Eurocards
2004
By Michael Douglas
You will always find the latest version of this game here: http://www.manwithnomouth.nildram.co.uk
Contents:
1. Running The
Game
2. Game Options
3. Team Select
4. Playing A
Match
5. EURO 2004 Mode
6. Mike's Tips
7. Version History
1. Running The
Game
Well you've clearly mastered the art of zip programs if you're reading
this file so congratulations for that. If this game fails to run, asks for a
DLL or something like that then download the Visual Basic 6 runtime files.
You’ll usually find a link to them on my website http://www.manwithnomouth.nildram.co.uk.
If not, go to www.google.com and search
“Visual Basic 6 Runtime Files”.
2. Game Options
Your 2 main options from the main menu are to begin the EURO 2004
competition or play a friendly match. You can also choose an alternative cardset (2 are included in the game, or you can make your
own if you can’t stand them), view this readme from
the game or look at the credits.
When you select EURO 2004, you will be given 2 main options. You can
either play the game from the group stages of the tournament (i.e. 16 teams
remaining) or if you want more of a challenge you can play the full qualifying
campaign choosing from 1 of the 51 European countries and try to qualify for
the competition.
You can also choose to randomize the groups or not. If you randomize the
groups a new draw will take place and the groups will be mixed up. If you don’t
choose this option it will use the groups used for the real EURO 2004
tournament. (Note that if you don’t
randomize the groups you will not be able to alter which teams enter the
competition)
3. Team Select
You will see 6 categories of teams on the left, ordered by their name.
Click a category to show the teams in that category. You can then click the
team names to alter their participation in the game from computer controlled,
to human controlled or to not take part in the tournament. You can have all
teams human controlled or none at all, it’s your call.
4. Playing A
Match
Ok, the complicated bit! Let’s explain how this works.
The idea is simple; when it's your turn (your 'possession') you can
click on a card. This reveals a match situation such as a goal, a tackle, an
injury, etc. Each has a different impact. On most cards there is a calculation
by the game using each team’s skill level to determine the result of your
action. You will find the following card types:
·
GOAL - Will score a
goal for you no matter how unskilled your team is if you select it. Possession
goes to the other team after selection.
·
CHANCE – Will give you a
chance at scoring a goal depending on the type of chance and how skilled your
team is. There are 2 types of chance. Excellent chances and small chances
(colour coded light blue and darker blue respectively). If you have a high team
skill compared to your opponents the more likely you are to score from it. But
you can affect these odds if you are the underdog, more on that later.
Possession goes to the other team after selection.
·
PASS – You will keep
possession for another turn. However, sometimes (especially if your opponents
are much more skilled) your pass will be intercepted or will fail. There are
also two types of pass cards, good and dodgy passes. A good pass will make it
very likely your turn continues, a bad pass gives you
less chance of maintaining possession.
·
TACKLE – You lose
possession. However depending on your team skill you may be likely to ride the
tackle or get fouled, allowing you to keep possession.
·
OFFSIDE – You lose
possession, it’s that simple! However if a team chooses the break offside trap
strategy and clicks an offside card, this card turns into a goal card! More on
that later.
·
INJURY - You lose 1
substitute option and 1-3 skill points. More on skill points later. You keep
possession if you pick this card.
·
RED CARD - You lose 4-8
skill points and a substitution! Not good. Possession goes to your opponents
too!
·
PENALTY - Brings up the
penalty screen so you can play the penalty game. A goal is displayed with many green
and red targets. Each target will light up with a ball one at a time. If you
are the team kicking the penalty, you must click the ‘kick’ button when a ball
is within the frame of the goal, i.e. your penalty is on target for the goal.
If you are saving the penalty, one target will remain highlighted indicating
the place the penalty kicker hit their penalty. You must stop the moving glove
targets on the same place as the stationary ball target by pressing ‘save’ at
the right time. I.e. your goalie is attempting a save in the same position as
the penalty was kicked. This process can be confusing at first, if all else
fails shut your eyes and press the button! You might get lucky.
·
END OF HALF - Ends the
current half. This card can be picked at any time, so you have no idea how many
cards are going to be picked in each half. E.g. it could even be chosen as the
1st card and make nothing happen in that half. There is only one end of half
card in each half of the match. Note that in the event of extra time the whole
of extra time counts as 1 half.
IMPORTANT: The amount of
each 'type' of card is displayed at the top. So you have some idea what the state of play is, so how many goals are likely
etc. Use this information to decide upon your strategy, that is where the skill
is in this game of chance. You should be constantly analysing what cards are
around and adjusting your strategy around it. There are tips later in the readme to help you with this
Right so those are the cards, what can we do to affect the game ourselves
to stop this being a game of complete card selecting luck? I'll tell you.
