Mana Games

[fastglass]

Firstly, let me introduce myself and say hi...

I'm a casual viewer of ATP tennis on the TV and have been searching for a decent tennis game on the PC for a while. anyhow, a recent Google search led me to Tennis Elbow (via a short toying with [another game]) and that was the rest of the evening taken up!

OK, so the next day (yesterday) i decided to go ahead and purchase the full version of TE2011 and MOD it with the amazing SamsPatch MegaPack. I spent a good few hours exploring the game and getting some practice in via the warm-ups and exhibition matches. So far, so good. I kinda thought I was doing ok, and winning plenty of points.

I researched these forums and found out what 'realistic' settings were recommended for the seasoned players amongst you. I ended up editing my MTRUN settings and also figured that Pro Level 10 was the way to go.

With this in mind, I thought I might as well use these settings from the start and get going with a new career game.

A new 17yo player configured, starting at rank 1000 in 1998, and kitted out in sensible attire... time to start the game as it should be played!

Now I'm not a real-life player of tennis. I'm also not new to the world of video games. I actually became quite nervous as I started my first F1 match in Germany. I expected to get trounced, and was proved correctly some 7 minutes later...but I loved it!

I'm now at week #13, and although I repeatedly curse at my doubles partner, and being nowhere near a master of the different controls, I'm still percivering in the hope that one day I will win a match.

Honestly, I'm winning an average of 3 (yes, just 3) points per 1-set match in the singles, and I think my record is about 13 points in a 1-set doubles match!

I will update this thread when I can with regards my progress and thoughts...in the meantime, if anyone has any advice, please, bring it on!

If any of the modders/programmers are reading this, may i pass on a big THANKYOU for helping produce the best tennis game ever!!!

FG

[manutoo]

Hello,

except if you really like high difficulty, I'd recommend you to lower the CPU level to Club-10, or if it's too easy, to Junior-5. Then raise it to Junior-6 and so on when it becomes easier. You can easily change the difficulty in the match presentation screen.

For the MtRun tunings, the settings you have found were done before several changes that occurred in the game this year. So I'd recommend you to not play with them and stick to the default run speed.

Anyway it's up to you and what you enjoy, and good luck with your career !

[fastglass]

Hi manutoo,

Thanks for the reply - really appreciate the snippets of advice, and have already ammended my MTRUN to default settings.

I will toy around with the Club/Junior settings later today, and may have to restart my career when I find a happy medium. I just don't want to get halfway through a season only to find I have it too easy, and therefore making the game 'unrealistic' - does this make sense?!

On this note (and obviously all players are different); is there a method to finding which difficulty level suits me best? What I mean is, as a new player with just 180 exp points to his name, what sort of realistic scores would I be gaining against futures opponents to begin with? Surely I imagine the answer would be more than 3 pts per match, lol.

Thanks again.

[ism]

You don't have to set a difficulty level and stick with it

You can chop and change before each match if you want to bring it up or down. If you're only getting 3 points a set, you are clearly on far too high a difficulty level. I find Pro-5 to be the most realistic (that's because I'm rubbish before anyone comments!), but for a beginner, I would start on about Junior-2 or 3 and see how well you do. Then you can move it up when it gets too easy.

[manutoo]

fastglass,
as ism said, and I'll add : a normal high difficulty should lead you to win about half points of your opponents, so for 1 set, your opponent will win about 25 points, then you should win around 12 ; this will likely lead to 0, 1 or 2 games won on your side. From there, you're in position where if you fight and play a bit better, you can win 1 more game. When you win only 3 points per set, even if you play noticeably better, you'll be still winning 0 game per set, which will be demotivating after a while, except if you have an iron mind..!

[fastglass]

Thanks to you both for your replies.

I have taken on board what you have pointed out, and restarted a career last night at Junior-7 level.

I am now fairly comfortable with this setting, and as manutoo pointed out, I am winning around 50% of my opponents points. This appears to be a good starting point, and with a bit of luck , I should start winning a few qualifiers before long

So, before I start playing tonight's session, let me just mention that my current best result is a 4-6 loss... although I was 4-2 up at one point ( ). As sad as it sounds, I started to get a little nervous and this may indeed have contributed to me losing the following 4 games. Just shows how 'real' the game feels to play and is a credit to the creators.

Enough, of the talking, I'm off to my next doubles qualifier against a duo with a combined points total of 105. Still, not expecting to win.

Cheers

FG

[ComeonANDY!!]

Hi all,'ll just jump onto Fastglass'es thread because we are both in the same boat, just learning about this Fab game!!

For years and YEARS i'd wished for an in depth Tennis game and by mistake i have found one i was just watching some footage VIA youtube of some tennis matches, and clicked onto tennis elbow With sams marvelous patch i couldn't believe what i was seeing

So off i go to PLAY !! "GOOD LUCK Fastglass!! in your career"

[fastglass]

Hi all,'ll just jump onto Fastglass'es thread because we are both in the same boat, just learning about this Fab game!!

For years and YEARS i'd wished for an in depth Tennis game and by mistake i have found one i was just watching some footage VIA youtube of some tennis matches, and clicked onto tennis elbow With sams marvelous patch i couldn't believe what i was seeing

So off i go to PLAY !! "GOOD LUCK Fastglass!! in your career"

Welcome C.O.Andy!!

