First of all, all the improvements since the initial EA release are really encouraging and I think this game has a lot of potential but there’s still a lot of improvements to be made. I’ve tested the game with different players(men/women) on Medium, Hard and Expert. Unless otherwise stated, every issue applies to both AI and users.
-PLAYER MOVEMENTS-
The biggest flaw of the game right now is the player’s movements specifically sprinting towards the ball. A complete overhaul is needed here’s why:
Movements without LT/RT are a bit slow so using LT/RT is a must when the ball is far but the animation looks robotic and isn’t fluid, sometimes when sprinting(LT+RT) the player doesn’t even attempt to hit the ball even if the ball is close.
On lower difficulties(Medium and lower) it happens too often that the AI doesn’t RUN at all and moves sideways while watching the ball go.
I think the player’s movements in TWT2 were better and improving this aspect of the gameplay will solve many other issues that I will mention below.
-SHOTS EFFECTIVENESS AND PHYSICS ON CERTAIN TYPE OF SHOTS-
Loaded cross court shots are way too effective and shouldn’t be as effective as cross court shots using LT/RT. Cross court shots aimed at the lower corner should be even more difficult to hit because the angle is very tight. Making these shots more difficult by increasing the quantity of wide ball and making aiming more sensitive, as well as improving player’s movement, would solve this issue
Slow shots landing in the lower corners are too difficult for the AI to return. Either the bounce is too low and the AI can’t get to the ball in time, or they hit the net or a wide ball. This issue makes drop shots too effective too. When the ball is slow with a high bounce, the AI should be able to hit a powerful volley or a drop shot. However the animation where the player slides towards the net is realistic and fluid but happens rarely.
Slices are too weak and need a revamp because we don’t have enough time to load enough power so it leads to a slow floating ball almost the same as a drop shot where the AI has tons of trouble returning which is related to the previous issue.
Volleys are broken, its impossible to hit a volley deep even when aiming correctly because we dont have enough time to load the power bar while being close to the net and they are too weak in general. It should simply be: slice button=delicate volley, flat button=fast risky volley, topspin button=safe but slower volley
-SERVES AND RETURNS-
It’s too difficult to ace your opponent using a flat serve or a kick serve, especially on the higher difficulties(Hard and Expert). The effectiveness of slices to ace is fine. Perfectly timed serves should lead to aces way more.
First serve percentage is way too high(particularly for the AI on Med, Hard and Exp). The AI hit nearly 100% of first serve when it should be approx 65% for men and approx 60% for women on avg. So the AI needs to take more risk on first serve to reduce that % and also get more aces. And the serve % should NOT depend on the difficulty unlike the first serve points win %.
Returning a fast serve is too easy and overpowered. At the moment, the returner has more of an advantage than the server, when it should be the opposite. Its mainly because of the cross court shot cheese and fast serves being too easy to return. Fast serves(130mph and up) should lead to very poor high bounce balls or a fault(wide or net) by the returner or an ace unless aimed poorly by the server.
AI attempts too many underhand serves. They should attempt one only when we back up very deep and rarely enough to make it surprising. Also there should be a serve slider in the players profil because there’re only a few players who attempt one from time to time.
The net physics needs to be improved, its a bit too rigid it doesnt move enough on powerful shots and theres too many points won on a favorable rebound on the net
We should be able to disable the zoom on serves
-UNFORCED ERROR and ATTRIBUTES BALANCE-
The unforced errors committed by the AI are very unbalanced on all the difficulties. The AI doesn’t commit enough errors on his baseline(especially wide balls and long balls) and it commits a bit too many as he gets closer to the net.
The impact of player’s attributes is too high leading to not enough errors from highly rated players and often 0 ace from less powerful players. At least players’ attributes should be editable as they evolve on a daily basis and are very subjective.
-GAMEPLAY SLIDERS IS A MUST-
Since we all play differently and have different preferences gameplay wise its impossible to satisfy the majority of players. Gameplay sliders would not only help to fix almost every issue I mention but also make the game enjoyable to sim players AND arcade players. This should be the priority before special abilities which are far from essential unlike player’s signature shots. It would also help the devs polish the game faster as the players provide tangible and more precise feedback.
Sliders that would solve the issues:
AIM sensibility/Shots precision (baseline and volleys needs to be separated)
Amount of unforced errors by the AI
Ace threshold/Reactivity on returns
Player’s Attribute effect
I trully believe this game can become the best tennis game ever made if these flaws are fixed and if the game isn’t finished in a rush. I thank everyone working on this game for their effort to make it enjoyable.