SID MEIER'S SIM GOLF
Only Strategy Guide You'll Ever Need
Version 1.01
March 8, 2002
|============================================================================|
|This FAQ, all content within, and "Only Strategy Guide You'll Ever Need" are|
|Copyright 2002 by Dennis L. Doucette. This FAQ is authorized for the |
|exclusive use of GameFAQs (
http://www.gamefaqs.com). Any other use must be |
|cleared with the author, who can be reached at
[email protected]. So |
|you know, unless you're willing to pay me to write guides for you, the |
|chances of me letting you use this FAQ are between slim and none. Don't |
|blame me. Blame the legions of pirate sites out there that steal the hard |
|work of people who write guides. |
|Sid Meier's SimGolf and all related marks are copyrights and/or trademarks |
|of their respective owners. Information relating to copyright can be found |
|in the game's documentation. If you don't have this information because you|
|are a despicable software pirate, may you rot in the Ninth Circle of Hell. |
|If you're stupid enough to let me know you got the game from a warez or |
|similar site, I WILL forward your email to Firaxis, EA, and law enforcement |
|authorities. Are we clear on this? |
|============================================================================|
|=================|
|TABLE OF CONTENTS|
|=================|
PART I: Introductory FAQ Stuff
1. A Note From the Author
2. Revision History
PART II: Off the Tee: Basic Design Strategy
3. Basics of a Good Golf Hole
A. Par 3, 4, or 5?
B. Elements of Rating
C. Cautionary Tales
4. The Basics of Facilities
A. Snack Bar
B. Putting Green
C. Driving Range
D. Pro Shop
E. Cart Garage
F. Tennis Court
G. Marina
H. Resort Hotel
I. Airstrip
5. Hired Help
A. Groundskeeper/Turf Technician
B. Drink Vendor/Refreshment Consultant
C. Ranger/Marshall
D. Club Pro/Celebrity
6. Picky, Richman, and Bigdome
PART III: The Perfect Approach: Intermediate Design Strategy
7. Homes of the Stars
8. Building an Even Better Golf Hole
9. SGA Evaluations
Interlude: The Daily Fee Course
10. Taking Fun Factor to the Next Level
11. Getting the Most Out of SimStories
PART IV: Snaking the Putt: Advanced Design Strategy
12. Classic Holes
13. Pushing Ratings To Their Limits
14. The Championship Course
PART V: Your Character
15. Build the Better Golfer
16. Playing Single Rounds: What to Work On
17. Get Out There and Beat Someone: Matches and Tournaments
18. Quick Tips for Professional Accomplishments
PART VI: Odds and Ends
19. Contact Information
20. Coming Soon
|==============================|
|PART I: INTRODUCTORY FAQ STUFF|
|==============================|
Just in case you've never read a FAQ before, what this section explains is
what this FAQ does and doesn't cover, and you can also find out how this FAQ
has changed and evolved over time. Read Chapter 1 first, because it's not
nice to email someone asking them a question they've already answered. Read
Chapter 2 if you're madly in love with me and just want to hang on my every
word.
|=========================|
|1. A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR|
|=========================|
From the guy who brought you the award-winning Only Strategy Guide You'll Ever
Need to Tropico (FAQ of the Week, GameFAQs.com, 6-Jan-2002) comes the Only
Strategy Guide You'll Ever Need for Sid Meier's SimGolf! Before we begin, I
need to make some things clear:
1) This FAQ assumes you've read the manual and played the game a little bit.
If you've just purchased the game, take some time to play it and familiarize
yourself with it rather than just going on the Web to have some guy tell you
how to play. Also remember, this is a "strategy guide", and as such it
provides strategies. It's not a manual. Manuals tell you how to use the
controls, and the game already comes with one.
2) This guide is a work-in-progress. I cover everything I know about the game
as of press time, and I like to think that my guides are complete "out of the
box" in Version 1.0. But nobody's perfect, and besides, I'm still playing
this game myself and it seems like I learn something new every day. There's
also the factor of e-mail...when someone sends me a cool strategy I hadn't
thought of on my own, as often as not it finds its way into my guide, credited
of course to the person who thought it up.
3) Some source material for this guide comes from the official SimGolf website
at www.simgolf.ea.com. You can figure out exactly what source by going to the
site and supporting the community. I'm not a plagiarist, so I felt it
necessary to give proper credit. Click on a few ad banners while you're there
and they'll be a lot happier about certain rogue fans writing ASCII guides.
4) Sid Meier's SimGolf, like all Sid Meier games, is a STRATEGY game. As such
there are a bunch of different ways to "beat" the game. You could try and
fulfill all the professional accomplishments. You could try and build the
perfect little pitch-and-putt Par 3 course. You could go for 18 Classic holes
that challenge the very best players. You could just try and make insanely
large amounts of money. There are as many ways to play this game as there are
people to play it. I'm going to recommend strategies that fit a bunch of play
styles, but it's human nature to stick a certain slant and bias in there, and
I make no pretentious claims to "impartiality". Take my words for what you
think they're worth, and if you disagree with me, feel free to email. If I
get enough mail, I'll add a Reader Suggestions section.
5)I've never played The Sims. So don't email me saying that this or that in
the game is a reference to The Sims. I don't care. Maybe someday, when I can
get into the Sims without cleaning out my bank account (Hey Maxis! Can you
throw us starving writers a bone and release a Gold Edition of that game?),
I'll add a whole big section to this guide about "Oh, lookie at all the things
that are from The Sims!" But in the meantime, I'm treating SimGolf as a
totally separate entity from the game it's "based on", not as some kind of
spinoff-expansion pack.
