KickShot Pool Beta 3 ( with MP )

Ok, I've spend a whole weekend adding and fixing based on the reports from beta 1, and here's what I've got now.



DOWNLOAD: *Removed*

Thanks for the testing guys. Additional Feedback is, of course, still welcome, but the download has now been taken down. A proper final demo version will be out later this month.

Changes :

Rather brute force fix for invisible balls.

Multiplayer is now enabled. Completely untested, but seems to work on localhost.

Mouse Sensitivity tweaked.

Menu settings can now be changed with left and right mouse.

Manual and auto camera modes. F12 changes camera, even if you're in auto mode. In manual mode, camera never changes unless you tell it to. In auto mode, it changes every time you take a shot, but also if you tell it to.

Eight Player Leagues and Tournaments ( any combination of human and CPU players. )

Sharks Mode ( one human player vs each CPU opponent in turn. )

Control overlay is now prettier, and an onscreen prompt tells you where to find it.

Oh, I don't remember, maybe a few other things too.

I'd really appreciate some multiplayer testing, as I've really no idea how/if that works.

Looks fabulous!

IPete2.

Before someone else says it - you have some sexy balls there.

I'll test the demo :)

Looks great, and I love these games..
physics uses to be what is not accurate in these games...

tested.

very cool.

I'd prefer once hits, the general top view wasn't forced. But u could configure to stay in normal 3d view you were, like in real life. An option.

The english spin is sweet (though I couldn't make the ball jump (hehe, I know, that'd be a load of more complexity)) pointing down.

perhaps an even finer control with ctrl. I like a lot to do very subtle touches to the ball it secondly pushes, and couldn't as much as I would have liked...The aiming thing (manually) accurate ness is the thing...

But really, very good.

Some too hard edges specular I noticed in white ball, could be my 3d card -gf4 ti 4200- . Noticed specially at start.

In general, has a very good feeling.

I am not an expert in pool, by no means.

"Manual and auto camera modes. F12 changes camera, even if you're in auto mode. In manual mode, camera never changes unless you tell it to. In auto mode, it changes every time you take a shot, but also if you tell it to"

sorry, hadn't read that.

Thanks guys.

Bob, yeah, the manual camera should do what you want. A number of people didn't like the automatic camera last time out, so I added an option to switch it manually. I may have forgotten to add it to the control overlay though, so I'll have to fix that.

I'll take a look at the hard specular edges. I had to switch from a cubemap to a spheremap at the last moment ( since I can't reliably check if the card has the ability to use cubemaps ) and perhaps the spheremap needs a little more work. I'll see what I can do.

Regarding the fine control, did you try adjust the mouse sensitivity? It defaults to 5, I believe, but it can down as low as 1 if you want.

BTW, nicer would be to add an optional setting:

-instead of the way it hits, display an strength progrees big bar (you know, those typical that go from yellow to red, and smaller to bigger, even a bit curved) , and instead of the mouse move (given how crappy some mouses are, mind is not bad , yet not as much control as I'd wish) right mouse hold and release, hit the ball at that pressure. Helps a lot in knowing the strenght. is also more accurate fo rthe type of hand control.

I haven't looked if you added as visual aid, but would be cool to have a trajectory (continuing forwards the stick line) visual aid...while in real life you don't have that, hehe, but to be able to play so, also.Probaly having two eyes helps us a lot more to aim in real life ;)

Nice lightmaps.

It already plays quite well, already at a very goo dquality. More than I use to expect on a shareware of this type.

I put all to maximum quality and non windowed.Still played well. Some banding in table though I set 32 bits...aliasing on...

Another suggestion...in manual mode, after your shot, it does not go to top view, that's nice, but would be better if as the action occurs, a zoom happens...so to "fit all" (like the operation fit al lin max) If that's performance expensive (it will be, in most low machines) , you could just jup to same angle view fitting all. I m suggesting a camer dolly, a zoom out.In same angle to not get confused. Like you do in real life (after u were concentrated on aiming, you get up and control what happens in the table for your shot, but from same angle/view)

For some reason, in real life, I get to be able to aim easily to just "touch" slightly a ball in the very subtle side of it, to for example, cause the reacting ball move just horizontally (useful in this case: white ball is forming a 90º angle with the ball to get into hole, and hole. You want the other ball to move only horizontally.)

maybe the visual trajectory would help.
but in real life I got that without it..
maybe I have little practice ;)

Absolutely fab graphics. Stunning in fact.
This is such a top game. Another Blitz killer!

Likes [+] Disklikes [-] suggestions [?]


[+] Awesome gfx an physics. Good feel to the game.
[+] Nice and smooth controls.
[-] Slow menus. Takes too long to navigate around
[-] Control of table should be cancelled when choosing menu options (during quit - yes/no)
[-] Ugly jpeg artifacts around D and bulk line
[?] How about LMB for shots and RMB for 'english' control?
[?] Camera - Follow target ball during shot
[?] Camera - Point at next ball after shot finishes
[?] Z to zoom (using mouse forward & back)

Overall though ... wow!

