* Firstly, set up your Amiga according to the manufacturers instructions. You should be pretty adept at this by now. I mean, they haven't sold any Amigas for about a year now, so the odds are that you're a long-standing owner. Not that I'm getting at you or anything. You have a perfect and inalienable right to be an Amiga owner. Where was I ? Oh yes.
* Insert Disk 1 into your Amiga's internal disk drive - and disk two into your external drive, if you have one that is. Let's face it, you would be hard pushed to insert a disk into a drive you haven't got.
* Now for the tough bit. Switch on your Amiga.
* Wait a short while.
* Groove on down to the funky music.
* The game of golf is played over a series of 18 'holes'. Each hole consists of a tee area (from which the first shot is taken), a fairway (a long stretch of grass) and a putting green (a very smooth area of grass where the hole is).
* The idea of the game is to get around the 1 8 holes in as few shots as possible. Shots are taken by hitting a dimpled ball towards a hole with a flag in it.
* The game is played with a selection of large hitting sticks called 'clubs'. There are three sorts of club: the iron, the wood and the putter. A wood is a powerful club traditionally used for the tee shot. An iron is a mid-range club used out on the fairway. A putter is a flat-headed hitting stick which is used on the putting green.
* Each hole is graded according to the number of shots you can reasonably expect to sink the ball in - this is called Par. Thus on a Par 4 hole, you should expect to sink the ball in four shots or less.
* Sensible Golf is Sensible Software's homage to the game of golf.
* Some 25 golf courses are at your disposal, none of which are based on real courses, although one of them looks a bit like Basingstoke Pitch and Putt.
* The are no secret moves, hidden levels or power-ups in this game. Similarly, you cannot 'be' Chun Li.
* Playing this game will not make you a better golfer in real life. It might, however, convince you to take up a more stimulating hobby.
* As you play Sensible Golf, you will not feel the urge to say things like Never before has golf been so accurately simulated', Those have got to be the most impressive SVGA graphics I've ever seen', Finally a computer golf game that takes you beyond the boundaries of your desktop' or Golf action so real that you con almost smell the grass .
If you're itching to have a go of Sensible Golf right away, you should choose the Play Round option from the main menu. Click the joystick button to bypass the Player Select screen and pick a course (Rome's a good place to start).
Once you're out on the course use up and down to choose a clubs left and right to choose a direction and the fire button to call up the Welly-o-meter'. Now press the fire button again to start your back swing. When the indicator is at the appropriate strength setting, hit the fire button again to start the down-swing. Finally press the fire button a third time in the middle of the red area to hit a shot straight down the fairway.
Hitting the ball. Press the fire button once to start the back swing. When the appropriate strength is reached press the fire button again to start the down swing. Finally, press the fire button a third time in the red zone at the bottom of the Welly-o-meter
Changing shot direction: To change the direction your shot, simply move the joystick left and right. Note: if you have a change of heart after you've called up the Welly-o-meter, simply move the joystick down to reposition.
Looking at the map: To view the map, hold down the fire button for one second. Pretty isn't it.
To quit a round: Hit the escape button and select Yes by moving the joystick right. Kind of obvious that one.
Menu Music: Toggle this on and off if you want plinky new age music playing whilst you navigate the menus.
In-Game Speech: Toggles the sampled speech on and off.
Background Ambience: If the birds are getting to you, switch them off.
Auto-Concede: If there's no way you can win a game, this function will automatically concede the match for you.
Computer Difficulty: Toggle between Easy, Medium, Hard and Wicked.
Save: If you're right in the middle of an amazing round and you suddenly realise that the pubs shut in half an hour, save your game and come back to it later.
Load: Fresh from the pub, load up your game again.
Format Save Disk: Click on this option, insert a blank disk and click on continue to format a save game disk.
Delete File: Use this to trash old games from your save game disk - avoid accessing this option when you're just back from the pub.
Slightly Slower Start - For the Sort of Punter Who Reads the Manual Before Playing
Welcome to Sensible Golf, a Sensible Software game which simulates the joys, trials, tribulations, ups and downs of golf. Where other golf games go to extraordinary lengths to try and bring you the experience of 'being there', we realise that if you wanted to 'be there', then you'd 'go there'.
So instead of offering you pixel perfect golf simulations of real golf courses, we bring you the real joy of golf. This game isn't about chucking bits of grass into the air to check for wind speed. It isn't about resting your putter down on the grass to check out that green. It isn't about minute alterations in foot stance. This is about real golf.
