HB Studios Next-Gen golf game: The Golf Club

[J_Cauthen]

Paul, would you mind if I quoted the above in the official forum? It would help establish a point I'm trying to make about how changes such as they've just made to The Golf Club this week can translate into recognition and sales.

John:

Please do! Just like Fred McGriff's endorsement of Tom Emanski's (back-to-back-to-back National AAU titles!) baseball basic skills VHS tapes, I give this game my highest recommendation.

I've done it Paul, and thanks... here's a link to the post if you're interested: http://www.hb-studios.com/forum/index.p ... 0#msg74920

BTW, is that Tom Emanski set now available in betamax?

[J_Cauthen]

Wanted to customize my character earlier today and didn't see that option. Did they take it out or I am just getting blind which is very possible.

It's there James, in the player selection screen, press the "triangle" button (y on the XB1) and it will take you to the customization screen... well, the limited degree of customization we currently have.

[10spro]

Wanted to customize my character earlier today and didn't see that option. Did they take it out or I am just getting blind which is very possible.

It's there James, in the player selection screen, press the "triangle" button (y on the XB1) and it will take you to the customization screen... well, the limited degree of customization we currently have.

Cool, thank you!

[DivotMaker]

Divot, you're a great player DO share with us all your chipping, pitching skills.

Not sure about the "great" part, but I am figuring this out. I will be putting my thoughts together during a round this AM and will try to post up a "How To" very soon for everyone.....

[DivotMaker]

Chipping: Son Gual Desert Course

Scenario 1:

Have a default chipping scenario: In the Heavy Rough 70-80%. 10 yards from the pin, one foot below the ball. Default club is 9 iron. Green is running right to left downhill. Pressing the left trigger (L2) I get a reading on the default loft which is 110% of yards meaning that the current setting will carry about 8 yards instead of default 7 yards. On a downhill chip, you must loft up by pressing the L2 and pushing the stick or D-pad forward to loft the club up. I have decided to loft my 9 iron up to midway between 81-92% because I do not want to much roll. Also taking into account that I am in 70-80% heavy rough means that I need to hit this one pretty full as in as close to 100% as possible. Swing with normal tempo which means not jamming the stick forward which will increase your distance.

Result: at 93% swing, I went 7 yards and still have an 8 foot putt left. I should have hit it 100% and left the loft at 92% to achieve better results.

Scenario 2:

In the Light Rough 84-92%. 9 yards from the pin, cup level to the ball. Default club is 9 iron. Green is running left to right with a left to right lie. Pressing the left trigger (L2) I get a reading on the default loft which is between 103% and 97% of yards meaning that the current setting will carry about 7 yards. On a flat chip, I typically loft up by pressing the L2 and pushing the stick or D-pad forward to loft the club up UNLESS I am chipping to a distance from the hole between 12-15 yards, then I want to let the ball roll, especially on UPHILL chips. I have decided to loft my 9 iron up to about 94% because I do not want to much roll. Also taking into account that I am in 84-92%% light rough means that I need to hit this one pretty full as in as close to 100% as possible. Considering these settings compared to the one above, I should get much closer to the pin this time. Swing with normal tempo which means not jamming the stick forward which will increase your distance.

Result: At 100% power, the ball went 15 yards, so not a good effort. I should have lofted the club more due to the Fast greens. Now I have a 19’ putt left to save par. Made the putt, but not a good chip.

Scenario 3:

In the Light Rough 87-95% at the very edge of the fringe, 16 yards from the pin, cup level to the ball but a 2 foot slope right of the pin moving right to left about 5 yards from the ball. Set club to 9 iron. Green is running right to left with a slight right to left lie. Pressing the left trigger (L2) I get a reading on the default loft which is between 103% and 97% of yards meaning that the current setting will carry about 7 yards. On a flat chip, I typically loft up by pressing the L2 and pushing the stick or D-pad forward to loft the club up UNLESS I am chipping to a distance from the hole between 12-15 yards, then I want to let the ball roll, especially on UPHILL chips. I have decided to loft my 9 iron up to about 95% due to the length of the last chip in Scenario 2 and I am chipping into an uphill slope to the right of the ball. Also taking into account that I am in 87-94%% light rough means that I need to hit this one pretty full as in as close to 100% as possible. Considering these settings compared to the one above, I should get much closer to the pin this time. Swing with normal tempo which means not jamming the stick forward which will increase your distance.

Result: Poor execution at 86% swing speed means I left me with a 28’ putt. In retrospect, I likely should have a) hit 100% and b) I should have left my club at 103% to minimize the impact of the slope on the right.

Scenario 4:

In the Light Rough 86-94% at the very edge of the fringe, 12 yards from the pin. Default club is 9 iron. Green is running left to right with a slight left to right lie. Pressing the left trigger (L2) I get a reading on the default loft which is between 103% and 97% of yards meaning that the current setting will carry about 7 yards. Set the loft at 100% Also taking into account that I am in 86-94%% light rough means that I need to hit this one pretty full as in as close to 100% as possible. Considering these settings compared to the one above, I should get much closer to the pin this time. Swing with normal tempo which means not jamming the stick forward which will increase your distance.

