Michaeltmurrayuk's Football Manager Graphics Blog: fm2016 guide

Showing posts with label fm2016 guide. Show all posts

Friday, 26 February 2016

FM16 Guide - How to Enable Rotating Default Backgrounds

First of all credit for this goes to ArtDekDok, he's just asked me to type up this guide as he isn't a native English Speaker.

This may be of interest to some people, ArtDekDok has found an interesting way to get the game to rotate through a list of default backgrounds instead of you being stuck with the same background.

Easiest way to show this is with a quick video:

FM16 Guide - How To Recolour the Star Ratings

Like in previous versions it is possible to change either the appearance or the colour of the Star Ratings used in FM16, however the method to recolour them has changed in Football Manager 2016.

How to Recolour the Star Ratings

In Football Manager 2016 the colour of the star ratings is no longer set by the actual graphic, like the other skin graphics in the game the colours are now set by values declared in the settings file for the skin, the advantage of this is it makes it a whole lot easier and quicker to recolour the stars.

If you are using one of the Default Skins then you will first need to download and switch over to the relevant Base Skin.

Then inside the folder for the skin you are using should be a settings folder and inside this should be an xml file (ignore the one called config.xml the one you want will generally be called something like settings.xml, colours.xml or '<skin_name> settings.xml')

Now inside that xml file you want to locate the following lines of code:

(Don't worry if these lines aren't present in the file for your skin as the skinner may not have included them, if that is the case just paste the above lines into the file).

These four lines of code control the colour fo the Star Ratings, the first line controls the Senior Star (Gold by default), the next line controls the Youth Star (Light Grey), the third line controls the Unknown Star (Black) and the final line controls the Empty Star (Dark Grey).

To adjust the colour you need to change the values for each component. Valid values range from 0 to 255, where 255,255,255 is white, 0,0,0 is black, 255,0,0 is red, 0,255,0 is green etc…

Next you need to know the RGB value of the colour you want, the easiest way to get this is from an image editing program. (Or you can use trial and error to get close to what you want, one thing I would suggest is avoid setting values to 255 as they can be a bit bright, using 248 or 240 tends to give a softer colour that looks better).

For example if you load up paint.net, and in the Colors panel at the bottom left click the more button to expand the panel and it will now show the RGB value of the selected colour and as you change the colour on the colour wheel you'll see the RGB values change.

Alternatively there is a colour picker included within the game – just go to Preferences -> Interface -> Skin Colours, then click on one of the existing colours and a colour selector pops up where you can select a colour and get its RGB value.

Then it is just a case of picking the colour values that you want.

Below I have included some example colours for you to use if you want.

To get these into the game all you need to do is to paste the following lines for the colour scheme you want to use into the settings file for your skin in place of the existing lines of code for the star ratings you want to replace, if the skin you are using doesn't already have a star rating colours set in the settings file then you can just paste these lines directly into the file.
NOTE: If you are using one of the default skins you will need to download and switch to the relevant Base Skin to change the star colours.

After you have pasted in the lines you want, load up the game and if you have the skin cache on turn it off from within the Preferences Menu and Reload your skin for the new colours to be read.

RED

BLUE

GREEN

How To Change the Star Rating Images

NOTE: These instructions are for people who want to create their own new star images, if you are using a downloaded pack then follow the instructions included with them to install them.

Whilst the method to recolour the star ratings has changed it is still possible to replace the default stars with different images.

The first thing you will need to do is to extract the default Star Rating graphics which can be found in the following location within the skins.fmf file:

\skins\fm-widgets\graphics\icons\custom\star rating

Inside that folder will be three subfolders;

scouting - I don't think these are actually used any longer.

senior - controls the main star ratings. (also used for reputation stars).

youth - controls the youth star ratings.

Inside each of these folders you will notice several png graphics and an xml file for each of them.

The png files control the actual appearance of the stars and note that we no longer have images for each rating we just have one for each part, so for example a two star rating would use two full images and three empty ones, whilst a three star rating would use three full images and two empty images, when in the past you'd have had a unique image for the two star rating and another one for the three star rating.

The other thing to consider when making new star images is that you can only use the three colours (red, green and blue) used by the default files as the game will recolour these to the colours declared in the settings file.

By default the red colour is assigned to the known star, the green colour is assigned the unknown star and the blue is assigned to the empty star.

Regarding the xml files you shouldn't need to edit these as they just tell the game what colour names to assign the red/green/blue colours to, and whilst you can change what values these are assigned to it is best to just leave them assigned to the default values to save any confusion at a later date.

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You are free to post this content to your website provided:
1. It is not sold or behind a paywall.
2. You don't advertise it as being exclusive to your website.
3. My username and blog address are included: http://michaeltmurrayuk.blogspot.co.uk/

Thursday, 3 December 2015

FM16 Guide - How To Customize Match Player Ratings Screens

Like in previous versions Football Manager 2016 allows you to customize what information is displayed on the various Player Rating screens shown on the Match Screens.

