Golfing In Aether News

This is a follow-up from yesterdays update with a few small fixes and some additions too. Included is a new mid-game level and some changes to how resetting works.


Added is a new mid-game level featuring the new mover obsticules from yesterdays update. Theres a handful of ways you can complete this one, but getting the Hole-In-One can be tricky.


A change made means you now have to hold the reset button for a few seconds in order to reset. There are rules to this, for instance you wont have to do this when already on the Tee (you also can't reset in this state, but I'll get to that in a minute) or in practice mode, which will remain as before.

Also added is a tweak to how resetting is handled when you are already on the Tee in a session. Instead of 'Resetting' and giving you a stroke penalty, it will now just reset your orientation/position. If you have moved from the Tee, then standard one stroke penalty will remain.

These changes don't effect practice mode and are just about giving visual feedback / tiding things up for people pressing buttons not knowing what they are doing.

If you are enjoying playing the demo then please add the game to your wishlist :)

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1914980/Golfing_In_Aether/

[h2]General[/h2]

• Added improvements to the reset button turning it into a hold-to-reset. This does not need to be held in practice mode.
  
• Added change to reset behaviour in non-practice modes when on the tee. You now cannot /reset/ when on the tee, but your orientation will be reset at no cost to strokes as you haven’t moved.
  
• Added new mid-game map “Drop To The Left…”.
  
• Fixed a potential back-end xp handling issue relating to the hole-out.
  
• Fixed a couple of paths relating to the particle effects.

Be sure to check out the official discord server with channels for Golfing In Aether and my other various projects.

Today’s update is a week earlier than planned due to progressing quite a bit ahead of schedule. Five new levels have been added, four of which feature a new type of mover obstacle. In addition, most of the existing levels have been reworked with various detail improvements and balance fixes.


A late game level featuring the mover obstables, multiple holes, and routes. This level has no less than four different route combinations; can you get a Hole-in-one?


These are mid-game levels that offer a fair level of challenge for thier size. Cliffhanger while looking relatively straight forward has you trying to stop yourself from careering off the edge with only the mover and good shot control to stop you.

Take a swing combines good shot reflection with the new movers; don't time or aim just right and you'll get pulled down the wrong path. The hole-in-one also takes good control of your power so you land just in the right spot of the hole area.


As the names suggest these are about figuring out the ideal angle of your shot so can reflect your way to the hole. These are both early levels and deliberately kept simple as potential game openers to get players into the idea of reflecting their shots.

Remember that players who wish for more of a challenge can turn off the sloped holes on all levels via 'Hard' difficulty.


Also in this update is a rework to the vast majority of existing levels with way more visual detail than previous. Some levels such as 'Tee Time' have had hole-in-one routes slightly tweaked for balance purposes.

As always, please let me know if you find any issues, however small or minor as these can be hotfixed. If you are enjoying playing the demo then please add the game to your wishlist as this really helps with how the game is ordered in the store and will help expose it to other players as-well :)

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1914980/Golfing_In_Aether/

[h2]General[/h2]

• Added five new levels; four of which make use of the new mover obstacles. The level distribution is 2 early, 2 mid, and 1 late.
  
• Added additional level randomization category for specifically first level. This narrows the selection of what the first level could be to ensure it’s among the more straight forward. An example of levels excluded from being first would be ‘Goofy Golf’ which is likely not best for brand new players to start out on, but is fine for randomly being chosen for hole 2 or 3.
  
• Added changes to categorisation of some levels. ‘You Feeling Lucky?’ moved to early from mid, but not the new first category. As this is a relatively small level its fine for the early game, just not first as I don’t want people getting too frustrated over the windmill.
  
• Added improvement to hole camera tracking behaviour. Some levels like ‘Go for it’ where the exit pipe was a corner could result in the camera jumping slightly for a split second as it returns camera to the ball, this has been fixed.
  
• Fixed main menu fps cap behaviour. Some more recently added features and menu’s this wasn’t behaving as it should and it has now been fixed. All in-game / playing portions besides ‘waiting for players’ will use the main menu cap option of 60fps by default. You can change this in graphics settings to any value you wish, including off. Bear in mind the menu may render at several hundred fps and max out your gpu without a cap set and it has no effect on gameplay.
  
• Added various improvements to physics collisions responsiveness.

[h2]Environment[/h2]

• Added rework to ‘Gentle Swing’ to give more visual detail.
  
• Added rework to ‘Tee Time’ by changing the path of the hole in one bamboo to take slightly longer (to balance scores better), as well as add in pond and rocks visual detail.
  
• Added rework to ‘You feeling lucky?’ by adding in small pond detail on lower section.
  
• Fixed various ground meshes to remove gaps between grass and outer wall pieces.
  
• Added rework to ‘Getting tee-ed off” by adding in water detail below the bamboo section.
  
