7 replies to this topic

[Ted_Ball]

Only kidding.

 

Anyway, I watched all the videos of those nongs playing PGA2K23 and only got excited when they mentioned ranking ladders to come.  I've no idea when that will happen so I went back to Rory McIlroy PGA Tour to try to make something of the game for a few months.  I've got it on Xbox GamePass.

 

I had a quick go at it a while ago but lost interest for some reason.  After tweaking a few things and trying various setups and practicing for a while I got right into it. I could almost say I enjoyed it more than PG!

 

Let me tell you about it.  Something to read while you're here. 

 

 

 

 

[Buck]

The putting in Rory is where it all fell down for me

 

Way too easy and lacking touch/feel completely 

[Ted_Ball]

The putting in Rory is where it all fell down for me

Way too easy and lacking touch/feel completely 

 

Interesting.  I will address that soon.

[Ted_Ball]

I suppose the question each one of us has to ask ourselves is...what do I want in a golf game?

It's easy to make comparisons amongst these games that we can play but have we taken the time to soul search the reasons why we exist to play golf games?

EA's latest golf game is Rory McIlroy's PGA whatever.  Only EA could have the whatever to release a golf game with such bare bones.  But then you think, **Why ARE we playing golf games on our little (with respect) PCs?**

Does RMcI'sPGATour fulfill our strange needs?

 

Read on...

[Ted_Ball]

VISUALS

Rory looks nice.  Frostbite 3

Robust colours and realistic atmospherics.

But it does have the shimmering grass effect which is annoying initially.

It's also hard to pick up the ball in flight (unless you hit a good, straight shot).

The wind effect in the trees is awful.

 

So, in respect to what users might want in a golf game, Rory has those things covered pretty well.  PG doesn't come off very well in comparison. PG looks a bit bizarro too me now.

 

There are 3 time of day settings. They all look good.  The only weather that can be tweaked is wind speed and direction (cool). Do we need more than that?  (Remember PG's dust storms.  Lordy!)

 

Visuals tick.  

[Ted_Ball]

So Rory comes out in July 2015 giving EA seven years to think about 2023. If you look at Rory you might be able to speculate on how '23 will look and play. I wrote out a list of things that caught my eye while playing...

 

 

A really annoying thing was the histrionics of the player after a 'bad' shot. Get rid of that EA.

 

Ball flight comet was faint or non-existent on Xbox. It was getting lost in dodgy skyboxes.

 

Crowds were great.  You tend to zone them out but they at least looked a bit better than adequate. Things like people walking along paths rather all standing in a bunch all swaying at the same time. Disturbing.  The responses were 'exciting' and some comments were interesting! It looks like crowds are in '23 and look very good from what I think I saw in the teaser.

 

Menu music is in fact nice music.

 

Lie slope works.

 

10 to 15 mph winds don't seem to do much.

 

You can't free look in Rory. That will surely be fixed in '23

 

Physics not so good. The ball roll on the green is dodgy.  Will be fixed no doubt.

 

Truly dreadful avatar maker. I made someone I don't want to look like (but probably do). Surely will be fixed.

 

Even though I say Rory is bare bones, it does have a Night Challenge, Multiplayer (which was woeful apparently), Career. 

 

Rory has 14 professionals to use.  They look pretty good so the new profile builder should be ok.

 

The one thing that would stop me from playing Rory for any length of time is the atrocious bunker play.  Instant gamebreaker in fact.  There seems to be no way to get out of certain bunkers - and not just deep ones.

 

 

 

 

And then there's swing path and putting and the controversial power gauge or lack thereof. 

Well, let's make it controversial.

[Ted_Ball]

The bunker problem is solved by using 'Flop'. I don't like the flop but it's the only way to get out.

 

The lack of replays and shot cameras is annoying.  Should be fixed.

 

I've never had much enthusiasm for the thumb stick but I'm starting to enjoy the challenge of finding consistency. At the hardest level there is a realistic margin for error. Like missing the green into a bunker after what you might think is a good swing.  There is a swing path circle with a line down the middle and that gives you post shot indicators.  I like that.

 

I'm having some fun with Rory. Let's face it - if PG didn't have RTSM I'd rather be playing Rory in spite of not having all the features PG has.

 

At the moment I'm trying to break par on each of the 16 courses. All good tracks.  Is that enough?

[Ted_Ball]

Which brings me to the putting, the swing path, and "power".

 

 

 

Buck and slouis were wondering about what the control method will be in the new EA game.

 

Rory has a unique, overall system - which I like - and which I have championed previously - and which PG once employed, in a way.

 

Basically Rory is all about picking your target - which sets the power - then swinging the club. This is so much like reality to me. I could go into my historic explanation but, put simply, irl we don't adjust tiny increments during the swing. There is, however, a general adjustment - overswing to natural swing to under powered which is controlled by a swing meter. The swing meter becomes irrelevant eventually. So, you develop a 'swing' as you would in real life. There is no small percentage adjustments during the swing. There is no using the avatar as a swing gauge. 

The margins for error in the final result of a shot are created by swing path inconsistencies and natural, management issues.

 

I found this a refreshing change to be honest.

 

 

 

I'd be happy to have a tweaked version of the Rory mechanics for the new game but I think there will be a shift away. Who knows?