Real Feel Golf Interview

Q1. How much of the  game has been 
developed so far ?

A : We began the project  18 months 
ago and we are at about 50 % 
completion. The game should be 
finished by the end of the year and will 
be released in the first quarter of 1999.

Q2 Is this a Ubi Soft developed title ?

A : Real Feel Golf has been developed 
in collaboration with a team of very 
creative developers (Vertex Multimedia 
who are based in the Oxfordshire 
countryside) which is headed up by 
industry veteran  N. Ishihara. Ubi Soft 's 
contribution is as co-producer and 
adviser . Ubi Soft has a lot of technical 
know how which we share with our 
developers.

Q So, what is unique about this game 
compared to the others that are out or 
are coming out ?


A: Real Feel Golf is one of the very first 
golf games to be created in complete  
real time 3D. This will allow us to 
obtain realism and freedom of 
movement never before seen in a golf 
game…. The feeling of realism will be 
further enhanced as a result  of our 
unique "Real Feel" control system 
which can reproduce a real time golf 
swing like no other game. So we will 
therefore be able to appeal to players 
who want a simulation experience  but 
with an arcade pace (faster moving to 
keep the player interested in the game). 
Golf games available on the market are 
slow in speed and graphically not 
accessible to consumers.  Our aim is 
to make one of the most playable, 
realistic and accessible golf game ever 
produced.

Q4: Why 3D ? What benefit does this 
bring to the player ?

A: Well, in all other golf games we have 
2D golfers set in a photo realistic 
environment  and have a situation 
where  each screen has to be redrawn 
after every shot of the ball which 
causes a kind of  unrealistic delay 
which basically unacceptably slows 
down the game. We call this the 
"classic trilogy ". If you want to see  this 
in action  just look at Links Golf! So for 
this first time the player will be able to 
control a 3D character (made up of over 
500 polygons) which is completely 
integrated into the 3D background and 
whose movements can be controlled in 
real time.

We have created a credible 
environment as a result of  the 
implementation of  many animations 
and  dynamic cameras  (using the  
I-CAM  TV system ). All information will 
be available on screen. So the player 
will not need to flip from screen to 
screen  to get the information he 
needs. (wind, distance,  undulations,).  
The end result of our method is a fluid  
3D environment and a fast paced game 
without the irritating lapses between 
each swing experienced in the 2D 
games.

Q5: Tell us more about this "Real Feel" 
control system.

A: The "Real Feel" is an innovative 
method  which acts as a more user 
friendly alternative to the classic 
"double click" (however for those who 
prefer the old way we will keep that as 
an option too). This lets the player 
control in real time the 2 major 
parameters of the golf swing: the angle 
of the shoulders and the angle of the 
wrists.. Thus our system will neither 
use the "power  meter" nor require 
quick mouse movements. Thanks to 
the real time factor, you will be able to 
decide the strength and direction of 
your shot just by observing the posture 
of your character on the screen.! If you 
use an analogue joystick the swing 
feeling is just amazing !!!


Q 6: Why did you choose not to use real 
courses ?

A:  We chose not to use existing 
courses so that we could create 
original and challenging golf courses. 
You will see holes you have never seen 
before for example double fairways or a 
green on an island.. This ads to the fun 
factor we were  looking for in the 
computer golf game. 
We used our freedom to create the 
most suited golf courses for computer 
games rather than to simulate real golf 
courses which may not have fitted so 
well on screen. 

Q7: What was the biggest hurdle you 
have  encountered so far?

A:  When we embarked on this project 
we knew that we would encounter 
some major technical issues to 
solve… The main hurdle to overcome 
was the integration of the soft jointed 
character, which is animated in real 
time,  with the 3D engine. To get the 
swing to work smoothly involved a 
delicate and intricate understanding of 
exactly how each of the human 
muscles and joints work together to 
produce realistic movement. To model 
the soft jointed character, integrate 
animation system in the model, texture 
the body and input all these data to our 
3D engine took us more than 6 
months. This allows to simulate joints 
and muscle movements. The result is 
an impressive piece of  animation 
wizardry.

Q 8: Could you summarise the 
strengths of the game ?

- Real time 3D environment (no 
redrawn time of holes from shot to 
shot.  Fast pace game.)
- Innovative "Real Feel" control system
- Incredible TV style "I-CAM" camera 
movement
- Superb graphics of non-digitised 
original golf courses
- Soft-Jointed 3D characters