When the Compendium has loaded then please read the instructions provided on screen. These explain the game controls and how to use the designer.
<H1>Playing Guidelines</H1>
<H3>Overhead</H3>
When the pointer of the mouse is over one of the clubs on the overhead panel, then if you press 'V' an overhead view of the hole is displayed. The inner circle shows the maximum distance the ball will travel in the air and the outer circle the maximum distance it can then travel along the ground.
<H3>Strokeplay</H3>
The objective of strokeplay is to complete all 18 holes of a course in as few shots as possible. Each hole has a par (the estimated standard score) and the scoreboard will tell you if you are above, below or equal to par.
<H3>Matchplay</H3>
The objective of a round is to win the most holes. Matchplay in Holed Out is a game for 2 players and the player who has the least number of strokes on a particular hole is deemed to be the winner of the hole. If the strokes are the same then the hole is deemed to be 'halved' and the score remains unchanged.
<H3>Skill Levels</H3>
There are 4 skill levels which can be chosen for any player:<p>
<dl><dt>BEGINNER</dt><dd>There will be no wind.</dd>
<dd>Shots played out of the rough or bunkers will be unaffected (i.e. as if they were played the fairway or tee).</dd></dl>
<dl><dt>ENTHUSIAST</dt><dd>There will be no wind.</dd>
<dd>Balls lying in the rough or bunkers will always be given a 'GOOD LIE'.</dd></dl>
<dl><dt>AMATEUR</dt><dd>Balls lying in the rough or bunkers will always be given a 'GOOD LIE'.</dd></dl>
<dl><dt>PROFESSIONAL</dt><dd>All hazards will affect the professional.</dt></dl>
<H3>Scoreboard</H3>
The scoreboard will appear on completion of every hole. For strokeplay the scoreboard displays each player's name, his skill level in brackets, his total number of shots and his score related to par. Below this for each player is a breakdown of his performance on each hole. In matchplay the score related to par is replaced by the number of holes that one player is winning by.
<H3>Quitting a Round</H3>
If you wish to end a game without completing it then press 'Shift'+'Ctrl'+'Escape' together.
<H3>Club Performances</H3>(see also section "Overhead")
There are 14 clubs available in Holed Out. Each club has differing abilities to help you hit the ball the correct distance and also obtain different heights in order to deal with course obstacles. The performances shown above will vary significantly when playing from the rough or bunkers.
<p>
WOODS - Woods can hit the ball the farthest. Because of the angle that the ball will be hit a relatively large proportion of the overall distance travelled will be along the ground. E.g. A ball hit with a 1 Wood at 50% power will travel approximately 130 yards altogether. About 85 yards of this will be in the air and 45 yards will be along the ground.
<p>
IRONS - There are 10 Irons. The low Irons are more powerful than the high Irons in that they can hit the ball further. As with Woods, low Iron shots will travel a relatively large proportion of the overall distance along the ground. With higher Irons more of the overall distance travelled will be in the air rather than along the ground.
A wedge is the highest club and hits the ball right up in the air so that when it lands it doesn't go very far along the ground. Virtually all the distance it travels is in the air. This is extremely useful if you need to stop the ball quickly.
<p>
PUTTER - See later section "Greens" for use on the green. It is quite rare to use a putter on the fairway as the results are rather unpredictable.
<H3>Wind</H3>
Wind can be blowing from any direction and its strength can vary greatly. A headwind will reduce the length of your shot and a backwind increase it. The wind indicator on the overhead panel shows the direction of the wind and the length of the line indicates its strength (the longer the line, the stronger the wind).
<img src="images/wind.gif" alt="direction of wind">
<H3>Hooking and Slicing the Ball</H3>
Hook and slice are created by causing the ball to spin when you hit it. When a right-handed player slices a ball it will curve away to the right. A hook will curve away to the left.
<H3>Bunkers</H3>
Bunkers are basically large hollows in the ground filled with sand.
<dl><dt>PLUGGED</dt><dd>This means the ball has sunk into the sand. If is difficult to hit well and you must choose your club carefully to avoid a disastrous next shot. Use a 9 Iron or Wedge but don't expect to hit it more than 65 yards.</dd></dl>
<dl><dt>GOOD LIE</dt><dd>This means the ball is sitting on the sand. Some clubs will still be useless but you have a fair chance of hitting the ball over 100 yards if you use the right club. A 7 Iron is about the best but clubs slightly higher or lower than this will still give a reasonable shot. Your choice depends on the amount of height and run on you require.</dd></dl>
<H3>Rough</H3>
Rough is an area of uncut grass which surrounds most fairways. Obviously uncut grass will make shots harder to play as you cannot get such a clear swing at the ball.
<dl><dt>BAD LIE</dt><dd>This means the ball has settled amongst long grass and is hard to hit cleanly. It will be necessary to use very high Irons to obtain a reasonable amount of distance (upto about 60 yards).</dd></dl>
<dl><dt>GOOD LIE</dt><dd>This lie is still worse than on the fairway but will be more accessible than a bad lie. A 7 or 8 Iron will probably hit it the farthest.</dd></dl>
<H3>Greens</H3>
Once you are on the green you are only allowed to use the putter. The distance to the hole is now given in feet. The maximum distance that can be obtained on a flat green is 140 feet. A ball hit at 50% power will go 70 feet etc.. Most greens however are not flat. The slope indicator is shown on the overhead panel. The longer the line, the steeper the slope.
