P3pro Launch Monitor and GSA!!!

[bubba22]

You would really hope that any course upgrades will be free especially given their track history with these courses. I hope they are working on them but I get the feeling that they are not. In fact I think Zmax is doing way more than they are.

[ZMax]

The worst problem of all in my opinion with the GSA courses is the fact that trees mean nothing 90% of the time. I just played Carnoustie and whenever I hit the ball in the trees, it just goes through them like nothing ever happened. There is no penalty for a bad shot. It is like playing on a driving range, going up and hitting your next shot, and putting out. Most of the greens are really flat, too. 90% of my putts are dead straight. Courses need a lot of work. Not worth $1,000 in my opinion. If they upgrade or improve them free of charge, I would be the first person to recommend them to others, which could improve sales. I think a lot of people make purchase decisions based on others opinions on this forum. I know I did.

And another thing. Somebody mentioned that there is no penalty when hitting from the rough in GSA, well its true.

The P3pro actually has built in penalties for different terrains, including the rough, but it was not implemented in GSA.

[bubba22]

Now why would that happen?

[rdh]

Hey guys -

Some of this stuff seems incredibly strange to me. I can see the rough shots not being penalized as GSA doesn't do that automatically. It is expected to be handled by the simulator or the interface. Some simulators have sand panels that physically take speed off the ball (like really hitting out of sand), so GSA needs to just take the ball flight readings that are fed in and use them. In my own interface, I implemented my own penalties (ball speed decreased by X&#37 and I'm surprised P3Pro didn't do that.

The club loft angles being the same for GW/SW/LW sounds ridiculous - it should be a simple little fix.

THe one that really confuses me is the ball flight not being affected by trees, or being affected strangely. That part should be handled by GSA Golf and should have nothing to do with the integration software. I've never had problems with tree behaviour in the software, so that part really baffles me.

[bubba22]

They may have implemented sand etc somewhat in their interface but the values are not right. That was the purpose of the testing however I still feel it was not 100 percent completed. Now since the courses have been rerleased there has been really no updatesd which I would have expected certainly by now. I haven't experience the tree issue yet. They really need to look at sand and rough penalties as well as the ball flight.

[ZMax]

They are aware of the lack of penalties with rough and sand and are working on it, but don't know when an update will be released. They also don't know whether it'll be free.

The tree issue is with GSA or how the courses were designed.

They were not aware of the GW/PW and LW/SW loft issue, but will pass that on. (I'm dissappointed by this)

The person I spoke to had no idea whether a LA of any kind will be integrated with GSA. He did say that it's a matter of the interface passing the ball LA information on to GSA, which we already knew.

[Bruce Balog]

I am going to send an email to P3Pro letting them know of these same issues. The more of us that let them know about issues, the greater the chance of problems being fixed (hopefully). $1,000 is a lot of money to spend on something that doesn't work properly. How can they pass off the trees as a GSA issue and not work on fixing it before delivering the product? If a 3rd party is helping you make a product, it is your responsibility to make sure they are doing their job before your name goes on their product. I think everything just may have been rushed out too soon. If I have to pay for uprgrades, they will not want to deal with me.

That being said, I really enjoy the regular interface. With a launch angle added, it would be perfect. Course play is the problem.

[ZMax]

I am going to send an email to P3Pro letting them know of these same issues. The more of us that let them know about issues, the greater the chance of problems being fixed (hopefully). $1,000 is a lot of money to spend on something that doesn't work properly. How can they pass off the trees as a GSA issue and not work on fixing it before delivering the product? If a 3rd party is helping you make a product, it is your responsibility to make sure they are doing their job before your name goes on their product. I think everything just may have been rushed out too soon. If I have to pay for uprgrades, they will not want to deal with me.

That being said, I really enjoy the regular interface. With a launch angle added, it would be perfect. Course play is the problem.

Agreed. I encourage everybody to either call or email(or both) them about these problems.

IMO, all these problems are easy fixes and should have been done prior to the release of the courses.

The LA is also an easy add on as the P3pro software already had it. Just a matter of passing it on to the GSA interface.

Heck, open up the software for me and I'll do it for free.

[bubba22]

Blows me away. If they expect people to pay for an update on a non finished product, they have something coming. They clearly need to improve their interface so it is realistic and usable. I will NOT pay another red cent for what I have already payed for.

