GENERAL INFO
TECHNICAL STUFF System Requirements for Universal Boxing Manager are: Windows: Processor 1Ghz or better, 256mb of RAM, OpenGL compatible graphic card with 16mb of Ram, Windows 98/ME/2000/XP, about 10mb of space on HD (this may vary depending on number of savegames), mouse. It has been tested with Windows 95/98, Windows 2000 and XP. It should work also on Windows NT with service pack 5, but no support is provided with that platform. Macintosh: Processor 600 Mhz+, 256mb RAM, OpenGL compatible graphic card with 16mb of Ram, Mac OS X 10.2 and above, about 10mb of space on HD (this may vary depending on number of savegames), mouse. This game requires OpenGL drivers to be installed. If you have a new pc and your have either an ATI or Nvidia graphic card, there's a good chance that you have already the correct drivers installed. On Mac os X, make sure to run the latest system update if you face display problems. ABOUT THE GAME AND FUTURE UPDATES The game simulates the life of a boxing manager, allowing you to train your boxers, hire new ones (registered version only), and hopefully win one of the 17 different championship titles! The game consists of various screens from which you'll be able to do all the required things, there's a navigation bar located in the top part of the screen, from there you can switch between screens. Last but not least, remember that the game is going to get updates, which will be free for all registered users. Our to-do list currently includes: - more fight events - more sponsors or training facilities - a interactive version of the match You can expect at least one update every 2-3 months. If you subscribe to the newsletter you'll receive notification of new updates as soon as they are available. IN-GAME HELP Always watch the bottom part of the screen, as you'll find useful info there for every option in the game. Pass your mouse over a button or a part of the screen that is unclear, and you will find a quickhelp appear on the bottom part of the screen.
THE BASICS
MANAGER CREATION You first need to create your manager. You can click on Start New game to create him by choosing every skill, or you can just click Quick Match and the computer will generate a manager for you, assigning him a new name. Of course if you want to have full control over what will happen in the game, it is better to create your manager by hand. The various skills you can assign to the manager and their effect on the game are explained in the game itself. TRAIN YOUR BOXERS From the starting screen, click on TRAINING. You'll be able to distribute the 25 training point in the various categories. Every one improve a single stat of your boxer, up to his maximum potential. Every boxer has an actual skill and a potential skill. His actual skill can never be higher than his potential skill. If you don't train your boxers, their stats slowly decrease. Now you can click on MANAGE to see your boxing Fitness and Morale value. Fitness is really important, if it is too low your boxer can't fight. This value is usually at zero after a fight but slowly increases month by month (but is unlikely that a boxer will have two fights in two consecutive months!). Morale is important too, but a boxer can have a fight even if his morale is broken (he won't fight so well of course). RANKINGS Click on the RANKINGS SCREEN and you'll see the rankings for your currently selected boxer. By default, when you enter this screen, your first boxer is shown. If you simply want to look at rankings for the 17 different weight categories, you need to use the left-right arrows on the left-top part of the screen. If you have more than one boxer, you can change the current boxer displayed using the left-right arrows on the left part of the screen under the "Select your boxer" text. Remember that there are various weight categories, so you can have one boxer rank 70 in Strawweight and another rank 90 in Heavyweight: this last one will be more popular than the first one, anyway, because he is in a higher weight category. ARRANGING A FIGHT From the RANKINGS SCREEN you can also arrange a fight. On the list on the right, you'll see a red flashing name: that is your currently selected boxer. You can arrange a fight with another boxer of the same category, if the rank difference is no more thank 5. For example if your boxer ranking is 95, you can challenge another boxer up to the rank 90. Once you click on the opponent, his name is highlighted in green and his stats are displayed on the left. The accuracy of his stats depends on your manager scouting skill. If you are satisfied with the selected opponent, choose a fight date (by default is the next month) and click on OK. The fight is now arranged. If for some reason you want to cancel it, you can click on the cancel button, however there's a penalty for that. THE FIGHT Now go on the NEXT MONTH screen. If you have a fight scheduled for the next month, you'll see the fight details displayed on the right part of the screen. You'll see also two icons, on the left an eye and on the right a monitor. Clicking on the monitor gives you an instant result. The instant result can be good for a fight that you're sure to win, but be careful because you may have some surprises (as in real life, it is not always the favourite boxer who wins). Clicking on the