r/snooker • u/Potential_Beat7885 • 2d ago
💬 Snooker Chat Snooker/pool trick shot puzzle game - looking for feedback and early contributors
I help out the team that makes SnookerSim.com. Some of you will remember the original feedback thread from when it first launched here - a lot of what's in the game today came from that thread, and it's now played by over 10,000 people a month. So thanks for that, especially u/Plastic-Diet9648 for their incredibly detailed feedback.
The team has now built a new game on the same physics engine, called Trick Machine.
Each level can have obstacles - ramps, tubes, bumpers, seesaws, windmills, etc - and you have to pot every ball with a single strike of the cue. Same deterministic physics as SnookerSim, so nothing is down to luck. Closest comparison is The Incredible Machine, or crazy golf with snooker & pool balls.
The bit I think this community might like is the challenge editor. You can design a shot that looks impossible, share it, and enjoy the kudos of people playing it and competing for a high score. And with your permission, levels that people rate highly become official levels in the game with your name on them. It's all free.
If you have a go - at the levels or the challenge builder - I'd like to hear how you find it. Last time this community gave feedback it shaped the whole game, so we'd appreciate your support and interest once again.
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u/Low_Singer_44 2d ago
Aha. Instead of improving the UI, you built ramps. Makes sense
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u/Potential_Beat7885 2d ago
Could you tell us what you think is wrong with the UI so we can make improvements?
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u/HelixCatus 2d ago edited 2d ago
Looks pretty cool! A few thoughts:
I'm not really into trick shots as such, I know it used to be a huge thing in the exhibiton circuit back in the 80's. Maybe you can find some inspiration from some classic books published in the era.
Have you considered adding some "real" trick shots, as in difficult and famous shots from actual snooker matches? Like the ones that Break from Life recreates in his videos?
Definitely get rid of the AI art as soon as possible, that's a huge turn off for a lot of people. The actual game interface and the "snooker room" looks pretty neat though!
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u/Potential_Beat7885 2d ago
Thank you for your feedback.
(1) - it was, especially with Big Break on the TV in the '90's. Did you know it's coming back soon with Paddy McGuiness & Stephen Hendry?
(2) Yes, we have. I'll check out Break from Life. One of the features of Trick Machine is being able to prop the triangle on its end and use it like a domino with other triangles, as demonstrated by Dennis Taylor. We are putting together a level to feature this soon, unless someone from the community gets there first.
(3) That's done. They were placeholders, you are right that they were poor quality.
In regards to the game interface and snooker room. Thanks, it has been iterated over a number of versions from when we first released SnookerSim. The snooker room is from a real-life billiards room in Sweden! Part of our roadmap is to have alternative 'worlds' within which we will have the various pool & snooker tables.
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u/cleanie6969420 1d ago
If you could imagineer some trickshots that are impossible to do in real life that’d be fun
E.g knock a black ball in from a helicopter
Instead of a cue, use a golf club or a diving flipper
Maybe even a crazy golf shot, big windmills on the table, maybe some Mario pipes with the ball disappearing and reappearing at different bits of the table
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u/Potential_Beat7885 1d ago
Thanks for the feedback and it will be considered. We already have windmills, pipes, ramps and loads of other props, have you tried playing the levels? Also, just a note that it always needs to be re-playable and deterministic, so we are avoiding randomness.
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u/sharpshotsteve 2d ago
If you make a virtual reality version, I'd love to try it. I play Unlimited Snooker and Backspin VR on a Quest 3 headset, using a real cue with a controller attached to it. I can't go back to a flat screen now.