Introducing TGC Designer Tools and Real Course Recreation Lidar Import

[ChadGolf]

Hi everyone!

I've been hard at work for the last month developing tools that primarily will import Lidar data into TGC 2019 Courses.

There have been a lot of ups and downs, but I'm at the point where I'm ready to accept feedback from the community.

A completed course file is available here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RYW...ew?usp=sharing

Please don't publish this course in game, it's not completed and I call 'dibs' on publishing this course after I finish decorating it.


I've completed the proof-of-concept phases and have created playable, realistic courses. I'm still working on the User Interface and instructions to make this the easiest that it can be, but I wanted to open the tools up for developers to contribute fixes.

The source code is available free on Github and releases will be available there under the "Releases" link. I'm targeting the initial release in a week or two as a Windows download:

https://github.com/chadrockey/TGC-Designer-Tools

https://i.imgur.com/4GnzENd.png

I also am supporting import from OpenStreetMap golf courses ( https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=1...576/-115.28536 ) into TGC as splines if you don't want the lidar elevation or can't get lidar for your course.

https://i.imgur.com/Nza71FG.png

Quick tips if you want to get started on your OpenStreetMap course: use the highest quality sat image available, map greens along the inside of THE FRINGE, map bunkers on the outside lip, map water on the outside lip.

For more information on the process or if you want to support future features of this tool, please read here: https://www.patreon.com/chadgolf

I hope this brings enjoyment to everyone. We all have courses that are personally meaningful to us, and I hope this software inspires you to create something for the community.
- Chad

Special thanks to MTHunt, crazycanuck1985, friendBOMBER, and HTdumps for initial feedback and guidance.

Instructions and a tutorial linked from this page: https://chadrockey.github.io/TGC-Designer-Tools/

[Tommyseb]

Hi

first time trying to use the app,

at the import lidar stage, i get this in the app.

Processing: 152941-1_1m_DTM.las
Overwriting projection with EPSG:4277
Found EPSG from lidar file: 4277
Unit in use is 0.9999999999999999
Proj4 : pyproj.Proj('+units=m +init=epsg:4277 ', preserve_units=True)
Generating lidar intensity image
No lidar intensity found, using elevation instead
Adding golf features to lidar data
OpenStreetMap Overpass query: (node(inf,inf,inf,inf);way(inf,inf,inf,inf);out;


in the exe window i get the below. any ideas what the issue is?

Exception in Tkinter callback
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "OSMTGC.py", line 360, in getOSMData
File "site-packages\overpy\__init__.py", line 119, in query
overpy.exception.OverpassBadRequest: Error: line 1: parse error: Unknown query clause
Error: line 1: parse error: Unknown query clause

During handling of the above exception, another exception occurred:

Traceback (most recent call last):
File "tkinter\__init__.py", line 1705, in __call__
File "tgc_gui.py", line 352, in runLidar
File "lidar_map_api.py", line 283, in generate_lidar_previews
File "OSMTGC.py", line 361, in getOSMData
AttributeError: module 'overpy' has no attribute 'OverpassGatewayTimeout'

[Tommyseb]

it seems the lidar that covered my course in the UK wasn't of the point cloud variety, i found another course i used to be a member at and this did have the point cloud lidar available and using that data i no longer get this error.

[RussWest44]

I'm getting a weird error

Problem looking up epsg with prj2epsg.org, try running the tool later

I guess that's just a temporary thing like it says?

[ChadGolf]

Looks like the website is down: http://prj2epsg.org/ It's a free service so I think occasionally it's just down. Usually not out for long though.

[rjd1975]

Where is the course file stored?
Okay, I have stumbled through this but I am lost at this point. I do not have the steam version of the game...only the Sim. I cannot find where my course file is stored. Can you help? I have downloaded the Lidar (I think) and I have don't the OSM. Now I need to start bringing it all together. I wanted to wait until TGC2019 went on Steam sale again before I purchased.

[Jwheels9876]

I had the same problem. It's a hidden folder that you have to unhide in your settings
user/you/appdata/Locallow/HB studious/The golf Club 2019 protee/Courses

[rjd1975]

Got it...thanks

[rjd1975]

Ok can anyone see an obvious reason for this error:

[ChadGolf]

That might be a catch-all. Can you upload one or two of those to Google drive or dropbox and then PM me the link? I'll look into it tomorrow.

[kalcormier]

Anyone know why I am getting this error when trying to export the .Course file?

