Top Spin 4 Developer Diary #7 - Controls & Gameplay 101

05:54 PM - March 10, 2011 by Steve_OS

This video is also available on the OS Youtube channel, please subscribe while you're there.

2K Sports has posted their Top Spin 4 Developer Diary #7, detailing controls and gameplay.

Quote:


	"We read your feedback over the past couple years and are aware that while many users appreciated the new direction we took with Top Spin 3 in terms of gameplay, many also found it a bit too demanding. In Top Spin 4, we really wanted to improve this aspect of the game so players could focus on selecting and performing the right shots and less on moving their character. To achieve this objective, we completely reworked some key elements of player movement (particularly animations and how they are played) to ensure the player would be responding instantly to the user�s input. The balance between responsiveness and visual quality is a tough one to find because they�re generally considered opposing characteristics. Indeed, if you want your player to respond instantly to your inputs, that may mean breaking their current movement and entering another one very quickly which can result in brutal attitude changes when poorly managed. But thanks to what we learned from Top Spin 3, and all the work we did capturing the 1,000s of new animations via Motion Capture, we managed to improve both the quality of the animations (that is one of Top Spin�s strengths since the very beginning of the franchise) and responsiveness, as players now react instantly to the given inputs."