Virtua Tennis 2 Tips
Eryn
Throughout this FAQ, I will use terms like deuce court, ad-court, baseline, etc. These terms may or may not be familiar to everyone. Below are simple illustrations depicting these areas of the court.
A - Creating a Custom Player
Facial Features: Virtua Tennis 3 offers one of the weakest create-a-player modes ever found in a videogame. Modification of pre-defined facial features is quite limited to where even at extremes, very little change takes place to a custom character's overall appearance (and if you opted to go to the extreme side of customizing your character, he/she would look goofy). Of course, your standard color options for eyes and hair are present, a few choices for facial hair, as well as height and weight, but there aren't really any variables that will truly distinguish your custom character from most any other. I have found it virtually impossible to make a likeness of myself (as I was able to do in TS2) or any retired professional player that I wanted to resurrect in a virtual format.
Height and Weight: If you are living in a region where the system of standard weights and measures is used, you can use the following Web utilities to convert metric values to standard values for your player's weight and height:
Swing Style: With regard to the serving and groundstroke techniques, that is pretty much a matter of personal preference. The forehands are arranged where the first option represents a somewhat continental grip with a low-to-high swing motion, the second which I believe was intended to be a semi-western grip (though, it is more on the side of a true western grip) that doesn't represent a real looping swing, the third a more traditional western grip, and finally an extreme western grip. For what it's worth, most clay-court players use a western grip to put an insane amount of topspin on the ball. That fact doesn't translate well with the game, as most players hit about the same with only the follow-through animations differing just a bit. The grip styles don't really influence much in terms of ball spin. If you are unfamiliar with the aforementioned grips, here are examples:
The service motions really don't impact the outcome of points, and are there to more or less provide "cosmetic value." They are arranged as follows:
1) Classic service motion with slight toe drag.
2) Deep knee bend, feet set.
3) Front foot moves, service motion similar to Andy Roddick's.
4) Rock to back foot, similar to Pete Sampras' motion.
1) One handed, split step. (Very uncommon).
2) Feet close, ready position, commonly seen in doubles or by serve and volleyers (such as Stefan Edberg who sometimes shared a similar ready position).
3) Hunched and sway with split step. Fairly common by many players.
4) Upright sway with split step. Another fairly common ready position.
Unlike Top Spin 1 where you could train as long as you had the necessary funds to pay for it, and Top Spin 2 where you had scheduled training sessions with various coaches, Virtua Tennis 3 offers limitless training opportunities that you can take advantage of before, after, or in place of tournaments. You can train for as long as you want before setting foot on a tennis court, or, you can delay your training until you feel the need to increase your skill levels to be more competitive. Of course, a rigorous training regimen will make winning matches easier, but it will also delay your rise to the top of the World Tour. If achieving the #1 ranking is your goal, then it would be best to devise a plan to work through each season in the most efficient manner possible; striking a balance between training, competing, and resting.
The World Tour consists of 20 seasons, not all of which are needed to max out your player or to achieve the world's #1 ranking. You should accomplish both of those feats well before your 20th season. After your 20th season, your player effectively retires. The only real incentives for actually playing through 20 seasons are the accessories you can acquire after tournament wins, Academy drills, and special accomplishments (such as winning all four Grand Slams in the same season, winning 50 smash points in a season, winning challenges made by other players, etc.).
Tournaments are scheduled year-round, each with restrictions on who may participate. Some tournaments (300 level Challenger events) are wide open in terms of participation and provide small rank improvements with each win. Other events such as the Advantage Series (204 level), "Masters Events" (100 level), and "Grand Slams" (56 level) feature pros with improved A.I., longer matches, and allow for better chances at improving your standing in the leaderboard. The more prestigious events will even host doubles tournaments which strangely enough, improve your singles ranking with each successful round. With certain tournament wins, you will obtain new accessories such as shirts, shoes, shorts, wristbands, glasses, and tennis racquets.