Result: Hit to 100% lipping out leaving me a 6’ putt, Good result. Only thing I would do differently on this one would be to loft up to about 92-95%.

Hope this helps. This is one aspect of the game I feel they nailed well and it takes a ton of practice and trial and error.

Good Luck!

[10spro]

Very detailed and comprehensive package. Thanks for the time taken Divot, I know we all will be better for it.

My mistake is that I usually don't change the default club. Say there's 7 yards to the hole and the default s a 9 iron pitching shot with a bit of a carry. Another scenario is when I may have 40 yards to the hole and a pitch shot that may carry up to 55 yards. Instead of shortening the swing or lofting it up a notch, because of my lack of confidence in the short game, I end up flopping the shot which for me is a bit safer to play but may not land close enough to the hole which on a course with a lot of breaks I may end up three putting for sure.

[Naples39]

Paul, would you mind if I quoted the above in the official forum? It would help establish a point I'm trying to make about how changes such as they've just made to The Golf Club this week can translate into recognition and sales.

John:

Please do! Just like Fred McGriff's endorsement of Tom Emanski's (back-to-back-to-back National AAU titles!) baseball basic skills VHS tapes, I give this game my highest recommendation.

[RobVarak]

Played my first round in a couple weeks yesterday. Really struggled, but this makes it all worthwhile.

[10spro]

GET IN alright. Nice shot Rob, originally I was following the T which of course sailed into the pool thinking it was a shanked shot.

[DivotMaker]

Very detailed and comprehensive package. Thanks for the time taken Divot, I know we all will be better for it.

My mistake is that I usually don't change the default club. Say there's 7 yards to the hole and the default s a 9 iron pitching shot with a bit of a carry. Another scenario is when I may have 40 yards to the hole and a pitch shot that may carry up to 55 yards. Instead of shortening the swing or lofting it up a notch, because of my lack of confidence in the short game, I end up flopping the shot which for me is a bit safer to play but may not land close enough to the hole which on a course with a lot of breaks I may end up three putting for sure.

You're welcome!

Try clubbing up on the flop. I think you can flop with a PW which can go 40 yards. Try de-lofting the club if you need a little more distance and/or the ba to roll a bit after landing.

[Leadfoot5]

Had a fun time playing my first round in a couple of weeks last night "live" with Mark (MERACE) and John on the PS4. I really like how the game tells you when a friend has started a new round and invites you to join them.

While I still really like the game, and all my complaints are NON-GAMEPLAY related, I'm just not as impressed with the patch as others seem to be. The new cameras are nice, but not as amazing as I expected based on the comments here. I was hoping for some TV style cameras placed on the fairway or behind the green. Being able to watch the ball fly away after the stroke does nothing for me, the ball is too small to see anyway. I do appreciate the ability to change cameras on the green though - especially when the golfer is blocking the slope and distance info. Other things I'd like to see addressed in the future are:

- The terrible pixelated tree shadows on the green. I appreciate what they are trying to do here, but it looks terrible, I wish they could improve the resolution here to improve the look.
- The optical illusion of the bunker lips. They appear to be 3D, but it's just a trick of the fake shadows they use; when the ball appears tucked in to the lip, it's not...
- Gotta have cart paths
- At least a few more animations for post-putt reactions
- If I hole out first, let me clear the scorecard from the screen when I am playing live or against a ghost so that I can watch the others players shots on that hole
- Let me kill the annoying insect sounds - but keep the rest of the ambient sound. (I know, I think a lot of people like it... Ugh!)
- Make it easier to jump back into a tour or tournament that I've already started without having to do a search each time. (Maybe this was fixed in the patch?)

Al

[pk500]

Tim:

Great tips on chipping. Thanks SO much.

Naples:

Great shot of the Crimedog in the infamous Emanski commercial! Look at how tall he wears his hat!

[XXXIV]

Oh crap...I will be downloading soon.

[pk500]

Rob:

I played today against your ghost from that round. I was hitting my third and fourth shots on that hole when I recalled I heard the clanging of a flag stick about 10 seconds earlier.

I immediately muttered to myself out loud, "That f*cker holed out!"

Yes, you did! Well done, young man.

[RobVarak]

Rob:

I played today against your ghost from that round. I was hitting my third and fourth shots on that hole when I recalled I heard the clanging of a flag stick about 10 seconds earlier.

I immediately muttered to myself out loud, "That f*cker holed out!"

Yes, you did! Well done, young man.

Thanks. The rest of my round was a steaming pile, so it was a nice way to salvage the evening. Need to get back to playing regularly now that I've finished Shadows of Mordor.

[XXXIV]

Rob...That shot made for great theatre on Live.

[DivotMaker]

Played my first round in a couple weeks yesterday. Really struggled, but this makes it all worthwhile.

Well done!

[J_Cauthen]

Couple of things to pass along to you guys...

First, Tim, that's a very helpful tutorial on chipping. I was slowly getting to where you're at now. It's a slowly developing art for me, but one I'm enjoying.

PK, you were doing a decent job on Pinehurst #2 when we were playing it concurrently this afternoon. You seemed to get called away on the 10th hole and I just wondered how your finished?

