http://store.steampowered.com/app/269730/
Thought I'd make a dedicated thread for this instead of asking in the Friday thread.
How feature complete is this thing right now?? Also.. someone mentioned there not being AI golfer opponents? I suppose those are a future addition?
Basically single user play on a course and the course editor available now. Number of other stuff to be added such as a tour. I dont believe ai golfers will be added in this version but could be wrong. I believe tour will be used for multiplayer.
When you do play single player you see ghost images of other players playing on the same hole so that sort of your competition.
Thought this might be useful for potential buyers....FAQ from their site.
What platforms will The Golf Club be available on?
PC, PS4, And Xbox One
When is the release date?
Spring 2014 is all we know at this point (3/29)
Will there be a Beta?
Closed Beta is currently in progress. An Early release on Steam for PC users is planned afterwards. There is not a definitive date on that yet.
Will stats and courses carry over from Beta Tests?
I can't say for certain. Resets will be more likely early in testing, due to bugs. If at all possible, we'll avoid losing courses, because they make the game more valuable for everyone. We have a pretty good track record with this. Almost all of the courses created during development are still playable now.
Stat resets make sense when gameplay changes, and probably for release.
Gameplay:
Will there be default disc based courses available?
Yes, all fictional and created by the Dev team and available with the game
Will there be any real, licensed courses available (Pebble Beach, Augusta, Sawgrass, etc)?
No, but with the course creator recreating them is a possibility. You can create any course layouts in the world, my dream is to have a Ultimate Guitar Tab like database of courses so that I could play a course online before playing it in real life on a Saturday. Imagine if you get invited to a new course by a friend, you could play it in the game before playing it in real life, to know the best route around the course.
Will there be Local Co-Op?
Yes, 4-player local Co-op
What game modes will be available at launch?
Offline: Stroke, Match, and 4-Ball
Online: Stroke (Simultaneous)
Are we able to create a golfer and progress his skills?
No, not for the first release. We've concentrated on the Course Creation and Playability first off, I think it's the foundation of the whole game.
Will there be CPU controlled players?
no, player controlled / ghost balls At the moment. we feel that these give a better feeling of the community we wanted to create. We are keeping CPU players on our radar though as it is something that is worth investigating going forward
Will there be tournaments and tours?
Tours and Tournaments will be played against other Live or Ghost Ball players.
Will there be multiple difficulty levels?
No, difficulty will be determined by the course, everyone will be on an even playing field bringing skill to the forefront. HOWEVER There are a number of course aids that can be toggled off within the options menus to make the game more challenging (IE No wind meter, Green Grid, target zoom, etc)
Will club distances be preset or will you be able to manually set them per club to match our real life distance?
At the moment we don't have the ability to set club distances, we want everyone to go into the online world as equals. But I really like this idea, so although it wont make it into the Early Beta, we'll discuss and look to adding it to the list of features we are looking to add
In multiplayer will I see the other player models?
No, you will only see their ball and ball flight
Swing Control Method?
The swing mechanic works best with the analogue sticks. We're still undecided on the best way to approach mouse and keyboard. We want online play to be evenly matched between control sets.
Will there be a 3-click shot meter option?
No, not at the moment
Can you create a Left-handed golfer?
Yes
will it include PS4 Move and XBox One Kinect swing interfaces?
Not at launch but it is on their radar
Will the ball be effected by spin/physics, wedges have back spin, draws and slices, etc? Can you hit shots with more or less spin?
Yes, we have all that in the game. We have a very unique grid/crosshair system that combines stance and club face giving you full control over the ball. The more it veers away from a normal shot the more accurate you need to be with your swing. Spin is applied by setting up your Stance/Club Face pre-shot. Undesired spin is added by the in accuracy of your swing
How will ball striking / hitting out of hazards be calculated?
If you're in the long rough for example we
1) Calculate the lie of the ball (how deep it is in the rough)
2) Calculate the resistance the selected club will get from travelling through that terrain type and that lie if you hit the ball perfectly (example 30% reduced power on a 9 iron)
3) The shot difficulty is also increased for a normal fairway shot with that club (this increases hook and slice likelihood)
4) When you take a swing the game then analyses your swing. If it falls within the parameters of the perfect swing you'll get the original penalty calculated in point 2
5) If the swing analysis falls outside of the perfect swing parameter we'll then add Hook or Slice as well as more of a power reduction depending on how bad the swing was.
