How to apply backspin in Golden Tee, MAME versions

[ABACABB]

Just a little discussion in regards to backspin on older versions of Golden Tee, ie. the versions playable in MAME. I am curious to know if you guys are aware that backspin is a feature in GT 3d thru Golden Tee Classic (2000). There was no dedicated button like in todays games. It had to do with how hard/fast you rolled the trackball forward, determined if the backspin was applied or your shot simply landed and rolled. This is not a debate as to the proper method of rolling the trackball as that discussion can get quite heated. I personally cannot roll the trackball fast enough with my thumbs to enable backspin. It takes quite a hard thrust with your hand to make it work. If you prefer that method, that is fine - good for you. It just doesn't work for me. So back to my original question which was: Are you aware of the ability to add backspin to your shots in Golden Tee in the versions playable in MAME? 

Here is a link from the Golden Tee website that has a little "Did You Know" section describing the feature:

http://www.goldentee.com/gt/GT/TheGame/HowToPlay/gt_backspin.jsp

[mickkn]

As far as I know, You can backspin on all the GT games from 97 and up

[DarthMarino]

The link specifies that backspin was a new feature in Golden Tee 4 (Fore).  The games on MAME are Golden Tee 3 or below.  With that said there is a way to get backspin in certain situations.  If you are fighting a strong wind and hit the ball very high, it will spin in the direction of the wind when it lands. 

[Hoopz]

The link specifies that backspin was a new feature in Golden Tee 4 (Fore).  The games on MAME are Golden Tee 3 or below.  With that said there is a way to get backspin in certain situations.  If you are fighting a strong wind and hit the ball very high, it will spin in the direction of the wind when it lands.

Here's the part that ABACABB was talking about:

Backspin was originally introduced in 1995 on Golden Tee 3D Golf without a button! Players had to use trackball speed to apply this feature where the harder a shot was hit, the more significant the backspin was.

[ABACABB]

The link specifies that backspin was a new feature in Golden Tee 4 (Fore).  The games on MAME are Golden Tee 3 or below.  With that said there is a way to get backspin in certain situations.  If you are fighting a strong wind and hit the ball very high, it will spin in the direction of the wind when it lands.

Here's the part that ABACABB was talking about:

Backspin was originally introduced in 1995 on Golden Tee 3D Golf without a button! Players had to use trackball speed to apply this feature where the harder a shot was hit, the more significant the backspin was.

Exactly Hoopz, thanks for clarifying.  Like I said originally, GT Fore introduced the backspin button but prior to this, if you slam the trackball really fast you can apply quite a big of backspin, regardless of the direction of the wind.  I have been playing like this for about 2 years now and when you get the feel for the speed needed on the trackball it is incredibly fun.  Reading some other GT posts though it seems that this is a very well kept secret.

[DarthMarino]

I see the part you are referring to now.  Just to clarify, this is all on the initial shot? You don't have to spin the trackball again after you hit the ball?  I'm assuming this doesn't work with a driver or wood.  We kill it all the time and have never noticed anything like this.  I have noticed if you hit an approach club very hard you sometimes get backspin.  As I said, we always assumed it was catching more wind so by the time it lands it was spinning in that direction.  We would hit it lighter to avoid this.  I will definitely have to play around with it now.  There must a point where you get maximum power with no backspin.

[ABACABB]

I see the part you are referring to now.  Just to clarify, this is all on the initial shot? You don't have to spin the trackball again after you hit the ball?  I'm assuming this doesn't work with a driver or wood.  We kill it all the time and have never noticed anything like this.  I have noticed if you hit an approach club very hard you sometimes get backspin.  As I said, we always assumed it was catching more wind so by the time it lands it was spinning in that direction.  We would hit it lighter to avoid this.  I will definitely have to play around with it now.  There must a point where you get maximum power with no backspin.

Yup, absolutely right Darth.  There is a point to get 100% of the club distance but spinning the trackball faster than that speed creates the backspin.  This can be tricky in certain situations where you want maximum distance with an iron so your instinct is to hit it hard, but it may backfire and you unknowingly apply backspin and perhaps end up in the water or a bunker.  This effect seems to be disabled on drives with drivers or woods, but does work with irons off the tee.  I have actually gotten it to work with a 5 wood!!  The ball doesn't actually catch and roll backwards but it will bite hard and barely roll once it lands. I know getting backspin with a 5 wood is a bit unrealistic but then again it is a video game! I use backspin several times each round.

And to your first question, yes it is all about the speed from your initial swing, no other spinning of the trackball is required.

@DarthMarino PS. Thanks for your help in troubleshooting Vcop2

[DarthMarino]

No problem on the Vcop2 Troubleshooting.  I knew you would pay me back and this thread certainly delivered! We've been playing pretty routinely for the past 6 years or so and still couldn't figure out why sometimes one player would get a nasty backspin and another player wouldn't with nearly the same shot.

This is probably worth a read and discusses this technique in great detail:

http://www.arcade-museum.com/manuals-videogames/G/Golden%20Tee%203D%20Golf.pdf

[Hoopz]

No problem on the Vcop2 Troubleshooting.  I knew you would pay me back and this thread certainly delivered! We've been playing pretty routinely for the past 6 years or so and still couldn't figure out why sometimes one player would get a nasty backspin and another player wouldn't with nearly the same shot.

This is probably worth a read and discusses this technique in great detail:

http://www.arcade-museum.com/manuals-videogames/G/Golden%20Tee%203D%20Golf.pdf

Thanks for that link.  Very helpful info in that doc.   

[ABACABB]

No problem on the Vcop2 Troubleshooting.  I knew you would pay me back and this thread certainly delivered! We've been playing pretty routinely for the past 6 years or so and still couldn't figure out why sometimes one player would get a nasty backspin and another player wouldn't with nearly the same shot.

This is probably worth a read and discusses this technique in great detail:

http://www.arcade-museum.com/manuals-videogames/G/Golden%20Tee%203D%20Golf.pdf

Thanks for that link.  Very helpful info in that doc.   

+1 on that doc.  Great find Darth and thanks for sharing this.  I never knew how to judge where your shot would land but according to this just choose 1 club down and it should give you the approximate distance of where the club above it would land......Brilliant!!  Can't wait to fire this up again.   

[wcndave]

Very slightly off topic, but whilst i have all the gt players here...

I have been getting great forward/back with a trackball connected to ipac, i made sure "input - this game" was set to analogue x/y to mouse.

The left /right is very hard indeed, i cannot easily change clubs.

I see there are "analogue controls" setting, and the sensitivity was set to 25%.  i set the x one to 40% and it works better, but not all the time.

Wht setting do you have for analogue device, as fade/draw is key to this game (for me)

Thanks

Dave

[ABACABB]

Hmmm.  Not sure if you have an issue with your ipac or what is going on there. I use a Tankstick so I can't help troubleshoot there but I can tell you that I left the analog sensitivities on their default settings which is 25, for both. I understand this would be difficult as I use the fade/draw shots often as well. This is just a shot in the dark but perhaps take the trackball apart and clean the rollers???  Maybe there is some debris in there that is preventing smooth movements?

[DarthMarino]

For both X and Y I have it set to 25 for the sensitivity.

[ABACABB]

With now having 2 official documents from Golden Tee explaining the backspin feature built in to early versions of GT, I thought I would change the Subject to reflect this (and I personally know it works).