Tennis Elbow 4 News

Another regular update, I hope you'll enjoy it ! 🙂

[h2]New Features :[/h2]
- Modding : the game will now reload the Mods after their installation/removal, activation/deactivation, and optionally when changing the Profile ; it may still have some issue, so I still didn't remove the message recommending to restart the game to apply the modifications

[h2]Changes :[/h2]
- Helpers : slightly raised the Aiming Zone size by adding a white zone around it, so very few balls will end outside of it
- AI : the CPU positions himself better against short strikes & short accels, and repositions himself a bit more dynamically when he's too much out of position ; this should improve his defense a bit but noticeably
- AI : the CPU player will now often make 1 or 2 steps before stopping to chase a too-far ball
- AI : the CPU player was always chasing too-far balls ending near the net when he was standing around the baseline
- Strike : now doing an Acceleration, Short Acceleration or Attack Lob when our player is doing the special stretch animation will lead to a systemic fault (this is not related to the usual strike animation reaching for the ball)

[h2]Bug Fixes :[/h2]
- Animation : running in diagonal backward was leading to the running back animation instead of turning and running forward


ManuTOO
=== Mana Games ===

Here's a regular update, mostly from your feedback, enjoy ! 🙂

[h2]New Features :[/h2]
- Controls : it's now possible to navigate the menus with the D-Pad or the Right stick ; you can configure it in Settings -> Controls -> Players 1 -> Controller 1 -> Menu

[h2]Changes :[/h2]
- Strikes : lowered a bit the Defense & Attack lob speed when standing far from the baseline
- Replay : the replay menu is now usable with the new menu navigation controls ; to advance/rewind by 1 frame, use "Menu - Previous Tab" & "Menu - Next Tab" instead of "Menu - Lower" & "Menu - Action"

[h2]Bug Fixes :[/h2]
- Strikes : in some cases, the human player could switch several times between his forehand & backhand
- AI : while standing near the baseline, the CPU could miss the ball if it were too high (eg: against a lob)
- Controls : if several users were using the same controller, their different configs were applied at the same time to control the menus

[h2]Bug Fixes :[/h2]
- World Tour : the "new" player bases were actually the old ones with the added rankings ; now, it's the correct ones, allowing to start your career in 2024 & 2025
- Animation : the experimental movement animations were disabled for CPU vs CPU match (and likely when watching a match replay as well)
- Modding : since last update, Auto Player Photo wasn't working anymore

Hello,

after nearly 6 years of development, we finally reached the version 1.0 of Tennis Elbow 4 ! ːsteamhappyː

It's still not the end of the road and I'll still improve the game, but once I'm done with the new movement animations (either it's a success or a failure :fear: ), I won't work full time on TE4 anymore.

And here's the full changelog for the version 1.0 - Build 137 ; SubBuild 2025.3.4:

[h2]New Features :[/h2]
- Animation : experimental new movement animations ! I used the animation set bundled with the Motion Matching plug-in I bought, which direly misses sidesteps and small footwork ; you can activate it in Settings -> 3D Match (Give your impressions => https://www.managames.com/Forum/topic7-36310.php ) ; note : this system requires some extra memory and will lead to crash on consoles if you have Mods installed (especially when playing doubles)
- Settings : added a Tennis.ini editor ; click on the little white icon on the bottom right of Settings -> Misc Options to access it
- World Tour : rankings updated to 2024, and new players added if you start a new career (if you have a Mod for the World Tour, you won't see these additions)
- Localization : Japanese translation, thanks to Tam ! (please report any typo)

[h2]Changes :[/h2]
- Strike : halved the loss of power when getting tired, which should shorten rallies by making it easier to hit winners when both players are tired
- Strike : boosted the short strike speed by up to 4km/h, to help doing passing shots with it (it was too curvy and slow before, allowing too many easy volleys)
- Service : raised the Aiming Zone on Service Preview so the ball should almost never land outside of it
- AI : lowered the jump at the net of the CPU for the Club-10 and Junior-10 so their rally & net performances are more balanced (this will have some diminished effect till Pro-9)
- Physics : now, hitting the ball with the frame of the racket will make the normal & long strikes end too long instead of in the net

[h2]Bug Fixes :[/h2]
- Animation : the player could bend too harshly in some situations (usually when sliding)
- Animation : animation loading was randomly failing, leading to a crash (and online desyncs) ; tried a fix, but I'm not 100% sure it'll work in all cases (it's a Unity bug :fear: )
- 3D Match : after having played for a while (ie: more than 30 minutes), the hair, hat, and possibly the eyes were moved over the head
- Physics : some topspin balls had a too low chance to end in the net
- Commentary : fixed a few lines played in the wrong situation
- World Tour & Camera : (consoles only) since the last update, it was not possible to export your player to the Training Club nor save a Camera in Settings -> Camera
- World Tour : the Experience points were capped at 200 when starting a 3D match
- Modding : modifying the RankPerYear in the Player bases wasn't seen right away in your saved career

[h2]Changes :[/h2]
- Online : the current Mod name is replaced by a concatenation of all active Mods' names, allowing to avoid desync if one of the Mod doesn't match

[h2]Bug Fixes :[/h2]
- Animation : the player could glitch when missing a ball, especially when it was bouncing twice in front of him