads a bit slower before eventually I can't load the game so I have to save my files to iTunes, uninstall and then reinstall the game and load my files back up, then it works for a day or two before having to do it again, but since the latest update it now happens 2-3 times a day and my phone isn't even slowing up this time it just stops loading the game so I'm having to go through my ritual a lot more often and it's getting beyond a joke now

Not sure if it's a problem that only I'm having or an iPhone thing but it's really making me wonder if the next instalment will carry the same issues and maybe paying £7-8 pound for something that does this every 5 minutes

@Dec could you pass this along to who ever it is that might be able to help me with this

Sorry @Ashez for the rant on your thread

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15 minutes ago, Taff said:

Can I just have a moment to talk about another bug that is really making me question whether to buy the next instalment or not

Every now and again my game loads a bit slower before eventually I can't load the game so I have to save my files to iTunes, uninstall and then reinstall the game and load my files back up, then it works for a day or two before having to do it again, but since the latest update it now happens 2-3 times a day and my phone isn't even slowing up this time it just stops loading the game so I'm having to go through my ritual a lot more often and it's getting beyond a joke now

Not sure if it's a problem that only I'm having or an iPhone thing but it's really making me wonder if the next instalment will carry the same issues and maybe paying £7-8 pound for something that does this every 5 minutes

@Dec could you pass this along to who ever it is that might be able to help me with this

Sorry @Ashez for the rant on your thread

@Jack Joyce @Marc Duffy @Ben Allingham @Alari

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37 minutes ago, Taff said:

Can I just have a moment to talk about another bug that is really making me question whether to buy the next instalment or not

Every now and again my game loads a bit slower before eventually I can't load the game so I have to save my files to iTunes, uninstall and then reinstall the game and load my files back up, then it works for a day or two before having to do it again, but since the latest update it now happens 2-3 times a day and my phone isn't even slowing up this time it just stops loading the game so I'm having to go through my ritual a lot more often and it's getting beyond a joke now

Not sure if it's a problem that only I'm having or an iPhone thing but it's really making me wonder if the next instalment will carry the same issues and maybe paying £7-8 pound for something that does this every 5 minutes

@Dec could you pass this along to who ever it is that might be able to help me with this

Sorry @Ashez for the rant on your thread

Hmm, best to post this in our technical help forum, also letting us know exactly what phone you're using. Alari's likely to be more help in this matter than me and that's the best place to contact him. https://community.sigames.com/forum/298-football-manager-mobile-technical-help-and-bugs-forum/

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49 minutes ago, Jack Joyce said:

Hmm, best to post this in our technical help forum, also letting us know exactly what phone you're using. Alari's likely to be more help in this matter than me and that's the best place to contact him. https://community.sigames.com/forum/298-football-manager-mobile-technical-help-and-bugs-forum/

OK I've posted my thread to the site cheers for your reply

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Been trying to get a reply from you there as to exactly what you mean by not being able to load it - do you mean the game booting?

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44 minutes ago, Alari said:

Been trying to get a reply from you there as to exactly what you mean by not being able to load it - do you mean the game booting?

Sorry dude, basically when I unlock my phone it unlocks slower then the game sort of loads then goes off and back to my phones home screen and when I try to load the game I'll get the Sega logo then back to the phones home screen

So I save my files in iTunes unload and reload the game transfer the files back then starts OK for a while

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Hmm, I'll have a look in the backend to see if there are any crash reports that match these symptoms but that sounds quite odd. Not had anyone else with those symptoms yet,

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I tend to play the game a lot at work and obviously instead of shutting the game down all the time I just lock my phone and come back to the game when I can not sure if this has anything to do with it 

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Can't see anything obvious to be honest though running the game in the background for a long time could potentially cause memory fragmentation. Have you tried rebooting the device at all instead of going through a full reinstall process?

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5 minutes ago, Alari said:

Can't see anything obvious to be honest though running the game in the background for a long time could potentially cause memory fragmentation. Have you tried rebooting the device at all instead of going through a full reinstall process?

Yeah I've tried restarting the phone but no joy just won't load

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It's weird as we really can't see anything in the logs that matches this. You've not had any kind of stability issue with any other apps?

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Wasn't there a bug ages ago with people not closing the game down in the official way? I seem to remember something but not the details, wasn't on 2016 though I don't think so likely 2015. 

Just thought I'd mention it in case it jogged any memories or anything :) 

Hope you get it sorted Taff :). 

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12 minutes ago, Ashez said:

Wasn't there a bug ages ago with people not closing the game down in the official way? I seem to remember something but not the details, wasn't on 2016 though I don't think so likely 2015. 

Just thought I'd mention it in case it jogged any memories or anything :) 

Hope you get it sorted Taff :). 

Cheers Ashez like I said maybe it is just the fact that I leave the game open and not closing it

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My old favourite the AI 4411 with dodgy player positions. I would take this being fixed over 2 new leagues any day. I have seen far worse but used to beat you in the 90th minute is a shocker. 

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This is to the OME as the 442 is to the EME I agree with Billy that I would rather they concentrated on fixing these bugs and faults before they start adding new leagues 

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On 10/5/2016 at 17:36, billy2shots said:

My old favourite the AI 4411 with dodgy player positions. I would take this being fixed over 2 new leagues any day. I have seen far worse but used to beat you in the 90th minute is a shocker. 

I know, I have seen worse too. 4 or 5 Red positions sometimes. Its been like this for years from my point of view.

I especially like it when they play 2 wingers, 3 Advanced Playmakers and win almost every tackle and header!

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