6) PLEASE don't email me with a question that's answered in the FAQ. It'll
get deleted, and I'll think you're an idiot. This includes webmasters who are
either illiterate, stupid, or lazy because they haven't even read the
copyright notice. I know this sounds real hard-assed, but the labor this
little section saves me is immeasurable.
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|===================|
|2. REVISION HISTORY|
|===================|
Version 1.00 (8-Mar-2002): On the heels of my award-winning Tropico FAQ comes
another effort. I hope this goes over as well as the last one did. Anything
I write below this space (with revisions) may provide some insight into that!
Version 1.01 (18-Mar-2002): Got a really nitpicky email. Changed a figure in
the guide. I leave it to the reader to play "Where's Waldo" with the one word
I changed.
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|===========================================|
|PART II: OFF THE TEE: BASIC DESIGN STRATEGY|
|===========================================|
Welcome to your new, grand, wonderful...wide open space with nothing on it.
All you've got is a clubhouse and your on-screen alter-ego walking around
saying "Let's build our first golf hole". Sounds easy enough, so let's get
right to it!
|=============================|
|3. BASICS OF A GOOD GOLF HOLE|
|=============================|
I've heard plenty of people advocate the notion that you should start slowly
in building your first hole. I don't believe that at all. If you can't build
a hole that will attract rich greens fees and high ratings, you'll never get
moving on being able to make even more money. So here's the straight dish on
what you should do with a golf hole, whether it's the first hole on a pitch-
and-putt or the final hole on a championship-quality 18.
|===================|
|3A. PAR 3, 4, OR 5?|
|===================|
So how do you decide how long your holes should be, and what the par should be
for those holes? The most important concern is that you have enough space for
all the holes you're trying to build. You don't want to get caught running
out of room.
In addition, you've gotta think about the big picture for your players. If
your course is a collection of par threes, your long-hitting patrons will feel
stiffed, and they won't have any fun. If it's a collection of par fives, not
only will you run out of room because those holes are quite long, you'll also
run into a lot of angry people who don't have the Long Hitting skills required
to get that ball to the green, and they'll hate you.
In the real world of championship courses where the pros play, there are
usually four par 3 holes, four par 5 holes, and ten par 4 holes. On occasion,
you'll find a course with only two par fives and twelve par fours, but the
idea is to make the front nine play at Par 35 or 36, and do the same for the
back nine, all while making about 55-70% of your holes Par 4.
Remember also that there are short par fours and long par fours, and you
should mix the two up in order to entertain your players. The green on a 350-
yard par 4 can be driven from the tee by the longest hitters, and unless you
intend to re-create the Waterbury Open "he shoots, he scores" scene from Happy
Gilmore, you'd probably do well to keep them at least 375 or 385 yards.
|======================|
|3B. ELEMENTS OF RATING|
|======================|
There are ultimately three types of golf shots in this world, much as there
are three primary colors. Everything else is just a derivation of the basic
three elements. So, with that in mind, let's talk about:
LENGTH: Want to make your golfers mash the ball in order to get it to the
green in regulation? A par three longer than 200 yards will likely draw
praise from long hitters. A par four that's 440-475 yards will draw similar
praise, and a par 5 longer than 575 yards will almost surely garner a lot of
ooohs and aaahs from the guys who think a round of golf should have more in
common with a long-drive contest than a chess match. If you want a good
rating from the SGA in the length department, don't put the greens too close
for the tee: the key is "long for its par".
ACCURACY: This is the easiest one to raise, at least as far as I'm concerned.
Just create holes with narrow (two-space-wide or less) fairways, small greens,
and lots of nasty hazards to collect any errant balls. There's a fine line in
this department, however. It's one thing to make a challenging hole where you
don't have much room for error, but if you make the hole too difficult, or
don't give your players any chance to recover if they do make a bad shot, your
Accuracy rating will shoot through the roof...at the expense of your Fun
rating.
IMAGINATION: Probably the hardest rating to raise because of the factors that
go into it. To me, the best way to raise it is to place your obstacles in
such a way that your players can't avoid them without using one of the
"imaginative" shot types. For example, your players may have to run an
approach shot to the green under some tall trees with a punch shot. They
might have to hook a shot around a water hazard in order to reach the fairway.
They might even have to use a High Backspin shot to reach a pin you've placed
right behind a water hazard but in front of some nice green. If you force
your players to get creative, you'll be well on your way to improving the
Imagination rating of the hole. The best way to find out if it's working?
Play the hole with your golfer. If your golfer needs to haul out the special
shots, chances are your guests will too. Don't rely exclusively on the in-
game ratings. They can be deceiving from a designer's standpoint (although,
of course, they're excellent numbers for a manager to know!)
There is of course a fourth factor that's quite important: Fun rating. This
has nothing to do with your holes' skill level...it's more of a measure of the
sum total of all your players' experiences on a hole. Since Fun is what I
like to call a "holistic statistic", I don't cover it explicitly at this
point in the guide. You'll find a lot of Fun Factor strategies in Chapter 11.
|====================|
|3C. CAUTIONARY TALES|
|====================|
There are a bunch of pitfalls that beginning designers fall into, so if you're
stuck in the game, you might be making one of these mistakes.
·Too much too soon. Build your first hole, open it up, and make changes based
on what people say about it. When people decide that you've got a great first
hole and you're happy with it, then start building another.
·Too much too soon, part 2: Work with the lay of the land until you have more
money. Build tee, green, and fairway. Scenic trees cost a lot of money. So
do expensive terrain alterations. Build a tee, a green, and some fairway,
then use the incoming greens fees to make terrain alterations. I've never had
significant trouble making money...the guiding words here are "be patient".