Real golf involves hacking a ball about a tricky course that's riddled with hazards. It's about aiming the ball way off to the left and then violently slicing it around a tree clump. It's about fun - not lawns.
| As you can see, the Sensible Golf in-game screen is a perfect example of uncluttered game design. Notice the clever use of shades of green, the dappled effect on the trees and those little clumps of flowers. |
 | This is the scoreboard. You'll always find it in the upper left-hand portion of the screen (assuming that you've got your TV the right way up). It tells you (from the top down): * Where you're playing * Which hole you're on * What the par for the present hole is * Whose turn it is * What their score is (so far for the round) * How many shots they've taken so far on this hole |
 | It's always worth keeping an eye on this ball indicator. The position of the ball indicates what sort of 'lie' you've got. if the ball is sitting proud of the grass then you'll be able to make clean contact with the ball and hit a solid straight shot. If, however, the ball is recessed in the grass then you won't be able to hit it as far. Beneath the ball lie indicator you can see the distance left to play to the hole (in yards), the club or iron that's currently selected and the maximum distance that the club can send the ball (again, in yards). |
 | And here's the most important meter of them all, the Welly-o-meter. This enables you to hit the ball with the appropriate amount of strength. By hitting the ball in the power zone (at the top of the semi-circle) you hit the ball at that club's maximum power. So for instance, if you're using a one wood then hitting the ball in the red zone will send it 240 yards. The area at the bottom of the arc enables you to select draw (also known as hook) and fade (also known as slice). Hitting the ball right in the middle of the red zone at the very bottom will send the ball on a straight line down the fairway. Hitting it to the left of the red zone will send it to the left and (surprisingly) hitting it to the right of the red zone will send it to the right. |
Basically, this isn't as easy as it sounds. Making the ball go where you want it to takes timing, skill, concentration, precision and a teensy bit of luck. However, as you've probably figured out for yourself, it's imperative that you learn how to position the ball in the right place,
* Don't trust the CPU: The computer will automatically point your player in the direction of the hole. However, there might be a large expanse of water in between you and the hole and if you simply take your shot you'll end up in the drink. Therefore, check the lie of the land before you play and if necessary aim the ball in a different direction.
* Master the red zone: The most important skill in this game is learning how to stop the down swing on the Welly-o-meter in the red zone. The important thing to know here is that the harder you hit the ball, the less time you'll have in the red zone.
* Learn to swerve: Learn to swerve the ball around nasty obstacles by pointing the cursor in one direction and drawing or fading in the other.
* To putt it another way: The arrows that adorn the putting green aren't there for decoration. Learn to point the ball into slopes and remember that balls roll faster downhill than up. Note: The previous sentence was taken from an a GCSE physics text book.
It doesn't take much time and effort to call up the map (hold down the joystick button) but you can save yourself untold grief if you do. All the nasty hazards, obstacles and out of bound areas are depicted in full colour for your viewing pleasure. Remember, you can also aim the ball from the map screen.
In order to get a good score at Sensible Golf you should learn the dynamics of the clubs you use and the surfaces from which you play. Whilst the CPU will automatically select a club for you, this may not be appropriate for the lie of your ball or the obstructions in front of it.
Club Choice: For instance, let's say that you've played a lousy tee shot that's fired off to the right and the ball has come to rest in front of some trees. You've still got 280 yards to play and so the CPU picks out a 1 Wood for you - not a good choice. The wood is a heavy hitting club which sends the ball far and low. What you need (to get out of trouble) is a club which will pitch the ball up over the trees - such as a 7 iron.
Strength Choice: If you're anything like me then you'll always be tempted to wang the ball as hard as you can. This is not always a good idea. For starters, the Sensible team have designed these golf courses especially for heavy hitters. This means that if you simply welly the ball down the course you'll undoubtedly end up in either a) water, b) a bunker or c) some trees. In golf, size really isn't important.
Draw and Fade: When you first start playing Sensible Golf you will undoubtedly hit a fair number of balls in completely the wrong direction because you misjudged when to hit the fire button. Now whilst this can be very annoying under normal circumstances, drawing or fading the ball is a very useful skill.
When you draw or fade a ball you effectively swerve it. This means that you can (with a bit of practice) project the ball around nasty looking obstacles. To see what I mean, try aiming the ball way off to the left and then hitting it with loads of fade (to the right of the bottom red zone). Excellent, isn't it.
Hit and hope: Regular golfers may be familiar with this phrase. It refers to those shots which you take without paying any attention to club choice, shot strength, ball lie or direction. This usually happens after you've fluffed a shot five times in a four player match and your mates are taking the mickey out of you. The hit and hope shot either ends in complete disaster (in the water) or fluky victory (an obscenely lucky hole down). Either way, if you find that most o your shots are of the hit and hope variety, you should probably have a bit of lie down and start a new round.
