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ALLENATORE - ITALIAN FOOTBALL MANAGER 2 @ Copyright 2002 Charl Phillip Gerber version 1.51 Always check back at http://www.ifm2.com/ for latest release and update news NOTE: This document is also available in MS Word'97 format. See section (14) Contact Information for details. You can download it from the web or contact the author for a copy. It is recommend above this text file. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1 Getting Started ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1.1 Requirements - 386 or better CPU - 4MB or more RAM - MS-DOS 5.00 or better OR Windows 95/98 OR Windows NT - Mouse and mouse driver (Microsoft Mouse or Genius mouse drivers recommended) - SVGA graphics adapter and monitor - Disk cache program such as SMARTDRIVE recommended. 1.2 Starting the game The game should be copied to hard drive for optimal results. It is recommended that a disk cache program such as SMARTDRIVE be active. If the game executes very slow despite good system components, check and make sure that the disk cache program is indeed active. To start the game from a DOS command line, type `soccer,' In Window 95/98 or NT, the `soccer.exe' filename can be double clicked to launched the program. The introduction screen should appear now. You will also have an option to adjust the mouse sensitivity. By default, this should not need adjustment and you can just press ENTER to continue. Should the mouse be too slow or fast, you can exit and restart the game and make the necessary adjustments using the left and right cursor keys. You should now have the main screen with the file menu open on the screen and continue to start a new game or load a previously saved game (see File options). If, after pressing ENTER, the main menu appears, but no mouse cursor, it means that your mouse driver is not compatible with a supported driver of the game. You will have to load or activate a different driver until you find one that is supported. The common `mouse' and `gmouse' drivers are both supported. If the text on the screen does not display correctly or the graphics seems messed up, your graphics adapter is not 100% BIOS compatible and you will not be able to play the game using that graphics card. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2 Terms and abbreviations ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This section lists and explains terms and abbreviations commonly used in the documentation and game. - EC: European Community. Refers to players whose country of origin is a member of the European Community. A club has a restriction of 8 EC players. - EC1: European Champions Cup - EC2:European Cup Winners' Cup - EC3: UEFA Cup - ESC: European Super Cup - In: Refers tot non-EC players. A club may have a maximum of 4 non-EC players. - ISC: Italian Super Cup - ITA: Italian Cup or Copa Italia. - Og: Own goal. Refers to when a player scores an own goal. - WCC: World Club Cup ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 Game Options ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3.1 League Results This option lets you view results of only your division or all the divisions and groups in the Italian leagues. After every round of league games, league results are shown. When you select to view all the results, you have to left click the mouse to continue to view the next division. When only viewing your division's results, the mouse left click will return you to the main menu. 3.2 Cup Results By default, when you are still playing in the Italian Cup, you will be shown all results of any particular round that you are playing in. When selecting to view all cup results, you will be shown the results of the preliminary round (if you are not participating in it) and all cup results after being eliminated from the cup. Viewing only relevant cup results will display only results of rounds you play in and will not show any results once you are eliminated from the cup. 3.3 European Results Same as above, but applicable to all European Cup competitions. This includes the European Super Cup and World Club Cup. Note that when selecting to view all European results, you will not only get all results from a competition you might be playing in, but of all the European cups: Champions Cup, UEFA Cup and Cup Winner's Cup, as well as the European Super Cup and World Club Cup. If you select not to view European results, you will still be shown all results of any particular round you are playing in of a specific cup you might be playing for. 3.4 Transfers You can select to view transfers made by other teams (including your own) or not be informed of any transfers. Note that this only applies when the transfer season is open. Selecting to view transfers will show a list of player names, club from, club to and fee, at the end of a transfer turn. 3.5 Match Simulation You have 3 options to choose from here: - Full match simulation: all games you play in are fully simulated with a clock ticking at the top. When events happen, commentary will be displayed (see next option). At any time during match simulation, you can pause by clicking the left mouse button. You can then manually make substitutions, tactical changes, etc. as the game develops. - Half time briefings: The computer will take control of your team as when controlling any other team. It will not make any substitutions or tactical changes on your behalf, except when an injury occurs. In that case it will make a substitution on your behalf, unless you have selected the manual team selection option, in which case you can manually make a substitution. The clock at the top of the screen will not be ticking and you will immediately be taken to half time, at which stage you can access the match situation and manually make substitutions and/or tactical changes, if you so wish. - End results only: As above, but there will be no pause during the game and once started, you will immediately be shown the end result of a game. You thus have no control during the game, except when injuries occur and you have selected the manual team selection game option, as described above. 