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The bogey boogie


It's been years. Really it has. The last golfing game I was obsessed with came out in 1990 or so for the Mac. I believe it was the original Links and it had all of my fellow lab workers playing instead of, well, doing those things we were supposed to be doing. It didn't help that the assistant to the professor just happened to be obsessed with real-life golf (to the point of flying from Connecticut to Scotland to enjoy the greens there) and infused us all with a love of the sport, even if we were only armchair golfers. But, this was long ago and so much has happened in between that I had pretty much forgotten about my fixation for computer golfing...until Sierra's PGA Championship Golf arrived, that is.

Now, at first, I thought my feelings for PGA Championship derived from the lack of playing a golfing title (and the endless RPGs I've been working through over the last year). As you will see, I soon realized that there was more to it than that. The only thing I cannot really tell you is if this game is better than Jack Nicklaus 6: Golden Bear Challenge, since I haven't played that title. Direct comparisons aside, PGA Championship is an excellent package which includes a variety of golfers, numerous options, a course designing program, a number of official courses, internet competitions through WON, and a library creator and course management program. With all that Sierra is offering, PGA Golf certainly gives Jack 6 a run for the money.

Truth or fair(way)

A chip for par at Vallens Bluff, a player created course.
PGA Championship is the third golfing title from Sierra following Front Page Sports: Golf and Sierra Sports Golf Pro '98. According to Vance Cook, designer and director of the title, the Washington-based publisher was interested in improving on its previous titles in five main areas: course design, livening up the game, speed (by removing turn-based play to increase game flow), professional tournaments, and the acclaimed "TrueSwing" mouse control. And it is fair to say that Sierra has accomplished all five tasks well. There are some glitches, these having to do with graphical problems. Golfers standing on water, only half appearing, or popping up behind barriers while waiting for a competitor to putt (and thus not being able to see the action), but all of these do not stop the gameplay as you can freely move your golfer to a new location. There are also some quirks with the WON network which I will get to. But all in all, Sierra accomplished what it set out to.
Many options are offered to the computer golfer. To begin with, you can choose to play a local game, alone in practice mode, against computer opponents, or with multiple human players hotseat style. Alternatively, one can play a direct LAN/modem or an internet match. Networked games may be played in ReadyPlay mode, which allows players to go to their ball and swing whenever they want, thereby speeding up play by eliminating the wait for each player to take a turn. Purists can keep ReadyPlay switched off.

Single player is best used to learn the game. Practice mode allows you to try any hole on any course. There's also a putting green, chipping green, and driving range. The courses are quite difficult even under normal conditions. Setting the rough, greens, and wind conditions for a course allows the player to practice for all eventualities. This really helps when playing online later, since some hosts are rather sadistic with their selections: long rough, moist greens, and breezy!

Courses available are beautiful and deadly. Some of the watery links will frustrate even the best players. There are seven official courses packaged with the game:

The Royal Birkdale – near Liverpool, England
Sahalee Country Club – Sammamish Plateau, Northwest Washington
Pasatiempo – Santa Cruz, California
Black Diamond Rach – Lecanto, Florida
Pete Dye Golf Club – Bridgeport, West Virginia (deadly water hazards)
The Prince Course – Kauai, Hawaii
Coeur d'Alene Resort – Northern Idaho (one of the favorites online)

The beautiful but extremely challenging course of Pete Dye in West Virginia.

In addition to this, there are (at last count) 42 courses available for download from WON. Three of these are new official courses and the rest have been created by gamers. Each month the best player-designed course is awarded recognition, assisting gamers in deciding which courses to download (they are somewhat large files).
Besides practice mode, single player (as does multiplayer) offers recreational and tournament games. Recreational rounds are fun, relaxing, and give players a chance to goof around without the tension of a tournament. There is no running commentary or crowds, just the sounds of birds, frogs, and babbling brooks. Players can choose to have a reactionary golfer, one that will gesture depending on the situation. The frequency of these gestures can be adjusted. It's of course more humorous in multiplayer, but it also helps in single player to see my golfer (golferess?) throw her club down at +27 over par while practising!

Tournament games, on the other hand, have a more intense atmosphere. Running commentary is called by PGA Tour Radio's Grant Boone and The Golf Channel's Mark Lye. Their comments can make you feel a flush of excitement at a great putt, or like crawling into a hole when the world goes wrong. It's not all criticism and praise, however, since they will talk about the lay of the green or the wind conditions. This gives the gamer some hints on what to do next: if the putt will break to the left the whole way, more often than not the commentators will give you a hint about it. Some of their comments do get a bit stale when playing often, although you will hear a new line every so often. Everything is mixed up enough as to not grate on the nerves. The only major problem is that they constantly call women players "He."

In addition to the commentary, crowds will "Oooooooh!" and "Aaahhhhh!" at shots near the green. This does add to the feeling of being in a championship. When playing online, because the players chat to one another in a text window and make gestures and can make their golfer say things such as, "We're losing daylight!" one might not notice the make-up of the crowd. This is one of the detractors, as the 'crowd' is made up of about 10-15 individuals pasted in over and over again.


