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/