55 replies to this topic

[Armand]

As PP failed with their Kickstarter, no one has pledged anything in monetary terms.

 

That is true for the people who pledged to the Kickstarter webpage, but a few of us pledged directly to the PP site.  Money did leave my account (and presumably a few others').  I'm not too upset just yet as I'm hoping my donation has permitted a little bit more development to occur - even if only an additional hour or two!  I'm also hoping that will be noted/remembered when some content becomes available....

 

Armand

[Dazmaniac]

That is true for the people who pledged to the Kickstarter webpage, but a few of us pledged directly to the PP site.  Money did leave my account (and presumably a few others').  I'm not too upset just yet as I'm hoping my donation has permitted a little bit more development to occur - even if only an additional hour or two!  I'm also hoping that will be noted/remembered when some content becomes available....

 

Armand

 

If this is the case Armand, you need to be getting AJ or MJ to look in to it and refund you your monies, if you haven't already.

 

[Ted_Ball]

Just how much money were they asking for on Kickstarter? What would the money be spent on? More staff? Better equipment? Blowed if I know.

 

One thing The Golf Club did that got the jump on everyone was being kickstarted by selling the beta game for $39. How bloody clever. I wonder how much money us mob "Waiting For Pergo" would pay for a game at a given stage of development. I probably would if you could play a few holes of a quality looking game on a quality designed course without cartoon garbage. Whatever you pay comes off the final retail price. It might be a good idea for a number of reasons. But then again maybe not.

 

Cynicism is an ugly thing but it might just be that they aren't pushing along much at all.

[Dazmaniac]

There were several pledge levels for the PP Kickstarter varying from  a few dollars to contributing a larger sum (like all Kickstarter's do). Unfortunately the goal target was a few hundred thousand and it got nowhere near that amount, so bombed.

 

The monies, I would have thought, would have been used to then further develop the game from that point on. As the Kickstarter failed, PP had to look at other avenues to create funds to be able to develop Perfect Golf and Course Forge.

 

They have done this to a degree with signing partnerships for their simulation software, signing a deal with Sky Sports in the UK (think AJ said PP's simulator software would be used in Sky Sports Shot Center on their golf coverage from the USPGA onwards) and I think there was one more deal that was signed at Muirfield Village (but we haven't heard anymore on that since).

 

They have also hit Greenlight over on Steam, but as yet there is nothing for the community to download on steam, so I 'm not sure how long a project can stay Greenlight without then seeing some content made available (don't know what the Steam rules are on that).

 

[Ted_Ball]

Thanks Dazmaniac.

 

I spent the whole day at work yesterday so I had oodles of time to read back through all the old posts I'd missed earlier. I was a bit shocked when I realised how long this saga has been going on. What concerns me is just how little we HAVE seen over that period in regard to Perfect Golf. Sure, we have a release of Course Forge for a few architects but that tells us very little about how far along the development trail the game is. We've seen an avatar whacking a ball, a bit of a flyover, a swing gauge thingy, some golf carts having some fun. Gees, I released something similar in a couple of hours for TBOSG (only kidding).

 

What really concerns me is the lack of concrete announcements about progress, lists of completed areas of the game and the seldomness of those communications. I understand they have no obligation to tell us anything and they probably feel that what they have told us is adequate but my cynical nature is telling me that the lack of revelation is related to the lack of progress. I can imagine how difficult and complex it must be to be developing a golf game and they might be as frustrated as the plebs. They might also be losing interest just as I am rapidly doing.

 

Oh, the game will come out eventually and I will be the first in the queue - to check out the gameplay on Youtube!!! I'll know within five minutes just how simulating and stimulating the game will turn out to be and whether it's worthwhile. And not just the gameplay. There are other huge considerations for me to buy the game if it's not going to be Free2Play (which is very unlikely). Healthy and vibrant competition is a must. I believe that bums on seats and keeping them there is the true measure of success and not the immediate financial return to the publishers - but that's another matter.

[IanD]

Oh Teddy... not you too....

 

No news isn't a case of losing interest... if so, would we really even have a Course Forge to beta test... would we have an alpha version of Perfect Golf to be able to see K11's course in a prebuild version ?

 

Granted, it isn't a narrative from the PP guys, nor is it displayed in one singular place regarding any project stamp completion dates etc. This isn't one of those companies though...  it's almost a slightly unique experience and development. The current state of affairs at this precise moment in time, is squarely on the simulator version they are developing. So, whilst this doesn't affect us, it will in terms of supporting this end of the product,likely both financially and portability.  Again, this doesn't mean things stand totally still..

 

As to areas of completion.... there is a ball but there isn't any bats at the moment... we have some courses to walk though, so nothing can be spoiled too much..

[Ted_Ball]

I hate to say this but it sounds very much like PG could become an "industry joke".

[Kablammo11]

What really concerns me is the lack of concrete announcements about progress, lists of completed areas of the game and the seldomness of those communications. I understand they have no obligation to tell us anything and they probably feel that what they have told us is adequate but my cynical nature is telling me that the lack of revelation is related to the lack of progress...

