New Top Spin 4 Balancing Update

[ferenzo]

Re: New Top Spin 4 Balancing Update

Please anyone, can upload the last balancing update for xbox 360 (my internet conection was disabled for modem problems).

thanks.

[adwait_8]

AI is beatable on 'very hard'

I discovered this by mistake. I was trying to skip a replay and I accidentally pressed 'X' too many times and started a slow serve. So I decided to go with it and pushed the service as wide as possible. Two things struck me:
1. These slow serves can be pushed into a corner. In a similar situation the advanced serve will always go wide.
2. The 'very hard' AI gets confused. I guess the AI is programmed for fast serves so when you give it a sitter it just goes for an all out power shot. And as my player had time to recover from the service motion I could easily counter the power shot return.

And like I posted earlier, you have to go to the net as often as possible. My player has a lowly 51 in the volley stats and I'm still able to kill of a lot of points at the net.

In closing, slow serve very wide, power shot the return into the opposite corner and come to the net. Kill the point.

Now I need to figure out how to break the AI serve.

[Yeah...THAT Guy]

Re: New Top Spin 4 Balancing Update

At first, I thought the new update was great. Before the update, I was 34-2 in my career mode playing on the highest difficulty with all of the helpers turned off.

After the update, I won my first match against one of the made up players and then lost in the next round to Wahrinka in straight sets. So I was thinking "Alright, no big deal. He's a good player, I'll just come back and win next time." So my next match was against a Rank 17 made up player (I was 19 at the time) and I just get absolutely smoked. Even when I had the entire court open for an easy winner, my guy would hit the ball too far (with me just tapping the top spin or slice button mind you). After this match I'm thinking "Ugh, looks like I'll really have to earn my wins with this new update, but whatever, it's fine". My next match was against another made up guy, rank 19. I won it in a heavily contested straight sets match but it really shouldn't have even been close. The opponent was a serve and volley guy and had almost no winners. Everything was either a winner by me or an unforced error. The next match was against Nadal and I lost the first set 1-6, won the 2nd set 7-6 in a tiebreaker, and lost the final set in a tie breaker. I was pissed off because I had outplayed Nadal, but again, everything was a winner or unforced error and Nadal finished with 4 unforced errors to my 22.

So my next match is against Andy Murray, and this is where it just got ridiculous. All those impossible angle shots that the update fixed, Murray was suddenly able to hit with ease. Any open court shot I had was an unforced error even when I timed the release correctly and was only tapping the button. Murray had 1 unforced error and was making impossible angle shots the entire match, while my player is now rank 20 and his ratings are just as good as Murray's and none of this is possible for my player. I'm really heated about this. I'm still playing on the hardest difficulty in the game, but I don't want to turn it down because I know it will be too easy on the next level down.

[rangerrick012]

Re: New Top Spin 4 Balancing Update

At first, I thought the new update was great. Before the update, I was 34-2 in my career mode playing on the highest difficulty with all of the helpers turned off.

After the update, I won my first match against one of the made up players and then lost in the next round to Wahrinka in straight sets. So I was thinking "Alright, no big deal. He's a good player, I'll just come back and win next time." So my next match was against a Rank 17 made up player (I was 19 at the time) and I just get absolutely smoked. Even when I had the entire court open for an easy winner, my guy would hit the ball too far (with me just tapping the top spin or slice button mind you). After this match I'm thinking "Ugh, looks like I'll really have to earn my wins with this new update, but whatever, it's fine". My next match was against another made up guy, rank 19. I won it in a heavily contested straight sets match but it really shouldn't have even been close. The opponent was a serve and volley guy and had almost no winners. Everything was either a winner by me or an unforced error. The next match was against Nadal and I lost the first set 1-6, won the 2nd set 7-6 in a tiebreaker, and lost the final set in a tie breaker. I was pissed off because I had outplayed Nadal, but again, everything was a winner or unforced error and Nadal finished with 4 unforced errors to my 22.

