Perfect Golf (beta) for Skytrak

[Menace]

Perfect Golf might look like a great game but has way too many bugs, even for an early access game still under development. It has a very long way to go before it can be mentioned in the same sentence as TGC, E6, ProTee and Red Chain. There is no AI, no stats, no tournament play and online play servers crash frequently. It currently has 10 courses and no stable (commercially) released version.

Price is unknown, but keep in mind you will be buying a beta product.

[goodmatt78]

Does anyone know if PG allows centerline offset?

[wilson]

There's a free camera mode. So you could use that and move anywhere. Will have to test when it's out but that should be the solution.

[FaultyClubs]

No it doesn't.

The free camera mode can be used to test if you like having an offset. Not everyone does. I don't see the free camera mode as a offset solution though...the rigmarole to use it on each shot would be unworkable IMHO.

[#gcw]

Played the PG update today chaps (with the new horizontal motion swing on PC - not via simulator), its amazing. Now we are really getting there the physics are absolutely wonderful.

[SDL]

I tried the new PG build on my PC using the 3-click swing (no SkyTrak yet, of course). PG looks and plays great! I also noticed that the hole now looks stable when a putt is holed. In the earlier version, the hole kind of moved to receive the ball - but not anymore.

I hope the ST integration gets finalized soon! I saw that the PG community is now sharing a number of user created courses for download. I haven't tried to do that yet, but I'm anxious to try Bandon Dunes.

[ryanoneill1]

Played Bandon Dunes this morning with my Skytrak. Was blown away by the course. Pulled up some YouTube videos to compare and its spot on.

[Brettster]

Hey Ryan, have you compared it to Bandon Dunes on E6? I played it last week on E6, so just wondering.... Everything I've seen from PG so far is that it is incredibly realistic!

[SDL]

Ryanoneill1, that sounds very cool! In contrast, my son and I just played St. Andrews using the ST on WGT, and I was not blown away by the experience. We had to play alternate shot because there is no local multiplayer option for WGT, and chipping and putting were off - as usual for WGT. I'm really looking forward to playing Bandon Dunes on ST sometime soon.

[SDL]

I'm still waiting to try PG on the SkyTrak, but I was able to download Bandon Dunes and play it on my PC last night. Wow, what a great course! I've played the course IRL, and the PG version is a wonderful accomplishment. It doesn't quite convey the natural "scruffiness" of Bandon Dunes, but it gets almost everything right.

I played the course twice, first using the extra length off the tee that the 3-click swing allows and then playing a second round while throttling back to only allow myself to hit distances I typically can hit IRL with my limited senior-citizen power. I found that the course works great for either short or long hitters. I'm now even more psyched about soon (I hope!) being able to play Bandon Dunes on the SkyTrak.

[John6577]

I feel like an idiot because I have no clue how to download these courses. I bought the $19 deal so my guess is you have to buy the full package to have access. Something I am missing here? Also, I have to get a better PC This Mac just is not going to cut it.

[wilson]

Unzip and drop the folder into C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Perfect Golf\Courses

Macs


/Users/<user name>/Library/Application Support/Steam/steamapps/common/Perfect Golf/Courses

[SDL]

Mario, only Bandon Dunes is available for PG currently. However, the course creator, RobC, has said that he will also be doing Pacific Dunes and Bandon Trails as well.

Wilson's comments should be helpful regarding the folder on your PC for storing your downloaded course folders. There are no additional costs for the new user built courses, but you will have to find them on the website that lists reviews for the PG courses. (I can't list the link here, but you should be able to find it via a Google search.) After you download each course folder and unzip the entire folder, then be sure to copy the entire unzipped folder for each course you download, which will include 4 individual files. I just copied the folder and then pasted it into the Courses folder on my hard drive. It may not work until you re-start Perfect Golf if you already had it running.

[Mike80]

I have PG on steam. Where do I go to download these new courses? Any details is appreciated. Thanks!

[wilson]

I don't think we are allowed to post a link here. You'll have to google the courses.
Ballyneal, ayot lake, shadowlands might get you to the site.

