Hi everyone
This month we’ve focussed on responding to feedback about the league/fixture system and making some changes to the way the league system works. As part of this we have added a new Assistant Manager feature to help managers get their matches played. Details on these below.
There’s also some changes to the transfer system to make it more competitive and provide more choice in players, things which many of you have asked for.
We have also started adding in some ‘world building’ content in the form of a variety of Club Ranking metrics. This is something we will continue to flesh out over time.
The game is also now fully localized/translated into both Portuguese and Greek languages.
Assistant Manager - New Feature
All teams in the game will now have an Assistant Manager that will request and play fixtures on their behalf should they fall behind on playing them themselves. The Assistant Manager will let you know of any games that will try to play in the near future by marking the fixture result square on the home screen with an ! icon. If you see this icon and you want to play the match instead of your assistant manager, then it’s best to play it ASAP.
League System Changes
The weekly leagues (Autumn, Winter, Spring, Summer) now contain 12 clubs each rather than all clubs in the whole tier/division being ranked in a single table (but will still play against all teams within their tier throughout the season). Bot clubs are no longer part of the Overall league rankings. The Overall league is otherwise functionally the same. i.e. The Overall league still ranks all all clubs in the whole tier/division against each other and is used to drive promotion/relegation as it did previously.
Transfer System Changes
Highest bidder now pays an amount equal to their bid (rather than paying an amount equal to the 2nd highest bidder).
You are now also able to make a transfer bid for any player in your Scouting Pool for an amount between 50% and 90% of the price you can buy them for (you can still instantly buy any player from your Scouting Pool for their full buy price).
All players in all Scouting Pools for all managers in the game who receive such transfer bids, will be in the Player Auctions list the next day. Other managers will be able to make a Player Auction bid for these players, but the minimum bid for anyone else is equal to 150% of the Transfer Bid amount made by the manager whose Scouting Pool the player was in.
Transfer Bids can be withdrawn before the player is in the Player Auctions list (i.e. the same UTC calendar day they are made). Once the player is in the Player Auctions list the initial transfer bid cannot be withdrawn or changed, nor can the manager make a regular Player Auction bid on any players they made a Transfer Bid for previously.
A variety of some of the best available players in the Scouting Pool will still be identified as ‘Marquee Players’ and they will be in the Player Auctions list in addition to the players who received Transfer Bids in Scouting Pools (although they will no longer be marked as being ‘Marquee’ players, they will simply be extra players in the player auctions list).
From the perspective of managers who did not make a transfer bid for a player in their scouting pool the Player Auctions list is functionally identical to what it was previously (except that it will be a much larger list).
From the perspective of any manager who makes a transfer bid for a player in their Scouting Pool they will sign the player for their transfer bid amount if no other club bids for that player. If any other club bids for that player then the club who bid the most will sign the player.
Club Rankings - New Feature
There is now a leaderboard with the top 5 ranked clubs in the game in each of the 8 ranking metrics. Additionally, if you have an active Supporter Club Membership you’ll be able to see details about how your own club ranks in these metrics, allowing you to get a better idea of your strengths and areas for improvement.
