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Hot Shots Golf Fore! Public Beta

How does 8PM PST sound? This will likely be my first online game. We'll play a medium timed game... I'll post the details as we get closer...
 
There's some sort of easy mode you can toggle, which obviously helps you out. The problem is, I don't see a way to tell who is rolling with what.

Its pretty fun, despite the few courses.

One bad thing is that I haven't seen any support for a headset, so you need a keyboard. There is a lot of waiting to do before a game gets started, and between each hole. The first few games I created with normal timer, and people were getting retired because they didn't finish the hole in time. So I switched it to longer, and I was waiting for a minute and a half between each hole. To be fair, I do play thru holes extremely quick.

If you want some rep, have your HSG3 save on the same memory card, as your rank from 3 carries over into 4. So I've seen a few people with Master rank. Haven't seen anyone with an Almighty ranking however.

There is a new power shot. If you press square twice, it goes into full mode, which if you hit the shot with perfect strength and impact, it goes further.

The graphics are slightly better, but the effects are much much better. Wind blows leaves around, ripples the water, and with a power shot, the ball explosion is much more impressive.

The caddies are terribly annoying and say some of the dumbest shit committed to disc. One is a nurse, who drops a few gems:

"My stethescope predicts a strong wind!"
"HOLY VACCINATION!"
*rolling a shot onto the green* "The doctor will see you now!"
*getting a bogey* "Chemical imbalance?"

There is one caddy that sounds like Sean Connery, so there is unintentional comedy there. Though, he has one phrase that is equal parts bewildring and stupid. Should you have an easy putt, he says something along the lines of "As easy as stealing a quail egg!"
 

Defensor

Mistaken iRobbery!
My caddie is annoying:

"Like my shoes?"
"I just learned to read."
"Good one Captain!"

I'm 11th place in the Aloha Beach Resort in the current rankings. Anyone want to play now or in a few?

EDIT: Jesus Zootgranny.... 3470 points, 1st place, and a score of -11?!?!?
 

Wario64

works for Gamestop (lol)
Not having played any of the HSG games, I am prepared to get my ass kicked later tonight, if my beta comes in any time soon
 
Nah, just wait until the full game is released and the crazy bastards get on and shoot -20 or lower.

That -11 was on the Aloha course, which was on HSG3, so I knew it pretty well. I did shoot a -7 on a 9 hole tourney on one of the new courses, but you only get ranked on 18 hole tourneys.

I figure by the weekend my score will have easily been crushed.

Oh yeah, a couple other things of note:

The greens are slightly slower than in 3. I know on the Aloha course, the first time I played, I was missing putts by a foot or more where I would have drained them in 3.

And, unless I'm wrong and this was is 3, sometimes you center the camera with R2 instead of X. Twice I tried centering the camera for a chip shot, and ended up strarting the meter.
 

DCX

DCX
I could have been playing this now if my PS2 didn't die on me :( Oh well next online beta here i come.

DCX
 

Wario64

works for Gamestop (lol)
My beta is in. Gonna play some offline mode I guess to get the hang of it, then go online
 
Played 3 tourneys, barely fought off this guy named Cricket. Ended up winning by 2 strokes.

Second tourney, Cricket and I fought for a few holes, and then he ran away with it, beating me by 7 strokes, his -8 to my -1. Both of those were played on Fox woods or whatever its called.

Then I decided to play one more, played alright, but then got a double bogey. Fought back and ended up winning with a score of -13.
 

Wario64

works for Gamestop (lol)
Just played my 2nd game, got 2nd place. Very close game, the 1st place guy beat me by 1 stroke. This game is pretty fun but there's still some stuff I need to learn. Why didn't tihs beta come with a real manual? Can't assume everyone in the beta has played HSG :p

I need to practice those impact shots, and I need to know how to approach he hole better. There's lots of instances where a birdey is possible but I'm just not getting near the hole


Can you use a headset in a match game? And see what the other person is doing, like how they're setting up the shots? I need to watch a pro play and learn
 
I don't think there is any headset support whatsoever, and from what I've read, you never see any other golfer on the course.

I don't consider myself a pro, but here are some tips.

-Pay attention to who you pick. The two most popular people so far are T-Bone and Max. T-Bone has great power and spin, but not so great control, and he hits a fade (a shot that starts left and curves right). Max has less power, but much better control, and he hits it straight. I rarely use T-Bone, because the courses in the beta have some tight spots that don't suit themselves to bombers, but more precise hits.

-Always take the wind into consideration. In 3, you could toss up grass to judge the wind speed. Now you have to look at visable wind gusts and objects blowing around. Wind off the tee is not a big factor, unless you are hitting it between two bunkers, or over or around an obstacle. Your approach shot is usually affected the most.

This is how I play the wind:
If it's blowing to the east or west between 1-4 mph, I move a few feet away from the hole for every mph. I try to make it so that the wind blows the ball near the hole.
If it's blowing more than 5 mph, I get a little more drastic, and move it even further. It's not uncommon in HSG to have to aim your shot completely off the green and let the wind carry it towards the pin.
If the wind is blowing north or south, the same principles apply, instead of feet away from the hole, its clubs. If it's blowing around 8 mph towards me, I'll take an extra club up and try to drive it over the hole, and let the wind knock it down.

Other things to consider with the wind is that by holding up during impact, your ball trajectory will lower and cut thru the wind, whereas if you hold down, the ball floats more and will get carried by the wind.

Two things that a lot of first timers don't watch for are:
-the effect your lie can have. If you are on a slope, the bottom right corner of the screen will give you the direction the ball is going to travel once you hit it. If it's spinning slowly, the ball will not move that far in that direction, where if it's spinning quickly, it will curve wildly.
-the percentage of getting good contact. Under the ball is a percentage range. This is how much power you can put on a shot. If you hit it into a bunker, the ball will usually be buried in the sand. So if you look at the percentage, it may only say 50%. So if you hit it full power, it may only travel half of the distance.

