I think it has become time for change

[Hoosiergun]

I hate to say it but this game has died, Tiger Woods here I come, Even if they get the new links tour going again there will not be many to play it. I have a week and a half with out playing the game in 8 years my interest in it is gone totally, Its a shame but we all saw it coming 2 years ago

[FDS_Catherine]

Well there are people striving away at the minute on various projects to turn this game back into what it should be. An awesome sim. Not that it isn't already, but times change.

Yes I understand it is well passed its sell by date. but thankfully the modding community will soon change that around. Bringing it slap bang into the present day. As there are frankly more chances of me winning the lottery, than Take2 ever getting around to updating this game. ( PC version. ) As it makes more sense financially, writing for the next-gen consoles. To keep it in line with the TW series.

And why should they. It would be corporate suicide to spend millions designing engines, employing people, not to mention the marketing.

For what a select few. If I were the head of gaming at Take2, I certainly wouldn't.

And if they ever did decide to release a new PC version, I can assure you, it will not be the same game you all love and cherish.

[HeavySwinger]

I hate to say it but this game has died, Tiger Woods here I come, Even if they get the new links tour going again there will not be many to play it. I have a week and a half with out playing the game in 8 years my interest in it is gone totally, Its a shame but we all saw it coming 2 years ago

I'm tired of TW kiddies coming in here and posting Links is dead. As you can see from Catherine's post above, it is anything but dead. So please all you TW kiddies, go back to the cartoon TW zone and leave us serious online golfers alone.

[Bluenoser]

Its a shame but we all saw it coming 2 years ago

Please speak for yourself.

This game is alive and well and getting stronger.

[AZWilly]

Or, on the other hand, you can just say, tata and Nice playin with ya. Good fortune to you.

[Hoosiergun]

I Dont even own TW golf yet,,so back off [censored], this thing is going no where, So when will the new Tour start?

[BruceWallace]

I hate to say it but this game has died, Tiger Woods here I come, Even if they get the new links tour going again there will not be many to play it. I have a week and a half with out playing the game in 8 years my interest in it is gone totally, Its a shame but we all saw it coming 2 years ago

Don't let the door hit you in the ......

[KCJammer]

This is getting old.

You've been saying goodbye for how long now?

Hoosiergun on 11/24/06

[AZWilly]

amazing the plethora of information one can garner from here...now what was it i had for dinner

[Larry_Warrilow]

hoos has been posting his line of bogus doom forever. makes you wonder why he bothers coming back for yet another tiresome encore. lw

[grim_x]

I like playing both. Just looked at a gmc tourney (expert 3 click) that I finished on Saturday. +40 after 4 rounds, was fun. I play the 1.06 mod on bomber's tour and shoot over par scores at champ level. And have a lot of fun doing so. Both are different, and if liking one means that I can't like the other, well then, there's something seriously wrong here.

[RoyHiggi]

Hoosier , as a player who loves Links and has looked elsewhere I would suggest to you that you keep Links on your pc and continue to play a little even if you do try something else.

Links is the best golf sim there is I believe even though it hasn't been updated and probably never will be. There are features of other games that could come into Links to improve it but as Catherine says it is unlikely to ever happen. I wouldnt say the game has died but I wouldnt say it is growing either and you either accept the community and game play as it is or move on.

[Crissy]

Well I don’t think Links will ever die, there are to many people that still love the game and will play it for many years to come. And I don’t think its a good idea to tell a forum full of Links players there game is dead or dieing. It would be the same for people at a Tiger Woods site.

I play and like both games and belong to forums and such that represent each. There different games is all and people should play what they like. Tiger Woods is fun for me because although they have not changed all that much since 2002, they do have a new version each year with a few new features. But its pretty much the same really. It was also a new challenge to try and break -20 at 3 click advanced level, but I finally got there so I was happy. I can hit the ball strait as can be at expert 3 click, but I cant aim for the life of me, and putting is way hard. So I stick to 3 click advanced, its the most fun for me.


Each to there own I say.

Crissy

[FDS_Catherine]

Here are some snipits of info that I posted over at APCD forum. I hope Mark does not mind or Mick either, as I know some people will not see this, as they do not want to register:



Just to clear a few things up.

I personally never want to see this game fully 3 dimensional. ( To me personally it would detract from the game asthetically. ) And I hope this never ever happens.

