Decisions, decisions

[Still Linksing]

Here are my first impressions of playing Links 2003 after 3-4 years, possibly even 5 years because I did stop playing totally for a while. Some info on my first round and the GA.

First, I could not care less if another golf game NEVER comes out for PC. Links 2003 is and will always be a great golf game. Playing again after such a decent break, starting things from scratch after switching from Pro to Champ click, it's like a new game!

I picked the MS version of Banff Springs to play my Q-School round and the first Pro round so I could then withdraw and start the real season.
In 2003, Banff is lifeless, has no soul, that's what it felt like. The MS courses can be real fun to play but they need Links 2000 or earlier. Banff converted for 2003 with 2003 shadows and textures, Banff clearly loses all it's drama and appeal.

I played my 2 Banff rounds then started the real season with Wentworth West. It was kinda like playing Links 2001 for the first time when Eichenried was first released. A real fun WOW round thinking to myself, "How good does this course look!"

I know back when Links was current, I sometimes had people over. I'd show them the game and the first thing they would say is how good the graphics look. Well, they still pretty good today! I think people date and consider the game dated because it doesn't have moving visuals but that doesn't mean it doesn't still have great graphics. Wentworth West is still very much an eye opener to what Links 2003 can achieve graphically.

I've only played one round so far, 2 under, leader at 11 under, borderline position for making the cut I would say. I set my field at 128 players like the older Links versions and the cut will be 56 players. I always used a 200 player field in the past but it seems the scoring and challenge may be better with a 128 player field. I'll see how things pan out over subsequent rounds/tournaments.

The GA. I had the problem hole wrong. I thought it was #2 but then when I hit the other uphill par 3 (14th hole) I realised I had the wrong hole earlier.
I opened the GA every hole. No issues at all till the 14th. I opened the GA on the tee, went to rotate it and it crashed Links. I restarted Links, tried again, soon as I opened it Links crashed. Restarted again, didn't open it, hit shot, then opened on the green. Soon as it opened, Links crashed. Didn't try and open it again on this hole. Finished the round, opened it on the remaining holes. Hole 14 was the only hole that gave grief. This was the one that always gave grief in the past and there often were others with this course but no idea which holes.

Win 10 can safely be ruled out as any type of saviour. I did only have the 14th give crashes which I do think would be some kind of stability record.

The course is locked. Shame courses were locked because would be great to see (and fix) why this hole may give issues. Be nice to also have a version with no tournament objects. There was a course unlocker floating around in the past. Rehit, Mike Jones and crew had access (likely created the thing) to it. If anyone has it, maybe time to make it available so people here can go about fixing some of the issues left in this game.

To summarize, Links 2003 is still one heck of a golf game. Those guys designing or anyone thinking about it, go for it! Links 2003 will be around for a while yet and I don't think anyone will be wasting their time.

I had an absolute blast playing 2003 again and was honestly WOW'd by the visual experience.

[Still Linksing]

Final update, round 2, shot even, put me at 2 under, cut was 2 under, get to play 2 more rounds!
Didn't use the GA on the 14th. However, used it on the 17th and when I tried to watch my replay, Links crashed.

[Adelade]

I dont think I've played Microsoft's version of Banff, but dont miss out on the 'Banff Springs Golf Club (Thompson 18)
by Colin Jones' version! Very easy course but still very enjoyable.

I tried GA once on Wentworth West 14th, it started infinitely zoom out along with graphical glitches and when closing GA game crashed to desktop. Very similar to the behavior I frequently observed at Wagga Wagga.

P.S. Good job going under par on Wentworth West when new to champ and out of practice on 2k3

[Still Linksing]

I dont think I've played Microsoft's version of Banff, but dont miss out on the 'Banff Springs Golf Club (Thompson 18)
by Colin Jones' version! Very easy course but still very enjoyable.

I tried GA once on Wentworth West 14th, it started infinitely zoom out along with graphical glitches and when closing GA game crashed to desktop. Very similar to the behavior I frequently observed at Wagga Wagga.

P.S. Good job going under par on Wentworth West when new to champ and out of practice on 2k3

My Banff round prior to Wentworth I was nailing the snap almost every time and shot 59. The pressure of wanting to perform does it to you. I missed the snap most times at Wentworth so the rounds could've been much better but it's great fun struggling along as well just trying to make the cut.
I have AI scoring set ideally I think to make the game fun and a real challenge. I start at normal difficulty and will do as I did in Links 2000. If I miss the cut, the course goes to an easier level. If I make the cut but don't make one top 10 three tournaments in a row, course goes to an easier level. If I win a tournament, course goes to a harder level.

Wentworth readme, the designer was aware of GA crashes and warns of crashes on the 18th in particular. For myself, I know it was always the 14th and always just a crash not a zoom.

