Updated IGN TW 2008 Preview (06/18/07)

[laforr77]

Re: Updated IGN TW 2008 Preview (06/18/07)

I like the putting tweak... don't know why i've never thought of that.

[Rules]

Re: Updated IGN TW 2008 Preview (06/18/07)

I like the putting tweak... don't know why i've never thought of that.

Hmm, I like this idea as well so when I get this year's arcade golf game, I can have it play more challenging.

[sroz39]

Re: Updated IGN TW 2008 Preview (06/18/07)

Oddly enough, the problem isn't the result, it's that it occurs without the game explicitly saying 100% is possible. In real golf it is quite possible to "catch a flier" out of the rough, a ball that goes a good ways further than it is supposed to because you just happen to have it sitting up and pop it from the sweet spot. The thing is, you can usually tell when there is at least a chance of this happening based on the lie. You're pretty much dead on with what else you posted though. This game is kind of annoying because it's so close but so far too.

Oh believe me, I understand that hitting a "flier" is possible every now and then. The problem is, it feels closer to 50/50 where this game is concerned. Add in the fact that the mapping of the swing length and the percentage of power that length should represent is WAAAAAAY off, and voila, you have a glitchy experience.

I've learned over time, with the swing length, that if I want to hit it 75%, in the swing length I should be looking at closer to 50%. Especially for putting. But this doesn't help the inconsistent lie information. I would however, love to see the game have flier lies. I think if you ask the devs, 95% of them won't have a clue what you're talking about, leading me to believe this part of the game is under-developed.

[baa7]

Re: Updated IGN TW 2008 Preview (06/18/07)

I would however, love to see the game have flier lies. I think if you ask the devs, 95% of them won't have a clue what you're talking about

That seems a bit harsh. With lies in the rough, you have a shot power penalty of maybe 15%. Plus it becomes somewhat tougher to hit the ball clean, further reducing the chance to hit for any distance. That to me is realistic enough that I would call it acceptable. And in my case, it’s pretty much exactly what happens to me when I hit a ball from the rough in real life. Very seldom (ever?) do I catch a flyer/hit the ball further than I would have had I been on the fairway.

Maybe it’s because TW is the only real option out there, or because I’m getting older and more accepting with these games. Whatever, these things don’t bother me a whole lot. I see all the work that goes into the series, and can appreciate it for what it is. Games have to have enough in them to keep me interested, and TW has that, for what it’s worth. And I know that’s different for everyone.

[ComfortablyLomb]

Re: Updated IGN TW 2008 Preview (06/18/07)

I don't feel like digging around too much but in 2004 KJ Choi was second on the PGA Tour in what stat? Putts drained from 10-15' with a whopping 39% dropping. It seems like a lot more than that fall in an average round of TW.

[baa7]

Re: Updated IGN TW 2008 Preview (06/18/07)

I don't feel like digging around too much but in 2004 KJ Choi was second on the PGA Tour in what stat? Putts drained from 10-15' with a whopping 39% dropping. It seems like a lot more than that fall in an average round of TW.

If I kept track and discovered I sink more than 10-15% of my putts from that range, I'd be surprised.

[OnlookerDelay]

Re: Updated Gamespot TW 2008 preview (7/11/07)

Gamespot has a new update on Tiger Woods 2008, dated 7/11/07. They got a look at it in EA Sports booth at E3. It still doesn't go into the level of detail we hardcore players are looking for, but I did find this paragraph a bit interesting:

"The most noticeable change to how the game plays is to how you add slice and fade to the ball. You still use the D pad to change the direction you're aiming your club when you're using the zoomed-in landing target view, but you can also move the target zone by adding a slice or fade to the ball with a tap of the left or right bumper which in turn moves the landing area. This is super easy to learn and it should encourage players to be more creative with their shots. The rest of the analog controls are unchanged, though you can now press the right analog in to instantly switch to a more "old-school" three-button-press system at any point during a round"

Didn't Tiger Woods 1999 - 2001 have a system similar to that on the PC? I know they didn't have left and right bumper buttons, but this sounds familiar.

Later on in the same article we find this:

"The EA representative mentioned that putting would be less frustrating this year and there would be more makeable long distance putts, but it didn't feel drastically different to us."

I'm not sure how the putting could be less frustrating this year. I think it's too easy to make long putts in 2007. The fact that it doesn't feel drastically different to Gamespot also confirms my suspicion that we'd have the same mulitple range putter system this year.... (sigh)

And finally, we have this closing remark tells me that we aren't in for a radical change:

"Many of the changes to the way the game plays are subtle, but it's those subtle changes, such as the B button instantly teleporting your view to the target area when you tap it (you can still fly towards the target by holding the button) that veterans of the series will likely appreciate."

But then again, I'm not sure that a writer who cites the "B" button targeting operation in his closing remarks is geared to recognize and address the more critical fundamental mechanics in which I'm interested.

Here's a link to the whole article: http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/spor...42&mode=recent

[ocat]

Re: Updated IGN TW 2008 Preview (06/18/07)

Not to mention he was calling it "slice and fade" which is pretty much the same thing instead of DRAW and fade. Obviously he knows jack about golf

[ComfortablyLomb]

Re: Updated IGN TW 2008 Preview (06/18/07)

Putting was frustrating? Maybe if you're a monkey. I'm finding it harder and harder not to dump on this franchise. They forced a bunch of games that I thought were superior in terms of gameplay off the market (Links, Jack Nicklaus, PGA) and now they have the prettiest soulless golf game ever made. Not to mention that they won't take their ball camera out behind the barn.

