Championship Manager 4 - Hold your horses !

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Mon Apr 21, 2003 6:48 pm

Not sure when it hits the shops in the US, but CM4 was released at the end of March here in the UK and has caused no end of arguments. Patched twice already, and still has some major bugs (although I have played it a fair bit and not seen some of the worst)...major patch due at the end of April. Apparently one of the bugs meant that no TV money got doled out..so by 2008 every club in Italy was bankrupt...
 
 Moral of the story...hold your horses, while we beta-test for you <IMG SRC="images/forum/icons/icon_wink.gif">

Neckthai · Post by **Neckthai** » Mon Apr 21, 2003 8:58 pm

Dave,
 
 Thanks for the heads up... I´ll stick to my CM2001/2002 for now, even if I did get the sack from the ´Pool.
 
 Neck

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Mon Apr 21, 2003 9:21 pm

Dave:
 
 Thanks for the tip, mate. CM 4 was a dicey proposition for me anyways, as the demo ran pretty slowly on my 450 mHz P III with 128 MB of RAM.
 
 Bummer, as I was really impressed with the demo. Maybe I´ll have a new laptop by the time the bugs are ironed out.
 
 Ever since I received the game program from you in the mail, the Magpies have been slumping. Can I send it back? Just kidding -- I treasure it. It´s awesome.
 
 Hope all is well.
 
 Take care,
 PK

Post by **Jared** » Thu Apr 24, 2003 2:13 am

Been playing CM4 sporadically (managing DC United) since I got it. Will really dig into it after I finish my thesis (end of the month).
 
 But it is buggy. They tried to make the MLS realistic, but there are still tons of problems (in the other CM4 thread, I lay some of them out). Looks like the next patch will fix lots of problems, though it probably won´t help the MLS much. But outside of the bugs and gameplay quirks, it has the potential to be amazing. Just hoping they fix everything they need to fix.....

RobVarak · Post by **RobVarak** » Thu Apr 24, 2003 7:33 pm

I picked up CM4, but it´s been gathering dust because of all the bug reports.
 
 WE6 is more than enough soccer for the time being. <IMG SRC="images/forum/icons/icon_biggrin.gif">

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Sat May 10, 2003 6:54 am

Just an update for you ChampManiacs out there - SI have just released their third enhancement pack (ie patch) for CM4, and it´s looking a hell of a lot better.
 
 Feedback on the boards is good, so now I can start again..just in time to tide me over the end of the Premiership.
 
 Quick note - the patch is 45mb (with data update) or 13mb without updated transfers.

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Sun May 11, 2003 6:41 am

SF
 
 Tell you in a few hours...it´ll be a sad day, but I guess it´s like leaving home for a bigger and better one.

stattosoftware · Post by **stattosoftware** » Mon May 12, 2003 5:41 pm

Jared writes:
 >
 But it is buggy. They tried to make the MLS realistic, but there are still tons of problems (in the other CM4 thread, I lay some of them out). Looks like the next patch will fix lots of problems, though it probably won´t help the MLS much. But outside of the bugs and gameplay quirks, it has the potential to be amazing. Just hoping they fix everything they need to fix.....
 
 That´s part of the reason I´m focused on creating the USA perfectly with USSM.
 
 If you want a better (not as detailed as CM in leagues and such, but a better managerial experience) try Sick as a Parrot ( <a href="http://www.machoward.com/" target="_blank" target="_new">http://www.machoward.com/</a> ), a very good, underrated game.
 
 CM4 can´t compare to its training and in match tactic capabilities. Still somethings to work on I feel but I can´t stop playing SAAP.

Post by **Jared** » Tue May 13, 2003 8:18 pm

Been playing CM4 with the 3rd patch (EP3). It is a HUGE improvement. I had a review written based on the 2nd patch, but I´m gonna have to completely revamp it due to the 3rd EP.
 
 Most of the major MLS (and other) problems have been fixed. Will post a review sometime next week (I hope), but if people have any questions, I´ll be more than happy to answer.
 
