Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 12: The Masters Demo Available Now, Post Impressions Here

[Uncle Stumpy]

I'm impressed. The presentation was phenomenal, but I don't expect it to be as goodas that in the regular game. If money was not a factor, it would be a first day purchase. Unfortunately it is, I can only afford one game for now. It's either this or The Show

I think im leaning towards Tiger because i really enjoy the online tourneys

[geomorphologist]

Can I play the demo with the ps move ?

[Bighoff]

Quote: Originally Posted by geomorphologist

Can I play the demo with the ps move ?

Yes you can

[Seymour Scagnetti]

Wow I guess I'm the only one that's pretty pissed right now with the demo and that fact you can't turn off the caddie option altogether because I think it just ruined the game for me.

The main reason being they ruined the true aim mode with this caddie thing. It turned everything into just stick swinging with no user input into managing the course and judging carrying distances. In other words they dumbed it down even on tourney difficulty. They don't give you flagstick distances and even worse thay don't give your golfer the yardage carry distances for his clubs. All you get are %'s of what the optimal shot should be. I don't even know if the % the caddie gives me is the carrying distance or is where the ball is supposed to stop rolling.

For example you have a couple of vague markers as to what the distance is on approach shots to the green but you can't compare it to your club distance because they are not made available for you to see. All you're given is a % of a certain club you should swing. (EG:65% of your 6 iron recommended by the caddie). You have no idea how much 65% fo your 6 iron is in distance because they don't provide the full distance or carry distance of your 6 iron. The only way around it I guess would be to write it down on a piece of paper from the club tuner screen but then your distance always changes as you apply XP points and who wants to always have to rely on finding that paper when you play.

That kills all the fun of true aim and all you do is follow the caddie's shot selection and it becomes incredibly boring. You can customize your shot but in some instances it was noticebly off from what the caddie suggested even though I customized the exact same shot. And it's a crapshoot anyways because you don't have the club distances readlily available to you. I thought that this option could be turned off but the only thing that you can disable seems to be his voice.

As a result they totally overhauled true aim and killed the fun of it and any strategy the user has in judging distances. Even when you move the LS upwards to see the layout of the course it moves to where your ball is supposed to end up almost instantaneously so you really have no good overview of the hole itself. So any trees that might be in the way are hard to see and you simply go by what the caddie tells you and for the 18th hole at Augusta it didn't work very well because he said I could lay up or try and fade it around the trees with my driver and I hit the shot perfectly with the fade he wanted but still ended up in the trees based on the aim he suggested. For Pebble Beach that's gonna be a nightmare.

It kills all the fun out of par 3's because you know whatever the cadidie tells you is the right shot so it simply becomes a game of whether you can nail the right % of what he tells you to hit. It takes all the strategy out of deciding whether to go up or down a club or using some backspin or topspin on your tee shot. It just becomes a mundane exercise of hitting the % he wants.

This is a major gamekiller for sim users. I can't believe they dumbed it down like this. The caddie does all the thinking for you and that was half the fun of playing true aim, well at least to anyone over 14. It's like playing God Of War and having a character in the game solving all the puzzles for you. EA is at it again. They have no concept as to why gamers loved true aim amd made it pointless. First they ruined FN Champion and now this.

[rolltide1017]

In last years game, could you use true-aim for all your pre shot stuff but have the camera switch to the presentation cam once you hit the ball? I didn't buy last years version so, I'm not that familiar with true-aim. Loved how it felt in the demo and loved not having any aiming tools, makes it much more realistic but, I've always liked the presentation cam once the ball is hit. Just gives it that TV feel.

Unfortunately, I agree with Seymour, the caddie feature is horrible. I don't mind these type of dumbing down options being in the game but, to also apply them to the higher difficulty settings in the game just defeats the whole point of the higher difficulty. I hope the caddie feature is just forced on us for the demo and that you can completely remove him in the full game. If not then I will be taking another break from the TW series after this year. I'm almost to the point that I think EA needs to clean house with the Tiger team, they obviously do not understand the game of golf.

This is not how a caddie works in real life. In real life the golfer and caddie are a team, discussing each option together, not relying on a all knowing caddie to pin point the exact spot the ball is going to go. It works very similar to the way my dad and I interact when playing golf. My dad will give me suggestions on aiming spots and which club to use but I may decided to go a completely different route. My dad dose not know exactly where my ball will land if I swing with this percentage of my club. Now, a caddie and pro golfer are much more knowledgeable about the course but, the concept is the same. The game takes it too far, the caddie is doing all the work for you and that is just not realistic at all.

