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Post by pablo on May 27, 2016 13:46:30 GMT -5
James, I already played the beta. I did not finish the round, but enough to get a good feeling of your work.
I don't know baltusrol, so I won't be speaking of accuracy in the recreation.
The course feels real while playing, so that's a good point for ya. For sure, it feels incomplete, but as a beta, that was something to be expected (the completely flat terrain out of the course kills any emotion). Some of the terrain work needs smoothing, as it seems to be very abrupt in places, it lacks a bit of subtlety (also in the greens), but the work is very interesting
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Post by phoenixjay on May 27, 2016 15:23:52 GMT -5
James, I already played the beta. I did not finish the round, but enough to get a good feeling of your work. I don't know baltusrol, so I won't be speaking of accuracy in the recreation. The course feels real while playing, so that's a good point for ya. For sure, it feels incomplete, but as a beta, that was something to be expected (the completely flat terrain out of the course kills any emotion). Some of the terrain work needs smoothing, as it seems to be very abrupt in places, it lacks a bit of subtlety (also in the greens), but the work is very interesting yes that extra terrain is a ?, not sure what to do with it, thats where the houses in real life are. I basically made the course and the parts outside the edges from 1-13 are main road and houses and this game doesnt have that so couldnt do anything to it. what parts in your opinion might need smoothing? if its around the ditches then it cant be helped in places. what greens in particular? Thanks for playing it pablo  |
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Post by phoenixjay on May 27, 2016 15:26:13 GMT -5
thanks karma |
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Post by pablo on May 27, 2016 15:54:28 GMT -5
I should play again (which I will do) and take more detailed notes
I did not refer to any particular green, but something more general. I don't know how the real greens are, so maybe changing them could destroy the experience. I can tell you I played the first from the right side rough and that back to front slope seemed brutal to me (but it was playable, so really could be left like that)
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Post by phoenixjay on May 27, 2016 16:11:15 GMT -5
I should play again (which I will do) and take more detailed notes I did not refer to any particular green, but something more general. I don't know how the real greens are, so maybe changing them could destroy the experience. I can tell you I played the first from the right side rough and that back to front slope seemed brutal to me (but it was playable, so really could be left like that) Cool thanks. from the description from the 2005 pga, the course pro described a lot of the greens as quite fast and tricky but if any greens are found to be too bad then i will tone them down abit so they will play more fair but still have a lot of dangers. each green i played into many times each on those settings to see if you can get close and on most, I could but im not the best at approaches to be honest, i ended up testing my bunkers more lol. This is a course that should play tough but still be able to yield some birds as a pos major course and if i hadnt hit so many bad shots in my main wind test, i could have been -4 or -5. |
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Post by mcbogga on May 27, 2016 23:55:09 GMT -5
Can't really tell clearly from the pictures but seems the hill is missing?
Also you went with a deeper bunker style than what I had going.
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Post by mcbogga on May 28, 2016 7:08:40 GMT -5
Finally had a chance to play this. First off - it is a good course and a really good challenge. Since I have researched and started on Baltusrol I can see you have taken some different routes than what I had in mind for my version.
Feedback below:
1. The Baltusrol Mountain is not in. There is a mountain or hill rising up 350 feet over the course. It is a key part of the backdrop and a lot of the upper course sits on the foot of this hill.
2. Bunkers. You went with the lowering method here. I think most bunkers on the course are actually quite flat with raised walls, more so after the Rees-Jones work. Still a couple that are old Tilly style more sitting down, but for the most part they are built up. An example is the green bunker on 1. I also think you have done them way too deep. 8-12 feet deep in some places where the real course maximum I am estimating at 6 feet and that is to an elevated green.
3. Oversized trees. They are useful for covering views and making foliage look dense. But in some places like on second tee unrealistic branches are sticking out into view. My plan was to go with more bushes to fill gaps between trees.
