Responses to your questions from Blade

[DavisFan76]

Blade. As you are no doubt aware, shops no longer offer refunds for PC games (some offer exchanges). With this in mind,

WHY THE HELL IS THERE NO BLOODY DEMO!!!!!!???

Judging by people's opinions here, it is one that will come down to individual preference and as such, we should be able to try before we buy.

There is no way I'm buying this game unless I can try a demo, so by not releasing one, you're missing out on sales, Blade.

[daveebee]

When you think about it,it's really quite clever of Blade not offering a demo. Why would they want to advertise a total cock-up in advance?

[SnookDude]

That's why I always wait some reviews

For example, on console version, I don't think there is a demo for that.

When I read most common problems here such as: length of aim aids arrow, cue / cushion sounds, table speed, animation errors, save games ... Man, thats a lot.

The funny thing is that I dont really care about those on WSC 2008 for Wii.

Length of aim aids arrow? Well, dont spend on the skill points, as simple as that.

Cue / cushion sounds? Hmm, no biggie! I am not deaf, but I dont care with this kind of sounds. To be honest, I cannot be bothered with this during game-play. Yes, I play real snooker ... and yes, this should be very easy to fix for Blade!

Table speed? Hmm ... probably correct, but again, I feel no different with real snooker table .... Well, probably I am just an average player and the table in my snooker club sucks

Animation errors? Woops, I always turn off all animations

Save games? Yeah, this sucks! Why on earth they cant make this feature works? Thats puzzle me, big time, really! They brag and said to have the best physic engine ... but cannot make save game works???

Anyway, as I already decided that I pass this version ... simply because there is not much added features (especially for Wii and PC) .. Unbelievable.

The thing is, they don't have competitor ... especially that licensed all the players/venues/tournaments.

Blade. As you are no doubt aware, shops no longer offer refunds for PC games (some offer exchanges). With this in mind,

WHY THE HELL IS THERE NO BLOODY DEMO!!!!!!???

Judging by people's opinions here, it is one that will come down to individual preference and as such, we should be able to try before we buy.

There is no way I'm buying this game unless I can try a demo, so by not releasing one, you're missing out on sales, Blade.

[Tablefitter]

Length of aim aids arrow? Well, dont spend on the skill points, as simple as that.

All the "pro" players here have never spend any skill points ! The Basic aim ist too long, Mister clever..

[daveebee]

I wonder what the bosses of Word Snooker think about this game that they have given their name to. I hope that in the light of this slipshod effort by Blade Interactive they will no longer allow their organisation to be involved. Surely they must have someone in the organisation who could advise Blade what is realistic in the game of snooker and pool. I have had all the variations of snooker for the pc since Jimmy White,and with a few small exceptions any changes have been for the worse. I am sure most of us on this forum could give Blade or any other potential snooker/pool game developer some good advice on how to produce the next generation of snooker.

[Caligula]

It may be me going mad but I'm sure I recognise some of these these forum names from the old days when Blade was with Codemasters

Anyhow, I do agree with a lot of the gripes, but I still think Blade have done a pretty good job. It seems to me that they are trying to simplify the game too much. Instead of adding to already existing options they seem to be taking away choice which is never a good thing.

Graphically it is far superior to the 07 version though, and I personally like the new real controls.

My main gripes are definitely the lack of aiming aid options (length), the fact that they have taken a step backward in some of the tournaments not having full length matches (something I and a few others from Blade's codemasters days begged for and they implemented in 2004 and now seem to have taken away again).

Last not least I don't like having to exit without saving, going to profile just to see rankings, and not being able to see which AI won a tournament once I'm kicked out!

[SnookDude]

Eh, my name is not Mister clever

I asked that in previous post as well ... if the default arrow is too long or not, which obviously nobody answered. Thats why I dont know how long is it.

Anyway, if you want to be more realistic, add option to DISABLE TOP VIEW.

Because in real live situation, I dont think you can do that, do you?

Oh no! That will make the game very hard

All the "pro" players here have never spend any skill points ! The Basic aim ist too long, Mister clever..

[SnookDude]

Really? Obviously they took this away from WSC 2008 for Wii ... because in this version if you got kicked out from a tournament, you will get something like this:

"David Gilbert won bla bla bla ... Judd Trump got the highest break of Y ... bla bla you got X points ... bla bla"

Last not least I don't like having to exit without saving, going to profile just to see rankings, and not being able to see which AI won a tournament once I'm kicked out!

[contact300]

IS Judd Trump in this game?

[DavisFan76]

I wonder what the bosses of Word Snooker think about this game that they have given their name to. I hope that in the light of this slipshod effort by Blade Interactive they will no longer allow their organisation to be involved. Surely they must have someone in the organisation who could advise Blade what is realistic in the game of snooker and pool. I have had all the variations of snooker for the pc since Jimmy White,and with a few small exceptions any changes have been for the worse. I am sure most of us on this forum could give Blade or any other potential snooker/pool game developer some good advice on how to produce the next generation of snooker.

That would be nice, but then again, money talks. An open beta would be nice next time, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

IS Judd Trump in this game?

Can someone post a list of who is in the game? I want to see a bit more than thirty or so players.

[DavisFan76]

• Removal of shot aids in online play

It is possible to remove the aiming aids for your own player when playing online and as soon as the other player takes a shot you are able to see exactly what aids they are using. Players should agree beforehand what aids are to be used in the game.

Scrap this system Blade, it destroys any need for snooker related skill in the game!

• Number of seasons able to play

You are able to play an infinite number of seasons.

