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Course Editor
Table of Contents

[ Overview ] [ Holes ] [ Polygons ] [ Objects ] [ Images ] [ Music ]

Overview

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.

Holes

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

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.

Objects

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.

Images

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.

Music

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).