The Golf Club
Feature Update 2.0 - 19 December 2014
Please see the full article for a list of most of the 282 bugs addressed.
"We are delighted to announce that Feature Update 2 will be available later today, probably at around 9pm GMT, 4pm PT. It is the second update for The Golf Club and we hope all the members out there enjoy what it brings to the game. We are incredibly proud of what we have achieved so far and this update only serves to enhance that feeling within the studio. We have confidence that the Handicap System will add a positive new dimension to the game and for those that aren’t too keen on Handicaps there is always the option to play rounds and tournaments and follow leaderboards that don’t involve the handicap system. We are also really pleased with the Countryside Theme and can’t wait to see what you can create with it. And this is all for free!
MAIN CONTENTS
New Theme – Countryside
Handicap System
New Game Mode – Stableford
Multi-plant tool in Greg Norman Course Designer
Optimization on all Platforms
Expanded Commentary
Ability to change Tee Box styles and colours
New Official Course – Flin Flon Golf Club
New Official Course – Great Tottington Golf Club
New Official Tournaments for all handicap levels – some available immediately, most progressively over the holidays.
New Official Tours for different handicap levels – to be released over the holiday period.
Colourful plants and shrubs added to Greg Norman Course Designer.
And here are the majority of the bugs we fixed. Please excuse the wording, terminology or any unprofessional text but there isn’t a lot of formality when the QA and Dev Teams send notes to each other in the heat of the battle. We thought you’d enjoy taking a look nonetheless.
BUG SUMMARY (282)
(See linked article above)
Update 1.0 Notes - 8 October 2014
*Add New Cameras
*Add ability to cycle cameras in real-time during shot set-up (Off-swing stick click on controller, 'V' on keyboard)
*Add option to remove reticule
*Ability to toggle off follow-cam. Can initiate in real-time by pressing 'A' (Xbox controller) or 'X' (PS Controller)
*Remove User Ratings from Official courses
*Separate the HB Official and Suggested courses to improve content discovery (to be implemented in server update soon)
*Remove Official Courses from the Public Course Lists to improve content discovery (to be implemented in server update soon)
*In-Game Pause Menu, Scorecard, Leaderboards should all show under/over along with total score - e.g. 48 (-5)
*Commentary additions and improvements
*Ability to play rivals in all rounds of Tours/Tournaments
*Only show "Bested" Messages if it is a score that beats the players record, as well as the users
*Ability to set backdrops to Low/Med/High for initial 5 themes in GNCD
*Add Pin-Height, relative to cursor, in real time in GNCD
*Tree lighting and culling fixes
*Added a 'Personal Rounds' filter to rivals screen, taking first ghost ball from the top of that list
*Added 'Suggested Opponents' to rivals filter
*10-20% overall performance improvement
*Wind tuning and gust support
*Improvements to speed in which you appear in the leaderboards
*Career screen improvements
*Mouse Swing Improvements – Remove Dead Zone
*New keyboard shortcuts for club selection (Number keys, including ~ and +, to quick select clubs)
***Note – the new theme and new GNCD objects coming with this update will be released on PC when the console updates are live***
Ryder Cup Sale - 25% off until Oct. 1st!!
For one week you can pick up The Golf Club, which includes the incredible Greg Norman Course Designer, for 25% off.
The Golf Club is a golf sim and course designer for those looking to capture the feeling of playing 18 holes on the weekend with their friends or for those wanting to try their hands at designing their very own golf courses.
Hit the links on one of our official courses or any one of thousands of courses designed by the community and play a round by yourself, against your live friends, or against their previous rounds' ghosts. Likewise, design your own course and share it with the word.
Whatever your fancy, pick up The Golf Club now during the Ryder Cup Sale!
Patch Notes - 4 Sept 2014
*Online stability improvements
*Fixed scorecard/Course Overview yardage discrepancy
*Turn Order fixes
*Rivals Filter improvements
*Course Leaderboards should show stats from rounds played in the current session.
*Course and Tour selection screen improvements
*Reduced main menu loading times
*Improve the create tour flow, got rid of redundant renaming during create a tour.
*Slim down leaderboard function for pc, no more scrolling selection which is unused.
*Fix the lighting for player edit screen for a dark /late day course.
*Add in back button for pause menu when controller is present.
*Fix up the message center through out the game to turn on/off with proper screens.
*Fix up the title disappearing issue with the scorecard screens when displaying scorecard for a while on screen.
*Turn on/Offline mode for pc.
*Fix putting info being blocked by golfer
Official Release Build is Live!
It has been an amazing four months in the Early Access program. We have received massive amounts of invaluable feedback from you, our community. With that feedback, we have added major features to the game, and honed many others. And we are not done yet - not by a long shot. We have a long list of amazing suggestions from you that we intend to keep adding in to the game in the coming weeks and months. And we want more from you. Please continue to participate here and on our forums with all of the feedback you have so that we can all make The Golf Club even better moving forward.
That being said, it is time to let loose the game for its official release.
Enjoy!
Some features you will see that are new since the last Early Access build are:
*Female golfers
*Links theme
*More objects and wildlife in the Greg Norman Course Designer
*Additional graphics controls
*Added stats features
*Online/Offline toggle added to Main Menu
*Added ability to use separate control methods for game and Course Designer
*Optimized KB/M controls
*Various graphical and performance optimizations
PC Release Date and Pricing Announcement!
