The Golf Club News Post

Five Things The Golf Club Can Improve Upon

12:47 PM - November 12, 2014 by RaychelSnr

It has been nearly four months since the initial release of the Golf Club by HB studios, available on the Xbox One, PS4, and PC. If you were part of the early beta program, or just followed the early feedback given by the community, than you have a full understanding of the changes and improvements that the developers have implemented over the last few months, and the list is quite extensive. Just some of the more recent improvements involve frame rate optimization, multiplayer issues, course designer improvements, physics update, and much more. But even with all the recent updates, we feel there are some areas that still need to be tweaked and improved in order for the title to stay relevant over the coming months, especially once EA Sports� PGA Golf title drops in the Spring of 2015.

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# 1 ProjectM4yhem23 @ 11/12/14 02:38 PM

I agree multiplayer needs to be improved....I play online with friends stroke-simo almost every night and have a blast but realtime hth stroke/match/4ball/altshot are needed. I know you can play stroke and match now but you need the patients of Job (bible guy not the course designer).

Stats could be vastly improved.

The wind works perfectly post patch.....that paragraph is a big ol' stretch.

Career Mode....not needed...TGCtours.com is career mode with real competition.

If you are a golf gamer and don't have this game (all you guys still playing tiger on the 360 on my friends list) you are missing out big time. Its worth getting xb1 just for this game.

# 2 ralphieboy11 @ 11/12/14 03:09 PM

Good article. I'm glad you put the difficulty of the swing in there. I would like to see it slightly harder as well.

If you like video game golf at all, I highly recommend getting this game. Good price too. It's only going to get better over time. Each update is an improvement and supposedly there's another one coming in December.

# 3 Yeltzman @ 11/12/14 04:06 PM

Career mode and mutiplayer lobbys coming early 2015 studio has said.

# 4 AnthonyKyne @ 11/13/14 12:12 PM

Hi Guys,
Great article. I'll try my best to let you know where we are in regards to these points you raise.
1) Multi-Player - I'm glad you pointed out that it wasn't part of the original concept. We've done our best with what we have server wise at the moment. Our big problem with going full on Turn Based is the development cost of it. There's a very vocal community for it, but in reality it's actually a small subset of users that actually use it.
We'd have to increase server costs, write the feature and then you have all the requirements from Sony and MS around online play.
Say that though, it is something we're looking into delivering in an update over the next 6 months

2) Swing Difficulty - Ok, this is a tough one. The main goal of The Golf Club when we set out to make it was to make a game that challenged you mentally but didn't frustrate you like real life golf (I spend most of my time in real life just hoping to hit the ball clean, so the nuances of ball lie don�t concern me as much as they should). The swing mechanic we have does allow you to hit straight when you concentrate but when you�re not it punishes you. I feel that balance is right. There�s nothing worse than hitting the deep rough time after time because you�re not accomplished at swinging. It would also encourage more Augmentation of Controllers.

3) Wind Adjustment � I understand that people want a level playing field in tournaments, but wind doesn�t work like that. When I was at the Volvo World Match Play last month I spoke to one of the players and he was bemoaning his Tee Time as he was playing in tough windy conditions that players out later in the day didn�t have. Although this didn�t directly affect him, because it was Match Play, it still confirmed that the decision to do this was right.
The other problem is with Live Balls, if you see others on the course the same time as you they should be playing in the same wind. If you have an outside force dictating that, 2 balls could be playing in different conditions
4) Stat Tracking � We track everything so plan on giving you more and more as the game progresses. You�ll be seeing plenty more coming your way before Christmas. I�m a huge stat lover, so the more the better in my opinion

5) Career Mode � This is definitely something that we�re working towards now, the first step being the Handicap System that will be out pre-Christmas. We don�t want to just do a replica of every other career mode out there. I�m not a fan of attribute progression. We�ve thought a little outside of the box with this. Our opinion is that the day you buy the game, that is the start of your career. You get better at the game by actually getting better at the game, not having your player�s putting or driving attribute improve.
A Career Mode should be something that encourages you to come back and play the game regularly with a sense of progression. I think we�ve got something that is quite unique and doesn�t ruin the online experience by loads of people having super golfers.
6) Don�t Ruin the Game�s Charm � We won�t!

I think that we�ve managed to create a really solid game, a bit old school in the way that it�s not easy to master and doesn�t give you any easy wins but over time gives you a real sense of achievement over time and that fact that when something great happens it was all you and when something bad happens it was also all you!
I disagreed with Owen Good�s comments on the podcast, that the game was too hard and that the reason people wanted to play sports video games is to be amazing at them immediately. My opinion is that sports video games should take away the natural physical ability that born sportsman have, but still challenge us mentally the same. When I pull off an amazing through ball in FIFA or Pro Evo, because I was able to see the available forward, that is down to my vision the game doesn�t highlight the best player to pass to. In real life I would see that pass, it�s the reason I shout at the TV when I�m watching soccer, I just don�t have the skill to make the pass. It�s the same in The Golf Club, the game gives me the ability to hit the ball well but I need to think about these shots. I can�t just aimlessly hit the ball towards the hole. I�m not going to make 25ft putts, I need to think about the slope of the green and how to approach them so I�m within 6ft of the hole. I want to be in a pro�s shoes not a super humans shoes.
Hope this helps
Anthony

# 5 greenegt @ 11/13/14 12:29 PM

Good stuff, Anthony. I'm loving the game and am excited about the fact that you all will continue to iterate on it. I look forward to the next update.

