Leaked Xbox 360 Avatar Golf Offscreen video 2 of 4

Videos have been appearing on Youtube of leaked videos of Avatar Golf.

It looks pretty familiar to me.

Easy Golf How Low Can You Go winners

Hey I was lucky enough to be one of the winners with my 29 on Weeping Willow. Thanks to Barkers Crest and congratulations to all the other winners.

http://forums.xbox.com/26639234/ShowPost.aspx

Easy Golf How Low Can You Go.

I have entered my scores they were:

Course                        Score
Weeping Willow                29
Desert Oasis                    31
Robot Retreat                   32
Hazard County                  31
White Mountain C.C.         30
The 19th Hole                    32

The really gutting thing is that I beat my score on The 19th Hole today. I shot 30. Bummer.

XBLCG price reductions

Thanks to the guys over at XNPlay, they have posted a list of games that have had price alterations.

I had no Idea some of these had been reduced. So if any of these games are on your list you  can grab yourself a bargain.

As for Easy Golf being reduced to 400 Points, that is just mad. It was good value at 800 Points. So jump in to one of the best games around and you will not be disappointed.

Game	Was	Now
Cosmos	400	200
Easy Golf	800	400
Writer’s Block	400	200
Fireplace	400	200
Tail Gun Charlie	400	200
Retro One	400	200
Drift	400	200
Abstacked	200	400!
RPaints	400	200
Crystal Crush	400	200
Bomber Boing	400	200

Source:

www.xnplay.co.uk

XboxHornet interview with Easy Golf course designer Shake N Baco

Other XboxHornet exclusive interviews;

https://xboxhornet.wordpress.com/2009/02/16/interview-with-david-webb-creator-of-xbox-live-game-hexothermic/

https://xboxhornet.wordpress.com/2009/02/05/intereview-with-stephen-bennet-creator-of-xbox-live-game-poker-squares/

Welcome to the first in a series of articles on XboxHornet, looking at the courses available in Easy Golf Course Architect. Today we will be looking at Desert Oasis designed by Nicholas (gamer tag Shake N Baco).

Desert Oasis comes with the latest update of Easy Golf, so if you haven’t got this course available, you need to re-download the game as community games do not have automatic updates.

Later in the series we will be looking at some of the courses available to download for free from the Easy Golf community, a feature that will keep you coming back to Easy Golf again and again.

Nicholas was kind enough to answer some questions for XboxHornet, first off we asked where he got the idea for the design of Desert Oasis?

“The reason why I wanted to create a Desert Theme course was because of the Mario Golf series to be honest. I loved the Mario Golf series throughout the years, and something they always had was a Desert Course. Desert Courses where something really challenging to do, but luckily thanks to some new improvements to the Easy Golf editor, it was a breeze to make. Personally, I wanted to create my course with a lot of sand dunes. I love the idea, of having to hit around these giant monstrosities of nature (Or over the dunes on the second par 5). I felt like it added a lot to the starting 6 courses, showing players you can do “theme” courses”

Having only dabbled so far with the course architect, we thought we would ask the expert if he had any tips for aspiring course designers?

 

 

 

 

“I think one of the biggest mistakes when using the course editor is making the greens. I notice many users create greens, and they are near impossible to putt on. I suggest setting a certain height marker, and place about 10-20 markers all around and throughout your green (All the same height of course). Now if you want to make a few hills, grab the existing markers and slightly change the elevation. After this test the green with several putts. Make sure you don’t roll all the way off the green, because that is no fun for anyone. Of course, everyone has their own way of doing things, but I like to put a lot of markers especially on my greens.

My second tip is: Be creative, have fun and design what you want.”

We would have to agree with Nicholas that making the putting too hard is no fun for anyone, we love the way that his courses challenge you to get to the green in regulation, then reward your effort with gettable putts. Gettable, but they have some very subtle inclines that can catch you out!

Our last question to Nicholas was how it came to be that his courses were included in the final version of Easy Golf?

 

 

 

“Let’s just say I was a dedicated fan, and it was my lucky day.

I was always a huge fan of Mario Golf, and other golf games, and something I always wanted to do was create my own courses. I had to settle for Sid Meier’s Sim Golf to satisfy this craving for the longest time. When community games came available, I quickly notice a golf game, and to my pleasant surprise it had an editor. Let’s just say, I played Sim Golf for several years, but I will be playing Easy Golf for even longer.”

So now let’s take a look at Desert Oasis and see what Nicholas has designed and how it plays.

 

 

 

 

 

As the name would suggest, sand, cacti, palm trees and the occasional watering hole are the order of the day.

Hole 1: Paradise

With this long par three, accuracy is the key. The small green is surrounded by sand and water and if you want to stay out of the drink pay close attention to the wind and make sure you hit the sweet spot in the hitting zone.

Hole 2: Hot Dog Leg Right

This par four is a dog leg right with massive dunes to the right of the tee. You can hit over these, but it is unlikely that it will be to your advantage. Head for the corner and you have a good line into the green, if you can cut some of the corner off by going over the end of the dune, you’ll have an easier shot in. The green has no rough round it, so don’t worry too much about missing it.

Hole 3: Hot Sun

A tough par four, if you are not accurate enough to hit the tiny patch of fairway on the left of the huge dune it’s going to be difficult to hit the green in regulation. You can take the right hand route, but this has a lot of palm trees to contend with. When you add to this the fact that the green is protected by sand and rough, getting par here is a good result.

Hole 4: Overheating

This Par five is a definite birdie opportunity, but first you have to avoid the two huge dunes with your tee shot (not easy). A little bit of fade will help and with a little luck you’ll have a long second shot into the green, although the fairway is loaded either side with palm trees so make sure you hit that sweet spot.

