FIFA Manager 07 Demo

Control is everything in the world of football management, and this year FIFA Manager 07 provides all the tools you need to make it to the big time.

In the Office: Stay abreast of your career options by keeping an eye on rival teams' interest in you using the new Manager Transfer Market.

In the Dugout: Take your club to the next level with a more detailed transfer system. Sign cooperation agreements with other clubs to share players and resources and take responsibility for your four youth teams.

On the Field: Extend your influence onto the pitch by training a player and taking control of him during matches and by using advanced tactical changes and substitution options on-the-fly.

With an enhanced and user friendly editor system, upgraded player AI and polished match presentation, FIFA Manager 07 boasts stunning levels of realism that will have you sweating it out in your office awaiting the Chairman's dreaded vote of confidence!

Features:

Player Career Mode
When the user joins a new club they have the option to turn on Action Mode. If they go for it they then have two modes they can select, Player Career (where you follow the same player through their career) or Match to Match Decision.

Player Career
The aim here is for the user to train up a pre-selected player, and once they achieve certain targets in training, the user then has the ability to take control of the player in the 3D match. This feature is already proving popular. The manager can also switch to a new player by simply selling or loaning out the current player (or if the player retires). You cannot switch by simply moving the player to the reserves. If the player is injured or banned, you can not play this mode.

Match to Match Decision
This allows you to select different players depending on your Manger rating. All players in the starting eleven and the bench players are listed, but those you cannot control due to a low Manager Rating are greyed out. This will encourage you to try and improve this rating if you want to control the better players in your squad.

In either mode you can not play the goalie, and most people will probably go for strikers in the hunt for glory. Switching between players during the match is not possible.

Gameplay
Unlike the FIFA action game you control one set player so there is not the same amount of action. So for example if you are a defender you should hang back, even if the ball is up the other end of the pitch. You will notice more about the tactics, formations, man marking, offside etc. Initially it will be tempting to run after the ball all the time but your player will soon run down on energy and slow down. You can call for the ball, but do it too often and they will start to ignore you. Also check the different info bars you can have above your player's head, the rating will be a good way to check how well (or bad) you are playing, and they will add post match analysis stats so you can see how you performed in the match. In the post match comments the manager can also comment if you have had a good or bad match. During the game text will appear at the bottom of the screen to represent the coach shouting instructions/comments. There are 10 different comments for this.

Solo will depend more on the radar since you spend a lot of the time off screen (hence defaulting to a high up camera seems might be a good choice).

Manager Career
The new manager transfer market will make the manager career really exciting. The user can always see their status and which clubs would currently sign them.

Club Status When?
Arsenal You are definitely not the first choice. Now!
Liverpool You are one of the preferred candidates. Next Season

Additionally the manager has the option to control the squad of the new team after signing (suggestions for new signings and for selling / not selling existing players).

Transfer Market
The player clearly states his wishes now. Swap deals with up to three players are possible. After the completion of a loan deal, negotiations about an extension or a full transfer are possible.

Youth Team
Managers love to develop their youth players and FIFA Manager 07 will make their dreams come true. The game has youth teams (generated players) with line-ups, match reports and full tables for the various age groups. There are youth days, a youth transfer market, and special international youth tournaments.

Another key area is the extendable international youth camps section. The manager has to compete with other big clubs for the most talented players all over the world. It is possible to hire special head coaches for the camps to get the best players possible.

There are also many little new features. E.g. it is possible to change the name of a new youth player to make it possible to add friends and family members to a running game. There are also special negotiations if a really talented young player is looking for a new club, and finally the manager can win a yearly trophy for the best youth department.

2D Club Grounds
A new Sim City like feature replaces the old 3D club grounds. There are lots of new buildings (about 100 in total) and other options (like building roads).

Cooperation Contracts
It is possible to sign a cooperation contract with either a bigger or a smaller club (farm teams) to exchange players and to give talented players a chance to play.

A satellite club will add a whole new meaning to securing the future of the club. Are certain players showing potential but are not good enough to play in your first squad, put them in the first squad of the satellite club so they can develop into the player you would like them to be. A satellite club also gives you the advantage to have a local youth academy in the country the satellite club is situated. Test new youngsters and train them at the satellite club and simultaneously you can do this for your own club, but you won't be bothered by a huge squad.

Private Life
The private life section returns! The player can now take their own family into the game. As usual, it is all about relationships, children, real estate & cars, and ultimately about your son making it into the first team! New smaller features include personal sponsoring contracts, twins, your partner's character, playing golf and your personal diary.

Playing golf can for example improve or damage your relationship with the chairman.

Stats
The statistics section of the game has more than doubled in size this year. There are about 60 screens with statistical information in the game. New ones include:

- Season Stats
- Scorer Lists International Competitions
- Scorers by Competition
- Overview Team Tactics
- EC and WC Top Scorers
- Cup Tables
- Scorer Lists Youth Teams
- Most Expensive Players
- Manager with Longest Stay
- Etc.

3D-Match
Probably most realistic 3D match engine in a manager game has been improved even further. We use the UEFA Champions League 2005 engine with improved AI, a free camera, and the option to save highlights and to exchange them with other players. It's also possible now to play more attacking or defensive with just one mouse click, or to substitute players without leaving the 3D view of the match.

