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Will my retirement from wrestling prove to be the best move I ever made, or the biggest mistake? Hoping to prove otherwise comes 'Popscene' - a music simulator in the mould of the Wrestling MPire series. God knows the music business has just as many vibrant personalities as wrestling does, so let's see what they could be getting up to..
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Back To The Future
Although it never materialized,Popscene was actually conceived some 4 years ago in the summer of 2000. This crude 2D version was arguably the first decent game I ever made, but its large file size condemned it to the history books. Even in this early, unfinished state, the game still showed plenty of potential though. So now, 4 years later (and 4 years a better game designer), the concept has been resurrected for one more shot at the big-time..
All Around The World
The name is about the only thing that remains the same, because the concept has now been promoted to a huge 3D world - the likes of which we've come to expect from the wrestling games! It features a staggering 150 artists, spread across 6 unique record labels. Introducing 'Epic Talent' (the home of legendary veterans), 'Super Sounds' (the home of pop artists and divas), 'Rock-out Records' (the home of traditional rock bands), and 'Urban Records' (the home of hip hop artists). There's also 'The Underground', where all the aspiring young acts (or washed up veterans) strive to get recognized. In 'Legacy Records', there's even a place for the deceased artists so that they can release records posthumously! It might be called 'Popscene' but, evidently, every major genre has been represented to ensure that the game caters for all tastes..
Headline Acts
The characters that make up those rosters are as unique as the labels themselves! Although there are technically no real-life artists, there are plenty of familiar faces to look out for. From the legendary acts of the 60's, through to the chart-toppers of the 90's and present day, the range of characters is exceptionally broad. They're all perfectly unique too - not only in appearance, but in the role they play in the industry. In amongst the usual vocalists and dancers, you can also find guitarists, drummers, keyboardists, and even DJ's! Some characters have even dedicated their lives to behind-the-scenes roles, such as writing and production..
Fashion Accessories
Each artist's appearance is as unique as their role in the world. The game boasts the best character modelling yet - and there are plenty of ways to enjoy it. From gaunt body shapes to fat, from tight-fit to baggy, from male to female.. there are countless possibilities. Not least because there's even more fun to be had with the hairstyles - ranging from shaved to wild Afro's, and all kinds of long-haired variations. There's the usual selection of headwear and eyewear to experiment with too. Above all else, there's the best range of face and costume textures yet. By mixing and matching the different designs, on different body parts, you can truly create your own style..
Surgical Assistance
You can edit the costumes of your characters at any time, but more adventurous changes (such as those to the face and body) require plastic surgery! This costly procedure is your ticket to the image that you've always wanted. An artist's appearance can fluctuate over time as surely as their skills do. They lose weight, gain weight - and even gain wrinkles as they get older! You'll be thankful of this opportunity to turn back the clock..
Tale Of The Tape
Underneath the cosmetics, the most important aspect of a character is their personality. As in the wrestling games, there are 8 key statistics (rated out of 100) that determine how useful or valuable they are. 'Popularity' indicates their drawing power, and is therefore the most important quality. Similarly, 'Reputation' indicates how much respect they command in the outside world. Meanwhile, 'Attitude' governs how reliable they are and 'Happiness' indicates their enthusiasm. In addition to those personality traits, there are also musical skills to consider. 'Production' influences their ability to produce entertaining songs, whilst 'Writing' governs their artistic output. Similarly, 'Performance' influences how well an artist delivers an entertaining song, whilst 'Talent' is their ability to deliver artistic tracks. As in real life, that balance between art and entertainment is the key to a successful career..
Best Of The Best
With all those statistics flying around, you'll be glad of the game's 'Database' feature that helps you make sense of it all! It's like a record book that reports the top 10 artists in any given category - ranging from the 'Most Popular' to the 'Most Troublesome'. These rankings are a fantastic way of keeping track of who's hot and who's not. You can even refine the search to one particular label, so you can see where you stand in the greater scheme of things. It's a depressing reminder that the world doesn't revolve around you!
