Football Manager 21 New Features – Part 1

Hello Ballerz! I recently wrote an article talking about the imminent release of FM21 (you can read it here if you haven’t seen it before). There, I said I would use separate articles to talk about the new features coming to FM. This is Part 1 of that group of articles.

FM21 has grouped their new features into broad categories. I will use this article to talk about one category of new features: FM’s new Interaction’s system. This underwent a large overhaul, so this article may be quite long. But I’m writing it anyway. So, I’ll just jump into it.

FM’s New Interaction System

According to the Football Manager website and also from what I’ve seen in previews, the Football Manager Interaction system has seen major improvements. The way we interact with our players and the media has changed significantly, and SI says that our decisions here will have a greater impact on rest of the game.

SI grouped all their additions and improvements to the Interaction system into four, namely:

• Gestures
• Quick Chats
• Press Conferences
• Face to Face Conversations

I’ll start with the new Gestures addition coming in FM21.

Gestures

SI has taken out the previous tone system and replaced it with gestures, which are non-verbal signals which can be used to express oneself in the game.

Depending on the situation the manager finds himself, he can pick up to 30 gestures to emphasize a positive, negative or neutral interaction. The gestures available during team talks, for example, tend to be more expressive and emotive, in an attempt to spark a reaction from your players. Public gestures, on the other hand, will be more restrained, so as to reflect proper managerial etiquette.

SI says that the gestures used on a day-to-day basis have greater control on the relationships formed in-game. For example, animated gestures will show a journalist you are interested in his questions, while more abrasive hand signals denote a less than optimal level of intrigue. The media will pick up on this and relationships will change accordingly. These changes will give managers a more fulfilling experience.

Quick Chats

The next thing SI introduced to Football Manager is the Quick Chats system. Quick Chats were introduced to recreate the informal interactions between yourself and others that don’t require a full meeting or press conference. They will now appear as pop-ups from the screen instead of taking the manager to a separate interface.

There are 2 types of Quick Chats: the Remote Quick Chat and the In-Person Quick Chat. The mechanics behind both chats are the same; the only difference being how accessible the person you are talking to is. SI says that the new Quick Chat feature can be used in a variety of ways as well: from speaking to a journalist about a transfer rumour surrounding your club, to complimenting a player’s training ethic. It’s pretty much a restyle of the previous Interaction system in this regard.

Press Conferences

The press conferences on FM21 have definitely seen radical changes. SI has spoken about it as well, saying that now the interaction between the manager and journalists is going to feel more realistic.

Some changes to press conferences include the user interface, the interaction with your Press Officer, the variation in questions, the newly added Gestures (only in specific instances), the mood in press conferences and of the journalists in attendance, and many more modifications. SI actually wrote quite extensively on this topic, so if you want to read more about it I’ll leave a link in the description here.

What you should know is that Press Conferences now seem more important and more immersive. Watching their First Look livestream, it also appeared to be this way, so I’m keeping my hopes up.

Face to Face Conversations

Though In Person Quick Chats have been introduced, SI believes that more important conversations (such as a player’s wage demands) still need to be spoken about face to face. As such, this form of conversation was added, similar to how conversations worked in previous iterations of FM.

However, there are some improvements here as well. Firstly, these conversations can include more people than just you and the player. Depending on the situation, a player’s agent, the your assistant manager and even the club’s Director of Football may be in attendance. You can also now observe the body language of others in a meeting, and your answers will be categorized to help you find them easier.

At the end of these meetings, a staff member gives you a quick recap, as well as any actions or promises made over the duration of the chat.

Conclusion

SI has improved the Interaction system with the aim of enhancing the experience while playing FM. Now, from press conferences to player chats, you can form deeper connections with the people in the game itself.

I’ll release Part 2 of this series soon, as well as any new updates I feel I should let you guys know. The FM21 beta should also be around the corner, so look out for that. For more news, you can always follow our Twitter here. So, until next time, bye.