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Dakota Desert
by Dace Fair
| Links Corner Course Database ID Number - 1676 |
Release Date |
CRZ Filesize |
Par |
Course Length |
| 2006-06-06 |
22,507,520 bytes |
72 |
8054 yards |
| Type |
Style |
CRZ Filename |
|
FICTIONAL |
DESERT |
Dakota Desert_locked.crz |
| Course ID |
Course Key |
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LINKS CORNER REVIEW |
Reviewer - Michael Hubbard
INTRODUCTION
Dakota Desert is Dace Fair's second course to be released in three months following up close on his debut effort 'The Reserve'. The readme file, as listed below contains but one simple statement . . .
Extract from the Readme - by Dace Fair
'Fictional course set in the high desert of the Dakotas, it's a long but fair test for the good player. Enjoy'
COURSE
Whilst it is true that no desert setting is likely to set the world on fire as respects visual excitement, this course at Dekota probably falls short even of this truism. The planting is repetitive throughout, with each area of bushy scrubland just like the last along with dozens of shallow blurry sand traps - Screenshots 3, 4, 5 & 7. The panorama has a goodly feel of desolation - Screenshots 1 & 2 - although it comes in a mix of two colours which fail to blend on occasions and appear a little overbearing upon such a featureless course - Screenshots 4 & 5. The greens too stand out in stark contrast to the course colours being too bright in hue. The very sharp edges around the fringe and green almost appear like they are superimposed on the course and not a real part of the playing surface - Screenshots 3, 6 & 7. No outstanding errors on the whole, just a need for all round improvement in terms of colour, texture and variety.
Elevation is fine. There is no definition between rough and heavy rough on the course. The opening fairway is very narrow being just 17 yards wide at the landing area. However from then most are plenty wide enough, sloping but without undulation, snaking left and right with sand traps in the corners. There are custom flags in the course picture style. Hole previews are at there most basic in being an overhead paste. There is a diminutive clubhouse but no crowds or tournament objects - Screenshot 8. As for the tee markers, I'll let you decide on that one. To me they looked like large servings of strawberry Jelly on the back tees - Screenshots 1, 2 & 5!
The best feature on the course, I felt were the isolated bodies of water which reflected emerald green mostly, although none of these had any planting around them - Screenshots 6 & 8.
PLAYABILITY
A monstrous 8054 yards in length makes one wonder what Dace was thinking when he mapped this one out? Only one reachable par 5 and of the 10 par 4 holes, 8 measured well in excess of 450+ yards. Overall the greens are very large indeed, which given the fact that most approaches are in the 200 yard plus range means many a putt in the 40 - 60 feet range. The greens are heavily sloped making it unfriendly for mod use given the long approach shots required.
Indeed the course design is by far the weakest thing here. Whilst dace has a good overall concept of what he wants the course to look like, the playability here is tedious and dull. Fairways on the par 4's and 5's end well short of the green, for the most part, preventing the option of running long shots on to the green - Screenshots 3, 6 & 7. Therefore, all too often for my liking, a fair shot lands on the green only to run right through and into the rough behind. The 16th green is a good example - Screenshot 7 - for which the second shot is about 210 yards after taking a driver from the tee using Mod M/F. . .
DESIGNER INTERVIEW - DACE FAIR
1. What were your thoughts behind creating an 8000 yard course?
My thoughts were creating a long tuff course, just happened to end up 8000 yds lol
2. Did you find working on your second course a little easier than the first?
I do find it easier the more I work with the apcd program but be very frustrating sometimes.
3. What do you most enjoy about APCD course designing?
I enjoy creating golf courses that can be enjoyed by my peers, and the satisfaction of learning something new each time I do work on a course.
4. What would you like to improve most in your next design?
I would like to get better than one star reviews . . . but it don't matter I just enjoy it and my friends seem to like my work as well, I would like to learn how to build 3d clubhouses and such. . .
CONCLUSION
Dace appears to have the basic concepts of course design. However Dekota Desert is rather dull and a little too loooong to provide either a fair or absorbing challenge. It is nothing more that a Grip & Rip course with little reward if you do manage to stay the green in two.
As recommended in the review of Dace Fair's last course, Tutorials, Forum discussions and Beta testing would work wonders in improving his future APCD accomplishments.
IN A WORD
Uninspiringly long |
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CLIPNOTES by Ben Bateson (ousgg) |
Description
Fictional, desert course. |
Location
TBC |
Conditions
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Concept 4/10
Desert-style courses have proved notoriously difficult to do justice with the APCD due to hefty demands on texture types and blends as well as a hole design that is subtly different to a parkland course. Dakota Desert has suffered from quite a few of this mishaps, but attempted to shoulder them aside by daunting the player with sheer length and unhittable fairways. It doesn't particularly work and is not helped by the lack of atmosphere and isolated hole layouts. |
Appearance 3/10
With a few standard blends, the overall appearance is raised to around average, although there is cause for concern in some of the shapes (either contrived or crudely altered from stock) and the unwanted contrast between the green foreground and large-scale panorama. The planting is restrained almost to the point of non-existence, and a few small trees might at least have added some tone. The course is flat or largely uphill and therefore largely lacking in good views. |
Playability 3/10
I'm sorry, but this is not my bag at all. Hard-to-hit fairways are just frustrating and the overwhelming hole lengths mean that GIRs are unsatisfactorily low. There is no intent to make the course unfairly hard, but it's all frustrating work rather than uplifting play. |
Challenge 5/10
Scoring under par on the 500-yard Par 4s and the 250-yard Par 3s is nigh on impossible and you'll need some excellent golf to hit the Par 5s in two. Punishing hazards are mercifully rare, but the course grinds you up to par with endless rough lies. The greens are over-hazarded for long approaches and short putts are always for par; very rarely for birdie. |
Technical 6/10
While there are no obvious flaws, Dakota Desert is lacking in technical finesse and flair, and the design as a whole comes across looking rather bland. Some more creativity in the planting and fine detail in the elevation work would help change the atmosphere, and some realisation about the sacrifices that must be made when designing long holes would also be of immeasurable benefit. |
| Overall |
An idea that hasn't quite clicked on many levels. Unlikely to grab players' attention; more likely to subdue them into passivity. |
21/50 |
Please remember that Clipnote reviews are the opinion of one person and do not constitute an 'Official' Links Corner review of the course. |
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