SimGolf: I eat my words ... it's FUN! - Page 4

yin26 · February 13, 2002, 18:36

And another...

yin26 · February 13, 2002, 18:38

Still going...**ooops, wrong file format**

yin26 · February 13, 2002, 18:41

...

yin26 · February 13, 2002, 18:47

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yin26 · February 13, 2002, 18:51

Now, taken together, all those screens offer the tweaker in you TONS of stuff to do and the means to quickly get a handle on what needs fixing. So if you enjoy trying to manipulate a certain outcome (while watching some bright and fun graphics), this is definitely a game worth trying.

Smash · February 13, 2002, 19:20

I finally got my first 18 hole grand slam course.Its a beaut.7182 yards par 71 with a stroke average 0f 73.09.Currently ranked 94/100.Best part is playing time at 3 hours 27 minutes

First hole has a fun factor of 323%!

Scenic bridges...build them anywhere you can.Make some water if you have to.Remember,scenic bridges can only span 1 square.You must use the bridge menu,not just put a path over it.,and it can only be 1 square long to actually be considered a scenic.The sims just love these.They love to look at them and they love to ride them
if place them like this w/b/w/b/w/b etc,you make a kind of roller coaster that is full of "I love riding over this scenic bridge"

On that course I also have a particular snackbar that is servicing 6 different holes due to the way I have tees and 2 greens placed.This part of the course runs extremely well.All kinda by accident

So far though,that scenic bridge technique is the most effective thing I have discovered.It takes a little watching and tweeking to make sure they go where they are supposed to but it sure pays off.The lowest fun factor I have is 137%.No less than 10 holes are over 200%.

Good thing this ain't civ3.This game is made for fun.If it was civ3 they'd take everything fun(like the bridge trick) out of the game...ala despot pop rush.Since they are bound and determined to ruin the ancient age of civ3 (to get it in line with the other ages),I can safely free up some space for more Sim Golf stuff.Lets see if the civ3 uninstaller is bug free

Grumbold · February 13, 2002, 20:04

*BZZT!* No mention of 1.17f disappointment please.

I came here to erase it from my mind. Yin's lovely clips had just succeeded when you did that.

yin26 · February 13, 2002, 21:30

Smash: Excellent work! Now that I have one 18-hole course under my belt, I'll try for a Grand Slam. Big help on the scenic bridge thing. I have a lot of double and triple bridges and didn't realize they weren't helping me.

Grumbold: I see now one of my shots didn't post. I'll do that later. It's one of my favorites. Not much to look at, but *very* helpful.

Steve Clark · February 13, 2002, 21:36

I don't understand how you get a phenomenal rating of 2.something for length on a par 3?? Maybe it's just a factor of time where all holes keep going up in ratings as time goes on. I did my 9-hole course in 11 years and the par 3s are still in the negative for length. Is that what is happening or is there a design trick for par 3s?

yin26 · February 13, 2002, 21:51

Steve: Great question. I certainly don't have an answer. I'm just designing stuff that looks good to the eye and adds some challenge. I'd like to understand the details better, however, for the ratings.

John-SJ · February 13, 2002, 22:12

I got SimGolf about a week ago, and the main reason is, the comments on this forum. I originally d/l'ed the demo when it first came out, played for awhile and sort of forgot about it. It never rated very highly with me, certainly not a "must have" game. Then I started reading about Yin's experiences with the game in this thread and fired up the demo again. This time I decided to give the full game a go, and I'm glad I did. I have been putting quite a few hours in on this game since I got it and I'm still asking more questions than I'm answering so I think I have quite a ways to go before boredom even becomes a possibility.

I have to say, this is the most fun game I've played in a long time! I'm really glad to see that when Sid is the main force behind a project that it still has that "Meier Magic".

So, here's to you Sid, THANKS! And thanks to Yin and others in this thread who convinced me to give SimGolf a second chance!

John-SJ

Strollen · February 13, 2002, 22:43

Like Yin and the others I was thoroughly prepared to hate this game. Sim (yawn), playing Golf (yuck), watching Golf being play? (No No you can't torture me, the Consitution prohibits cruel and unusual punishment)

Alas, I love this game despite the subject matter not because of it. SimGolf plays and feels like a really labor of love, far more than Civ 3 does.