3.6 Commentary Pauses You can set the delay between commentary pauses when Full Match Simulation is selected. No commentary pauses will immediately show all the commentary of any event. Setting pauses (short or long) will wait between commentary lines and create a better atmosphere and can suit your reading speed. 3.7 Results Brief results will only display the final score line of any given match in the results sections. Results with details will also display the surnames of the goal scorers, if any. Goals scored from penalties are indicated by a (P) after the player's name. If a player has scored an own goal, it will be indicated by a (og) suffix. Note that the scorers can have a maximum of 2 strings per team, each 36 characters long. If a result has too many goal scorers or the names of the players are too long, it might not all be displayed. The correct final result will still be displayed. In case of cup competitions (Italian and European), teams advancing to the next round of the competition will be highlighted. In this case the aggregate score will be displayed on the right hand side of the screen. In case of a penalty shootout, the result of that will be displayed too. If the aggregate score was level and now penalty shootout result is displayed, it means that the highlighted team advanced on the away goals rule. This always applies, if brief results or results with scorers was set as the default option. 3.8 Manual/ Automatic Team Selection Manual team selection means you will always have to decide any team selections and tactics yourself. If players get injured or suspended, you have to manually make changes. When players are sold or bough, you will also have to adjust your tactics and selections manually. When players are injured during matches, you will have to nominate substitutes at all times using this setting. Automatic team selection will let the computer make all selections and tactical decisions on your behalf. After every game you played, it will make selections and tactical decisions to take into account possible injuries and suspensions. When players are bought or sold, the same is done. When players are injured during matches, the computer will also make substitutions for you. 3.9 Match Simulation Speed This option allows you to set the speed at which the clock runs when running full match simulations. You can move the selector on the scroll bar by clicking the arrows to the left and right of the bar. The extreme left is the slowest and the extreme right is the fastest. There are 5 settings available and you might want to experiment to find a setting that suites your computer best. The fastest option results in no delay between clock ticks and might not be suitable for fast systems. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 File options ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4.1 New Game Selecting this option will start a new game. Confirmation will be asked first. If you wish to continue, select `Proceed'. The team selection screen will appear. A list of all 126 teams in the leagues will be displayed. Select a team by clicking the left mouse button on it. On the bottom part of the screen, some basic information about the team will be displayed. The stadium name, stadium capacity, current division the team is in and current league position. The latter two combined will give an indication of how good the team is. To accept any selected team as your team left click on the `OK' button on the bottom right hand corner of the screen. Your name will then be asked. Type it in using the keyboard. Your name must be at least one character in length with a maximum of 25 characters. You can use the backspace key to correct mistakes, press ENTER when you are done. 4.2 Save game You can save your current game and later continue exactly where you left off by selecting this option. The screen will open with 10 slots available for saved games. If no game is currently saved under a slot, the team name, manager name and comment fields will be empty. Otherwise the name of the manager and team will be displayed along with a user comment. Select any slot (empty or not) by left clicking on it. You will see the selected slot highlighted. By default, slot 1 will be used. To continue saving the game in this slot, left click the `OK' button on the bottom right of the screen. If the slot was not empty, you will be asked if you want to overwrite the saved game in that slot. If you select `Proceed', the game will be overwritten and can never be retrieved again. You will now be asked for a comment. You can type in anything to help you identify the game, such as `End of season 1', `Middle of season 7' or whatever you like. If you are overwriting a game, the comment of the previous saved game will be displayed as default, but you can edit it with the keyboard. Press `ENTER' when you are done and the game will be saved and you will be returned to the file menu. If you do not wish to save a game after selecting the save option, you can return to the file menu by left clicking on the `Cancel' button on the bottom left of the screen. 4.3 Load Game Use this option to retrieve and continue previously saved games. Again you will be shown a list of all the saved games. Select any one by left clicking on it with the mouse. If you want to restore the game, left click the `OK' button on the bottom right. You will be asked for confirmation before the game will be loaded. If you try to load a game from an empty slot, an error message will be displayed and you will be returned to the selection screen. If you have a newer version of the game and wish to restore version from old versions that are not compatible with the latest version, you will also get an error message. To abort loading games and return to the file menu, left click the `Cancel' button on the bottom left of the screen. 4.4 Exit to DOS This option terminates the program. A confirmation message will first be displayed. To continue and exit the game, select `Proceed'. The `Cancel' option will return you to the file menu. 4.5 Cancel This option will return you to the main menu of the game and exit the file menu. If you have just started the game, this option is not allowed and an error will be displayed. You then have to make one of 3 choices: Start a new game, Load a saved game or Exit to DOS. