Jack Nicklaus 4

Jack Nicklaus 4 is a 1997 sports golf video game. It was published by Accolade, and is the fourth in a series of video games named after golfer Jack Nicklaus, following Jack Nicklaus Golf & Course Design: Signature Edition (1992). The original Microsoft Windows version was developed by Cinematronics. Versions were also released for Macintosh and DVD. A PlayStation version titled Jack Nicklaus '98 was also in development.[3] The game was followed by Jack Nicklaus 5, released later in 1997.

Jack Nicklaus 4
Windows cover art
Developer(s)Cinematronics
Publisher(s)Accolade
MacSoft (Macintosh version only)
Producer(s)Michael Franco
Brad Fregger
Designer(s)Michael Franco
Brad Fregger
SeriesJack Nicklaus
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows
Macintosh
DVD
ReleaseMarch 25, 1997 (Windows)[1]
Q2 1997 (Machintosh)[2]
Genre(s)Sports
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Gameplay

Jack Nicklaus 4 includes eight different game modes.[4] The game features five 18-hole courses, including four real-life courses: Muirfield Village, Colleton River Plantation, Country Club of the South and Cabo del Sol. The fifth course is Winding Springs, a fictional location created by the developers using a golf course designer program that comes with the game.[5][6] The course designer allows the player to create a custom golf course, one hole at a time.[6] The course designer includes over 100 scalable objects, including bushes, trees, and rocks.[6] Approximately two-thirds of the game's instruction manual is devoted to the course designer, which also includes a built-in wizard program to aid the user.[5] The game includes the ability to import and convert online user-created golf courses from Jack Nicklaus Golf & Course Design: Signature Edition, which also featured a course designer.[5] Courses created in Jack Nicklaus 4 are compatible with the game's sequel, Jack Nicklaus 5.[7] The player competes against various opponents throughout the game, including Jack Nicklaus, who is not a playable character.[6] The game includes four multiplayer modes, via serial cable, modem, LAN, or the Internet.[8] While aiming, the player can get an overhead view that goes up to 150 feet high.[9]

The DVD version includes 10 game modes and an ABC Sports video titled Toughest 18 Holes. The DVD version also features four golf courses, as well as six others that were made with the course designer. In addition, the game offers three types of weather and five types of wind.[10]

Development and release

Jack Nicklaus 4 was developed by Cinematronics, with Michael Franco as producer. The team's goal was to develop a game which would recreate the experience of playing real golf, partially through graphics and sounds. The game would also offer more viewing angles than other golf games, and more control over the swing profile.[11] During development, the game included the subtitle Golden Bear Edition.[12][13] Development was underway as of January 1995,[12] and the game was announced that month at the Winter Consumer Electronics Show.[14] The game was developed for Microsoft Windows due to the operating system's increased prevalence.[12]

Franco produced the game on behalf of Accolade, while Brad Fregger produced it for Cinematronics; they both also handled the game design.[15] Fregger joined the development team in 1996, when Cinematronics contacted him to help finish the game.[16] Dennis Clark programmed the physics, while Mike Sandige programmed the rendering. Jim Mischel programmed the course designer.[15] The game includes 16.7 million colors.[6] The game does not support 3D cards, as it already uses a fast rendering engine. Another factor was scheduling and the competitive market, prompting Accolade to release the game without 3D card support.[17] The game has 32 megabytes' worth of sound, which include regionally authentic bird sounds for the golf courses. The game uses DirectSound, and its multiplayer mode utilizes DirectPlay. The course designer was modeled after Nicklaus Productions' computer-aided design system.[5]

Accolade began shipping the Microsoft Windows version on March 25, 1997.[18][19] In May 1997, Accolade announced that it would release the game on Macintosh later in the summer.[20] A free upgrade with several new features was released online in June 1997.[21] That month, Accolade announced it would release the game on DVD in the summer, to take advantage of the format's increasing popularity.[22][23] A PlayStation version, titled Jack Nicklaus '98 and featuring the same courses as Jack Nicklaus 4, had been scheduled for release in late 1997,[23][24][25] although it was never released. The Macintosh version was published by MacSoft.[26] An online game, Jack Nicklaus Online Golf Tour, was released in 1998.[27] It was based on the Jack Nicklaus 4 game engine,[28] and online courses created with Jack Nicklaus 4 were playable through Jack Nicklaus Online Golf Tour.[27]

