• janderson215 2 months ago

    I like that you can hear the club swing and contact on higher rolls, but I NEED to hear the ball hit the bottom of the cup when I sink the putt.

    Also, maybe some optional crowd noise if you hit it past the hole or hit it in the wrong direction due to an over-roll.

    • thih9 2 months ago

      In case anyone else has trouble:

      1. The black circle is the ball; you roll the dice to determine the amount of moves

      2. after the dice roll, the allowed moves will be shown - as yellow squares near the ball; this is a very faint yellow and easy to miss

      3. to move the ball, roll the dice then click on the faint yellow squares near the ball (or further away if you rolled a 6).

      • diggan 2 months ago

        Alternatively:

        - Click barely noticeable hamburger menu in the top left

        - Click "How to Play"

        • e_i_pi_2 2 months ago

          To add:

          You might need to zoom out a bit to see the whole map, the hole was hidden for me initially

        • jslakro 2 months ago

          Great project. Makes me think on a digital version of this https://gladdendesign.com/products/paper-apps-golf

          • jldugger 2 months ago

            But neither seem to compare favorably to Golf Peaks[1]. Instead of rolling dice you're given a hand of cards to play, making it into a puzzle!

            [1]: https://afterburn.itch.io/golf-peaks

            • dr_kiszonka 2 months ago

              Gladden's is a physical game and great for face-to-face multiplayer.

              • bestouff 2 months ago

                The only negative point of Golf Peaks is that it's too short !

              • heyarviind2 2 months ago

                Yes i am inspired from this :D

                • matt3D 2 months ago

                  It might be worth putting something on the page directing people to Gladden's original.

              • dwallin 2 months ago

                There's a nugget of something clever here but it's missing something, there's too much luck and not quite enough skill for a golf game.

                My first thought was selecting from various dice with different distributions to represent the various golf clubs.

                My second was that a hex grid would offer a much better variety of options. The square grid only has 1 or 2 useful directions that can bring you closer. A hex grid would typically have 2 to 3 useful directions.a hex

                Then I thought, this sounds like a good base for a board game, did a search and turns out there already is one that uses that formula! https://boardgamegeek.com/image/6370656/roll-in-one

                • nejsjsjsbsb 2 months ago

                  For skull just have the old aim and then hold a button for power. That is what I was expecting.

                • tantalor 2 months ago

                  Doesn't work in Android Chrome. Clicking does nothing.

                  Edit: figured out what was wrong, I had bedtime mode turned on which desaturated the screen, making the light yellow impossible to see. Suggestion: make the highlight more visible/accessible

                  • pimlottc 2 months ago

                    I couldn’t see the highlights either on my first hole. Or maybe there were no valid landing spots, I’m not sure.

                    I also thought the black circle was the hole, not the ball. Golf balls are normally white, not black.

                    EDIT: it appears that the highlights (and trails) disappear if you scroll up and down a few times (iOS mobile safari)

                    • forgotoldacc 2 months ago

                      Or some sort of pulsing on the clickable areas. I reloaded the page a few times before I realized the pale yellow spots were supposed to be clicked. I assumed it was bugged, but I was wrong.

                    • jbatch13 2 months ago

                      Wow, someone just sent me this post because I also made a golf game inspired by Gladden Design's this week! :D I made my own twist on it a bit, making it use a hex grid because I didn't like how diagonal moves were treated the same distance as orthogonal moves and I added bonuses and skill shots to give the player a reason to take a non-straight line path to the hole and made it a daily game but having a wordle style share score button. I'm surprised how many people saw that video and also all had the same idea that "this would make a great digital game idea" https://golf.jbat.ch/

                      • ThomW 2 months ago

                        Hex tiles are a really smart improvement on the game. I do kind of miss the little trees instead of just the dark green color though. :D

                        I also wonder if the graphics wouldn't make playing easier for color blind folks. :)

                      • rtkwe 2 months ago

                        Is the roll determined by your position on the board at all? I just ran into a seemingly endless chain of 3 rolls where I was bouncing back and forth between two positions for 15+ rolls.