The opportunity to become #1 will be made available at the "King of Players" tournament in which you must be in the top 16 to enter. A different pro-player participates in each KoP event (depending on the year), and should you win, you will receive not only the #1 ranking, but a material item (such as a new racquet) for your accomplishment as well. KoP events are comprised of a six game match against ridiculous opponent A.I., and your custom player's stamina will begin to diminish after the fourth or fifth game of the match - so it's essential that your goal be a blowout win. Depending on your opponent, that's sometimes easier said than done. I found Lleyton Hewitt to be the most difficult, and Taylor Dent to be the easiest.
One of the unique elements of VT3 that separates it from other tennis games, is that your ranking will never slip if you don't participate in tournaments. For example, if you improve to #100 in the World Tour and then take an entire year off to train and rest, you can re-join the circuit with your 100 ranking still intact. There is absolutely no penalty for not participating in tournaments (other than it stunting your advancement through the rankings, and losing time from your 20 season career).
After you have successfully entered and completed each and every available tournament, including at least one KoP event, you will be invited to the SPT Final. The SPT Final is a special doubles match that will pit both King and Duke against you and the doubles partner you have had the most experience with over the course of your career. While this may seem like a formidable matchup, a win is definitely in the realm of possibility with the knowledge of a few key items (see Section E). Should you win the SPT Final, you will have unlocked the "Complete All Areas" Achievement worth 30 points. You will also earn a new racquet (a guitar), access to the royal court in Prague for use in other modes, and another viewing of the game development credits. A summary of your career up to that point will be available, including the interesting statistic as to how many accessories you've acquired. With the remaining years left on your character, you can finish up at the Academy or accept all practice matches that come your way. Either of those should unlock a few more items (if you are still missing certain accessories) which can be selected back at the house. You will also have the opportunity to face off against King (Level 1) in another SPT Final, this time in a singles format. Duke (Level 2) will appear for the SPT Final in the following season should you still have years remaining. At the conclusion of your 20th season, your player will effectively retire.
The best way to approach World Tour mode is to find a balance between training, playing, and resting. Train during off weeks with an eye on the calendar for ideal times to rest before or after a big event.
Training Exercises: When participating in training exercises, be aware that your movements will directly affect specific areas of your player's ability. In other words, if you hit more forehands than backhands in a training session, your forehands will level up much more quickly. Additionally, in footwork training exercises, lateral movements, cut-backs, forward rushing and backpeddling are all measured independently. So, if you are only moving side to side, it might take you considerably longer to level-up your ability to rush the net.
Each subcategory under areas such as groundstrokes and volley (e.g. Power, Control, Angle) are subject to a limited number of key attributes being maxed out, and those will be the first ones that level-up to full capacity. This is indicated by a red bar and a briefly flashing "maxed." During your training exercises, be fully aware of how your skills are progressing, and which ones you want as your strengths. If you want to be an star player at the net, then you better focus on moving forwards and backwards during training drills such as Avalanche as opposed to running mostly laterally (Panic Balloon). When you reach levels 25 and higher, skill level improvement becomes increasingly difficult to equalize.
Immediately take out the left most and right most ball machines. You may need to shoot the left side down, then the right side, and then return to the left side and right side a second time before you start to work on the middle area. The reason for this is because even at level 29, once the corner "aliens" reach a certain point on the court, you will not be able to achieve enough angle to hit them!
Depending on whether or not you want to be a baseline or net player, you should focus on your movements in this challenge. Move vertically as much as possible if you want to be a net pro. If running the baseline is your thing, work on your lateral movements as well as cut backs.
For me, this was the easiest challenge to improve my custom player's footwork. This was also the challenge that earned me an Achievement for successfully completing a Level 6 training exercise.
If you attempt Level 6, be prepared that some pineapples (which are essential to completing this level) may get stuck on the ramp and out of your reach. Don't waste your efforts on them!