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How Low Can You Go? Contest |
2/27/2009 |
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Barkers Crest Studio wants to know How Low Can You Go!
Who: You, the gamer vs. Easy Golf, the game.
What: It is a simple contest, shoot the lowest score from the blue tees
of all participants on a course and win 1600 Microsoft Points.
When: Submissions are accepted February 27th through March 31st 2009.
Winners will be notified on or around the week of April 5, 2009.
How: Get the full version of Easy Golf (
here ) and play any of the eligible six courses from the blue tees. Take a
picture of your best course records and send them along with all of the required
submission information to
contest@barkerscrest.com.
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
Submit an entry for each course and you have six chances to win one prize.
For official contest rules and submission requirements visit
http://www.barkerscrest.com/contest.
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Final Easy Golf Update now available for download |
2/27/2009 |
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This has been one awesome journey and now we are finally here. The final update to Easy Golf is available on the Xbox Live Marketplace.
To get the update, follow these steps.
1. If you already have the game, delete the game from your xbox. Do this by navigating to the game as you normally would to play it. When the option comes up to play or delete the game, select delete. Don't worry, your game saves will be preserved and the updated version is compatable with them.
2. Go to the Community Games Marketplace on the NXE to download the new version or visit this link to download the game:
http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-US/games/media/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d8025855011c/
All done.
Now that you have the update, what is in it?
Golf Game:
- 3 new premium courses courtesy of Nicholas Wilson ( Desert Oasis, Robot Retreat, While Mountain C.C. )
- 8 player simultaneous online
- 14 Unlockable character accessories such as a cowboy hat, pirate hat, clown nose, sombrero, top hat, and much more.
- 4 new backgrounds ( Outer Space, City Lights, Rain Clouds, Snow Clouds )
- New weather effects ( Rain and Snow )
- New Course Records ( Saves your best score for each course based on tee box including downloaded courses ) WARNING: If you modify a course your designed or redownload a course from someone else the course records for that course are reset.
- Hole Flyovers ( Press right on the right analog stick for a hole flyover...the hole flyover route is calculated automatically for gamer created courses )
- Drastically improved physics ( ie: float feeling and terrain collisions )
- Top Spin ( Push up on Right analog stick...note: reverse view has been moved to pressing left on right analog stick)
- Modified ball flight camera ( Give it a try and you'll see )
- Faster loading times between holes
- Player statistics are saved during online matches
Course Designer:
- 3 new desert themed trees.
- 2 new rocks
- Build islands in water
- Place any terrain object inside of any other terrain object now. (Nothing can be placed inside a tee box)
- Faster building
- Reduced code 4 errors
- Can build larger areas of tall grass with no code 4 errors.
- Can build larger areas of water with no code 4 errors.
- During hole setup, wider options are available to accomodate sharp dogleg designs.
- Terrain objects no longer randomly dissapear after elevation adjustments
- Unsupported font characters no longer crash the game ( they are ignored )
Other Misc:
- Improved golfer shadow
- Improved graphically effects on tee markers
- Player stats and course record menu option moved to main menu ( still exists in options menu too )
- Graphical changes to a few of the Weeping Willow holes.
- Added help screens so gamers can more easily find online matches or courses to download.
...and tons of other stuff I can't even remember!
Please remember, this is the final update. There will be no more updates.
However, all of the fun is just getting started.
...as always, I appreciate feedback, good or bad. If you appreciate all of the effort put into this game I would very much appreciate it if you could tell a friend or two about Easy Golf.
Take Care,
Matt Davis
Matt.davis@barkerscrest.com
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The Calm Before The Storm |
2/23/2009 |
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The day we have all been waiting for is almost here. The update is
currently in peer review and on its way to you soon. Check back in a few
days as I'll post here once the game passes and is out on the marketplace.
If you've been wondering why things have been quiet around here, wonder no more.
I've been hiding away in a cave mercilessly hammering away on my keyboard.
While my dogs eat, I work. While my dogs sleep, I work. While my
dogs play, I work. Since that is pretty much all they do, you know what
I've been doing this entire time. :-)
To pass the time, here a few recent reviews of Easy Golf:
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Game
Review
- destructoid.com - 7.5/10
"Easy Golf is a title that makes full use of what XNA has to offer, and that deserves some real commendation."
