Full Ace Tennis Simulator News

Changes :
* Gameplay : Changed some spin parameters for serves : slices are more realistic, and topspin serves are more like kick serves, allowing "twisting" on slower speeds.
* Gameplay : Improved running with keyboard.
* Bug fix : Average stat in editor was wrong by an additional 2 points. Now displaying 2 decimal places.
* Bug fix : Circumvented Steam system to properly display online rankings.
* Bug fix : Sometimes hitting a button to end cinematic right at the end of set would also skip the stats screen.
* Bug fix : Copying a player in editor didn't allow the new one a different Unique ID. IDs that were duplicated that way will also be automatically fixed.

Changes :
* Gameplay : Added setting for adjusting serve difficulty.
* Gameplay : Changed serve system so that errors in timing have more impact, especially when using high power.
* Gameplay : Adjustment to v1.1.1's strokes system to be easier with low values of timing shot sensitivity.
* Sound : Added independent volume setting for umpire announcements.

Changes :

* Steam : Cloud saves enabled.
* Gameplay : Error margins on shots have been reworked for better balance.
* Gameplay : Parameters for topspin, attacks and dropshots have been tweaked for more realism.
* Gameplay : Preparing early now gives you a boost in shot precision, preparing late gives you a penalty. There is a small penalty on this when using auto-prepare, as an incentive and reward to play manual.
* AI : Improvements in tactics and overall quality of play.
* Online : Added system to detect score desyncs. When it happens, the point will be replayed, and replay files for both players are saved locally. Those replays can be sent to us to help us understand the cause of the desync and fix it.
* Sound : Used pitch to make shoe squeak sounds less repetitive and annoying.
* Sound : Interface sounds are now paused when game window is minimized.
* Bug fix : In online games, chat would become unavailable after selecting a player.
* Bug fix : When a serve would touch the net and land in, and the returner played it, the point would be handled as though there was no let.
* Bug fix : When a 2nd serve call out was successfully challenged, the server would have to hit a 2nd serve instead of a 1st serve according to official rules.
* Bug fix : When a 2nd serve touched the net, was called out, and was successfully challenged, the server would be awarded the point. Now the point is replayed, as should be.
* Bug fix : In certain cases, human players would hit the ball higher than they were supposed to on serves.
* Bug fix : Keyboard strokes were being detected by the game even when the window wasn't in foreground.
* Bug fix : Timing orb would display wrong colors when shot button was pressed very early.
* Bug fix : In career mode, human player wasn't always automatically registered in 2-week events when eligible.
* Bug fix : In career mode, after displaying the list of players for a tournament that haven't started yet, it was impossible to close it with the pad.
* Bug fix : Stamina bars used to appear in replays.

Apr 21st 2018 : Version 1.0.12
* Bug fix : Fix for crash when launching TUTORIAL mode.

Apr 21st 2018 : Version 1.0.11
* Bug fix : Fix for crash in editor.

Apr 20th 2018 : Version 1.0.10
* Gameplay : Nerfed no-prepare shots from the baseline
* Gameplay : Nerfed precision of slice shots, so they go out more.
* Gameplay : Changed color system for timing hint for more precision (it has no impact on timing itself).
* Physics : Improved bounce physics (the more obvious effect is that horizontal speed of the ball is reduced a little more after bounce).
* UI : Added stats average display for players where applicable.
* UI : Added stats total display in editor.
* UI : Allowed multiple word search when typing the name of a player.
* UI navigation : Improved navigation for small resolutions and in CHALLENGE screen.
* Career & tournament mode : Used multi-threading to simulate AI games faster.
* Career & tournament mode : Moved NEXT GAME option to the top of the menu, instead of inside the tournament table.
* Career & tournament mode : Added option to simulate your own match instead of playing it.
* Career & tournament mode : Added option to forfeit your current game (like with EXIT before, so that EXIT now brings you directly to the game's main menu).
* Bug fix : The game now properly looks for patched player sounds in the Patch folder.
* Bug fix : Fixed several parasite gameplay behaviors.

Mar 29th 2018 : Version 1.0.9
* Bug fix, career mode : QUALIFY button didn't properly appear for FA4 events.
* Bug fix, career mode : in some situations, AI players were able to register to 2 different events played the same week.

Mar 26th 2018 : Version 1.0.8
* Online : Added option to set minimum value for character stats.
* Bug fix : Crash in v1.0.8 when creating a new game in TOURNAMENT mode.

