Total Pro Golf Demo Available and Pre-Order Discount

[Gary Gorski]

A demo version of Total Pro Golf is now available on the TPG downloads section of the website at www.wolverinestudios.com. We're also offering up a 10% discount of the already low price of 24.95 to anyone who pre-orders by August 1.

The demo allows you to finally find out what it will be like to play 2D golf as it allows you to create golfers and take them out on the course. We've included our contest winning course but you can also use any courses that you create on your own as well.

Look for more info on the release of the game very soon and in the meantime enjoy the demo. I'm anxious to hear the feedback of anyone who gives it a shot.

[21C]

Going to check this out now. Good luck with the game, Gary.

[Capital]

I will absolutely try this demo. I have enjoyed Gary's games.

[Dutch]

Downloading now.

[Gary Gorski]

Thanks guys - hope you enjoy it. Feel free to let me know if you have any questions

[Blackadar]

Gary,

I did the install, created a golfer and tried to quick play a round. Runtime error 340. Did it again and got the same thing. Did it again, mis-clicked on some blank space in the course selection screen and got another runtime error (think 3055).

[Gary Gorski]

if you click the help button in the game it should open up a .pdf file - follow those steps and see if you get the error. If so check http://www.wolverinestudios.com/downloads.html to make sure you have those files up to date

[Dutch]

Tons of potential, Gary. Once player files are made, real courses are added and tours can be set up, it will be in good shape, I think.

I just played a round on the demo course with my ultra-perfect created player (I guess create a player really allows you to make any player you want.)

Overall is that it should be a fun simulation of golf.

One thing right off the bat, is I wish the clubs didn't have my golfers distance range planted right next to the club selection. I had to put absolutely no thought into which club I was using. Obviously, on the golf course, that's one of the biggest decisions you make on every swing. Maybe a Fog of War for club distance could be added? Not sure if that would be popular or not, however.

Bottom line - Looking good, I am glad to have a golf sim!

[Gary Gorski]

Originally Posted by Dutch

One thing right off the bat, is I wish the clubs didn't have my golfers distance range planted right next to the club selection. I had to put absolutely no thought into which club I was using. Obviously, on the golf course, that's one of the biggest decisions you make on every swing. Maybe a Fog of War for club distance could be added? Not sure if that would be popular or not, however.

Bottom line - Looking good, I am glad to have a golf sim!

Well it doesn't take all thought out of it unless you are playing with no weather effects and on a flat course. The distances do not update based on those items so if you're in the deep rough at the bottom of a hill and it says your 3 iron is going 220 yards....its not. Besides, I think every golfer knows about how far he or she hits each club. The strategy is in playing the course and the elements.

[Blackadar]

Sorry Gary, still getting the same errors.

[Gary Gorski]

hmm, what's the last thing you did before getting the error and what screen is the last one it shows you?

[Gary Gorski]

hang on, you are choosing at least one golfer to be in the round and assigning him a tee from those drop boxes at the bottom of the quick play screen right?

[Darkiller]

Definitely trying the game tonight !!
Thx Gary.

[Gary Gorski]

Cool - it seems what I posted above is the issue with that run time error - you need to make sure you pick golfers to play in the round. Have fun

[Dutch]

Originally Posted by Gary Gorski

Well it doesn't take all thought out of it unless you are playing with no weather effects and on a flat course. The distances do not update based on those items so if you're in the deep rough at the bottom of a hill and it says your 3 iron is going 220 yards....its not. Besides, I think every golfer knows about how far he or she hits each club. The strategy is in playing the course and the elements.

Fair enough, yeah, I was playing with no weather effects. Didn't mean to come off as too critical right off the bat. I like it a lot so far.

[st.cronin]

Seems like putting is real hard. My guy is rated 100 for putting, and he's had a ton of three-putts.

[DaddyTorgo]

i'll definately check this out tomorrow, as my today is a bit jammed-up. but i don't like the idea of FOW for club hitting distances, as a golf newb I want this game to help me get into it and sorta hold my hand, not turn me off to it

[Gary Gorski]

Originally Posted by st.cronin

Seems like putting is real hard. My guy is rated 100 for putting, and he's had a ton of three-putts.

You probably didnt open up the help file but if you click on the button on the left side of the screen that says elevation arrows you will see things appear on the green. Any time you see ^^ or ^ it means the green is difficult in that area and v or vv means its easy. You should check these out before hitting into the green to find a good area to hit the ball into.

