To register the game, please double-click the "Register with MacPlay" application that is installed on your hard disk.
This will let you register the Virtual Pool preview electronically if you have a modem, so you won't have to mail in a registration card. If you don't have a modem, you can still print out the form and mail or fax it to us. Registering the game will let us notify you about any future upgrades or patches, and you'll be signed up for "MacPlay Today", our newsletter full of news, tips and tricks, behind-the-scenes info about our games, and sneak peeks into our future releases.
System Requirements
Virtual Pool requires a Power Macintosh with a 13" or larger color monitor, System 7.5.1 or later, and 4096K free memory. (If Virtual Memory is turned off, you'll need 4557K free memory instead.) You need Sound Manager 3.1 (or later) software installed. If you don't have this software, you can obtain it from Apple on the World Wide Web at http://quicktime.apple.com or at 1-800-SOS-APPL -- or just purchase the CD-ROM version of Virtual Pool, which includes it.
Network play requires Apple's Open Transport 1.1 (or later) software, which is built into System 7.5.3 and later. If you have a Power Macintosh 5200 or 6200 series, you will need Open Transport 1.1.1 or later, which you can obtain from Apple at their World Wide Web address at http://www.apple.com/ or by calling 1-800-SOS-APPL.
If you have an "AppleTalk" Control Panel, then you have Open Transport. If you don't, then you'll need to install it. See the "Troubleshooting" section below for details.
Modem play or serial play requires the Apple Modem Tool, Serial Tool, and SerialDMA extensions. These extensions are also available at http://www.apple.com/ or by calling 1-800-SOS-APPL -- or just purchase the CD-ROM version of Virtual Pool, which includes it.
Starting The Virtual Pool Preview
Double click the "Virtual Pool 4-Ball Demo" icon to begin.
Note: Please hide the Control Strip before playing Virtual Pool. Although the presence of the Control Strip will not affect game play, it can cause problems when loading and refreshing menus. To hide the Control Strip, open the "Control Strip" Control Panel and click the "Hide" button.
How to Play Virtual Pool
Virtual Pool is the most advanced pool simulation available. Using a real-time 3D environment, you can view all the angles and make almost any shot possible in real pool.
Rules: This 4-Ball Demo has rules similar to those used for 9-Ball. Four balls, the 1, 2, 3, and 9, are racked in a loose diamond at one end of the table. The cue ball is placed on the other end of the table. The lowest ball on the table must be hit first each shot, but any ball may be sunk during the course of the shot. If the lowest ball is not hit first or no balls or sunk, the turn is passed to the next player. The player who successfully pockets the 9 ball wins the game.
To bring up the Menu Bar at any time, push ESC. To resume playing Virtual Pool, either hit ESC again or select Resume Playing Virtual Pool from the Resume menu on the Menu Bar. The Help menu (the question-mark icon menu on the right side of the menu bar) contains lots of information about controlling the game.
When you first start the demo, the game screen will appear showing the pool table and your cue stick. The cue stick is directly connected to your mouse. As you move the mouse left and right, the aim of the cue will move left and right as well. As you move the cue up and down, the angle from which you view the table will change as well. If you hold the mouse button and move the mouse forward and backward, you will zoom in and out from the table. Take a minute to get used to the movement of the mouse and take a look around the room and at the table.
When you are ready to take your shot, line up the cue in the direction you wish to hit the cue ball. Press and hold the S key. While you are holding S, the stroking motion of the cue stick will be controlled by the movement of the mouse forward and backward. Pull back on the mouse and then push it forward to hit the cue ball.
As you become more proficient aiming and shooting the ball, you may wish to try some other gameplay options:
M: After a foul or at the beginning of the game, you can move the cue ball around the table by holding down M and using the mouse.
E: Holding the E key, you can change the point where the cue stick contacts the cue ball, thus applying 'English' to the cue.
B: Holding B will allow you to raise the Butt of the cue to perform Massé shots.
> and < : If you want your mouse movements exaggerated or refined, push > to Amplify or < to Fine Tune the mouse movement, repectively.
O: To see the shot from a birds eye view, push O for Overhead view.
