DOS Days

 

Links: The Challenge of Golf

Released: 1990
Published by: Access Software, Inc.
Developed by: Access Software, Inc.
Credits: Roger Carver, Bruce Carver, Vance Cook, Kevin Homer, John Berven, Jon Clark, Steve Witzel, David Curtin, Brent Erickson.


 

System Requirements

System Requirements 8088/8086 CPU, 640 KB of RAM, MCGA or VGA graphics card.
Audio support for: PC speaker, Ad Lib, PS/1 Audio Feature Card, IBM PS/2 Speech Adapter, Sound Blaster and Roland MT-32.
Original Media Five 5.25" DS/DD floppy disks, three 3.5" DS/DD floppy disks or two 3.5" DS/HD floppy disks
Installed Size (MB) 1.6 MB + 0.7 to 1 MB for each add-on course

 

Introduction

Golf games had risen in popularity with 8-bit home computers like the ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64, with the Leaderboard series being probably the most advanced. On the PC, one of the first golf games to push the genre further was Links: The Challenge of Golf, by Access Software, released in 1990. With 3D terrain and using 256-colour SVGA graphics it brought new realism to a golf computer game. It even employed clever digitised sound effects which they called RealSound(TM), including chirping birds and little quips from your caddy. The game came with a single golf course: Torrey Pines in San Diego, CA.

Up to eight people can play in a round at any one time, and players can be saved/loaded to disk which allows you to track progress/handicap. There are several skill levels to choose from - Beginner, Amateur and Pro. On the 'Beginner' level, the correct club is automatically chosen.

While Links could run on an XT with a VGA graphics card, the redraw speed was atrocious. Running on a 386DX-25 was ideal for this game.

In 1991, Access Software released several add-ons called Links "Championship Course" with four new courses - Firestone, Pinehurst, Bountiful, and Dorado Beach. Many more were released in subsequent years.

Released for Links: The Challenge of Golf Released for Links, Links 386 Pro & Microsoft Golf
  • Firestone Country Club (1991)
  • Pinehurst Resort & Country Club (1991)
  • Bountiful (1991)
  • Bay Hill Club & Lodge (1991)
  • Hyatt Dorado Beach (1991)
  • Barton Creek (1991)
  • The Belfry (1992)
  • Mauna Kea (1992)
  • Troon North Country Club (1992)
  • Banff Springs (1993)
  • Pebble Beach (1993)
  • Innisbrook - Copperhead (1993)
  • Bighorn (1994)
  • Castle Pines Golf Club (1994)
  • Riviera Country Club (1995)
  • Prairie Dunes Country Club (1995)
  • Cog Hill Golf & Country Club (1995)
  • Devils Island (1995)
  • Pelican Hill Golf Club (1996)
  • Valhalla Golf Club (1996)

 


An advert from October 1993

 

From where can it be run?

Links must be installed to your hard disk. The game requires 555K of free conventional memory if you want to realise all the game has to offer. A minimum of 530K is needed for the game to run, though you may miss out on the birds chirping or player comments.

 

Game Audio/Video

Game Audio Samples

*Sound Blaster Intro  OGG, FLAC
 Game Introduction (video)
*Recorded on a Sound Blaster 16 (CT2770)

 

Copy Protection

Links does not have any copy protection.

 

How to Setup

The game comes with an installation program. Insert the first disk and run INSTALL.EXE:

1) If you try to run the install program from a subdirectory on your hard disk, you will see this message. The installer must be run from either A: or B:. Because the installation program requires access to multiple floppy disks, you cannot use the DOS SUBST utility to mimic a floppy drive, and copying all files into a single subdirectory does not work either.

2) If INSTALL is run from the floppy disk you will see this:

3) Continue...

4) Continue...

5) Continue...

After the installation is complete, run SETBLAST.EXE to configure your sound card:

 

Problems

Issue: I've setup my sound card, but I don't hear player comments / birds chirping.
Cause: You don't have enough free conventional memory for the game to load these.
Resolution: The game will run with just 530 KB of free base memory, but 555 KB is required for all sounds.

