SkyTrak and The Golf Club (TGC) Simulation Software

[soccerdude]

Hi Seth. I'm new to this forum but have been reading as much as I can about SkyTrak on this and other forums. It seems that many experienced sim users think that The Golf Club game is the best simulator software out there right now. In fact, if I'm understanding and remembering things correctly, Bubba22 and Zmax were instrumental (please correct me if I'm wrong) in getting ProTee to integrate their sim hardware (and gc2) with The Golf Club software. So my question to you/SkyTrak is simply this: Has there been any thought to integrating SkyTrak with The Golf Club? And if so, what are the odds that this might happen? And if so, when?

[wbond]

Lets hope skytrak has everything in place (pricing, availability, website, etc) and is ready to release when protee finishes.

Sweet! Uh oh, does that mean we all have to start bugging protee for when is released now, smooth move Seth haha. In protee I trust!

[Joko]

Yes, let's hope that when Protee is finished with their stuff that SkyTrak can finish it all up. I'm still more worried about SkyTrak getting their stuff done then I am Protee. The day that I finally see TGC on SkyTrakGolf.com, will be a glorious one.

[HarryG]

Am I right to say that Seth has given Golf Simulator Forum the SDK and these guys are now full steam ahead and TGC is finally, 'Just around the corner'?

[Joko]

Yep, and I just got back from the Planet Zamandoozle. It was pleasant.

[HarryG]

Thanks for the info.

[heisman32]

Looking like a rainy weekend here in Oklahoma, sure would be nice to be able to play some golf in the simulator room!!! No pressure, but if you could release the software today that would be great!!! Just kidding........sort of!

[luv2golf]

heisman32, buy WGT. It's only $99

[Ironstrokes]

Looking like a rainy weekend here in Oklahoma, sure would be nice to be able to play some golf in the simulator room!!! No pressure, but if you could release the software today that would be great!!! Just kidding........sort of!

Yea, this! In protee I trust!

[ProTee United]

New Trilogy Cove GC

[Ironstrokes]

This wouldn't happen to be playable with.......skytrak.....is it? or very soon? Wink Wink

[HarryG]

Have finally discovered how to get decent frame rates in this game I bought a new graphics card. It's called MSI 980 GTX Ti Lightning and costs £650 which is $995 if purchased in the UK. Or $800 through Amazon US. If anyone is interested to know why I've been so upset at there not being dual card support in this game then that's the reason, as I already had two cards with the same performance as this new one and wouldn't have had to spend a penny.

This graphics card absolutely destroys all modern titles at 1080p and gets ludicrously high frame rates and is overkill at that aspect ratio. TGC certainly challenges it and gets you 45 fps with everything maxed out with noticeable stutter and slow down during the follow camera shots.

This is all dependant on which course you play with the links courses (no trees) showing better performance. Using this graphics card I have been able to play the PC version of this game at ultra high def (2160p) on the links courses at around 30 fps and it's borderline playable but certainly looks very nice.

If anyone wants me to test any resolution at any in game graphics settings I'm happy to oblige and give you feedback on frames per second and playability. Just ask.

My advice to anyone who doesn't want to be disappointed when this game comes out, is get the fastest graphics card you can afford. It's not just about eye candy, it's about smooth game play and not having trees and shadows suddenly popping up on screen. Alternatively, the devs could optimise the game somewhat and save us a few bucks.

Any word on a demo yet?

[JohnMeyer]

Its crazy that it takes that sort of gpu to get those sort of frame rates. As you say surely more could be done with optimisation to improve things, as top new 3d games aren't nearly as resource hungry as TGC it would seem.

[ProTee United]

Great gpu but absolutely not needed. Game runs great on a $150 gtx card. Sure if you want to push it with high res textures in the far distance, but for normal use its total overkill.

[luv2golf]

What GTX card for $150??

[mthunt]

A lot of guys bought used GTX670's when TGC Sim came out. They are 150.

[HarryG]

There are countless threads on the HB-Studios forum which beg to differ. I understand that graphical 'eye candy' is subjective and that in using a projector over a UHD TV display also makes a difference. Wanting the game to look it's best at an ecceptable frame rate is not overkill, lol. People need to know this especially as they are building rigs in anticipation of this game coming out, and if they are using $150 graphics cards then I hope they aren't disappointed.

[ProTee United]

When people just follow our recommendations they will not be disappointed.

[neboruchi]

It seems the recommended GPU is a GTX 970. I don't think I've ever seen one for $150. I currently have a GTX 750 and when I tried the non-sim version of TGC from Steam I could barely play with detail 1.

[mayassa]

My MSI Radeon R9 290 GAMING 4GB 512-bit GDDR5, $209 card never had any problems.

[wbond]

I see your requirements are as follows, can you list what the game settings should be for each?

Minimum
Graphics: NVidia GTX 670 or AMD 7850 w/ 2GB (or better!)
Recommended
Graphics: NVidia GTX 970

Also, it might help for others if members can post what they have and what game settings they use.

When people just follow our recommendations they will not be disappointed.

[mthunt]

I have a 970. I run the following:
1920 on high
Detail 4
Tree count 5000
Distance 1100

I suggest trying it. You'll see quickly what works.

[Js1010]

Mthunt, i am curious what kind of frame rate you are getting with that level of detail and trees set with a 970. Would you mind teeing up magnolia national first tee as well and provide a fps on the first tee.

Thanks.

[hberger]

I suggest trying it. You'll see quickly what works.

how can you try ? is there a demo for TCG to check hardware compatibility ?
I'll use Skytrak with inside simulator (and thus projector).
I don't need high resolution / graphics or dps as my projector won't be able to use them.
My question is rather ; what is the minimum resolution TCG wil be able to handle ?
I have tested e6 demo and it is working fine ; so 1024x768 will be ok too ?

[Shardak]

Buy it on steam, test it, and return it. Steam lets you do returns now. I think you can return it if you play less than 2 hours.

TGC uses Unity engine, and it does require a more beefy video card than one would expect from a golf game. I had a Geforce 660TI when TGC was released and the game caused it to run very hot (and therefore loud as the fans would kick in 100%). I was struggling to maintain 60fps on high settings at 1920x1200. I have since upgraded to a 970 card, and it runs a bit better.

Overall I would say the Unity engine is not that great at handling very large outdoor areas. And since TGC renders the entire course (in order to eliminate load times), that causes the game to run worse than it should.

TGC have done what they can to optimize the game since release and it has gotten better.

[Joko]

Thanks for the advice on doing the return. I purchased it last week on steam, with intentions of testing graphics and the look and feel. Looks good, but was disappointed that it would crash in 64bit mode (I realize you can get it to work in 32bit). Probably would never play it on a PC, but figured I would just eat the $30. Thanks!

[Joko]

Another week is here, now lets wait and see!