Angle Ball

Take a new look at life with Angle Ball, the traditional game of Pool, but played on an amazing, unique hexagonal table.

Play solo or against the computer or your friends, three levels of computer skill to maintain the challenge as you progress.

Complete control over the spin, strength and position of your shots with plenty of increasingly difficult frame layouts to challenge the beginner and expert alike.

Joystick or Keyboard. One or two player options.

Game designed and programmed by Sean de Bray.

The Game

This new game accurately simulates the traditional game of Pool but is played on an unique hexagonal table. After each frame is cleared, the player is faced with a new arrangement of the balls.

Playing Instructions

You are first shown an options screen; here you can select from solo play, play against the computer or two-player options. There is also an option to alter the control and a frame designer option. Select from these using the numbers on the balls.

You can play solo, in which case the aim is to amass as many points as possible, or against an opponent, which is played as the first to five frames.

The object of the game is to clear the balls, as in pool you may clear the coloured balls in any order, but you must leave the black eight ball till last.

At the start of each game you will be asked to chalk up, i.e. enter your name. Do this using the keyboard, and then press Enter. If you play solo you will be offered the option of starting at frame 1, 4, 8, 12, 16 or 20.

Screen Description

The screen shows the table, underneath this to the left there is the frame number and name. This is the number of the frame layout, not a count of the frames played, though in the solo option these may be the same thing. At the top right of the screen is player one's name, with on his frame score and the number of misses.

In the solo game the total score is printed above the frame score. In two player games the number of frames won is given in the big blue box beneath the frame score. Player two has a similar display at the bottom of the screen, but this is the other way up.

At the far top right of the screen there is the spin indicator, with the strength indicator below this. The name of the player actually in play is given along the right hand side of the table.

Taking The Shot

First position the cursor at the aiming point. The cue ball will travel through this point provided it does not collide with any other ball first, in the direct line from its starting position. If you want to play off the cushions, you must position the cursor at the point on the cushion you want to make the first impact.

You do this either with the joystick if selected, or by using the keyboard. These keys are also used to set spin, up for top spin, down for back spin, etc. When you have made your choice, press the Fire button or selected key.

You then select the spin, the diagram on the right of the screen indicates the position at which you desire to hit the cue ball. Top spin causes the cue ball to run on after it has hit the object ball. Back spin, hitting the ball low, makes the ball run back as its name suggests, left and right spin make the ball veer off in those directions. These types of spin can be combined to get the ball to move in the required direction. If you want the ball to remain at the point of impact, hit the ball centrally, i.e. select no spin at all. The same buttons are used to tell the computer you have finished.

Finally, you select the speed of the shot using the diagram of a cue that appears in the bottom right of the screen. The further from the cue ball the harder the shot. When you feel the cue is in the right position, hit one of the standard buttons.

If you realise that you have made a mistake with the position or spin, select no power on the shot, and the cursor will return to the cue ball, allowing you to retake the shot with no penalty.

The computer will then take the shot. If you pot a ball or balls, you will be congratulated and your score will increase. The first ball in a break scores ten, the next twenty, etc... this carries over between frames, going back to ten for the first ball of the next break. In the subsequent frames scores increase by five points per frame, so in the second frame balls score 15 then 25, etc, and in the third 20 then 30.

If you miss or commit a foul stroke e.g. sinking the cue ball or sinking the eight ball out of sequence, your break ends. If you are playing solo the number of misses left will go down by one, when you run out of misses your game ends. When playing against an oponent, missing merely ends your break and allows your opponent to the table. The frame ends after both players have missed three times or one player has an unbeatable score - but be warned committing a foul gives your opponent points. Frames follow on automatically.

While the computer takes its shots, you will see it line up, and select spin etc - just as if it were a human opponent.

To abort the game, press RUN/STOP.

Frame Designer

Included in the package is a frame designer, enabling you to tailor frames to your own requirement, you can make them as easy or as hard as you like. Play through the two player options a few times first, as these give you random screen, and will allow you to judge quite how hard you wish to make the frames.

Editing the frames is simply a matter of selecting the frame you wish to alter, and then selecting the edit frame option. Y-The cursor will move through the balls in turn, starting with the white. Just use the normal controls to position the balls, pressing Fire when you are happy, you cannot place one ball on top of another, but you can use the routine several times to make the exact changes you want.

You have the option of saving your altered frame, or discarding it and returning to the original. When you have finished, you will be given the opportunity to save your frames to tape or disc to preserve them to future use.

Game Controls

A - Left, S - Right, : - Up, / - Down, SPACE - Fire

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SHIFT-RUN/STOP