[keither5150]

I have TGC for my GSA sim and just downloaded PG for the computer. GSA has announced that PG will be available soon. The physics are about equal to TGC. Trees and water look good as well. What I like about PG is all the different camera angles and viewing options. It does beat TGC in that aspect. I really don't like the fact that it will not have an outright purchase option. $250/ year can add up. I will probably buy PG for one year and then choose between the two. The physics on TGC are also fantastic.

[keither5150]

John,
With TGC,.....If you search for Keither5150 on youtube. I have a couple of videos that show some of the stats available at the end of the round. The 60FPS videos more represent the smoothness of the game. Most of my videos are at 30fps ( they will be a little choppy and don't quite represent what I see at home) ..... YouTube rookie....... My next video .... I will show more of what's available in terms of stats. Most of the stats are all rounds combined. You have to check leaderboard stats for your latest round. You can do that directly after the round or before you start. Not sure if you can check during the round. Some of my videos show this at the end. I agree with you about the graphics and physic engines..... It's not worth it to switch one way or the other. I like how TGC show global stats, so you can see where you stack up against everyone else. There is a lot of potential with TGC and they have been updating their software about 4 or 5 times a year. We keep asking for things and soon they are in the game. Driving ranges are a good example. I am planning to make a video which proves that putting doesn't suck on sims. My buddies think that putting is one of the best things about TGC. I will make a quick video tonight that shows just stats and post it on YouTube. For people who don't already have TGC, PG has made the decision harder. I don't think that too many people will switch. Just uploaded a short video with stats and replays. https://youtu.be/-hjjYH1UfAg When watching a replay, you can actually watch the complete round. It does have an avatar hitting the ball so it kind of looks like a xbox game. One stat that is not accurate is putting.... when you use 2 yard gimmies I also used 2 putt gimmies when I first started, so that skews the stat a bit.

Watch the video in Chrome to take advantage of 60FPS. If you watch in windows 7 internet explorer, it will be 30FPS and choppy.

[ProTee United]

TGC keeps extensive stats in-game and external. Here is a vid showing the in-game stats: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nb5TGI1x7-E

[John6577]

TGC does appear to have the kind of stats tracking I am looking for. Thanks for the information!

[Tekbud]

scramblin man... with skytrak http://www.twitch.tv/tekbudrulz/v/48728781

[Tekbud]

Yes I'm beta testing. There are two modes normal and putting. Your view doesn't show the avatar. That wouldn't feel realistic. There are multiple views though to toggle from.

[Alienator]

Thanks for the video, looked like the putting wasn't bad. Seemed like a 3-3.5 second delay on shots, I can live with that. How realistic do you feel it is, I mean I know sim golf is typically a little easier because hitting off a mat instead of bad lies and sand and hills ect, but I notice you shot a 77, what is your usual score? I find on the e6 demo I am usually about 6 strokes better than normal and have even been 12 better than my handicap.

[Tekbud]

That's not far from a usual score but difficult courses are still really rough. I can shoot even or 85 depending get on the course

[leoapd]

Is PG as demanding as far as hardware goes compared to TGC? Right now running the steam version on an i7 with Nvidia 670 gt and does not look anything close to what Tekbud posted.

[SDL]

I have a Dell desktop with i7-4770 CPU @ 3.4 GHz with 16 GB RAM and an NVIDIA GTX 645 graphics card, and this computer seems to run Perfect Golf fine at mid level settings but struggles with quite a few of the TGC courses I've tried. Anticipating getting either TGC or PG soon for my SkyTrak sim area, I just put a GTX 960 graphics card in my back-up basement computer that has an older CPU and only 6GB of RAM, but it now runs either PG or TGC pretty well. You need a reasonably capable graphics card to run either PG or TGC, but this is especially critical with TGC.

[Tekbud]

Set shadows to about 10 and try again

[leoapd]

I am probably going to have to upgrade the whole unit. With PG it is running really hot. I did download Bandon, but still did not look as good. It's a Dell laptop i7-3200 with 8gb at 2.3 ghz I believe. Probably not worth upgrading the graphics card?

