CLUB DISTANCE

[neilgbarclay]

From the beginning, I have been bothered by the extremely short time we're given to choose the club distance for a shot. My reflexes are no longer fast enough to choose the exact distance, not to mention the lathargic reaction of my somewhat elderly keybord.

Doubtless, in your design, you have in mind the reflexes of the golfer on the course. But this doesn't apply to we cybergolfers whose reflexes are probably slower than our inent and whose equipment might not be up to par to accurately register said intent (a dead cerainty).

When I wish to shoot 300 yards at a given angle, I wish to be given 300 yards. I am forced, at present, to guess as to whether I've hit 250 or 300, depending upon how many Jack Daniels I have at hand.

Instead of a swiftly sliding scale, may I suggest a stable sequence of distances from which to choose?

I mean, after all, on your simulation course, we should at least have sure control of the distance of our shot, as well as other factors.

[Jake]

Thanks for the opinion, it is very different than the general direction GL Golf has been moving. From the beginning, I have kept trying to add several ways to make the game harder and slightly more random, without letting luck affect the score too much. I think this has been successful by penalizing users for landing in the rough/sand, using too much side or back spin, adding wind, ect.

I don't want to make GL Golf too easy where you can precisely dial in a specific shot, because golf is a game where you have to be consistent. I want people to have to practice the courses so they know which shots to take and avoid, but I also want people to be able to execute the shots in real time.

I do understand that not everyone has perfect reflexes, so I have an idea. How about an option that will slow down the power bar to 50% of its speed. That way you and others will have the option for a more consistent game that doesn't depend on reflexes and luck as much. This option will probably disable submitting internet high scores just like using 2+ mulligans does.

I've already added a feature in 2.08 that should help out. When you press space to choose your desired power, a little tick mark stays there so you can see exactly where the bar was when you presses space.

[neilgbarclay]

I happen to agree with your primary goal. Neither real Golf nor cyber Golf should be without the necesstity of constant practice. Actually, having attempted the real thing, it seems impossible ever to be certain of the power behind a given swing. Not even the best of pros can manage it all that consistently.

Slowing the speed of the power bar would help us genuine duffers an awfully lot, and making it optional would allow us to slowly wean ourselves away from the easier path while at the same time not aggrivating the purists. I see the point of the arrow you mentioned (it tells me where I thought I hit and where I actually did, but will have to test it out.

In truth, there is one area where I think you really do need to make the courses more difficult. I think it should be harder to get out of a sand trap. I haven't the slightest idea as to how this could be accomplished, but it is one of the slightly unrealistic aspects of your game - judging by my hours of frustration in the traps back when I played at playing. The height of the grass can be adjusted in your game (at SL Municipal I carried a handy gas weed eater), but would adjusting the depth of the sand do anything similar?

Your latest improvements are dandy, except once in a while the club that swings automatically toward the hole for the shot keeps going around and I'm still not certain how to stop it. Sometimes hitting the space bar works, which effects a shot, then taking a mulligan puts me bakc where I ought to be.

[Jake]

I agree about the sand traps, I think they need to be more difficult. I'll let my course maker know that the sand traps should be deeper and more challenging, and not a spot to aim for just to get the ball to stop!

After playing several rounds of golf I haven't got the auto-look to get stuck in a spin, but I think I have an idea to fix it without wasting a mulligan. Try saving the game and then resuming it, I would think that should stop the spinning. I'm going to work on the auto-look for 2.08, its not as polished as I would like it to be.