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Post by scampi00 on Dec 10, 2016 14:40:50 GMT -5
This thread is more for discussion then anything else. If designers want to help each other that's cool too. I just love talking course design.
So I'll start this off with my weakness. Water. To clarify, almost all my golf couses feature water of some kind on at least half the holes. This water doesn't always come into play, but it's there.
I use it way too much I think, mostly because its pretty and it takes up alot of land that I would otherwise have to plant. If someone challenged me too make a course completely without water, I don't know if I could do it AND make it interesting layout wise. Not only that, I don't even know if I'd even care to.
Anyways, that's definitely my struggle. What's yours?
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Post by welikeitroughnc on Dec 10, 2016 15:10:35 GMT -5
I'd have to say mine is it takes so long to come up with new never before seen hole layouts and ideas I usually always get there but at times it's tough. Sculpting and bunkers are finally getting to the point I want them just takes a while to come up with new layouts.
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callmecutout
Weekend Golfer
Posts: 113
TGCT Name: Josh Hicks
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Post by callmecutout on Dec 10, 2016 16:04:46 GMT -5
I said planting because I am not great at making my visions come to life with the objects in game.
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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 Dec 10, 2016 21:02:49 GMT -5
Great topic scampi00! For me, it's definitely sculpting. More specifically, full blown "God mode" sculpting, which has really stopped my from tackling in full on RCRs. Part of it's the way I like to design. Auto-genning hills gives me a base and makes me think like a course architect, trying to figure out the best routing within the existing terrain, water and flora. Hence, I think that hole design/routine is a strength of mine because I'm able to visualize how holes can/should fit in the terrain. I'm also able to massage said terrain to where things look pretty good and the features I want exposed are, and the ones I don't aren't. But to build said terrain from nothing, that's where I'm rubbish. If I were better at this, I might take on some RCRs, because I know I could get the topography pretty darn close. Or, instead of RCRs, some course based off real property. For me it goes like this: I occasionally glance around at my surroundings while out for a drive and think to myself, "This piece of land would make a great hole/course." Since everything I've seen/read makes it seem that we won't be getting the ability to import real elevation data anytime soon, I'd like to get to the point where I'm able to reconstruct the piece of land I saw and then go about trying to fit a golf course on it in the GNCD. That's about the only place where the old PGA/Tiger Woods Course Architect blows the GNCD out of the water IMHO. You could import elevation data and the old two-shape method was much easier to treat like contour lines on a topo map and raise/lower the land accordingly.
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Post by tastegw on Dec 10, 2016 22:34:37 GMT -5
If sculpting is a weakness for anyone, I suggest tackling it head on a build an entire course starting with a flat canvas.
This will force the issue and you will learn and get more comfortable with sculpting. Once comfortable, you can go back to the auto land, if you wish.
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My weakness is hole layouts. Trying to come up with new ideas without breaking "golf" is tough. So it's either recycle and tweak existing ideas or go too crazy so it's unrealistic, like having 5 different fairways for one hole. So for me, tweaking existing ideas is about as good as it gets.
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For those having issues with planting, try following this rule of thumb:
If you can't get it to look real, don't do it. Bad planting is worse than no planting imho. Keep it localized at the start until you get more comfortable, then expand accordingly.
Bad plant jobs can really take away from an otherwise decent track.
Rotate objects, keep them realistic in size, and keep them away from playable areas.
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Post by coruler2 on Dec 10, 2016 23:23:48 GMT -5
Sculpting for me, especially significant terrain shaping. I'm fine w/ minor sculpting, but getting a nice big smooth gradient slope and things like that are pretty tough for me.
The more time you spend designing, the better you get though...and when you play your rounds, look at what other people have done in sculpting and planting and see what fits your eye for your designs.
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reebdoog
TGCT Design Competition Directors
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Post by reebdoog on Dec 11, 2016 0:21:02 GMT -5
hole ideas. I think most of my holes are good...but it's hard not to fall into a rut and just keep doing the same thing over and over but with different visual queues. The holes appear to be different...but they really aren't all that different. Folks think that their holes are unique...they only look unique. The actual area of play HAS to be somewhat similar or you'd run into playability issues.
I'd check planting too. I'm good at planting realistically but I really want to work on planting with a more "hemmed in" feel like MikeMike or Arctic. It's hard to do because you have to artificially inflate the plants to comical levels... *shrug*
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Post by Han on Dec 11, 2016 6:54:44 GMT -5
Hole ideas here too.
I usually always like to try and make my courses realistic, I just prefer them to look like a course that could exist in RL. The problem with that is it makes it harder to come up with ideas without making the holes boring and just the "same old thing".