                        edit: I kept going for another 10 rolls before bailing out of the loop for one iteration and got back into the cycle again immediately on returning to the start point. ie: I went A-B-A-B...A-C-A-B... where C was also 3 steps away from A and I rolled a 3 on C too). Definitely seems like it's a partially deterministic stroke roll.

                        • bena 2 months ago

                          You have to move exactly the number of dots shown in the roll.

                          Trees block you. You can't finish your move on sand or water. You also can't do "knight moves". So you're kind of stuck going straight or at 45 degree angles.

                          • rtkwe 2 months ago

                            I know that. I was going back and forth between two squares rolling 3 every time for a statistically improbable number of times. I could have chosen a different move but after going A to B to A and rolling 3 AGAIN I was more interested in seeing if that was a fluke or if it was something else happening.

                            Being able to do that 20+ times makes it really improbable the rolls were truly random numbers hence my question.

                            • dragonwriter 2 months ago

                              > I was going back and forth between two squares rolling 3 every time for a statistically improbable number of times.

                              For a fair single die, every possible sequence of a given length is equally (im)probable. We tend to notice the ones that are particularly convenient or inconvenient, but they are exactly as likely as any of the less memorable ones.

                              • rtkwe 2 months ago

                                Yes I know this but also tweaking the weights of rolls to be lower as you near the hole will also be less frustrating to the players.

                          • mindtricks 2 months ago

                            Had the same issue, but finally gave up.

                          • coumbaya 2 months ago

                            Ah! I spent an hour today trying to recreate the golf course from gladdendesign too (I ordered one of each of their games when I saw it on youtube)! But I got sidetracked trying to fit perlin noise into the solution, still not sure what algorithm to use to generate similar terrains. Also I kind of assumed copying the game exactly wouldn't be super fair or even legal so I planned on keeping it private.

                            • hombre_fatal 2 months ago

                              Heh, I also was inspired to implement the game with some major changes once the video popped up on youtube. I got it working but lost interest when it came to polishing the mapgen and generating interesting maps with the slope mechanic.

                              • nurettin 2 months ago

                                Sounds like a job for wave function collapse?

                              • heyarviind2 2 months ago

                                Anyone, if you like this game and you wanna improve it, please consider giving your feedback here -> https://huntlie.com/product/mini-golf?tab=feedback

                                I should do the following things first:

                                1) Give credit to Paper's app in next update 2) Convert it to mobile app

                                • pavel_lishin 2 months ago

                                  Hah! I've been emailing the creator of Paper Golf to ask if he would be ok with me creating something like this! Looks like you beat me to the punch :P

                                  • dave333 2 months ago

                                    This is fun. Strategy is to get in line with the hole so there's a chance to hole out next shot. Would be more realistic if you could hit any number of spaces up to the die roll. Maybe have different clubs - driver = die roll +3, iron = die roll, putter that can hole out at any distance up to 6 not necessarily in a straight line if you roll that distance or more. So e.g. putter can hole out with knights move if you roll 3 or higher.

                                    • CommieBobDole 2 months ago

                                      > be more realistic if you could hit any number of spaces

                                      The docs say that's how it works, but clearly that's not how it was implemented.

                                      "Move straight or diagonally up to the dice value"

                                      • janderson215 2 months ago

                                        I see what you’re saying, but it’s mini golf, so you only get one club.

                                      • dave333 2 months ago

                                        Interesting that there's no need to have greens around the hole. In real golf, construction and maintenance of the greens is a primary cost. I play a simplified form of golf in public parks (or any semi-open space) using one club and foam practice balls that won't hurt anyone and only go about 40 yards max. I use lightpoles and trees as targets and chip the ball to hit the pole or tree as holing out. Most parks you can arrange various holes through and around the vegetation and structures.

                                        • high_priest 2 months ago

                                          Hole in 420 strokes! The only path to the target was through a corner of width 1, so I had to get a very specific set of 1s or 2s. But I kept rolling back & forth on 5s & 6s :D

                                          The specificity of the result after such a long time gambling without real reward is oddly satisfying.

                                          • nejsjsjsbsb 2 months ago

                                            420 eh!

                                            • high_priest 2 months ago

                                              It was actually 424, but I think thk rounding was appropriate here.

