It is no secret that we have been working on improving the match simulator for a couple of months now.
The simulator is probably the most important part of ManagerLeague, and every single change requires a lot of testing, verification and quality assurance.
It is with great pride that I can announce the following:
The new simulator will be launched next season.
Before I go into the specifics you might want to know, let me start by saying THANK YOU to all the eager testers on our development-server.
Countless hours have been spent on testing, tuning, double-checking, reporting problems and analyzing reports.
Also, the testers have been able to submit their own suggestions to new commentary, which worked out pretty well.
Thank you, you know who you are!
The new simulator is actually the 9th version. It has been more than 6 months since our last simulator upgrade, but never before have we done so many changes, added so much new code, and sorted out so many issues as we have this time.
I have to admit, it was "sad" to discover a number of "bugs" in the simulator that have been with us for a LOOOONG time, but of course it was good that we found them and fixed them.
A number of imbalances have also been corrected, and I am confident that everyone who ever read a match-report will notice the difference.
For those curious about numbers, I can reveal that the simulator-cde has grown from 5.000 to 6.500 lines of code, which tells you something about how much we have done.
The average match-report has grown about 28% in size too, due to the added details and better explanations.
Here is a list of the changes:
- Players are now aware of their position and their surrounding area in a completely new way (Perception helps here), allowing them to make much more sensible decisions than before.
- A number of simulations have been completely rewritten, and this point has taken a lot fo time and yielded good results.
-- Corners, Throw-ins, Crosses, Solo-runs and Penalties are some examples of simulations that have been almost 100% rewritten, using different stats in a more realistic and fair way.
-- You are no longer likely to see the left defender take a throwin and throw it to the right winger, to put it like that...
-- You will see corners and free kicks resulting in both red cards, penalties etc, if a foul is committed inside the 16 meter line
-- I have been able to tune the throw-ins down a bit, when it comes to how many goals they lead to
-- And corners have been "improved" in the opposite direction.
-- The part of the simulator dealing with SHOTS and HEADINGS have been adjusted with more realistic stat-usage.
- All events are now simulated using more logic, more realism, and providing more information than before.
I.e., in stead of just reading about a "poor pass", you might now see that the pass was ok, but the receiver was positioned wrong, or timed his run poorly.
Which reflects what actually happened, i.e. he might have failed his Perception or Speed check in the simulator.
You will also notice that the simulator will now tell you if it is a "cross" or a "pass" when the ball is passed from the side of the field and in towards the middle, depending on whether it is on the ground or in the air.
- Cards and penalties are now handed out after explaining WHY and HOW.
- The new solo-runs will also let you know WHICH players were passed, and how, not just "he must have passed 3 defenders"
For instance:
Rolf Gjelstad with the ball now, trying to get around Yebda.
That's some fancy moves by Rolf Gjelstad and he leaves Yebda wondering what happened!
Rolf Gjelstad only needs to take on Luisão before he is alone with the goalie!
That's a great tackle, on the ball, and the attack is averted.
- Another thing that has been completely redone, is what we called "rebounds" (a shot or a header hitting the crossbar, the post or the goalie, to bounce back out into the playing field)
This was not even possible before, and can lead to some rather amusing situations..Here is an example where a rather special off-side situation occurs as well:
Excellent pass by Eric Abidal to Zlatan Ibrahimovic!
Zlatan Ibrahimovic shoots!
It hits the goalie and bounces out again!
Louis Mckay tries to intercept! But he is too late!
Chris Killen on the rebound!
A dangerous header by Chris Killen and it seems to be on target!
He hit the post!
Louis Mckay tries to intercept! But he is too late!
And Chris Killen picks up the rebound himself!
But the linesman has his flag up!
A nice try, but you need to make sure you are not caught off-side in these situations.
(Chris Killen was in an offside position when the initial shot by Ibrahimovic took place, in case you wondered about that one)
- Substitutions of banned players are now printed more correctly in the match-report, to show that they happen BEFORE the match begins.
- We have also added some 266 new lines of commentary to create a more interesting match-report to read.