Planting also to a certain extent, particularly around the edges of water. I tend to struggle making the borders of ponds etc look realistic without making them look cluttered or over planted, and when trying to keep them more minimaly planted (just some grasses or such) it can look like a half-arsed job.
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Post by tastegw on Dec 11, 2016 8:37:21 GMT -5
Hole ideas here too. Planting also to a certain extent, particularly around the edges of water. I tend to struggle making the borders of ponds etc look realistic without making them look cluttered or over planted, and when trying to keep them more minimaly planted (just some grasses or such) it can look like a half-arsed job. chalk that up to HB's lack of options we have, and the way textures interact with water, it blows donkey sticks. if they could give us some "3D" pebble textures, "3D" long grass textures and other "3D" style textures that they currently dont offer, water edges would be much easier and better for everyone. to make them look good currently, we either need one or more of the following:-a damn good job with retainer walls (sloppy walls look worse than no walls) -heavy rock usages (otherwise, the rocks were simply too big) -moderate to heavy grass usages (all depends on what angle the views are, you can cheat from some angles) -light bush usages (love getting into the bush, but prefer it to be trimmed down) -get lucky with auto gen plants being in the right spots they seriously need to find a way to have sand go into the water and stop that ring border bullsh!t. I would even go as far as saying let us lay down all the textures under water so that we could control that too. I would love to have my green lead right up to the edge of the retaining wall, flush.
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Post by Han on Dec 11, 2016 11:19:52 GMT -5
chalk that up to HB's lack of options we have, and the way textures interact with water, it blows donkey sticks. if they could give us some "3D" pebble textures, "3D" long grass textures and other "3D" style textures that they currently dont offer, water edges would be much easier and better for everyone. to make them look good currently, we either need one or more of the following:-a damn good job with retainer walls (sloppy walls look worse than no walls) -heavy rock usages (otherwise, the rocks were simply too big) -moderate to heavy grass usages (all depends on what angle the views are, you can cheat from some angles) -light bush usages (love getting into the bush, but prefer it to be trimmed down) -get lucky with auto gen plants being in the right spots they seriously need to find a way to have sand go into the water and stop that ring border bullsh!t. I would even go as far as saying let us lay down all the textures under water so that we could control that too. I would love to have my green lead right up to the edge of the retaining wall, flush.Definitely +1 to that Not wanting to derail the thread too much and turn it into a "wants for TGC2" thread but more variations on retaining wall types would be a huge thing too. I enjoy using retaining walls and think they can look fantastic when done well, but I get bored of using the same thing all the time....the same goes for rock walls too, both types of walls get overused way too much imo (rocks especially) but that's just because we have no other options available. It would make a big difference as well if we could rotate bushes. Sometimes when using them at the edge of water they just look wrong for me because I cant have them sitting at the right height or angle in relation to the edge.
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Post by mrooola on Dec 11, 2016 12:00:01 GMT -5
My weaknesses?
A bit of everything I believe. I'm not great in any aspect of designing, but I think I do most fairly well. I think this is why I feel I put out good courses, but rarely wows any audience.
My biggest headaches are usually bunker sculpting when it comes to the technical stuff.
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Post by pablo on Dec 12, 2016 13:24:29 GMT -5
I basically tend to agree with Ola, I'm not great at anything, but I'm not bad either at anything. I voted for appropriate course difficulty, because there is where I tend to struggle a bit
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Post by Crazycanuck1985 on Dec 12, 2016 17:13:54 GMT -5
For me, sculpting greens (clearly...) Also, I would say hole design. I don't think I would ever be able to do a "God Mode" design, I just don't feel like I'm creative enough. I let the terrain talk to me. I find a good spot , clear some trees here and there, and more often than not, a see a hole start to take shape in my head and I start building. I really notice this when I play Planet Coaster on Sandbox mode. When I work with a blank canvas I just become overwhelmed and I have trouble seeing the bigger picture.
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Post by pablo on Dec 12, 2016 17:41:21 GMT -5
For me, sculpting greens (clearly...) Also, I would say hole design. I don't think I would ever be able to do a "God Mode" design, I just don't feel like I'm creative enough. I let the terrain talk to me. I find a good spot , clear some trees here and there, and more often than not, a see a hole start to take shape in my head and I start building. I really notice this when I play Planet Coaster on Sandbox mode. When I work with a blank canvas I just become overwhelmed and I have trouble seeing the bigger picture. That's like a sudoku. You need somewhere to start.....
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Dec 15, 2016 11:07:32 GMT -5
My weakness is redheads.
Oh, wait...you meant designing weaknesses...
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