[Tekbud]

Perfect Golf course list as of 2/22/2016:

Ayot Lakes
Ballyneal - Real
Bandon Dunes - Real
Bellerive - Real
Black Swan
Blackwater Creek
Club Schwarzwald
Chicago Oaks - Real Medinah CC
Crystal Pines C.C.
Downland GC
Dry Gulch
Fishers Island
Florida Glades - Real TPC Sawgrass
Glenray
Golden Meadows
Halcyon Springs
Hazy View
Hidden Canyon G.C.
Illinois CC - Real Conway Farms
Karen
Massachusetts -Real TPC Boston
Mill Green
Nautilus Bay
NCR CC North - Real
NCR CC South - Real
North Lakes Resort - Real
Pommeroy
Ridgeway
Royal Juxford
Sapphire Lakes
ShadowLands
Southampton - Real Sebonak GC
Spook Rock - Real
Wells Hollow
Willow Heath

[John6577]

I know this has been asked before, but I will ask again. Why does both PG and TGC both not have the real names for their courses? I assume its a licensing thing, but when folks are paying the amount of money for these sims you would think they could get the licenses to the course names and all.

[mthunt]

Reason A, if someone created Augusta 2 years ago and it sucked, someone creating a good Augusta couldn't use the name because someone already did. Reason B, the person was afraid to use the name Augusta.

[SDL]

Tekbud, are you sure that Ballyneal is available for download? I couldn't find it on the current list.

[goodmatt78]

BTW...those testing PG. Can you connect to ST wirelessly or must it be USB like TGC?

[ryanoneill1]

I have not played TGC with my Skytrak only PG and E6. I can't stop playing PG. Plus it sounds like PG will be cheaper.

[goodmatt78]

Anyone hear of a PG release date?

I have been watching PG youtube videos. Can you just use a first person tracer vs a follow-the ball tracer?

[Tekbud]

Yes, there are multiple views to choose from.
As far as one vs. the other, I think they are both great. Can't see how you could go wrong with either.

[pwade3]

Perfect Golf course list as of 2/22/2016:

Ayot Lakes
Ballyneal - Real
Bandon Dunes - Real
Bellerive - Real
Black Swan
Blackwater Creek
Club Schwarzwald
Chicago Oaks - Real Medinah CC
Crystal Pines C.C.
Downland GC
Dry Gulch
Fishers Island
Florida Glades - Real TPC Sawgrass
Glenray
Golden Meadows
Halcyon Springs
Hazy View
Hidden Canyon G.C.
Illinois CC - Real Conway Farms
Karen
Massachusetts -Real TPC Boston
Mill Green
Nautilus Bay
NCR CC North - Real
NCR CC South - Real
North Lakes Resort - Real
Pommeroy
Ridgeway
Royal Juxford
Sapphire Lakes
ShadowLands
Southampton - Real Sebonak GC
Spook Rock - Real
Wells Hollow
Willow Heath

What do you mean by "Real" on some of the courses? Example such as Bandon Dunes - Real.

[ryanoneill1]

It's a golf course in real life.

[pwade3]

Same idea as Bandon on WGT using actual verse created?

[ryanoneill1]

Yes

PG has released a handful of real life golf courses and fictional golf courses. If you see the word real next to the name it is a real life course. WGT has real life courses, but the quality is so much better in PG

[pwade3]

Hey Ryan (and everyone else). I would like your opinion. If I understand this correctly, you have tested both TGC and PG. Which would be better for family play, in regards to having kids (in my case my daughter) who needs to play off the red tees. Will they work where you can set two or three people up and they each play from whatever tees you require? Is one maybe better then the other in regards to that situation?

[mthunt]

Hey Ryan (and everyone else). I would like your opinion. If I understand this correctly, you have tested both TGC and PG. Which would be better for family play, in regards to having kids (in my case my daughter) who needs to play off the red tees. Will they work where you can set two or three people up and they each play from whatever tees you require? Is one maybe better then the other in regards to that situation?

I use both. PG very easily does multiple tees. TGC does not. It may come out but not now.