
Course Editor
Table of Contents
[ Overview ] [ Holes ] [ Polygons ] [ Objects ] [ Images ] [ Music ]
Before delving into course creation, it would be wise to get an idea of what a course is. Here we will give an overview of all the pieces that make up a course.
A course is simply a collection of holes and an image bank. The image bank is a collection of images that define the graphics used for objects and various other aspects of the course.
Courses consist of anywhere from 1 to 18 holes, each with up to 3 layers of polygons (solid shapes), objects, and images.
To add a hole to an empty course, simply select Hole->Add on the menu. Once you have a hole, you can perform various operation on that hole to make it playable.
The first thing you'll want to do is import the hole image. Select Hole->Load Image and find the image file you want to import.
Polygons define the solid shapes which the ball cannot pass through. To add a polygon, you right-click where you want to place the vertices. Once you have all your vertices placed, left-click to close the polygon. Each line segment that makes up the polygon has a small segment that protrudes from its center perpendicularly. This small segment indicates the side of the polygon that the ball cannot reach.
To be clear, a polygon which represents the outside boundary of a hole should have the small, protruding line segments pointing outward. If the protruding line segments are pointing the wrong way, you can use Polygon->Invert to invert the polygon.
You can select a polygon by left-clicking any of its handles. You can adjust the shape of a polygon by dragging its handles.
Each hole, at the very least, will have TEE and CUP objects. There are many types of objects, each with its own effects on the gameplay.
To add an object to the current hole, select the desired object using the Object->Type menu. Once you have the desired object type, you place it by right-clicking where you want to put it.
Left-clicking on the center handle of any object will select that object. You can drag the object by the center handle to adjust placement. Some object have an additional handle that can be used to resize that object.
Here is a list of all available object types:
TEE: Where the player's ball is initially placed.
CUP: The cup. The player completes the hole if the ball goes
into the cup. You can add a bit of randomness by placing
multiple cups. One cup will be selected randomly at the
start of gameplay on this hole.
TREE 0: A decorative object that does not affect gameplay.
TREE 1: A decorative object that does not affect gameplay.
ANIMAL 0: An object that moves around randomly in the area defined
by the object's radius. Does not affect gameplay.
ANIMAL 1: An object that moves around randomly in the area defined
by the object's radius. Does not affect gameplay.
HAZARD WATER: If the player's ball touches this object, the ball will
be lost in the water.
HAZARD SAND: The player's ball will have a small amount of extra
friction applied to it if the ball is touching it.
HAZARD ROUGH: The player's ball will have a moderate amount of extra
friction applied to it if the ball is touching it.
HAZARD SLIME: The player's ball will have a lot of extra friction
applied to it if the ball is touching it.
INDENT HILL: The player's ball will be pushed out from the center of
this object if the ball is touching it.
INDENT RUT: The player's ball will be drawn toward the center of this
object if the ball is touching it.
PIPE ENTER: When a player's ball hits this object, it will enter it
and stay in here for a specified duration before exiting
at a PIPE EXIT object that it is connectd to. Connect
this object to a PIPE EXIT object using Object->
Properties->Connect. Set the duration the ball stays in
the pipe using Object->Properties->Timer 1.
PIPE EXIT: A place for the player's ball to come out once it has
gone into a PIPE ENTER object.
TELEPORT: This object will teleport a player's ball instantly to
another TELEPORT object which it is connected to. Connect
this object to another teleporter using Object->
Properties->Connect. Set the angle the ball exits the
teleporter using Object->Properties->Set Angle.
CLOUD HORIZ: A cloud that moves horizontally and respawns at the right
once it goes off the left side of the screen.
CLOUD VERT: A cloud that moves vertically and respawns at the bottom
of the screen once it goes off the top.
BUBBLE HORIZ: A bubble that floats to the left and respawns at the
right once it goes off the left side.
BUBBLE VERT: A bubble that floats up the screen and respawns at the
bottom after it goes off the top.
