Golfing In Aether News

In todays update I've added one of the major features of the season one development roadmap, the shared input mode. This essentially allowing you to play pass-the-pad local multiplayer with a single controller during turn based play. In case you didn't already know, Golfing in Aether already has split screen local multiplayer, and this new shared input mode is an additional way of playing.


In the season one development roadmap I posted a couple weeks back one of the things I discussed wanting to look at was a way for local players to also be able to share a single controller, at least when playing hotseat sessions.


To access this mode, you just need to have created or joined a hotseat game, which can be competitive preset or custom, and you’ll then be presented with an additional button at the bottom of the choose players menu. When you press the "Shared Input", you’ll get the new interface where you can instead pick players with just the primary controller.


All the features like picking profile, customization, settings, and saving stuff like names work here, essentially you pick one player after another, and they get added to a list. These are the same profiles as you normally use in local play. You can go back and edit each player, remove any, and then when ready just press the main ready button at the bottom of the list.

I will also add that while the primarily intention is to play on TV with controller in this mode, you can just as easily use a mouse or keyboard here. So if sat at computer or want to 'pass the laptop' its certainly possible. Both gamepad and keyboard / mouse inputs remain live, so you can also have one person using mouse, and another using a gamepad as-well.


I wanted to take another look at the sound settings menu as after putting out the previous update that now includes in-game music I felt it could be better. Specifically, I wanted to give balance control over the playing music independent from main menu and sequence music.


However I know having volumes for each music can be a pain at types when you want to switch between playing and turning off certain types for recording videos or streaming. To solve this I’ve gone and added an overall option that will toggle off specific combinations. Here you have the choice between default, which is the default balance for everything enabled, and then options to disable just the main menu music, or only have the opening sequence music. These later two options will come in handy when streaming or certain types of recording. Finally, there’s and option to set it all off, if that’s what you wish.

If you are doing a clips video or plan on talking over your gameplay then I recommend the ‘Level Sequence’ preset, as it will only play music during the opening part of the level. You can of course play with all the balances and disable in any combination you wish.

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

[h2]General[/h2]

• Added various backend changes involving some files moved around to reduce packaging times.
  
• Added new shared input mode, allowing you to play pass-the-pad when creating or joining a hotseat game. Select "Shared Input" during an applicable session type on the choose players menu to enter this mode.
  
• Added small game thread performance improvement when using multiple local players.

[h2]Engine[/h2]

• Added tweaks to configuration to support 8 local players for the shared input mode.
  

[h2]Environment[/h2]

• Fixed a wall in Spin City.
  
• Fixed some weird physical material behaviour in mid-hole madness when stopping in the upper back right section.
  
• Added a small performance improvement to most grass track pieces.
  

[h2]Interface[/h2]

• Added improved sound settings menu with overall preset settings and individual volume balances for music.
  
• Fixed a navigation behaviour issue that was potentially possible in menus with elements of varying sizes were to be navigated in a specific sequence. I don’t know if any menus were affected by it, but its fixed as was noticeable when working on the new shared controller menu.
  
• Added a timer to auto close quick chat when left on screen for 30 seconds. This will help instances when playing in local play and one of the other players has knocked a button while not actually being that familiar with the controls.
  
• Fixed editing a local profile, proceeding to enter the on screen keyboard for name changing, not changing the name at all and then the system not letting you return to previous menu.
  
• Fixed an instance where quick chat wasn’t showing up on each split screen correctly.
  
• Adjusted the highlight colors to improve readability, and contrast with text. Colors like Cyan, light green and pink were especially hard to read so just got darkened a bit. I’m open to feedback on any of these changes.

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

Todays update brings several quality of life improvements from a mix of feedback and continued playtesting. Most notably I've added in-game music and improved the flow of some levels.

Before I give a run down of whats in this update, I want to make a quick mention of both the simultaneous open-beta for Linux support and the development of Autumn expansion teased last week. You can read about both of these below, I'll have another developement news post hopefully tomorrow for the Autumn Expansion as I was able to get another four levels completed over weekend.
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1914980/view/3296096514954667078
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1914980/view/3296096514940897017
As always, if you have feedback, suggestions, or ideas about the game I’m always happy to hear them :)


The trigger is when you launch your ball. Originally I was picturing how a new player might first play the game, and I thought it would have a better kick-in effect to start up the music when they actually launch the ball. Let me know what you think of this :)

This comprises of more than half a dozen different background tracks that will spawn based on the season you are playing in as well as the stage of the level. There is random variation too on top of this. New games will be a bit more energetic but begin to slow as later large levels are played.