Mar 24th 2018 : Version 1.0.7
* Online : Added ranking score.
* Online : Added options to limit character stats.
* Online : Better display of final score in lobby.
* Online : More options displayed on character selection screen.
* Online : Display of player nicknames on the match statistics screen.
* Cosmetics : Improved aspect of several UI controls.
* Bug fix : chat not working after using Alt-TAB shortcut
* Bug fix : "Connection lost" was shown on end of the match screen
* Bug fix : unexpected result + crash with stadia modding.
* Bug fix : crash when using certain characters (like question marks) in player names.

Mar 13th 2018 : Version 1.0.6
* Gameplay : Difficulty settings are now edited with sliders, and include new lower values (Beginner->Easy).
* Gameplay : Decreased precision of double-tap topspin shots, tweaked spin rate for all topspin shots.
* Gameplay : Nerfed no-prepare shots so that they can't be used as offensive shots from the baseline.
* Gameplay : Improved consistency on bounce physics for sidespin.
* Gameplay : Reduced cannon ball rate in Practice mode and several Tutorial lessons.
* Gameplay : Reduced tutorial goals from 10 to 5.
* Online : Players are now prevented to match-up against each other if they have different versions of the game.
* Edition : Added UniqueID display for tournaments and stadiums so CSV export/import can be used.
* Controller issues : After feedback from Steam, controller handling was simplified again, and hopefully fixes most people's issues.
* Bug fix : Wrong behavior + crash when trying to export replay to AVI.
* Bug fix : Lobby bell sound used to play during online games.

Mar 7th 2018 : Version 1.0.5
* Added an option to manually choose to use Steam API for controller handling or not, as some users need it for their controllers to work.
* Small change in CSV import to allow columns as separator.
* Fixed lobby sound that didn't play when a player enters the lobby, as it is supposed to.

Mar 6th 2018 : Version 1.0.4

* Full Ace's User Interface now launches by default as a window or full-screen. If you preferred the old system, check Desktop Interface in the SETTINGS.
* Added support for launching the game on a chosen display monitor
* Added support for Steam controller-API handling : controllers should now work while enabled in Steam settings + Steam Controller should now work
* Fixed Alt-F4 and Alt-Enter shortcuts
* Fixed a bug where no ball shadow was displayed when motion blur was completely disabled
* Fixed a bug where point was replayed but the server was only awarded one serve.
* Improved help banner's readability
* Some fixes for rare crashes

Mar 1st 2018 : Version 1.0.3

* Small change that hopefully fixes controller detection when they are enabled in Steam Settings
* Fixed Control menu display for high ratio resolutions
* Small bug fixes around controller detection

Feb 28th 2018 : Version 1.0.2

* Cosmetic change for toss instructions
* Fixed bug where the pause key would interfere with chat in online games
* Removed UDP Port from Settings (not used any more in Steam)
* Added some text instructions in tutorial

Feb 27th 2018 : Version 1.0.1

* Fixes for online bugs (on a particular case on let serves + after pausing to watch a replay)
* Fixed several bugs with 3rd-person camera
* Added instructions and proper control display for toss
* Added on-screen control display for electronic challenges
* Cosmetic improvements for scoreboard

Feb 23th 2018 : Version 1.0.0 !

* Adjustments to volley gameplay (especially volleys with the slice button).
* Many improvements in tutorial (even if you are an experienced player, might be a good idea to go through it again !)

Full Ace Tennis Simulator has been out for six days here on Steam and things are trending along pretty nicely so far!



A huge thank you to all of you who have made these first days of playing Full Ace a lot of fun! We have a long road ahead so if you are enjoying the game so far and haven't done so, please do leave a review! It helps other players discover the game on Steam.

Please note the 10% discount on Full Ace ends tomorrow at 10am PST so if you are looking to get the game on discount, now is a good time!

A few interesting bits of news:

• we hit a high of 52 players playing yesterday https://steamdb.info/app/779430/graphs/ Very cool! We hope to see this number to keep growing ːsteamhappyː
  
• the day we released Full Ace - last Wed - about 79 other games launched on Steam. ːsteamfacepalmː That's a lot of games we competed with for visibility in one day. Steam is now a very open platform.
  
• controller issues. There have been some tricky controller problems submitted that we have and are continuing to tackle.
  
• we will likely add animation modding in the near future, based on the recent feedback. After that, we will likely move on to adding doubles, career management features, or female characters as the next major feature update.
  
• press and streamers. We haven't received much traditional press or plays by the streaming community yet. Not much at all. There has been decent interest by both parties but just not any coverage. If you have a favorite streamer or journalist who you think would really dig Full Ace, please let us know! We would be interested in reaching out.
  

Thank you all for the support so far and if you have any feedback, comments, questions, or suggestions, please post a message on the community hub!