Virtual Pool Limited Play Demo-Interplay Productions- (c) 1995 Celeris Inc. Quick Start Instructions........1 Trick Shots.....................1A Sound and Music Setup...........2 Video Card Setup................3 Command Keys....................4 Quick Start Instructions 1 _____________________________________________________________________________ Follow these brief instructions to begin enjoying Virtual Pool immediately. When Virtual Pool starts you will be in AIM MODE. Simply move your mouse Left or Right to change the AIM. Moving the mouse forward and back tilts the view of the table. Holding down the left mouse button while moving the mouse increases and decreases the Zoom level. When you are satisfied with your aim, press and hold the S key and move the mouse back, then forward to move the cue stick and take a shot. If you need help lining up a shot, press T to turn Tracking on. Colored Lines will appear, showing the paths of the balls on the table. You may then adjust your Aim more precisely. Tracking lines are displayed based partly on the amount of Force used to hit the cue ball, so ball paths may vary depending on how hard you shoot. To use exactly the amount of Force shown by Tracking, use the spacebar to shoot, by pressing S and then pressing the spacebar. The balls will then follow the exact paths shown by Tracking. Hold the E key while moving the mouse to adjust English. Hold the B key while moving the mouse to raise or lower the butt of the cue stick. To Undo a shot press U. To Replay a shot press R. The main menu can be accessed by pressing F9, the Escape Key or the Right Mouse Button. F1 opens the Virtual Pool Help System. Trick Shots 1A ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Included in this demo are an assortment of Trick Shots. To view Trick Shots select Game Setup from the Main Menu and then choose Practice/Trick Shots. To Load a Shot, press ALT-L, or choose Game Options-Load Position from the Menu System. Now select a trick shot from the menu. The selected Trick Shot will then be loaded. Upon Loading a Trick Shot, the game will be in view Mode to allow you to move around the table to view the setup of the shot. You may wish to turn on Tracking (T) at this point to inspect the finer details of the shot. When you're ready to watch the shot, press R, and the shot will be replayed. You may slow down the replay rate by pressing the - key; the + key increases the rate. After watching the replay, try making the shot yourself by pressing A to enter AIM MODE. Then press S and move the mouse to take the shot. That should be enough to get you started. We hope you enjoy playing Virtual Pool as much as we do! See below for Configuration Information, and a complete listing of all command keys. Sound Setup 2 ___________________________________________________________________________ Virtual Pool Supports Sound Blaster and 100% compatibles, PAS 16 and Adlib sounds. To setup Virtual Pool for your soundcard, access the Main Menu from within the game and select "Sound Setup". A window will open, from which you may select your sound card. Choose OK when finished and the settings will be saved. Now, select the Preferences Option from the Main Menu, and Set the Sound and Music Toggles as you wish. Video Card Setup 3 _____________________________________________________________________________ When you start Virtual Pool for the first time, the game will be in low resolution to insure its compatibility with all VGA video cards. To switch to high resolution mode, bring up the Main Menu by pressing the Escape key or by clicking the right mouse button. From this menu, select the option VIDEO SETUP. A window will open, displaying the installed video drivers. Select the proper driver for your video card from the list. These drivers are based on the type of chip used in various video cards. There are currently many different manufacturers of video cards, and each manufacturer may use different chips in different models, or in different versions of their cards. To determine the chip set of your particular video card, refer to your video card documentation or contact the manufacturer. If you make a mistake and select the wrong card, don't worry. The program may display an error message and allow you to return to the standard, low resolution mode. Additionally, each time Virtual Pool is started, a message stating the current video driver will be displayed. If you have previously experienced any problems with the current video driver, you may bypass the driver at this point by pressing the Escape key. Virtual Pool will then start in low resolution mode. Virtual Pool uses specific Video Drivers to insure the fastest possible game play. As these drivers are constantly being written and updated, there may not yet be one available for your particular Video Card. In this case you may try the "Universal" driver by selecting the 640x480 VESA 1.2 BIOS EXTENSION. Note that the successful use of this driver is dependent on several factors and may not be compatible with your particular system or configuration. Control Keys (Print this Section for a handy Reference Guide.) 4 _____________________________________________________________________________ A: Aim Move the mouse left or right to aim the cue. Move the mouse forward or back to change the up/down angle of the table. Hold the left mouse button and move the mouse back to zoom in. Hold the left mouse button and move the mouse forward to zoom out. The view stays centered around the cue ball. The Status Area will inform you when yo are in AIM MODE. S: Shoot Hold the S key down and move the mouse back for your backstroke, and then forward to strike the cue ball. The faster you move the mouse forward, the harder you will strike the cue ball. As with a real pool cue, a smooth stroke is very important. The Status Area will inform you when you are in Shoot Mode. V: Change View Press V to select View Mode. Move the mouse left and right to rotate the table. Moving the mouse forward and back changes the up/down angle of the table. Hold the left mouse button and move the mouse forward/back to Zoom the view. Hold the C key down and move the mouse to change the center of view. The center of view is the point the view rotates about. Changing to Aim will bring the view back to the cue ball (AIM) view. M: Select and move ball Hold M down to move the currently selected ball. Hold H down to change the ball selection. 