Of course this can be disabled independently of all other music in sound settings as you’ll probably want to do this when making videos if you are talking over stuff or plan to do clips.


I identified two levels that had sequences that could do with some very minor tidy ups, this was ‘Tee Time’ and ‘Gentle Swing’. Specifically there was very small parts of the path that looked tad wonky and fixed that.

The second thing is to do with how levels flow, and one unnecessary stopping point I identified was the square hole sections. These are ones you’ll typically encounter if you roll off a ramp or ledge, or maybe bounce up into in levels like ‘See you on the other side’. Anyway, previously these were square sections with a round slopped hole in the middle but otherwise flat in the corners. If the ball got into the corners was a chance of it stopping, and you’d need to take an extra shot. This isn’t really what I’d consider difficulty or a good use of gameplay, so I’ve given those corners a bit of elevation so the ball should roll into the hole easier.

Another area that I’ve targeted improvements is some specific pipes on various levels that were a bit slow or simply could be better. One specifically was on ‘Waterhole’ where I’ve made a whole new model for it that will make things better. 'Speed Bump' has had its pipe sped up a bit as it was a little slow previously.


I added the restart level button in a recent update for Practice, there was already a full reset system, however this let you restart a level from the XP screen after completing it. Anyway, the button was X same as ‘Skip’ typically in regular sessions. After playing this more I found moving this to the same button as reset would reduce pressing by mistake. For mouse only users this makes no difference as its only the key press that’s changed.

Also, did you know that the scoreboard actually had 3 pages of stats? No? Well probably not surprising as there was no visible button glyph to indicate what to actually press. I’ve fixed this and also added a button mouse users can click.


I went and added an extra animation for the Eagle with the text swooping down and almost catching your golf ball as I thought this would give a bit of added variation. You can see this animation in the gif above.

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

[h2]General[/h2]

• Added some ambient music to the game that fades in gradually after the sequence finishes. There are several different tracks that spawn based on conditions such as level stage and season. You can disable this music independently in the sound options. This would be useful if you are creating a video and plan to cut and edit clips, so don’t want this background music.

[h2]Environment[/h2]

• Fixed wall gaps on ‘Waterhole’.
  
• Added new hole in one pipe for ‘Waterhole’ as the old one was a bit slow.
  
• Added a rework of the square hole areas you drop into. Previously the hole was sloped rounded in the middle which left a chance of you getting stopped I the corners and disrupting the flow of the levels. Now you’ll always roll into the hole when in these areas. Note these are the ‘holes’ you find when you roll off an edge, or perhaps manage to bounce your ball into on top of towers like in ‘see you on the other side’ and not the actual main level holes.
  
• Added tweak to the pipe in ‘Speed Bump’ so it moves the ball a little faster.
  
• Fixed a small wall gap on ‘Take a swing’.
  Fixed quality of sequences for ‘Gentle Swing’ and ‘Tee Time’. This is just checking the path doesn’t have any wonky angles in places, other than that it’s the same. These were some of the first levels made.
  
• Added tweak to a pipe in 'Crazy Golf' being a little slow.
  

[h2]Interface[/h2]

• Added additional option to Sound Settings to disable new ingame music.
  
• Added feedback sound to navigating left or right on scoreboard to view different stats.
  
• Added visible onscreen button and glyph for switching stats page on scoreboard.
  
• Added change to the ‘Restart Level’ button by changing the button and glyph to the back button which is what’s used for reset in game. This is to avoid players clicking too quickly before differentiating between ‘Skip’ and ‘Restart’ etc.
  
• Added slight change to intro small legal text to give credit to creators of music added. While not required, I do like to give credit to any other creator’s work used in this project where I can. For reference all 3D assets and most of the stuff in the game is entirely my own work, the exceptions are a few things like music and the emoji icons which are used under licence.
  
• Added back-end support for additional onscreen glyph types.
  
• Added additional holeout animation for eagle.
  

