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Latest Feature Requests - Proposal for WGTIcon and WGT

• ShadyShank 629 Posts

  Sun, Apr 6 2014 12:59 PM

  I have two things to add here and I have read the list so I hope I'm not repeating anything. My 1st suggestion, and only real complaint about the way shots come off of clubs at WGT, falls under shot-shaping but this is more detailed than anything I have seen.

  The Punch shot needs great improvement and work before it ever becomes a true punch shot. If I'm in the woods and need to hit a ball between two trees and under a branch of another, to get to where I want on the fairway, the only way to do that here is for a true punch shot to be developed.

  On a real course I can hit a shot like I just described and it will never get higher than 12 feet in the air. This is what this shot is used for. That, and playing in Scotland or West Texas. Seriously though, it would be great to have the ability to hit a punch with a 3-5 iron, out of rough to green or fairway, that stays low as a true punch shot should. The shot you find under the punch section here just does not, for the most part, act like a punch in any way, except for the line-drive look on some of them. Surely they can not be used as they are intended.

  My other suggestion is on the Bracket tournament's, which I love by the way. It would be great if, once you have your 2 finalist's, to give them the option to be able to play the final round together. If they can't then they just pay their rounds out like we have been. But, if they are able to choose a tee time and risk forfeiting for not making it, how much fun would it be to get to play the final round against each other at the same time?

• ShadyShank 629 Posts

  Wed, Apr 9 2014 4:01 AM

  Apologies, but I must disagree with your whole post. 1st, I have loved this game for a very long time BECAUSE it plays so much like real golf does, in almost every way. And if you want to try and "even" things up with other payers, I promise your suggestion is not the answer.

  Anyone who can play this game well, can adjust to any swing meter speed you give them. The only way to do what you are talking about is make players get to even higher levels to unlock equipment. But, then you are talking $$ out of WGT pockets, and that can't happen.

  Plus, PGA courses have VERY wide and forgiving fairways, normally, so that fits right in with the realistic aspect of the game too. I use a Callaway driver, Ping 3W, Ping i15 irons, Ping wedges, & a Ping putter, at the moment. But, I've had a TM driver I should have never got rid of, used TM wedges that cost twice as much as the Pings but suck compared to them.

  Used the Forged Nike irons & a Nike putter, and an i15 8 degree driver from Ping. All in the past two months. Guess what? After a few rounds I could ding all of em. You want to beat more players? Practice more.

• W4RKG 6 Posts

  Sun, Apr 13 2014 1:50 AM

  Shrude,

   I would like to throw out something towards your compilation of things for WGT to address if I may. As I'm sure a lot of players on here are also golfers in real life, Has anyone other than me noticed that when you make a shot and the ball comes to a rest, it doesn't matter where the ball came to a rest at, the wind direction NEVER changes? It would be really nice if they could look at the wind dynamics environment and fix it to reflect how a ball is affected in flight to be more realistic in reaction and then when a shot is made and the ball comes to a rest, have the wind reflect the current position of the ball in relation to what the wind direction was originally from the last shot. One would think that a person that is a better than average golfer and have decades of golfing experience would be able to play at least to their real life handicap on the game. I have no trouble stopping the meter on perfect or judging distances.. What I have found is that several of the game dynamics are not even close to being accurate to real life reaction of the ball, swing, strike, etc. I have also noticed that there is a lack of consistency in the green speeds for each "level" of green (ie. slow,fast, tourny, etc). I would love to see these things addressed.Thanks for letting me bend your ear and I hope that WGT will consider these things important enough to address them.

• W4RKG 6 Posts

  Sun, Apr 13 2014 2:00 AM

  Shady, I agree and disagree with you on the game dynamics. I have no idea what your skill level is in real life, but I can tell you that several of the games dynamics aren't even close to real life. I have been golfing for many decades and am a much better than average golfer with a great deal of experience. Just a few of the things I have noticed are:

  1. The winds DO NOT affect the ball as they do in real life.

  2. The direction of the winds do not change relative to the ending location of a shot.

  3. When a ball lands on a green and there is a ridge behind the pin, even on tourny greens the ball does not roll back as it should.