Exception in Tkinter callback
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "tkinter\__init__.py", line 1705, in __call__
File "tgc_gui.py", line 130, in importCourseAction
File "tgc_tools.py", line 89, in unpack_course_file
File "c:\users\chad\appdata\local\programs\python\pytho n37\lib\encodings\cp1252.py", line 19, in encode
UnicodeEncodeError: 'charmap' codec can't encode character '\u200b' in position 255: character maps to <undefined>
Exception in Tkinter callback
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "tkinter\__init__.py", line 1705, in __call__
File "tgc_gui.py", line 155, in exportCourseAction
File "tgc_tools.py", line 181, in set_course_metadata_name
File "tgc_tools.py", line 151, in get_metadata_json
File "json\__init__.py", line 348, in loads
File "json\decoder.py", line 337, in decode
File "json\decoder.py", line 355, in raw_decode
json.decoder.JSONDecodeError: Expecting value: line 1 column 1 (char 0)

[ChadGolf]

I thought I replied somewhere with a correct EPSG for you? But yes, if the map doesn’t line up, there could be a lot of bad things that happen with your course.

[kalcormier]

ChadGolf Yep you did. Sorry, I didn't check the other post. The EPSG value you gave me worked like a charm! Just for future reference, I know you go to the spatial website for the EPSG values, is there a rule of thumb on which one to choose without trying all of them? I know it can be narrowed down by North/South etc.

[ChadGolf]

http://tgctours.proboards.com/thread/18332/brave-adventurers-seriously-find-epsg

[kinnus]

I'm using version 0.2.3 hoping to take advantage of the water features where it sounds like it should remove all terrain where water has been marked. I'm checking the "Remove All Terrain Under Blue Mask" option but it is still just putting mulch where the water is. When I delete the mulch spline the ground still needs to be sculpted and lowered to get water added easily. Am I doing something wrong? I've attached a screenshot of the settings I'm using.

[kinnus]

I tried out 0.2.4 this morning and it did seem to lower the area under the mulch most of the time. There were two instances where the lakes didn't have the area lowered and were going to take some manual sculpting. I attached to pics to this post, one where it did work and another lake that didn't seem to get lowered. Not the end of the world as the ones that did work will save me tons of time but just checking to see if anyone has a tip on what I may have done wrong on the lakes that don't get the lowered areas.

[ChadGolf]

The lakes don’t get removed all the way for various reasons, but there might be enough of a depression that you don’t need to work as hard anymore.

[kinnus]

Thanks for the reply ChadGolf. Definitely not complaining as the work it did do will save me tons of time. Was just making sure I didn't do something wrong.

[ChadGolf]

Hi all, new release is available at the project homepage:

http://chadrockey.github.io/TGC-Designer-Tools/

Just some minor bug fixes in this release, nothing exciting:



1) Fixed a bug where blue mask wasn't compatible with Add Background Terrain/Remove Cliffs


2) Sometimes strange characters can enter your Steam username. These will no longer prevent course import or export.


3) If the par value for a hole in OpenStreetMap isn't a number, this is now caught and will report an error.


4) If you make a flat course, trees marked in OpenStreetMap will now appear correctly.


5) For areas where multiple courses overlap or are next to each other, you can use OSM's name field to name the course/hole for each golf:hole type. There's a new box called "Match Hole Names" that you can use to only import the holes for the course you want. For instance, if you entered 'Goat Ranch North' and 'Goat Ranch South' into golf: hole, name, you can now just put 'north' or 'south' into this new box to only import the course you're interested in.

[rjd1975]

I have made a lot of progress. Thank you all for your help. Esp ChadGolf ! I am sure I will have more questions but here are three...1. How can I replace the red mulch with water (I tried multiple methods but I am stuck). 2. Are there "road" objects so I can build up my parking lot? 3. How can I create multiple tees/pins on a hole? Thank you all

Feel free to point me to a video in addition to just answering. I am pretty new to the dev world.

[Jwheels9876]

You can mask water areas off in blue in whatever program you use. Then drop the water in when in the designer.
The other 2 things you do in the designer. They have cars and car parks in the add objects selections.

For tees, just select the tee box in the designer, then click on the section that notes the tee box on the left and then hit add tee position. Do that a couple times to add all your tees.

[rjd1975]

Thank you Jwheels9876 but I still don't understand. Are you saying that I should literally color the water blue during the phase when I am "painting" the in-needed area red?

[Jwheels9876]

Yes, during the making part where you're painting allthe unneeded areas red, paint your water areas blue with 0-0-255 color. That should dig out the terrain for you so you can drop the water in much easier

[mthunt]

ChadGolf I did the liDAR on a course in Colorado that looks as fun as hell except its too long to fit in the plot. I know that Craig118 did Whistling Straits buy putting one 9 on top of the other 9. I guess I could create separate 9 hole courses but is there any way you know to fit a course too long for the plot using liDAR tools?

Thanks

[mthunt]

That worked Chad. Thanks.

[Jwheels9876]

Boost my ass right to the shorter tees

[jrz]

That's a good one mthunt

[rjd1975]

I have two issues that I cannot fix. After importing everything I have a few trees that I cannot remove (they just won't remove)...what can I do? Also, I cannot rid of the "mulch" which should be water...can I add water over it later?

[ChadGolf]

The trees will disappear when you save and exit and reload. Just a bug in the editor.