Issue: The game hangs periodically, or fails to start.
Cause: Check if you are using an older version of HIMEM.SYS. This contains a bug that is manifested in some games, including Links.
Resolution: The game floppies come with a version of HIMEM.SYS that is known to work.

 

Keys

While you can play the game with just the keyboard, Links is best with a mouse - there are a lot of options to choose from while in-game, and navigating the menu is much easier. If no mouse is detected, the cursor keys are configured to imitate a mouse with ENTER as the left mouse button and SPACE as the right.

1 = Top
2 = Drop
3 = Options
4 = Lie
5 = Setup
6 = (D) Draw
7 = (S) Straight
8 = (F) Fade
9 = (1) Custom #1
0 = (2) Custom #2
- = Chip swing
= = Putt
F1/F2 = Club Arrows
F5/F6 = Address Arrows
F9/F10 = Rotate Arrows
G = Show/hide grid - helps to read the terrain
R = Redraw - use after rotating the camera angle
S = Swing

 

To Quit the Game

Go back to the main menu and select 'Exit' in the bottom right.

 

Supporting Documents

 

Save Games

Players are stored in files with a .PLR file extension. For example, if my player is called Andy, I have a file called ANDY.PLR in the game directory. The floppy disks include a default player in the file DEFAULT.PLR. These files are not text-readable / editable.

 

Versions of the game known to exist

Links versions did not come with a readme or any information on bug fixes, so it's probably just best to play the most up-to-date version to avoid issues. It's also likely later versions were designed to run better on more recent hardware.

Version Date Comments
1.0 1990 Original "big box" release on 5.25" or 3.5" low-density floppy disks.
1.43 1990  
1.44 25th March 1991  
1.45 9th August 1991 1991 Re-release (still under Access branding)
1.51 1991  
1.52 15th November 1991  
1.55 30th May 1992  
1.60 1992  
1.64 1992  
? 1992 Kixx budget re-release on CD-ROM

 

Original Floppy Disk Contents

On the high-density 3.5" floppies, the main game exists on the first disk, and some further files including the Torrey Pines championship course are on disk 2. On the low-density 3.5" floppies, the course is spread over disks 2 and 3.

Disk 1 of 2 (3.5" 1.44 MB (DS/HD) Floppy Disk. Volume Label: "LINKS DISK1". Game version 1.52.

CHECKSUM CRC             8 11-15-91   3:20p
DATA02   MAP         2,360 08-05-91   2:37p
DATA16   MAP         8,932 08-05-91   2:38p
DEFAULT  PLR           548 12-04-90   1:40a
GOLF     EXE        60,950 11-15-91   1:52a
GOLF1    LZ         22,706 10-26-90   1:00a
GOLFER2  LZ         62,418 10-26-90   1:00a
HIMEM    SYS         6,266 03-21-89   2:06a
INFO     LZ          7,141 11-10-90   3:47p
INSTALL  EXE        24,987 08-09-91  10:36a
KEYBAT   COM            96 12-04-87  11:49a
LIE      LZ         11,262 02-13-91   8:11a
LINKS    BAT            36 10-26-90   1:00a
MAKETORY BAT           267 11-10-90   3:28p
README   BAT         2,533 11-10-90   3:42p
READY    LZ          9,440 10-26-90   1:00a
SCORCARD LZ         12,298 10-26-90   1:00a
SELCTCRS LZ         15,369 10-26-90   1:00a
SELCTPLR LZ         11,697 10-26-90   1:00a
SELECT   LZ         99,659 10-26-90   1:00a
SETBLAST EXE         2,079 10-26-90   1:00a
SOUNDS   LZ         92,406 10-26-90   9:47p
SYSTYPE  EXE        31,710 11-09-89  11:14a
UNINSTAL EXE         1,633 12-03-90   1:40a
XMM      EXE         2,863 11-10-90   3:34p
 27 file(s)        489,664 bytes

Disk 2 of 2 (3.5" 1.44 MB (DS/HD) Floppy Disk. Volume Label: "LINKS DISK2". Game version 1.52.

