QuickSnooker

[Billy]

Nickax, I'm so glad I decided to read this thread. I used to play the old 2d version and found it fun in an arcadey type of way, but I had no idea it had been updated - and what an update it is!! At the risk of sounding like your PR I think this new version is nothing short of fantastic. I downloaded iSnooker a few weeks ago and have been playing that, but your grahics run smoother, the balls pysics are more realistic, and the sound FX are gorgeous, especially when compared to iSnooker's. I've never once bought an online game, but I think after a few more goes on the free one I will be doing just that.

A couple of questions. One thing I do like about iSnooker over this, is the static, overhead TV-style view of the table, as opposed to yours which has a kind of floating camera effect. Is it possible to have the small overhead view, and a static TV-style view for the main?

[nickax]

Thanks Gorfendor

The timing is a little spooky becuase having worked on it since October - the new PRO upgrade option for QuickSnooker was launched yesterday.. there's a little information here http://www.quicksnooker.com/update7/revision.htm but really you need to download/play it to appreciate it.
You can get the game for 7 days free from http://www.quicksnooker.com and if you choose 'internet play','internet waiting room' and go into the 'blue' room - you can even beg a game or two on the one of the 'Pro' levels (Club,Pro or Master).

Dare I say it's now the most realistic Snooker game available on the Internet.. I'm sure you guys will have something to say about that - but all input is gratefully received, and unlike a bigger publisher - I can actually act on it.

Please give it a try

[Gorfendor]

Nick, just wanted to say that I'm almost always playing QS! I used to play the 2D version and found myself asking "I wish this could be 3D..." So glad you implemented it.

I play snooker fairly regularly down the local club, but when I'm home I'm usually on my laptop with QS running in the background

I think its a good idea that you're looking more into the swerve/spin effect with the cue ball, if that was implemented I can't wait to start trying out trick shots

Great job buddy, keep up the good work!

[namefake]

Nick, got the update. Much appreciated, seriously. Let me know if you want any more fussy feedback!

[namefake]

Yeah, me too. I'm definitely not suggesting permanent changes here, just alternatives.

[nickax]

See, another interesting point - that never even crossed my mind !

*slightly* trickier to impliment - but still no biggie

Personally I'd find it very hard to be objective about which was the more natural, but as you say - it could be an *option*

Nick
Http://www.quicksnooker.com

[namefake]

Hi Neil

Thanks for the input.. *exactly* the kind I need.

I've never had any coaching (I've barely played) - so I naively thought that your head would inevitably be slightly offset, also with the cue completely straight it looked a bit 'odd' on screen.

The 'eye' is actually only offset by 3cm - but obviously that makes a big difference.

We have quite a large crowd who play QS in what they call 'NOBA' mode (No Object Ball Aids).. ie. with the object ball guide line turned off (on the 'Aids' menu) - considering how much harder it is, some of them are remarkably good at it - the record break being a 122.

Adding an option for a 'straight' cue - is trivial - in fact I just did it and played a few shots.

It looks and feels absolutely fine - in fact so much so, I think I will just change it to be a permanent fixture.

I will of course have to put an option in for the original offset, or my NOBA players (who have unwittingly learned to play with a 3cm offset) will be up-in-arms.

Thanks for the input - and look out for an update coming your way soon.

Nick Axworthy
http://www.quicksnooker.com

Thanks for the quick reply, and for the content!

Maybe I'm on my own here, with wanting the 'straight' cueing; I'd be interested to hear others' views on this.

Glad to hear you're easily able to implement it anyway. I look forward to it.

If you're looking for other ideas, and again this one is totally personal preference, but it'd be nice to customise the controls a bit. For instance, given the option I would swap the vertical mouse axis with the mouse wheel, so the wheel controlled the shot power.

Anyway, cheers.

Neil

[Welshsteve]

Thanks Nick, much appreciated. I will give more of a go.

[nickax]

Hi There

Err, sorry - No, I do have customer (Geometrico) in France, who plays on a Mac, but it's on installed on a Windows partition.

So, it does *run* on a Mac - (hardware wise).. I did also used to have a customer who ran it under 'softwindows' but i can't say i'd recommend (or support) that for the 3D version.

Short answer

No

[nickax]

QuickSnooker

Hi Steve - I did indeed, slightly half-heartedly go for an Interview at First, more the entrepreneur (as you might have guessed).

A lot of people didn't like the move to 3D - and I kind of saw that coming, So I always kept the 2D view - If you press '2' in the game it switches to a completely playable 2D view, in which the controls are more-or-less the same as the original 'fun' QuickSnooker.
However, with the switch to a correct scale table, the right size balls and accurate physics - some of the 'fun factor' was arguably lost.

For a while a hardcore of players continued to play on the 'classic' table (which I re-invented in the new version) - which had the same original non-scale table.. but to be honest the 3D one soon moved so far ahead that more or less everyone migrated.

I don't like to labour the point on 'realism' because like you say, how can clicking a mouse (or even waving a plastic Nintendo controller) ever be 'like' a real cue - you're better off going to the club.