The elevated third hole of Vallens Bluff.
In recreational and tournament single player mode, team play can be selected using 3D computer opponents. AI enemies include the entire men's and women's PGA tourney regulars (well over 75 opponents), each with individual statistics. Creating one's own golfer is simple, and in character creation you get to choose your appearance, stats, and ability levels. The golfing editor is plenty of fun. Both women and men are available, and the hair, skin tone, facial looks, and apparel can be changed to create a golfer one grows attached to. To view the golfer just click on the image and it will dance around in winning style. Most players I have talked to create a golfer that looks similar to themselves (well, all of the golfer-mannequins are thin so guys don't have to worry about that beer belly – we all look great out there!) There are several options to choose for the golfer, such as name, ability level (basic, standard, advanced and computer), one of five tees (tournament, pro, amateur, ladies and forward), control method (TrueSwing or tri-click), when to show grids, caddie suggestions, and which clubs to throw in the bag. An interesting note about golfers: Selecting advanced means that you have no inherent ability, leaving the player to make up the difference. Basic and standard golfers will have some default ability, allowing less skilled players to compete with the more advanced.

Both the traditional tri-click and the Sierra-developed TrueSwing method work quite well. From my experiences online and reading discussions on message boards, it seems the tri-click is much easier. Or should I say, more accurate, since it requires timing, not accurate wrist movement. TrueSwing requires the gamer to mimic an actual golf swing by drawing the mouse back and then thrusting it forward. So any diagonal movements lead to fades, draws, hooks, slices, etc. TrueSwing in its first incarnation was too sensitive and Sierra has done a lot to improve its handling. Most players online are using TrueSwing (also because the upcoming Sierra-sponsored tournament will require it). I exclusively use TrueSwing and have been able to improve fairly quickly, notching a five-over on Coeur d'Alene during breezy conditions. There really is something wonderful about getting an eagle on a par 5 hole after fighting to get the hang of TrueSwing. I've seen a hole in one and also a -7 shot on the same course using TrueSwing.



Fun with options! On the left, game and player options. On the right, the birdie boogie!

Additional PGA Championship options for single and multiplayer modes include: the use of handicaps, sudden death, all golfers play tournament tees, all golfers play advanced ability level. Rules include: regulation rules and custom rules which allows mulligans, gimmies, pickups, and no strokes for missed balls. One may also choose to play 9 holes (front 9 or back 9), 18, or 72 holes. If this isn't enough, there is also 12 types of play:
Medal
Match
Stableford
Four Ball Medal (team)
Four Ball Match (team)
Four Ball Stableford (team)
Skins
Scramble (Two player teams)
Scramble (Four player teams)
Best Ball Ryder Cup
Best Ball Greensome
Best Ball Bloodsome
Hole in WON
So far, I've left out discussion of the interface, which for me was comfortable and easy to manage. Clubs can be selected from a bag which pops up after clicking on a icon. Golfer positions are easily set by selecting the shoes at the bottom of the screen, then choosing a fade, draw, punch, flop, sandblast, or custom stance. The golfer, club, and ball can be moved individually to open or close the clubface. From pull-down menus or the use of hotkeys, games can be saved, shots replayed or saved to view again later, the flag can be found, ball tracer viewed, and the camera moved to 15 different positions. There are also option views and usually I have a least the top view open in a separate smaller window. The swing camera is the main one, viewed behind the player. This can be moved about as a matter of choice.
For setting up a shot, the interface provides several pieces of information. The distance to the hole and the wind speed and its direction are displayed using a waving flag. The flag at the hole also flaps correctly based on the wind speed and direction. The lie indicator shows what type of terrain the ball sits in: light rough, deep sand, fairway, or weeds are some examples. A swing lever at the bottom of the screen allows quick rotation of the golfer and the left/right arrow keys can be used to finely adjust the golfer's position.

Scores and statistics are also maintained on a score card which can be viewed at any time. Only regulation games count for handicap calculations. Statistics on the golfer are kept and players can monitor just how well they are doing at certain holes on a particular course. For instance, how many birdies that golfer has on hole 15 of Pasatiempo. Percentages are also stored, which show the percentage of holes in one, eagles, birdies, pars, and bogeys a player has overall.



The WON career games chat room where players meet to start, join, or just watch matches in progress.

For online games at WON, which is a free service, players connect through the normal startup menu by clicking on the internet icon, which sends the player to a WON login screen. Login then takes you to a main chat room. The usage is simple and makes it easy to get into a game right away. Please note though, that a mistake was made in the UK version and a patch must be applied in order to get into the correct WON server rooms (the shipped game actually sends you to the old test rooms and no one is there anymore).

Once inside the PGA Championship chat room, you can select a room to play on a certain course. For example, select the chat room for Pasatiempo, click join, and you're in. Then wait for another player to join or ask those already there for a round. Start a game through WON by clicking on start game, then invite or allow to join those you have chosen to play with. WON will automatically bring up the normal selection windows, allowing you to choose course conditions and game play options.