·Too easy. Your golfers don't want to feel like there's no challenge in the
holes they play. An occasional "Breather" hole is a good thing. Sticking a
straight-shot 185-yard par 3 that people can get a nice hole-in-one on can be
a good reward in an otherwise tough course. But making more than one or two
of those holes will make your skilled golfers feel like they're getting gypped
on their greens fees. Skilled golfers want more bang for their buck, and it's
your job to provide it.
·Too hard. On the other hand, 18 "classic" holes, as cool as the word
"classic" sounds, will thrill your hard-core master-of-the-game type golfers,
but your rank-and-file members will get very frustrated very quickly, and
storm off the course in disgust. Last thing in the world you want is for
people to forfeit their memberships because they can't play your course. As
if that weren't enough, hard holes take longer to play, and that means nasty
traffic jams on your course. Ever play miniature golf behind yuppie parents
with small children? Then you know how frustrating waiting around for slow-
moving people can be. Don't put your SimGolfers through that.
·Failure to connect stuff by road. Path costs $100 a square. Try to make
sure your patrons can walk the entire course, from the first tee to the last
green, without straying from the path. I like to run it right alongside the
fairways, cutting in front of tees if I absolutely must have my people cross
the fairway to walk. You can't run path over a fairway, but a couple of well-
placed squares of rough will solve the road-use problem. I cover this in more
detail next chapter.
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|===========================|
|4. THE BASICS OF FACILITIES|
|===========================|
There's plenty of neat stuff you can build on your golf course, and you're
going to want at least one of everything...and most likely a lot more than one
of some things. A warning though: Remember that facilities absolutely MUST be
connected to the clubhouse by a path in order to function. If your path looks
paved, that's a good thing. If you need to cross a fairway with a path,
convert the section of fairway that must be crossed to rough, because paths
can't cross manicured grass. Why not? I have no idea. It's just the rule,
and you'd do well to follow it. For Snack Bars especially, you're going to
need to get a little creative in your placements.
|=============|
|4A. SNACK BAR|
|=============|
First and foremost in my mind, you've gotta keep those hungry golfers on your
course fed. If you build one of these every three holes or so and put them
right near the tee, your golfers won't have far to walk (or drive, but more on
that in a minute) to get some munchies. Concerned about the cost? Don't be.
In the grand tradition of ludicrously overpriced "rich boys' entertainment",
you'll get $500 a belch. That's about the most lucrative gas you'll ever work
with in video games...which makes me wonder how much Sid Meier thinks
flatulence is worth. Let's hope we never have to find out. As the manual
points out, on Links Courses you get a Pub instead of a Snack Bar, which makes
me wonder how your SimGolfers manage to pull off tricky shots on the later
holes since they tend to visit snack bars and pubs compulsively and would
likely be quite drunk by the time they got to the eighteenth hole.
|=================|
|4B. PUTTING GREEN|
|=================|
No, genius. Not the green that's on each of your holes. The practice green
on which your players improve their putting skills. Once players with the
Imagination skill discover this little marvel of engineering, you'll reap a
couple of major benefits. In the short term, you'll gain a quick few
simoleans from the price you charge to use the putting facility. In the
longer terms, your holes will play faster and your players will enjoy them
more, because everyone likes making a difficult shot, and fewer strokes per
hole also means you can make your holes a little more challenging because
your players will be good enough to play them. The putting green is your
first step toward earning those huge-money tournaments from the SGA.
|=================|
|4C. DRIVING RANGE|
|=================|
Make sure you budget your space well. The driving range (and especially its
upgraded version) take up quite a bit of space. You'll have to remember that,
because the Driving Range might just be the thing your players need to play
that monster 585-yard Par 5 you modeled after the 9th hole at TPC Sawgrass (if
you've ever played EA Sports' PGA Tour Golf series, you know what I'm talking
about...that thing's a monster for any but the longest hitters). According to
the SimGolf website, the Driving Range adds 15 yards to the drives of those
who visit it, and the Upgraded Driving Range adds 30 yards to the drives of
the paying customers (and, like everything else in SimGolf, they pay dearly
for the privilege of becoming good enough to play your monster holes). The
only major caveat is that your players need to have the Length skill going in.
This is another HUGE step toward earning a good SGA certification.
|============|
|4D. PRO SHOP|
|============|
Among your players, there's a subset who value Accuracy and have way too much
disposable income. For them, you can proudly present the Pro Shop. With the
Pro Shop, their shots will become a lot more accurate, so that once they get
out on the course, they'll be able to negotiate those tricky fairways and
tight pin placements you've got out there to test their skills. As always,
they'll pay you quite nicely for the privilege. You'll be in good hands
financially, so plunk that bad boy down where your players can find it and you
will be in clover within a couple of years.
|===============|
|4E. CART GARAGE|
|===============|
Happily, none of my high school buddies have been made into SimGolfers. If
they had, I'd have to advise against building a Cart Garage because you'd have
to replace the grass every day after those kids "did donuts" all over your
freshly-manicured fairways. Consider it your good fortune that nobody from
the Wakefield High School early-'90s metalhead set plays your course.
Seriously, though, the Cart Garage is the single most important thing you can
build to speed up your players' trip around the links. It's more effective
than hiring Marshalls, and a great way to get your 18-hole Championship
Courses under the SGA's 5-hour requirement for play. Just remember to keep
plenty of paths on your course, because your players only drive golf carts on
paths and fairways. This one will pay for itself in the form of more-frequent
greens fees, so it's an indirect benefit.
