3D Tennis ver. 1.2 (TrialWare)

Copyright information : This software and the idea is copyright of Stefan Komilev. This trial version may be distributed by/to anyone.

http://palmdepot.dir.bg
e-mail: komilev@dir.bg

This is the 3-rd successful model of a real game from the same developer.
Please, try the others:
3DBingo – the only bingo for PalmOS ever. For 1-20 Palm devices. 60+ levels (bingo shapes).
3DLotto game&checker&filler
The developer seeks a permanent job position in a Palm software company.

Table of Contents:
1. Description. Updates.
2. How&Why do I register a licensed copy?
3. Installation. System requirements
4. How do I play?
5. Preferences
6. New players' computer model - 1000000s combinations
7. Update of the Top20 Rank List:
    - from the product’s website
    - from Yahoo web resources of ATP and WTA Tours
8. In Palm Memoriam.

1. Description.
Ultra-realistic 3D action. Become Number One tennis player in the TOP 20 Rank List of Men and Women Singles.
During the course of your game, this application will keep you up to date with the official ranking of ATP and WTA Tournaments. The players’ database is updated monthly. Even more, the user will be able to import it directly from the Yahoo sport pages.
Two player mode: An exceptionally attractive game for two in 3D space using one Palm PDA. Maybe the first device-friendly action game – it will not break your Palm buttons! Finally, this is the only tennis game for PalmOS & Windows ever.

Program Updates:
ver. 1.2:

Top20 Database Updates:update.txt


2. How to register?
3D Tennis is a shareware. You are able to use it for a trial period of 30 days.

If you want to have it afterwards you have to pay a small registration fee of 8$ (just a promotional price!) at www.palmgear.com (PalmGear H.Q) directly here:
 http://www2.viaweb.com/pilotgearsw/palmdepot.html
PalmGear H.Q maintain a secure server to accept credit cards for all registrations, as well as taking telephone orders if you just don't trust the current state of electronic commerce.
You can order 3D Tennis from PalmGear H.Q. by phone: 817.640.6558 or by fax: 817.640.6614.
You will receive an e-mail from developer with the Registration Code based on the user name of your Palm device. Start 3D Tennis. Click on Menu | Register 3D Tennis to complete registration.
Please allow 1-2 business days for processing/e-mail of the registration info

Why to register?
All future updates will be free.
Registered users with receive a monthly update from PalmGear with the current player ranking list according to ATP (Association of Tennis professionals) and WTA (Women’s tennis association) - Top20Men and Top20Women.pdb.
Registration is the only way to keep your position in the TOP20 Rank list!
Registered version is able to generate 1000000s various computer models of tennis opponents, while the unregistered one works with 20 default models. This game never ends.


3. Installation.
Required Operating system: Palm OS 2.0 or above, including Palm IIIc.

Start your Palm Desktop application.
To install the game to your handheld choose the game file, for example,

  3D Tennis.prc

and run it using Explorer, commandline, or your favorite file manager.
Palm Software Installation utility will prompt you with other installation
options.  Then put your Palm in the cradle and press the hotsync button.
(For info how to install programs to Palm device refer to your Palm User manual)

Install the following three files to the your Palm device:

  1. PocketC.prc (runtime library ver. 3.7), unless you already have it. Downloading PocketC onto your Palm set gives you the possibility to upload 100s of useful programs and games, which you can find in their great variety on www.palmgear.com, www.handango.com and other many web-sites, which contain PocketC sections. Of course you can start with checking out two other unique games developed by the same programmer: 3DBingo & 3DLotto!
  2. 3DTennis.prc.
  3. Top20Men.pdb or Top20Women.pdb. Just one of them! Chose one of the two files according to your gender preferences. (h-mm!) Note that you can change the database at any time by installing the other.
3D Tennis, especially the game is not working properly on the Emulator application. It's not buggy but the Emulator refreshes the screen too slow for it.

You can beam this application to a friend. Beam both PocketC and 3DTennis application. 3DTennis will start with an empty database.


4. How do I play?
If you find the game a bit too difficult in the beginning, do not despair – after all, you are playing against the computer models of some of the best world tennis players! You may wish to start with the 20th ranked tennis player, or just change the level of difficulty to “easy” by going into Menu | Preferences.

The speed of the ball depends on the Rank position of your TOP20 opponent.

Each of the Top20 Players has a different strategy. The registered version of 3DTennis is able to produce new strategies (see Item 6).
But it is important to note that they also make typical for the real tennis mistakes, i.e. fault, double fault, out, miss:

  1. the fault mistake: the ball served did not hit the proper area of the opponent's court. The service will be replayed.
  2. the double fault: two consecutive faults. Your Top20 opponent loses a point.
  3. out: the ball in play hits the ground outside any of the lines which bound your part of the court.
  4. miss:  player fails to return the ball.


Buttons (from left to right without PgUp & PgDown) :pause, sound on/off, new game, exit to Application launcher.

When you restart 3D Tennis, it will automatically take you to the last unfinished game, if any.

4.1. Òhe game rules:
The virtual 3D Tennis follows very closely the scoring rules of the real tennis game. The only differences are the following:

3D Tennis is using advantage set system of scoring. The set will be extended until a margin of 2 games is reached.

4.2. How to move the racket?
Simply point with the stylus where in the field you would like to meet the incoming ball.

4.3 Left or right return:
If you return the ball both with the left hand and right hand side of the racket, it will fall near court sidelines. These two hits would present an additional challenge for your TOP20 opponent, so try and use them more often. It would be fair to say that you can conquer the ranked 1 to 8 players only if you get familiar with this technique.

