PangYa

Pangya
File:PangYa.jpg
Developer(s)	Ntreev Soft (NCSOFT' s subsidiary company.)
Publisher(s)	Current SmileGate Europe (Global) Gamepot Inc. (Japan) Smilegate Megaport, NHN Corp (Korea) Ini3 Digital (Thailand) Former MAYN Interactive SG Interactive UNO Games (Brazil) Galaxy Games Ntreev USA (merged into SG Interactive) HanbitSoft Asiasoft Online GameFactory Inc. Level up! Games Philippines GOA Europe OGPlanet (discontinued 2009)
Platform(s)	Windows, Wii (SSG), PSP, Android & iOS (2015)
Release	2004 (Korea, Japan) 2005 (North America, original release as Albatross18) 2009 (North America, Re-release under current title)
Genre(s)	Golf, Fantasy
Mode(s)	Single player, Multiplayer

PangYa (Korean: 팡야, lit. "Bang!", RR: Pangya), known as PangYa Exhilarating Golf in Japan (Japanese: スカッとゴルフパンヤ, Hepburn: Sukatto Gorufu Pan'ya), is an online multiplayer casual golf simulation game designed by Korean development company, Ntreev Soft and NCSOFT.

PangYa currently has servers in Korea and Japan, which only service the countries they are located in. A server for the Southeast Asian region is located in Thailand, and a fourth in North America provides global services to the rest of the world.

PangYa's global publisher is SmilesGate Europe, while Smilegate Megaport and Gamepot Inc are the publishers for Korea and Japan respectively. ini3 is the game's Thai publisher.

From 2005 until March 2009, the game was known as Albatross18 in North America. On March 8, 2009, control of the game was passed from OGPlanet to SG Interactive (then Ntreev USA), which closed the game for a month for technical upgrades and re-released the game as PangYa a month later.

Late in May 2014, SG Interactive transferred the publishing rights to MAYN Interactive and transferred the publishing rights to SmileGate Europe in late 2014.

Gameplay

PangYa's gameplay is designed similar to most other golf games. The power and accuracy of a shot are determined by a meter located at the bottom of the screen, using the "three-click method": one click to activate the meter's bar, one click to set power, and one click to set accuracy. Clicking is either done by moving the mouse pointer over the bar and clicking, or simply pressing the space bar.

Should the player hit the ball with perfect (or almost-perfect) accuracy, the shot is called a "PangYa". Missing a PangYa will result in a loss of power, and either a 'hook' (where the ball angles to the left from the intended trajectory) or a 'slice' (where the ball angles to the right from the intended trajectory).

The similarity of PangYa with other online golf games end here. The game's graphics are anime derived, with many of its features stemming from creative imagination, as opposed to realism. Golf clubs resembling household products or baseball bats are used by some characters, and courses such as Silvia Cannon and Wiz Wiz are set in fantasy realms. Additionally, physically impossible special shots can be performed.

Game Modes

Pangya has several game modes.

• Versus Mode - In versus mode, players compete against each other turn by turn with two to four players for 3, 6, 9, or 18 holes. Winners are determined by score. In the case of a tie, pang is used to choose the winner.
  • Stroke Play is one of the versus mode options where players compete by strokes and score.
  • Match Play, unlike stroke play, is determined by the winner of the hole. Players still have to get a lower score than their opponent on each hole to win the hole, but they must have the most wins to win the whole game. Match play is played with two teams: a red team and a blue team. Players can go up against another player, or play with a partner against another player and their partner. If anyone quits in the middle of a game, the whole game is finished.
• Tournament Mode - A mode where 4 to 30 players compete in real time. There are no turns but there is a ranking system.
  • Regular Tournament mode: There is a ranking system that determines who is the best player of the round. There are also special awards of bonus pang for various accomplishments. Trophies are also earned in this mode.
  • Team Tournament needs 12 to 30 people to play. Like Match Play, there is a red team and a blue team. Both teams need to have an equal amount of people in order to start. At the end of the game, each team's score is tallied up and used to determine the winner.
  • Guild Tourney is when a guild battles against another guild. Players need to join a guild to play. Its function is similar to Team Tournament.
• Battle Mode - A special mode of Pangya that deters from the original concept.
  • Pang Battle is a special versus mode where players gamble with pang. Players receive other players' pang for winning a hole. If there is a draw on the hole, it will carry over to the next hole causing it to double or quadruple the amount of the total pang. In case the game is finished and there is still a draw, there will be an approach hole where players have to be the closest to the hole without chipping in at the fastest time.
  • Approach Mode is where 4 to 30 players compete to be the closest and fastest person to the hole without chipping in. In Season 3, players pay 100 pang to play one hole. All pang is stored to a pot, with the top three players splitting the winnings. At rare times, the amount may double or even triple. As of Season 4, entrance fees/gambling have been removed and now participants can play up to nine holes with missions in which they must work together to win items. No missions can appear a lot where its normal approach mode without the gambling unless there are more players playing this mode. Some missions are for genders playing the game, genders of the character, chipping-in, distances, etc. At the end of the game, players get prizes from the treasure chests collected.

