Top Spin 4 - Player Balancing Updates

[djarvik]

FYI - the last night update that you guys received was not a patch.

What you have downloaded is Player Balancing Update.

2K will be releasing these from time to time to constantly balance the game. There will be more. They will be monitoring this thread and will try and come up with solutions for Balancing Issues. Remember, taking care of one balancing issue may create another. So this is a "process" a journey and not a "final destination".

Patch is a separate update that is nearing its completion and will be released separately, along with notes on updated features.

I am speaking on behalf on 2K. They gave me a courtesy of "heads up" and as a token, I would appreciate if you can refrain from bashing the developer on our Boards. They have been very responsive to us and I would like to keep it this way. As always, all constructive suggestions and requests are more then welcomed.

Any form of complaints about TS4 will be deleted.

Use this thread to discuss this and future Player Balancing Updates ONLY.

Thank you,

AL

[venom400]

Aweaome , i for one like the change , it would be nice i they could
Increase errors a bit for over hit balls as even when you hit it late it lands in .
Also improve volley so its easier to control , the only volley that has any kind of control is the slice volley that altough nice the regular volleys could use some
Love

Also kindly make quick matches 2 sets please , 1 set is too short

Ty
Besides that loving the game and the changes so far

[Hawkeye Miihawk]

REALLY . More to come? Nice, I can't wait.

Some problems I'm having so far.

Stamina
It doesn't seem to have that much of an effect right now. People with 0 stamina can still run from end to end without any reprecussions, and make zero errors. The decrease in speed as your stamina depletes should be more obvious, and more errors should start creeping in. Their accuracy, serving and strokes, should also decrease as well.

Speed
People with low speed, 40/50, are too fast. They shouldn't be able to move as quickly as they do.

Timing on shots
I was wondering if there could also be more errors produced on "too late" shots.

Coach
The coach Pei Jing Quah is too good right now. Monster Defense and Topspin Invasion are 2 skills that should not be included together. The advantage she gives over the other coaches is too much. Her point distribution is also a bit too much and too good.

Precision topspin shots
The ability to pull your opponent outwide with precision topspin shots is a bit overkill. Could the angle on these shots be toned down. Most times rallies come down to "who can pull the other out wide more".

Flat shots, precision or charged
More errors on flat shots plz, especially fully charged flat shots.

Slicing
Slicing is too good. Tone down the effectiveness. Players should not be able to rally with slices and win rallies with slicing only. Add more errors in slicing as well. You can be too accurate and go on the offensive with them. They can be used for offense, but they are mostly for defense. Sliced balls should mainly be floaty, and give you time to recover. Your opponent should also be able to punish your slices more easily as well. Maybe add a bit more accuracy to a sliced ball that is hit back, like how inside out add a bit more accuracy and power to you shots, so that people stop trying to rally with slices only.

That's all I can remember for now

[venom400]

Hawk eye made some good points , slice in real life is a great shot if timed correctly
, slice biggest weekness is that itbis in fact a difficult shot tonperfor
Offensively , most slices ten to float long , land short or hit the net as a result of their low trajectory and floaty nature , a slice that is poorly timed should result in a high ball or hit the net , a well
Placed timed slice should be what we see now except that iy is almost imposible to hit a n angled short slice from the baseline into the servw line because it would hit the net , top spin is differen granted you have the angle
To hit a short cross court top spin .

[willjonesjrSUSPENDED]

I gotta say, Venom is totally on the money with everything he is saying. Really enjoy hearing your suggestions. You sound like an expert! Thank you!

[tigerofintegrity]

Venom, you make a lot of good points about real life tennis yeah but they're not always translatable into the game. If you toned down slice and made it sit up more often, it would be killed and not much use as a shot in the game. Irl a slice changes the pace of a rally and, along with the skid of ball, often makes your opponent mistime their shot and hit an error. That'd be ok if you can hit errors in this game off a slice but you can't really so if you want to tone down slice then you'd have to fix that problem or you'd make the shot unplayable. As it is, I don't feel it's overpowered or anything. Maybe not totally realistic ok but so aren't many other aspects of the game.

[willjonesjrSUSPENDED]

Venom, you make a lot of good points about real life tennis yeah but they're not always translatable into the game. If you toned down slice and made it sit up more often, it would be killed and not much use as a shot in the game. Irl a slice changes the pace of a rally and, along with the skid of ball, often makes your opponent mistime their shot and hit an error. That'd be ok if you can hit errors in this game off a slice but you can't really so if you want to tone down slice then you'd have to fix that problem or you'd make the shot unplayable. As it is, I don't feel it's overpowered or anything. Maybe not totally realistic ok but so aren't many other aspects of the game.

I disagree completely.

[djarvik]

I agree with Venom. You should not be able to sustain a Slice rally.

Slice should buy you time on defense or change pace mid rally causing an opponent to hit a weaker shot, because he just mistimed it by releasing early.