Seal The Deal
After studying the world rankings, you'll often discover an artist that you want to sign. Fortunately, you have the power to approach any artist at any time - but getting them to sign on the dotted line is another matter! Fans of the wrestling games will recognize the tug-of-war that is the contract negotiations. You have to offer artists a signing-on fee, a contract length, and the percentage of the income that you're willing to pay them. The royalties are broken down into 3 distinct categories: those from CD sales, those from ticket sales, and those from endorsements. All of them are a regular occurrence in any successful artist's life, and your employees will expect their cut. Sometimes even the most reasonable of deals doesn't cut it though, because artists can also have personal reservations. Whether it's the prospect of working with an artist that they don't like, or simply the fact that they're happy where they are, there are plenty of doubts that need to be addressed. Sometimes contract negotiations are as much about politics as they are about money..
Making The Band
There's more to putting together a great band than simply signing a handful of chart-toppers. A band functions on the same 8 cylinders that drive an individual artist - it's just that they're compromised in a team environment. There's the collective 'Popularity' and 'Reputation' to worry about, and also the collective 'Attitude' that governs how well the unit functions. More importantly, you also need to cultivate a good melting pot of talent. A well-rounded team needs good production skills, thoughtful writing, a consummate performer, and undeniable talent. Sometimes a couple of artists will demonstrate all of the required qualities, but more often than not you'll need to hire a specialist in each area..
True To Form
You can have up to 5 artists in a team, but that doesn't mean that they all have to be on-stage. You have access to 'Formation' options that allow you to dictate who plays what role - whether it's in the limelight or behind-the-scenes. Furthermore, you can also specify what shape the band takes (from a boy band line-up to a traditional band layout) and you can even determine who goes where. Far from an aesthetic decision, these layouts are actually an important part of good management. By confining an artist backstage, you can make the most of their production skills (otherwise they would have been diluted). Likewise, an artist needs to be on-stage to contribute their performance skills. A successful unit will use the right skills, in the right way, at the right time..
A Word In Your Ear
You don't necessarily have to make all the decisions though. You have a very real relationship with your employees, and they will often come to you with ideas of their own! Whether it's a change of costume or a change of attitude, they're always there to add their two cents. You might meet under less happy circumstances though. Sometimes artists can be more demanding than helpful - asking for more money, more time off, etc. Ruling with a firm hand is tempting, but it invariably results in an unhappy work environment. Treading that line is yet another responsibility on your shoulders..
What's The Deal?
The most lucrative 'meeting' you can expect to sit through is that with the boss of a major record label! After paying your dues on the independent circuit, it's only a matter of time before an offer comes your way. If not, you can even barge into their offices and perform for a deal! In any case, when the times comes, you'll find it's similar to negotiating a contract with an employee of your own. Only the tables are turned: instead of negotiating a reasonable deal, you're now out to get as much as you can! As you do with your artists, the label boss will offer you a signing-on fee, a combination of royalties, and a contract length. It's then up to you to demand a more favourable deal, but if you push your luck you may find that the whole thing falls through..
Mission Impossible
Even when you do settle in at a major label, the meetings don't stop there. The boss will regularly call you into his office to discuss your progress. More often than not, he'll have ideas of his own about what you should be doing - and may even set you a career-threatening ultimatum! Whether it's hiring a particular character or achieving a particular goal, failure to obey these demands could see you demoted back to the small-time. On the other hand, you may find that the pressure brings out the best in you! Business meetings aren't always so tense though. In addition to your boss, you can also get visits from other entrepreneurs and fellow artists that want to collaborate with you. This is where your 'endorsement' royalties pay off, because you can earn millions by lending your name to a product or selling the rights to your material..
As The World Turns
The careers of all the other artists evolve as surely as yours does. Whether it's a change of label, a new relationship, or a fluctuation in talent, the latest gossip is reported to you via weekly news reports. It's important to pay close attention to the exploits of your peers, so that you know who's worth working with and where they can be found..
