ApexHound Video on Updates Coming to EA Sports PGA Tour

[MrArlingtonBeach]

ApexHound did a half-hour sponsored post about upcoming EA Sports PGA Tour changes. He sat down with the lead designer and played turn based, online match play with him.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4_kX973Z6o

They talked about adding in Olympia Fields, and even showed it off. Olympia Fields and Wilmington will rotate as the BMW Championship host each season, starting with your next career mode year. They mentioned the Ryder Cup as well, which is coming down the pipeline soon. Apparently, they will have offline and online Ryder Cup modes. They will also be adding 2v2 turn based modes for the Ryder Cup, so all format types in the actual Ryder Cup will be playable in the game (foursomes, fourball, singles).

They brought up a "Pro Pass", which is something that "centralizes" all the content they add in the future. Sounds similar to other "live service" things, like 2K23's Clubhouse Pass or other "Season Passes". There's a free level and a "Premium" tier. This will be live Thursday, when the new patch drops.

One round career mode events will also be added then, too.

[rupe]

Re: ApexHound Video on Updates Coming to EA Sports PGA Tour

The one thing I would like to see is greater difficulty hitting out of the rough and traps. I'm glad they appear to be supporting this game. Overall I'm happy with it and look forward to where they can take it.

[jbd345]

Re: ApexHound Video on Updates Coming to EA Sports PGA Tour

Man, what this game could’ve been at launch if it wasn’t constrained by the masters release date. Clearly wasn’t anywhere close to being finished. We are finally getting a triple a game 4 months in. In case anyone is confused, I’m still playing and enjoying it.

[MrArlingtonBeach]

Re: ApexHound Video on Updates Coming to EA Sports PGA Tour

Hopefully they bolster their roster of licensed pro players. Otherwise, the Ryder Cup will have the same issues here as it did when it was in the game in Tiger Woods 11. There's simply not enough of the correct nationality of pros to have the correct amount of team members.

There are 11 male US players, and just one (!) male Euro player in the game right now. I recall in TW 11 having to use Australian players, as well as female golfers, to round out Ryder Cup teams.

Probably won't be a huge deal online, but I have no idea how the offline mode would work with the current rosters. Maybe they can use players' names like they do in career mode leaderboards, even though they won't have rights to their image?

[Dawgfan1]

Re: ApexHound Video on Updates Coming to EA Sports PGA Tour

For me personally, the biggest news that came out of the video was them giving confirmation to this series no longer being a yearly release cycle and following 2K's lead of releasing a new game every 2+ years. Hopefully it allows the devs to have more time improving the current game and developing for the next one (if it happens), and it will allow me to play deeper into the career mode before feeling like I have to choose between this and any new game that might come out. It'll also mean we probably get another round of major courses in next year for 3-year rotations in career mode. Everything else sounded and looked good, the scorecard UI they had for match play looked pretty nice.

I'm assuming the Ryder Cup will be focused mostly on the online aspect, I don't have much hope in them adding a bunch of European golfers (if they are the mode would have possibly been added to career mode) so doing it offline will likely look and play weird. I'm glad the option is there at least, but I hope they're able to get more European golfers in the future.

[golfnut67]

Re: ApexHound Video on Updates Coming to EA Sports PGA Tour

Personally, this update is exactly what I've been waiting for since launch. I'm over the moon. Turn play, Ryder cup, multiple modes with turn play, it's what makes the game fun for the next year or two outside of career mode, which I'm already getting a bit tired of (just finished 3rd season losing East Lake once again like I did every season in 2k23 lol).

I'm stoked. THIS is the update that finally makes this game fun to play against your buddy online or your spouse in the same room. This is the one. I'm happy. Assuming it all works lol.

Thanks to EA for finally releasing a patch that should have been there since launch haha. I know they were "constrained" by the Masters launch date, but as we all know, this stuff is all very basic golf game stuff for the last 2 decades. All snark aside, I'm glad they stuck with it and I'm really looking forward to finally being able to play the game the way I really enjoy playing it.

[MrArlingtonBeach]

Re: ApexHound Video on Updates Coming to EA Sports PGA Tour

It'll also mean we probably get another round of major courses in next year for 3-year rotations in career mode.

Yeah, and looking at 2024's majors, that'll mean Valhalla (PGA), Pinehurst No. 2 (US Open), Royal Troon (The Open). These are all courses EA has had at some point in the past...in fact, Tiger Woods 14 had all 3 of them in that game.

[dubcity]

Re: ApexHound Video on Updates Coming to EA Sports PGA Tour

Yeah, the announcement that this will be a live service game is a pretty key thing. That will give them more time to add courses and content indefinitely. I'm expecting them to surpass 2K in that regard by a wide margin.