It shouldn't be easy to sink long putts, in fact there should be a significant risk of a three putt if the greens are tough enough. Honestly, it sounds like they added a few new courses (which are GREAT courses too) and tried to put a few bandaids on some other stuff. Bleck.

[mgoblue]

Re: Updated IGN TW 2008 Preview (06/18/07)

from what I gather, somewhat just personal opinion, it appears that the poor analog swing will still be there, compared to the control in your swing you had in Links, so I'll be passing on TW.

In Links I couldn't swap my player's swing animation because it would mess me up...it was that in sync with the controls and you had so much variation. I just don't feel that with TW and therefore I feel less in control and it's not fun. The 3 click swing is garbage to me, but it'll help you guys have more control if you don't mind playing 1990 era golf.

I'll just keep this year's version for a few years so I have something to feed my golf fix when the majors are on.

[OnlookerDelay]

Re: Updated IGN TW 2008 Preview (06/18/07)

Not to mention he was calling it "slice and fade" which is pretty much the same thing instead of DRAW and fade. Obviously he knows jack about golf

Yeah.. that doesn't instill a lot of confidence in me that the writer knew what he was talking about either. It's almost as bad as the EA Sports media rep during G4's coverage of E3, who was touting the fact that Madden 2008 played smoother because it's now running at 60 *Hz*.... WTF!?

[OnlookerDelay]

Re: Updated IGN TW 2008 Preview (06/18/07)

from what I gather, somewhat just personal opinion, it appears that the poor analog swing will still be there

It definitely appears that way based on the vids I've seen, although one of the swings I've seen in the Official Gameplay Movie 1 at Gamespot, showed something that resembled elastic tension as Furick (I think it was him anyway) neared the top of his backswing.

The previewers are just totally out to lunch on this aspect of the game. I don't think they're aware of its importance to the game's feel themselves, let alone asking the developers or media reps about it.

If this game runs at 60 fps, as some have suggested, it could have a bearing on how the swing interface feels. I just don't know whether the animations have even a token amount of physics modeling in them or not. I seriously doubt it, but I'm holding out some degree of hope based on what I saw in the Gamespot video today.

In Links I couldn't swap my player's swing animation because it would mess me up...it was that in sync with the controls and you had so much variation. I just don't feel that with TW and therefore I feel less in control and it's not fun.

Links 2004 has it all over Tiger Woods 2006 and 07 in the feel of the interface, and it needed work, IMO. I don't know why EA Sports can't get it into their heads that golfers are subject to the same laws of physics as football, hockey, basketball, baseball, and soccer players. They seem to at least take a stab at incorporating inertial physics in those games, why not golf!?

[OnlookerDelay]

Re: Gamespy's latest preview

I read Bill Abner's preview of Tiger Woods 2008 at Gamespy yesterday. Once again, I don't believe he got to lay hands on the game. Nothing in the preview hinted of it, and Bill is pretty thorough - he would have commented on how it felt had he actually done so. He did say in his preview that Tiger Woods 2008 Producer, Michael Taramykin said "we want putting to rock"... I'm not sure what having putting that "rocks" will mean in terms of gameplay, but I hope it's not more of the seeing-eye putts we had in TW 2006!

And why on Earth can't we get one report from the gaming media who actually laid hands on this game at E3!? During the G4 programming, I saw one woman playing the game all by herself. It looked like the media in attendance had access to it so why has there been no mention of how it played?

[ComfortablyLomb]

Re: Gamespy's latest preview

Putting doesn't rock. Putting is a test of nerves and skill. It's not awesome. It's about distance control, accuracy, and green reading ability. A chunk of that equation is handed to you on a platter in Tiger Woods. I don't think I ever missed a relatively straight-in putt wide in any of the last few games because you couldn't, which is nuts. You just needed the distance and a decent interpretation of the read they gave you. Watch golf for about 20 minutes on television and even those guys push and pull putts like crazy. Whoever makes this game over at EA either knows nothing about the sport or is under so much pressure from the marketing/sales arm to make an "accessable" game that it never has a chance anyway.

Edit - I'm not saying I want to go out and shoot 85 in a golf game either but I want it to play like an actual round of golf for a tour pro. You know, bomb your drive in and around the fairway (not down the middle every time), spot an iron somewhere at the green, and work from there. That and the ball camera. It ruins any sense of how far a ball is going.

[baa7]

Re: Gamespy's latest preview

Putting doesn't rock. Putting is a test of nerves and skill. It's not awesome. It's about distance control, accuracy, and green reading ability. A chunk of that equation is handed to you on a platter in Tiger Woods. I don't think I ever missed a relatively straight-in putt wide in any of the last few games because you couldn't, which is nuts. You just needed the distance and a decent interpretation of the read they gave you. Watch golf for about 20 minutes on television and even those guys push and pull putts like crazy. Whoever makes this game over at EA either knows nothing about the sport or is under so much pressure from the marketing/sales arm to make an "accessable" game that it never has a chance anyway.

I mentioned this in another post. Shut off all putting aids, including the grid. Use the elevation indicator and run it over the green to read it. You can view the indicator from behind both the golfer and the hole. You will sweat the short putts, I can assure you