his section of my website discusses custom art capabilities and how to utilize them to their fullest. If you are not interested in creating your own custom art, but would still like a larger variety of items to use for your golf course, be sure to check out Golden Bear's Den. Here you will find a library of objects, horizons, skies, and textures for download by many different designers, myself included. (Key: - Jack Nicklaus, - PGA 2000, - Links, - Tiger Woods)

Below is the first of my custom panoramas I've created for Links 2003. These are adpated versions of some of the horizons I have created for my Jack Nicklaus 6 courses. Feel free to use the artwork for your custom Links 2003 course designs. All I ask is that you mention that I created the panorama in your course's text file.


Carolinas (5.82MB) – Adapated from Rolling Evergreen.

Adobe Photoshop 5.0/4.0 Tutorial – This is my tutorial for doing JN6/JN5 custom art in Photoshop.

Adobe Photoshop – This is tutorial written by C.G. Camacho and it is geared to introducing beginners to Photoshop and creating JN custom art with it.

Parallel Hole Objects – This is a new technique I've come up with for JN6. It involves creating custom objects to represent parallel holes, thus giving the illusion that the game is using a unified landplot.

Paint Shop Pro – Jim Crittenden allowed me to post his tutorial on creating objects and horizons with the shareware application Paint Shop Pro. This tutorial file is text only. To download the RTF tutorial file, simply click the following link: PSP-JN5.ZIP (9KB). Also, be sure to check out Rob Roy's site for his Paint Shop Pro Tutorials.

Micrografx Picture Publisher 6.0 – Ric Lancaster sent me his tutorial on creating both JN5 objects and hole overheads in Micrografx Picture Publisher 6.0. To download the RTF tutorial file, simply click the following link: MICROGRA.ZIP (4KB).

Creating 3D Objects with Gmax – This is a tutorials explaining how you can create custom 3D objects that you can use for your Tiger Woods course designs.

Panorama Tutorial – This is a tutorial by Desert Rat explains how you can create a custom panorama for your Tiger Woods course designs.

Texture Tutorial – This is a tutorial by Desert Rat explainssome techniques for creating textures using Photoshop for your Tiger Woods course designs.

If you have created a tutorial for your favorite image editing software, I would be happy to post it here for people to use. Thanks.

  • Terregen – Check out the link to the left if you are looking for an application that can render realistic landscapes and skies. From the images at Terregen's site, its rendering ability is quite impressive. This is a freeware application at the moment. The only downside I've noticed with the program is that is renders very slowly. Thanks goes to Chris Perry for bringing this application to my attention.
  • The stock textures that Scott Chesney and myself created for the six courses included with JN6 are available for download from Golden Bear's Den.You can use these as is or modify them for your own personal course designs. Please be aware though that these textures are copyrighted by Activision and Hypnos. Check the README text file in the zip file for details.
  • I have submitted some custom flags that I've created of JN6. These are all based on the stock JN6 flag, and I've basically recolored it, creating yellow, orange, red, and blue versions. You can download them for The Golden Bear's Den.
  • FENCE.ZIP (32KB) – A tutorial that includes RTF instructions on how I create fences like the ones seen on my Rolling Evergreen design. I also discuss how I create bridges. Included with the tutorial are three different shades of fence PCX custom art for use in designs.
  • SCORECRD.ZIP (199KB) – The stock outline for a JN5 scorecard. This includes the lines and outside border area. Any of these elements can obviously be altered, but this will give you a guide to work from. There are two images in the zip file include a PCX and a Photoshop PSD file set up in layers.
  • THUMB.ZIP (3KB) – A guide in the RTF format and small PCX file that can be used to create thumbnails for custom JN5 objects. This guide can basically be used for any image editing software and should help in creating nice looking thumbnails for your objects.
  • I have completed some JN6 icons (16KB) for Windows 98/95. Included are icons for just about every JN6 file type and instructions on how to install them. I also have JN5 icons (5KB) and JN4 icons (3KB) as well if you are still using those games.
  • PRINTKEY (127KB) – A freeware Windows 95 utility that makes it easy to save screenshots as BMP images.

  • If you are having trouble getting your custom course map to show up in JN5, it could be because of a typo in the CUSTOM.DOC file that was included with the game. It improperly lists the size of the PCX image. The correct size should be 678 x 480 pixels.
  • One item relating to JN6/JN5 custom art that is not made very clear has to do with items that are not placed in the INI file. These include course and designer info screens, the scorecard (JN5 only), hole overheads, and the course map. To get them working in your course after you have created them, copy them into your course's folder. Then, all you need to do is to open your course in the designer and save it again from there. This will embed the artwork with the design. If you run into a problem, it might relate to either the filename you chose or possibly the color depth of your artwork.
  • When you create a custom object, be sure to crop the image tightly so that there is no empty areas around it. This is most important area is near the bottom. If the image is not cropped tight there, the object might look like it is floating when placed (unless that is what you are after). Also, this is important so that the size measurements of the object are accurate in the designer.
  • Do not feel that you must include MIP maps with your objects. Only the largest version (filename ends in the digit 1) is required. When done correctly though, MIP maps can improve the visual appearance of objects on your course. Plus, they aid in speeding up redraw rates as well. Check out my Photoshop tutorial to see how I create MIP maps for JN6 courses.