133 replies to this topic

[Mike Jones]

Well as you may have seen from the pics posted in the galleries section, we have been working on a multitude of courses in readiness for the release of the alpha version of PerfectGolf. Now however I have given our newest member of the content team his most difficult and challenging task to date - Steve is going to design and create his first ever course from a blank canvas! 

 

He will be documenting his progress with some pics and his thoughts as well as seeking feedback from people here about his very first foray into golf design. All he has to go on are a few links to golf architecture websites that I sent him and of course his own imagination.

 

I promise it won't be long before you get to design your own course for PerfectGolf but stay tuned, this should be interesting!

[olazaboll]

Excellent !!!! Thks for the input Mike .... and good luck to Steve ... I will stayed tuned 

[Kablammo11]

(Outer voice) Man, I so envy you right now, Steve. Enjoy, you lucky bastard!   

 

(Inner voice) Urgh, another void filler to buy them some time! Stay tuned, he said? Yeah, been doing that for over a year… 

 

(Outer voice again): Don't be a stranger now, Steve. Dazzle us! Go wild! 

[Brucey Mc]

Lucky old Steve

[ChickenLittle99]

Good luck sir...    

[Keith]

This sounds VERY cool.  Will look forward to following along.  Good luck Steve!

[Brucey Mc]

Looking forward to seeing Steve's experiences soon 

[AlanR54NC]

great news. And reading between the lines I take this as a statement that CourseForge is close enough to alpha release that this is a usability test to see how easily someone not completely versed in the design and development of the product can pick it up and be productive.  While still a ways from public consumption, I read this as a promising sign that the developers think they are 'close'

Good Luck Steve, and thanks for the post Mike

[EJ50]

Best of luck Steve........... and Mike!!

[Dazmaniac]

(Outer voice) Man, I so envy you right now, Steve. Enjoy, you lucky bastard!   

 

(Inner voice) Urgh, another void filler to buy them some time! Stay tuned, he said? Yeah, been doing that for over a year… 

 

(Outer voice again): Don't be a stranger now, Steve. Dazzle us! Go wild! 

 

Indeed Steve, like K11 says, don't be a stranger.

 

I'm sure MJ will give you the URL for the forums, lol. It seems that not many folks at PP like coming here, so hopefully you will tip that balance, lol.

 

[Mike Jones]

I kind of like K11's outer voice more     I think as soon as we're good with protecting the code on CF you'll be having something to play around with - it's fully functional and we have already made a large number of courses with it. 

[Steve]

Hey Guys

Thanks for your interest in this learning experience. Below are some screenshots that I took while working on original course that I have been tasked with designing. The front 9 are currently drawn in using Course Forge, the back 9 are currently placed as lines using the Course Forge measurement tool.

In designing this course I've attempted to adopt the philosophy of giving the player options in terms of shot/club selection. I tried to accomplish this through the use of water and bunker placement. Some water will challenge the player to either take a risky shot or play conservatively. I've placed a few bunkers in such a manner as to intimidate the player without making the course much more difficult. This is in an attempt to nurture a sense of accomplishment after completing what would appear to be a difficult hole.

I look forward to hearing your feedback as this my first try at making my own course.  screenShot01.PNG   480.93KB   17 downloads

 screenShot02.PNG   454.31KB   21 downloads  screenShot03.PNG   359.8KB   11 downloads  screenShot04.PNG   556.08KB   8 downloads  screenShot05.PNG   406.02KB   10 downloads  screenShot06.PNG   884.44KB   10 downloads

[Jimbo63]

Good news MJ and enjoy the learning curve Steve

[SouthStPaul]

Steve,

Looks like a good start so far.  In screenshot 5 it appears as though you have placed a bunker in the teeing area.  From a design standpoint I'm not sure what the value would be (unless the idea was to a provide a penalty for going long on the Par 3 (Screenshot 4)).  Is there an option to view the holes as seen in the game (instead of the overhead view)?

Keep up the good work and continue posting as you progress.

SSP

[shimonko]

In screenshot 5 it appears as though you have placed a bunker in the teeing area.

That's just a simulation of what a tee will look like after a day of play in a MMO golf sim.

[TheBigYin519]

Your off to a good start Steve.

let your imagination run riot.

But remember it has to be playable too.

John

[KenR]

Thanks for the update Mike, glad to hear it won't be long now!

Have fun, Steve!

[Mike Jones]

A promising start Steve. Just watch the size of the greens and width of the fairways, it's good to have some variety and most of those greens look quite large as do the general fairway widths. Don't forget that elevations play a huge part in how a course looks and plays, many of those holes look flat as a pancake at the moment. 

 

I've attached an approach view to Crystal Down's 6th hole for some inspiration. 

 

 

Attached Files

•  crystal-approach.jpg   167.31KB   8 downloads

[Kablammo11]

I agree with Mike that the greens seem rather large and the fairways quite wide (both my inner and outer voices do). The green on the par 5 must be 60 yards long or more, which is a bit much.

 

I think I know why that might be: I learned from my own dabblings with Unity that it is really hard to develop a sense of distances and scales, especially on a flat plane. A tape measure is rumoured to be featured in the CourseForge, but this would only offer numeric feedback - the problem remains that the complete lack of any visual reference really plays tricks on your distance perceptions. How big is this? How far is that? With real courses you get all the proper distances for free; with a fictional layout, however, you don't have that luxury. Steve may not have adjusted yet to this challenge, so his dimensions are a bit out of whack… 

 

What is clearly visible already is Steve's declared philosophy of risk/reward and course management: Bunker bottlenecks in driving distance, short, teasing par 4's, potential watery graves… me likey!

 

My main feedback is this, though: This layout needs more doglegs. A lot more. All the holes I'm seeing are basically straight. I recommend a bit more crookedness… one of the most basic attack-or-percentage-choices is to have to decide to take the tiger line or not. Doglegs would massively support the main philosophy.

 

 

Thanks for posting, Steve. Looking forward to more.

[shimonko]

There's some nice holes there Steve. The 490 yard par 5, the 300 yard carry to clear the water from the back tees I feel is possibly too much, especially as people with real simulators will be playing. Here's a handy little chart (it's in yards, figures on gray are swing speeds in mph)--you'll see only 125mph+ swing speeds will be clearing that.
 
http://www.golfwrx.c...gSpeedChart.jpg