End of the road for the Blackwolf Run project

As was posted here yesterday the master file with the clubhouse on it is hopelessly corrupt. There is a backup master minus the clubhouse but I've decided that I'm abandoning the project.

 

As many know already I'm doing a complex IT training course and will be doing two others when the current one finishes in April 2009. I then will be doing a short 3 month Cisco CCNA course then a 9 month high level course which will lead to me doing the very demanding Microsoft exams. I won't be finished the last course till May 2011.

IT is a huge part of my life now and no APCD course will be given priority over this.

In short I don't have any hope of ever finishing the Blackwolf Run project.

I have my hands full just finishing Kauri Cliffs which isn't an easy course to work on.

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A major setback for the Blackwolf Run project

Unfortunately because the master file has become corrupted the project has is going to have a big delay. Pat had the clubhouse well under way but the file will now longer load in APCD in either his nor my computers.

This means that the last working master file is almost back to what it was in May this year when it had no clubhouse on the plot.

There will be an update when we decide what to do next.

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Logging on at BWR

Pat is working his butt off constructing the clubhouse for Blackwolf Run. This large building with all the exterior walls made of logs is very a distinctive feature of the two course at Blackwolf Run.

 

As soon as Pat gives permission there will be some exclusive screenshots of it here at this blog.

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The Blackwolf Run clubhouse

Pat Auge will be have the BWR master file in the next day or so to begin building the 3D structures on the course. The 3D on this course isn’t as much as Kauri Cliffs but does include a very large clubhouse made of Canadian Pine so it will be a complex build.

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Three aerials of BWR

Here’s three wide angle  images of the course with the wireframe view turned on.

 
The 15th is in the foreground, the 16th on the left and and 14th next to the lake on the right.

 

The holes from left to right are the 16, 15, 14, and 1-3 in the far right top of the image. The framework of the clubhouse is schematic only and will not be used in the final version of the clubhouse. The green directly in front of the clubhouse is the practice green.

 

Holes 9 –11 going anti-clockwise with the 9th middle left and the 10th partially obscured by the tree’s in the foreground.

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BWR - Dune hills and tee boxes

The image below is of 16th hole boxes and newly contoured dunes like hillocks and mounds on the left. The 16th hole is now at a very advanced stage with only the fairway and green needing fine tuning of the elevations.

The dry grass areas will have longer grass planted on them eventually.

This image is the view from the waste/dunes area adjacent to the 9 – 11th holes. The hole on the left is the 9th. The waste area has new test texture on it.

 

Finally a view of the 14th hole tee boxes.

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The 15th at BWR

Here is an image of the dangerous 15th. A par 4 with very deep and dangerous bunkers and a narrow landing area. The long 16th winds it’s way off in the distance to the left.


The hole is still very much a work – in – progress.  

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Aerials of the real Blackwolf Run

Here are four aerial images of the real BWR. The images were taken using Bing Maps (previously known as Virtual Earth).

In this image shows the 1st (on the left) and 2nd holes. The first is a very testing hole for an opening hole.

 
The next image shows the 5th hole on the right, the 8th at the top (with the split fairway near the green), and the par 3 13th in the middle.

 
The 6th and 7th holes are shown in this image. This is the highest point on the course with the hole in the foreground the 6th high above the Sheboygan  River.

The final image shows the par 5 16th on the right and the 18th on the left.
Note the highly unusual waste area to the left of the home hole. The hole on the left of the river is one of the holes from The Valley Course.

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More BWR images

Here’s the latest images of the course. It has nearly all the old low-res textures removed now.

The first image is taken from near the 14th fairway which can be seen left just beyond the cart path. The par 3 4th hole is on the other side of the pond. Beyond that the unfinished practice range.

 

The next image is of the par 4 9th. This hole has had some changes to the green (both the actual shape and the contouring) and the fairway has been slightly altered.




The final image is of the par 3 10th and shows the long greenside bunker. In the distance the dry grass area will eventually be covered partially in longish grass to simulate links style dunes.



The course is currently fully playable. The greens and fairways haven’t had the final contouring as yet.

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The latest BWR images

As promised here are some screenshots of Blackwolf Run. The first is of the 6th hole:

 

This one is taken from the 7th green.

 
The benefits of the smoothing the terrain is starting to pay dividends.

The green texture on each hole is a temporary low resolution one.

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Shaping, bulldozing and digging at BWR

I’m working on the Blackwolf Run file currently doing a lot of minor tidying up of the mesh, laying down the two lane road that winds it’s way through the course.

There are miles of cart paths and roads on this course so it’s very time consuming to get them looking good. They play an important part in the visual appeal of a course and must complement and blend in with the rest of the terrain. I’ve also been working on the practice area of the course.

I should have a couple of new screenshots in the next few days all going well.

