There are quite a few differences in the game engine between the old CM2 and 97/98, mainly some of the bugs (sorry features) which made user defined tactics too successful have been removed. This makes the game much more challenging.

I'll give you a brief guide to success (well I got Brighton into the Premiership using these tactics so they can't be too bad).
 

• Problems Scoring
• Leaking Goals
• Favourite Tactics
• Explanation of Player Characteristics
• Buying Players
• Recommended Players
• Keeping your Players Happy
• General Hints
• Basic Editing using the CM2 Editor
• Final Word

• If you are not getting many chances, buy a player with high creativity or several forwards with high heading, and a decent corner taker.
• If you are getting chances but not converting them, buy players with high shooting and heading ability.

• Every shot goes in - this tends to indicate a bad goalkeeper. Judging goalkeeper form is very hard and it may take a while to find a goalkeeper who will perform well.
• Permanantly under pressure - this tends to indicate that you have a weak midfield as opposed to a poor defence and that they aren't holding the ball up and giving the defence some relief. Try either packing the midfield with more players or switching to long ball tactic, if you are not already using it.
• Poor defence - if you have few good defensive players, then try playing 532 with midfielders in the wingback positions and your best defender in a sweeper position in the centre, usually he will mop up any strikers who get past your weaker defenders.

The tactics which I prefer are 442 long ball if out-classed by the opposition or 532 long ball if not. However my team specialises in set piece headers and crossing (hence the long ball and wingers) your team may not. The best idea with tactics is to pick one of the standard tactics and modify it very slightly to fit your team.
 

Below are brief explanations of the various player characteristics used within the game (even the hidden ones). Please note all of the statistics are adjusted by the players ability rating (which is hidden) so although you may find a 3rd division player with 20 shooting it does not automatically indicate that he is as good a shot as Alan Shearer.
 

• Adaptability - how quickly a player can adapt to a different team or country when transferred.The higher the number means the easier the player adapts.
• Aggression - whether he goes in hard when competing for the ball, without necessarily being dirty.
• Big Occasion (hidden) - whether he rises to the occasion in big games, play-offs, top of the table clashes, cup finals, etc.
• Character (hidden) - whether the player reacts badly to on/off the field events. On the field this could be whether he reacts to provocation, off the field whether he reacts to being dropped, refused a transfer request etc.
• Consistency (hidden) - how likely he is to perform to his ability in a game.
• Creativity - whether he can create goal scoring chances for his team-mates with incisive passes, headers, flick-ons etc.
• Determination - whether he keeps battling, even when the odds are against him.
• Dirtiness (hidden) - whether he resorts to foul play, either to win the ball, or in off-the-ball incidents. The higher the number the more likely a player will resort to foul play.
• Dribbling - whether he can take on and beat defenders to create dangerous situations from which a goal scoring chance might arise.
• Flair - whether he has the ability to do the unexpected, for example a shot from 30 yards, or an overhead kick.
• Heading/Aerial Ability - whether he is good in the air and wins headers either in defence or attack.
• GK - Aerial Ability: For goalkeepers this is their ability in the air, for example when handling corners and crosses.
• Influence - whether he can motivate and inspire team-mates, as for example a captain would.
• Inj Prone - this is an indication of how injury prone a player is. The higher the number the more likely a player will be to pick up injuries.
• Marking - whether he has the ability to track an opponent and mark him out of the game.
• Off the Ball - whether he makes good runs into space which can lead to a shot/header on goal if he is given the ball.
• Pace/Rushing Out - whether he has speed and acceleration both in and out of possession.
• GK - Rushing Out: For goalkeepers this is whether he can rush out quickly in one-on-one situations.
• Passing - whether he can pass the ball where he wants it.
• GK - Distribution: For goalies this is their accuracy when kicking or throwing the ball out.
• Positioning - whether he has good defensive positional sense and rarely gets caught out of position.
• GK - Positioning: For goalkeepers this is their positioning for shots, crosses etc.
• Set Pieces - whether he can make use of set piece situations either by making a creative pass or a direct shot on goal.
• Shooting - this is the players shooting ability, this obviously affects the players likelihood of scoring.
• Stamina - whether he can keep going at the end of the most gruelling matches.
• Strength - whether he has strength and physical presence to hold off opponents and keep possession or to compete and win the ball.
• Tackling/Shot Stopping - whether he is good at making tackles to dispossess an opponent.
• GK - Shot Stopping: For goalkeepers this is their ability to save shots.
• Technique - whether he has good control, first touch, and all round technical ability.