However the coding for this has changed slightly in FM16 so now is a good time to create a proper guide showing you how to edit these screens.

FM16 Match Screen Kits Mod

My latest Match Screen Mod for Football Manager 2016 is another update from FM15 with this one changing the logos on the match screens into kits, and is available in two versions:

Mod 1 - Replaces all Match Screen Logos with Kits this affects Logos shown on the Split Screen Overview Panel and in the Header.

Mod 2 - Just replaces the Logos with Kits on the Split Screen Overview Panel but leaves the Logos in the Header.

You can also get the teamnames to appear on the titlebar (third screenshot below) by downloading Mod 1 of this mod and my Match Titlebar Team Name Mod.

Mod 1 should worth with any FM16 skin including Touch mode skins.

Mod 2 should also work with any FM16 full-mode skin, though if you are using a skin with a custom match titlebar you'll need to modify the files yourself.

If you are using a Touch Mode Skin then just download Mod 1 as the extra file in Mod 2 isn't used in FMT.

Note that these mods don't add kits/logos to the various Overview screens that don't display logos by default it just changes the existing logos to kits.

FM2016 MATCH SCREEN KITS MOD DOWNLOAD PAGE

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Redistribution Terms

You are free to post this content to your website provided:

1. It is not sold or behind a paywall.
2. You don't advertise it as being exclusive to your website.
3. My username and blog address are included: http://michaeltmurrayuk.blogspot.co.uk/

FM16 Match Titlebar Team Names Mod

This is a simple mod that restores the Team Names to the Match Titlebar in Football Manager 2016, and you have two options:

Team Names and Logos:

Team Names and Logos, plus a Competition Logo:

They are designed to work on skins based on the Default FM16 skins, for skins that have a different match titlebar from the default you'll need to modify the files yourself. NOTE: These won't work in FMT mode skins as they don't use this panel.

If you are playing on a smaller resolution certain options on the action bar might be cut off at certain points, however these items just appear in the drop down menu like the first screenshot (which was taken at 1024x768) meaning they are still available to select.

Also Note if the Skin you are using already has a 'match title bar.xml' file you'll need to follow the advanced instructions further down to create the mod on your own as overwriting your skins custom match titlebar may cause problems.

FM16 MATCH TITLEBAR TEAM NAMES MOD DOWNLOAD PAGE

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Redistribution Terms

You are free to post this content to your website provided:

1. It is not sold or behind a paywall.
2. You don't advertise it as being exclusive to your website.
3. My username and blog address are included: http://michaeltmurrayuk.blogspot.co.uk/

Tuesday, 17 November 2015

FM16 Scoreboard Logos Mod

This is a simple mod that restores the club logos to the Scoreboard on the Match Pitch view in Football Manager 2016, aswell as adding a Competition logo.

IF YOU ARE USING THE FMTouch MODE THEN YOU WANT THIS PAGE

That is designed to work on skins based on the Default FM16 skins, for skins that have a different match scoreboard from the default you'll need to modify the files yourself. (full instructions are provided at the below link)

Note if the Skin you are using already has a 'match title bar score.xml' file you'll need to follow the advanced instructions further down to create the mod on your own as overwriting your skins custom scoreboard may cause problems.

FM16 SCOREBOARD LOGOS MOD DOWNLOAD PAGE

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Redistribution Terms
You are free to post this content to your website provided:
1. It is not sold or behind a paywall.
2. You don't advertise it as being exclusive to your website.
3. My username and blog address are included: http://michaeltmurrayuk.blogspot.co.uk/

Saturday, 14 November 2015

FM16 Guide - How To Stop the Blurring Effect

A new feature in Football Manager 2016 is a blurring effect that displays when the main screen isn't in focus (i.e. when processing, saving or responding to a popup), however if you don't like this effect then it is simple enough to disable.

The first thing you need to do is extract a couple of the default game files, if you don't know how to do this see this guide.

If you are using a Full Mode Skin then you want to extract the contents of this folder:

\skins\fm-widgets\graphics\boxes\dialog\background

If you are using one of the Touch Mode Skins then you want to extract the contents of this folder:

\skins\fmc\graphics\boxes\dialog\background

If you are using the default skins then you can download the relevant Base Skin which saves you having to extract the files as I have included them with the Base Skins.

Inside these folders will be a paper.xml file if you open this you will see the following line:

<boolean id="blurred" value="true"/>

To disable the blurring all you need to do is change true to false:

<boolean id="blurred" value="false"/>

Then save the file and if FM16 is running reload your skin and the blurring should now be gone.

On the left is an example of the blur enabled as default whilst the right image is with the blurring disabled.

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Redistribution Terms

You are free to post this content to your website provided:

1. It is not sold or behind a paywall.
2. You don't advertise it as being exclusive to your website.
3. My username and blog address are included: http://michaeltmurrayuk.blogspot.co.uk/

Friday, 30 October 2015

Football Manager 2016: How to Add Custom Trophy Images

A new feature for FM2016 is the ability to assign custom trophy images to actual competitions.