I'd better prefer middle for english spin, right for strenght whilst pressed (plus the progress bar idea...)
(instead of forward mouse move.You never get to remember how much did you moved, plus mouse moves are much random...keeping rmb pressed while progress bar grows, is quite more accurate)

Well, or LMB...as it seems is not used..?

I dunno, maybe the standard player is not gonna use that much english spin, and all have to use constantly the shot...

yep, I had tested to mouse=1 , it was better. Probably playing a bit more I'd tell you if a fine, fine control would be possible...

However, it already does quite well the typical shareware game control, or surpasses widely it...

There's a lot of quality, more being a beta.

That looks absolutely stunning!

later : it also plays really well.

HOWEVER - the mouse controls seem to be slightly sticky - it's very difficult to shift the cue just a tiny fraction left or right - it seems to want to jump in steps a little larger than would be ideal. If you could fix that problem it would be an amazing game. I tried turning the sensitivity down but it didn't seem to make much difference.

Wow! Virtual reality Pool, is it? Looks excellent!.

I really like this. My whines are:

· Manual camera mode -- would like to be able to look around still after taking a shot. Also, in automatic, how about keeping the cue view until you release 'S'? That way, you can go to above view easily when you're ready.

· Sounds: ball hits are always at same volume, no matter how gently or hard you hit.

· Sounds: cushion hits have a slight click to them, making them sound a little harsh -- could be dulled down a bit.

· Pocketing balls: the instant disappearance of the ball is a little off-putting. How about a really quick alpha fade? Fading into the black background, it should look like it's going into the darkness.

I do really like this though!

Thanks for all the feedback, guys. I'm pleased that most of basically enjoyed it.

A number of issues mentioned at tweaking issues where some people prefer one thing and others prefer another, so I'll need to wait and see if I can get a bit more of concensus before I make any changes there.

Some issues I can respond to now though.



Ugh.. I hate those control methods. I really hoped I could get away without it, but yeah, you might be right that some people will expect this.




Yep, I have that.




Yes, it does tend to do that. It's because I use mouse smoothing, I think. You can't get enough fine control even using the ctrl key and lowering mouse sensitivity? Maybe I'll need to add an option to disable mouse smoothing then.



I only just added the manual camera, so this wasn't possible before. It's certainly possible now though, so I'll take a look at it.



Should be possible. I don't have anything that specifically stops it happening.




Yup. This has come up before. I need to find a solution to this.



Zoom like you do with the mousewheel? Yeah, I should have a backup method for people without a wheel mouse.



The sounds are currently placeholders, so the click hopefully won't be there. I'll take a look at varying the volume when I get the final sounds too.



Hmm.. that sounds pretty good. I'll see how that looks.

Do you plan to allow for spin to be added to the cueball? In some ways I prefer the gameplay simplicity without it, but I suppose it does allow some cool trickshots.

You could have a pocket-cam for replaying an impressive or winning pot.

Please do try a version without the mouse smoothing - I'm sure it will make the game better to play.

The aim was always to write a game which was simple but effective, but there is some spin ( english ) already available. Hold down E and move the mouse to choose where on the cue ball the ball will strike. It's probably not advanced enough for anything resembling trickshots, but it's good enough to get position on the next ball.

After Aries reported problems playing Kick Shot Pool online, I've been testing all day locally without a single error. Evidently I need to test this properly online with proper IP's, networks, lag and all the stuff I can't get with LocalHost testing.
I'll be in #BlitzCoder most of the day from now ( 6:30PM GMT / 1:30PM EST ) until 2:00AM GMT / 9:00PM EST at least. I'll be playing with source code in debug mode so I can hopefully spot any errors. I'd appreciate anyone who has a bit of spare time and can help me catch the errors. It might be a bit stop start until we find the problem ( or we might find that the problem is particular to certain situations and have a few games without trouble ) but I really need to solve this problem before releasing the game.

My nick on #Blitzcoder for those who don't know is Gabriel.

That looks awesome.

I tried the demo - great work! Looks lovely and feels really solid. There are a few things I would change...

The ability to get the camera down lower?
Ability to walk around and see table from any angle before shooting?
Rather than balls just disappearing, make them fall into the pockets? (Just a nicety but would be a nice nicety!)
AimHelp: Show where cue ball will go?
AimHelp: Show where object ball will go after bouncing on other balls / rail?
AimHelp: Show where cannoned / planted balls will go?
Options for different camera moves during shot? Stay with player / Follow cue ball / Follow cue ball then follow object ball...

Whoa mama...

[Pocket alpha fade]


Just realised it'd only work for the top-down view -- gonna have to make some real pockets! :P

I have an idea. There should be a fun mode. Basically, it will be an easter egg that creates crazy stunts for you.