You will now see things like match openings, with a certain degree of variations:
It seems we are ready for kickoff now, in this classic match between CSS Pinhal Frades and The Spinners.
The spectators are starting to get impatient while waiting for things to happen here.
KICK OFF
- A number of ancient bugs have been removed in the process of course.
-- The reported Penalty Shootout bug (Where the same player would shot twice in a row) has been fixed
-- The mysterious "Nice throw by X to Y" and then nothing happens, has been fixed.
-- A number of cases of giving a performance-adjustment to the wrong player have been fixed.
-- A "flawed" way of dealing with fitness-loss has been corrected, see below.
-- A player will no longer lose fitness if just playing in the Penalty Shootout of a match.
Here, it is important that I go into details on two things that may affect your use of EVENTS
* 1) Penalty Shootouts
In addition to fixing the bug, we have now made it possible to control who takes all 5 penalties in a penalty shootout.
Penalty shootouts will now IGNORE you selected penalty-taker (who will still take the normal penalties), and rather let the "frontmost player begin, and then move backwards". So, the player in position 11 will start, followed by #10, then #9 and so on.
The great things about this, in combination with setting up one or more EVENTS that will be triggered after 120 minutes, is that you can shift your players around so that you position your selected players in the last 5 slots of the team.
* 2) Fitness-loss
In the new simulator, Fitness-loss has been bugfixed in a few places, and practically been rewritten for more realism. The important thing to notice here, is that the effect of getting a "fresh pair of legs" onto the field has more effect than it used to.
So it will now make more sense to swap in a couple of substitutes towards the end of a match, even if they are in theory somewhat worse (lower stats) in attributes.
So, thats pretty much it, except for the countless small details that have been tuned for improved realism. I am quite confident that these changes will affect the game in a very positive way, and I am very pleased we were able to get rid of several old issues that have been haunting the simulator for a looong time.
The only possible issue I am a tiny bit worried about, is the new fitness-loss calculation, which of course is a very vital series of calculations that can affect us in different ways, as it sort of controls how many friendlies people can play between league rounds, and hwo difficult it will be for those with very hectic schedules (league-games, league-cup-games, champions league games etc). That said, the new system allows for quick adjustments here, if we find out we have made an error in judgment.
I know many translators are now working very hard to translate all the new commentary for the different languages we support, and I hope as many of them as possible will manage to complete their tasks before the season-change. We will not delay the new simulator any longer just because some languages are not ready in time, so this might mean that some of our users playing with a language that isn't complete, will see some lines in the match-report in English. If this affects you, contact MissSpoons in the game and see if she needs your help to translate your language.
All the best for next season, and I hope you will all enjoy the new coming simulator.
Just to be absolutely clear: The new simulator is NOT running now, but it WILL be running in the coming season!
Your devoted developer
Spinner |
Written by Spinner 11:37 22/10 2008
This article has been read 9593 times. |
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| By : Razzvy | Good job | 11:45 22/10 2008 |
 | Looks like we`re gonna have some fun next season  Good job Spinner ! |
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| By : Mr Santos | Good jog once more .... | 11:51 22/10 2008 |
 | Very good job to every one!!
God job Spinner
Congratulations |
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| By : Inno | Awsome | 11:53 22/10 2008 |
| cant wait to see it |
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| By : sjnordby | Nice work! | 11:55 22/10 2008 |
 | Nice work! Looks great!
Alltho i wander if there will be any changes regarding red cards in the game.. It seems to me like getting a red card or 2 during a match doesn't hurt your team's preformance at all later in that match.. |
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| By : Iron Maiden | hmm ...sounds Interesting ... | 11:59 22/10 2008 |
 | Good job there! It seems interesting! Let's hope it works too!
good luck everyone! |
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| By : Skot | yeah... | 12:02 22/10 2008 |
 | i've seen the simulator at work in DEV, it really is impressive especially in commentaries and clearing situations out.
A little worrying, as Spinner said, is the fitness-loss in friendlies. I noticed is a little high... but it will be tweaked i hope.
congrats, great work everyone  |
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| By : Rebels | Woo Hoo | 12:03 22/10 2008 |
 | now i can lose in a whole new simulation great work and please keep it up.
