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Post by jacobkessler on Jul 15, 2016 11:04:20 GMT -5
When you design, where do you see the most potential? Is it opening a new empty plot? Seeing how the land influences the hole routings?
I always love switching all of those sliders in the layout menu right before I start a new design. I get excited about what's coming next.
Anyway, I just wanted to see what you guys think.
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Post by pyates on Jul 15, 2016 12:00:50 GMT -5
I actually start from dead flat in terms of sculpting. I've spent a long time regenerating random hills, but rarely does it hit the spot. I tend to go flat, sculpt major areas like cliffs, coastline etc and then take it from there. When I need a bit of inspiration grabbing a random brush (often the smooth edged ones), going raise and dragging around gets you some interesting shapes. You can basically randomly generate specific areas which can be cool. Depends on the build. I do however often let auto gen trees and grasses dictate where I go if it looks good. I totally get the excitement that can come from a fresh auto-generated plot that just speaks to you I'm at quite an interesting point on my latest. So I did as above, sculpted major elements of the course started on 4/5 holes which I'm really happy with. Now the rest kinda feel like they got the worst bit of the plot. Do I just make the best holes on the current patch and see how it pans out or do I make changes? I just demolished a cliff and really like the change, I now want to make it over to that part of the course as I think the holes in that area have some decent plot to work with. I'm now considering keeping the 4/5 holes and radically changing the coastline. One option is to move the coast out, making more room between existing holes and the sea... will probably spend a few days doing that but it's where I feel my courses go from 'OK Start' to 'Now we're cooking' . Basically I feel my plot has reached that maximum potential point and it is time to set the next direction. Really wish PS4 had a 'Save As' option so I could explore these options a little more easily. Had a similar moment with Tye Dunes. I really liked the dunes part but I ran out of coastline... so I completely changed my coastline to support a second beach around the corner and kept the river in the middle. Had I stuck with my initial plot then it would have worked out very different.
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Post by jacobkessler on Jul 15, 2016 12:05:56 GMT -5
I usually don't start completely flat, but I don't like many hills. I started working on a course today, and before I started, I had a vision for the first hole. I found an area on the plot that fit my vision perfectly. Then I just routed the rest of the holes based on that first hole. After I figured that out, I also found that I am able to make a 36 hole complex.
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Post by Terry Grayson on Jul 15, 2016 12:40:52 GMT -5
I usually started with a flat plot... Then work my way around it... Only one course (Skull Island) did I create fantasy shapes, mountains etc... Usually I build a hole almost to completion from a fairly flat or flat plot then see where it takes me.. I have a hard time being imaginative sometimes, so I tend to see where each hole takes me, and hope it leads to a good conclusion
The Olympic course I started with a dead flat plot and went from there, pretty happy with the result..
Newest one I have been working on, started with the minimum flatness, and was very happy with first three or four holes, the last two I have been working on just aren't looking at how I want I may scrap them all together and start anew....
I gave up for a while on Quail Hollow.. I found tracing all that to be extremely boring
Terry
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Post by jacobkessler on Jul 15, 2016 12:56:34 GMT -5
My current course is the least I've started with. Normally I turn the trees to whatever I think I'll want, but this time I want to add everything by hand because I have a specific look I'm going for. Not to be an a-hole and advertise, but you can check it out here: tgctours.proboards.com/thread/8498/kettering-golf-club-hole-complex?page=1&scrollTo=145283Anyway, I usually start with the default settings, with substantial trees, no water, and few hills, which helps limit the water. This time I started with no trees, no water, and again, few hills. The hills were, like I said in a previous course, to guide my first hole.
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Post by roblandon on Jul 15, 2016 13:24:38 GMT -5
Starting flat is the best thing you can do as with my latest course I'm currently on, I decided to go with generated hills and I can tell you it's a right pain in the arse as the terrain is lifted too(red tool) if you want to flatten some areas it becomes a right pain! I'll never do that again!
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Post by Errol1967 on Jul 15, 2016 16:53:30 GMT -5
Starting flat is the best thing you can do as with my latest course I'm currently on, I decided to go with generated hills and I can tell you it's a right pain in the arse as the terrain is lifted too(red tool) if you want to flatten some areas it becomes a right pain! I'll never do that again! I like that generated max high hills. I get that fushy round brush and make it very small, like 1/7 size of the length of the field and hold the aply button and go around entire field and flatten it. I make some crazy drawings, like painting something. When Im ready I click the ok button and their I have my rolling hills, it works perfectly for me. More smoother then this is not possible... Lol.
