Hello fellow managers!
Welcome to our second development blog post, where we share with you – the FM community – the behind-the-scenes work that goes into our mods.
A quick personal note
The reception to our first mod and the subsequent patch has been incredible – and genuinely humbling. It’s been an amazing journey, one we’re eager to share with as many of you as possible. We take transparency and open communication seriously, so these development blog posts won’t be a rare occurrence. Think of them as the other side of the coin – where we openly admit our frustrations but also share the process that helped us get to where we are now.
Today’s focus: AI improvements
In this blog post, we’re diving into our efforts to create a more realistic AI. But first, a bit of context. For years, many FM players have voiced frustration about the lack of challenge from the AI – whether it’s the AI managers repeatedly picking the same starting XI, failing to rotate during a hectic schedule, or not giving youngsters the game time they need to develop into future stars.
With that in mind, we set ourselves two primary goals:
1. To make AI squad management more realistic – smarter substitutions, better rotation.
2. To make sure the AI picks its starting eleven each match using the same logic a human player would—optimizing the use of its best players without overworking them.
2. To ensure the AI values youth development, giving young players meaningful game time without weakening the starting XI.
Working within limitations
As with our first mod (the match engine file), we’re constrained by only having access to publicly available code. Many AI-related issues can only be properly addressed by SI, who have access to the source code. So, our changes are strictly based on what’s publicly editable – we’re not altering the database, like some other great mods out there (e.g. Daveincid’s work), but instead tweaking AI logic itself. That required a ton of testing – more on that later.
What to expect from this patch:
– A more realistic AI when it comes to squad management and starting XI selection.
– A more rational AI that maximises its use of substitutions.
– An AI that actively gives more opportunities to young players.
Let’s dive in!
Squad management and starting XI selection
As we all know, the AI tends to rely too heavily on factors like player reputation, while giving too little weight to things like match fitness or the untapped potential of younger players. This leads to two main problems:
1. Players get overused and fatigued, giving human managers an unfair edge during congested fixture periods.
2. The AI signs or loans players who then barely play – not great squad building.
A third consequence, which we’ll touch on more later, is that youth players don’t get a look-in.
To tackle this, we’ve rewritten parts of the team selection logic. The AI now places greater emphasis on factors like current ability, potential, and match fitness—prioritizing the selection of the best possible lineup each match, much like a human manager would.
You’ll see the results across a full season – more rotation, smarter sub usage, varied team selections.
AI substitutions
When tackling squad management, it became clear that substitution logic was another weak link. The AI barely used its subs, further exacerbating the fatigue issues of its key players.
So we looked for a way to encourage it to make full use of the substitutions available. We tested everything – from always making changes at half-time to barely doing any at all – until we found a balance we were happy with.
Now, the AI responds more to what’s happening on the pitch. Sometimes it’ll sub at half-time, sometimes mid-second-half, sometimes not much at all – it depends on the match situation.
It’s not perfect – the AI will still occasionally make baffling choices – but it’s a massive improvement. And we’re already working on refining this further for a future patch.
Youth development and game time
The final piece of the puzzle was getting the AI to give young players more minutes. We all know how frustrating it is in long-term saves when the AI hoards wonderkids who never get played, never develop, and eventually stagnate. That’s a real buzzkill for players who love those decade-long dynasties.
What did we do? It’s actually fairly straightforward. We modified the AI so that it actively looks to find game time for young players – especially those with high potential ability (PA), though not exclusively. Over time, you’ll notice more young players breaking into first teams and progressing as they should. It won’t be flawless – the AI will still do some daft things – but it should happen far less frequently now.
Indirect effects – and a tougher challenge
As many of you have noticed with our match engine tweaks, changes like these have knock-on effects. You can expect the same with the new AI logic.
Games will feel more competitive. You’ll see the AI changing formations and roles more often during matches. You can’t switch off at 2–0 and assume you’ve won – the AI might surprise you. In short, the AI won’t just sit there quietly while you monologue your way to victory. It’ll be more of a conversation – or rather, a battle – between you and the computer.
What’s next?
Our work is continuing at full pace – especially now that it’s confirmed we’ll all be playing FM24 for the foreseeable future (i.e. 2025 and “until a new release” – whatever that ends up meaning…).
As we mentioned in our first post, we’re deep into developing a revamped player ratings file that will touch all positions and roles. That’ll be our next major original release – expect news on that very soon.
Thanks so much for reading, and for all your support. We’re committed to making FM24 the best experience it can be – and we’re glad to have you along for the ride.
Cheers,
FM Tweak