SkyTrak and The Golf Club (TGC) Simulation Software

[Zeroes]

Ive this page saved on my phone for a couple of months now and i would come in everyday and refresh the page to check if there was a official release date on the tgc sim as ive had my skytrak for close to a year now.
For some reason i decided to check "todays post" and found out wgc is available to beta test. I know TGC is a better sim but i was very impressed with WGT, even the delay was under 3 secs to render. Im posting as there are probably other skytrak owners only checking out this page like myself previously

[hnguy]

Thank you for providing this update!

[Bubba22]

TGC for Skytrak is just around the corner!

[TWiG]

Are you a taxi driver ?

[haysuess]

I'd love to buy a SkyTrak now, and TGC Simulator once it's out (which sounds like next month). There's some $300 demo unit specials on the SkyTrak site that I would love to take advantage of, but I don't own any Apple products, so would simply have the unit sitting around collecting dust until TGC Simulator is released.

Is there any way to get that same $300 off when the Simulator is released if those demo units are gone, or am I stuck buying it now and waiting for something that isn't even really official yet?

On that note, when is an android/PC version of the basic driving range/software going to be available? There majority of tablets out there are running Android (51.2% so far in 2015), so it's a tough pill to swallow not being able to buy on without spending $400-$500 more on an iPad that I don't need.

[luv2golf]

Ever go to Vegas? Either roll the dice or don't. But don't cry if there are no demo units when Sim software is out.

Most of us have been here for a long time waiting. Up to you, what ever you feel comfortable with.

[apljb]

Seth suggested in one of the other threads that the PC version should be out next week along with V2.0 of the Apple software.

I certainly hope so, so I can give back the borrowed iPad 4th generation that I'm currently using, and get a new Windows tablet.

Of course, like most things, I'll only truly believe it when I see it, but the recent update with WGT integration certainly seems to show some major progress.

[haysuess]

I certainly won't cry if they are gone, I'm simply asking a question. I would've bought a SkyTrak when it first came out if they supported PC or Android. I haven't been on the forum, but have been waiting very patiently for it ever since they mentioned that it's in development.

Like I said, I don't have an Apple products, and have no plan to buy any, so if I have to pay $400-$500 more for an iPad, it makes the price of a SkyTrak much less attractive compared to a GC2 or other unit.

If TGC Simulator is out in the next month, that would change things, but it's still a consideration whether the Android version is going to take another year or another month.

[haysuess]

Well, I got encouragement from the wife to set up a sim in our tandem garage area, so I made the purchase. I can only hope and pray that TGC Simulator and PC (and hopefully Android?) versions of the software are released very soon.

If there's any beta versions, I'd be a very willing tester

[haysuess]

Joko, that would be great to see.

We have a 2 car plus a tandem on one side. Our tandem area is currently an exercise space, so I think I can mount the projector and screen on the ceiling (which are 10ft) and easily get away with just rolling the screen up when not in use, without getting in the way of anything else.

Then my only set up will be bringing out the computer and SkyTrak, and dropping the screen.

[hnguy]

Congrats on your purchase! If you bought the demo unit like I did, the $300 you saved can go towards the iPad. Fortunately I already own an iPad, but you can find new iPad Air's for around $300 http://www.walmart.com/ip/30146230?productRedirect=true.

You can now play WGT via iPad with the SkyTrak http://golfsimulatorforum.com/forum/...-and-wgt/page6. You can't play actual rounds ATM, but there are challenges on different courses that you can play for now. At least this way you can get some use out of your unit while we all wait for TGC.

[haysuess]

hnguy, I really didn't want to buy an iPad because A) it would only be used for this, so is a bit of a waste of money and B) if I have to pay more, I would have considered other systems. I'll wait it out for a few weeks and hopefully the PC version will be available when the sim comes out.

All said and done, if the sim comes out by Oct, I'll set it up in the garage and have no reason to ever get an iPad.

[haysuess]

I have a couple more questions.

I'm watching some of the videos, namely this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XorcZR9W-ao

There are many hits where the post swing analysis says that the club head was square, the swing path was straight, the ball path was 0 degrees, the deviation was nil, yet the ball hooks badly, and nothing in the analysis would indicate that it should do so, except for the ball spin.

I know the SkyTrak doesn't do club head data, so is that interpolated from the ball data? Is there another addon that is being used in conjunction with the SkyTrak in that video?

Why does it seem like the club head data and ball flight do not match at all?

Lastly, obviously everyone hits different distances with the same club. If I'm playing TGC sim, do I need to manually select the club I'm hitting as the user in the video does? It would seem like club selection shouldn't matter at all, and the lie and ball data should be used to calculate proper distance and ball flight. How does that work?

[haysuess]

I was able to chat with Hoosierdaddy and get answers.

The SkyTrak obviously doesn't do club head data, but nothing is interpolated either, so all club data is zeroed out in the analysis and can be ignored.

You don't need to select clubs manually in the simulator either, unless you want to putt from off the green.

