Deconstructing Golden Tee LIVE

Incredible Technologies®, Inc. is celebrating 20 years as a successful video game company with more than 115 creative employees dedicated to crafting innovative, affordable, high earning products for the on-premise entertainment industry. Joe Kraynak is a professional writer who has authored and co-authored more than 50 books, including The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Computer Basics, Master VISUALLY Optimizing PC Performance, and Bipolar Disorder For Dummies.

INTRODUCTION.

1. UNVEILING GOLDEN TEE GOLF.

    Getting Into the Game

    Discovering Golden Tee LIVE

    Dipping Into Golden Tee's History

      Witnessing the Birth of Incredible Technologies

      Golden Tee Golf Tees Off

      Hitting the Hard Times: The Trilogy of Death

      Returning to the Street Market

      Heating Up the Competition

      Overcoming the Resistance to Change

      Taking a Leap of Faith

    Meeting the People Behind Golden Tee's Success

      The Visionaries

      Development's Cast and Crew

      The Celebrities and Other Outside Talent

      The Players

      The Distributors, Operators, and Location Owners

      The Marketers and the Media

      All-Important Customer Support

    Getting Down to Business with Golden Tee Golf

    The Game's the Thing

2. EXPLORING THE GOLDEN TEE MYSTIQUE.

    Taking Turns

    Getting Into the Swing of Golden Tee

      Adding a New Spin to the Game

      Manipulating Camera Angles and Fly-Bys

    Getting Immersed in the Game

      Keeping the Game Simple, Yet Challenging

      The Visual Draw

      The Audio Attraction

      The Tactile Feel

    Stroking Players: The Reward System

      Crowning Players with Fame and Glory

      Paying Out Cash and Prizes

      Delivering Subtle Strokes Inside the Game

      Reaping Rewards Outside the Game

    Cultivating a Player Community

    Making It Look Easy

3. THE GRAND VISION FOR GOLDEN TEE LIVE.

    Designing for the Needs of the Coin-Op Market

    Going Online All the Time in Real Time

    Restructuring the Tournament System

    Introducing Player Customizations and Other Options

    Offering a Helping Hand

    Animating the Golfer with Motion Capture Technology

    Making the Game a Little More Interesting with Hole-N-Win

    Selling the Idea Back Home

4. BUILDING AND IMPLEMENTING A VIABLE BUSINESS MODEL.

    Following the Cash Flow

    Keeping Players Keyed in to Golden Tee

    Teaming Up with the Operators

      Taking Care of the Guy on the Street

      Educating the Guy on the Street

    Catering to the Location Owners

    Collecting the Cash and Other Forms of Payment

      Paying with Plastic

      Managing Player Accounts

    Delivering the Biggest Bang for the Buck

      Cutting Costs with Standard PC Components

      Optimizing Human Resources

      Reining in Development

      Increasing the Life of LIVE

    Dealing with the Competition

5. GEARING UP FOR GOLDEN TEE LIVE.

    Redesigning the Cabinet

    Getting the Hardware Platform Up and Running

    Implementing the Linux Operating System

    Assessing Connectivity and Security Options

    Retooling the Graphics Engine

      Casting Shadows

      Reflecting Images Off the Water

      Filtering Light Through the Trees

      Generating Particle Systems

    Retooling the Sound Engine

    Porting Over the Previous Code

    Making the Tools That Make the Game

    Gathering Media and Other Assets

    Piquing Interest in the Game

    Staying Focused

6. OVERHAULING THE CABINET.

    Dreaming Sleek and Chic

    Giving the Traditional Cabinet a More Chiseled Look

    Designing for Player Safety and Comfort

    Designing for Operator Convenience and Mobility

    Adding Curb Appeal with Dual Monitors

    Building a Robust Cabinet for the Street Market

    Revamping the Control Panel

      Retooling the Trackball

      Adding a Couple Helpful Buttons

      Redesigning and Redesigning the Overlay

    Putting It All Together

7. RECONSTRUCTING THE HARDWARE PLATFORM.

    Touring the Hardware That Powers Golden Tee LIVE

    Going Modular with Standard PC Components

    Adding Muscle and Longevity with a PCI Express Video Card

    Selecting and Programming the Hard Drive

    Cranking Up the Volume

    Keeping Cool When the Game Heats Up

    Interfacing with the Player Through the I/O Board

    Staying Connected with a Wireless Modem

    Upgrading the Card Reader

    Giving the Cabinet a Unique ID

    Going the Linux Route

8. DESIGNING AND BUILDING GOLDEN TEE GOLF COURSES.

    The Philosophy That Drives the Course Design

      Focusing on the Approach Shot

      Making the Second Shot as Interesting as the First

