Game Description

Jack Nicklaus 4, the continuation of the Accolade series of golf simulations, features replications of five professional golf courses, a custom course designer and realistic golf action. Courses include Colleton River Plantation, Country Club of the South, Muirfield Village, Cabo del Sol and Winding Springs. The latter is a fantasy course creation designed using the in-game course designer. As a boon to owners of previous games in the series, the program allows courses from previous versions to be imported and accommodates downloads of user-designed courses from the Internet.

The course designer allows you to design and build fictional courses or replicate your real-life favorites from scratch, complete with bunkers, rough, water hazards, trees, fairways and greens. The designer incorporates the use of "wizards" to help in the creation process, mainly from an overview standpoint, and provides various tools for individual hole editing. Several pre-designed panoramic horizons are also included along with the option to create your own. A full library of over 100 scalable objects (rocks, trees, bushes and so forth) is available for use in customizing your courses. Modification of courses included in the game or of those imported from other designers or websites is also supported.

Jack Nicklaus 4's golf action features accurate ball physics, multiple swing meters and new green-reading tools. The game offers a healthy selection of play modes including skins, match play, tournaments, medal (stroke) play and more. Multi-player action, up to four players in any given round, is available via serial cable, modem, LAN or Internet connection. Some pre-set computer-players come ready to play -- even the legendary Jack Nicklaus himself is available at your beck and call.

The game features 3D graphics and supports multiple screen resolutions ranging from 640x480 to 1800x1200. Sounds in Jack Nicklaus 4 are also scalable and include sound bites replicating birds, airplanes and virtually hundreds of other sound samples simulating sounds heard in actual golf outings and events. ~ Anthony Baize, All Game Guide

Roots & Influences

Jack Nicklaus 4 is, obviously by the title, one of a string of virtual golf games released under the Jack Nicklaus franchise. With virtual golf games under the Nicklaus license dating back to the late 1980s, it wasn't until the early 1990s that designers began releasing golf games for the PC. ~ Michael L. House, All Game Guide

Review: Enjoyment

The game is very challenging but enjoyable. The more you practice, the more you'll improve. ~ Anthony Baize, All Game Guide

Production Credits

ACCOLADE

PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

Producer/Game Design: Michael Franco

Executive Producers: Jim Barnett, Pam Levins

Assistant Producer: Daniel Tyrrell

International Producer: Alisa Schaefbauer

Art Director: Dale Mauk

Lead Artists: Shawn Monroe and Brian Wanamaker

Art Production: Ken Capelli, David Gustlin, Dale Mauk, Heather Merrill, Juan Ortiz, Brian Wanamaker, Peter Wong

Interface and Cinematics: David Gustlin, Dale Mauk, Shawn Monroe, Patricia Pearson

Design Inspirations: Kevin Hogan, George MacDonald

Course Layout: Michael Franco, Kevin Hogan

Audio: Rick Kelly, Rudy Helm, David Houston

Lead Testers: Harvey Bush, Daniel Tyrrell

Testers: John Arvay, Max Clendenning, Andy Elbert, Sean Fish, Forrest Marsh, Tomi McNaughton

Tools: Kerry Bonin, David Houston, Luis Rivas, Bobby Tait

Other Animated Golfers: Michael Franco, Theresa Laita, Brent Reid, Christie Smith, Edwin Trotter

Voice Talent: Slade Anderson, Bob Fitzgerald, Randy Hauser, Roberta Kennedy, David Nowlin, Sean O'Kane, Michael Pithey

Special Thanks: Brian Clayton, David Grenewetski, Sherry Holloway, Sandy Jackson

MARKETING

Product Marketing: Neil Johnston (Director of Product Marketing), Laddie Ervin (Online Marketing Manager)

Documentation: Mark L. Cohen, W. D. Robinson

On-Line Help: Mark L. Cohen

Licensing: Gabrielle Benham (Licensing Manager)

Public Relations: Bill Linn (Director of Public Relations), Erica Krishnamurthy (Manager of Public Relations)

Special Thanks: Caria Callisch, Matt Abrams, Steve Allison, Ann Balboa, Mark Glover, Daniel Grove, Cecelia Hernandez, Berry Kane, Mitch Kampf, Lee McEachern, Laurie Mendez, Erica Montolfo, Roger Nelson, Shane O'Toole, Toni Perez, Elsie de Rivas, Stan Roach, Rick Sabaag, Jill Dos Santos, Nate Schaumberg, Court Shannon, Linda Stackpoole, Kathie Tompkins, Andy York and the wonderful people at HOPE Rehabilitation Services