  These are just a few examples of things that are NOT realistic in the game. They have some work to do to make it "Realistic" but all in all it is a fun and enjoyable game to play. Hope to see ya in a game one day.

  W4RKG (Keith G)

• ShadyShank 629 Posts

  Mon, Apr 14 2014 3:36 AM

  W4RKG,

  Not one thing you mentioned that I can disagree with. In fact, they are probably the top 3 on my list of aspects that are NOT like real golf. Your # 3 really irks me too. How many times, on a tournament or Champ green do I have to watch my ball stop on an up-slope when it should roll back several feet?

  They roll for days on a flat green but they won't come back towards the pin from a slope. Makes zero sense. Also, if you have say a 15 mph tailwind, the higher you put the ball in the air, the more the wind should carry it. The shot should not end up shorter than its usual distance in these cases.

  And I was just thinking today about # 2. If you drive a ball and it lands on the FW, yet at a much different angle than where you teed from, why would the wind be the exact same direction and speed on your 2nd shot? Again, no sense.

  I'll try to do a better job next time with the details of my posts so as to try to get my point more clearly stated.

  Thanks for pointing that stuff out, Keith, it needed to be.

  Kevin

• alanti 10,564 Posts

  Mon, Apr 14 2014 5:05 PM

  Firstly apologies for not updating the list - some items have been implemented. Time is just not with me!

  ShadyShank:

  the top 3 on my list of aspects that are NOT like real golf

  Please remember this is not real golf, you will never get a computer game that will exactly replicate the game, but for all purposes, this is pretty close. No we do not have shot shaping, stance adjustments etc.

  ShadyShank:

  They roll for days on a flat green but they won't come back towards the pin from a slope. Makes zero sense.

  Well this partially depends on the spin imparted on the ball, the type of clubs and balls etc, but there are many holes that if you play above the hole, the ball will come back using no spin. You really need to know which holes the ball will run on, stop or come back. The elevation also plays a huge part on the approach.

   

  ShadyShank:

  if you have say a 15 mph tailwind, the higher you put the ball in the air, the more the wind should carry it.

  It does - use backspin = ball goes high = further carry.

  ShadyShank:

  And I was just thinking today about # 2. If you drive a ball and it lands on the FW, yet at a much different angle than where you teed from, why would the wind be the exact same direction and speed on your 2nd shot? Again, no sense.

  We must be playing different courses as it does change (looking at the flag top right). Ok I admit not massively but on holes with doglegs it is noticeable. But also bear in mind wind strength is an indication - the wind does fluctuate. To make the game more realistic, perhaps we could throw a few blades of grass up in the air?

• ShadyShank 629 Posts

  Tue, Apr 15 2014 4:30 AM

  Thanks for the reply, Alanti, but I must disagree on a point or two. 1st, I realize no game will ever be the exact same as the actual sport, but I have said I have always loved this golf game because it DOES get as close to reality as any sports game I've played.

  Now, about the ball flying further by using backspin. This is simply not the case. It will go a little further than normal, with a tailwind, if you keep the dot right in the middle, but backspin, or loft, will only make the ball fall shorter than normal in this game. And not because the ball backs up from the spin. A ball hit high into the air with a 20mph wind behind it should travel 5-25 yards further than it would with no wind, and it does on drives but not on approach shots for some reason.

  And there are some holes where the ball rolls back from an up-slant in the green, unfortunately this mostly occurs if the pin is on top of the hill and your shot lands anywhere short of a foot past the top of the hill. What we are saying is, especially on Tournament or Champ greens, anytime a ball finds a slope on the green it should roll back down it more than a few inches, and it does not. Often times no backspin is needed at all for a golf ball to roll slightly up a slope and then back down it if it doesn't have enough inertia to make it to  the top.

  I'm sure you've watched the US Open or the Masters before and have seen hundreds of balls just keep on rolling back towards the water. But, this isn't always because of spin on the ball. It happens because those are Champ greens and almost like playing on marble. The ball can also be affected by the direction the grass is bent in, which is obviously a bit too much detail for a game to have, I think.