-
Game
Review
- gamestyle.net - 8/10
"Easy Golf restores our faith in the Community Section of Xbox Live. It just shows what one person can achieve with talent and dedication. If you have enjoyed golfing releases previously then this warrants your time, so make it your next purchase and get involved online."
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Game
Review
- cheatcc.com - 7.6/10
"All told, it's Wii Sports golf for the Xbox 360, at the price of $10, with a well-functioning if not user-friendly course creator. We're not seeing the downside."
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Game
Review
- totally360.com - 8/10
"Overall this is a tremendous community game. I highly recommend it to everyone. At the very least be sure to download the demo and give this title a shot. You don’t need to be a golf fan to enjoy the title and you don’t need to know the rules either. This is a casual golf title that everyone can enjoy. If you want you can just spend your whole time building courses for friends and families to try and beat. Be sure to give this one a try."
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Merry Christmas |
12/24/2008 |
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Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays everyone. I promised I would reveal
the second Christmas secret for you and here it is:

Play Easy Golf on December 24th or 25th and your robot will be wearing a cool
little santa hat.
The update is out there now so if you have previously downloaded Easy Golf follow the
steps below to get the update.
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On your Xbox 360, navigate to the "My Xbox" section and find Easy Golf, just
like you would if you were starting up the game for playing.
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When you are prompted with the choice to play or delete the game. Select
delete. Don't worry, your saves will NOT be lost and you do NOT have to
pay to download the game again.
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After the game is deleted, head over to the Community Games section of the XBL
Marketplace. Find Easy Golf there and select it.
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The very first panel should give you the "Download Again" option. Select
that option and the game will download again. When the download is
complete you now have the updated version of Easy Golf.
If for some reason you have already purchased Easy Golf and the "Download Again"
option is not there or you are prompted to spend Microsoft Points, don't.
Contact Microsoft support and they should be able to help you out.
If you need any additional help feel free to contact me:
matt.davis@barkerscrest.com
Enjoy.
Happy Holidays from Team Barkers Crest!
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Update almost Live |
12/19/2008 |
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The Easy Golf update is almost here. As soon as it passes through peer
review and is out on the marketplace the update will be available for download,
and I'll post instructions on just how to do it.
For now, I am revealing the 2 Christmas surprises I have promised along with a
detailed list of the updates.
Christmas Surprises:
- The first Christmas surprise is a special Christmas gift from me to you.
Upon download of the update you can look into your playable course list and see
an extra course. The course is called "The 19th Hole" and I designed it
specifically to take advantage of the new backspin feature of this update.
If you've been waiting for a course to test your Easy Golf skills, this is the
course for you.
- The other surprise will only show if you play the game on December 24th or 25th.
Should I tell you what it is? ...hmm. Not right now. You'll
just have to wait.
Updates:
- Downloading other gamers courses for local play is now available. Click
here
to learn how.
- The creators gamertag automatically displays while playing a downloaded or shared course.
- Delete courses you don't like.
- You can now preview your hole as you are building it. Features of the hole
preview include:
- Showing frames per second to see if your course renders slow.
- Place your golfball anywhere at anytime. This way you can practice shots
from any location on your hole.
- Jump between design and preview quickly while working on that extra little bit
of detail.
- In the course designer you can change the order of your holes.
- You can also change par for each hole.
- Add backspin to your shots from the fairway or teebox. ( Awesome ) You do
this by pushing down on the right analog stick.
- You can preview your shot landing area by pressing up on the right analog stick while in swing setup.
- The golfball can now hit and bounce off of the flag stick.
- The golfball is now shadowed, which basically means if the golfball is in a
shadow it is darkened a bit.
- The basic palm leaf's color is adjusted a bit to it's proper color.
Somehow a bright green one slipped into the first version.
- Once you start the swing meter, you can cancel your swing by pressing ( B ) if
you press it before setting the power.
- A few crash bugs have been fixed in the course designer.
- A few controller input bugs have been fixed in the menu screens.
- Trial experience has been modified to help people learn about the course
designer.
- In a network multiplayer game, once you have finished the hole and are
waiting on other gamers you can use the left analog stick to look around.
( One of my favorites of this update )
- In any game mode once you get 10 or more shots you can quite the hole and move
onto the next hole. Do this by pressing start to pull up the option screen.