Courting Controversy
Sometimes the news is so close to home that you get caught up in the mess! Scandals and accusations are commonplace in the music industry, and you're fair game as soon as you become successful. Whether it's fellow artists, business contacts, or complete strangers, you will regularly find yourself being dragged through the courts. Sometimes the claims are legitimate (such as those to song rights), whilst others are just plain bogus (even extending to claims of sexual abuse!). However, the process is frighteningly random - so you can't rely on the judge to make the right call. When a decision doesn't go your way, it can damage your bank balance as much as your reputation..
Annual Honours
With so much tension in the industry, you'll be relieved to attend fun events such as the award ceremonies! These crop up occasionally throughout the year to honour the finest artists in each of 3 categories: 'Best Single', 'Best Album', and 'Best Artist'. Like the news reports, this feature reminds you that there is an outside world to keep an eye on. The nominees are accurately linked to who really is causing a stir in the charts. Naturally, it's possible for you to be one of them - but it's far from guaranteed. You genuinely have to become one of the hottest artists to scoop one of these awards - so when it finally happens, it really is something to celebrate! Not least because it boosts your profile like nothing else..
Material Girl
If you want to become an award-winning act, it all begins in the recording studio. You can specify a track to work on with each passing week and eventually it will materialize, ready for you to use. When that happens, a song is blessed with 2 unique qualities: an 'entertainment' rating and an 'artistic' rating. Entertaining songs are those with commercial appeal that can expect to do well in the charts. Artistic songs, on the other hand, are those that warrant critical acclaim and take longer to lose their appeal. Naturally, a good combination of the two is required for a decent song. Although these qualities are somewhat random, they are strongly influenced by the skills of your production team. A poorly managed team will be lucky to have more than a couple of hits on an album, whereas those with dedicated producers will boast a more consistent hit rate..
The Source
Exactly what the tracks sound like is all down to you. The game is designed to call on a music CD or a folder of MP3's. You can specify which one (including those of your own!) in the 'Publishing' screen. You can then customize the project further by entering the title of the album, the title of each song - and even their style. Each track can be assigned a style of animation (ranging from slow ballads to wild moshing!) and also a tone (as in happy or angry). This is handy for making sure that the performances are as faithful to the real-life material as possible. Let's face it, the game has absolutely no hope of doing it perfectly - so it needs all the help it can get!
Special Delivery
Whatever your arsenal contains, the most important part of the process is bringing it to life on stage. After using your production skills to create the material, you now call upon your performance skills to ensure that it's delivered properly. The better the performer, the more likely they are to fulfil a song's maximum potential. This is where it becomes apparent that an act is only as good as a material - because even the best of performers can't salvage a bad song! Consistency is important because the total entertainment of a set is the average of each song that was delivered. This means that a good show can be tainted by one miserable performance. Inversely, it also means that a bad show can be salvaged by pulling an amazing performance out of the bag..
Critically Acclaimed
If the crowd don't make it clear how well your set was received, the journalists certainly will! Each major performance is followed by an actual review that summarizes the night's entertainment (including a genuine photo from the show!). These critics pull no punches, and won't hesitate to punish you for a lacklustre effort. Unfortunately, their opinion matters because these reviews are instrumental to your progress. A good review boosts the popularity and happiness of your act, whereas a bad review does more harm than good..
Singles Night
Fortunately, touring isn't the only way to make your name. You get similar review opportunities from singles and albums once they're released. These tend to be more favourable because the material doesn't get lost in translation. However, they're few and far between - so they have to be deployed strategically. You can release up to 4 singles from one album, before releasing the album itself..
Boxing Clever
Before you release anything, you can even shoot your own photo for the cover! There's a whole system in place to help you take in-game photos - and it's even accompanied by the titles and label logos that you'd expect. You can even get a 'Parental Advisory' sticker if your reputation demands it! However, the best thing about this feature is loading in your own designs from outside the game. The game simply saves an image to the hard-drive, and it's right there to replace if you so desire. It's handy for loading in the real box art when working from your own albums..
