22-08-2018 11:00

Over the last few years, our 3D match viewer has lived a waning existence, available only to those few web browsers that still support plugins (Internet Explorer, raise your hand!) but inoperable on all others. That changes today, as we roll our once beloved 3D back into the ManagerZone mainstream. You will now, once again, be able to analyse your games in immersive 3D from every camera angle imaginable, get a birds view of your stadium or study the nose hair of your striker from inches away (though we doubt you want that).

Our new Unity powered 3D is not (currently) aimed to be a improvement on the old 3D but rather a properly working replica of it. It represents an opportunity for us to make future improvements and, crucially, it is equally accessible across all desktop browsers.

Since the new 3D is a web player rather than a downloaded application (like the old 3D was), your computer might have to work a little bit harder than it is used to. For that same reason, this early version will not be available on mobile devices. We will strive to optimise the graphics even further until, hopefully, we will be able to support mobile devices as well. Until such time, 2D is your saviour when you are on your phone.

The first order of business is to turn this BETA release into a fully working standard implementation. To do that, we need to tap into your eyes and minds. Please check out as many matches as you can, and report problems back to us! The best way to do this is through the Simulator Development Feedback forum.

Why call it a BETA? We want to see how the new match viewer performs on as many different computers as possible and that is why we are giving you all the chance to test the 3D at this stage. We all want a flawless 3D as soon as possible, and rather than waiting for impatient crew members to finish watching thousands of matches it'll just be quicker if we all help out.

With that in mind, we want to clarify the following:

What we will fix: New problems that were not in the old 3D, and are serious enough that they need urgent attention.

What we will not fix (for now): Problems inherited from the old 3D.

It goes without saying that we will want to fix inherited problems too, eventually. But this will be a step-by-step process and the first priority is to get the 3D running at a standard that, at the very least, matches the old 3D. Then we will kick on from there.

We also understand that most of you have never even used the old 3D (maybe you didn't even know it existed), which makes it impossible to distinguish between "new" and "old" problems. Don't worry about that, just post your findings and we will determine whether they should be prioritised.

Note: if you really do want the nose-view, pressing the number 3 on your keyboard will allow you to fly around the stadium using the mouse and arrow buttons..