[Tetlee]

Surely the most polished and complete community game release so far, caved in and purchased this game yesterday and I have to say it's well worth the 800 points asking price, infact the best 800 points I've spent.

The big thing that seperates this from others games such as Golf: Tee it Up! is the course designer feauture which is just superb and really should add near infinate replayability.

Very nice(not to mention simple) to use the course designer allows you to create a 9 hole course(well, numerous courses in fact) and the customisablilty is so deep that really only your imagination is the limit when knocking up holes. Near everything is adjustable, terrain elevation, rough(shallow to deep)/bunker size shape and posistions, a whole host of trees(again size as well as colour are fully adjustable), wind stregth/direction etc. etc. It really is superb and you can easily wittle away hours refining your custom designs. Best part is once done you can play them with your friends online(apparently the dev is working on adding the ability for you to download friends courses to your own hard drive which will be cool).

I've almost completed my first 9 hole course(have 2 holes to go) but have already given them a quick run through when I played Matt(barkers crest who is the developer of this game) online earlier, aswell as sampling one of his new courses. Was pretty flawless online until I got trapped in a bit of a design flaw on one of my holes, haha, my "escalation" hole still needs some refinement it seems(it lives up to its name very well)

Fully recommend this game to anyone that has an interest in simple but fun golf games, especially if you like to play online. With a bit of luck a good community will develop for this game as with everyone designing their own courses it really has the potential to be an online classic. Really enjoyed my games with Matt earlier and can't wait to get a four player game going. Oh, one other nice touch is as the other person plays you can see not only their ball, but also their little gamerpic accompanying it, it's small details such as this that really make you appreciate the care and attention that has gone into this game, lovely

Have now set up a group profile for this game, it will be open to AVF and non-AVFers alike so hopefully we'll get a good community together for online meet-ups(use the friends of friend method for checking who's online and sending game invites. Feel free to add the profile to your friends lists, I'll try to check the profile for requests at least every few days.

A useful little tip for inviting people to play online from the AVF Easy Golf list, first set up a private party and invite the(up to 3) other players in, that way each time you finish a course you can simply invite all the players at once onto the next course(as can the other players). Once you have your party set up, just press the guide button, go down and click on "party" and there is an option there for "invite players to game", click on that once you have a lobby set up and all will be invited, easy!

To finish off, a useful course design tip from the developer regarding nesting objects within each other:

Nesting objects inside of others. Here is the order:

Water
teebox
Green
Bunker
fairway
tree rough
tall rough
deep rough.

Any item can not be inside of any item type that is above/ahead of it's own item type in this list. For example, a fairway can not be nested inside of a water. But, a water can be nested inside of a fairway. In another example, a bunker can not be nested inside of a tall rough but a tall rough can be nested inside of a bunker.

A little video of the course designer in action(great work Matt).
YouTube - Creating a Course

[Codehead]

Looks like a prime candidate for Avatar support. Will take a look later.

[DpM]

Ill check it out in a bit mate. If I make purchase ill have to give you a game.

Have to say it sounds great.

Are you on commission from Matt?

Just kidding mate

[Tetlee]

Originally Posted by DpM

Are you on commission from Matt?

Just kidding mate

Hehe, sadly not, just got well & truly hooked by the games charms

Let me know if you do get it and I'll make a space on my friends list to get you added, apparently Rorrifet is going to get it also so we could hopefully get some 3 player games going.

Going to snap a couple pics of my early course creations in a minute to give you an idea what you can conjure up.

[DpM]

Bought it

It reminds me of Mario golf on the original gameboy, simple yet great fun.

The designer is great.

Great game Matt, any chance of an update with a character architect? That would be awesome, or better still like someone else mentioned avatar use?

Tetlee, if you can clear some space add me to you FR list mate. Would be great to play you.

[Tetlee]

Not easy to show the off the courses by taking snaps but you'll get the idea of what you can come up conjure up with little experience, a few overhead shots of some of my early creations...

