Welcome to my Football Manager Blog, the main purpose of this blog is to provide updates on the status of my Football Manager Skins & Guides Website

If you have any questions or queries then I can generally be found in the Skinning Forum at the Official Sports Interactive Forums, though I'd ask you to open a new thread rather than sending me a message.

To help with navigation I have included indexes of my content for the last few versions of Football Manager in the tabs below.

Sunday, 12 November 2017

Football Manager Touch 2018 Base Skins


As with recent Football Managers to make certain changes in Football Manager 2018 you are required to add files to the skin folders, whilst this isn't a problem for fan-made skins it is a slight problem if you are using the Default Skins included with the game. So to help people out I have again made some Base Skins for FM2018 that allow you to add and modify the default skins without breaking your game.

Full instructions on when and how to use the Base Skins can be found on the download page, please ensure you read the page in detail before downloading the Base Skins as it will save you problems in the future.  




Currently there are six versions of the Base Skin - one based on the Default Skin, one based on the Dark Skin and finally one based on the Retro Skin Touch Mode Skin with a Touchscreen version of each also included.

If you have any further questions on the Base Skins please ask any questions in the Skinning Hideout on the Official SIGames Forums.

Friday, 10 November 2017

Football Manager 2018 Base Skins


Please note that these skins will only work with the Full Mode of Football Manager 2018, Football Manager 2018 Touch Mode Base Skins will be released separately over the weekend.


As with recent Football Managers to make certain changes in Football Manager 2018 you are required to add files to the skin folders, whilst this isn't a problem for fan-made skins it is a slight problem if you are using the Default Skins included with the game. So to help people out I have again made some Base Skins for FM2018 that allow you to add and modify the default skins without breaking your game.

Full instructions on when and how to use the Base Skins can be found on the download page, please ensure you read the page in detail before downloading the Base Skins as it will save you problems in the future.  




Currently there are three versions of the Base Skin - one based on the Default Skin, one based on the Dark Skin and finally one based on the Light Skin for the Full Mode of FM2017.

If you have any further questions on the Base Skins please ask any questions in the Skinning Hideout on the Official SIGames Forums.

Tuesday, 7 November 2017

Football Manager 2018 Beta - Skinning/Graphics Information


With the Pre-Release Beta at this page contains information on some of the changes and skinning options for Football Manager 2018.

Also note that as this is a beta things are likely to change before release and that some features have been disabled in the beta.

Once the full game is out I'll be releasing updated more detailed information as I get it.



How to Locate and Move your User Data Location in Football Manager 2018
These instructions are exactly the same as for FM2017 you just replace 2017 with 2018 in the below guide:


What Graphics can I transfer over from FM2017.
2D items such as kits, faces, logos and trophies should all be reusable from FM18, though some ids might need updating and for kits third kits might need adding/removing.

3D items such as 3D Kits, Match Balls and Video Ads won't work as the 3D Match Engine has been re-written for FM18 so these will need updating or moving, however as the 3D stuff is now packed into fmf files we won't be able to make any changes until after the full release.

And as always skins from previous versions will not work in the new game. Whilst skin related mods might but it depends on whether the underlying code has changed, you can try these but for full compatibility you'll have to wait until the full release of the game as the code may change between now and release. 


How to Make the Sidebar Icon Only
Like in FM17 you can make the sidebar show icons only by adjusting a setting in the preferences menu instead of having to edit the xml files.
From the Preferences -> Interface menu on the left side under General Settings is an option 'Sidebar icons-only' if you tick that the sidebar will display icons only no matter your screen resolution. 


How to Turn Off Background Music
A new feature in FM18 is the background music that will play on the main menu, however if you don't like this music it can be turned off from the Preferences -> Overview Menu - Look under Match options on the bottom left and there will be a 'Play background music' option you can untick.

It might be possible to change the music, but that will have to wait until I have had time to look at the game files. 


Can I add a Picture to My Manager?
Like in FM17 it is no longer possible to add a picture to your Manager. Whether the mods that re-enabled this will work in FM18 is unknown and will need to wait until we have access to the game files.

On the plus side you can now edit your manager from within the game (option on the Manager Profile Screen) so you can change your tie colour when you move clubs. 
Though Facegen is currently disabled in the Beta so you won't be able to use this until the full release.


How to Change the Colour of the 3D Match Ball
Like in FM17 we can now recolour the 3D Match Ball from within the game.

If you goto the Preferences -> Interface -> Skin Colours screen.

At the bottom are options for the Standard Ball Colour and Winter Ball Colour.

To change the colours just click the colour bar and a colour picker will popup, select your new colour and click ok.

To undo your changes just click the 'Restore Default Colours' option.


Football Manager 2018 Nears Release


As always a little late but if you aren't already aware the Football Manager 2018 Public Beta is now available for those of you who have pre-ordered a digital copy from a participating retailer.

With the full release due on the 10th November 2017.

And as normal with the beta we cannot currently access the game files, having to wait for the Resource Tool to be released with the full release later this week. This means there isn't much that can be done skinning wise.

 
The plan is to get the Base Skins out over the weekend, and then have a look and see what other mods and guides need updating.

The biggest obvious change in FM2018 is that the match screens have been completely reworked so it will likely take me some time to update my various match mods.

You should also notice a slight change to my blog - I have added some tabbed pages at the top which will act as indexes for the last few versions of Football Manager and should hopefully make it easier for people to find previous content.

Wednesday, 7 June 2017

Football Manager 2017 Patch 17.3.1 - How To Add a Manager Picture



Football Manager 2017 (and Football Manager Touch 2017) has made some changes to how the manager picture works, with one of the new features being the ability to turn a photo into a facegen image used by the regens in the game, unfortunately it seems the adding of this feature removed the ability for you to assign a image to your manager via a config file like you do with players, SI for some reason also removed the option to add a manager picture from the preferences menu.

Whilst pre-patch 17.3.1 it was possible to use some coding from FM16 to get the picture back this workaround was disabled in that patch, however thanks to some work from Cyrius50 at www.manager-online.fr it is now possible to add a Manager Picture when adding your Manager to the game, however at the moment it isn't possible to apply the picture to existing profiles nor to change the image, and it may be disabled again if the game gets any more patches.

Friday, 20 January 2017

Football Manager 2017 - How To Add a Manager Picture


Football Manager 2017 (and Football Manager Touch 2017) has made some changes to how the manager picture works, with one of the new features being the ability to turn a photo into a facegen image used by the regens in the game, unfortunately it seems the adding of this feature removed the ability for you to assign a image to your manager via a config file like you do with players, SI for some reason also removed the option to add a manager picture from the preferences menu.

Thankfully it is actually possible to add back the manger picture option to the preferences menu which allows you to assign an image to your manager like in the past, and this is a fairly simple change that just involves copying over one of the xml files from Football Manager 2016.

Wednesday, 14 December 2016

Football Manager 2017 Skinning Guide Part 1 - How to Extract Default Files & Understanding File Structure

 
This is a simple guide to explain how to extract the fmf files that contain the default files for Football Manager 2017 and explains the file structure of the files to make it easier for people to modify the game themselves.

(This guide also applies to any recent version of Football Manager just replace the 2017 with the version number you are playing).