Golfing In Aether News

This update focuses on various tidy ups and bug-fixing any issues found. I’ve started working on localization and this update comprises of the work to the back-end of the interface as-well.

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

The first language I’m working on is Japanese, for the simple reason that its one of the languages I speak. Following on from I will start to look at the common European languages. If anyone wants to help speed translations along then I can certainly provide the .po files / string tables at some-point, just get in touch. Other than that, please don’t expect translations to be a quick process if you want them to be actually correct, but it will be progressing along.

https://steamcommunity.com/games/1914980/announcements/detail/3413191463116412908

As with last update, the performance numbers are already very good but that doesn’t mean things can’t be constantly improved as this can benefit the energy consumption of devices at very least. Specifically in this update I was able to reduce the shader instruction cost notably of the flat track pieces and a few other parts of the track. As part of changes every level got a slight update and check to ensure there are no artifacts from changes made. This helped catch a few unrelated minor stuff too.


With more extended testing following on from the recent major update I was able to identify a few more minor issues and fix them, you can see all of these in the full notes below. As always if you encounter something odd or broken please let me know.


[h2]Environment[/h2]

• Fixed a mesh in Speed Bump where a hole was out of alignment.
  
• Added performance improvements to all flat ground meshes without holes.
  
• Added performance improvement to the ramps in learning curve and curve it.
  
• Added performance improvement to the multi hole piece in Mid-hole madness.
  
• Added performance improvement to the square hole mesh piece found in various levels.
  
• Added performance improvement to the round areas that vertical windmalls spin in.
  
• Added slight performance improvement to the really tall ramp in Go for it.
  

[h2]Interface[/h2]

• Fixed an inconsistency where the graphics settings menu had the title “Graphics” and not “Graphics settings” despite it being called that on the previous menu.
  
• Fixed “Player” on scoreboard not working correctly with text contrast setting.
  
• Added improvements to the Nintendo Switch Glyphs by switching the order around where the layout typically differs.
  
• Fixed an incorrect difficulty string being displayed on the session list.
  
• Fixed the resume button on Game Menu or Local Game menu having incorrect icon for Resume.
  
• Fixed a quit game description string referring to “Exit to windows” when running Linux, the menu now says “Exit to desktop” instead.
  
• Fixed ‘back’ button on the season select menu when creating a custom session not working.
  
• Fixed various string inconsistencies.
  
• Fixed a few stat display inconsistencies.
  
• Fixed a typo in the Gamepad settings menu.
  
• Fixed Switch glyphs incorrect for the + and – buttons.
  
• Fixed the save prompt not inheriting the glyph changes immediately after you’ve changed them in the gamepad settings menu.
  
• Fixed some settings menus going small compared to other menus on very small screen sizes.

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

Following on from the recent major update I went and did some tidy ups and quality of life improvements. I also came up with some creative ways of squeezing even more performance out of the game, which does help those running the game on an APU.


Given the performance in the game was already very good I had to get a bit creative here with these gains. I was however able to find some shader instruction reductions as well introduce more specific levels of material quality for low end hardware. I’ve also introduced some targeted LODs for specific meshes that use the distance dithering so when further away the cost for those is much lower as well. Other changes include some hole meshes getting changed slightly to help with material cost.

To translate into actual FPS numbers I booted up my AsRock DeskMini with its Ryzen 3200G, which for those not familiar this is an apu based machine, not something with a dedicated graphics card. It’s also one of the older Vega 3 kind, not the newer fancy RDNA2 kind you find in the SteamDeck. Because im testing specifically graphics the game was fullscreened on a 1920x1200 resolution display, running stock medium settings. I had not changed any of the quality settings between updates. This test was done in the native Linux build on SteamOS.

Around the pond – 32% improvement
1.2.0 = 50 FPS
1.2.1 = 66 FPS

Hillclimb – 14% improvement
1.2.0 = 61 FPS
1.2.1 = 70 FPS

Tee Time – 40% improvement
1.2.0 = 54 FPS
1.2.1 = 76 FPS

So a range of 15 to 40% performance gains on this system. These gains won’t happen on high end systems simply because performance is already so high on these machines you’ll long be CPU bottlenecked in most cases with hundreds of FPS. The level with the least gain is partially because that level already had the highest fps numbers to begin with. If comparing these numbers to what you would get on a SteamDeck then do note not only is the SteamDeck much faster (it has RDNA2 not the vega3 like in mine), it also only has to contend with 720p, not the 1920x1200 resolution I was running this machine at, so performance would be quite a bit higher.

It should be noted that Golfing in Aether also has an ES3.1 mode that low end machines can run on, and even on this little machine the performance can easily exceed 100 FPS in that mode and go beyond 120 FPS in several levels too.


A combination of feedback from players and the time to do some more extended testing did identify a few issues that I've been able to fix, you can see all of these in the full notes below.

If you encounter any issues at all then please let me know as I'll be happy to hotfix them pretty quick.

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

[h2]Environment[/h2]

• Fixed too much subsurface effect on some tree leaves.
  
• Fixed a wall gap on Ponds of Rage.
  
• Added shader instruction reduction to track pieces, rocks, trees, and fences.
  
• Added additional LODs for trees and fences.
  
• Added slight change in position to a triangle stone rebound mesh in Rock bottom.
  
• Added change to a mover in Rock Bottom so it is better aligned with the wall.
  
• Fixed some collision issues on Learning Curve.
  
• Fixed some bamboo that could block the camera.

