Recreating Golf to the Last Detail

Microsoft's Links 2004 Designers Make Sure Realism is at the Forefront

By Josh Kerns

Originally published in Golf Northwest Magazine

When Daryl Welsh and his buddies head out to the course, they bring a little
more than just their clubs. They also pack computers, hand-held global positioning
satellite receivers, video cameras and more. For Welsh, the goal isn’t par. It’s
recreating the world’s best courses and players for Microsoft’s Links 2004 for the
Xbox video game system. And if there was a score for video game realism,
Links 2004 breaks the course record.

The Links franchise has been the most popular golf computer game since
its debut in 1986. The goal has always been to create the most realistic simulation
possible. But in the past, the available technology severely limited the
designers’ ability to bring the game to life. Not anymore.

“Players used to have to rely a lot on their imaginations to fill in the blanks”,
said Welsh, the executive producer of Links 2004. “Now, with the Xbox we can
offer full three-dimensional, life-like graphics, and the courses and players
are accurate down to the inch. It’s just like being there.”

Courses are reproduced down to the last detail.

Recreating courses for Links 2004 is much like making a movie, but even more
complicated. Recently, eight members of the Links team headed for the Arnold
Palmer-designed Aviara Resort in Carlsbad, Calif., one of the newest
members of the Links lineup. Cameras in hand, they took nearly 6,000 photos,
shooting every inch of the course and surrounding area from every possible
angle. The team also captured about six hours of video.

Another team member spent nearly a week roaming the course, mapping the
entire property with GPS. According to Welsh, this is the most difficult job.
“The GPS guy has to go and measure every feature from tee to green. Every
bunker, every green contour, every tee box is accurate to the inch,” he said.
Meanwhile, a specially trained aerial team flew above, using radar technology
to create a digital terrain map. Back in the studio, designers spent
two months to compile all the images and data to create the game’s foundation.
Separately, the graphic artists painstakingly recreated all of the details in
3-D, from plants and rocks to houses surrounding the course. For the final
touch, the team even added wildlife, replicating the abundant and diverse bird
species that populate Aviara’s lagoons and wetlands.

In all, it took 20 people four months and nearly $150,000 to recreate the
course. And even though they could easily cut corners, the Links team is as hardcore as any avid golfer about their game.

“This is the soul of Links,” said Welsh. “These are passionate players, several of
them low handicap or scratch. They want to bring the game to life as much as possible.”

In real life, a ball hit out of rough will fly and land differently than a ball hit from the
fairway; a draw will fly farther and run more than a fade; a knockdown will take a
lower trajectory than a full swing. It’s virtually the same playing Links 2004.
The Links team has spent thousands of hours on the driving range and the
course, compiling data on every type of swing, shot and environmental factor such
as wind, rough and rain to create the same results you’d get in real life. If you
hit a punch shot into the wind at St. Andrews in Links 2004, the ball stays
down and runs hard. No other game comes close to matching this complexity. The Links team calls it a “Physics Engine.”“This is our secret sauce,” beamed Welsh.

You'll swear Sergio is in your living room.

The Links team applies the same effort to its players. Sergio Garcia, Mike Weir, Annika Sorenstam and other tour stars are brought to life thanks to a computerized,
motion-capture videotape system. After recording their swings and creating a
perfect computer model, the artists then take high-definition pictures of the players’
faces to create virtual players. And they’re never satisfied. As Garcia has grown a few years older, the artists and designers have gone back and changed
him in the game, making him more muscular, his voice deeper, face fuller to
maintain the greatest level of reality. “If we didn’t stop them, they’d try to
replicate every follicle,” said Welsh.

One of the biggest areas for growth is game play over the Internet, with thousands
of players from all over taking part in tournaments and friendly foursomes.
“We want people to be able to live their dreams. Most people never get a
chance to play these courses,” concluded Welsh. “And even if they do, they may
stink it up in real life. But thanks to Links, they can shoot par at St. Andrews.”