Installation Guide & Feature Overview
Credits
Quite a few to mention, and I'm sure there will be some that I've missed. If I've inadvertently used something you believe I haven't credited please let me know!
tcsskin - An elder statesman of skinning, taught me a lot and been a wonderful sounding board. All round solid fella.
keysi - For all the assistance to my many skinning queries.
Wozzie - Tad Twenty was the first skin I used. Arguably to blame for me going down this rabbit hole!
Michaeltmurrayuk - For those base skins all those years ago.
wkdsoul - For all the assistance to my man skinning queries.
sebastian_starttrbts - For setting me down the path of pseudo-attributeless skinning.
Tyburn - Also for setting me down the path of pseudo-attributeless skinning.
_Ben_ - For being a fabulous sounding board and helping to push new ideas over the last 18 months.
Just Howie - For entertaining late night conversations on completely inconsequential skinning related nonsense.
Groot - For building my ego and helping me with various skinning queries.
Snowofman - For all the assistance to my many skinning queries.
a31632 - For being a master of buttons.
Jellico - For his consistent and constructive feedback.
VonTrips - For his consistent and constructive feedback, and assistance with Czech translations.
FERIA - For help with French translations.
Herr Jones - For help with Portuguese translations.
FAQs
What is a Pizza Chart
https://theathletic.com/2746113/2021/09/12/a-guide-to-smarterscout-and-understanding-the-athletics-pizza-charts/ (requires subscription)
In simple terms, it’s a chart showing a high level view of how often a player performs a specific action and how that ranks when compared to their peers. The bigger the slice, the higher the player ranks. A player in the 90th percentile for a category means they perform that action more than 90% of other players.
The pizza chart is calculated at 5% intervals, and each concentric circle represents a 20th percentile. It is based loosely on the above article from The Athletic, adapted to work with the metrics available within FM.
I have analysed 26,000 players playing more than 900 minutes in the Top 20 domestic leagues, breaking down each metric by position. Due to limitations this means the underlying data is static. For example, an Attacking Midfielder who completes 4 dribbles per game will always be ranked in the 90th percentile, even if at that exact moment in your game world there may in fact more or less players better than them.
The same metrics are used for each position (except goalkeepers) to enable you to understand the tactical profile of a player. Forwards will be involved in a defensive capacity, and defenders will be involved in an attacking capacity, and understanding how a player compares in his position in all aspects of the game is important.
What is an Archetype?
https://theathletic.com/3473297/2022/08/10/player-roles-the-athletic/ (requires subscription)
An archetype is another high level view of whether a player is elite at a particular combination of actions. An archetype will become active when their statistical output meets the threshold to mark them out as special at their position
They are based loosely on the above article from The Athletic, refined into fewer archetypes and adapted to work with the metrics available within FM. This utilises the same analysis from the pizza chart, and is once again static.
For example, a Quarterback is a midfielder who is above the 60th percentile in passes completed, progressive passes and open play-key passes. As a combination, roughly only 10% of players will meet this criteria.
How Do I Change the Colour Scheme?
Included in the download is a folder called Mustermann Iconic Alt Files. Inside here are the 12 colour schemes supplied. Simply choose a scheme you want and copy the file into the Mustermann Iconic/settings folder. Once done, delete the file “Mustermann Iconic settings” and rename the copied file to “Mustermann Iconic settings”. Inside FM, reload the skin, turning off caching.
If you want to set your own Colour Scheme, you will want to edit lines 214-241 inside the aforementioned file, using a text editor such as Notepad. Colours are defined as RGB values. I heartily recommend using https://colordesigner.io/color-palettes if you need help deciding on a palette.
Where is Light Mode?
Light mode is not included in the original release. Whilst I still intend to release a light mode for this skin, I do not anticipate this being before the New Year.
Some Words Are in English. How Do I Change This?
Where possible, I’ve tried to utilise existing translations within the game. Unfortunately this is not always appropriate. For čeština, Français or Português, there are alternative translation files in the Mustermann Iconic Alt Files folder. Just copy the files for your chosen language into the Mustermann Iconic/panels/player folder.
How Do I Change Attribute Ranges?