My very first hole creation.

This was just a silly 5 minute effort, a one shot to green hole, named "Everybody's Happy"

My personal favourite, named this one "Escalation"(GoW influence there), it has four increasingly raised fairway platforms, makes me nervous every time I play it

Named this one "Water Hazzard", a nice little tropical theme going on.

"The Downhill Run", quite like this one, difficult to di it justice in the pic though(maybe I should have snapped it from the hole looking up).

[DpM]

They look great mate.

That stepped one looks like it could make you go well over par!

[Tetlee]

Originally Posted by DpM

Tetlee, if you can clear some space add me to you FR list mate. Would be great to play you.

Will do fella, only just noticed that comment. Oh, and you're right about the GBA Mario Golf, now you mention it certainly has its similarities.

Originally Posted by DpM

They look great mate.

That stepped one looks like it could make you go well over par!

Thanks, haha, not sure about over par, I got well & truly stuck in one of the deep revines earlier on when playing against Matt and I just couldn't get out. It was at that point I suggested there should be a maxmum stroke limit(which he agreed with, lol).

Have since adjusted the depth of the revines on Escalation so hopefully should be able to play out of them a bit easier now.

Need to adjust the par number on most of my holes as I must admit I tend to just get in there and start moving things about without even thinking of what the par number should be

[barkers crest]

Holy Cow I really am impressed with the holes we didn't get to. I can tell you are getting much better with the editor as you get experience with it.

Everybody send me a friends request as I want to get in on these multiplayer matches too. GamerTag: Barkers Crest

Unfortunately Microsoft does not allow XNA developers access to Avatars. Probably because 1 bad apple can make a game and take pictures of Avatars in inappropriate situations in an XNA game and then send them to the press. Would be bad news for them.

[DpM]

Originally Posted by barkers crest

Holy Cow I really am impressed with the holes we didn't get to. I can tell you are getting much better with the editor as you get experience with it.

Everybody send me a friends request as I want to get in on these multiplayer matches too. GamerTag: Barkers Crest

Unfortunately Microsoft does not allow XNA developers access to Avatars. Probably because 1 bad apple can make a game and take pictures of Avatars in inappropriate situations in an XNA game and then send them to the press. Would be bad news for them.

Ill add you when im online tonight.

Maybe if Tetlee is around we can try his creations.
I need to get on nad do some of my own aswell.

[Tetlee]

Sent you a friends request last night DpM.

A little tip for you budding course designers, if you're making a special effort on a particular hole, do a "save" now and again(only takes a second to do). I just learnt my lesson after creating a lovely mountainous course with little streams and a lake, was looking a treat and then the unthinkable happened, it crashed me back to the dashboard Arghh, a good 45 minutes of work lost there! Ah well, back I go, this time with the occasion save just incase(to be fair it's only crashed on me a couple of times so far but still a good idea to play it safe if you're spending some time on your designs).

Hope to catch you later DpM, would like to see what you think of my course, that would have been the last hole if it hadn't crashed on me(although you don't need a full course to play it with your friends so if you make a couple holes you want to test out we can do that too), will see if I get get it finished for later.

Was thinking about setting up an Easy Golf friends list profile like the AVF group tags to add group the Easy Golf players together, might be best not to keep it exclusive to the forums with this game though as there wouldn't be enough people playing. Will get that sorted later and post it up here once done

[Rorifett]

Bought the game yesterday and had a quick blast before I had to head out, absolutely lovely presentation and nice mechanics, only briefly saw the editor but certainly looks the piece.

Nightshift tonight and tomorrow but will be dedicating more time to this once I'm off so feel free to send me a FR too and I'll add you once I'm back online properly

Congratulations and thank you for this game Matt, here's hoping word-of-mouth gets this the recognition it deserves - was watching Playr the other day (a tv series in the UK for games) and was disappointed not to see Easy Golf being one of the games they briefly touched on, maybe if we rally the troops to contact Bravo tv we can get you on there

Tetlee> It might be an idea to post the rules on building in your first post so we can all use this thread as a reference point?

