2015 An Ideal Release: Football Manager Handheld 2015

[Dec]

An Ideal Release: Football Manager Handheld 2015
By Dec

 
Introduction:
Football Manager Handheld 2015 is around the corner and with the 2014 game entering its final few months it is time to look ahead to the (hopefully) exciting FM Handheld 2015. However what is a realistic feature list to expand on the successful 2014 version that will appease the masses? That question is one that would have been asked at Sports Interactive for over a month during the planning phase of the game. Now I, Dec, will attempt to give my dream scenario in which I aim to be realistic and possible, as well as a major step forward from 2014 that fans will love.
 
Media:
Every year I believe the gamer should have a 'hook'. The aim of this is to build upon or add one major part of the game that radicalises the game and can attract new/casual players to buy. 2014 had this in the form of MyClub and though that wasn't very successful with hardcore players it did have a big influence on the casual; and mainly the younger, audience.
My big feature would be a new "Media" section. Expanding on the media to make it more like football is a big suggestion amongst fans of the series. Currently the media are limited to a few questions and rumours every now and again but as any football fan can tell the player, this isn't how it works. The media is a big part of the footballing world, contributing in every aspect of the game. It is also a vital part to get further information on other teams as managers and this is what my media section would do.

We'd start with rumours. A new section designed to do what it says on the tin. Throughout the year FMH has several rumours but nothing compared to football. More in depth rumours such as players' constantly being linked with a club for a number of years; like Benteke has been to Arsenal, players being linked to multiple clubs and just more rumours in general to match the real transfer window frenzy would help a manager a lot. The player could look at the rumours and see the the player's rival linked with a player and then scout them/buy them; similar to the WIllian situation with Chelsea stealing him off of Tottenham who used Liverpool's rumours to find him and his availability. The more rumours too would help with the whole experience, if the player's player is on form then clubs would have more of an impulse to buy him and it would help showcase that the player isn't the only one doing business or looking to making the game a whole more realistic.
In parallel with rumours is "news". While we get Emails about this improving on the amount of news would be helpful even if the game deems it not major. If the player have 4 leagues loaded this should prove more of a benefit, especially in this section. Players will see more news items; whether factual or made up - the media do both! These can be things such as big injuries, player unhappiness or manager comments (e.g. "Man City were lucky - Jose Mourinho"). Having a basic table for these and filtering them into Player, Team, Matches or Competitions would allow a lot more variety without having to go through extra clicks on the news therefore not influencing game speed. Examples of what could be included could be:
Player -

• Injuries
• Retirements
• Happiness
• Reviews (such as when on/off form)

Team-

• Manager Sackings
• Team Comments (such as looking for a forward)
• Manager Comments
• Form (the player may see managers bigging up their team or grounding them to stop
  complacency)

Matches-

• Previews
• Reviews
• Tid-bits (such as "Costa scores Wonder Goal" or "Bayern were dirty - Opposition Manager")

Competitions-

• Upsets
• Winning the Competition
• Draws/Gameweeks (media gets excited by big match up in Champions League, they go nuts if a gameweek in the Premier League has 30 odd goals etc..)
• Predictions

As the player can see the variety there for relevant, uncensored news would greatly appeal. Being clever with what it shows (for example Champions League talk when in League 2 would be pointless) and how would add so much depth to the game and make the player feel involved within the whole world and not just that they are the whole world. Football is a massive collaboration of different news from different teams and as the player go further up the ladders this becomes more often. Replicating this in FMH2015 would in my opinion be easy but make a whole lot of difference into how immersive and useful the game is. Using this to the player's advantage can make a lot of impact on how the player play - if Bayern have just come off the back of a rout the player may want to go more defensive, if a player is injured the player won't sign him and if the player know Manchester United want a defender the player may consider putting one of the transfer list that they may be interested in so the player can get money.


Within this media umbrella too I would be interested to see completed transfers instead of in search in which seems a random placement to be honest. The media section will be for finding information but not necessary though if it is paid attention to it would allow the player to play more in depth but in the background it helps a lot.