• Special Shuffle Course Mode - Each hole is from a different course. The last hole is a special, new course that will give a large reward to players.

• PSq's/Lounges - PSq's, or Player Squares, are where players can socialize and sell consumable pang items and pang clothes in any specific hole and course in the game.

• Practice - Allows players to play the tutorial, As well as Practice courses, And repeat any holes they want to.

• Chip Mode - Lets players practice getting Holes in one.

Exchange and Upgrade Systems

• Tiki's Magic Ball - Tiki's Magic Ball is a recycling system where players can trade their unwanted clubs and equipment for Tiki points, You can exchange tiki points for items in Cadie's Cauldron or Upgrade your power,control,spin or curve slots in Character Mastery.

• Cadie's Cauldron - Cadie's Cauldron is an exchange shop where players can exchange items to create a more helpful item, As well as allow you to exchange gatcha items for the same gatcha item just in a different color or style.

• Lolo's Card Deck - Lolo's Card Deck is a card exchange shop where you can combine 3 cards for a better or worse card.

• Character Mastery - Character Mastery is an upgrade system that allows you to upgrade your power,control,accuracy,spin and curve with pang, You may also upgrade your slots with Tiki points

• Club Workshop - Club workshop is a Club Upgrade system that allows you to upgrade your clubs for better stats

Clubs

A player will start the game with the default golf club. As the player progresses, they are given the option to purchase new clubs, using either Pang or Cookies (Points in the North America server). Players can also get a free Lucky Air Knight club from the tutorial that works until they rank to Junior E. Club sets differ from each other in term of stats provided, available upgrade slots, level requirement, and appearance. Just like in real golf, PangYa club sets contain 4 basic type of clubs: woods, irons, wedges, and putters.

Currency

The currency of PangYa is Pang. Pang is normally earned by finishing a hole at par or better, pulling off powerful shots, and making difficult chip-ins. Pang can be used at the Shop to buy equipment or items. Pang can also be used to upgrade equipment such as golf clubs, or the characters themselves, boosting their stats.
A cookie system has also been established on most PangYa servers which allows people to buy equipment and items using real cash. Rage Points system (which is a system designed to allow their respective virtual credit systems to be used with multiple games) replaces the cookie system but is identical in usage.

Ranking

In Pangya, a ranking system is used. As players continue to compete in more games in tournament mode or match play, they will gain more experience points and move up in rank. Most new players, if not all, start off with the Rookie F ranking and work their way up. The current maximum achievable rank is Infinity Legend A. The only exception is the Game Masters, which have their own rank, GM. When displayed in the lobby, this the highest rank of all.

Special Shots

In Pangya, special shots are achieved by doing different combinations of keys. The standard "perfect shot" is performed by hitting a shot that lands in the white bar, causing a voice to cheer "Pangya!". Under certain conditions, players can hit shots such as the Power Topspin, Power Backspin, and Power Curve, aiding them in avoiding obstacles or chipping the ball into the hole. More complicated shots can be achieved such as the Super Pangya, which adds 10-20 yards to a shot (depending on how many power bars are spent on the shot), as well as the Cobra, Tomahawk and Spike, which change the trajectory of the shot considerably.

