119 replies to this topic

[axe360]

Lol Mick.. I hear ya.. I have never heard of someone putting out a game, With No Game/Courses to play... Hopefully Andrew will clear this up.

[woodworkery]

Just let us play the damn thing , we'll tell you when something is not right

[VIXEN_VIKKI]

Like many, i am not a technical person, i would have no idea how to use course forge and create courses

etc, i just want to play a ready created golf game, also the peeps that will be creating their own courses will these be available to

that person only or will they be intigrated into the game somehow for all to use ? apologies for my naivety. 

[Kablammo11]

I would suppose, Vikki, that once a course has been created by us peeps, there will have to be a vetting process of some sort, to make sure that the technical standards and the quality of play are worthy of PerfectGolf and their many demanding patrons like you. After that, it will be made available to the public at large (or to those who wish to download it), either here on the PP website or - as with TW08 courses now - somewhere off-site.

In a hopefully not-too-distant future you may be able to log on here and

- go to a special page with a few dozen available golf courses (to become hundreds as time passes)

- browse through the contents of this wonderful page

- perhaps look at a few images from each course

- or watch the hole flybys or in-game clips from that course on a YouTube or vimeo link

- read reviews of that course written by your fellow players (perhaps in combination with a points ranking system)

- then select the course you like to download onto your hard drive so that you can play it. 

 

Please grant the courses featuring the "K11" brand special consideration   

[VIXEN_VIKKI]

hmmm. and theres me thinking we would get an online game similar to TWO (except more advanced) with

the option of creating your own courses via course forge, if you so wished....perhaps we still will, lets hope

Andrew can clear this one up

[Maverick Spirit]

WOW! This thread on Beta Testing has certainly taken a left hand turn, into a totally new topic, a topic that deserves it’s own thread.

 

I’ve been pretty quiet in these forums as most of the discussions on the CF are above my level of understanding as I’m not a course designer but, now I’m as confused maybe even more confused as many of you as to what is happening. I’ve read and re-read the posts and I continue to be lost in a fog of confusion and now uncertainty, not helped by Andrew’s vague and paltry comments. So reminds me of dealings with some other people.

 

So many things pop into my head from reading this thread. Like, let’s say the CF is being released first. How many of you who design courses are going to purchase it, as I don’t see the developers releasing it for free, design courses, not knowing if or when a game will be available to play them on or if the game will even work, let alone be any good. Plus, I wonder what the CF purchase price will be, will it be something your willing to invest in, with an unknown game. Then when the game comes out, will your designed course even work with it or do you have to start over again to make it compatible. Not to mention, how could PP release a game that no one can play as it has no courses.

 

Larry hit on an interesting point, has PP decided to have the community design the courses for their game. That would certainly save them the time, effort, manpower and production costs in the games design. It may even be a way for them to get around the licensing fees for a course. However, that makes me wonder how PP expects to make a profit from the game unless, the CF and the game are exorbitantly priced or even if they plan to charge for user created custom course downloads.

 

The meager and veiled release of information to date by PP is the main source of confusion on my part, leads to my speculations and concerns and until PP provides more detailed information on what they are planning to do and when, I’ll continue to be hopeful but, I’ll also be cautious and skeptical about the game, as that it’s something I have learned about new products coming onto the market.

 

Maybe I’m overreacting and all will become clear one day but, from the tone of this discussion I don’t believe I am.

 

Maverick

 

[Unique]

I don't believe Andrew said outright that there would be no courses released with the game. Every body is reading things that are not there. It seems logical to release CF first so designers (such as me) can build courses with a close to(?/or) finished product so when the game is released there will be plenty to choose from. I have already seen at least 2 Mike Jones courses he is working on as they tweak the CF program. I am confident that they will release some courses at the same time as the game.

There are plenty of designers waiting, the user created courses will be compatible and everything will work out fine. The game will be able to be played both online with others and off line by yourself add to that what K11 said above and that should clear up some confusion.

 

I have no inside information but I know AJ and MJ and I have total confidence in who they are, that whatever they do will be awesome. So I am waiting for them to release things when they are ready knowing PP is in the best hand possible

 

Peter

[Kablammo11]

Easy now, everybody. You are right, Maverick. that should be a different topic...

