Football Manager Live

Format PC

Developer Sports Interactive

Publisher Sega

Genre MMO, Sports

5 Comments

The idea is as simple as it is brilliant. The pick 'n' mix playfulness of fantasy football crossed with the devilish detail of the Football Manager series. It's got such potential and obvious appeal that it almost reeks of some cynical marketing meeting: "Guys, I just want to say this: 'FML, the MMO that's a new USP for our key IP!'"

But no. Rather like the bedroom-coded origins of Sports Interactive's first title - the genre-reviving and defining Championship Manager - the genesis of Football Manager Live is something much more personal. After working for years at Sports Interactive ever since leaving school, Champ Man's co-creator Oliver 'Ov' Collyer decided to take a break from it all and go travelling.

"When I came back," explains Ov, "I was deciding what to do next, and knew that the dev team had carried on fine without me being there. I did some writing, of words and music, but didn't find it as fulfilling as making games.

"But the team had got a lot bigger at SI on FM," continues Ov, "and I prefer working in smaller teams, so I came up with the basic concept for a massively multiplayer football management game for a more casual player, but one that the hardcore players out there would enjoy too."

Sports Interactive were more than happy to welcome Ov back into the fold with his new project. "I was really excited," says Sports Interactive MD, Miles Jacobson. "It was just going to be him and one other to get it to prototype stage, and for me, just having him back in the office was a bonus enough, let alone the possibilities that the game could bring!"

That team of two set to work and early code was up and running a couple of years ago. In keeping with Ov's aversion to big teams, there's now a grand total of four coders on FML, with another on the way, plus one artist shared with Football Manager Handheld.

By the time Football Manager Live was announced last April, a none-too-shabby pre-beta was working, with a game world of just under 100 players. Right now, there are three beta worlds, two with 500 players each and one with 1,000, and the FML that we'll all be able to play in 2008 is taking shape.

The core of the game remains true to the initial concept, giving gamers the vast database of players from around the world to fight over, then letting them pit their chosen teams against each other in the excellent match engine taken, like the database, from the always reliable Football Manager.

The fantasy element takes after the original Fantasy Football, where managers bid against each other for players - well, for Alan Shearer, when he was in his pomp - rather than the now more prevalent Sun DreamTeam approach, where every team could, in theory, feature the same 11 players.

The dynamics of how such a game world will work has evolved as the beta testing has gone on. "We needed some kind of organised competitions in the game," explains Ov, "and also noticed that groups of people were playing at different times. So it was important to give people the chance to play competition matches at a time that suited them, so the federations were born."

These function in the same way as national football associations do in real world football, running a league structure and arranging cup competitions for its members,
as well as local rules regarding player loans, deadlines by which matches must be completed and prize money.

"A full federation with highly regarded teams will get more media money (which becomes prize money) than a federation with lesser teams," says Ov, "so we've tried to mirror real life in the way they are set up." In the game world that we've tested, there are also inter-federation competitions, pitting the top-placed sides of each league against each other in a kind of pseudo Champions League, UEFA Cup and Intertoto Cup campaigns.

The alpha and early beta of FML was succeeding in mirroring real life football in another way that SI hadn't exactly foreseen - money was ruining it.

"It was possible for teams to have earned millions in cash after just a couple of seasons," expands Miles, "and it was becoming far too easy for those teams to get all the best players, and afford huge wage bills. This meant that those users were getting a bit bored, and the lower users were finding it too hard, so were losing interest."

And so this has led to a financial system where all teams start with a set budget to buy players with, and their initial squad can't have a wage bill of more than £100k. "You are now starting off as a Championship quality team," explains Miles. "No longer are you able to sign Ibrahimovic or Berbatov to play alongside a bunch of 15-year-olds. It's now more about the long-term play, and improving steadily."

Playing the beta, it's clear that more established teams who've been playing for months will have one or two star players among them, while many sides will have players whose names are at least familiar, if not household. "It should be an achievable goal to have a big name, rather than a right," claims Ov. "A new football club doesn't get to sign Ronaldinho, so why should they be able to in a computer game?"

With income streams ranging from game world ranking points, federation, league and cup competitions, to pay-to-enter gamer-organised competitions and leagues, as well as individual wagers on matches and profits from transfers, managing the cash flow looks to be just as important as managing the team. But while the money matters are taking time to get right, on the pitch FML already works like a dream.

The matches have all the convincing ebb and flow and all the excitement we've come to expect from Football Manager, with the added bonus that the make-up of the side is all your own doing, and they're playing in your own way. If anything, victories feel that bit more personal, and all the sweeter for some banter with the opposing manager in the chat box as you both watch the match.

For some, it's just got too personal, however, and it seems not every gamer on the FML beta has been full of the Corinthian spirit - the words 'Abuse Will Not Be Tolerated' appear in red at the start of every match. "A profanity filter is going to be very important!" laughs Miles, and a few people have even been banned from the beta for crossing the line once too often. Other types of transgressions have seen some gamers discover exploits and, well, exploit them. Until they're spotted, that is.

"It's been a bit disappointing to see some people exploit over and over again, rather than reporting it," admits Ov. "Some people seem to think it's funny, which is quite sad."

A usability study is planned for early in the New Year which may see elements such as an advisor that mirrors FM's Assistant Manager function added, along with hints and tips, but Miles would prefer it if this "was handled by the more experienced users helping out the less experienced ones, as it will increase the feel of community." And while some the best bits of FML are straight out of Football Manager, Ov is wary of wholesale borrowing from their opus.

"What we have to be careful about is to not add too much," he states. "There are some features in FM that the hardcore FM guys might want in FML, but could also put off the more casual player if they are forced to do them, so that kind of stuff won't go in."

Football Manager Live is genius. The beta is proving to be accessible and playable in short, one-match bursts or night-long sessions. And with a year in game lasting 28 days, coupled with annual player development (or decline), FML's long-term challenges are promising.

Given Football Manager's fanbase, this has the potential to be one of the most massive MMOs out there, possibly attracting millions of players worldwide. Pricing has yet to be finalised, but we expect the game to be very cheap or even free, and demand a low monthly fee. Brush up on your tactics and formations now - this one's going to be huge.

PC Gamer