Looks like theories people have suggested are correct. I would like to know why there is sometimes a crash and sometimes a zoom. There must be some reason you get one or the other. To be honest, I am struggling to even remember the zoom or say with certainty I've even seen it. I absolutely do know the crashes well though!

[pmgolf]

The new Thompson version of Banff plays well at Fc Fc - the only speed I've tried it at where it isn't outrageously easy. Just FWIW.

Pete

[Still Linksing]

Oh, and on the topic of the thread:

I found I like using both putting meters. In metric terms, typically, under 3 meters I may go the short meter, 3-4 meters dependent on slope for which meter choice and 4 meters or over typically the normal putting meter.

GA I find is fine if I can't see the grid because it blends too much with the green texture. Handy as well when you need to chip over a hill and can't see the green surface or for the approach shot obviously as well.

In real life players will know or be able to walk around and see these things so it's no less realistic. It just comes down to if you wish to learn the greens yourself or automatically have the learning done for you. I'm happy to have it done for me as Champ level alone will offer me enough game difficulty.

It is a great game. I have no idea how people can play the modern golf games.

[Still Linksing]

The new Thompson version of Banff plays well at Fc Fc - the only speed I've tried it at where it isn't outrageously easy. Just FWIW.

Pete

Will note that, thanks for posting the info.

[Still Linksing]

I will stop posting, it's just that other things come to mind. lol

Totally enjoy playing in 5:4 on the 19 inch monitor! Game looks great, sharpness looks great and the FXAA looks great on this monitor. If I compare the image to my 22 inch widescreen, even though except for the black bars everything else should be equal, it's not and the 19 inch looks superior.

If anyone ever wants to go this route, I'm using the 19 inch from Dell. I actually have 2 more of them new in the box, never used for future proofing. Totally love playing games on the 19 inch. You do quickly get used to the size. We played games for years on monitors of this size or smaller. People just get used to big monitors and think they couldn't go back to a smaller screen. I quickly got over that and then found the 19 inch is the monitor I want to now use for everything.

[Captain Nemo]

I have a 28 inch widescreen. I like the 5/4 resolution you suggested. It is crisp & detailed, but how do I get the black bars. I have the game in windowed mode on my desktop. My desktop is very busy & distracting, so I would really like to have the black vertical bars instead of seeing my desktop.
Thanks in advance, C.N.

[Still Linksing]

Captain,

In your case, you need to run the game in full screen. I'm guessing in windowed mode you have set a 1280x1024 resolution in Links. In windowed mode, this gives a 1:1 pixel ratio on a widescreen monitor. Without needing to understand the tech stuff or any of this, it means you are using Links at the ideal aspect ratio (5:4) so nothing is stretched and you are also viewing it not scaled so there is also no loss in sharpness of the image.
To get the black bars, you need to go to full screen. To go to full screen and retain an aspect ratio of 5:4 and a 1:1 pixel ratio for sharpness, you need to set the options below in the pic through the Nvidia software.

Below is how to display Links 2003 in 5:4 on a widescreen monitor for anyone without losing any sharpness to the image. It applies to any widescreen monitor. The only thing you need to understand, the resolution you set in Links, cannot be greater than the resolution of your monitor neither vertically or horizontally.
If you have say a 1920x1080 monitor, you would set Links to 1280x1024. Both vertical and horizontal pixels from Links are less than your monitor in this case and that's what you need. You could not set say 1600x1200 in Links and use it on a 1920x1080 monitor. The vertical resolution of your monitor (1080) is less than what you set in Links (1200). It won't work.

How it works with correct settings if you set 1280x1024 in Links for use on a 1920x1080 monitor:

1920 (Monitor horizontal resolution) - 1280 (Links horizontal resolution) = 640 pixels
This means you will have 640 black pixels on the sides of your screen. 320 black pixels on each side.

1080 (Monitor vertical resolution) - 1024 (Links vertical resolution) = 56 pixels
This means you will have 56 black pixels on the top and bottom of your screen. 26 black pixels on each.

To get this working correctly, you need to select the "GPU" option and "No Scaling" as below:

nvidia.jpg (197.23 KiB) Viewed 4861 times

Here is how it looks on my 1680x1050 widescreen monitor with Links set at 1280x1024:

FF-H62cw.jpg (388.55 KiB) Viewed 4861 times

This is Links on my 19 inch 1280x1024. As I run many games on this monitor at 1280x1024, it's the best choice for me.
The benefits of this monitor:
1. No black bars. It's more comfortable and natural to view the game this way.
2. The image quality is actually better than the widescreen despite all things being equal. (Displaying without scaling on the widescreen)
3. 19 inch allows 75hz over the widescreen 60hz. (20% better for gaming)

The actual physical size of the game image is around the same for both monitors. The widescreen ends up being around 19 inches for Links as well. What physical size you end up with on your widescreen monitor depends on the monitors size and resolution.

rwyFqGqw.jpg (401.87 KiB) Viewed 4860 times