International 3D Tennis manual

INTRODUCTION

Congratulations on having bought International Tennis!

Nine months of research went into developing the most playable and most realistic method of game control yet devised for a computer tennis game. Combined with this an accurate simulation of a season of professional tennis tournaments.

The revolutionary 3D system allows realistic player movement and the ability to change the camera angle from which the game is viewed. Computer-assistance of your movement will have you playing the game within seconds, while the skill levels provide a flexibility of control that takes months to master.

International Tennis can be played in three ways:
First, as a simple one or two player game in which you practice playing either a friend or a computer-controlled opponent.

Secondly, when you feel up to the challenge you can enter a tournament, playing a selection of computer opponents.

Finally, the ultimate challenge: if you feel really confident then prove yourself in a full season of International Tennis tournaments.

THE MENU SYSTEM

International Tennis menus are simple to operate. Move the highlight around the screen with the joystick to choose the item you are interested in. Pressing fire on a coloured title such as PLAY MATCH or EXIT will do just that, whereas pressing fire on a white option such as skill level will change its setting.

LESSON ONE: PLAYING THE GAME FOR THE FIRST TIME

From the main menu select 1 PLAYER and press fire. On the next screen ignore all the options for now and press fire on PLAY MATCH. Press fire twice more to get past the pre-match panorama and the scoreboard.

On this 1 PLAYER game you control the black player and the computer controls the white. You are on AMATEUR skill level, the easiest to control. On the first game you are serving; press fire to hit the ball. When the computer serves, it will do so automatically.

You have full joystick control over your player's movement until your opponent hits the ball. The computer then automatically lines your player up with the ball's trajectory. You can still move towards and away from the net, but you should always be able to return the shot. This is designed to make the game easy to learn and give the best possible gameplay.

When the ball is within range, your player will flash. This is your cue to press fire and hit the ball. You may miss to start with, but you will soon learn to use the flashing to time your shots.

This is all you need to know to play some games, although you may find yourself trashed. Press the camera keys (0-9) to view the game from different camera angles.

LESSON TWO: BALL CONTROL

You will notice that the computer automatically selects forehand, backhand, smash or lob for your player, depending on the height and position of the ball.

The position of your joystick when the ball hits your racket determines where you aim the shot in your opponent's half.

Try aiming the ball so your opponent really has to run to reach it, but be careful not to hit out!

A GUIDE TO SKILL LEVELS

On the pre-match menu screen you can alter the skill level (AM, SP, PRO, ACE) next to your name before pressing on PLAY MATCH. If you are playing already press P then Q to quit back to this point.

The four skill levels are AMATEUR (AM), SEMI-PRO (SP), PRO and ACE and give you different levels of control over your player.

SEMI-PRO is the same as AMATEUR (which you have been playing so far) but has a controllable service called SUPASERVE.

PRO is the same as SEMI-PRO but without the flashing feature; its up to you to get the timing correct!

Ace is for real masters; it's PRO with the advanced SUPASPIN facility, giving you control over the ball spin.

Summary
Amateur - Flashing
Semi-Professional - Flashing + Supaserve
Professional - Supaserve
Ace - Supaspin

Your computer opponent has a skill level too, from being a soft touch at 1 to an almost unbeatable 15. You can alter this on the same screen as you change your own skill level.

LESSON THREE: CONTROLLING YOUR SERVICE

You will need to be on the SEMI-PRO skill level or higher to make use of the SUPASERVE facility, with it you can control both the power and the aim of the service.

The length of time you hold the fire button pressed determines the power of the shot. Be careful not to smash it out of the court! The position of the joystick when you press fire controls your aim within the opponent's service area.

LESSON FOUR: BALL SPIN

Only ACE players can make use of SUPASPIN; once this is mastered you will be able to enter any tournament in the world. After playing your shot, press the fire button a second time and move the joystick forward or backward to add topspin or backspin respectively. You must do this quickly before the ball touches the ground or your opponents racket.

Topspin causes the ball to bounce fast and low on contact with the ground.

Backspin causes the ball to bounce high and slow on contact with the ground.

SCORING

For details of scoring see the section THE RULES OF TENNIS. While playing, the scores for the current game are displayed on the top left of the screen. The score of the player who is serving is printed first, and the players colour indicated by an arrow. On the top right any other calls by the umpire are listed, such as OUT, FAULT and so on. On the AMIGA these are read out by the voice of a real Wimbledon umpire, John Relf.

THE SCOREBOARD

1. TIME OF DAY
2. ELAPSED TIME SINCE GAME STARTED
3. NUMBER OF SETS WON IN A MATCH
4. NUMBER OF GAMES WON IN CURRENT SET
5. SCORE OF CURRENT GAME
6. PLAYER 1 NAME
7. PLAYER 2 NAME (DOT INDICATES NEXT PLAYER TO SERVE)
8. NUMBER OF GAMES WON FIRST SET
9. SECOND SET
10. THIRD SET
11. FOURTH SET

Press fire to exit the scoreboard at any time.

CAMERA ANGLES

Pressing the camera keys (0-9) switches to one of the ten available camera angles.

MAIN MENU OPTIONS

The main menu options are:

1 PLAYER
2 PLAYER
TOURNAMENT
SEASON
DEMO

1 PLAYER is the game explained so far. You can alter your own skill level, the computer player's skill level and the type of playing surface (GRASS, CLAY, CEMENT or CARPET). You can also enter your name by moving up to PLAYER 1 and using the delete key. Press fire ot type RETURN when you have finished typing. You can also change the computer's name from the rather anonymous CPU.

