Thinking of creating a course

[ledsvik]

Hey guys

I am thinking of slowly starting to learn creating a course using the Unity engine. And long time ago I was fiddling with arnold palmer course designer for Links 2003. It was mostly about creating triangles and rotating them etc and applying textures. Which were kinda doable after a few weeks of practise.

Would you guys say it would take months of practise to make a fairly basic course or is it abit complicated? I've been a software designer since -97 so I understand the C# part if programming is needed. But are there like a million options you gotta find and learn?

I know this is abit hard to answer but some tips would be appreciated so I know if I should bother with it or not :)

Thanks in advance
/Lasse

[charlie]

I've only created one course using Course Forge - Seminole Lakes - but I have created 15 or 20 courses using other design programs. It did not take me that long to create a course using Course Forge. I don't think it will take you months to pick it up.

There are a few tricky parts. For example, don't download and try to use the latest version of Unity. You have to use the older version 5.2.3 which is the version that Course Forge was made to work with.

The best way to get started is to watch the Mike Jones tutorials, which cover all the basics with video demonstrations of Mike using the design tools. You will learn 99 percent of what you need to know watching these tutorials. They are posted here:

http://www.perfectparallel.com/topic/69 ... tutorials/

You can import your created objects into the program, but that is a bit more tedious and difficult. Some guys have learned how to use other software programs (like SpeedTree) to create trees. There are other programs that can be used to create clubhouses and other objects and import those into the program. I think some guys use Blender, but there are a number of software modeling programs that will create objects for import into Unity. You will need to make sure they work with Version 5.2.3. And you will find a few completed objects (trees, fences, walls, bridges, houses, etc.) at the Perfect Parallel site that have been uploaded. I downloaded some of these and gave them a try. Some work better than others. I essentially worked with the stock objects in Course Forge because I had so much to learn. I recommend you start this way. Once you familiarize yourself with how Course Forge and Unity work, you can move to more complicated tasks. Just my advice.

Good luck and keep us posted on your progress.

[bortimus]

ledsvik,

I never designed for Links 2003 so I can’t speak to that. I will try to give you some explanation but I encourage you to search some old threads on the Perfect Parallel website for better explanations and videos.

For the most basic course build you will need to learn several things in Unity. Navigation, terrain sculpting, texture painting, planting grasses/ trees, object placement and some basic lighting.

The more advanced and unique you want your course to look/feel will require more time to learn other techniques.

3D modeling, custom texturing and foliage, sounds, animations etc… some designers have spent a ton of time on these things.

You will also need to understand how to use CourseForge (CF) which is the asset package that opens within Unity. This is provided free from Perfect Parallel. CF allows you to draw the shapes for the tees/fairways/rough etc… and place tees, pins, and shot points around the course.

It is very rewarding work but it can also be incredibly frustrating.

It’s hard to estimate the amount of time spent because you have to wait for the course to build each time you want to see or test any of the changes in the game. You will work through dozens of builds fixing mistakes and testing things.

I estimate the most basic playable course could be made with 30- 40 hours of work. Default everything.

Some of the top courses in the game may have taken over 300 hours


I left so much out of this but hopefully that gives you some idea.

Edit: Charlie responded while I wrote this. He has some good advice!

[ledsvik]

Ty for your feedback guys :)

Gotta give it a serious try :) since I got topography of the local golfcourses here........ but I'll try to do a fictional one....

I'll bother you guys alot for info I guess :)

[ledsvik]

I'm just worried about the installed shit, some didnt install........ like visual studio 2003.... come on! lmao

[ledsvik]

WoW....

Seen all the tutorials :)

Mike Jones is a legend........ he designed courses for Links 2003..... they were stunning :) he did those blending tekniques and make the courses look stunning :)

They took about 10 seconds to render each shot, but they were pretty lmao

[ledsvik]

Starting to get the hang of how things work

It's alot of fun fiddling around with the terrain and stuff

[mikahenrik]

Hi!
You can find lots of good info and shared assets from the Perfect Parallel forum. Just a few things from a different perspective for creating fictional designs. You can do a lot with limited assets when paying more attention to creating your landscape. I don't know your experience in golf design or creating 3D terrains so some of the advice below may be obvious but hope this helps.

Start like you were designing a course in real life for a real client who has a piece of land he wants to build a course on. Create a story/theme around your project. You can change this later as you go but it really helps to get things going. Create the landscape first. Look for google maps for some interesting suitable land and simply copy the satellite image as your starting point. It can be really difficult to start creating interesting land from zero and will also save time when painting the terrain surrounding your course. You don't need to get the accurate elevation data. (Of course if you can get someone to fix you a real world lidar terrain it will save you a lot of sculpting.) Roughly create the main features of the land with Unity sculpting tools. Terraintoolkit (maybe there are better) has some tools to create more detail or simply start sculpting more detail in Unity to get the desired result. Google images from the land and free version of google earth will give you enough elevation information if you have trouble imagining what the land could be like. Sculpting terrain may feel frustrating at first but you will quickly get better and it can be really fun. Or not :) When choosing the theme/style of your land keep in mind what assets you have. You may find an ideal piece of land that looks stunning in real life but not having the necessary Unity assets (trees etc.) and it can be really difficult to make it look right. For example linksy coastal land is easy as you only need a few types of trees and grass and also easy to create interesting golf terrain.

