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Halfjack87

Halfjack87

In Training
Silver Member
I know when I started sailing (2009), I was surprised to be pointed to a few online game/simulations which were seriously beneficial and instructional.

Online pool games have existed since the DOS days of my 286, are there any pool video games that anyone will admit to playing, or even recommend?

:rolleyes::p;):cool:
 
Its all coming down to video game reflexes...... :thumbup:

Virtual Pool 4 is about the best there has ever been. I play it more than regular pool right now because of my health..... but I just set up a table and have been hitting them a little. Time will tell if I can get back in stroke, but the video game keeps some concepts fresh in the ol noggin.
 
Being an old arcade machines fanatic , i must confess than i still enjoy to play Pocket Gal ( Data East, 1987) , Pocket Gal deluxe (Data East 1992) , and Billard Academy Real Break (Nakanihon, 1998).

Not on the real cabinets, they are rare , but using the Mame emulator on my PC .... Mehh , now we're called "retrogamers" it seems ROFL...

nota : for the record, it looks like the oldest pool- related video arcade games are Pool Shark (1977, by Atari) , Video Pool (1980 ,was a bootleg/hack of Moon Cresta hardware) and Tri-Pool (1981, by Norma /Costal Games)
 
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Halfjack87 said:
I know when I started sailing (2009), I was surprised to be pointed to a few online game/simulations which were seriously beneficial and instructional.

Online pool games have existed since the DOS days of my 286, are there any pool video games that anyone will admit to playing, or even recommend?

:rolleyes:;):cool:
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Pool break lite is a great (and free) game for phones or tablets with a good physics model and we'll worth checking out

Sent from my SM-G900W8 using Tapatalk
 
I have not seen an online game as in those Flash or mobile games that are any good for anything, but any version of Virtual Pool is great and can be a teaching tool for the real game.
 
hang-the-9 said:
I have not seen an online game as in those Flash or mobile games that are any good for anything, but any version of Virtual Pool is great and can be a teaching tool for the real game.
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Try out pool break. Very close to virtual pool in terms of physics and 3d world.

Sent from my SM-G900W8 using Tapatalk
 
Coming from someone who plays video games every day and has for many many years, I must say I am pretty happy with the developments in physics / realism related to pool games.

I played a game called Carom3D for about 12 years until it finally shut down. It has since started back up and is now played via a web browser but I have not tried it again since the originators closed it down.

The reason for that is because I discovered Virtual Pool 4. Although Carom3D was pretty darn accurate, VP4 takes it one step further and in my opinion is about as accurate as you can get to playing real pool on real tables. I think it can actually improve your real game as it claims.

The final straw that pushed me to buy the game was that it actually has one pocket as one of the games you can play!!! Not to mention every other game under the sun including but not limited to 8b, 9b, banks, rotation, straight pool, snooker, 3 cushion billiards, straight rail billiards and tons of others I have never heard of before.

You can play for free but you are limited to only being able to play on a bar box table and you can only play 8b, 9b and 6b. Plus most of the players wont play you because they will win no rating points from you if they win so you will also be limited to only playing others who are playing it for free.

However for $10 total, you can get unlimited access to all games on all tables. It also includes $1,000 Virtual Pool Dollars that can be used to enter tournaments, buy different cues or play in ladder matches whenever you want. They also sell the single player version for $30 but I recommend getting the online version for $10 so you can play against real players. You can always create a room and make it private if you just want to hit some balls and practice so no real need to buy the full single player version.

If you have any questions or end up buying the game and need help, feel free to message me here or in game I use the same nick there (cincy_kid) and I am happy to help out where I can.

I have no affiliation to VP4 other than I play it daily and enjoy the heck out of the competition, especially between the handful of us who excel at one pocket :)
 
Been playing VP4 - bought the full version after a few days, and a set of cues a few days later. Still having problems aiming on the computer table, but really liking the game.

BTW, my user name out there is Halfjack.

Thanks for the posts guys! :)
 
fathomblue said:
Are there any pool video games with a good Career mode to go along with good physics?
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What do you mean, "a good Career mode"? Virtual Pool 4 has 2 'career' paths - pro circuit or hustler progress - or maybe I don't understand what you're looking for?
 
Halfjack87 said:
Been playing VP4 - bought the full version after a few days, and a set of cues a few days later. Still having problems aiming on the computer table, but really liking the game.

BTW, my user name out there is Halfjack.

Thanks for the posts guys! :)
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It probably took me a week of playing every day, missing a lot of balls to really start to get used to aiming, english, speed, etc. But once you get it down, its pretty amazing.

Welcome to the game ~
 
fathomblue said:
Are there any pool video games with a good Career mode to go along with good physics?
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Virtual Pool 4 does have a career mode if you are looking to play single player vs the computer. However since they released the online version, you can now play tournaments, ladder games and singles/partners matches vs other real players so Ii think most of us play that.

But again, if you want to play vs the computer, they do have career mode for you.
 