I'll point out at this point that "next door to the clubhouse" is the perfect
place for the Cart Garage. As obvious as this is, some players miss the mark
on it.
|================|
|4F. TENNIS COURT|
|================|
Or, depending on your course's milieu, Stable, Spa, or Swim Club. They all do
the same thing, namely that they start your players out with a positive
attitude instead of a neutral one. Once you get the upgraded version, just
about everyone will go to the first tee happy, and that will give you a far
greater margin of error when designing holes that may be less than 100% fun.
Every little bit helps when it comes to keeping your players (especially the
"Big Three"---see chapter 6) happy.
There's another benefit that's a little more subtle as well. Your players'
happiness ratings play directly in to how much money they decide to part with
as a greens fee every hole. If they're happier right out of the box, that's
an instant boost to the greens fees on the first couple of holes, holes that
are usually the least profitable because your players haven't had the chance
to establish that they're having a thrilling time. It's that benefit that
allows the Tennis Court (or whatever) to pay for itself.
|==========|
|4G. MARINA|
|==========|
Mind you, I hate houses. As good as they are for your profitability, and as
good as celebrities are for your course's image, I hate sacrificing otherwise
valuable design space to them...and I hate looking at them.
However, if you've decided to embrace housing sites, the Marina (or Church or
Helipad, whatever) will make them more valuable, providing more instant cash
every time someone decides to upgrade to a Silver Membership. It also
increases the chances that your housing sites will end up inhabited by big-
name celebrities. Considering that your golfers hate "common" housing but
love celebrity housing, the Marina could raise the overall fun factor of the
course. But damn, I hate how those houses look. More on that later.
|================|
|4H. RESORT HOTEL|
|================|
Connect one of these bad boys to your clubhouse to generate Iron Man golfers
who, though they still tire, do so a lot more slowly. If you've got a really
long (12 holes or more) course, you're going to need that Resort Hotel. It
becomes available once you venture beyond the 9th hole on your first course,
but doesn't become necessary until you get to about 12-14. Some would argue
that it's useful even on a short course because golfers who need to rest are
not going to be playing while they're sitting on their butts. Use your own
discretion, because stamina is the ONLY benefit you'll get from the Resort
Hotel.
|============|
|4I. AIRSTRIP|
|============|
It's a huge space hog, ludicrously expensive, and a bit of an eyesore, but the
Airstrip (Castle on Links courses, Casino in the Desert, and Theme Park in the
tropics) adds to your greens fees on every single hole. Once you've got a
Championship Course, that's 1800 magic beans from everyone who plays all the
way around the course. By the time you get about thirty people all the way
around the horn, your Airstrip will have paid for its gigantic initial capital
outlay. It will also be the centerpiece of an achievement that few people are
able to make in SimGolf: a successful 18-hole Championship Course. If you get
to this point, I congratulate you...but you've still got a lot to learn,
Grasshopper. Read on.
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|=============|
|5. HIRED HELP|
|=============|
Of course, there's more to a great golf course than just a bunch of fancy
buildings and pretty grass. You need people to run the place, because Gary
Golf (or whatever you call him) can't do it all himself. There are four major
employees you'll need in order to keep your course functional.
Cautionary note: The game has a 16-employee limit. They don't exactly TELL
you about this...you have to find out the hard way, like I did.
|=================================|
|5A. GROUNDSKEEPER/TURF TECHNICIAN|
|=================================|
Me hate dandelions. These slightly dull but highly effective employees are in
charge of keeping your course free of ugly dandelions, crabgrass, and other
ugly eyesores on your course. My favorite way to handle groundskeeper
responsibilities is to hire one groundskeeper for every two holes in the early
going, then after I get to six holes (and more advanced employees), I hire one
Turf Technician for every four holes. If it becomes necessary to get a tech
out to a particular problem area, there's always the "drag-and-drop" method
popular with those of you who may have used the pincers to put a handyman on
top of a vomit pile in Rollercoaster Tycoon. Just click on the guy and drop
him wherever he's needed. Between that and the four "auto-patrols", you
should be able to keep your course weed-free. Since nobody's stoned on your
course (they just play like they are), dandelions are the only weed you'll
have to concern yourself with.
|=======================================|
|5B. DRINK VENDOR/REFRESHMENT CONSULTANT|
|=======================================|
Your patrons are thirsty WAY too often, so you should devote a lot of your
payroll budget to drink vendors. I'm a believer in putting one on the course
for every two holes. If you place them right, you can achieve maximum
coverage and streamline down to seven or eight refreshers. The consultants
have pretty good range, so fire all your Vendors and replace them with the
cart pushers as soon as you can get them. You might be able to get your
employee count down to six if you place them wisely.
|===================|
|5C. RANGER/MARSHALL|
|===================|
Got a logjam that traditional methods can't clear? Then and only then should
you put Marshalls into the game. I believe that if you need more than one of
these guys on the course, you should probably rethink how the hole where the
logjam occurs is designed. Either make it a little easier, move one or more
of the hole's facilities to other holes, make your patrons wait one more hole
before they can sit on a bench...use Marshalls as a last resort. I recommend
hiring one guy and using the "click-and-drop" method to have him
singlehandedly take on any trouble spots. Having one guy also allows you to
take care of the occasional angry rogue who decides he doesn't like your golf
course anymore.
|======================|
|5D. CLUB PRO/CELEBRITY|
|======================|
This is where you should spend your excess employee ration. Hiring a few
celebrities and putting them after particularly difficult holes can be a good
way to rescue the attitude of golfers who may have become frustrated after
hitting a few too many shots into that scary water hazard you have right in
front of the green on your Classic par 4. You get the idea. Celebrities are
also useful because when the Big Three are walking your course having a round
of golf, you can use the click and drop to have your greeter tail them on
their round and tend to their every whim and need. Used judiciously, these
guys can do a great job of rounding out your course's staff.
