An absolute outrage. The only developer was supposedly sick. I only have one thing to say: If you can breathe, you can work. Everything else is refusal to work. Anyway ... after his little “vacation”, he finally got back to work – and, even more importantly: He implemented my ideas. And quite a lot has actually happened. The basic design has finally grown up and we now have a completely new Headquarters. The old one was awful anyway. If he had done what I told him from the start, he could have saved himself this entire round of extra work. But fine. Some people simply have to make their own mistakes.
The squad overview finally works the way it is supposed to. And the developer has actually managed to solve one of his bigger problems: putting the player portraits together. The images are not simply one finished picture. Instead, several different layers are combined in-game to create a single player portrait:
Head
Shirt
Background
Club badge
Sponsor logo
Everything can be replaced individually. A player changes clubs? New shirt. New badge. New sponsor. The player himself stays the same.
I have to admit: He actually did a pretty decent job with this. Although ... from time to time, you could hear things coming from his office like: “THIS DAMN AI LIED TO ME! WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!” or “THE HEAD LOOKS LIKE SOMEONE LET ALL THE AIR OUT OF IT!” Very professional. But anyway. The squad is done. With statistics, important player attributes and a much clearer presentation. You can actually look at it now without suffering.
The lineup has also been completely reworked. Players can now simply be grabbed with the mouse and dragged to another position. Or dropped onto another player. Or moved directly onto the bench. Drag & Drop. Done. Sounds obvious? It wasn't before. His first version was ... let's call it ... educational. You learned how to deal with frustration.
Now the whole thing is much faster, more intuitive and more user-friendly. About time.
Now things are getting interesting. You can finally hire coaches – and they are not just decoration. Depending on their abilities, the team benefits in different ways. A good coach gains experience faster, makes training more effective and provides more training opportunities. That means your players can develop faster and improve even further. In short: Better coach = better training = better players. And because one coach obviously wasn't enough, the developer went ahead and added a pool of more than 80 coaches. More than 80. The man really has no concept of moderation.
But I have to admit: Most of them look surprisingly authentic in their portraits. Almost as if they actually know something about football.
Almost.
Money! Finally, we are talking about something important. From now on, you can sign sponsorship contracts for your shirt and advertising boards. Probably because our club finances desperately need all the help they can get. The developer claims there are now more than 100 sponsors. More than 100. Oioioi.
At least it finally brings some money into those chronically empty club accounts.
And then the developer came along with his next brilliant idea: Stocks. Why? No idea. Apparently, he wants to play stockbroker on the side now. I think it is completely unnecessary. He insisted. Fine. You can now trade stocks.
And because that obviously wasn't enough, you can also buy real estate. Real estate! In a football manager! For what exactly? So we can earn a little rent? Pocket change. I think the developer had a little too much time to think during his “vacation”. But if you absolutely want to build your own little financial empire ... go ahead.
The start of a new career has also been reworked once again. More atmosphere, more presentation and more of that feeling of: “Okay ... just one more match.” Starting a new game should finally feel like the beginning of an actual managerial career – instead of filling out an insurance form.
Because that was about how exciting it felt before.
The Dashline. What's that? Simple: The dashboard now has its own customizable line that every manager can set up however they like. You can choose from various key figures that will then remain permanently visible in Headquarters. For example:
current team strength
league position
average home attendance
other important club statistics
And the whole thing can be customized even further. But now we get to the part the developer is especially proud of: Quick Links.
Take your league position, for example. It appears in the Dashline. Click it – and the current league table opens instantly. No unnecessary searching through menus. One click – done. This also works with other suitable statistics. The developer is particularly proud of that one. I'll give him this one. ... Even though it was obviously my idea. That's it for this update. The developer can get back to work now. I've already got the next ideas waiting for him. And this time, I really hope he listens first.
Until the next update.
Don Caffeone
Coach & Manager · The Client behind Crazy Fußball-Manager