Reception

Jack Nicklaus 4 received positive reviews, but sold poorly.[35] The game was praised for its graphics, its multitude of online courses, and its course designer,[lower-alpha 1] although some reviewers were critical of the inability to create custom objects with the designer.[5][6] Some praised the golf ball animations for their realism when hitting different terrains.[29][5][32]

Scott A. May of Computer Gaming World called it "the preeminent golf simulation of our time" and an "absolute model of perfection" with nearly "everything you could ever hope for" in a golfing video game.[5] Anthony Baize of AllGame praised the game for its realism, options, and sound effects, but criticized the golfers for looking noticeably different against the game's backgrounds.[29] T. Liam McDonald of GameSpot called it "a fine piece of work with only a couple minor flaws," which included a lack of certain ideas that McDonald hoped to see in a future Jack Nicklaus game.[6]

Computer Gaming World and GameSpot noted that self-made golf courses could take up to 10 megabytes of space, considered high at the time.[5][6] Computer Gaming World further noted that the game took approximately 171 megabytes of hard drive space to download, and wrote, "As if anticipating consumer resistance, Accolade makes absolutely no mention of this fact on the box or in the manual."[5] The Edmonton Journal also mentioned the high installation requirements and noted that such requirements were not specified on the game's box.[37] PC Zone criticized the game for difficult aiming and putting.[31] The Palm Beach Post praised the course designer but considered it difficult to use. The newspaper praised the game's swing meter as "greatly improved" over previous games.[36]

Macworld's Michael Gowan wrote about the Macintosh version, "Featuring five courses, network play, a convincing physics model, and the ability to create your own courses from scratch, this golf simulation has only one bogey: the delay between swinging the club and the corresponding animation."[33] Dean Renninger of MacAddict stated that while some of the game's graphical details were good, they were "a far cry from photorealistic." Renninger considered the game too easy, and believed that the Links series was superior.[32]

AllGame's Jonathan Sutyak reviewed the DVD version and criticized it for not taking advantage of the DVD format. In addition, Sutyak criticized the graphics and sound for not being improved over the computer version, and criticized the in-game instructions for being erroneous. He praised the gameplay and called the game "very good," but "not enough of an improvement" over the computer version, stating that people who owned the original version would have no reason to buy the DVD version.[30]

Notes
  1. According to multiple sources:[29][5][6][31][4][9][36][37][38][39]