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Post by welikeitroughnc on Jul 15, 2016 18:42:22 GMT -5
I actually start from dead flat in terms of sculpting. I've spent a long time regenerating random hills, but rarely does it hit the spot. I tend to go flat, sculpt major areas like cliffs, coastline etc and then take it from there. When I need a bit of inspiration grabbing a random brush (often the smooth edged ones), going raise and dragging around gets you some interesting shapes. You can basically randomly generate specific areas which can be cool. Depends on the build. I do however often let auto gen trees and grasses dictate where I go if it looks good. I totally get the excitement that can come from a fresh auto-generated plot that just speaks to you I'm at quite an interesting point on my latest. So I did as above, sculpted major elements of the course started on 4/5 holes which I'm really happy with. Now the rest kinda feel like they got the worst bit of the plot. Do I just make the best holes on the current patch and see how it pans out or do I make changes? I just demolished a cliff and really like the change, I now want to make it over to that part of the course as I think the holes in that area have some decent plot to work with. I'm now considering keeping the 4/5 holes and radically changing the coastline. One option is to move the coast out, making more room between existing holes and the sea... will probably spend a few days doing that but it's where I feel my courses go from 'OK Start' to 'Now we're cooking' . Basically I feel my plot has reached that maximum potential point and it is time to set the next direction. Really wish PS4 had a 'Save As' option so I could explore these options a little more easily. Had a similar moment with Tye Dunes. I really liked the dunes part but I ran out of coastline... so I completely changed my coastline to support a second beach around the corner and kept the river in the middle. Had I stuck with my initial plot then it would have worked out very different. I'm to the point in designing where I follow many of these steps the exact same way I've destroyed three cliffs today and changed the layout completely and love it!! Good advice and steps to follow
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Jul 15, 2016 22:53:01 GMT -5
It depends for me. If I'm doing a rcr then I absolutely start with a flat plot. I have a template that is perfectly flat and 10 ft above the water line over the entire plot. If just building a generic course, then I tend to start out with medium hill setting. I'll still go in and do terrain manipulation, but it usually saves me some sculpting in "out of play" areas. Often times the autogen lay of the land will give me ideas as well. I'll still go in and raise, lower, flatten, etc, but I find it sometimes fun to just take the "natural" terrain and see what I can turn it into.
There really is no right or wrong way...it's all about your taste and style. Don't let anybody convince you otherwise. That being said, if attempting a rcr, then you are going to be better off starting absolutely flat as you're trying to duplicate exact elevations and such...but even that's not an "absolute". Just saves you some frustration later.
Cheers
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mayday_golf83
TGCT Design Competition Directors
Posts: 2,279
TGCT Name: Jeremy Mayo
Tour: Elite
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Post by mayday_golf83 on Jul 16, 2016 6:47:25 GMT -5
Anyway, I usually start with the default settings, with substantial trees, no water, and few hills, which helps limit the water. This time I started with no trees, no water, and again, few hills. The hills were, like I said in a previous course, to guide my first hole. That's usually my approach, though I'll tweak the sliders depending on how open and hilly I want a course. I think of it this way: if I were an architect IRL, would I get a dead flat plot to start or would I have to work around the trees and the terrain, finding holes to match the lay of the land? And that's not a slam in those who start flat. Both ways require quite a bit of creativity and both methods produce fabulous courses. I just know for me, I prefer to let the land speak to me. That's why if/when we'd ever get the ability to import real life elevation data into the GNCD I'd be in hog heaven, because I can't tell you how many times I drive past a random bit of countryside and think "that could make a great golf hole." So, anywho, back to the original question. With my randomized plot, I look for an area that speaks to me as being well-suited for a golf hole and start there with the measuring tool, plotting out the waypoints. From there, I looks for hole sites around it. Once I got enough down that I like, I start thinking about where the clubhouse should be. Along the way, I'm already getting ideas in the back of my head about what I want to do when I actually start building. Not a perfect system, and I've had to abandon plenty of plots that just weren't working out with my eye, but when I hit on one, the course practically starts designing itself. That's the most fun for me: hole discovery and the the actual build. Planting and play testing can get a bit tedious for me, but a critically necessary part of the process.
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Post by Moe Slorkman on Aug 4, 2016 3:27:42 GMT -5
I start on a flat plot with a theme or gimick in mind of what I want to create were the 1st and 10th tee box will be and the 9th and 18th green.
Using the distance tools draw very rough areas were I want to put beachs clubhouse practice area cliffs prisons graveyards etc then look at the spacing re adjust and then pencil in the rest of the holes I usually have a few holes in mind before I start.
After that I basically free-ball it.
I sculpt as I go and when finished I go over it all again.
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