To delete a spline, you need to hover over one of the big spline points, then select Spline Point -> Delete -> Delete Path

[ChadGolf]

Hi all, new release is available at the project homepage:

http://chadrockey.github.io/TGC-Designer-Tools/

There are some situations where when adjusting teeboxes after manually or automatically creating holes that the par values can shift. This feature shows an external scorecard so that yardages and total par can be quickly checked before publish or quickly viewed for making digital scorecards.

This change was inspired by VctryLnSprt's excellent scorecard graphics. Not nearly as pretty, but hopefully useful.




Since this is so soon as 0.2.4, here are 0.2.4's changes as well:


Just some minor bug fixes in this release, nothing exciting:







1) Fixed a bug where blue mask wasn't compatible with Add Background Terrain/Remove Cliffs





2) Sometimes strange characters can enter your Steam username. These will no longer prevent course import or export.





3) If the par value for a hole in OpenStreetMap isn't a number, this is now caught and will report an error.





4) If you make a flat course, trees marked in OpenStreetMap will now appear correctly.





5) For areas where multiple courses overlap or are next to each other, you can use OSM's name field to name the course/hole for each golf:hole type. There's a new box called "Match Hole Names" that you can use to only import the holes for the course you want. For instance, if you entered 'Goat Ranch North' and 'Goat Ranch South' into golf: hole, name, you can now just put 'north' or 'south' into this new box to only import the course you're interested in.

[ganders75]

Hi ChadGolf, sorry if you've already answered this - i couldn't find it: how do you get it to render you multiple tee boxes in that scorecard - and how do you control colour? Is it something which is done in OSM or is there another trick to it? ...I can't get it to do it for some reason - it just shows me hole no, par and a single row in red with all 18 holes. If I want 3 tees, do I have to have all 3 tees defined for every single hole or something?

[ChadGolf]

ganders75, you have to set all of the tee boxes other than (usually the tips) in the game itself. You can also control the color order of each teebox in the game as well. I can't find any youtube tutorials on this.

To make it show up again in the TGC Tool, you'll have to import the .course file again after you save it from TGC the game. I usually make a new folder called MyCourseFinalCheck, then import the .course and check the preview map and scorecard.

[ganders75]

haha, ok - so no magic then?

That's what I was doing, and saw a few comments from people saying much the same - then I saw your nice layout and I just wanted to make sure that I wasn't missing something obvious and doing it the wrong way! That re-import is a nice feature - i'll defo use that to double check my output when I'm all done. Thanks again mate, top stuff this tool.

[mthunt]

ChadGolf is it passible to do OSM and create a flat course without liDAR data? I’m going two courses in Toronto and i can’t get the liDAR without paying $1700 to the liDAR company. I’m still hoping to get something but not paying that kind of money.

[mthunt]

How does the software know where the OSM is?

[Mxwoodman]

When you select the button it has a dialog to select the OSM file.

[mthunt]

Awesome. Thank you.

[Thebenross]

Has anyone experience an issue with the course designer where the mouse cursor doesn't match up where it should be? For example, when I am hovering over a hole or trying to add items the cursor or item I'm adding is actually half way down the screen diagonally down and to the left.

[Fhacker]

I have had a few glitches when designing. To try to fix, first try switching modes, hit play test then go back to edit mode. Or maybe settings tab then go back to edit. If all else fails restart TGC

[frodaddy00]

Yes its very glitchy. I just hit page up or page down as fhacker mentions.. going from playtest to edit to settings(?) tabs seems to make the UI controls wake up.

[Thebenross]

Works very much better using an XBOX ONE controller plugged into the PC.

[Gresh12]

Working on my first course and hoping for some help.

For each LAS file I got the following message but nothing else that looks like an error:

Processing: 5150_54340.las
EPSG is not map projection, skipping: 4269
Overwriting projection with EPSG:26910
Found EPSG from lidar file: 26910
Unit in use is 0.9999999999999989
Proj4 : pyproj.Proj('+units=m +init=epsg:26910 ', preserve_units=True)

The map that comes through where you put a box around the course has some meaningful gaps in the lidar where there are holes so I'm not sure what is going on. Even the two pretty obvious tiles on the left have a gap between them which seems odd.

[Supraracer]

When you download your Las files sometimes there are several for the map you need. Click on the thumbnail in the Lidar area next to the name of the LAS file and you will see which ones cover your map.

[Gresh12]

Thanks I figured it out this morning. The download site was giving my partial tiles depending how I had drawn the boxes around what I wanted. I was able to use a bunch of LAS files and rename so they didn't overwrite each other in the directory and Chad's tool sorted it all out.

I now have a pretty decent shell of a course coming out. Still playing with a few things but I'm amazed how smooth this goes for how little patience I have for this type of thing. I think I may get frustrated in the manual part of the editing but I never would have attempted this without the tool.

[fraserjr]

Is anyone else having issues getting LiDAR data from the USGS National Map Datasets? I have search and ever location I try seems to show nothing is available.

[kalcormier]

They are having server problems