TieBreak - The Game Since its beginning, tennis has been a sport attracting the masses. In former times it was a privilege of the rich; nowadays it has experienced a real boom. Over the years, tennis techniques have improved, the game has become harder and harder and has advanced from its initial entertainment value to a competitive sport. TieBreak is excitement, thrill and brings you all the features of a real tennis match. The control is precise and demands as in real tennis some training. TieBreak has a training mode where you can choose the type of court, racket and opponent and therefore offers you the opportunity of getting the right training. In TieBreak the official world rankings consist of 16 players which have to play and beat each other in order to get to the top. Should you not be in the mood for a competition which could affect your ranking, you will have the opportunity to play a "friendly" tournament. TieBreak offers you all the elements of real tennis. The presentation in TV-style will give the game the right atmosphere. Another particularity is the possibility to play doubles with four players. (with the help of four joysticks). An adapter is required for this form of play. You can order this adapter on the enclosed order form. TieBreak - a realistic game which guarantees you maximum entertainment. Starbyte hope you enjoy the game! Any questions - give us a call. Rules of Play The game is played as singles (one against one) or doubles (two against two) on a relatively large court. The playing parties try to play the ball over a net with the help of a racket. The rally is aimed at outplaying your opponent according to the rules through a faulty return or otherwise. The proportion of the court, the racket and the skills of a player make it a visually attractive match which demands the player's mind and body. The court Some useful information about the different surfaces: Grass: The fastest surface. Indoors: Almost as fast as grass. Ashes: A medium-fast surface. Hard court: The slowest surface. Tennis balls The outer skin of the ball has to be of the same shape and seamless. The tennis balls are either yellow or white. The ball needs to have a diameter of 6.35 to 6.37 centimeters and weighs between 56.70 and 58.50 grams. The balls should be exchanged after three to six hours of play. The racket The racket consists of very lightweight material. The play depends on the constitution of the racket, i.e. of its weight, of strings and the intensity of the stringing. The intensity of the stringing is measured in kg and usually ranges between 25 and 35 kg. In TieBreak you can choose these intensities. Just try a certain stringing in order to find your ideal racket Clothing You should only wear white sportswear during competitions. Course of the game - Service In tennis there is one server and one receiver. The server always starts his service on the right half seen from his perspective. He has to remain in the prescribed service area. The receiver is in the receiving area. A service is always played from the baseline. The server has to throw the ball into the air with his free hand and hit it with the racket before the ball touches the floor. The very moment the racket hits the ball the service is deemed to be executed. The ball has to fly over the net and has to land within the service field of the diagonally opposite half. This includes the lines. Second Service A second service is played if the first service was not valid. Should the second service be mishit as well, the point goes to the receiver. Changing the service sides In every game the server starts on the right side of the court and changes sides after every point. He therefore hits in turns from right and left into the diagonally opposite service field. Change in the right of service After each game of a set the right of service changes. The server now receives, and the previous receiver serves. Rally The game starts with the first return after the serve. The ball should only bounce once, though it can be hit while being in the air. A volley can touch the net and is deemed valid even when (except in case of the service) it touches the body of the opponent, or the opponent plays the ball from the air on the outside of the court (without the ball touching the ground). It is deemed invalid if it touches the ground outside the court, i.e. outside the lines. Losing points during a rally You lose points if: - the opponent's service is taken in the air. - the ball touches the ground twice. - the ball is returned in such manner that it touches the ground or an object of the permanent facilities on the outside of the court. Scoring system There are four sets for winning a game! 15-30-40-game "Deuce" signifies the level score in a game (40:40). "Love" signifies that a player hasn't got any point so far. - after 1st point = 15 - after 2nd point = 30 - after 3rd point = 40 - after 4th point = game Should both players have 3 points (Deuce), the next point is called "Advantage". The game now has to be continued until one player wins two points in succession. Only then can he win the game. The player who's first to win 6 games (with a two game lead, e. g. 6:4, 7:5) wins a set. The player who's first to win the agreed number of winning sets, wins the match. TieBreak You play a tie break if a set reaches 6:6. The server serving from the right Then the right of service changes and the opponent plays the following ball from the left. Afterwards it's played from the right, thereafter the right of serve changes once again. After every six points the players have to change sides. The player who's first in reaching seven points wins the set. Doubles When playing doubles the outer lines of the court are part of the playing surface. The teams change the service person by person, i. e. TEAM 1: PLAYER A, B TEAM 2: PLAYER C, D 1st match service = player A (1) 2nd match service = player C (2) 3rd match service = player B (3) 4th match service = player D (2) etc... Points in the world rankings The seeding in the world rankings depends on the points per match won and the number of tournaments played. The game After the title picture the computer needs a few moments to load. Then the information picture appears which directs you to the menu when pressing the left joystick button. The menu offers you a choice of 1) World Tournament 2) Tournament 3) Training 4) About Tennis 5) The Fascinating World of Tennis 6) Competitions 7) Starbyte Musicbox The selecting symbol in the menu is a tennis ball. The tennis ball can be moved with the joystick. 