Best realistic and visually good pool game I've played is 3D Ultra Cool Pool or short name Cool Pool, game was released by Sierra in I don't know 1999 or 2000 but YES it's almost 20 years old but still I couldn't find any better pool game.
Virtual Pool is heavy and looks so dumb, hard to play and unreal in my opinion, while Cool Pool is light and so real, back then when Cool Pool was still popular, I often play in a room full of 100 players
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvJK5juu-W8
 
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july9x said:
Best realistic and visually good pool game I've played is 3D Ultra Cool Pool or short name Cool Pool, game was released by Sierra in I don't know 1999 or 2000 but YES it's almost 20 years old but still I couldn't find any better pool game.
Virtual Pool is heavy and looks so dumb, hard to play and unreal in my opinion, while Cool Pool is light and so real, back then when Cool Pool was still popular, I often play in a room full of 100 players
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvJK5juu-W8
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I am not sure how you can compare the 2 to be honest. VP4 is the most realistic pool game out there. It does have a little bit of a learning curve so yes it's harder to play than Yahoo Pool or some of the other pool games I have seen but when you are comparing realism and physics, VP4 can't be touched.

Here is a quick video trailer that allows you to at least get the jist of the graphics / realism:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAxACAt6m8g
 
july9x said:
Best realistic and visually good pool game I've played is 3D Ultra Cool Pool or short name Cool Pool, game was released by Sierra in I don't know 1999 or 2000 but YES it's almost 20 years old but still I couldn't find any better pool game.
Virtual Pool is heavy and looks so dumb, hard to play and unreal in my opinion, while Cool Pool is light and so real, back then when Cool Pool was still popular, I often play in a room full of 100 players
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvJK5juu-W8
Click to expand...

Watched the video - I can see how that one could earn some loyalty, I can also see how someone like me might learn from it some too, but I have to agree that it doesn't really compare to VP4.

I do agree that the static graphics for the rooms and tables could be updated to 2015 standards, but "looking dumb" is kind of harsh.

Is it hard to play?
Well, the how-to-play instructions are really in need of improvement, and I can't find a forum or wiki (Steam has some discussion). As far as how it plays once you know what to do, I have only minor comments:
1) to me it is too easy to hit too hard / too hard to hit soft,
2) free players cannot have private rooms - cant enter private rooms either apparently - that's a cheap shot,
3) I'm in mourning that I have to look at Steve Daking (VP4) instead of Jeanette Lee (VP3) for the tutorials - but the tutorials are good enough for someone at my level - introducing the concepts - 'why' as well as 'how' and including the 'try it now' buttons.
 
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Halfjack87 said:
Watched the video - I can see how that one could earn some loyalty, I can also see how someone like me might learn from it some too, but I have to agree that it doesn't really compare to VP4.

I do agree that the static graphics for the rooms and tables could be updated to 2015 standards, but "looking dumb" is kind of harsh.

Is it hard to play?
Well, the how-to-play instructions are really in need of improvement, and I can't find a forum or wiki (Steam has some discussion). As far as how it plays once you know what to do, I have only minor comments:
1) to me it is too easy to hit too hard / too hard to hit soft,
2) free players cannot have private rooms - cant enter private rooms either apparently - that's a cheap shot,
3) I'm in mourning that I have to look at Steve Daking (VP4) instead of Jeanette Lee (VP3) for the tutorials - but the tutorials are good enough for someone at my level - introducing the concepts - 'why' as well as 'how' and including the 'try it now' buttons.
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Personally I use the default settings but I know there is a lot of customization you can do as far as cue acceleration (and also check your mouse software settings) in order to get your speed where you want it. Being able to slow roll a ball for position or safety play is pretty huge especially in one pocket.

Yea, you can play for free but you are limited to only being able to play on a bar table and only being able to play 9b, 8b and 6b. Spend the $10 and get unlimited play on any table playing any of the games. Cheap entertainment imo...

As far as the tutorials I didn't use any but yea I can see your point, I would rather see JL than SD too :)
 
cincy_kid said:
Personally I use the default settings but I know there is a lot of customization you can do as far as cue acceleration....

Yea, you can play for free but...
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Yeah, need to check my settings for mouse speed - could easily fix my 'too hard' issue.

I do have the full version, but my son does not - and maintains a philosophical ban on paying for online games - does everything only at free. (sigh) Not the first time this has been frustrating...
 
Halfjack87 said:
Yeah, need to check my settings for mouse speed - could easily fix my 'too hard' issue.

I do have the full version, but my son does not - and maintains a philosophical ban on paying for online games - does everything only at free. (sigh) Not the first time this has been frustrating...
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Ah, I see, yea if you want to play with him then, you will have to have the non private room.

I cant remember if you can do this or not with the free account, but maybe you can make the match a race to 10 or 20 or whatever you wanted to. That way, you would get to continually play him instead of winner stay in and one of you having to sit out if someone comes in the room.
 
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