Don't worry - the game is all fine, and the demo is still coming this weekend, but if you ever get the feeling that a load of people are conspiring to annoy, that is what my day has been like (apart from a couple of very good meetings this morning).
If you didn't see it when it went live yesterday, the long version of the TV ad is now live at our youtube area,
www.youtube.co.uk/sigames. I'm really proud of it, and think the teams of people who worked on it at RSA and Front Room did a really great job. A few people have asked what the music is on the trailer and it's the same music that was used in the background of the announcement video that we did, called Black Glove by Goose, who are on Skint Records. Their album is great, and well worth checking out!
Today's indepth feature look comes from Nick, Ed and Phil, and looks at the new features, that of in-game press conferences.
Press Conferences
After the release of Football Manager 2008 we sat down and started to think about how we could improve the way the manager communicates with the media. Listening to the fan-base it was clear that the distinction between what is heard by the press and what stays behind closed doors has been blurred at times. On the one hand there is the interaction system (between fellow managers and between managers and players) and on the other there are the questions and transfer speculation which crop up every now and then in the manager's inbox. What was clear to us was that we needed to develop a system which would present the manager with a more realistic and focussed approach to handling the press.
As you will see in Football Manager 2009, our approach has been to make press conferences the focal point of the manager's dealings with the media. As in real life, a press conference is the only regular opportunity for journalists from both written and audio-visual media outlets to formally pose questions to the person in charge of the football club. On a broader scale, a press conference becomes the major point of contact between a manager and the outside world.
In Football Manager 2009, there are three types of press conference: new job, pre-match and post-match. During each press conference, the manager will be given an indication of how many media sources and journalists are present. The number of journalists present will reflect the importance of the fixture; ranging from one or two local reporters for a non-league tie to global paparazzi for a European cup final.
Once the press conference is under way, as each question is posed, the journalist asking the question will be displayed, along with their employer. Every question and answer is stored in the press conference history section which is important to the flow of press conferences over the course of time as journalists will refer back to questions asked at an earlier stage and what answers were previously given.
Journalists being journalists, they'll occasionally stray off-topic. It might well be a pre-match press conference, but you can bet your life that someone in the room wants to know more about the latest rumours of unsettled players or a piece of juicy transfer gossip. That's the charm in having numerous journalists present; they've all got a different personality. Some of them will be kinder and more understanding towards you, whilst a similar number may be quite probing and less considerate.
However, for every question, there's an answer, and you've got quite a degree of flexibility in how you go about addressing what has been asked. Each question has five options from which you can choose your best-suited response, with an additional free text box at the bottom of the screen for you to add your additional comments in should you have any (and we know you will). This doesn't impact on what the media or the football world make of your answers, but it's a nice tool to aid in the immersion factor for those that want to, and can be great fun in multiplayer games!
Of course, if you don't want to turn up, you can simply send your Assistant Manager along on your behalf. There is also an option in Team Settings to get your assistant manager to handle all press conferences. If you do turn up and things aren't to your liking, you can ask your press officer to wrap things up or even storm out.
So, now you know more about that. Tomorrow's blog will come live from the Golden Joystick awards, where we're nominated for best PC game and best UK developer I think. Which is nice. But expect it to be a little bit slurred.
Cheers
Miles (and Ed, Nick & Phil)