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 5 Team Selection ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Before knowing how to use team statistics and tactics, one should be aware how the detailed player statistics. To view the detailed statistics of any player, select the player by moving the mouse pointer over his name and clicking the left mouse button. The player's name should now be highlighted. Select the `Details' option at the bottom of the screen to view the player's details. 5.1 Player Statistics The player statistics screen provides detailed information about a player's abilities and status. The player's age, position and country of origin are displayed on the top of the screen. A player's age is increased after every season. Once a player reaches the age of 32, he will start to consider retirement and also decrease in overall rating. The rating decrease will occur every year afterwards, but might not necessarily be constant. . Every year after that the chances of retirement increases until a player is older than 36, when he will always retire. If an Italian player retires, a new youth player will automatically be drafted to the squad in his place. Youth players' ratings might improve over the first few years of their careers. A youth may be already at his ultimate rating or take up to 4 years to reach his full potential. The player's fee is the weekly salary that he earns. Note that this salary is paid weekly and not after every game. The player's value is his cost value. This is the maximum price you can get for a player if he is transfer listed. Players who are first team members will always be worth their cost value. Reserves are worth less than their cost value. TIP: You can sell first team regulars at their cost value and buy players of the same rating who are not 1st team players from other clubs at discount prices. It is a good way of generating money, but risky, as you are not guaranteed to get players of the same quality and can end up weakening your team. Players have an average rating assigned to them. Two midfielders for instance might have the same rating, but may differ substantially in their particular skills that will affect a team's playing style. The playing styles will be explained later. The player attributes are: - Speed. Faster players are suited for counter attack tactics, while wings and half backs with high speed values are good for the `playing wide' style - Skill. Skillful players are suited for the counter attack style. They are also players who are more likely to score solo effort goals and create chances from nothing, but less affective in creating chances for other players. - Shooting. Shooting affects a player's accuracy in front of goal. Some strikers might be better goal scorers than others, who are then usually better at creating chances for team mates. The shooting ability also reflects how good a player is at taking penalties. - Defense. Defense and tackling affects a player's defensive ability. This is particularly of importance when playing with a lot of midfielders and few defenders where some of the midfielders are assigned defensive duties. This is also the most important ability for goalkeepers to have. - Crossing. Good crossing skills are required for the `playing wide' style of play. To have one or two players with good crossing skills also improves chances of scoring from corner kicks. - Kicking. Kicking abilities for defenders are useful for clearing balls from dangerous situations. Good kicking abilities in general in the team favors the `long ball' tactic. - Heading. Defenders with good heading abilities are suited to play in the center of defense where they can clear crosses and defend effectively from corners. Strikers with good heading abilities are suited for the `playing wide' style in conjunction with wings or half backs who have good crossing skills. - Passing. Defenders with good passing skills are good at keeping possession. Midfielders and strikers with good passing skills are suited for the `passing' playing style and creating chances for fellow teammates. It is important to have players with finishing (shooting) skills in conjunction with players with good passing skills. - Mental. A player's mental ability reflects his calmness under pressure and temperament. Players with low mental ability are more likely to get booked or sent of than players with high mental attributes in the same circumstances. The player's contract and history are displayed on the bottom part of the screen. If he is transfer listed or out of contract (a free agent), other clubs might make offers to sign the player. Up to four clubs can have offers pending for a particular player at any time. The names of the clubs will be displayed. If a player is transfer listed, it will be stated next to his contract status. A player can be added or removed from the transfer list by selecting the `Transfer' option at the bottom of the screen. If a player is not transfer listed, this option will transfer list a player. If he is already transfer listed, this option will remove him from the transfer list. Confirmation for both actions will be asked before going through with the action. Players who are out of contract (free agents) cannot be added or removed from the transfer list. Player's who are out of contract or close to the end of their current contracts can be offered new contracts. Selecting the `New Contract' option at the bottom of the screen does this. Players still under contract can only be offered new contracts in the midseason transfer period of the last year of their contract. If a player has signed a new contract or been transferred to a club, he has to at least see out that year before he can be transferred again. Players will not sign contracts with clubs they think are not good enough for them. A club's strength will always be based on its current league position. If you have players in your squad who are clearly a lot better than the rest (new youth players can fit this description), it is better to transfer list them before their contracts expire, otherwise you will lose them on free