2 PLAYER is almost the same as 1 PLAYER but two humans can play each other. You will need a second joystick for this. The computer will ask one of the players to press fire to serve first: it is important that the player does this, so that the computer knows who is using the joystick!

TOURNAMENT: When you feel confident about your tennis skills you can try entering a real tournament. All the statistics, court surfaces, stadium types, dates and prizes of the tournaments are based on their real life counterparts. Never before has computer tennis been so realistic.

SEASON: Re-enact a year in the life of a top-class tennis pro. Try to earn as much money as possible over a year of tennis tournaments.

DEMO: Watch two random computer players have a game. The camera angle changes automatically every few shots. To get back to the main menu pres fire (or type P) to pause the demo, then type Q to quit.

TOURNAMENT

Are you ready to enter a tournament? International Tennis simulates seventy-two real-life tournaments of varying prestige, difficulty and prizes. Select TOURNAMENT from the main menu.

TENNIS TOURNAMENTS PLAYER ENTRY: On this screen you can enter your name, skill level and the length of matches you wish to play. Tennis matches can be one, three or five sets in length. Selecting the REAL option will give you the number of sets per match that the tournament has in real life. When you are ready, press fire on SELECT TOURNAMENT.

SELECT TOURNAMENT: This gives you access to all the tournaments, eight at a time. If you can't see the one you want select PREVIOUS or NEXT to move to another page. The total prize money is displayed next to each tournament. When you have decided on one, use the joystick to move to it and press fire.

TOURNAMENT SCREEN: This shows the tournament, its location on the world map, total prize money, the number of rounds you will have to enter, the length of the matches and the playing surface. MONEY BREAKDOWN gives a more detailed analysis of the prize money and RESELECT TOURNAMENT allows you to change your mind. When you feel ready, select ENTER TOURNAMENT and meet your first opponent. You will be entered into each round until you are knocked out or win the whole tournament.

SEASON

A whole season of International Tennis allows you to make a living by playing in a series of tournaments. Every few weeks you are offered a selection of tournaments to enter; remember that the higher the prize money, the stiffer the competition will be. From the main menu select SEASON.

TENNIS SEASON PLAYER ENTRY: This screen allows you to enter your name, skill level and preferred length of matches in the same way as for a single tournament. START NEW YEAR commences a brand new season; select CONTINUE SEASON if you have already started.

The next screen shows you the tournaments currently available. Select one to enter and you will play through it exactly as before. When the tournament is over you will return to this screen. Some prestigious tournaments are unavailable to players with low skill levels and you will not be able to select these. So if you fancy a go at Wimbledon you will need to raise your skill level on the PROGRESS REPORT screen first.

The PROGRESS REPORT screen allows you to check your performance since the beginning of the year, and to keep a track of your earnings. It also allows you to LOAD or SAVE your progress to disk or tape. See the section on SAVING AND LOADING SEASONS for details.

THE RULES OF TENNIS

1. In each game, a player winning their first, second and third point will have a score of 15, 30 and 40 respectively. Gaining a fourth point will normally win the game unless both players have a score of 40:a situation called deuce.

2. When the score is deuce, the next player to win a point is said to have the advantage. If he or she wins another, they have won the game. If however the other player wins, the score is back to deuce. In other words, the first player to win two consecutive points after deuce takes the game.

3. The player who first wins six games wins the set, but he or she must do so by a margin of at least two games. A score of six games to five will mean that the set is extended until one player has achieved a lead of two games. In addition, if the score reaches six games all and the set is not the final of the match, the the tie-break rule is involved.

4. In a tie-break, the first player to score at least seven points and achieve a lead of two points is the winner. Numerical scoring is used in a tie-break. The player who would have been serving takes the first service, and then the service alternates every two points. Players change ends every six points during the tie-break.

5. In a one set match, the player who wins the set also wins the match. In a three set match the first player to win two sets wins the match. In a five set match it is the first player to win three sets.

6. If a player's service hits the net but is still in, this is known as LEFT; he or she is allowed another attempt. If the ball goes out on a service or hits the next and doesn't go over, then the player is allowed only one further attempt.

CONTROL SUMMARY

Keys:
S - View scoreboard. (only available between points)
P - Pause game. (Press fire or R to restart)
Q - Quit game. (Use while in pause mode)
0-9 - Change camera angle.

Playing Game:
Fire to return shot, joystick to aim shot. Joystick to move player before opponent hits the ball. Fire to serve, unless SUPASERVE is in use. For a SUPASERVE fire to determine power, joystick to aim.

When using SUPASPIN, press fire a second time after you have hit the ball and before it touches ground. Joystick forward or back gives topspin or backspin.

ADDITIONAL NOTES ON SPECIFIC MACHINES

Because of a wide variation in the specifications of the built-in sound chip, the crowd may sound different on different machines. Use the CROWD CONTROL option (from the main menu) to optimise this sound effect if your machine sounds strange.

SAVING AND LOADING SEASONS

Your progress in the season may be saved to disk or tape, so that you can later carry on from where you left off.

If your computer has a built-in or attached disk drive then the program will use this. If not, you will be asked to use tape.

If you are using a disk drive then you will need a blank formatted disk. You should refer to your computer manual for details of how to format a disk. This must be done before you load International Tennis.

Do not try and save seasons onto your International Tennis disk or tape!

SAVE: From the PROGRESS REPORT screen, select SAVE. You should the type in a filename and press RETURN. Keep a careful note to the filename.

LOAD: When you wish to continue the season in a later session, load International Tennis and go to the PROGRESS REPORT screen. Insert your disk or rewind the tape that you saved the season onto. Select LOAD, type in the filename you saved it under and press RETURN. If the season doesn't appear to load, then you are probably using the wrong filename.