Super Video Golf News

First of all thank you to all the players who have supported this game over the last 2 years - both before and after its Steam release, new players and seasoned veterans alike! The game is what it is because of your support, and all the suggestions and feedback you've given me during that time.

And, thanks to you, you can now nominate Super Video Golf in the Sit Back And Relax category of the yearly Steam Awards. Nominations will be running throughout the Autumn Sale, so if you're a fan make sure to have your say, and make sure to spread the word! As this is also a special event (it may or may not be my birthday soon...) Super Video Golf will be running at 50% off for the entire duration - the biggest discount it has ever had.

So if you've been sitting on the fence the Autumn Sale is a great chance to grab a copy and Sit Back And Relax - or even join in with the community on Super Video Sundays - just head over to the Clubhouse to find out how.



Thanks again, and I hope to see you at the tee!

Greetings golf fans! Welcome to another monthly update on Super Video Golf's development progress.

Previously I hinted at new content coming in the next update - and I've been busy working on not one but TWO new courses! However these are still very early development so I won't be showing anything of those just yet.

This isn't the only progress I've made, however, so let's take a look at what else is coming in 1.15.

Firstly I've added a night time mode - it's now possible to play golf in the dark! Perhaps not the most realistic mode, however I do find it adds a new and interesting atmosphere to the game.



The above gif was taken from Spooky Video Sunday - a special Halloween event held on Super Video Sunday which, if you didn't know, is an event every Sunday where anyone is welcome to join in and play Super Video Golf online. If you want to join in then check out the Steam group here.

Another visual effect I've been working on is the previously mentioned weather system - I talked briefly about it a few months ago, although it hasn't made it into the game yet as it's not quite ready. Rain, fog and even rainbows are implemented and will hopefully be polished enough to make it into the beta soon.





These effects will be controlled by the host of the game, and synchronised across clients, so all players will get to experience the same weather ☔


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On a more technical note I've also been working on improving the UI and menus. Usability has been improved in places like the options menu where the sub menu tabs will now auto-select sequentially, and the player profile menu where pressing escape while updating the profile name will now cancel the edit and restore the existing name. I've also enabled pasting text into the player name box while editing, using the keyboard shortcut ctrl+V.
On the topic of profile management, the default player profile is now associated directly with your Steam ID - this fixes an issue with Steam cloud where profiles could get duplicated or overwritten, depending on the quality of the available connection to Steam.

Text rendering has also been updated with the aim of supporting more non-latin alphabets, such as Greek, Cyrillic and Chinese/Japanese/Korean characters. And, as a side effect of this, there is now also rudimentary emoji support 😁 (Apologies for the poor Google translation 😅)





Other Operating Systems
Work on the SteamOS native build is ongoing, where I've fixed issues with Steam workshop items not installing correctly, as well as some text input problems. The SteamOS version is still available in public beta, for instructions on how to access it, see this post. I've also coaxed the game into working on macOS - however due to Apple's seemingly unending list of rules, conditions and paywalls the beta is not yet publicly available.



As always you can find the current public beta on the 'beta' branch in Steam if you'd like to try out the new features - just right click on the game in your library, go to properties, and select the 'beta' tab. Do please leave any comments or suggestions you may have, or join in on the official chat where you can hang out with myself and other players and talk about all things Super Video Golf.

Thank you all for your ongoing support - you make the game what it is!
See you next time 🏌️‍♀️⛳

Greetings!

I am very happy to say that there is now a native SteamOS build of Super Video Golf available in beta. The SteamOS version is targeted particularly at the Steam Deck, but should work on all linux distros which support Steam and the Sniper runtime.



The most notable difference in the SteamOS version is the improved performance over compatibility mode, as well as the removal of z-fighting artifacts which can appear when using proton.

To access the beta go to the game's properties in your library and select the beta tab. From there select the 'other_os' beta.



Refresh Steam and the game should update with the new game files. When you run the game make sure the version number identifies the game as being the SteamOS version, in the bottom left of the main menu:



I've found that some versions of the client, particularly if you've already used the proton version, will prefer downloading the Windows version of the game. This appears to be a Steam client specific problem, but going to the game's properties page and then selecting the Compatibility tab can correct the problem.



