Took a month or two off playing after providing monthly feedback throughout the beta. Disliked the general direction that the game shifted to at launch and stopped playing while I waited for updates.
—Serve—
The serving still feels very underwhelming. It just doesn’t feel like a weapon. Too many serves go in and too many serves get returned easily. This makes serving feel like a rally starter as opposed to a tool that can be wielded effectively.
Suggestion
Increase the sensitivity of the serve. Make them much more difficult to hit accurately, but also make them much more deadly. If a serve is hit with pace near the line, it should require the AI (or player) to move in that direction to actually return the ball. If the AI/player does not move in that direction, then the return is automatically a soft return. Soft returns can be very lofty or they can just be a slow slice, but that would depend on the actual player stats.
—Run—
Running top speed is in a good spot, but acceleration and turning are still way off.
Suggestion
When not running, the movement and speed are fine. When running (just LT or RT), it should be difficult to turn. And when scrambling, it should be almost impossible to turn without running in big arcs. Imagine a sprinter needing to run in a J shape as opposed to an L shape. Currently in the game, players can scramble about the court making sharp turns with no loss in momentum.
Players also accelerate too quickly. It should take three or four steps to hit max speed.
—Rally—
Almost zero tactics involved. No risk, no reward, no setup. Essentially, you just run left and hit, run right and hit, run left and hit, repeat.
Suggestion
There needs to be massive risk added to the game. All players, regardless of stats are capable of hitting extremely powerful shots with incredible accuracy. This is not needed and is detrimental to the tactics involved in tennis. Slow the pace of the ball by 10-15% and make it so AI and players are encouraged to hit more safe shots towards the center of the court as opposed to always sniping the sidelines. Real rallies only consists of very occasional winners; most hits are actually just pacing yourself and finding your pattern. This simply does not exist in Tiebreak.
—AI Aggression–
AI is just all over the place. Each new patch either makes them lethargic or makes them go for winners 95% of the time. I’m not sure why it’s taking so long for the AI to become decent, but it’s perhaps the one thing ruining the game the most.
Suggestion
Following the risk/reward above, AI should mostly hit slower paced shots towards the center of the court unless an obvious lane opens up. They should not be going for winners all the time. The only reason they are able to do so is because there is no real risk when hitting. If risk is introduced, the AI should be coded to play it safer. Not only is this more realistic, it’s also more challenging because the unseen winners are the things that obliterate our patterns. If every single incoming shot is a winner, than the tactic is to just prepare for a winner; basically, there is only one strategy in the game right now.
Furthermore, AI needs to change up their own patterns more. They currently almost always just hit left, right, left, right. If you just place yourself in the right area, you are guaranteed to win that point. Instead, AI should be hitting more left left, and right right. And equally as important, AI should be changing up their pace more, utilizing topsin, flats, slices, and drop shots.
—Final—
One of the biggest issues I have with the game right now is that it’s become too much of a game and less of a simulation. Now, I have no delusion that Tiebreak was ever going to be a real simulation, but it’s gotten to the point where after a match or two, I can now read the entire pattern for the AI and win 6-0. Not because I’m good, but because with the way the mechanics are set up, the AI can only play one strategy. Once any decent player gets that strategy, there’s no real difficulty in winning.
Add lots and lots of risk. Make it so both the player and the AI are required to pace themselves until an opening appears. Then, with risk in hand, we/they can go in for the winner. Not knowing when the AI will go for the winner, not knowing if my winner will land out… those are the kinds of things that keeps rallies refreshing and challenging.
There are lots and lots of smaller things that I think should take a back seat to building a solid foundation. Back in May, I was very confident that the game would launch with at least something decent to build off, but in the months since, the game seems to have lost it’s direction. After one weekend, I think I’ve already seen enough for now. Like many others, I’ll be back in a month or two once a few updates have passed and hopefully I will have better things to say then.