In the Manager's Journey expansion, mechanics for transitioning between clubs and fulfilling management tasks have been added.
We've designed these mechanics so players can either build their career by moving between clubs or stay with one club, elevating it from the Amateur League to the pinnacle of world football. If you were part of this club, management couldn't fire you, even if you failed to meet the tasks set before you.
Furthermore, the ambitions of different club managements varied, affecting the difficulty of the tasks. If you developed your own club, management's ambition was low. Therefore, players could relax a bit more about failing tasks because the tasks themselves were not very ambitious.
However, we received feedback that when developing a single club, it would be nice if management occasionally set tasks specifically for club development, not just for advancing in the league table.
4 New Types of Tasks
When tasked with achieving a higher league position or escaping relegation, it's hard to focus on youth and development. So, we decided it made sense to add tasks that allow players to concentrate on long-term improvements to the club, without worrying about immediate results.
In FTGW, we added 4 new types of tasks:
- Improve infrastructure and hire staff - you will earn management satisfaction points each time you upgrade the stadium, youth school, scout center, etc., and whenever you hire new coaches, medics, scouts.
- Feature juniors in the starting lineup who were signed this or next season - you will earn management satisfaction points each time your junior takes to the field.
- Purchase and field players aged 25 or younger with relatively high Talent for the club - you will earn management satisfaction points for buying the right player and for each game they play.
- Develop the club as you see fit - you will earn points for actions taken from the previous three tasks.
League position still matters, so there will be minimal expectations, but often these will be very achievable, such as simply not getting relegated.
New tasks will be issued for 2-4 years depending on the difficulty level, type of task, and current situation at your club.
When These Tasks Are Issued
If you work with only one club, management will alternate between development tasks and result-oriented tasks. Essentially, you're a co-owner of the club, so your job is to achieve long-term success.
Other clubs will not often give development tasks. In most cases, clubs will try to improve their league standing. But occasionally, you'll find clubs willing to spend a few seasons improving infrastructure, developing youth, or finding a talented player and integrating them into the team.
How the New Mechanic Looks in Action
One of the most experienced FTG players is helping us test FTGW. He recently started streaming his gameplay on hard mode with some new options (which we haven't officially talked about yet).
In one of the streams, he was given a club development task. You can see more details here: https://www.youtube.com/live/6STbZ7QKLcc?si=rz-KcwQrEdsYtlNL&t=3575 (Steam does not allow for posting the link in a more convenient format).
If you're interested in FTG, I highly recommend subscribing to his channel to get notifications about new streams. And generally, it's worth watching his playthroughs, as he uses unconventional tactics and has a very deep understanding of the game.
Early Access Information
In our last update, we discussed possibly releasing the game in Early Access this summer at a higher price than the final game would cost. Thanks to everyone who left feedback approving or disapproving this step.
After careful consideration, we've decided to forgo this idea for now, primarily because we want to impress you with new graphics. While the core of the FTG series is its mechanics, we want the game to immerse you more in real football, and graphics are also very important for this. So, we've decided to delay Early Access until the new graphics are at least in a basic functional state. We want FTGW to be associated with a new look.
This is an ambitious task for our small team. First, we are rewriting the animation engine. We are embedding the possibility for future expansion, the ability to create beautiful replays, and the future possibility of creating women's teams (they won't be in FTGW, but the engine will allow us to add them later). And overall, we want to make more realistic players, more realistic stadiums, etc. And that involves a lot of work.
So, unfortunately, at least until autumn, you won't be able to try out the exciting new features that have been added to the game :(
How to follow the development progress?
First and foremost, visit the game's page and add it to your wishlist. This way, you will receive an email from Steam when the game goes into Early Access or Full Release.
Secondly, click "Follow" to be notified whenever we publish news on Steam.
The great place to get notified about news and discuss them is our Discord.
Also, to follow our news, you can subscribe to our mailing list: Email subscription.