Top Of The Pops
The box art is merely cosmetic. What you should really pay attention to is how well the product performs in the charts! Every week, the latest list is compiled to show the best-selling records - and hopefully you'll be amongst them. It's far from guaranteed though. The charts are as competitive as they are in real life - with hundreds of artists throwing their names into the hat. The sales are accurately calculated too - so you can see songs slowly losing their appeal, whilst newcomers storm to the top..
Show Me The Money!
Between CD sales, ticket sales, and endorsements, there's a lot of money flowing into a successful act. As accurate as it is, you'll be pleased to know that the process is blissfully simple. Whenever a transaction occurs, the original sum is clearly stated before it filters down to you and then onto your employees (based on the percentages you negotiated). You're left in no doubt as to how much was made, how much you took away, and how much you gave away. If you don't like what you see, it may be time to talk about a new contract!
Promotional Offers
Not only do live shows bring in gate money, but they can also be used to enhance sales elsewhere in your empire. In addition to the more traditional venues, you may find yourself playing at shopping malls, radio stations, TV shows, and even sporting events! Although these venues tend to be the least spectacular, their high-profile nature brings other benefits. A good performance here can boost an act's profile even more than usual, and they invariably boost CD sales too - which helps to stop a release from sliding out of the charts..
On The Road
Rarely will you be able to demand performances at those lucrative venues, so you have to spend a lot of time making your name on the road. There are plenty of places to visit though! All in all, there are a dozen unique venues - ranging from humble bars to spectacular stadiums. Many of them boast my best modelling yet too. From the stage to the surroundings, a lot of effort has gone into making the locations look as realistic as possible. The atmospheres are as smooth as ever too. Whether it's the colourful ambience of an indoor venue, or the very real ambience of an outdoor festival, the atmospheres are very convincing. Nothing makes the atmosphere quite like the crowd though! As you'd expect, each venue has a capacity - and they fill up according to how many fans you attracted. Rather embarrassingly, you may find yourself performing to a half-filled venue! A situation made all the more poignant by the fact that the attendance is linked into the sound. The more people there are, the louder the crowd volume is. It definitely highlights the difference an intimate crowd and a full house..
The Property Ladder
Your access to these venues is limited to how popular you are. You have to 'negotiate' bookings much like you would a contract - and if you're not popular enough to call the shots, you may find the doors are closed to you. Climbing up the ladder is a gradual process. You start at bars and clubs (or maybe even busking on the streets!), before progressing to halls, and then to stadiums. However, there are two ways of approaching bookings. You can also specify how many songs you're willing to perform. A long headline set might get shot down, but you can always lower your ambitions to that of a supporting act. It doesn't pay as well per ticket, but sometimes the experience is worth compromising for..
Personal Organizer
With all these different venues and commitments filling up your days, you'll be grateful for the game's scheduling system! As in the wrestling games, it clearly states what lies ahead of you. This allows you to plan your tours efficiently, and it also helps you prepare for big shows. Speaking of big shows, they don't get much bigger than 'Tribute' and 'Charity' events! Whenever an artist passes away (which is a very real possibility), you may find yourself participating in a huge super-card to honour their work. As their portrait haunts you from the video screen, you deliver a performance worthy of the occasion. Naturally, all the proceeds go to a memorial or charity fund - but they're a priceless way of boosting your profile and reputation..
The Hall Of Fame
No matter how many plans you make, all things must come to an end. Although you can choose to retire at any time, you can't rest on your laurels because failure can force you out! The longer you work, the higher the expectations are - and as soon as you stop meeting them, it could spell the end. Retirement isn't so bad though. Your achievements are summarized in one final news report. It states how many weeks you were in business for, how many CD's you sold, how many awards you won, and how much money you banked. These achievements are then ranked in the 'Hall Of Fame' for you to cherish (and compare with other efforts!)..
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Learn About Pool Games
What Are Billiards?