1.0 World Tournament All matches will contribute to your place in the world rankings as this program saves your latest score. By winning individual matches you collect points for the world rankings. Your score is shown on the results table. 1.1 Load Team/ New Team In case you have already played in the table you can go back to your old score via "LOAD TEAM". If you want to make a fresh start in the table or choose a new team, select your "NEW TEAM" with the joystick. After having made your decision, please press the right joystick button. Should your CDTV have a RAM card, the scores are stored here. If you don't possess a RAM card only the normal memory is used. This means when switching off your CDTV you will lose this data! 1.2 Now you have to select the number of players. You can even decide on several and more interesting changes in the rankings. Should a computer player face another computer player you can decide whether you want to see the match or not. ("Watch game: YES or NO") 1.3 After selecting the number of players, the picture of the player is shown. The computer memorizes 16 players of the rankings plus photo and personal description. ( see 3.2 ) Right beside the picture you can choose whether this player is controlled by a human or the computer. Pressing "OLD" gives you the option to take over already-saved players. Should the computer take the part of the player, it is assigned the name and character automatically. Should a human take the part of the player, you can change the name with the help of the joystick. 1.4 After you have selected the characters and wish to play with more than two players you can determine the port. (This only applies to the training mode!) 1.5 You can now select your racket. The rackets are divided into different string ratings (20-30 kg) and A, eight classes (light L and medium M). 1.6 Should more than one player take part, the menu is repeated for every single player. 1.7 When you have made all the decisions go to "SAVE TEAM". Should you wish to make any changes, go to "UNDO" and the menu will be repeated. 1.8 Finally you have to decide in which tournament you want to take part: TOURNAMENT SURFACE ( see 2.2 ) Australian Open carpet French Open ashes Winbledon grass US Open ashes Masters indoor Daviscup indoor 1.9 Then you learn who plays who. (o.k.) 1.10 The players are now introduced personally. (o.k.) 2.0 TOURNAMENT This part gives you the opportunity to play tournaments with friends. You fight amongst yourselves and create your own results table. You can save all scores and tournaments; you can even pause the game should a tournament be played over a long period. 2.1 Load an old tournament or start a new one. 2.2 Select your surface SURFACE CHARACTERISTICS COLOR grass fast green ashes medium red carpet medium blue asphalt slow gray The surface shows specific characteristics with respect to the speed and the bounce of the ball. These will naturally become noticeable during the match. 2.3 Select singles or doubles 2.4 Number of games to be played 2.5 Insert names with the help of the joystick 2.6 It will be shown who plays who. 2.7 Every player can now select his racket (see 1.5). 2.8 The match starts now. All matches played under tournament do not affect the results table. 3.0 TRAINING Before playing matches which affect your place in the table you should start off with this part of the menu. You can practice all combinations: rackets, surfaces and partners. 3.1 Select singles or doubles 3.2 Please select whether the participant is human or the computer. You have the opportunity to practice with all 16 players from the table. 3.3 Select your joystick port. 3.4 Select your racket (see 1.5) 3.5 The menu is repeated for all other participants. 3.6 You can now fix the length of the match. It refers to the number of winning sets. You can choose between: "Best of three" (2 sets to win) "Best of five" (3 sets to win) 3.7 Select your surface (2.2). You can lower the degree of difficulty of a player by switching over to half the speed or selecting a racket which is less difficult than the ones given in the tournament. 3.8 Starting the "match" 4.0 ABOUT TENNIS This part of the menu gives you a short introduction into the rules of tennis. When pressing "B " on the joystick you return to the previous screen. 5.0 THE FASCINATING WORLD OF TENNIS You can view pictures of tennis history. They start off with several black and white pictures portraying the beginning of tennis. Later on pictures will appear that show the present time. You can interrupt the slide show by pressing "B" (only applies to the mouse mode). 6.0 COMPETITIONS You can now view the results table. You can exit the table by pressing "B". 7.0 STARBYTE MUSIC BOX The music box offers you a choice of 12 different songs taken from our computer games. 8.0 THE MATCH 8.1 Control of the player Well, we finally arrived at the most important part of the game. First of all it has to be explained that you need not move the player as it automatically moves into the direction of the ball. In this game the different directions of the joystick have been used for incorporating strokes like top-spin, slice, smash, volley, stop and lob in a realistic manner. 