New Text Mode
A new calculation system for the attacks creates an infinite number of possible variations. Fan chants were added and are further extendable by the user.

Videotext Mode
For the first time, the player can watch the matches in videotext mode including the scorers and live tables. Rules for automatic substitutions can be defined precisely.

Instant Calculation
At the moment 30% of our players play the game by calculating the matches using "Instant Calculation". We support these players with a quick videotext mode and an "Automatic Substitution" feature that allows them to define rules for automatic substitutions.

Calendar
Many well-know and new events can be planned in the calendar, such as Short-Term Camps, Open Days and End of Season Parties, as well as Emergency Meetings, Club Anniversaries and Sponsor Days.

Revised Budget Negotiations
These are now divided into two parts. First, the season objectives are discussed and the Board proposes the corresponding budgets. Low season objectives care for job security, but result in low budgets and have to be compensated by special tasks as for example rejuvenation of the team. High season objectives are a risk for the manager but sponsors and the Board will be thrilled and provide you with more money.
In the second round of the negotiations, the final amounts can be negotiated.

During the season, the budgets have to be adjusted up or down when special events occur (Drop out of the Cup, win of the EC). Moving the money between the individual budgets and applying for more money are both possible.

Starting in a higher or lower league
This year, the player can find out how his club would manage in a different league. At the beginning of the game, the player can set the starting league for his club. The players' skills will be adapted correspondingly- this ensures an exciting game!

Smaller Features and Comebacks
Dozens of new features will provide long-term game fun

- Dramatic Cup Draws (including special draws for the European Competitions, EC and WC)
- Extended player talks
- Fan opinions and the options of the FM05- Fan screens return
- Testimonial matches
- Notice about player contracts running out
- Naturalisation of players
- Intramuscular injections for fast recovery ;wrong diagnoses for injured players
- Video proof and appeal against judgements by the sports court
- Performance evaluations of the national team players
- Protest against national team callings
- Championship report at the end of the season
- All clubs can be bought
- Own club can be sold
- Variable difficulty level for selected game elements (training, negotiations etc.)
- Match deferment due to bad weather
- New layout of news including photos and graphics
- Dozens of new events
- Friendlies against really weak opponents
- Footballworld Website
- Evaluation of new signings
- Severe injuries can lead to an end of career
- No automatic end of contract after EC or WC
- National team camps have returned
- National team players can be convinced to return from retirement
- Top performance in the national team will increase the players' value
- Players who might be dismissed from the national team request their lining-up
- More than 100 small improvements in the interface, e.g. typing amounts or selecting amounts by slider or drop-down menu but also major improvements as for example a multiple selection in buying fan articles by pressing CTRL or SHIFT
- Major assistance- for example: 'All players unavailable for sale/all insured/all for sale at market value/cancel all insurance"
- Enhanced player search by position filter
- Better development of youth players
- Original town data for Spain and Portugal in Found a Club mode
- Transfer list filter from FIFA Manager05 is back
- No budgets for founded club
- Training objectives can be set in Player Info
- Players' improvements displayed with arrows such as in FIFA Manager05
- Team of the Day directly after the match
- Decision about shirt number directly after signing a player
- E-Mail report if a youth player has reached his training objective
- Bonus payments can be frozen at bad performance
- More than 10 printing functions for all important lists; from line-up to training; from player search to fan articles
- Certain players get extra training
- Found a club also in multiplayer mode (all players start in the same league)
- Additional instructions for assistants (e.g. do not line-up certain player; do not extend contract)
- Players return to former club, if the transfer wasn't due to conflict
- Interpreters can be hired
- Licensing procedures in other countries
- English version with player ranking (optional)
- All-time table with realistic data
- Youth players of other clubs can be inspected
- Retroactive banning for hidden fouls
- Next season's squad can be inspected
- Reserve team can use the formation and tactics of the first team
- Definition of most important sub-menus; access by right-clicking the mouse
- Bonus on the shirt sales of, e.g. Asia top stars

Team colours
The complete interface is in team colours and the player can randomly change them. Even the exact RGB-colours can be set!

Database
We have added more than 1,000 new player pictures, several hundred new stadiums and several thousand new players.
About 22,000 players (>6,000 of them with player pictures) and 2,400 clubs are in the database. About 1,000 stadiums are created with the internal stadium editor to match the real stadiums all over Europe.

Editor
The editor will have lots of improvements to make life for our fan site editors easier. This includes generating players, clubs and leagues and lots of additional tools for quicker editing. It will be released some months before the game to make sure that the fan sites can edit new leagues and countries very early, and that we have the best possible database when we release the game.

User Created Content
FIFA Manager 07 is totally extendable by the users. This includes the option for a full skinning of the game (see Football Manager). Some of the other new options are:

- it's easy to add new property to the Personal Life section
- we'll release a Match Comments editor
- we'll release a Fan Chant editor
- it will be possible to add stadium pictures to the game
- it will be possible to add chairman and manager pictures to the game
- family pictures can also be added
- skinning of the complete game (colours, controls, etc.) possible
- stadium pictures can be integrated (will be displayed in the background of many screens)
- new badges can be added to the running game
- 3D highlights can be saved and exchanged