Posted by John Lambert on July 30, 2001 at 08:23:55 from 206.172.95.88:
Nina,
Microsoft publishes a golf-playng program called Links 2001 for use
on a PC computer. Included in the game is a CD called Arnold Palmer
Course Designer. APCD is really inteneded to recreate your favourite
golf course and "export" to to the golf game where you can play it.
However, if you are not that interested in playing golf on a computer,
you can leave out the golf tees, the fairways, holes, etc and just
design your own landscape: anything from your local park, your back
garden, or in my case, the Lake and Wild Cat Island. It's quite easy
to use and comes with 1200 photos of trees, bushes, flowers, houses,
benches, bridges, fences, walls and people that you use to "plant" in
your landscape. You can make your own hills and valleys and fill in
the lakes and make streams. There are about 40 different ground
textures: asphalt, concrete, long grass, short grass, clover, sand,
mulch, dirt, rocks, etc. Probably the best part is that you can
navigate through your completed scene, stopping whenever you want
to smell the flowers. You can soar over the treetops
on Wild Cat Island, stroll the streets of Rio, hover over Cormorant
Island, fly over Katnchenjunga, etc. etc. I find the maximum size of
an area to recreate is 2600 by 2600 yards. Anything over that and
the program really slows down, so you have to wait while the scene
redraws itself in a process called rendering. You will need a fairly
detailed plan or map of the area you want to design, including
photos. Of course, if you want to recreate one of AR's settings, you're
pretty much on your own. All you have to go on is the maps on the
book endpapers.
In Vancouver Links 2001 (including APCD) costs $38, (19 pounds or so) and we get a $30 rebate,
bringing the cost (including tax) to an absurdly low $10 or so for
hours of absorbing entertainment.
I should imagine you can get the game in England, (if that's where
you're writing from) even though I'm sure it would cost more. As
far as I'm concerned, it would be cheap at four times the price.
I think your grandson would love it. It really makes the scenes in
the books come alive. Let me know if you find
it.
Cheers,
John Lambert