PoorJack - Comments

.fm is not an archive file. It's just inconvenient to share an archive file using a rarely-used or relatively unknown file format, isn't it? It only causes troubles for everyone, including the creator. There's why most archive files online are in .zip format. 

Anyway, the answer is right there in the title “Football Manager 24/25 Save”, as well as the beginning of the description “There's my save game from fm24…”, and then later in the note “NB: this is a save not a database file”. 

That's why I asked if you actually know what you've downloaded… All you need to do is just place the .fm file into the folder, and load up the save game like resuming your own game. Again, as said, please refer to the section “How to install?” for detail. 

OK, I happened to try the .fm file minutes ago, and it worked without any problem (nobody here reports any errors anyway). So, I advise you to read the description post from top to bottom, there you know what file it's, all the important information, and last but not least, the instructions to install. It's a good habit to read first, which saves you a lot of time and avoids all these hassles. 

We all know that issues can occur in FM for some strange reasons. So, if you do fail to load the file after following every installation step, please show the error message (if any), or some screenshots. 

Extract? Do you know what you download? 

I meant… please read the section “How to Install?”. Instructions are always there for you. 

“How to install? ” 

Reference: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZmMI827oJw 

Reference: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gzf4L-YCmJI   

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f24wCIVjU-I 

“Homegrown Players” rule? 

Reference: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6rjIQCXb5E   

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8sRHWVZIGc   

https://sortitoutsi.net/content/63924/england-no-foreigner-limits 

1. If you've played the game, you should know that the system isn't very smart.
2. There are many factors in winning games. Maybe your assistant manager happens to have the luckiest day of his life, and his new moves get your team a big victory. Or, it's just a red card that changes the whole game… Doesn't that mean his advice is brilliant? Not necessarily…
3. Stop wondering, let's do some experiments: May accept the changes suggested by the assistant manager, and check if those moves make sense. Then, watch the gameplay and just see if everything is effective at all. Of course, better evaluate multiple times to get a fair result, hopefully.
4. There is so much to observe: For example, he suggests your DM to close down the opposition's playmaker. It may work well if you've a quick DM and/or that playmaker is slow or not match-fit. However, it may not work next time, or on somebody else/another team…
5. May use his advice as a reference, and then you simply work from there. He may give you some inspirations every now and then. That's an assistant's job. 
6. Not sure if related: If his preferred style fits in your team and your playing style.

Search “FM24 transfer embargo” in Google, and you can find… 

For example: 

https://sortitoutsi.net/content/65433/fm243-transfer-embargo 

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3172667106 

“The only thing I think I might be missing is ‘clearing the cache’, but I can't recall how that's done. ”

All you need is just a simple search in Google… 

Anyway, for your reference: 

https://www.videogamer.com/guides/football-manager-2024-fm24-how-to-clear-cache/ 

Well, when you interfere the game in an unnaturally way (or cheat…?), you're supposed to accept the possibility of messing up the game. In theory, yes, changing a value may work, but maybe the system requires a "process" to check and update the status, and obviously, you've skipped this via the editor.

Can't blame the system for not knowing what happens, as the programmers never expect to handle cases like this... so please don't call it a bug.

FM is about tackling problems and facing challenges. I encourage you to try and adapt without bending the rule, which is more fun and satisfying.

Anyway, enough preaching here... Relax, I do have a suggestion:

Instead of only thinking about yourself and your team, having an edge over everyone else (well, in your case, other teams follow the foreigner limit rule, except your team!), how about looking at it as a whole?

Reference:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQ7DsafYqj0 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6rjIQCXb5E 

Don't know if it works the way you want. But, in this case, at least, you've a fair competition to play... every team is following the same rule. You don't have advantage over anyone else, which should make the game more competitive and exciting.

Besides, you don't need to mess up the players' profiles... (don't expect that you'll revert any nationality changes, once the players leave your team). As the above change(s) only impact within your league, it avoids being too "intrusive" to other parts of the game.

Yes, it may mean starting a new game... sorry, but it should not run into as many issues as your way.

Can you just slow down and spend some time on reading the guide carefully first, please? Help yourself and save some time: The link in my previous post has the answer... Actually, it's just right above the section "Common Mistakes".

Reference:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I759UoBtz7I 

"FM24 is saved in a public file"?