Each team gets a MENTALITY
button - attacking or defensive. If you highlight ‘attacking’ before clicking a
card, you are more likely to score if you click on a chance card. Conversely,
you are more likely to lose possession and if you do, your opponents will get a
better attack because you are not defending. The reverse holds true too. If you
highlight ‘defending’ before clicking a card, you are less likely to score if
you click a chance card, however you are more likely
to keep possession. Then if you do lose possession, your opponent will attack
you while you are in defensive mode and your opponents will be less likely to
score from their chances. So in summary - attacking mode means a better chance
to score, more chance to lose the ball and more chance for your opponents to
score. Defensive mode means you are less likely to score, more likely to keep
the ball and less chance for your opponent to score. Note that your mentality
gets reset to defensive when you score or at the start of a new half.
Related to this is the SUBSTITUTION
button (or rather, 4 of them) denoted by the picture of a man holding up a
substitution board. Clicking on them will SWAP a 'hidden' card (one that’s not
been selected yet) for a new card.
Now this bit is IMPORTANT!
Whether you are on attacking/defensive mode decides the type of substitution
you are making!! If you are on attacking mode and you click one of the
substitution buttons, it will swap a pass or tackle card for a goal or chance
card, increasing the chance of another goal (aiding your attack). If you are on
defensive mode and you click the substitution button, it will swap a goal or
chance card for a pass or tackle card, meaning less chance of a goal. It is
also important to note, only 1 sub can be used per turn and using your sub does
not lose you possession.
Another of your options is ALL
OUT ATTACK denoted by the arrows and attacking player symbol. You get 1 of
these each match - use it wisely! This strategy lasts only for the next card
you pick after you choose it. When you click this strategy you will have a
hugely increased chance of scoring – IF you pick a chance card. Therefore it
makes sense to use this strategy when there are a lot of chance cards around,
to maximise the chances of scoring. Always ensure there are chance cards around
before using it, if not, you can always use a sub to create one.
Similar to the all out attack is KEEP
POSSESSION denoted by the foot on ball symbol. Selecting this means that no
matter what the next card is, you will keep possession for another turn. This
card only lasts for picking one card, just like all out attack does. So when
should you use it? That’s up to you, but combining it with another strategy is
often quite powerful.
A slightly different strategy is BREAK
THE OFFSIDE TRAP denoted by a linesman with a flag and a cross. Using this
lasts for only the next card chosen by your team. Should you select a chance
card you will have a slightly increased chance of scoring. As an added bonus,
if you select an offside card it will turn into a goal card! You have little
way of knowing how many offside cards there are as they are mixed in to the
‘Other cards’ column in the display.
Your final option is PLAY FOR
TIME, denoted by the button with a stopwatch on it. You get 1 of these for
each match, and timing is essential (excuse the pun). Clicking play for time
will swap a random HIDDEN card for an END OF HALF card. This means the half is
twice as likely to end. Remember the end of half card will stop the game so it
is only wise to use this option if you want the half to finish in a hurry.
At the bottom of the screen below the strategy buttons, a bar will
appear for each ‘pass’ you string together (i.e. you chose a card and kept
possession, not necessarily chosen a pass card). Each bar gives you a slight
boost to your chances of scoring. The maximum amount
of bars you can get are 8, which would significantly affect your scoring chances.
Note, that if a team loses possession while in ‘attacking’ mode, your opponents
will get possession with 2 bars intact to represent their counter-attack. This
is an added danger to using the attacking strategy.
Note that when playing away games (only possible in EURO 2004 qualifying
games), your team will begin matches with 6 skill
points less to represent the loss of performance from playing away from home.
Against inferior opponents it shouldn’t cause you too much trouble but against
rivals of a similar standard, away matches are made that bit tougher.
Keyboard Shortcuts:
P: Pick a random card
A: Attacking mode
D: Defensive mode
1: All Out Attack
2: Maintain possession
3: Break the offside trap
4: Substitute
5: Play for time
5. EURO 2004 Mode
You can begin a tournament from the qualifying stages, or the final
group stage. Here’s a brief explanation of how the tournament works from start
to finish.
At the qualifying round, all 51 European teams are in the competition. These
teams are split into 6 groups. The host nation, the first seeds (the best teams
in
A round robin phase begins and the teams in each group play each other
twice (for a total of 8 games). The 10 group winners qualify for the final group
stage. The 10 second place teams are put into a playoff round.
