A New Era of Optishot

[JohnMeyer]

Hi all

Thought Id start a fresh thread to save those not in the know a full troll through the Real or Not real Thread just to summarise and raise a couple of other issues

As youre all probably aware we are very close now to getting some standard settings for bringing peoples drivers and woods into line with each other, no matter what ball or turf you have and hopefully bring a new era of realism to Optishot

Having carried out hours of testing with many many fellow Optishotters I think we now need to be be sure that people are both following these guidelines and also not using game mechanics to overcome the new Driver distance limitations

As such, as well as the new guidelines regards club settings id like to propose the following 2 new Rules, one of which I already wrote in the Real or Not Real thread but wil go through in more detail here

1. No player is to use the Highest Trajectory setting for any club above 3 Iron at any time during there round.

As has been discussed in other threads there is a "glitch" within the software where the Highest Trajectory setting gives an unrealistic amount of "boost" to shots when selected. having spent all the hours getting the distances correct through Clubset Settings, it would all be a waste of time if players could now use this "boost" to increase there distances again. I have chose to elect a limit the restriction to clubs above 3i as even with a boost on a 3i this shouldn't ever give a distance above that of a correctly set 3 wood etc so any "boost" would be negligible any way if use purely for distance. However I am of course wanting discussion on what clubs people think this should be applied too

I decided against asking for an all out ban on the trajectory as I appreciate there are many very good golfers amongst us who do have the natural ability to adjust their trajectory and maintain yardages and accuracy etc, and I also appreciate there are no doubt certain situations when someone might want to hit a high drawing 6 iron etc. I think a 3i limit would be fair but again I am looking to get some input here as personally never change mine

I am adamant though that after all the work to get distances right, especially for driver it makes no sense to allow a software "glitch" to boost it back up again. I also think that allowing it for 3 wood or 5 wood could result in those clubs, which currently we are unable to get a fixed set of settings for, using the High Trajectory Boost

2. All Players must record there rounds and if requested make them available for review by the Board. Prior to taking your first tee shot the video mus show your Clubset Settings. Anyone found in breach of the above settings or using settings for any club to falsely significantly improve their ability or gameplay (ie, hitting a PW 250 yards) shall be removed from the tournament and face further action as the Board do see fit.


I am fully aware of the problems with streaming live, I live in an area where can only get 0.75Mbps upload speeds. I would never say this is a must. However now we have placed limits on various settings relating to Club Settings and trajectory there has to be a way to ensure everyone is following the rules. I would suggest that all it would is to use a piece of software, be it OBS that is described under the Twitch setup guidelines, or even a simple screen recorder, such as Total Screen Recorder just so you can provide proof that you are adhering to the guidelines imposed to be part of this Tour

Whether we then also request that these are uploaded to Youtube/Twitch before the next round is played or just held on a players own PC until requested for verification by the board is open to discussion but if a player is not able to prove they are following the rules how are we all to know that they are.

The only reasons I can see why people wouldn't be willing to do this are

1. Poor Connection --- Not an issue as real time streaming not required, can be upload after a round so speed not an issue

2. Low Spec PC so no enough Resources --- Im not sure how resource hungry OBS is but I know Total screen recorder is very low and used by Gamers who don't want have lower FPS and lag

3. Feel its to much of a hassle --- To me if you want a fairer, more realistic and competitive Tour you should be willing to simply install software and click record before playing your round

Other thank the above I cant see any reason why this should be an issue, but I welcome your feedback and any other reasons why this couldn't be implemented

I truly believe that with the New Clubset Settings, and the above 2 guidelines, 1 to ensure Clubset settings are not "boosted" by a software "glitch" and the other to ensure they are followed and keep people "honest" this will be the beginning of a New Era for the Optishot Tour


Cheers

John

[Buckeye]

I would only add that streaming especially and possibly recording, adds an element of drama and competition to the simulator. When I first found this site streaming was "required" or certainly implied to be and I was pretty much against it. I never spoke out against it, but I did not like the idea. After a couple of days of thinking about as well as watching the other guys stream during competition rounds it became clear to me that streaming could be "fun" and it has proved to be. I must say that watching guys under pressure play their rounds live is far better entertainment than anything you will see on the golf channel or the PGA tour.

To me streaming or recording should be part of it, but not to "prove" you are not cheating. I think streaming / recording should be part of it for the drama and competition it provides first and foremost. If in that process it is determined that you must provide video of your club settings as VERIFICATION that is fine too but I think the heart and soul of streaming still lies in the drama it provides.

Just my two cents.

[John D]

What if your computer , which is used only to run Optishot is not set up (no camera or mic ) for streaming ? I will look into updating my setup but I have been told that my machine may not be able to run it. I can check and see if my tablet will be able to do this .

[John D]

I noticed the last post on settings had NO BALL at 100% 100% is this true or a typo , my testing with you John had my SS go from an average of 92-95 up to 114-119 and added over 50yds on average to every drive.

