Getting your courses played: Canuck's tips for "going viral"
Jun 9, 2015 12:34:04 GMT -5
SAM, mav78, and 3 more like this
Post by Crazycanuck1985 on Jun 9, 2015 12:34:04 GMT -5
Hey everyone,
With so many courses out there (I'm sure it must be approaching 60,000), it is very hard to get your course recognized and played extensively. When I first picked up the game, I wanted to make courses as fast as I could so I could publish them. Then I would just sit back and watch the plays pile up. So I quickly churned out some pieces of garbage that only got a handful of plays. I quickly became discouraged and stopped playing The Golf Club. I few months later (November 2014), I loaded up The Golf Club again with a completely different mindset, and seven months later, I am a fairly well recognized designer that has created 10 new courses since then, with hundreds and thousands of plays on each course instead of just a handful. Here's some tips on how I got to where I am now.
1. Alter your course "goal"- If you are designing for the sole purpose of "becoming popular", your head isn't in the right place. You will quickly become discouraged and burn out (this is what happened to me the first time around). This is a game, the design process should be fun. Design for fun, not for fans. I found once I changed my way of thinking to this, I spent more time getting to know the ins and outs of the GNCD. At the end of the day, if you like what you have created, that's all that matters.
2. Know the GNCD inside and out to create outstanding courses- This one is a no brainer, but is by far the hardest to do. You could follow all these outlined tips, but if you can't create a good course, nobody will play it. Watch tutorials, play some of the "excellent" courses (there are a TON of them out there), watch designers stream on Twitch. This took me months and I am learning more everyday. You have to be patient with the process! Once you think your courses are on par with some of the better ones out there, publish it! Otherwise, go back and make some changes.
3. Become an active and helpful member of the community- Whether you are on the HB Forums, or TGCTours or both, try to be active in the forums. Post frequently, be helpful, answer questions, give constructive feedback on other people's courses! Stream some of your design on Twitch! Become active...to a point. You don't want to be that annoying forum member that posts every two seconds about things that were already posted or not on topic. I started doing "Canuck's Course Critiques" back in December and I think that helped get my name recognized, and I also learned alot on course design from playing new courses!
4. Your course is done? Time to promote it!- This step I find to be quite important. With so many courses out there, if you don't promote it, nobody is going to know it exists. Create a work in progress thread that you update regularly outlining your process, and throw in some pictures to tease your audience. Once your course is finished, create a thread in the "completed courses" section. Information on firmness, green speed, a little backstory, and PICTURES will help your cause as people will be more likely to remember your thread and play your course if they like the looks of it. Asking to have your course featured on TGCT Live might help too! Submit your course to TGCTours! (shameless plug). You can over promote as well though, which makes you look not so good. Don't hijack threads telling people to play your course, or bump your thread every couple hours. Even the greatest courses we see on the forums get 1-2 days in the spotlight, before they become page 2-3 material. An occasional bump is OK, but give other users a chance to showcase their hard work.
* I understand here that console users are at a disadvantage when it comes to pictures. PS4 and Xbox (I think) has a screenshot feature. It's probably a pain in the butt, but a course thread with just text and no pictures is a course I usually do not end up playing. We also have karma4u, our awesome community photographer that helps out!
Pictures help ALOT. I think that if I just posted a thread that said "HAI GUYZ! PLAY MAH NEW COURSE, THE CAPILANO CLUB!!!!", I wouldn't be getting many plays. A good picture can create anticipation for the viewer and therefore, make your course stand out a bit more:
Maybe you want to play this course a bit more now after seeing a picture or two?
Did I miss anything? Feel free to add some other tips and ideas here!
With so many courses out there (I'm sure it must be approaching 60,000), it is very hard to get your course recognized and played extensively. When I first picked up the game, I wanted to make courses as fast as I could so I could publish them. Then I would just sit back and watch the plays pile up. So I quickly churned out some pieces of garbage that only got a handful of plays. I quickly became discouraged and stopped playing The Golf Club. I few months later (November 2014), I loaded up The Golf Club again with a completely different mindset, and seven months later, I am a fairly well recognized designer that has created 10 new courses since then, with hundreds and thousands of plays on each course instead of just a handful. Here's some tips on how I got to where I am now.
1. Alter your course "goal"- If you are designing for the sole purpose of "becoming popular", your head isn't in the right place. You will quickly become discouraged and burn out (this is what happened to me the first time around). This is a game, the design process should be fun. Design for fun, not for fans. I found once I changed my way of thinking to this, I spent more time getting to know the ins and outs of the GNCD. At the end of the day, if you like what you have created, that's all that matters.
2. Know the GNCD inside and out to create outstanding courses- This one is a no brainer, but is by far the hardest to do. You could follow all these outlined tips, but if you can't create a good course, nobody will play it. Watch tutorials, play some of the "excellent" courses (there are a TON of them out there), watch designers stream on Twitch. This took me months and I am learning more everyday. You have to be patient with the process! Once you think your courses are on par with some of the better ones out there, publish it! Otherwise, go back and make some changes.
3. Become an active and helpful member of the community- Whether you are on the HB Forums, or TGCTours or both, try to be active in the forums. Post frequently, be helpful, answer questions, give constructive feedback on other people's courses! Stream some of your design on Twitch! Become active...to a point. You don't want to be that annoying forum member that posts every two seconds about things that were already posted or not on topic. I started doing "Canuck's Course Critiques" back in December and I think that helped get my name recognized, and I also learned alot on course design from playing new courses!
4. Your course is done? Time to promote it!- This step I find to be quite important. With so many courses out there, if you don't promote it, nobody is going to know it exists. Create a work in progress thread that you update regularly outlining your process, and throw in some pictures to tease your audience. Once your course is finished, create a thread in the "completed courses" section. Information on firmness, green speed, a little backstory, and PICTURES will help your cause as people will be more likely to remember your thread and play your course if they like the looks of it. Asking to have your course featured on TGCT Live might help too! Submit your course to TGCTours! (shameless plug). You can over promote as well though, which makes you look not so good. Don't hijack threads telling people to play your course, or bump your thread every couple hours. Even the greatest courses we see on the forums get 1-2 days in the spotlight, before they become page 2-3 material. An occasional bump is OK, but give other users a chance to showcase their hard work.
* I understand here that console users are at a disadvantage when it comes to pictures. PS4 and Xbox (I think) has a screenshot feature. It's probably a pain in the butt, but a course thread with just text and no pictures is a course I usually do not end up playing. We also have karma4u, our awesome community photographer that helps out!
Pictures help ALOT. I think that if I just posted a thread that said "HAI GUYZ! PLAY MAH NEW COURSE, THE CAPILANO CLUB!!!!", I wouldn't be getting many plays. A good picture can create anticipation for the viewer and therefore, make your course stand out a bit more:
Maybe you want to play this course a bit more now after seeing a picture or two?
Did I miss anything? Feel free to add some other tips and ideas here!