Like with faces, kits and logos to add trophies to the game you need an image graphic of your trophy and a config xml file.

How to Create the Trophy Graphic

The style of graphic used for the trophy doesn't really matter, (no doubt graphic makers will soon make various different styles for you to choose from) the licensed images included with the game use cut-out style images (like the player faces), if you want some instructions on how to create cut-out images then you can have a look at this old guide I made for player faces.

When creating the graphic the best thing to do is to try and obtain the largest and cleanest image you can as they are the easiest to work from.

The dimensions of the final image aren't that important as like with the other graphics the game now scales them to the size it needs.

The default images are 180x180 pixels, however if you can I'd make them bigger say 360x360 pixels so they are upscaled better if someone is playing zoomed in or a skinner makes them appear larger in the skins.

When saving your images you want to save them as png files with transparency enabled if an option.

Filenames are up to you but it is best to avoid non-english characters, special characters, captial letters or spaces. The easiest thing to do is to name them by their competitions id as that will also make creating the config files easier.

The Config Entry

The entry you need to add to your config file is as follows:

<record from ="<FILE_NAME>" to="graphics/pictures/comp/<UNIQUE_ID>/trophy"/>

Where;

<FILE_NAME> is the name of the graphic you are adding.

<UNIQUE_ID> is the in-game id of the competition you want to link the image to. This is the same ID you would use if adding a logo to the competition.

For example the below line would link a graphic called 'prem' to the English Premier League trophy:

<record from ="prem" to="graphics/pictures/comp/11/trophy"/>

If you haven't created a config file before then have a read of this guide.

Where To Place Your Image

Trophy images are placed in the same place as your kits, logos and faces. They should be placed inside the graphics folder within your User Data Location, provided they are inside your graphics folder and are in the same folder as the config file you can freely place them in as many subfolders as you like (for example graphics\trophies\europe\england would work).

Unless you have changed it your User Data Location will be located in one of the following places:

Windows

C:\Users\[Your Windows Username]\Documents\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2016\

Mac

/Users/[Your Mac Username]/Documents/Sports Interactive/Football Manager 2016/

Linux

/home/documents/Sports Interactive/FM2016/

Then load the game and from the Preferences -> Interface menu untick 'Use caching to decrease page loading times' and tick 'Reload skin when confirming changes in Preferences' Then click Confirm and if done right your trophy images should display. (Once they are displaying you can undo this step)

Below is an example where I have assigned the FM2016 logo to appear as the trophy for the English Premier League:

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Redistribution Terms

You are free to post this content to your website provided:

1. It is not sold or behind a paywall.
2. You don't advertise it as being exclusive to your website.
3. My username and blog address are included: http://michaeltmurrayuk.blogspot.co.uk/

Thursday, 29 October 2015

Football Manager 2016 - Locating and Changing your User Data Location

If you have played the Football Manager 2016 Beta you may have noticed that the Preferences menu no longer lists or allows you to change your User Data (Saving) Location, this feature was removed from the game because it was confusing people.

Your User Data (Saving) Location is the place on your hard drive where user generated content is stored, this includes data generated by the game such as save games, tactics and shortlists. It also includes graphics (kits, logos, faces etc) and skins that you may have downloaded or created.

Locating Your User Data Location

Your User Data Location will be found in one of the following locations depending on which Operating System your computer is using:

Once you have located your User Data Location the process for installing skins and graphics is the same as previous versions, however this time around the game should create the graphics and skins subfolders for you to make things slightly easier.

How To Change Your User Data Location

Even though the ability to change your User Data Location from within the game has been removed it is still possible to manually change it's location.

(NOTE: You only need to follow the below instructions if you want to move the location, these instructions aren't needed to just add content to the game if you want to just use the default location)

In FM2016 you now need to add a command line to the game launch options.

To do this follow the instructions below:

- Go into Steam -> Library -> Games view.

- Located Football Manager 2016 and right-click on the game.
- Select 'Properties'
- Click 'Set Launch Options...'
- Copy the following into the dialogue box: --user_data_location="<path>"
- In the <path> section, enter the exact path you wish the folder to be generated (ie D:\Users\ etc)

So for example if you wanted your Saving Location to be S:\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2016

You would add the following text to the dialogue box:

--user_data_location="S:\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2016"

So your Launch Options box should look something like this:

Note that this folder location needs to already exist on your hard drive before setting the launch option, then when you next launch FM2016 the game will automatically generate the needed subfolders (such as graphics, games and skins).

If done correctly the contents of your custom User Data Location should look something like this after having run the game with the launch option set:

Also note that if you have any already created anything in game with the default location set (such as save games, shortlists, or tactics) you will need to manually copy the items over to your new location.

To reset your Saving Location to the default position you just need to delete the command line and on your next restart of FM16 the game will go back to using the default location. (Again you'll need to maunaly copy over any existing files from your old custom location to the default location for them to be read by the game).