Tiger Woods 14 thread, part II

[Aristo]

Simulation mode seem to be exactly what I have been clamoring for in the last two releases. It ay not be the TrueAim mode of TW 11, but allowing us to eliminate zoom to aim is the main part of what I liked about TrueAim. You could still zoom and get a nice overhead view of what you are shooting into, but when you snap back to your golfer, he is still aimed straight ahead. Using the arrow to aim at a landmark was much more realistic than zooming in and aiming at a spot.

And from the screens, it looks like we should be able to customize the mode to include green grids. I still feel like grids provide the context I need to make decisions. As long as wel eliminate putt preview, I find it a challenge to two-putt, without making each hole a f***. Going without grids just seemed like a way to add strokes without providing meaningful challenge.

I'd like to see a Simulation mode for the default online tournaments that allow for green grids, since that is how I will probably play. Or at least take the zoom to aim out of Tournament mode, which is probably ideal.

With what they've finally released, this seems like a day one purchase for me.

[Aristo]

I saw this comment from a Dev on the EA forums that is at least hopeful in regards to No Grids.

I think you will find a little aid in the game that gives you a sense of the break on no grid. It's not that useful on long putts, but the short ones are helped out greatly by that. And because of this aid, I actually like no grid putting now. I never liked it before for the same reasons as you. You shouldn't miss a 3 foot putt unless you shank it.

I'm definitely willing to give it a try if they implemented this aid with the understanding that many of use really prefer grids.

[J_Cauthen]

I'll try the gridless putting for sure. I'm curious to see what has been added to aid in assessing the slopes without grids. I just never saw enough to allow me to gauge multiple breaks in past games. I think the new, no-bead grids might be worth a go also. I've never been more pumped for the release of a Tiger Woods game as I am this one. EA has gone way beyond my expectations in addressing community desires for the game.

[Aristo]

I'll try the gridless putting for sure. I'm curious to see what has been added to aid in assessing the slopes without grids. I just never saw enough to allow me to gauge multiple breaks in past games. I think the new, no-bead grids might be worth a go also. I've never been more pumped for the release of a Tiger Woods game as I am this one. EA has gone way beyond my expectations in addressing community desires for the game.

I agree. Hopefully, unlike TW 11, I hope this game doesn't tank in sales and we lose the sim modes they are adding. It's a day one purchase from me just to support the direction they are finally taking.

As long as CC's can add grids in their own tourneys, I don't think the lack of them in Sim mode is going to be a big deal. But I'll be bummed if I have to play without them to play the Play the Pros modes and other online tournaments in Sim mode. That is, if I decide that grids are the way to go after giving this new putting a chance.

And I agree, grids without beads might be the better compromise.

[Danimal]

I saw this comment from a Dev on the EA forums that is at least hopeful in regards to No Grids.

I think you will find a little aid in the game that gives you a sense of the break on no grid. It's not that useful on long putts, but the short ones are helped out greatly by that. And because of this aid, I actually like no grid putting now. I never liked it before for the same reasons as you. You shouldn't miss a 3 foot putt unless you shank it.

I'm definitely willing to give it a try if they implemented this aid with the understanding that many of use really prefer grids.

You don't shank putts you push or pull them.

Dang it hit send to soon.

So did i miss it did they explain what this new aid is?

[DivotMaker]

Push, pull, shank...what is the difference on such a short and controlled stroke.......? If you push or pull a short putt (which is the context that quote was made in) you could call it a shank IMO.....

[Gangrel]

Playoffs are in....... in a fashion.

http://kotaku.com/5980708/at-last-tiger ... th-to-life



I can't believe that simulating a shot tracer could even be construed as infringing on a license, but I guess this is where society is at these days!

[ddtrane]

The problem with gameface last year was that the final result not only hardly resembled anything to your mug shot but it took forever to be implemented.

Simulation level sounds intriguing.

If the putting aid isn't helpful,then sim mode will be downright mean, hello snowmen.

[ddtrane]

I'll try the gridless putting for sure. I'm curious to see what has been added to aid in assessing the slopes without grids. I just never saw enough to allow me to gauge multiple breaks in past games. I think the new, no-bead grids might be worth a go also. I've never been more pumped for the release of a Tiger Woods game as I am this one. EA has gone way beyond my expectations in addressing community desires for the game.

