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SPACE ADVENTURE
by Michael Savicki
| Links Corner Course Database ID Number - 499 |
Release Date |
CRZ Filesize |
Par |
Course Length |
| 2001-07-29 |
18,592,167 bytes |
72 |
8135 yards |
| Type |
Style |
CRZ Filename |
|
IMAGINARY |
UNCLASSIFIED |
Space.crz |
| Course ID |
Course Key |
| 4da6bf60846311d5a1ed525405fe324e |
297808655c9d2bc3ef498c43058e1128 |
|
LINKS CORNER REVIEW |
Reviewed by Dave Campbell
August 2001
Expectations: I must admit that I have been waiting for this course release since I viewed the previews. Something of a different look for sure.
First Impressions: Space Adventure is the forth course Michael has posted to the Links Corner with the first three being Damaze-Falls, Mukes-Lexington and Damaze-Jurassic. With his two 'Damaze' offerings we get an idea that Michael favors a fantasy theme with Mukes-Lexington being his only design that resembles a true course layout. All fantasy up to now from any designer (with the possible exception of Volcano Island from Andrew Jones) pales in comparison to this imagination filled, mind expanding design. It is set in outer space with all island tees, fairways and greens and is a par 72 measuring an incredible 8,135 yards from the only set of tees. The massive length is offset by all but two of the tees being elevated, some quite severely. As I made my way through the round I imagined that I was taking a 'Jetson's' type space vehicle to get from hole to hole, or from tee to fairway for that matter. This is one of the busiest courses released to date with hundreds of custom objects used. It ranges from Star Wars to Star Trek to an Alien movie themed hole, with every imaginable piece of space equipment in between (including a recreated Apollo moon landing on the 10th fairway). The question is does this translate to a course that's playable and enjoyable?
Playability: The answer is yes! It is a tough, but playable course. Players that have a good reliable snap should actually be able to score on this layout. Playing the unforgiving PS Champ that I do, I had to take many mulligans during my test round because if you miss the fairway your ball falls into the vastness of space. The layout is pretty open with a few exceptions and there is usually a good spot to land your drive but your snap has to be sound. Take some time as you make you way around the course to admire some of the great things Michael has done. I'm no APCD expert but he's done stuff on this course that I've never seen before and the many space objects placed about had me smiling and chuckling more than once. Great stuff Michael.
Your views from the tees are awesome for a couple of reasons. Not only can you see the myriad of space objects but, all but two tees are elevated and some to an extreme heretofore unseen. Here are a few examples; the 681-yard par 5 5th hole has a tee that is elevated 138 yards above the fairway. My 3W drive went 397 yards (with only a 108 chs for you PS'ers). The 537-yard par 4 13th has a tee that is elevated 124 yards and my 3W went 391 yards (113 chs). The elevated tees range from as little as 43' to the aforementioned 138 yards. Most are in the 50 to 100 yard range. Watching your drive from these holes is a site to behold as they stay aloft for up to 10 seconds, particularly with the high arcing 3W. My average drive in fairway for the round was 331 yards. On a few occasions you will drive over planets or other fairways, or into a black hole as is the case on the 15th.
The fairways are generous in size with no 1st cut with a fairway bunker presence on most. Fortunately there is a little bit of rough texture around most fairways before you drop off into space, helping hold the wayward shot.
The greens are spacious and fair with very subtle breaks being the norm. There are many greenside traps and some tree influenced approaches, and 'Alien' movie monsters greenside on the 7th. Incidentally, you need to drive over the queen 'Alien' and her pods to get to the green.
The main hazard is space itself, you have to shoot straight or it's OB and a rehit. There are the bunkers on most holes and on the 17th approach shot you may need to use a punch shot to get under the 'Deathstar', being that it's a solid object and will deflect a normal iron approach. You drive into the 'Black Hole' on the 15th tee, which is one of the most interesting things Michael designed for this course. It truly looks like a black hole from the tees and I was not able to avoid this no matter what club I tried to drive with. I won't spoil the surprise and explain too much, plus Michael talks about it in the readme file supplied with the download.
I can't cover all the custom objects because of the sheer volume. Suffice it to say you will not run out of things to look at.
Drawbacks: Like I stated earlier there seems to be no earthly way to go from island to island. My solution is to imagine a little space vehicle 'Jetson-mobile' to whisk me from place to place.
I noticed a line, or halo, around the custom objects that I believe might be an Nvidia chipset video card problem only (see screenshot). I've noticed this on some custom panos for other courses and I'm sure this is the same thing. Just mentioning it for other Nvidia users sake.
The problem with seeing the bottom of the pano is really exaggerated on this course. You see it often in normal screen renders as well as the dynamic cam shots. It ruins the mood a bit when you see half of the screen render a light brown instead of the star filled sky. I understand that this isn't the designer's fault but it needs to be mentioned. I also noticed that when the tee or fairway islands were above your viewpoint that you could see through the bottom of the islands, sometimes just seeing the outlines. This may have to do with the distance rendering of objects and how big they are but this too affected the overall feel of the course. Can verts and textures be applied under an existing body of land thereby rendering solid?
Many small standard APCD things I noticed. The occasional untidy mesh shadow in fairways, near greens or in the bunkers. The bunker walls formed by extruding the lips have no texture mapped.
