CM2 FAQ

1. General Questions
		a. How do the manager points work?
		b. How do I back up games?
		
General
Q. How do the manager points work in CM2?

A. It works as follows below:

Goals in a match 50 units (not points, further calculations to be done)
Shots on target 50 units
Shots off target 10 units
Corners 5 units
Result: W=900, D=300, L=0

Sum of Goals, shots and corners added to result score is multiplied by the standard of the opposition team (1-200, higher is better), then the standard of the competition (1-20, higher is better), then the importance of that round (1-100, higher is better), then it is finally divided by 100000 to get a basic score.
This basic score is increased by adding more if the competition is won (competition standard times 5000), or a final league position (competition standard times 5000 times (total teams in div minus final position plus 1) divided by total teams in div), or promotion (competition standard times 2500), progressing a round gains (competition standard times round importance times 1000, all divided by 100), and then you have the final score to be added on to the current manager score.  (This is all taken from p.8 of the cm2 96/97 manual, but is in an abbreviated formula).

Q. How do I backup my CM9798 saved games ?
A. For 16meg games, save *.s16 files and gamess16.idx. For 8meg games, save *.s8 files and gamess8.idx.

Q. Will SI ever make any other sports sims ?
A. We have often thought about this and always come to the same solution. We just don't have the knowledge or passion needed about any other sport - we think this is one of the reasons why CM games are pretty good because of this enthusiasm for footie. Anyway, we wouldn't rule it out and are making CM3 in such a way that other sports could be used (with CM2 this would have been impossible).

Q. My game crashed after the first season - Why ?
A. It is very difficult to say what the problem could be - it may be that the saved game has become corrupted or there is a system conflict. I would recommend you send an enquiry with an MSD report (check the CM97/98 manual) to Eidos Tech Support team as we do not have the technical knowledge in this area to be of help:
techsupport@eidosnet.co.uk Or if you have been editing the databases this can cause conflicts with the code, which may not come to light until after one or two seasons. Once the game has crashed there is generally no solution. You will have to start a new game and you need to re-install the game first.

Manual Installation:

Try a manual installation. First delete the game completely.
1. create a CM9798 directory on your hard drive
2. copy all the files from the following folders on the CD to your
CM9798directory of your hard drive:
Common\
English\
min\

3. Go to the prompt and your CM9798 directory and type:

cm2e8 (for the 8MB version)
cm2e16 (for the 16MB game)
cm2ed (for the database editor)

Do not edit the databases straight away as editing them can cause crashes. See if the game runs OK first. If the game still crashes please tell us of any error messages when the DOS screen appears.

Also relevant:

1. During installation, if the error message "error - installation failed," check settings and try again then you need to do a manual installation.
2. If you type "CM2";, and the message "out of memory occurs", type "CM2E8" to run the game instead.
3. There is an occasional problem with the checking of available hard disk space, if you get an error saying you don't have enough space, but you know that you have, do a manual installation

Q. Can you tell me what happened to CM-All-stars?
A. Sorry to have to tell you that CM All-stars has been scrapped and will not be released. This is actually probably a good thing as we were not involved in its development whatsoever - it was being done by in-house by Eidos.

Q. How do I get into programming games ?
A. You need to be able to program in C or if possible C++ as these languages are the best nowadays for game development. If you don't know C then I would suggest taking a course in C, or getting some books and teaching yourself - although the games industry is increasingly relying on qualified rather than Self-taught programmers as it becomes a bigger, more professional industry than in the early days of Spectrums and C64s.

In addition to some good qualifications, work on some demos or a sample game. Publishers these days want people who are well-qualified but who also have a creative side.

Q. Can I play CM on a Mac ?
A. There is no Mac version of CM2 - unfortunately it is not our decision - this is up to the publishers and they have repeatedly said to us that it is not worth making one. Personally we would love to see one. We will be making CM3 in a way which will make a Mac conversion easy to do but again it is unlikely that one will be released.

If you would like information regarding the use of CM2 on a Mac with an emulator, Alex Kamilewicz can provide it from:
manc0046@sable.ox.ac.uk - note this address might no longer work (probably doesn't I think the sable.ox.ac.uk server us dead.

Q. I'm using the editor which came with the game, anything special I need to know?
A. Changing certain things in the database can cause the game to crash - such things as entering an incorrectly spelled nationality can cause the game to crash - also deleting certain teams, which link to the in-game code, can cause problems.