4. Greens. I feel they are a lot more severe than the real ones seem to be and have more irregular movements than I expect on Baltusrol. Especially for a 170 green speed. This course for me is for sure 183 or above. Plenty of red and yellow where I think it is more subtle IRL. If you compare where we need to aim compared to videos of the PGA its a big difference
5. Some "in-play" elements not there. Primarily I was missing the tree covering the rightmost part of the green on 3. It is a key strategic element on that hole as it forces a fade if tee-shot does not draw nicely around the bend and is really what makes the hole probably the hardest on the course. Have not studied the real holes in detail from 4 onwards so there may be more.
6. Sculpting overall felt a bit heavy-handed with water sitting clearly "deeper" than it does on the real course and very distinct elevation changes where the real course seems much more subtle.
To me this is clearly a "supercharged" version of Baltusrol. Now - with the ease of driving, flopping and the aids available in this game, maybe this approach better conveys the challenges of the real course over the hyper realistic approach. My advice would be to get the mountain in, rework some of the elevations and bunkers and flatten the greens out a bit and it will be really really good.
Just my opinion of course and as I said it is already a good course, its just not great yet.
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Post by phoenixjay on May 28, 2016 9:35:21 GMT -5
Can't really tell clearly from the pictures but seems the hill is missing? Also you went with a deeper bunker style than what I had going. Yes I noticed right at the end about the hill, will try and put that in when i correct it, think it was directly opposite the 16th on the lower. Some of the pics looked like the bunkers were more deeper but i can go over them and raise them up to a more decent height. |
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Post by phoenixjay on May 28, 2016 10:59:06 GMT -5
Finally had a chance to play this. First off - it is a good course and a really good challenge. Since I have researched and started on Baltusrol I can see you have taken some different routes than what I had in mind for my version. Feedback below: 1. The Baltusrol Mountain is not in. There is a mountain or hill rising up 350 feet over the course. It is a key part of the backdrop and a lot of the upper course sits on the foot of this hill. 2. Bunkers. You went with the lowering method here. I think most bunkers on the course are actually quite flat with raised walls, more so after the Rees-Jones work. Still a couple that are old Tilly style more sitting down, but for the most part they are built up. An example is the green bunker on 1. I also think you have done them way too deep. 8-12 feet deep in some places where the real course maximum I am estimating at 6 feet and that is to an elevated green. 3. Oversized trees. They are useful for covering views and making foliage look dense. But in some places like on second tee unrealistic branches are sticking out into view. My plan was to go with more bushes to fill gaps between trees. 4. Greens. I feel they are a lot more severe than the real ones seem to be and have more irregular movements than I expect on Baltusrol. Especially for a 170 green speed. This course for me is for sure 183 or above. Plenty of red and yellow where I think it is more subtle IRL. If you compare where we need to aim compared to videos of the PGA its a big difference 5. Some "in-play" elements not there. Primarily I was missing the tree covering the rightmost part of the green on 3. It is a key strategic element on that hole as it forces a fade if tee-shot does not draw nicely around the bend and is really what makes the hole probably the hardest on the course. Have not studied the real holes in detail from 4 onwards so there may be more. 6. Sculpting overall felt a bit heavy-handed with water sitting clearly "deeper" than it does on the real course and very distinct elevation changes where the real course seems much more subtle. To me this is clearly a "supercharged" version of Baltusrol. Now - with the ease of driving, flopping and the aids available in this game, maybe this approach better conveys the challenges of the real course over the hyper realistic approach. My advice would be to get the mountain in, rework some of the elevations and bunkers and flatten the greens out a bit and it will be really really good. Just my opinion of course and as I said it is already a good course, its just not great yet. 1. the mountain will be put in and will cover it in trees like in the pics. 2. when i go back soon to do any corrections, i will raise the bunkers so they arent as deep and at the mo they are all flat at the bottom. 3. I will have to go over the trees a bit and check for those branches, in most parts, i tried to vary the heights of the trees but might have got a couple out of position. 4. No probs, I will have a look at the greens after everyones had a look at the course and smooth it a bit as you suggest. The thing is, i removed all the main red on the greens when i made them but when i replay it or when i published it, some appeared, ticks me off that. As for yellow, i will take your word, I just cant see the yellow, even if i zoom right in, being colour blind to colours that are similar, its impossible for me. 5. yes i agree about 3, just checked and its missing, i remember it being there but must have accidentally deleted it, will add it back in. 6. I tried to get the elevations it showed and a couple might be a bit out but most look nice. As for the water, on most of the course, i tried to keep the ditches as thin as i could and the fairways not too high above but I think you might be talking about between 7 and 8. I tried to have 7 go slightly uphill and as a result the water is down lower than it might really be in front of the 8th tee, the only solution to that is to remodel that section down a bit from 7th fairway to 8th green. My main issue i have at the mo is that the game and this course hate each other lol, it keeps giving me an error message when i was doing work on it. I think I can get the hill in and sort the trees and smooth out the greens abit and make it more fair in places but too much changes with the crashes would take me till end on next month i think lol. Overall, I will add the hill in, check the trees, smooth the greens a bit and raise the bunkers so they are shallower to make it look more realistic. Thanks for the advice mcbogga. |
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Post by mcbogga on Jun 2, 2016 10:27:56 GMT -5
Alright - finally getting some progress on my try. Beta of holes 1-3 up for your feedback.