transfers without getting any compensation. When a team has a bad season or gets relegated, good players close to the end of their contracts are also better off being transfer listed to avoid losing them on free transfers. The start of the last year on their contract is the most sensible time to do this. A player's history keeps track of his last 5 playing years. The name of the club(s) he played for as well as his appearances and goals in all competitions are displayed. Year 0 is the current season, -1 is the previous season, and so on. 5.2 Team Tactics As manager you can decide on the playing formation and tactics of your team. The playing field with the 11 players you see in the middle top of the screen, represents your team's playing formation. The 11 players on the left hand screen (numbers 1 to 11) will play as shown by the corresponding numbers of the field diagram. The numbers below the diagram refer to the playing style with the first number representing defenders, the 2nd midfielders and the 3rd forwards. A style of 4-4-2 would thus indicate 4 defenders, 4 midfielders and 2 forwards. 1 goalkeeper is always assumed. The playing formation can be changed by clicking on the two arrows at the side of the numbers. Note that changing a team formation would also require changing the starting line-up to avoid players playing out of position, unless it is so required. To change players, select any player by moving the mouse pointer over his name and clicking the left mouse button. The player name should now be highlighted. Click on the `Swop' option at the bottom of the screen. The word `swop' should now appear in red next to the player's name. Click on the player you wish to swop with and the change will be made. To cancel a change after the first `swop' click, select the `Swop' option again and the tag next to the player's name will disappear. The team tactics can be selected on the top right hand corner of the screen by clicking the small square button next to the tactic label. The current playing tactic will be highlighted. The differences in tactics are explained in the previous section where the different individual playing tactics are discussed. The attack/normal/defend option can be used as follows: - Attack increases your chances of scoring goals, but also that of your opponents. If your team has a good defense and you are confidant that goals will not easily be conceded, then this is a good option to allow for more scoring opportunities. - Defense decreases both you and your opponent's goal scoring opportunities. Use this option when you have a good attack and bad defense. Your attack should then be able to score from their limited chances while the extra defensive tactics might shut out the opposition. If the `Automatic team selection' from the game options menu was selected, any manual team and tactical changes may be overwritten at the end of simulated games when the computer makes automatic team selections. 5.3 Team Summary The team summary provides a good overview of your team and the status of individual players. When selecting this option, your team will be displayed in table form with the following columns: - Age: The player's current age. - Ave: Average rating of the player. Note that ability ratings for two players with the same average rating might differ, as explained in 5.1 Player Statistics. - Gam: Games played during the current season in all competitions. - Gls: Goals scored during the current season in all competitions. - Dic: Disciplinary position of a player. A black number on a yellow background indicates the number of disciplinary points gained. A yellow card counts for 1 disciplinary point, a red card for 3. 3 or more points would result in automatic suspension. A white number on a red background means the player is currently suspended and the number would indicate for how many remaining matches. Suspensions are carried forward to the next season if a player is still suspended at the end of a season. - Inj: If a player is injured, this number will indicate for how many games he will still be out of action. This only applies for games your team is actually playing. A midweek game where your team is not in action does not count. Injured players can recover during the off season. - Cnt: Number of years a player has left on his contract. - Transfer Status: A white `T' on a red background indicates that a player is transfer listed. A white `C' on a blue background indicates that a player is out of contract and thus a free agent. A blank space will indicate players under contract and not transfer listed. - Country Status: The letters `ec' will appear if a player is from a European Community country. A team may have up to 8 such players in the squad. The letters `in' will appear after the names of non-EC players. A team may have up to 4 such players. A blank space will indicate Italian players. 5.4 Form Guide The form guide gives an indication of a team's progress and league position in graph form during the run of the season. In the off season or before the start of league games, no information will be displayed. The y-axis indicates the league position of the team, 1-18. The x-axis is the week or league round, 1-34. To obtain a team's league position at any given round, find the number of the round on the x-axis and get the league position of the y-axis across the dot on the graph. The x-axis only displays numbers 0-9. The 2nd 0 indicates week 10, the 3rd week 20 and the 4th week 30. The number x after every 0 indicates week x + the 0 week. For example, week 23 would be the 3 following the 3rd 0. 5.5 Operations on all squad members 5.5.1 Transfer list all Selecting this option will put your whole team on the transfer list. It is a useful feature when in the lower leagues and you want to sell all your players to generate cash and buy better players. Your club's board of directors will not approve any sales if your club has 18 or less players, so transfer listing all your players cannot result in your squad becoming to small. Players that cannot be transfer listed, i.e., they have just signed new contracts or was bought from other clubs will not be affected as they cannot be transfer listed. 