Mana Games

[manutoo]

teamthiem,
send me this file "~/Library/Logs/Mana Games/Tennis Elbow 4/Player.log" to : contact (at) managames -dot- com .

[Tincho18]

Hi manutoo! i would like to ask if you can update us on which are the next steps you are thinking for TE4, im very excited for whats coming this year!

[manutoo]

Tincho18,
I announce what I'm going to work on in the mini-blog : viewtopic.php?p=279689#p279689 .
A new important game update is coming soon and a new post in the mini-blog as well, normally...

[Andynator7]

Hi Manu,

Just curious about what you are working on now based on the roadmap. Are you on the new gameplay elements/gameplay tuning phase?

[manutoo]

Andynator7,
the new version just arrived yesterday. You can check the changelog here : viewtopic.php?p=283398#p283398 .
And the new mini-blog post here : viewtopic.php?p=283408#p283408 .

The features currently in development are usually listed in the last "Incoming features" section, the one without the "all done" tag. (in the 1st post of this topic)

[Fed1]

Hi manu,
I have a couple of questions regarding the roadmap:
1) What does "drive volley selection" mean? How it'll impact gameplay?
2) What new talents would you consider?
3) From reading the mini dev blog, other comments arround the forum and new releases I assume that you're still working on improving animations, however I don't see anything written here. Can we expect any new features/changes in that area? Is it something for after 1.0 or you consider that it's done?

BTW, I haven't read about the mod within game feature, that sounds very promising, I hope it arrives one day. Also, night sessions sound amazing!!

Thanks!!

[manutoo]

Fed1,
1) In the 1st versions of TE4, the drive volley was triggering very often and many people complained about it, so I said it'll make it selectable ; actually, now that I implemented the strike prediction and that it's working correctly, there's almost no drive volley anymore, and no one complain... So maybe if I manage to add the context-sensitive action button, I'll make it trigger the drive volley when we run to the net, but it's actually not sure right now, as it's not much needed.

2) clay movement, sliding (so it'd trigger more often), side spin (ditto), seldom very fast serve, faster 2nd serve ; and probably others depending on the need for the gameplay tuning

3) I'm done with new animation features (more or less), but I'm still fixing issues in the dynamic animation system (although the last few fixes may have been removed the last big issues ; now it may only have a few small ones left to fix).
After the v1.0 (and the release on consoles), I'll try to improve the running animation like shown in the mini-blog : viewtopic.php?p=281103#p281103 .

[Fed1]

Thanks for the clarification! I'd love to have a drive volley, however I understand it's not a priority right now, hopefully one day it'll come. Pumped for the talents, they'll only increase depth to the game, and now that I think about it I have in mind a lot of players with the talents you mentioned.
About the animations, they improved a lot really, there are a couple of weird ones here and there, but they reduce significantly a lot so I think you got that pretty much covered. I played a lot this weekend and I got to think that the only missing piece is the feet movement: Running and positioning the feet. I know this isn't an easy task, but hopefully you can give it some thought

Thanks for giving us an already awesome game!

[MaxiReturns]

Hey,

I have one question to the medium term goals. Which new gameplay elements u consider to add in the future?

Regards,
Maxi

[manutoo]

MaxiReturns,
in addition to the list in my previous message just above :
- I will likely do some tests about a new service system : topic15-33440.php
- see if I can find an elegant way (ie: not too much random) to get some balls too long (they are pretty rare now)
- check the global balance (ie: strike, serve, topspin, etc.)
- improve the player styles, especially so it'll make sense to select the Counter Puncher as a human player (right now, it's less good than other styles)
- check if the context-sensitive action button is needed and what it could do
- make the drop shot bounce less forward
- other smaller & bigger things