36 replies to this topic

[Mike Jones]

We will be including some ready made 'plots' along with CourseForge which will be planted with trees, bushes, lakes etc and will already have some undulations. You'll then be able to take your virtual bulldozer and have at it.

 

This is how real golf courses are made and it will make it much easier for people making their first course to get started.

[IanD]

That's great Mike...

 

I can see a library developing though... starting with types of ready made "plots"..

 

• Basic Standard Plot (1600 x 1600) ?
• Large Plot (2400 x 2400) ?
• Basic Long Course (1200 x 1600)
• Basic Long Large (2400 x 1600)
• Coastline Course

 

This can go on, and whilst many can raise and lower themselves, it's difficult to know where to draw the line..

[Kablammo11]

I think the plot idea will make CF a lot more accessible to a lot of people and tempt more folk into trying their hand at course design. Since these files easily can be 200+ MB large, perhaps downloading them from a dedicated server would be easier than importing each one and having it sit on your HD.

[IanD]

Aah the dreaded course filesize looms... good point. I had forgotten the filesize was only 60-100mb (as quoted elsewhere) once compressed into PG.

 

I'm hopeful there can be "other" aids offered to help offer a variety of directions.

[highfade]

I assume there is no way to reverse the process from PG course file to an editable Unity project file. So we'll have to keep some very big files in a safe place   

[Unique]

My memory takes me back to an Expansion pack Mike released with a very nice coast line (and some textures) in it.

 

Peter

[nyt1976]

I too have tried to get to grips with Unity - interesting would be an apt word for the results.

 

Am I right in surmising that CF isn't going to be as easy as we first thought when watching Mikes hole in 15 minute video?

[Kablammo11]

Am I right in surmising that CF isn't going to be as easy as we first thought when watching Mikes hole in 15 minute video?

 

You will find that CF is going to be surprisingly easy, nyt976 and that it won't take you much time or effort to create your own Par 3 with it in 15 minutes.

The bad news? You still will need to work a lot with Unity: Terrain contours, vegetation, water, bulkheads etc… 

[axe360]

I believe this thread was starting because some of us love to recreate REAL courses and that is mostly what the OP was asking about..

 

However, having CF ship with some pre-made plots for fantasy courses is a very good idea. It has been done in the past and worked out gr8 for folks making fantasy courses, so they can grasp the course designer without worrying about all the elevation work... But it seems to me, that isn't going to be to difficult to do from what I am seeing... Elevation work that is...

[Mick-S]

axe360

one thing I would say for real courses is a heightmap is a must have, otherwise not much harder doing elevation work as in TW just different.

[LasseThid]

I just completed the Udemy course shimonko linked to and I managed to score 92 on the quiz having done it all in one go. LOL

Great tutorial on how to use Unity even though much of it is overkill for working with CF. Still nice to find out how to use 3D sounds...

[shimonko]

Yeah, just stick to the sections I mentioned.

 

3d sounds I'm suspecting will be supported in the game and it would be nice to say hear leaves rustling as you get close to the trees, but information overload at this stage if you're doing this course. PG might even add the rustling sounds automatically.

[nightowl]

Well, I surprised myself and monkeyed around with Unity.  Fairly easy to use (after a little trial and error).  With textures, I'm never sure what to set the resolution to.  Any suggestions?  Also, I'm thinking about importing an actual terrain file.  Where can I find such a file to experiment with?

[Mick-S]

  Where can I find such a file to experiment with?

that's a damn good idea, hopefully someone will upload one for us to try.

[Kablammo11]

Well, I surprised myself and monkeyed around with Unity.  Fairly easy to use (after a little trial and error).  With textures, I'm never sure what to set the resolution to.  Any suggestions?  Also, I'm thinking about importing an actual terrain file.  Where can I find such a file to experiment with?

 

Most Unity standard textures usally come at either 512 or 1024 pixels in size. CF also uses these two sizes.

 

If you want to import something, then not a terrain file, but rather a height map. It needs to be in grayscale mode and in Raw format for Unity to be able to work with it. Go find height maps under Google Images, convert them to Raw, give them a size of either 1025 or 2049, create a new terrain in Unity and import your height map under terrain settings.

Or, use the terrain brushes to create your own terrain.

 

Those texture numbers are a bit confusing. There are historical reasons for why they are like this and by now they just are like shoe sizes - nobody knows why they are what they are, but everybody uses them nonetheless even though they have outlived the true reason for being what they are.

[nightowl]

Thanks for the quick reply, K.  Much appreciated!

[olazaboll]

We will be including some ready made 'plots' along with CourseForge which will be planted with trees, bushes, lakes etc and will already have some undulations. You'll then be able to take your virtual bulldozer and have at it.

 

This is how real golf courses are made and it will make it much easier for people making their first course to get started.

This sounds really great ... then you dont have stort start exactly from scratch.

 

Is it possible with one or two plots that also inlcudes a Shoreline ?