"BR 3h test" is the name. Not going to be perfect finish, but I believe holes should be pretty close so far. Need feedback.
Best enjoyed with training wheels off...
Baltusrol is going to be really hard to set up to provide any challenge. Tricking it up will just lead to a chip-fest as there are no collection areas on the course. It's a dilemma.
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Post by phoenixjay on Jun 2, 2016 11:01:31 GMT -5
Alright - finally getting some progress on my try. Beta of holes 1-3 up for your feedback. "BR 3h test" is the name. Not going to be perfect finish, but I believe holes should be pretty close so far. Need feedback. Best enjoyed with training wheels off... Baltusrol is going to be really hard to set up to provide any challenge. Tricking it up will just lead to a chip-fest as there are no collection areas on the course. It's a dilemma. cool will try them after. yep i know, when i made mines theres plenty to aim at fairway wise and the greens are a good size. My beta2 is also ready to publish with changes you suggested. tere are 3 new collection areas on 1,5 and 12 but theres no pictures of them so cant be done. |
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Post by phoenixjay on Jun 3, 2016 19:09:57 GMT -5
baltusrol beta2 is published enjoy |
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Post by phoenixjay on Jun 5, 2016 20:24:19 GMT -5
Heres some pics  The clubhouse  A view of the first tees and the Baltusrol symbol planted by the gardeners.  The view from the fairway on the 3rd looking down on the green.  A view from above the tees looking across at the imfamous par 3 4th  A look at the 7th green and the OB fence that stretches around 7, 8 and 9.  The 8th hole, a good birdie hole with bunkers before and around it and OB behind.  Here we are on the 13th, looking at the ditch between the fairways. If the wind gets up and into your face, you will have to layup on the smaller fairway.  One of my faves on this course, the 15th, nice wide fairways and a decent shot into the green, just watch for the slopes on the green that run back to front and the subtle false front which could have you rolling down the fairway.  The 16th and the last par 3 on the course. Green slopes back to front but not too much. has undulations and depending on the wind, might need a small wood to an iron to stay on the green.  The first of the 2 official par 5's on the course, the 1st and 7th are par 4's for this round.At 651 yds and could be more depending on the flag, After you have hit your drive before the bunkers and hit your approach, this is roughly the view you will have. An accurate pitch or wedge shot and you could be heading into 18 with a nice bird, but run too far past the flag and birdie will start flying away lol.  This is what is in front of you after your drive, a wood to the green or the safe play, layup and pitch it up and get your bird, what will you do lol.  A view back from the 4th at the giant hill right next to the course. These are from Baltusrol beta2 |
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Post by theduke21 on Jun 6, 2016 2:51:39 GMT -5
Looks very good. Need to give it a play.
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Post by phoenixjay on Jun 6, 2016 11:29:42 GMT -5
Looks very good. Need to give it a play. thanks hope you like it. |
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