2551 replies to this topic

[Kablammo11]

Biggest thread by far, yesrushdt. Thanks for making it even bigger.

Richard, the willow debate is indeed a thorny issue that has raged for as long as this thread exists. Freedom of opinion dictates that you may speak your mind freely. It does, however, not demand of me to pay heed.

 

The patrol has reached the 11th hole:

 

 

The main focus of the work was the area in front of the green. The old bunker front right was covered up -  The second shot being uphill and blind, I felt bad about aksing players to carry their ball around 200yds all the way into the heart of the green, so I widened the fairway so that they could punch up a flat and rolling shot if they preferred.

This is how I usually make terrain alterations. I make little steps with the terrain brush to deal with altitude adjustments. To add a bit of roll and unevenness, I place sharp little bits reaching way up and down. The smooth brush will then shrink them down while adjusting everything surrounding them - making sure the little bits will survive the smoothing as high and low parts. Confusing? Of course.

 

 

 

The same part after smoothing and mesh recalculation:

 

 

I sneaked in a little bunker to the left of green but my main attention was on the fairway short of the green. I love bumpy fairways, I must confess. Or rather, I severely dislike flat and even fairways bulldozed into the terrain like highways. Not under my watch!

 

 

And on we go. Humphrey, by far the most snotty of the 3 Whos, surveying the new tee shot at 11. Looks similar from back there...

 

 

...but 290 yds ahead his two partners spot the difference at once. The gap between the primary and secondary fairways has been tripled. And a mound of grass had grown in between, forcing players to favour the right half of the fairway - and flirting withe the sand trap - if they want to see the green for their second shot. For those too far left, I added a single rock in the slope to help them with the line to the middle of the green. Hope I'm not being too nice...

 

 

Not much new on the 12th green - still split in two tiers along the line of play. Too mean? Meh..And that's it for today. This last view seems to be missing a willow or two... But I must stop spite-planting them every time somebody doesn't like them. So: no. Ta!

 

[Davefevs]

Not sure just ticking the 'like this' button is really appropriate, so K11..... I like this!

[Richard]

 K11

Richard, the willow debate is indeed a thorny issue that has raged for as long as this thread exists. Freedom of opinion dictates that you may speak your mind freely. It does, however, not demand of me to pay heed.

   

I agree and I'm aware of the "thorny issue", but knowing that, I just had to ask anyway

[Kablammo11]

Thanks for your understanding, Richard.

Dave, it's okay... I have 390 likes in my collection already. I'd rather you spent yours on all the other guys who work up the gumption to  to share some stuff of their own.  A kind word of encouragement to them or a "like" will motivate them to share more. 

 

Anyway, the Devs suffering one heck of an autistic* phase or so, I'm pondering going on strike until they come out of their shell. Seriously! After this patrol is done, at least. 6 more holes to work on.

 

*my most sincere apologies to anyone who is truly affected by the real affliction that is autism - but that word was unfortunately unavoidable in this context.

[shimonko]

K11
One question though, Why do all your willow trees look like they're dead? They look out of place relative to most of the other trees in your screenshots?

K11's been hammered for his willow trees - maybe you need to change the course name from Willow Heath to change to Willow Death, K11?

[Kablammo11]

You call that hammered, shimonko? I'm trying not to be obtuse about the willows, but with each objection the hold of their roots in the firm ground of this project becomes stronger. As I posted before - and nobody seems to have noticed: If any of you don't like these willows, bring me better ones and I will use them. But enough about this, let's talk about hole 13.

 

Cuz that's where my patrol arrived today. 242 yds of horror from the back tee of this Par 3. I felt a pang of pity with golfdom, thinking what I would have felt were I to stand on such a tee in real life: some deep anxiety.

 

 

So a redesgin was in order. The bunker front left was eliminated, the fairway was raised to almost green level and a generous protective belt of fairways was laid out around the green area. The shot required to get close remains absolutely the same, but as per today there is room for error and ample space for a bail out shot left and short.

 

 

But as you can see, there is still plenty of trouble lurking: fiendish roll off slopes waiting for the errant shot to guide it away and to the side in the best (worst) british links tradition. You may get a lucky bounce from them, but most likely you won't.

 

 

To sum up my redesign, I switched to the game camera to snap a couple of long lens pictures. Here's the tee view first. Again, those hard edges around the tees should, I was told, blend softly into the terrain. Nice view, I must say...

