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

[Lee-Roy]

I see a lot of apps that say something along the lines of "game performance is dependant on device capability" or you know, something of that effect. I know I haven't got the best phone out there, but when you have an iPhone 5 you don't expect to be affected. So yeah the messages are there, but aren't they standard these days?

I'm not overly disappointed in the engine, my phone defaults to the now one, and I certainly haven't seen a 12 min match like the ones being reported. My matches are too long for my liking, but not that bad!

My gripe is that if everyone is paying the same money, they should get the same game. And if not possible, at least make that clear.

Dw, Some people are savages when complaining about a game. Most games. A response goes a long way.

[Ashez]

Reasons why this game is more frustrating than fun!

Screwed out of the champions league and not even getting anything from games I dominate, seriously sick of this and it's unchanged from last year! This isn't fun! I used to love playing FMH but that 6months was a total drag and the engine is rigged beyond belief!

[Lee-Roy]

That can't be described as realistic, or bad luck, cos that's too much bad luck.

[Ashez]

That's just a select few I could be bothered to upload from playing start of the season till first of Jan!

Seriously sick of it, I geared myself up to get some real progress done today while watching the footy and it's just not fun at all . I'm seriously down on the I game ATM, I want to like it for Vibes sake but it's bloody awful and I'm really struggling to find a reason to even bother .

How was this crap not fixed last year? Apparently they did what the fans wanted? Well this was the most complained about part and they knew a big part of the fan base would have to use the old engine so why wasn't it fixed? Fed up.

[Toney]

Try Balanced mentality, Ash. That's what made my old 4-1-2-2-1 fly in 2014.

 

SI sucks at explaining such things. Did you know that on FM PC, to replicate the Barca tactic (or as much as a PC game could do it), you had to play on the lowest mentality (Counter)? They don't really make things very intuitive.

 

But I hear you. I haven't gone back to the old engine (I refuse to play basically FMH14 again after paying 10 dollars), but the fun isn't there. I have a pretty successful career going on, but I can't even bring myself to load it up when I know it's all gimicky, and that players don't do what they are supposed to, and I end up winning because the ME is unrealistic and bad.

I just don't have fun that way. I rather lose 10 games in a row knowing that my tactics are bad, than winning 50 games knowing I'm exploiting the ME with a tactic that would get demolished in real life.

 

I'm pretty close to uninstalling, for good, tbh.

[Ashez]

I have no need to change my tactic or my mentality, it's smashing teams for fun just the rigged engine keeps screwing it. The only advantage of doing as you said is the opposition might have less chances but so would I and this engine is that screwed up I need as many as I can get to have a chance and the AI teams will score regardless.

I'll be honest and say if it wasn't for Vibe and how much I love this site id be gone and so would the game. I'm stopping myself playing Pokemon and Smash Bros ATM as I know if I get into them I'll really struggle to come back to FMH, while a few years ago FMH was my go to game and I couldn't put it down .

[leecutler]

Reasons why this game is more frustrating than fun!

Screwed out of the champions league and not even getting anything from games I dominate, seriously sick of this and it's unchanged from last year! This isn't fun! I used to love playing FMH but that 6months was a total drag and the engine is rigged beyond belief!

Tbh this is doing my head in how can you domiante and get screwed like this!!

[Ashez]

Tell me about it, I'm really struggling to want to play ATM!

[leecutler]

Tell me about it, I'm really struggling to want to play ATM!

Im really enjoying my challenge but when I get games like this I feel like deleting FMH, I know some times you domiante and dont win but this happens to me over 10 times in a season

[Ashez]

Same here, I like my careers but the game is ruining them for me! Last night I played 6 months of my other career and had similar results and it drove me mad! Look at these two! The second made me turn off the game!

[leecutler]

Same here, I like my careers but the game is ruining them for me! Last night I played 6 months of my other career and had similar results and it drove me mad! Look at these two! The second made me turn off the game!

Think I would have smashed my phone if that was me

[Keraviln]

Ok so I've just read the last couple of pages of this thread and I've had a good think about what everyone has had to say.

 

To some it may seem as though Lee-Roy and Ashez are going way too far when it comes to criticising how SI has handled the implementation of the new match engine.

 

This is true, and they have every right to be unhappy.

 

The obvious flaws in the "old" match engine have been apparant for years and there has been no move to fix it until FMH2015. I started playing in 2012, so that's at least 3 years where nothing was done to fix a fundamental flaw in the game.

