South America
=============
- Teams from the same nation play against each other in the Copa Sudamericana Semi Final stage.
- Uruguayan teams now seeded correctly in the Copa Libertadores.
- South American Continental Cups now get correct referees for matches.
Spain
=====
- Implemented Cotonou Agreement for Spanish league - players from 79 ACP (African, Caribbean and Pacific states) countries no longer considered non-EU.
- Fixed bug where some players were not getting minimum fee release clauses.
Sweden
======
- Pre-season no long starts on 24th December for teams involved in the Royal League.
- Changed the teams which move divisions When game is started in 2008.
United States
=============
- Foreign developmental players do not count towards the wage cap.
- Fixed bug where squad selection rules for certain MLS teams were not showing the correct maximum values at all times.
- Correct 2007 fixtures added.
- Allowed squad numbers up to 99.
- MLS teams can no longer sign foreign players from the PDL before they reach 22 or enter a draft.
- Fixed a problem with the American player rule for Toronto. Some players were being wrongly classified as Americans.
- MLS Rising Stars team is now filled with American players only.
- Players on free transfer with MLS rights have to be traded instead of being approached directly.
- Changed stage names of MLS conference playoffs.
- Virtual players now ask for developmental contracts by default.
- Improved selection of players from a draft. Teams make fewer passes.
- Updated maximum allowed wage $325,000 p/a outside of Designated Players.
- Fixed wrong teams in CONCACAF Champions Cup.
- Toronto foreigners now gain Canadian nationality not American if they stay for enough years.
- Fixed bug which was converting future draft allocations offered in transfers to 6th pick draft allocations.
- Toronto now get Canadian nationality youth players instead of American.
Assets
======
England
-------
- Fixed Marvin Elliot / Marvin Williams picture mix up.
- Added Bath City badge
- Added Solihull Moors badge
Spain
-----
- Added Athletic Bilbao player pictures
- Added Atletico Madrid player pictures
- Added Deportivo player pictures
- Added Espanyol player pictures
- Added Levante player pictures
- Added Osasuna player pictures
- Added Racing Santander player pictures
- Added Real Betis player pictures
- Added Real Mallorca player pictures
- Added Real Murcia player pictures
- Added Real Valladolid player pictures
- Added Recreativo player pictures
Match Engine Version History
============================
- Fixed bug where the match was treating the JTP North/South finals as the main final itself.
- When an injured player is also sent off, the game won't force the human manager to replace him.
Match v639
==========
- Re-worked marking and closing down to address conflict between the two - defenders should now close down better when appropriate.
- Further improved team reactions to cleared set pieces.
- Reduced delay between foul and whistle.
- But...allowed more advantages when prudent.
- Improved set piece positioning for free kicks and some throws.
- Fixed keeper occasionally kicking off new match period.
- Fixed another example of player kicking off to no-one.
- AI teams now add "back arrow" to def mid position for one MC if needed.
- AI teams a little more reactive to opposition pace when setting D-line.
- Small tweak to ease overcautious AI use of mentality slider occasionally.
- Made players take longer to accelerate all the way to full speed.
- Made blatant offside’s get called a little quicker.
- Enhanced effect on flair of "creative freedom" slider slightly.
- Fixed bug that would stop full back overlapping run prematurely.
- Improved smoothness of dribbling slightly.
- Players now look to run into space with ball better.
- Stopped a few unrealistic examples of poor first touch.
- Allowed players to take more first time shots when appropriate eg rebounds.
- Improved attacking positioning for certain formations that use "side arrows" on attacking midfielders.
- Improved attacking position of central "in hole" player.
- Stopped certain illogical forward runs being made from deep.
- Defenders put tackles/clearances in more appropriately.
- Biased aerial challenges slightly more towards those with higher jumping.
- Slightly less fouls when jumping for the ball.
- Reduced keeper effectiveness on close in shots slightly.
- Low team blend now has more effect on mental attributes.
- Allow more quick free kicks to be taken.
- Improved ball receiver AI slightly.
- Defenders caught wrong side of ball try to get back faster.
- Fixed defenders pushing up to edge of area when should be dealing with ball player.