                                          • abetusk 2 months ago

                                            This is super sweet!

                                            My only gripe is that it doesn't seem to be very desktop friendly. I'm on FF 192.0.2 (64bit) and I can't figure out how to pan or zoom around the play field.

                                            It would also be nice to see a "par" or statistical breakdown of levels compared with other people. The randomness might make this a bit tricky but things like Crypt of the Necrodancer use seeded levels and, presumably, seeded RNGs for other elements of the randomness in levels to make it consistent across players.

                                            Super simple and super effective. Very nice.

                                            • gus_massa 2 months ago

                                              If the ball is at 3 squares from the hole and the dices get's a 4, I'd allow to end the game. It's more fun to navigate the obstacles than to try to get the exact number to finish.

                                              • heyarviind2 2 months ago

                                                I fixed it, if you are close to the hole, you will get exact number to finish the game

                                                • tromp 2 months ago

                                                  Ah, that explains why I thought I was getting very lucky to be able to get a hole in 3, and shortly afterwards, even a hole in 2. Is it possible to get a hole in 1, or are levels constructed so as to prevent that?

                                                  • gus_massa 2 months ago

                                                    :)

                                                    Scrolling is wrorking in a weird way in movile Chrome. I can go down but not up.

                                                    • gus_massa 2 months ago

                                                      Why I can't move over water???

                                                      • dylan604 2 months ago

                                                        I thought the same thing about trees and assumed the dev based the game on my golf skills where going over trees is impossible

                                                        Try thinking of it as mini golf/putt putt where the ball only rolls

                                                        • gus_massa 2 months ago

                                                          I think it's more interesting if you have two kind of obstacles, so there are more tricks and path to try (but not as difficult as chess). This looks easy to implement.

                                                          Also, as an untested idea, it would be nice to have two dices and be able to select one of them or the other or the sum. Perhaps both dice then disappear, or perhaps the unused dice goes to the next round like in scrabble. The idea is to have more possibilities to think in each step (like make a small jump and aim to a nice diagonal, or go to the shore and hope a big hit next turn). This reduce the nasty effect of getting a 1. But I'm not sure if any of these variants are more fun, and all of them take a while to be implemented.

                                                          • em3rgent0rdr 2 months ago

                                                            > more interesting if you have two kind of obstacles

                                                            Yeah. As a general rule of game dev, if there is a different icon, then its behavior should be different.

                                                          • pavel_lishin 2 months ago

                                                            In the original game, you can only go over trees if you're hitting from the fairway; OP may not have coded that in.

                                                            You should be able to go over water at any point, as long as you've got the distance for it.

                                                            • dylan604 2 months ago

                                                              it's mini golf. it's in the title of TFA as such. in mini golf, the ball only rolls. the ball does not roll across water. it does not roll over trees even from the fairway. if your ball leaves the ground with a putter, something is very very wrong

                                                              • pavel_lishin 2 months ago

                                                                > if your ball leaves the ground with a putter, something is very very wrong

                                                                Ugh, you sound just like the manager of the last seventeen mini-golf places I've been kicked out of. I shall not apologize for my athleticism!

                                                                Though I probably should have apologized to the parents of those kids who they had to call an ambulance for.

                                                          • stevage 2 months ago

                                                            it's mini-golf

                                                    • zenethian 2 months ago

                                                      It's neat but I soft locked because my roll had no valid moves.

                                                      • bb88 2 months ago

                                                        Hmmm... That seems like a valid move needs to exist for all possibilities for every square.

                                                        Water should probably be allowed to hit over too, but not in.

                                                        • stevage 2 months ago

                                                          how do you hit over water in mini-golf?

                                                          • theOGognf 2 months ago

                                                            By hitting it sufficiently hard

                                                            • bb88 2 months ago

                                                              There are videos of people skipping balls off the surface of water.

                                                              https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcI9nzsCILI

                                                              • stevage 2 months ago

                                                                Yes, but that's not mini-golf.

                                                                Also I don't think the ball in that video is skipping, it's bouncing off a rock. Definitely possible to skip though.