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|==============================|
|6. PICKY, RICHMAN, AND BIGDOME|
|==============================|
Kind of sounds like a vaudeville troupe or something. But I.M. Picky, Ivana
Richman, and J.P. Bigdome hold the secret to your course's expansion. Picky
will play your course as your fun rating (on the easy levels) or Skill rating
(on the harder levels) increases, and if he likes what he sees, he'll cough up
the right to purchase more land for your course's expansion. Richman will
play based on the same criteria, but she'll donate pretty landmarks to your
course. Bigdome will cough up a quick five grand for a seat on the board if
he likes what he sees, and he'll come around every time you build two new
holes onto your course, so you'll be able to see him a maximum of nine times
for each course you build.
For all three of these folks, the key is to tend to their every need. If that
means having your Celebrity follow them around all day, then do it. If that
means sending your Marshall ahead to clear the path for them, then do it. If
that even means using your Gary Golf guy as a common employee, so much the
better. Just make sure those three have a good time!
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|============================================================|
|PART III: THE PERFECT APPROACH: INTERMEDIATE DESIGN STRATEGY|
|============================================================|
You can play a pretty good game of SimGolf on the basics alone. But why stop
at the basics? Follow the strategies in this section and you won't just be
good, you'll be great. And isn't that why you're reading a strategy guide?
In this section, I'll cover Celebrity Homes, the SGA, even better golf holes,
and everything you'll need to know about running a public nine-hole course.
And yes, it is perfectly possible to build a nine-hole course, sit on it, and
enjoy enormous profits. But anyway, on to the next section:
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|=====================|
|7. HOMES OF THE STARS|
|=====================|
As I've mentioned, I'm not a big fan of home sites. But they ARE a great way
to make a few thousand extra bucks off your 2x2 sections of land that you may
not otherwise be using for your course. There are two basic classifications
of home site:
REGULAR: Whenever you have someone upgrade to a Silver membership, you can
build a homesite for them. They'll pay you based on the site's location (some
trial and error should show you exactly where the big money is to be made),
and their homes will be...an eyesore. Other golfers hate them. Ordinarily
this would mean that home sites are more trouble than they're worth and should
be used only when you're fiscally desperate. Thing is, that's no longer the
case when you get to...
CELEBRITY: As an American, it disgusts me that my culture is absolutely
obsessed with celebrity worship. There's something very elitist about it. Of
course, this is a golf course, and golf courses are traditionally havens for
rich snobs who like status symbols. So having celebrities buy your home sites
(it'll appear as an upgrade to an existing house) will make all the snobs
running around your course think they're somebodies rather than pathetic
little electronic peons who can be willed out of existence with the click of
a mouse.
Anyway, the decision "to house or not to house" is ultimately yours. If you
build the houses in desirable locations and have a fun, lively golf course,
celebrities will, without question, occupy your housing. It's not so much a
question of "if" but "when". Just remember that you're going to suffer
depressed greens fees for awhile on any hole that has a sight line to the
house before the celebrity moves into it.
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|====================================|
|8. BUILDING AN EVEN BETTER GOLF HOLE|
|====================================|
We covered the basics in Chapter 3. But basics are for those who need a
simple explanation. If you want to really crank your holes to the next level,
follow these tips and learn to create more advanced holes.
I haven't talked about trees much, aside from their obvious application toward
building holes with a good Imagination rating. Aside from that, they can be
used as directional markers. One thing I find absolutely maddening about
SimGolf is that you can't quite predict what your players are going to shoot
at. I've seen my players go from the 8th tee to the 8th green via the 6th
fairway and the 5th green. They're not very smart. The two best ways to stop
them from this idiocy are trees and water. They won't shoot at what they
can't see, and they won't risk a 275-yard shot over a water hazard. They'll
find some sort of better alternative. How the game chooses its shot pathing
is beyond me, but suffice to say you're going to need to use some ingenuity to
prevent people from making idiotic decisions.
Some of you may be scratching your head at this point, saying "before you open
the hole, the game shows you the path that your players will take from tee to
green, so where's the problem?" The problem lies, as it does so often in
video games, in the inevitable AI stupidities that result from the Law of
Unintended Consequences. Just trust me on this one. Impasses and obstacles
will be your best defense against an AI that has the sense of direction of a
drunk coming out of a bar at 2 AM.
When it comes to choosing your method of mayhem for deciding how to work your
different styles of hole into your course, I'm a fan of mono-skill holes. If
you're going to make a 600-yard par 5, make it a straight shot with a fairly
wide fairway so that the game doesn't get a stupid idea about making it a
"Challenge" hole when you want a "Freeway". Likewise, if you're going to
create a "precise" hole, you might want to tone down the length a little bit
and perhaps even force your players around trees to combine accuracy and
imagination for a "heroic" hole. Heroic holes have the greatest potential for
improvement to Classic status, but that's something you'll have to turn to
Chapter 12 for a complete treatment of.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|==================|
|9. SGA EVALUATIONS|
|==================|
The SimGolf Association's going to be watching you every step of the way, and
you'd do well to heed their advice. The requirements are so straightforward
as to be self-explanatory. All you have to do is follow the requirements, and
you'll be hosting multi-million dollar tournaments in no time (well, OK, in a
matter of a great many YEARS, but what's a little SimTime among friends?)