 

But first, @Vikki: I understand you need to play PG from your hard drive - but can do so with the complete online functionality from TWO: You can play online games against others, join groups, attend online tourneys (and win them, knowing you...) etc. It will look and feel rather like TWO with different graphics, the only difference is that the main bulk of the data - and the task of computing them into a game - will not be accomplished by a distant server (like the one in TWO that disconnected you all the time), but by your own PC. Less data packets need to be hauled around actually making the online experience more stable and adding more options to it, by operating like a "cloud" system instead of a big, clunky EA data hub that doesn't work.

 

@Maverick: I plan to purchase the CF, but would first need to know how it performs - either through beta participation or a demo version. There is an element of risk involved, yes, but I'm desparte for a new, good golf game and there's nobody else around, so there's nothing to lose anyway. Of course, the price will be a factor and I have no idea what it is going to be. I also do not know how PP will resolve the chicken and egg problem, releasing CF and PG together or in sequence. The game, PG, will come with a default stock of golf courses available to everybody (I thought I saw this on an interface picture...), as part of the game package. With time, additional golf courses will appear, made with the CF by the people at PP and/or by those of us who decided to go into course design.

I do not know, because nobody has said anything, if these CF courses will be made available for free of if they will cost something. 

As for the price of it all, it would make no sense whatsoever to ask for exorbitant unit prices at the start. I would suspect that a recurring fee for an online account (playing online, attending online tournaments) will be asked for. Also, extra DLC (Downloadable Content), might come at a cost. And same as TWO and WGT (theoretically) allow for guest players to take part for free - there even might be a guest mode for PG (pure speculation).

Your final point is the most worrying for me, too: We have lapped up the many sweet promises made, stared a pictures and watched videos and conducted advanced Kremlinology on the too few, too cryptic posts made by the Devs. Heck, I shouldn't be answering this, I'm just a guy without any clue myself, guessing away. But I do share your feeling, that talking the talk is about to get old, and that sooner or later they better start walking the walk. At a certain point, they will need to deliver.

[axe360]

Here's what I said:

Well the only beta I would consider testing would be for the Game itself, until we have that, I see no need or have no interest in a Course Architect.. Let's get a working game going before we worry about designing courses... Why put the Cart Before the Horse?

I'm sure to PP they have good reasons but to me, a simple layman I really don't get it...

 

Here is JoeF's response:

 

"Why put the Cart Before the Horse?" 

So there'll be something in it when the horse starts to pull it.  

 

And here is Andrew's answer:

 

What he said, if you dont have any courses to play what use is the game so as a company you have to figure out how you are going to get your content built then design the game around that.  I remember when microsoft released the beta of Links 2001 and all we got initially was the course architect.  The game beta came a couple of months later

 

This is where my confusion started.

You all can read his words for yourself and maybe I misread what Andrew said, that's why we need some clarification.. I, just like Al (Maverick Spirit) will be cautiously waiting ....

What thru me for a loop was, when I mentioned "the game"  I just thought "the game" would come out with already made courses, made by PP, to play..

[bortimus]

 

Your final point is the most worrying for me, too: We have lapped up the many sweet promises made, stared a pictures and watched videos and conducted advanced Kremlinology on the too few, too cryptic posts made by the Devs. Heck, I shouldn't be answering this, I'm just a guy without any clue myself, guessing away. But I do share your feeling, that talking the talk is about to get old, and that sooner or later they better start walking the walk. At a certain point, they will need to deliver.

 

I think this is what happens when people become way too impatient.  I want to see and play the game just as much as anyone, but to over-analyze and become upset just leads to feelings of resentment and people speaking in ultimatums.  Doesn't make much sense to me...

Essentially PP is running as a Mom and Pop operation compared to the big guys out there.  Let's be a little more flexible and not break out the torches just yet lol

[Dazmaniac]

The news section replaced the dev blog.  In there you got news on the fly by tool as well as the physics a week or so ago.  Last week was a long weekend here  (Off Thur Fri Sat Sun so no update) but I am sure there will be more updates this Friday

 

So Friday came and went and haven't seen or heard of any updates. Last news item is still from 28th June.