 

And now, we are given a new match engine, which looks nice. However, there are obvious rough edges- for starters, after half time the loading screen (or after any tactical change) makes me want to throw my iPad agains the wall- it doesn't fit in with the rest of the game, it looks like a temporary thing that somehow stayed that way into the full release.

 

Then there's the bugs, as well as the realism issues (the whole inside forwards issue as well as defensive midfielders being practically useless).

 

Marc, to make it clearer for you, it's not just the time that it takes for the highlights to roll, it's the loading time that is killing it for us.

 

Marc, it is the lack of polish in the game (the match review page is not properly linked to the new match engine).

 

Basically, what we want at the end of November is a finished product- no major flaws in the match engine, no obvious integration errors and no silly bugs (like the 2014 bidding war debacle).

 

As you've said in the past, there's generally a few months after the release of the game where there is time to fix and rectify errors.

 

I have three key things that I think would make everyone happier:

 

1. Mix-mash the old and new match engines- revert to simpler processing, give it a newer and better feel & fix the major flaws in the old engine

 

2. Check each and every single window in-game, do a total catalogue of all the known little bugs and errors- and fix them

 

3. Get a whole new set of beta testers, and if you're doing it yourself, seriously- hire one or two to play through a good 10+ seasons each and see what bugs come up.

 

At this point we are stuck with this game, so what I'd like to see before FMH16 is a real effort to fix all the underlying issues in the game, get rid of any ambiguity in match engines and please, a new testing system.

[Ashez]

Wishful thinking, as you said some of the problems are years old and I'm still finding bugs from last years version, you can dream though.

[Keraviln]

Wishful thinking, as you said some of the problems are years old and I'm still finding bugs from last years version, you can dream though.

 

This is the last opportunity I'm giving SI to fix things, next year when FMH16 is out I'm going to sit back and wait a month or so while the reviews come in.

 

If the main underlying issues are still there I will walk away from FMH.

 

Sad but true because I haven't been able to play any FMH15 at all, in fact I've probably done more FMH14 since FMH15's release, despite all the issues.

[Ashez]

I totally agree, I never go back to a previous years game as I think that's "dangerous" but the fact remains 2015 is awful and I'm seriously struggling to play, I was never keen on 2014 but it is tempting to revert back.

[Carlos Barreira]

Well i just switched to the old engine. Using FMH 15 But with old engine. Too much time for one match (NEAR 15 minutes). If they solve the lollipop bug and i can play one match in 3 to 5 minutes i will play with new engine.

[Tireddad]

I‘d like to add my support to your campaign and share my opinion with you.

I started playing FM with CM00/01. I struggled initially, but found loads of advice on the forums and played happily with different versions for many years.

I lost confidence in the game with FM07. When the game came out, it was very difficult to win away. Even big teams would lose to very small clubs away from home. I sought help from the forums, but was criticised for failing and trying to "blame" the game. I was told "FM is not a game, it is a simulation"!

"More realism" seems to have become the mantra from that point onwards. I was the point of giving up completely when I discovered FMH and fell in love with the game again. Now it seems even this version has changed.

For the record, I don‘t want realism. Football managers have a terrible time. Very few are consistently successful. Most get sacked, their lives and families are abused by fans, every set-back seized upon by the media and pundits. Players and agents work against you. Who would willingly play a game where you are constantly stressed and miserable ? Life is hard enough. Why can‘t we indulge our fantasy where we lead a small club to glory ?

There are lots of clever guys playing the game and I learned so much from you, but I‘m realistic enough to know I‘m not that good at identifying tactical opportunities mid-match. I would much prefer the idea that if I sign and develop the right players, their better abilities will generally get me the result. Isn‘t this the point of the attributes ?

FMH worked because it was fast, the matches fly by and seasons can be finished quickly. Usually with better training, squad development and signing "key" players, after several seasons you start to make progress. However, it is easy to lose interest in a career, so the idea of a slower game is a bad move.

I really hope our FMH can be saved. Apologies for the long post !

[scass]

@Tireddad - "Why can‘t we indulge our fantasy where we lead a small club to glory ?"

 

Because then it wouldn't be a game.  I want to be challenged to try to work out how to make the team better, and that means spending a lot of time scouting players and trying to figure out how to best use the players you have.  Being good at spotting tactical opportunities is just a part of it, but if it was just about developing players so that they had lots of green, and then watching them win every match, then I'd get bored pretty fast. Finding a player who's not a world star and watching him turn into a key player in the side is more satisfying to me than winning everything year in, year out.