- Improved player ability to deflect shots/crosses.
- Fixed defenders coming across and heading ball that team mate had covered.
- Tweaked decision making for ball player.
- Improved finishing for "bread and butter" chances.
- Improved accuracy of "bread and butter" passes.
- Further tweak to keeper kicking distance.
- Headers from descending balls now more likely to be looping in nature.
- Improved kicked clearance direction from defenders.
- Improved "subdued" goal celebration where scorer used to move a bit then stop still.
- Ball shadow slightly less pronounced in FM.
Match v640
==========
- Improved referee ability to try to "play the advantage".
- Fixed anomaly causing further problems with kick offs.
- Fixed AI subs when keeper sent off that could cause 2 goalies to be present.
- Another tweak to AI mentality setting.
- Made AI teams try to exploit 3 at the back without wingbacks by getting ball wide more.
- Improved positions at goal kicks.
- Improved corners sent to player lurking outside area.
- Improved use of channels to pass into and move into.
- Made first touch a little more realistic.
- Made players even more willing to run with ball into space when possible.
- And more likely to shoot in good positions.
- And more likely to cross in good positions.
- And more likely to turn before hoofing ball clear when necessary.
- Power shots more likely to go too high.
- Improved player perception of potential interceptions on pass.
- Improved direction of "flick on" headers.
- Improved code that decides whether player should pass ball around and keep possession based on directness, time wasting etc.
- Made "tackle clearances" more realistic in terms of distance and direction.
- Fixed anomaly that allowed potential clearance towards own goal when very close to it.
- Reduced instances of players dribbling ball out of play.
- Keepers more likely to follow distribution instructions.
- Keepers more effective on long shots.
- Fixed rare occurrence of keeper not taking up position for penalty kick.
- Improve defender marking on ball player running at pace with ball.
- Made players less likely to leave tactical shape to mark opponents when ball and player not in danger area.
Match v641
==========
- Fixed crash that occurs after player about to kick off gets a red card.
Match v642
==========
- Made sure free kick isn’t called back after advantage has been played for a sensible amount of time.
- Fix to stop players continuing to swap when option removed in tactical change during match.
- Fixed bug where slight injury isn’t reported when watching match in "commentary only" ( FM only ).
- Improved variety of assistant manager team talk suggestions.
- Made sure offside always called when player shoots for goal and has team mate standing well offside in ball path.
- Slight tweak to player match ratings to give them more range.
- Improved player run with ball AI.
- Improved full backs overlapping, and made their teammates more likely to try to pass to them.
- Further change to closing down code, as initial fix wasn’t quite coded correctly.
- Made players clear ball quicker under real pressure.
- Fixed bug where defenders might pass up obvious interception opportunities.
- Stopped players moving back into onside positions at unrealistically fast speed.
- Reduced pointless off ball runs that just made it harder for team mates.
- Fixed anomaly from pass vs interceptions decision making in 640.
Match v643
==========
- Fixed central defenders sometimes using closing down rather than marking against pace.
- Stopped AI managers playing too negatively when losing due to their sitting back attribute.
- Fixed interceptions not being recorded properly in match stats.
- Made defenders clear ball when under pressure in own area and ball bouncing at awkward height.
- Improved player decisions on when to tackle when up against player running with ball.
- Improved short throw ins slightly in terms of direction and speed.
- Made players a little more willing to shoot first time.
Match v644
==========
- Fixed match score divergence.
Match v645
==========
- Fixed advantage not being always played when fouled player gets clear of his assailant.
- Further tweak to closing down logic, to make it slightly more accurate vs slider descriptions.
- Made players work harder to get back to opponents who have gone beyond them.
- Fixed extremes of players not reacting for ages to ongoing play.
- Tweaked player choice of opponent to mark to include tactical position more.
- Improved direction of facing for defenders marking attackers in open play.
- Fixed bug in defensive line pushing to edge of area for team defending left end of pitch.
- Improved direction of defender who is chasing down attacker who is running with ball and has got ahead of him.
- Slight improvements to players decisions on whether to clear ball under pressure.