So my next match is against Andy Murray, and this is where it just got ridiculous. All those impossible angle shots that the update fixed, Murray was suddenly able to hit with ease. Any open court shot I had was an unforced error even when I timed the release correctly and was only tapping the button. Murray had 1 unforced error and was making impossible angle shots the entire match, while my player is now rank 20 and his ratings are just as good as Murray's and none of this is possible for my player. I'm really heated about this. I'm still playing on the hardest difficulty in the game, but I don't want to turn it down because I know it will be too easy on the next level down.

I had the same exact issues. All I can say is that you have to give hard a shot, because even guys on ITST who are really good at the game say that very hard is cheap now and impossible due to the CPU hitting those angles that you can't anymore. So yeah, the quicker you dial back to hard the better.

[woodjer]

Re: New Top Spin 4 Balancing Update

So...anybody heard if they are going to release another balancing update? I'm either going to delete the game files and play this one completely offline (so I don't get ANY updates) or trade it in when NCAA comes out next week. I don't want to hate this game but the current "update" is just unplayable for me. At various other sites, people are shouting for a refund. While I don't see it happening, I can feel their pain...this is NOT the same game that I played as a demo or purchased back in March. Had this been my demo experience, I would never have purchased it--let alone on release day.

[adwait_8]

Re: New Top Spin 4 Balancing Update

So...anybody heard if they are going to release another balancing update? I'm either going to delete the game files and play this one completely offline (so I don't get ANY updates) or trade it in when NCAA comes out next week. I don't want to hate this game but the current "update" is just unplayable for me. At various other sites, people are shouting for a refund. While I don't see it happening, I can feel their pain...this is NOT the same game that I played as a demo or purchased back in March. Had this been my demo experience, I would never have purchased it--let alone on release day.

The update has made online and multiplayer offline much much better, career mode is broken though. They should find a way to regress career mode to the old way and leave the rest of the game up to date.

[CMH]

Re: New Top Spin 4 Balancing Update

I won't say they should change it. Every year I'm one of those that complains that games need to get harder, so I respect them for making a drastic change in how shots are handled in this game. I think it's just a shocking, sudden shift that leaves a lot of us dazed and confused.

[woodjer]

Re: New Top Spin 4 Balancing Update

I won't say they should change it. Every year I'm one of those that complains that games need to get harder, so I respect them for making a drastic change in how shots are handled in this game. I think it's just a shocking, sudden shift that leaves a lot of us dazed and confused.

I have no problem with a game being difficult but I play games to relax and this game is now anything but relaxing for me..."dazed and confused" is one way to describe it, I guess. It plays drastically different than the demo that I used to make my decision whether or not to buy. I'm a casual tennis fan (and even more casual player) so I decided to buy this because I felt the demo represented a game that I could enjoy as a casual fan. Had it played the way that it does currently, I wouldn't have bought it. At the very least, I'd like to be able to rollback the update without deleting everything that I have so far.

I've just never had something like this happen. What was once one of my favorite games became, almost overnight, one of my most despised ones.

[rangerrick012]

Re: New Top Spin 4 Balancing Update

I have no problem with a game being difficult but I play games to relax and this game is now anything but relaxing for me..."dazed and confused" is one way to describe it, I guess. It plays drastically different than the demo that I used to make my decision whether or not to buy. I'm a casual tennis fan (and even more casual player) so I decided to buy this because I felt the demo represented a game that I could enjoy as a casual fan. Had it played the way that it does currently, I wouldn't have bought it. At the very least, I'd like to be able to rollback the update without deleting everything that I have so far.

I've just never had something like this happen. What was once one of my favorite games became, almost overnight, one of my most despised ones.

Clear your cache, don't go online when you play TS4. It's not the perfect solution but its better than nothing.

[woodjer]

Re: New Top Spin 4 Balancing Update

Clear your cache, don't go online when you play TS4. It's not the perfect solution but its better than nothing.