I also appreciated the designer's attitude in general. Very positive and upbeat. It's cool that he can have this partnership with Apex, because Apex can be pretty critical and blunt (and hilarious) when it comes to the problems with these golf games.

[jbd345]

Re: ApexHound Video on Updates Coming to EA Sports PGA Tour

Another thought, hopefully this live service means more courses down the line too. They can work on licenses without working on a full new game.

[scagwi]

Re: ApexHound Video on Updates Coming to EA Sports PGA Tour

Do you guys think they’re ever going to make the off fairway penalties more realistic and consistent?

Hearing about that is honestly a barrier to me being interested still

[Hilldog39]

Re: ApexHound Video on Updates Coming to EA Sports PGA Tour

Now we also need crossplay to be a thing. Tired of these empty lobbies on PC. Most I ever see is 1 maybe 2 other people queuing for an online match

[golfnut67]

Re: ApexHound Video on Updates Coming to EA Sports PGA Tour

I would say they have definitely made some improvements, but not enough.

My last few rounds there have been many times where I was in heavy rough and the lie penalty was like 40%, and I definitely had trouble getting out with any distance or accuracy.

In general though, being in regular rough is usually only slightly penalized. I use a "house rule" in those situations and stay away from special shots, like Hack, etc, and just grab a club and let it rip. They basically just need to make average rough shots no better than 80% lie penalty, and in heavy rough and weeds, much worse. They seem to have done the latter to an extent, but regular rough (like right off the first cut) is still too easy.

[MrArlingtonBeach]

Re: ApexHound Video on Updates Coming to EA Sports PGA Tour

I would say they have definitely made some improvements, but not enough.

My last few rounds there have been many times where I was in heavy rough and the lie penalty was like 40%, and I definitely had trouble getting out with any distance or accuracy.

In general though, being in regular rough is usually only slightly penalized. I use a "house rule" in those situations and stay away from special shots, like Hack, etc, and just grab a club and let it rip. They basically just need to make average rough shots no better than 80% lie penalty, and in heavy rough and weeds, much worse. They seem to have done the latter to an extent, but regular rough (like right off the first cut) is still too easy.

Here's a prime example of that from ApexHound from a video released 4 days ago - he's off the fairway at LACC, and has a 100% lie in rough, thanks to the Hack shot. He hits an 8-iron from 174 yards away, and puts it to 13 feet for eagle.

https://youtu.be/Htfq-7jFnEQ?t=598

It seems that missing the fairway here should have offered more of a penalty, and that Hack shots are wildly OP. Honestly, this shot here basically played as though he was still ON the fairway...plus there was really no penalty for his fast, overswing either, it seems.

[Dawgfan1]

Re: ApexHound Video on Updates Coming to EA Sports PGA Tour

Here's a prime example of that from ApexHound from a video released 4 days ago - he's off the fairway at LACC, and has a 100% lie in rough, thanks to the Hack shot. He hits an 8-iron from 174 yards away, and puts it to 13 feet for eagle.

https://youtu.be/Htfq-7jFnEQ?t=598

It seems that missing the fairway here should have offered more of a penalty, and that Hack shots are wildly OP. Honestly, this shot here basically played as though he was still ON the fairway...plus there was really no penalty for his fast, overswing either, it seems.

From what I've seen the hack shot feels not too OP in taking off lie penalty on longer irons, but once it gets to the shorter irons it basically removes any lie penalty present. Which seems to follow a common theme to me, the lie penalties for all shots ~6/7 iron or shorter just never feel enough.

I think another issue that makes hacks too OP is their dispersion area. You'd think hacking it out of a rough would bring into play much more accuracy randomness in exchange for a more surefire hit on the ball, but it turns out the hack shot has a slightly smaller dispersion area than that of the regular approach shot. Which doesn't make sense to me? The dispersion area of hack shots should be significantly increased to better represent it and make it more balanced and a bit more of a risk-reward shot. It has a couple things making it tougher like less spin and a much faster backswing animation, but it doesn't feel like it's enough.

[golfnut67]

Re: ApexHound Video on Updates Coming to EA Sports PGA Tour

I think another issue that makes hacks too OP is their dispersion area. You'd think hacking it out of a rough would bring into play much more accuracy randomness in exchange for a more surefire hit on the ball, but it turns out the hack shot has a slightly smaller dispersion area than that of the regular approach shot. Which doesn't make sense to me? The dispersion area of hack shots should be significantly increased to better represent it and make it more balanced and a bit more of a risk-reward shot. It has a couple things making it tougher like less spin and a much faster backswing animation, but it doesn't feel like it's enough.

This is exactly right. Seems that it should be an easy tweak, but like MAB said, maybe they are just going to leave it like this. I hope not.