- Tweaked up pass accuracy a bit, especially when under no pressure.
- Made lesser players limit pace on pass to increase accuracy ( subject to decisions test ).
- Changed pass risk assessment to reflect mentality setting and flair a little more.
- Less hoofs up field to no-one when under no pressure, unless time wasting.
- Made players cross more willingly and also earlier when possible depending on instructions.
- More shots when in obvious good positions.
- Players with decent decision making less likely to dribble into trouble.
- Players more likely to get ball onto best foot.
- Improved first touch a little.
- Fixed bug where player sometimes moves really slowly with ball for ages.
- Made it harder to cut back ball dramatically when running down wing at pace.
- Improved logic of bias towards pass focus instruction when assessing passes.
- Improved off ball movement slightly.
- Stopped target men moving into channel so often when getting long balls to head.
- Players come to loose balls more aggressively, and try to intercept earlier in own danger zone.
- Attacking players also more likely to follow up on shots.
- Made keepers less likely to let ball go narrowly wide of post, unless extreme time wasting.
- Improved direction of keeper kicking.
- Less fouls when going for headers.
- Further tweak to make more early shots when under pressure or in good position.
- Made some headers on goal slightly less powerful.
- Stopped first time shots coming in from ridiculous positions.
- Made players come shorter at throws when thrower struggling for options.
- When player is selected to come to collect from keeper he comes deeper.
- Stopped one man walls on free kicks taken by keeper in deep position.
- Fixed possibility of play getting stuck when player with ball goes down injured.
- Tweaked player ratings back halfway towards pre v642 levels.
Match v646
==========
- Reduced shot accuracy slightly.
- Stopped players dropping deep to mark opponents instead of holding defensive line for an easy offside.
- Fixed bug where player may not react to short pass from keeper.
- Reduced players dallying on ball when being closed down.
- Made keepers more likely to clear lines from back passes.
- Players get back to kick off position quicker after celebrating goal.
Match v647
==========
- Assistant managers now always give a team talk recommendation when asked.
- AI now take comebacks from 2 or 3 down into account when deciding team talks.
- Players also take comebacks into account when reacting to team talks.
- Stopped centre halves getting dragged out of position too easily when NOT first man behind ball.
- Slight reduction on lengths of goal kicks.
- Keepers now more willing to come to collect such long balls into their own area.
- Further improved defender direction facing when marking non ball player.
- Fixed issue with defenders dithering over whether to continue marking player with ball.
- Further fix re confusion between closing down ball player and marking him from a strategic position.
- Fixed further instance of players taking ridiculous first time shots.
- Fixed rare occurrence of players controlling ball and moving a few yards with it stuck to their foot.
- Fixed bug where player who wins aerial challenge always recovers quicker than the player who lost out.
- Fixed bug where defenders would occasionally get skinned by opponent due to problem in code rather than lack of ability.
- Fixed bug where keepers occasionally miss saves for no reason.
- Tweaked number of shots going over bar.