[ProTee United]

Ocean Athletic Golf Club
Designer: Adam Benjamin

[Joko]

This is rude sirs! :\ Also you should allow your base to work in conjunction with skytrak :P

[TurfWar]

Just around the corner?

[ProTee United]

We are all patiently waiting for SkyTrak

All I know is that Autumn is just around the corner. Make sure you stay on the fairway on this one!

[haysuess]

I'll see you at the Autumnal equinox.

[TurfWar]

Patiently waiting for a sighting of Bubba22's taxi. 🚕

[Smacc]

I'm really getting overwhelmed here hahahah.. All of these previews are killing me that I can't play them yet!!! As it stands right now, to play all 78,000 of the courses available I'd have to play 1 round a day for over 200 years to play them all... I guess i'll try to up it to 3 rounds/day and only have to do it in 70+ years.

In all seriousness even if only 1% of all 78,000 courses made are great designs and a lot of thought put in ( i'm sure the % is higher though) I would have 780 courses to play and would not even have to play the same course but once every 2 years. (not to mention i'm sure this will grow to well over 100k courses in that 2 years!!!!

What a great tool the course designer is and a big thank you to all of the designers that take the time to make them great.

[MrHogan]

Thing is you gotta find those decent courses amongst all the dross. needle in a haystack.

[Smacc]

True but with the rating system at least it will eliminate a lot for us

[wilson]

Also, I hear that you need to make a *new* course for every tee box - so there are some courses with multiples just to cater for tee boxes.
Interesting thing is - for me I can't swing more than a 2HY in my basement, so i need to get shorter tees to play. Anything over 6400 yards gets too difficult.

[ProTee United]

We recorded a couple of shots with some ghost players and created a quick 9 holes course. Have fun watching!

[ryanoneill1]

Sorry I am not trying to be difficult, just trying to understand. So ProTee worked with TGC to develop TGC SIM version, then ProTee I guess is working with Skytrak?

Canadian video game developer, HB Studios, today announced a global partnership with golf simulator specialist ProTee United. The simulator version of the The Golf Club will allow golf enthusiasts worldwide to play the game all year round with their own golf clubs and a real golf ball in the comfort of their own homes. Golf simulator users will also benefit from the thousands of courses created by TGC players on PC and console.

[ProTee United]

That is correct!

[ryanoneill1]

thank you

[TurfWar]

Thanks for the vid, can't wait to try it.

At 4:21 when we see the fly-by-hole preview it's noticeable that shadows and trees suddenly pop up as they are being rendered. For me this breaks the immersion and while I was familiar with this issue on the PS4 version of the game, I'm slightly surprised to see it on the PC. I expect you were using a powerful rig for the video and had the eye candy turned up. Could you confirm the specs of the PC used and the graphics settings and would you comment on how much of a trade off graphically it would be so that shadows and trees didn't suddenly appear?

[ProTee United]

It was recorded on a Laptop with a GTX680m graphics card. Everything set default. The details are set to 1 (default).

We are not the sort of company that cranks up the graphics in order to make something look good. We want everyone to enjoy TGC, even if you can not afford a high end gaming PC.

This is what everyone gets with a normal, affordable system. If you want the best of the best you set the details to 5 and the tree count to MAX, but this will require a GTX970 4GB card or better ($320+). If you want smooth graphics in 4K you will also need a high end system.

We do not consider this shadow rendering an issue. You won't even see this with normal play. Flyovers are OFF on the sim version. You need to press J to see a flyover.

Note: No graphic cards have been hurt during the recording of this video

[Smudge_si]

Would this set up be enough for TGC on skytrak, cheers

•Zalman Z11 Plus Plus Gaming Case
•Corsair CX 750W PSU
•Intel Core i7 4790 3.6GHz Processor
•ASUS H81M-PLUS Motherboard
•8GB Corsair XMS3 DDR3 1600MHz RAM
•Nvida GeForce GTX 950 2GB Graphics Card
•Seagate Barracuda 500GB SATAIII 7200rpm Hard Drive

[ProTee United]

Smudge, the PC is great except for the graphics card. You might want to turn that up a notch.

Here is a comparison of the GTX950 vs GTX670. You might think the 9 series is faster. See for your self:

http://www.hwcompare.com/20605/geforce-gtx-950-vs-geforce-gtx-670/

[Hoosierdaddy]

Note: No graphic cards have been hurt during the recording of this video

That's good to know. We don't need any video card police around here.

[liturbo]

What are the minimum graphic card requirements to run the TGC software without rendering issues--I am not worried about shadow rendering etc. I just don't want the graphics to lag; I.e., render in other than real time with ball flight etc. Will an Asus U500vz with Nvidia's GeForce®
GT 650M 2GB GDDR5 hardware be able to handle TGC?

[m3w]

Will an Asus U500vz with Nvidia's GeForce® GT 650M 2GB GDDR5 hardware be able to handle TGC?

Not even close! I currently have a Radeon 6850, and it's painfully slow. And I have it set on very low detail settings.

Also, just for fun, I tried to run it on low settings on my laptop with a GeForce GT 630M 2GB card, and I smelled serious burning odors before I even teed off!