# 6 Methlab @ 11/13/14 12:59 PM

Wow, what a great response from a developer. Maybe one of the best I have read. Great work Anthony.

# 7 Chairman7w @ 11/13/14 01:58 PM

Awesome! You guys rock Anthony, keep up the great work.

# 8 Skyflame21 @ 11/13/14 02:58 PM

I also do very much enjoy the game. This past weekend was the first time my father and I game together in the same living room (or at all for that fact). Since the days of Duck Hunt. I'm 37 & he's 63 and we both enjoy golf so it was fantastic for my father who is not well versed in gaming be able to pick up the controller. Like noted the swing takes a few minor errors to get its grasp but following that it really does come down to processing the same information you'd have on a real course. What's my wind, how's my lie, do I want to flop or pitch and run. These are the same question we ask on a real course. I throughly enjoyed seeing my father get to enjoy another round golf from his recliner as the winter approaches. Thank you for the opportunity to enjoy that father son bond just one more time.

# 9 Battman @ 11/13/14 03:05 PM

Anthony: I thank you for your thoughts on player progression. I never really liked the idea of getting better attributes for getting better in a game. If I play games I want to be constantly challenged by the game. If I get better the game should get harder. Otherwise it gets boring as most of those skill progression games do. FIFA Be a pro, NBA2K My Player and especially Tiger Woods are good examples how skill progression ruins the experoence the longer you play with one character. So I am really curious what your approach will look like. Keep up the good work.

Greetings from Vienna, Austria

# 10 Shadymamba @ 11/14/14 10:20 AM

wow a developer answers and an awesome response - i just got the ps4 and was looking for a golf game - I'm def. going to give this a shot! thanks for the article Rob.

# 11 SwedishTouch76 @ 11/14/14 04:22 PM

Is this game digital only? Ive never seen it in any stores

# 12 Yeltzman @ 11/14/14 04:28 PM

Yes digital only its on sale now as well for 2 weeks in europe over 50% off on ps4 only,

# 13 JP7555 @ 11/15/14 11:31 PM

Great stuff.

I agree w/ Anthony in that the difficulty of the game is about perfect. And I absolutely agree w/ him in that the game doesn't allow "super" golfers in the form of boosted attributes and that it shouldn't.

A sort of "career" mode is literally the only thing missing from the game and it's great that they have plans for that along w/ a HCP system.

Lastly, I know there are literally hundreds of tournaments/tours available that private users are spearheading (including some from this very forum), but I'd like the game to take more of an aggressive approach w/ the tournaments/tours. Like, certain HCP's play this tournament/tour and other HCP groups play another........ HB Studios can set them up, deem them "official" tournaments/tours and stat track the heck out of the players who play in them.

I know they have tours/tournaments set up, but I guess I'd like a devoted menu JUST for the HB Studios official tournaments. I guess that would be a bit of an undertaking, but I think it would organize things a bit more and make it easier for Joe Schmoo to get into one at his skill level and go from there.

Career progression (or just stat tracking) would also be in play there as well........

# 14 half-fast @ 12/04/14 05:52 AM

Physics
The physics though not perfect, have improved quite a bit, and I am happy with them as they are now. Any more improvements towards reality are a bonus.

Presentation
I for one really like the commentary. I like the way each hole is presented, and have no gripes with this.

Customization
I'd like to see more clothes and club customization. But, this game is still amazing without them.

Performance
I would still love to see more of a performance improvement. Im thankful for the performance tweaks that have already happened, but it seems as though this could be smoother. Not a priority though, imo.

Multiplayer
Here's the one thing that I would love to see improved. Multiplayer is still glitchy at times. Also, turn-based multiplayer is still so slow - such a delay between when your friends shoot and when you see it. This is my biggest gripe by far.

# 15 AaronKershaw @ 12/24/14 08:44 AM

Wow that�s a great article. It�s very useful to improve golf skills for join & play at any Scottsdale Golf Club.

# 16 AaronKershaw @ 12/24/14 08:47 AM

Wow that�s a great article. It�s very useful to improve golf skills for join & play at any Scottsdale Golf Club.

http://www.ccdcranch.com

# 17 redcat @ 12/31/14 01:55 PM

Great stuff. I have played this game more than anything else on my PS4 and I still never get tired of it. The developers' communication with the fans has been outstanding since before the game even came out on consoles, and the response in this thread from a developer is just another example of that. By the way, anyone know what course that is shown under Stat Tracking in the original article? That's a beautiful shot.

# 18 mcal24 @ 01/05/15 04:06 PM

Does anyone have tips on how to make hills look better when creating a course? Mine are too choppy. Any way to smooth them out?

# 19 Lisac @ 01/05/15 04:55 PM

The only thing that they need to fix is the putting. Putts that are within 5 to 7 feet are way to touchy. I cant tell you how many putts within 5ft or less ive left on lip of the cup. To me this is very annoying otherwise this game is simply amazing. keep up the great work

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