Not a whole lot of new, but a good read:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/not ... 5812571882
Dev. Diary 7
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Re: Dev. Diary 7
by o Sinna o » Thu, 10 Mar 2011 22:02
NickZ3535 wrote:Not a whole lot of new, but a good read:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/not ... 5812571882
Cool let's see.
- o Sinna o
- Posts: 1163
- Joined: Tue, 19 Jan 2010 14:00
- Location: Nürnberg-Germany
by Fox200x » Thu, 10 Mar 2011 23:19
Developer Diary #7
Hello everyone,
It’s me again, Rémi Ercolani, gameplay designer on Top Spin 4. You probably remember my recent Developer Diary about Player Playstyles. With the demo released and the game just a few short days away from release, this seemed like the best time to take a deeper dive into the intricacies of Controls and Gameplay. Our main intention from the very beginning was to improve the game’s accessibility and push the depth and variety that players liked in the Top Spin series. We touched on this in the first Developer Diary titled The Real Tennis Experience, but I am here to go deeper into the actual control system & gameplay mechanics today.
WATCH THE VIDEO HERE
Game Accessibility
We read your feedback over the past couple years and are aware that while many users appreciated the new direction we took with Top Spin 3 in terms of gameplay, many also found it a bit too demanding. In Top Spin 4, we really wanted to improve this aspect of the game so players could focus on selecting and performing the right shots and less on moving their character. To achieve this objective, we completely reworked some key elements of player movement (particularly animations and how they are played) to ensure the player would be responding instantly to the user’s input. The balance between responsiveness and visual quality is a tough one to find because they’re generally considered opposing characteristics. Indeed, if you want your player to respond instantly to your inputs, that may mean breaking their current movement and entering another one very quickly which can result in brutal attitude changes when poorly managed. But thanks to what we learned from Top Spin 3, and all the work we did capturing the 1,000s of new animations via Motion Capture, we managed to improve both the quality of the animations (that is one of Top Spin’s strengths since the very beginning of the franchise) and responsiveness, as players now react instantly to the given inputs.
For the first time in the Top Spin franchise, we have introduced a comprehensive set of in-game helpers, which are in place to help players understand what they’re doing right or wrong. These helpers include timing feedback (are you releasing the shot button at the optimal moment or not?), shot helpers (are you performing a Control Shot, a Power Shot or a Normal shot?), fatigue (is my player tired?) and a first bounce indicator showing where the ball will bounce. We have seen during our many user testing sessions that these helpers are a tremendous addition that really helps everyone get the hang of the game in a matter of minutes. Once you’re familiar enough with the game and you think you no longer need the helpers, it’s possible to turn them off in the game’s pause menu.
Controls
Baseline
The basic layout of shots is quite similar to the previous Top Spin: you move the player with the left stick, select your shot with the different buttons (flat, top spin, slice, lob or drop shot), aim with the left stick and release the button with the best possible timing.
■A: flat shots.
■B: top spin shots.
■X: slice shots.
■Y: lob shots.
■RT + X: drop shots.
That summarizes the unchanged part.
What’s new: For each shot, it’s now possible to select between a Control Shot and Power Shot. Control shots are more precise and will bounce closer to the lines. They allow you to find good angles and force your opponent to move far from the center of the court to return the ball, thus providing many interesting tactical options for the next shot. The counterpart to this increased precision (because there needs to be one, right?) is that they’re not very powerful.
Power Shots have more power or spin than other shots and have good chances of being winners when executed at the right moment in the rally. But they are less precise than other shots unless executed perfectly.
■Control Shots: quickly tap the shot button.
■Power Shots: press and hold the shot button, then release.
■Shots that are in-between these are normal shots.
Volley
We also made a lot of changes in net play which is now extremely spectacular and fun. We added literally hundreds of new animations to more realistically represent the movements, volleys, smashes, dives… you name it. The different shots, available at the net, make it possible to really affect how you want to play: standard volleys to return the ball safely, power volleys to put pressure on your opponent, or control volleys if you need precision. It’s even possible to perform drop volleys where the ball lands a few centimeters beyond the net. Risky… but so enjoyable when successful.
■A: Standard volley.
■B: Power volley.
■X: Control volley.
■RT+X: Drop volley.
Serve
Serving is also very important in tennis since it can be a really huge advantage and help you win points within a few shots without getting tired. As for baseline and volley, the different serves at your disposal range from safe (to avoid double faults) to the most powerful and risky shots (that are hard to keep inside the serve square).