 

 

And finally, from the back. I like long lense shots. They are so... so illuminating and spectacular. Heck, I like long lense shots so much, I might even go into a wee little rant once you've watched this last picture:

 

 

And now the rant. It's about the lack of long lense shots in computer golf games. There aren't any! it's always the same, stupid, mind-dessicating, eye-watering wide angle shot. It's always the same in Unity, it was always the same in Links, TWO etc and it's always the same in TGC, no matter if its the player camera or the following camera. Wide lens - fixed focal length always. No friggin' photgraphic flair whatsoever! No sense of drama! No bloody clue about visual basics!

(pant, pant, pant...)

I wish that PG will opt for players to be able to set their own cameras - or at least for CF designers to position and define their own, tracking the ball flight, zooming in or out after landing... There are truly nice pictures to be had out there, but nobody seems to give a hoot about going after them. Methinks this is both foolish and wrong.

Thank you for your attention, I leave you with a quote from Kinky Friedman: "Somebody make a life out of my movie!"

[Mike Jones]

Love it K11, great pics as usual. Not sure I'm 100% sold on the geometric tees when compared to the free flowing nature of the rest of the course, seems a little incongruous.

[Kablammo11]

I see what you mean, Mike, but it stuck me as incongruous, too, when I saw them at Muirfield in the Open 2013. And at St. Andrews. And on most golf courses I ever played on. It made me realize that the rectangle, ultimate symbol of man's mostly futile attempts to control nature, was the perfect shape for a golf tee. An ambition and prospect, yet forever out of reach...

 

 

There is ample and illustrious precedent. So, t'wasn't lazyness what made me do it. But I probably should use individual square shapes for every single tee box rather than trying to draw a weirdly shaped polygon that accomodates two of them within one strange outline, granted. I will change that...

 

Hey, by the way, I just got an email from Tara. Here goes:

 

"Yo K, y'okay?

Thanks for letting me take care of the redesign of the 14th. The Whos tagged along, unfortunately, and these empty-headed posers are creeping me out. Re. the tee shot, I moved the right fw bunker a bit away, it's now 244 to front and 279 to the back of it from the black tees. I must say, from back there the hole looks a bit average. I suppose that's your devious way of tempting players into whacking a full driver down this par 5...

 

 

...tee-hee, little do these poor babies know that the fun starts exactly 15 ft down and 262 yards away. Downslope, sideslope, bumps and bunkers. Aaah, blind tee shots funneling into hidden bunkers... you've got a nasty streak, boss!

 

 

Now here's what I did to your design, golfer-in-chief: Instead of the second fw being lower than the 1st one, I added a continuous slope leading all the way down from the top of the hill to the green. Then I removed the hills along the left side of the fw and instead had a depression excavated. I mean, c'mon, we talked about this, didn't: we: Valley fairways with elevations along both sides are superlame! So I added a bit of space.

 

 

The green area needed some serious remodelling as well. I added a second bunker short of the original one to obstruct the straight flight path into the green, then compensated by creating a generous lay-up area to the left of them. Had to sacrifice a willow, sorry. Still it's a lot cooler now. I think. Right?

 

 

So that's what I've been up to... Hope you like it. Oh, forgot. I fired the Whos. Can't stand those guys. I'll think of somebody else. 

Ta! Tara."

 

 

She's a good girl, she is... 

[Kablammo11]

I still was angry at Tara for firing the Whos. Granted, the guys weren't pleaseant at all, but they still had done their job of showing dimensions and creating a human presence on my course very well. Tara had assured me that a new crew would be at hand soon, but could those guys fill the horrid gap left by the unpleasant Whos? "You can't just put every Tom, Dick and Harry in there!" I told her.

Her little simper immediately told me that I had walked right into it. Again.

"Tom, Dick and Harry are waiting for you on the 15th tee", she grinned.

"And how are they supposed to be better?", I complained?

"If you watch very closely", she chuckled, "you can see that they have eyebrows."

Eyebrows? Neat! 

"Oh!" she added, walking away. "There's also a very young Sondra Locke with them..."

That clinched it. Never mess with Tara. She's got your number, she does...

 

[AlanR54NC]

K. Heck with CourseForge or Perfect Golf. I've started doing daily checks just to keep up to date with Tara and friends.

 

In all seriousness, even if CourseForge was released today and "useable" by the masses, I am still in awe of the depth of knowledge and skill shown by you, shimonko, MJ, and the others in what you each are able to produce. While my architect license may stay in the bag, I do hope to pull some clubs out one day. 

[Kablammo11]

Thanks, Alan.

