60 replies to this topic

[Buck]

...I play all golf games I can get my hands on including TGC. 

 

Almost fell over reading this!

Amazing!

[Mike Jones]

Almost fell over reading this!

Amazing!

 

What  - you think none of the guys at HB studios have ever played PG? 

[Buck]

What  - you think none of the guys at HB studios have ever played PG? 

 

ha!  I have no idea what to expect anymore..

 

I hope for their sake they do play it and learn a bit about how to make their controller swing more challenging...

[mebby]

ha!  I have no idea what to expect anymore..

 

I hope for their sake they do play it and learn a bit about how to make their controller swing more challenging...

THIS!  If they could do what PP has done with the controller swing (if only as an optional/alternate mode of play) then I think they'd have a much, much better game with broader appeal.

 

Although - it would render many of the courses useless as they are mostly geared towards the current control methods which are far to exact and easy (except for putting).

[DoGgs]

I have invested a lot of time in TGC, and HB have gone the extra mile with GNCD features, their recent texture pack was much appreciated by myself and others, but they need to now concentrate on the golf rather than the designer.  With TGCT being so popular i think they feel the game is fine as is, well if you enjoy birdie being the new par then it is! personally it is not for me, every round is devoid of variation, i seem to place each shot in the same old places, i also find that i build a course then play it prob 2 or 3 times and thats it, hardly worth bothering, i won't be designing in GNCD anymore, course forge holds way more appeal and replay value.

   Even if HB make much needed changes to the game its not gonna come close to PG, they will still have their super smooth carpet like textures, the spy glass putting system, which since i started playing PG with the controller seems like a hand holding experience in comparison. They will still have the never quite right firmness and speed settings, and they will prob still have the simplified short game.

       I will wait and see what HB do with TGC in the coming months but until then i am out and concentrating on PG.

[mebby]

I have invested a lot of time in TGC, and HB have gone the extra mile with GNCD features, their recent texture pack was much appreciated by myself and others, but they need to now concentrate on the golf rather than the designer.  With TGCT being so popular i think they feel the game is fine as is, well if you enjoy birdie being the new par then it is! personally it is not for me, every round is devoid of variation, i seem to place each shot in the same old places, i also find that i build a course then play it prob 2 or 3 times and thats it, hardly worth bothering, i won't be designing in GNCD anymore, course forge holds way more appeal and replay value.

   Even if HB make much needed changes to the game its not gonna come close to PG, they will still have their super smooth carpet like textures, the spy glass putting system, which since i started playing PG with the controller seems like a hand holding experience in comparison. They will still have the never quite right firmness and speed settings, and they will prob still have the simplified short game.

       I will wait and see what HB do with TGC in the coming months but until then i am out and concentrating on PG.

Well said.  There are a lot of GOOD things about TGC as well but overall, PG is absolutely my game of choice.

 

I think if HB found a way to do something similar to what PG has done in terms of controller swing (RTSC) then they game would be much, much better.  But you are absolutely right - once you've played a course, it feels like it's just a game of trying to perfect every single shot each time you play it and there's zero variety.    It also feels like you're playing a course inside a very small setting/atmosphere.

 

PG is basically the opposite of all that.  Every round, every shot, feels different.  And when you're on the course you get the sense that you're in a large, expansive landscape.

[Buck]

It also feels like you're playing a course inside a very small setting/atmosphere.

I've always felt that way too...why is that?
What are they doing/not that's making things feel that way?

[mebby]

I've always felt that way too...why is that?
What are they doing/not that's making things feel that way?

I've never really been able to put my finger on it but things just feel out of scale in TGC.

[DoGgs]

Yes its a weird scale thing, i recently made a course using the trace method, one hole had a lone oak tree near the 18th green, so i line up the hole over google earth, the dimensions are all worked out through measurements, i scroll thru the trees and pull an oak tree to cover the one shown in google earth and its twice the size, i have no way of making it smaller because its already at its default size.  I then playtest the hole and when you get to the green you see this tree dominating the area, its really weird and hard to explain, but you just knew that it was all wrong. you don't notice it as much when making fictional tracks or tracks with trees set back from the fairway.  I remade sahalee in game many months ago and every hole is tree lined, its like playing in the cretacious period...trees look massive, i was half expecting a t-rex to burst from the forest.

[Buck]

@Dogz:  Interesting..

So do they (TGC devs) not realize the problem?  

Or is it perhaps done intentionally to make everything look better?  (more massive, epic..etc, etc)

[DoGgs]

I honestly have no idea, they are aware of the need to reduce tree size, i've mentioned it before to one of the devs but nothing has been done about it.  I also remember playing one of crazy cannucks courses a while back, not sure which one but it was in the swiss theme set around a lake.  Now cannuck likes to make holes that give you a nice view from the tee, down the fairway with bunkers popping into view.  I remember playing a tee shot on one hole that came to rest in the FW with a bunker a few feet to my right, from the tee this bunker pops nicely and look quite normal.  Before i took my 2nd shot i hit F12 for screen shot mode, and panned back away from my golfer, thats when you see the scale of things, this bunker was massive! just as wide as the fairway, snake like in appearance and about 100 yds long. From the tee it could have been a plain old 10-15 yd bunker, it was then i realised cannucks little trick for wow factor tee views, make them massive and your course will pop...it's never been my way, very rare will i create a bunker that is so huge in scale, fictional or not.