We also invested a lot on the serve and return-serve context to guarantee that serving was not just a way to initiate the rally. You can effectively ace your opponent when done properly with a talented server; but beware of the return specialists who can take the upper hand as soon as you have served the ball and catch you off gard.
■A: flat serve
■B: top spin serve.
■X: slice serve.
■Normal serve: press the shot button to throw the ball in the air, then release shortly after.
■Powerful serve: press the shot button to throw the ball in the air, then release when the ball is at the top of its trajectory to have a good timing.
■Advanced serve: right stick down to throw the ball, then up / up-left / up-right when the ball is at the top of its trajectory for a powerfull Flat, Slice or Top Spin serve.
Advanced controls
Advanced controls allow following a shot to the net, repositioning quickly after a shot and, new in Top Spin 4, playing a swing inside-out. This technique comes in handy when the ball comes slowly on your backhand and you want to move around it to play a forehand (which is what players like Federer frequently do to play with their best shot).
■RB + shot (or serve): follow a shot to the net (or serve and volley).
■LT: play a shot inside-out.
■RB towards the net: rush to the net.
■RB towards the baseline: fast reposition.
Thanks to this wide arsenal of shots and movements, players are in full control of how they want to play and what strategy they want to use to win.
New experience
As you already know, one of our key objectives was to recapture almost all ofthe animations to make players extremely responsive.. But that’s not all! We also wanted to add new animations to provide a new experience and make sure players react in a believable way to all the situations available in the game. This necessitated literally hundreds of new animations for contexts as different as volley, baseline play, return serve, smash, end of point reactions, and so many more. For example, you can see players apologize after winning a point on a let shot, dive at the net to return a passing shot, stretch to return a powerful serve, play a swing inside out or perform a magnificent backhand smash. We also pushed the signature animations one step forward by capturing the typical movements and attitude of the game’s biggest stars.
As you can see, we really worked hard to create the most enjoyable and rewarding tennis game for every type of gamer. Whether you’re an occasional player looking for a fun game to play with your friends or a hardcore sports games fan, Top Spin 4 has something for you. From the simple pleasure of controlling a player that behaves like a real pro to defining the most complex strategies to win matches, everything in Top Spin 4 has been designed to provide a great and unique experience, for a couple of matches as well as on the long run. We really hope you’ll take as much pleasure playing the game as we had developing it, and we hope to meet you online soon.
That’s it for this dev diary about gameplay. Be on the look out for our next Dev Diary coming soon! Thanks for reading!
- Rémi Ercolani
Gameplay Designer
.
Hello everyone,
It’s me again, Rémi Ercolani, gameplay designer on Top Spin 4. You probably remember my recent Developer Diary about Player Playstyles. With the demo released and the game just a few short days away from release, this seemed like the best time to take a deeper dive into the intricacies of Controls and Gameplay. Our main intention from the very beginning was to improve the game’s accessibility and push the depth and variety that players liked in the Top Spin series. We touched on this in the first Developer Diary titled The Real Tennis Experience, but I am here to go deeper into the actual control system & gameplay mechanics today.
WATCH THE VIDEO HERE
Game Accessibility
We read your feedback over the past couple years and are aware that while many users appreciated the new direction we took with Top Spin 3 in terms of gameplay, many also found it a bit too demanding. In Top Spin 4, we really wanted to improve this aspect of the game so players could focus on selecting and performing the right shots and less on moving their character. To achieve this objective, we completely reworked some key elements of player movement (particularly animations and how they are played) to ensure the player would be responding instantly to the user’s input. The balance between responsiveness and visual quality is a tough one to find because they’re generally considered opposing characteristics. Indeed, if you want your player to respond instantly to your inputs, that may mean breaking their current movement and entering another one very quickly which can result in brutal attitude changes when poorly managed. But thanks to what we learned from Top Spin 3, and all the work we did capturing the 1,000s of new animations via Motion Capture, we managed to improve both the quality of the animations (that is one of Top Spin’s strengths since the very beginning of the franchise) and responsiveness, as players now react instantly to the given inputs.
For the first time in the Top Spin franchise, we have introduced a comprehensive set of in-game helpers, which are in place to help players understand what they’re doing right or wrong. These helpers include timing feedback (are you releasing the shot button at the optimal moment or not?), shot helpers (are you performing a Control Shot, a Power Shot or a Normal shot?), fatigue (is my player tired?) and a first bounce indicator showing where the ball will bounce. We have seen during our many user testing sessions that these helpers are a tremendous addition that really helps everyone get the hang of the game in a matter of minutes. Once you’re familiar enough with the game and you think you no longer need the helpers, it’s possible to turn them off in the game’s pause menu.
