S K I D R O W ' 9 2 Presents: L I N K S (The Challenge of Golf) Complete AMIGA Docs! Installing LINKS on your hard drive: - LINKS must be installed on a hard drive and requires approximately 1.9 Mb of free space. - You should use the INSTALL program to load LINKS onto your hard drive. - INSTALL will create a subdirectory called "LINKS" and copy all files from the floppy disks into the LINKS subdirectory. Running the INSTALL program: 1. Insert DISK 1 in the drive you wish to install from. 2. From the Workbench a. Double click on LINKS1 Icon. b. Double click on LINKS INSTALL Icon. 3. Follow the instructions on the screen to complete installation. Alternate Installation Method: If the INSTALL program fails to operate properly, you may install LINKS manually from the CLI as follows: STEP 1. Change directories to the drive on which you wish to install LINKS. STEP 2. Insert the LINKS Disk 1 into drive df0:. STEP 3. Type: COPY df0:LINKS to LINKS ALL [Enter] STEP 4. Repeat Steps 2 & 3 with Disk 2 and Disk 3. IMPORTANT NOTE: LINKS requires 530K of free memory at runtime to operate properly. Memory Usage: LINKS requires at least 1 meg to operate. If you have extra memory, LINKS can use this memory to pre-load course data, graphics and sound. This will save loading time and can significantly increase drawing speed and speed of play. Using a mouse: Most actions are performed using the left mouse button. In some cases, double clicking on a selection may be substituted for pressing the OK button. START SECTION - RUNNING LINKS To start LINKS from CLI: 1. Type: CD LINKS [Enter] 2. Type: LINKS [Enter] To start LINKS from the Workbench: 1. Double click on the LINKS Drawer then 2. Double click on the LINKS Icon. The Title Sequence and Credits will appear. If you wish to bypass the title sequence, press the < SPACE BAR >. PLEASE NOTE: You can run LINKS without the title screen by typing: GOLF [Enter] MAIN SELECTION SCREEN After the Title, you will automatically come to the Main Selection Screen. This is essentially your Home Base, and you have several options available: START - Begin a round of golf. PRACTICE - Head to the practice area. RESUME - Resume playing a previously saved game. PLAYERS - Add a new player or modify an existing player's preferences. SYSTEM - Modify your equipment setup specifications. INFO - Review Update Information on this version of LINKS. EXIT - Exit LINKS and return to the system. BEGINNING A ROUND OF GOLF While in the Main Selection Screen, move the cursor over the START box and click on the left button. SELECTING A COURSE TO PLAY Choose a course from the COURSE LIST, then click [OK]. LINKS comes with one Championship Course, Torrey Pines. Additional courses will be available over the next few months. SELECTING THE PLAYERS Only players whose names are on the GAME LIST will participate in the round about to be played. Players are added to the GAME LIST by choosing (clicking on) names from the PLAYER FILE. With this sytem, it is only necessary to enter a player's name and preferences once. You can have as many players as you wish in the PLAYER FILE and then select up to 8 to participate in the upcoming round. If your name is not in the PLAYER FILE, click on the ADD box. This will bring up the ADD PLAYER screen. Simply type your name and press ENTER. Notice that your preferences have been highlighted in yellow. If you wish to change them, you can do so by clicking on the appropraite box. (Refer to the PLAYERS Section for more information on ADDING and MODIFYING players and prefs.) When your GAME LIST is complete, click on [OK]. Note: Names can be removed from the GAME LIST by clicking on them. SELECTING THE NUMBER OF HOLES, TEES AND PLAY LEVELS The last screen to appear before you tee off is called the READY TO PLAY screen. Here you can choose to play 18 holes or the Front or Back 9. You are also given the opportunity to temporarily change your preferences. You can have a different playing level and different tees for this round if you choose. Simply click on the appropriate boxes and when all is READY, click on [OK]. NOTE: LEVEL refers to either PROfessional, AMateur, or BEGinner. On the PRO level, swing timing is very critical, but you can obtain the greatest distance. AMateur is not as demanding on timing, but your distance is decreased approximately 10%. The BEGinner level is the most forgiving for bad timing, but is about 20% short of the PRO level on distance. The beginners level, which also has no wind effect, was designed for children. Serious golfers should use the AMateur or PRO levels. Please refer to the PLAYERS Section for instructions on how to make permanent preference changes. ON THE TEE The course is in great shape, fairways lush and green. You select your driver (ignoring your buddy's wise crack)...take a practice swing...and drive one right down the middle! THE SWING PANEL The panel at the lower part of the screen is called the Swing Panel and its various features are defined on the following pages. SWING Clicking on this button will swing the club. The swing must be performed in the following manner to produce a good stroke. Step 1. Move