Future Directions

Today, the latest update to the Game Caddie (version 4.4) was released. The timing of this release has to do with the fact that I anticipate it will be quite a while until the next update, and I didn’t want to ignore some known problems or hold off on making Sooner Hills available to users. Although I have stepped away from the daily posts I used to make here, I have been very busy with other APBA Golf related projects, including further improvements to the GC. 

Back in June, I created a Putting Probability tool that calculates the likelihood of an APBA golfer making a putt from each Putting Board distance, if he goes for it (i.e., doesn’t play it safe). It also calculates the likelihood of three-putting (or worse) from distances of 20 feet or more. Since then, I have been adding All-Time Great (ATG) golfers to a master spreadsheet displaying these values. Although easy to do, it’s a very time-consuming process, and I doubt I’ll finish it anytime soon.

I’ve also been working on some suggestions made by other Game Caddie users. Unfortunately, I can’t always implement what everyone wants. Sometimes, that’s because the effort involved is well beyond the expected benefit to the GC community or simply because I lack the necessary resources or skills.

One particular challenge for me is that I don’t own all the APBA courses, so I don’t know what problems other users are sometimes confronted with. I’ve come to realize that APBA handles wind a variety of different ways, depending on the course. For this reason, I have been spending a lot of time recently trying to come up with a better way for the GC to manage wind effects, including scenarios where you are supposed to “add 10 to the wind dice roll” or double wind effects on a particular shot.

There are manual workarounds for almost all these types of situations, but I agree it’s nicer when you don’t have to fool with that. Working all this out and testing it is going to take some time; hence, the reason for releasing the latest update sooner rather than later.

I’ve also had requests to make certain windows or forms re-sizeable or to be able to toggle them on and off. Re-sizing windows or forms in Excel isn’t always possible or simple to do. The VBA code to make that happen is quite complex. That may have to wait unless I come across some cookie-cutter code that I can appropriate for this purpose. 

Some of you use your own spreadsheets to track tournaments or record results. I know you would like an easy way to import GC Scorecard data into them (similar to what you can do now with the Game Caddie Record Book). You can already export data from the Scorecard using Excel’s File>Export function. A variety of file formats are available, including CSV. You will likely get more data than you want and have to do some clean-up, but you can lessen that chore by using the GC’s Export Card feature first to get rid of all the notes. 

For me to create a more customized solution would require some “heavy lifting,” I’m afraid. The same is true of several other suggestions, such as: the ability to import Scorecard data from an older GC version to a newer one, a built-in list of Player ratings by card year, and consistent placement of the dice roller on each tab. (What might be doable is a pop-up dice roller activated by a hotkey.)

While I know some of you will be disappointed that I have chosen to focus on other things, I think you will be pleased to learn that, going forward, I want to try to add to the GC many of the enhancements Dr. Tom Cline, the APBA Golf Master Game designer, has been working on the last several years. In doing so, I intend to retain all of the current features of the GC–at least until APBA decides, if ever, to come out with a newer version. 

I don’t want to get too specific at this point, but that is the strategic direction I see the GC headed. It will continue to work the way it already does, but you will have more options in terms of how you choose to play. Stay tuned and keep your suggestions coming.