Check what you entered (i.e nationalities). Check if there is an error message when the game crashes out - this may give the name of the player with the problem. If all else fails you will have to copy the original databases from the CD again.

Q. Do the scores in the top right of the screen affect calculation time?
A. It is not the displaying that takes the time it is that these games are being processed (i.e. actually played) - this is necessary to the game. The trade off for more players, leagues and teams has been speed - we added the displaying of the scores to make the waiting a little more interesting.

Q. C'mon SI - give us some cheats.
A. Sorry - there are no intentional cheats in any of our games - you can get hints and tips at our web site and many of the unofficial web sites for CM2.

Q. What exactly is the Bosman ruling ?
A. The Bosman ruling is nowadays resulting in quite a few things that no one even dreamed of a couple of years ago. But for cm2, there are two things worth taking in consideration. First, any player from within the European Union and three participants of EFTA (European Free Trade Association) in the EEA (the European Economic Area accord) between EU and EFTA are not to be counted as foreigners when playing in any of these countries. These countries are, as said, EU + Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland. Secondly, after a player's contract with a club has ended, the club cannot charge anything if he leaves in favour for another club. After contract has ended, the player is a free agent, and may do whatever he want to.

Q. Can I change the background pictures in the game ?
A. Yes, you can. Load one of the picture in a graphic viewer of some sort. Notice the number of colours and the exact size. Make you own picture or use/convert another in PCX with maximum 63 colours and the exact same size. Save your picture, and rename it so it overwrites one of the existing background pictures. Now you have changed the background picture. Or alternatively, check out Techcities Picture Archive

Q. CM2 uses 16 bits. How many bits will CM3 use, and why doesn't my Lexmark work in CM9798 ?
A. This is taken from a post from Matt Harbour:

CM3 will be a Windows95+ program. Windows 95+ programs use 32-bit
instructions nothing to do with the number of colours. Previous version of CM, including CM9798 all use 16-bit systems, this is what DOS uses. 32-Bit uses less memory and also runs faster which means an increase in speed in CM. That is why to play a DOS program Windows must open up a DOS prompt which you must close after you have finished it. Also, 16-Bit programs are less stable than 32-Bit and are more likely to crash, that is why if your screen saver comes on while playing CM often a message says that Program Terminated when you try to get into it again. 16-Bit programs use DOS printers, so that is why a Lexmark printer will not work properly.

Q. Updates ? They're everywhere !! But how do I use them ?
A. When you download it, open the Zip file. When it asks where to Extract it to, choose your Championship Manager Directory. When it asks if you want to over-write anything, select yes. Start a new game, and voila !! Most updates need the patch, this can be obtained from Techcities (See 3.1). Run Patchzip.exe, and that will be done, information on this can be found at Sports Interactive.

Q. What does "X" mean in the editor which came with CM9798 ? (Replace "X" with a field-name.)
A. If you read Edithelp.doc or Edithelp.txt, you will find out how to use everything in the database editor. If you are referring to "Gender" then we think this could be how different countries produce "The" in sentences.

2.2.2  CM9798:

A lot of questions have been asked on which is the best formations or tactics to use in order to be successful. This should help.

Some of you may be finding the CM 97/98 very difficult. The following hints and tips are from Marc Vaughan who has taken Brighton to the top of the Premiership within 10 seasons.

There are quite a few differences in the game engine between the old CM2 and 97/98, mainly some of the bugs (sorry features) which made user defined tactics too successful have been removed. This makes the game much more challenging. I'll give you a brief guide to success (well I got Brighton into the Premiership using these tactics so they can't be too bad).

Problems Scoring ?
If you are not getting many chances, buy a player with high creativity or several forwards with high heading, and a decent corner taker. If you are getting chances but not converting them, buy players with high shooting and heading ability. Also specifying a player with high set piece and shooting abilities to take direct free kicks will help.

Leaking Goals ?
Every shot goes in - this tends to indicate a bad goalkeeper. Judging goalkeeper form is very hard and it may take a while to find a goalkeeper who will perform well. 
Permanently under pressure - this tends to indicate that you have a weak midfield as opposed to a poor defence and that they aren't holding the ball up and giving the defence some relief. Try either packing the midfield with more players or switching to long ball tactic, if you are not already using it.
Poor defence - if you have few good defensive players, then try playing 532 with midfielders in the wingback positions and your best defender in a sweeper position in the centre, usually he will mop up any strikers who get past your weaker defenders.