5.5.2 Remove all from transfer list Selection this option will remove your whole team from the transfer list. If offers for some players were still pending, they will still be valid and the player in question will still consider a transfer to the club(s) who made the offer. 5.5.3 Renew all contracts This option is only valid in the midseason transfer period (you will be notified when this happens) and will automatically offer contracts to all your players who are out of contract whose contracts will expire at the end of the current season. A list with the names of the players who were offered contracts will appear. If no new offers were made, then no list will be shown. This will be the case if you try to execute this command more than once or if you have no players whose contracts will expire soon. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 6 View Logs ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ By default, viewing logs will display the league standings of the division your team is currently playing in. Your team's statistics will be highlighted in red, while the other 17 teams will be displayed in black. The heading of the page will always display the current division, e.g. Serie B. 6.1 Goal Scores This option will display the top goalscorers for the division which standings are currently displayed. The top 15 goalscorers will be listed. Players from your team (if your division is the selected division) will be highlighted in red while players from other teams will be displayed in black. 6.2 Next This option will show the logs of the next division. The divisions are grouped in the following order: Serie A - Serie B - Serie C1/A - Serie C1/B - Serie C2/A - Serie C2/B - Serie C2/C Selecting the Next option will display the division to the right of the current one according to the above layout. If the current division is Serie C2/C and the Next option is selected, the display will wrap around and display the log standings of Serie A. 6.3 Previous Selecting the Previous option will display the division to the left of the current one according to the above layout. If the current division is Serie A and the Previous option is selected, the display will wrap around and display the log standings of Serie C2/C. 6.4 OK This option will return you to the main menu. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 7 Transfers ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 7.1 Types of transfer Lists There are 4 types of transfer lists where you can search players to buy. Any player can only be on one transfer list at a time. If a player is not on a list, he is not for sale. All lists are sorted from the highest rated players to the lowest rated players. Data is displayed as: Rating Name Age Status Current club Division Value Everything is self explanatory, except for: Status: EC (for European Community nationality), in (for player outside EC) or nothing if player is Italian nationality. Division: The division (if in Italy) of the playerÆs current club. In case of a player being out of contract, the value field will be displayed as `Free Transfer'. In general the value field is the value of the player, but not necessarily the price a club want for the player. The fee will be specified when making an offer and can be higher or lower than the value of a player. Select any of the transfer lists you wish to view by moving the mouse cursor to the corresponding button on the screen and clicking the left mouse button. Select the `OK' option to return to the main menu. On all lists, players from EC countries will be marked with an `EC' label before their position. Players from non-EC countries will be marked with an `in' label before their position. When you have an offer pending for a player, an asteriks (*) will appear next to his name. It is this easy to establish which players you have offers pending for and which not. 7.1.1 Free Transfers This list contains all players from Italian clubs that are out of contract and can be bought for no fee. It includes non-Italian players. 7.1.2 Transfer Listed Players This list contains all players from Italian clubs that are transfer listed by their clubs and are for sale. It includes non-Italian players. 7.1.3 EC Players This list contains all players playing in other countries, but whose country of origin are members of the EC. This list also includes players who are available on free transfer and not currently playing for an Italian club. 7.1.4 NON-EC Players This list contains all players playing in other countries, but whose country of origin are not members of the EC. This list also includes players who are available on free transfer and not currently playing for an Italian club. 7.2 Searching for players Once you have selected a transfer list, you can select any player by clicking the left mouse button on his name. The currently selected player will be highlighted. 25 players will be available for viewing at any time. You can see more players by moving up and down in the list using the `Prev' and `Next' selection buttons on the screen. The `Prev' option will have no effect if you are at the start of a list (the default setting when you start viewing a list) and the `Next' option will have no effect when at the end of a list. If any list has 25 or fewer players in it, neither of the two options will have any effect. Selecting the `OK' option will return you to the transfer list selection menu. 7.3 Making offers for players You can view a player's details by clicking the left mouse button on the `Details' button on the screen. The highlighted player's detail will now be displayed. To make an offer for a player, select the `Buy' option on the screen. A small dialogue box will appear with the amount the club wants for this player. To make an offer matching the asking price, select the `Accept' option in the dialogue box. To cancel your offer, select the `Cancel' option. If your offer was accepted, you will be notified accordingly. Note that any player can have only 4 offers pending at a time. If there are already 4 offers pending for a player, you cannot make another offer and will be notified accordingly. If you already have an offer pending for a player and try to make another offer, you will be notified with an error message. Selecting the `OK' option on the bottom right of the screen will return you to the transfer list. