Jak vznikla hra SuperAce TENNIS
There was once a very skilled man. And a drawing board. And a game that was then dusted for almost half a century. Now it is the time to revive and introduce this game. Roman Čermák, author of SuperAce TENNIS, will tell us something about how the unique game came from the drawer to the light of day.
So tell us: how did it all start?
The history of our "table tennis" dates back to the early 70's. Imagine that time: normalization, opportunities and possibilities were very limited in many areas. And the games that our dad invented and constructed for me, my brother and my friends were a wonderful escape from everyday reality for us
Constructed? That sounds pretty professional.
I know, I chose that word on purpose. Dad invented a lot of games, represented almost every sport, and their drawings and game plans were created on his drawing board. He was a designer, engineer and, among other things, built the first Czechoslovak artificial kidney.
How did he came up with tennis ?
In 1973, Jan Kodeš won Wimbledon. This was an amazing sports sensation and also an inspiration. In few days, dad invented a game based on the mechanics of the then popular game "Fleas". My brother and I were the first to test it.
What can we imagine under that?
Court and its surface changed several times. In the end, it turned out that the most suitable material is a felt mat purchased in ŘEMPU, in handicraft shop. We painted the lines with tailor's chalk, took the figures from „Člověče nezlob se“ (game called "Man, don't be angry") and the mentioned flea. We cut the net out of a paper, fastened it with the pins and we could start. We just always had to draw who will play for Kodeš. With the number of matches, our skills grew, and the tournaments then ate quite a bit of time, which was a bit at the expense of preparation for school (laughs).
How did the development continue?
We then tried other materials. Dad tried to release the game in the 80's, but back in Czechoslovakia, there was a lack of flexibility in introducing new products, so everything remained on paper and for the next forty years it was blown away by dust.
Which is now changing. Why?
After founding RCGames, we decided that the first game we would try to release would be "tennis". We chose it because there is no similar game on the market. It is simple and reliably entertains players of all ages. In the current conditions, there is a huge selection of materials and there are new production technologies, which has allowed us to modernize the game and move it to a completely different quality.
But it probably wasn't an easy job?
Definitely not. Definitely harder than it seemed at first. We mainly had to try a lot of different materials, and only a year later, based on our requirements, a prototype of the court was created, which was suitable in terms of playing and landing of the ball. We have the material made to order especially for us. We also use special technology to print the court.
What does that mean exactly?
For example, we can offer different surface designs such as clay, grass or indoor surface. We will also be able to respond to individual client requirements and create a graphic design of the court according to their ideas. There can be an advertisement, a name, a chosen tournament name ... Simply choose anything as a client
And what about other game components?
Well, that was pretty fun. In addition to the pieces and net, we had to choose suitable "fleas" that represent tennis balls in the game. At the beginning, we approached the traditional producer of the game Fleas with a request for a sample. But we soon discovered that all fleas are not like fleas.
Really? How were they different?
Each manufacturer uses a different shape, size, and most importantly a different material. None of the samples matched the quality of a flea from the 70's. Some were too light, unstable in flight, rotated and bounced off when landing. Others were too heavy. During the covid quarantine, we actually tested samples from all over the world non-stop. For a long time we could not find the ideal solution. We shooted, chirped, but fleas flew in all around, in all the sides (laughs). At one point, we even started thinking about making our own mold. In the end, we managed to find the ideal variant in the UK.
Why is that right there?
Flea shooting at a target is almost a national sport there. It's called Tiddly Winks and it hosts entire tournaments. We soon found out that their fleas are really excellent. For us, they will produce them in a bright yellow color, the same as the tennis balls.
I suspect that even that was not the end of your work.
Not by far. We came up with a bit of an atypical packaging. The whole game is rolled into a tube, which resembles a cover for tennis balls. It is then very easy to disassemble the game, play it and reassemble it quickly. Simple and practical to transport.
And also close to real tennis.
That's what we're looking for. The basic rules are the same, which would mean counting games and sets during the game. Imagine that you have to write down the condition after each ball played and remember who, and from which side of the court, is serving. We want to connect classic board games with mobile applications, and we want to introduce that in our tennis as well. That's why we developed our own application. The player can thus fully concentrate on the game.
Great! What can such an application do?
It counts the score for the player, determines the side of the server and processes the results of the match. The control is very simple, intuitive. But that's not the end of it: the software also enables long-term performance analysis. It records the number of well and incorrectly played balls during the service and during the game, so that players can improve over time. Of course, everything can be printed or shared directly on the networks. To complete the atmosphere, we also wanted proper sound effects, so the score will be reported continuously by a speaker - just like the referee does in a real tennis match. Emotions are the key to success.
Is that your motto?
Definitely. We perceive that the popularity of the board games has grown significantly in recent years, there are many titles of various genres on the market, especially sci-fi and fantasy. We want to define ourselves a bit and focus on the real topics. You may also have noticed how little there are sports-themed board games. At the same time, sport is exciting, it has an atmosphere, players can identify with real sports stars and it is necessary to beat those in the game.
Well, right! So why is there a shortage of sports board games?
In my opinion, because it is not entirely easy to capture the rules, essence and atmosphere of a given sport in the game as realisticly as possible. We are all close to sports, so we enjoy incorporating reality into our games. The game SuperAce TENNIS is exactly in the spirit of our slogan: NO FANTASY, JUST REALITY.