We are proud to announce that The Golf Club will leave Early Access and officially release on Steam for the PC on August 19th, 2014 for $34.99!
See the full details below:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
“THE GOLF CLUB”, TEES OFF NEXT GEN GOLFING THIS AUGUST
HB Studios Announces Full Retail Release Date For Golf Simulator
(Nova Scotia, CAN) Aug 12, 2014 -- Canadian video game developer, HB Studios, today announced that its golf simulation, The Golf Club will launch on Xbox One through Xbox Live on August 19, 2014. The Golf Club will also leave early access for a full retail release on Windows PC through digital download distribution service Steam the same day. The PlayStation 4 version of The Golf Club will launch later this month pending certification approval. Credited with making some of the most critically acclaimed sport franchises on the EA SPORTS label, HB Studios has developed the first golf title to bring procedurally generated courses to next gen console. The Golf Club is a highly realistic game that allows players to fully customize their golfing experience by creating and playing the course of their dreams with the built-in Greg Norman Course Designer.
“We are incredibly excited to give golf fans the game they’ve always wanted,” said Anthony Kyne, Producer at HB Studios. “No other golf game provides players with this level of customization and sophistication in course design on PC and next generation consoles. We’ve worked extremely hard to get The Golf Club ready for launch, so it’s really rewarding to officially announce the launch date and share that with our fans.”
The Golf Club is a fully featured golfing experience where users can play against friends’ and rivals’ best rounds in turn-based/asynchronous competition modes enhanced by cloud-based technology. The game supports Tours & Tournaments, stroke play, match play, and 4-ball.
The Golf Club’s Greg Norman Course Designer allows players to build an unlimited number of golf courses, which can then be shared and played with friends online. New courses can be generated in a matter of seconds by selecting a theme, terrain features, and number of holes. Players can then enjoy a full suite of editing tools from changing the time of day to placing hazards and objects to create the ultimate golf challenge. Players can also discover new courses built by friends and the community by filtering through rank and difficulty, as well as interact with new members of The Golf Club through the Message Center.
The game is due for worldwide release on Sony PlayStation 4, Microsoft Xbox One and PC Windows platforms priced $34.99.
The Golf Club comes complete with three modes: stroke play, match play and 4-ball, no loading times between holes, and the course designer feature.
For more information on HB studios and a full feature list for The Golf Club at final release, please visit www.thegolfclubgame.com.
Follow The Golf Club on twitter @thegolfclubgame.
About HB Studios
Founded in 2000 and headquartered in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, Canada, HB Studios is an electronic entertainment software company that specializes in creating console, mobile, handheld and PC games. To date, HB has shipped 43 titles, selling over 23 million units, and contributed to 20 others.
More information about HB Studios and its products can be found on the company’s website, www.hb-studios.com.
The Golf Club Partners With ProTee United Golf Simulators
Check out all of the details here!
Build Notes v1.0
**Note: All previous scorecards will be wiped from the game this week due to the new wind system.**
*Global Course Wind
*Surface Bushes (Fairway, Light Rough, Heavy Rough)
*Improved Dead-Zone control on non Xbox 360 controllers
*Improved loading times
*Improved game stability
*Fixed overpowered putts from the fringe
*Improved Greg Norman Course Creator tools and bug fixes
*Multiple fixes to live and ghost play
*Rivals now stored when resuming games
*Replay will use the correct golfer and multiple stability improvements
*Users not in game can receive invites
*Addressed excessive roll out on the green with certain clubs
*More variation in bunker lies
*Added 'More by Designer' search button on course splash screen
*Fixed putting info being blocked by golfer's head
*Multiple Front End usability Improvements
*Plus much more that we can’t remember since the last update
Build Notes v0.90
*Fixed turn order bugs
*Fixed tour rivals
*Fixed bug where echos would be effected by the wrong wind when turn-order was turned on
*Live friends will now be auto-added to your tour if they are on the same or later round/event
*Fixed bug where an auto-added echo would cause an existing echo to stop updating it scorecard
*Fixed bug where the game would sometimes get stuck when backing out of the MessageCenter
*Fixed bug that occasionally prevented 'X has started a new Course' messages from showing in the MessageCenter
*Fixed bug where golfer resets or hides when pausing mid-swing
*Fixed bug where golfer foot doesn't placed properly on ground on high terrain slopes
*Updated animation control to have more responsive start of a back-swing
*Slight performance improvements
Build Notes v0.80
VERSION 0.8 BUILD NOTES
* Setting fix forcing defaulting the follow cam back to on
* Tours & Tournaments Leaderboard paging and Friends filter implemented.
* Misc Tours & tournaments Leaderboard fixes.
* Added more terrain sculpting brushes - These brushes are particularly useful for creating cliffs and other steep slopes without stretching the textures.
* Added more props - A couple of sheds, a clubhouse, a rowing boat, a bridge and a dumpster.
* Last weeks change to putt aim is now on only if Shot Suggestion is ON
* New Social setting to limit the number of Ghosts auto-added to a new game
* Fix random course generation to create 1 hole courses of the correct size defined by the user
* Fix bug when attempting to 'Play From Here' along the edge of the terrain where the player would be off the valid area
* Updated help callouts in course creator
* Other, smaller bug fixes, minor performance and load time improvements