Coming back to the High Dynamic Range lighting. Obviously this option is for people who have the graphics cards capable of handling this. ( But for people whos cards are not able to cope. Do not fear. As I am currently working on lighting for a game which will not be being released untill 2009. The game, not the lighting system, which will be released in the not so distant future. 1-2 years max. ( Unfortunately, due to an NDA, ( Non-Disclosure-Agreement ) between me and the company involved. I am not at liberty to say what the game is. ) However, it is not all bad news. Partly because the new lighting and particle effects system which we are currently working on will enable older cards, ( From roughly the equivilent of the FX 5600 series of Nvidia cards, and from the Ati 96** series. To almost replicate to a lesser degree, similar effects to HDR on high performance cards. )

Revolutionary indeed.

The only effects I would like to see incorperated in the game are as I already stated. a fully functioning Day-Night cycle. And the ability to have actual flowing water. ( Obviously for small streams and rivers, with the added effect of having proper ripples. Which actually act upon whatever way the wind is blowing at a certain time. The same thing for lakes, which have streams and rivers running into them.

And for coastal courses, which have the shoreline in view. Obviously I would like to see a proper fully functioning wave-splash effect. ( But to be honest. While cetrtainly possible to impliment given the time and the right tools. I feel that this would require a complete overhaul of the APCD. And to be honest. There is no point, as the current team are doing an excellent job on it. )

We could get away with just using a ripple effect for now. ( With the wind still blowing it in the proper direction. )

So there you have it.


To be honest, I am not sure what plans Take 2 have for the progression of the PC version. ( I would hazard a guess tho, that they probably DO NOT see it as a worthwhile investment. Now I would also hazard a guess, that they plan to completely re-make the franchise and instead of porting to the PC, they as a multi-million pound company, would find it more profitable, porting to multi-format next-gen consoles. Namely XBox 360 and PS3, to make the game something more akin to a TW's game. Which would mean a completely new 3d engine. Which I believe is wrong, but that is just my opinion.) This makes alot of sense in a world run by the $.

That is why, I personally believe that any further modifications to the games source code, would not be a problem.

I honestly do not think Take 2 will be a problem. As they generally have had good relations with the modding community in the past.

As I am sure you are well aware, it is best to create and design off plot. Well this building was created off plot. With custom textures. ( It is a beauty tho isn't it. ) And the funniest thing is, it only took roughly 2 weeks from start to finish. Crazy. ( Although the APCD is at heart quite a basic tool, it still amazes me what you can construct with it. )

As for the sky and the cloud effects, it is a software prog that I am working on. ( It is sort of like what Active Sky and Flight environment do for the flight sims. It basically allows you to choose a set of cloud patterns and density, and adjust them accordinly. It also allows you to set things like horizon colour and the like. )

It is still very much a WIP.




Just a little report on how my schedule is taking shape, for anyone who is interested. ( On a side note, I will not be posting any images on any of the projects being undertaken, untill at least 90% complete. )

Please remember that I do have five more projects on the go also, and at times progress might seem a little slow. ( But nothing to get alarmed about. )

1: ( Lighting and texture engine, with particle effects. Incorporating HDR lighting ) Complete: 8%
This is taking up the vast majority of my spare time, but progress is being made, albeit slower than I had hoped. ( This is due to the fact that I am messing around with the lighting and the particle effects. Have come up with an ingenious solution, which will allow for rivers flowing off objects into another river or stream or lake below them. Resulting in a sort of waterfall effect. Also I am experimenting with a wet ground effect. which could simulate the effect of a course after a heavy shower of rain. Resulting in puddles apperaing, then gradually fading away.

2: ( Ani Project ) Complete: 5%
I will not be re-doing any of the stock [censored] period. I have decided to fully model, and texture brand new [censored] from scratch. I have already created 10 new low-poly models all in clay form in the meantime. and when I get the time I will be creating the same 10 models, only this time in a higher poly count. I still need to scan the images of the 10 players into maya yet, 7 males and 3 females. But this is not a big job. Lastly all that needs to be done then is to create new animations, like different poses, swings, walking up to the tee, new after shot responses, and lastly animations for putting the ball down on the Tee.

Finally, there will be no time multiplier whatsoever.

