A step away from modern day

[Still Linksing]

Here's a little Links pulled from a magazine in the early 90's. Wonder if anyone else will find the article as interesting as I did???
Makes me want to dig out and play LS 2000 now!

0.jpg (1.27 MiB) Viewed 6141 times

1.jpg (1.02 MiB) Viewed 6141 times

2.jpg (1.4 MiB) Viewed 6141 times

3.jpg (1.11 MiB) Viewed 6141 times

[Jimbo]

Take that Sage and Brooksie!
BTW, what happened to the Barton Creek Crenshaw Course?

[Adelade]

Good read Nice to see there was some true passion behind the Microsoft-produced courses, and makes me feel a bit guilty for having no love for them. Really, if only the courses werent locked so one could change the textures to nicer ones then I bet most if not all of them would be fairly great in a quick turn just like that. Their efforts wasting away nowadays, compared to user courses

[FOOOOORE!]

256 colours? No way!! I remember no sooner had that been released than they were asking what features we'd like to see improved. Top of the list were reflecting water surfaces and shadows. Nowadays I guess we'd be asking for rippling water surfaces, trees that sway in the breeze, and critters that run across the fairway, occasionally grabbing your ball(s).

[Still Linksing]

Nice to see there was some true passion behind the Microsoft-produced courses, and makes me feel a bit guilty for having no love for them.

The conversions in Links 2001/2003 look terrible and the courses lose all their character. Put them in one of the older games they were intended for and it makes a big difference. Having proper shadows makes a huge difference as well.

Of interest in the article was the missing course and that they were considering releasing the course designer! I guess once they saw how much return the add-on courses were making them, the course designer idea was dropped.

[Still Linksing]

Should also mention, I think it's impossible to appreciate the old Links games and the courses without going back and playing those games again.

When Links 2001 came out I moved on from Links 2000 like everyone else. The new game, the user courses, it got everyone hooked. It wasn't till years and years later I decided to load up Links 2000 again for a look back and a little nostalgia. I could not believe how good the game was and how good the courses looked compared to their converted versions in Links 2001 and Links 2003. Even the courses that MS remade for the new Links games from their LS counterparts don't look much better.
The graphic engine in the later Links games is very different and really not suited to the courses made for the LS series.

I really believe you need to go back and play the old games again. Without having ever played the old games or just relying on your memory of the old games you won't have an appreciation for them or the MS courses. I certainly didn't.

Myself, if I ever had to today lose one Links version forever, be it Links 2003 or Links 2000, I would rather lose Links 2003.

[pmgolf]

A big roadblock for me in going back to those older Links games is having to do Click mode. I tried it recently and quit playing mid-round after feeling disconnected to the game. I play RTS now and enjoy feeling connected to the swing.

Pete

[Still Linksing]

A big roadblock for me in going back to those older Links games is having to do Click mode.
Pete

Yes, totally fair argument if you have moved on to other swing methods then yes, Links 2003 is the game for you.

For click, even the swing meter in 2000 is soooo much better imo. It's fluent, smooth, transitions beautifully from direction up/down. Links 2003 feels very, very mechanical.

[Adelade]

Perhaps, but I just dont think I would enjoy hopping between games with all their differences, I'd rather stick with one main game for a number of reasons, and even if its true that the old Microsoft courses are better on the old games than the new ones, theres no way they would be able to compete with the rest of the 2003 course library for me. I imagine there are a ton of features in 2003 that I would miss in the old games too, just as an example the green speeds always seem like putting on glue whenever I watch clips from various Links games from times before the 1.06 mod, and not sure how well it would work to play without grid or top cam.

Also, whenever I've tried to find videos or pictures of Links 2000, I havent really found much, the standard search on youtube for example only seems to have one video with passable video quality, which is of a desert course where you cant get a good sense for visuals because of how bare the environment is. I've not seen anything that really appeals to me visually from the old games so far anyway, possibly one needs the nostalgia factor to really give the different look the initial chance needed before being able to fully start appreciating them, and I only started the Links series in 2003. Colours seem pretty nice on a lot of courses in a lot of the old games, which is a big deal if you ask me, but its also quite grainy everywhere, and the environments seem to come alive more in 2003 with the help of the dynamic cam. Are you using anti-aliasing in LS 2000? Does it look a lot better with tweaks like that compared to stock standard screenshots?

[Still Linksing]

Perhaps, but I just dont think I would enjoy hopping between games with all their differences, I'd rather stick with one main game for a number of reasons, and even if its true that the old Microsoft courses are better on the old games than the new ones, theres no way they would be able to compete with the rest of the 2003 course library for me.

My last Links LS 2000 round was December 22nd, 2019. I don't hop, I play a version exclusively for 2-3 years and then change. It keeps things fresh and fun.

Number of courses a user would like is up to them. I notice there is rather a course obsession with those remaining here but that's not me.
I use 34 courses in Links 2000 and that is more than enough. I prefer to learn a course and develop a plan of attack for each hole. You can't do this if you play too many courses. 34 is more than enough and by changing games every 2-3 years, by the time I play Links 2000 again those courses I again need to re-learn.

I imagine there are a ton of features in 2003 that I would miss in the old games too, just as an example the green speeds always seem like putting on glue whenever I watch clips from various Links games from times before the 1.06 mod, and not sure how well it would work to play without grid or top cam.

Ah, you speak like I did before playing Links 2000 again. I have found playing nothing but fast/mod speeds is easier to putt than mixing up the old speeds. It also greatly limits the greens you can play on.

I found using the various old speeds makes almost any course playable, fun and challenging. The slowest original speeds are slow but they are also very challenging. I use soft/slow in my first round for the challenge. You really have to expect backspin and it is very easy to leave the ball short on a putt or hit it too firm. Firm/fast is quite fast especially on undulating greens. As great as I thought the mod speeds were, going back to Links 2000 and playing the slow speeds on the MS courses made me change my mind. I've since returned to Links 2003 and I've slowed my speeds down and I've gone looking for courses with tougher greens than I would've in the past.

Also, whenever I've tried to find videos or pictures of Links 2000, I haven't really found much, the standard search on youtube for example only seems to have one video with passable video quality, which is of a desert course where you cant get a good sense for visuals because of how bare the environment is. I've not seen anything that really appeals to me visually from the old games so far anyway, possibly one needs the nostalgia factor to really give the different look the initial chance needed before being able to fully start appreciating them, and I only started the Links series in 2003. Colours seem pretty nice on a lot of courses in a lot of the old games, which is a big deal if you ask me, but its also quite grainy everywhere, and the environments seem to come alive more in 2003 with the help of the dynamic cam. Are you using anti-aliasing in LS 2000? Does it look a lot better with tweaks like that compared to stock standard screenshots?

Depends what you want from graphics. Sure, Links 2000 is a little more dated, rough around the edges with no seam blends etc.
In saying this, Links 2003 is too smooth imo and I know this was a feeling shared amongst many users when Links 2001 was first released. Links 2000 is grainier but it's also grittier and has more character.

It will be a while but I will at some point post some screenshots if you like to show some comparisons of the two games.
Then there is also gameplay and in this area, Links 2000 wins hands down imo. I just wish you could see the cup physics. They are absolutely brilliant!

Links 2003 is certainly a great game as is Links 2000. For years I kept moving forward with the latest and greatest games. At some point several years ago I started realising the latest is not always the greatest. It's the same with many games and I'm now no longer playing new, I'm playing what I feel is best.