the cursor over the word SWING. Step 2. PRESS AND HOLD the left mouse button. THIS STARTS THE SWING. Step 3. RELEASE the button when the indicator reaches the top. THIS SETS THE POWER LEVEL FOR THE STROKE. (A yellow line will mark the point of release.) Step 4. Press the left button again when the indicator reaches the bottom green mark. THIS IS CALLED THE SNAP. If the snap occurs exactly at the green mark, you have hit a perfectly timed shot. (A yellow line will mark the point of your snap.) The swing sequence is PRESS & HOLD - RELEASE - PRESS ADDRESS The Address feature lets you back away from the ball to take practice swings. Click on the left arrow to move away from the ball. Click on the right arrow to address the ball. NOTE: If you are just beginning to play for the first time, back away and take a few practice swings. MISSING THE MARK If you miss the mark on the Snap, an error is introduced. The further you miss, the greater the error and the worse the shot. On Beginner and Amateur levels, the errors are less severe than on Professional. OVERSWING During the backswing, power level continues to increase until it reaches its maximum just before the indicator starts back down. If you release the button at this point, you will achieve maximum power and therefore maximum distance. There is a catch, however. The Red Zone at the top of the indicator is called the Overswing area. If you release in this area, be prepared to pay a heavier price if you miss the green mark at the bottom. The higher you reach for that extra power, the more severe the error if you miss the mark. CLUB Selection You are allowed 13 clubs plus the putter in your bag. The small window above the word CLUB indicates your current club selection. Click on the left or right arrows to change clubs. NOTE: Changing clubs has no effect when you are putting. CLUB DISTANCES DRIVER 1 (D1) 275 yds (Low Loft - 9.5 degree loft) DRIVER 2 (D2) 275 yds (High Loft - 12 degree loft) 2 WOOD (2W) 260 yds 3 WOOD (3W) 250 yds 4 WOOD (4W) 235 yds 5 WOOD (5W) 215 yds 6 WOOD (6W) 200 yds 7 WOOD (7W) 190 yds 1 IRON (1I) 235 yds 2 IRON (2I) 220 yds 3 IRON (3I) 205 yds 4 IRON (4I) 195 yds 5 IRON (5I) 185 yds 6 IRON (6I) 172 yds 7 IRON (7I) 160 yds 8 IRON (8I) 148 yds 9 IRON (9I) 135 yds Pitching Wedge (PW) 120 yds Sand Wedge (SW) 90 yds Loft Wedge (LW) 70 yds Distances are based on the following: Ball hit from a tee, landing and rolling on fairway, no wind, normal power (Top green mark), perfect Snap, Pro Level. POST-SHOT PANEL OPTIONS After you have made a shot, the Post Shot Panel will appear. The panel displays information about the shot just made, where the ball came to rest, and who's next to hit. From this point you can choose one of the following options: 1. CONTINUE - Continue on to your next shot or to the next player. 2. MULLIGAN - Play another shot from the same location. (Mulligans are recorded and displayed on the scorecard.) 3. GIMME - If a player is within the GIMME distance to the hole, you are given the option of taking a stroke and accepting your next putt as automatically made. 4. INSTANT REPLAYS FORWARD - View an instant replay of your last shot from above and to the right of the normal position. REVERSE - View an instant replay of your last shot from the reverse angle (looking back towards your hitting position). BALL IN HAZARD If you hit your ball into a hazard, you will be penalized one stroke and will be given two options - REHIT or DROP. REHIT - Places your ball at the point of your last shot. DROP - Places your ball at the point where it crossed into the hazard. LINKS will then allow you to move the ball anywhere you choose. However, the USGA Rules state that you can back up from this point as far as you wish, but it must be a straight line with the pin. NOTE: All brown areas and all water on the course are hazards. BALL OUT OF BOUNDS If your ball lands O.B. (over fences, off the course, etc...), you will be penalized one stroke and will have to REHIT from the original position. AIMING YOUR SHOT LINKS, automatically aligns you to 2 degress left of the pin. Even if you have a blind shot (where you can't see the pin) you can be certain that the green is straight in front of you. The DIRECTION you are aiming is indicated by a red and white pole called as the MARKER. You may control the Marker as follows: TO TURN THE MARKER ON, move the cursor into the viewing window and press and hold the right button. TO RE_POSITION THE MARKER, move the cursor arrow to a new location and press the left button. TYPES OF SWINGS (D, S, F, 1, 2 & CHIP) You can have up to 6 different types of swings for each club in your bag except the putter. Although the swing types have been pre- defined, you can change any of them at any time during play or practice. You should only make changes if you know what you are doing. (Refer to SETUP for more information.) Below is a description of the various types of swings. The swing type is selected by clicking on the appropriate box on the Swing Panel. [D] Draw - A slight hook (Ball moves to the left) [S] Straight - A straight shot [F] Fade - A slight slice (Ball moves to the right) [1] Custom