281 replies to this topic

[JCat04]

As most of you know, the Windows 10 version of Jack Nicklaus Perfect Golf is in development for a possible release as early as Quarter 1, 2017. This looks to be a crossroads for the game in terms of its broader market success and longevity. Gamers are likely going to have to go the Windows 10 route to experience the benefits of DirectX 11/12, Unity 5.5>, NVIDIA Turf Effects (3-D grass), SpeedTree GPU instancing, new higher-res mo-capped golfers, and career mode.  I thought it would be interesting to gauge the current community's posture on this issue and elicit some opnions concerning it.

 

NOTE: I added the 5th and 6th options - "Buy the XBox One version, or later the PS4 version instead" and "Buy both the Windows 10 PC and one, or both console versions"  because all reports suggest that they will feature most, if not all, of the perks of the Windows 10 PC version of the game.

[stopits back]

My only concern with this game going forward is this.

1. It "feels" like the dev team are loosing interest (if it ever was there) in normal players concerns about the direction of the game, it "feels" like we have a very small group of people who want this game to be a "true golf sim in every way possible" no matter of the concerns of other players, i don't think this will work well in the console market, most people who use consoles IMO ARE CASUAL gamer who want to have fun playing games not bring their actual golfing talent or lack of to the console, only my op. 

[JCat04]

My only concern with this game going forward is this.

1. It "feels" like the dev team are loosing interest (if it ever was there) in normal players concerns about the direction of the game, it "feels" like we have a very small group of people who want this game to be a "true golf sim in every way possible" no matter of the concerns of other players, i don't think this will work well in the console market, most people who use consoles IMO ARE CASUAL gamer who want to have fun playing games not bring their actual golfing talent or lack of to the console, only my op. 

 

I'm glad you brought this up because it seems to be a growing concern among the folks who opine in this less than scientific sample of the market.  The game still offers Rookie, Hacker, and Amateur difficulty levels with a pretty impressive arsenal of swing aids and performance tools. If the game defaults to Hacker or Amateur difficulty, with their default aids, I would think that  would present a fairly manageable challenge to the beginning, "casual" player.  The game also defaults to "Perfect" greens, so I personally can't point to that and say it is one of the recent changes that's taking the game in the wrong direction. I take it you wouldn't agree with that?  If not, please explain why.

[JoeBradley]

I voted to buy Win 10 version as existing Steam user, despite reservations of that distribution platform. No brainer, really, given that I've already racked up several hundred hours on existing version, during which time I've spent a lot, lot more on games that have had just a few hours play.  

[ArcadeHack]

Would not buy as I already own the "Steam" version. though I may consider a Win10 version IF I get it at a reduced cost.

[theclubpro]

Will the w10 version let you play all the courses offline un like the steam version?

[flyer01]

I have no intentions of buying a win 10 version. Over a year ago I spent more than I should have for a new computer (win 8.1) just to play JNPG ( trying to eliminate stutters and it didn't work ). Now I would probably have to spend over 200 bucks for a win 10 OS. With PG taking a firm stand on the new physics I don't see me spending much more to play this game the way it is. It's just not as much fun as it used to be for me.

[stopits back]

I'm glad you brought this up because it seems to be a growing concern among the folks who opine in this less than scientific sample of the market.  The game still offers Rookie, Hacker, and Amateur difficulty levels with a pretty impressive arsenal of swing aids and performance tools. If the game defaults to Hacker or Amateur difficulty, with their default aids, I would think that  would present a fairly manageable challenge to the beginning, "casual" player.  The game also defaults to "Perfect" greens, so I personally can't point to that and say it is one of the recent changes that's taking the game in the wrong direction. I take it you wouldn't agree with that?  If not, please explain why.

Ok i will try to explain, the difficulty of the swing wont change the ball physics, so we have a game ATM that only allows players to play "a pitch and run type shot" on every green, its not a fun game to play now, we have no control over spin at all with the "overs wing", and the devs are saying suck it up that's how it's staying, IMHO this wont be liked on console. 

[JCat04]

When PG was initially announced something that caught my eye was the "platform agnostic" idea they advertise in the lower right of most every page of this forum. Seems like these new features are going to be "Windows 10 version only" assuming I'm reading this correctly.

 

Where does this leave Steam, MAC, and Linux users? Platform agnostic would mean openGL, not the closed and proprietary MS DirectX.

 

From what I've read, the current Steam version will still receive bug fixes and will be supported as a multiplayer game on Steam.  You may have a point about the 'Platform agnostic' portion of PP's charter, although they will still at least be *supporting* the current builds of all of these versions of the game.

[JCat04]

Will the w10 version let you play all the courses offline un like the steam version?

 

That's a question that I haven't read before.  I wish I could answer it, but maybe one of the devs will step up and speak to it.

[JCat04]

Ok i will try to explain, the difficulty of the swing wont change the ball physics, so we have a game ATM that only allows players to play "a pitch and run type shot" on every green, its not a fun game to play now, we have no control over spin at all with the "overs wing", and the devs are saying suck it up that's how it's staying, IMHO this wont be liked on console. 

 

Thanks for explaining your position.  I'm adapting to the longer roll of the pitch shots, but it is a step change from the more lawn-dartish action we were able to get out of pitch shots previously.  I think the pitch shot physics could use some refinement.  I also hope that Windows 10 will help with this a lot in delivering a more fluid pitch shot animation that can be more proportionally modulated with the real time swing interfaces.  I have a gut feeling that the pitch shot is going to both look and play more realistically in the Windows 10 version.