Do you mean the "editor data" folder is under "public" folder?

"Common Mistakes"

https://sortitoutsi.net/content/62063/troubleshooting-football-manager-data-update-installation-how-to-install-football-manager-databases 

"FM24 is saved in a public file"?

Do you mean the "editor data" folder is under "public" folder?

"Common Mistakes"

https://sortitoutsi.net/content/62063/troubleshooting-football-manager-data-update-installation-how-to-install-football-manager-databases 

You may wait, but the problem is that data updates and facepacks are independent to each other. Assume there's a new Pogba added via custom data updates. The fact is that different data updates re-create their own version of Pogba. In other words, your new Pogba and my new Pogba could have different IDs... Facepack developers aren't going to follow.

Anyway, it's nothing technical, it's "open a text file, and add the ID and filename... like other entries". Of course, do backup before you touch anything!

Reference:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1KMbdGXMJQ (May watch from about 4:40, if you already have the picture.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhuVzb_7PZY (The above video was released before the winter update, so mind the "r-"... or just follow other entries in your file.)

https://sortitoutsi.net/content/847/fmxml-for-pc 

So, this is the immediate solution... if my assumption is the case. I just feel it's more effective and efficient to take things in own hands... if possible. Giving it a try (at least exploring a bit) is more practical than "I wish I knew how to do that...". Anyway, it's up to you.

If there's a picture of him in the facepack... yet his ID doesn't match the file (that's why it doesn't show on his profile page), then a possible scenario is: This is a newly created Pogba... maybe he's being removed earlier due to the ban, and some data update recreated him recently.

Anyway, you may simply assign the picture to this new Pogba.

Suppose you've followed all the steps:

https://sortitoutsi.net/installation-instructions/7/how-to-download-and-install-realistic-regen-player-faces-newgan-faces-in-football-manager 

https://sortitoutsi.net/content/66867/fmz-tools-tool-for-creating-config-files-for-ultra-realistic-newgen-regen-faces-uran-facepack-installer 

Reference:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWkbqM7vGC4 

Reference:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6rjIQCXb5E 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQ7DsafYqj0 

First things first, you do need to find a backward compatible skin that works properly with FM14. Remind you that the UI has many changes throughout this 10 years. Anyway, I suppose this huge task is on you... just can't expect that any people here still have FM14 on the harddisk.

So, let's brainstorm the situation:

Sure that you need to have the value (i.e. number of games since your side lost a league game) available in the game, in order to display it on the screen.

Does FM2014 have the value available? If it doesn't show on any FM14 skins, then you may safely assume that it doesn't have this statistic in the game.

OK, say, the value isn't available in the game, then here are the questions:

- Can you calculate the value in any ways, e.g. using a formula?

- If you can, then what's the formula? (It sounds more complicated that calculating the goal difference.)

- Can you get the required values from the game to perform the calculation?

- Where can you do the calculation?

I don't know if XML can do maths... you may need to consult some skin developers or programmers for more information. Anyway, this is the logic or theory, not sure if it actually works this way.

Last but not least, even if you do find a skin which is compatible to FM14 and also have the value ready, you need to edit the skin in order to display the value... Remind you that adding a new value anywhere can easily make a mess on everything, e.g. pushing some columns wide and disrupting a table. In summary, it's going to take you some time here... editing and testing, possibly repeat many times.

All I can say is good luck.

Anyway, I'm no expert... just try to figure out a direction for a possible solution. I imagine these are the steps or preparation that may need to take. If anything above is wrong, please correct.

So, you've all the files ready... then just create a new game without any custom stuff, and take a note on a few players, so you can compare with other results later.

Then create another new game with "+1 Age and Contract Years" (or whatever) enabled, and see what it does for you (the name speaks for itself anyway, but always good to experiment!) on the same players.

Last but not least, create a new game with "FM24 to 25 DLC", and check if those files work alright together, or may cause conflicts.

It takes you 30 minutes to find out all the answers.

You should have mentioned that it's Epic Games, which is different and... strange.

Reference:

https://www.reddit.com/r/footballmanagergames/comments/1fbg6kw/fm_24_epic_games_custom_databases_logo_and_kit/ 

So, what are the key characteristics of the new design in FM25? What do you like about it? 

Just want to see what you're looking for, and if there's anything match or similar in any FM24 skins. 