Thanks for suggesting that again. Initially, I was worried that I'd have to re-do this if/when I forgot to disconnect. However, I tried starting the game offline the other day and was pleased to find my old friend had returned. Didn't clear my cache or anything...just signed out before I started the game. Not sure what happens if I were to wait and log out AFTER the practice arena pops up but I'm happy to see that I don't need to restart my careers.

Now, anybody know if there are any settings on the PS3 that would prevent a specific game from accessing online features? If so, I can just "set it and forget it." Parental controls, maybe?

[LorenzoDC]

Re: New Top Spin 4 Balancing Update

I have no problem with a game being difficult but I play games to relax and this game is now anything but relaxing for me..."dazed and confused" is one way to describe it, I guess. It plays drastically different than the demo that I used to make my decision whether or not to buy. I'm a casual tennis fan (and even more casual player) so I decided to buy this because I felt the demo represented a game that I could enjoy as a casual fan. Had it played the way that it does currently, I wouldn't have bought it. At the very least, I'd like to be able to rollback the update without deleting everything that I have so far.

I've just never had something like this happen. What was once one of my favorite games became, almost overnight, one of my most despised ones.

I'm in the same boat. It's broken for offline and no fun at all. I did try the demo first and it's now a completely different game. I won't touch it now.

[Yeah...THAT Guy]

Re: New Top Spin 4 Balancing Update

Update on my struggles, I beat Nadal on very hard in my career mode thanks to winning two tiebreakers. He didn't make ridiculous shots the way Murray did.

[oweride]

Re: New Top Spin 4 Balancing Update

how can you download this update without xboxlive?
Thanks

[BobSacamano]

Re: New Top Spin 4 Balancing Update

The update has made online and multiplayer offline much much better, career mode is broken though. They should find a way to regress career mode to the old way and leave the rest of the game up to date.

Of course, all I play is career mode. I really, really wish you could roll back to the 2nd update.

I've just never had something like this happen. What was once one of my favorite games became, almost overnight, one of my most despised ones.

This sums things up perfectly for me. I absolutely loved this game. I mean, loved it. I've never even touched a tennis racket and I was hooked. I figured this game would last me years. I started watching real tennis because of the game!

But then this balancing update hit, and my time with this game has dropped precipitously. I simply do not have a good time playing it anymore. That's pretty much the bottom line. It's an exercise in frustration.

I feel like I'm a kid again and my parents took away my favorite toy. It's sad, really. Why would they make such drastic changes (and then disappear) all for the sake of online play? I'm sure people complained about the online play (because online rankings are serious, serious business), and 2K kowtowed to their whining. Unfortunately, a few years from now nobody will be playing this game online, and we'll probably be stuck with an incredibly frustrating career mode.

[woodjer]

Re: New Top Spin 4 Balancing Update

Of course, all I play is career mode. I really, really wish you could roll back to the 2nd update.


This sums things up perfectly for me. I absolutely loved this game. I mean, loved it. I've never even touched a tennis racket and I was hooked. I figured this game would last me years. I started watching real tennis because of the game!

But then this balancing update hit, and my time with this game has dropped precipitously. I simply do not have a good time playing it anymore. That's pretty much the bottom line. It's an exercise in frustration.

I feel like I'm a kid again and my parents took away my favorite toy. It's sad, really. Why would they make such drastic changes (and then disappear) all for the sake of online play? I'm sure people complained about the online play (because online rankings are serious, serious business), and 2K kowtowed to their whining. Unfortunately, a few years from now nobody will be playing this game online, and we'll probably be stuck with an incredibly frustrating career mode.

Try logging out before you get to the "Press Start" menu. I try to do it before I even put the disc in but as long as you catch it before it checks for updates, I think you're good. Seriously, this saved the game from going back. If you only ever play career mode, it is back to the good ol' days. You don't even need to delete all of the game data first. Sure, it will roll back past the 2nd update but it's much better than what it was.