'Move' will only work on the cue ball when you have ball in hand during a game, or while in practice mode. H only works in practice mode. B: Raise butt of cue For some advanced shots, such as the masse, you must hit the cue ball from above. Hold down B and move the mouse forward or back to bring the butt of the cue up or down. The Status Area will display the cue angle. The angle will be reset to normal after the shot. C: Move Center Point Hold C and move the mouse to move the center point of the view to a different location on the screen. Moving the view in this way does not affect the aim of the shot. E: English: Move cue tip Hold E and move the mouse to change the cue tip location on the cue ball. The dot on the cue ball indicates where the cue tip will hit. English is used to place spin on the cue ball, and can be very helpful in making what would otherwise be impossible shots. Hitting the cue ball to the left or right of center places a left or right spin on the ball. Hitting the cue ball above center puts a foward spin on the ball. Hitting below center puts a backwards spin on the cue ball. F: Vary force of Tracking hit This option is only available if Tracking is turned on. While Tracking is on, hold F down and move the mouse forward or back to change the force of the hit. Tracking Lines get longer as the mouse is pushed forward (Increase Force), shorter as the mouse is pulled back (Decrease Force). The balls will all end up exactly where the Tracking indicator shows if you hit the cue ball with the specified amount of force. Use the space bar to use exactly this amount of force. H: Select a different ball to move You must first select M first to activate ball Move. Then hold H key and move the green crosshair cursor over the ball you wish selected. When you release H key the cursor will snap to the nearest ball. Once the ball is selected, hold the M key to move the ball to the desired location. Only available in Practice Mode. Left Mouse Button: Zoom Hold the left mouse button down and move mouse backwards (down) to zoom in, move mouse forward (up) to zoom out. Right Mouse Button: Opens Main Menu System Press the right mouse button to enter the Main Menu. You may also access the Main Menu by pressing the F10 key or the Escape Key. Shift: toggle Amplify Press the shift key (no need to hold it) to toggle Amplify. "Amplify" will appear in red in the status area. Mouse movements are exaggerated while Amplify is turned on. This option is used primarily for the break. Ctrl: toggle Fine Tune Press the Ctrl key (no need to hold it) to toggle Fine Tune. "Fine Tune" will appear in red in the status area. Mouse movements are much finer while amplify is turned on. Use this control for setting up trick shots or anytime precision alignment is needed. It also comes in handy for hitting the cue ball softly. L: Toggle table lines Press the L key to toggle the table lines on or off. P: Preference Color Changes the color of the table. R: Replay last shot Press R to replay the previous shot. You can change the rate of replay (even during replay) with the + and - keys. T: Toggle Tracking The T key will toggle the Tracking Lines on and off. Tracking shows you the path of every ball on the table, based on where you are currently aiming. Each ball's path is indicated by a line of the same color as the ball. Striped balls have striped paths. The Tracking lines end where the ball will stop. The exact path balls will follow is based partly on the speed of the cue ball. To hit the cue ball with exactly the force shown by Tracking, hit the space bar instead of shooting the ball with the mouse. U: Undo Press U to Undo the last shot. The view will reset to the aim used previously. This is very useful for practicing shots. Undo is only available in Practice Mode. Z: Zip to result Press Z after you shoot to progress to the end of the shot. Z will skip to the result of the shot, placing the balls where they would have ended up if allowed to roll naturally to a stop. + (=) Increase replay rate The + key (or the = key) will increment the replay rate. Replay rate can be 1/8 speed, 1/4 speed, 1/2 speed, or 1 (full) speed. The replay rate is shown at the top right of the status area. - Decrease replay rate The - key will decrement the replay rate. Replay rate can be 1/8 speed, 1/4 speed, 1/2 speed, or 1 (full) speed. The replay rate is shown at the top right of the status area. Alt-C: Send communication to remote player Press Alt-C and you will be able to send a text notice to a remote player. Your notice can only be one line across the screen. If you need more room, send the message in more than one piece. Press Enter when you are done entering your message and it will be sent to the remote player. Alt-L: Load Saved Game or position Alt-L will load a previously saved game or shot. Alt-M Declare miscall on previous shot Most games require players to call their shots. Usually the shot you are attempting is obvious. If a shot doesn't go in as you planned, the computer doesn't know that, so you are on the honor system to admit slop. Press Alt-M and play will proceed to the next player. Not available in Practice Mode Alt-P: Pocket Selected Ball Pressing Alt-P will pocket the currently selected ball. This option only works while in Move Mode. Alt-Q: Quit current match Alt-Q quits the current match. You will be asked to confirm this option. Game and Foul totals will reset to zero for both players. Alt-S: Save game or position Alt-S saves the current game. You can use this to save a game to resume later, or you can use it to save trick shots. You must enter a name to save the shot under. Not Available in Demo Version. Alt-T: Change player turn If you want to play "push out" rules or let your opponent try again, or just got mixed up whose turn it was, press Alt-T and play will go to the other player without the movement of any balls, or the assessment of any fouls. Not Available in Demo Version. INS: Spot selected ball Insert will spot the selected ball at the foot spot. Available only in Practice Mode. DEL: Pocket selected ball Delete will pocket the selected ball. Available only in Practice Mode.