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Jack Nicklaus 4
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{{GameInfobox | developer = Cinematronics LLC, Eclipse Entertainment | publisher = Accolade | na_rel = {{Release|1997|||NA|Microsoft Windows,macOS}} | platforms = Microsoft Windows, macOS }} '''Jack Nicklaus 4''' is a [[1997 in video gaming|1997]] [[computer game]] published by [[Accolade]] that is based on golf. The original [[Microsoft Windows]] version was [[video game developer|developed]] by [[Santa Cruz, California]]-based [[Cinematronics, LLC|Cinematronics]] and the [[Apple Macintosh]] version was developed by [[Austin, Texas]]-based Eclipse Entertainment. ==Description== The game includes four courses designed by [[Jack Nicklaus]], [[Muirfield Village|Muirfield Village Golf Club]], [[Colleton River Plantation]], [[Country Club of the South]] and [[Cabo del Sol]]. It also included one course created especially for the game. In addition to the visual layout before the player, weather effects are also a factor in play. Play is similar to the previous games in the series, but the graphic quality and realism are greatly enhanced. For example, [[water hazard]]s no longer look like blue [[tar pit]]s, but instead reflect the surrounding environment realistically. The same [[level editor|course editor]] used by the developers comes with the game. It can be used to create new course and modify the ones which come with the game. Courses from the previous ''[[Jack Nicklaus Signature Edition]]'' game can be loaded into the editor, as can user-designed ones from the older game. Like with the previous games in the series, user-created courses abounded on the [[Internet]]. ==Development== Before contracting with [[Cinematronics, LLC|Cinematronics]] (not to be confused with the [[arcade game]] developer also named [[Cinematronics]]) to develop the game, early development of ''Jack Nicklaus 4'' floated aimlessly around Accolade for years. Accolade had fairly good success with its Jack Nicklaus line of [[golf]] games (which itself followed Accolade's popular ''[[Mean 18]]'' series of games), but hadn't released a game in the line since [[1990 in video gaming|1990]]. Instead of upgrading its existing game's [[source code|code base]], Accolade decided to start [[video game development|development]] over. Their previous games were all [[DOS]]-based, and Accolade wanted their next Jack Nicklaus game to run on the emergingly popular [[Windows 3.1]] [[operating system]]. The game, like its predecessors, would consist of two applications: the game itself and an [[level editor|editor]], with which users could build their own courses or modify the courses delivered with the game. In [[1993 in video gaming|1993]], Accolade had one in-house [[game programmer|programmer]] who knew how to program for the then-new Windows operating system, a [[game development tool|tools]] programmer, Gary Strawn. They selected Strawn to develop the course editor and another off-site programmer, an avid golfer himself, to develop the golf game. Incidentally, Strawn was also the only Accolade programmer who knew [[C++]] and understood [[object oriented programming|OO]] methodologies. Despite the effort of the two programmers, the project lacked direction. The project was bandied about from [[game producer|producer]] to producer, all the while the game made little progress. Strawn worked on making the editor import the old DOS-based courses, but lacked direction on a feature set to implement. And the limited communication he had with the off-site programmer of the main game portion didn't help matters. Eventually, Strawn was joined by another programmer to handle the load of the course editor work. Strawn recruited a [[game tester|tester]], Chris Nash, from the QA department. Nash was at the time a [[software engineering]] [[college]] student and his knowledge of the Windows programming environment and OO methodologies made him a prime candidate for the job. It was decided that Nash would do the [[Graphical user interface|GUI]] work for the editor while Strawn continued to handle the back-end work (such as [[computer file|file]] reading and course construction). Though they still lacked a clear design, work on the course editor progressed. However, the state of the actual game was in question. The off-site programmer made infrequent trips to the office and, when he did, the "game" he demoed looked exactly the same each time. While it looked fine for an early [[Technology demo|prototype]], none of the [[software bug|bugs]] (such as rendering rocks in red, instead of gray) were ever corrected. Eventually it was determined that the code base for the game had to be scrapped and the off-site programmer terminated. Because of speed considerations, the programmer had developed the game in [[assembly language|assembly]] from the beginning. However, the complexity of the assembly language code eventually overwhelmed him and he was unable to determine the cause of bugs, nor how to fix them. It was evident that it would be impossible for him to ever make much progress on the game, much less finish it. About this time, in [[1995 in video gaming|1995]], the game's current producer, [[George MacDonald (gaming figure)|George MacDonald]], started searching for an outside developer. He eventually determined Cinematronics would be a prime developer for the golf game. Not only did they have a good track-record and a knowledgeable staff, they were located in [[Santa Cruz, California|Santa Cruz]], fairly near Accolade's [[San Jose, California]] main office. Originally, it was determined that Strawn and Nash would continue to develop the golf editor while Cinematronics would develop the main game. Eventually, however, Accolade requested Cinematronics develop both portions of the product and development of the editor was also assigned to them. Shortly after Cinematronics took over the development of the game, Accolade brought in [[Mike Franco]] to be the in-house producer. Meanwhile, Cinematronics had moved from [[Santa Cruz, California]] to [[Austin, Texas]] and the close proximity advantage was lost. In addition, feature requests by Accolade greatly extended the development scope of the project and pushed out the completion date. In the meantime, Cinematronics had been purchased by [[Maxis]], which meant that one of Accolade's major competitors was now developing one of their products. This did not, however, prevent Cinematronics from delivering the product on time—indeed, Accolade's test team was unprepared to receive the product at the end of [[1996 in video gaming|1996]], delaying code release and putting the developers in a holding pattern for a couple months. None of the source code from the original game was used in the final Cinematronics produced product. ===Physics=== One of the issues that had to be dealt with early on was the desire by Cinematronics to create a more realistic physics model than the competitors. In Cinematronics' view, better physics meant a game that felt more like real golf. While this was ultimately borne out, it took weeks of research, as there was little information available concerning how the golf ball would fly under different conditions, swings, etc. Just when they thought they had it solved, they ran into a major problem: with short putts the ball would bounce out of the cup. Nothing seemed to solve the problem. Finally, in frustration, Fregger suggested that, with short putts, they "Just put the ball into the hole ... this is, after all, a computer program." The programmer rolled his eyes and left the room. The next day the programmer announced, "I've solved the problem! I just moved the metal cup down one inch below the top of the hole and now the balls go in properly. And, I didn't have to fudge the phyics to make it work!" Brad immediately called Franco to announce that the "short putt" problem had finally been solved, "He moved the metal cup down an inch from the top of the hole... sure hope that's okay." There was silence on the other end of the line. Finally he said, "Sorry, Brad, I forgot to tell you that that's what they do on real golf courses."{{Fact|date=May 2009}} ===Afterward=== ''Jack Nicklaus 4'' for Windows was completed and released in [[1997 in video gaming|1997]]. Immediately after being relinquished of the duties of programming the editor for the game, Strawn was recruited by the ''[[Deadlock: Planetary Conquest|Deadlock]]'' team to help program for their game. Eventually Strawn would go on to be [[lead programmer]] on some of Accolade's later titles. ==References== <references/>
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