Update 1.6 - Now Available!

It's time for a new update! Here's what's new:

• New Golf Ball - The Niner
• New Golf Ball - The Pineapple
• New Golf Ball - The Pizza
• New Golf Ball - Chomps
• New Achievement - Practice Makes Perfect
• New Achievement - Soaring
• New Achievement - All of a Twitter
• New stats for time spent on driving range, eagles, birdies and holes in one scored
• New full size course: Grove Bank, Mont Torville
• CPU Controlled players (thanks mikekelly for the suggestion)
• Flag Beacon, optional highlight for distant flags
• Upgraded stroke direction indicator
• Menu carts are no longer driven by ghosts
• Improve shadow map fidelity when putting (fixes shadow flickering)
• Bystander camera activated for remote and CPU controlled players
• Sky camera position updates dynamically with player position
• Animated crowds
• Current course title is now displayed on score board
• Player network quality is shown on the score board
• New 3D skyboxes
• Avatars now fade on driving range to prevent blocking view when aiming
• Billiards direction indicator now animates with power setting
• 9 ball pool now playable in the club house
• Fix billiards lobby mistakenly accepting golf clients (and vice versa)
• Post process settings are now available on options screen
• Flag beacon settings are available on the options screen
• Many small cosmetic adjustments
• Modkit: update hole export script to include PAR values when exporting hole data from Blender
• Modkit: add blender file for 3D skybox models

This update contains a selection of new content - firstly there are 4 new balls to play with:

Yes, there may be a theme here... 😉

Also in this update is a new, full size, course to play on: Mont Torville. It takes ~2 hours for 4 people to complete a leisurely round, although you can opt to play just the front or back 9 holes.

There are also a number of new stat based achievements, which are unlocked when scoring a certain amount of birdies or eagles. The stats can be tracked from the Stats tab in the options menu.

New game features have been added in this update, notably CPU controlled players, so when playing alone you can have some competition. Or, if you prefer, unwind at the end of the day and set 4 CPU controlled players off on their own while you sit back and watch the round play out 🍺. CPU controlled players are also available in network games, and can be distinguished on all clients by the light bulb icon above their name, which appears while they are considering their next play.

Another feature added is a flag 'beacon' that is emitted from the flag to increase visibility at a distance. It fades on proximity and the colour can be changed in the Video tab of the options menu - or it can be disabled completely.

Cosmetically the game has been updated with new 3D animated crowds, and 3D skyboxes. Hopefully these help with the immersion, particularly by toning down the feeling of being on a 'floating island'.

The mod kit has been updated with a Blender file for making 3D skyboxes, and the wiki page for modding includes details on how to make your own skybox environments.

Finally on the new features list is 9 ball pool, now available to play in the clubhouse. It can be selected from the lobby menu when creating a new game.

As always, thank you to everyone for their continued support and feedback - you make developing this game a fun and rewarding experience. Do please let me know of any bugs you might find or suggestions you may have, which I will try to include in future updates. Current plans for the next update include a putting based mini-course and a course playlist creator, where you can mix and match any of the available holes into a custom golf course. The usual caveat of Things May Change™ still applies, however.

Thanks for playing, and happy golfing!