The Service:
The ball served must hit the ground before the Receiver returns it. 3D Tennis will take care for right positions of the players, accordind to the real tennis rules.

4.4. Òhe game modes
3D Tennis has 3 modes of play for you to try. All the modes are selected from the main title page using the corresponding buttons.

    1. Tour (“Play for Rank No…. “ Button):

      2. You play two compulsory qualification games according to a scheme set by 3D Tennis. There are 3 outcomes, according to your results: 1) you move one level up the Top20 rank list, 2) you remain at your current rank level, 3) you lose one rank level.
      The surprise for registered users only is that the game will not end when the rank No 1 is reached.
    2. Training

      3. This mode allows you to practice against one of the famous players, whom you can select from a list-box. Please note that the game results will not count for the TOP20 ranking.
    3. Two players game.

      4. An exceptionally fun game for two players using one device. The view point will “fly” over the field into 3D space according to who is in turn to hit the ball. You can use a non-sharp plastic pen as a second stylus.
      Both players can be moved at any position of the court.

5. Preferences.
Use Menu | Preferences to adjust the game duration, sound, level of difficulty. A special option for the “two players” game allows you to control whether the 3D view of the tennis court will "fly" or just change.
This is an important option as beta tests show that some users may get dizzy because of the complete 3D illusion.
 


6. New players' computer model - 1000000s combinations
To make use of this killing 3DTennis option just click from the main screen on Menu | New players model or at the Model panel which is situated at the bottom right of the Main screen.
While the unregistered version has only 20 fixed models of your Top20 tennis opponents (the default model)
the new ver. 1.2 is able to generate new players' computer models.
The parameters: ball max.&min speed, tactics, skill etc. are varied randomly.
It is important to understand that there is a difference between the Update of Top20 Rank List and this option:
for example Pete Sampras & Andre Agassi will play at the same manner at the framework of the default model when they are at 3rd position in Rank Lists of different date.
Use this option if just tired of playing with the default models. The new models will be faster and harder to win.
 

You can use this menu option at any time. Remember that you can always return to the Default model by clicking on Menu | Restore default model.

The main use of this option:
You have became Number One in the Rank List. To renew your game:
1. Click on Menu | Clear your result to reset you position to be No 20.
2. Menu | New players' model
and your have brand new 20 opponents to play with! This game never ends if you are registered user!

This option is limited to Registered version of the product only.


7. Update of the Top20 Rank List:
The version of the game consists of two parts: A.BBB or A.A.BBB
You can see the full version of 3DTennis if you click on Menu | About.
To view the date of the last update click Menu | Top20 Rank List info
If you receive a 3DTennis.zip as a update from PalmGear H.Q please note:
If  the BBB part has been changed only, install Top20Men.pdb or Top20Women.pdb only. This means monthy update of TOP20 Rank List.
if A.A. part has been changed too - this is a new release of 3DTennis application. Install the new 3DTennis.prc other the previous one.
You can find an installation instructions for every new update in the update.txt file

7.1. From the product’s website.

Once a month TOP20 Rank list will be updated in accordance with the real-life ranking group of ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) and WTA (Women’s Tennis Association).

You can download the updates from the following URL:
http://pamldepot.dir.bg/Top20.htm

Just install the new Top20Men.pdb or Top20Women.pdb file to your Palm device. Your own position in the Top20 Rank List will be saved during the update.

The registered users will also get an automatic update from the Palm Gear H.Q at every technical possibility.

Please note that this will be done automatically as long as there are at least 10 registrations of the 3D Tennis per month and the developer is in a good health. Otherwise the registered users can always update the 3D Tennis database, as described below.

7.2. Updating the 3D Tennis TOP20 List using Yahoo web resources of ATP and WTA Tours.
You have the incredible option to import the Tennis Rank List directly from the sport pages of Yahoo and other web resources. This has been done to secure endless support for the registered users.

Step by step instructions:

  1. Start you Palm Desktop software. Click on the Memo button.
  2. Browse to those web pages using your desktop web browser:

    3. Men (ATP):        http://sports.yahoo.com/ten/atppoints.html
    Women (WTA):   http://sports.yahoo.com/ten/womrank.html
  3. Select with the mouse a part of the page, containing first 20 players or just Select All& copy.

    4. It is not neccessary to select only the first 20 players. You can select any part of the page containind first 20.
  4. Activate your Palm desktop application an Paste the selection in the left window of MemoPad area.
  5. Change the first line of the new created memo to be “top20men” or “top20women” (default)
  6. Hotsync your Palm device.
  7. Start 3D Tennis and choose Menu | Import Top20 from Memo. 3DTennis will proceed with an advanced semantic processing of the text, extract precisely the relevant information about the players and update your 3D Tennis Rank List. This process may take a few seconds so please be patient.
  8. If the information about some of the players has not been correctly recognized, you can edit it manually using Menu | Edit TOP20 Player.
Of course, the user always can create the memo “top20men” manually. The format is (for example):
top20men
1. Pete Sampras, United States
2. Magnus Norman, Sweden
3. Lleyton Hewitt, Australia
…………………………………….
……………………………………..
19. Dominik Hrbaty, Slovakia
20. Nicolas Kiefer, Germany

The important thing is that every player must be on a single line.
The developer did not tested if it’s possible to update from Yahoo using the wireless technology of Palm VII. Maybe yes.


8. In Palm Memoriam
This software is dedicated to the memory of my lovely old Palm Pilot with 1 MB Upgrade.
Hi left me accidentally two days before the first release of 3D Tennis.
 

Good luck and enjoy this unique 3D Tennis game!