Dev diary: your player, your academy and a livelier match

Hello everyone,

I have worked on so many things since the last diary that it is hard to pick where to start. One idea ties them together: I want this to feel like your academy, with players who matter and matches that have a story to tell. Here are the biggest changes.

A career that starts with you

I have reorganised career creation to bring together the manager, club identity, location and starting resources. You can choose a name, colours and crest, then check what you will start with before confirming.

You can also create a main character and join your own school as a student. They start at beginner level, with customisable appearance, kit, traits and attributes. Playing career matches with them earns experience that helps their development. Reaching the top still takes training and competition: fatigue and injuries matter too.

An office that is easier to read

The player profile, weekly plan, transfers, negotiations, calendar and rankings have had an interface revision. I am making it easier to compare players, prepare an offer and organise the week without getting lost between screens.

Weekly reports bring together what is happening across the academy's departments. If a specialist is missing, the report says so: hiring staff should help you understand and run your club better.

Player profile and attributes in the revised interface.

The academy's weekly training plan.

Transfer negotiations in the development version.

The circuit has stories to tell

The press brings the circuit to life with previews and coverage of sporting rivalries. I want what happens on court to have a story beyond the match too.

Statistics and awards let you view the world or a country and filter by competition and period. There are also highlighted points linked to their match report and, when retained, their replay. Detailed shot statistics only appear when the match recorded them; a quick result does not turn into invented numbers.

From the bench to the racket

I have continued working on gamepad controls, playing assists and shot practice. Contact feedback tells you whether you were early, late or on time, giving you something concrete to correct on the next attempt.

In the simulation I have tuned lobs, shots off the back glass, smashes and pair positioning. That includes reacting when a ball passes the net player, covering for a partner and braking on arrival. I am checking these changes against real padel references, and the animations are still very much a work in progress.

Practising a smash out over the side wall with contact feedback.

Matches with more character

Live matches now have tournament-specific venues, benches, crowd ambience, a broadcast scoreboard and a camera selector. I want watching a match to have context, from where it is played to how you follow the score.

I have also worked on the academy-at-sunset title screen and interface audio. Small touches, but they help you get into your career from the first moment.

What comes next

I am continuing to polish shot animations and how they connect to movement, alongside interface clarity and career balance. These screenshots show a development version; there is still work to do.

What would you like to see in more detail in the next diary: creating your player, running the academy or playing a match? Let me know in the Steam community. Thank you for following the project and helping me decide what to show next.

Add Padel Manager 27 to your Steam wishlist