Clap Hanz has spent 25 years making the studio synonymous with the golf game.
Partnering with Sony, it developed Everybody’s Golf and even created a PlayStation VR version in 2019, which saw the company make its first steps towards VR. Clap Hanz has devoted itself to improving their golf game expertise and now ventures beyond PlayStation platforms. Following 2021’s Easy Come Easy Golf, the studio is back with last month’s release of Ultimate Swing Golf for Meta Quest.
With a new coat of paint, Ultimate Swing Golf takes the core mechanics the team has refined for decades to Quest devices for the first time. The game offers an array of golf courses in which you can swing the Touch controllers to hit the ball like a real golf club. It was a wise decision for the company to not reinvent the wheel. Instead, it chose to replicate the strengths of the studio in the new environment, rather than changing its usual approach to the genre to suit a different playstyle. Recently, I spoke to the people behind the latest company effort. This included director and producer Masashi Muramaori, as well as lead programmers Kengo Sasaoka and Keisuke Furtami, and Shunsuke Tashima, co-lead designer of the game. We discussed lessons the team learned from their experience working on Everybody’s Golf VR and how the nature of Quest’s hardware assisted greatly when developing this new game.
“PlayStation VR and Meta Quest are completely different devices. Muramori explains that each device has their own advantages and challenges. The Meta Quest is untethered which makes it a great experience for players. As we were developing, we found that the controllers for the Meta Quest were highly responsive, so we were able to realize all the minute nuances and details that we wanted to include in the game.”
“From a programmer standpoint, the Meta Quest devices are well supported with Unity, and as we were developing the game in that engine it allowed us to maximize the game’s performance for the Quest,” continues Sasaoka.
Instead, the challenges were more practical, and carried over from PlayStation VR: controllers are not golf clubs. The Meta Quest controller is light compared to real golf clubs, which are heavier. It was difficult to find a good balance to create the feeling of a golf shot. We did several iterations until it was realistic enough to be put in the game. It’s not a mini-golf game, but neither is it a true-to life simulator like
. Ultimate Swing Golf is all about balancing arcade fun with simulation, while not locking out those who lack real golfing knowledge. It must be approachable yet real, courses must resemble a real layout but can have fun with more outlandish settings amidst urban cityscapes and autumnal valleys.
Indeed, this balance is a question Clap Hanz has pondered throughout its history, constantly refining its definition with player expectations and earned experience. Muramori says, “We’d like kids and adults to learn our game before moving on to real golf.” This could be a way to get people interested in playing real golf, not only our game. We wanted to make the game accessible from a graphics standpoint but also show the ball’s physics in the best way possible. The game is based on our research on golf theory, physics, and ball behaviour. We try to incorporate this into the gameplay to ensure that the experience feels both real and enjoyable. In addition to the need to consider the weight of the controller, which is much lighter than the golf course itself, other practical issues arise: the controller could fall out of your hand, and you cannot see the world outside the virtual space as you are in the living room. It’s important to balance the simulation of the real swing and accessibility and fun for players as well as those in the vicinity. Muramori explained the need for a’safety measure’ when developing VR golf. “The game was developed so that the players didn’t swing their controllers as hard because, you don’t know who is going to pass you by in your own room. This is especially true if you are playing in VR.” The same is true for PlayStation VR, however, both Sony and Meta take safety measures to ensure that players can still swing their controllers lightly while the trajectory of the shot reflects the actual shot. A mechanic has been added to control how far the ball can curve. Missed shots will also be managed so that players are able to recover. These two mechanics were designed to challenge novices while they still have fun. Clap Hanz will introduce a new feature which allows users to use the controller as lightly as possible or as forcefully as they can. This is similar to how you’d swing on the golf course. The team can still learn from previous VR experiments, but this new hardware will allow them to experiment and improve the game. This is most evident in the addition of mixed-reality support, especially in light Meta’s recent MR push for the Quest 3
“The discussion about introducing mixed-reality to
came out of discussions with Meta”, notes Muramori. “Obviously Meta is committed to VR but they are also trying to focus more on mixed reality. So it was a request by Meta to determine if Mixed Reality would be a good fit for Ultimate Swing Golf. The resulting mode allows you to practise your shots in a homey environment, with the help of your caddy. While enjoyable, it had its challenges from a development standpoint.Golf+“It’s worth mentioning that mixed reality is still fairly new as a technology, so there’s a lot of innovative visionaries that are trying to do new things. Muramori acknowledges that the technology has not yet reached its full potential. The game rendered in real life looked flat when it was supposed to be more 3D. It’s obviously still in development, but hopefully new hardware and technology will improve this. As mixed reality develops further, we would like to update the feature so that the game world looks real when it’s reflected into the screens of the Meta Quest headset.”
After working on golf games for 25 years, it should come as no surprise that many on the team are golfers or fans, even if their experience and opportunities to get out on the course differ amongst them. Futami is the lead artist of the game and, unlike director Muramori, who can’t play golf much due to neck problems, is an avid player. “I’ve not been out much on the golf course lately, because we’ve been developing the game. But I’ve been out more on the driving-range recently, and the trajectory of my ball is the same as when I am out there on the range. So maybe there’s a correlation!” It feels like there is a correlation between the shots I hit in-game, and those that I replicate on the range. This has been very satisfying. “I hope to be able to go out and see how the experience helped me improve my score!” The update I mentioned above is not the only one coming. There will be more. Muramori explains that they would like future updates to incorporate feedback in as many ways as possible. The Ultimate Swing Golf game is a casual alternative to the other Quest golf games. It offers a more relaxed experience, allowing you to swing your ball on the various stylized courses. There are new updates and DLC planned, as well as online play. This suggests that more will be coming to satisfy fans.