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 8 Finances ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The finance screen allows you to track your team's financial situation and make stadium upgrades. While your finances are in the black (positive balance), you will be able to make transfers and stadiums upgrades. The board will refuse any transfers or upgrades if your finances are negative. The financial summary is self-explanatory. Sponsors will make contributions when players retire. Prize money is at stake for wins or draws in all European competitions and advancing in the Italian cup. 8.1 The Stadium Selecting the 'Stadium' option will show your stadium's current status (name, capacity and status) and give you the option to increase the seating capacity (if you have money). Stadium upgrades take at least 10 weeks to complete (the status indicator will show progress). A minimum of 250 seats can be added at a time and a maximum of 15,000, provided you have the money to cover the costs. A stadium can have a maximum capacity of 100,000. 8.2 Methods of generating cash There are a number of ways to generate cash. Prize money for top clubs is a major source of income, especially in the European Cups (every win in the Champions League for example is worth 500,000!). For smaller clubs or lower division clubs, the main source of income is clever transfer activities. Every once in a while a smaller club might produce a star youth player. These players can be used, but should be sold before their contracts expire, as they are worth a lot and will definitely leave the club on free transfers when their contracts expire. You can also sell first team regulars at their cost value and buy players of the same rating who are not first team regulars at discount prices, as explained earlier. Teams can also rely on selling players and only buying players on free transfers, thus reducing player purchase expenses. This is however not guaranteed to succeed, as competition for signing free agents are usually fierce. Another trick which works well is to buy old players (age 35 or 36) from much weaker clubs. These players then retire and produce much better players, who can either play for your team or be sold at a handsome profit. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 9 Opposition ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ You can view any opposition team from the main menu and get details about their players and tactics. Select an opposition team in the same manner as you would select a team to play with when you start a new game. If you select your own team and proceed, you will be taken to the team selection and tactics screens. Once you have selected a team to view, you can view all the team features and details that you can view for your own team. The only difference is that the option to change players and tactics will not be available. When selecting to view a player's details, you will only have the option to make an offer to buy the player. See section 5 Team Selection for details on what you can view, how to view it and how it all should be interpreted. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 10 History ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This option displays records and statistics about your progress and achievements.The bottom part of the screen displays the trophy case. There are a total of 7 trophies you can win. The 7 trophies will be listed (see the section `Terms and abbreviations'). If you have won any particular trophy, a picture of it will be display under its abbreviation, as well as a number stating how many times you have won that trophy. The `Last six games' barometer shows the results of your last 6 games to give you an idea of your team's form. L = lose, w = win, d = draw. The other statistical information displayed is self-explanatory. The "Club record" and "Overall record" option switches between your overall record as manager with ALL clubs and the record only at your current club. Note that only one of these options will be available at a time and that they toggle between the two histories. The "history" option lets you view your overall record year by year for up to the last 25 seasons. Here you can see which team you managed, how you did in the league and all the various cup competitions. The following abbreviations are used in displaying cup progress: R1 : Round one R2 : Round two R3 : Round three QF : Qualifying stages +F : Quarter finals +F : Semi finals F : Losing finalists W : Winners ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 11 Fixtures ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The `fixtures' option will display details of all games to be played domestically and in Europe, as well as result of games already played. 11.1 Dates This option shows the scheduled dates of ALL games during a season, whether you are playing in that competitions or not. The current week is highlighted with an asterisk (*). It is a useful feature to plan ahead and perhaps rest star players ahead of important fixtures to avoid injury or suspension risks. You can return to the main `fixtures' menu by clicking the left mouse button anywhere on the screen. 11.2 Domestic Fixtures By default, the fixture screen will display your fixtures and results in the Italian league on the left-hand side of the screen. The opposition team name will be displayed (in the order that you have to play them), preceded by an `A' for away games and a `H' for home games. If the game has already been played, the final score will be displayed in front of the fixture. Your score will be listed first, no matter if the game was home or away. This applies for ALL results associated with the fixture screens. On the right hand side of the screen, your fixtures in the Italian Cup will be displayed. Note that these are determined dynamically and if you are not participating in the cup, they will not be displayed at all. As you advance in the cup, fixtures will be added. If applicable, the team you have to face next will be displayed. Underneath the team name, the `A' (away) and `H' (home) scores will be added, when the games are played. The order in which the `A' and `H' are shown is the order in which the two legs are played. Results of penalty shootouts are not shown. If you are playing in the Italian Super Cup, the fixture and result (when played) will be displayed on the bottom right hand side of the screen. Note that this game is always played on neutral territory and the `H' or `A' tag is not applicable. 