It works really well, and also creates the ability to Top the Ball if you've really messed up the swing
How does the game determine the actual power applied to the shot?
length of backswing and speed of forward swing. And yes you can get a little over 100%, although at the increased risk of a hook or slice
Can you hit a ball into the adjacent holes Fairway and play from there?
Yes, you can currently play from just about anywhere that isn't under water, Although this isn't finalized and OB may be added as they test more.
If I am playing on the 8th hole and my friend jumps online, can they join me?
Yes, They will start on the first hole and they can eventually catch up to you if you play slow enough ;)
Will there be Licensed clubs, equipment and clothes?
No
Will you be able to manipulate the loft on your shots?
You can adjust stance manually (open/close, front/back), or chose from some preset options (flop/punch etc.)
Will we be able to choose our clubs before a round? ie Can I drop a 5w and take an extra wedge for certain courses?
Not in the Beta, but it's on our list to add in the future
Will there be a preview hole flyover for every hole on the course?
Yeah, there is a skippable flyover on each hole, as well as a flyover of the entire course that shows when you've selected a course, before you start your round.
Will you be able to "Shape" your shot?
Yes, there are stance controls for open/close (and forward/back). To give a little more context to it. We have a system that allows the shaping of shots, adding spin etc. This is all set up pre-shot with the help of the Pre-Shot Ribbon, this is like an indicator from your caddie.
The more you sway from a normal shot the harder the shot is to pull of, and the more perfect your swing will have to be.
Can you disable the Green Grid?
Yes, you will be able to disable the green grid in the settings! Again, having the grid was a big approachability thing for some people, but something we still want to make optional.
How does the swing mechanic work?
As for the swing mechanic: It will be a backward-forward movement on the analog stick for console controls. The mechanic is being fine tuned at the moment, so I have no specific details for you on how it will play at launch beyond that it is very sensitive; both in terms of both power of the shot, and the accuracy (X-axis sway). The sensitivity increases as your shot difficulty increases too—a shot out of a bad lie will need to be much more accurate than one from the fairway. You can definitely get a feel for the rhythm of certain types of shots though; consistency is a big factor for us.
can you hit driver off the deck?
yes
can you putt from off the green?
Yes
can you chip on the green?
Yes
Course Editor:
Can I start a course from scratch or do I always have to auto generate one?
Yes, you can start from scratch and place holes one by one.
Can I edit the Auto Generated Courses?
Yes
Can the bunkers be shaped Both in height/depth, and also the size of them?
Yes
Can you add/subtract more trees, sand, water, etc from specific holes?
Yes - You can place all these individually as brushes or let the generator do it hole specific or course wide change
Can we create 2 holes that share the same Fairway?
Yes
Can we create 2 holes that share the same Green?
Yes
Is there a maximum limit for elevation changes when using the course creator?
There will be a limit for the course overall, but it will be several hundred meters at least.
Will we see more themes added post release?
releases with 5 themes, but we have plenty of ideas in our heads for added themes after release.
Can we create a Thumbnail of our course (Preview Pic)?
Yes, You can fly around in camera mode and take a snapshot
Can I design a course on PS4 and have my friend download it on their Xbox One?
From a technical point of view yes! The DNA of courses is stored on a server and the machine builds the course from that DNA.
Will you be able to select Wind speeds for your created courses?
No, not at the moment. Theme dictates the wind though. Links courses have higher winds on average than the Alpine courses.
The wind is consistent from hole to hole. If the wind is coming from the east, you will generally see that throughout your round, with a bit of variation.
Is there Dynamic Lighting and weather?
There is progressive sun movement, and all the lighting and clouds are dynamic. You'll be able to set the 'north' direction and latitude of your course to control the path of the sun through the sky. No rain right now, but it's planned for a future release.
Is there a fixed amount of courses you can save on your game?
This depends on the platform, but the courses are designed to take up a small amount of space, so you'll be able to create lots of them.
can you change the direction of the holes?
You can pick up an hole and rotate it, or just move the tee/green around freely.