BLINKER: A decorative object which waits for a specified duration
before rendering a circle or rectangle in a specified
color. Set the color of the blinker with Object->
Properties->Color. Set the time it takes for the blinker
to turn on with Object->Properties->Timer 1. Set the time
it takes for the blinker to turn off with Object->
Properties->Timer 2.
LASER SEND: An object that generates a laser between it and a LASER
RECV object. Set the color of the laser using the
Object->Properties->Color menu option. Use Object->
Properties->Connect to connect it to a LASER RECV object.
Set how long it takes for the laser to turn on with
Object->Properties->Timer 1 and how long it takes for the
laser to turn off with Object->Properties->Timer 2.
LASER RECV: A LASER SEND object will send a laser to this object.
LASER RESPAWN: This object tells the game where to respawn the player's
ball after it is zapped by a laser. You should place this
object after placing the LASER SEND and LASER RECV
objects that you want this respawn point to be used by.
The game will look for the first LASER RESPAWN object
after the LASER SEND object that zapped the player's ball
and respawn the ball there.
POLY MORPH: A rotating polygonal object. This object is connected to
a polygon using the Object->Properties->Connect menu
option. Use Object->Properties->Color to set the color of
this object. Use Object->Properties->Speed to set how
fast the object rotates.
POLY MOTION AREA: When the ball is within the radius of this object, a
timer will count down to ensure no moving objects are
going to hit the ball before finishing the player's turn.
This is useful if you have POLY MOVE, POLY DOOR, or other
types of objects that can affect the ball after it has
stopped moving. You want the area affected by these types
of objects to be marked to ensure environmental effects
finish properly.
POLY MOVE HORIZ: A polygonal object that moves back and forth horizontally
in the area defined by the object's radius.
POLY MOVE VERT: A polygonal object that moves up and down in the area
defined by the object's radius.
POLY DOOR HORIZ: A door that opens and closes horizontally at a specified
interval.
POLY DOOR VERT: A door that opens and closes vertically at a specified
interval.
SMASH RESPAWN: A place for a player's ball to respawn after it has been
smashed by a POLY DOOR object.
CONVEYOR: A conveyor belt object that can carry a player's ball
either horizontally or vertically.
LAYER TRANSFER: An object used to facilitate the transfer of a player's
ball between layers.
TRANSLUCENCY: An object that tells the game to render layers above the
ball's current layer translucently when the ball is
touching it.
Courses contain an image bank, which is a collection of images that determine the appearance of various aspects of the course. To modify images in the image bank, you first need to enter images mode by selecting Mode->Images. Below is a list of all the different image types and what they are. You can select a specific image type by selecting Image->Type and navigating to the image type you want to select.
Title: The icon used to represent the course on the
course select screen.
Scoreboard: The background of the scoreboard screen.
Ending->BG: Background displayed on the results screen.
Ending->Podium: Podium on which the trophies are displayed on the
results screen.
Ending->Cloud 1: Cloud which floats by on the results screen.
Ending->Cloud 2: Another cloud which floats by on the results screen.
Ending->1st Trophy: Trophy presented to the player who placed 1st.
Ending->2nd Trophy: Trophy presented to the player who placed 2nd.
Ending->3rd Trophy: Trophy presented to the player who placed 3rd.
Object->Hole: The cup when it is empty.
Object->Hole Sunk: The cup when it has a ball in it.
Object->Tree 1: A static object that can be placed around the course.
Object->Tree 2: Another static object that can be placed around the
course.
Object->Laser Off: A laser transmitter/receiver when it is not currently
firing.
Object->Laser On: A laser transmitter/receiver when it is currently
firing.
Object->Teleport: A teleporter.
Object->Conveyor: A conveyor belt.
Object->Animal 1: An animal.
Object->Animal 2: Another animal.
You can replace any of these images with your own simply by selecting Image->Load and locating the image you want to replace it with.
vGolf Deluxe allows you to set the mood of the course by supplying course-specific background music. To add background music to your course, select File->Course Music and locate the music file you wish to use. Supported codecs are Ogg Vorbis (*.ogg), Module (*.mod), Extended Module (*.xm), Impulse Tracker Module (*.it), Scream Tracker Module (*.s3m), and WAVE (*.wav).