11.3 Champions League This option allows you to view the current standings in the European Champions Cup qualifying groups. This option is only available after the preliminary qualifying round has been completed. If the group stages have been completed and the knockout phase is in progress, the option will display the final group standings. You can view this even if you are not participating in the Champions Cup. 11.4 Euro Fixtures If your team has qualified for any European competition or World Club Cup, this option will show you the fixture list with opponents and results of games already played. As with the Italian Cup fixtures, European fixtures are dynamic and can change as the season progresses. If you are eliminated from any competition, the fixtures will still be available to review your results and progress in European competition. The fixtures are displayed much the same way as your normal league fixtures, except that the name of the competition is also added. In other words, you will always be able to see in which competition you have to play which opponent and where the games will take place (home or away). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 12 Match simulation ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ As discussed in section 3.5 Match Simulation, you can view the simulation of a game and make tactical and personnel changes if you so wish. 12.1 Startup screen When advancing to a match simulation (even when you have selected not to see full simulations from the game options), you will be shown the starting line-ups of your team and the opposition. You now have the option to make last minute team changes or view the opposition to possibly adjust playing tactics for your team to counter opposition tactics or explore their weak areas. In the blank area to the right of the selection buttons, you will receive status about your team selection. This will inform you if you have suspended or injured players in the starting line-up or on the bench who can be replaced by eligible players. Note than when using the `automatic team selection' game option, the computer will only select your team after every game you have played. Any changes you have made manually after that will remain. This for instance allows you to rest certain players for certain games or experiment with your team. To continue with the match simulation, select the `Continue' option by clicking on the corresponding button on the screen. 12.2 Selecting your team and tactics To make changes to your team, select the `Team' option by clicking on the corresponding button. You will now see your team exactly as when selecting from the main menu, except that you cannot do transfer administration or contract negotiating. Selecting any of those options will have no effect. The team form guide option will also be disabled. You can now make team selections and tactical changes as explained in section 5 Team Selection. When selecting player details, you can only view a player's statistics and not transfer list or make new contract offers to the player. Note: after you have started the match simulation (any time after kickoff) you can only change players who are in the starting 11 (number 1-11) or make substitutes (maximum of 3 allowed) with players on the bench (numbers 12-18). Attempting to change reserves with 1st team members or players on the bench will not be allowed. Changing players in the starting 11 with one another does not count as substitutions and you can make as many positional changes as you like. 12.3 Opposition This option allows you to view your opposition, look at their tactics and get detailed player information. The screen works exactly the same as when viewing your opposition from the main game menu, except that you cannot make transfer offers or view the team's form guide. 12.4 Summary The match summary provides the following game information: - Attendance: The number of people at the stadium watching the game - Goal Scorers: The names of the players who scored goals (if any) and in which minute(s) of the game. Penalties are denoted with (P) and own goals by (og). - Yellow Cards: Names of players booked and in which minute(s). - Red Cards: Names of players sent off and in which minute(s). - Substitutions: Details about substitutions made. When, which players went on and in place of whom. - Before the game has started, the summary will only display the attendance figures. The game summary will automatically be displayed at the end of every game. 12.5 Options You can change game options from the simulation screen. These are the same options described in section 3 Game Options and can be set in the same way. The options will have immediate effect and will remain set after the game. Changes are thus global. 12.6 Simulation controls If you have selected to view full match simulation, selecting `Proceed' will now start the game simulation. At the top of the screen the time counter will increase, starting at 0, indicating minutes elapsed during the game. A game will last at least 90 minutes and can then go into injury time or referee's optional added time of up to 5 minutes. If you have selected not to view the full match simulation, you will immediately be taken to the end of the game or half time, depending on which option you selected. Any significant events will be simulated by displayed text commentary on the screen. You can read the commentary and proceed the simulation by simply clicking the left mouse button. To stop simulation, press the left mouse button again while the clock is ticking. You will now be taken to the same menu you get when entering the game simulation and can make tactical changes, substitutions, view match statistics or