[stopits back]

Thanks for explaining your position.  I'm adapting to the longer roll of the pitch shots, but it is a step change from the more lawn-dartish action we were able to get out of pitch shots previously.  I think the pitch shot physics could use some refinement.  I also hope the Windows 10 will help with this a lot in delivering a more fluid pitch shot animation that can be more proportionally modulated with the real time swing interfaces.  I have a gut feeling that the pitch shot is going to both look and play more realistically in the Windows 10 version.

A few more concerns are, even when you play this game on the easy settings like beginner the only real difference is the ability to hit the ball straighter with ease.

With other console game over the years like TW with different difficulty came more options that actually effected the ball.

I see it like this beginner mode in this game plays like tour pro mode in TW?, and i think we would agree that not many players played  tour pro mode online on any TW games, but loads of people played the easier modes, so my point is this game doesn't cater for the casual gamer.

[ArcadeHack]

From what I've read, the current Steam version will still receive bug fixes and will be supported as a multiplayer game on Steam. You may have a point about the 'Platform agnostic' portion of PP's charter, although they will still at least be *supporting* the current builds of all of these versions of the game.

Paid courses will come to Steam as well?

[JCat04]

Paid courses will come to Steam as well?

 

I can't answer that one either ArcadeHack.  I'm not sure how much common ground there is between the DirectX 9 and DirectX 11 course creation processes to make that a possibility.  I do know that the current Steam version courses have to be converted to Windows 10... in fact I may have read somewhere that all of the PP in-house courses have already been converted to Windows 10?  I don't know how much trouble the conversion process is, but I hope it's not too arduous; we've got too many great user created courses already for the Steam version to not see them make their way to the Windows 10 version.  I can't imagine that a lot of designers wouldn't want to see how resplendent their courses would look with 3-D grass!  

[JCat04]

A few more concerns are, even when you play this game on the easy settings like beginner the only real difference is the ability to hit the ball straighter with ease.

With other console game over the years like TW with different difficulty came more options that actually effected the ball.

I see it like this beginner mode in this game plays like tour pro mode in TW?, and i think we would agree that not many players played  tour pro mode online on any TW games, but loads of people played the easier modes, so my point is this game doesn't cater for the casual gamer.

 

Hitting it much straighter is a huge difference though.  I could take on about any course in Beginner difficulty and shoot in the 50's.  JNPG differs most in not giving the player much help in regulating putt distance.  The onus is on the player to regulate the putt roll distance, rather than compressing the possible outcomes into a tighter range as determined by the position of the aiming marker, as other golf games do.

 

You can't seriously compare Beginner mode in this game to Tour Pro in Tiger Woods!? 

[IanK]

My only concern with this game going forward is this.
1. It "feels" like the dev team are loosing interest (if it ever was there) in normal players concerns about the direction of the game, it "feels" like we have a very small group of people who want this game to be a "true golf sim in every way possible" no matter of the concerns of other players, i don't think this will work well in the console market, most people who use consoles IMO ARE CASUAL gamer who want to have fun playing games not bring their actual golfing talent or lack of to the console, only my op.

I would buy the Windows version for designing and the PS4 version for playing online.
I suspect that the console versions will have a more user friendly choice of the current setup so that you will be able to play the game as a full sim or with a more arcade configuration.
My only concern is that in arcade mode it might be too similar to TGC in its ability to bore the pants of people! ;-)

[stopits back]

Hitting it much straighter is a huge difference though.  I could take on about any course in Beginner difficulty and shoot in the 50's.  JNPG differs most in not giving the player much help in regulating putt distance.  The onus is on the player to regulate the putt roll distance, rather than compressing the possible outcomes into a tighter range as determined by the position of the aiming marker, as other golf games do.

 

You can't seriously compare Beginner mode in this game to Tour Pro in Tiger Woods!? 

"You can't seriously compare Beginner mode in this game to Tour Pro in Tiger Woods!?" ​only in the respect that beginner mode in TW was literally "point and click" and this game in beginner mode isn't as easy as TW beginner mode?.

People love to be heros in video games, if they can't they give up on the games.

[Buck]

I plan to support as many versions as I'd actually use and that will definitely be at least one console version and the latest PC copy (primary usage).

 

For me though, console versions will be basically DOA if there's no 3rd party course support.

 

I'd like to think the consoles will have some way to do that, but I could also see just having a more robust list of first party courses being "it" on consoles, as that's sort of the norm for console experiences anyhow.

[stopits back]

I plan to support as many versions as I'd actually use and that will definitely be at least one console version and the latest PC copy (primary usage).

 

For me though, console versions will be basically DOA if there's no 3rd party course support.

 

I'd like to think the consoles will have some way to do that, but I could also see just having a more robust list of first party courses being "it" on consoles, as that's sort of the norm for console experiences anyhow.

Yes 100% agree, because the other game will have course designer for console so for this game to survive it must have all the courses or its a non starter

[Buck]

Yes 100% agree, because the other game will have course designer for console so for this game to survive it must have all the courses or its a non starter

 

That is a great point...  

Hopefully with that in mind, there will be a solution go get 3rd party course access cross platform..