It is not about realism, it is about tennis basics. Winning a rally by hitting 4-5 slices in a raw, slices that make your opponent run and barely reach them, one after the other =- should be near impossible. No, make it impossible.

Definitely overpowered and need tuning in my opinion.

Don't get me started on a FH slices

[Rocketsfall]

I just played an itst match against someone with 85 on both wings, i think 86 on power and TI/MD skills. I played, of course, with one of my s&v players.
I had no chance. Still way too overpowered. And to most worrying: The serve stick beserker didn't seem to give me any advantage anymore. Placing the serve was really hard, even with 91 on serve. I didn't even hit one ace, even when I finally got it on the line. So, this for me felt even more unbalanced than before the update.

[djarvik]

I just played an itst match against someone with 85 on both wings, i think 86 on power and TI/MD skills. I played, of course, with one of my s&v players.

This is the setup?

0-12-8

FH - 84
BH - 84
SER- 72
VOL - 39
POW - 79
STA - 85
SPE - 60
REF - 47

It has to be as I can't get the power the high. Unless the guy Modded his player.

Generally, Top Spin invasion should be a nightmare for SV.... but Monster Defense make those shots even better every-time he is a point behind.

Two full time Skills should never be combined if you ask me.

[supinesmokey13]

I just played an itst match against someone with 85 on both wings, i think 86 on power and TI/MD skills. I played, of course, with one of my s&v players.
I had no chance. Still way too overpowered. And to most worrying: The serve stick beserker didn't seem to give me any advantage anymore. Placing the serve was really hard, even with 91 on serve. I didn't even hit one ace, even when I finally got it on the line. So, this for me felt even more unbalanced than before the update.

the person you played simply read you serve well you have to mix up you placement and spins aces are that important want you really want are short replys and unreturnables also grest speed and reflexs and good stamina and the ablilty to exploxit ur opponents weaknesses can help you beat theses overpowered characters or at least keep the match close though it would be much fun it be nice if i could find and the itst memebers of something like if we had an emblem for the tour like we have for each play style society

[Rocketsfall]

I just played an itst match against someone with 85 on both wings, i think 86 on power and TI/MD skills. I played, of course, with one of my s&v players.

This is the setup?

0-12-8

FH - 84
BH - 84
SER- 72
VOL - 39
POW - 79
STA - 85
SPE - 60
REF - 47

It has to be as I can't get the power the high. Unless the guy Modded his player.

Generally, Top Spin invasion should be a nightmare for SV.... but Monster Defense make those shots even better every-time he is a point behind.

Two full time Skills should never be combined if you ask me.

Both wings were surely 85, but that was about the setup yeah.
I agree two full time skills should not be combined.
TI/MD ànd two red wings can only be countered with the same setup. But I rather throw my TS4 copy out of the window than using such a setup.

[maximo]

it shouldn't be possible hit power slices, just control or normal shot when you use slices.

[tigerofintegrity]

I agree with Venom. You should not be able to sustain a Slice rally.

Slice should buy you time on defense or change pace mid rally causing an opponent to hit a weaker shot, because he just mistimed it by releasing early.

It is not about realism, it is about tennis basics. Winning a rally by hitting 4-5 slices in a raw, slices that make your opponent run and barely reach them, one after the other =- should be near impossible. No, make it impossible.

Definitely overpowered and need tuning in my opinion.

Don't get me started on a FH slices

I think people are confusing themselves. Do people want a realistic game that simulates real life tennis as much as possible or one where the game is as balanced as possible? As far as I'm concerned, at least in TS4, these are not achievable together. You say tone down slices because they're overpowered and not like how they should be irl. What about top spin shots? Do they always make it to the baseline, a sideline or a sharp angle without ever going out? You can't downgrade the slice because it would make competing with the TI/MD and high FH/BH build even harder. The slice effectively allows you to compete with them if you're not one of them. At the moment, the slice is not overpowered in comparison to other shots in the game and if you really want to take slice down a notch to make it more realistic, then they need to do that with the other shots so it can remain useful.

[Rocketsfall]

I just played an itst match against someone with 85 on both wings, i think 86 on power and TI/MD skills. I played, of course, with one of my s&v players.
I had no chance. Still way too overpowered. And to most worrying: The serve stick beserker didn't seem to give me any advantage anymore. Placing the serve was really hard, even with 91 on serve. I didn't even hit one ace, even when I finally got it on the line. So, this for me felt even more unbalanced than before the update.

the person you played simply read you serve well you have to mix up you placement and spins aces are that important want you really want are short replys and unreturnables also grest speed and reflexs and good stamina and the ablilty to exploxit ur opponents weaknesses can help you beat theses overpowered characters or at least keep the match close though it would be much fun it be nice if i could find and the itst memebers of something like if we had an emblem for the tour like we have for each play style society

Sorry but I always mix up my serve. It was not that he "just" read my serve well. I couldn't place my serve as well as I could before the update. It's like I have to re-learn serving. Btw, the score was 6-3 7-6, which appears quite close but I never felt like it was possible for me to win.