WON for the most part is stable. Upon occasion (maybe a couple of times per day), players will lose their connections, though. But, Sierra has designed the game so that a player may rejoin a game he/she was kicked out of accidentally. Rejoining works most of the time, if other players were not lost. The game pauses until the lost player is returned. Other players in the game do have the option to continue gameplay without that player, but if this is done the lost player can no longer get back in the game. It can cause mix-ups, but most of the time play can be resumed.

Personlized bunkers
One of the nicest features of PGA Championship is the Course Architect. I'm still designing my course, but I'm having a lot of fun in the process. It takes time to create a nice one, but the program really simplifies things. Initially, water and holes can be laid out using a wizard. Clicking points on the terrain using it will set the par level of the course. After the general layout is done, everything can be edited. Hole shot locations, tees, and out of bounds. Trees, shrubs people, golf carts, geese can be added individually or en masse, their heights altered for variation (makes for some Alice in Wonderland type golf courses, if you go for 20-foot high geese). Land shapes are created by making an outline for the area to be altered. Then, the height of the hill or ridge can be selected to determine the grade from the edge to the center. Careful placement of land shapes creates undulating, flowing terrain.


Adding a hill to my course in Course Architect.

The textures for tees, fairways, roughs, and greens are then selected, and with a little pushing and pulling here, a little carving and moving there, one begins to see the thing take shape. Three-dimensional objects are also available, such as bridges, houses, and huts. If the library containing the textures, shapes, and objects from the seven original courses is not enough, you can create your own using a free downloadable program called PGA Championship Golf Architect Library Creator. This program allows you to import textures and images into a file which then can be read by Course Architect. The only thing missing is the ability to import 3D structures. My husband, having studied architecture, would love to import some of his 3D CAD models into a course, but we haven't figured out a way.


And there are plenty of other things to add, like 20 foot tall geese if you like.

Once a course is complete and all the editing done, the course must be compiled (within Course Architect). Then the Course Manager program can be used to add the new course to PCG itself. Everything is straightforward and all the tools are there.

A career woman
When I began playing last month, the Sierra Sports Golf Association, a club which players can join and participate in professional and amateur tournaments, was holding a PGA Amateur event. Sierra/WON's idea has been to hold separate events for tri-clickers and TrueSwingers with prizes such as a golfing trip to Hawaii. The problem they ended up with was that the server could not correctly detect whether a player was using tri-click or TrueSwing in the competitions and so in TrueSwing tournaments players "cheated" by using tri-click (which is a lot easier). Due to this problem and also the failure of the server to record scores, the tournaments have been put on hold until a patch can be released. It's a shame really, because when I came online people were practising like mad for the tourneys. I was asked to play a lot of Pete Dye under quite stressful conditions, which was hilarious and great fun. Why hilarious? Well, Sierra incorporated a variety of behaviors and spoken texts the golfer can perform to either encourage or heckle other players. You can also use them on yourself. Cartwheeling through your opponent's putt can be a laugh, if they have a sense of humor and the game is in a bit of a lull. Golfers look good from all sides, if a little bit squatty (bent).

Relaxing at tee.
Despite the tournament delay, WON have been holding career games. A career game can be played on any course and under any conditions, but must be regulation rules on advanced ability and tournament tees. Completion of 18 holes in a career game will then record your score at the WON site. Player statistics are updated with each game played and are considered official for handicaps and other information in the SGA tournaments. So, being nosey, I check mine after every game *grin*. Playing career games is exciting and a good atmosphere generally prevails. Most of the players I've met run in ages from 30-51 years old, so you don't find too many "youngsters" causing problems or harassing others. Also interesting is the distribution of players, many from Florida, England, Idaho, Wisconsin, Texas, and even Belfast, Ireland.

Gimmies for the taking
As I mentioned above, there are several courses to download. WON have set up a site listing all courses with short descriptions. It's also provided a program, WONswap, to make downloading them easier. Also, players can upload their creations for others to download. It's quite well organized and if you have the hard disk space, you can play some of the wildest games. For more information on tournaments and courses available you can check the main SGA site hosted by WON.
Under par!
It may be that the golfer in Golden Bear Challenge looks a bit better, and it may be that some gamers might prefer the Nicklaus model over Sierra's, but overall Sierra's PGA Championship Golf has tons going for it. The numerous computer golfers (both men and women) to choose from with a wide range of stats and abilities, the ability to customize your own golfer's looks and actions, the gorgeous course graphics and the monstrously difficult courses like Pete Dye, the chance to build your own course and import your own graphics, 42 other courses available for download (some crazy, some excellent), the hours (and I mean literally hours because the game has me so addicted) of online gaming time which is both hilarious and yet earnestly seriousness and the immense variety of options all boils down to one very good golf game. The game even runs on lower end machines, although I would recommend full install (440MB) and 64MB RAM to keep things from slowing down.

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