• Added replacement to the placeholder water material in various levels along with various aquatic plants for visual effect.
  
• Fixed up some wall gaps on ‘midhole madness’.
  
• Fixed ground not being seamless with walls on several meshes.
  
• Fixed an overlapping triangle on 1 meter straights with holes.
  
• Fixed normal on various 1 meter hole meshes.
  
• Added minor optimization by reducing the number of track pieces used to make some earlier courses with no visual difference to them.
  
• Fixed some out of alignment meshes on ‘See you on the other side’.
  
• Fixed some corner wall meshes that were inconsistent.

[h2]Interface[/h2]

• Fixed weirdness where 10% was receiving two decimals in the stats menu which was effecting padding.

Be sure to check out the official discord server with channels for Golfing In Aether and my other various projects.

This update brings the Stat menu where you can keep track of your overall progression. There is also a session history where you can view previous scoreboards.


This menu will show your current progression and various stats. The top bar is your XP level which is currently capped at 6 in the demo.

The stats for Wins, Hole-in-ones and Average XP use rolling averages that take into account your previous 10 sessions. The linegraphs show stats in these 10 session increments up to the 40 sessions. These specific stats are only recorded after completing a standard game, practice mode does not count.

Other stats such as stokes, holeouts and time are total stats and not capped to a recent window. These stats can be increased by a successful completion in practice mode, but only the final result, and not stats prior to resetting or shot undoing.


This feature allows you take another look at the final scoreboard for the previous 40 sessions you played. Score and stats are available for every player.

Please note that any sessions prior to this update will not be visible and you will not be able to reach the session history menu via stats until you've completed at least one new session (the button will not be present). Stats are stored through a mix of the saved-game file and the Steamworks Stats api.

Let me know of any feedback you have about the additions in this update and if you are enjoying the game please don't forget to add it to your wishlist.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1914980/Golfing_In_Aether/

[h2]General[/h2]

• Added incremental stat tracking for strokes, hole outs, hole in ones, birdies, pars, bogeys and time. Strokes, holeouts and time are displayed on the new stat menu, others are used for a mix of global tracking and for achievements.
  
• Added averaged stat tracking for win rate, hole in one %, and average xp. These work over the span of your 10 most recent sessions.
  
• Fixed an issue with stat totalling in the scoreboard.

[h2]Engine[/h2]

• Updated plugin for Steamworks.

[h2]Environment[/h2]

• Fixed a bunch of ground alignment issues on ‘Hole In Fun’ after finding an overlapping ground piece.

[h2]Interface[/h2]

• Added functioning stat menu where you can view your progress. Please note you will not see stats or history prior to this update as it was only just added etc. Also these stats will likely not carry over to the launch game.
  
• Added session history menu, accessible via the stat menu. Here you’ll get a complete replica of the end of session scoreboard (final hole) of the most recent 40 sessions you played. You will not see sessions from prior to this update.
  
• Fixed an issue where scoreboard wasn’t receiving the correct scroll box theme color.
  
• Fixed a minor padding consistency issue with scoreboard. The lower stat containers were 1.2 pixels out of vertical alignment.

Be sure to check out the official discord server with channels for Golfing In Aether and my other various projects.

This is small update with fixes following on from yesterday’s update before I start on the next major update. I’m not aware of any outstanding issues at this point so do mention them to me either in a comment, on the discussion forum, or on discord as I can get them hotfixed right away.

If you are enjoying playing the demo then please add the game to your wishlist :)

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1914980/Golfing_In_Aether/

[h2]General[/h2]

• Fixed incorrect rich presence being displayed on the main menu. It was saying “Waiting for players” rather than Main Menu. All other rich presence appears to be correct.

[h2]Interface[/h2]

• Fixed when playing as a remote client to an online server, your local players, when disconnecting, wouldn’t be removed from the HUD.
  
• Added a backend performance improvement to removing local players via the HUD. Instead of the widget being rebuilt, only the selective part is removed. This is very minor gain, but still a tidy up to an early made element.
  

Be sure to check out the official discord server with channels for Golfing In Aether and my other various projects.

Today’s update brings several usability and quality of life improvements to the game, notably additional camera modes (including free camera), the ability to name sessions, and reserve slots for friends.


This camera mode allows you fly around the level to help you check out any extra shortcuts or just how to reach the goal if the opening sequence wasn’t sufficient. You can control this camera with either the mouse, keyboard or gamepad and it is compatible with all game modes.

When playing casual, competitive, or race game preset a timer for how long you can use free camera is enabled per round. This is 1/6th of the overall round timer, which works out to 20 or 30 seconds if 2 or 3 minutes respectively. You can disable this timer for custom games, and practice mode does not have this limit.