I've worked my tail off and put an enormous amount of hours into this update
just for you guys because you all are the best. Hopefully we can build up
a nice sized community of Easy Golfer so we can have a large list of courses to
play.
Happy Holidays,
Matt Davis
matt.davis@barkerscrest.com
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Remember n64.com? |
Remember n64.com? |
12/19/2008 |
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Anybody here remember n64.com? I do. I read it all of the time in
college. Especially in my freshman year of '98. ( I'm getting old )
If you don't recall, n64.com was one of the many precursors to the now popular
and highly respected IGN.com website.
While I was typing away at my c++ programs in my entry level Computer Science
classes, little did I know that one day a game I would make would appear in a
featured article on my favorite video game website. Well, ok, maybe not
the Nintendo IGN website.
Easy Golf was reviewed in the Xbox.ign.com feature article XNA Communal Shower
Volume 2...and it received a nice review. I couldn't be more excited!
http://xboxlive.ign.com/articles/935/935823p1.html
Easy Golf
Killing Them Softly with Features Award
Developer: Barker's Crest Studio
Cost: 800 MSP
"Easy Golf may be a bit pricier than just about anything on XNA should be, but it
also has more going for it than most Xbox Live Arcade games. What you get for
your cash is a full arcade golf game, Xbox Live multiplayer, and a course editor
that puts many games to shame. If you're crazy enough and have enough time on
your hands, you could probably recreate your favorite local course and then play
through it on Easy Golf. The golf isn't as tight as Tiger Woods and the graphics
certainly aren't top notch, but Easy Golf is easily the most impressive of this
batch. "
Screenshots and videos on IGN...wow, look at how far
things have come.
Here are some more links for some Easy Golf reading enjoyment.
-
Developer
Interview
- nometet.com
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Developer
Interview
- diehardgamefan.com
-
Game
Review
- diehardgamefan.com
"The course editor in Easy Golf is amazing. Honestly
I don’t even like golf games very much, but I do like playing around with
editing software."
Happy Holidays,
Matt Davis
matt.davis@barkerscrest.com
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Eurogamer.net Review |
12/1/2008 |
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Eurogamer.net
published a feature showcasing the community games worthy of your purchase.
Easy Golf made its way in and I'm big time excited about it. They really
liked the course editor and I'm glad they gave it a try.
http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=320077
Click over to page 2 in the article to see what they say about Easy Golf, or
just read below.
"One of the most ambitious Community Games, Easy Golf sets out to offer more
than just a basic golfing simulation. It's a multiplayer golf course
construction kit, supporting up to four players online and offering the chance
to show off your creations in real time. It comes with two pre-designed courses
for those who just want to tee off, but the design element is so thorough and
intuitive that there's no excuse not to come up with your own. The ball physics
are rather rudimentary when compared to the more professional golf games out
there but Easy Golf can certainly hold its own against Live Arcade's Golf: Tee
It Up!"
Oh, and while I have you here be sure to visit Easy Golf's forum on Xbox.com.
It is a good place to meet people who are looking for online multiplayer matches
or to just chat about course design. You can always get there by clicking "Forum" in the navigation menu of this
website or click the link below.
http://forums.xbox.com/1104/ShowForum.aspx
Another great place to visit is:
www.avforums.com
They are some cool people who are ready to play your course.
Stay tuned for news on the coming update,
Matt Davis
matt.davis@barkerscrest.com |
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Barker's Revenge - Coming to an Xbox 360 near you |
12/1/2008 |
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Hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving holiday or weekend. I took some
pictures of the course I created, Barker's Revenge. I'm working on an
update for Easy Golf that will allow you to download this course from me...or
any course from anyone else. Pictures are taken with a digital camera from
my TV so the quality isn't top notch but it gets the job done. Enjoy.
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Happy Thanksgiving Holidays |
11/26/2008 |
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Happy Thanksgiving holidays to everyone from Team Barkers Crest.
I'll be on and off the xbox so keep your eye on my gamercard. If you see
me online send me a message so we can get some online multiplayer going. |
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Easy Golf has been out for a few days now and I'm having a blast with it.
My friends are having a blast with it too. The feedback I'm getting from
friends and people emailing in is tremendous. Apparently the course editor
is 10 times better than I ever could have hoped for. Initial reviews
and comments around the web have been positive and I'm extremely grateful.