Rob, moments like that are magical, I wish I'd had the wherewithal to capture a couple of mine.

Don't miss Pinehurst #2 (US Open 2014) and Killibrew Folly that were each released today. They are two of the top three courses ever made for The Golf Club, IMO, and were both made with the new Boreal theme. I never thought we'd see these types of courses out of this theme... they both look like parkland courses. The trees, shrubs and textures in this theme are the most realistic of any of the already existing themes. I got a woody playing both of these courses today on the XB1 and the PS4!

[pk500]

John:

I had a work task I needed to finish. I could have stuck around to finish the round, but I was pissed at myself for massive suckage. My putting is improving. But my short irons and irons around the green are wretched. I hope to improve with practice and Tim's tips.

Your advice about the breaks of the greens and the wind is so helpful, too. The breaks and wind have a far greater effect on the ball in this game than any Tiger Woods game.

Pinehurst No. 2 is a beauty. Gorgeous layout.

What a f*cking game. Most enjoyable, challenging, pure golf game I've EVER played. Period.

[DivotMaker]

What a f*cking game. Most enjoyable, challenging, pure golf game I've EVER played. Period.

I concur 110%.....having a great time with the game, especially since the patch.

[Inuyasha]

Turned it on tonight and was pleasantly surprised to see tons of new public courses. This time around, they weren't just the regular old simple courses, the new ones really have some good vareity to them. Found some nice easy ones I can practice with too. Do they release public courses daily or a weekly thing? I also like how great the PS4 version keeps looking. I thought it was just not playing for a while, but seems like the graphics got an upgrade after the last patch.

Is wind random? Is there a way to turn it off or control it?

Recommend the courses by 'Angry_Fatman'. Good variety for beginners or those who want to play on easier courses. Also the 'Brisbane' Golf course is just beautiful. Hit a squirrel on the green and it died, pretty funny. Love the artistry by the public on some of these courses.

[Inuyasha]

Couple of things to pass along to you guys...

J_Cauthen - I noticed the narrator of the game is also named JOhn. Is that you narrating in the game?

[J_Cauthen]

John:

I had a work task I needed to finish. I could have stuck around to finish the round, but I was pissed at myself for massive suckage. My putting is improving. But my short irons and irons around the green are wretched. I hope to improve with practice and Tim's tips.

Your advice about the breaks of the greens and the wind is so helpful, too. The breaks and wind have a far greater effect on the ball in this game than any Tiger Woods game.

I can still produce a 4-putt green from 8 feet.. had one last night. You can't take any putt for granted in this game It takes a little discipline and sometimes I get in a hurry and don't set my targeting marker carry and disaster ensues.

Pinehurst No. 2 is a beauty. Gorgeous layout.

I've played it twice now on both the PS2 and XB1, and it's solid on both machines. It's hard to imagine that something like that could be cut from the Boreal theme, which has already proven to me to be the most versitile theme.

What a f*cking game. Most enjoyable, challenging, pure golf game I've EVER played. Period.

After this week's update, I feel just like I did the week the PGA Championship Golf '99 patch came out that added the full screen, snap-to-lie view for the PC. This game reminds me very much of the unique play quality and presentation that PGA '99, and later, 2000 brought to the table. And there's still a lot of good things to come; check this list out showing the priority of proposed feature additions and updates: http://www.hb-studios.com/forum/index.p ... 9#msg69009

[J_Cauthen]

Turned it on tonight and was pleasantly surprised to see tons of new public courses. This time around, they weren't just the regular old simple courses, the new ones really have some good vareity to them. Found some nice easy ones I can practice with too. Do they release public courses daily or a weekly thing?

New courses are added to the server within seconds of the creator hitting "Publish Course" on their machine. I've found the best way to find new quality courses is to use the "Friends Favorites" filter and then set it to "New". Pocketscout.com is also a good place to find quality courses and get reviews and screen shots of them.

I also like how great the PS4 version keeps looking. I thought it was just not playing for a while, but seems like the graphics got an upgrade after the last patch.

I'm wondering if they didn't add some anisotropic filtering to it. The near textures seem a little sharper to me, even with DOF "ON".

Is wind random? Is there a way to turn it off or control it?

The wind is generated by the server, but should be the same direction and velocity for everyone playing the course at the same time. There is no way to control it, although they're looking into an option to make that happen.

Recommend the courses by 'Angry_Fatman'. Good variety for beginners or those who want to play on easier courses. Also the 'Brisbane' Golf course is just beautiful. Hit a squirrel on the green and it died, pretty funny. Love the artistry by the public on some of these courses.

I'll give Brisbane a go... haven't tried it yet. If you like the artistry now, just imagine the character these courses will be able to take on once we get fences, roads, and cart paths in the mix! They're coming...

[J_Cauthen]

J_Cauthen - I noticed the narrator of the game is also named JOhn. Is that you narrating in the game?

Hah... I sound nothing like John McCarthy (the in-house guy who does their audio). If it was me, it would sound like Jeff Foxworthy on quaaludes, as a *close* friend once told me I sound like