My best bits of advice on this one: Don't skimp on length, crank up the Fun
Factor of every hole as high as you can get it, don't shortchange on the
facilities, and if your goal for playing involves making millions off SGA
tournaments rather than milking the daily-crowd racket, try to make every hole
a "Classic" (see Chapter 12 of this guide), because even though your rank-and-
file set will go nuts at the insane level of challenge, the pros will love you
and if you're playing on the harder levels, Picky and Richman will show up a
lot more often.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|===============================|
|INTERLUDE: THE DAILY FEE COURSE|
|===============================|
Since it's the halfway point for this guide, I felt it necessary to include a
brief interlude now as I remind everyone of what you should all have as you
approach nine holes:
·Skilled Employees. An absolute must. Fire everyone you hired while you
built your first six holes.
·A snack bar for every three holes.
·A roving Marshall who can be deployed to trouble spots as they arrive.
·A Cart Garage, as soon as you can afford it. If you don't have one, I've
frankly got to wonder what the hell's wrong with you. This isn't the Casey
Martin lawsuit. Let 'em drive.
·Any other facilities you're allowed (see Chapter 4).
·Your Gary Golf character should have an array of mad skillz from earning the
game's Professional Achievement bonuses. By nine holes, you should have
almost all your skills maxed out. See Chapter 15 for more on Gary Golf.
OK, you've got all of that? Good. On to the "back nine".
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|=======================================|
|10. TAKING FUN FACTOR TO THE NEXT LEVEL|
|=======================================|
As we start the "back nine", I address an issue that's often the bane of the
first-time course designer. It's not all that hard to clear enough room to
build your first nine holes, but as you reach Hole 10 or so, you run out of
room to build, and I.M. Picky's nowhere to be found. Best remedy for the
situation? Well, if you're playing on Easy or Moderate, the best remedy is to
simply make all your patrons happier. "How do I do this", you ask? You learn
that there are some really obvious things on the course you may be missing.
For starters, click on the green on each of your holes. Notice a particularly
large percentage next to a "complaint" (note the convenient red font)? Best
remedy for that is to remove the source of the problem. Most people are a
little too overzealous in creating their water hazards, causing players to
drown a few too many of their shots. You might want to ease up on the hazards
just a bit, or replace them with streams, which won't catch quite as many
errant shots.
Patience helps as well. Remember, if you've just allocated space for a home
site, your patrons are going to think it's butt-ugly until a celebrity moves
into it. That's the whole double-edged sword element of home sites (see
Chapter 7 for more information on stuff like that). There's another downside
to this that's a little more insidious, namely that your comment list will be
so cluttered with stuff like "Hey, that's Jerry Signfield's house!" that you
won't be able to see the comments that relate to actual golf play. I've been
over the home thing. Use it at your own discretion...and risk.
If all else fails, try sending someone like a Celebrity (upgraded Club Pro)
over to man the tee. It might be that your patrons require a little extra
attitude adjustment. All in all, I consider any hole that's not generating at
least a 100% fun factor to be in need of improvement. Be sure to heed that
advice, because it will do both your SGA rating and your greens fees (and, by
consequence, your profitability) a world of good.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|======================================|
|11. GETTING THE MOST OUT OF SIMSTORIES|
|======================================|
SimStories are a pretty little distraction, I suppose, but they're not the
meat of the game. Still, you can win nifty prizes for having your SimStories
reach a happy ending. Because of that, you should understand what causes
SimStories to progress and what you should do to encourage them. Happy
endings can also lead to your SimGolfers having a higher opinion of your
course and thus being more likely to end up as Silver or Gold members.
The best way to keep SimStories moving smoothly is to keep your golfers happy.
If they have a highly positive attitude, they'll enjoy each other's company
more and end up more likely to proceed toward the four "hearts" necessary to
create the Happy Ending. Once you have a nine-hole course (or more), you'll
notice (especially on the easier levels) that the "if at first you don't
succeed, try try again" model works well because your SimGolfers will keep
attempting to move the story along until it proceeds.
The next best way is to take some of the monuments that Ivana Richman donated
to your course (you DID keep Ivana happy, right?) and place them where your
SimStories are hitting logjams. Follow around a couple of stories, and you
will no doubt see where they proceed less than happily. Throw down one of the
monuments that's marked "Happy Endings" next to its information (hover your
mouse over it and a tooltip will tell you what it does) in the vicinity of the
trouble spot. It'll clear up real quick. Gods bless a nice free ride, and
may they doubly bless those of you who play on harder levels, because you're
going to need every little edge you can take.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|===================================================|
|PART IV: SNAKING THE PUTT: ADVANCED DESIGN STRATEGY|
|===================================================|
You've got the basics down to a science. You've got the more advanced stuff
nailed. You've got happy endings, monuments, and a big golf course. But you
still aren't done. If you don't want to just beat the game, but rather
OBLITERATE the game, read on and apply the ultimate strategies.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|=================|
|12. CLASSIC HOLES|
|=================|
What's a classic hole? It's a hole that ranks better than 1.00 in all three
skill categories. It requires long hitting, deadly accuracy, and quite a bit
of creativity. I've been lucky enough to build one of these holes myself.
It's the fifth hole at my "Locke's Shore GC" (a nine-holer I built in Monterey
on the cheap parkland the game often offers in the early going).
The hole starts out with a dogleg to the left, as the player has to place his
drive right on a one-wide stretch of fairway through a forest. The second
shot must be faded left-to-right onto a 2x2 square of fairway surrounded on
three sides by forest and on the fourth side by a two-wide water hazard. Most
players lay up well short of the water, but a good high backspin shot can be
placed just in front of the water. Across the water hazard is a two-by-two
square of green with the hole at the back, in front of a snack bar. It
requires a creatively placed normal shot to have any chance of getting near
the hole in three. There are a couple of Ivana-donated landmarks, plenty of
flower bushes, and a Celebrity in place to prevent the less skilled players
(the average score for this 546-yard Par 5 is 6.29, so there are a lot of
bogeys and worse being shot around here) from storming off the course. The
only member I ever lost quit after shooting a ten on the fifth hole. It
was right around then that I added in the celebrity and the "happy thoughts"
landmarks.