Rebel |
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| By : El Uno | Very nice | 12:03 22/10 2008 |
 | This improvement to the game will now make an already great game even better
Hail Spinner & his team for the job.
-- El Uno |
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| By : E.T.? | changes | 12:05 22/10 2008 |
 | I`m verry glad that you start to change things in M.L.
Keep working on that Spinn !!!
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| By : rituxo | Cheers | 12:06 22/10 2008 |
| Gooood Jooobbb
Congratulations |
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| By : Mr Kaizer | Well done! | 12:09 22/10 2008 |
 | Great work! |
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| By : smörjan | nice changes | 12:16 22/10 2008 |
| I think that be nicer to read the match report |
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| By : biskup alonzo | Good Job! | 12:30 22/10 2008 |
 | Let's start new season immediately..LOL..congratulations d00d.. |
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| By : Harry Potthead | YEEEEEHAAAAAA | 12:38 22/10 2008 |
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THX SPINNER!!! REALLY GOOD JOB!!
...and by the way, the german traslation is done and very good  |
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| By : Arsene Brailovsky | RULES!!!! | 12:40 22/10 2008 |
 | Now I'll win the champions league lol |
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| By : Mattinn | Great Summary, Gratz Y'all | 12:55 22/10 2008 |
 | Thank you everybody for all these great changes.
good luck everybody with their new simulator |
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| By : famousnameless | Yehaa | 12:59 22/10 2008 |
 | thx for all your swet and blood Spinner & Co.
ML is getting better and better...
and yes: the german translation is great! better than the english one 
keep on workin |
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| By : TheChicken | sweet | 13:06 22/10 2008 |
 | Really looking forward to diz |
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| By : BriosaSempre! | puffff... | 13:32 22/10 2008 |
| Sorry, i don´t like changes. I'm against any kind of changes!
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| By : INFOSTORY | Congrats | 13:34 22/10 2008 |
 | Great job there.
Good luck and let's hope that we do not need more impovements |
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| By : Spinner | A little feedback on the feedback... | 13:45 22/10 2008 |
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Alltho i wander if there will be any changes regarding red cards in the game.. It seems to me like getting a red card or 2 during a match doesn't hurt your team's preformance at all later in that match..
This issue has not been addressed directly, but due to certain consequences in the system, the effect of missing a man might be a bit more evident in the new simulator. However, that said, take a look in the real world, and you will discover a lot of team who raise their performance when they get a man sent off, to compensate, which often results in a win. (It actually has a name (some psychology-stuff), what happens, and it occurs more often if the team-mates feel the red card was unjustified and if they feel they have been dealt a very unfair blow. A bit like "It's us against the world, let's get'em!")
Sorry, i don´t like changes. I'm against any kind of changes!
Well, I'm sorry to hear that, and I'm afraid you will be disappointed many times in the future, as we continue to add features, improve design and create more fun.
Good luck and let's hope that we do not need more impovements
Actually, I hope our creativity will keep adding to the game, for a long time still!
You just wait, we have something pretty big coming up in a couple of months
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| By : RobertW | Yes! | 13:51 22/10 2008 |
 | These changes all sound great
Great job! Can't wait to try them. |
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| By : SteveG | looks good | 14:51 22/10 2008 |
 | some good changes in there, always on top of your game Spinner =)
any chance we will ever have a 2d layout of the pitch with markers from where the goals were scored? (been playing too much fifa) lol |
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| By : Uggis | VERRY NICE | 15:00 22/10 2008 |
 | Good Jobbed, It will acctually be verry cool and fun to play or follow the matches now on.
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| By : fameless | wow | 15:15 22/10 2008 |
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Spinner wrote:You just wait, we have something pretty big coming up in a couple of months
tellme tellme tellme
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| By : Perun | good as always | 15:32 22/10 2008 |
 | Just one question (maybe somewhat off topic) as you just mentioned translations to "other languages". How & why you decide to add a new language/player's nationality? |
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| By : Spinner | Languages and nationalities | 15:40 22/10 2008 |
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Just one question (maybe somewhat off topic) as you just mentioned translations to "other languages". How & why you decide to add a new language/player's nationality?