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 open beta support for running Golfing in Aether natively in Linux, and that includes SteamOS. Before this becomes official with support indicated on the Store Page, I do wish to collect feedback and fix any reported problems should they arise. For me personally I’ve found the game to be running seamless at this point.




[h2]How do I get access to the Linux version?[/h2]
Just launch Golfing in Aether from your favourite Linux distro you normally use with Steam games and you'll get the native Linux version when you install the game. This is a free update and you'll automatically have access.

[h2]Cross Platform Multiplayer?[/h2]
Yes, the game is functionally identical to the Windows version. You can also play in both Vulkan and Vulkan Mobile (ES 3.1) graphics modes on Linux and they all work together in multiplayer.

[h2]Steam Deck Support?[/h2]
At this stage the game should in theory be playable, however I’ve not tested it personally as I don’t have access to one. Please let me know how you get on if you do have one to hand as I’ll certainly fix any reported issues.

For reference, Golfing in Aether has full controller support, including on-screen keyboard for any text input built in. It was designed around being played on a TV for local play with a controller from the very get go, so there should be nothing here that conflicts with playing on the Steam Deck in general. If there are any problems then this should be very minor and easy to fix, so do let me know :)

My testing is done on an Asrock DeskMini with a Ryzen 3200G APU running SteamOS via holo ISO. I’d like to have access to a Steam Deck in the future but its just currently not in my budget.

[h2]Will this effect Windows development?[/h2]
In short, no, not at all. The game is cross compiled meaning both platforms are done at the same time, from a single device using the same game code and assets. Linux has been in internal testing since very early in development so there are no specific workflow changes to how I've been doing things all along.

[h2]How long will the open beta last?[/h2]
Maybe a week or so, it will depend if any issues are found. If it all looks good then I'll then list support for Linux on the store page. If you try it and encounter no issues at all that would be as useful to know as reporting any issues.

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

• Currently no initial benchmark to set graphics quality on first launch. I found this to crash so have disabled it currently.
  
• Intro video logos are replaced with fading images like running in the ES 3.1 mode. This is to do with engine / plugin issues, but not a particularly important issue overall.
  
• Running under SteamOS Steam wanted to force steam input enabled which would cause duplicate controllers to be detected. Disable steam input for the game as Golfing in Aether has its own input system built in.
  
• Having no audio in the system causes the game to take a long time to load up while it keeps trying to find an audio device. Whether this is an issue with the engine or the distro I tried it on I don't know at this point, simply having any audio device in the system or connected bypasses this issue.

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

For this update I’ve gone and tidied up the LODs of the various wall meshes, especially from the point of view of when you look at other islands. Now you’ll be able to see the actual brick detail rather than the previous flat surface appearance, there will also be more stand-out detail such as the white of pipes preserved. Originally the game did look similar to this if you played way back with the Next Fest Demo but there were a few generation problems that required fixing.

The size of this update is due to every single wall mesh, and every single island lod mesh being reworked. Numerous meshes got improved collisions or fixes to minor problems found. This was absolute ton of work, but it does make the game look so much visually better.

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1914980/view/3296096514954667078
In other news Golfing in Aether now has native support for Linux in open beta. As this is relatively big news I’ve made a separate blog post about it. In essence all users are opted in automatically, and you will find a native Linux version available when running on Linux.

If any of you have feedback, suggestions, or ideas about the game I’m always happy to hear them :)

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

[h2]General[/h2]

• Fixed some initial back-end startup behavior to be compatible with Linux.
  
• Fixed various back-end compatibility issues with Linux.
  
• Added improved initial player collision detection. You will need to move just over a meter away from a player before collisions will enable, this is really to account for latency or when stuff doesn’t behave as it should.

[h2]Environment[/h2]

• Added improved collisions for several wall meshes.
  
• Added improved LODs for every single wall mesh.
  
• Added improved visual quality to other islands.
  
• Fixed some walls out of alignment on ‘See you on the other side’.
  
• Fixed some elements absent from island lods.
  
• Fixed various issues to support Linux.