It's a game.. based on Snooker, and hopefully is still fun - it introduces a lot of people to the sport (90,000 downloads last year) and provides a lot of entertainment (3,000,000 frames played last year)

I'm courting feedback from real players at this point because - some people would like the option to make the game more 'realistic' still and you guys are able to spot my mistakes and oversights, I do think ultimately it will help people with technique, strategy and understanding ball control but obviously it can do nothing for their actual cueing.
Plainly there's also work to do on better modeling of spin and swerve.

I pretty much guarantee that if you played one whole frame on the 3D QS, you'd enjoy the next as much as the orignal version, and if you don't beat the 'easy' computer opponent on the first frame.. well. I'll be dissapointed in you ;o)

Here's a referral code '7FDEL' - kindof a temporary key, if you enter it on the opening screen it'll give you 7 days as a full member for free.

Cheers

Nick

[nickax]

Hi Steve - I did indeed, slightly half-heartedly go for an Interview at First, more the entrepreneur (as you might have guessed).

A lot of people didn't like the move to 3D - and I kind of saw that coming, So I always kept the 2D view - If you press '2' in the game it switches to a completely playable 2D view, in which the controls are more-or-less the same as the original 'fun' QuickSnooker.
However, with the switch to a correct scale table, the right size balls and accurate physics - some of the 'fun factor' was arguably lost.

For a while a hardcore of players continued to play on the 'classic' table (which I re-invented in the new version) - which had the same original non-scale table.. but to be honest the 3D one soon moved so far ahead that more or less everyone migrated.

I don't like to labour the point on 'realism' because like you say, how can clicking a mouse (or even waving a plastic Nintendo controller) ever be 'like' a real cue - you're better off going to the club.

It's a game.. based on Snooker, and hopefully is still fun - it introduces a lot of people to the sport (90,000 downloads last year) and provides a lot of entertainment (3,000,000 frames played last year)

I'm courting feedback from real players at this point because - some people would like the option to make the game more 'realistic' still and you guys are able to spot my mistakes and oversights, I do think ultimately it will help people with technique, strategy and understanding ball control but obviously it can do nothing for their actual cueing.
Plainly there's also work to do on better modeling of spin and swerve.

I pretty much guarantee that if you played one frame on the 3D QS, you'd enjoy the next as much as the orignal version, and if you don't beat the 'easy' computer opponent on the first frame.. well. I'll be dissapointed in you ;o)

Here's a referral code '7FDEL' - kindof a temporary key, if you enter it on the opening screen it'll give you 7 days as a full member for free.

Cheers

Nick

[visionaire]

Will there be a Mac version any time soon?

[Welshsteve]

Hi Nick, long time no speak (you once went for an interview at 1st Software didn't you?).

The old 2D version was just simply great fun. The 3D version took some getting used to. My son loves it. I guess i just prefer the 2D version as if I want realism, I'll go and play down the club

It's more of a personal preference than a critisism. I've not purchased the full 3D version as my licence code is years old and on a PC that doesn't exist anymore. I'm sure if I played it more I'd get used to it. I think the 3D view throws me off because the basic control system is the same as the old version isn't it?

[nickax]

Cueing straight

Hi Neil

Thanks for the input.. *exactly* the kind I need.

I've never had any coaching (I've barely played) - so I naively thought that your head would inevitably be slightly offset, also with the cue completely straight it looked a bit 'odd' on screen.

The 'eye' is actually only offset by 3cm - but obviously that makes a big difference.

We have quite a large crowd who play QS in what they call 'NOBA' mode (No Object Ball Aids).. ie. with the object ball guide line turned off (on the 'Aids' menu) - considering how much harder it is, some of them are remarkably good at it - the record break being a 122.

Adding an option for a 'straight' cue - is trivial - in fact I just did it and played a few shots.

It looks and feels absolutely fine - in fact so much so, I think I will just change it to be a permanent fixture.

I will of course have to put an option in for the original offset, or my NOBA players (who have unwittingly learned to play with a 3cm offset) will be up-in-arms.

Thanks for the input - and look out for an update coming your way soon.

Nick Axworthy
http://www.quicksnooker.com

[namefake]

Re: Nick's Reply

Hey Nick

First of all I'd like to say you've done a great job with Quicksnooker, it's definitely one of the best snooker games I've seen. One thing really annoys me though:

When playing in 3D view, the cue is not shooting in the vertical. What I mean is, the cue action goes slightly right to left from the view of the 'camera'. This of course is fine with the guide line on, but when you switch them off you are not sure where 'straight' is to work out where to play the shot.

I say this as I have been looking for a good realistic snooker game to try and improve my real life snooker game, and one thing I was looking for was to get the angles of pots more habitual, and for this I wouldn't use the guide lines and try to learn the pots by eye.

Anyway, I can't see any easy options to change this in game, so was wondering how big a deal it would be to change? If it is semi easy to implement, maybe give folks the option. If you had a really good reason to design it the way it currently is, and if I've totally missed the point, please let me know!

Thanks

Neil