Hello golf fans! It's time for the monthly delve into what's been happening - so let's jump straight in! Last month I covered the progress I've been making on the 1.15 update, which you can read here, but to recap:

• Text support has been updated with non-Latin alphabets and emojis
• Weather has been implemented, so you can now play rain, showers, mist or shine!
• Night time mode has been added and the new lighting system has been polished

Throughout the last month I've been tidying up and refining these features including, but not limited to, creating new lights and dusk effects for the existing courses, and updating the lobby menu to allow selection of the new weather types. As a little bonus I've also added weather indication to the rich presence in Steam's friends list

Based on feedback I've also been refining the behaviour of the stroke indicator when the ball lies in the rough or a bunker. It'll now move very slowly, increasing the amount of skill required to make a perfect shot.
AND I've even fixed the news page (which has been ever-present on itch.io, but missing from Steam) after finally figuring out the Steam RSS feed.
The bulk of the work, however, has been on the previously hinted-at new courses. There will be two in the final update when it's released, however the first is now mostly complete and available in the public beta. They say a picture is worth a thousand words - so here's a short essay on which to cogitate :




If you want to try the new course and offer any feedback you can, as always, find the beta in your Steam library by right clicking on the game and selecting Betas. I should take this opportunity to point out that any XP/Achievements/Leaderboard scores are currently disabled for the new course while it's in beta, and this will remain the case until the 1.15 update is complete and released. All the existing courses remain unaffected and can be used to earn XP and achievements as normal, even when playing on the beta. As always if you have any feedback please post in the discussions, or hop into the Steam chatroom where you can also hang out with the friendly community and maybe even get the occasional sneak-peek at what I'm working on! [hr][/hr]
In other news, I'd like to thank everyone who nominated the game for a Steam award: Thank You! I know it's highly unlikely to win anything, but hey you gotta be in it to win it! Besides, your continued support of the game is far more valuable than any award. For now there's not much else to add - you (and I!) will have to wait until the Winter Sale to see what happens next... A big thanks also goes out to everyone who has been taking part in Super Video Sunday. We've seen an influx of new faces in the last few weeks, and I've met some wonderful people - many of whom have taken home first place on their very first go! Yourjaguarlover has been arranging a new Player Of The Week event - so make sure to head on over to the clubhouse to give YJL a firm handshake and a pat on the back, and to find out how to take part in upcoming events. That's all for this month - keep your eyes peeled for news on the Steam Winter Sale and Steam awards, and I'll see you all in the new year. Happy Golfing!