In their latest blog EA Sports Rory McIlRoy PGA TOUR Designer Justin Patel details the new online features and modes in the upcoming game to be released on Xbox One and PlayStation 4 on July 14th. Video above and full details below!
ONLINE HEAD-TO-HEAD
Online H2H mode starts at the Online Hub. Players can toggle between playing Ranked and Unranked games, with Ranked games using an all-new matchmaking and shooter-inspired lobby system. Simply set your golfer and choose one of three base Gameplay Styles – Arcade, Tour, Classic – in the Ranked tab and join a session.
After being placed into a Ranked session, players will be paired up with those who have selected the same Gameplay Style. For Ranked games, the server randomly selects two courses (with randomly generated course settings) for players to vote on.
Voting closes ten seconds before the start of the match and the winning course will be set for the game.
Once on the course, all users will play through the round simultaneously. Gone are the days when online matches felt like you were playing alone. For the first time ever, other golfers will be rendered in the environment. Players will see (in real-time) when their competitors move or swing, and their golf ball will be visible flying through the air and rolling on the terrain.
When an opponent’s ball comes to a stop, their Online ID will appear for a few seconds to help you keep track of who is where. There’s also an all-new hole clock at the top of the screen, which replaces the individual shot clock. Players will have a set amount of time to complete the hole.
After finishing a hole, players will go into spectating and have the ability to toggle through different cameras placed on that hole to view their opponents as they finish. Once everyone is done, the group moves on to the next hole.
At the end of the round, players are given wins, losses and ties for how they fared against each individual user in the game. The group is then returned to the session screen, where two new courses are randomly generated for voting and another game will start.
Results from Ranked games all feed into new, restructured leaderboards. Performance is now tracked separately for each Gameplay Style, and wins, losses, level, rank points and other statistics will be specific to the Style you played. This means that each Style has its own top-ranked player.
Unranked games give players the freedom to set up the game with any course, settings, and even custom Gameplay Styles.
The Session Browser shows which Unranked games have created. Sessions are sorted by Gameplay Style, and display the host and available slots in each session. Search filters can help find the right game.
The Unranked session’s creator has the ability to start the session whenever they are ready. The creator can invite users to the session and edit the course, course settings, and Gameplay Style settings from inside the session.
ONLINE TOURNAMENTS
The Online Tournaments Hub is where players access everything in the mode.
Just like Online H2H, the mode is split up by each of the three base Gameplay Styles, with Daily and Weekly Tournaments provided for each Style.
Players can toggle between the Open, Closed, and Coming Soon tabs to enter a tournament, check past results, and see future tournaments.
Accessing an Open tournament provides a more detailed look at the course settings and leaderboard for the tournament. This is also where you start the tournament.
Players only get one attempt at an Online Tournament, so be ready to play. Once you play or quit out, you cannot enter again. This is the case for ALL Online Tournaments.
Just like Online H2H, Tournament leaderboards track each Gameplay Style separately. Stats include Winnings, Events Won, Top 5’s, Top 10’s, Top 25’s, Top 50’s, Top 100’s and Average Finish.
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