Will the Course Creator allow for multiple pin placements?
we had this in, and we want to add it back. But it was causing us problems with the ghost balls. They looked like they'd fall into the ground when you're playing on a green with a different pin placement to you. It's something we'll definitely be looking into more though
Is there going to be a web based course browser?
not currently got this in our plans as we're spending all our time on developing the game, but it's definitely something worth taking a look at. Especially as user content grows
Can you rate the created courses?
All courses can be rated 1-10 as well as stored as a favourite, for quick access later.
The game also reviews how well people are playing each course, to give it a rating between Easy and Difficult
Can someone edit my creation and claim it as their own?
Published courses will either not be editable for other players, or if we decide to allow this, there will be an option for the creator to allow their course to be edited by other players. We're still in discussions on how we are going to handle this.
Can we do Co-op course building?
Unfortunately this is not planned at this time. Its an interesting feature to consider though and something I will bring up on Monday but I don't think we'll have time to implement anything like this before the release of the game.
Can you add in cart paths?
Yes
Can you add Bridges over water?
Yes
Can you dd Benches, Ball Washers, Restrooms type buildings?
Yes
Can we add Fountains to bodies of water?
Yes
Can you make an Island Green?
Yes
Will there be a preview hole flyover for every hole on the course?
Yeah, there is a skippable flyover on each hole, as well as a flyover of the entire course that shows when you've selected a course, before you start your round.
In game how does the player find out yardage to bunkers,hazards etc?
The auto generator actually has an option per-hole for the distance to the first set of bunkers (if any.). When placing things in manual mode you can see yardage to tee and green as you move around.
I noticed that during your video for randomly generated course development that the greens and bunkers all had a sameness. The greens as an example all seemed to be perfect ovals. Just how detailed are the editing tools?
Yep, both the greens and the bunkers can be edited and modified to achieve whatever shapes you want. There will be brushes of various shapes that you can resize to adjust the shape of the greens and bunkers that show up when you initially place the hole. This should allow you to create any shape of a green or bunker that you would see in the real world.
Will we be able to create outlandish courses with ridiculous drops or fantasy courses like The Predator, Highlands, and Emerald Isle?
We have one course that we created in the first few months of development call "The Pit of Death"
The terrain is at the max height it can be with the green sunk as far down as it can be without being submerged by water.
A silly course, but can be done
Judge and I played a round of golf today in multiplayer....although the round was very entertaining and I had a couple of good shots, trying to get the MP working was a little bit of a chore. Likely because still in alpha. When we played, we were on the same course together, but couldn't get it where we stayed on the same hole and watched each other's shots....we are likely missing how to make it work right.
Either way, was still fun and glad I bought into the game....still a ways to go, but good start.
Judge, I did find some info on multiplayer and practicing.
1) Easier way to start then we did. One player goes into a course and tees off. The other player can go into the message center off the main menu. You'll see all the steam friends listed and you just have to choose the friend and hit "Join Now".
2) Doesn't appear you can play directly against each other yet, meaning be on the same tee and watch each other play. Although sounds like that will be added at some time in the future.
3) They do plan on adding more practice features but if you want to practice now, you can go into the course creator and play in practice mode. It lets you play from a specific cursor location, flip between holes, and rewind through your shots to retry.
Investigating more....does not appear it is a guarantee that multiplayer will allow you to play in a "vs mode" against a friend in the released version. It may only end up being ghost images. People are saying the company will consider if enough demand, but they are using the typical argument that they are a small shop and might not have the resources to pull it off.
Although I understand not every feature can be included, but this is a multiplayer driven game and this seems like a big miss for that type of game. Can't see what kind of fun it would be playing against friends if you can't play together....fingers crossed it gets added.
**Edit**
I guess I should have fully read the FAQ I posted.....think these two questions answer it all.
What game modes will be available at launch?
Offline: Stroke, Match, and 4-Ball
Online: Stroke (Simultaneous)
In multiplayer will I see the other player models?
No, you will only see their ball and ball flight
I have had my eye on this one for awhile. It still has some optimization issues, but the devs are on the right track.
This is a definite purchase once the work out the bugs.
