This course was concieved shortly after I recieved JNSE for
Christmas. The land plot was completed sometime in early January 1993, but
then languished on the HD for several months while I was occupied with
finishing Oceanview, my first course. I took it up again in late February,
after Oceanview was finished, and after I had returned from the Florida Keys
on an AP Biology "field trip." I thought long and hard about what to do with
this land plot sitting on the HD, and finally set upon doing a mountainous,
rolling course with lots of trees.
This turned out to be rather interesting. Oceanview averaged perhaps
60-70 objects per hole, and these were mostly small trees and flowers. Forest
Glen, on the other hand, averages the full 240 objects per hole, and has some
radical elevation changes that Oceanview lacked (ie, hole 2). Also tried to
get rid of the centerline problems in Oceanview that were pointed out by
Paul Conrad when Oceanview was U/L'ed to the Accolade BBS. This took a while
since I had to reroute six holes, hence the designation version 1.1. However, for the most part, the centerline problems that plagued Oceanview are gone.
The fairway bunkers, in my opinion, are more visible and can be seen off the tee, another problem pointed out by Treefrog. There are still several hidden
bunkers, but careful perusal of the hole overheads should be sufficient to reveal them.
The elevations used to be very radical, but after a playtest turned
in some horrid scores, the fairways were toned down considerably. The greens
are rolling, but I am still having a great deal of difficulty recreating the
subtle changes that I originally envisioned. This seems to be more of a
software problem than a designer's problem. Too bad, but if it is my fault,
I apologize.
Objects: I still have yet to design an adequate tree. However, some
wonderful objects were heisted from two of my personal favorites, Banff
Springs and The Victorian, by Chesney and Willett, respectively. Once again,
my thanks to these gentlemen.
Background: Can't do these yet either. Banff Springs by Chesney gave
me a perfect background, though. The hotel was removed, but that was it. The
nod here goes to Scott Chesney, not me.
A few final words. I spent a good deal of time on Forest Glen,
between snorkeling in Florida, deciding on college, and studying for all
sorts of exams coming up. I had fun designing it, and playtesting it.
Hopefully, you will have some joy also. If not repeatedly, then hopefully
you will come off your first and only playing feeling relaxed, as a computer
game is meant to do, instead of feeling like killing me.
David C. Wu
April 29, 1993
Prodigy: DJPS31C (Preferably private, since I don't check the boards often)