Having decided whether to play with real or random players your next task is to select the number of leagues you wish to run in your next, or first, game.
The screen is divided into four columns � an alphabetical list of all 26 countries present in the game, a �Selected� column, a �Background� column, and, a fourth column - mainly blank.
By clicking on Selected next to a country the game will load all the details for the league(s) present in the game for that country. This is known as a �foreground� league.
Clicking on �Background� will enable that country's league(s) to operate in the background while you are playing your �main game�.
The fourth column indicates the presence or otherwise of any lower, or non-league, or feeder, competitions that are present in the game for that country. Once highlighted they will mimic the setting for the parent league(s).
The gameplay differences are twofold, player/staff numbers, and, speed of the game. The obvious league to load is the one that you want to play in. Without that loaded you can not select to manage any club within the particular league. Depending on the database status selected within game settings, selecting a league to run in the foreground will activate all the players associated with that league/country plus any relevant database additions. Each selected league will also load associated staff of that nationality. To force the database, irrespective of its set status, to load the maximum number of staff you must have at least six leagues running in the game.
Thus to have a complete choice of staff and an excellent selection of players available to you there has to be six leagues running in your game. All, bar the one you are playing in, can run in the background without any detriment to your access to players and staff belonging to those leagues. Even if a league is in the background you can still apply for a job with a club or accept/decline any job offers from that league.
A high end Pentium processor with a mountain of RAM running all 26 leagues will appear to run the game like greased lightening compared to an under 133 MHz machine with less than 64 MB RAM running one league. Having introduced the technical bits I can now answer the �how many leagues� question. At the opposite end of the scale to run all 26 leagues your are looking at a minimum specification of 400 MHz together with 256 MB of RAM. It is worth noting here that running a league as a background league counts a half a league when measured against the machine requirements which can be helpful to some. You should note that if your are running at or near the maximum capacity of your equipment and you 'transfer' to a background league, this promotes that league to the foreground. So, in this instance, change the now redundant foreground league to the background before you crash.
Having selected the number of leagues to run, if there is more than one league in the foreground, you will be presented with a screen confirming the default league that will run when you get to the game proper. Similarly if, during the course of the game, you move to another club in a different league, the default will change automatically.
The last option is that of personal choice. Some players are happy to run one league and are content with what they get through choosing that option. Other players like to attain as much realism as possible and to achieve this run all 26 leagues in varying combinations of foreground/background. The natural tendency is to play a home country club when you start the game � and this is fine. The majority of the included country's are affiliated to EUFA and as such have access to the European Competitions � which, when you qualify, means virtually running two seasons competitions within one � an exciting and challenging prospect.