shot to be setup by the player. Currently set to Straight. [2] Same as 1 [CHIP] Chip Shot - Straight CHIPPING When you are close enough to CHIP, LINKS will give you that option automatically. Chipping gives you a shorter, more controlled shot. The SWING INDICATOR for the CHIP is different than for FULL SWING. First time players should practice chipping on the Driving Range or Practice Green or use the Mulligan option to practice on the course. PUTTING Once you are on the green, LINKS will select your putter auto- matically. The putter swing is different than other swings. It is not necessary to press the button the second time (at the snap point). First time players should go to the Practice Green or use the Mulligan option to practice putting. Use the GRID option to lay a non- obtrusive grid on the green to help you determine an accurate read. ADDITIONAL SWING PANEL OPTIONS GRID When you click on the GRID box, a light green grid will be placed over the ground to assist on reading the terrain. The GRID can be used anywhere on the course. ROTATE If you find yourself directly behind a tree or other obstruction, you can turn left or right using the ROTATE function. Click on the left or right arrows in the ROTATE Box. The window displays the degrees of rotation relative to the pin direction. When you reach the desired angle, click on the REDRAW Box. TOP VIEW Activating this option will show you a top-view of the current hole and the flashing ball indicates the positions of the current player. DROP Clicking on this box will allow you to pick up your ball and move it to a new location. This is called a drop and you will be penalized one stroke unless your ball is on the cart path. LINKS will allow you to move the ball anywhere you choose, but the USGA Rules of Golf state that you must "drop" it within two club lengths of the original spot (but no closer to the hole) or you can back up (straight away from the pin) as far as you want. In the case of the cart path, you must drop within one club length of the edge of the cart path, no closer to the hole. Note: If you hit your ball into a hazard, you will automatically receive a stroke penalty and be given the option to rehit or to take a drop. LIE Clicking on this box will show the current lie of the ball. SETUP Clicking on this box brings up the Swing Setup Panel. Here you are able to adjust swing plane, stance, ball position, and club face. Every club (except the putter) has six swing types (setups) assigned to it (D, S, F, 1, 2 & CHIP). An explanation of the physics of hitting the ball and ball flight dynamics is outside the scope of this game and this manual. We have included these parameters to allow the advanced golfer to make changes that may more closely approximate his own "real" game. IF YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING, DO NOT CHANGE THESE SETTINGS! If you want to experiment, set up a separate player and go to the driving range. There you will be able to make changes and see their effects. When you're finished, you can delete the experimental player from the Player File. Changing every setup is a significant effort since there are 20 clubs with 6 swing types for each, or 120 settings. (Refer to the heading Types of Swings for more information on the standard default settings.) Note: Stance has no real effect on the ball in LINKS. Open or closed stance was included to help give the player the look and feel of his/her actual setup. WIND INDICATOR The Wind Indicator is the green arrow at the far left edge of the Swing Panel. When the arrow is pointing down, the wind is blowing towards you. Just to the right is the Wind Strength Indicator. A full yellow bar represents a wind velocity of approximately 30 mph. Wind fluctuations affect the ball while it is flight. OPTIONS Panel Clicking on the OPTIONS box brings up the Game Options Panel. The following options are available: QUIT GAME Click here to end the game and return to the Main Selection Screen. SAVE GAME Click here to SAVE a game in progress. SOUNDS Click on the sound boxes to switch various sounds on or off. If you have a slow machine, turning the sounds off may help the game play better. DRAWING DETAIL Clicking on these boxes will change the level of detail for drawing the terrain. MAXIMUM detail requires the longest drawing time, but looks the best. We suggest you experiment with the various combin- ations to find which ones work best for your speed of machine. We suggest MAX, MED, MIN for Close, Mid, Far respectively. If your machine is quite slow, you may try MAX, MIN, MIN or MED, MIN, MIN. If you have a fast machine, you may want to try MAX, MAX, MED or even MAX, MAX, MAX. EXIT Click here to return to the Swing Panel. Note: Beginner Level players are unaffected by wind. OTHER GAME FEATURES HITTING FROM ROUGH OR SAND Shots hit from the rough or sand will require approximately one extra club to achieve the same distance as those hit from the fairway. Shots from the rough will also have reduced backspin. Shots from the sand have somewhat greater backspin. NEXT PLAYER LINKS shows which player is up next before the scene is drawn so