So what have we learned? If you want a record-breaking skill level on a hole,
you've got to force your players to use every shot in their arsenals, leave
almost no room for error, and make them haul out the artillery if they want to
leave themselves any chance of par by the time they get to the green. Think
about it from the golfer's point of view. Imagine what it would be like to
play the hole or, even better, play the hole as Gary Golf. If you find
yourself having to out-think your own course design, you're probably on the
right track. If you find yourself struggling to make par (but making par on
at least a semi-regular basis when you play the hole perfectly), you've
probably got the makings of a Classic on your hands. A classic hole is an
all-out design effort, so make sure you have all your other holes in order,
then focus every single effort, every simolean, every ounce of your energies
toward creating the perfect hole. It can be done...good luck. If you can
make a lot of holes like this without frustrating your players, send me an
e-mail and tell me about the highest-skill, highest-fun, most amazing hole
you've ever built. I'll see if I can build an Ultimate 18 of player-suggested
holes, and if I can re-create your efforts, I'll add a section to a future
revision of the guide and call it the "Ultimate Golf Course". You'll be
credited for your suggestions, of course!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|===================================|
|13. PUSHING RATINGS TO THEIR LIMITS|
|===================================|
A word of warning: Advice in this chapter is to be followed after your course
is otherwise complete. You'll run out of resources otherwise.
Once you've got your holes built, you're going to want to improve them. The
first and best way to do it is to use up what's left of your landmarks in any
places that are still trouble spots. The second way (which is almost as good)
is to hire any employees you've got left to beef up the Fun Factor on any hole
that hasn't yet seen your repair efforts.
Once that's done, follow this checklist:
·Lengthen a hole. Demolish the pin, move it back a square (25 yards) or two,
then change up the rest of the green and the fairway accordingly. This can
help to increase the Length rating on your shorter holes. Remember to right-
click terrain out of existence first, so you'll get a refund on your earlier
work.
·Narrow a fairway section or two, especially near a ball-landing zone where
your players are placing most of their shots. If you give them less margin
for error, you can crank the Accuracy rating up a few ticks.
·Put in a few judiciously placed trees any place you feel you can change the
trajectory of your players' shots. Forcing a low punch shot in to the green
is a cheap and easy way to raise the Imagination level of a hole, but if you
have the room, you might want to completely redesign the fairway layout (see
my suggestion in Chapter 12 about the "double dogleg" fairway on Par 5 holes)
or place trees where formerly there was rough in order to change your
players' minds about shots they formerly would have attempted.
·Remember that once you have Upgraded Facilities (which come with any course
of 10 or more holes), players that previously would have found a hole
difficult will now find it easier because their skills will have improved.
Long-time members are going to want a fresh challenge. By enhancing the
skills required to play holes as your players get better, they'll thank you
for your efforts in the form of increased greens fees, covering the cost of
your alterations.
Of course, if you screw up and end up blowing the balance of an otherwise
great hole, get on that right mouse button (or the "quit-and-reload" function
if you're smart enough to save before altering your course) and put things
back the way they were before. Golf course design is much more an art than a
science!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|===========================|
|14. THE CHAMPIONSHIP COURSE|
|===========================|
Ultimately, an 18-hole Championship Course will contain the perfect balance of
holes. You'll have a couple of straightaway Freeway holes that play like long
drive contests. You could even build a 700-yard Par 6 with a long, rolling
fairway that challenges your player to kill the ball to set up a possible
eagle chance on the long, manicured green. You'll have Challenge-style holes
that dogleg in each direction. You can build a Classic hole through the trees
(or around some water...but watch out for your players' opinion of such a
sinister hole). You'll have a Breather hole or two so your players don't
think you're a sadist. You'll have Heroic holes where it's not how hard you
hit it, but how creatively (think miniature golf greens on a grander scale).
Don't forget the snack bars, the Turf Techs, and plenty of drinks to go around
for everyone. Build a big resort for stamina, benches for your players to sit
on, and all the other facilities so they'll have the skill to play every
single hole the way you want them to. Test your course often in the design
stage. And most of all, have fun! You might even want to carry some money
over from your earlier course designs to put toward the new course so you can
get it just right. Let me know if you build particularly killer holes.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|======================|
|PART V: YOUR CHARACTER|
|======================|
The centerpiece of Sid Meier's SimGolf is you, "Gary Golf". You can, of
course, name him after yourself (or anyone you like), and it looks better in
the trophy room if you've got your own name on that first-place trophy for the
all-time highest-scoring designer. It's also great fun to play in (and win)
tournaments, since you'll make a lot of money that you can put toward the
continued growing of your golfing empire. The short version: The better you
get at actually PLAYING golf, the better you'll be able to do at designing the
courses on which you play. Enough small talk. Let's get to the action.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|===========================|
|15. BUILD THE BETTER GOLFER|
|===========================|
There are two types of SimGolf players in this world. Those who distribute
the points evenly, and those who distribute them to specific strengths. So
which should you be? Ay, there's the rub; you'll have to decide that for
yourself.
What kind of course are you going to build? If you want to build a long
course with lots of long par 3s, long par 4s, and eternal par 5s, you'd better
devote some of those skill points to Long Hitting. If you're building a high-
accuracy course, you'd better crank up the "Accurate Irons", "High Backspin
Shot", and "Accurate Putter" skills. If you're building a course for the
imaginative, you'd do well to build up your "Fade Shot" and "Draw Shot" skills
because otherwise you'll be puttering around your own course.
