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. Two things are important in a pool video game: physics and perspective.

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.

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.

This culminated in with games like Arcade Pool, which boasted more realistic physics than ever before. Sadly, in terms of perspective, all billiard computer games invariably failed.

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 mids, the state of billiard games began to improve by leaps and bounds.

As early as , billiard games that boasted polygonal visuals began to appear. It featured four different games to play, multiple computer opponents, and multiplayer capabilities via hot seat and modem.

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 and , 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.

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This is taking longer than usual. Do you keep losing to the computer when you play 8-ball pool? Learn a winning technique by taking note of these top tips:.

Play pool like a pro by extending your aim with a piece of paper. Fill the space with paper to guarantee ultimate accuracy.

Rushing your shot is a common way to make a mistake. English refers to the spin on a cue ball when you play pool.

Adding something extra to your shot can get you out of a tricky situation. Ready to try these game-winning tips? Online pool has many of the same pitfalls as the real thing.

If the cue ball fails to hit your own ball or any ball at all then it is a foul and control of the games goes to your opponent. To prevent overly defensive tactics, if the object ball or cue ball fails to touch the rails during a shot sequence then play will turnover to your opponent.

Potting the 8-ball and the cue ball at the same time also results in a loss. Even if the 8-ball is next in your sequence, potting it alongside a colored ball will lose you the game!

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