Set it for yourself versus an unsuspecting friend in 2 player mode. Then, start missing shots left and right as your friend is about to win. When you get your 'last chance', you open the english screen and click the dot in a special order, that actually triggers an easter egg without your friend realizing it. Next, right as you shoot, the stick is corrected to be perfect (and the friend will think you were the one who moved it), then shot, and creates a crazy chain reaction that lands all the balls in :) Where the balls do some crazy physics to make it happen, of course, but it will be fun with a lot of acting by the player about how he didn't expect that to happen :)

Another feature would be a Stress-Test mode. Have the computer player do the kinds of shots that at first look like he missed. This will make one start laughing, until they realize the ball kept moving and hit three or four of his balls and they went in. Oh, and when YOU are the one shooting, have the balls do weird stuff like slip out of the pocket at the last second, or have balls fly off the table, and when you think you are about to win, if you miss, have the computer shoot every single ball in and finish it off. :) Just a crazy and very stressful mode. The review sites will find it hillarious and will say, 'hmm, that might actually be useful for a real tourney player'. And then you get that quote, that it would be really useful for a tourney player, and you're all set ! :)

There should also be a 2D mode like Yahoo pool. Did you use takoma physics engine? I like the game very much!

looks great, but I just could n't get the hang of the controls so gave up on it pretty soon.

I really like the look of this. Only gruble would be the GUI. I think it dosn't suit the very polished 3d stuff that's in there. :D I'd be willing to play online to test it out :D

I appreciate the feedback guys. I'm concentrating on getting MultiPlayer working properly for now, but other gripes, grumbles, etc will be taken care of after that.



There is a 2d mode like Yahoo pool. If you select manual camera in game options and press F12 to switch to top down view only, it's exactly like Yahoo pool.

No, I didn't use Tokamak or any physics engine. I wrote all the physics myself.


I may schedule another MP test night later this week if I can't find the problem in the meantime. I had another test last night and there is definitely an occasional problem, but I can't see any logical reason why it would happen. Must be some packet loss issue I haven't accounted for.

Did you spheremap every single ball? I want to learn how to spheremap.

wanna see swerve shots and screw shots too.

In fact , the ability to strike the ball anywhere to impart the appropriate spin would be cool.

suppose that would create a bit of a headache though

Originally they were cubemaps, but they're now spheremaps for compatibility, yes. It's really not hard. I started with a cubemap and then used a little program I found somewhere ( maybe on the Unwrap3d.com site? ) to convert cubemaps to spheremaps.




Sctew shots ( aka spin, english ) are already implemented in a basic fashion. Hold E and move the mouse to choose where the cue will hit the cue ball.

I don't know how hard spin would be to implement. My physics code is very neat and readable, so if there are good references online, probably not too hard. It was never my intention to make that kind of game though. There are already commercial games out there which have wrapped up the ultra-realistic market. I wanted my game to bridge the gap between Yahoo Pool and those commercial games. Easy to pickup and play, lots of fun, addictive, nothing complex like jumps and swerves and bouncing off the table to worry about, but better graphics, better physics and generally more polished than Yahoo Pool ( which is insanely popular but a bit rubbish. )

Basically, I wanted to write a pool game I'd enjoy playing. I find Yahoo too basic and unrealistic, but I find Cueball World and recent Virtual Pool outings too intricate and it's far too easy to lift the ball right off the table.

Just lovely!

Only problem I had was I could not see my shot take place in action after I hit the cue ball. My screen simply goes gray, although I can hear the balls smack against each other. I'm using a Geforce 4 TI 4600.

Looks like a winner though.

hmm.. problem I'm having. Gets to title screen where it draws just the background image and the cursor (and cursor can move around, as if it's all working). This is pool beta 3 I'm running. GeForce 5700 Ultra. 2.6ghz. Never run into something like this before?

+Blackd

No one else has ever managed it, but I have done it myself a couple of times. Blitz seems to be a bit weird in Windowed mode ( which is why I usually avoid it, but it seemed useful for this game ) and the menus slide in from offscreen at the beginning. If the window does not have focus or if you drag the window even slightly while the menu is sliding in, it will stop the movement from happening. Haven't figured out why yet, let alone worked out a solution, but avoid letting the window lose focus or moving it while the menus are open. It shouldn't happen at all in fullscreen mode ( though you actually need to see the menus to enable fullscreen mode. )




I assume you're using auto-camera settings ( the default ) ?

I further assume this doesn't happen if you enable manual camera and don't switch to top view at all?

If my assumptions are correct, it's likely a zbuffer/clipping issue. There are a few zbuffer quirks, most of which don't seem to be important. It could be a driver issue since most GF4TI's seem to have no such problem, but I will see what more I can do to optimize Z-buffer usage. Also, try 32 bit fullscreen and see if that helps. )

Really cool!