Exclusive TCM 2004 Interview

FBO) In TCM 2004 and FIFA 2004 you have implemented an option called Football Fusion, which allows you to export the data from TCM to FIFA, and the other way around. How will this work, and do we have to use some kind of utilities to export and import data? And do we have to restart the PS2 consol each time the transition is being made?

EA) Football Fusion is very easy to use. There is an option to export TCM teams at the beginning of a game (to export the data from the editor) – or at any time during a running game (to export a team you have managed). Playing a FIFA match out of TCM is very simple, there is just another option how you want to see the match.

FBO) Let's say a patch-maker for FIFA2004 or for TCM2004, makes an entire league (which isn’t' originally in-game) for the game (rosters, ability points, kits, logos..ect). Can we then export the League data from FIFA 2004 into TCM2004 (or the other way around) and play it?

EA) The feature is limited to the export of 10 teams.

FBO) Will TCM2004 data be backward compatible with TCM2003 data?

EA) It will be easy to convert the data. Of course there are new data fields and some effort is necessary.

FBO) In TCM2003 editor, first we had to select one present structure (e.g. England 1-1-1-1-1) in order to make a leaguedivision. Can we in TCM 2004 editor make our own structures, and how many levels can we go up to?

EA) This hasn't changed this year. There are some new national and international cup structures available if you know how to edit the script files.

FBO) We have heard that it will be possible to build stadiums in TCM2004, will it be possible to import them into FIFA2004? Can you explain better what functions the Stadium Editor for TCM will have, and what will we need to do to import a stadium into TCM2004 (or FIFA)?

EA) No, importing them into FIFA Football 2004 is not possible. The new stadium editor within TCM 2004 has many new features, like new roof types, pillars, 3D entrances, new video screens, press areas. The stadiums simply look much better and you can create much more realistic stadiums.

After you have created a new stadium, you save it using the same name as the club crest (e.g. "Arsenal"). Then the new stadium is automatically detected as soon as you start a new game.

FBO) Are we going to see any screenshots of the new Editor, or maybe the new Text-mode in TCM 2004?

EA) Yes, as soon as it is fully translated, it will be no problem to release screenshots of the editor. But everybody who has already worked with it loves it, especially the guys from our fansites are very happy because it makes things so much easier.

Text mode shots are no problem at all. We'll release them pretty soon now.

FBO) In earlier games from EA Sports, the main graphics file was .fsh. Is this still the main graphics file both for

TCM 2004 and FIFA 2004, or has the graphics engine been totally redone and removed the .fsh?

EA) The fsh files are still there. J

FBO) Is the Kit format for TCM2004 similar to the one in FIFA 2003?

EA) It's similar to FIFA2004.

FBO) TCM 2004 matches can also be viewed in 3D mode. What graphics engine is being used, the one from FIFA 2003 or the new one, FIFA 2004?

EA) The engine of FIFA Football 2004 in the PC version, the engine of FIFA Football 2003 in the PS2/Xbox versions.

FBO) In 3D mode: will players dribble? Will the tactics you choose before and during the match be visually apparent?

Can you see a big difference when you assign a player an individual order?

EA) This is our big objective this year. We'll report about this on www.totalclubmanager.com in detail in the coming months.

FBO) In the international management, in TCM, how many teams will you be able to choose from, and do you have the chance to watch club games to choose players from?

EA) All European teams, plus the South American teams during the WC Qualification, plus all the other teams during the World Cup. You can play as a club and a national team manager at the same time.

FBO) Will we be able to create our own cup competitions in TCM 2004?

EA) As I already mentioned – this is possible with some good knowledge of the script files. But this is not officially supported because this is very complex and could case trouble. It needs some time and scripting knowledge to do this properly.

FBO) What Official (playable) Leagues are going to be included in TCM2004, including the National teams?

EA) We'll publish the final list in some weeks on www.totalclubmanager.com. Currently we still try to implement as many as possible. New officially licensed leagues compared to last year are e.g. Spain, Holland and Portugal.

FBO) Is there a youth league in-built in the game?

EA) Yes, there are up to five youth leagues per country. You can even get the match reports to see who performs well, who scores the goals etc.

FBO) Will the youth players of the licensed clubs be real youth players or generated ones?

EA) No, we don't do this for legal reasons. Our youth players are always generated.

FBO) How do you acquire youth players, is it the same way as in TCM2003?

EA) Yes, but it was extended. The number of youth camps has doubled and there are a lot of new features in this part of the game.

FBO) How does the new Attribute system work, how will you rate each player attribute in FIFA and TCM?

Is it from 1 to 10 like last year, or something new?

EA) TCM uses four levels for each attribute. Basically it works like last year, but there are two steps between the four levels, which makes it a 1-10 system.

FBO) Can you give us an example on how you evaluate the teams. Let's say Newcastle; What is its rating in TCM?

EA) There are specialists for each country and for many clubs. They do this work. It is not possible for a single person to know each league well enough to deliver accurate data. I could deliver data for Stuttgart, but not for Newcastle.

FBO) Does TCM 2004 have a multiplayer option?

EA) Yes, four players, in front of one computer.

FBO) Will there be updates after the release of TCM 2004 and if so what will they contain with the exception of bug fixes (e.g. data updates, kits, faces, flags, stadiums, etc.)?

EA) There is no fixed schedule for this. But in the previous years we have always released a lot of updates with new features, tools like the text mode editor, between 3 and 6 data updates etc. We think that is very important.

FBO) The last question: Do you know when the DEMO of TCM 2004 and FIFA 2004 is going to be released?

EA) There is no final date so far, but there will be a demo.

FBO) Thank you for you time, It's been a pleasure.