[h2]Interface[/h2]

• Fixed an instance where it was possible to not trigger the correct score output and animation in local play when you have a really high number of strokes.

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

Track down the troublesome purple pumpkins that have escaped their patch and are hiding in each of the levels! Earn some sweet limited-time Halloween themed customization!


[h2]What do I have to do?[/h2]
To hunt a pumpkin you simply need to hit them with your golf ball. There are more than 40 purple pumpkins in the game (one per level), but you only need to find 10 to unlock all the rewards. There is no reward for hunting the orange ones, but feel free to smash them to your hearts content.


[h2]What do I get from doing this?[/h2]
The above three golf ball designs are unlocked from completing this event. Each feature color options and an accompanying faceplate.

[h2]How do I track my progress?[/h2]
A progress bar and counter can be found on the main menu below a description of the event.

[h2]How long will it take me to complete this event?[/h2]
This is not supposed to be a grind, and if playing as normal you'll probably complete it a couple of hours after playing a few different sessions. If were to do it solo in purely in practice mode you could probably do it in 10 to 15 minutes. Some levels will be harder than others to get the pumpkin, but theres enough of them that its just a bit of fun to enjoy the halloween theme rather than be an overall challenge.

[h2]Can I complete this in local play?[/h2]
Yes :) If any local players hits a pumpkin it will count for the primary profile so you can enjoy sort-of a co-op activity while you hunt them down.

[h2]How long does the event last?[/h2]
The event will conclude on November 14th giving you more than three weeks to complete it. The autumn seasonal appearence, minus the pumpkins and this event will be a permanent addition to the game.


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

The first free expansion to Golfing in Aether is here, introducing autumn colors along with several new levels. This is also a very packed news post, with both a seasonal event starting, a 15-30% sale on the game, and the deluxe edition DLC being updated as well.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2168440/Golfing_In_Aether__Autumn/


Above is a link to the free DLC. The levels will work in both the new autumn theme shown or in the default spring appearence.



The level breakdown is one late game level, then both four early and mid game levels. The total number of levels in the game is now 41 excluding variations. As this is a free DLC, both achievements and the store page have been updated to factor in these new levels.

Hope you enjoy playing these levels, I'm fully open to feedback on any of them :) The goal was to provide greater variation, and some of these have some pretty distinct new mechanics. My plan is to do another free level expansion sometime in December, so keep your eyes open for that.

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1914980/view/5723537538088182980

Above is a link to a seperate blog post discussing a halloween event that is currently running. The goal is to hunt pumpkins and you'll unlock some sweet limited-time halloween themed balls.



The above image is of the balls you can unlock. These are only available via this event and for a limited time. You have till November 14th to complete the event, so more than three weeks. These are all color customizable. Check out that other blog post for details :)


Two new balls (shown above) have also been added to the Deluxe edition based around the Halloween Theme, these are seperate designs to what you can unlock with the event above. Each of these has color customization options as well as a fitting faceplate.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1914980/Golfing_In_Aether/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2138970/Golfing_In_Aether__Deluxe_Edition_Upgrade/

For the next two weeks Golfing in Aether will have a 15-30% off sale, with 30% being on the base game and 15% on the deluxe edition DLC. So if Golfing in Aether has been on your wishlist then its a perfect time to pick it up and enjoy the seasonal event.

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1914980/view/5723537538091769835
It's worth mentioning again that since launch, Golfing in Aether was updated to include Native Linux support. So if playing on that platform then the game is now fully playable as-well :)


[h2]General[/h2]

• Added support for Halloween Event.
  
• Added support for Free Autumn DLC, which includes the Autumn Seasonal theme and 9 new levels.
  
• Added five holiday themed quick chat messages including “Happy Halloween”, “Trick or treat?”, “Boo!”, “Eeek.”, and “Look out!”. You can find these using the search function on keyboard (5 key), or add them to your quick chat choices under game settings if using gamepad.

[h2]Customization[/h2]

• Added three Halloween themed balls unlockable by completing Halloween event.
  
• Added two Halloween themed balls as part of the Deluxe Edition (different to the event balls).

[h2]Environment[/h2]

• Added an increase to friction when falling into water.
  
• Fixed a rock placement on ‘Behind the Tee’.
  
• Fixed an issue where pixel depth offset wasn’t correctly handled on logs and rocks.
  
• Added Halloween Pumpkins.
  
• Fixed various wall gaps on ‘Speed Bump’.

[h2]Interface[/h2]

• Fixed an issue with the shadow of the padlock icon on the New Game menu.
  
• Fixed some padding inconsistencies on the New game and Join Menu with regard to the description panel.
  
• Fixed an incorrect description on the new game menu when hovering over the ‘Custom’ button on the second page.
  
• Added theme select menu when starting a session or practice level. This is to support the new Autumn DLC and Halloween event content.

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

Today I’m happy to announce the release of Golfing in Aether running natively on Linux, and that includes SteamOS. An open beta was previously run with no outstanding issues found at this point.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1914980/Golfing_In_Aether/
To play this version just launch Golfing on Aether on your Linux distro you normally use with Steam games and you'll get the native Linux version when you install the game. If you've previously set the game to run a specific version of Proton (e.g. experimental) then remember to opt out of that.

The Linux version is functionally identical to the Windows version with full cross-platform mutliplayer.

If you enounter an issue or require assistance then please reach out either on the discussion forums or discord and either myself or the community would be happy to help :)


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