Full Changelog
Assistant Manager - New Feature
- All clubs in the game will now have an Assistant Manager
- Any club managed by a user that does not log in for an entire season (entire calendar month) or does not have an active Supporter Club Membership can be removed from the game during season finishing due to inactivity
- The Assistant Manager will request and play matches on behalf of managers automatically if that manager is behind on playing their matches for the weekly league period
- The Assistant Manager will let you know of any games that will try to play in the near future by marking the fixture result square on the home screen with an ! icon
- If you have any league fixtures with an ! icon. Then you cannot play friendly matches until you have played those league matches
- If you disconnect from a match then the Assistant Manager will take over managing the club for the remainder of that match (i.e. they can make substitutions)
League System Changes
- The weekly leagues (Autumn, Winter, Spring, Summer) now contain 12 clubs each rather than all clubs in the whole tier/division being ranked in a single table
- Bot clubs are no longer part of the Overall league rankings
- Last Season Winners widget on Overall league, now shows 1st, 2nd and 3rd for the overall league (no longer shows Winners of weekly leagues from previous season)
- Bot clubs have been renamed and given more variety of club colours to improve immersion
- Division 5 has been removed from the game (all clubs that would have otherwise been in Division 5 are now in Division 4)
- You cannot be relegated below Division 4
Transfer System Changes
- You are now able to make transfer bids for players in your scouting pool. See above for more information
- Highest bidder now pays an amount equal to their bid rather than paying an amount equal to the 2nd highest bidder (or minimum bid in the case of no other bidder)
- Marquee Players renamed as Player Auctions, and these are no longer tier bound (i.e. all tiers/divisions in the game see and bid on the same list of players)
- Scouting Pool players are no longer tier bound (i.e. all Scouting Pool players shuffle between all clubs in all tiers/divisions)
- In order to make a Transfer Bid for a player you must be able to afford that bid inclusive of the Transfer Fee, Signing Fee and player wages for one month, for both that player as well as all other players in your Scouting Pool you have Transfer Bids made for
- A variety of some of the best available players in the Scouting Pool will also be added to the Player Auctions list each day
- Improvements/balancing changes to player valuation system
- Minimum Purchase price now £10k for all tiers
Match Engine Changes
- Throw-in taker will now wait for teammates to be up on their feet before taking the throwin
- Rushing Out attribute for goalkeepers improved. Higher Rushing Out attribute now sees them move further to get through balls
- Command of Area attribute for goalkeepers improved, they will now claim more corners/crosses
Club Ranking Metrics - New Feature
- A series of 8 club ranking metrics have been added to the game. There is a leaderboard that shows the top 5 ranked clubs in the game for each metric
- Supporter Club Membership feature that you can also see information about your own club ranking in each metric if you have a Supporter Club Membership, including daily and seasonal movements information
- Senior Performance ranking metric added : The performance of your senior team in competitive games
- Youth Performance ranking metric added : The performance of your youth team in competitive games
- Financial Stability ranking metric added : The stability of your club from a financial perspective, taking into account overall wealth, income and expenditure
- Graduate Development ranking metric added : The ability to choose and develop academy trial graduates
- Future Prospects ranking metric added : The prospective youth prospects at the club (including players acquired via the transfer market and academy)
- Squad Depth ranking metric added : The depth of player ability within the current squad
- Club Value ranking metric added : The net worth of the club, taking into account various factors including current bank balance and the value of players currently at the club
- Overall ranking metric added : The overall ranking of a club, taking into account all of the other metrics
Training Points/Ranking Changes
- Players are now ranked across tiers (Training Rank is no longer tier bound)
- Training Points are no longer capped by Determination/Natural Fitness Attributes
- Determination/Natural Fitness attributes now act as a multiplier
- Match result no longer impacts training points directly (but indirectly impacts points because promotion/relegation matters a lot due to the tier multiplier)
- Points calculation is match rating out of 10 * tier multiplier * det/nf multiplier
- Higher training rank matters but there is a large ‘random’ element as well involved, so it’s possible players with lower training rank might get good training options and vice versa
- Training Manager skills rebalanced to take into account these changes (Points they offer increased by x100 fold)
Tutorial Changes
- New users now unlock parts of the game as they complete tasks
- At the moment those tasks are placeholder to just playing matches but the intention is to make it so that each step requires a different task to be completed related to the previously unlocked game functionality
- Players now get a popup notification whenever they receive a cash injection
- There is now a ‘Training League’ outside of the Divisional League system. New users during their first season are placed here once they complete the tutorial (for remainder of their first part season/month). They will be placed into Division 4 at the start of the next season (i.e. for their first full season/month in the game)
Player Metric Changes
- Ceiling value (value in hexagon next to the overall rating) has been refined. The system now takes into account the maximum possible achievable rating dynamically over time. So as a player ages the ceiling rating will typically go down as the player has 'less than perfect possible' training options each season
- Removed quality stars from the game
Localization Changes
- The game is now fully translated into Portuguese language
- The game is now fully translated into Greek language
- Various fixes/improvements to localization system in game
- Language has been reset to English for everyone who had other languages selected (you can go to settings to select the language again)
- If you’d like to help translate the game into your own language please check out the 90 Minute Fever Discord Server for more information
UI Changes
- Design changes to backgrounds
- Design changes to buttons
- Design changes to pop-ups
- Design changes to various other UI elements
Club Logo Changes
- Default logo design changed
- Uploaded logos now only visible if you have an active Supporter Club Membership