Links goes buggy

[tournamentplayer72]

Hello, I pray someone has a solution to this issue. I have been enjoying links since its creation. I have a large pile of disks to prove it. I have never had had problem in all this time. That is until I started using newer versions of windows.
What happed was first the graphics started. When I went to change the sky, the sky just disappeared, just blackness. I tried changing the screen resolution and that was a waste of time. I then uninstalled and reinstalled the game and it worked briefly and it happened again. I tried playing without a sky, then it got worse. The mouse cursor would erase the images as you moved it. Then when I tried to play a shot, after the ball was in flight the screen would not go to the landing, instead the ball would come back to the golfers feet.
I'm dying not being able to use Links, its been months now. I hope someone can explain how to fix this. Thanks

[Adelade]

Could you tell us more about the system you're having trouble on? Version of Windows, computer specs like CPU GPU etc, which version of Links install (CD/Download), which patches or fixes you've installed or tried so far?

[tournamentplayer72]

HI Adelade, it's an older Dell. I have run the game successfully on it since windows XP and 7. It wasn't until windows 10 that I started losing the sky and thinking it must be a resolution issue. I started changing them and at that point the mouse would erase what prompts I was trying to click on. I know when the game ran correctly I was running it as the administrator I wish I could give you system specs but unfortunately I not computer literate . I have links 2003 CDs andwhen this started I bought a download version from links country club. I have tried all the patches, at least I think I tried them. I wasn't sure how or when to install them. By the way, I have downloaded your courses and enjoyed them very much. You have a incredible talent. Ever consider doing The national golf links? Thank you for helping me, Jimmy

[pmgolf]

The best fix you can find would be to get a used Windows 7 computer and use it to play Links. Seriously. 1. Windows 10 is the villain. 2. Microsoft is not the friend of Links Golf. 3. Windows 11 is an even worse villain than Windows 10 is. Check out Ebay - Look for Desktop PC, Windows 7 and a video card. And as far as MS not supporting Windows 7 - who cares. You just want to play Links!

I am 90+% sure that you will find your solution following this link and the thread it leads to:
viewtopic.php?t=788. And it's a pretty simple fix probably involving .DLL's. You don't need to be a computer wizard, but you do need to be fairly intelligent. I've read many comments of people who have solved it well enough to be able to play Links again.

Me: I kept my old Dell Windows 7 computer as my backup. Then I built an AMD desktop PC with the power scaled down and a Asus GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4 GB Phoenix Video Card. The CPU and Video Card would be considered pretty strong 4 or 5 years ago, and that's important because the Links technology is not new. It will not put any strain on a older PC. And one more thing - I turned off Windows Update. I am convinced that MS will update Windows 10 until it won't run legacy programs like Links. As long as you don't do something like visit the Dark Web or try to hack a Russian Website, and are in your 60's or 70's, you're not a security risk. Odds are no one will attack your PC.

Pete

[Duck Hook]

It's funny how things work.
After finally leaving win7 behind late last year, getting links to run on win11, for me at least, was trouble free.

[dko]

tournamentgolfer72,

There is a missing element in the link Pete sent you. You need to type the following URL into your browser:

intel.jpg (2.36 KiB) Viewed 416 times

It explains the process that will hopefully solve all your issues. It worked for me in Windows 11 (except I can't use the green analyzer) and the game runs great. And trust me, I am no tech wizard.

After you open the andyhope file, then copy andyhope.com/direct3dfix.zip into your browser and unzip it you will see an .exe file with a rather imposing name. When I tried to open that .exe file my antivirus blocked it, but after temporarily disabling the antivirus, everything proceeded well.

[pmgolf]

Thanks dko, I forgot about that part!

Pete

[GoBucks]

HI Adelade, it's an older Dell. I have run the game successfully on it since windows XP and 7. It wasn't until windows 10 that I started losing the sky and thinking it must be a resolution issue. I started changing them and at that point the mouse would erase what prompts I was trying to click on. I know when the game ran correctly I was running it as the administrator I wish I could give you system specs but unfortunately I not computer literate . I have links 2003 CDs andwhen this started I bought a download version from links country club. I have tried all the patches, at least I think I tried them. I wasn't sure how or when to install them. By the way, I have downloaded your courses and enjoyed them very much. You have a incredible talent. Ever consider doing The national golf links? Thank you for helping me, Jimmy

Can you at least give us the model number, And do you have a video card installed?
And like Duck Hoolk, I'm running Windows 11, and have been for over 2 years.

Try this.

Having to re install Links
Simple, follow these steps in order.

1 install Links
2 install v1.02
3 install v1.05
4 install v 1.07
5 install links NVIDIA patch
6 install lspn crash fix
7 install LSPN_MAIN_L2K3
Procedure,
Place all the files in the links main folder (including RuKsHuk.exe).
To install the patches, just double click on them, it will be done automatically.
Good luck, see you on the tees.
Robert (aka Obelix)

NB: LSPN_MAIN will set the proper IP within Links to play ON-LINE

[GoBucks]

HI Adelade, it's an older Dell. I have run the game successfully on it since windows XP and 7. It wasn't until windows 10 that I started losing the sky and thinking it must be a resolution issue.

After re-reading this post, it's possible that this model is not compatible with W10. Did you check to see? Can you go back to W7?
Also if it came with XP installed, it could need cleaned out. Might be full of dust bunnies. Or it just might be tired. I'm guessing that it's getting close to 20 years old. And I'm also guessing that it's a Dell Inspiron?

[Adelade]

So you didnt get any components of the PC changed whatsoever, upgrading to Win 10 was the only change that led to the issues? I assume you had to reinstall Links too after the win 10 upgrade though, possibly something went wrong there. If no computer components were changed, I doubt the Intel wrapper solution would help, but who knows, might be worth a try too if all else fails.

Anyhow, what you describe makes me suspect that your initial problem might have simply been a corrupt sky file, or possibly having too many sky files (the more sky files you have in your Links2003\skies folder, the less times you can enter the graphics settings screen, or start new rounds - at least when using the random sky setting - before the skies bug out, requiring a game restart to fix it. I personally have 167 skies which at least allows me to change skies or load another round once before I need to restart the game), and that the other issues you had were caused by you changing things around when trying to fix the initial issue. The issue you mention about not being able to continue onto a next shot sounds the most mysterious and troublesome, so I recommend starting with:

1. A complete reinstall using GoBucks' steps in order to try solve that issue first of all. You can skip the LSPN steps if you dont play on LSPN (you can always get those later). Hopefully this eliminates the shot continue issue.
2. If the issue with the mouse erasing the prompts is still there, enter your graphics settings and switch to a 32-bit display mode and see if that solves that particular issue.
3. If the sky issue is still there, and you have more than 200 sky files, try at least temporarily moving some of them out of your Links2003\skies folder.
4. If not having more than 200 sky files, try moving blocks of sky files out of your Links2003\skies folder (and restarting the game in between) until the problem goes away. If it does go away, you can eventually narrow down which exact sky file(s) is/are causing the issue and keep the rest.

Oh and Glenn Braden already made a great version of National Golf Links.