 

One can only hope the guys are that busy they haven't had tome to post any update news, lol.

 

Unfortunately I fear it's because there is nothing to offer. Only AJ and MJ seem to contribute to threads, Erik posts odd random posts, but no-one else from the team contributes. I'm sure there is more to the project as a whole than just Course Forge and Terrain Converter Tool, so is there any reasons why we don't get updates on other aspects of the project? Are other members of the Dev Team not allowed to share what they are working on with the community?

 

We were led to believe this new site would see 'regular updates' once it was up and running. Oh well.

[Davefevs]

As long as AJ and MJ post from time to time I'm happy. In my world we have specific people to do the comms. You might want be to do the techie stuff, but write stuff for a community....no way! I suspect there are NDAs that stop the devs writing stuff, in case they give something away or get the company into trouble.

Maybe I'm an optimist, but I think they are further ahead than we think....and therefore may have something more polished to show us. I think the dev team has grown so that they are building more quickly.

Here's hoping so!!

[Acrilix]

If this all becomes just a commercial venture rather than a community one then I doubt I'll be playing much of a part in it. Golf course design programs have always come free with the game in the past, and If PP decide to sell the Course Forge as a separate product then I for one do not plan on using it. IMO It would be totally against the community spirit.

I am also totally opposed to vetting user courses for the same reason. The game purchaser should decide whether the quality of a user created course is acceptable to them, not someone else. It is very easy to obtain feedback on a course from user forums before deciding on a download if you have the need to be selective. Everybody's tastes and needs are different anyway. Of course, if courses are to be used for online tournaments then it's a different matter and the Tour directors would need to make this decision.

 

I would love to see a post by the PP devs stating exactly what has been decided so far, both for Course Forge and the game, because at the moment, speculation seems to be the only thing we have. I'm not even sure that the PP team are all on the same page, reading between the lines of what has been posted already, on this and the previous site.

Who in PP actually has the final say?   

[Dazmaniac]

I would just like to see some regular posts from PP, like they said we would get when the site launched.

 

It's not like they have to spend hours adding a post with a few lines of information. I'm not asking for War and Peace type updates, but just regular feedback from the Dev Team, with maybe other members of the Dev Team actually contributing, or are they tied down by some form of NDA I wonder?

[Keith]

Essentially PP is running as a Mom and Pop operation compared to the big guys out there.  Let's be a little more flexible and not break out the torches just yet lol

Agree with this, and I am sure the guys have families and lives to live in addition to this golf venture.  Plus, PG and CF aren't the only thing the guys have on their plate.  Still, many heads here could be cooled if the public relations side of things was ramped up and improved slightly.  The PP team created the rabid anticipation with the brilliant early teases and peeks, we're just antsy and want to know that things are moving along..and sometimes it's better to be shown rather than told.  

[Tigers Agent]

Maybe it's as simple as the dev's have nothing to say at this point?    Ask us what we think of a 2014 Tiger Woods console game? make a comment on what Links did in 2001?

two points that have nothing to do with PP.  

The only thing I want to read about is PP.

I will give PP my support because there is nothing else out there.  I can wait.

[Dazmaniac]

Maybe it's as simple as the dev's have nothing to say at this point?    Ask us what we think of a 2014 Tiger Woods console game? make a comment on what Links did in 2001?

two points that have nothing to do with PP.  

The only thing I want to read about is PP.

I will give PP my support because there is nothing else out there.  I can wait.

 

I would hope they have some minor updates they can share, lol.

 

We have been told that the Dev Team has expanded significantly since the project started, so I would expect they have been working on something for the past 6 months.

 

[Gene315]

I would appreciate it if Andrew and Mike put out any beta game piece. If they don't get feedback that is beneficial, the beta testing could be cancelled.

[LeazesNDR]

I thought those of us that "pledged" last January were gonna got the opportunity to be beta testers.

Is that (still) the case or not?

[Mick-S]

at the moment they seem to be reluctant to tell us anything, not that they have to, so we will have to be patient and hope we get some news soon.