By the way, there are just 30 to 40 skins for FM24… It doesn't take much time to browse around and pick what you like. It only takes a second or two to decide if each looks similar to the FM25 design anyway. 

So, are you sure this is “/Users/<YOUR NAME>/Library/Application Support/Sports Interactive/Football Manager 2024/editor data”? 

Can't see from the screenshot… 

Yes, it's about player development… and you're to develop a player in an academy before they can turn into professionals. However, this is like… you don't just throw everyone into universities, you do need them to study and develop, going through primary school and high school first. 

From every party's perspectives: 

Players: 

Players need to learn and develop and become decent enough, before they can gain match experience. For example, if you don't have the stamina and are out of breath after just 5 mins on the pitch, you're not going to learn anything in a match! The academy is here to prepare the kids for that… 

Yes, first-team games bring you the best match experience. The fact is that you can't have 40 players on the bench, and obviously, you can't make 20 substitutions in a game. Let alone how the result is… there's 90 minutes in a game, how do you share the playing time among all the players? 

So, the questions is: Let the youngsters sit at the stand and watch the senior members play every week, or Have them play against other players of the same level… which can benefit them more? 

Clubs: 

From a club's perspective, you do need to evaluate if any youngsters are good enough to make the first team. Sadly, not everyone can become first-team players, or are even good enough to play football in lower leagues. 

Yes, first-team football is crucial as you said… and as mentioned above, game time is limited, and I suppose you want to give it to your best young players, right? Having U21 and U18 may help you identify your best prospects, then you can allocate the best possible resources to them. This way, they can improve further and have a better chance to develop into star players.  

Besides, some leagues have restrictions on the number of players sending out on loan. So, you just need to find some game time for your young players within your club anyway… 

Management: 

Next, if you're in the management, do you prefer a first-team of 50 players OR 3 smaller teams which have different objectives and are managed by dedicated staff? For example, in U18, you may focus more on building their physical attributes, while you can start teaching tactical stuff in U21. 

How about training needs? A 16-year-old academy player, who comes to training after school and prepare for examination next week, can't possibly handle the same workload as a professional first-team player... 

Remind you that in the game, you can hire a limited number of coaches for your first team. 5 or 6 coaches working with 50 players would be a nightmare, and obviously not so efficient. On the other hand, U21 and U18 teams can recruit their own coaches. Same for physio and sports scientists...

Also, here is another benefit of U21 or U18 teams: If you happen to have first-team members recovering from injury, they can play at the reserves to build match fitness before being ready for the first team action. 

In summary, it's like education… universities are crucial, but if you want to develop great students and graduates, you don't just do things on the top level. It's important to build a solid foundation first (maybe this is the more common logic?), starting from the bottom, i.e. primary and high schools… 

So, I won't say these teams are useless… it's a matter of how you utilize and manage them. In fact, the academy is very much linked to the reputation of a club. Just have a look at the football world in real life…  

In FM's case, if you're to build a great football club, it starts from your academy. Without great academies, where do all those talents come from? OK, you may simply sign prospects from other teams (They must have great academies that can produce good young talents... a proof that it's not useless and worth investing resource on it.), but without building a decent academy, where do your train and develop them after signing from other clubs? 

One thing being important doesn't necessarily mean others aren't... especially the latter is such an important foundation. You won a game by 5:0, and praised the midfielders and attackers. How about the defenders? They probably played an important role by winning the ball many times for the team, and then resulted in those goals. They did well and deserved credits too… 

Well, by all means, you can experiment by ignoring the U18, U21 and others, and see how it goes… interested in how it turns out.

May provide some screenshots about where you put the editor data files? 

Try if other editor data files work? 

What you should do is: Check if you follow every step correctly. 

Anyway, how about other files? Other custom data updates, graphics,… anything works in your games? 

1. Why don't you just create a game, and see if everything works? It takes just 15 minutes. 
2. You will probably see a lot of reports (or complaints) if there are any problems…  

https://sortitoutsi.net/football-manager-data-update/contribute   

https://sortitoutsi.net/content/67117/database-update#comment_797794 

https://sortitoutsi.net/football-manager-data-update/contribute  

https://sortitoutsi.net/content/67117/database-update#comment_797794 

Reference: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4o36b0t-HY 

This is for NewGAN Manager, but may have a look: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWkbqM7vGC4