[Tetlee]

Originally Posted by Rorifett

Tetlee> It might be an idea to post the rules on building in your first post so we can all use this thread as a reference point?

Good idea, will edit that in, I haven't taken too much notice of those rules yet as I haven't had any issues with playing items inside of each other yet. I'm getting a bit more experimental now though so no doubt will come in handy soon enough.

Oh, I've created a group profile for Easy Golf now by the way, AVF Easy Golf, used the AVF in the tag to make it nicer to slot in with the other group tags on peoples lists, but will leave this one open to all(so including non-AVFers) in the hope of getting more players added. Anyone feel free to add the group tag to your friends list, I'll check at least every few days for requests, hopefully we'll get a little online community together

[jason g]

might have considered it for 400 points, not 800.

[barkers crest]

Originally Posted by jason g

might have considered it for 400 points, not 800.

Hey Jason. Thanks for giving it a try.

- Matt

[Tetlee]

Originally Posted by jason g

might have considered it for 400 points, not 800.

That was my initial thought aswell Jason, but since buying it and getting to grips with the course designer I would say it's well worth the asking(infact I now actually consider it a bit of a bargain to be honest as I see more potential in the course designs the more I fiddle around with it), can see much more replay value in this than just about any of the XBLA games in my collection(and as you know I have a lot of them).

The more people that buy the better it will be as with people designing their own courses playing online could be different every time.

At first I was looking at this as a bit of a poor mans Golf: Tee it Up!, but while at the same price it looks prettier, how long before you get bored of playing the same two courses(which judging from the demo were a bit too forgiving).

Hmm, all this praise for the game, think I'm in serious risk of becoming an Easy Golf fanboy

[DpM]

Done the 2 holes of my first course tonight
Time has gone too quick as normal, off to bed as I have an early start. Ill be online again tomorrow night if anyone is up for a game.

[Tetlee]

Originally Posted by DpM

Done the 2 holes of my first course tonight
Time has gone too quick as normal, off to bed as I have an early start. Ill be online again tomorrow night if anyone is up for a game.

I should be, hope to catch you then

[Tetlee]

lol, still learning new tricks with the editor tools, I didn't realise you could zoom in and out when in creation mode until today, the high ground had been a real struggle with the fixed default viewpoint, to think I even struggled through my "Mountain Dew" course before discovering this small detail.

Just click the left bumper button and you can not only zoom in & out with the left/right triggers, but you can fully pan around the course also, click the left bumper once more to lock the camera back in place and continue editing, simple

Anyway, first course is now complete(might go back for a few tweeks after a full playtest of course, will be nice to get a few opinions on it before refining further).

Couple new pics, using the method described above is also alot easier to taking snapshots aswell(took these ones while in editor mode).

"Mountain Dew" This is the one I had to completly remake after a crash(save often folks), really pleased with this hole as it plays really well with good opportunities for risk/reward shots, the green is hidden right at the back there.

"Long & Winding Stream" The 9th and last hole of my course, yet to playtest this one so might make its debut tomorrow.

[Rorifett]

They're looking really good Tetlee, I'm up from about half 3ish usually after a nightshift so we could maybe bang in a quick round tomorrow afternoon if you're around? When you click LB to get the free zoom camera you can also click RB in that mode to get the overhead camera, you've likely seen that by now but if not that might prove useful

[barkers crest]

Each new course just gets more and more impressive Tetlee. I hope to be able to get online and play your course in full soon. Heck, I hope to have the update out so I can download it.

Speaking of which. I made a thread on the xbox forums regarding input on how I'll be implementing the course sharing. Go make a post there to get your feedback in.

[DpM]

I should be on tonight after watching Hancock with the g/f. Prob around 9 - 9.30pm ish GMT.