With this camera you get a higher angle view to help you see at times when your camera is backed into a tight space or against a wall. A good example of its use is on the level “Hole in Fun” where if you are against the wall just before the flag its pretty hard to take your shot.

Please give feedback if you have any ideas on how this can be improved based on any specific level design you encounter as I will be happy to revise it more over time.


You can now set a session name via the custom session menu. By default, the players platform name will be present so you don’t have to rename the session if you don’t wish to. The name you enter will be saved and recalled for next time.

An extra step has been made to ensure this menu is seamless when you are playing using only a gamepad and thus you can activate an onscreen keyboard just as you would when creating a local profile to name your session.

An additional setting in this menu is the ability to reserve slots on the session to only your friends. As friends join, they automatically take these slots first. Servers will not appear to non-friends when all public slots have been taken in the session browser. A good use-case here is if you are playing a public 16-player game, you can reserve 4-8 slots for your friends and still be playing a public 8-12 player match until your friends join.

Please let me know if you find any issues, however small or minor as these can be hotfixed. If you are enjoying playing the demo then please add the game to your wishlist :)

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1914980/Golfing_In_Aether/

[h2]General[/h2]

• Added higher quality version of the no depth ball (the ball you see behind walls). Even though small, there is a performance cost to this as with everything, so it will only be applied when effects are set to highest. The reason for adding this is because without this in especially shaded areas your ball looks a little flat. Only the players ball has this, other players are rendered differently.
  
• Added a triggerable top camera via “B” controller button and “V” key for keyboard (both of which are remappable in settings). This raises the camera up high to help your view clear obstacles. You can also rotate/zoom the camera and make use of the focus flag when in this mode.
  
• Added a triggerable free camera via “C” key or “Left Thumbstick Button” this detaches your camera from your ball and will let you explore the level.
  
• Added option for free camera time restriction to session settings. When enabled this will restrict camera usage to 1/6th of the game time, so for 20 seconds when 2 minutes and 30 seconds for 3 minutes etc. The timer is enabled by default for all game preset types, but not practice mode.
  
• Added additional inner deadzone values in 0.01 increments between 0.15 and 0.2 to the gamepad settings menu and local settings menu.
  
• Added various backend improvements to the gamepad settings menu.
  
• Added ability to name sessions in the custom session’s menu. By default, the text will be filled out with your player’s name as current and when you change it, it will be saved and stored for next time you create a session.
  
• Added gamepad onscreen keyboard to name session with same behaviour as on the create local profile menu.
  
• Added ability to reserve session slots for a chosen number of friends. These slots will get automatically taken once a friend joins. If only friend slots remain the server will not be visible to non-friends in the session list (it will be as if full etc.).
  
• Added session filter option for the free camera timer.
  
• Fixed an issue with finding competitive sessions in the join menu.
  
• Fixed an issue where a remote player disconnecting during hotseat play wouldn’t update the active players list and result in getting stuck in turn for that remote player.
  
• Added rich presence state for “Waiting for Players”.
  
• Fixed focus flag not working in hotseat for local players.

[h2]Customization[/h2]

• Fixed an issue with the faceplate for Melon not showing up on leaderboards.

[h2]Environment[/h2]

• Added improvements to the sloped hole areas so on the non-sloped outskirts the ball will stop quicker (ball will behave as if it was on the ‘flat hole’ parts of the track in these areas).
  
• Added some tweaks to “Crazy Golf” level to decrease the number of orbits leading up to the ‘hole in one’ hole.
  
• Fixed placement of some petals on “Stroke of luck”.

[h2]Interface[/h2]

• Added improvements to hole out animations so they make greater user of the vertical space (noticeable when in vertical split screen).
  
• Added confirmation prompt on the choose profile menu that you wish to return to the previous menu when pressing B on gamepad. A prompt for mouse doesn’t appear as its way easier to knock B button during normal menu usage than it is to specifically click on the back button. This prompt is also skipped for the practice menu.
  
• Added improvements to various back-end button icon behaviour reducing operations when a keymapping is changed.
  
• Added Free Camera movement settings to gamepad and local settings menu.
  
• Added Free Camera and Top Camera Remapping options for both gamepad and keyboard.
  
• Added Focus Flag remapping option for both gamepad and keyboard.
  
• Fixed the session filter game preset not being checked on start-up.
  
• Fixed game settings icon not matching settings menu.
  
• Fixed some incorrect strings on the waiting for players menu.
  
• Fixed some incorrect strings on the session browser menu.
  
• Fixed waiting for players menu sometimes giving the incorrect current player count despite showing the correct number of player widgets.
  
• Fixed inputs to select next or previous player on spectating screen conflicting with quick chat. The input has been moved to bumper buttons, which is consistent with scoreboard.
  

Be sure to check out the official discord server with channels for Golfing In Aether and my other various projects.