[RPI-Fan]

Gary there's no way to shape the ball???

To me that seems absolutely essential!

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by RPI-Fan

Gary there's no way to shape the ball???

To me that seems absolutely essential!

this isn't Maximum Golf RPI...go talk to daivid if you want that!

[RPI-Fan]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

this isn't Maximum Golf RPI...go talk to daivid if you want that!

?

[SirFozzie]

What he means, DT, is that the top players can shape their shot, hitting around say a tree that's right in front of you but landing roughly straight a head..

it's curving out to start, but in mid flight, curving back

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

What he means, DT, is that the top players can shape their shot, hitting around say a tree that's right in front of you but landing roughly straight a head..

it's curving out to start, but in mid flight, curving back

aaah. well "shape the shot" is different from "shape the ball" and I was looking to be the first to make a maximum golf joke.:cheesy:

[st.cronin]

Also I think there's no topspin or backspin. Still, it looks like it'll be a very fun game.

[FBPro]

Do we have an approx. release date? Not looking for an exact one.

[Gary Gorski]

There will be news on the release date shortly - its not too far off.

[Karim]

I'm getting the same problem with this demo that I did with Grey Dog Software's Bowl Bound College Football's demo. I gave up before and never followed through but now that it has happened again...

At any resolution, all the screen components are misaligned, which obviously makes it impossible to proceed. Text boxes, input boxes, etc., are not where they should be.

Click here for image.

P.S. Perhaps that screen is correct but I just clicked on next until I got to the "flags" at which point it became completely unreadable.

[stevew]

I'll give the demo a shot, but I'm not going to tolerate the RTE if it's in here a lot. Sorry.

[klayman]

Originally Posted by Karim

I'm getting the same problem with this demo that I did with Grey Dog Software's Bowl Bound College Football's demo. I gave up before and never followed through but now that it has happened again...

At any resolution, all the screen components are misaligned, which obviously makes it impossible to proceed. Text boxes, input boxes, etc., are not where they should be.

Click here for image.

P.S. Perhaps that screen is correct but I just clicked on next until I got to the "flags" at which point it became completely unreadable.

Try adjusting your DPI settings in your display properties. I noticed that if you have changed it from normal it affects the layout in the game (at least it did with the college basketball game)

[AgustusM]

very nice - I think the foundation is very solid and that is important.

now the career play needs to be good, courses and players available and this game will be very addictive.

[Gary Gorski]

Originally Posted by Karim

I'm getting the same problem with this demo that I did with Grey Dog Software's Bowl Bound College Football's demo. I gave up before and never followed through but now that it has happened again...

At any resolution, all the screen components are misaligned, which obviously makes it impossible to proceed. Text boxes, input boxes, etc., are not where they should be.

Click here for image.

P.S. Perhaps that screen is correct but I just clicked on next until I got to the "flags" at which point it became completely unreadable.

Like another poster mentioned looks like it could be a DPI setting issue. Make sure it is set to normal (96 DPI) and in case you or anyone else with this issue doesnt know where to look its control panel > display > settings > click advanced button

If that doesnt fix it make sure that your font size is set to medium/normal with internet explorer

[SlyBelle1]

Looks interesting...will give try. Just a question. How many courses will actually come with the game? Will there be lifelike players and torunaments or does all that have to be modded?

[Gary Gorski]

We don't know the exact number of courses that will come with the game. The creator of the winning entry has already sent me one more to include and he may get a third in there plus we have a few that we've been kicking around the beta team. I also hope that now that you can play a round this will inspire more guys to pickup the course designer since you can test out your creations.

As for lifelike players and tournaments if you mean will there be Paul Trickleson playing in the Mesters tournament then no - it will be fictional players with fictional event names although it will be somewhat representative of the real schedules - ie the main tour will have four major events etc. But it will be easy to mod and Im sure the mods for real players and tournament names will show up shortly after release.

[SlyBelle1]

Originally Posted by Gary Gorski

We don't know the exact number of courses that will come with the game. The creator of the winning entry has already sent me one more to include and he may get a third in there plus we have a few that we've been kicking around the beta team. I also hope that now that you can play a round this will inspire more guys to pickup the course designer since you can test out your creations.