There will be a choice of 4 start times at differing times of the day. Giving you the player the choice of when you want to start and the appropriate lighting effect for said times. Times will be:

1: Morning, 7am.
2: Mid-day, 12 noon.
3: Afternoon, 4pm.
and finally,
4: Early evening, 7.30pm.

I am now going into hibernation mode. And will awaken with news, when I see fit.

Thank you.


On the project I am currently working on, you will see not only window reflections, but also other surfaces will be reflective also, e.g. Metals, stone and so forth. Which means you can have a reflective surface on club [censored] for added realism.

One more thing. Project " True Sky " is coming along nicely. The ability to have a fully functional moving cloud pattern, with differing layers and types.


I have been having a few stability issues regarding the new engine. Now after having spoken to not only a great friend, but also an ex-id employe, who shall remain nameless. I have ironed out some issues. But created a few more. But I will sort these out on my own.

Now, I have something special to show you all. It is an in-game pic taken from the new engine. I have disabled some effects due to crashing, but I feel that you all should see them regardless.

I will either release it on new years eve or on new years day.

Please understand this engine is still work in progress. I can tell you that the real-time lighting effect is on, and also I have True sky activated.

This is a very early in the development, but should give you all a taster of what to expect.

Thank you. And have a very happy new year.

Catrherine


Ok now. I am not sure if this is breaking any forum rules. But as this project has absolutely nothing to do with the work that Mick and Andrew are doing, I feel that they would not mind me posting them. ( After all it is new years eve, and a taste of whats to come. ) Here are two pics of varying stages of the new engines capabilities:

Pic one below, shows just a very basic terrain. This was one of the first pics taken, and to be honest it shows. ( True Sky is on also, albeit at a very early stage in development. ) No other effects on. The second pic shows the ability to render real-time lighting as well as True Sky. Although very early in development, there still is an awfull lot of work left to do. The 3d trees were added just to get a flavour of what the lighting was like. Have a happy new year all.












I am not going to go into any details regarding this now. ( But I have worked on a couple of projects over the last 8 months, which have tackled this problem. And I will be applying the same techniques here. )

There will be a brand new library function embedded into the engine also. And an easier user interface, for importing custom textures.



Fortunately, or un-fortunatelty, whichever way you want to look at it. I only work with the best hardware available at any time. And currently that hardware is dx10. Now I do not want to alarm people here, but unfortunately this engine is being coded with dx10 primarily in mind. ( Looks over her shoulders, to see if the men with the suits and ball point pens are watching. )

But do not fret. As I have previously stated, I will be applying techniques, which will allow lesser cards to experience almost the same effects. Maybe not exactly the same, but it will still look good running on dx9.c

Getting back to the embedded library. Hopefully if all goes to plan, there should be around roughly ten thousand, pre installed objects to choose from. This is not including the numerous custom textures which will be embedded also.

I need to sleep.


I hope everyone has had a happy new year and everybody is in good health.

Just a little update.

I have been very busy over the last few days working on the engine. So I needed a rest today. And I have made some more progress. I am now fully able to transplant 3d objects in either 3ds Max9 or Maya 8 unlimited into the game engine, without any crashing. There was a serious re-write done to part of the engine to allow this. But this is a big step indeed.

Also, I have partially established working HDR lighting. ( But I have an awful lot of work left to do on this. ) The next big step that has fallen, is with the actual terrain editor itself. I have a working ( though not stable ) automatic seam blender. ( Serious code work to impliment this, I am telling you. with a serious amount left to do. )

Lastly, I have a functioning ( though not stable ) real-time lighting effect, ( Which I will call Magic Light for now, as it is a WIP name. ) This effect allows the 2d trees and the like, to display shadows, as if they were 3d. ( Again, an awful lot of code to write to get this stable. But the main barrier has been passed. )

Well, that is it for now. What I am finding is this tho. Once you start one thing, something else crops up. Oh well.



Sorry for the long winded post.

[Chip_Jett]

[quote="Hoosiergun"]I hate to say it but this game has died, Tiger Woods here I come, Even if they get the new links tour going again there will not be many to play it. I have a week and a half with out playing the game in 8 years my interest in it is gone totally, Its a shame but we all saw it coming 2 years ago[/quote]




Is everyone suppose to say uhh comeon hoosier plz stay lol. Just leave man , no post needed.