Settings for a solid challenge in TW 12-14

[Jay Cee]

What’s the best route to go? Is there a a time you stop upgrading your player?

[bigkev]

Re: Settings for a solid challenge in TW 12-14

I don't think upgrading is a big deal for a solid challenge in both games. It's always coming back to aids. TW12 has that pesky caddie to get rid off. TW14 has a full sim where you have to use the diagonal swing for longer shots. I fully understand most people hate it, but you have tons of options. Expert swing, no grid, no aim, no putt preview, with wind gust and just using an arrow for wind direction. With those options, you have a great career mode, specially if you're lucky to have all the courses... which I sadly don't have.

[MrArlingtonBeach]

Re: Settings for a solid challenge in TW 12-14

Yeah, it's awesome how much customization of the game settings and difficulty you can do in the TW series. I tried playing a round of TW14 on simulation difficulty (all aids off, expert swing, no zoom, etc.) at TPC Sawgrass. And I think I shot something like 89 or 90.

[donkey33]

Re: Settings for a solid challenge in TW 12-14

Yeah, I play with all aids off. Even the strike aid where you have to hover on the impact zone then it disappears really quickly, lol.

Grids off, no zoom view, etc. Gives me the best representation of the sport but it can be tough at times and a round can go downhill very quickly. That's what I like about it though. I'll turn into the back 9 at -2 for the round then have a triple bogey which can sometimes completely derail my concentration/I'm p!ssed off, lol but sometimes a good follow hole and a bit of focus and I can claw my way back in.

That's realistic to me as I want a real life challenge and to have to play well week in week out to get up the rankings (if I'm good enough).

[Jay Cee]

Re: Settings for a solid challenge in TW 12-14

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I started a new golfer in TW14 with about half the assists still on just to get off the web.com tour asap and now am slowly pulling back the rest as i go.



I am playing 2 rounds for the regular tournaments but think I will switch to 4 for majors. Speaking of, do the tournament hosts rotate for the majors every year and is there any kind of seasons limit to the mode?

[bigkev]

Re: Settings for a solid challenge in TW 12-14

Tournaments host will rotate for the 3 Majors other than the Masters. I don't think there's a limit for TW14, I never saw that my career was done like in TW13. There's also a mini-career for the Majors in quick tournaments, where you have to at least equal the records for each Majors to get the Living Legend trophy in PS. When I got bored, I made a cutie and started a LPGA career. It's a different game as they're playing from the blue tee, wish they would have limit the power golfer as they hit it over 300 yds like the man.

[Jay Cee]

Re: Settings for a solid challenge in TW 12-14

How do you guys handle the missing courses in a season? I don’t like the idea of playing the same course twice in a rotation & started to look to see if there were any not being used. I guess as the majors rotate there’s some that free up?

[MrArlingtonBeach]

Re: Settings for a solid challenge in TW 12-14

Unfortunately, if you don't have the DLC for TW 14, you're gonna have repeats. Since there is 31 career mode events and just 20-some courses, it's bound to happen. I have the Masters Historic Edition which has a few extra courses, so I don't get too many repeats.

I tried to set up a schedule that minimizes replaying courses, and when a replay does happen, it's far enough away in the year that it doesn't feel too close to the previous play. Here's the schedule I made for my first career mode season (* represents a course from the Masters Historic Edition):

Sheshan*
Oak Hill
Oakmont
Pinehurst #2 (replaces DLC Bethpage Black)
Torrey Pines
Valhalla (replaces DLC TPC Scottsdale)
Pebble Beach
PGA National
Doral*
Mission Hills
Royal Melbourne* (replaces DLC Banff Springs)
Augusta
Crooked Stick (replaces DLC TPC San Antonio)
TPC Louisiana
TPC Sawgrass
Royal County Down* (replaces DLC Colonial)
Muirfield Village
Royal Birkdale
Oakmont (U.S. Open, rotates)
Mission Hills (replaces DLC TPC River Highlands)
Atlanta Athletic Club
Sheshan* (replaces DLC Celtic Manor)
Kiawah Island
Royal Troon (The Open Championship, rotates)
St. Andrews (replaced DLC Costa Navarino)
Spyglass Hill
Oak Hill (PGA Championship, rotates)
Valhalla (replaces DLC Bethpage Black, FedEx Cup Playoffs)
Muirfield Village (replaces DLC TPC Boston, FedEx Cup Playoffs)
Crooked Stick (FedEx Cup Playoffs)
East Lake (Tour Championship)

I am now in my second season, and had to do some adjusting...Valhalla in season 2 is the host of the PGA Championship, so I took Valhalla out of the first FedEx Cup Playoffs event and made it Oak Hill, so that basically meant they switched spots in the schedule. Pinehurst #2 is the U.S. Open host, so I will be playing that course twice in season 2, but that's not too bad.

So no matter what, you'll get some repeat courses throughout the year. And you'll have more repeats if you have just the basic edition of the game. But I hope this helps give you an idea of what you can do to help make the repeats fewer and farther between.

EDIT: just wanted to add the courses at which the majors rotate...again, this is if you have the Masters Historic Edition and no DLC:

U.S. Open - Oakmont, Pebble Beach, Pinehurst #2, Torrey Pines
The Open - St. Andrews, Royal Birkdale, Royal Troon
PGA Championship - Oak Hill, PGA National, Atlanta Athletic Club, Valhalla, Crooked Stick, Kiawah Island

[Jay Cee]

Re: Settings for a solid challenge in TW 12-14

Good stuff, thanks. Yeah I have the Masters Edition but no DLC.

I’m not going to qualify for a major this year so that does help a bit, so silly though that EA would make it hard to qualify for the US or British OPEN!

[MrArlingtonBeach]

Re: Settings for a solid challenge in TW 12-14

The only major I qualified for in my first year was the PGA Championship, and I actually won it!

I am playing career mode with a Custom difficulty: green grid off, wind is arrow only, no spin, no putt preview, swing difficulty is expert, shot shaping is normal, strike meter is sticky, AI scores set to Hard. I still have zoom to aim on, but I may change that to off, and I might switch strike meter to analog or analog fade - where you have to hold the analog stick in place throughout the swing.

These settings allow me to compete, and I can win if I put four solid rounds together. When I won the PGA Championship, I had to birdie a few holes down the stretch, and I managed to pull off a two-shot victory. It was tense and fun right down to the last shot.

[bigkev]

Re: Settings for a solid challenge in TW 12-14

I don't bother too much about switching courses to have a full schedule, I just skip some of those tournaments. Just about all the pros are not playing all of them anyway.

Unless you go in the rough or in a bunker, fade analog is no big deal as I adjusted in no time of not hitting the ball solid with side hill lie. After playing TW13, expert is the easiest swing in the game for me. Expert in TW14 is slower than normal on TW13, specially for putting. That's the main thing I didn't like about TW13 as a rl golfer, I always felt like I was jabbing at the putt instead of my nice deliberate putting stroke just going thru the ball.

[donkey33]

Re: Settings for a solid challenge in TW 12-14

Yeah the analogue fade really hits you in some parts of the rough or especially when I'm trying to hit well under the ball.

I have all the DLC so I don't have the course issues but like above, I'd just skip a tournament I guess. Although before I got the DLC, it didn't worry me too much about replaying a course again.