Here is some really interesting things from the credits.

Civ 3 Designed Soren Johnson, Jeff Briggs
Programming 7 people, and 25+ other involved in art music, sound and production, plus several years.

SimGolf
Game Design Sid Meier with Bing Gordon
Programming Sid Meier, 2 others
Art, music, production 13

Now to switch sports analogies: Clearly Sid is the Michael Jordon of game design (or is Michael the Sid Meier of basketball :-))
I think Brian Reynolds was the equivalent of Scotty Pippen and when he left Firaxis while still a very talented group was left without a superstar #2 guy. Soren did a terrific job on Civ3 AI, but the game just isn't as fun as a game with Sid Meier's name on it should be.

Smash · February 14, 2002, 00:14

In the folder "flics/homes" there are some car folders.Ferrari,BMW etc.
I can't figure out what to do or how to get these into the game.Grand slam status was my great hope but no,it did nothing.I tryed connecting my paths to the clubhouse to make "roads",but that didn't do it.I took the roads into celebrity 'hoods but that didn't do it either.

WTF are those cars for?

Dan Magaha FIRAXIS · February 14, 2002, 01:20

I believe they were to be used with the celebrity homes, IIRC, but they were probably taken out because they were too much.

Actually, though, now that you mention it, it wouldn't be a bad idea to show them off as tournament prizes

Dan

Smash · February 14, 2002, 01:32

Ya I considered that but kept on looking...hoping for another surprise.Yes I can see where they could cause some problems.A Beemer zooming across the first hole could get some golfers killed

thnks for the info.Lord knows how much time you just saved me

ColdWizard · February 14, 2002, 03:17

i seem to have mastered making strategic and challenge holes, but what constitutes a classic? My "Jacqueline" hole is listed as a classic, but it's a 175 yard par 3 that anybody that can hit a high backspin shot can birdie

oh and my golf pro hit 4 eagles on 12 holes for a 34

yin26 · February 14, 2002, 03:42

I think 'classic' means: "Not much to see here." It's like the time this girl asked me: "Am I pretty?"

I said: "You have a classic face."

"Really?!" she said with much joy. "That's soooo sweet!"

Never mind that classic could mean, oh, about a million things.

yin26 · February 14, 2002, 03:43

1 a : serving as a standard of excellence : of recognized value b : TRADITIONAL, ENDURING c : characterized by simple tailored lines in fashion year after year
2 : of or relating to the ancient Greeks and Romans or their culture : CLASSICAL
3 a : historically memorable b : noted because of special literary or historical associations
4 a : AUTHENTIC, AUTHORITATIVE b : TYPICAL
5 capitalized : of or relating to the period of highest development of Mesoamerican and especially Mayan culture about A.D. 300-900

There is the definition. I think classic here means 4b: Typical. I could be wrong, of course...

Dis · February 14, 2002, 05:08

OK, since no one will respond to my mispelled demo thread, I'll post here

I finally played it. It messed up my screen. I had to adjust my monitor in order to see all areas of the playing screen. It seems to automatically adjust my resolution very low. I really don't like that. I have to reset it after I exit the game. Of course I couldn't figure out how to exit the game. So I had to ctr-alt-del to get out of it. And it set my color depth to 16 bits. my screen resolution was less than 800 X 800 (I can't remember the numbers)

It also has messed up the graphics of my internet explorer for some reason.

Really weird.

I hope there is no problem with the regular game. I might be buying it. It's so silly that I get a kick out of animated little computer generated golfers liking my course. I felt so good when they loved it

. Of course I was on easy. Then I bought that easter island stone thingy and wasted all my money

.

Has anyone had problems with the screen and resolution of this game?

Smash · February 14, 2002, 06:03

I also had problems with the demo.The game works pretty darn good for me though.Just minor "sim game" glitches.

