The Golf Club Arrives on Xbox One & PC on August 19th $34.99, PS4 Later This Month

[jrider99]

Quote: Originally Posted by bluengold34_OS

Not yet - in the email from HBS, Derick stated that the MP portion being enabled is now up to MS. Could be today, might be Monday??

Thanks man. That's what I thought, but I just wanted to make sure it wasn't something on my end.

[mebby]

Quote: Originally Posted by jrider99

Thanks guys, I'll definitely enable the Vertical Sync and see what happens. Played a couple more rounds this morning and did much better with my putting stroke. It's still not completely dialed in, but at least now I think I understand what I'm doing wrong as far as distance is concerned. Reading the greens is still a challenge, though, which is a good thing. And the step up from an easy course to a hard one is substantial, as least it was for me. I really hope they get their servers online soon because all I can do right now is play single rounds because the game needs to be online to access the tour and tournament modes. Hey bluengold34_OS, have you been able to get online or is it just me?

Thanks for the early impressions - sounds like good stuff so far.

As for putting... based on my experience with the early release on the PC, I also struggled quite a bit at first with putting. I'm just now starting to get the hang of it but the first thing I realized is that you're gonna need to move the aiming marker to the right distance to get the sort of stroke you want.

For instance, if you want to use a shorter backswing but still have the ball travel further then you'll want to move the aiming marker further away from the golfer. This, to me, is most noticeable on tap-in putts. I can't tell you have many 2 inchers I left short in my first few rounds.

One disclaimer though... the PC I'm playing this on isn't the beefiest gaming machine so I'm not getting great frame rates. I don't know how much this is coming into play as far as swing timing goes. I do find it very difficult to achieve anything less than 100% power on my non-putter strokes and I'm pretty certain that is due to low frame rates...

[bluengold34_OS]

Quote: Originally Posted by FLIGHTWHITE

Curious Bob as to what type of scores you are shooting? Is it more challenging than TW14? Thanks

On a hard course James, I have avg. anywhere from even to +10. On a course classified as easy I shot a -7 at 5AM this morning.

It is more challenging than the TW's series, in the fact that there will be literally hundreds of courses to play, each requiring their own style of approach. Imagine playing a user created tour here on OS, where 36 events have 36 different courses and no familiarity and no golfer upgrades. It puts the onus back on the golfer, and their true ability to navigate an unfamiliar course.

[mebby]

Quote: Originally Posted by bluengold34_OS

On a hard course James, I have avg. anywhere from even to +10. On a course classified as easy I shot a -7 at 5AM this morning. It is more challenging than the TW's series, in the fact that there will be literally hundreds of courses to play, each requiring their own style of approach. Imagine playing a user created tour here on OS, where 36 events have 36 different courses and no familiarity and no golfer upgrades. It puts the onus back on the golfer, and their true ability to navigate an unfamiliar course.

This game honestly has so much promise. I think it has the potential to be the online tour environment that we've been looking for ever since TW went that direction a few years ago. But the insanely low scores coupled with the low numbers of people playing on the more simulation-like difficulties just ruined it for me.

[rspencer86]

Quote: Originally Posted by bluengold34_OS

Imagine playing a user created tour here on OS, where 36 events have 36 different courses and no familiarity and no golfer upgrades. It puts the onus back on the golfer, and their true ability to navigate an unfamiliar course.

OK, that sounds pretty damn awesome.

[OnlookerDelay]

Quote: Originally Posted by jrider99

Thanks guys, I'll definitely enable the Vertical Sync and see what happens.

I'm sure many of us will be interested in reading your reaction to how this affected the tearing issue you were seeing with it off. Maybe Bob can weigh in on this here, but won't this then lock the video to 30 fps? (EDIT: I should clarify that in the PC version, the option is there to set vsync at 30, 60, or off, if I recall correctly. Since the upper limit on the XB1 version is 45 fps, wouldn't the only option now be 30 fps or OFF?) Not that doing so would have much, if any effect at all on gameplay, since the control input thread IS locked at 60 fps.

Quote:

Played a couple more rounds this morning and did much better with my putting stroke. It's still not completely dialed in, but at least now I think I understand what I'm doing wrong as far as distance is concerned.

It took me a while to get a knack for putting in the PC version, but I've got a pretty good handle on it now. I move the yellow targeting marker to where I actually want to aim the putt for both direction and distance. I imagine that the yellow marker is the hole on a flat green and I'm trying to hole it there. It helps me mostly with my distance control as I think the game somewhat scales the putt power to the range you've selected with that marker. In general, add or subtract a foot to or from the distance per inch that the ball is above or below the hole. This will vary proportionally to the green speed.

Anyway, enjoying reading your early thoughts on the game Jeff... thanks!

[bluengold34_OS]

Hoping MS hits the proverbial MP switch today. HBS was kind enough to give me two codes(I gave it to another OSer to help me test things out), so I can experience the MP portion in every way possible. If that happens today, I will shoot some early impressions of that also.

[jrider99]

Guys, thanks for the tips on putting. I've been moving the aiming marker to account for break only, not distance, and have been adjusting my backswing and follow through accordingly to get the right speed on putts. I'll try adjusting for distance, too, and see if that makes a difference.

Turning on the V-Sync did make a world of difference as it relates to the screen tearing I was noticing. I played three rounds with it on and didn't notice any screen tearing at all and I couldn't tell any difference as far as framerate. It was still smooth and, really, that's all that matters to me.

I'm still really liking how shot placement plays such a big factor in your success, especially on the harder courses. You really have to almost play backwards from the pin and make sure your in the best position for an approach shot off the tee.

And the wind...maybe it's just me, but 12 mph here definitely doesn't feel like 12 mph in TW. I'm having to hit one, even two clubs up when hitting into the breeze or else my shot goes nowhere, whereas in Tiger I could seemingly cut right through the wind. With the wind at my back, though, I've been able to blast some drives 320-plus with the right amount of draw and a solid stroke. So it seems to be fair.

That's another thing I really like -- the risk/reward in trying to hit a big draw or fade. On a typical tee shot, there's a pretty big sweet spot to help ensure a straight drive. But start trying to cut a shot or elevate one into that wind and the margin for error disappears.

It really puts the onus back on the player, as someone stated earlier. Every time I hit a good shot -- and those times have been few and far between -- I really feel like I've accomplished something. Not going to lie -- there have been a few fist pumps from the recliner after pulling off some challenging shots. And there have been a few choice words grumbled when I didn't hit the shot I was trying to hit. Which pretty much sums up my real golf game.

I really hope the online portion gets activated soon. I never really got into TW online, but I could definitely see myself getting hooked on this.