22 replies to this topic

[Andrew]

Ok another week and another update.  I stuck with this for three weeks now, the only downside sometimes with weekly updates is that you dont have much to say.

 

We have completed the rework on our camera system for now.  We have also been updating all our course files (over 50 now) to our latest build version of Course Forge.  A lot of bug clean up has continued but the big piece of work currently underway is the whole resume restart round.  Our game auto saves the round after each shot and allows a networked game to resume without the remaining players having to restart unless the host is the one who crashes out or loses his internet connection.  Basically if you crash out when you restart you will be able to select resume on next start and you will just be placed directly back into the in progress game.

Some minor UI tweaks

 

 

 

[KenR]

Thanks once again AJ for the update.... it's appreciated!

[karma4u]

Understand Andrew, but even checking in each week just to say hi, etc. is a good thing and much appreciated..........Cheers

[Acrilix]

I think everyone here appreciates regular updates, however minimal or repetitive they may be. It conveys the feeling of progress that we are all so desperate to see.   

[IanD]

Just hearing a kettle boil means someone is at home...

[Perculator]

Just hearing a kettle boil means someone is at home...

Yes, and that "tee" will be ready at some point. I too like the weekly updates.

[IanD]

Lovin' that Perculator... it could almost be only you who reply to my comment lol...

[fungolfer]

Nah Ian

 

I love the fact to hear some words from AJ once in a while, even if it would be all 2 weeks it would be great. We were waiting so long for updates on progress, so every week or every two weeks doesn't matter too much to me personally

[Olbluiiis]

I said it before and I will say it again. Bravo on the weekly updates, regardless of how minimal they may be. 

[ebbwmikey]

well done Andrew keep up the good work looks like we almost there

[Sinewiz]

Just hearing a kettle boil means someone is at home...

Not necessarilly. Sometimes it just means someone left the stove on. 

[Badzyy]

Just checked in after a couple of months and so glad to see that things are moving forward!! Really can't wait for early access, been searching for a decent golf sim for ages. Thanks heaps for all the updates!

[clint]

I think everyone here appreciates regular updates, however minimal or repetitive they may be. It conveys the feeling of progress that we are all so desperate to see.   

Yes!!!

[noelw1969]

I really need to state that PP need to get into position to put something out soon.

 

There is still a massive gap in this market. We have already seen the death of TWO and Golf Star, WGT sounds like its about to crumble into oblivion. The rest just ain't up to scratch.

 

Then there is HBS The Golf Club. Their update this week seems to have brought the game to its knees. I can barely play and my mate cannot even hit his tee shot anymore !! There are those promoting TGC as the best golf game ever but I can assure you all that it ain't. I was playing better stuff on my old 386 in the early 90's !!

 

Graphics are good, yes, but that's about all. The is little by way of structure or purpose to the game and the gameplay itself is lacking to say the least. People praise the putting as the best they have seen but imo, its the worst I have ever seen.

 

Not so long ago, forum opinion seemed to be very much in favour of the game and its progress. It is my belief that those people, henceforth called "purists", are very slowly but very surely getting the game shaped around their wishes and there is no evidence that these people actually know what they are talking about. However, with the impending release of the game, it seems that overall opinion might be turning and the purists are now being drowned out by those who have previously watched and listened and now can hold their silence no more.

 

I have tried to have my say but even with my extensive knowledge and experience of console golf and particularly TWO (at which I was once world ranked No.1), I was stamped upon by these purists and just accused of being an arcade player. I have also seen others derided for having negative comments or trying to point out faults in the game (moderators allowed this to happen !!). As a result of all of this I am now as eager as I ever was to see PP get going. 

 

Updates about progress are all well and good but what I want is a 75% accurate estimate as to any release, whether Beta or otherwise. Lets remember that this was originally slated for release in the last quarter of 2013. You are now very nearly 1 year late on that !!

[shimonko]

I somehow think PP realize. They've probably got investors breathing fire, contractual deadlines and getting nagged by their families.

 

Startups are hard, and very stressful. You haven't the money to add the manpower you'd like, and even if you did, new staff delay existing staff. Hiring is a nightmare--even experienced developers (if you can afford them) can be hit or miss.

 

The TW games were produced of course by one the largest gaming companies in the world, evolving over a long period and have set unrealistically high expectations for version 1 of a game by far smaller developers. Links also evolved over many years, backed by Microsoft and further developed by the community.  I developed for one of the largest gaming companies in the world through the 90's and we had 300 software engineers and another 50 full time paid testers, back then! 

 

HB Studios would have 50-100 staff, plus IIRC have developed about 40 sporting titles over the last 15 years. Despite that experience, they released TGC and are getting murdered. They would have known about many of its problems, but had no choice because of commercial realities. It's a no-win, you just have to protect your head and sacrifice your body for the beating. PP are giving us their body I suspect.

 

Wayne Dyer was once frustrated on a bus because of screaming kids so he told their father to control them. The father apologized, stating his mind was elsewhere trying to work out how to tell his kids their mother had just died. You just don't know what's going on behind the scenes.

[Parboy]

Did i miss the progress update for the 11th and 18th?

[Kablammo11]

...You didn't, Parboy. There wasn't any.

 

But there should be a word or two. So here's my inofficial news from the private Alpha/Beta side of tthings. Since I'm just a guy without much of a clue, I too would prefer that somebody of authority would provide these infos. Absent such a personal appearance, here's what I know:

 

A new Alpha Dev Build of PG has been issued to us testers for a round of feedback two weeks ago. That feedback was subsequently submitted by many of us. The latest version was a significant improvement compared to the previously issued pre-alpha and let's just say that the direction of this project is very encouraging, imo, even though it's still quite a bit away from its destination. Major points currently being debated (unilaterally, the Devs are quite taciturn these days), are the best possible putting method and the most suitable swing meter to enact it, and also the positioning(s) of the current in-game cameras as well as suggestions for a few new ones.

The Devs have announced that they want to invite a few more PG alpha testers in (Oh boy, brace for a flood of online candidacies now...). Chances are that, as we speak, a few more have been contacted.

 

Not much on the CF side, currently. Word is that the next iteration (whenever that will be), might contain a path tool. Also, very big on the agenda, is to add a functionality that will let designers define out-of-bounds areas, unplayable areas and water harzards. And, of course, we are still waiting on a way to excavate pot bunkers.

 

No ETA's on the next steps have been announced to us.

[Stephen Sullivan]

Due to lack of updates, I have gone back to working in APCD. I am building a memorial course for my friend Mick Lenton.

Perhaps I might be able to transfer it into Course Forge if us mere mortals ever get our hands on it  

[IanD]

As K11 stated Stephen, the PG is likely to see more alpha testers... not the CF. Sorry fella... but you never know...

[Stephen Sullivan]

Too be honest Ian I have lost interest.  Always seem to have been one of those people whose face doesn't fit all my life.

 

But it's there loss