Another part of this media section would be the ability to comment. Clicking on Comments would give a question from the media - though restricted to amount per day/week, and you answer these optional questions in order to try and increase morale, unsettle a player you're bidding for, etc... though it may backfire if saying the wrong thing. Additionally some won't be optional and be given by the player's Emails like in FM Handheld 2014, however these will be more varied and more often. Commenting on major games such as facing a rival or challenger to the title you're currently on course to win should be a staple of FMH yet it is absent. Managers need the ability to comment on how their team is doing more and at key occasions to boost team spirit and fan/board confidence. If the team has lost their first game in 10 the ability to say to the media that it happens and not play it off as a big deal would influence how the board react so their expectations don't get too high. Also when a huge player signs for the team being able to comment on this; in which can upset rival players, or stop the board from getting too excited and then disappointed if he doesn't hit the ground running in which can cause unhappiness and in the long term, job loss.
 
News:
Playing on the news aspect teams should be able to be talked to as a whole or individually and assistants should bring up key aspects to this. If the team is on a run of form and may be able to clinch the title in the next game, warning about complacency or encouraging the team may stop them from getting sloppy where as young players can do this. Having an ability to stop it somewhat is a manager's job and this power should be included in FMH2015 for this reason.
Players also may get unsettled if they haven't played for a while or deserve a new contract, privately speaking to them about issues in which is prompted by the player's assistant would improve the dynamicism in the game and versatility. The only option to stop players being unhappy at the moment is by playing them, offering a new contract; in which shouldn't work on all cases in my opinion, or selling them. Dealing with a player about a variety of issues such as game time - a list of reasons from this such as coming back from injury, placing on the transfer list or training could increase or harm player morale and players who are around him's morale. It can also help make the game feel more personal - is the manager going to brutal and tell him the truth or try and play it off and make him happy? That is only for the player to decide based off of their personality and perceived managerial abilities. As well as offering squad bonuses depending on competition in order to prioritise certain competitions or aims - such as a bonus for winning the Premier League is high where as the FA and Capital One Cups may be low. These can be based on remaining transfer budget and will be restricted to team finances on how many can be put to high. The prioritisation means players; especially greedy ones, will perform better where it matters for the players' aims. With it only being one screen a season and 3 options on 3 settings this will therefore not slow the game down too much.

Away from the interactive element players being named in team of the month and in team of the year for the league and other major cups such as Champions League will add more real life depth and be a nice addition to reward players or teams that play well. Without slowing down the game-play aspect too much. It would also add some visual representation into the game that would make it more appealing for casual players. Similarly at the start of a competition odds to win it and/or media prediction for the competition could help decide early on what expectations are, especially in the first season. If the media predict where the team will come then it can help the player decide what to aim for and how to expect the season to go. Later on in the game it can be a judge of your team's strength as they move up the ranks or look to hold onto their title. Giving who is expected to win in a simple message such as
"Chelsea and Manchester City are both 2/1 to win the Premier League.
Arsenal are predicted to fight for the European places being placed just outside of the favourites at 10/1."
and
"Holders Real Madrid are narrow favourites to lift the Champions League as they edge out Bayern Munich with odds of 5/4.
Odds for Arsenal are 20/1 and expected to make the Quarter Finals at least"
 
Transfers/Loans/Contracts:
The other major issue with the games at the moment for myself is transfers and contracts. While the system has the foundations it is fairly basic. Small things like 2 year loans, signing with an option to loan back, paying for a loan and clauses such as "after 10 goals pay X" are all things that occur in real life but aren't in the Handheld game. Giving more; but handpicked, options would make negotiating with a team or player that just doesn't want to a bit easier. It adds more depth within striking a deal and the player more control without having to overpay. The system could also add more flexibility within striking a deal, if the player signs a youngster adding a clause on that the team get £1m if he plays 10 games can mean if he doesn't develop as hopes the deal is less. Within loans the ability to add a future transfer fee means that if a player you loan does poorly and they want to sign him still then you don't have to have a headache of selling him when no one wants him, it could also work the other way too. If both parties agree and a player does well for the player then they can sign him without the raised prices due to the loan.
Using a few select clauses would help the game a lot, however overdoing it would mean it can be difficult to negotiate and be a headache for casual players; in which the game has lots of. The balance would be key and in my opinion the following should be added for transfers/loans.