• Lack of online play on PC

We conducted an extensive period of market research which concluded that the number of users who would play online on PC was small. As a result we decided to focus our resources on more fundamental elements of the PC conversion.

That's BS. The option should be there for those who want it! Yet again, the damn consoles get preferential treatment.

• Ball / cushion collision sounds

All ball impact sounds are recorded samples from WSA tournament balls on WSA tournament tables. The physics engine automatically assigns the correct impact sound based on the velocity, angle and contact type.

Thanks again for all your feedback, which we will continue to monitor and respond to as promptly as possible.

Blade

Sorry Blade, but if that's the extent of your samping team's skills, you need to fire the lot of them! They may or may not have come from a WSC table, but the fact is, they're too bloody loud and destroy the atmosphere! Imagine watching a tense Final frame break off shot and you hear clunk, CLUNK, CLUNK as the ball rebounds around the table!

[Jobe]

As I posted before, you can customise the volume of all in-game sound via the sound options menu. Why didnt you LOOK for this before complaining on here that it isnt available? Also, as I mentioned in a previous post (I think the same one) that the cushion sounds seem like genuine samples (backed up by Blade's response to the comments regarding this). The problem doesn't lie with the samples themselves but with the over-sensitivity of the collision engine.

Maybe YOU being very picky (by your admission) think the cushion sounds are too loud by default but, aside from the fact you can adjust this in the menu, other casual gamers may expect to hear that kind of feedback and would be complaining if they didn't.

Im sorry, but you go too far when you start saying people should be fired- shame on you. Why dont you give Blade a call and tell that to the people who work in their sound department directly? Providing feedback and constructive criticism is one thing- something Blade, to their credit, have been very receiving of, "fire the lot of them" comments are completely different and do nothing but lower the tone of this thread and reflect very badly on you personally.

I'll say it again, go and look in the sound options menu and turn the relevant section down. Problem solved and you can go and enjoy the game how you like it to sound.

[DavisFan76]

If the gameplay from previous versions is anything to go by, then WSC Real should provide a fun, if unrealistic (as far as snooker skills are concerened) experience. Graphics are great, as they have always been. That just leaves the sound. It is by far the worst part of this series (if you're going to accept that your 'snooker skills' won't be tested by this game).

[Caligula]

If the gameplay from previous versions is anything to go by, then WSC Real should provide a fun, if unrealistic (as far as snooker skills are concerened) experience. Graphics are great, as they have always been. That just leaves the sound. It is by far the worst part of this series (if you're going to accept that your 'snooker skills' won't be tested by this game).

I would debate this:

It is true that your potting skills would not be improved by this game, as you are lining up object ball with pocket, rather than cue ball with object ball when potting, so potting in this game isn't really where it is at.

However understanding ball physics, spin, position are all fairly accurately simulated. Therefore controlling the cue ball and knowing which order to pot balls does require skill.

If you argue that the positioning isn't skillful either as you can see by the bubble, then I would still argue that that in itself is teaching you something. However good the positioning bubble is it won't allow for impossible positioning so running out of position still holds true in this game (albeit made easier).

If you turn the position indicator off completely then surely you need much more "skill" to play the game, and the positioning does (at least closely) simulate real snooker.

The most annying thing, and always has been with Blade's aiming aid system, is that long pots are far too easy. So many times I run out of position and simply pot the blue into the far right corner and spin back. Shots along the cushion are also far easier than they should be.

To sum up, the "skill" in the game revolves around good positioning rather than good potting.

[Jobe]

Just out of curiosity, in general, do you think Virtual Pool 3 has better sounds or WSC Real 09?

Here's a few video's of in-game footage from the 2 games to compare:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-FCksAImpw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5zZa...eature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Bu2r...eature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXrjf5Yd9cg


Lets break this down into sections (and I'll give you my opinions as I go along):

Ball collisions: Going off what Ive heard of the 2 games and using the videos above as an example Id have to say WSC Real 09's seem more realistic. VP3 seems to use exactly the same sound just played quiter or louder depending how hard its hit. There's definately some variation on Real09 when Ive played it here at home.

Cushion sounds: They're very subtle on the Virtual Pool 3 videos (and so I cant really make a fair comment on this). I'll admit, by default, they _are_ too loud on Real09.

Crowd/ Atmosphere: I think Real09 has a much more immersive feel here and beats VP3 hands down. I'll admit the coughs from the crowd brought a smile (in a nice way) to my face when I first heard them.

Cue sounds: Again I think Real09 has better cue sounds again because of the variety between how hard a shot is taken. VP3 just seem to use a very blunt 'cue' sound and simply adjust the volume on it for different power of shots.

Commentary: Is there any in VP3? In Real 09: Ok so its not to everyone's taste, especially Mr. Virgo's sense of humour but it is generally well responsive to the action on the table. Aside from a few outstanding bugs I think the commentary is a nice addition to the WSC series.

Music: Im not going to include really because I dont think its relevant to gameplay. Your thoughts are welcome though.

Pocket sounds: Im not a huge fan of the pocket sounds in either series to be honest but on the VP3 videos the sounds of a pocket on either a pool or snooker table seem to be the same? Look 35 seconds in to the 2nd VP3 video. I think there's a couple of bugs with the pocket sounds on Real09 (whereby sometimes they play the wrong sound type) but generally snooker and pool tables seem to use different pocket sounds, as it should be.


On the whole then I think Real09 wins here and I hope Blade continue to listen to the feedback and constructive, non-"Fire the lot of them" comments on these boards and take it on board when working on the next title of the series.

What do you guys think? Im sorry to keep going on about sound but, as someone quite rightly stated on here it is a very important part of the immersion experience.