Source: http://uk.xbox360.ign.com/articles/867/867699p1.html
Top Spin 3: Courting Reality
How 2K's ultra-realistic tennis ace promises to revolutionise the genre.
UK, April 18, 2008 - Back in 2003, Top Spin took tennis games to a new level. Its eclectic mix of realism and accessibility, combined with a superb globetrotting career mode, secured its position in the pantheon of sports gaming legends. The same, however, couldn't be said for the sequel, which sadly failed to build on the original's success, straying a little too far from the pick-up-and-play mechanics of its predecessor, while at the same time failing to make full use of next-generation grunt.
Keen to reclaim top spot in the tennis genre, 2K Sports and developer PAM have gone back to the drawing board for the development of Top Spin 3, intent on revitalising every facet of the series. Having played the game earlier this year, IGN was suitably impressed with what we saw. However, with Top Spin 3 in line for an end of May release on PS3, Xbox 360, Wii and DS, we were keen to find out more about the game's tightly guarded and much-vaunted evolutionary effects engine, which 2K and PAM claim will take tennis gaming to the next level of realism.
We caught up with 2K Sports producer Anthony DeLuca for a world exclusive reveal of what's in store from Top Spin 3's so-called groundbreaking new graphics engine. "After Top Spin 2 was finished we basically started from scratch for Top Spin 3," explains DeLuca. "We've added a revolutionary system called Evolutionary Visuals, which is an effects engine that encompasses everything from cloth and character animations, to unseen graphical detail and shadowing, dynamic weather and court lighting. It's something that's never been done before in a tennis game, especially not in this depth."
What this all translates to is your player's appearance will be radically transformed throughout the course of a match. Their clothing, including their socks and trainers, will accumulate dirt as they play; sweat patches will appear on their clothes and carefully combed hairstyles quickly become matted as play hots up. As you progress through a match, your slick sponsorship clothes horse (that's you) transforms into a heaving, sweating athlete who's clearly pushing their body to the limit.
Thankfully, your player's physical transformations won't just be restricted to aesthetics, as their performance levels will dip as they become increasingly fatigued. Players start to lunge, slide and dive more frequently when returning the ball as they grow tired, reducing their stability and lessening the ferocity of their shots.
With real professional players contributing over 1,500 motion captured animations, 2K Sports is confident that this third instalment in the series will hugely surpass the first two games in terms player movement authenticity. As DeLuca explains, "We really went into great detail with regards to animations for different environments. For example, a player will move differently on grass than on clay. Our animation system is also tied closely to how you're controlling your player, so that they react appropriately to your commands." Indeed, having worked closely with each of Top Spin's roster of real-life stars – which include the likes of Roger Federer, David Nalbandian, Mark Phillippoussis, Andy Murray, Maria Sharapova and Justine Henin – PAM has even gone to the lengths of capturing every player's swing style to ensure maximum authenticity when playing as your favourite pro.
As well as affecting the players, Top Spin 3's Evolutionary Visuals system is being used to ensure that every facet of Top Spin 3 adheres as closely to reality as modern day technology allows. "We want everything you see in an actual tennis match to be recreated here, like when a player runs or plants their feet to make a tough shot, dirt will kick up and skid marks from their shoes will appear on the court surface," DeLuca promises. Ball physics have also been on the receiving end of this radical makeover, with shot power, wind speed and direction, player stamina and agility, and surface type all factored into the equation.
Other all-new environmental effects include accurate ball marks and footprints, realistic shadow effects that dynamically change depending on the sun's position (which, incidentally, moves in real time) and changeable weather, meaning your match could begin in gloom but end in glorious sunlight. "We also went to the real courts and venues and took imagery that we then implemented into the venues' in-game architectural look," DeLuca reveals. "We've also added all-new crowd effects and reactions. Depending upon how fatigued your player is, the score of the match, and the momentum of the game, the crowd will react in varying ways."
Despite PAM's dedication to make Top Spin 3 look and feel as realistic as possible, the team has been acutely aware of recapturing the accessibility that made the first game so much fun, while injecting new and innovative racquet-control mechanics. On the easiest of the game's five difficulty settings you'll be able to win matches by using only a couple of buttons, though the more challenging levels will require skills straight from the professional player's handbook if you're to stand any chance of defeating your AI opponents.
As well as retaining its predecessors' finest gameplay elements, Top Spin 3 will feature an all-new right analogue stick control system to enhance serving, volleying, lobbing and dinking drop-shots over the net. "With the right analogue controls we've been able to give the player total control over the serve, from where it's aimed to how hard it's hit," promises DeLuca. "This allows us to really capture the power and feel of a Roddick-like serve." Judging from DeLuca's claims and seeing the same in action, Top Spin 3 certainly looks as though it has the potential to put the series firmly back on the map.
