Championship Manager 2/Gameplay

Installation
Championship Manager 2 was released back in 1995, so getting it to work on today's operating systems might involve using DOSBox. Also, in my experience the version released by EIDOS works well on Windows XP. I haven't succeeded in getting any of DOMARK's releases to work.

Having said that, let's move on to installing the game. Since Championship Manager 2 is basically meant to run on DOS, I use MS-DOS prompt when installing the game. In XP, click on Start and then select Run. Then enter "command".

A new window will open and you will be able to enter command lines. Enter your CD-ROM drive letter followed by a colon sign. By the way, if you are no stranger to DOS I suggest you skip these paragraphs after installing the game in MS-DOS prompt mode.

Let's get back to installing the game. In MS-DOS prompt, enter the command "dir/p". This command will display all files while pausing after each screen full of information. In the list of files look for a .exe file name called "install" or something close to it.

Now that you found the specific file name, enter it when you've gone through the entire file listing by tapping the space bar. (As instructed on your screen)

Once you have entered the right file name, installation will start. First there will be a small, yet colorful welcoming message. Hit space bar once to move on. Then you will be asked to okay a certain installation path. Either go with the suggested path or change it. Since a full installation of the game consists of only one folder, you can always move that folder around later by dragging it some place else in MS Windows.

Right after installing the game a sound configuration utility will provide you with three initial options. Select the top one, called "select and configure...". Then select any of the available options - don't even read your way through it, since the next step offers the possibility of configuring the sound driver automatically. Allow the utility to attempt and detect the right device automatically and okay whatever it comes up with. (Since it will be the right one!)

Once your back at the initial three options provided by the sound configuration utility, select the bottom one, called "Done". This last step pretty much sums up your progress. You can exit the MS-DOS prompt now by entering "exit".

In MS Windows, locate the new folder and start the game by clicking on the file called "go" or, to skip the intro of the game, click on "cm2". Of course, you can also start the game using MS-DOS prompt. Use DOS commands to navigate to the game folder and type either "go" or "cm2".

Starting the game
After successfully installing the game, starting a new game, selecting a squad to manage and saving your game should be easy peasy, since the game is mouse operated. Just click on everything you see on your screen and soon you will be right at home with all the game has to offer.

Still, some features of the game are a little tricky. And I will walk you through four of them. First, if you want to arrange a friendly game go to your squad details screen and select Fixtures and Results. Near the bottom right, select Full Season Calendar. At the top right, select Home or Away depending on what type of friendly you wish to set up. Then select a squad provided in the list and finally select a date that states: Free date for friendly.

Secondly, if you are interested in closely monitoring games played by other squads, just click on the "v" (for versus) when that particular fixture is due. The "v" will change to "view" (based on the language you installed the game in) and move on by selecting "done" at the bottom. Instead of merely listing the final score of the game, you will now enjoy that game first hand.

Thirdly, when you take a look at any chart in the game, clicking on a squad's current position will get you a flow chart that shows this season's progress. Suppose you are topping the chart, and I am sure one day you will, just click on the box with the actual number "1" in it.

Finally, when glancing over your squad's fixtures and results, clicking on the final score at the far right of the screen, will allow you to revisit that particular match and check any details you are interested in.