Transfers -

• Loan Back
• Pay X after Y games

Loans -

• 2 Year Loan
• Loan Amount
• Future Transfer Fee

For contracts I feel this area could be improved as well and heavily influence the player's abilities when it comes to getting that player to sign despite him not appealing willing at first. Using clauses such as yearly wage rises means younger players won't get as unhappy or request ridiculous wages as it will scale up as their involvement should get more. Though anymore and I feel the game may become too complicated for a more casual player and there will be too much to consider to negotiate quickly.
Contracts -

• Yearly Wage Wise (percentage)

However in contracts and for the team as a whole sometimes a player values themselves too highly when in reality he isn't that good. The way to solve this? Player Squad Roles. While this will update every season automatically players can be assigned them in their contracts or manually changed at any time/asked to change. If you don't want to transfer list a player but want him gone changing his status to unneeded may make him unhappy but show that he is available. If a youngster is asking for a ridiculous wage then lowering his role when signing a contract may make him reconsider the wage by giving him a "Hot Prospect" role instead of the "Rotation" he wants. It can work in the reverse though, a player may request a role change or if that role isn't being fulfilled he will get very unhappy and demand to be played more or ask to be sold.
 
Tactics:
While tactics are good on FM Handheld 2014 more tactical options is something I yearn for in 2015. The engine is great already but adding Sweeper Keeper to give more options for the goalkeeper to reflect the real life play styles a bit better. A Roaming Playmaker is often confused with a deep lying midfielder and be a more defensive alternative to an advanced playmaker that will work better for 2-man central midfields. Also an Anchor Man to just sit and hold would provide a purely defensive midfield role that isn't aggressive to give more options on how the player sets up. Trequarista's also need dropping back to AMC too, they can occupy this in real life and often sit behind drifting around looking for space and the only AMC role that does this is the INF, allowing a very creative player to drift and not just stick to a rough space like the APM means very creative players can be harder to mark and reap rewards, however it will also cause defensive problems if done wrong, making it a gamble.

Along with the three new roles defining a mentality for it would be huge change to the system but help a lot with balance. If you want a BWM to sit deep then having it on a "defensive" setting would allow this and shape the team up to what the player imagines more. It would also influence the game's tactic engine to be a bit harder getting the right balance. However for the 1 extra screen when selecting the role to choose between (not always the case depending on role and position) but defensive, balanced, attacking would give players more in depth instructions of the job on the pitch and make the player consider balancing the team more.
 
New Leagues:
Lastly an obvious one - one or two new playable nations. While piracy is rife in some countries it is getting better with Russia selling over 100k copies of FMH2014. Adding two leagues will help players get less bored of the game waiting for the new one and die hard fans of the series will have somewhere new to explore giving the game even more appeal. In my opinion the following seems likely as some nations; USA, are desirable but have difficult rules which mean implementing won't be straight forward. Adding one or two of these will attract recurring users from all over the world.

• Argentina
• Russia
• Sweden
• Turkey
• Ukraine

Thank you for reading what I desire in FMHandheld 2015. While 2014 was a great game and the series evolves every year I feel the game with these improvements would be a huge stepping stone forward in how a manager operates within the game. These are all my opinions on improving the game significantly with audience in mind as well as going forward for the future off the back of these. I hope you found the list realistic in terms of what you think can be done and the additions desirable. Please feel free to comment your opinions below. Thanks.

Summary:

• A new media section dealing with news and transfer rumours as two options as well as a commenting system.
• More questions being asked by the media in news such as building hype to big games and asking questions about transfers
• Team of the Month/Team of the Year
• Media Predictions for Competitions
• More clauses for Transfers, Loans and Contracts including Loan back clause, Additional fee for X appearances, Loan Fee, 2 year loans, Future fees and Yearly wage rise.
• 3 New Roles and 1 Modification - Anchor Man, Roaming Playmaker, Sweeper Keeper and Trequarista ability in AMC.
• Roles having Defensive, Balanced or Attacking Preference depending on position
• 1 or 2 new playable leagues from the following: Argentina, Russia, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine

This post has been promoted to an article

[Ashez]

The news stuff is something i doubt will ever excite me, tbh it just slows the game down and i skip right passed all of it now a days. I'd like to say i'd like it more if it was more useful but i'm unsure.

The transfer stuff i completely agree with but it would have to be done right, for example the bidding wars. It was a great new feature but on it's release it was frustrating and broken, thankfully various patches fixed the issue. In short i'd love these additions but they'd have to work and not be too time consuming to get deals done, in fairness i'm happy with the current system but these improvements would make it better.