References
  1. https://web.archive.org/web/19980201103139/http://www.accolade.com/press/nws032697_01.htm
  2. https://web.archive.org/web/19980201103127/http://www.accolade.com/press/nws051597.htm
  3. https://web.archive.org/web/19980201103057/http://www.accolade.com/press/6.19.jn4psx.htm
  4. Millward, Brian. "Jack Nicklaus 4". Coming Soon Magazine. Retrieved February 26, 2019.
  5. May, Scott A. (September 1997). "Double Eagle: Accolade Drives to Perfection With the Stunning, Deep Jack Nicklaus 4". Computer Gaming World. Retrieved February 26, 2019.
  6. McDonald, T. Liam (April 11, 1997). "Jack Nicklaus 4". GameSpot. Archived from the original on July 7, 2003.
  7. Thomas, Chet (December 4, 1997). "Jack Nicklaus 5". GameSpot. Archived from the original on July 7, 2003.
  8. Anthony, Baize. "Jack Nicklaus 4 overview". AllGame. Archived from the original on November 14, 2014. Retrieved February 26, 2019.
  9. "Design golf courses like Nicklaus with JN4". The Advocate. April 24, 1997. Retrieved February 28, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. Sutyak, Jonathan. "Jack Nicklaus 4 (DVD)". AllGame. Archived from the original on November 14, 2014. Retrieved February 26, 2019.
  11. McDonald, T. Liam (January 1997). "Jack Nicklaus Four". PC Gamer. pp. 48–49. Retrieved February 26, 2019.
  12. Buchanan, Lee (January 1995). "Tee Time". PC Gamer. p. 147. Retrieved February 26, 2019.
  13. "First Look – Jack Nicklaus Golf: Golden Bear Edition". Computer Gaming World. February 1997. p. 48. Retrieved February 26, 2019.
  14. "The 1995 Winter Consumer Electronic Show". Coming Soon Magazine. 1995. Retrieved February 28, 2019.
  15. "Jack Nicklaus 4 credits". AllGame. Archived from the original on November 16, 2014. Retrieved February 28, 2019.
  16. "Jack Nicklaus 4 and 5". fregger.com. Retrieved February 28, 2019.
  17. McCauley, Dennis (June 1997). "3D or Not 3D?". Computer Gaming World. p. 177. Retrieved February 26, 2019.
  18. "Accolade's Jack Nicklaus Series Returns with a Vengeance!". Accolade. March 25, 1997. Archived from the original on February 1, 1998.
  19. Staff (March 25, 1997). "Jack Nicklaus 4 Shipping". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on February 18, 1998. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
  20. Lee, Helen (May 15, 1997). "Accolade Releases Mac Versions of Three Popular Titles". GameSpot. Archived from the original on March 12, 2000.
  21. "Accolade Releases Free Feature Upgrade for Jack Nicklaus 4". Accolade. June 9, 1997. Archived from the original on February 1, 1998. Retrieved February 28, 2019.
  22. "Accolade Brings Jack Nicklaus 4 to DVD This Summer". Accolade. June 19, 1997. Archived from the original on February 1, 1998. Retrieved February 28, 2019.
  23. Lee, Helen (June 13, 1997). "Accolade's E3 Lineup". GameSpot. Archived from the original on May 27, 2000.
  24. "Huge Sports Extravaganza". IGN. August 21, 1997. Retrieved February 28, 2019.
  25. "Jack Nicklaus '98 Tees Off on the Sony PlayStation". Accolade. June 19, 1997. Archived from the original on February 1, 1998. Retrieved February 28, 2019.
  26. "Mac games aim for high visibility". Next Generation. January 1998. p. 20. Retrieved February 28, 2019.
  27. Poole, Stephen (June 22, 1998). "Jack Nicklaus Online Golf Tour". GameSpot. Archived from the original on July 7, 2003.
  28. "Jack Nicklaus Online Golf Tour". Computer Gaming World. September 1997. p. 118. Retrieved March 11, 2019.
  29. Anthony, Baize. "Jack Nicklaus 4 review". AllGame. Archived from the original on November 16, 2014. Retrieved February 26, 2019.
  30. Sutyak, Jonathan. "Jack Nicklaus 4 (DVD)". AllGame. Archived from the original on November 14, 2014. Retrieved February 26, 2019.
  31. Presley, Paul (June 1997). "Jack Nicklaus 4". PC Zone. p. 101. Retrieved February 28, 2019.
  32. Renninger, Dean (April 1998). "Jack Nicklaus 4". MacAddict. Archived from the original on September 25, 2004.
  33. Gowan, Michael (February 1999). "Name Your Game; From Goofy to Gory, Macworld Reviews 48 Ways to Play". Macworld. Archived from the original on August 10, 2001.
  34. La Rue, Steve (July 1, 1997). "These golf simulation games offer chance to link up to some real fun". The San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved March 11, 2019.
  35. McDonald, Tim (May 7, 1999). "Jack Nicklaus 6: Golden Bear Challenge Review". GameSpot. Retrieved February 26, 2019.
  36. "Hacker's Heaven". The Palm Beach Post. July 20, 1997. Retrieved February 28, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  37. "Head out on the cyberfairway and play in Hawaii, St. Andrews and Idaho in one glorious day". Edmonton Journal. July 24, 1997. Retrieved February 28, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  38. Goble, Gordon (August 1997). "Fore!". The Computer Paper. pp. 106, 109. Retrieved February 28, 2019.
  39. "Playing Golf With the Pros". The Daily Oklahoman. August 11, 1997. Retrieved February 28, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
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