14 DAY TRIAL //
Softpedia: First of all could you tell us a little about who you are and how you came to work on the development of Football Manager?
Mihai Andrieş: My name is Mihai Andrieş, I am 33 years old and I am from Bucharest. My story starts in 2001, when I founded the first Championship Manager community in Romania. As the years passed I found out about a research team that focused on Romania and which was “camped” on the ComputerGames forums. I got talking to the people there, I did some research for CM4 and I then got into some heated discussions with the leader of the team which resulted in me being excluded for some time and then welcomed back for Football Manager 2005.
I then become more and more important for the research work and became the main man in the team. I was then nominated as leader by my predecessor and I was the captain of the team for the research effort on FM 2008.
Q: What does the position of Head Researcher for a country actually imply in terms of watching football players or teams and when it comes to interacting with the developers of Football Manager 12? Mihai Andrieş: I see most matches from the first division and those played by the national team on television. For the second, third and even fourth league there's a lot of field work to be done. I would estimate that I see at least two matches per week at this level. I keep in touch with the developers at Sports Interactive all the time via the Internet. We have special discussion forums where only the Head Researchers have access. We offer input on a lot of gameplay elements, especially when it comes to adapting the game to the football reality of our home countries.
Q: What are the main differences you have noticed between FM 2012 and last year's version? Mihai Andrieş: There are enormous changes on all fronts. The transfers, the interface, the 3D game mode, the match analysis, the player talks have all been tweaked, it's too much to mention in just one answer. The most important addition to me is the fact that one can add new championships as the season progresses. Even if this happens towards the end of the season there's no need to start a new game.
Q: Where do you see the series evolving in the coming years, in general terms? Mihai Andrieş: I sincerely do not know what more can be added to the game. Sometimes it seems to me that there's too much information in the game and that the complexity only goes up from year to year. Of course, the developers will have something new to add, no doubt about that.
Q: What team do you like to manage in Football Manager 2012 and why? Mihai Andrieş: There's no fun for me in playing in Romania because I know the database inside out. So I prefer to leave the choice up to the computer by going to Randomcountry.org and allowing the computer to select a country. I prefer LLM ???, where you can experiment and really feel a sense of satisfaction when you get to the top.
Q: Could you tell us about one Romanian player that any gamer should look to recruit to his club in the game? Mihai Andrieş: Torje when it comes to those who play outside Romania and from inside the country those looking for an experimented player can pick up Sânmărtean. For those who prefer young prospects Sergiu Buș or Nicușor Stanciu are good choices.
Q: Finally, any tips for those who are only now getting familiar with the series? Mihai Andrieş: Use the tutorials included in the game, they can be really useful. The new in-game tutorial in Football Manager 2012 is especially helpful. Gamers in Romania can also look for advice on www.fmro.ro/forums, the forum which serves the Romania player community..