CINEMATRONICS

Executive Producer: Kevin Gliner

Technical Director: Mike Sandige

Producer: Brad Fregger

Lead Programmer: Mike Sandige (Rendering)

Programmers: Dennis Clark (Physics), Lee Foster (Game Logic/UI), Jim Mischel (Course Designer), Tobin Rysenga (Network Play/UI)

Game Design: Brad Fregger

Course Layout: Bryan Pape

JACK NICKLAUS

Jack Nicklaus Productions: Terry Jastrow, Michael Pithey

Nicklaus Design: Carl Mistretta, Ken Baker, Lee Schmidt, Chris Cochran, Dave Heatwole, Bruce Borland, Bill O'Leary, Doug Beach, Tom Soileau, Mark Reo

Nicklaus Equipment: Andy York

Golden Bear International: Andy O'Brien

Golfer & Designer of the Century: Jack Nicklaus

Special Thanks: Jack, Barbara and Gary

ELECTRONIC ARTS

Product Manager: Darryl Still

Graphic Designer/European Documentation Layout: Anita K. Legg

European Documentation: Rich Johnston

Quality Assurance: James Deverill

Materials Planner: Jo Randall ~ Michael L. House, All Game Guide

Review: Overall

Jack Nicklaus is perhaps the most successful golfer in history, so it's not surprising that his signature series of golf games is among the best in the genre. Jack Nicklaus 4 is no exception. With its beautifully designed courses, realistic play and myriad of options, this is a game that all golf fans should love.

Driving, hitting and chipping are all moderately challenging but putting is especially difficult. The game utilizes the standard triple-click swing control method -- after starting the swing meter, you click once for power and again for accuracy. The controls seem to work reasonably well for every type of swing, except putting. Hitting out of the rough and sand is easy -- simply aim and swing and normally the ball lands reasonably close to the target. The same holds true for driving and fairway shots but in the area of putting, one abandons the shot meter and all logic.

When you reach the green in Jack Nicklaus 4, you should avoid standard shot practices. The mark that represents the correct amount of power on the swing meter is usually too strong. Using the meter as a gauge will cause the ball to come to rest several feet past the hole if you adhere to the recommended amount of power and, of course, miss the hole. Practice might well solve the problem.

When playing against computer golfers, expect to take regular beatings until you've mastered shot making. This is true for the course pros at each venue and when taking on Jack Nicklaus himself, expect no quarter. The computerized golfers seem to know special ways to get the ball to the hole that are nearly impossible to duplicate using the mouse. For example, Nicklaus seemed to enjoy bouncing his drives off concrete cart paths to gain an extra 20 or 30 feet, thus ensuring his ball would be on the green at least one shot ahead of the competition.

Graphically, the game is well above average. The courses vary greatly from lush valleys to arid deserts with plenty of rough patches, sand traps and water hazards providing texture to the terrain. While the visuals are good, they're not perfect. The golfers look out of place on the 3D backdrops. While the animation is fluid, the differences in the graphics style of the golfers and the look of the courses are noticeable. Imagine placing a photograph of a golfer on a painting of a golf course to give you an idea of where the visual presentation scores a bogie.

Ball movement animation is good and the work developers put into making sure the ball bounces differently when it hits specific types of terrain (e.g., a concrete walkway vice sand or grass) is obvious. Hole flybys are mostly useless and can, fortunately, be toggled off to speed up rounds. Sound effects are on target -- the club smacking the ball, sand flying and the ball rattling home in the cup are all terrific samples -- but voice characterizations are repetitive. The game includes a healthy sampling of bird chirping and other ambient sound to give the game a realistic feel and the audio portion is in the same league with other contemporary golf simulations. While the soundtrack does not particularly set Jack Nicklaus 4 apart, it definitely fulfills its function.

The course designer in Jack Nicklaus 4 is simple to use and adds a good dimension to the game. Literally hundreds of user-designed courses are available for download over the Internet but those included are more than enough to present a challenge. Tinkering with your own creations, though, is quite enjoyable. Overall, Jack Nicklaus 4 is a great golf simulation and one that golf fans should definitely try. It might not shave strokes off your real-world game, but it will allow you to tee off whenever it rains or snows. ~ Anthony Baize, All Game Guide

Review: Graphics

The game features good graphics with a few minor bugs. ~ Anthony Baize, All Game Guide

Review: Sound

The mix of ambient sound and sampled effects add to the realism. ~ Anthony Baize, All Game Guide

Review: Replay Value

Practice makes perfect and with the included courses as well as unlimited custom designs, most players will want to keep playing. ~ Anthony Baize, All Game Guide

Review: Documentation

The game is fairly simple and the documentation covers all the basics. ~ Anthony Baize, All Game Guide