Online Play

By: Zip-A-Dee-Do

If you want to host an online game, you will need to provide your TCP/IP address to the other party. Go to this URL to find out what the IP# of your current internet session is: http://forums.speedguide.net:8117/

If you are familiar with "Copy & Paste" once you are on that page you can highlight your IP# Right click on it, select "Copy" then send an ICQ message to the party you are playing and right click then select "Paste" This will produce your IP# with no errors and does save the typing. The other way would be to click on "Start", Click on "Run" type in the letters winipcfg click O.K. and your IP address will appear, but you will not be able to copy and paste this, so you would need to write it down, then type it in your ICQ message. It's slower, and sometimes inacurate when you transpose a number or typographical error occurs.

It is recommended to both have ICQ open when setting up the connection for the online game. When something goes wrong and you can't connect with each other, you can immediately let each other know through ICQ. Without ICQ or through mail you don't have a direct contact with the other and as you never know what the other is doing at that very moment, setting up a game can be a crime.

As soon as the online game has started you can close down ICQ, or change your status to offline so that you don't receive incoming messages, which might let your swing meter skip.

TO HOST A GBC GAME

- Double click on the GBC icon on your desktop
- Click on "Setup Game"
- Choose the Golf Course and Course Conditions, your Golfer, and Game Type as you would normally do.
- When playing Matchplay do not forget to tick the following checkboxes:

• Allow Conceded Holes
• Go to Next Hole once Hole is won
• Sudden Death Playoff when tied
• Quit round once winner is decided

- Ready Golf is an option you can tick for every online game. When this is ticked, you don't have to wait for the other player to be able to play your shot. Immediately afer you have played your shot, you will see the shot of the other player, and then you can play your next shot. You don't have to watch the other player setting up his shot all the time. This plays a lot quicker.

When you don't tick it you will play a Regular Game. In this you will always have to wait till the other player has played his shot. The fun of this is, you will see him select clubs, adjusting the aiming arrow and clicking the swing meter.

- Select tab "Net Play" and then click on "Host a game".
- Type a session name in the box that pops up (anything will do). Highlight "TCP/IP connection for direct play" and then click on "Connect".
- You will see your golfers name in the "Connected Players".
Then wait until the other player(s) have joined and you will see their name in that same box.
You can chat with them to confirm conditions, and type of play - Regular or Ready Golf.
Then select "Start Game" and your on your way.

TO JOIN A GBC GAME

- The person hosting the game will send you his IP#.
- Double click on JN6 to start the game, click on "Set-up Game", then click on "Net Play".
- Click on "Join as a Golfer", click on "TCP/IP Connection for Direct Play".
- Type or paste the IP# in the drop down box "Locate Session" then click O.K.
- Wait until the game appears in the "Join a Network Game".
You should see it almost immediately, so you don't have to wait minutes.
- When it appears then click on the "Connect" button.
- Once you are connected you can chat with each other by typing messages in the small box and then select send.
- The host controls the game.
When he clicks Start Game, you both are on your way.
- When you play you will see a small box upper left that says "Show" If you wish to say something to the other party, click on it and type your message.
Please insure that you never click the Send or Enter key when you see the others players swing meter as it will make his swing skip.
It would be the same as talking during his swing in real golf.
- The chat messages appear in a transparant box at the bottom of your screen. Sometimes the messages are blocking a clear view of your putting line. You can move this box, by leftclicking on it, holding the leftmouse key, and then moving the box.

Offline play against others

By: Zip-A-Dee-Do

First, make sure you have the official patch installed. Start the game, select Preferences and then the General tab. At the bottom right you want to see four checkbox options: Record Golfer Rounds, Display Scorecard, Auto Accept Shots and Use Alternate Aim Arrow Blending. If you only see two options there, you don't have the patch installed. You can download it from the mainpage of The Course Depot. It solves a lot of bugs, improves a bunch of other things and adds a few options.

Saving your ROUND and GAME files

Make sure that at this General tab the checkbox Record Golfer Rounds is checked.