There are many other useful game play options. Press ESC (to display the menu bar) and choose from the Help menu for a description of all the keyboard commands.
How To Play A Network Or Modem Game
To play a network game, you must have Open Transport 1.1 (or later) networking software. Open Transport 1.1 is built into System 7.5.3. If you have a Power Macintosh 5200 or 6200 series computer, you'll need Open Transport 1.1.1 (or later). For details on Open Transport, see the "Troubleshooting" section, below.
To play a modem game, you'll need a 9600 baud or faster modem, as well as the Apple Modem Tool and SerialDMA extensions. The Virtual Pool installer can install these extensions if you wish.
To play a serial game, you'll need a null-modem cable to connect two Macs, as well as the Serial Tool and SerialDMA extensions. The Virtual Pool installer can install these extensions if you wish.
Before you start a Network or Modem game, you and your opponent should decide who will be Player 1 and who will be Player 2. Player 1 will decide the type of game played and will be responsible for beginning that game (by Transmitting). Player 2 will need only join Player 1's game (by Receiving).
Both players must select New Game from the File menu and then choose Network or Modem Player for your opponent. Player 1 will decide the type of game played and determine the options such as the Games per Match and the Straight Pool Points Goal. Both players then select Rack New Game.
From the Remote Connection Setup menu, both players choose the Connection Type. Player 1 must choose Transmit and Player 2 must choose Receive. Click OK to continue. When you finish setting everything up (specifics are listed below), Player 1 will see a dialog box that says "Transmitting", and Player 2 will see a dialog box that says "Receiving". If you are waiting on one of these screens, be patient: the other player may not be set up yet. As soon as both players get to these screens, the game will connect. If both players get stuck waiting on these screens, cancel out and try setting it up again. If the problems persist, call Customer Support.
Network Games: After choosing Network for your Connection Type, Player 1 will fill in their name and identify the game. A listing of available network games will be presented to Player 2. Player 2 then chooses the appropriate game from the list and enters their name as well. The game will connect and you are ready to play Virtual Pool.
Modem Games: After choosing Modem for your Connection Type, the Apple Modem Tool will appear. This dialog box will allow you to enter all of the information for your modem and your modem connection. It's a pretty complicated dialog box, but most likely you'll just have to type in the phone number and change the baud rate. Both players should set the baud rate to the same number. Make sure the Method selected is Apple Mode. Recommended settings for your modem are as follows: Parity: 8, Data Bits: N, Stop Bits: 1. Select the highest baud rate your modem can support. If you don't know what kind of modem you have, choose Hayes Compatible Modem.
When you have set up the Apple Modem Tool, Player 1 should type in the phone number and click OK. Player 2 just has to make sure the modem settings are correct and then click OK. The modems will dial through and after the connection is established you'll be ready to play.
Serial Games: This lets you play against another Mac in the same room if you have a null-modem serial cable connecting them together via the modem port or the printer port. After choosing your Connection Method, the Apple Modem Tool will come up. Make sure that the Method is set to Serial Tool. Recommended settings are as follows: Parity:8, Data Bits:N, Stop Bits:1. Select the highest baud rate your serial port will allow. After both Players have selected OK, the systems will link up and you'll be ready to play.
Extension Conflicts
In our testing, we have noted problems playing Virtual Pool with certain extensions loaded on some Macintosh systems. If you have any of these extensions, we recommend you disable them with the "Extensions Manager" Control Panel and restart before playing Virtual Pool.
Now Menus: Will crash if you change the sound volume with Now Menus. Please don't.
RAM Doubler: May cause all sorts of complications. Disable and restart before playing.
Known Problems
When playing a network or modem game, you shouldn't switch to another application. This will probably cause a loss of synchronization, and will ruin the game currently in progress. When your opponent is shooting, if you are using menu options you will be yanked back to the game once your opponent shoots, so you may want to stay away from the menu options while it's your opponent's turn.
Virtual Pool will malfunction if you change your monitor's resolution or number of colors displayed (usually with the Monitors Control Panel) while you're playing the game. If you would like to change either of these settings, please first quit Virtual Pool, change the settings, and then run Virtual Pool again.