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

Todays update is focused on quality of life, fixing any outstanding issues found and polishing the game further as feedback is received. Also included is a lot of the back-end changes and some of the assets to support the free autumn expansion DLC coming later this month. If you wish to read more about the autumn expansion then you may do so here.

https://steamcommunity.com/games/1914980/announcements/detail/3296096514940897018

I’ve improved the way course generation happens by adding in two additional rules. The first is that a level is only saved to your profile as part of the next-game no repeats when you’ve actually started that very specific level.

Previously all nine holes were cached when you join, not factor in late joins or leaving mid-way through. This helps address the behaviour issue of where players complete their first game, then proceed to ‘test’ how random level variation is by creating games over and over. What was happening is after doing that and then deciding to actually play a round, by random chance they were seeing levels they’d seen previously just by putting into the no-repeat pool levels they hadn’t actually played.

The second improvement is there is now a priority pool for levels you haven’t previously completed. Random by nature can sometimes be perceived as not random enough so this rule will just make sure you’ll see all unique courses before seeing repeats at all. You’ll have to have played each of these levels and completed under any rank, difficulty, or season to remove from this priority pool.


I made changes to ball roll behaviour at low speeds, these are small tweaks as I want to see how it goes and get feedback rather than over do it. Specifically changed here is some additional dampening via a curve as the ball slows to 150 cm/s. This is multiplied against a clamped range of ground normal, so only something that kicks in on flat or very near flat surfaces. For reference 150 cm/s is roughly equal to firing the ball with the lower part of the power meter filled, so this shouldn’t really affect levels as a whole.

Some changes were also made to the vertical windmill radius areas as sometimes the ball would stop in these areas when really the intended point is for the blades to push you out of them.

Please do share any feedback you have on these changes or anything else in the game as there will absolutely be continued polishing along-side content additions.

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

[h2]General[/h2]

• Added improvements to pipe exit detection with improved radius, this will reduce delay in some rare cases.
  
• Added improvements to course generation by only restricting a level from pool after you’ve started it, rather than saving all 9 holes at the start. This means if you begin a 9 hole game, but quit round 2, those levels you didn’t play are still in the pool for the next game. Secondly a pool priority is given to levels you’ve not earned a rank on. If no such levels exist only then will the game pick from the wider pool.
  
• Added improvements to level streaming by reducing the time taken to load levels by around 60%. It should be noted in most cases you’d already have been hard to notice any loading event at all as they would load quicker than the couple seconds of fading in and out for transition.
  
• Added system for handling seasonal switching while using the same levels. This means the levels will be dynamically changed to reflect the season chosen. This will be usable when the Autumn Expansion releases later this month.
  
• Added back-end system to handle level unlocking via DLC ownership. This is for when the free Autumn DLC is released later this month. This is so I can test unfinished levels without maintaining separate builds.
  
• Added ability to restart a practice level from the xp screen. Any XP gained is kept, essentially instead of returning to the practice menu and re-picking the level, this just skips that step for you if you wish.
  
• Added slight tweaks to ball roll behaviour when it is at low speeds.
  
• Added improvements to the areas of vertical windmills by not allowing the ball to be launched from a spin area.
  
• Added small tweaks to enable collision detection radius to account for player latency.

[h2]Customization[/h2]

• Fixed the Eagle and Double Bogey hole out animations not using the players customization.

[h2]Environment[/h2]

• Added improvements to lillypads. These now include slightly different tones for future support of autumn season.
  
• Added back-end support for future autumn ground variation.
  
• Added improvements to cherry tree’s with future support for autumn.
  
• Fixed a pipe alignment in “See you on the other side”.
  
• Fixed a physical material for the ‘Go for it’ hole in one ramp, which was slowing the ball incorrectly.
  
• Fixed some ground pieces particularly around hole areas not giving a correct sound response when hit with ball.
  
• Fixed an overlapping ground piece on ‘Speed Bump’.
  
• Fixed placement of a tree on ‘Speed Bump’.

[h2]Interface[/h2]

• Added a change to the dark interface theme so level transitions will fade to a 70% white.
  
• Added backend improvements to camera fade so it is now called more unified, any fades part of sequences has been moved and instead called the same way as all other fades. The point of this is just tidy ups and error prevention.
  
• Fixed an initial white flicker when booting up the game due to a timing inconsistency with the fade behaviour.
  
• Fixed an issue relating to the wrapping of text on the intro screen. Text will now fade in after automatic wrapping has occurred.

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