I'm hoping for the same, but this scares me:


In Simulation mode, I averaged <40% FIR when I played the builds available during TW Community Day......I only played it for 4 days and I feel like there will be a nice learning curve with this year's game...I broke par once out of 50+ rounds in Simulation mode and that was a 67 to win the TW Community Day Tournament. I played almost a perfect round and at the time it was the 2nd best round ever achieved in Simulation mode. The rest of my scores were in the high 70's to mid- 80's with an occasional 90.....what I played was EXTREMELY challenging. The most challenging Tiger I have played since TW2000 for PC. Based upon the TW CD feedback, they did implement our suggestions to make Simulation mode just a bit more challenging, so I am anxious to see what the result is. Our intent was to make sure the new Swing Styles could not be mastered quickly. If they implemented what we asked them to the way we asked them to do it, I think we will be seeing realistic scoring for quite some time even after release.

If Divot was only able to break par once in 50 rounds, then, for me, par will be just a dream.

[Jackdog]

It would be cool if the developers could add the 16th hole stadium and crazy crowd at The TCP Scottsdale Tournament. Love watching The Phoenix Open because of that hole.

[J_Cauthen]

It would be cool if the developers could add the 16th hole stadium and crazy crowd at The TCP Scottsdale Tournament. Love watching The Phoenix Open because of that hole.

That would be something special for sure, but I don't think the current console hardware could deliver it and make it look right. I imagine we'd see a framerate hit also. I think the next-gen XBox and PS3 are going to be a great platform for this game in terms of expansiveness and atmosphere.

[J_Cauthen]

[deleted... stick mouse button]

[J_Cauthen]

Not much has been said about this thus far, aside from a few subtle clues that Justin Patel left in the images of his blogs earlier this week, but I think we're in for some major surprises on the Country Club scene. I believe we are not only going to have an embedded Country Club "Tour" as an option, I think there's going to be a provision for some sort of club Vs. club competition... maybe something along the lines of a Ryder Cup? Who knows? The hints are there if you look at the tickers in the screens.

I don't know how much Tim can comment about this, but it looks like we could setup Live CC Tournaments and if we have folks gather in the club lobby and tee off at the same time, it would be akin to playing Simultaneous Stroke Play in online multiplayer in Tiger 13? There would be a little more coordination effort to keep your group synched, like not teeing off on the next hole until you're sure that everyone in your 'group' has finished the previous hole. It would be darn close to having a multiplayer group from what I can gather. You'll all have a game supported chat function that would save some hassle with the XBox Live party chat. I hope they have a blog or press release soon to expand on what they've done with the Country Club functionality soon

[Diablo25]

Been following this thread of late and the updates look great. I got too busy this past spring to keep up with the DSP Club but I am looking forward to seeing the new Club features. This is one of my 'get every year' games so I'm always anxious for news.

[Sudz]

I just want a good offline Tournament mode.

[J_Cauthen]

I just want a good offline Tournament mode.

It should be better this year with the new TV broadcast emphasis they're putting on it. Part of this broadcast feature is to give the player more information about what's going on with other players in the event, so hopefully this carries over into the career mode. The way it worked in Tiger 13, the only way you knew what your opposition was doing was to see the leaderboard after each hole. Even the player you're supposedly paired with only showed up as an updated score after the hole is finished. I'm hoping there will be updates about scoring and movement while you're playing the hole in Tiger 14.

It has already been announced that the offscreen AI players will at least have their scores affected by the course conditions and weather this year. That was a much needed change; I just hope it's reflected properly in the scoring.

[J_Cauthen]

IGN reported that EA Sports will drop its in-game coin purchase of DLC courses and go with a pure pay for DLC model. Here's some clips from the article:

A bitter criticism leveled at last year’s Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13 was its disgraceful use of gougy content-walls poorly disguised as free-DLC upgrades. Players were required to grind in order to access courses...or take the option of paying EA for this content.

This year, the new Tiger Woods game will return to a saner system of DLC, offering players the simple option to buy extra courses, or not.

Huh? They're making it sound like EA Sports is doing something noble by taking away the *option* to buy the courses via coins earned within the game!? I don't get it!

Here's further reasoning from Colin Campbell (IGN) as to why this is such an evil practice:

In IGN’s review last year, Mitch Dyer described the ‘coins’ system as “a disgusting, well-disguised sham that makes past DLC traps look like charity”. Other reviewers were equally scathing. G4TV called it “a slap in the face to longtime players”.