We recommend you keep the Modern Menory Manager ON (in the Memory Control Panel). If you turn this setting off for some reason, Virtual Pool will need another 300K of memory to run effectively.
We recommend you disable any screensavers while playing Virtual Pool. Although they should not harm the application, they may cause some unusual, but recoverable, graphic errors.
Troubleshooting
Q: Virtual Pool won't run on my system, what's the problem?
A: To play Virtual Pool, you must have a Power Macintosh with at least 4096K free memory. If this is the case, and you are having problems, check the version of the system software you are using. Virtual Pool runs best on System 7.5.3 or later. If you would like to obtain the latest version of the Mac OS, contact Apple at their World Wide Web site at http://www.apple.com/ or call them at 1-800-SOS-APPL.
Q: My mouse isn't moving as fast or slow as I would like it too. It seems fine when I go to the Finder, but its not the same in Virtual Pool. What's up?
A: Virtual Pool changes your mouse sensitivity when the game is started, and returns it to normal when the application is finished. This allows you to have a super sensitive mouse in the Finder, but a slow mouse in the game (or vica versa, whatever you like). To change the sensitivity in Virtual Pool, press ESC (to display the menu bar), and then choose the "Mouse Sensitivity" item in the "Preferences" menu.
Q: It's too slow. How can I speed it up?
A: The quickest way to speed up Virtual Pool is to use the Preferences menu to lower the Screen Size to 3/4 or 1/2, or to turn off the Background. We also recommend you not have other applications running in the background while playing Virtual Pool -- they may slow down the game. Also make sure the RAM Doubler extension isn't running if you have it -- see "Extension Conflicts", above.
Q: It crashes when I try to play a network game, or the network game doesn't work right.
A: You need Apple's networking software Open Transport 1.1 or later to play a network game. Open Transport 1.1 is built into System 7.5.3.
If you have an "AppleTalk" Control Panel, then you already have Open Transport installed. However, on certain machines you may have to locate the "Network Software Selector" application to switch from "Classic Networking" to "Open Transport". The "Network Software Selector" is present in the "Apple Extras" folder on your hard disk, or on the system software CD-ROM you used to update your System version.
If you don't have an "AppleTalk" Control Panel, you may have to update your system to include Open Transport. Using Apple's Installer, click "Custom", look within the "Network" options, and choose to install "Open Transport".
If you're experiencing other network problems, you may want to get a new version of Apple's "NetSprocketLib" file from Apple. See the MacPlay WWW site at http://www.macplay.com/ for the latest version.
Q: I'm having problems connecting when trying to play a modem game. What's wrong?
A: Make sure your modem is properly connected to your Mac and to the phone line. If you have been using the Hayes Compatible Modem setting, double-check to see if your specific modem is listed as one of the options. Selecting your specific modem from the list of modems may fix the problem, and increase performance. Make sure both users are using the default modem protocol settings at 8-N-1 and that both modems are set to the same baud rate.
Q: Something else is still wrong, and I want to talk to somebody. Who can I contact for courteous and accurate Customer Service?
A: You can call us, fax us, write us e-mail, pull up our Web page, or log onto our BBS. All of these numbers and addresses are listed below to get you the best help right away.
Ordering Information
In the US, call 1-800-4-MACPLAY. Remember the code VPW4 when ordering.
For information in the UK call on +44 (0) 1628 423666 or fax on +44 (0) 1628 423777.
The full version of Virtual Pool gets you all of the following features:
• Four different variations of the classic game of pool: Eight Ball, Nine Ball, Rotation, and
Straight Pool. All played with professional rules.
• Nine different computer opponents of various skill levels to challenge players of all skill
levels.
• Full Motion Video Library. Watch World Champion 'Machine Gun' Lou Butera perform over
50 trick shots, have him take you through a video tutorial to improve your pool techniques,
or take a tour through the sport's history.
• 30 minutes of professionally recorded music -- or put in your own music CD while you play.
• Easy to use multi-player modes allow you to play against friends over your local area
network, modem, or serial connections.
• All the feel and control of real pool through Virtual Pool's easy to use interface and menu
system.
• Realistic 3D perspective and graphics.
• And on top of all that, you get Virtual Pool's real physics and geometry which make it the
