|
Wolf Creek on Black Bear Ridge
by Ed Spence
| Links Corner Course Database ID Number - 1095 |
Release Date |
CRZ Filesize |
Par |
Course Length |
| 2002-09-18 |
52,513,441 bytes |
54 |
2735 yards |
| Type |
Style |
CRZ Filename |
|
FICTIONAL Par 3 Course |
DESERT |
wolfcreekobbr.crz |
| Course ID |
Course Key |
| a380dc30af6b4e71ae61c969e4681dd0 |
b50971fc6cd1231e02c4faf0160560ba |
|
LINKS CORNER REVIEW |
Reviewed by Joseph G Reynolds CPA
October 2002
FORMAT FOR REVIEW:
Intro/Overview/Conclusion/Hole Descriptions/Issues/Notes for the Designer
METHODOLOGY:
Play test one round from each tee at breezy/medium/moderate, one round from back tee at windy/firm/fast, and one practice round for inspection, hole descriptions and screenies.
Introduction
Wolf Creek at Black Bear Ridge was released on September 18, 2002, without announcement or beta testing. This 2 gold star User Rated course followed the designer's initial release, the 8,400 yard Gilligan's Island Resort, by 9 days. This is an 18 hole par 3 layout set in a forest amid the all too familiar Whistler panorama. The course was entirely constructed from stock or imported objects and textures. The abrupt readme file lists the yardages, and informs us there are 56 bunkers, water on 11 holes, and 3 double greens. It ends with the warning that test play revealed the default aim on #3 is considerably right of the intended target.
NOTE: This may be caused by the overlapping hole boundary, which crosses two other red line shapes. There are 4-5 other holes where this occurs, but in keeping with the quirky nature of APCD, it only affects play at #3. Perhaps because it's a double green?
Overview
The nicest thing I can say about Wolf Creek on Black Bear Run is it's playable. The shoddy APCD will be obvious to even the least discerning player. The bunkers have either unmapped grass or no lips; the size and shapes of the sand traps are really odd. Fortunately you will rarely be in one. The greens are for the most part unimaginative and will offer little challenge in either hitting in regulation or putting. The planting is over the top, unrealistic, and in general poorly done in every aspect. The Whistler pano makes no sense since the subtle elevation of this course would have worked better as a parkland or lakeside layout.
Two first impressions of the Wolf Creek on Black Bear Run par 3 course: collage and claustrophobia. If you've ever sat down with a stack of magazines to cut up and paste to construction paper, you know it's a quick and pleasant creative outlet. While it's cute and often humorous, its value as an art medium is questionable to say the least.
When you make a collage, you often leave no blank spaces, even if it means overlapping completely unrelated pictures and text. That's part of the fun, right? Well that methodology pretty much sums up the planting for this course. Heavily forested, with the usual out of place trees often seen from first time designers who seek no outside input (i.e., apple trees imported from Jack Hartt's design, set among a mountain evergreen course).
A deep grass texture is used for ground cover on many of the areas between the tee and the green. It isn't mapped or scaled correctly so it looks muddled. The black specks contribute to the dark spectrum of WCOBBR, as does the 'closed in' feeling of the planting. Over the top, repetitious, unrealistic..name your planting mistake here __________, and you'll probably find it on this course.
Does WCOBBR strike you as sort of an ungangly name, eh? In this case it reflects the layout. Few things work well here.
Conclusion
Par 3 course releases are rare. One of the best APCD courses ever, the 9 hole Augusta National Par 3, received the highest Official Review rating ever seen, a justifiable 98. Another fine par 3 is the 18 hole Bear Claw, brought to you by the prolific designer Mat LeClair, a young Texan who happens to be a fine golfer. There have been a couple of other par 3 releases worth checking out. Wolf Creek on Black Bear Ridge is not one of them. With the exception of those who burn every Links Corner release to CD, I cannot imagine why anyone would download this course.
Hole-by-Hole Description
NOTE: I normally describe every hole in a review. Given the complete lack of strategy evident in this boring par 3 layout, I have the same advice for every hole if play Wolf Creek on Black Bear Run:
§ Hit it close
§ Sink your putt
This is not to say a par 3 course is always devoid of strategic options, but you will find little here that is either challenging or interesting.
