With the new year came the golf game we were all waiting for.
I posted my initial (first look) review on 2 Feb and it was glowing. The game looked good and had so much potential. I, as a former Links player since Links 98, was in my element. This was the perfect game for me. Links style feel with next gen qualities.
Here we are in the last week of March, almost 3 months after launch.
The game has not moved on in so many ways. I still enjoy the way the game feels but if this is going to compete with other golf games out there then we need to see more progress 3 months in.
USER INTERFACE : The user end of the game needs to tighten up. It still look amateurish with all of the peoples names down one side. The user experience needs to be polished with a high end product feel about it. Think about Links 2003 when trying to visualize this element. Links opened up with a beautiful splash screen and great background music. The buttons were solid looking and everything could be accessed from the main screen. The options were almost limitless and each player could create their own experience which i feel is paramount to real success with this game. A game that came out 12 years ago still has that vibrancy about it. This needs to be replicated in some way. Please make it look polished like its a luxury game.
ONLINE EXPERIENCE : This is one part of the game i think it truly excels at. I have a strong wifi connection and i am using a powerful alienware laptop and i have never experienced any issues with playing online. The watching camera needs a lot of work but please remember this is more of a gimmick than anything else. We want to play good golf with our friends online and chat about the experience. I don't need to stand at a certain angle to watch my friend play for this to work. What i do need is more information about his shot and my shot. Where have our balls finished? Who had the longest drive on that hole? How far have both players (or more) got to go? More information is needed on opponents lies and distance and instead of the stupid green and red dots on our fairways outlining the correct route, populate the overhead cam with players balls, colour coded to match their shirts.
PLAYING INTERFACE : When playing golf, whether online or not, we need to ramp up the options to individuals. I for one enjoy the view of my player quite small so i am further back with a wider field of view. I can amend this in the ugly function options but this needs to be built into the interface (panoramic anyone?). We should be overwhelmed with the amount of options available to us and a plethora of sliders to fine tune our experience. We need all of our on screen info (swing gauge/overhead map/score info etc) to be move-able and resize-able. Customization is the key and something that needs urgent attention. Going back to options we really need more camera options and in-picture camera options. As ive said before, if this was achievable in 2002/03 then i'm sure it can at least be replicated here. I know that the mathematics behind the shot calculations are different but surely an in picture reverse camera option is a must in modern day PC golf.
I will list a few other playing interface issues i have:
1. The grid option should be able to be used when on or close to the green only (much better than having to click it on and off each time)
2. I would like to have a quick view camera to snap to where i place my marker. This way i can gauge the width of a fairway or the slop on the green in first view rather than just relying on the flyover each time.
3. The scorecard caters for Hole, Par, Yards and SI. It populates my score but lacks any other statistics such as , FIR, GIR, Putts, Scramble Stats etc . This needs to be coupled with the option of saving your score as a file which will wrap up all of the information required when trying to verify a score for say a tour or ladder website. Currently people are screen printing their scorecards and manually inputting their other stats (this is too long winded and will not do if user websites are to be successful).
4. The weather options are terrible. While the rain has been improved somewhat, i would like a myriad of options when it comes to weather such as a rain slider for strength of rain, same options for snow. The environment needs to be affected by the weather in play (will we see small puddles on dips in fairways and bunkers, will we see our golfer don a wet suit as an option).
5. The settings menu should be faded until hovered over.
6. Differentiate between shot count (3rd shot) and score (-2) : maybe a different colour or font
7. To a lesser degree it would be nice to change the way our golfers look. From clothing to stature, design of shirts, shoes , balls, clubs, hats ...you name it, the public like to tinker with their player. Then saving it would be the best way forward to allow players to form their own identity. Self design shirts would be a good option then for example a PG Tour website could issue a shirt with their own logo on representing their tour.
I suppose ultimately we are talking about options, options, options but in different guises. The more options relating to the playing experience (camera/sounds/look/feel/colours of user golfer/colours of swing gauge etc).
PLAYING THE GAME : There are still many elements which need some urgent attention, as follows:
1. The ball still rolls in the deep rough
2. The thinner trees still have no real affect on the ball
3. The ball bounces out of a bunker > or bounces / rolls along in it (not replicating sand qualities at all)
4. The slopes on the green have little or no affect on the power of the approach putt. If i have a 30ft putt which is 20 inches uphill then i can still click the gauge to 30ft and it will reach the hole almost every time. I would expect the slope to take its toll and come up a couple of feet short at least. This needs to be looked at. Downhill putts seems to work slightly better.
5. When on follow cam we sometimes follow the ball under the mesh if from a raised to lower position. Such a basic flaw.
6. The wind does not interact with the ball as much as i feel it should (open to interpretation).
7. The sidehill lies do not interact with the shot result as much as i feel it should (open to interpretation).
8. When re-entering Perfect Golf from my desktop (maybe to look at an email mid-round) the overhead view represents an inverted view of my golfer (very strange).
9. Still get many white dots on the green when assessing some putts.
As i said before, i really like the game and will continue to play it and enjoy it. I am just declaring my viewpoint on what would make it better and a more enjoyable experience for all.
Please give us more courses to play on - you say that you have many ready already ...so let us play on them...please. Variety is the spice of life.
You will have my undoubted support throughout this process.
I thank you for all of your hard work (thank you for listening).
Keep on swinging.
Regards
Ollybobbles
Don't quite understand what you find boring about PP unless it's the lack of arcade features and lending itself more as a simulation. 
