Black Diamond Ranch Quarry Course Beta Test

[BSilvernail]

I have a public beta ready of my recreation of the Black Diamond Ranch Quarry course, designed by Tom Fazio. The course features four sets of tees that are accurate to the real course, plus I have also included a challenge set of tees. Please let me know if you encounter any problems or issues with the course. Here is a download link:
http://silvernail-design.com/files/BDR_beta3.zip

After the course is final, I will look into creating a 3D grass version of the course.

Thanks for your help.

[RandyG]

Hi Brian,

Considering all the great JN5 & JN6 courses you have designed I'm looking forward to this one.
Welcome to JNPG

Thanks

randy

[Mwh65]

Thanks Brian,

Black Diamond Ranch Quarry has been added to the PGLS Courses database ...

pgcourses.php?id=477

Please reply here with any observations you may have with this course.

[RandyG]

Hello Brian,

I found the course stunning especially the quarry holes.

I found a couple cosmetic things; mulch not centered on holes 7 and 9. Pics included.

The FPS drops off on holes 7, 10, 12, 13, 15, and 16.

7 low FPS on the forward tees
10 low FPS on the ladies tee
12 low on the ladies tee and also the second shot
13 FPS drops
15 the second shot from the fairway is low
16 tee FPS is low.

Considering FPS is an issue with the meter these weren't that bad between 32 and 42 FPS while all other holes were very high.
I don't know why the FPS effects some holes and not others??? It happens on quite a few courses having meter jitters.

I liked how you managed to cover up that hump line that follows most fairways between textures.

The course played well from all tees and after a couple hundred shots the FPS was my only issue.

Thanks for the course I hope more will follow.

randy

[BSilvernail]

Thanks for the feedback Randy, I appreciate it. I'll be sure to get those spots of mulch adjusted.

The FPS issues was something I've noticed as well on my system. Hole 16 tee is a big culprit for me. I think any view that looks back across a major portion of the landplot will be a bit on the low side when it comes to frames. Did you encounter major problems with the swing meter due to the frame rate? I use the real-time swing and haven't tried playing the course using the meter.

[RandyG]

Did you encounter major problems with the swing meter due to the frame rate? I use the real-time swing and haven't tried playing the course using the meter.

Yes,
I wouldn't call it a major problem being in the 30's but "tricky".
The lower the fps the more erratic the meter gets. Anything under 35 is going to be pure luck trying to hit the mark up or down on the 3 click meter.
You can see it in screen movement as the fps gets lower too.
Generally on my computer anything above 40 is good with higher being better.
60 would be best for low end machines.

The low fps has been an issue on many courses.
Maybe someone can chime in as to why this might happen ? I have seen some theories that mostly blame the video card but that doesn't account for why it only happens on certain holes of the same course IMHO.

The course plays very well if you keep an eye on the fps.

Thanks Bryan

randy

[kenneth-H]

hole 18 tree on the left ball went in it fell down and rolled in the sand back169 yds

[Mwh65]

Ken,

That is almost certainly the game causing that.

[Seasider47]

Excellent Course

[BSilvernail]

hole 18 tree on the left ball went in it fell down and rolled in the sand back169 yds

Thanks for the feedback. Another tester found that there were collision problems with the pine trees I created in the SpeedTree modeler. I have gotten that fixed. I'm not certain, but this may have been the cause of the issue you encountered.