retired_kellyk

Any good attacking player must have good off the ball skills. These skills help find space, as he doesn't stay still in one spot, always looking to run around and make space for himself.

Wingers, AMC, strikers all need OTB skills. The higher up the league I go the more important this attribute becomes for me, and is one of the main, though not key attributes when I make a decision on who to keep or let go in a squad

retired_Kam_macca

So in regards to Creative Freedom, would it be best to use a low Team CF of about 5 and then only set individual CF for exceptional players with good flair and creativity?

retired_Kam_macca

Out of interest sake, for the slider settings (mentality, CF, passing etc) are these positioned to where the first appearance of the 'word' setting appears or do they vary?

circlewalker

Usually somewhere in the middle, so "Little" will be about 1/3rd of the slider, for example.

retired_yanas

Ackter,

How do you set XML structure for individual players?

retired_lmccray

Attacking players need good Off the ball, I agree. But I don't see how a player running with the ball needs good Off the ball stats. To me a good dribbler must have dribbling (Duh!), first touch, technique, agility, pace and decision. That's it. Off the ball is when he doesn't have the ball how does the player support his teammates.

retired_kellyk

You have different views on this than me then. I just consider it a very important feature for a dribbler. If a player can find space by getting behind a defense (OTB) then his on the ball skills will make him unbeatable.

If a player simply has dribbling skills then he may or may not be able to find good space when he has the ball, and he may or may not be in good positions to support his own team when they have the ball in possession and when they are trying to attack.

Its a key ingredient for me at least.

retired_lmccray

Hmmm, think about it...there are three ways for a player to beat the defense: Dribble, pass or with clever runs. For all of them one needs good decision as when and where to do ANY of the three or either of the three.
A good dribbler will find space with his creativity (aka vision) and decision. There just isn't a link between dribbling and off the ball attributes. Off the ball is simply attacking support WITHOUT the ball. Why would a player already running with the ball need off the ball? To me from one side we have passing, first touch, technique, off the ball, creativity and decision all linked together. Then on the other side we have dribbling, technique, first touch, creativity, decision, pace, acceleration and maybe flair. But that doesn't mean that passing is connected to pace, or that dribbling is connected to off the ball for example....Anyway, I respect your different opinion but I just can't see the football logic connecting dribbling with off the ball.

leftfoot

Having seen a topic in GQ requesting Player Based Instructions I remembered this post and decided to figure out how to do it. Here is what I posted in there after my experiment.

As a disclaimer I am not a programmer nor an expert in xml but I am assuming this is how Ackter did it (if he reads this and I am wrong my apologies).

Go to CProgram Files\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2008\data\tactics

There is an xml file called tactical_templates. I would suggest backing it up before you making any changes.

Right click and select edit (this is in Windows XP). Once you see it's layout it is fairly self explanatory.

The easiest way to maintain the programming structure without familiarity is to go to the last entry with Target Man in it's first line. Highlight everything as far as <record> above the line as in this picture

http://img468.imageshack.us/img468/6444/xml1vw0.jpg

Then go 2 lines below </record> and paste.

Then fill in the values as desired. The next time you load a game the new entries will be available in the 'set to' instructions.

I did a similar thing to fix the highlight speed on FM 07 and had no adverse effects in a long term game. But like I said I don't know if changing this xml will have negative effects. Just back it up before you mess with it and replace it if things go crazy and remember to save your game on a regular basis so you can backtrack if the game does screw up.

retired_alisham007

i may not have read the thread properly as i am pretty tired.

but from what i understand, the way Ackter sets up his team is by personally assesing each player and putting individual instructions to their strengths.

I find this really interesting and it was what i tried to do in FM07 although with no success at all.

What do you use in your team instructions and if everyone is on their own instructions don't they sometimes clash and the whole team goes out of shape?

Sry if i have been ignorant.