If someone wants to help us translate into a new language, we simply give him access to the translation-tools, and the language is added once the translation is complete.
To add a new nationality, we simply need a list of at least 100 firstnames and 100 lastnames for the country, and we're good to go...
If you wish to contribute, you can email me spinner@managerlea....com (fill in the dots yourself, I'm sure you can guess the missing letters) |
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| By : MacPhisto | nice | 15:42 22/10 2008 |
 | I've seen first hand the changes I and I can tell you two things.
Spinner worked his butt off pulling this one together and the changes really add something important to the game. They are still an open project from my point of view, but it is a significant step forward to this game.
I give it 5 thumbs up
PS: in one of the examples there really was no offside from my players. The linesman wrongly called that offside... i've seen the replay
"Excellent pass by Eric Abidal to Zlatan Ibrahimovic!
Zlatan Ibrahimovic shoots!
It hits the goalie and bounces out again!
Louis Mckay tries to intercept! But he is too late!
Chris Killen on the rebound!
A dangerous header by Chris Killen and it seems to be on target!
He hit the post!
Louis Mckay tries to intercept! But he is too late!
And Chris Killen picks up the rebound himself!
But the linesman has his flag up!
A nice try, but you need to make sure you are not caught off-side in these situations.
(Chris Killen was in an offside position when the initial shot by Ibrahimovic took place, in case you wondered about that one) " |
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| By : Spinner | Hehe | 16:37 22/10 2008 |
| Clearly, the linesman needs a new pair of glasses! |
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| By : Sir Chocolate | Finally | 17:08 22/10 2008 |
 | I have been waitibg for this for a looong time, im happy to finally see some improvements, good improvements it is.
Well done Spinner. |
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| By : Roggbif | What about... | 17:13 22/10 2008 |
| He hit the post!
Louis Mckay tries to intercept! But he is too late!
And Chris Killen picks up the rebound himself!
But Roggbif waves like a maniac with his flag!
Can this work out, Spinner? . |
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| By : sjnordby | reply | 17:22 22/10 2008 |
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This issue has not been addressed directly, but due to certain consequences in the system, the effect of missing a man might be a bit more evident in the new simulator. However, that said, take a look in the real world, and you will discover a lot of team who raise their performance when they get a man sent off, to compensate, which often results in a win. (It actually has a name (some psychology-stuff), what happens, and it occurs more often if the team-mates feel the red card was unjustified and if they feel they have been dealt a very unfair blow. A bit like "It's us against the world, let's get'em!")
I see your point, alltho there's not all teams that have the psycological strength to preform better with 10, or even 9 man on the field.. This varies from team to team.. Maby the team should suffer some fitness penalty if they manage to still keep up the fight for the rest of the match.. This maby dependent of how early in the match he get sent off. (just brainstorming here )
I mean it's a bit strange loosing 3-0 to a team that got both their center backs sent off during the fist 30 mins.. (Yes, it happened to me hehe)
Just a suggestion from my side..
Other than that.. i love your work! |
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| By : Fafonha | ... | 17:32 22/10 2008 |
| (quote)
By : BriosaSempre! puffff... Wed, 22 Oct 13:32
Sorry, i don´t like changes. I'm against any kind of changes!
(/quote)
:O What the.... Dude, evolution/improvement must be part of every single "thing". Just remember that, without it, you'd still be using 56K. (and i'm only refering to the internet connection, cuz the list was endless)
Changes/evolution/improvements are ALWAYS WELCOME if for better.
Spinner, keep up the good job, and you, better than anyone, know how hard it was to complete it. |
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| By : Mr. Skruf | good work | 17:41 22/10 2008 |
 | this will increase the exsitement and the game will probably get more users instead of people trying one seson and then quit.
and to the next version maybe try giving the players personallity |
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| By : Olaray | Dude, You are twoooo muchhhhh! | 17:49 22/10 2008 |
 | This Spinner of a guy aint just gonna stop until ya gat me totally bamboozled!