Hole 5: Toast is also Hot

As long as you don’t hit the well placed tree in the centre of the fairway on this par four, you’ll have a good line into the small green which is surrounded by sand, good luck staying out of it.

Hole 6: Deep Fried

This par four looks harder than it is – if you take a little power off and play safe by making sure you hit the fairway you should have an easier shot into the green.

Hole 7: Over the Dune

If you want to reach the green of this par five in three, you’ll have to make sure that you hit the fairway with your drive. You then have the choice of trying to hit it over the dune or onto the small patch of fairway on top of it. When you play your shot into the elevated green make sure that you hit the back of it to avoid rolling down onto the fairway.

Hole 8: Hole 8

To get to this par four green in regulation, make sure you hit the left hand side of the fairway, otherwise you’ll find yourself having to lay up or trying to take on the massive dune to get to the elevated green.

Hole 9:

With this very long par three be careful to take the wind into account if you want to stay on the wide but shallow green – some backspin may help too.

Overall impressions:

Desert Oasis is a course that despite its desert nature is very scenic thanks to the huge dunes and palm trees.

It’s a challenging course with not too many birdie opportunities, but with practice it’s very rewarding. We liked the fact that you have to make subtle use of fade to leave yourself in prime positions on some of the holes.

Desert Oasis gets the thumbs up from the XboxHornet blog and it is a course that we have found ourselves coming back to time and again.

Nicholas has two other courses on the full version of Easy Golf: Robot Retreat and White Mountain C.C., just look out for those designed by Shake N Baco.

Other Shake N Baco courses available to download via course sharing are Green Pines, Robot Dunes, Red Club, Joe Joe Heights, Apple Crest, Pro Open, Mountain View (Front & Back 9) and Sea Resort (Front & Back 9)

If anyone out there has a course that they would like to share with XboxHornet and the world please email us at:

 

Xboxhornet@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

 

To download a free demo of Easy Golf Course Architect directly to your Xbox click here;

http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-GB/games/media/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d8025855011c/

Related articles;

https://xboxhornet.wordpress.com/2009/03/17/easy-golf-how-low-can-you-go/

https://xboxhornet.wordpress.com/2009/02/04/nometetcom-interview-with-easy-golf-creator/

Easy Golf How Low Can You Go?

Update: I have been practicing and am sending my scores in today, I am not going to tell you them though. I have no idea if they are good or not.

 

Not very, is the answer if my first attempt off the blue tees was anything to go by. Here are my current scores, I will hopefully be bettering them before I enter the competition.

Edit – italic scores are my current records

Weeping Willow = 32

Desert Oasis = 37

Robot Retreat = 48 (18/03 – 40)

Hazard County = 34

White Mountain C.C. = 37

The 19th Hole = 45 (18/03 -37)

So no doubt you can beat these terrible scores, to enter the Easy Golf How Low Can you go competition to win one of 6 prizes check out the details here;

http://www.barkerscrest.com/contest/

Easy Golf update and contest to win 1600 MS points

 

Easy Golf on Xbox Live Community Games has had a major update and to celebrate, Barkers Crest have announced a competition to accompany the release. So for for info on how to win 1600 MS points read the press release below;

 

“Xbox Community Game Easy Golf ‘How Low Can You Go?’ contest and game update announced.

 
Barkers Crest Studio today announces the release of the long anticipated game update for the critically acclaimed Xbox Community Game Easy Golf.

 
In conjunction with this release, Barkers Crest Studio also announces the ‘How Low Can You Go?’ skill based contest.
Contest prizes include 1600 Microsoft Points awarded to the each of the gamers who submit the best course record from the blue tees for any of the following courses available in the full version of Easy Golf:

 
–  Weeping Willow
–  Desert oasis
–  Robot Retreat
–  Hazard County
–  White Mountain C.C.
–  The 19th Hole

 
The contest begins immediately and ends on March 31, 2009.
For more details and contest rules visit;

http://www.barkerscrest.com/contest

 
New features of the game update include unlockable character accessories, three new courses designed by the talented Nicholas Wilson, and 8 player online matches. 

 
Other new features include:
– Rain and snow weather effects
– Course records
– Four new scenic backgrounds
 – Outer Space
 – City Lights (Downtown)
 – Rain Conditions
 – Snow Conditions
– Three new trees and two new rocks added to the course editor
– Ability to create islands in the water
A full list of new and updated features can be found at

 http://www.barkerscrest.com
 
About Barkers Crest Studio

 
Barkers Crest Studio is an independent games studio founded in July 2008, specializing in sport oriented games for the Xbox Live Community Game channel. For more details visit

 

 http://www.barkerscrest.com

 
About Easy Golf

 
Easy Golf is an Xbox Community Game developed and published by Barkers Crest Studio.  Easy Golf is a fun and accessible golf game for people of all ages and skill levels.  Easy Golf features a state-of-the-art golf course designer that allows gamers to create courses in minutes with no special skills involved.”

Download Easy Golf straight to your 360 here;

http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-GB/games/media/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d8025855011c/

We can heartily recommend Easy Golf, it has a fantastic course architect and the online sharing of facility means that you’ll always have a new course to play.

Plus with the announcement of the “How low can you go” competition, there has never been a better time to buy Easy Golf. See you online.

Nometet.com interview with Easy Golf creator

Continuing our Community Games Week, we talked to Matt Davis, the developer of Community Game Easy Golf.
The obvious first question is how did you get into games and making games?

I’ve always played video games since I can remember all the way back to the Atari. I went to college and received a degree in computer science and ended up programming business software for a living. I use the C# programming language which is the same programming language xna uses. When Microsoft came out with XNA it was a perfect fit.

See the whole interview here:

http://nometet.com/interviews/community-games-week-easy-golf-interview/