More Info on The Golf Club

[RaychelSnr]

The developers at HB Studios have been answering questions on their forums about their newly announced Golf Simulation, The Golf Club, pretty regularly. Here are a few new details:

Can you hit a ball into the adjacent holes Fairway and play from there?
Yes, you can currently play from just about anywhere that isn't under water, Although this isn't finalized and OB may be added as they test more.

Will we be able to choose our clubs before a round? ie Can I drop a 5w and take an extra wedge for certain courses?
Not in the Beta, but it's on our list to add in the future

Will there be a preview hole flyover for every hole on the course?
Yeah, there is a skippable flyover on each hole, as well as a flyover of the entire course that shows when you've selected a course, before you start your round.

Will you be able to "Shape" your shot?
Yes, there are stance controls for open/close (and forward/back). To give a little more context to it. We have a system that allows the shaping of shots, adding spin etc. This is all set up pre-shot with the help of the Pre-Shot Ribbon, this is like an indicator from your caddie.

The more you sway from a normal shot the harder the shot is to pull of, and the more perfect your swing will have to be.

Can I design a course on PS4 and have my friend download it on their Xbox One?
From a technical point of view yes! The DNA of courses is stored on a server and the machine builds the course from that DNA.

Can we do Co-op course building?
Unfortunately this is not planned at this time. Its an interesting feature to consider though and something I will bring up on Monday but I don't think we'll have time to implement anything like this before the release of the game.

You can read more answers to questions on the HB Studios Forums.

[BaselineBakes]

As soon as I heard about the course creator I immediately thought about designing courses close to my area or ones I've played on. Imagine this type of database it would be insane. I always like to check out a courses book or website to get a feel of the course before I go out and play it for the first time, how cool would it be just to play it virtually.

"Will there be any real, licensed courses available (Pebble Beach, Augusta, Sawgrass, etc)?
No, but with the course creator recreating them is a possibility. You can create any course layouts in the world, my dream is to have a Ultimate Guitar Tab like database of courses so that I could play a course online before playing it in real life on a Saturday. Imagine if you get invited to a new course by a friend, you could play it in the game before playing it in real life, to know the best route around the course."

[ralphieboy11]

I'm really excited about playing around with the course designer as well. Looks like it might be difficult to create the true experience of some of these real courses right off the bat. One of the designers mentioned on their forums that all of the layouts have mountains as a back drop at the moment. It would be sort of weird to see Augusta or Pebble with mountains in the background. They did mention they have more ideas for backdrops in the future.

[jmaj315]

Definitely making Eagle Eye and Hawk Hollow. √

That co-op course design would be pretty cool, but definitely not necessary in a launch or even second iteration i wouldn't think.

I'm actually very excited for this game because it seems like the Devs are genuinely listening to us. I only asked if you could play out of the wrong fairway like 2 or 3 days ago and its already being answered for everyone!

[BBallcoach]

"Can I design a course on PS4 and have my friend download it on their Xbox One?
From a technical point of view yes! The DNA of courses is stored on a server and the machine builds the course from that DNA."

This is a game seller right here.

[pietasterp]

Quote: Originally Posted by BBallcoach

"Can I design a course on PS4 and have my friend download it on their Xbox One? From a technical point of view yes! The DNA of courses is stored on a server and the machine builds the course from that DNA." This is a game seller right here.

While it's an exciting possibility, note that they took pains to specify that "from a technical point of view..." it is posssible. Which is cool for sure, but the caveat is that contractual/licensing issues may prevent this from occurring after release. Which would suck....

[ComfortablyLomb]

Quote: Originally Posted by MMChrisS

Will you be able to "Shape" your shot? Yes, there are stance controls for open/close (and forward/back). To give a little more context to it. We have a system that allows the shaping of shots, adding spin etc. This is all set up pre-shot with the help of the Pre-Shot Ribbon, this is like an indicator from your caddie. The more you sway from a normal shot the harder the shot is to pull of, and the more perfect your swing will have to be.

Fingers crossed the a "normal" shot is not a straight shot (though I fear it will be since the devs are indicating they want equal footing for all players). Professionals do not hit the ball straight. I'm not saying they try to Bubba Watson every ball but many of them basically rely on a draw or a fade (to their advantage and disadvantage at times depending on the way particular holes/courses play). Some bend the ball more than others but none of them are trying to hit the ball straight with any regularity. Only Mario Golf, Hot Shots, and the most recent Tiger Woods games have gotten this right, as best I can remember. It's a shame since one of the difficulties of course management is fitting natural shot shape to different holes.

[MERACE]

Quote: Originally Posted by ComfortablyLomb

Fingers crossed the a "normal" shot is not a straight shot (though I fear it will be since the devs are indicating they want equal footing for all players). Professionals do not hit the ball straight. I'm not saying they try to Bubba Watson every ball but many of them basically rely on a draw or a fade (to their advantage and disadvantage at times depending on the way particular holes/courses play). Some bend the ball more than others but none of them are trying to hit the ball straight with any regularity. Only Mario Golf, Hot Shots, and the most recent Tiger Woods games have gotten this right, as best I can remember. It's a shame since one of the difficulties of course management is fitting natural shot shape to different holes.

The developers stated that you will be able to "shape" your shot the way the pros do by adjusting your stance. I never liked the way it was done in TW14 with the diagonal swing. For me, it seemed too unnatural and contrived.

-MERACE