Nation

If you want to create a new competition, or activate one that isn't in the game but is in the editor, you will need to create an Advanced Rule for the Nation it is based in. This will give you the option of setting transfer windows, rules for squads, fixtures and disciplinary. If the Nation is in the game but you want to create a different competition than the ones that are in game, you need to create an Advanced Rule for the Nation (this is to set up the competition.)

1. Creating the Rule

Firstly you need to load the database you want to use, so open the editor and click on File, then Load Database..., then finally select the database you want to use and click OK.

Once done, click on File underneath the Menu, and from the panel select Advanced Rules. In the window that comes up click on the Add button. The default selection that appears is Competition, Domestic Division. Select this in the panel, and in the window that appears change the file type to Nation. If you are creating a nation that is not in the game, leave the version number as 1. If the Nation is in the game you will need to use a higher version number. It would be safe to use version number 2 in most cases, however it will not make any difference how high the number is, so you can use 50 if you want.

2. Adding Rules

Select the Nation tab in the window and select the nation you want to add. For base year use 2009 or 2010 depending on your preference. Next select the day you want the nation to reset, otherwise known as the season update day.

For division levels this is what appears in the start menu when you select which leagues you want to run. You need to have the competition in the database for this. Click the add button and change the default competition to the one of your choice. If it is a parent competition, list the number of child competitions. (E.g. for the Blue Square North/South, you would select 2 child divisions.)

If you want to select a default league level that the game uses when you first click on the nation you want to play, use the next option. If you have two leagues you will be using, but you want the first league to be the only one that appears until you click on the dropdown menu to select the second league, use this option. Use 0 for the top league, 1 for the second, 2 for the third etc..

Default fixture times are used to specify what times matches are played.

Pre-season Max Days for Friendlies and Preparation days are the number of days used for Pre-Season.

Invalid Fixture Date and Date Range are used to stop games from being played on specific dates.

Required Teams is used to specifically grab teams that the game will use. This is particularly useful if you are running a large file which runs down 12 tiers. Use this to stop the game from missing out the teams you need. It should not be required if you are running a small update.

Reserve Rules help you with setting up teams to set up beyond the first team. There are many options here, from Reserve Teams to Amateur Teams.

Pre-Season Periods specify which dates are used for Pre-Season. You can specify dates for different Division levels. Use 0 for the highest league and then 1, 2, 3 etc for subsequent leagues. E.g. if the dates are the same for the top two leagues but different for the third league, use Highest Division Level = 0 and Lowest Division Level = 1 for the top two divisions, and Highest Division Level = 2 and Lowest Division Level = 2 for the third division.

On the panel click the + button next to the nation rule that is set up to expand the rules further. Five options appear, Competitions, Reserve Leagues, Fixture Rules, Discipline Rules and Transfers, These will be explain in full details.

3. Competitions

This Rule list is used for every competition you want to use for your nation, including all leagues, parent and child competitions, cups etc. You can also set up some competitions to be created only when a particular division level is used. E.g. if you have a cup that uses your fifth tier only, set the If Selected Division Level Is At Least entry to 4. Leave this blank if you want the competition to run regardless of what level you select.

4. Reserve Leagues

This is used to set up the Reserve Leagues for your second and third squads.

It may be best to leave this section alone until you have created your first competition.

Coming Soon.

5. Fixture Rules

This rule is used for squad selection and fixtures. You can set up more than one, so different competitions can use different rules.

The first option is the Description - this isn't used in the game but it is useful for referencing. I would set it to the league you will be using the rule in.

Should you be setting the rules up for a league, by ticking the Highest Division Level box you will enable the selection of Division Levels to use the rules in. 0 is the highest, then in the Lowest Divison Level entry use 1, 2, 3 etc for subsequent tiers. Use -1 if you want to use the rules for all subsequent tiers. If you are creating a rule for a cup competition there is no need to set this up.

By ticking Use Squad Numbers you will tell the game to use squad numbers in the match engine and in the Squad List.

By ticking Trialists Can Play In Fixtures you can use any Trialists your club has at any time in the squad. This is useful for Friendlies or Amateur competitions.

With Squad Selection Eligibility, you can specify certain rules that allow certain players to be able to play or to be unable to play. This includes Cup-Tied rules and Youngster Rules.

Squad Selection Value is not very useful at the moment as most of the rules set up are for international competitions, and as far as anyone knows outside of Sports Interactive, you can only set up fixture rules for Nations and not Continents. The most common selection for this would be Domestic Division, as this does not seem to cause problems.

More Coming Soon.

6. Discipline Rules

This rule is used for yellow cards, red cards and serious offences. You can set up more than one, so different competitions can use different rules.

The first option is the Description - this isn't used in the game but it is useful for referencing. I would set it to the league you will be using the rule in.

The Yellow Card/Points Rules section allows you to specify what type of system you want to use for players who collect Yellow Cards. You can use a points system or the traditional 'per yellow card' system. You can set the number of cards/points before the player gets banned. You can specify the number of games they get banned for. If the number of games banned is different for each sequent, e.g. is the sequence is 5, 10, 15 and the ban for 5 cards is 1 match and the ban for 10 cards is two matches, you can untick the box next to Games Banned. A new section will appear called Games Banned (List). By clicking the add button, you can set the number of games banned for the sequence. First in the list is for the first ban, second in the list is for the second ban etc.

The next section, Yellow Card/Point Ban Rules allows you to specify when to start the ban and which competitions to ban the player for. You can ban him from All Competitoons In Nation, Domestic Leagues, Domestic Cups, a Single Competition, Global competitons or All Competitions With the Discipline Rule you are setting up.

Red Card Ban Rules are to specify how many games players get banned for a Red Card, and you can specify the rules for this.

Serious Red Card Offence Rules sets out a Decision Date for any Serious Red Card Offences, and where that player will be banned from playing.

7. Transfers

Coming Soon