[ Retro Scan of the Week ] Hand-Drawn Golf Reference

Monday, June 3rd, 2013

Chris Apple IIc hand-drawn Golf Map and Reference - circa 1980sIf there were only 40 degrees in a circle, this is what it would look like.

There is a certain rustic beauty in hand-drawn video game notes that I will never cease to enjoy. Case in point: this map/reference key created by family friend Chris when he was a kid in the 1980s. I’m not quite sure what game it was for (other than “Golf”), but it was likely a game for the Apple IIc, as I found it among related Apple IIc ephemera when I acquired his collection some years ago.

For more hand-drawn video game goodness, check out this VC&G post about my friend’s Deadly Towers maps from 2006.

[ Update: 06/03/2013 – I was just talking to my brother, and he thinks that either he drew this alone or I wrote the letters and he drew the numbers. It was either a reference to a Golf game he programmed in C in 1991, or an old Atari 800 golf game that I haven’t found yet. I still think it’s possible that Chris wrote the letters. ]

[ From Chris’ Apple IIc papers, circa mid-late 1980s ]

Discussion Topic of the Week: Do you ever hand-draw maps for modern video games?

The Official Golf Ball of Ultima III: Exodus

Saturday, April 8th, 2006
Official Ultima III Golf Ball

Here it is: the Official Golf Ball of Ultima III: Exodus. Back in 1983, if you found this ultra-rare object included in your Ultima III game box, you won an all-expenses paid trip to Lord British’s backyard swimming pool.

Ok, so I made that up. I actually found this golf ball in my back yard recently and thought it mildly amusing. The ball’s shape looks warped purely because my flatbed scanner wasn’t designed to scan 3D spherical objects. I wonder if Richard Garriott uses this brand when he hits the green.