Truth in advertising: Little golf figures, long lens perspectives and Tara subplots NOT included in the final release.

To be continued...

[Davefevs]

Surely PP will be releasing a golfing Sims product too so Tara and more like her can stay around.

[Dazmaniac]

"Oh!" she added, walking away. "There's also a very young Sondra Locke with them..."

 

When you say young.... you meaning circa Outlaw Josey Wales / The Gauntlet young?

 

[Kablammo11]

She was fantastic in "The Gauntlet". Truth told, she was the only reason to watch that movie...

Yeah, that young or a bit younger.

 

[Kablammo11]

Is it that time again? Gotta hurry or post something, lest Alan will leave in a huff an join TPC...

So let's pick up the story at the 15th. Most of you might remember it as looking like this: Small, narrow risk-feward par 4 into the dense forest on the hillside.

 

 

Well, no more. The 15th, indulge me in this little bit of local anecdote, originally callded "Soddy Knob" on account of the rather explicitely shaped bunker in front, which only looks that way when seen from the tee, by accident, without any intent of doing so by the designer, has undergone the most severe of all the make-overs: Tree-cutting, bulldozing, brush clearing... It's now called "Grassy Knoll" (albeit I'm sure it's old name will live on among members), to honor the huge mound of grass, center-left, obstructing the view to the 2nd half of the fairway when seen from the tees, which are considerably lower than the camera position. 

 

 

The hole measures 360yds as the crow flies, and asks of the players to make a choice: Take on the knoll or keep the drive short and safe. Allow me to explain:

Tom, furthest away from the green, has hit a long iron 241 yds from the tee and is face with 143 yds to the pin.

Dick has used a fairway wood and a danger line of left edge of soddy knob.  277yds shot, 102yds left.

 

 

Harry has gone for it, and despite bunkers and side slopes got away with it: Straight over the knoll. 295 yds drive, 75 yds left.

And young Sondra, from the short ladies tees and a slightly better angle, has poked her drive 250 yds long with 52 yds left. 

 

 

The green is, well, who cares... it's a green, it has tiers, and bunkers nearby. Young Sondra made birdie

 

 

And the new crew? They seem a lot less intense than their predecessors. More relaxed. And quite dapper in their K11 sportswear. They send you their kind regards. Wish you were here. I really do.

 

[IanD]

Well, I can't compete with the new Sporty K11 Crew...  the elite group are extensively involved with the Heath course and whilst I wish them well, the branding issue would be too costly for me

 

We do have movement within the CF Beta though, and a new ability has developed in the character of Mr Fresnel. I don't have the intellectual ability to understand everything this gentleman can do, but his emphasis upon the world is well known. Within 'our world', the difference he makes is best left to illustrative purposes..

 

Some pages back, I showed a screenie of a Putting Green I created by the ClubHouse Complex, so I've sprinkled Mr Fresnel's abilities to this and included the before and after to highlight his touch.

 

 

 

If I panned back, this would give you a better idea of what he has allowed us to create ;

 

 

Now, the Fresnel dust used is likely too high... but the ability to change it is available, and easily done. A little shake and vac and the adjustments can be easily made. Mike has given us (That's Mike Jones, not Mr Fresnels first name... points can be awarded for those who know Fresnel's first name) some recommended settings for the Fresnel dust, but this at least illustrates what we can now achieve.

 

This isn't restricted to greens either, as any texture can benefit from the Fresnel effect. The Fresnel dust doesn't blow away in the wind either, so you can apply it in all weather conditions... here's again, an over the top view from behind my 1st green showing the fairway recently sprinkled..

 

 

My green is perfectly flat... however with a slight bump added and Mr Fresnel in attendance.. it highlights the slope very easily and I dare say, those already looking to hit a ball across the green will know how useful the Fresnel effect has now become..

 

 

I'll certainly be taking Mr Fresnel with me as I continue... I'll also ensure he visits the K11 Crew too..

[JoeF]

 

 points can be awarded for those who know Fresnel's first name

That would be A. J. (Augustin-Jean), not to be confused with PP's A. J. who, however, may have had a hand in bringing A. J's Fresnel to the CF.

[IanD]

And the points are gone... that's exactly what I would have said.. MR AJ Fresnel..   

[Kablammo11]

The "s" is silent and pronunciation emphasis is on the second syllable: fre-NELL.

[IanD]

To the masses certainly K11... but I've heard you calling for Nell in the past 24hrs... and I'm starting to get curious... is there a Mrs I'm unaware of...?