CLASSIC..I'm pretty sure it has to do with reaching certain #s on holes in the different categories(imagination,accuracy and length)

I notice you can edit the comments each player makes in a variety of situations.As well as their names,looks,personality.I can see making some funny stuff with this

Here is my first hole at my first 18 hole Grand Slammer.It has a fun rating of 353% for some reason.Its pretty straight forward....notice the "ball" on the pinstick(you can see it better in the shadow).This is used in golf to tell the player if the pin is forward,middle or back of the green.High for back,low for forward.Nice attention to detail.

ColdWizard · February 14, 2002, 12:25

Dissident: as for exiting the demo, it automatically resets your display settings when you exit properly, by pressing the esc key (i didn't figure it out until after Steve Clark told me how to skip the end credits in the full game).

ColdWizard · February 15, 2002, 00:48

according to the manual a classic challenges all three skills, perhaps my hole length is easy to reach but not too easy?

minor imran and yin update:
being paired off definitely brought out the best in them, since then imran's shot a 44 thru the first 10 holes and yin was last shooting a 33 after the tee shot on the 7th

Smash · February 15, 2002, 01:17

Looking at the holes of yourself and Yin it looks like classic needs to be at least 1.0 in all 3 categories.
Length is a no brainer.Move back a tee or move forward the pin.
Accuracy-tight fairways and small greens
imagination-this one is not so clear but providing at least 2 ways to play the hole and score par is a good place to start.Something in the middle of a fairway works..."hmmm, should I go left or right?".."go long or play safe?"

yin26 · February 15, 2002, 02:23

That makes sense. Nice work. You are quickly becoming the Master Designer, I see.

Smash · February 15, 2002, 02:42

Well,I don't know about that, but I sure am having fun with this game.

Heres to no frustration factor

ColdWizard · February 15, 2002, 02:57

the manual says that fade and draw shots are generally taken by imaginative golfers. so holes that limit direct approaches would be more imaginative?

if that I M Picky guy doesn't show up again soon, i'm gonna rip out some of my holes to try for this classic thing

willko · February 15, 2002, 05:24

Wow, it's been a long time since I've posted on Apolyton, but it's funny that it's regarding SimGolf rather than Civ3...

A hole reaches "Classic" status when it has at least a 1.0 rating in all three skill categories.

A fan website that has some great tips and inside info (some from Sid himself) can be found at :

http://jztemple.tripod.com/backswing/index.htm

Specifically, there are many cool tidbits addressed on getting Fun ratings/skill ratings/happiness modifiers, etc. For example, creating water on squares with paths commonly followed by your golfers and then turning those bridges into scenic bridges for bonus fun rating... and then using those bridges as stepladders for elevation changes to avoid getting unhappiness messages for changing altitudes.

Or how to speed up play by removing excessively utilized ball-washers and snack stands (and strategically placing these things and benches in the spots between holes that aren't congested on your courses).

Or how to increase the length skill rating of your holes (the trickiest of the 3 for the neophyte imho) by using the shot analyzer (keypad "/") to penalize players without length/reward players with the length trait.

SimGolf is great fun and highly recommended. I can't wait for the new patch.

/willko.

yin26 · February 15, 2002, 08:53

Willko: Good link. I got these from there...

Breather: No skill needed. No skill over .50
Freeway: Length Skill (Only Len > .50)
Precise: Accuracy skill ( Only Acc > .50)
Creative: Imagination Skill (Only Img > .50)
Challenge: Lenth and Accuracy > .50, Imagination < .50
Heroic: Length and Imagination > .50, Accuracy < .50
Strategic: Accuracy and Imagination > .50, Length <.50
Classic: Length, Accuracy, and Imagination all > 1.0

Chowlett · February 15, 2002, 09:28

I discovered an interesting bug in he demo last night. Sometimes, although not very often, and it seems more prevalent if from a tee shot on the edge of the map; sometimes a golfer's ball will stop mid-flight. Now this means the golfer won't go to play his next shot, and everyone bunches up behind him.

Now, normally, this would be a bad thing, but I've discoverd that
a) a Buddha placed near a bench appears to turn it into a love-bench, and
b) anyone sitting on a bench gets a happiness boost

Upshot was, I had about 10 or 20 people milling about there, gradually getting happier and happier, until my little two-hole course had a fun rating of 500+

yin26 · February 15, 2002, 10:59

That's hilarious! You should send that saved game in for kicks...