Billiard games, or cue sports, are games that are played on a cloth-covered table. The object of these games usually involves knocking a variety of items around, such as balls and disks, using specially-made cue sticks. The size and dimensions of the table, the equipment used, and the rules employed all vary depending on what gaming subset they are designed for. There are three major types of cue sports: carom billiards, snooker and pool.
Caramboloe - Carom billiards, otherwise known as carambole, is played on a ten-foot long table that lacks pockets. Only three balls are used: two cue balls, one for each player, and one object ball. Carom billiards was fairly popular from way back to the 17th century, but as pocketed games grew in prominence, they have since fallen by the wayside. Today, they are nowhere nearly as commonplace as the other two subsets.
Snooker - Snooker is played on a pocketed table that can reach up to 12 feet in length. The game is played using 22 balls in total, including one white cue ball, 15 red balls, and six other balls of assorted colors. Of the three subsets, it has the most diverse set of equipment to be used alongside the cue stick. These tools include the rest, hook-rest, spider, swan, extended rest and extended spider. These are used to assist the player’s angling and eyeballing of the cue, which is very important when considering how snooker is played on a much larger surface than the other games. Snooker may not be well-known in the United States, but it is very popular in Europe and especially Great Britain, where it originated.
Pool - Finally, pool is typically played on a smaller, six-pocket table that can measure between seven to ten feet long. There are 16 balls involved, including one blank white cue ball and 15 objects, all of which are labeled by number and marked with different colorations. The only tool employed by all players is a single cue stick.
Cue Sports Variations
Straight Pool – As the name implies, this is the simplest version of pool out there. Unlike many rule sets, there is no set order of balls the players are required to hit and/or pocket; any ball can be sunk at any time. The object of the game is to score points, with one point awarded for every successfully pocketed ball. How many points are required to win varies, but it typically goes up to 150 in professional matches. For that reason, the balls are racked multiple times over the course of the game, usually whenever only one object ball remains on the table
Eight-ball – Although this is not the simplest variation of pool out there, it is by far the most popular. The game begins with both players selecting one of two groups of balls. How these groups are designated varies depending on how the balls are designed, but the most common are “solids and stripes.” The former are balls that are fully one color, while the latter are primarily white with a colored stripe running across the circumference. After that, both players take turns knocking balls of their designated group into the pockets. Penalties are inflicted should a player ever hit his opponent’s balls with the cue. Whichever player pockets all of his balls first must then sink the 8-ball to win. However, if a player pockets the 8-ball before getting rid of his other balls, he automatically loses.
Nine-ball - The object of this game is to sink the titular 9-ball. However, all players involved are required to hit the lowest numerical object on the table with the cue ball every turn, starting from the 1-ball, then the 2-ball, and so on. To that end, neither can target the 9-ball until the first eight have been pocketed. Should the 9-ball sink by chance before then, then the player who accomplished that wins the game. Since only nine balls are utilized in this game, a diamond-shaped rack designed to hold that many is used in place of the usual 15-ball triangular one.
Ten-ball – The rules of this game are largely similar to nine-ball, barring a few exceptions. The most obvious is that it uses ten balls, but more than that, the player is required to call both the ball he intends the sink and the pocket he intends to use every turn. Whoever sinks the 10-ball first wins.
One Pocket – This game is similar to straight pool in that scoring a set number of points by pocketing balls is the key to winning. The difference lies in the name; players only earn points by sending balls into specific pockets on the table. Usually, one player chooses which foot-corner pocket he’ll use, while the other player claims the one directly opposite of it.
Bank Pool – Just like in straight pool, the object of this game is to score points by sinking balls. Where it diverges is that points can only be scored by “banking” shots. This is done by hitting a designated object ball with the cue ball, and bouncing it off of least one of the table’s cushioned rails before putting it into a pocket. Getting the hang of bank shots requires lots of practice, so this game is recommended for experienced pool players.