  As far as the equipment I use, the only club I own that will produce big backspin is a Cleveland 64 degree wedge. I use 60 & 54 degree Ping wedges also which I like because they just stick most of the time, but you can also get some spin from them. But, it takes a lot of practice to learn how to use a wedge that backs it up 10-15 yards at times. However, this could be what you are referring to, but that wedge is designed to fly past the hole when using big loft, because it is going to spin and come back.

  I guess what the main point is about is consistency. The tournament and champ greens should have some uniformity no matter the course. And, there is no question that a ball should roll back down a slope, just as a putt falls short because you are putting towards a part of the green with a banked slope behind the pin. Why then, would a ball not roll back down the very slope that causes a putt to stop short, when the pin is 10 yards from the start of the slope? It most certainly should roll back down that slope. Especially if it just rolls up the slope, but not to the top. It is rare to see a ball stop on a slope on super slick greens, with or without backspin. Gravity is all it should need on a fast green.

  Without some uniformity, the game should have some type of degree of roll reading or direction rating for the grass. I believe it could take years for a person to play these courses enough times to learn these factors on every green and every area of every green. I am posting a replay that I took yesterday that shows just what I mean. And, no, I didn't mean to hit the putt that way. lol But, you will notice the green past the pin is sloped just as we are talking about.

  http://www.wgt.com/replay.aspx?ID=c1c720c1-7b90-480d-a4ff-a30c01530019

  I challenge you to, at least, put the backspin=loft=further carry to the test. I am dead certain if I have a 160 yard shot and my club is rated to go 150 yards, if I put big loft on the shot to get it into the strong wind behind it, it will land at around 140 yards and either stop or roll back more. It will not travel the extra 10 yards I need it to.

  Oh, and I upgrade my equipment as soon as I unlock the things I want. I use the level 79 TM steel irons, Nike balls with 4 spin & 5 distance, Ping i15 3W, and the TM R1 9.0 Driver. The things is, it really does seem as if the ball rolls on a slant when it can hurt you, but not when it would get closer to the pin and help you. Whether that's programming or the ghost in the machine, who knows?

• alanti 10,564 Posts

  Wed, Apr 16 2014 12:36 AM

  ShadyShank:

  Now, about the ball flying further by using backspin. This is simply not the case.

  First - I was thinking from the tee using a driver. Backspin will carry the ball further but will have less roll. The key is to know which fairways you are better off getting more carry or the ones that the ball rill roll further.

  Irons yes the ball will carry less - for example my wedge will vary up to 14 yards (carry) using no spin and full backspin. And this is the key- Mapping your clubs. This will vary for each set and each ball. Only when you have done this will you understand the effect spin/no spin has on your shots.

  Wind obviously will impact the ball and whilst hitting the ball higher you would expect more carry (downwind), but this is also negated by the backspin as this does not propel the ball forward as far. Think of a slice shot in tennis, the ball can go higher but die quickly. The less lofted club creates less backspin so the effect is not as dramatic. For me the Cleveland wedges take a lot of learning as the will spin back too much with backspin, 

  I agree that the contours of the greens have a greater effect on a real course especially for amateurs - after all how often do most of us really get backspin.

  Putting - greens here vary  slightly  in speed course to course but with the faster green speeds it comes down to where you should play the approach shot to - critical!

  I play on a championship course weekly, most of the time the greens are reasonably fast, but when we host a professional tournament, they are lightening fast, and I have seen the ball roll back many times - not to dissimilar to your replay.

  A tip -  check at least a foot behind the hole - a change tells you it is a slope - you just cant see it being obvious like in real life.

  Finally a couple of points - if you upgrade your clubs you should remap the clubs - and stick with one ball. Also be wary of using full backspin - the risk is missing the ding and will have poorer results as a rule.

  If you want a game just ask and hopefully we can get in a hit, time zones and schedules permitting.

• trackdave 2 Posts

  Wed, Apr 16 2014 8:59 AM

  Please add to the list:  Being able to choose a spot on the tee box to tee off from instead of always being centered on t.

• Dubfore 4,350 Posts

  Wed, Apr 16 2014 8:48 PM

  ...and allow the pin to be removed from the holes only when balls are on the green.