Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 14 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions (PS3, 360)

[DivotMaker]

Quote: Originally Posted by Jet Sufferer

The information and equipment is not the challenge in golf, executing what you want to do with that equipment and information is. So give us all the info we need to speed up the game and make the execution more difficult on the higher skill levels, and not by making a short shot an extreme swing path. Perhaps they're trying to compensate for the video game savants, but they're the extreme minority and they'll master whatever quirk you give them in a week anyway. Make it more logical for us video game mortals.

I disagree. Information is a HUGE issue with videogame golf. You had loads of information in '13 (and still do in TW14 on lower or Custom difficulties) and once users figured out the consistent execution of their shots, you had crazy scoring results at -15, -20, and lower. It took me 4 days at TW Community Day to break PAR in the builds we were playing and the one round I did had something on the line. It was the TW CD Final Tournament to see who would win an autographed (by Tiger) copy of TW13 and a dozen EA Sports Nike Golf balls. I was probably on the lower half of skill among the attendees, but I managed to shoot a 67 at Augusta in Masters-like conditions because I was using a Control/Draw/High Trajectory golfer and I was able to hit fairways and greens and made a few putts along the way. I was lucky enough to win the tournament and beat players that routinely score in the teens under par in TW13 Tournament mode.

So, I believe once the game ships, you are going to have to put in some practice time to get competitive at TW14 in Simulation mode. Heck, the best 3 hole round I have scored so far in the demo is -2 and that is because I hit fairways and greens and did not bomb my drives leaving me with longer than normal approaches, but not approaches from the rough. And putting is not a crapshoot completely if you spend a bit of time reading the lie of your ball and the horizon behind the cup once you zoom. I do agree that I wish we could zoom to get a view behind the cup like we can in '13, but even then I was making 30 footers pretty routinely in '13, where I am not making them nearly as often in the '14 demo.....I think you guys will see better results when you can create your own golfer and set him up to play the way you prefer instead of using baked in attributed Pro's....

[i3man]

What exactly does the live tournament in the demo do? I played live tournament on simualtion mode and posted -3. I've never owned a TW series game ever. I played the demo for about 30 minutes and was horrible in simulation mode scoring mostly doubles and triples then I messed around with the settings and found I could change the swing stick to the right stick and walla...I turned from hacker into a pretty decent golfer.

I've played golf in real life for over 30 years and used to be a huge fan of the PGA series on PCs but never could get into console golf. The only console games I've played over the past 12 years has been Madden and NCAA football. So the right stick is the kicking stick in football games so it felt much more comfortable using it to swing.

Like others have said if you stay out of the rough it's not that difficult to score in simulation mode. I think this is going to be my first ever purchase of a TW game on console.

[Love13]

Quote: Originally Posted by i3man

What exactly does the live tournament in the demo do? I played live tournament on simualtion mode and posted -3. I've never owned a TW series game ever. I played the demo for about 30 minutes and was horrible in simulation mode scoring mostly doubles and triples then I messed around with the settings and found I could change the swing stick to the right stick and walla...I turned from hacker into a pretty decent golfer. I've played golf in real life for over 30 years and used to be a huge fan of the PGA series on PCs but never could get into console golf. The only console games I've played over the past 12 years has been Madden and NCAA football. So the right stick is the kicking stick in football games so it felt much more comfortable using it to swing. Like others have said if you stay out of the rough it's not that difficult to score in simulation mode. I think this is going to be my first ever purchase of a TW game on console.

Simulation mode takes away all the assistance of the lower difficulties. Such being to zoom in down the fairway while aiming your shot, green grids that show the breaks in the greens with beads that show how fast the greens break. Also a putt preview that shows the line your ball will roll. There's a caddie feature that essentially aims your shots for you. You can also control the spin of the ball in the air, how fast and what direction your ball will spin. You also don't have to use advance shot shaping. This allows you yo just aim and hit a straight shot instead of always hitting a draw or fade. Plus when you do choose to shape a shot the penalties are less severe than if you are playing on simulation.