 

The last two weeks, based on additional input from the private Forums for beta testers:

 

• CF June 19th update, minor bug fix - shadow bug fix (shadows not displaying properly on some textures)
• CF June 28th update, major bug fix - seams now blend properly (downloading the Mac version did not work, though)
• During this period: Devs have been mostly AWOL; MJ popped in to say they were all crazy-busy preparing a presentation for a simulation thingy (Simtech?).
• PP is focussing on finishing and releasing the simulator version of the game these days.
• CF is considered almost ready for public consumption, but there still is the problem of exporting course builds made in the Unity free version into a file that the game can open and use. 
• Next main area of PP focus, the PG PC game - It probably will require the addition of a player animation, a new swing meter and an entirely redesigned GUI in order to start releasing alpha versions.
• I just went and checked PP on FB and Twitter; nothing new.

 

Yes, Teddy, it shouldn't be little old me telling you any of this. And for that matter, I'm not inside the loop and what I listed above is not necessarily right. Yes, communication and public relations are painfully inadequate - though, by default, refreshingly low on BS when compared to other game companies. And yes, progress is slow and frustratingly unglamourous - watching paint dry is pure excitement in constrast.

The reason why I hang out around here nevertheless and try to overcome regular periods of pessimistic disentchantment is that when I consider what I'm looking for in computer golf - even in this day and age of EA's "Return of the Non-Tiger", HBS's "The Golf Club", WGT and Winning Putt - this one here is the one I would most like to become a reality. 

[Mick-S]

At least we have some info from you Kablammo, so thanks for that.
I have no problem waiting for PG, it`s CF that I want, I know Mike said whats the the point of having CF without the game, well the point is we get to learn how to use it before the game arrives, I am more into designing courses than actually playing, when I designed for TW08 the only time I played was on the Clambakers Tour and play testing my courses, the sooner CF gets released the better.
Did I read somewhere that there are about 40 courses already made, does anyone know if they are real / fantasy or some of each ?.

[Ted_Ball]

That's a nice list of Course Forge development K11 unfortunately it doesn't reduce my pessimism about the release of PG. Like Mick-S, I would be happy to shut up if there was a CF release soon and I would even be happy if there was only an announcement about how close to a release CF is.  

 

Maybe some resources could have been made available for the game development instead of building 40 courses. It sort of reminds me of TWO where the only resources were obviously put on to making clown suits and diving outfits.

 

Wouldn't it be nice though even if there was an open and honest announcement about how painful and inadequate the development is. It's not a good look to start a forum over a year ago and at this point in time having no foreseeable date for an early build test. It was especially disturbing that there was some evidence that people had donated money. True or not it was disturbing.

 

Hey, they owe me nothing all the same. Good luck to them. But I've seen it all before.

[Kablammo11]

Wouldn't it be nice though even if there was an open and honest announcement about how painful and inadequate the development is...

 

Teddy, dude, I'm a beta tester - They get to hear from me a lot over in the private rooms, and not only niceties. It can't possibly get more painful and inadequate. They had to allocate resources into those 40 courses - because a golf sim or game without any playable, virtual real estate would be quite pointless.

 

Shouldn't you be working on your novel RNG shot making mechanism right now, instead of trying to ellicit some sort of official statement with the classic passive-aggressive "I can't take it anymore"-method? They are immune to that, I tried a year ago, too. They also do not react to threats ("Answer me now or I will leave forever"), to provoking  (Ha! I always said it was vaporware!), to urgent rushing (You've got to come out with it now or company XY will squeeze you out of the market!") or to pitiful begging (Please, I need my golf fix).

 

And if you, Teddy, really had lost interest or were about to do so, your last two posts would be quite futile. So either lose interest and find it again at some later date (or not), or man up and go regale us with your deep musings about the short game and putting in the TBOSG. Please... 

 

 

 

[AlanR54NC]

in the glass half-full mode I tend to look at PG this way: (and Yes, I agree that more official  status updates would be nice)

The fact that the simulation product is nearing production / release is to me a good sign. That means the game engine is in place and working. What is left for us PC users is converting from sensor input to mouse/game pad input. Sure that's over simplified  but I do see it as good news

Yep. I'd love to have a game in my hands now, but I at least "think" I see progress

Just my 2 cents

[Ted_Ball]

Well, that's exactly what I was doing K11. Trying to elicit some response. All we get is some minor news from Chemical (Comical) Ali.

 

And I've had to put TBOSG on hold for a few years while I allocate resources to my simulation thingy. I had trouble getting hold of a bedsheet and some pegs to hang it off the clothesline and get some more texta colours (the ones in the bottom drawer in the kitchen had dried out) so I could sketch the golf course on the sheet - so much green - so I can then whack some balls into it. I've seen one of those simulation 'thingies' years and years ago. At the cost it was obviously only for the rich young corporate types to have some brief fun. I passed.

 

It's like the zookeeper only feeding the white elephants while the rest of the menagerie goes hungry.

[IanD]

As a further update...

 

I am only working 4 hours today, I took some allotted holiday time to safely collect my wife today from the weekly food shopping trip. I shall endeavour to do the husbandy thing once home (scarper into the pc room). This weekend is a collection of jobs, gardening and car stuff... plus a garage to reduce items within project is ongoing. So... in summary ;

 

• july 11th weekly shopping trip completed
• july 13th garden maintenance completed
• july 13th car headlights and general fluid level check completed
• july 13th garage reducer project ongoing...

 

I hope that helps someone

 

[Davefevs]

It is of use to Mrs Ian....but only if she is on these forums!

[Davefevs]

....she'll moan if you don't meet those aspirational milestones, and don't forget to give her updates!