your opposition. Note that on faster machines setting the match simulation speed too high will make it very difficult to stop the match simulation in time. A slower match simulation speed is recommended for fast machines. When injuries occur, the computer will make substitutes on your behalf (if you have selected automatic team selection) or pause the game and allow you to make substitutes yourself if you have selected the manual team selection option. You will have to select the `Team' option, make the substitute and then continue. If you do not make the substitution yourself, the game will continue and you will only have 10 players on the field. During match simulation, players who are booked will have a yellow square next to their name. Players sent off will have a red square next to their name and their names will be displayed in gray. Any player not fit to play (injured or suspended) will also be displayed in gray. Injured players can be substituted. Players send off cannot be substituted. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 13 Other general information ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 13.1 Season points and reviews Every season you are evaluated on your performances. League position compared to the previous year and cups won count for points. If you drop in league position, you will lose points. Points are kept internally for the last two seasons and if in total it exceeds a certain threshold, you might be offered a job at a bigger or higher ranked club. If it is lower than a bottom threshold, you will get fired. For example, a really bad season will get you fired straight away, while two relative poor seasons in succession might have the same result. To be offered a better job, you always have to have two good seasons in succession. Every season you will receive a summary of what you have done, plus message from the board of directors giving an indication of how satisfied they are with your performances. If you get fired or offered a new job, you will be offered the choice of any one of 4 new clubs. You can view the teamÆs roster and get financial information on the club by selecting the corresponding options next to the club name. To move to that club and take over as manager, click on the "Select" button and then confirm your selection on the next dialogue that will appear. When offered a better job, you can reject it and remain at your current club by clicking on the "Proceed" button. You can also at this stage decide to start a new game or load a previous saved game by selecting the "File" option. Not that if you are fired, you cannot continue with your current club and will either have to select a new team or start a new game. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 14 Cheat Codes ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Some cheat codes are available to make the game a bit easier. If you have any ideas for more, please contact the author and suggest them. Cheat codes are entered on the command line when you run the game and is only valid if you then start a new game. You do not need to specify all the cheat codes, but only those you which to use. If you do not specify any cheat codes, the game will run like normal. The general format is: soccer mXXX sXXX mXXX : Lets you define a custom amount of money you start with, where XXX is any number from 0 to 999999999. sXXX : Lets you define the capacity of your stadium where XXX is a number from 1 to 100000. If cheat code values are not in the range specified above or in a correct format (no spaces, commands etc are allowed!), the code will be ignored. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 15 Registration ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 15.1 Why register? The full registered version offers you features and functionality that you do not get in the shareware version. If you have been playing with the shareware version, you will have noticed that you can only play for a limited number of seasons. This should be enough for you to get an idea of how the games works, what it offers and if you like it or not. Should you decide to register, you will get the full working version (which, by the time you get it, might be updated and with more features) which allows you unlimited play. You can then truly build a team and play for as long as you want and achieve all your goals. Registered users with e-mail addresses will be notified of updates via e-mail. All registered users will get future releases and data updates at a discount. Planned for the future, but not yet available, is a data editor that only registered users will get. This editor will allow you to change the names of players and teams, alter statistics and in general allow you to customize your game. No time scale is available yet. The more people that register, the more incentive there is for me to work on the game and improve it. 15.2 How to register The easiest way to register is to do it online, where you can pay with your credit card and get your full registered version via e-mail within one or two working days, providing smooth communications. For more details, please visit the registration web page: https://www.regsoft.net/regsoft/vieworderpage.php3?productid=42088 If you do not have a credit card, the online registration system also makes provision for cheque and other payment options. For alternative methods, please contact me directly (details in the next section) and I will supply you with various other methods of payment. Note that those will probably be more expensive to you due to bank and transfer costs and will also take longer to complete, so it is strongly recommended that you register using the online system as mentioned above. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 16 Contact information ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ If you have any questions, suggestions, comments or reports, please feel free to contact me at any time. Check the web page regularly or send me e-mail to get news about latest releases and prices. E-mail: Charl.Gerber@iname.com Web: http://www.ifm2.com/ Telephone: +31 6 27037741 (all hours, cellular) All praise to God for helping me to make this game.