 

There's a lot wrong with this game, but I'd hate it if it was just about crushing teams 5-0, and winning everything.  I like having to think about how I can avoid getting to a cup final, going two up, then losing on penalties because the defence wasn't good enough to hold out.

 

And look at who I support  - Derry City... so taking a small club to glory isn't something I don't dream about :-)

[Ashez]

Good points from both of you

[Dec]

Not sure if this is to get sales or not. Miles only is executive producer on the game but he has said he wants Handheld to be like PC on this interview.

[anfieldsquirrel]

That article brings years to my eyes

[Lee-Roy]

That article brings years to my eyes

What, like crows feet?

[Ashez]

Marc's first sentence in this thread -

"Its not our intention to alienate people and we aren't trying to become full-fat FM at all."

Then in that interview it's their goal?

SIgh!

Basically we have our game due to people who don't upgrade or can't afford to, lovely really!

Everyone who's said in here that my points about the old engine only being in the game to get sales and that it has no future need to wake up, it's basically been confirmed!

@Edited to correct confusion on my part

[anfieldsquirrel]

Of course I don't mind the opponent. But Wut.

6 days later

[billy2shots]

26 shots on target and 3 goals scored for you.

5 shots on target and 4 goals conceded.

I am experiencing the same if not worse regularly.

Tim Howard saved 14 or so shots for the USA V Germany at this years world cup. The world went mental with his shot stopping prrformance yet it happens every week in FMH.

It can only be to stop unrealistic scores however the saves to shot ratio is just as unrealistic. SI need to decide on what to do here. Allow more goals to be scored or lower the amount of shots being taken. Choose one because at the moment this is neither realistic or enjoyable.

[Ashez]

Well said mate, we need it balancing so we have enough goals that it's fun but not too many that the game becomes too easy.

The series is dead already though, they've done so much damage with this release!

[5H4K3]

Personally, I would like to see more realism added to all club managing sections, like business, news or player interaction sections, while match engine would still be only a little bit unrealistic, a very little bit. No stupid losses, like everyone posts here, but still legit results.

[scass]

I've tried to be positive about the ME but I'm now fed up with the fact that if you have players in the wide positions, they just run to the bye line and cross, usually resulting in a corner.  Doesn't matter if they're INF or APM they still just play like wingers.  All the time.  Over and over.  Doesn't matter if you have short passing chosen as your tactic.  In fact, it doesn't matter what role you choose for anyone. And at the end, it tells you your striker failed to win aerial duels, much like the annoying "lacked width" comment in 14.   Apart from passing the ball until you're fouled in the middle of the pitch.  Then someone you haven't selected takes the free, and you get a corner. same as the other corner you get when you attack down the flank. "It's a corner.  That'll be a corner. (Your team) wins a corner.  It's a corner.  (The other team) wins a corner.  That'll be a corner for your team.  That's a corner.  It's a corner. That'll be a corner. Corner. Corner. Corner. Free kick. Free kick. Free kick." (Most of which aren't taken by the player you've selected, and - who cares if they are? You can't change them anyway.)

 

Has anyone who made this ME watched a football match in ...ooooh...the last twenty years?Have they noticed that crossing for the big centre forward isn't the only tactic teams use anymore? 

 

Does this feel repetitive?  Good.  Because that's what the game is like. 

 

I don't want to win 5-0. I don't want to do impossible feats with small teams.  I just want to feel I'm playing a game, not watching something put together by someone who thinks Sam Allardyce's Bolton team where the height of tactical sophistication.  (I've just played a Barca team who played 4-5-1 with Messi as central midfielder. ) You can argue about how much realism you want, and I'll happily do that, but this isn't about realism.  This is about ignorance.  

 

See?  I gave it a couple of weeks, and now I'm just hacked off. And it isn't because I'm losing games.  I'm not.

 

Oh, and one other thing.  I'm seeing 80% of penalties missed.  Not just in shootouts, but in actual games.  

[Ashez]

I agree and disagree with adding stuff to management tbh, i see the positives but again i feel it could slow the game down again and it's not like i trust them to implement them well anymore.

Tbh talk of new features is pointless when none work on 2015 as it is and even some from 14 still dont work!

@Scass: You ninja'd me . I'm so happy i have no interest in the NME as i'd be having a breakdown by now lol.

[julystork]

I still have FMH13 on my Android, but should I move on to '14 or '15? Seems FMH15 is still an unpatched bugfest, is '14 just as bug-filled?