Greetings! Welcome back to another progress update for the upcoming 1.22 version of Super Video Golf. Previously we’ve taken a look at Engine Optimisations and Gameplay Updates - and today I’d like to share what I’ve been working on with regards to quality of life improvements.
Many of these are accessed via the new Options menu, and we’ll get to those in a moment, however first I’d like to share, hot on the new Options menu’s heels, the new Profile Editor!
The new editor completely overhauls the old and somewhat confusing interface by adopting the Options menu approach of navigability, primarily with a controller, but also with the keyboard and mouse. Each section of the Profile Editor is more thoughtfully laid out than previously as, over the years, the existing version had new features jammed in wherever they would fit - so now it’s much easier to find what you’re looking for to configure it. And, for my own benefit, the new layout also means it’s more easily extensible when adding new options and features in the future, hopefully preventing the menu once more becoming a jumbled mess.
With regards to new options, then, let’s start with the cosmetic improvements out on the course. Firstly, a much asked for feature, it’s now possible to change the colour of the tee markers. Note that this doesn’t actually change the position of the tee, it just allows some customisation of the way they look.
Secondly, on desktop builds of Super Video Golf, I’ve been experimenting with increasing the density of the grass effect in the rough. This can be a little taxing on lower end hardware, and is disabled completely on the Steam Deck, so it’s made optional within the graphics settings. I’m not entirely convinced by the effect yet, however, and it’s subject to change - though if you’d like to try it out you can by switching to the current beta on Steam. Feedback on your experience with performance is always welcome! 😁
From a quality of life perspective, based on community feedback, I’ve added an option to decrease the length of time for which the Action button needs to be held to skip the current shot while the ball is in flight. The two settings are ‘Normal’ which leaves the time as approximately 2 seconds and ‘Fast’ which will make the shot skip near instantaneously, labelled ‘Shot Animation Skip Speed’ in the Options.
I’ve also increased the size of the progress ‘toasts’ which pop up in the top right of the screen when a challenge is updated. If you have a 2k display or higher the size is doubled, up to 4k resolutions where the size is tripled that of the original.
Under Game Configuration it’s now possible to filter the leaderboards to display only other players who are on your Steam friends list. This puts a new, slightly more intimate, twist on the monthly challenge as you can now battle it out with your buddies at any time. By extension I’ve also added a new view into the Monthly Global league, where you can see a friends only view of that too.
And, also new to the leaderboards, is the Pro League - with both global and friends only views.
Available from the main menu, the Pro League is an extra-challenging 12 rounds of 18 holes which lasts one calendar month. All assists are automatically disabled, including both the Range Indicator Assist and Putt Assist. To add to the tension each round can only be played once - whatever your score that’s it for the month! Equipment upgrades are vital in this case, so make sure to use the new Profile Editor to upgrade your gear and make the most of the round.
With any luck this will be the final run-down before the update releases in the near future, along with the previously announced new course. I’ll be busy smoothing out any wrinkles from now until then, so please do try out the beta (available from the game’s properties in Steam) and get in touch via the discussions, group chat or Discord and let me know if there’s something not quite right!
That’s all for now though, I hope to see you on the green!
Happy Golfing! ⛳🏌️