Mana Games

[Bandyp]

Hello,
Loving the game. Have a few questions.

Is there any way to speed up the service motion? If I catch it in time player will go right into the motion. If I don't it's like 4 seconds before I can serve as he goes through this slow motion.

I've played a few players and I'm all the way to 100% on everything except topspin which I change according to court. I can finally beat Nadal on clay on the Pro level (mid range). However a lowly ranked player can still serve and volley me to death on grass. I just played a 78th ranked player who didn't miss a single volley. I beat him in a tiebreaker because he missed a first serve and stayed back.

All the practice I've put in on volleying and I'm nowhere near as good as any of these guys that come to the net. I would think I would be at least as good but these guys rarely miss. I lob, try passing shots, but they're just solid on everything. When i go to net I get passed too easily and it usually takes me 3 or 4 volley's to win a point if I'm not passed by then. Is there something I'm missing?

Great game. Good job.

[Bandyp]

After that narrow escape I just lost to Cilic who won 78% at the net. That's crazy! I was 1 for 9 at the net. The computer is programmed too good at the net IMHO.

[manutoo]

Hello,

1) You can select another service with a short preparation, or you can press the strike button before the game starts the serve phase, so your player will always start to serve right away.

2) => topic15-11418.php

[Bandyp]

Thanks for the reply.

I read through those, it seems others feel the same way. The computer net game is much different than the player net game. I can serve good, movement and ground strokes are top notch but my volley skills are nowhere near the CPU's. And I have spent a lot of time in training working on them. It seems like if I can get as good at the other aspects of the game as the CPU then I should be able to achieve a success rate of 80% or greater at the net like the CPU. Yet low ranked players can pass me regularly while it's very difficult to pass low ranked players.

If it's so difficult to beat a net rusher then I want the same skill set. When I come in they should face the same difficulty level. I really can't see how I'll ever achieve that level at the net.

Anyway, just bitching. Love the game.

[manutoo]

Did you pick Volleyer style for your player ? If not, you don't have the big jump at net that really eases the volleying.

You may also have missed that : viewtopic.php?p=129382#p129382 .
Moreover, after these topics have been debated, the short strike & short acceleration precision has been greatly buffed when your opponent is at the net.

[Bandyp]

No, it's a "puncher" whatever that is.

What's the best one to be to counter net players? I'm more than happy to scoot around the backcourt and be a baseliner but even though I can move side to side and cover short balls very well it doesn't help me against the net player. I just played someone at Wimbledon, forgot his ranking but up toward 100, that had a 40% net skill, yet served and volleyed and held a match point. What one do I choose that best counters net rushers?

I don't want to lose being a good baseliner, by choosing net player does that diminish baseline skills? Can I change that skill to an active player or do I have to create a whole new player and start from the beginning?

I see their skill as a misstep in an almost perfect game. But beyond that, and more importantly, playing them is the only time I play the game and I'm not having fun.

[manutoo]

You can find the different play style feats here : https://www.managames.com/tennis/doc/Ten ... html#style .

All styles are more or less equals against net rushers, as the main thing is to be able to do short strikes & short accelerations. Having a player whose consistency is above power for his FH & BH gives a little bonus, though.

[Bandyp]

I've just spent the last 5 days, playing several hours a day, in training, setting the computer to serve and volleyer. If mastering the short strike and acceleration is supposed to make it easier to beat them then I'm not buying it. I believe you claimed in another post where they are actually easier to beat. I can beat every player (at Pro level 5) except people like Cilic on grass. Any strong volleyer almost always takes me to a tie-breaker while back court players never do.

I want to see a video of this mastery against strong volleyers. I don't believe it.

[manutoo]

On grass, they might be significantly harder to beat than on hard.
On other surfaces, they are generally less dangerous than other types.

Did you manage to do returns of serve with the short strike ? It didn't help at all ?

[Bandyp]

Yeah, I can do all the strokes. I've resigned myself to it's unrealistic behavior.

Makes no sense that I can beat everyone with rarely getting taken to a tiebreaker except for people who come to the net. Nadal and Ferrer can take me to tie breakers on clay sometimes but that's about it. Yet someone who has no serve, no groundstrokes, lowly ranked can still repeatedly put volleys in the corner and never misses overheads and take me to tie breakers over and over again. It's too frustrating to deal with. I just reduce their levels and move in.

As I dominate one level I move it up 1. I can't imagine what volleyers are like moving on. It's not worth the hassle. It's zero fun and I bought it to have fun.

[manutoo]

Ok, I hadn't played a set in the game since 2 years and half so I was quite rusty.

Me & CPU = 75% in all skills ; CPU Level = Pro-10 volleyer ; me = Powerbaseliner, simulation controls.

I've lost the 1st set at the tie-break, after have had 2 break points at 15/40 in the 3rd (or 4th) serve game of the AI.

In the 2nd set, I managed to break on the 3rd & 4th serve game to win 6/2 once I managed to get a bit more sensations on the short acceleration.
I'm near my limit reflex wise, so I got aced a lot... Getting old...

The best is to return with the acceleration and chain with the short acceleration. Short strike returns aren't too bad, but 2nd strike is in average a tad harder and it's almost impossible to do a winner on the return of serve with it so no free point.
Having a 1-handed backhand might help here.

Play the .dmo's with the unmodded version of the game from the Records menu.

[Bandyp]

thanks. Not sure I can play this as I'm on a Mac and not familiar with the .dmo extension. I'll look around.

I appreciate your effort and I can relate - I'm retired and old. Nothing is as good as it used to be!

Anyway, I'm content with reducing their skills while I continue to try to master it. If I keep their skill at the level I play the others I'd go nuts.

I have another question. Somewhere around Pro 2 or 3 I started playing against different people. Seems like almost an entirely new set of players. Top 20 now include names like Patten, Grenier, Willaimson, Hirsh, Quereshi... no Nadal's, Djokovic's, Ferrer's etc. Did I change something somewhere?

[manutoo]

Around 2011, it starts to have fictional players in the base.

For the serve-volleyers, they surely offer an unique challenge as we need quicker reflex and better positioning to beat them than other players, especially on grass ; and thus, there's a lot more errors.

[ComeonANDY!!]

I enjoy playing against the serve-volleyers because they're a different challenge. There's not that many in the game compared to other playing styles when playing in the later years so it's not a style you'll play against in every tournament. Thanks to the volleyers I can now do a decent lob!

Serve-volleyers cause problems in real life for top players - ask Andy Murray LOL!

[Bandyp]

"offer an unique challenge as we need quicker reflex and better positioning to beat them than other players, especially on grass ; and thus, there's a lot more errors."

If that's the way the game is setup then fine, I'll cheat to beat them. I played and played and played to be able to beat the baseliners, that same dedication is not returning the same results against net players. It's frustrating.

I still argue that whatever the computer can do I should be able to do. Like the computer can frequently take well hit second serves on the T and smack winners. I can't. The computer is like a wall at the net while when I'm there the slightest opening is like a 4 lane highway for them to pass.