ProStroke Golf World Tour 2007 - Control System Q&A Feature

The recently renamed ProStroke Golf World Tour 2007 promises to put Oxygen Entertainment on the map, with an authentic replication of golf that threatens to score a Birdie and shake the mighty EA and Tiger Woods into a Double Bogey (ok enough - Ed).

One of the most prevalent features of the game is the reason behind the name change, the ProStroke, which promises to bring a greater level of realism to taking control of the club and the actual swing - this could very well be the biggest thing to golf games since the triple-tap swing technique.

To illustrate the point, Oxygen recently sent along a Q&A with the game's developers, Gusto Games, which reveals more information on the ProStroke.

There are plenty of golf games around so what makes the gameplay in ProStroke Golf unique?

ProStroke Golf features all the things you'd expect in a modern golf game. We have great visuals, plenty of courses, character creation, multiplayer, a unique course designer and some challenging competitions. However the real core of the game is the ProStroke system. It's something we're really proud of and allows the player to get a real sense of playing golf. ProStroke is the first attempt to capture the skills and tricks employed when playing golf.

How does that compare to other golf games?

Most modern golf games allow the player to control the swing of the club with a thumb-stick. However other elements of a golf shot such as spin, draw, fade and lofting are not part of the player swinging the stick. The player is separated from them. Instead they are often just selected from a menu, divorcing the action from the swing itself and manual control by the player. Some games even have the player adding spin and other adjustments once the ball is in the air which is not realistic.

Talk us through how the player would take a shot with the ProStroke System.

Your first look at a shot will seem pretty conventional. The view is behind the player's avatar, it's possible to zoom in to where you want the ball to land. Above that point is an icon showing distance to the ball, recommended club and how much shot power it would take to reach that point. So at this point we'd place the marker where we want the ball to end up and we're all set to go.

Hit the button to address the ball and everything changes - the actual swing takes place looking down at the ball just as you would playing in real life. We provide plenty of feedback on this screen such as a power meter and an indicator showing the position of the player's feet relative to the ball. Everything you need to play the right shot - apart from the skill you provide yourself, is given here.

And so with the shot lined up and all the relevant information to hand it's time to hit the ball.

Using an analogue stick?

Yes. Using a joypad with two sticks and a d-pad we use the right stick for the swing. As you push the stick to the right the club swings away right and off the screen. As it does so you'll see a line extend on the power meter. Once the meter reaches the required power the thumb-stick should be brought back over to the left in one smooth motion and the ball will fly. Simple. However if you hit the ball in this manner you cannot achieve anything over 90 percent power.

Where does that extra power come from?

This is where ProStroke comes into its own. Where other games would have you tapping some kind of power boost button we wanted players to get a sense of playing the real game. Hitting a golf ball isn't just a case of swinging a club. The whole of a golfer's body is used to power a drive.

Onscreen there's a display of the player's feet in relation to the ball. If we move the stick away from a foot it fades on the display to show how the weight has been shifted to the other one. To add power to a shot we move this stick together with the stick for the club swing. We swing them both right, then left together. That's where the extra power comes from, pushing the weight of the player through the shot.

To add even more power skilled players will move the player's weight slightly ahead of the club swing. The centre of gravity passes through the ball before the club arrives giving a real boost to the power. With that power though comes the danger of inaccuracy so the player has to be careful about swinging a club too fast in this manner.

Let's talk more advanced shots then. How will the player be able to add fade or draw to move the ball left or right in flight to avoid obstacles?

It's the simple matter of moving those feet again. Using the d-pad we can move the left foot backwards and forwards. If we push the left foot up we play an 'in to out' shot which adds draw to the ball so it will move left in flight. Moving the left foot down has the opposite effect, playing the shot 'out to in' adding fade so the ball moves right in flight. You can achieve a similar effect by moving the left stick backwards and forwards too.

Players can choose to enable the shot shaper display which shows a line of arrows from the ball giving an idea which way it will move in flight. The shot shaper is really useful if you want to add spin to a shot or play a neat little chip and run.

Talking of spin, how do we add backspin or play shots such as the chip and run?

Again we take advantage of the unique ProStroke mode rather than choosing these from a menu. Earlier we talked about moving the player's weight through a shot but there are times when we want to shift the weight and keep it there.

Take for example a situation where you're stuck on the upslope in a bunker on the edge of a large green. You have a couple of ways of play this shot. A regular shot from this position would have a tendency to go high and lose distance thanks to the upslope. So we want to keep the shot low, how do we do that?

Moving the left stick over to the left, putting the weight towards the front foot, means that we'll be adding topspin to the shot and keeping the ball low. The ball should chip over the lip of the bunker and the topspin will help the ball roll towards the pin. Care should be taken to reduce power slightly so the ball doesn't roll passed the pin.

If you wanted to add backspin so the ball would stop dead or even roll back you'd keep the weight on the back foot, adding extra power to keep the distance up. The shot shaper indicator shows if the ball will spin forwards and roll or whether backspin will stop it where it lands.

What if I wanted to punch the ball under some trees or get the ball up and down over a water feature?

It's time for another ProStroke trick. As we've already discovered, we can shift weight to change the trajectory of shots. However we can also change the position of the ball relative to the player's feet.

Let's take the example of punching a shot under some branches first. Here we want to avoid giving too much lift to the ball. If we use the d-pad to move the ball towards the back foot the club will strike it while it is still travelling downwards and so the trajectory of the resulting shot will be much lower.

Conversely we might want to get the ball high and over a water feature. Pushing the d-pad left puts the ball closer to the front foot. Now the club head will be rising again into the follow through when it strikes the ball giving extra lift to the shot and carrying high over the obstacle. A skilful player would combine these techniques with putting the weight on the front or back foot to achieve more control over their shot. This level of control is what makes the ProStroke system unique.

Let's move on to putting, please explain how that works.

Viewing from behind the player we see a grid on the green and here the player can move the shot marker to choose the direction of put and how much power they may need to hit the ball with. Many golf games make putting particularly tough by making the player use such small movements on the shot bar.

In ProStroke Golf we let the player choose the maximum power on the meter when putting or playing any other kind of shot. If we only need 40 percent power in a put or drive we can press a button and make the power meter show a maximum of 50 percent.

Putting doesn't require any weight shifting, just getting the shot power correct and the always tricky matter of assessing the ball's lie on the green.

So every type of shot is shaped through the ProStroke mode rather than having shot selections from a menu?

Exactly. The ProStroke system is easy to learn via a brief in-game tutorial and players soon develop their own techniques and preferences for creating advanced shots. Playing skilful shots is really satisfying in ProStroke Golf because the player has done all the work. This is what makes ProStroke Golf the most realistic golf game to date and the one that is most involving for the player.

ProStroke Golf - World Tour 2007 is shaping up to be an intriguing prospect for golf fans; keep your eyes peeled for a preview of the title on TVG soon.