As for lifelike players and tournaments if you mean will there be Paul Trickleson playing in the Mesters tournament then no - it will be fictional players with fictional event names although it will be somewhat representative of the real schedules - ie the main tour will have four major events etc. But it will be easy to mod and Im sure the mods for real players and tournament names will show up shortly after release.

Thanks Gary for answering my questions.

After playing a round, I can also say a nice foundation. Unfortuantely, I'm not 100% sure what skill/strategy comes into play. Unless I'm missing something, you create a player with ratings and then on the course choose shot type/club. After that, not sure how I contribute to the success or failure of my golfer. Also using the targeting system, I couldn't really get that too work. I would aim in one place and my golfer would hit it somewhere else. I know every shot is not perfect, but at least one should go in the general direction I'm aiming.

I certainly will be following this one closely, but I will have to better understand what I can do to affect the outcome of the game.

Nice start!!

[Gary Gorski]

The skill and strategy comes in the things I mentioned above in regards to where you want to hit into a green at or looking at the elevation of the current shot to determine if you should take an extra club on your shot. Also the weather conditions come into play - did you play a round under perfect weather conditions? That makes it a bit easier to not have to factors like wind and rain to deal with.

Some courses will also be much more difficult than others - I think the one included is rather straight forward and doesn't contain a lot of difficult shots such as steep elevations or areas of deep rough that are in play often. That's a good challenge for course designers though - you want to create a course that makes people think as they go to hit the next shot. For example the green difficulty is very important because you can dramatically lower your score if you're hitting into areas of the green that are less difficult than others.

[RPI-Fan]

Originally Posted by SlyBelle1

Thanks Gary for answering my questions.

After playing a round, I can also say a nice foundation. Unfortuantely, I'm not 100% sure what skill/strategy comes into play. Unless I'm missing something, you create a player with ratings and then on the course choose shot type/club. After that, not sure how I contribute to the success or failure of my golfer. Also using the targeting system, I couldn't really get that too work. I would aim in one place and my golfer would hit it somewhere else. I know every shot is not perfect, but at least one should go in the general direction I'm aiming.

I certainly will be following this one closely, but I will have to better understand what I can do to affect the outcome of the game.

Nice start!!

That sums it up pretty well for me.

[RPI-Fan]

Originally Posted by Gary Gorski

The skill and strategy comes in the things I mentioned above in regards to where you want to hit into a green at or looking at the elevation of the current shot to determine if you should take an extra club on your shot. Also the weather conditions come into play - did you play a round under perfect weather conditions? That makes it a bit easier to not have to factors like wind and rain to deal with.

Some courses will also be much more difficult than others - I think the one included is rather straight forward and doesn't contain a lot of difficult shots such as steep elevations or areas of deep rough that are in play often. That's a good challenge for course designers though - you want to create a course that makes people think as they go to hit the next shot. For example the green difficulty is very important because you can dramatically lower your score if you're hitting into areas of the green that are less difficult than others.

Can you comment on why there are no opportunities to shape the ball at all???

[JonInMiddleGA]

Does the full version have an option to skip through/speed up the shots of the rest of your foursome? I tried "Options" but clicking that button did nothing in the demo.

Also, is there some way to zoom in on the green when putting? If so, I totally overlooked it. The help file says that you don't have to aim putts, that they're automaticallly aimed at the hole ... but does that mean the break is being taken into account automatically or not being taken into account? In any event, the putting portion of the game felt totally random to me absent any ability to really see what I was facing.

And ... although I'm not a golfer, I don't think "grip it and rip it" is exactly the phrasing I'd get from my caddy when chipping onto the 18th green 40 yds away.

[Gary Gorski]

Originally Posted by RPI-Fan

Can you comment on why there are no opportunities to shape the ball at all???

Well this was a tough decision for me to make. I initially started with it in there and then I just couldn't make the shots look right if they were to draw or fade so I removed the option and just made the code account accordingly for the shot a golfer would likely play in that situation.

I'm still working with the display on the trajectory and flight of the ball. If I can get this to display differently I will put those options back in but I didn't want people to say hit a draw or fade and see the ball not appear to have done that motion.

[st.cronin]

It would be nice to have some sort of visual display of the wind situation.

[RPI-Fan]

Originally Posted by Gary Gorski

Well this was a tough decision for me to make. I initially started with it in there and then I just couldn't make the shots look right if they were to draw or fade so I removed the option and just made the code account accordingly for the shot a golfer would likely play in that situation.