For putting, it's mainly getting a feel for it. Uphill putts you need to put more power on it, and your shots will curve less than normal. Downhill putts you need to take power off, and they will be more effected by undulations in the green.

Also, you can put forward or backward spin on it. Forward spin will cut down on the distance it travels in the air, but it will roll more once it lands. Putting backspin on it can allow you to overshoot the pin and spin it back, or have the ball bite into the green on long shots.

I could write even more, but just play play play. When I got HSG3, I wasn't that good at all. Now in this beta, I'm finishing holes with 90 seconds left on the clock waiting for people in the between-hole lobby.

BTW, does anyone else play fast? I haven't ran into anyone yet.
 

Wario64

works for Gamestop (lol)
Thanks for the post, that definately helps. I'll just need to practice some more. I've only played 3 games so far, and a -2 score on the last game is certinaly not bad at all for a newbie.

As far as game speed, I usually have at least 30 seconds on the clock on every ball (not sure what the timer setting was). The game can take a while to complete all 18 holes...


er, I means i usually have 30 seconds left after I finish a hole
 

drohne

hyperbolically metafictive
i wonder how meticulous sony is about verifying best buy employees. let's find out!
 

Wario64

works for Gamestop (lol)
The dialogue is sooo horrible. "I'll cook your sausages!" I mean WTF?? "Your putting makes me hungry!"
 

Teddman

Member
ZootedGranny said:
One bad thing is that I haven't seen any support for a headset, so you need a keyboard.
Whoa! This sucks bad. Is there to be no headset support for the final commercial release?

That takes enough fun out of it for me and the buddies I would have played it with cross country that I might not bother hooking it up online.
 
I don't know if headset support is going to be in the retail. However, if Sony is listening to anyone on their beta message board, they'll add it in considering everyone and their mother is complaining about it.
 

Wario64

works for Gamestop (lol)
How does a match game differ from a tournament game? I thought they would add headset support for match play.

The chatting system isn't really that great either. Each person gets a one line of text to chat in between rounds, and you can only see 7 players listed on the screen at once. So if you have more than 7 people in the game, you have to scroll constantly to see what everyone is saying. It's like everyone has their own 'chat bubble', kind of like PSO. Once you type one sentence, then type another, you can only see the last sentence said by that person. They should have just used a standard chat room window with a log of what everyone is saying
 

Defensor

Mistaken iRobbery!
IIRC match play is only for 2 players while Tournament is for up to 50 players. It's fun so far but I would turn the timer on fast.
 
Actually, I was told by 2 people that match play has headset support, but I haven't tried it myself.

I saw your -5 score on Northern Fox CC Wario, good job.

A couple of hardcore HSG3 players are making their way on. I played a guy that shot a -15 on the other Japanese course. I shot a -8, but he was tearing it up.

My play seems to fluctuate. I usually start out slow and then gain ground.
 

DCharlie

And even i am moderately surprised
okay - been thinking about this for a while....

In Mingol over here, some people in tournaments were consistantly getting around -20 (!)

... how the feck is that humanly possible?
 
Just getting on runs.

On HSG3, I had shot -14 or lower on every course, including a -20 on Western back tees, and a -22 on Aloha back tees. Like anything else, if you play it enough, consistent low scores will show up. I beat the last 5 tournament brackets in HSG3 without losing.

So people shooting -20 consistently are the hardest of the hardcore.
 

levious

That throwing stick stunt of yours has boomeranged on us.
I like the game a lot, had to quit before finishing a tournament though since it was taking almost two minutes between holes... even though everyone was finished. Enjoyed it other than that, and wasn't even doing anything more than pointing and clicking three times... thanks for the link to the manual Wario. Plus, half the players were bitching the whole time about this not being tiger... of course those complaining were over par.
 

Wario64

works for Gamestop (lol)
I almost got a -9 score on one of the tounaments last night, but I choked so bad on the last hole. +4!! Oh man, I feel like an idiot. I could have been in like the top 5 on the rankings :cry
 

CygnusXI

Member
My Beta arrived yesterday, but so did my company><
Parents and brother, his wife, and 2 kids...
Ugh.
Maybe I can try this by Saturday/Sunday...
 

Wario64

works for Gamestop (lol)
Holy crap, I saw this guy named CEEJAY or whatever his name was playing on the Honolulu course I think it's called. The guy got a -16 score!!! Oh man, he had like 3 eagles on 3 holes, it was friggin crazy. It should be #1 for that course now (and was before getting the score). The man was nuts...getting eagles on 40 ft putts. I mean wtf!
 

Defensor

Mistaken iRobbery!
WasabiKing said:
SCEA is throwing in Ratchet and Jak as golfers, Clank and Daxter as caddies. :)
Does Daxter and Clank say:

"Your putting is making me hungry."
"I'll cook you sausages."
?
 

Wario64

works for Gamestop (lol)
Defensor said:
Does Daxter and Clank say:

"Your putting is making me hungry."
"I'll cook you sausages."
?


lol

I'm getting pretty decent at this game now. I even beat one of Zooted's scores on a course by 1 stroke. Woo!
 
I don't play for a day, and Wario steps his game up.

I hate the way the name search is set up, it only searches for people that have started a tourney. Anyone going to play tonight?
 

Defensor

Mistaken iRobbery!
The Beta Survey is now out, check your email. I added the comment of having a friend's list, usb voice chat, and even the possibilty of adding some Japan Only characters like the Ape Escape Monkey as a caddie.
 
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