[Buck]

It seems interesting that they've done nothing about it…

Weren't they at one time touting the relationship with Greg Norman and how he was going to use their designer for actual course layout or something like that?

It seems like such a scenario would require accurate sizing of different elements to get the proper perspective and look to match real life.

[Dazmaniac]

I occasionally read the off topic PG thread they have to see how upset some of them get about PG, and yesterday I see references in some posts to TGC2.

They shifting focus already?

I much prefer the iRacing and hopefully PG method of continually updating an existing product.

[Buck]

I occasionally read the off topic PG thread they have to see how upset some of them get about PG, and yesterday I see references in some posts to TGC2.

They shifting focus already?

I much prefer the iRacing and hopefully PG method of continually updating an existing product.

 

I think the continual update method works...to a point...

It's unrealistic to expect it to be indefinite though, as it's so costly to do major feature overhauls and from scratch development.  That can get hard to fund with DLC type of purchases.

 

I think TGC is working on something in the way of v2.  Anthony hasn't denied it but is a bit defensive about the suggestion.  That's all expected, but the fact is that he has all of the sudden taken a rather public interest in finding out why people like things certain ways and why they claim they'd like certain features...

 

Also, they are criticized for their overly simplistic swing mechanic + lawn dart dial-a-distance "lofting gauge" thing.  I think to re-attack that issue might require a more substantial overhaul than is commonly realized....  i.e.  a version 2 of the game.

[Acrilix]

TGC2 is just a hopeful user rumour which has not been verified by HB. Many of us are hoping for it simply because the game can't really progress significantly without it. The code just won't allow for the major changes necessary to take the game forward to the next level. I think it'll happen though because HB didn't seem to be happy with the DLC route they tried and they are going to need more revenue from somewhere, just as PP will.

[Buck]

...the DLC route

 

...is often a tough sell, as is the monthly recurring.  

 

It's one reason I personally prefer the charge me one time per year ($40-50) and tie it in with a major update of some kind (like we just had w/ PG) to make the sell compelling.

 

Wasn't the TGC DLC a season mode or something?

 

The problem with that (as the only source of $$) is that it's highly optional and thus isn't necessarily a good source of much needed revenue for longer term project goals.

[mebby]

I think the continual update method works...to a point...

It's unrealistic to expect it to be indefinite though, as it's so costly to do major feature overhauls and from scratch development.  That can get hard to fund with DLC type of purchases.

 

I think TGC is working on something in the way of v2.  Anthony hasn't denied it but is a bit defensive about the suggestion.  That's all expected, but the fact is that he has all of the sudden taken a rather public interest in finding out why people like things certain ways and why they claim they'd like certain features...

 

Also, they are criticized for their overly simplistic swing mechanic + lawn dart dial-a-distance "lofting gauge" thing.  I think to re-attack that issue might require a more substantial overhaul than is commonly realized....  i.e.  a version 2 of the game.

I'd actually really like to see TGC improve their swing mechanic.  Well... completely overhaul it is a better way of saying it.

 

I think they've got an interesting game but it just has very limited appeal to those that can't accept birdie as the new par (like me).  I think there's room in the market for a more arcade like game (and I'm thinking more in terms of the super polished textures more than the gameplay) if they get the core game play to be more challenging and engaging.

[Buck]

I've been pretty surprised with how much success App developers on iOS are having with "patronage" and/or donations as you go, when you feel like it.

 

I'd highly recommend PP set something like that up (in addition to all other plans) - I know I for sure would have thrown a $10 spot in after this most recent update.  Just sort of "token of appreciation" type stuff.

 

Laugh all we want, but there is a LOT of money coming into iOS devs from this method (and Podcast hosts too).  It lets people express happiness towards the company/dev/host at the time of the happiness.

[mebby]

I've been pretty surprised with how much success App developers on iOS are having with "patronage" and/or donations as you go, when you feel like it.

 

I'd highly recommend PP set something like that up (in addition to all other plans) - I know I for sure would have thrown a $10 spot in after this most recent update.  Just sort of "token of appreciation" type stuff.

 

Laugh all we want, but there is a LOT of money coming into iOS devs from this method (and Podcast hosts too).  It lets people express happiness towards the company/dev/host at the time of the happiness.

I agree.  It really is surprising how much money people make this way. 

[DoGgs]

I had a message from Anthony over at TGC a few weeks ago regarding TGC's vision for this year, i think people can forget TGC2 that aint gonna happen, i won't disclose what he said exactly for obvious reasons, but the changes he mentioned for the coming months give me hope for a more realistic experience with the game in terms of difficulty, i think if they remove the simplicity of the flop and pitch and do away with the dial a distance, then TGC will be a much better game for it.