1st Hole 122 Yards
2nd Hole 220 Yards
3rd Hole 172 Yards
4th Hole 245 Yards
5th Hole 116 Yards
6th Hole 228 Yards
7th Hole 112 Yards
8th Hole 97 Yards
9th Hole 103 Yards
10th Hole 125 Yards
11th Hole 108 Yards
12th Hole 138 Yards
13th Hole 145 Yards
14th Hole 169 Yards
15th Hole 157 Yards
16th Hole 98 Yards
17th Hole 164 Yards
18th Hole 216 Yards
Issues and Oddities
The routing is unbalanced, with no holes between 172 and 216 yards. To wit: there are 3-4 holes which are reachable with a SW, 3-4 which call for a PW, 2 a 9I, 2 require a 8I, 1 7I, 2-3 would be 6I range, and perhaps 1 5I. The 3 longer holes play at 2I, 1I/5W and 3W distances.
The 80-acre plot seems a little tight from a design standpoint. There are no budget constraints in APCD, so buy some more land!
Although set in the mountains the course has little elevation change. Please, find another pano, we have all looked at Whistler too much already.
One (1) mapping? Oops..guess we forgot to learn that. The effects are seen in the blurred textures and sharp delineations. The course has an unrealistic look and feel.
Planting is overdone and accounts for the large file size. With virtually no extras and few objects I would expect to see something in the 20-30 Mb range. Must have planted objects and then deleted; another APCD quirk is doing this leaves behind a bunch of info (e.g., delete does not reduce the file size as much as you would expect).
I know there is no accounting for taste, but the appearance is garish and unpleasant. What's the deal with that huge wooden duck floating between 13 green and 14 tee? How exactly does that fit with Wolf Creek on Black Bear Run theme?
Sounds..lapping water..on ponds? Huh? Enough planes that on several holes I felt like I was playing at a dive bombing range.
The rock formations look unrealistic.
Notes for the Designer
Thanks for releasing two courses during September. It takes courage to release a course to the public and leave yourself vulnerable to criticism from players and reviewers.
From a technical standpoint this course is greatly weakened by the your lack of mapping expertise (SEE screenies for the obvious effects in game play). Beyond that, I see little evidence of vert manipulation. The mesh cleanup is virtually non-existent, particularly around texture transitions, bunker lips and water banks. That said, I am confident tutorials and much practice will help the you evolve into an adequate APCD designer. It's not easy stuff working with this CAD, but it ain't rocket science either.
On the plus side, I liked many of the individual holes. With a little bit of elevation work the greens could become interesting. Stripping the planting won't reduce the file size much (another APCD quirk), but is wholly necessary. From a mapping and mesh standpoint, this course needs a major overhaul.
Here are some links to tutorials, web sites and discussion threads I think you will find helpful.
30+ tutorials are found here at Links Corner
3 that I think will help you:
John Pineda & Eddie Schmidt video - verts & edges
Mapping video - a must have skill you need to acquire
William Kline tutorial on building a bunker
By the way, I recommend downloading the camtasia player to view the video tutorials, as the resolution is better than Real One or Windows Media Player.
You'll find many designers have done one or two tutorials on their own web site. Here's a good one:
Rick Weathers tutorial on building a bunker
If you decide to rework either of the two courses you recently released, please invite folks to beta test before you re-release. Same thought applies if you design another course. You'll get lots of valuable insight that will help you improve the strategic elements. Releasing an untested course with major flaws is a waste of everyone's time.
APCD is a lot of fun. It is difficult to do well, so it requires a lot of patience. Take your time, and do things the right way. When you get stuck, ask another designer in the Links Corner Designers Forum. I wish you well and hope you will stick with it.
Course statistics: Par 54; 2,735 yards from back tees; 5 sets of tees; 10 sets of pins.
Included/Not Included:
Cameo: Yes
Custom Flags: No
Custom Tee Markers: No
Custom or added Sounds: Yes
Handicaps: No
Hole Previews: Yes
Read-Me: Yes
Splash Screen: Yes
Tee Signs: Yes
Tournament Crowds/Objects: No
I am both a player and a designer. I review courses primarily from the standpoint of strength of design, style, and overall ascetic appeal. I am cognizant of the enormous effort required to complete an APCD design, but out of a sense of duty to the Links community I will not hesitate to point out flaws. This review is intended to be fair, helpful, and constructive to the designer. However, this is merely one person's opinion. |
This course is available as a FREE download.
|
|
Download course
|
Please support Links Corner
|
|
|