Good to see another rookie join the club.

As we're in the same boat (or is it 'on the same court'?!) please get in touch if you want any help getting set up etc - I'll help where I can mate.

Just a quick update from tonight's session...

The doubles match I disappeared to play earlier ended in a 6-0 win for us!!! Although that's as far as it went on the doubles front.

As for the singles, my penultimate qualifier of the night ended in a 6-7 (6-8) tie break finish after being 6-3 up in the TB!

The last match before bedtime was indeed another Future qualifier. This time against a previous rival of the evening, and just couldn't give up before giving it my best shot. The result....

7-6 (7-5)

Both these matches lasted approx 26-30mins, and were fun to play, even if there were far, far more errors than winners between us!

So, ComeOnANDY, bear with it pal, and you'll be addicted in no time!!!

As far as difficulty level's are concerned, I'm still on Junior-7. Seems to suit me just fine right now.


FG

[ComeonANDY!!]

Cheers FG,

Junior-7 not quite at that level yet, i still haven't won a match yet but hey didn't someone once say it's the taking part what counts?

The good news is i've definitely improved since yesterday winning more games so i might one day make it to Wimbledon and beat that federer guy.

Hope you manage to win your next match FG,you're on a roll now

[fastglass]

The reason for the challenging difficulty level is mainly down to personal preference. I hate it when I play some games on a career-type basis, and find out it gets way too easy before too long, and often results in disinterest in the game (i.e. in Football Manager I will always manage a low-league team in an obscure country to give myself something to work towards over a lengthy career). I know we can alter the difficulty before each match, but I don't really want to be fettling with that setting if I can help it.

I'm by no means whatsoever a winner now, as mentioned in my previous posts, but my results are showing that I am achieving what could be deemed realistic by a budding 17-year-old tennis player new to the circuit.

I hope you continue to hack away at it and improve to a level you are comfortable with. I don't think I've been as interested in a video game since the days of Sensible World Of Soccer in the mid-nineties!

Oh, and as you mentioned the 'Federer' guy... I just noticed in my game last night that a certain R.Federer was in a Futures doubles qualifier at the ripe age of 16.


Cheers

[ComeonANDY!!]

The reason for the challenging difficulty level is mainly down to personal preference. I hate it when I play some games on a career-type basis, and find out it gets way too easy before too long, and often results in disinterest in the game (i.e. in Football Manager I will always manage a low-league team in an obscure country to give myself something to work towards over a lengthy career). I know we can alter the difficulty before each match, but I don't really want to be fettling with that setting if I can help it.

I'm by no means whatsoever a winner now, as mentioned in my previous posts, but my results are showing that I am achieving what could be deemed realistic by a budding 17-year-old tennis player new to the circuit.

I hope you continue to hack away at it and improve to a level you are comfortable with. I don't think I've been as interested in a video game since the days of Sensible World Of Soccer in the mid-nineties!

Oh, and as you mentioned the 'Federer' guy... I just noticed in my game last night that a certain R.Federer was in a Futures doubles qualifier at the ripe age of 16.
Cheers

Sensible soccer 96-97 has got to be one of the best games of all time, i still play the game till this day, i've just been sacked as England manager so finding & buying TE,was a welcome change!

I now feel that i've sussed the controls and i'm now ready to restart my career on a higher difficulty level and also i've changed the setting from 1 set to the best out of 3, that will suit my game as i tend to be a slow starter i just need to show a bit more patience and not rush my shots going for the big winners to early, i'll have more time at the weekend to give this game some serious time.

Does anyone know how long your career lasts is it 15 seasons??

Cheers

[fastglass]

Hi mate,

I think the career on TE is 16 seasons. Plenty long enough.

I found that a good read through the full documentation for Tennis Elbow helped understand more about the controls and setup etc:

http://www.managames.com/tennis/doc/Tennis_Elbow-Tennis_Game.html

I am now at a point where I have won a few Futures qualifiers quite easily (6-2,6-3 type scores) so am happy with that and obviously shows that I must be going in the right direction.

As far as lengthening the matches, I would recommend leaving them as default. Once you start winning matches, it can take a long time to work through a single tournament using just 1 set, never mind 3 (3 rounds of quallies followed by more rounds in the main draws can add upto quite a bit of game time). Still, each to their own.

Cheers

FG

PS: You dont play SWOS online do you? I used to a few years back but havent played for a little while now as I just got thrashed everytime by the Polish!

[ComeonANDY!!]

Hi FG,
Thanks for the info, 16 seasons should be enough for me to win Wimbledon i'll bear in mind about the 3 sets, if i get knackered i will drop it back to 1 set No never played swos online, i like the coach/manager mode in it, was playing it Via an emulator. I'd always liked manager games so may go for TE manager at some point in the future.

Cheers

[ComeonANDY!!]

Hi FG,

I don't know if you're still kicking about! Or placing the ball in the right areas? I just wondered what mods you've got?

I've downloaded Dilima's patch because i like the scoreboard showing & and a few other things updated

Cheers
c.o.ANDY!!

P.S

How's your ranking going????