Reading the Greens: Once you make it onto the putting green your troubles are just beginning. You see, putting the ball is a completely different skill to whacking it about with a club. This is mainly because the ball is always in contact with the grass and therefore any dips, rises or dimples will affect where the ball goes and how fast it gets there. So. Spend a bit of time looking at those funny little arrows - they tell you which way the green slopes. Learn to curve the ball around the lips of slopes and you'll soon be putting like a pro. Pro golfer that is, not a lady of ill repute.
Once you've learnt the ropes you might like to try and beat a friend or the computer. Here are your options:
This is a good choice if you want to play a round yourself or against up to three friends. The advantage of this option is that you can choose which golf course you'd like to play on.
* From the main options screen choose Play Round screen and you'll be presented with the player choice screen. This is initially set to just one player - to add others, click on the Type box and cycle through the control methods Joystick 1, Joystick 2, Joystick 1/2) or the CPU player mode (Easy, Medium, Hard, Wicked).
* Once you've chosen the appropriate number of players, you can change their names by hitting RETURN (surprisingly enough) on the Name box. Enter a new name from the keyboard and hit return to store it.
* Finally, you can modify each player's appearance by clicking on the little man icon at the right of the screen. Click on Hair, Skin, Shirt and Trousers to cycle through all the possible options.
* Once you've entered all the players you can choose whether to play Strokeplay, Matchplay (two players only) or Skins (two, three or four players) tournaments.
* Now decide which course you'd like to play on and you can start your game.
* At any time you can hit the Esc key to return to the main menu and save or quit your game.
The tournament option is perfect if you'd like to play a game against friends in a tense knock-out style game.
* First of all, decide how many players you'd like to be involved in the tournament - remember you don't determine which of them are CPU controlled.
* Now move the cursor up to the 1, hold down the fire button and move the joystick left or right to select the number of players.
* Modify each player's characteristics as described in the Play Round section.
You'll now see the main tournament options screen.
* Decide how many rounds (series of 18 holes) you'd like to play - either 1, 2 or 4.
* Toggle Cut on or off. If the cut's turned off then all players will qualify for every round.
* Choose the number of competitors - hold down the fire button and move the joystick left and right to select.
* Decide on the order of play - Seeded, Human Parties or Arcade.
* Determine the maximum number of players you'd like included in each party - between one and four.
* Finally decide whether or not you'd like to watch the CPU controlled competitors - it might get a bit boring if you're playing on your own against 71 CPU controlled players, so choose wisely Luke.
* Now you can pick a course to play the tournament at and tee off.
If you fancy playing at each of the courses in Sensible Golf and clocking up some prize money then have a crack at the tournament season.
* From the main menu choose season and then decide how many players you'd like to be involved, At this point you should decide how many of them you'd like to be human controlled and how many you'd like to be CPU controlled.
* You should now select the season options as detailed in the Tournament section above.
* The computer will then tale you to the first tournament of the season, the Madeira Championship which has a total prize purse of $375,000.
Birdie: When you sink the ball in one shot fewer than par you're said to have got a birdie. Not to be confused with Bizet who was a French composer.
Bogey: When you sink the ball in one shot over par.
Bunker: Sand pit for grown-ups.
Draw: To swerve the ball to the left.
Eagle: When you sink the ball in two shots fewer than par.
Fade: To swerve the ball to the right.
Fairway: The long smooth stretch of grass that connects the tee to the green. Also, what comes out of a lisper's mouth when they attempt to say the word fairy.
Fore: What you're meant to shout when it looks like your ball is going to land on someone's head.
Green: The very smooth area of grass immediately surrounding the hole. Gulf. Essex slang for the game of golf.
Hole: The crevice where the ball is supposed to end up. Also the name of Courtney Love's tedious band.
Lie: The ball's position in terms of terrain. For instance, a good lie is on the fairway - a bad lie is up a tree.
Matchplay: Competition in which players try to win individual holes, irrelevant of the number of shots it takes them to do it in. If player one has won three holes and player two has won none then player one is said to be three up.
Obstacle: Once upon a time this referred to trees, bunkers and water hazards that might get in the way of a shot. These days it's more likely to refer to the 'travellers' who are camped out on the 14th.
Par: The number of shots you can realistically expect to get the ball down in. Also, what Americans called their fathers.
Skins: Competition in which each individual hole on the course has a prize attached to it. The player who wins the hole, takes the prize. If there's a draw then the prize money is carried over to the next hole.
Strokeplay: Competition in which the deciding factor is the number of shots over or under par that you've played the course in. For instance, a good strokeplay score would be -2 (two under par for the round), a bad score would be +4 (four over par for the course). Most competitions are based around strokeplay.
Tee: The area from which the first shot of a hole is played. Also, the surname of a famous American rapper whose first name is Ice.
Yard: Pre-decimal unit of distance. One yard (pronounced yah'd) is equivalent to 0.9144 metres.
