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A better interface (+ retire or improve autocaddy)

• 2,840 Posts

  Thu, Oct 30 2014 12:57 PM

  Unfortunately we are not going to get rid of auto caddy completely.  The consensus here is that it will be made a option.  So players who want it can still use it.  I don't believe it is high on the list though right now.  I wish I had better news for you all.

   

  - WGTdbloshoe

• alosso 21,093 Posts

  Thu, Oct 30 2014 1:40 PM

  WGTicon:

  earlier this year, there was more discussion about caddie and how to handle./improve it and no one seem to agree or have  a great idea what to do with it. many even stated that they rather have what we have since they are used to, instead of risking getting worse.

  There were a lot of individual ideas, but the OP had turned away and never gave a comment or a resumee.

  After 10 months of silence, you may state what you want, but fears against a change were predominantly driven by our experience with WGT's programming, not by thoughts about the function. Why should we want a change when every change ends in a new flaw?

  @Shoe: Any news is better than no news - thank you!

• Slojoeguam 163 Posts

  Thu, Oct 30 2014 1:42 PM

  Hell, I'd be happy with the caddy if it would just stick with the club I picked, but it can't even do that. If you pick a 3W, then go to aim and come back to player view the caddy defaults back to the 3I. Same with the wedges, it defaults back to my 75 yard wedge. I won't even go into the 100 foot putter scale when you're 10 feet from the pin but on the fringe, or picking the driver on a 230 yard par 3 when I have a 245 yard 3W in the bag, etc.

• DAZZA501 5,972 Posts

  Thu, Oct 30 2014 2:33 PM

  PRStevenson:

  I think some of you are missing the point here. No one on this thread has said "I hit a shot and I messed up, I'm blaming the autocaddy". Sure there are plenty of weak players on WGT who love to use any excuse for a flat shot but that isn't close to what this thread is about.

  I'm not missing any point. I just don't see the point of having to click on what club to use when most of us already do that any way by just changing the club if it's not the 1 we want to hit. Most of the time it's already on the club we want to use.

  We all know how it works. The caddy will pick the next club up from the distance we have left to the pin. Then it's up to us to work out wind & elevation to see if we need a different club. It's very simple and i've never found it to be a problem.

• YankeeJim 25,827 Posts

  Thu, Oct 30 2014 2:59 PM

  Slojoeguam:

  If you pick a 3W, then go to aim and come back to player view the caddy defaults back to the 3I.

  That isn't the caddy doing that, it's your mouse. The scroll wheel (if you have one) will change the clubs and is very easy to do unintentionally just by moving the mouse. That 's where the in-game sound helps. A wireless mouse will also do this sometimes just by picking it up. 

  The caddie will not change by itself.

• andyson 6,415 Posts

  Thu, Oct 30 2014 5:26 PM

  DAZZA501:

  i've never found it to be a problem.

  You are blessed for never hitting Driver into the trees on BPB #3!!

• CerinoDevoti 3,232 Posts

  Thu, Oct 30 2014 5:37 PM

  DAZZA501:

  PRStevenson:

  I think some of you are missing the point here. No one on this thread has said "I hit a shot and I messed up, I'm blaming the autocaddy". Sure there are plenty of weak players on WGT who love to use any excuse for a flat shot but that isn't close to what this thread is about.

  I'm not missing any point. I just don't see the point of having to click on what club to use when most of us already do that any way by just changing the club if it's not the 1 we want to hit. Most of the time it's already on the club we want to use.

  We all know how it works. The caddy will pick the next club up from the distance we have left to the pin. Then it's up to us to work out wind & elevation to see if we need a different club. It's very simple and i've never found it to be a problem.

  The reason on many occasions the caddy picks the next club up is because it's programmed for the free ball.

  I'm with Dazz as far as the caddie. I'd rather WGT fixed something broken instead of breaking the caddie. This much of a change could only be totally screwed up.

• PRStevenson 842 Posts

  Thu, Oct 30 2014 10:25 PM

  WGTicon:

  hi guys:)

  nice discussion. i'll be sure to bring it up to others.

  one thought though: earlier this year, there was more discussion about caddie and how to handle./improve it and no one seem to agree or have  a great idea what to do with it. many even stated that they rather have what we have since they are used to, instead of risking getting worse.

  but, it doesn't mean we can't take a look at it again.

  -wgticon

  Thanks icon,

  Well I guess that's the other side to this thread.  In my last post I was asking how could autocaddy be improved?

  For distance selection I think autocaddy for the most part does  a decent job. Sure you might have to club down when you know your tee shot is going to go a bit too far or if you're using balls that give you a little extra distance you'd need to consider that with the other variables but it's good for players to think about those things.

  The only things I would suggest changing are:

  1. The fringe distance default of 100ft increment to calculate the increment (as with putting on the green).
  2. Some improvements to how autocaddy is currently programmed to suggest swing types from bunkers, rough, brush etc.

  I can think of many situations where autocaddy suggests inappropriate shots.

  Even though these are just 2 things, I know it's a lot of work for developers to change them.

  I was wondering if the WGT community could help with the second one? Maybe having a dedicated thread to WGT autocaddy swing selection, where players can post the course location and autocaddy's suggestion (screenshot optional) along with what they think it ought to be changed to, to help the dev team identify those areas that can be improved.

  It might not be feasible to do it that way but just thought I'd ask.

  @Shoe - If it's going to made an option, what might the interface look like with autocaddy switched OFF? I think there's some good ideas here.

  @Dazza - No offence was intended Dazza. It's not about any of us having a problem with autocaddy. Can autocaddy be improved? Yes? Then that's what we're discussing. How? If however you think we're better off without an autocaddy then you're onto what this thread was originally exploring. Ideas for product suggestions, plain and simple.

  As Shoe cleared it up for us that there is no intention to get rid of autocaddy that propels this thread in a new direction.

  1. What ways could autocaddy be improved?
  2. If an ON/OFF switch was introduced what would 'OFF' look like?

  I appreciate your feedback and hope that clears it up for you.

  @CD - We're looking at all ideas here, improving autocaddy is one of them, your suggestions are welcomed :)

• Slojoeguam 163 Posts

  Fri, Oct 31 2014 12:35 PM

  YankeeJim, I hate to tell you, but it's the caddy. I don't even have a mouse wheel. When you click back to full shot it changes the club.

• YankeeJim 25,827 Posts

  Fri, Oct 31 2014 1:06 PM

  Slojoeguam:

  YankeeJim, I hate to tell you, but it's the caddy. I don't even have a mouse wheel. When you click back to full shot it changes the club.

  I think I know what you're talking about now. I missed the part where you said you changed shots -you said aim. The same thing happens to me when I switch to putting view from the fairway to look at the green in reverse. Switching back to full shot doesn't give me the club I had when I switched. It has always done this and I never thought twice about it, I just expect it now.  :-)