From a playability standpoint I already talked about the solid 'Deathstar' object forcing a shot setup decision on the 17th. There is also a piece of space junk on the 5th fairway that doesn't show up in the top cam or on some screen renders. The first you see of it is when it renders right in front of you and you have to chip out sideways or backwards.
I think this course could have reached another level with some custom sounds (i.e.; Star Wars laser cannon sounds, Darth Vader breathing, HAL computer talking, Neil Armstrong 'one small step' near moon landing scene, Yoda's wisdom imparted, etc.). If you use your imagination the possibilities are endless.
Best Hole: I love those elevated par 5's that I can crank near 400 yard drives on, great ego boost. I also liked the 'space child' that is holding up the 18th island green. I assume that must be Michael's son, or a relative. Either way he's immortalized forever in this design. How can I not mention the 'Black Hole' on the 15th. I thought about making this one my review screenshot but you'll just have to download and play for yourself. My favorite is the 655-yard par 5 10th hole that depicts an Apollo moon landing on the fairway. This hole also has a 92-yard tee to fairway elevation that allows a monster drive.
My screenshot is of Homer putting on the 17th green. I chose this shot because it illustrates much of what I talked about. You see the 'Deathstar' and if you look closely at the objects you should see the 'halo' effect I talked about. It looks like the Millennium Falcon is about to do a nosedive into the fairway as the X-wings battle it out with Imperial fighters. No wonder Homer looks perplexed, how could anyone concentrate on putting with this much going on.
Test round stats: Not applicable since I took many mullies. Layout can be scored on if you keep it on the fairway.
Comparable courses: Ya, right!
Overall: Space Adventure is a fantasy course lovers dream and even though it's not technically perfect it, the countless hours involved in putting this course together really shows. It is a one of a kind creation in the APCD that pushes the boundaries of course design just a bit further than they've ever gone. It is a course I recommend that everyone try, unless you just know that this type of course is not for you. Even so there are some things that should not be missed in this design.
Now for the hard part, how do I score this course? There is nothing to compare it to and some of the visual errors (not all the designers fault) are glaring. I'll give it a mark because I have to but you need to download this course and try it for yourself. Hopefully with this review and all the talk in the various forums you can make an informed decision.
Maybe after a patched or future version of the APCD is made available then some of the things mentioned in the drawback section of my review can be easily remedied. If you add some planted sounds too, this one could be a classic. Even so it's a fun course to play and I appreciate the obvious time and effort Michael put into this design. I'll close this review by saying I hope there is a Space 2, a course sequel if you will that has everything fixed. I would download that immediately.
Filesize 15MB
Course Info :
Splash Screen? Yes
Cameo Screen? Yes
Text file? Yes
Hole Previews? No
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CLIPNOTES by Ben Bateson (ousgg) |
Description
Imaginary, concept course. |
Location
TBA |
Conditions
TBA |
Concept 10/10
In the words of the immortal Sam Beckett: 'Oh boy.' A space themed golf
course will knock your brains out. Not just every hole, but the entire course
is customised to death, and you can expect cameo appearances from
most of the best-known sci-fi characters. Massively elevated tees
(presumably to give the illusion of low gravity) mean you can boom out
enormous drives (450 yards is my personal best). OK, so the hole design
isn't always bang on the money. But there's more than enough here to
keep all but the most die-hard cynic busy and amused for hours. |
Appearance 7/10
A case of the good, the bad and the ugly. The good is the massive amount of customisation that has gone on. There are literally
hundreds of custom objects, each rendered beautifully and reasonably convincingly (in as much as it's possible to be convinced by this
course). The bad is the close attention (or lack thereof) that has gone into the regulation golfing features. There are plenty of hard
texture edges, one or two elevation changes that are calling out for another ring of verts, and the bunker extrusions are pretty awful.
The ugly is the almost inevitable fact that your line of view will dip beneath the panorama occasionally, and you'll see Links backdrop.
On a superficial level it's a very good looking course, but after you've seen everything, you'll demand more. |
Playability 5/10
To be honest, you've seen all there is to see after 18 holes, and you'll tire of being demanded to hit the snap time after time (the depths
of space is OB, naturally). On a course of massive length, there's little play option beyond hitting hard and long, and so this doesn't
play as well as Michael's other courses. |
Challenge 5/10
Unrealistic course, unrealistic challenge. The demands to hit your snap are too high (especially on Champ level or above), and plenty
of strokes will be lost to OB penalties. Despite the freakish course length (8100 yards, somewhat negated by the elevated tees), it's
possible to make birdies thanks to some gentle greens, but this course will still prove too much challenge for those that don't take
mulligans out on the course. |
Technical 6/10
A mixed bag. While the skill and patience that has gone into the customisation is undeniable, it would be nice if more attention had
been paid to the golf beneath the façade. Some custom sounds, too, are crying out to be added, and it's a real shame they have not
been. |
| Overall |
A course unlike any other. In turns brilliant, annoying and downright silly. Make of it
what you will. |
33/50 |
Please remember that Clipnote reviews are the opinion of one person and do not constitute an 'Official' Links Corner review of the course. |
This course is available as a FREE download.
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