[SDL]

Blows me away. If they expect people to pay for an update on a non finished product, they have something coming. They clearly need to improve their interface so it is realistic and usable. I will NOT pay another red cent for what I have already payed for.

I agree! I spoke with Chuck Ferris in sales at P3ProSwing last week about ordering the course package during their holiday sale. I told Chuck about my concerns about buying the courses if there were still problems with the software. He said that the problems he was aware of had been fixed (which may not be true given the concerns on this thread) and that any other problems that might come up would be fixed in upgrades that would be free to owners of the current software. I purchased the software with this understanding (and I'm supposed to receive it today or tomorrow). He also stated that it comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee so I could return it if I wasn't satisfied with it.

We'll see........

SDL

[bubba22]

Once you get it, put the courses through some real testing. They need to get an upgrade as it has been months since they were released. Don't get me wrong you can play the courses however there are many little things that need attention as already stated by many people.

[ZMax]

Once you get it, put the courses through some real testing. They need to get an upgrade as it has been months since they were released. Don't get me wrong you can play the courses however there are many little things that need attention as already stated by many people.

Jay Russo routinely has friends over at his house to play on his P3pro sim. You would think that one of them would have noticed some of these problems. If I was the owner of P3pro, I really would have been embarrassed about these problems and see to it that they get fixed right away.

[northgolf]

He also stated that it comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee so I could return it if I wasn't satisfied with it.

We'll see........

SDL

If you find the issues, then I suggest returning it - nothing gets management's attention like lost revenue that shows up in the books. More persuasive than letters and emails.

[bubba22]

P3pro need to hire ZMax and RDH for only a few hours and I betcha every last issue would be resolved. You guys may even do it pro bono, right .

[ZMax]

P3pro need to hire ZMax and RDH for only a few hours and I betcha every last issue would be resolved. You guys may even do it pro bono, right .

I was just thinking about that. Actually, I was thinking more like 1/2 hour.


And yes, I'll do it for free. I'll even throw in LA for you bubba22.

[bubba22]

Free and include LA, what's this .... a tear in my eye. Best xmas gift ever lol .

[SDL]

I was just thinking about that. Actually, I was thinking more like 1/2 hour.


And yes, I'll do it for free. I'll even throw in LA for you bubba22.

You guys are great! It's clear that a bit of programming expertise would increase the value of the P3Pro sim significantly. I hope the company has the vision to consider this.

The Virtual Course Software was waiting for me when I got home from work today. It includes 2 USB software keys and 4 DVDs (1 of which is the Claret Version 4.2 software from October). The 3 Course DVDs are dated Dec. 2010 and listed as Version 2.0.01. I don't know if the software is any different than the versions any of you current owners are using. There were no installation instructions with the software, but I assume the DVDs will load automatically.

I should have a chance to try the courses out over the weekend. I'm afraid that I will have to do some upgrading of my computer system to make it work smoothly, but I hope I can get it to work in some fashion even with my current computer.

SDL

[ZMax]

I should have a chance to try the courses out over the weekend. I'm afraid that I will have to do some upgrading of my computer system to make it work smoothly, but I hope I can get it to work in some fashion even with my current computer.

SDL

What are the specs of your computer now?

[bubba22]

Cool SDL. What are your computer specs? Hopefully you will be up and running soon.

[SDL]

Cool SDL. What are your computer specs? Hopefully you will be up and running soon.

Bubba22 & ZMax,

I have a Dell XPS 400 with a Pentium 4 processor at 3.2 GHz and running Windows XP. I have only 1 GB of RAM and an NVidia GeForce 6800 graphics card. I assume I will be ok if I upgrade the RAM to 3-4 GB and get a graphics card with a little more onboard memory. My son, who has a souped up gaming computer, says that XP isn't quite the memory hog that the more recent Windows versions are, but I still think I'm likely to need some upgrades to handle the virtual courses.

SDL

[bubba22]

You may be ok with just upgrading your ram. Is your videocard a dedicated card or an onboard card? Is it 512 MB?

[SDL]

You may be ok with just upgrading your ram. Is your videocard a dedicated card or an onboard card? Is it 512 MB?

It's a separate dedicated card, but I think it has only 256 MB of memory.