I'm still working with the display on the trajectory and flight of the ball. If I can get this to display differently I will put those options back in but I didn't want people to say hit a draw or fade and see the ball not appear to have done that motion.

Fair enough.

I think this game simply isn't what I thought it'd be. Fair or not, my expectation is that this game would have a great in-depth engine with every option imaginable in-game, and that simply isn't the case. Maybe if the career mode is appealing enough I could give it a look.

[RPI-Fan]

Originally Posted by st.cronin

It would be nice to have some sort of visual display of the wind situation.

It's in the upper-left corner -- doesn't really jump out at you, but it's there (maybe you knew this, but want to see something more obvious, in which case I agree wouldn't hurt)

[Gary Gorski]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Does the full version have an option to skip through/speed up the shots of the rest of your foursome? I tried "Options" but clicking that button did nothing in the demo.

Also, is there some way to zoom in on the green when putting? If so, I totally overlooked it. The help file says that you don't have to aim putts, that they're automaticallly aimed at the hole ... but does that mean the break is being taken into account automatically or not being taken into account? In any event, the putting portion of the game felt totally random to me absent any ability to really see what I was facing.

And ... although I'm not a golfer, I don't think "grip it and rip it" is exactly the phrasing I'd get from my caddy when chipping onto the 18th green 40 yds away.

There is no option to skip through or speed up the shots of the CPU players - is that something that you would find useful? I wasn't sure about that because to me they play pretty fast since Im used to the amount of time it takes them in something like Tiger Woods but I could probably make that just skip the animating of AI shots.

As for putting, no there is no way to zoom in and by being automatically aimed at the hole that would take into account break. Actual break isn't designed into a green though - instead each section of the green can be given a difficulty rating which is meant to detail how tough of an area (ie speed and size of break) that section of green would be. You can turn this on by clicking the button on the far left of the screen for "elevation arrows". The difficulty you will face in the putt should determine how you play your putt - whether its aggressive, normal or safe so when putting you want to see how tough the green is between the ball and the hole and select a putt accordingly. I also may need to be more punishing for normal and aggressive putts through difficult areas (and it also may be possible that the particular course doesn't have greens with many differing difficulties)

[st.cronin]

Originally Posted by RPI-Fan

It's in the upper-left corner -- doesn't really jump out at you, but it's there (maybe you knew this, but want to see something more obvious, in which case I agree wouldn't hurt)

I had not noticed. My biggest complaint about this particular "school" of games (TDCB, BBCB, etc.) is that the screens are so cluttered, it takes me forever to figure out what I'm looking at and what I'm supposed to click. This demo is definitely a step forward in that respect, but I still miss stuff like this that, imo, should jump out at you.

[Gary Gorski]

Originally Posted by RPI-Fan

Fair enough.

I think this game simply isn't what I thought it'd be. Fair or not, my expectation is that this game would have a great in-depth engine with every option imaginable in-game, and that simply isn't the case. Maybe if the career mode is appealing enough I could give it a look.

I understand and really I was in a tough spot on that particular issue. If I have options to draw and fade the ball yet on the screen it moves in a straight line people will say it doesnt work right. If the ball does end up bending but in an awkward motion they will say it looks strange. It's been quite the challenge to bring a sport that is so heavily visual in gaming and turn it into a 2D text sim. Like I said, I'm continuing to work on the display of shots and when I feel it displays properly I'll add those shot options in. That might not be in time for the release but it could be done afterwards too. I hope you'll at least keep tabs on the game and see how I progress on this issue as well as see how career play strikes you.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Gary Gorski

There is no option to skip through or speed up the shots of the CPU players - is that something that you would find useful?

Of course it's hard to draw a definitive conclusion on much after playing through just 18 holes with a foursome, but right now I'd have to say yes. Waiting through the other shots got pretty tedious to me in the demo context to the point that I found myself looking forward to finishing the last few holes just to get them over with.

And I figure if I'm going to ask/suggest, I might as well shoot for the whole thing: In the career version, I'd like the have option to toggle the other players shot visuals on a round-by-round basis at the very least, and preferably the ability to toggle their shots on/off at any point during a round.

I wasn't sure about that because to me they play pretty fast since Im used to the amount of time it takes them in something like Tiger Woods but I could probably make that just skip the animating of AI shots.