Match v648
==========
- Fixed bug where assistant team talk suggestions may be illogical after a win
Match v649
==========
- Fixed rare bug where keeper may needlessly miss opportunity to save shot
- Improved decision between pass and run depending on player instruction, player tendency and situation
- Made wide players get into the box quicker when ball on opposite side
- Tweaked average ratings for attacking wide men
- Stopped distribution defender coming way too deep to pick up ball at goal kicks
- Put a harsher workrate test on tracking back to challenge player already under pressure
- Fixed bug where defenders take up identical positions when "doubling up" on attacker
- Off ball runs from behind ball now done at higher speed
- Fixed unrealistically slow kicked clearances
- Fixed advantage being played then play called back a few seconds later
- Fixed bug where one player kicks off with no team mate next to him
- Slightly toned down effect on ball physics of muddy/wet pitches
- Stopped ball that lands on top of net dropping to zero height and making it look like it should be a goal
- Stopped AI managers in FML changing mentality during match
- And reduced substitutions by AI managers in FML
- Fixed players at low levels of football occasionally playing to a stupidly poor standard
- Toned down defenders occasionally being drawn too far out from defensive line to close down players
- Stopped strikers trying unrealistic first time shots when very wide or through on goal
- Slight improvement on first touch and time taken to react after receiving ball
- Improved likelyhood of attackers "lunging" in to ball running across face of goal
- Improved positioning of players coming to offer options to throw in taker
- Tweaked marking positioning and facing direction slightly further
- Improved shooting accuracy for easier chances
- Slight reduction in number of "power shots"
- Improved near post flick ons at corners
Match v650
===========
- Stopped kick off being taken before all players close to their starting positions
- Fixed bug from v640 that stopped keeper retrieving ball from own net after goal
- Fixed possibility of negative teamtalk reaction from player when team praised after positive result
- Reduced strikers taking up wide position and inhibiting the wide midfielder's movement
- Stopped players taking heavy morale hit after defeat that breaks excellent result sequence
- Made composed defenders turn on ball before clearing if possible
- Pushed central midfielders slightly forward when ball wide
- Fixed "attack near/far post" at corners
- Fixed poor marking at free kicks close to corner
- Stopped receiver taking control of ball needlessly early
- And fixed new bug where receiver dallies on taking control of ball
- Made keeper offer back pass option more willingly
- More tweaks to improve goalie positioning and reactions
- Fixed bug that allows centre halves to go for same ball without failing decision test
- Made players with tackle easy set stand off more rather than make tackle
- Players more willing to make themselves available for simple pass
- Improved marking facing further
- Stopped player dallying when passed ball from kick off
- Improved keeper response to distribution instructions further
- Fixed potential for defenders to score own goal when picking up loose ball on own goal line but facing own goal
- Fixed referee penalising player for foul when not close enough to opponent who takes a dive
- Fixed very low condition players not being subbed with knock ons that can mean sent off keeper not replaced
- Upped midfielder match ratings a tad
Match v651
===========
- Improved rating of goals for awards/FML
- Fixed half time keeper sub coming on at wrong end
- Fixed wing back being reported as playing at full back after match
- Tweaked number of fouls up as it has been dropping
- Reduced effectiveness of headers slightly
- Reduced pass completion slightly
- Fixed corner delivery instructions being ignored
- Improved penalty scoring rate
- Reduced use of tall target man for less direct style managers
Match v652
===========
- Fixed rare crash when player heads ball at goal
- Stopped AI managers giving out run with ball instruction to unsuitable players
- Improved attacking positioning and delivery at free kicks near opp goal
- First set of optimisations to reduce recent slowdown
Match v653
===========
- Optimised match engine code to improve speed by around 20%
- Fixed bug where strikers can play too close together in unusual formations
- Fixed some run of the mill goals being given very high award ratings
- Raised number of fouls to more in line with real world data
- Raised number of penalties and their conversion rate in line with real world data
- Fixed ball stopping unrealistically quickly on some low passes/shots
- Improved player judgement of interception possibilities
- Improved closing down AI yet again, now more aggressive but less unneccesary "doubling up"
- Made player recovery time after going to ground more realistic
- Players now clear instead of tackle if it is feasible
- Fixed some unrealistic instances of poor first touch
- Players lunge in for loose balls near opposition goal more realistically
- Defenders now more effective against attackers running at them
- Defenders now slightly more aware of their dangerman's position when "marking space"
- Fixed some strange positioning at free kicks inside defending penalty area
- Players with long shots set to often, or with long shots PPM, now more willing to do so in good positions subject to morale
Match v654
===========
- Fixed players ignoring passes due to bug in optimisation
- Fixed players sometimes clearing ball instead of converting simple chance
- Pushed D-line up a tiny bit to reduce defensive teams ability to pass ball around and dominate possession
Match v655
===========
- Reduced no of dangerous challenges
- Reduced no of professional fouls
- Fixed player teleporting bug ( from v653 )
- Fixed bug where defenders stand off and allow players to run through defensive line too easily
- Improved player finishing when clean through
- Fixed play being called back after advantage played and shot taken
- Fixed obscure crash
Data Editor
===========
- Updated award editing to support new award fields.
- Fixed problem with cursor in number fields on Mac.
- Fixed some club records not getting saved properly.