| Links Corner Course Database ID Number - 1443 |
Release Date |
CRZ Filesize |
Par |
Course Length |
| 2004-05-18 |
44,923,928 bytes |
72 |
7174 yards |
| Type |
Style |
CRZ Filename |
|
FICTIONAL |
PARKLAND |
Alabama Country Golf Estate_lock.crz |
| Course ID |
Course Key |
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LINKS CORNER REVIEW |
Reviewed by: Chuck Clark
Background: This is the second golf course for Links that Mr. Bradley has released to Links Corner. His first one was called Padre Island Golf Resort, released last November. I have never played Padre Island; so I checked out the review to see what it was like. For a first time effort it was O.K., but not great. I'm hoping that with this effort Mr. Bradley has taken a step ahead and honed his skills. The following is an excerpt from the Read-Me with a bit more information:
' Neither that nor this one has been seam blended, but I think you will find the looks of it as is to be nice. I lack the extra time needed to learn about the whole seam blending.
Its size in game is 44.9 MB. Added is splash screen and crz logo.
I live in San Antonio, Texas now but I was born in Alabama. It's a fictional crz but I tried to create a feel of the area I am from.
I again did this crz in APCD 1.5. I originally sent to fileplanet for beta but has been changed a bit from that version. Only changes I have made are of the splash screen & crz logo.'
Overall Impression: I'm afraid to say that my overall impression of ACGE is not very good. It is very simply built and doesn't have much to make you want to go back to it again and again. Although this is a 2003 course there isn't anything in its construction to make you notice which version you're playing (other than shadows of course). There is no seam blending, no first cut or green-side fringes, little or no underplanting, no Hole Previews, no added sounds and very little else that makes you stand up and notice. There are a few interesting holes, but the APCD technique is so poor that it's hard to really get into this course. This course is very flat in places; and very hilly in others. The fairways and greens are generally islands unto themselves. The planting is odd and inconsistent and there is way too much going on near the tee boxes (see screenshots).
Playability/Shot Values: Unfortunately its hard to really pay much attention to this type of thing when a course is poorly constructed. I didn't get much feel for any solid design type strategies. There were some elevated tees, some water and lots of bunkers in play. I didn't feel like the course was over the top too hard; or way too easy.
Visuals: This course fails in this category. As mentioned above there wasn't any first cut of rough or fringes around the greens. When you combine this with planting that doesn't mesh well together, mundane textures, little or no under planting, poor APCD technique and strange objects (like oversized golf carts and benches; and lots of chickens) it's not very pretty to look at. Making a course look good in the APCD takes lots and lots of time; trust me I know. It's obvious that this designer didn't really put in the extra effort to get this course up to snuff.
Technique: The technique on display here is poor to middling. Besides the items mentioned above there were abundant sharp texture transitions and badly mapped/oddly constructed bunker lips (see screen shots). From looking at the screen shots of Padre Island I would say that this course isn't much of an improvement over that course. For a second golf course I try to see some added techniques, smoother elevations or better construction of certain elements. I didn't really see any of these things.
Favorite Hole: I can't really say I had a favorite hole on this course because of the issues mentioned previously. However, I did sort of like the 15th hole. This is a par 4 with a long second shot carry over a brown lake (I liked the mud-colored water; I hadn't seen that previously). You really have to get it in the fairway on the drive, or you're probably going to be laying up. Unfortunately, there were some problems with the construction which took away from the effect. The (reflective) lake is so large that you get the weird graphic anomaly when gazing across its surface. This isn't the designers fault, but there are ways of overcoming this. There were also some strange rocks on the edge of the water and a super-sized bridge to get to the other side.
Summary: This is not a great effort and I really can't recommend it. In this day and age of such fantastic and beautiful efforts, this course really doesn't measure up. The designer needs to spend a lot more time on learning and using advanced APCD techniques. And he needs to spend a lot more time and effort on the planting and other visual effects. And please get rid of the chickens; or keep them penned up somewhere off the golf course where they belong!
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