8.2 Service You cannot determine the direction, but you can determine the length of the service. Move joystick into any direction = Take a swing = Length of stroke 7 SERVICE Move joystick into any direction: The player takes a swing and remains in this position. Let go of the joystick: The player hits the ball. 8.3 FOREHAND/BACKHAND a) The computer will decide whether you have to play forehand or backhand, depending on your position towards the ball. All strokes are executed as follows: Press the joystick = Take a swing The stroke is executed as soon as you let go of the joystick. You can therefore keep the player in such a position as long as you like. This is actually quite useful in order to determine the correct direction. As in real tennis this also depends on the ball's angle of incidence. By delaying the ball you can determine the time when the racket hits the ball. If it hits the center of the racket, the ball goes straight over the net. If you hit it at the beginning of the stroke, it goes to the light. If you hit it at the end of the stroke, it goes to the left. (This naturally depends on you Playing forehand or backhand and the side you play.) You will notice that it is not that easy to let go of the joystick at the right moment. As in real tennis you first have to practice, i.e. get the right "feel for the ball". Until now you only hit short balls. If you want to hit a long ball, you have to press the fire button before using the joystick. You have to keep pressing it until the stroke is executed. This combination surely needs some practice. STOP: You strike a stop ball by moving the joystick to the left (Take a swing/let go = stroke). TOP-SPIN: You strike a top-spin by moving the joystick to the right (Take a swing/let go = stroke) LOB: You strike a lob by moving the joystick backwards (Take a swing/let go = stroke) (see 5.0) Please note: A simple stroke is hit if you move the joystick to the front and then let go of it. The computer decides whether you play forehand or backhand. On all other strokes you move the joystick into the directions given instead of moving it to the front. You can accelerate (i.e. play a long ball) all strokes by pressing the fire button (A). SMASH: In case you want to take a lob and the player looks up, first press the fire button, then move the joy-stick to the front and let go of it. Now the plover smashes the ball. NET ATTACK: While the other side is busy taking the ball you can move the joystick to the front and therefore move the plover to the net. This might result in not being able to catch the ball as this is a long-played ball. The most difficult ball is the "STOPPING BALL". It is played if you stand right at the net. It is possible to hit the ball extremely short and just over the net. There are two Possibilities: 1. You hit the ball while taking a swing. 2. You hit the ball in an almost vertical position after taking a very short swing. You can only learn these numerous complicated strokes by practicing. As soon as you master these different strokes you will be totally addicted to this game. Is the winner known the menu is repeated (o.k.). "World Tournament" will announce the present ranking in the results table. 9.0 TACTICS Tennis is about outplaying your opponent or playing in a manner where he can only play a faulty return. First of all you get the opportunity to do this with a certain number of tricky strokes or your opponent to handle. 1. Stop ball: You cut the ball in such manner that it can be stopped and partly led into a different direction while bouncing. 2. Top-spin: You cut the ball in such manner that it accelerates while bouncing. 3. Lob: You can pass your opponent with this ball as it is played so high that he cannot reach it anymore, or at least will have difficulties in returning it. This stroke is employed when the opponent stands near the net or finds himself in a disadvantageous position at the front. 4. Smash ball: A powerful ball played in the air. Net attack: You can surprise your opponent by a sudden move to the front as you can then take the played ball in the air. The ball will be much shorter and returned nearer to the sidelines. Passing shot: Playing a passing shot you practically catch your opponent on the "wrong foot", i.e. you catch him in an incorrect striking position and therefore pass him. Furthermore you have got the opportunity to force your opponent from left to right. Otherwise you play long rallies and simply try to return the balls until your opponent makes a mistake. After a number of games you will develop your very own tactic. One thing's for sure though: Stamina and full concentration are essential. 10.0 Note on doubles Doubles need even more attention as they are faster and result in more complex game-play. 11.0 Additional functions 0 - This key gives you the option to exit the game prematurely. The result of the game is therefore left to chance. 1 - pauses the game 2 - switches on referees' comments 3 - switches on the TieBreak sound 4 - switches on the "Starbyte song" In order to use these functions you first have to switch over to the mouse mode by pressing the joy/mouse button! (Don't forget to change back!) Every game is saved automatically and can therefore be continued at a later stage. This works differently in 1.0 and 2.0. 1.0 World Tournament: If you save under your own name you always save the present table as well. Each name can be exchanged again and again, i.e. you can replace computer players by human players by selecting "NEW TEAM" at the beginning of the menu. You always have to play a tournament up to the end. Only names and results tables are saved. 2.0 Tournament: 2.0 gives you the opportunity to save whole tournaments and therefore you need not play them right up to the very end. (Load Tournament A,B,C) You can only save a match if it was terminated (also applicable to the O - key). The players take a short break after each odd set and at the end of the match they shake hands. The computer then starts to reload. Be patient and you will see the winner's picture.