The playoff round is played over 2 legs. The winners in the 5 matches
also qualify for the final group stage.
There are 16 teams in the final group stage - the 10 qualifying group
winners, the 5 playoff winners and the host nation. The teams are put into 4
groups of 4 teams. The teams in each group play each other once, for a total of
3 games. The winners and second placed teams in each group qualify for the
knockout phase.
In the knockout phase the teams play each other in 1 match games with
extra time & penalties if the game is tied. The knockout phase continues
until 1 team is left crowned European champion.
Throughout the competition in this game, the form for each team will
fluctuate based on the results they get. If a team performs better than
expectation they will gain form and conversely a big team losing against a
small team would lose form. A good run of form can make the difference for
borderline teams to qualify for EURO 2004 or for decent teams to overthrow the
likes of
6. Mike's Tips
This is a game of chance. However use of your strategy options can make
you a winner in the long run (it doesn’t mean you will win every game, but you
will win many more than if you didn’t use them at all).
My advice:
Don't use your options much in the 1st half unless there is ample reason
to, such as plentiful supply of chance cards to capitalise on. Getting an edge
in the 2nd half is much more important. If you have more substitutes than your
opponent and are winning keep using defensive substitutes
every turn you get, it'll piss your opponents off and
they'll run out of time to find the diminishing chance/goal cards.
Play for time only when you are SURE it's worth it. Playing for time
when you are 1-0 up and loads of chance cards are around against a decent
opponent may be worth doing but your opponent has plentiful opportunities to
score on this goal fest of a card layout. Play for time when there's few cards
left on a slim lead, or as early as possible with a decent lead would be
favourable. Playing for time in the 1st half is just dodgy.
Work out how many chance cards there are compared to the amount of other
cards left. If it's a high percentage go for your all out attack to capitalise,
you will score more often than not. It's a very useful option if used correctly
- but if a better chance could arise later then best to hold onto it.
Especially if the match goes to a golden goal, nicking the match with an all
out attack can save you from a penalty shootout. However if you are behind in
the 2nd half you will want to use this option as early as possible to get back
into the game just in case the half ends suddenly.
With few cards left, combining an attacking sub and an all out attack
can give an almost certain goal. E.g. 5 cards left, 3 are chances. Do an
attacking sub and go all out attack and you have an 80% chance of hitting a
chance card. Conversely, if you see this situation as
being a possibility for your opponent, do a defensive substitute to reduce
their chances.
If you are building up the amount of chance cards ready for an all out
attack bear in mind that your opponent may have the all out attack option too -
and will have a huge opportunity to score if you hit a dud card on yours.
Keep possession when your opponents really need it, or the current card
layout is very good. Sounds like obvious advice but keep it in mind. If you are
winning you will want to keep possession when there are lots of chance cards.
If you are losing you will want to keep possession to perhaps score 2 goals in
a row (very possible). But you can create your own strategy.
Breaking the offside trap is usually most worthwhile when there is a high percentage of chance cards around combined with a
lot of ‘Other’ cards available (which can potentially be offside cards). This
situation doesn’t arise often so it’s best to use when there’s a decent amount
of chance cards, or as a last ditch effort when behind in a game regardless of
the situation. It’s a very good option to have though when there are no chance
cards around at all, to summon a goal from nothing.
When you are the favourite to win you want to push your advantage. That
is, ideally, you want lots of chance cards around so the outcome is determined
more by your team’s greater team skill. Use your substitutions to make this
true. E.g. 2 goal cards and 1 chance card, use a couple of attacking subs to
redress the balance otherwise it’ll come down to whoever hit the goal cards
first (50/50).
Conversely if you are the underdog, you want to maximise the number of
goal cards. Also you will want to gamble often with your strategies to make an
unlikely goal. When you are the underdog you cannot expect to win all of the
time, but some clever play will guarantee you better results in the long run so
your team won’t be the underdog in the future. Always do everything you can to
make your odds of winning a game closer to 50/50.
Stringing passes together increases your chances of scoring. Therefore
why not use your ‘keep possession’ strategy when you have are
on a strong sequence of passes (say, 4+). This way you are guaranteed 2 goes at
hitting a chance card with your amplified chances of scoring. You could even
combine it with another strategy (offside trap perhaps) to enhance your chance
of scoring further. Remember if you lose possession on attacking mode, your
opponent will get a head start of 2 passes for their next go.
7. Version History
v1.01:
-
Team form added
-
Editor added
-
Readme updated
-
Other small miscellaneous changes
v1.0:
-
First release!
Soccer Cards 2004 © Mike Douglas. Game concept and card images used in
this game are the property of Mike Douglas.