Take in mind when having purchased a new player that he may take time to settling into your squad. I usually play them in their first few matches as subs and if after 4-5 games they haven't started getting ratings of 7+ then I start thinking of moving them on. When purchasing players if you have the money look around at the Under 21 international teams for promising youngsters. I nearly always buy at least 4 youngsters at the end of the season, put them on short contracts and see how they perform. If at the end of the season they have an average rating of 7.00 or over, put them on a long term contract (as long as possible try 5-7 years) otherwise simply release them.

When searching for a player, always ensure that you have a sensible filter set. Below I have listed my base filter:
 

Heading	10+
Inj Proneness	15-
Passing	10+
Stamina	10+
Strength	10+

If you are looking for a forward/striker, include the following:
 

Creativity	10+
Shooting	15+
Heading	15+

If you are looking for a midfielder, include the following:
 

Tackling	10+
Positioning	10+

If you are looking for a defender, include the following:
 

Tackling	15+
Positioning	15+
Aggression	15-

(Note that low aggression in central defenders can be important as they tend to concede the freekicks in the most dangerous positions)

 If you are looking for a wing back (D/M L or R), include the following:
 

Creativity	10+
Passing	10+
Pace	10+
Tackling	10+
Positioning	15+
Off the ball	10+

I don't see much point in recommending players to those people who play with large clubs, as you can find them simply by reading the Sunday papers and working out for yourself who is good!

So the players I am suggesting here are for use by people who are playing with smaller clubs (2nd/3rd Division) for whom much less information is available.
 

Player	Position	Club at start of game
Peter Smith	D/M RC	Brighton
Andy Dibble	GK	Free Transfer
Bjorn Heidenstrom	D/M C	Leyton Orient
Chris Kiwomya	S C	Free Transfer
Gerald Dobbs	D C	Non League
Miguel Da Souza	S C	Peterborough

Of these I reckon Smith, Dobbs and Heidenstrom are invaluable (and usually stay in my Brighton squad until we reach the Premiership!), the rest depends very much upon the game but will be good enough to help you out of the 3rd Division at least.
 

Many players have commented upon their difficulty keeping their players contented, the following things affect the mood in the dressing room:
 

• Wage paid
• Contract duration.
• Whether the player is transfer listed or not (if is and doesn't want to be this may lower his morale,if he isn't and wants to be this may also lower his morale).
• Performance of his current team in all competitions.
• Other factors (usually noted in his profile ... wanting to move club for any reason (and not being transfer listed),not getting enough first team appearances etc.).
• Size and reputation of club, in relation to the player concerned ... e.g. Emerson was happy to sign for Middlesborough when they were thought to be an up and coming Premiership club but when things went against them his Morale dropped quickly.
• Various other things are implied by a hidden characteristic in the player data (restlessness, loyalty to club, general outlook etc.) ... which you'll have to ascertain from the way players behave.

 

• Make sure that you have an experienced (usually 24+) player with a high influence as your captain, if you haven't then your younger players may not perform as well as they might.
• Choosing correct Free Kick, Corner and Penalty takers is very important.
• Be very careful when free transferring players as the board will take offence if you attempt to free transfer a player of any worth (usually 50k+ for a third division side to 200k+ for a premier side).
• Note that if the board makes more money available to you at the end of a season, they will expect that to be used to strengthen your squad and so will expect a good league position in the next year.
• Be very careful when purchasing Foreign Players as they are required to play in 75% of games to retain their work permits. If they loose their work permits then you will be stuck with a player in your squad who cannot play for you but is taking up a squad space.
• Be cautious about playing unfit players as not only will they not perform as well as fit players, but they are more likely to pick up injuries during a match.

Here are a few basic hints on using it, for a full explanation of its features I'm afraid you'll have to refer to the read me file (edithelp.doc or edithelp.txt) which came with the game.
 

• Editing Teams

 
• Run the editor (type CM2ED on the command line)
• Click on load database and enter 'tmdata.db1' into the text field that appears.
• Click on View records, find the record that you want to change and click on it.
• Press enter to clear the screen which appears and a screen with that teams data will appear. Click on each field you wish to change and enter new values into the text fields which appear.
• When you have finished editing, hit done a few times until you are back at the load/save database screen and hit the save database option.
• You have now changed the teams database next time you start a CM9798 game you will use this changed data! Editing Player
• Run the editor (type CM2ED on the command line)
• Click on load database and enter players.db1' into the text field that appears.
• Click on View records, find the record that you want to change and click on it.
• Press enter to clear the screen which appears and a screen with that teams data will appear. Click on each field you wish to change and enter new values into the text fields which appear.
• When you have finished editing hit done a few times until you are back at the load/save database screen and hit the save database option.
• You have now changed the teams database next time you start a CM9798 game you will use this changed data!

Of course, if you are following these recommendations, you'll end up with a team similar to my Brighton squad which may not be exactly what you're after.....

Good Luck,
Marc Vaughan (CM Team)