Thumb up 4 ya my brother cos I'll vote ya in as the next FIFA president (LOL!!!) |
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| By : sir_neamt89 | great | 18:18 22/10 2008 |
| good now more fun.but i have a question:in my division me and another player we have 21 point and he is first but i have a win in versus matches.i need to be in front.please answer.my team is STEAUA89 |
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| By : Kaiser Soze | Awsome!!! | 18:52 22/10 2008 |
 | Looking forward to the simulator!! Again!
Great work Spinner and staff |
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| By : Mister Buxley | really good | 20:02 22/10 2008 |
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Great work Spinner and the staff.
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| By : Lefter | best 1 | 20:44 22/10 2008 |
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i think this very good for awesome teams. i tried this similator in development server. Maybe had some bugs but this is more better than old 1 |
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| By : MuckingFuppet | Great job | 21:07 22/10 2008 |
 | Now hoping that the emprovement will attract more new players and teams.
After all the lost of 1000 teams that were closed of foul play or other reasons
was quit sad, but needed.
Looking forward to the next season |
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| By : Aleks | almost perfect | 21:30 22/10 2008 |
 | Great job!
Now try to fix the bug in the MLCL knockout stage, it´s not reasonable that the first teams of the groups confrontates another first and not a second one.
Fix this and the game will be near perfection!! |
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| By : Antero Emanuel | Very nice | 21:44 22/10 2008 |
 | i dont have words lol but is very nice |
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| By : Nasrinal | Thats the way ! | 22:48 22/10 2008 |
 | AhaAha, I like it AhaAha
I now the new simulator will be GREAT |
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| By : egilviking | sorry I already wrote it in norwegian | 23:29 22/10 2008 |
| and dont want to translate now ( to tired)
såvidt jeg forstår så vil et lag som spiller kun en (eller 2) formasjon(er) bli stadig bedre i beherskelsen av denne formasjonen. og enkeltspillere som spiller fast ving/back/ sentralt vil oxo bli mer og mer tilpasset og bedre i denne posisjonen + mange andre ting hvor laget/spilleren opparbeider spesifikk erfaring... hva skjer med denne neste år når den nye kampgeneratoren tar over...?
neste sesong starter vel kanskje alle på 0 erfaring når det gjelder erfaringer med formasjoner o.l.
f.ex min 21 åring, egil viking 07 er, og har alltid vært kapteinen min.... virker til å kunne bli en virkelig god spiller.... men jeg er litt redd for at jeg vil slite mer med den mye kampgeneratoren.... jeg som har kommet i siget her nå...og om jeg rykker opp vil jeg kanskje slite ekstra i 4 div pga at jeg da kanskje mister det lille fortrinnet jeg har med at laget mitt pr nå er innspilt/samspilt....?
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| By : Elkjær | Norwegian simulator | 23:39 22/10 2008 |
 | Let's hope that the guys dealing with the norwegian match simulator uses the dictionary a lot more this time. Now there are many bad sentences, and much wrong spelling. Looks like it's done by some 15-year olds... |
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| By : Bård_Willhelm | Suggestion | 23:43 22/10 2008 |
| Good job spinner!
However I have a suggestion for you. It would be nice if we could save two or more line ups......Its a lot of work to change 15 players (twice) each time we want to play a friendly. Probably not the right forum, but ill write it anyhow.
Good luck to all ML players for the next season, and GO SPURS |
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| By : DeFrank | los | 07:42 23/10 2008 |
| Helemaal los
nice upgrade ;d |
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| By : Robban97 | Excellent!! | 10:52 23/10 2008 |
 | Now i,m looking even more forward to next season.
Thanks everybody for the good job you are doing.
Spinner rules
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| By : tascenk | cool upgrade | 11:47 23/10 2008 |
| thanx for u
and fun for all |
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| By : Hobster | Very nice | 12:06 23/10 2008 |
| that's sounds very good the upgrade and I almost can't wait to try it out. the staff are doing a great job and an exellent job.
very nice work spinner and keep changing to the better
can't wait for what's gonna happen in the future with this game .