If you're planning on building a balanced, championship-quality course, THEN
you should go with the "play it even" style, and combine performance bonuses
and skill upgrades to keep your golfer first mediocre at everything, then good
at everything, then Tiger Woods at everything. It's the style I use.
Remember that you don't get to assign a single point until you play your first</pre><pre id="faqspan-2">
practice round, at which point you get 10 points for skill upgrades,
redeemable for 10% increases in the skills of your choice. There are ten
skill choices available to you, and ten points to distribute. That should
tell you something.
As you play, you may want to stop assigning points to skills that are building
up "on their own", and start assigning them to skills that aren't as likely to
build up randomly (Recovery Skills and Luck are two such skills).
Is there a "right answer"? Personally, I think "balance" is the right answer,
so if you forced a decision out of me, that's the one I'd recommend.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|==========================================|
|16. PLAYING SINGLE ROUNDS: WHAT TO WORK ON|
|==========================================|
Single rounds are different from tournaments. You can royally stink up the
joint in a single round. When you're practicing, try every shot in the bag,
on every hole. You'll like what you learn, both about your golfer and about
the game's physics model. You'll learn how to account for the wind, how to
hit shots out of bad spots, and how to hit shots to avoid bad spots. You'll
also get quite a few skill upgrades, which are nice because once you build an
18-hole Championship Course, you'll be able to upgrade your player skills
beyond "+100%", which will be the key to winning those million-dollar
tournaments the SGA clamors to host on your world-class facility.
So, to summarize: Practice whenever you're not wrapped up with building. Use
the information to improve the course. Use the improved course to beef up
your skills...and get ready for Tournament time.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|===========================================================|
|17. GET OUT THERE AND BEAT SOMEONE: MATCHES AND TOURNAMENTS|
|===========================================================|
Got some faith in your mad skillz? Start out with one-on-one, Skins Game
style matches against the contenders and pretenders that march out on to your
course. You know your own course. You've practiced religiously. So use that
advantage to beat someone, especially if your course contains a monster hole
that mere mortals can't make bogey on but you can make birdie. Skins don't
carry over, so if you lose one hole, you'll lose one hole's stake. The key is
to focus on winning the overall match, because winning a match will bring in
the big stake.
Got even MORE faith in your mad skillz? In Tournament play, you can alter the
course to make it even more difficult. Rough is cut longer, greens are rolled
extra hard and fast, and you can even shorten the par on some of your holes,
but remember that once you change the Par, the change is permanent, so weigh
carefully whether you want to make the hole one stroke more difficult for your
regular paying customers...it can change the balance of your course.
Once you've made the necessary adjustments, get out there and play. The Fast
Greens can be your ace in the hole if you have mastered the Accurate Putter
skill, quite possibly the most important skill in the book for winning the
tournaments, since your putting is the one play element over which you have no
direct control...it's all up to the skill and the AI. You'll make more than
you miss, though...if you've got the skill. Have I reiterated the point
enough, or shall I say it three more times? Repeat after me...
Putting Skill! Putting Skill! Putting Skill! Kind of like Beetlejuice, just
about golf and without the cool Harry Belafonte music in the background.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|===============================================|
|18. QUICK TIPS FOR PROFESSIONAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS|
|===============================================|
Hit F10. See those little notes in the corner? They're called Professional
Accomplishments. Your job is to get them off the notes and on to your big
trophy in the center of the screen where they belong. The accomplishments are
arranged in such a way that you'll do well to accomplish at least one of the
three on the little paper slip before moving on the the more advanced ones.
I've found on my later courses that trying to accomplish too much too soon
usually leads to design issues more than it leads to a solid professional
resume. So just trust me on that one...and use F10 whenever you need a
reminder of what you're supposed to do next.
Once you accomplish all the Professional Accomplishments, build a championship
course, and win millions on the pro circuit, you can retire...a true SimGolf
Champion...a legend...a Hall of Famer. Best of luck.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|======================|
|PART VI: ODDS AND ENDS|
|======================|
You know the drill. Blatant self-promotion, other stuff I've read, and all
sorts of other wonderful things FAQ-related that aren't directly associated
with the game.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|=======================|
|19. CONTACT INFORMATION|
|=======================|
E-Mail:
[email protected]
GameFAQs Message Boards: SimuLord
AIM, MSN, etc.: Don't. Just don't. I hate fielding instant messages from
anyone not currently on my buddy/contact lists. Get a GameFAQs Message Board
account (they're free), go on Current Events, and you'll find me there.
Get the complete list of Fox's Only Strategy Guides You'll Ever Need:
http://www.gamefaqs.com/features/recognition/4810.html
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|===============|
|20. COMING SOON|
|===============|
Other projects I've got in the pipeline:
|=========================================|
|NBA Live 2002: The No-Cheat FAQ |
|Current scheduled release: March 22, 2002|
|=========================================|
In the tradition of my Triple Play 2001 No-Cheat FAQ, a complete general
manager's guide and player's guide to EA Sports' latest basketball entry on
the PlayStation2.
|=========================================================|
|Tropico: Señor Fox's Only Strategy Guide You'll Ever Need|
|Paradise Island Edition (Version 2.0) |
|Current scheduled release: March 29, 2002 |
|=========================================================|
I follow up my award-winning Tropico guide with a full treatment of the new
expansion pack from Breakaway Games. Find out how to use Furniture Factories,
Dungeons, and all sorts of new tourist goodies to make an already-great island
truly glorious! If you liked my Tropico guide, you'll love Version 2.0!
This concludes my Sid Meier's SimGolf Only Strategy Guide You'll Ever Need.
Thank you, and drive through.
-------------------------------------END--------------------------------------