Due to the way the skin works, you can’t change the ranges through preferences. Instead you’ll have to use a text editor. Inside the Mustermann Iconic/classes folder, you will need to change the values for all the files inside the attributes folder and the dna folder.
In each file, you will need to edit the min_value and max_values to your desired ranges. Let’s say for example, you wanted to increase the lowest range to 8, and then make the remaining bands be 4 attributes each. You would set the first range from “1” to “8”, the second range would be “9” to “12”, the third range “13” to “16” and the final range “17” to “20”. You would then need to repeat this for all the aforementioned files. Once done, caching off, reload the skin.
Will You Make a “Normal” Version with Numerical Attributes?
No. Sorry.
I Want [feature]. When Will You Add It?
I am always open to feedback and suggestions, so please let me know below. Even if it is a good idea, however, I am not going to promise that it will be included. With the exception of any critical bugs, I will be releasing updates a few weeks after SI’s official patches, and any additions will ultimately be at my discretion.
Changelog
v1.2
- Introduction of Light mode
- Expansion of customised home page widgets
- Pizza chart graphics updated to include guidelines at 10th percentile and distinction between those metrics above and below the 50th percentile
- Replaced heatmaps in match report with formation
- Addition of bookmark button in titlebar
- Addition of next unread, mark all as read, and save note buttons to inbox
- Expanded pasty charts to include drill down by position
- Addition of defensive actions, excitement factor and passing breakdown to player profile
- Data Hub option added to performance section of player profile
- Added an attribute key to player profile
- Added bans as to player profile
- Restored edit appearance button to manager profile
- Added manager characteristics to manager profile
- Added text for studying new qualification to manager and staff profiles
- Added competition reputation history graph
- Restored formation fluidity indicator to tactics pitch
- Added player mugshots as option for custom views
v1.1
- Added scouting knowledge indicator to player profiles for scouted players
- Restored "Attributes" page - this is now the same as the "Profile" page, but with player's ability/attributes above performance
- Added match preparation summary to training overview
- Added contract end date to header on player profile
- Added Russian alternative files (thanks @thebuildupplay)
- Updated player dot icons in tactic screen during match to fit rest of skin
- Increased width of player tactical instructions dialog box to better support non-English languages
- Fixed missing text for stats and GK attributes in player profile
- Fixed aggregated attributes erroneously showing as 5 stars for groups that should be 0.5 stars in training reports and player comparisons
- Fixed missing team and competition filters from player form page
- Fixed goalkeeping stat labels missing from form selector on player profile
- Fixed home form showing up in match lineups for both teams
Usage Rights
This skin is completely free for personal use, but may not be sold or placed behind a paywall. If you plan on using the skin publicly, or repurposing a unique element for your own released skin, please get in touch to discuss credit.
Donations
If, for whatever reason, you are so enamoured with this skin you want to send me a coffee, feel free to donate via PayPal. I would like to stress there is no obligation whatsoever!
Comments
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EUA
I love your skins, im going to wait for the light one. Amazing job. Keep going
Kaiser8
I just wanted to say that this skin is insane and I really appreciate the work you have done. This skin made me realize that 2 of my starters, who I thought we're doing great, are actually not that good at all at the roles I've assigned to them.
This skin really makes you look at players in terms of their performances and not just seeing green numbers and think “you're a starter now!”
It definitely takes some getting used to as it transforms the entire game. I had my youth intake and had no idea whether some of these players we're actually going to make it, but that's how it is in real life. You don't get those numbers for your youth intake. You might say“hey this kid is fast!” But you wouldn't know he's a 16 out of 20 for speed.
I think I will stick with this skin for a while, like I said it will take some getting used to but it's incredible once you're adapted to it!
Incredible work!
gimn85
Hopefully should be in the new year. Light mode is approximately an extra 1,200 files at least to edit, so it will take a while.
gimn85
Thank you for the kinds words, and I'm glad you're enjoying it as much as I do!! There is something super liberating about not worrying about minor attribute differences!
calvg
thanks again for this the shirt size is much better
something I should flag thou is that yellow cards do not show anymore, so that would need to be adjusted if you plan to use.
