Full Ace new version preview

[JasonBourne]

I see that the latest update was in 02/2015, when will there a new update ?

[kschoice]

I see that the latest update was in 02/2015, when will there a new update ?

As I said in the first post, I am working on a major update currently, hopefully it will be released in the next few months.

[JasonBourne]

I see that the latest update was in 02/2015, when will there a new update ?

As I said in the first post, I am working on a major update currently, hopefully it will be released in the next few months.

Ok, please dont forget my camera then then I will have hope.

[Fez]

been playing demo a little. I like the ball physics a lot, and I like the variation on shot effectiveness. character movement looks funny, but is ok. Anyone else having weird issue where player runs to side of court and gets stuck? Hey Jason, lets play sometime.

KSchoice, what sort of access do you have to the game? Are you the Dev? You tweaking game engine or just modding? You have total access?

Also, its kinda funny how when you release shot button, player doesn't swing right away, there's a delay. Would be nice if the release of button prompted swing immediately. Also, player wont swing unless ball is right there. It would be better, imo, if at release of button the player swung no matter where the ball was. It would feel more "real time" I think. Also, I notice that if I just repeatedly press a shot button rapidly as ball approaches, 80% of the time the shot is a good one. So, timing seems irrelevant. Looking forward to this game, it has very much potential.

[kschoice]

Anyone else having weird issue where player runs to side of court and gets stuck?

If you can get me a replay of that, it would be helpful.

KSchoice, what sort of access do you have to the game? Are you the Dev? You tweaking game engine or just modding? You have total access?

I am the dev indeed

Also, its kinda funny how when you release shot button, player doesn't swing right away, there's a delay. Would be nice if the release of button prompted swing immediately.

I agree, I'm gonna try to do something about that.

Also, player wont swing unless ball is right there. It would be better, imo, if at release of button the player swung no matter where the ball was. It would feel more "real time" I think.

I see what you mean. I am always inclined to prevent things to happen on the screen that would seem totally out of place in a real pro tennis game, and therefore it bothers me to let the player swing at the ball when he's not in range. Maybe it doesn't matter as much as I would think.

Also, I notice that if I just repeatedly press a shot button rapidly as ball approaches, 80% of the time the shot is a good one. So, timing seems irrelevant.

Indeed, the game system harms you less when you are on the ball early than when you are late. Maybe could use some additional tweaking. The fact that the swing doesn't happen immediately is also a factor.

Looking forward to this game, it has very much potential.

Thank you very much for your feedback and support.

[kschoice]

Here is a new preview video : it shows footwork improvements, including running around one's backhand, and a new 1-handed topspin backhand.
Please let me know what you think.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuHfe8vs50o

[FEDERER2]

Here is a new preview video : it shows footwork improvements, including running around one's backhand, and a new 1-handed topspin backhand.
Please let me know what you think.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuHfe8vs50o

Looks fantastic man! Only thing is that on the FH side of the player, the forearm is too stiff and too upright, let me show 2 pictures to show you what I mean:





I'm just focusing on the forearm here, I hope this helps.

[Yippie-Caiay]

Hi! I haven't chipped in here yet.

To me the animations still need a huge lot of work. They look "staggery" as if with a low framerate, and as if it the animation frames didn't flow right from one step to the next.

They also looked too accelerated, but then I realized it might just be the general gameplay; they're playing on clay, yet the rate at which they are hitting shots seems like grass. Look for a roland garros highlight reel to compare and you'll notice the difference in pace.

I really like the final gesture at the end of the point though, that animation looks better than the ones during the point.

I hope you get what I'm saying! I'm just trying to help you and be honest .

[kschoice]

Looks fantastic man! Only thing is that on the FH side of the player, the forearm is too stiff and too upright, let me show 2 pictures to show you what I mean:

I'm just focusing on the forearm here, I hope this helps.

Thanks for your feedback and support ! The particular snapshot you show is due to the player beginning to prepare for a defence forehand shot, which has not yet been reworked. However, I improved this particular stance for other contexts, based on your feedback.

[kschoice]

Hi! I haven't chipped in here yet.

