Creating Courses

[Deleted]

Hey guys!

I was just wondering how many people here use the GNCD.

I have just started creating a course that is a bit like the World Par 3 Challenge course where each hole moves up
in yardage, but it will have my own design on each hole. 

The course is intended for a bit of practice although the greens are really flat, but distance control is vital so that doesn't matter.

Also the i want to be able to make birdies on every hole as i love the feeling of having a full card of birdies

I know the design will be rubbish as i have never done anything like this. The green's will be basic but as long as i put the pin
placements in good places that is not a big issue for me.

[Mitchblue]

I do but I haven't published one in a long time. I can't make a course look nice like other designers..I still try because it's fun.

[misternic]

85% of my time in the game is in the course creator. I probably put 20+ hours a week into the course creator. 2 published and 3 in progress. It takes me 100 hours to get a course where I like it... Gregors Firth v2; Hills of North Pointe.

Even with that amount of time, I still am working to figure out what others like..

[Deleted]

i went into the GNCD just to have a go but then soon realised i have no design skills at all.

i really want to be able to create a course but it is just my design skills holding me back. (i know what i want in a course)

[scarpacci]

There is definitely a learning curve, but if you take the time it will all become second nature and you will be able to execute your vision. Stick with it!

[Deleted]

Oct 10, 2014 16:35:47 GMT -5 scarpacci said:

There is definitely a learning curve, but if you take the time it will all become second nature and you will be able to execute your vision. Stick with it!

do you have any tips?

[scarpacci]

I started out by trying to replicate a small, local, nine hole course that I was familiar with in real life. Using google maps and memeory I tried to re-create that course as best I could. Didn't come out great but it definitely help familiarize myself with the tools. Getting the layout was easy but the elevations were way off.

You could also use the generated course and just play around with fairway widths, bunker placement, green shapes, plantings, things of that nature. Get comfy with that and then start playing around with sculpting the land. I had a lot of trouble with that at first but once you understand the brushes and their effect on the land it becomes second nature.

Start slow, take your time, learn the tools and have fun with it. Pretty soon you will be creating courses from scratch.

The official HB website has some great tutorials and their fourm is a great resource.

I'd be happy to give you feedback on anything you create. Best way to learn is from yours, and others, mistakes. For example, I started out thinking people would be powering up and using spin controls to tear my courses apart. As a result my first few courses were rediculously difficult. Since then I have realized this is not TW and adjusted accordingly. Another mistake I made was not taking into account how the course would play in the wind. I had one course with a hole that had a fairway that wasn't reachable into a stiff wind and there were no other options available. Basically made the course unplayable in certain wind conditions. You can't test different wind conditions in the creator, so it's just something you need to keep in the back of your mind.

...and my pizza was just delivered so I'm ending this for now. Feel free to reach out. Not that I'm any sort of expert, there are a lot better designers than I. Just sharing my experience.

[Deleted]

i may create my local nine hole par 3 course.

they are very shot holes, from 70 yards to 110 yards.

should be a fairly simple starter course for me.

[bruce]

I started with a generated one and then listened to all the advice on better (not flat) bunkers and lighting and all the other things to take into account, and published Nuath Woods, which to date has about 10 plays. Its not exciting but its a nice playable round, with a few little things to get you If you take it for granted.
 As some of you I'm trying to replicate my first real Course. Its what I would call a Hard Hat course, but the brushes to me are hard to use even after repeated use, especially try to get elevations to look natural, and what the actual elevations are on the real course.
  Right now the course and yardages are laid out, but I must admit trying to do this on a 40" screen should be better than on a PC, but I'm finding it really isn't, not to mention I'm chewing up viewing time in our living room on our TV.
  Plus its one thing to be techniaclly good with the tools, but quite another to know, what you want for a design and how to do it.

[jwfickett]

Good discussion, everyone. Keeps giving me ideas for my design tutorials. Terrain sculpting seems to be a big issue for lots of people, so I will definitely start there.

[Deleted]

i have just started a desert themed course as my first design.
i can tell you now that it won't be very good but i have already done 4 holes.
the bunkers on those holes were made deeper so it is possible to roll into them.
it will look pretty basic and will be obvious that a beginner has done it but using
the default bunker shapes is all i can do at the moment.

[Mitchblue]

I could use a good tip to elevate land gradually, rather than one big lump of dirt. Or how to make a fairway slope down gradually..instead of my tee shot looking like it's going off a cliff.

[daddyjules]

Hi guys, couple of question i need a bit of help with. is any of you on xbox one? i thought the update was gna bring the boreal theme to course design but its not there. Is it on pc/ps4? also if i create a course will it be published to all consoles? And lastly can i start a course from scratch or do u have to use a generated one and modify? cheers guys

[jwfickett]

Oct 13, 2014 15:13:10 GMT -5 daddyjules said:

Hi guys, couple of question i need a bit of help with. is any of you on xbox one? i thought the update was gna bring the boreal theme to course design but its not there. Is it on pc/ps4? also if i create a course will it be published to all consoles? And lastly can i start a course from scratch or do u have to use a generated one and modify? cheers guys

The Xbox One just got the PATCH that PS4 and PC got a few weeks ago.  The full update has been submitted and is forthcoming in the next week or two (hopefully).  PC got a modified version (but not the full version) of the update last week.  Everyone gets the boreal theme at once.

Yes, courses are automatically published across all three platforms.

Yes, you will need to set your course number of holes to "0" and go from there.  You lay out holes one at a time by going to Create >>> Create holes.  Then my suggestion is to go to layout >>> fairway >>> hazards and set the hazards to 0 and the fairway width on each hole to 0 (you will have to do the second part manually, hole by hole).  Then go to layout >>>> green >> size and set size to as small as possible.  Do the same with hazards, set those to 0.  This is as close to a blank slate as you can get.  You can also set the rough and heavy rough widths to 0 manually, and I recommend doing this as well.  This forces you to lay every single surface brush one at a time.  This is a tedious process, but it produces the best results when the time is taken to do it well.

[daddyjules]

Excellent tips on the course creater thanks. Will be spending alot of time making my course.not sure what happened with the boreal theme cuz it aint on my xbox ?.