The developer has confirmed the only way to play multiplayer in the release version will be using ghost images...there will be no feature to allow you to play against your friends and see everyone's shot and play together....you can try to do this with ghost images, but very difficult to see what is going on and keeping pace with your friends. They said it is under consideration for a future update/version, but no guarantees yet...said they didn't have the time or money for it.
Since this game will strongly rely on the multiplayer crowd (no good single player mode against AI), I believe this is a HUGE mistake, but we'll see....either way, I have had fun with the game and certainly will get money money's worth...can never have too many golf games:)
Sounds like much of the focus is on the randomly-generated and custom courses. Despite proclaiming to be a multi-player game, it seems more like a single-player one (literally).
I do think it's pretty cool having randomly generated courses. But does it even keep track of your past completions or is it just performing on one course and then wipes the slate clean for the next?
Quote from: Nefaro on April 20, 2014, 06:43:44 PM
Sounds like much of the focus is on the randomly-generated and custom courses. Despite proclaiming to be a multi-player game, it seems more like a single-player one (literally).
I do think it's pretty cool having randomly generated courses. But does it even keep track of your past completions or is it just performing on one course and then wipes the slate clean for the next?
Not sure, but I thought it was supposed to track progress....even with this limitation, I still think it is worth the $29...I really get the sense they will be adding updates all the time so it will grow...now the only question is whether they will make us pay for every update:) They indicated minor updates would be free, but major content would likely cost money...seems fair.
I spent quite a lot of quality time on youtube, and other places, attempting to evaluate just how robust the course developer is.
It looks quite strong. You can adjust a variety of parameters, including fairway width, lowering or raising terrain, and sculpting bunkers.
This reminds me of an old old Jack Nicklaus course designer golf game for the Commodore. I had a hell of a lot of fun designing courses with that one.
With this one, I will design course where 80 will be the course record...bwahaaahaaahaaaaaa
The course designer seems pretty deep and best of all, you don't have to be a guru to do it...with a few clicks here and there, even the average person can do....perfect for me who isn't good at that type of stuff:)
Thanks for the heads up GR
Working out where your shot is going to go is tricky...pressing 3 gives you the best view of where you are likely to land by "flying" you there.
Working out how much power to dish out is also very tricky - I'm playing with mouse. Not such a problem for your 1 wood etc...but for putters, lofters, pitchers and sand wedge shots - it's tricky getting it right. I hope this part of the game is given some attention.
Overall not a bad game and the courses are lovely. The editor, as GR said, is very easy to use, creating a new course for you everytime (seemingly). I would think it would be difficult to get bored of the game - at least when talking about courses.
Multiplayer doesn't bother me here, however I do think the MP needs attention and I'm looking forward to competitions being added.
I'm wondering how MP will be with regard to competitions? Will there be a penalty for someone ducking out? What are the chances of being able to complete a competition (or even a round) if someone is going bad. I did this myself the other day - dropped out of my game because I was +11 on a hole...a single hole. I just couldn't gauge the putter properly...so I blamed it on the mechanics and left. Not that I was "playing" anyone.
Seems to me there may be AI players in there, no? There are several players that always seem to be there and their name ends with the same suffix (which escapes me)...so I was wondering if these are AI players?
Quote from: JudgeDredd on April 21, 2014, 12:55:08 PM
Seems to me there may be AI players in there, no? There are several players that always seem to be there and their name ends with the same suffix (which escapes me)...so I was wondering if these are AI players?
From the FAQ confirms no CPU/AI players.
Will there be CPU controlled players?
no, player controlled / ghost balls At the moment. we feel that these give a better feeling of the community we wanted to create. We are keeping CPU players on our radar though as it is something that is worth investigating going forward
Quote from: Grim.Reaper on April 24, 2014, 05:50:47 PM
Quote from: JudgeDredd on April 21, 2014, 12:55:08 PM
Seems to me there may be AI players in there, no? There are several players that always seem to be there and their name ends with the same suffix (which escapes me)...so I was wondering if these are AI players?
From the FAQ confirms no CPU/AI players.
Will there be CPU controlled players?
no, player controlled / ghost balls At the moment. we feel that these give a better feeling of the community we wanted to create. We are keeping CPU players on our radar though as it is something that is worth investigating going forward
I am OK with ghost players. Links had this, for several versions. Load up your 66, and let someone try to beat it!