I would recommend you play a round on pro or amatuer difficulty just to see the difference in using simulation. This will help you understand the physics of the game a little better, as well as understand why the community has asked for a simulation style difficulty. All in all, -3 on simulation is something to be proud of. Honestly since you have never played one of these games it may have given you an advantage because you never got used to playing with all the assistants that have been taken away. So for us it's extreme at times, for you it's just playing golf lol.

[i3man]

I played for another 30 minutes or so after and made a bunch of doubles or higher. Everything was dependent on the tee shot. The rough seems overly penal almost like US Open rough. I wasn't watching Tiger when I swing I was watching the stick instead.

[chi_hawks]

Gonna give my thoughts on the "simulation mode" in the TW14 demo. I've played competitive golf my entire life, played D1 college golf and was lucky enough to play in a few pro tournaments (small time stuff, mind you).

1) Not being able to see pin location - this is riduculous. You have this available to you with any tournament you play in.

2) Not knowing wind strength - this is ridiculous. You may not know exact strength but you will have a good idea (light, strong, very strong, gusting, etc...)

3) Not being able to zoom forward nor see yardage book - this is ridiculous. Much like knowing pin locations, you map this stuff out ahead of time. Especially if your Tiger freaking Woods.

4) Pitch/chip mechanics - not a fan at all.

5) Fade or Draw choice - I'm ok with this. Typically you play for one shot as you rarely (if ever) aim right at the target and hit your ball dead straight.

6) No idea on green break - ridiculous. You should be challenged to learn how to read the greens.


IMO, if the TW series could take the mechanics, physics and gameplay from Hot Shots Golf OOB and let you use it with real players, real courses, real tournaments, you'd have yourself an amazing game. HSG is the closest to representing real golf IMO. Yes, cartoonish players, goofy courses, blah blah blah. But in terms of being a game that you slowly master without it being cheap (see the 6 issues above), while relying upon understanding ball physics and terrain mastery, its as good as it gets.

[i3man]

Green reading isn't bad at all. The game gives you two slope degree readings which tells you to what degree you're putting up or downhill and to what degree the ball is above or below your feet. I wish I had this info on fairway lies.

[CallCenterZombie]

Quote: Originally Posted by chi_hawks

Gonna give my thoughts on the "simulation mode" in the TW14 demo. I've played competitive golf my entire life, played D1 college golf and was lucky enough to play in a few pro tournaments (small time stuff, mind you). 1) Not being able to see pin location - this is riduculous. You have this available to you with any tournament you play in. 2) Not knowing wind strength - this is ridiculous. You may not know exact strength but you will have a good idea (light, strong, very strong, gusting, etc...) 3) Not being able to zoom forward nor see yardage book - this is ridiculous. Much like knowing pin locations, you map this stuff out ahead of time. Especially if your Tiger freaking Woods. 4) Pitch/chip mechanics - not a fan at all. 5) Fade or Draw choice - I'm ok with this. Typically you play for one shot as you rarely (if ever) aim right at the target and hit your ball dead straight. 6) No idea on green break - ridiculous. You should be challenged to learn how to read the greens. IMO, if the TW series could take the mechanics, physics and gameplay from Hot Shots Golf OOB and let you use it with real players, real courses, real tournaments, you'd have yourself an amazing game. HSG is the closest to representing real golf IMO. Yes, cartoonish players, goofy courses, blah blah blah. But in terms of being a game that you slowly master without it being cheap (see the 6 issues above), while relying upon understanding ball physics and terrain mastery, its as good as it gets.

Sim Mode is the best addition in years. It's your opinion but I would go spend some more time playing. A lot of those points can be executed perfectly with practice.

[Love13]

Quote: Originally Posted by i3man

Green reading isn't bad at all. The game gives you two slope degree readings which tells you to what degree you're putting up or downhill and to what degree the ball is above or below your feet. I wish I had this info on fairway lies.

You do have this information on fairway lies. Pull the left stick down and it shows you your lie.