 J

stattosoftware · Post by **stattosoftware** » Wed May 14, 2003 12:36 pm

What were the problems with the mls that were fixed, and what problems are still out there?

Post by **Jared** » Wed May 14, 2003 3:29 pm

Here are some issues that I´ve posted on the CM message boards. I´m just cutting and pasting from there....
 
 1. Teams are allowed to purchase players in other leagues. In CM4, this is only allowed when a player´s contract is expiring (such that there is no transfer fee).
 
 This has been fixed, although for some reason, you can´t buy Joe Cannon (at Lens)...don´t know why yet
 
 2. Computer controlled MLS teams make very few/no transfers. Simmed multiple seasons, and have observed this.
 
 Have only played a half-season in EP3, but MLS squads are much more active on the transfer market.
 
 3. Staff do NOT count as discovery signings. It is otherwise in CM4.
 
 Fixed. Thank god.
 
 4. - Signing players under 23 does NOT count as a discovery signing, according to the MLS website.
 
 Don´t know if this has been fixed yet.
 
 5. - MLS rosters are 24 players throughout the season...there´s no cut to 22.
 
 Fixed.
 
 6. MLS maximum salary is $270,000, not $210,000.
 
 Not fixed yet. I could be wrong about this though...need to check.
 
 7. It is nearly impossible to trade with other MLS teams in CM4. I´ve offered 4-5 of my star players for the worst player on another MLS squad, and I´m consistently denied.
 
 Fixed, sort of. I can trade, although for some reason, my game continually crashes when I get a counter-offer from a team (Chicago) for a trade and try to accept it. Will look into this....
 
 8. MLS squads are allowed to dress 20 at home, 16 away
 
 Not fixed, though not very important.
 
 9. Transitional players (don´t know if it´s been fixed yet...here´s the long explanation from a post by me at SIGames)
 
 I´ve just started my 3rd season of CM4 with DC United. During the off-season, I got rid of one of my Senior International players (Ryan Nelson) so that I would only have 2 Senior Internationals on my roster and could sign another foreigner.
 
 However, late in the off-season, two of my players (Eliseo Quintanilla, age 22; and Mao Jinqiang, age 19) became Senior International. This put me over the limit of 3 SI players, and I had to cut one of them.
 
 According to MLS rules, Senior Internationals are only players that are 25 years or older. Foreigners under 25 are considered Transitional Internationals. Here´s the definition from the MLS website (and here´s the link to this and other MLS player regulations):
 
 
 quote:
 ------------
 Transitional Internationals: Any young international player will count as a Transitional International until the beginning of the year in which they are due to reach the age of 25, at which time they will be re-classified as a Senior International.
 ------------
 
 
 
 So Quintanilla and Jinqiang should not have become Senior Internationals because they are under 25. This is a real problem. One of the potentially fun things about playing in the MLS in CM4 is the ability to build a team of young, promising foreigners without squad limits. This really should be fixed.
 
 Also, is there any ability for players to get green cards (i.e. a second American nationality) in the MLS? Players with green cards don´t count at Senior Internationals in the MLS, and players that have been in the league for a while (e.g. Etcheverry, Valderrama before he retired) didn´t count as Senior Internationals because of this. Is the MLS set up so that foreigners, after say 3-5 years in MLS, get their green card/second nationality? If not, could it be?
 
 -------------
 
 There might be some other problems, but I can´t remember them. Hope that helps. [ This message was edited by: Jared on 14-05-2003 12:30 ]

RobVarak · Post by **RobVarak** » Wed May 14, 2003 7:08 pm

So is the CM4 water safe enough for me to set aside some WE6 time and start a season? I was holding off until they righted the ship, mixed-metaphorically speaking <IMG SRC="images/forum/icons/icon_smile.gif">

stattosoftware · Post by **stattosoftware** » Thu May 15, 2003 11:50 am

Thanks, Jared, that does help. And that´s not bad news for me.

stattosoftware · Post by **stattosoftware** » Thu May 15, 2003 11:51 am

The maximum MLS salary is 285,000, or 10,000$/game. The average salary is around 80,000/yr.