Quote from: DennisS on April 24, 2014, 06:54:57 PM
Quote from: Grim.Reaper on April 24, 2014, 05:50:47 PM
Quote from: JudgeDredd on April 21, 2014, 12:55:08 PM
Seems to me there may be AI players in there, no? There are several players that always seem to be there and their name ends with the same suffix (which escapes me)...so I was wondering if these are AI players?
From the FAQ confirms no CPU/AI players.
Will there be CPU controlled players?
no, player controlled / ghost balls At the moment. we feel that these give a better feeling of the community we wanted to create. We are keeping CPU players on our radar though as it is something that is worth investigating going forward
I am OK with ghost players. Links had this, for several versions. Load up your 66, and let someone try to beat it!
Have you bought and played it yet? Just curious what you think of it so far. It has potential, even with ghost images. I have no problem with ghost images as an option, especially in solo play, but it doesn't do much to foster a fun session with your friends where you want to play along and see each other's game. Takes away from some of the excitement.
It's a new product and we don't have many golf options so I will give it time. To be honest, multiplayer play isn't the most critical thing, I would much prefer a more robust single player option where you can play a tour against the ai like I. Tiger woods golf.
Tournament play and true multi-player haven't yet been implemented.
For that matter, even PC support (mouse and keyboard) are barely functioning.
The game CAN be played with a PC, but most players agree that a controller gives the best results.
I am a little concerned with the scores I am seeing...lots of upper 50's for easy to moderately difficult courses. There does not appear to be much penalty for a mis-hit..in fact, it appears to be difficult TO have a mis-hit.
I'm not interested in shooting a 60 all day long.
On the plus side, I have been watching videos of players playing on human-generated courses. One week ago there were 200 available, today, there are well over a thousand.
I also like the fact that the player base rates these courses. Not significant when 20 players play..but some of the courses have had 2000+ plays, with a solid, representative rating.
Only a matter of time before the filter will provide you with only the highest rated courses to play...then this will be the best golf game ever, with a vast number of excellent courses to play.
One other thing that I really like is that a human can get into the editor, and adjust the parameters for a computer-generated golf course in about 20 seconds, and then have the ability to edit the course to modify it to their heart's content. Terrific concept. I used to fool around with the Jack Nicklaus course editor for the Commodore years ago....GREAT fun.
Latest patch available.....
We're just about to push our latest build. Things to look out for this week are:
* Fix issue where the course creator is stuck on one hole when waypoints are placed on top of each other
* Improvements to club selection on large or shared greens
* Fix for penalty application when exceeding shot limit
* Update help menus for mouse and keyboard controls in the course creator to show buttons for each tool
* Add WASD support for tools (along with the arrows) to scale and rotate brushes and objects
* Improve logic to determine when a tee shot is desirable
* Turn off edge panning when the editor menu is active
* Tweak speed of rotation/movement of the camera in Course Creator for mouse/KB
* The user will now always appear in the Global filter of the leaderboard, regardless if they are in the top-10 or not
* Added notifications for when a friend finishes a round and favourites a course
* Improve notification display logic
* Fix bug where moving the pin to another area changes the hole that pin is associated with
* Improved full-screen handling and screen flickering in windowed mode
* Fix issues with the selection tool in the course creator not being able to find brushes/items when they're overlapped
* Fix for 50% input power limitation with low frame-rates 64 bit game version
* Moved course save data out of the registry, fixes lost progress in courses when saving
* Green Grid update. Grid colours now take into account green speeds. This helps course designers judge reasonable pin placements based on green speeds and slope. http://www.gcga.org/documents/speeds_slopes_locations.pdf It also helps players understand any given greens behaviour a bit better when playing.
* It is now possible to take a screenshot when publishing a course with only the keyboard
New Seasons DLC is available.
Unfortunately, I've just discovered that if you start a Season, you better be prepared to finish it - because if you want to exit, your only option is to Abandon Season.
I wanted to end the season mid flow after 2 courses and only found the Abandon Season mode so I stayed in and started playing the 3rd course (of 4 in that particular section of the season) and then thought "No...I have to go to bed" - so had to take the Abandon Season option.
