The Ultimate Manager - By Craig Smith ------------------------------------- Introduction ============ The Ultimate Manager is a realistic football management game with a unique results system. You get to see all the other results and scorers during your game. The match happens is real-time so you can make changes when you think they are necessary. You can also view how a rival team may be getting on. This budget priced football management game is merely a launch pad for a new football management game which will be based on The Ultimate Manager. This game is aimed to beat all other football management games on the Amiga. Currently, The Ultimate Manager is aimed to be the most enjoyable and exciting football management game. Enjoy! Menu ==== Upon loading the game you will be presented with a title screen, simply click the left mouse button to advance, choosing to either continue or start a new game. The left and right mouse buttons are the buttons which are used to go in and out of screens. The menu displays a host of options (represented as icons). In the top corner is the date and the week number. Clicking on any of the options will take you into that section. Bank ==== You can view your accounts at the bank and get or repay a loan. Simply click on the icons depending on what you want to do. A bank loan will usually be repaid back in ten weeks (this repayment includes interest). A brief run down on payments for the month is listed in a box. Next Day ======== This advances a day in which you can be either playing a match, watching some other matches or training the team. News on the team will be displayed here. If you are playing or watching matches then the fixtures will be displayed. The matches will then start ticking through the ninety minutes (extra time & sudden death - if in certain cup matches). You can click on the panel of icons below to change the team/tactics etc.. If you click on a match then details of the game's scorers/times will be displayed, from this screen you are able to view the players and formations. If the number of matches is quite large then you will need to swap between two pages by clicking on the 'page' icon. View ==== You can view either cup fixtures, league table, last matches or the season calendar by selecting the relevant icon from thee menu. The league table is colour coded, therefore the bottom three teams in the league will be hi-lited in a different colour because they are in the relegation zone (at the end of the season the three teams in the relegation zone will be dropped into the division below and replaced by the three teams in the promotion zone from the division below). The promotion zone is also colour coded, the top three teams are shown in a different colour. There is no promotion from the top division and no relegation from the bottom division. The team that you are managing will be hi-lited in yellow. The calendar shows the week and has two columns the first shows the fixtures for Saturday and the second for fixtures during the week. Two screens allow you to see the first half of the seasons fixtures and the second page shows the final half of the season. Formation/Tactics ================= Your formation can be selected by simply clicking on the icon with the formation that you wish to play. Your tactics are selected by clicking on options to adjust the tactics. The formation varies, the formation positions players in either more attacking or defensive positions. You are able to place your best players against the opposition's best players. You don't want to be playing a very attacking formation against a team who are very strong in attack as you will leave your defence weak. However, two attacking teams does provide exciting football. The tactics can be changed depending on how you wish to play against the opposition. The most effective way is to study the opposition using the league table of view team facilities available to you. You can find out what type of team you are playing against and decided how you are going to combat the team. An aggressive team can give interesting results but will make players more vulnerable to injury. You can place a player on the transfer market, making you more likely to get offers from other clubs. Team ==== The team can be changed by clicking on a player and then the player who you wish to swap the player with. Numbers 1-11 indicate the players in the squad. You may want to recall a player from the 'reserve' team or drop a player to the 'reserve' team if he isn't good enough. Using the icons you are able to click on a player and then click 'drop' (moving him into reserves), the opposite is 'recall' to bring somebody from reserves. Remember, the club will stop you from moving certain players into the reserves. A player's average rating will be displayed on this screen along with the player's total appearances, appearances for the season and goals scored for the season. The confidence and happiness of a player is shown on the team selection screen. A players gains confidence with good results and good fortune but loses it with bad results. A players is kept happy by playing him in the team, this is difficult. If you have loads of good players then the ones who don't get into the team will start getting unhappy thus effecting their play. During a match, you can substitute players, a player which has been substituted can't come on again (a star will be next to his name). You can only make two substitutions during a match. Game Stats ========== Statistics for the match are shown by selecting 'TABLE' form the in- game menu. This allows you to view statistics on the opposition including ratings out of 10 for each player's performance (excluding goalkeeper). Physio ====== The physio will estimate how long a player is going to be out of action for. The number of weeks the player is due back can change, if the player gets a late blow then the number of weeks can be put back further. Stadia ====== The stadium can be increased in size which will take a number of weeks to work on and costs money. If the seats are required then it is necessary to build more seats. You can select which stand you wish to work on (north,east,south & west). The number of seats in each stand is shown on this screen. Takings ======= Your takings can be viewed on this screen. It lists the money that is made and spent on things like transfers, gates and stadium work. Minor costs such as electricity and groundsmen are paid for by a separate account. Training ======== You can select your training methods from this screen. Remember not to over train the team as this can be damaging for the players. Intense training can be effective but should only be used when it is absolutely necessary. You can serious damage your players, if you are going well then you should try to avoid training players too hard. Bid === You can select a team to bid for a player. The relevant club will respond to your bid. It is likely that a big club won't except an offer for one of their star players. Trainer Employment ================== Three trainers can be employed to your club, the better the trainer, the more expensive he is. Selecting a good set of trainers makes training more worthwhile. It all costs money though! View Results ============ You can view the results or your team from the season. Select which page you wish to view. An average season will only take up two pages, clicking on the responding item will take you to the respective page. Transfer History ================ The history of transfers since you have been in control of the club will be displayed on this page. This will detail the date, transfer fee and clubs involved. The transfers are viewed in the same way that results are viewed. Season Honours ============== The honours for the season are displayed on this screen. You can vary the different statistics by clicking on the icons below. You can view cup and league success for the club or all the teams involved. Your history since taking over the club can also be viewed. Newspaper ========= A selection of various newspaper headlines is displayed usually after matches. Selected headlines allow you to see how other teams have done. Save Game ========= You may save a game at any time. It can be loaded from the option on the first screen of the game - 'Continue Existing Game'. Ease of Use =========== This game is very easy to use. It is a case of using the mouse to move the pointer and using the left and right mouse buttons along with the 3d icons. The rules are simple. The bottom/top three teams are relegated/promoted. The European/Coca Cola cup have two legs for each round and the FA Cup has one leg. The winner of the final match is the cup winner! You will be in control of the club for twenty seasons, see how far you can take the club. You may want to start from the third division and take them to the top or maybe take the top team to the bottom. You are in control! The Ultimate Football Management Game Project ============================================= An improved PC version of this game is expected late '94. Any suggestions can be mailed to : Craig Smith 12 Collingwood Rise Camberley Surrey GU15 1NB