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Interesting that this month we should have two golf
simulations to look at, both boasting a 3D representation
of each hole being played. Ariolasoft's Golf Construction
Set is more complex than US Gold's Leader Board
because, as its name implies, it allows you to design
a golf course on which to play. However, you can dive
straight in with the golf by playing any of the four
famous courses already supplied, The Belfry,
Wentworth Old Course, Sunningdale or Royal
St Georges, Sandwich (home of Nick Faldo
Plays The Open).
Let's
look at playing a game first. First you must select
one of the supplied courses or one you have designed
and saved. Between 1 and 4 players may take part in
either Match or Tournament Play and the individual's
handicaps (if already saved) may be entered after typing
in the name. The conditions to be encountered (wind,
air temperature and ground condition) may be defined
or allocated by the computer. The screen display shows
a plan view of the hole (tee at the bottom, pin at the
top) with ground slope indications along the fairway
on the right and across the fairway on the left of the
plan. Top left of the screen is a 3D view from the player's
position (updated for each stroke), and below that lies
the selection box. From here the clubs may be
selected -- woods 1 to 5, irons 1 to 9, a sand and pitching
wedge, and a putter. Wind and ground conditions are
also displayed alongside the hole number, par and distance
in yards.
Pressing
fire takes you to the aim box and you can move
a cursor over the plan view to select shot direction.
Fire then takes you to the loft box, a graphic
of ball and club. The club may be raised or lowered
to alter the angle of attack on the ball and therefore
its flight trajectory. Next comes the fade box
-- a pair of feet are swivelled left or right of the
centre line which causes the ball to fade left or right
in flight. After this there is an option to go back
and revise any decision.
When
taking the shot, a small graphic of the golfer appears
and pressing fire makes him start the backswing. Controlling
the strength of the shot is done by pressing fire again
when the desired amount of backswing is reached. In
the top view, the ball can be seen flying away, while
its path is mapped simultaneously on the plan view.
Once on the green, the 3D view is replaced by a larger
scale plan of the green, but the control system remains
the same as for a tee or fairway shot.
With
the handicap system, player difficulty levels are introduced
from a handicap level of 28 (beginner) to zero (professional),
the category affecting the probability of making a successful
shot by introducing common playing faults. As in real
life, the longer clubs (1 and 2 wood/irons) are more
difficult to use, and it's harder to play out of rough
than from the fairway.
Constructing
a course
The
construction set display a box on the right for building
the holes with some listed information across its top,
another box to the left with the essential bits and
pieces, and a message box below it. Everything is cursor
driven. First the hole length must be chosen and its
par. The tee and pin automatically come under your control
after this is done and may be placed where desired,
as long as the distance between them matches the par
and length selected. Next the 'out of bounds' area is
drawn in by 'dotting' your way round the perimeter of
the hole with not more than 14 points. These are then
joined up by the computer and the outer area filled.
Now the various elements may be added, different sized
shapes for greens, bunkers, water hazards and trees,
and a colour editor to ensure they look right.
Having
designed its shape, the last act to is to add gradients
from flat to a steep slope left or right both across
and along the fairway and green. Each hole designed
is then allocated a number and saved out to build up
an entire course which may be loaded with the main program
for play.
Golf
Construction Set comes complete with a manual containing
six pages of instructions and hints, and a full colour
booklet detailing one of the Wentworth courses as an
aid to course design. The cassette version contains
two tapes -- side 1 the main game, side 2 the courses
supplied, side 3 the construction set, and side 4 is
available to save handicap and games. This review was
prepared from using the disk version.
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