I've been craving for these roles for years, especally the sweeper keeper so this better happen, the tactic side of the game has gotten rather boring for me compared to my PSP days as i we have no freedom, obviously i'd be delighted if the tactic engine actually worked this gen!! I'd also like a position space between CM and RM, a central player that also offers width like Henderson does as i'd found none of the current roles do this.

The new leagues is a must and it has to be a big one like one of the ones you mentioned, no more mickey mouse leagues! 14 died early for me and alot of the problems were i was sick of the available leagues. However these leagues must be added correctly for example Russia have signed some amazing players like Hulk while Turkey also has the money for big names and we must be able to do this! Tbh if FMH15 has no new leagues i can't see myself lasting long as 14 has grinded me down, then again i've thought that before and i bounce back! Without a new league though FMH will struggle compared to Pokemon and Smash Bros which are in the same window .

Great work Dec.

[samhardy]

Really enjoyed reading that Dec, great article. Especially like the ideas you came up with in the media section as I feel the news headlines etc have been the same old year in year out and it needs freshening up. Certainly think there should be more excitement building up to big matches, and when a big transfer goes through, instead of just ''Fans celebrate signing of Costa''.

I think the extra transfer options would add a great deal to the game and would make a bigger difference to the market, as at the minute only the fee gets taken into consideration, the sell on percentage really doesn't make much difference with the clubs to be fair.

Would love to have the extra tactical roles in and also feel extra mentalities should be added in, an example being park the bus when trying to defend a 1 goal lead in the champions league final.

With the leagues the Russian league is the only one that interests me from what you said, also think they should consider removing some of the leagues that don't get much attention.

A very good read

[Dec]

Thanks for the comments guys.

Sorry you don't agree Ash, maybe more variety and interaction then the optional rumours would make you feel otherwise and not just skip? But then the media page would be optional anyway.

[Ashez]

I'm not sure tbh, it's an idea that doesn't get me excited yet i'd like it to be improved at the same time. I guess the problem could just be that as it's not changed i've had no need to pay attention, however i play the game for the transfers and the matches so i'm normally rushing to get my next goal scored .

[AlexP]

Great article and ideas. More player roles are something I'm hoping for and was what I put on the FMH 2015 wish list.

[Sheedy]

Good article. I'm not into the news stuff but can appreciate how many people would enjoy it. More leaguea is certainly achievable - a two-stage data download at the start would allow people with older devices to still play the core game.

However, if they want to do something radical, they should take a leaf from FMHVibe's book and have an option to create our own Super Leagues. That one addition alone would be brilliant and allow endless replayability.

[hosam274]

my suggestions for football manager handheld 2015 :

 

* you can set a friendly matches with other teams before the season start

* you can set tickets price for home / away matches and the money you get from fans will be added to the club budget 

* you can add more stadium capacity by paying from the club budget

* add the day and the time to match in fixtures list 

* online mode 

 

* sorry for my bad english

[samhardy]

Miles said that online mode won't be in FMH15 due to the devices not being powerful enough. The only one of your ideas that interests me is creating the friendlies tbh as the other ones are usually up to the club chairman (such as setting ticket prices) and it wouldn't be realistic for a manager to decide that.

[vcadu92]

I read that few days ago but couldn't answer from my mobile phone.

I read it carefully and I must say that your ideal release is made of realistic ideas which are very interestic. You offer us a good view of what would be a very improved FMH but I was wondering these days of what we could really expect?

 

To my mind, each improvements you told about is possible and improving, but do you think -Dec and others- that we could have such a release? Last year we, SI offered us a release with many improvements. Would it be better this year? You give many examples of what could be in an ideal release, but how can we rate what we expect among what you said ? 10% of these features will be in the official release, 50%, 70%?

 

Personally, I think every improvement you said is possible but they are not if they are too many. I mean I think that maybe SI will more focus on News and media for instance that a little on news, media, transfers, new leagues, tactics etc...

I think we can expect several important features belonging to one or two aspect of the game only + several minor in others. And no one major in each aspect.

 

Plus I don't think there will be new leagues. That is what I feel even if I'd love to play in a new league. Every year we hope, Argentina, USA, Russia and so on, but except when we got Brazilian leagues, we only had "minor" leagues (I don't want to offense) like Welsh, N-Ireland, and Irish leagues (even is it was interisting to make one or two game with).