Here are a few I'd like to share:
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Developer Interview
- www.gameroutfit.com
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Game Review
- www.xnplay.co.uk
"if you’re looking for a cheap, fully featured and highly polished golf game you can’t go far wrong."
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Game Review
- www.gamerbytes.com
"It's a full blown editor which allows you to make exactly what the one guy who made this did. It's very robust with terrain formation and freeways and all you need for a golf course. It's got online play too. For 800 Points it's a pretty good deal."
I also came across this website:
http://www.xblaratings.com/xna-ratings
. Check it out and give Easy Golf or any other community game you've
played a review. Pretty neat seeing all of the interest people have in
games made by Joe the Plumber. :^)
I try to email back everyone who emails me but a few times I've replied to a few
folks and got back an "unknown email address error" response. So, if you
haven't received an email back now you know why.
The most important thing I want you to know is this. Send me pictures of
courses you create so I can post them on the website. Don't worry if you
think it is good or not just send it to me and I'll post it here to show off
your fine effort.
Also, this weekend I created a course called Barker's Revenge. I think it
is awesome and every bit as good as the ones that came with the game. I'm
looking for people to play it so if you see me online send me a message.
My gamertag is Barkers Crest and you can always look at my gamertag here on the
website to see my online status.
Till next time,
Matt Davis
matt.davis@barkerscrest.com
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Wow, I can't believe you made it this far. First I'd like to say thank you for
taking interest in Barkers Crest Studio and Easy Golf. I've got a lot of big
plans for this website.
For now, head on over to the Easy Golf page to watch the trailer and see
screenshots. It is a heck of a game for less than the price of two
starbuck coffees or a trip to the movies. I'm very proud of it and put a
lot of time, effort, and personal sacrifice into it. I hope everyone else enjoys it at least
1/10 as much as I do.
One of the best features of Easy Golf is the ability to easily create your own
courses, and then share them with friends over xbox live. That's right, I
said share. It is real easy to do with the following steps:
- Create your course and create as many holes as you would like up to nine holes
per course.
- Then, if you have an Xbox Live Gold Account select Xbox Live Multiplayer on the
title screen.
- Then select Host on the next screen.
- After that you will see your created course in the course list. Just
select it and you will be on your way to sharing your course with people around
the world
Nothing is more cool than seeing your friends golf balls fly around on your
created course in real time. One of my favorite things to do is re-create
my favorite holes from the local golf courses I play. As a matter of fact,
the 9th hole on the Hazard County course is one of my most favorite.
I know the website is a bit empty in functionality for now but there is a lot
planned and being developed by our 1 man team.
Upcoming Features Include:
- Posted Games: That little section you see to the right is where you'll see
posted games. What are posted game? Good question. I'll be
adding in some functionality where everyone will have their own personal account
with the website. That way when someone is planning on playing Live
Multiplayer match they can post what day and time they plan on doing it so others like
you and me can hop on at the same time and join their play session. I'll
be posting there quite a bit so you'll know when you can jump on and play me.
- Video Tutorials: This is pretty self explanatory. I'll be working on
some video tutorials so you can get the most out of your Easy Golf experience.
There are some cool tips and tricks I can share to make your design experience
AAA.
- User Content: That is right. I want you to take pictures or videos
of courses you create and send them to me. I'll post it here on the
website for everyone to see. Send them immediately to
matt.davis@barkerscrest.com
.
- XNA Developer Tutorials: Once things settle down I'll start posting
tutorials for people who are interested in making XNA games. They'll be
intermediate to advanced level because there are plenty of beginner resources
already out there. If you are a beginner and interested in creating
community games, visit
creators.xna.com
.
Well, that is all for now. Thank you for reading and I highly advise you
to give Easy Golf a try if you haven't already. If you have any questions,
comments, or want to report a bug just send me an email.
Matt Davis
matt.davis@barkerscrest.com
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Posted Games |
I'll be online on and off during the Christmas holidays.
Add the gamertag AVF Easy Golf to your friends list and you'll find some
gamers that are ready and waiting for some online multiplayer matches.
I'll be looking out for some online matches so look at
my GamerCard above to see when I am online. Even if you are a beginner
jump right in...I'll give you tips that will take your golfing to Master status.
I'll be playing my custom course Barker's Revenge. Send me an
email
with your gamertag if you are interested in receiving a Game
Invite. |
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Frequently Asked Questions |
How do I download courses?
Click
here
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