      Forcing Players to Make Tough Decisions

      Keeping Courses Fresh

      Appealing to New Players

    Feeding the Idea Mill

    Scripting an 18-Hole Drama

    Sketching a Preliminary Design by Hand

    Top-Down Hole Design in Photoshop

    Meshing the Hole in 3ds Max

    Molding Hills, Valleys, and Other Terrain

    Adding Tees and Pins

    Getting the Hole in the Game

    Handing Off the Hole to the Artists

    Unveiling Kangaroo Trail, Hole 5

9. ENHANCING THE GAME WITH COOL GRAPHICS.

    Crafting the Scenery for the Courses

      Building a Reference Library

      Modeling Objects for the Game

      Applying Texture Maps

      Applying Material to Objects to Control Their Behavior

    Maintaining the Delicate Balance Between Appearance and Performance

      Packing Several Textures on a Single Map

      Conserving Polygon Counts with Bump Maps

      Controlling the Lighting with Normal Maps

      Tracking the Polygon Counts

    Tackling the Tree Problem

    Adding Rain, Fog, and Other Special Effects

    Building the JumboTrons

    Getting Graphics into the Game

10. BUILDING AND ANIMATING THE GOLFER AND OTHER LIFE FORMS.

    Designing and Building Customizable Golfers

      Modeling a Male and Female Golfer

      Giving the Model Some Skin

    Designing the Golfer's Wardrobe

    Modeling Golf Clubs and Other Equipment

    Getting into the Swing: Animating the Golfer

      Scripting the Golf Swings

      Filming the Golf Swings

      Building the Skeletons

      Cleaning Up the Motion Capture

      Rigging a Wireframe Model to the Skeleton

    Creating Other Life Forms

11. ROLL 'EM: ENHANCING GOLDEN TEE WITH AUDIO AND VIDEO.

    Enhancing the Game with Musical Accompaniment

    Adding to the Realism with Sound Effects

      Recording and Enhancing the Crowd Sounds

      Sounding Out on the Golf Course

    Getting the Sounds into the Game

    Adding Color Commentary...and a Dash of Corny Humor

      Pooling the Talent

      Composing the Announcer Scripts

      Taping the Celebrity Announcers

      Stripping Out the Green Screen

      Building the Set

12. DESIGNING AND BUILDING USEABLE SELECTION SCREENS.

    Envisioning the Interface Design and Color Scheme

    Building Better Player Selection Screens

      Sketching Conceptual Designs

      Creating the Screens in Photoshop and 3ds Max

      Adding More Options Without Overwhelming Players

      Designing Additional Objects for the User Interface

      Fine-Tuning the Designs

    Designing Accessible Operator Selection Screens

      Targeting the Needs of the Operator

      Listing and Arranging Available Options

      Building the Selection Screens

    Adding Functionality to the Selection Screens

INTERMISSION.

14. BUILDING AND HOSTING REAL-TIME COMPETITIONS.

    Revisiting the Original Tournament System

    Leveling the Playing Field

    Understanding How the ITS Tournament System Works

    Building ITNet's Massively Parallel Infrastructure

    Exchanging Data Between the Game and the Server

    Making an Unreliable System Reliable

    Implementing a Database in Golden Tee LIVE

    Streamlining the Database

    Securing the Connection and Data Transfers

    Managing the Costs of Broadband

    Pulling It All Together

15. PULLING IT ALL TOGETHER IN PROGRAMMING.

    What's Code and What's Not?

    Preparing Game Code

    Automating the Flow of Content into the Game

    Creating a Build

16. TESTING GOLDEN TEE LIVE IN-HOUSE AND OUT.

    Finding Game Testers with the Right Stuff

    Preparing the Pre-Flight Checklist: The Posterity List

    Differentiating Between Bugs and RFEs

    Logging Bugs and RFEs

    Performing Whitebox Testing

    Remaining Sensitive to the Unexpected

    Testing Golden Tee LIVE on Location

      Learning the Tough Lessons and Making Adjustments

      Broadening the Field Test

    Testing the Game in the Long Term

17. INTEGRATING IT'S WEB COMPONENT.

    Creating Synergies with the Web Component

      Empowering Players at GoldenTee.com

      Equipping Operators with Powerful Tools

      Bringing Marketing and Customer Service Online

      Assisting International Partners

    Reaching Beyond Simple Web Page Creation

    Improving Efficiency with Generic Code

18. SHIP IT! MANUFACTURING AND SHIPPING GOLDEN TEE LIVE.

    Building the Game

    Moving Forward with Gold Master Production

    Briefing Customer Service

    Ship It!

    Continuing Development

19. THE 19TH HOLE.

    Get Your Head in the Game

    Innovate

    Get Organized

    Learn to Play as a Team

    Remain Open to the Simple Solutions

    Don't Resist Necessary Changes

    Persevere

INDEX.