Characters

• Nuri

• Hana

• Azer

• Cecilia

• Max

• Kooh

• Arin

• Kaz

• Lucia

• Nell

• Cien – On PSP Version only

• Spika

• Nuri R

• Hana R

• Cecilia R – Korea, Japan - December 2014; Global - January 6, 2015; Thailand - December 24, 2014

Caddies

• Cadie

• Elly & Tory (Limited edition, Twin Caddies)

• Dolfini

• Lolo

• Papel

• Golden Papel (Available once you become Legend)

• Black Papel

• Clear Papel

• Big Papel

• Big Black Papel

• Big Red Papel

• Elephant Papel

• Pippin

• Sporty Pippin

• Quma

• Tiki

• Titan Boo

• Mingti

• A.H.M.I.E (Limited edition, Robot Maid)

• Cien (Limited edition, Talking Caddie)

• Pang Ramyon

Courses

• Abbot Mine

• Blue Lagoon

• Blue Moon

• Blue Water

• Deep Inferno

• Eastern Valley

• Ice Cannon

• Ice Spa

• Lost Seaway

• Pink Wind

• Sepia Wind

• Shining Sands

• Silvia Cannon

• West Wiz

• White Wiz

• Wind Hill

• Wiz Wiz

• Wiz City - released Oct. 26, 27, 28, 2011 (Japan, Korea, Thailand respectively).; Nov. 9, 2011 (Global).

• Ice Inferno - formerly known as Demon's Land. Released Feb 9, 2012 (Japan, Korea); Feb. 15, 2012 (Global)

• Grand Zodiac - released May 30, 2012 (Japan and Korea), June 6, 2012 (Global).

List of Seasons in PangYa

• Season 1 (2004)

• Season 2 (2006)

• Season 3 : Revolution (Korea, Japan, Thailand: 2007), Seeyou@Pangya - Season 3 Expansion Pack (Thailand: 2008)

• Season 4 : Delight (Korea, Japan, Thailand: 2008, Global: 2009)/ 4.5 Delight (Thailand: 2009, Global: 2010) / 4.9 Nell (Thailand: 2010)

• Open Tournament : Phase 1 (Korea: 2009), Phase 2 (Korea: 2010)
  • Phase 1 - Adding Special shuffle mode, card pack vol.2, tournament token, caddie status upgrading and change difficult of Silvia Cannon, the cannon will not affect through the wind.
  • Phase 2 - Introducing the 10th character "NELL". In other servers Nell is a part of Season 4.

• PangYa: United (Late April 2011 Korea/Japan/Global/Thailand)

The United is a combination patch of Open Tournament exclude Nell. When Pangya: United was released on April 27, 2011 it align all servers together so updates in the future would be closer apart.

• PangYa Tomahawk (Korea and Japan: May 30, 2012, Global: Jun 6, 2012, Thailand: Jun 13, 2012)

Was announced on PangYa Japan as the next major update to the game. The new season will be called "PangYa Tomahawk"

Also announced is a new course called "Grand Zodiac"

Tomahawk is the new theme that relates to the new game mode called Grand Zodiac. It is on an island where players battle for Hole in Ones for points. There are exclusive items for this mode, such as expanding the hole size.

Other features include Black Papel Shop with auto-start button, a revamped Family Mode, and letting new players choose from all Pangya characters instead of starting with Nuri and Hana, as well as new Cards and a new item called Zodiac Wings.

PangYa Tomahawk was released in Korea and Japan on May 30, 2012 with other Servers following by Summer 2012.

On May 23, 2012, Pangya Global announced that PangYa Tomahawk will arrive on Jun 6, 2012

• PangYa Challenges (Korea and Japan: Dec 26, 2012, Thailand: Jan 9, 2013, Global: Jan 23, 2013)

New modes, a new way to level up and a new character named Spika was announced on Dec 6, 2012, on the Japanese and Korean Servers. Korea received the update on Dec 20, 2012, while Japan received the update on Dec 26, 2012. Thailand received the update on Jan 9, 2013. PangYa Challenges was released on Jan 23, 2013 for the Global Server.

A new course, "Abbot Mines," was released Aug 22, 2013 and features fans and bounce pads. Also released was Card pack 4 and a club workshop which players can use to upgrade their clubs.

• PangYa Grand Prix : (Korea: Feb 26, 2014, Japan: Mar 19, 2014, Thailand: Mar 26, 2014, Global: Apr 2, 2014)

A new season called PangYa Grand Prix was released in Korea on Feb 26, 2014. It features a new mode to play called "Grand Prix Tournament Mode". Specific game rules are applied which all players will need to complete in the amount of time allowed. Higher difficulty allows for better prizes, but harder gameplay as well as challenging bots. Also added to the Global Server was the new Natural Wind mode where the wind values in the game aren't shown, instead, a color is shown to determine how fast the wind is going (green for 1-3m, yellow for 4-6m, red for 7-9m). Japan received the new update on Mar 19, 2014. Thailand received the new update on Mar 26, 2014 Global received the new update on Apr 2, 2014

