FSX Premier - New Software Beta

[KevFlamingo]

Had an e-mail invite to try the new FSX Premier Beta software.
Strictly no pictures or video allowed to be shared which I fully understand and respect.
Downloaded with no issue.
Has 6 courses to try out and Shot Analysis.
Menu seems easy and intuitive.

Tried a few holes on Pebble Beach.

Graphics are a step up.

The hole map now shows where OB is - at last!

No apparent issues with ball and course physics (in other words ball does what it should when landing on fairway, greens and rough).
I don't think lie penalties have been introduced yet.

Ball flight is a bit different, the ball definitely drops out of the sky more steeply on approach shots.

Putting green slope indication is different but easy to understand, I would say improved on FSX Play.

At the moment, gameplay is only scratch strokeplay, presumably handicaps and other formats will be worked in gradually.
Will be interesting to see if they can finally get Stableford scoring to work

WIll be gving it a good workout with some friends on Thursday evening to see if we can pick up on anything else.
Interested to see if the scoreboard can show all players are on the same hole!

Other things we are likely to find out -
Does the OB work
Are hazard areas well defined.
Have penalty drop areas and options been made more realistic.
Does the Hole Map now show where all the players are.

Will let you guys know how it goes.

[Shankz]

Thanks for the info. Did they say when it was going live? An email I got a few weeks ago said that perpetual licensing was changing as of 8/17 but that has come and gone with nary a peep.

[vrpunk]

Testing it now. Looks promising but my angle is from coaching and development.

[KevFlamingo]

Hi All

There is no release date, the beta is very limited.

Impressions so far...

Graphics

I play Longleaf regularly as it’s a good practice course off the front tees and the rendering is such a huge step up.

Ball Physics

Nothing to criticize here.

I don't think lie penalties have been added yet - FSX Play needed significant improvement.

It was encouraging to see balls rolling back down the approaches to raised greens.
It was noticeable with FSX Play that this really didn’t happen, previously the ball just seemed to stop going forwards.

Will give Troon a go in the next few days as this will be a good test.
I love links golf and I think one of the issues with FSX Play was that in addition to the ball not realistically reacting on steep slopes, the ground never seemed to funnel balls into bunkers.

Follow Camera

The ball flight following seems a little jerky at times.

Big Improvements

Seeing the return of the multi-player scorecard with position on the hole – this was greatly missed.

The Hole Map -
- No more mystery Out of Bounds areas, all clearly marked.
Still need to see if hazards get better definition going forwards, many of the FSX Play courses were poor in this regard, you could be fine in one spot or taking a penalty a few yards away.
- Good to see the dots with different players’ locations return.

Penalty drop options seem more realistic and seems less cumbersome to navigate the drop area than FSX Play.
There is no unplayable lie drop option yet.

Overall, so far, so good.