I love this manager game and will be here long
spinner rules
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| By : Bozo | Very, very nice | 14:17 23/10 2008 |
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By : Bård_Willhelm Suggestion Wed, 22 Oct 23:43
Good job spinner!
However I have a suggestion for you. It would be nice if we could save two or more line ups......Its a lot of work to change 15 players (twice) each time we want to play a friendly. Probably not the right forum, but ill write it anyhow.
Good luck to all ML players for the next season, and GO SPURS
It is not as though you will be pressed for time because you have to watch the Premier League Look in the Suggestions Forum and you will find the reason that your suggestion won't be implemented
The new simulator is excellent Now we hope that Spinner can refine the fitness settings. He has found out how sensitive the settings are so I guess it will have to be very accurate to account for all the types of games we have to play. |
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| By : Robbo | corners & freekicks | 14:46 23/10 2008 |
| How does the system workout if a player taking a corner or freekick is good enough to deliver an accurate cross or shot? Might be an idea to have an indicator on our squads to show who is the deadball expert. |
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| By : Bosmann | Game time | 17:12 23/10 2008 |
 | I regard all improvements and of course always looking for more of them in order to have better game and more fun. Game simulation is probably biggest fun of the entire game. Waiting to see what happend next and nervous reading every next line create a feeling of real suspennse we know when we are watching a real game.
There from I have IMPORTANT QUESTION:
- Do new simulator provides longer simulating time and if not; would be any possibility to do something about that?
I realy would like to see longer game simulation in order to extend the fun.
Thanks |
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| By : Toon1 | wonderful work | 18:38 23/10 2008 |
| well done to the guys who make this possiable to play and my i add the best football manager game on the net, just a quick question how come the transfer fee u have to pay for players can be really high for good quality players and youth players. |
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| By : Man o Month | Nice | 20:13 23/10 2008 |
| great idea! i can't wait till it passes |
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| By : Sammi | Great | 23:00 23/10 2008 |
| Thanks Spinner
Looking forward to the new season now. The changes sound great. Anything that makes it any more realistic is always welcome |
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| By : ivan the terrible | sweet!!!!!!!!!!!!! | 23:13 23/10 2008 |
 | this is gonna be awesome..hope ni blund4rsor last minute withdrawals |
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| By : fameless | ahhhmmm... | 11:02 24/10 2008 |
| what about own goals in ML?
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| By : Henry Chinaski | re: ahhhmmm... | 13:52 24/10 2008 |
 | and what about streakers?? |
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| By : Mr. Big | Din overskrift...Spinner rules!!!!!! | 19:43 24/10 2008 |
 | good luck next season everyone. I know I could use it!!!! |
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| By : imparator40 | good luck... | 13:55 25/10 2008 |
 | im wait now new seasons |
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| By : derek9 | puca | 00:45 26/10 2008 |
 | puca |
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| By : cor2quad | Wow | 14:24 27/10 2008 |
 | Good job!
i hate bugs!!
there are more bugs i think |
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| By : bakarudeen | the best game | 14:38 27/10 2008 |
 | i will wait for the new simulation..
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| By : Sir Haugen | Sounds great! | 10:10 28/10 2008 |
| Im really looking forward to this, Spinner! Every new season we have something to look forward to, great! |
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| By : Alastair | good stuff | 22:12 30/10 2008 |
 | once again gr8 season updates weldone managerleague crew i love the new simulator and penalty updates |
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| By : Thomson | DON'T PLAY FRIENDLIES IN PRESEASON | 15:10 31/10 2008 |
| No one warned me, all my players are dead tired and i have to cancel my cups this weekend.. great start to the season. |
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| By : carstairs | Good stuff Spinner and C.O. | 11:03 03/11 2008 |
| Carstairs the mad scot. YOU BOYS ARE DOING A GREAT JOB . Looking forward to the changes. |
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| By : Peralta | Like always | 07:42 06/11 2008 |
 | Thanks for this great piece of fun, waiting for better in what is great already |
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