(sorry for HDR)
gimn85
That's good to know. I'll see if I can look into it, but might not be for a little while. First up…actually play the game. Then…finish off updates relating to the patch on Thursday.
calvg
you can probs save it for your next version
gimn85
Just for transparency - it won't be a part of the official download, as it wouldn't be a friendly setup to lower resolutions, but when I get a chance I'll have a look nonetheless and provide guidance for how you can implement it.
delta3000
Ein Super Teil gut gemacht
gimn85
Danke
(sorry, that's about all the German I know)
calvg
What's the current thinking behind not showing progress arrows(or something equivalent) in skills (attribute groups)?
normally coach's could see X player has improved in their ball control.
gimn85
Kaiser8
Hey again!
Three questions for you;
Thanks in advance!
Edit: This Skin ruined FM for me… every time I use a regular laid-out skin now, I'm looking for the most important information and it's a pain to figure out “How has the player been playing”. So you should add a disclaimer to this that once you start to understand and enjoy this skin, you won't go back to regular ones hahah
gimn85
Thank you for the kind words. In response to your questions:
kidvishis
Beautiful, I used your 23 version exclusively and it'll be the same this year
May I ask how you removed/disabled the players overview > attributes page? I've wanted to do that on other skins.
Looking forward to seeing how this develops
gimn85
You need to edit [skin name]/sections/person sections.xml, changing <record id="Pply" /> to <!--<record id="Pply" />-->.
Most skins, however, won't have that file in them. You'll need to extract it using the Resource Archiver.
EUA
My eyes will be thankfull then the waiting is over. Even if it take one more month, thanks for your work to the people who hate/cant have dark skins
calvg
If anyone does change the configs for primary and secondary colours, please post for sharing (if that's okay) as i would also be interested
As based on what @gimn85 said its not just another settings file we can insert.
StevenBell
Hi I love the skin, if I was to vary the skin a bit, how would I transfer the touchline tablet which you use across to my own personal version of the skin ?Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
gimn85
You'd need to copy over the match/in between highlights panel.xml along with the touchline tablet panel.xml.
In the touchline tablet panel.xml - you'll see the other files it references, you'll need to copy those, too. And any panels those panels then reference. You will probably also need the classes/mustermann_tabbed along with the graphics it references.
Kaiser8
Hey, it's me again! Still only using your skin. Sometimes I swap in and out just to see some stats, but I'm realizing that if I wasn't basing my decisions off of the information in this skin… I probably wouldn't have bought, let alone start most of the people that have been doing well for me. I'm in the Premier League right now with Bristol City and made some signings I would have never made just by looking at their attributes and they've all been doing a solid job for me!
Now, let's get to my questions 🙂
2) Like many of us, when scouting for wonderkids, the Pizza chart doesn't fill up, because I assume they don't play for the starting 11. So what would you base your decision on whether this kid is good or not? The little attribute bars at the bottom? I do use the little attribute bar bottom right too, but I've been noticing that if a player doesn't play, the pizza chart doesn't have data to pull from correct? Even if I fully scout the player?
Thank you in advance!
gimn85
Pitarch
Great addition to this already great skin! What do you do to get this? Which one of the various “tactics icon info panel overview” XML files of the FLUT skin do you copy in the tactic folder?
gimn85
v1.1 released
kyanos
I'm loving this skin even though I must miss 90% of its goodness due to being new to the stat world, however on my save I never seem to have any post match, on the overview panel, data, see below:
I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong but I have all the analysts I can get and this is the only bit on the skin that isn't working as it should. Help?
gimn85
You see the little up arrow next to the name of each statistic. Click on it to sort it descending (e.g. highest value first)
squirrel442
Great skin as always. Never played like this, it makes the game more challenging & more engaging.
Had my doubts at first but honestly this style of play is so much more fun. I've seen myself lean more on my staff than I ever have had. Great work, you have made a converter out of me.
There is one thing I have noticed though - when praising the player's training using the Individual > Detailed > Select Multiples the thumbs up and thumbs down do not disappear after praising so I can pretty much keep praising player repeatedly.
gimn85
Would you be able to send me the save file (upload to Mediafire or somewhere and send me the link)? I've had someone else mention this, but when I've checked on my own saves, I'm unable to replicate the issue.
Of course - I'll send you a PM with the link of the save file and a video of it happening.
Another thing to note just in case it matters, I am playing on the macOS version of the game.