Once you are happy with your land, start routing your course. Finish the whole routing before building the holes just like if it was real life design. This is very important to get a realistic feel. Build the course on the landscape, not the landscape around your golf holes. Have a set of rules that mimic the real world. All earth moving costs tons of money. Keep it to a realistic level. Moving mountains costs tons of money. Building on/altering coastal dunes is often restricted. Many links courses run on the dunes slightly inland and only have a few holes or greens on "top of water". Dramatic features often serve better as backdrop but don't provide interesting/suitable golfing land. Many sites have restrictions on cutting trees/forest. Having a realistic set of rules will not only make it more interesting to design but will help you a lot to keep the end result more realistic. Keep the earth moving to a minimum in the beginning and find better/easier terrain for golf holes. It's easy to end up having to move mountains when building your last holes if you don't spend enough time with the routing. Save some par 3s to cross difficult terrain. Even if you are very familiar with golf design it's so easy to get carried away when you can change the landscape with a few clicks and trying to make it too perfect will lose the oddities that make the land/course feel realistic. Want to build a pond on top of the hill. Where does it collect its water? Design a steeply sloping fairway. How do they cut it? It may sound like splitting hair but it can easily kill the "feel" of your design. It's not difficult at all to mimic the rules of the real world and it actually makes everything much easier to get good results.

I said to start with routing but before you start designing your course create one greensite/hole as a test to make sure the scale of your features is correct. Find the highlight from your land and build a hole to see if it looks like you've imagined. Things in Unity may look little different than in the game.

Learn limitations about course forge before trying to design something that is not quite possible. Detailed bunker edges. It's impossible to create bunker edges with sharp noses or natural looking detailed jagged edges with Unity/Course Forge alone.

Remember in a fictional world if you are not happy with the billionaire client you are designing for, you can fire him and find a new billionaire that wants exactly the course you want to design :)

If you see some assets, textures etc. on my courses feel free to ask. I'll share them if I still find them.

[ledsvik]

Hi!
You can find lots of good info and shared assets from the Perfect Parallel forum. Just a few things from a different perspective for creating fictional designs. You can do a lot with limited assets when paying more attention to creating your landscape. I don't know your experience in golf design or creating 3D terrains so some of the advice below may be obvious but hope this helps.

Start like you were designing a course in real life for a real client who has a piece of land he wants to build a course on. Create a story/theme around your project. You can change this later as you go but it really helps to get things going. Create the landscape first. Look for google maps for some interesting suitable land and simply copy the satellite image as your starting point. It can be really difficult to start creating interesting land from zero and will also save time when painting the terrain surrounding your course. You don't need to get the accurate elevation data. (Of course if you can get someone to fix you a real world lidar terrain it will save you a lot of sculpting.) Roughly create the main features of the land with Unity sculpting tools. Terraintoolkit (maybe there are better) has some tools to create more detail or simply start sculpting more detail in Unity to get the desired result. Google images from the land and free version of google earth will give you enough elevation information if you have trouble imagining what the land could be like. Sculpting terrain may feel frustrating at first but you will quickly get better and it can be really fun. Or not :) When choosing the theme/style of your land keep in mind what assets you have. You may find an ideal piece of land that looks stunning in real life but not having the necessary Unity assets (trees etc.) and it can be really difficult to make it look right. For example linksy coastal land is easy as you only need a few types of trees and grass and also easy to create interesting golf terrain.

Once you are happy with your land, start routing your course. Finish the whole routing before building the holes just like if it was real life design. This is very important to get a realistic feel. Build the course on the landscape, not the landscape around your golf holes. Have a set of rules that mimic the real world. All earth moving costs tons of money. Keep it to a realistic level. Moving mountains costs tons of money. Building on/altering coastal dunes is often restricted. Many links courses run on the dunes slightly inland and only have a few holes or greens on "top of water". Dramatic features often serve better as backdrop but don't provide interesting/suitable golfing land. Many sites have restrictions on cutting trees/forest. Having a realistic set of rules will not only make it more interesting to design but will help you a lot to keep the end result more realistic. Keep the earth moving to a minimum in the beginning and find better/easier terrain for golf holes. It's easy to end up having to move mountains when building your last holes if you don't spend enough time with the routing. Save some par 3s to cross difficult terrain. Even if you are very familiar with golf design it's so easy to get carried away when you can change the landscape with a few clicks and trying to make it too perfect will lose the oddities that make the land/course feel realistic. Want to build a pond on top of the hill. Where does it collect its water? Design a steeply sloping fairway. How do they cut it? It may sound like splitting hair but it can easily kill the "feel" of your design. It's not difficult at all to mimic the rules of the real world and it actually makes everything much easier to get good results.

I said to start with routing but before you start designing your course create one greensite/hole as a test to make sure the scale of your features is correct. Find the highlight from your land and build a hole to see if it looks like you've imagined. Things in Unity may look little different than in the game.

Learn limitations about course forge before trying to design something that is not quite possible. Detailed bunker edges. It's impossible to create bunker edges with sharp noses or natural looking detailed jagged edges with Unity/Course Forge alone.

Remember in a fictional world if you are not happy with the billionaire client you are designing for, you can fire him and find a new billionaire that wants exactly the course you want to design :)

If you see some assets, textures etc. on my courses feel free to ask. I'll share them if I still find them.

Thanks for all the pointers :) First I'll try to get 1 working hole since I'm new to Course Forge and make it playable and somewhat realistic and no weird edges, behavior or elevations. After I'll try to draw some holes on paper and then try to puzzle it all together and most likely do 100 changes before it looks and feels like a somewhat normal course.

[ledsvik]

Would love some "scandinavian" kinda trees. Birch tress, conifers, alder trees and such ones if you got :)

Been looking around for that and hard to find. The ones I find are for newer versions, or look crooked as hell... :)