Out of curiosity I went back to the Seasons mode and sure enough I was having to start from scratch.
So beware if you elect to play a Season...you will not be able to exit until you've at least (I guess) played all of the first competition (which was for me 4 courses...1 of 9 holes and 3 of 18 I believe).
Just a heads up
Looks like Golf Club 2 in the works....
http://thegolfclubgame.com/2016/06/14/golf-club-2-announcement-dev-diary/
1) Unity 5 – We've moved the game to Unity 5. This means lots of great things for all areas of the game.
2) Player Creator – We've got a huge player creator, where player features, clothing, clubs and gear will all be customizable. It's almost limitless with millions upon millions of combinations to get your avatar looking just as you want him or her to.
3) Golf Societies – We've now got golf societies, not only places where you and your friends can hang out and play against each other in tournaments but huge public clubs. (All currency referred to is GAME CURRENCY, not real money)
◾a) Societies will have club captains that will design out seasons with entry restrictions, prize money and major tournaments
◾b) Tournament and society entry can be restricted by entrance fees and handicap ratings.
◾c) Societies will have their own bank balance so they can choose their own clubhouse. The richer the clubs the grander the clubhouse. The luxury of a plush club and the status that comes with that needs to be earned to get there.
◾d) Major Tournaments – Using club size and popularity, crowds will turn up for the clubs majors. The bigger the club, the bigger the crowds. The HUD will become more TV like and the commentary will also add to the occasion.
4) Career Mode – Players will also be able to play a way more singular game against AI. Using offline societies and AI players to earn money and work your way through the challenges of increasing difficulty. All money earned here can be transferred to your online career, so it's well worth taking part.
5) You'll be able to now design courses with multi-level water, crowd placement, lots of new stuff to place as well as lots of new tools to make life easier for the designers out there.
6) Game play – This is the big one...
◾a) Swing – we're currently looking at a 3 level swing mechanic. The easy level will very much be based off of what we have now, but with tempo added and a distance reduction, Hard will be very punishing if you're in any way off centre and the tempo isn't correct, but when it's good you will get a considerably further distance. Doing this gives us the variation we want, the difficulty some want and brings in the actual point of multiple tees.
◾b) Practice Swing – You'll now be able to take practice swings.
◾c) HUD Numbering and Shot Shaper – These will be rounded giving you less ability to dial a distance while working on the shot shaper to make it much harder when trying to dial in distances.
7) Practice Range
We have a full driving range, putting green and chipping green. This is a full sandbox mode, giving you the ability to go out there and improve any part of your game.
8) Graphics
◾a) We've invested heavily in the character this time out, getting full photogrammetry scans of people and clothing to make your player look as realistic as possible.
◾b) We've also invested in a huge array of motion capture from two brand new golf pros. Well not only have a lot of great new shot animations but lots of post and pre shot stuff as well.
◾c) Full specular effects on everything on your course, this makes it look even more realistic than it did before.
9) Multiplayer
◾a) We won't be adding a traditional lobby, but we will be improving live multiplayer extensively. We'll be adding more game modes and the ability to play non friends.
TGC looked nice but the lack of mouse support (initially) turned me off and so I found and went with this one:
http://store.steampowered.com/app/288140/ (Jack Nicklaus Perfect Golf)
It has several swing modes, including the traditional meter but also a few styles of the mouse swing (back and forth or side to side). They apparently don't have PGA licensing for the courses but Sawgrass is in there (named as something else) and probably a couple of others that I haven't ID'd yet.
Quote from: GJK on June 16, 2016, 08:31:21 PM
TGC looked nice but the lack of mouse support (initially) turned me off and so I found and went with this one:
http://store.steampowered.com/app/288140/ (Jack Nicklaus Perfect Golf)
It has several swing modes, including the traditional meter but also a few styles of the mouse swing (back and forth or side to side). They apparently don't have PGA licensing for the courses but Sawgrass is in there (named as something else) and probably a couple of others that I haven't ID'd yet.
I have been looking at this game for a long time. Their "Course Forge" course creator has been promised for more than a year and a half as just a few weeks away. Thoroughly discouraging...that there are many courses listed on private websites, but none of these are on what I consider a safe site. I am not about to d/l ANYTHING from a third party site.