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Shaping and refining BWR

I’ve been working on the Blackwolf Run terrain most of the afternoon ( part of this morning to) mostly adding a lot of mesh in specific places to make the course a lot better to look at. The holes that now look a lot better are 9-12 and 16. No elevation changes of note where made during this process.

I also added mesh to the Sheboygan River especially the riverbank. The look of the river is critical to the overall visual appeal of the course.

[UPDATE:] Here’s three in game screenshots that have been cropped in Photoshop but haven’t been sharpened or manipulated in any way.

The first two are of the 12th hole, the last is of the 16th.

 

A note on the 1024 textures in the screenshots, the fairway is pretty much the final version same for the main rough. The others are works in progress at this stage.

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Blackwolf Run Update

I’ve been working on the 11th and 12th holes The last couple of days. The 11th a long par 5 the 12th a par 4.

Here is the the mesh view of part of the 11th on the left and the 12 on the right.



On the 12th tee the player must decide to play safe and go right of the pond and be faced with a more difficult approach shot or risk early and go straight of the pond with a forced carry and get a good angle to the green. Missing left is no bargain either as the rough is nasty.


Here is the 11th with interim 1024 textures:



The fairway is partially contoured now and the mounds have been added to the surrounding terrain which now give the hole a links style ambience.

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The 11th at Blackwolf Run

This hole is a par 5 that is right next to the Sheboygan River and is a dogleg right. The landing area for the tee shot if using the driver is a very narrow neck of land between the river and a pond on the left.

Here is an overhead with the mesh view:

 

Here is a screenshot with hole still being a work in progress:

 

Please note the textures will get their color changed before the course is finished. It isn’t quite right yet.

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BWR with HD textures – a teaser

Here are a couple of screenshots after some initial testing using hi-res 1024 x 1024 textures on the Blackwolf Run plot.


 

NOTE: The bunker hasn’t as yet got a high resolution texture.

[UPDATE:] Here is a screenshot of the par 5 16th. The texture color isn’t right yet but it gives an idea of how the hi-res textures handle the humps and bumps that dominate this superb hole.

Click any image for the full size version (approximately 1400 pixels wide). 

Finally an update on progress on the course. Currently a lot of work is going into tasks like doing the myriad of cartpath’s adding the many humps and hillocks to the course. The course has a very strong links like feel to it with areas that resemble dune hills like on the classic Irish and Scottish links courses though not as sandy.

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BWR – the 5th and 8th

I’ve been doing the 5th and 8th holes at Blackwolf Run over the last 24 hours. The 5th is a par 4 with the green near the top of a hill on a ledge. A very tactical hole as the driver can be a risky play as you could run out of fairway.

The 8th is a par 5 with the tee boxes well above the fairway landing area. And the other end of the fairway near the green splits into lower and upper levels. The green isn’t huge and is raised up with a large bunker below to catch any inaccurate approach shots.

 

The hole on the left is the 5th, on the right is the 8th with the split fairway near the green. The hole at the top (middle) of the image is the par 3 13th, The other green and bunker just above and to the left of the 8th green is that of the 12th hole.

This part of the course is still unfinished with a largish pond to be added in the area between the 5th, 8th and 13th holes, and the cartpath needs extending to the left of the 13th. Much work has been put into contouring the surrounds of the various bunkers and immediate cut’s of rough adjacent to these holes to ensure the terrain looks natural.

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The 6th & 7th at Blackwolf Run

I’ve been working on the 6th and 7th today which has been mostly fine tuning the terrain on these two beautiful holes which are high above the Sheboygan River in a gorge setting.

The 6th is on the left with the 7th on the right. The blue mesh is the river.


 

The 6th green in the foreground with the 7th hole tee boxes at the back.



The 7th green.

Click any image for a hi-res version in a separate window

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Blackwolf Run - Contouring the 10th

Currently working on the 10th hole at BWR. The hole is par 3 with each tee requiring different strategies.

The green has had some changes as have the surrounds of the bunkers and the small slither of fairway. The hillock to the right has to be contoured to look like the terrain found on typical links land.

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Blackwolf Run – renovating the 9th

I’ve started work on the course and have done the mesh on most of the bunkers and all the tee boxes. I am currently working on the 9th hole which is pictured below. The hole is a short par 4 which gives the golfer lots of options off the tee because of the layout of the fairway which has three different landing areas.

 

The hole has had the green slightly reshaped and bunker surrounds re-contoured. Fine tuning of the fairway elevations hasn’t yet been done. The course as yet only has temporary textures.

[UPDATE:] Here is another image of the same hole snapped from a different angle after a number of subtle changes were made to the contouring.

Click the thumbnail images to see a full size version in a new window.

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The clubhouse at Blackwolf Run

We need more photos of the clubhouse at BWR. Here is a photo of the building as seen from the 18th hole on the River Course. We need some photos of the building as seen from the other side.

If you can help us please post a comment on this topic or in the shoutbox.

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