Editing Tournament Settings
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Whitehouse Dragon
- Posts: 10
- Joined: August 1st, 2020, 6:44 am
Editing Tournament Settings
Hi, I am a returned Links player.... After several years absence I am now playing Links 2003. Have some skills back and am currently creating a 'Season' with several tournaments. Have noticed that it is important not to edit any parameters once a season has commenced after a mini trial, otherwise a message is provided confirming that the Season has changed with a prompt for one to withdraw. Or so that appears. One question I can see no answer for in the 'Help Section' regarding 'creating' and 'editing' is in regards to the choice of 'Difficulty Level'. Would anyone please be able to advise as to what that refers? Does increasing the difficulty for example from 'normal' to 'harder' make the playing conditions more demanding in some way or does that influence the scores of the general field in the 'Roster'?... I played a 2nd tournament with a default roster of players (at Bay Hill) and the winner shot an opening round of 72 for memory and three consecutive rounds of 56. Which is ridiculous. Thought I'd create another new season to generate something reflecting reality. Bearing in mind that 59s or 60s have been achieved by the likes of Brandt Snedeker or Jim Furyk. As it is I am happy to make the 'cut'. Thanks from Brad in advance.
Re: Editing Tournament Settings
This is a complex topic, setting up Career Mode can be tricky but in my opinion totally worth doing, because once its set right one can have quite a realistic, competitive and fair playing experience very customized to one's liking.
First your question about the difficulty level per tournament - Ambiguous indeed, but the way you should think about it is how easy or hard the tournament will be for you to place well in. In other words, settings towards easy means the AI roster will play worse. In yet other words - for difficult courses set it to easier settings and for easier courses set it to harder. The easiest setting means the AI roster on average will score 5 strokes worse per round than the middle setting, the 2nd easiest setting means 2 strokes worse per round than the middle setting.
[Edit: Observe that course difficulty here means difficulty in terms of total strokes per round, not over or under par. This means that a course with par 69 where its difficult to score under par at, may be equal in difficulty to a course with par 73 where it is easy to score under par, even if the par 73 course may feel easier]
The biggest deal is how your (Pro) Roster is set up though, and any changes you make to it sadly means you have to start a new Career (not just a new season) for the changes to take effect. There is a guide about it at the following link but the images are lost so the links within it do not work, it is probably still mostly comprehensible https://www.linkscorner.org/phpBB/viewt ... ?f=8&t=102
You can also see/read a brief summary of my own setup - which achieves realistic scores with 4 round tournament winners ranging from -7 to -32 under par in my current season (I use the 3 most middle difficulty settings per tournament depending on course difficulty) - at this old post I made https://www.linkscorner.org/phpBB/viewt ... p=378#p378 . My green firmness and speed settings even out to around 0 or -1 or so on average.
First your question about the difficulty level per tournament - Ambiguous indeed, but the way you should think about it is how easy or hard the tournament will be for you to place well in. In other words, settings towards easy means the AI roster will play worse. In yet other words - for difficult courses set it to easier settings and for easier courses set it to harder. The easiest setting means the AI roster on average will score 5 strokes worse per round than the middle setting, the 2nd easiest setting means 2 strokes worse per round than the middle setting.
[Edit: Observe that course difficulty here means difficulty in terms of total strokes per round, not over or under par. This means that a course with par 69 where its difficult to score under par at, may be equal in difficulty to a course with par 73 where it is easy to score under par, even if the par 73 course may feel easier]
The biggest deal is how your (Pro) Roster is set up though, and any changes you make to it sadly means you have to start a new Career (not just a new season) for the changes to take effect. There is a guide about it at the following link but the images are lost so the links within it do not work, it is probably still mostly comprehensible https://www.linkscorner.org/phpBB/viewt ... ?f=8&t=102
You can also see/read a brief summary of my own setup - which achieves realistic scores with 4 round tournament winners ranging from -7 to -32 under par in my current season (I use the 3 most middle difficulty settings per tournament depending on course difficulty) - at this old post I made https://www.linkscorner.org/phpBB/viewt ... p=378#p378 . My green firmness and speed settings even out to around 0 or -1 or so on average.
Finished Courses - Main: Amedal (fictional), Nine Bridges (real)
Other: Austin, Sheshan, Kauri Cliffs, Le Golf Nat. Updates: Whirlpool, Royal Lytham, Royal St George's, Chicago, Chambers Bay, Munchen Nord E
Working on: 2 fictional courses + a couple things...
Other: Austin, Sheshan, Kauri Cliffs, Le Golf Nat. Updates: Whirlpool, Royal Lytham, Royal St George's, Chicago, Chambers Bay, Munchen Nord E
Working on: 2 fictional courses + a couple things...
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Whitehouse Dragon
- Posts: 10
- Joined: August 1st, 2020, 6:44 am
Re: Editing Tournament Settings
Thank you very much for your comprehensive reply Adelade. And also taking the time to provide a response that answers my question. And with some nuance in relation to courses. I understand the principle now of one's relative performance to the AI field. So will take your advice as per your suggestions. Particularly as my AI field includes the top pros of the time. I can now adjust this 'difficulty level' rating prior to commencing the season. I will also review the suggested links you have kindly provided. Very much appreciated. Cheers.