 

 

my suggestions for football manager handheld 2015 :

 

* you can set a friendly matches with other teams before the season start

* you can set tickets price for home / away matches and the money you get from fans will be added to the club budget 

* you can add more stadium capacity by paying from the club budget

* add the day and the time to match in fixtures list 

* online mode 

 

* sorry for my bad english

 

 

 

The 1st and the 4th seem essential to my mind.

Then I'd love to have WC matchs by day on a week like in real life rather than every match at the same time.

[JamesCR7]

my suggestions for football manager handheld 2015 :

 

* you can set a friendly matches with other teams before the season start

* you can set tickets price for home / away matches and the money you get from fans will be added to the club budget 

* you can add more stadium capacity by paying from the club budget

* add the day and the time to match in fixtures list 

* online mode 

 

* sorry for my bad english

-That would be cool

-They usually are put in other aspects of the club irl

-That would be weird, because your money (Club Budget) is for playing staff)

-Actually if you see closely they have AM and PM

-Already confirmed that its not being added

 

-Your English is good

[Lee-Roy]

Well done Dec, you've just described the perfect game! Honestly, to have all them new features and options I'd pay as much as £10-£15.

A mentality for individual players is an answer that's never clicked in my head before. A BWM who is defensive and sits in front of the back line ready to do battle with an attacker is a huge difference to a BWM who will seek out the opp and try to take the ball from them.

I'd like to think 15 will be a big game that we'll keep us thinking and gave us a better experience than 14, after all we've given more than enough suggestions in the wishlist and this summary puts all the best in one place handy for anyone to read

[rbtsimmons]

3D match engine!

[Dec]

3D match engine!

Not realistic though..

Thanks for a the comment guys .

[Alari]

 

 

Russia selling over 100k copies of FMH2014

 

I don't know where this speculation comes from (no figures have been made public and none will be for the foreseeable future) but IMO this is likely to be far from accurate.

[Dec]

Alarm - Apparently it is on the Google Play Store in Russia

[UKFootballScore]

Any confirmation on that?

[HM94]

Alarm - Apparently it is on the Google Play Store in Russia

I can't find anything on the internet. Do you have more info?

[Dec]

Says here - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sigames.fmh2014&hl=ru

[UKFootballScore]

Oh I thought you meant FMH2015 haha Christ!

[Alari]

This is an incorrect interpretation of that figure. For instance, look at the Google Play store in Estonia: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sigames.fmh2014&hl=et

[Dec]

Is that overall then Alari?

[Alari]

I'm not sure of the exact use of this field, tbh it's so vague it's probably best viewed as an indicator of relative popularity of apps rather than trying to draw any sort of meaningful data from it.

[Dec]

Ok thanks for the heads up Alari. I am hoping your silence on the rest of the article means it it all entirely possible and some may be included .

[Prevalence]

I think that all of your suggestions are excellent, Dec. I am most excited about the tactical improvements (individual player mentalities etc..). However, one of the things that I find most frustrating about FMH is the difficulty in ascertaining why a tactic does/ does not work. FMH 2014 made token efforts to address this by giving us the Coach comments (midfield supported attack well, clinical finishing etc... ), and making match stats for a given match available throughout the season.

If they do increase tactical options, working out exactly what is going on will become even more difficult (as you said in the OP).

With this in mind, I think a good deal of work should have gone on the 2D match display. Viewing reliable match highlights would go a long way to ameliorating this difficulty IMHO.

[ddarko]

so what you guys think now when all features has been revelead?

[Dec]

You can see people's views here

[Ashez]

With what we know so far Dec what are you thinking? Your ideal release looks like fan fiction compared to the real features so what are your views?

[Dec]

I can totally see where SI are coming from. The 2D engine did need improving and I bet it took most of the year as they said it was completely new. Of course media and what I listed is still needed, I would have liked a new league or two however I see this year as a set up to push on. Using more powerful devices now than what they saw previously we can probably expect 2016 to really be unlike what 2014 was and so much better due to the foundations laid here. The Scrapbook and Editing idea sounds amazing too in theory, we've wanted an editor for a long time that is official. I hope it doesn't disappoint.

I do want the features in this to still make it in the game but if they do this for 2016 then 2014 will look so primitive due to what was set out this year. Really improved 2D is always on the list, I could have listed that, an editor and an improved UI.