eye lets you watch the fight in real-time. Now you'll be taken to the ROUND screen: here you can set tactics for your boxer for the next round. You can choose which type of strikes your boxer will attempt, his fighting tactic, and your actions. To switch the options you simply click on the image on the right and they will cycle through the various options. To see what each option does, simply watch the text on the bottom part of the screen as always. The images on the left are your boxer physical conditions, and you can't affect them with actions. Once you click on DONE, the next round starts. You'll see a topview of the ring with the two boxers fighting. Your boxer is the BLUE one, while the opponent is the RED one. You can adjust the speed of the match using the controls on the left part of the screen. The fight will go on until you win or lose by KO, TKO or by the score at the end of all the scheduled rounds. The fight result will let your boxer advance in ranking if he was victorious, and also some of his potential skills will increase permanently with every success. FINDING NEW TALENTS As you may notice, your starting boxers aren't exactly very good. So a good move would be to try to hire new promising boxers. To do this, you need to go to the BOXER SEARCH screen. Here you can search boxers by skills and try to hire new ones. Basically you setup your filter on the left screen, and the list on the right is updated. If you click "Interested boxers" you'll see only boxers that are actually interested in being managed by you, while free boxers shows only boxers that haven't a manager already. To successfully hire a new boxer isn't easy: it depends on many factors. The most important of all is your reputation, shown in the upper part of the screen. As you win more and more fights, your reputation goes higher, and new boxers are more likely to join you. Your nationality is also imporant, because if it is the same as that of the boxer you're trying to hire you'll have greater chances of success. Finally, the new contract conditions are also important. If you set the boxer shares to low, he may refuse even if he could be interested in being managed by you. CONTRACTS Every boxer has a contract that you can see on the BOXERS screen in the MANAGE sub-menu. If you want to keep a boxer under your management, you should try to renew those contracts (your negotiation skill will be useful in that). Remember also that old fighters (35+ years old) may announce retirement during the game. GOAL OF THE GAME The goal of the game is to win the most fights and weight titles possible before your manager retires. Keep also an eye on the financial situation so he does not go bankrupt. He will retire when he is 60 years old, so you should have plenty of time to try to achieve success! Good luck, Boxing Manager!
ADVANCED
FINANCES SCREEN The finances screen shows interesting reports about your budget. Depending on the initial choices, you'll start with more or less money. In any case, to have a long career, you'll need to pay attention to your budget, because if your bank account goes in RED for more than 5 months, the game will end! From this screen you can analyze your financial situation, and also make various decisions. For example, you can make advertising choices for your boxers, bringing in fresh money, or you can decide which training equipment to use or which level of medical assistance you'd like. Those two aspects are really important: top-class equipment makes your boxer train better and quicker, but it is very expensive. Same thing with the medical assistance: a top medical assistance helps your boxer recover better from injuries but it is more expensive. Remember also that the costs are for each boxer, so as you have more boxers, the costs also raise accordingly! MANAGER CREATION TIPS The manager creation phase is one of the most important of the game, because making a right decision here can influence your whole career. For example, making a manager with high scouting skill can let you make better judgments concerning your opponents and new boxers to hire. So what are general good guidelines to follow while creating your manager? Well, there isn't a general rule: however remember that you should keep a balance between various skills. Never leave one skill at zero, except maybe for luck. Leave training at zero and your boxers will train slowly. Leave scouting at zero and you won't be able to judge your opponent well and you could find yourself in a fight that your boxer has no chance win. FIGHT TIPS You may think that making your boxer always go offensive is the right choice for every fight. Not at all: for every punch thrown, boxers lose stamina. So, if you set your boxer for a defensive strategy, you'll waste less stamina while your opponent may lose more trying to punch you. Do this for a few rounds and you may regain enough stamina and strength to be able to counterattack your opponent, turning a fight around that you thought already lost.
CREDITS
Programming Celso Riva Graphics Celso Riva Testing Celso Riva, Federico Bullo, Patrice Krysztofiak, Lisa Yamanishi, Judith Krauss SPECIAL THANKS TO Patrice Krysztofiak and Graziella Tomesani (moral support)

Programmed by Celso Riva (C) 2004 WinterWolves - All trademarks are copyrighted by their respective owners