[globalbeats7]

and we arrive at the problem.....EA. they have absolutely no idea how to give us new features and additions without making it gimmicky. its all bells and whistles, but no substance. still, the true aim camera is terrible. the addition of the caddie should make true aim even better....but it doesnt. the caddie should tell you something like, "you got 150yds to the front left bunker and back edge of the green is 190yds. slope is left to right." this would be sufficient. we would know then we need to hit it about 165 a little left of the flag. instead, you pretty much get told what to do and ur forced to just swing at the % mark. thats ridiculous. it doesnt feel like a caddie...feels like a swing coach whos telling you to do this and that taking most of course management skills away from you. hopefully we can turn the caddie off and true aim will still show markers only. presentation is improved, THANK GOODNESS. i mean, it couldnt get any worse IMO. its 2011 EA, golf isnt a game where you have 22 players running around a football with so many things going on, blocking, hitting, running, passing, catching, defensive reactions, kicking, etc etc....this is a simple game where its ONE PLAYER, ONE BALL, and the course. it really shouldnt be that hard to impliment a solid gameplay. heck, Links did it a decade ago!!!!!!

[Seymour Scagnetti]

Quote: Originally Posted by rolltide1017

In last years game, could you use true-aim for all your pre shot stuff but have the camera switch to the presentation cam once you hit the ball? I didn't buy last years version so, I'm not that familiar with true-aim. Loved how it felt in the demo and loved not having any aiming tools, makes it much more realistic but, I've always liked the presentation cam once the ball is hit. Just gives it that TV feel. Unfortunately, I agree with Seymour, the caddie feature is horrible. I don't mind these type of dumbing down options being in the game but, to also apply them to the higher difficulty settings in the game just defeats the whole point of the higher difficulty. I hope the caddie feature is just forced on us for the demo and that you can completely remove him in the full game. If not then I will be taking another break from the TW series after this year. I'm almost to the point that I think EA needs to clean house with the Tiger team, they obviously do not understand the game of golf. This is not how a caddie works in real life. In real life the golfer and caddie are a team, discussing each option together, not relying on a all knowing caddie to pin point the exact spot the ball is going to go. It works very similar to the way my dad and I interact when playing golf. My dad will give me suggestions on aiming spots and which club to use but I may decided to go a completely different route. My dad dose not know exactly where my ball will land if I swing with this percentage of my club. Now, a caddie and pro golfer are much more knowledgeable about the course but, the concept is the same. The game takes it too far, the caddie is doing all the work for you and that is just not realistic at all.

The presentation cam wasn't there last year, people kept saying they wanted it for true aim but of course it was ignored for TW12.

What's with EA's fascination of dumbing down thier products thinking every gamer is too stupid to think and wants everything done for them. They did this arcade crap for Madden with having the plays automatically called for you but at least you could turn that off. I see nothing in TW12 options to turn off the caddie and the way every screen begins with looking over the caddie's shoulder that looks like something that's hard coded in the game so there's no way of turning it off. How can you not have this as an option to turn off? Unbelievable.

Even if you press O to turn off his voice you still have his recommended shot staring at you right in the middle of the screen. He accounts for wind and whatever elevation changes there are. You're in the rough? That's Ok because the caddie automaitcally tells you what club you need to reach the green. ****ing stupid. You just have to sit there like a zombie and flick the stick. I could literally read a book while playing and not do any worse.

There is now no reason to use true aim in the game, it's been totally made redundent. This was my biggest fear when I heard about caddies this year. Congrats EA in treating your sim gamers like morons. Typical of this series. One step forward then 2 steps back. I guess I have to wait another year to see what they screw up next because they are not getting my money this year. They took all the fun out of the sim aspect of the game. It's unplayable to anyone who likes to play tourney difficulty with true aim.

[globalbeats7]

Quote: Originally Posted by rolltide1017

In last years game, could you use true-aim for all your pre shot stuff but have the camera switch to the presentation cam once you hit the ball?

nope. the camera stayed in the same spot behind the golfer. it did pan in very slightly but not enough to know where your ball went most of the time.