Hello Yippie-Caiay ! (gotta love that nickname )

I honestly thank you for your feedback, but I must also honestly say that I have trouble understanding it.

To me the animations still need a huge lot of work. They look "staggery" as if with a low framerate, and as if it the animation frames didn't flow right from one step to the next.

The animations are conceived and played at 50 fps, and I don't find them "staggery" as you seem to imply. Maybe if you'd pinpoint a specific location as an example ?

They also looked too accelerated, but then I realized it might just be the general gameplay; they're playing on clay, yet the rate at which they are hitting shots seems like grass. Look for a roland garros highlight reel to compare and you'll notice the difference in pace.

The animations, as well as the rally, are based on videos, and therefore timings, from real-life. And the original rally was on clay as well. If you look, for instance, at roland garros highlight reels from matches opposing the likes of Federer, Wawrinka and Djokovic, you should be able to find rallies with that kind of rhythm.
Now, I'm not saying that the overall feeling of the game doesn't feel rushed, as I feel like it sometimes (but not too much in that rally actually). I'm saying I haven't been able to pinpoint the exact reason yet, but I pretty much rule out the actual pace, because I actually am directly comparing it to a video and I don't notice a clear difference in pace.

I really like the final gesture at the end of the point though, that animation looks better than the ones during the point.

You mean the winning backhand ? It's actually the same backhand gesture than all the other previous topspin backhands from the same player.

I hope you get what I'm saying! I'm just trying to help you and be honest .

And I appreciate your feedback. I just hope I can understand it better so I can do something about it.

[Yippie-Caiay]

Look at how his hip snaps out to the right as he finishes his forehand. I pin point the hip so that you can know what I'm talking about, but it feels as if it's the whole torso, not arms or legs. Watching again, it's the only animation in which I can see this, but since the video shows basically only forehands, I didn't realize the others weren't choppy as well. You can see what I'm talking about better at the forehand at 00:15.

Also, something I didn't mention before: the running animation when chasing a ball, doesn't look right at all. It looks as if the player is hunched and tip-toeing.



As for the pace, do this: open this website http://www.beatsperminuteonline.com/ . Click on the box everytime you hear a shot, but don't count the serves and stop counting when a player slices. I count 53 BPM in your video, and with any other video, I can't get past 50. This one gives me I think 42 BPM https://youtu.be/PkJTOEFg8Ao?t=29 . Here's another one, I didn't measure it but similar to the first one, https://youtu.be/Yil9PpIr1DA?t=72 , and here's the fastest one I found, both players playing on the baseline, playing hard and fast, gives me 48-49 BPM (until the first slow ball, if not it would be even lower) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBpZgQZOd_E&t=13s . In all of the videos you have federer which plays fast even on clay. Another long rally you can use to measure https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AI8CRtJxMDw . I'm really intrigued as to what's the rally you chose to compare.

My guess for the fast pace in the video is that players have no problem hitting the ball on the baseline on the rise and don't need to throw back to hit high balls as players often do in clay. The ball is also flying relatively low.

The gesture I mentioned is when the point ends, the way the players relax, it looks natural.

[kschoice]

Thanks for giving more details, and I must say, you have a keen eye.

Look at how his hip snaps out to the right as he finishes his forehand. I pin point the hip so that you can know what I'm talking about, but it feels as if it's the whole torso, not arms or legs. Watching again, it's the only animation in which I can see this, but since the video shows basically only forehands, I didn't realize the others weren't choppy as well. You can see what I'm talking about better at the forehand at 00:15.

I missed this. This was because of a mistake that caused a jump cut from one animation to another, instead of a smooth transition.

Also, something I didn't mention before: the running animation when chasing a ball, doesn't look right at all. It looks as if the player is hunched and tip-toeing.