Controls
Baseline
The basic layout of shots is quite similar to the previous Top Spin: you move the player with the left stick, select your shot with the different buttons (flat, top spin, slice, lob or drop shot), aim with the left stick and release the button with the best possible timing.
■A: flat shots.
■B: top spin shots.
■X: slice shots.
■Y: lob shots.
■RT + X: drop shots.
That summarizes the unchanged part.
What’s new: For each shot, it’s now possible to select between a Control Shot and Power Shot. Control shots are more precise and will bounce closer to the lines. They allow you to find good angles and force your opponent to move far from the center of the court to return the ball, thus providing many interesting tactical options for the next shot. The counterpart to this increased precision (because there needs to be one, right?) is that they’re not very powerful.
Power Shots have more power or spin than other shots and have good chances of being winners when executed at the right moment in the rally. But they are less precise than other shots unless executed perfectly.
■Control Shots: quickly tap the shot button.
■Power Shots: press and hold the shot button, then release.
■Shots that are in-between these are normal shots.
Volley
We also made a lot of changes in net play which is now extremely spectacular and fun. We added literally hundreds of new animations to more realistically represent the movements, volleys, smashes, dives… you name it. The different shots, available at the net, make it possible to really affect how you want to play: standard volleys to return the ball safely, power volleys to put pressure on your opponent, or control volleys if you need precision. It’s even possible to perform drop volleys where the ball lands a few centimeters beyond the net. Risky… but so enjoyable when successful.
■A: Standard volley.
■B: Power volley.
■X: Control volley.
■RT+X: Drop volley.
Serve
Serving is also very important in tennis since it can be a really huge advantage and help you win points within a few shots without getting tired. As for baseline and volley, the different serves at your disposal range from safe (to avoid double faults) to the most powerful and risky shots (that are hard to keep inside the serve square).
We also invested a lot on the serve and return-serve context to guarantee that serving was not just a way to initiate the rally. You can effectively ace your opponent when done properly with a talented server; but beware of the return specialists who can take the upper hand as soon as you have served the ball and catch you off gard.
■A: flat serve
■B: top spin serve.
■X: slice serve.
■Normal serve: press the shot button to throw the ball in the air, then release shortly after.
■Powerful serve: press the shot button to throw the ball in the air, then release when the ball is at the top of its trajectory to have a good timing.
■Advanced serve: right stick down to throw the ball, then up / up-left / up-right when the ball is at the top of its trajectory for a powerfull Flat, Slice or Top Spin serve.
Advanced controls
Advanced controls allow following a shot to the net, repositioning quickly after a shot and, new in Top Spin 4, playing a swing inside-out. This technique comes in handy when the ball comes slowly on your backhand and you want to move around it to play a forehand (which is what players like Federer frequently do to play with their best shot).
■RB + shot (or serve): follow a shot to the net (or serve and volley).
■LT: play a shot inside-out.
■RB towards the net: rush to the net.
■RB towards the baseline: fast reposition.
Thanks to this wide arsenal of shots and movements, players are in full control of how they want to play and what strategy they want to use to win.
New experience
As you already know, one of our key objectives was to recapture almost all ofthe animations to make players extremely responsive.. But that’s not all! We also wanted to add new animations to provide a new experience and make sure players react in a believable way to all the situations available in the game. This necessitated literally hundreds of new animations for contexts as different as volley, baseline play, return serve, smash, end of point reactions, and so many more. For example, you can see players apologize after winning a point on a let shot, dive at the net to return a passing shot, stretch to return a powerful serve, play a swing inside out or perform a magnificent backhand smash. We also pushed the signature animations one step forward by capturing the typical movements and attitude of the game’s biggest stars.
As you can see, we really worked hard to create the most enjoyable and rewarding tennis game for every type of gamer. Whether you’re an occasional player looking for a fun game to play with your friends or a hardcore sports games fan, Top Spin 4 has something for you. From the simple pleasure of controlling a player that behaves like a real pro to defining the most complex strategies to win matches, everything in Top Spin 4 has been designed to provide a great and unique experience, for a couple of matches as well as on the long run. We really hope you’ll take as much pleasure playing the game as we had developing it, and we hope to meet you online soon.
That’s it for this dev diary about gameplay. Be on the look out for our next Dev Diary coming soon! Thanks for reading!
- Rémi Ercolani
Gameplay Designer
.
- Fox200x
- Posts: 20
- Joined: Sun, 27 Feb 2011 23:19
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