Snooker – The object of snooker is to score more points than the opposition while potting balls in a specific order. Every ball is worth a different amount of points, with reds worth one apiece, while the yellow is worth two, green is worth three, brown earns four, blue gets five, and black scores seven. A player cannot attempt to pocket any of the colored balls until he successfully pockets a red one. If a player succeeds in potting a colored ball, he receives the appropriate amount of points, the ball gets returned to its original position on the table, and the player get to take another shot. His turn ends once he fails to pot a ball. When no more red balls remain on the table, both players can start to directly target the colored ones, which no longer get replaced. The game ends when no objects remain on the table.
The History of Billiards
Cue sports are believed to have evolved from outdoor games that involved hitting balls with stick-like instruments, such as golf and croquet. The equipment of early billiard games reflected this, with wicket-like hoops placed on the table of which balls had to be hit through using club-like cues called maces. These maces were not used to strike the balls, but to gently push them along on the table. Rails, or “banks” as they were called, were originally built along the edge of the tables to keep anything from rolling off, but they developed a few unintended side effects. For one thing, whenever a ball found itself situated too close to a bank, many players found it advantageous to hit it using the butt end of their mace. Another was how players would sometimes intentionally bounce balls off of the bank in order to make more tricky shots. These would lay the groundwork for future developments in billiards.
The earliest known billiard table in recorded history belonged to King Louis XI, who reigned in France from 1461 to 1483. The Duke of Norfolk was said to own such a table himself in 1588, and legend has it that the head of Mary, Queen of Scots, was wrapped in the cloth of her own billiard table when she was executed in 1587. Louis XIV in particular was known to enjoy the games, with billiards spreading in popularity among the French aristocracy while he ruled from 1643 to 1715. Eventually, the games were known throughout all of Europe and became a popular pastime among people in the middle class.
As the 19th century rolled around, so did advances in technology and industrialization, and billiard games benefited from both. The mace had all but disappeared in favor of the cue stick, which by 1823, now had the leather tip we are all familiar with today. Chalk was more frequently applied to the cue in order to aid in its striking capabilities. After rubber vulcanization came about in 1839, more tables had rubberized cushions built into them to improve their bounciness. Wickets either disappeared from the tables completely, or were replaced by pockets that were cut into the newly-designed banks.
At this point in time, the most popular cue sport in Britain was English Billiards. It was played on a six-pocket table with two cue balls and one object ball. The object of the game was that both players would take turns attempting to pot both the object ball and their opponent’s cue ball. This game formed the basis for what would eventually become snooker.
Meanwhile, the United States’ game of choice was American Four-Ball Billiards. It was similar to English Billiards in that both people played the game trying to pocket each others’ cue balls alongside the object balls. Where it differed was that it was played on a four-pocket table with four balls. By the 1870s, Four-Ball began to fall out of favor as popularity began to pick up for a new game known as American Fifteen-Ball Pool. This game marked the starting point for what would eventually become modern-day pool.
From the late 1800s to the mid-1900s, billiards grew in popularity. Pool halls were a common sight in cities for friends to get together. Tournaments were held as early as the American Civil War, and soldiers going on tour in the European theater of WWII would even play the games when they had the chance.
However, after the Second World War ended, popularity in pool began to dry up in the States, rapidly going the way of the dodo as the ‘50s plodded along. Fortunately, 1961 brought with it renewed public interest to billiards in the form of the critically acclaimed film, The Hustler, which starred Paul Newman as a small-time pool hustler and his rivalry against a champion. Pool halls briefly reopened and thrived throughout the ‘60s before falling out of favor again as the Vietnam War took off. They didn’t pick up until 1986, when The Color of Money came out as a sequel to The Hustler.
Since then, billiard games have remained popular all over the world. Pool tables can frequently be found in bars, and pool halls are open for business. World championships held for pool and snooker are televised live to fans everywhere. Finally, though there are a wide variety of tables available for private use, many people find it easier and much more economical to play simulated electronic versions on their television and computer screens. Developments in technology over the years have allowed these games to become more and more true to life.
Pool Games on the Computer
Pool may be a simple game that doesn’t require fancy graphics, but that doesn’t mean it translates easily to an electronic format. Two things are important in a pool video game: physics and perspective.