Check then *immediately* uncheck the box for 'Force a specific version of Steam play compatibility' and Steam will then reload the correct game files.


A special thanks goes out to Kat for figuring out the Steam runtime build environment and creation of the build script for this one - as well as to all the other linux and Steam Deck users who have helped test this build.

If you find any issues with the beta drop a note over on the discussions, or join us in the Steam chat room.

Thanks!

A small update to 1.14.1, which addresses the following:

• Only play Honour announcement if honour taker is on the current client
  
• Fix resizing menu banners in the clubhouse when window is resized
  
• Fix awarding skins pot to player winning sudden death round
  
• Fix correct club unlocks when host applies club set limit
  
• Move Steam notification back to top right corner
  

Happy golfing!

Hello! I'm happy to say that the latest version, 1.14, is out now! In last month's round-up I detailed some of the new features, which you can read about here - but, to summarise, the following has been added:

• New game modes:
  
• - Stableford
  
• - Stableford Pro
  
• - Short Round
  
• - Multi-target
  

• New single player league
  
• New monthly challenges
  

Since then I've updated the game with the way bunkers are handled - it's now possible for the ball to lie buried, or sitting up in the sand after landing, depending on its speed when it hits the ground. You can see the lie of the ball with the new arrow icon next to the terrain label in the top right of the screen:



When the lie of the ball is sitting up the bunker won't affect play too much - however when the ball is buried the range of the ball is curtailed, and it's harder to make an accurate shot.


Thanks to feedback from the play sessions on Super Video Sundays I've now added a host option to limit the player club set in multiplayer games to that of the lowest player. This means that the host can choose to prevent high-ranking players from using powerful club sets which may be advantageous over lower skilled players.

And, don't forget, Super Video Sundays are still open to all, so if you want to meet up with other players online hop on over to the Steam group now!



On the visual side of things I've added an in-flight camera to the ball, which appears in the top left corner while the ball is in motion. It's a nice way to see the terrain in detail when the ball lands.



Beyond that there have been many small fixes and tweaks, particularly to some of the more foliage-intense courses, to improve performance on lower end machines. Here's the full change list for the 1.14 update:

• Added Monthly Challenges - A new challenge every month for 500xp and an award for the trophy cabinet
  
• Added awards for completing the active monthly challenge
  
• Added awards for every 10th level unlock which also unlocks a new ball
  
• Added awards for top 3 placement in Club League
  
• Added club league-table to compete against virtual players
  
• Added Stableford and Stableford Pro game modes
  
• Added ‘multi-target’ game mode
  
• Added Short Round game mode
  
• Added the lie of the ball in bunkers now affects available clubs
  
• Added the lie of the ball in bunkers now affects accuracy
  
• Added the lie of the ball in bunkers now affects maximum distance
  
• Added host option to limit all players to the lowest ranked player’s club set
  
• Added in-flight ball camera
  
• Added console variable to enable shuffling custom music playlists
  

• Fixed cropping minimap icons to minimap bounds
  
• Fixed skins games now continue to sudden death until all skins are won
  
• Fixed post-game scorecard par values when playing in reverse
  
• Fixed current honour is carried over in event of a tie
  
• Fixed controller navigation in lobby menu if having previously quit the lobby with any menu but course selection active
  
• Fixed origin of scaled billboards
  
• Fixed frame rate drop on lower spec systems when switching screen resolution mid-game
  

• Increased XP reward for hitting the drone to 250xp
  
• Reduced volume of seagulls on beach courses
  
• Updated emote wheel with applause
  
• Updated emote wheel with controller buttons
  
• Extended range of clubs when teeing off par 3s
  

• New Achievement: Big Bird
  
• New Achievement: Barn Stormer
  
• New Achievement: Hit The Spot
  
• New Achievement: Behold the Impossible
  
• New Achievement: League Champion
  
• New Achievement: League Participant
  
• New Achievement: ???
  

Thanks as always to the enthusiastic community who have given feedback and suggestions during the development of the update - and for the countless hours they put in! You all make the game what it is. If you want to get involved, either with feedback, bug reports or just want to hang out with other players, then join us on the Steam chat which you can find here - we look forward to meeting you!

The next update will focus on bringing some more content to the game, which I'll detail in a later post. Until then though, happy golfing! 🏌️‍♀️⛳