DeVault said the reaction from the press had prompted a rethink but added that hardcore players - those who were willing to put the time and effort into earning coins and unlocking extra content for free - had enjoyed the option.

Here's the link to the full story; it's really touched off an avalanche of response from readers there:
http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/02/06/ ... ansactions

I know a number of members of our club bought a good many courses, and rentals using in-game coins to play DSP Live Tournaments that were using DLC. I had two or three courses in my stable that I bought with in-game coins, after I'd bought the Eagle pack (or whatever it was called) that contained the most courses of the bundled options.

This story makes it look like EA Sports is doing us a favor by taking the option to earn these courses though "grinding away"... well so freaking what? They're not holding a gun to your head and making you do it! I see this as having a severe effect on the usage of DLC in a lot of club play. Not that many of us are hardcore enough to buy all the DLC courses and it's going to make it tough to decide how the DLC courses get used in club play. I plan to buy the Historical Edition to start out with 25 courses, but I honestly don't know where I'll go from there. I hope there's a bundle offering that will have most of the courses I want in it, without throwing in fantasy courses, which I consider to be a total waste of money.

[10spro]

To the casual golf gamer, it'll be a waste of coins just to play the odd tourney here and there. I played the career mode quite a bit last year to warrant my purchase towards a couple of courses. As for the DSP daily or weekly tournaments we'll just have to be selective which course we choose to play, while I am pretty sure that I'll be grabbing the 'historic edition' as well.

[Naples39]

Gamers are total idiots when it comes to IAP and DLC. They act like if its there that means they have to buy it or grind for it.

[J_Cauthen]

Gamers are total idiots when it comes to IAP and DLC. They act like if its there that means they have to buy it or grind for it.

Great point Naples! It's the same as an expansion pack in my eyes - you don't *have* to buy it to get the most out of what you have on the game disc! It just expands your options. I'm certain I could be totally pleased with the selection of courses (25) I'll have on the Historic edition disc. I think there will be some attractive pricing on bundles, which I can *opt* to buy. If I don't opt to do so, it won't detract from what I've already paid for!

[Danimal]

IGN is just one of EA's marketing arm, what do you expect them to say?

Only and I MEAN ONLY EA could take away something which caused no issues and was in fact a benefit to people who played a lot of the game and make it sound like it is positive. They probably didn't do as much sales last year because of this so they removed it.

[DivotMaker]

IGN is just one of EA's marketing arm, what do you expect them to say?

You mean the same IGN that crapped all over TW13 for DLC in their review because THEY did not understand it? That is one helluva "marketing arm".....

And it is NOT EA spinning this to make it sound positive...it is IGN......

[Danimal]

By the way this quote right here is why I shake my head at this dev team every time they open their mouth.

DeVault said the reaction from the press had prompted a rethink but added that hardcore players - those who were willing to put the time and effort into earning coins and unlocking extra content for free - had enjoyed the option.

So the hard core players liked the option because they got stuff for free but the press who obviously had no clue about how it worked didn't like it so you took it out? How can IGN or anyone called it micro transaction shenanigans when in fact YOU ARE NOT PAYING FOR IT WITH REAL MONEY!

Here is likely what happened behind the scenes.

1. Hard core players got too many free courses.
2. Hard core players were the only ones buying the DLC anyway
3. We can use the press as our excuse to get rid of it.

[J_Cauthen]

IGN winds up embarrassing themselves with this article, IMO, but in doing so they unwittingly give EA Sports a pass to 'justify' a pure pay-for-play (although 'extended' play is more descriptive) structure. I think it's more down to incomplete analysis and irresponsible reporting more than anything else. Whatever the case, I'm not going to lose any sleep over it. I probably wouldn't have bought more than two courses with in-game currency like I did last year anyway.

More than anything else, I'm disappointed that we haven't see any gameplay videos yet. We'd already had the Giant Bomb.com, 25 minute "Quick Look" video of Tiger Woods 13, on January 25th last year including a Q&A with producer Brent Nielsen. All we have so far this year are some short, hyperactive videos.

[MERACE]

I posted on the EA TW forum my opinion of what I believed was the main reason EA eliminated the coins for DLC courses in TW14 and it was very similar to what Danimal has stated.

In TW13 I did not buy any DLC courses and used my coins to rent the DLC courses for our CC daily tournaments. I will miss the coins only for that reason.

However, I agree with John in that I'm not going let the elimination of coins for DLC courses dampen my enthusiasm for the release of TW14.


-MERACE