[JohnMeyer]

John

you woudnt need a camera or mic, just use a screen recoder, like obs software as described in the Setup for Twitch Thread on this forum, or the one i mentioned (Total Screen Recorder) and just record your optishot gameplay, ie what is being displayed on your projector/laptop screen etc

Would just need it to show your club settings before you take your first shot and then would show all your shots until the end of the round

this video would then be saved on your own pc, and depending on what board decide you could then either upload it to youtube etc or just keep it ust in case they asked for it

I appreciate actually live streaming your round requires a decent web speed and many players who stream also have a separate web cam \ mic showing them physically taking the shots. I would say this would not be a mandatory requirement in my opinion

As Buckeye says in an ideal world wed all play out live streaming, showing us play our shots etc etc but technology may well limit that at the moment for many, including myself but that doesnt prevent you doing the recording on your PC and uploading at a later time

hope that makes sense

[John D]

Sorry forgot to add that was with 100 / 90 for both a real ball and no ball, all I did was change the Opti ball setting.

[JohnMeyer]

Could ya discuss that stuff in the Real or not real thread mate just to keep this one about video and trajectory rules.

To answer you though a lot of your results were very inconsistent throughout a lot of my testing with you, I think as we discussed due to your somewhat unusual physical swing abnormalities and from testing with 2 others, both who were planning on actually using the NO BALL setting rather than just testing for testing its sake they found 100/90 was good for both of them.

As I believe No Ball Setting is both rare and ideally not something that Id imagine we will have many using I think the settings will always be a struggle as with nothing to aim at peoples swings will vary greatly to when having something tangible to hit at.

Both No Ball hitters I believe were working towards an installation where they would be hitting at least foam and if not real balls so this was very much a temporary measure

Again as everyone's rounds will be recorded and available for the board to view it may well be that if a NO BALL player scores very low and their video is reviewed and were seen to be hitting 350 yards drives with 130 mph swing speeds this is obviously something that would be reviewed and a modification to that players setting could be enforced or face disqualification under
Rule 2 - Anyone found in breach of the above settings or using settings for any club to falsely significantly improve their ability or gameplay (ie, hitting a PW 250 yards) shall be removed from the tournament and face further action as the Board do see fit.

So unless this player argued thats what he does in real life and could prove it so he would clearly be in breach of the above rule, and if it was what he was doing in real life then the setting would be correct. In your example it may well have gone undetected although anyone seen swinging over 115 will no doubt checked at some point

So although this stated out in wrong thread you have highlighted why I believe recording of round is so important, and allowed me to demonstrate how I believe they all tie in together quite nicely.

Now Im sure someone may say, " Well if they dont score low how will you know to check their video?" My answer would be if they arent scoring low and not affecting the tournament their only hurting themselves and their own practice and not the Tour and as such wouldnt really be any of the Boards concern I wouldnt have thought

[John D]

Thanks John , my son and I will be trying to set up some kind of recording / streaming on my Opti computer later today. He is the computer expert not me , so he/we may be talking to you later, on the road right now, and no I'm not driving, lol

[sliceomatic]

I have a question about people who are using the almost golf balls. Optishot says if you are playing those to use the real ball setting which is what I have been doing.

Here's the link:

http://helpdesk.dancindogg.com/hc/communities/public/questions/201321050-golf-balls-for-optishot

[Vincent_Vega]

I have a question about people who are using the almost golf balls. Optishot says if you are playing those to use the real ball setting which is what I have been doing.

Here's the link:

http://helpdesk.dancindogg.com/hc/co...s-for-optishot

That's actually just a recommendation from a user in those forums. That's not an official Dancin' Dogg recommendation. I disagree with his recommendation as well. The weight of an Almost Ball and a real golf ball is totally different. A real golf ball obviously weighs much more. The only difference between an almost golf ball and a normal foam ball is that it's filled with co2 in order to provide better feel when hitting them. The weight is much closer to a foam ball than that of a real ball. This is what the software calculates for the setting, the resistant from the weight of each particular ball and how it affects your club head speed.

[sliceomatic]

Ok. I'll have to switch back to foam ball setting and try it out.

[Vincent_Vega]

Ok. I'll have to switch back to foam ball setting and try it out.

Yeah. Give it a shot with the recommended settings from the other thread and see how it works for you. Remember the thickness of the turf makes a difference as well in relation to club head speed.

[sliceomatic]

Yeah, I have the thick turf. I'll get it set up and post how it goes.

[CatMan]

For Players that are not long ball hitters by limiting to 3 Iron and below would favor long ball hitters...... This will not be acceptable... Short Ball hitters need to use woods like myself to reach greens....

Players elevate their Trajectory all the time for Carry on to the green... including Woods..

[JohnMeyer]

Yes and you can still use your woods, just not at the highest trajectory, thus boosting their distance. You can hit your woods at the distance they go, not the distance they go plus the boost from high trajectory.

I thought that was the point of dialling in the distances

I would also argue that they should have an advantage, other wise whats the point of hitting it long. theyd have that advantage in real life.

If you allow high trajectory then you will simply be adding yardage to your shots that you probably wouldnt acheive. Its a glitch in the software that we should avoid in my opinion