Since the release of TM21 for PC, many players in our community have got in touch with us to question the player progression system that the franchise uses: how it works, why we have made it the way it is. We want, therefore, to give you an explanation as to how Tennis Manager operates the development of its players by giving you some examples.
These are the factors that can damage your player’s potential.
The Different Types of Players
There are three types of progression in the Tennis Manager simulation system. These are Early, Standard and Late progression.
Players with early progression are like Rafael Nadal, in that they hit their peak in their very early 20s, and sometimes late teens. Then, how long this peak lasts, depends on the greatness of the player (and of course the quality of their training and their own unique characteristics).
Players with a standard progression often hit their peak when they are in their early- to mid-20s. Someone like Roger Federer is a very good example of this, because after holding number 1 status at that age bracket, his control of the number 1 position very slowly fell as the years have gone by, with grand slams becoming slightly less frequent year upon year.
Finally, a late bloomer is a player whofollows a career like Kevin Anderson’s. These players, like Anderson, don’t hit their physical or successful peak until they are in their late 20s or even early 30s. Anderson first cracked the top 10 shortly before turning 30, and then cracking the top 5 when he was 32.
Each player is different, and we have incorporated the same philosophy into the Tennis Manager games. We operate on aphase of progressions, which differs between each player, but all follow a basic rule.
Players commonly have a very fast progression, followed by a slowing pace by their mid-20s, and then a regression phase when they reach their 30s.
As we always state, Tennis Manager wants to give the community as much realism as is possible, and it is important for us that the players in the game develop and regress just as real-life players do.
The Different Types of Attributes
When it comes to your player progressing and improving, or as happens later in their career, regressing and worsening in ability, there are a variety of different factors both natural and affected by you.
The natural factors are obvious. They include the age of the player, and as we discussed above, this changes depending on their natural progression type. They also include the individual potential of that player. If a player has high potential, they are much more likely to progress at a faster rate and to have a higher ceiling for their peak progress.
The affected factors are a little more complicated. Technical, physical and mental attributes will all improve with the appropriate training. Firstly, staff have a major impact on the quality, not just of training, but overall attributes of the players in your academy. By hiring the best of the best in staff and trainers, you can greatly improve the rate and ceiling of your players.
Other factors which you can’t directly influence are the psychological attributes. These include tenacity, the killer instinct and natural confidence. These, which are going to be high for much of the time anyway (there aren’t too many top athletes who aren’t at least a little confident!), will also change naturally over time. Indeed, it is up to you to get the best out of them.
Other Factors that Affect Progression and Regression
However, even after all my explaining, the system is still a little more complex than that. One other thing to note is how physical and technical/mental attributes are differently affectable depending on the age of the player. For example, technical boosts occur most strongly in teenagers around 14 to 16 years old, whereas beyond that, the biggest boosts are in physical attributes.
None of this mentions other obvious factors that will help or hinder development. A player who suffers injury will have their progress slowed greatly, and might even regress significantly depending upon their age. Players who are inactive for some time, or whose potential is not fully grasped by their trainer/academy will suffer in the long-term. And that is why these factors and attributes are all important: the long-term.
Will this be in Tennis Manager 2022?
For the next edition of Tennis Manager, there will be a stronger and deeper use of the different kinds of player, and their natural ability to be, for example, an early or late bloomer on the court. We will have a brand-new set of coefficients that will be added to the game code and will completely refresh the playthrough of a long-term campaign.
The type of progression will not affect the level of attributes at birth of a player but will be a new multiplier coefficient according to the age of the player: see below. Likewise, regression will be affected the same way.
Join us again next week, for when we will talk about the players’ mental state, and how that works within the Tennis Manager engine. See you then! --- Jeremy