[Tetlee]

Thanks for the compliments fellas, look forward to playing the course with you to see if you have any suggestions for improvements(keep on going back & tweaking details as it is, just added lips to the mouth of the "Everybody's Happy" face using red trees, haha).

Matt, great to see you are asking for our imput on the pending course sharing download feature, have just popped on and given my opinion now. Here's the direct link for anyone wishing to do the same Xbox.com | Xbox LIVE Community Games - Re: Course Sharing Development - Need your input

DpM, will try to get online around 9-9:30ish GMT and catch you for a couple online games, should be about so hope to see you then

[theandy2000]

Matt, please, please, PLEASE, create an update that lets you play a hole while you're creating it. Instead of having to play 8 holes to test out my 9th, I want to be able to test out a hole while I'm making it. It's crucial for doing on the fly tweaks. That being said, I am in awe of what you brought to the table with this game. Tiger Woods 2010 needs to license your course creating code! Thank you for finally bringing a user friendly course creator to consoles. My gamertag is theandy2000, and you can find me creating courses on a nightly basis.

[Rorifett]

Welcome to AV Forums Andy,
Matt has mentioned previously he's going to try and implement an on-the-fly preview type thing for Easy Golf creator so fingers crossed that comes along quite quickly

You may want to add the friend AVF Easy Golf to your friends list to see when we're online, feel free to pass this friends list out to your pals too so we can build a good Easy Golf community Hopefully see you online soon!

[theandy2000]

I will do that now. Just finished my 14th hole with the creator, and I must say, I look back at my first couple holes and can't believe how far I've come with my grasp of the tool set. I am really beginning to understand the creative freedom that the creator allows. I'm 29, and have been designing courses on graph paper since I was 12. I played golf all my life, and I find myself shutting of Fallout 3 and Left 4 Dead so I can design more holes! BRAVO Mark. Well done indeed.

[Tetlee]

Originally Posted by theandy2000

I will do that now. Just finished my 14th hole with the creator, and I must say, I look back at my first couple holes and can't believe how far I've come with my grasp of the tool set. I am really beginning to understand the creative freedom that the creator allows. I'm 29, and have been designing courses on graph paper since I was 12. I played golf all my life, and I find myself shutting of Fallout 3 and Left 4 Dead so I can design more holes! BRAVO Mark. Well done indeed.

Great, the more online players the merier Will be interested to see your creations, sounds like they could be pretty classy with your experience.

Had a couple games with Dean(DpM) last night and God was I awful, lol, even a puddle of water would have drawn me in, must have landed in the drink 30 times by the end of the Winding Willows course Think I need to spend less time tinkering with my course design and more time practising playing

[DpM]

Good round last night, was a laugh. Sorry I had to leave before the end of your courses Tetlee. Escalation was a bit of a challenge to say the least!

Ill be on Friday night for a nice long session hopefully finish my course early evening and then give it a try.

[Tetlee]

Originally Posted by DpM

Good round last night, was a laugh. Sorry I had to leave before the end of your courses Tetlee. Escalation was a bit of a challenge to say the least!

Ill be on Friday night for a nice long session hopefully finish my course early evening and then give it a try.

Yeah, was nice to have three players on last night, hopefully we'll manage a four player game soon. Really funny seeing the little gamerpics flying about accompanying the golf balls as they're struck, especially when they head off to the water hazards(you must have borrowed my water wings from the night before last night).

Everyone seems to like Escalation, just noticed Shake N Bako mention he liked it also on the xbox.com forums. Went back and raised the base level of the gulleys last night(third increase tweak) so should be easier to get out from there now.

Oh, one good thing last night, when you dropped out before the end of the course there was no connection issue for us, thought it might affect the game but nope, not even a freeze up which was great to see.

I usually plan Fridays as a big gaming night so hopefully catch up with you for a few games then.

[barkers crest]

I'll try my best to get on this friday. I'd like to participate in this Easy Golf marathon...but I'm sure ya'll would rather me be working on the update.