PLAYSET  LZ         13,299 10-26-90   1:00a
PRACTICE CRX       108,805 10-26-90   1:00a
SELPRACT LZ         29,084 10-26-90   1:00a
TITLE    EXE        22,547 10-26-90   1:00a
TITLE    LNX       116,230 10-26-90   1:00a
TOPVIEW  LZ         10,601 10-26-90   1:00a
TORREY1            362,496 10-25-90   9:54a
TORREY2            362,496 10-25-90   9:54a
TORREY3             55,502 10-26-90   1:00a
 11 file(s)      1,081,060 bytes

Disk 1 of 5 (5.25" 360 KB (DS/DD) Floppy Disk. Volume Label: "DISK1 V145". Game version 1.45.

COMMON   BAT              3,202 10-11-1990 14:24
DEFAULT  PLR                548 04-12-1990  1:40
GOLF     EXE             60,774 02-05-1991  1:45
GOLFER2  LZ              62,418 26-10-1990  1:00
HIMEM    SYS              6,266 21-03-1989  2:06
INFO     LZ               7,141 10-11-1990 15:47
INSTALL  BAT                 79 10-11-1990 15:16
INSTALL  EXE              8,161 03-12-1990  1:40
INSTALL1 EXE              8,161 10-11-1990 16:39
INSTALL2 BAT              2,204 10-11-1990 17:22
KEYBAT   COM                 96 04-12-1987 11:49
LINKS    BAT                 36 26-10-1990  1:00
MAKETORY BAT                267 10-11-1990 15:28
README   BAT              2,533 10-11-1990 15:42
SCORCARD LZ              12,298 26-10-1990  1:00
SETBLAST EXE              2,079 26-10-1990  1:00
SOUNDS   LZ              92,406 26-10-1990 21:47
SYSTYPE  EXE             31,710 09-11-1989 11:14
UNINSTAL EXE              1,633 03-12-1990  1:40
XMM      EXE              2,863 10-11-1990 15:34
 20 File(s)           304,875 Bytes.

Disk 2 of 5 (5.25" 360 KB (DS/DD) Floppy Disk. Volume Label: "LINKS DISK2". Game version 1.45.

GOLF1    LZ              22,706 26-10-1990  1:00
LIE      LZ              11,773 26-10-1990  1:00
READY    LZ               9,440 26-10-1990  1:00
SELCTCRS LZ              15,369 26-10-1990  1:00
SELCTPLR LZ              11,697 26-10-1990  1:00
SELECT   LZ              99,659 26-10-1990  1:00
 6 File(s)           170,644 Bytes.

Disk 3 of 5 (5.25" 360 KB (DS/DD) Floppy Disk. Volume Label: "LINKS DISK3". Game version 1.45.

TORREY1                 362,496 25-10-1990  9:54
 1 File(s)           362,496 Bytes.

Disk 4 of 5 (5.25" 360 KB (DS/DD) Floppy Disk. Volume Label: "LINKS DISK4". Game version 1.45.

TORREY2                 362,496 25-10-1990  9:54
 1 File(s)           362,496 Bytes.

Disk 5 of 5 (5.25" 360 KB (DS/DD) Floppy Disk. Volume Label: "LINKS DISK5". Game version 1.45.

PLAYSET  LZ              13,299 26-10-1990  1:00
PRACTICE CRX            108,805 26-10-1990  1:00
SELPRACT LZ              29,084 26-10-1990  1:00
TITLE    EXE             22,547 26-10-1990  1:00
TITLE    LNX            116,230 26-10-1990  1:00
TOPVIEW  LZ              10,601 26-10-1990  1:00
TORREY3                  55,502 26-10-1990  1:00
 7 File(s)           356,068 Bytes.