• PangYa Natural Wind : (Korea: Aug 28, 2014), PangYa Fresh Up : (Japan: Sep 25, 2014, Global: September 29, 2014, Thailand: Oct 1, 2014)

A new season called PangYa Natural Wind was introduced in Korea on Aug 23, 2014 and was released in Korea on Aug 28, 2014. The update introduced brand new clothing sets and items for the renovated characters Nuri and Hana and updated the graphics engine, as well as adding new shading, lighting, textures, and an updated main menu interface. PangYa Natural Wind introduced the revamped Natural Wind System, where in game, the wind is shown by numbers and will swing in slightly different directions to add difficulty to game play.

After the update, character sets were released for two characters: Nuri R and Hana R. Players can switch between the renovated characters after buying them from the shop. Most of the items for Nuri and Hana cannot be used with Nuri R and Hana R, but certain items can be modified through Cadie's Cauldron for them. Certain gacha items can also be exchanged, though these are mostly character enhancing items to make gameplay easier.

During the Natural Wind/Fresh Up patches, the other renovated characters will be added with the new updates for 6-8 weeks, starting with Cecilia R, towards the end of December 2014. After the update the same item conditions of Nuri R and Hana R will be applied to all renovated characters.

Japan, Global and Thailand servers called the new season PangYa Fresh Up, though it has the same updates as the Korean server.

PangYa World Championships

PangYa World Championships is a competition to find the best PangYa player in the world. All servers have a regional competition first to find the region's own best player who then gets invited to the World Championships. Regional winners receive flight to and hotel stay at the Championship location.

Each server will then send 3 to 4 of the best regional players to the Championship location to compete, as well as 2 Game Masters to compete with other Game Masters during the event. A prize is awarded to the winners at the end of the event.

2011 PWC

• The 2011 PangYa World Championship was held on Jan 22, 2011 in Tokyo, Japan.

The top prize was $5000 USD with a total reward prize of $15500 USD The whole event was broadcast live via internet streaming provided by OkomeBroadCastingStation

Japan made a clean sweep on home ground, with Igarisan winning the Singles and their teams and GMs wrapping up the Team and GM Events, respectively.

2012 PWC

• The 2012 PangYa World Cup location was announced on Nov 10, 2011.

It was held in Bangkok, Thailand on Jan 14, 2012. Global, Japan, Korea and Thailand servers all had their respective PangYa Regional Cups to find their top 3 PangYa players.

Japan (for the second year) lead the Team division while Igarisan, from Japan, took away his second straight win for Singles and secured the grand prize.

Future PWC championships

• The 2013 championship was cancelled because the game creator, Ntreev Soft, was busy with an upcoming title.
• The 2014 championship was never announced due to the 10th Anniversary (5th Anniversary on the Global server) and the new remodels in PangYa Natural Wind/PangYa Fresh up.

Other versions

Super Swing Golf series

Main articles: Super Swing Golf and Super Swing Golf: Season 2

First unveiled at Nintendo's E3 press conference during a montage trailer, Super Swing Golf was announced for the Wii gaming system. The game was in joint development by Ntreev Soft and Tecmo, was released on December 2, 2006, by Tecmo in Japan, and was released on December 12 of the same year in the U.S. Super Swing Golf has been built from the ground up for the Wii but still shares similar attributes with the PC version of the game. The sequel to Super Swing Golf, Super Swing Golf: Season 2, has also been released, featuring new items as well as the Deep Inferno, Pink Wind, and Ice Spa courses from Pangya on PC as well as the Special Shot 'Spike'.

Pangya: Fantasy Golf

On June 23, 2009, Tomy (under license from SK Telecom) released Pangya: Fantasy Golf for the Sony PSP in North America.

Pangya Mobile

On November 18, 2014, NCSOFT (with cooperation from Ntreevsoft) has announced Pangya Mobile for iOS and Android. This game will feature Tiki, Cadie, Chloe, Kaz, Lolo, Lucia, Quma, and Myuren as playable characters. More information will be released during the G-Star 2014 event.

See also

• GolfStar
• Shot Online

External links

Developer

• Ntreev Soft - Developer of Pangya.

Official servers

• Pangya Global - Official Global Server (SmilesGate Europe/Gamerage).
• Pangya Korea - Official Korean Server (Gametree)
• Pangya Japan - Official Japan Server (Gamepot)
• Pangya Thailand - Official Thailand Server (ini3)