Favourite Tactics ?
The tactics which I prefer are 442 long ball if out-classed by the opposition or 532 long ball if not. However my team specialises in set piece headers and crossing (hence the long ball and wingers) your team may not. The best idea with tactics is to pick one of the standard tactics and modify it very slightly to fit your team.

Buying Players ?
Take in mind when having purchased a new player that he may take time to settling into your squad. I usually play them in their first few matches as subs and if after 4-5 games they haven't started getting ratings of 7+ then I start thinking of moving them on. When purchasing players if you have the money look around at the Under 21 international teams for promising youngsters. I nearly always buy at least 4 youngsters at the end of the season, put them on short contracts and see how they perform. If at the end of the season they have an average rating of 7.00 or over, put them on a long term contract (as long as possible try 5-7 years) otherwise simply release them.

When searching for a player, always ensure that you have a sensible filter set. Below I have listed my base filter:

Heading 10+
Inj Proneness 15-
Passing 10+
Stamina 10+
Strength 10+

If you are looking for a forward/striker, include the following:

Creativity 10+
Shooting 15+
Heading 15+

If you are looking for a midfielder, include the following:

Tackling 10+
Positioning 10+

General Hints ?

Make sure that you have an experienced (usually 24+) player with a high influence as your captain, if you haven't then your younger players may not perform as well as they might. Choosing correct Free Kick, Corner and Penalty takers is very important.

Be very careful when free transferring players as the board will take offence if you attempt to free transfer a player of any worth (usually 50k+ for a third division side to 200k+ for a premier side).

Note that if the board makes more money available to you at the end of a season, they will expect that to be used to strengthen your squad and so will expect a good league position in the next year.

Be very careful when purchasing Foreign Players as they are required to play in 75% of games to retain their work permits. If they lose their work permits then you will be stuck with a player in your squad who cannot play for you but is taking up a squad space.

Of course, if you are following these recommendations, you'll end up with a team similar to my Brighton squad which may not be exactly what you're after...

There are also various little hidden features and bugs not mentioned in the manual.

-Right Mouse Button:
Clicking on Done using the right mouse button when in the main menu will advance the calendar on a daily basis as opposed to using the left mouse button which will generally advance the calendar to your next fixture. This will be helpful when you want to avoid missing transfer deadlines or when wanting to buy new players etc.

-Space Bar:
Pressing the space bar during a match sequence will speed up the match.

-Overall-Home-Away Record:
On any league table by clicking on the Overall Record at the top of the table you will be able to see the Home Record - click again you'll see the Away Record.

-Description of player match stats:
In the player stats screen for any match - by hovering the mouse over the titles for each column of stats you will have a box appear which contains a description of what these stats mean.

-Team Progress Graph:
By clicking the mouse on the position number of any team in any league or group table you will see that teams progress within the table in the form of a graph.

-View Match Option:
You may view any match by clicking on the -v- for versus on a fixture list. This will turn the -v- to view. Clicking a second time will revert back to -v- again.

-'Escape' key:
Pressing the escape key will return you to the main menu at the next possible opportunity. Please note that to get the computer's attention repeatedly pressing or holding down the key may be necessary.

-Match Stats of Played Games:
Clicking on the score (from any type of results screen) of any played game within one season will allow you to see all the stats for that match.

-Manager History:
By clicking on the managers' name in the general info screen of the Squad screen will enable you to see the entire history of that manager.

-Transfer Deadlines:
In the player search screen, when the players names are in grey this means the transfer deadline of the country in which that player is playing has passed. So this means any player in grey writing cannot be bought.

-Screen Shots:
Pressing Shift+the number with & will take a picture of the current screen, and save it as "Mark.pcx." Good for showing yourself off on news:alt.binaries.games.champ-man !!

-The "Twelve Man" bug:
Sometimes it may seem that the computer controlled team have made a substitution without taking anyone off the pitch, resulting in them looking like they have twelve players. This is purely visual, and has absolutely no effect on the game or the result.

-The "*" button:
Pressing this will exit the game from any screen. Please note you may need to press a few times or hold it down to get the computers attention.

Patch for v2.93 is available from
http://www.techcities.co.uk/download/9798patch.zip

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