Yes, this is from the second video and the running animations have been updated in the meanwhile. Now, it would look like this :

As for the pace, do this: open this website http://www.beatsperminuteonline.com/ . Click on the box everytime you hear a shot, but don't count the serves and stop counting when a player slices. I count 53 BPM in your video, and with any other video, I can't get past 50. This one gives me I think 42 BPM https://youtu.be/PkJTOEFg8Ao?t=29 . Here's another one, I didn't measure it but similar to the first one, https://youtu.be/Yil9PpIr1DA?t=72 , and here's the fastest one I found, both players playing on the baseline, playing hard and fast, gives me 48-49 BPM (until the first slow ball, if not it would be even lower) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBpZgQZOd_E&t=13s . In all of the videos you have federer which plays fast even on clay. Another long rally you can use to measure https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AI8CRtJxMDw . I'm really intrigued as to what's the rally you chose to compare.

My guess for the fast pace in the video is that players have no problem hitting the ball on the baseline on the rise and don't need to throw back to hit high balls as players often do in clay. The ball is also flying relatively low.

I tried 5 times with the video reference I'm using, and I get to 51 BPM when I get to the first slice, with a peak at 55 BPM in-between. Unfortunately, I can't find it on youtube any more. I agree that this rally is definitely on the fast side, and that it can therefore bug you, but I don't think it is unnaturally fast.

The gesture I mentioned is when the point ends, the way the players relax, it looks natural.

Ah. This is actually the only gesture that was created using some kind of Motion Capture, (namely using Kinect). Unfortunately, I don't have access to Motion Capture tech that would accurately capture fast tennis motions, without even speaking of having access to the people who would be able to make those gestures, so that they could be captured in the first place...

[Yippie-Caiay]

I'm glad you understood my points and I hope I was of some help. Looking forward for future videos.

[JasonBourne]

Here is my review so far by playing the demo, and I play almost everyday 2-3 sets because I like the game.

Keep in mind im still learning the gameplay and I dont have knowledge of context of the early years updates and reasons for these settings.

Crosshair:

I noticed that we cannot aim outside the lines. Personally I dont like this and I think the more we press directions, it should aim outside the lines. This will make it even more challenging when aiming your shots, especially those double click accels.

To hit a perfect deep shot, all you do is keep forward and a direction pressed, its like set and forget, which makes it a bit unrealistic. Thats why most of my shots always are super deep.

But for example, If I want to hit a short accel, and I aim too much down, the ball goes to the net and that is good. I think it should be the same with deep balls, the more you press up, it should not stop at the lines, it should go further out so we have to get the feeling how far. Same with the directions.

Motions:

I love the idea of preparing and releasing at a certain timing. It resembles real life tennis in a way. But there is one thing that I believe should get a fix, is the prepare waiting anim.

Irl, a good swing is a constant motion, you dont wait with your raquet (racket, dno which one is the right spelling lel) back untill the ball comes to you, that way you will loose leverage on your swing. Its a constant motion, but there are some players with exeptions like Gulbis but no one cares about him besides djarvik. However, even Gulbis has his own way of timing and smoothing his racket, it just looks more static then the rest.

Obviously this would be hard to kinda fix the issue and I understand that. Maybe you can make the prepare anim slower and smooth, so untill the ball comes to you, you swing and it could look like a constant motion? Or maybe you can make that anim less obvious?

Camera:

I think there should be more modes with camera, because right now there is only 1 mode. In TE there is like 6-7 camera modes and I love the freedom of that.

What I am hoping for is a 3rd person following camera with zoom options. This is the cam I played with in TE:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMlMhQPV8ts

Maybe also a 1st person cam too, why not ? Ultimate realism. I would play with it

So, the more options and modes, the better it is.


Modding:

How far can we go with modding ? I heared that we will be able to make our own anims in the game, does that include also running, idle, cheering, ect.. anims too ?


The gameplay is awsome right now, and with a couple tweaks it could be super awsome.

Also, I believe, to attract more players to this game, anims are very important. The biggest reason I think TE is being played, is the smoothess of the anims, and the rythm of the game, it kinda looks realistic.

The reason why I never played this game in the first place, were the ugly (no offense, im just giving feedback ) anims which pushed me away from the game.

I hope I could be of some help.

[kschoice]

I'm glad you understood my points and I hope I was of some help. Looking forward for future videos.

And I look forward to your insight. That was very helpful and I'm glad if you think I addressed your issues correctly.