Proper physics are important in electronics billiards because they’re important in real life billiards. Learning how to properly bounce balls off of the banks and each other is vital to mastering the game. In order to pull off trickier shots, a player has to learn how to do all sorts of things, including gauging the weight of a ball, exerting the correct amount of force on it at the right angle, and estimating its trajectory after colliding with something. Programming a detailed and accurate physics engine that emulates real-life movements allows a gamer to perform these very feats, preserving the inherent strategy of billiards. https://greatdelta777.weebly.com/blog/gopro-4-black-edition-user-manual.
As for perspective, that serves two functions. One, it simply makes things more immersive for the player, and two, it provides the other half of strategy in pool: aiming and angling. Things like speed, direction, distance, momentum, and spin of a struck cue ball are all heavily determined both by the location and angle at which it was struck. .
Early electronic billiard games that came out in the ‘80s and early ‘90s always had mixed results in terms of physics. Titles such as Trick Shot and Alex Higgins’ World Snooker, which were released in 1982 and 1985 respectively, had pretty rudimentary physics engines, but they did show a slow but steady improvement over time. This culminated in 1994 with games like Arcade Pool, which boasted more realistic physics than ever before.
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Sadly, in terms of perspective, all billiard computer games invariably failed. Technology was too limited to be able to give the player a more realistic view of the table, so all of them stuck to a bird’s-eye view. They were perfectly playable, but things like locational aiming and vertical angling of the cue stick were just not possible during these years. As fun and critically-acclaimed as these early editions of electronic pool were, they were considered a separate beast entirely. Few people truly considered them to be worthy substitutes for the real thing.
Fortunately, with the advent of three-dimensional graphics in the mid-1990s, the state of billiard games began to improve by leaps and bounds. As early as 1995, billiard games that boasted polygonal visuals began to appear. One of the most notable was Virtual Pool, developed by Celeris and published by Interplay for Windows, Macs, and the Playstation. It featured four different games to play, multiple computer opponents, and multiplayer capabilities via hot seat and modem. What was most impressive about it was that it also had a fully rotatable camera that allowed the player to “walk” all around the table as if it were a physical object. Numerous aiming options for the cue stick were implemented as well, including the ability to raise and lower both the tip and butt. The game was deemed to be so lifelike, that Interplay promised a full refund to customers that failed to improve their real-life pool skills within 45 days of purchase.
Virtual Pool would go on to be one of the most successful billiard simulators out there, and the model that most other games in the genre would attempt to follow. It spawned a couple of sequels in 1997 and 2000, each one adding more games to play and progressively better graphics. The series was notable in that the developers took extensive consultation from physicists and professional pool players alike to ensure that every title in the Virtual Pool franchise would be as true-to-life to pool as one could get on a computer. As an added bonus, the third game even allowed the player to face off against an AI version of the Black Widow herself, Jeanette Lee.
Virtual Pool may have been the most influential billiard computer game on the market, but it was not the only one. The year 2000 saw the birth of what would become another long-runner in the form of Blade Interactive Studios’ World Championship Snooker. True to its name, this game allowed the player to partake in the championship, competing against real-life professional snooker players like Mark Williams and Stephen Hedry. It made use of cinematic angles and detailed backgrounds to imitate the televised broadcasts of the actual championship, complete with commentators and full character models for the players, hosts and audience. Since its inception, sequels and iterations to World Championship Snooker would be released for the PC, each reflecting the current year in the world of snooker, adding new opponents to face and stadiums to play.
There haven’t been many notable billiard computer games in recent years. In 2009, Blade Interactive Studios’ franchise was renamed to WSC Real 09: World Snooker Championship. In addition to playing in the big time snooker league, it also let the player take part in the Golden Cue Tournament. Its latest iteration came out two years later in 2011 as WSC Real 11. As it is, the series shows no sign of slowing down. The other big franchise, Virtual Pool, is stated to be far from dead despite a long absence, with the fourth iteration still in development as of 2012.