                                                      • arjinium 2 months ago

                                                        Please credit https://gladdendesign.com/products/paper-apps-golf for the original game concept.

                                                        • heyarviind2 2 months ago

                                                          i have already given :)

                                                        • dvh 2 months ago

                                                          I got generated hole in a tree.

                                                          • heyarviind2 2 months ago

                                                            yes fixing that bug

                                                          • abraxas 2 months ago

                                                            I'd prefer if I had several moves to make after a single roll of the dice.

                                                            Also I block html5 auto playback by default which you appear to use for some animation stuff. It'd be great if the game could work without it.

                                                            • neondude 2 months ago

                                                              I would suggest 2d6 so that there is some strategy in which direction you need to hit the ball. D6 can be swapped to something else for other clubs

                                                              • Jean-Papoulos 2 months ago

                                                                You absolutely need a clearer way of telling us how to play. It was very confusing and it's only because I saw this on HN that I bothered trying more.

                                                                • your_challenger 2 months ago

                                                                  Awesome! I watched Gladden Design's video too and loved it. It's great that you've made it accessible! Please consider giving attribution to Gladden Design.

                                                                  • chrisgd 2 months ago

                                                                    Very cool thanks for building. Would echo some of the other comments about how to play but I figured it out. Is a hole in 1 possible on any holes?

                                                                    • doodpants 2 months ago

                                                                      How come after you roll but before you move, the Strokes value at the top shows the current roll value instead of the stroke count? Is this a bug?

                                                                      • wingerlang 2 months ago

                                                                        Highlighting the valid squares to shoot to would be nice

                                                                        • timvdalen 2 months ago

                                                                          Just a quick bug report: the "Strokes" counter resets to the rolled number before you click a destination

                                                                          • zaik 2 months ago

                                                                            Random flight lengths and double digit stroke counts for one hole? Finally a realistic game that matches my experience on the golf course.

                                                                            • 8n4vidtmkvmk 2 months ago

                                                                              Not being able to shoot over water is lame.

                                                                              • heyarviind2 2 months ago

                                                                                i am changing this in the next update

                                                                              • tln 2 months ago

                                                                                I can't hit over the water??

                                                                                https://ibb.co/TRbGgVx

                                                                                • martypitt 2 months ago

                                                                                  Great stuff! Thanks for making this. Would love the ability to turn off the sound, but that's a minor nitpick.

                                                                                  • tubiwatcher 2 months ago

                                                                                    PSA: I needed to disable my "Disable HTML Autoplay" Chrome extension in order for the game to work.

                                                                                    • ivolimmen 2 months ago

                                                                                      Nice but I got stuck near the end. I kept rolling 3 and then the button shakes and that is it.

                                                                                      • hattar 2 months ago

                                                                                        I just got 13 rolls of 3 in a row. I think there may be an issue with the RNG

                                                                                        • gorgoiler 2 months ago

                                                                                          ”That’s the problem with randomness: you never can be sure.”

                                                                                          https://imgur.com/gallery/dilbert-random-number-generator-uR...

                                                                                          • rockitect 2 months ago

                                                                                            I also got something like 12 rolls of 3 in a row. I would definitely check the RNG routine to ensure that it is not biased to the mean (i.e., verify that you are drawing from a uniform, rather than normal, distribution).

                                                                                            • gaoryrt 2 months ago

                                                                                              Ha, that's pretty random to me!

                                                                                            • 2024user 2 months ago

                                                                                              A bit intuitive - the instructions should be on the screen next to the map

                                                                                              • extinctsion 2 months ago

                                                                                                The strokes does not get updated properly. It needs to be fixed

                                                                                                • keepamovin 2 months ago

                                                                                                  This is cool! Well done. Where did you get the sound from?

                                                                                                  • kylegalbraith 2 months ago

                                                                                                    This is a lot of fun. Thank you for making this.

                                                                                                    • maalber 2 months ago

                                                                                                      Very nifty idea! And cute, simple visuals

                                                                                                      • lovegrenoble 2 months ago

                                                                                                        funny enough

                                                                                                        • fpauser 2 months ago

                                                                                                          Lame.

                                                                                                          • mproud 2 months ago

                                                                                                            Hole in 48!