SDL

[bubba22]

It should work. My original computer had only 256 mb dedicated graphics and ran ok. Since upgrading to a 1 Gig dedicated the game play absolutely rocks. The video card does make a difference however try the 256 and if it is ok then carry on.

[ZMax]

Bubba22 & ZMax,

I have a Dell XPS 400 with a Pentium 4 processor at 3.2 GHz and running Windows XP. I have only 1 GB of RAM and an NVidia GeForce 6800 graphics card. I assume I will be ok if I upgrade the RAM to 3-4 GB and get a graphics card with a little more onboard memory. My son, who has a souped up gaming computer, says that XP isn't quite the memory hog that the more recent Windows versions are, but I still think I'm likely to need some upgrades to handle the virtual courses.

SDL

You son is right about WinXP but what you got there ain't gonna cut it. You might get by with just upgrading the ram to 3 GB and a better video card, but you'll more than likely have to set the detail to low. Another thing to think about is that you'll be throwing money at some outdated ram.

At max detail, a dual core runs at 80-90 percent. A triple core runs at 50 percent. And a quad core runs at 10-20 percent.

3 GB of ram is a must as some of those courses are really big.

I've just recently upgraded my golf sim pc. Here are the specs:

AMD Phenom X4 2.8ghz
4 GB ram
SSD for the C: drive
ATI 4670 1GB ram
Win7 64bit

It's a little bit overkill, but I like my detail at max level on everything.

A fast dual core or a triple core with 3GB of ram and a 1GB ATI video like mine or a Nvidia GTS250 with 1GB would do just fine.

[bubba22]

Good specs ZMax. Very similair to mine.

[ZMax]

Bubba22,

I/m playing right now and I don't recall ever seeing sweet spot penalties in GSA. Have you seen any? I saw it once on the P3pro driving range.

Is this another "oops, we didn't think anybody would notice" BS integration?

[northgolf]

I was just thinking about that. Actually, I was thinking more like 1/2 hour.


And yes, I'll do it for free. I'll even throw in LA for you bubba22.

I have my MSc in CS with 30 years programming experience (20+ professional). I'd chip in just so I'd get a good experience.

That said, the golf sim software market is begging for defined standard interfaces between the sensor outputs and the sim inputs. The demarcation between hardware sensors and sims and ball flight is already in de facto progress, so a little de jure work would make life better for all of us. It would end the finger pointing between the sim writers and the hardware companies while allowing mix and match as the customer desires between the two. The road block is the current market participants thinking they are better off attempting to own the whole stack in the mistaken belief that it gives them a competitive advantage (instead of causing them to under deliver due to unnecessarily repeated work).

This market is really in its infancy.

[bubba22]

Northgolf that was so well put. ZMax I do not think they have any sweet spot penalties on the GSA side. Even on the p3pro software, I always thought their sweet spot penalties were weak.

[ZMax]

I have my MSc in CS with 30 years programming experience (20+ professional). I'd chip in just so I'd get a good experience.

That said, the golf sim software market is begging for defined standard interfaces between the sensor outputs and the sim inputs. The demarcation between hardware sensors and sims and ball flight is already in de facto progress, so a little de jure work would make life better for all of us. It would end the finger pointing between the sim writers and the hardware companies while allowing mix and match as the customer desires between the two. The road block is the current market participants thinking they are better off attempting to own the whole stack in the mistaken belief that it gives them a competitive advantage (instead of causing them to under deliver due to unnecessarily repeated work).

This market is really in its infancy.

P3pro folks struck oil with this sensor, but they didn't have the know how to pump the oil efficiently. In 2004, when it was released, the software was primitive to say the least. And was not written by anybody that had real golf ball physics knowledge.

Jump to now, almost 2011, and it's still the same primitive software. They bought GSA integration but didn't bother to test all the features? We don't even know if only play will work. If I paid somebody thousands of $$ to do something, it better be done right.

There's no way in hell that they would ever consider opening up the software for us.

[ZMax]

I just made an 11 ft putt, but did not get the sound of the ball dropping in the cup. The only sound was from people clapping. I know the sound file for the cup is there because I found 3 of them. Wtf?


Edit:

Nevermind. On replay, the sound is there. What happen was the clapping sound start the same time as the ball went in the cup.