|
Misty Mountain Hop G.C.
by Ed Balaun
| Links Corner Course Database ID Number - 907 |
Release Date |
CRZ Filesize |
Par |
Course Length |
| 2002-05-07 |
46,717,315 bytes |
71 |
6759 yards |
| Type |
Style |
CRZ Filename |
|
FICTIONAL |
MOUNTAIN |
mistymountain4.crz |
| Course ID |
Course Key |
| 234857409d6b4f419446ff4e6d30bd8b |
cc812e837c6d4320633ca75c9e7b7249 |
|
LINKS CORNER REVIEW |
Reviewed by
Chuck Clark
June 2002
Background: Mr. Balaun's courses are well known and loved by many of us linksters. Firestone North is still one of my favorite all-time courses. I regularly vote for it as a top ten course. Some of Ed's other courses that you may be familiar with include Kolepa Kai Resort and Stoney Run. Misty Mountain Hop is an ungraded version of a course of the same name Ed released almost a year ago now. The original version was well liked by the players and the official reviewer Dave Campbell. Dave gave that version a rating of 87. This version was released on the same day as two other courses by Mr. Balaun; Castaway Island and The Mountain Course at Seneca. What a great day for us linksters that was, three Ed Balaun courses on the same day. Wow! Ed has included a good read-me explaining why he chose to redo MMH so I will let him speak for himself:
'I decided to revise Misty Mountain Hop Golf Club for four reasons:
The first version was given to an online tour which shut down a few weeks after it was released.
The first version featured textures that were described by everyone as being 'lime green'! Everyone was right -- they were terrible!
There were some bad verts and the object planting was not very good.
For the above reasons and the idea that I liked the course too much to keep the way it was, I had to re-do it.'
Overall Impression: This is a beautiful and superbly crafted mountain course. The planting is fantastic, the course fascinating and all together this is a great golf experience. There is a lot to see, do and listen to on this course. The primary critique of the first version of MMH was the textures used; especially the fairways. I think Dave Campbell described the color of the fairways as 'avocado' green. Well, the fairways are much better looking now; they are a much nicer shade of green. The greens and fringes are another story though. The greens and fringes were a bit too gray colored for my taste. They looked like they had been sprayed with some sort of insecticide and kind of got killed (sorry Ed!). Everything else about this course was superb though. It is a fun and interesting course to play. There are lots of good risk-reward type shots, which I really love. There are also lots of added sounds as well. Some of them are a bit much though. They add a lot to the ambience though. The other main ingredient of this course is the rock formations prevalent throughout. These formations are done using a stock texture included with the APCD. While it looks good from a distance, it doesn't especially look good close up or in the top cam. You see a definite tiling effect in the top cam, which is not the designers fault; but it does distract from the realism.
Playability: This course is very playable for pro players. Champ players may have some issues with the width of the fairways and some of the slopes here and there. As a pro-clicker I found the course to be very fun and playable. It was a good challenge and the greens were not too severe.
Shot Values: A very good course for testing all your game. It is very hilly and you will be asked to hit many up, down and side hill shots. Judging your distances is very important here, as under or over clubbing will generally be severely punished. The greens are a decent size, but many have bare shoulders and chipping areas around them. There is lots of sand and you will get in a few of these bunkers. Using the top cam is necessary, unless you try and play natural. The hole previews are very well done and should help you navigate the many dog legs.
Visuals: This course is very beautiful. I really liked the visual aspects. The pano, planting and elevation work are all top notch. The hazards are nicely constructed and there are lots of added features. The rock work looks good from a distance or when partially hidden by trees. As mentioned above, I didn't like the textures used around the greens very much, but that is just a personal preference.
Technique: Well, it is obvious that Ed is one of the top practitioners of the APCD. His technical work is just about flawless. I may have seen one or two tiny flaws, but I am not even sure about that. I am sure you won't be disappointed by anything you see here.
Summary: I can definitely recommend this course. It is a pretty big download though, so people with slow connections who like to play at Champ levels may want to pass. For all the rest of you, I say go take a look. This is a fictional course for sure, but it is a lot of fun to play. If you liked the first version, then you should love the upgrade. I noticed when writing this review that this course is only getting 3 stars in the user reviews. I sure don't understand that, since this is a 4 or 5 star course in my book. Maybe we are all so spoiled with all the great courses we get now, or maybe some people didn't like some of the sounds and textures; I don't know. I do know this is a fun golf to see and play. I think you should go download it now and see for yourself!
I am both a player and a designer. I review courses primarily from the standpoint of fun and playability. I appreciate courses that are beautiful to look at, but first and foremost I want a fun experience. I have spent many hours designing courses myself, so I understand the blood, sweat and tears that go into the design process. Any critical comments made here are meant to be constructive and helpful.
Included/Not Included:
Cameo: Yes
Splash Screen: Yes
Hole Previews: Yes
Tee Signs: No
Custom Tee Markers: No
Custom Flags: Yes
Read-Me: Yes
Handicaps: Yes
Custom or added Sounds: Yes |
|
CLIPNOTES by Ben Bateson (ousgg) |
Description
Fictional, mountain course |
Location
TBA |
Conditions
TBA |
Concept 6/10
Any course named after a Led Zeppelin song can't be all bad, can it?
MMH is certainly not run-of-the-mill as far as mountain courses go.
Relatively flat, it relies more on playing around the giant monolithic
structures, has a much-trademarked closing stretch with killer Par 5s on 16
and 17, and several holes which bring the rockwork directly into play.
It's not always terribly convincing, though, and more hilliness is generally
thought a pre-requisite in the average mountain course. |
Appearance 5/10
To be honest, the course smacks of artificiality all the way round. The rocks are fine from a distance but the textures are underresolved
when close to. The choice of colouring for the grass textures is certainly unusual but also unconvincing. Only a good selection
of tree planting saves the course from being completely mundane. |
Playability 7/10
Some excellent gambling holes really provoke the player into lashing out, and the well-placed hazards are challenging without being an
overt Stop sign. The holes are long, though, and the greens are frustratingly hard to hit and too many of your shots will be short chips.
Thankfully the closing holes do plenty to break up the monotony. |
Challenge 6/10
A very tricky course, indeed, MMH does not yield too many birdies, thanks to greens that are hard to hit and even harder to putt upon.
Well-placed fairway bunkers catch all too many stray shots, and the most lingering memories of Misty Mountain will be 'blimey - that
was hard!' |
Technical 5/10
Hard edges and some rather unoriginal ground-level planting give away this course's age. Some better texture mapping and detail on
the mountainsides would be considered a priority. The greens, by modern standards, are not particularly friendly, cost altogether too
many strokes, and are pretty tiny into the bargain. But the course has conveyed it's designer's ambition and scale and is all the better
for it. |
| Overall |
Not many people's Stairway To Heaven, but nor is it a complete Black Dog. If you
Rock And Roll too much off the tee, you could hit Four Sticks and find yourself
wishing you were Going To California instead. |
29/50 |
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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