Now just play you're game as you usually do. After holing out on the 18th, you will be given the possibility to save your played round in a *.ROUND file. By default GBC suggests a filename that has this format "Coursename - Players name". I always add some extra info, so that the receiving party can see what my game settings for my round where by reading the file name.

I always use this format:
(Coursename - Players name (Wind, Greens, Pin, Visisbility).

A few examples:

Abbot's Bridge - Ronsson (Mi,H,P2,C) - Mild Wind, Hard greens, Pin 2, Clear
New Hartselle Creek - Ronsson (Me,N,P4,Ra) - Medium Wind, Normal greens, Pin 4, Random visibility
Beaver Creek - Ronsson (S,S,P1,C) - Strong Wind, Soft Greens, Pin 1, Clear
Augusta 2000 - Ronsson (Mi,S,P5,F50) - Mild Wind, Soft Greens, Pin 5, Fog 50%

By using this filenaming convention the receiving party always knows how to set up GBC to play against my rounds. it's all in the filename.

After you have saved your round, you also want to save your game in a *.GAME file. You still have the scorecard on your screen, after saving your round. Move your mouse down, so that the Game Task Bar comes up, select Options (the second to the right) and then select the option Save Game. Now you can save your Game.

There's an easy way to save your Game file under the same name as your Round file. When you have the Save Round window before you, select the filename of the *.ROUND file before saving it, and then copy it by CTRL + C (of course only the filename and not the *.round file extention).

Then save the Game file, and in the save game file window push SHFT + Insert.
The difference between the ROUND and the GAME file is this.
In the ROUND file all your shots are saved.
You can load this round and play against it.
In the GAME file your scorecard and your gamesettings are saved.
You can view the final scores, but you can also check with what game options the game has been played.
You can do this, by loading the GAME file:
- Saved Games and Shots
- Rightclick somewhere on the screen
- Select Preferences
- Select the Advanced tab
- Click on the Verify Game button, while pressing the SHIFT key
- You can now verify all the options. How many times has the game been resumed, have mulligans or gimmies been used, etc. etc.

If you participate in tournaments you always have to send in your Game file, so that they can verify if you have played with the propr Game Settings.

All GAME and ROUND files, as well as shots that you opt to save, will be saved in the folder Saved Files, a subfolder of the folder in which you installed the GBC game.(by default that's C:\Jack Nicklaus 6 Golden Bear Challenge) unless you have opted to change that by the installation.

When you receive ROUND and GAME files from somebody else, you'll also have to place them in that Saved Files folder.

After you have copied the files to the Saved Files folder, you can setup the game. Start GBC, select Setup Game.

On the Golf Courses tab, choose the desired course and select the same course conditions (wind, green, pin and visibility) as those of the saved ROUND file.

Note, the GAME will only verify if the you load the saved file with the proper course, and if you have set the same pinposition as in the saved ROUND file. It does not verify if you set the same wind, green and visibility conditions!!!! (But of course after you have played, and saved your ROUND and GAME file, your opponent can check if you have played under the same conditions by checking your GAME file.)

Now proceed to the Golfers Tab. Select your own player in the window on the left and add it, and then scroll all the way down in the left window, till you see the red square with "Recorded Golfers". When you click on recorded Golfers it shows you all the Round files in the Saved Filders folder. You can select the recorded Golfer and add it too.

Note: if you don’t see Recorded Golfers or if you do see it, but you cannot see recorded golfers, although there is (are) recorded round(s) in the Saved Files folder, you have to re-install GBC. That's a known bug. When installing, GBC asks you two questions: Do you want to install DirectX? and Do you want to create a shortcut? Answer both questions with no. Do not forget to reinstall the official patch too. And now you will be able to load Recorded Golfers.
But by following the above procedure you can play against somebody elses ROUNDs or against your own for that matter.

When you have played a round and mailed it to someone else, and you get his round back, you can even load this recorded round, together with your own previously saved round. In that way, you don't play at all. You are just watching a live broadcast of the match between you and your opponent as it where.

And if you do not have an hour to watch the full game, you can just load the GAME file and only watch the scores instead of the entire match.

Download these text files here:

On-Line Play and Off-Line Play