Mana Games

[Nicky Gi.]

Is it possible to remove the auto-swing smash animation when getting lobbed? This causes the player to not be able to return the lob if he misses the smash. So if I know that the smash will fail and I should just run and chase the ball, my player does an auto smash animation and the points ends there. I can’t do anything after that.

I just don’t want my player to decide that the smash is the only choice I have, I want to decide that myself.

The auto swing for other type of shots is okay, but I would love if this got disabled just for the smash animation.

I want to be able to do what the CPU does in this video. The CPU runs back and defends the lob without making a smash animation. I can’t do that because my player does an automatic smash animation and if that fails as I said, the points ends for me.

https://youtu.be/LH3iu_VgK3M?feature=shared

[manutoo]

Hello,

you still can do that if you get into the correct position.

If you think you are correctly positioned and don't hit the ball, then send me a Bug Report right away and I'll have a look. (HowTo => topic5-31732.php )

[anrox335]

I have sent you 2 reports about the automatic shot interrupting my backward run. The player seemed to take footsteps instead of running backwards. I sent another report regarding the player skating during a diagonal backward run. The third bug does not happen frequently, but the first two are a little more frequent.

There are a few other things which affect advanced net gameplay right now, although the basics are excellent:
1. Absence of proper volley lobs. Ex: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ri24OS2VaM&t=32s and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ri24OS2VaM&t=46s
2. Absence of front reach in shot. Ex: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTKWoPfkm1M&t=269s
3. Absence of driven volleys. I think the top spin button during volley should be doing this.
4. The depth of counter drop shots as well as drop volleys should be lower. Also, the aim depth of lobs should be higher.

[manutoo]

Nicky Gi.,
I got your Bug Report about running down the lobs : if you start to run after the ball has passed you, it's normal that you can't reach it anymore. IRL, the player will usually start to run when they notice the ball will be too high.

Note : I answered your other Bug Reports here => topic5-37349.php

anrox335,
your Bug Reports :

>> On diagonal backward steps, the player is skating

I fixed that at 70% for the next update. (the motion-matching engine doesn't like the hesitation in the repositioning, making it get stuck a bit )

>> Automatic shot interrupting the backward run. Also, the smash animation is also starting without any input.

The replay desync a bit, but it looks like your description : the strike animation doesn't slow you down, but maybe it's perturbing your perception of the movement.

>> Automatic shot again interrupting backward run resulting in weird animation

Same, your run wasn't slowed down ; the weird animation is unfortunately normal : the game tries to predict when and where you're going to hit the ball to the best of its knowledge, and there you hit it quite low...

1) It's possible to do decent lobs when volleying (only when your opponent is near the service line or closer, though)
2) This won't change
3) I might add these someday
4) I think these are fine, except maybe the country drop shot ; you can send me a Bug Report the next time you get one too long

[anrox335]

Thanks for solving these issues. I understand why the game needs to predict for the animations, this might be giving wrong perception to me. However, visual cues are important as this is a precise positioning game, especially in higher difficulties and elite controls.

One thing that might help is adding a context-sensitive button you planned to add earlier. Maybe use this to cancel the smash animation and give a positioning boost for inside-out shots and serve returns. I understand this might not be possible at this point.

>> 1) It's possible to do decent lobs when volleying (only when your opponent is near the service line or closer, though)

Maybe you can increase the accuracy as well as the depth of the lob shot when volleying an extremely weak ball. I'll probably send a bug report for this.

>> 2) This won't change

Maybe the dynamic animation system can be modified for this, but I understand this may not be a priority

>> 4) I think these are fine, except maybe the country drop shot ; you can send me a Bug Report the next time you get one too long

Ok, will do that for the drop shot

[manutoo]

1) Yes, send me a Bug Report if there's a particular case that you think doesn't work correctly

2) Actually, the main reason is that it'd disturb the timing to aim left/right, and thus create a discrepancy in the gameplay ; plus, it'd be a ton of work to make it work in a general way.

[anrox335]

For 2), I only meant it for shots running up towards the net and not in a general sense. So, it only works if I have ran a specific distance and ignore the aim as this is a desperate reach-in. Like it only works in instances like the video I shared. I understand that having it in the general gameplay will break lots of things.

[anrox335]

1) Yes, send me a Bug Report if there's a particular case that you think doesn't work correctly

So I did test this again, and I found that the shot depth issue was only with the defensive volley lob. The aggressive volley lob had perfect depth. I have sent you a report regarding the defensive volley lob. I also sent reports regarding the counter drop shot.

[manutoo]

anrox335,
I got your Bugs Reports :
>> This is a defensive volley lob. I expect it to have more depth.

the replay desyncs too much, I cannot see anything.
If possible, do it again in the 1st few points, or during a match instead of a warm-up, or without any Mods. (I just fixed 2 desync bugs when recording in a warmup after a match, and in a match or warmup after a ball thrower session )

>> The shot depth of counter drop shot should be lesser

For the next update, I lowered the drop shot depth when the ball already bounced, your player is close to the net, you prepared your strike a long time (as in the example you sent to me), and the ball is crossed.

>> The shot depth should be lesser as I reached to hit the counter drop shot in time

I won't change this one : you didn't have time to prepare your strike, so it shouldn't be a sure winner behind.

>> weird rotation when hitting a shot while stepping back

This is fixed for the next update, thanks to your report !

[manutoo]

anrox335,
I got 3 more Bug Reports from you ; I checked only the 1st one, as it was working well :
>> Defensive lob on volley has less depth

2025-12 - TE4 - Volley Defense Lob Length.jpg

I think the length is ok, and in this particular case you got unlucky with the length as it was more or less the shortest possible. I guess your main issue here is the ball speed : that lob is slow, so your opponent has time to reach it, but I think it's coherent for the defensive lob.

[Scott123]

Hi Manutoo,

Will there be any plans to add a drive volley to the game before the major release in January?

Thank you,
Scott

[manutoo]

Scott123,
no.

[anrox335]

I think the length is ok, and in this particular case you got unlucky with the length as it was more or less the shortest possible. I guess your main issue here is the ball speed : that lob is slow, so your opponent has time to reach it, but I think it's coherent for the defensive lob.

I think the defensive lob becomes essentially useless with this depth. I think of it as a safer version of aggressive lob, so it being slow is kinda expected. If it has depth, especially for well-prepared and well-positioned shots, it would be more useful. Increasing the depth will not change the gameplay that much as most player will be able to reach the ball but will not be able to smash it.