Makes sense ... except that I'm coming off a couple of weeks of one-pitch AB's on PureSim, so with that sort of rhythm being what I got used to, I felt like I was waiting on paint to dry while the rest of my foursome shot

I think, too, that there are going to be at least some career-mode gamers who want to clip through a few seasons as quickly as possible to build some history into their universe, so I'd say anything that speeds up play (without sacrificing anything in the sim engine, stats, etc) would probably be very welcomed.

As for putting, no there is no way to zoom in and by being automatically aimed at the hole that would take into account break.

Makes sense, I just wasn't sure from the description in the help file.

Actual break isn't designed into a green though - instead each section of the green can be given a difficulty rating which is meant to detail how tough of an area (ie speed and size of break) that section of green would be.

If I understand this correctly, basically the break,speed,readability, et al for the greens are abstracted into the difficulty rating. Not a problem AFAIC, I just wasn't clear on that.

Also, I felt pretty uncertain about what "aggressive" versus "normal" versus "safe" was really changing in my performance/results. For whatever reason, I found myself thinking of it as a range from "risk being long" to "leave it a little short" but I don't think that's really how the differences play out.

I also may need to be more punishing for normal and aggressive putts through difficult areas (and it also may be possible that the particular course doesn't have greens with many differing difficulties)

I wondered about that last bit a little myself.

FWIW, my first demo round, played with a golfer who was rated 50's across the board, I finished +6 from the blue tees. +4 on the front 9, +2 on the back. And most of those extra strokes came from missing putts that seemed very makable as far as I could tell. I eventually had a little better success using either of the extreme options. Normal didn't work out well for me on anything other than a tap-in basically.

Hopefully there's at least a kernel of worthwhile feedback in this mess I've posted somewhere, although I had some questions/suggestions, I hope it didn't come across as any ballbusting because that wasn't my intent at all. I'm just sort of winging my way through whatever thoughts I had on first impression from the demo.

For me personally, my eventual interest in the game will be determined pretty much completely by how the career mode turns out. I'm not a golfer IRL, nor a console golfer for that matter, so it's pretty much all about the (gaming) universe that determines whether it's something I could get into.

[Gary Gorski]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

And I figure if I'm going to ask/suggest, I might as well shoot for the whole thing: In the career version, I'd like the have option to toggle the other players shot visuals on a round-by-round basis at the very least, and preferably the ability to toggle their shots on/off at any point during a round.

When I build this in I will build it into the options so you can just toggle it on whenever you like. I'll just make it skip the animation and hurry to your shot.

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

If I understand this correctly, basically the break,speed,readability, et al for the greens are abstracted into the difficulty rating. Not a problem AFAIC, I just wasn't clear on that.

Also, I felt pretty uncertain about what "aggressive" versus "normal" versus "safe" was really changing in my performance/results. For whatever reason, I found myself thinking of it as a range from "risk being long" to "leave it a little short" but I don't think that's really how the differences play out.

Yes, everything is abstracted into one "difficulty" rating. It was the most sensible way to do that since without a 3D model it would be really tough to read greens.

And you are correct in your assessment of the putting options. Aggressive gives you a greater chance at making the putt but also the biggest risk of leaving it two putts away. Safe lowers the chance of you actually making the putt but also generally puts you in a position to be able to make the next putt.

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Hopefully there's at least a kernel of worthwhile feedback in this mess I've posted somewhere, although I had some questions/suggestions, I hope it didn't come across as any ballbusting because that wasn't my intent at all. I'm just sort of winging my way through whatever thoughts I had on first impression from the demo.

For me personally, my eventual interest in the game will be determined pretty much completely by how the career mode turns out. I'm not a golfer IRL, nor a console golfer for that matter, so it's pretty much all about the (gaming) universe that determines whether it's something I could get into.

I honestly appreciate the feedback Jon (and everyone else). I don't take critiques as ballbusting but rather as opportunities to improve the games. Obviously I want everyone to like the game - I understand for some it won't be their thing, for some others they might like it with a change or two and some will love it how it is. If there's anything I can do to make someone interested in the game without taking away from things that are there already I'm glad to do it. Hopefully the career mode will be of interest to you and if not please let me know then what I can do to improve it.

[Icy]

Great, just back from a week of holidays, will download it now.

[st.cronin]

I'm pretty sure I've yet to make a putt longer than 10 feet (this with a player with 100s across the board).

[SirFozzie]

I had the opposite complaint, that I was making lots of long putts