the player can get ready. LINKS uses the Honor System and Who's Farthest Out for tee-off and shot order. SCORECARD AND SCORECARD PRINTOUT At the completion of a hole, all players having finished, LINKS will display the Scorecard for your review. After you've finished playing a round, you'll be given an opportunity to print out your Scorecard. Make sure your printer is plugged in and is on line. SAVING A GAME IN PROGRESS You can save a game in progress and resume playing at a later time. Simply click on the OPTIONS box in the Swing Panel and then select SAVE GAME. To resume a game, choose RESUME from the Main Selection Screen. Note: If you wish to continue to play on another machine, you will have to copy the GAME FILE (.GAM) as well as the appropriate PLAYER FILES (.PLR) and COURE FILE (.CRS) to the other machine. QUITTING A GAME You can terminate play at any time by clicking on OPTIONS at the Swing Panel and then selecting QUIT GAME. PRACTICE SECTION LINKS contains a practice area where you can work on your driving, chipping and putting. Simply follow these steps: 1. Select PRACTICE from the Main Selection Screen. 2. Select the PLAYER that is practicing. (The program needs to know which PLAYER FILE to update in case changes are made to swing setups.) 3. Select DRIVING RANGE or PUTTING AND CHIPPING GREEN. DRIVING RANGE While at the Range, you have access to all normal swing parameters (i.e. CLUB, ADDRESS, SETUP, SWING types). In addition there are options to do the following: GO TO CHIP AND PUTT Move to the PUTTING AND CHIPPING GREEN. SELECT PLAYER Change the Player that is practicing. CANCEL Return to the Main Selection Screen. PUTTING AND CHIPPING GREEN At the practice green, you also have access to all normal swing parameters. In addition you have the ability to change the pin (hole) position and your practice position. The following options are available: CHANGE POSITION This changes the position of the pin or the golfer. Clicking on this box will bring up a TOP VIEW of the practice area with both positions shown as flashing dots. You can choose CHANGE PIN POSITION or CHANGE PRACTICE POSITION. In either case, a small icon will appear. Simply move the mouse until the icon is in the desired position and press the left button. When you're happy with the new position(s), click on [OK]. Click [CANCEL] if you decide not to make any changes. MOVE TO LAST BALL This moves you up to the last ball hit and makes that your practice position. Otherwise, you will continue to hit from the same position until you select Change Position as described above. GO TO DRIVING RANGE This moves you to the Practice Range. SELECT PLAYER This changes the Player that is practicing. CANCEL This returns you to the Main Selection Screen. RESUME SECTION This option allows you to resume a game that has been previously saved. (See Saving a Game in Progress.) Clicking on RESUME brings up a list of GAMES ON FILE. Simply select the game you want and click on [OK]. Note: If you wish to continue play on another machine, you will have to copy the GAME FILE (.GAM) as well as the appropriate PLAYER FILES (.PLR) and COURSE FILE (.CRS) to the other machine. PLAYERS SECTION This option lets you build and modify your list of potential Players. When a name is added to the list, a file is created for that Player that contains his or her preferences for Level, Tees, and Clubs. Clicking on PLAYERS brings up the Add/Modify Screen. The following options are available: ADD PLAYER To add a player to the PLAYER LIST, simply type in the new name and press [Enter] or click on the SAVE PLAYER DATA. MODIFY PLAYER To modify an existing Player's preferences, simply highlight (click on) the name in the PLAYER LIST. The current pref- erences for that Player will be shown in yellow. To make changes, simply click on the desired box. If you wish to change your selection of clubs, first de-select the ones you don't want, then click on the desired clubs. DELETE PLAYER To delete an existing Player from the list, highlight the player's name (click on it), then click on DELETE PLAYER. USE DEFAULT SETTINGS Click on this box to restore all preferences to the default values. Note: This will not return club setups to the default values. If you want to do this, simply delete your current player and create a new player of the same name. Standard club setups are installed when a new player is added. EXIT (ESC) Click here when you're done adding or modifying Players. All changes will be saved to disk when you EXIT. SYSTEM SETUP SECTION This option allows you to set up your system to use various default settings. GIMME This allows you to set the maximum distance from the hole within which the next putt may be conceded as automatically made. MULLIGAN Enables/disables the Post Shot Panel mulligan option. MOUSE SPEED This allows you to set the mouse pointer speed relative to the mouse. SOUND OPTION You can use SOUND OPTIONS to turn off some or all of the sounds used during game play. INFO SECTION Select this option to review current program update information that may not be contained in this manual. EXIT SECTION EXIT and return to the system.