Since you don't like TW putting How should they do it

[OnlookerDelay]

Re: Since you don't like TW putting How should they do it

Why can't 2k or Take Two or whoever has the Links code see all these threads and comments about how great Links 2004 was and just finish the dang game?

I've asked myself that question more times than I can count. What we don't know is exactly how much work is left to be done to complete 'Links 2007'. I had been told in an e-mail from one of the devs that it was ~80% complete when the project was shut down.

Who could we expect to come riding in on a white horse and pull it out of the wastebin? I haven't been able name a publisher to fit the bill until a couple of months ago. Think about this for a minute before you scoff... how about Atari? Look at what happened in June; Atari stepped up and announced that they would be publishing Simbin's twice cancelled "Race Pro". It looks like they're really promoting it also.

I'm thinking that maybe... just maybe, if Race Pro turns out to be a success for Atari, it might pursuade them to think in terms of picking up another dropped project. Of course Links 2007 would be a different story. Take Two would have to be offered enough cash to sort of recoup their losses with what they had invested with Links 2007. Simbin was more or less shopping their product around, and Atari probably got it for a song, compared to what they'd have to do with Links 2007.

[pietasterp]

Re: Since you don't like TW putting How should they do it

Yes, the putting system in Links 2004 is close to ideal. The idea of setting a pre-set distance for your putter seems like something from the 1980's, when programmers were still trying to figure out how to make good games; it boggles the mind to fathom how that system is in an actual game in the year 2008...More to the point, this "system" of putting was subtly, but definitely, sneakily actually in Links 2004, but it was hidden so well and naturalistically integrated into the game that you would never notice. Which is to say, for most regular putts, the meter was something on the order to 40-ft for a "full" putting stroke...However, on really long putts, the meter was probably actually closer to 60-feet or so, and on really short putts maybe 10-20ft. You know this because were the meter always set to a hard 80-feet or so, the microscopic amount you would have to pull the stick back and forth to make a 2-footer would barely be registerable to the sensitivity of the thumbstick. However, the programmers were ingenious enough to somehow make the game such that on any given length putt, you could estimate based on vision and FEEL only, how much you would have to pull the stick back to make that putt. The distance seemed so completely natural that you actually had no idea there was even an algorithm at work behind the scenes. And it's not that it's amazing when you play the game; you somehow just feel like that's how the game "should" work. Which is true, actually...

However, I would also like to see momentum and rhythm come into play in a putting stroke (or any stroke for that matter). For example, as anyone who's hacked up a real golf course will tell you, on a really really long putt (which I tend to have a lot of because I never hit the ball close to the hole), you take a much different tempo swing then when you're trying to can an 8-footer. On a shorter putt, you concentrate on a smooth takeaway and a smooth follow-through, at roughly the same speed both going back and forward through the ball (also depends on what kind of putter you use...I like heavier putters where I can take the club back and let it "drop" like a pendulum through the hitting zone); however, on really long putts you take the club back, but bring it through the hitting target much more quickly (closer to an actual swing). This should be reflected in the actual stroke in the game: the tempo and speed with which you pull the stick back and forth should be taken into account when the game decides how hard you hit the ball.

I'd also like to see more error programmed into putting strokes; again, if you've ever putted a real golf ball on a golf course, those 4-5 footers can be some of the toughest putts you will ever try to make (especially if they're par or bogey savers). It's because the slightest mis-hit or yip will cause you to miss it; I would say the most often made mistake is a "pull", where you yank it just ever-so-slightly and miss the putt left (if you're right-handed). This is a very common occurence, even at the pro level (see Vijay the last couple of weeks...I have no idea how he keeps winnning with his short-putting in the shape it is...). This should be programmed more into games; as it is now, even at the hardest level of Tiger, I'm finding that 4-footers are basically a guarantee. Speed also seemingly plays a bigger role in shorter putts, especially if they are breakers...and the lag putt should definitely be part of these golf games, since they're a huge part of real golf.

But now I'm just getting greedy...

I shed a tear for what could have been with Links next-gen, especially when you look at what they've done with Top Spin - a frickin' TENNIS game!!!! Grrrrrr....