New PC golf game - not sure but looks promising

[sandwedge]

For anyone who is interested I thought I would post some info here about a new PC golf game to soon hit the market. Mike Jones is involved with the project (infamous Links designer). There is a course architect and the results look pretty impressive (actual running waterfalls to name a few). Not sure about gameplay but it has a golf cart that you can drive around for fun off the cart path. The name of the game is Perfect Golf and the blog for its upcoming release is www.perfectparallel.com I know we support Custom Play but thought for those of us who want a game without a portal, this might be a viable option. I will never leave PGA 2000 unless my game won't work anymore but maybe this game would be a good change of pace for Windows 9 and the future of PC's. Who knows it might be another longshot that collapses after a year but maybe... we might find some activity in the PC golf game genre again.

[SteveHorn]

Thanks for the info. Hopefully it will be good.

[jwgriffingca]

I know I don't post much here - Links has always been my primary game - but I do stop in every week or so to see what's going on. I noted this post a while back and wanted to bump it. PerfectGolf is in the middle of a Kickstarter fundraiser - basically "crowd funding" - they are trying to raise $300,000 in pledged funding from supporters by Feb 4. If they don't reach $300k, nobody pays a dime (but they don't get any funding either - it's all or nothing). It's a tall order to be sure, but it's a unique approach to development that will pay dividends down the road.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/per ... f?ref=live

They just released a new video showing a very detailed look at the course design process. It's amazingly simple, and it produces stunning results.
http://www.perfectparallel.com/courseforge-in-action/

I sincerely encourage you to take a look, and consider backing the project with a pledge. As little as $25 gets you beta copies of the game & designer during the development cycle, along with the opportunity to offer feedback to help make the game what you want.

I've played Links a long time, and I've enjoyed discovering PGA2000, too. But each is showing its age, and while they can still produce a lot of entertainment, they have their shortcomings, too. Opportunities like PerfectGolf don't come along very often.

Thanks for reading, and thanks for considering a pledge. I'm not involved with the development team, just trying to spread the word to those who might be interested.

John

[Pyecraft]

Have to admit it boys, but it looks amazing! Did he say on the video that his textures simply blend themselves with the touch of a button? OMG! Almost looks too easy, Robert'd design three every night,

[J.J.]

I loved designing all those years ago and spent hours and hours per day creating my two courses that were released for PGA2000. I spent even more hours messing with the Architect over the next three or four years but didn't really have the drive (or time) to fully complete another course. This however has re-ignited my interest. I will be watching closely

[Pyecraft]

Hey jj, nice to hear from you again ...yet nowt changes sometimes .... your lads still fightin' to avoid the drop,
But let's hope John is right and that this will develop into the real deal, I think its worth supporting.

[sandwedge]

Just wanted to say JJ that Mayfield is an amazing course. I think the effort you put into it shows. I have had a lot of fun on those 18 holes! Think of what some of you guys could do with that kind of 3D technology. Anyways, glad to know you still check in from time to time here - appreciate your contributions to our grand old game.

[J.J.]

Hey jj, nice to hear from you again ...yet nowt changes sometimes .... your lads still fightin' to avoid the drop,
But let's hope John is right and that this will develop into the real deal, I think its worth supporting.

We're always fighting to avoid the drop.... except during a rare promotion season

[J.J.]

Just wanted to say JJ that Mayfield is an amazing course. I think the effort you put into it shows. I have had a lot of fun on those 18 holes! Think of what some of you guys could do with that kind of 3D technology. Anyways, glad to know you still check in from time to time here - appreciate your contributions to our grand old game.

Thanks, it seems such a long time ago now although I still very occasionally fire up the course if only to reminisce and ask myself what I could have done differently

I drop in here a couple of times a week just to catch up on what's happening in the PGA2K world. I've never been able to fully let go

[jwgriffingca]

It doesn't look very promising at this point that the Perfect Parallel team will meet their funding goal, only at 5% of their objective about halfway through the schedule. Probably a combination of setting the bar too high, plus it doesn't seem like they had a very good plan for marketing it. They seem to be reactively trying to spread the word to golf & gaming sites - based on suggestions from supporters after the Kickstarter was initiated - and hoping for social media "magic," rather than doing research in advance and having a proactive plan in place to be executed in parallel with the Kickstarter.

Regardless, I think their videos have generated a lot of interest among the older dedicated golf sim community (like Links and PGA2000), but the trick will be convincing the masses that it will be as good or better than the current modern offerings with heavy support like EA Tiger Woods and WGT.

I agree with you guys that the course designer looks like a quantum leap in terms of simplicity of use and automation of the more labor-intensive tasks like texture blending. That could really translate to an explosion in course quantity when the game/designer are released (and hoping the quality learning curve won't be as steep).

Appreciate the comments & interest here. Hopefully they'll get some late massive support here in the next couple of weeks, but it will be interesting to follow their backup plans if not successful.

John