LiDAR Import for PGA 2000 (and probably TW)

[BrianZ111]

I finally had time to develop my process for importing LiDAR into the PGA 2000 architect. I had known how I was going to do it for a couple months now but I didn't have time to develop it until a couple weeks ago. This will basically give you all of the elevations of the course including fine details like green contours, small fairway contours, and tees, as opposed to just the general slopes of the plot like we were getting with the old system using Terrain Assist.

Here's a screenshot just off the front left side of the 18th at North Berwick, which will give you a good idea of the contour retained in the fairway and green. (the hills on the horizon are not from North Berwick, these images have imports from multiple sources on the same plot)



The main thing you won't get is bunker edges. Here, the 11th at St. Andrews gives you and idea of how much work you'd have to do to fix a revetted bunker, which is the most extreme case. The depth is there but the sidewalls need to be fixed. Most common bunkers will just need a bit of definition added around the edges.



Depending on the quality of the data, there may be some other things. The places where slope changes quickly from gentle to steep are the places to look for areas in need of fixing. On older or poor quality data, raised greens could see some rounding off effect around the edges of the green that needs to be fixed but I don't expect it to be a common problem.

This should work in the TW08 and older series when Headgate was the developer as well since they didn't ever change the architect much, but I haven't actually tried it in those games yet.

I will eventually write a tutorial but right now I am relying on Global Mapper for part of the process so that probably eliminates most people from doing it. There is probably a cheap or free replacement but I'd have to research it and that wouldn't come until after I write the tutorial using Global Mapper which is also a ways off.

However, I'm happy to help anyone who wants to do a LiDAR based design by creating a plot for you with the caveat that work is extremely busy for me right now so I probably won't get it to you very fast after request. For example there's no way I'd have any time in the next week but maybe in a two week lead time I could find a spot to fit it in. I'm also only going to fill another request form the same person after a previous request has been released as a finished course. I'm sharing my methods and work because I'm trying to encourage more courses to be released for this game again.

[DC#1]

Sounds awesome Brian. Will making real courses easier and more accurate. I look forward to the tutorial.

[TenSixty6]

Is GhostIt still required for drawing shapes?

[BrianZ111]

No, you can use Terrain Assist to draw aerial imagery based shapes. I don't use that anymore either though. I use Global Mapper to draw and have a python script that converts a CSV file exported from Global Mapper into shapes in an architect file. At some point I'd like to put a tutorial together and explain how you could go the free route with something like QGIS or QCAD instead of Global Mapper but it will probably require a script rewrite to interpret a slightly different CSV format coming out of one of those programs and I'd have to figure out the process in them and write a tutorial. Given my work schedule, more practically speaking you should probably go with Terrain Assist or GhostIt and not wait around for me to do all of that.

My offer to do a plot for anyone that wants to do a real course for PGA2000 that has LiDAR data still stands, but on my schedule it could take a couple weeks for me to get around to after request.

[TenSixty6]

I'll take you up on that, especially since it'll be a couple weeks before I really have the time to get the game up and going. If you could, see if there is any Lidar data for Lester Park Golf Course, in the Duluth MN. It was a 27 hole complex that has closed down. It was also one of the places dearest to my heart. I'd love to have a accurate digital version.

[BrianZ111]

Yes, there are several options for data...a 2012 scan, a 2019 scan and a 2021 scan. Newer is usually better unless the land was altered after it closed down. Let me know when you get the game up and running.

[TenSixty6]

The land hasn't been altered, as far as i've seen, and it was still open as of 2019. It closed in 2021, but there hasn't been development on the land.

If it's not too much to ask, please include a good chunk of Lake Superior to the south. The course was famous for it's views of the lake. Not sure how well it'll translate to the draw limit of the game, but it'd be nice to try.

Thanks, Brian. I'll let you know.

[BrianZ111]

I can do that easily enough. The only thing you'll have to keep in mind is the game's max rendering distance is 750 yards, so you'll want to rely on the pano more than the terrain to get that view on any hole that is some distance from the lake.

[TenSixty6]

I can do that easily enough. The only thing you'll have to keep in mind is the game's max rendering distance is 750 yards, so you'll want to rely on the pano more than the terrain to get that view on any hole that is some distance from the lake.

Ok. Wow. I thought I remembered it being much greater than that. For some reason, the number I remembered was 3k. Good to know, then.

[BrianZ111]

You can have up to a 5,000 x 5,000 yard plot, it's just from any given point it only renders out 750 yards.