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A selection of advanced playing tips - By Simon Burrows
1. When playing against Tom, and perhaps some of the better CPUs
as well, getting the cue ball trapped in the jaws of a pocket
is not such a bad thing. This is because, if in attempting to
pot his target ball, the CPU has to actually hit the ball
'through' the surrounds of the pocket, then he will do this,
even though the result is a ball going off in completely the
wrong direction and nearly always missing the target. Of
course, it is extremely dangerous to try and get the cue ball
into the pocket's jaws, but it's just something which you can
be thankful of when it happens, and be aware of when the
option is easily available.
2. When using the option that shows you the line of the cue ball
after it has hit the cushion (right button on the 'line'
icon), always check with the plan view before making the
shot. This is because, looking at it from a low angle, it is
often very deceiving, and you may well find that when you
take a look from above, the cue ball won't go where you
thought it would at all!
3. If the situation ever arises (and it will!) where you can
see no obvious way to pot your desired ball, your first step
should be to see whether a double or a treble is possible.
If you're not sure about these terms, a double is where you
pot a ball after it has hit one cushion, and a treble is
after it's hit two. To see if one is possible, go to the
plan view, then use the right button on the target ball to
set up a completely straight shot. Now, it the dashed line
leads right into a pocket, then go on and take the shot with
quite a bit of power to make sure of things. However, if not,
use the precision angle controllers to move it around a bit
until you are hitting either side of the target in order to
affect where it bounces off the cushion, and thus, where it
hits in regards to the desired pocket.
4. Another thing to look out for if you are completely stumped
as to how to get in your desired ball, is the possibility of
'setting up a fluke'. Now I know that this is a contradiction
in terms, but it is in fact possible to make shots, that,
although you don't know which pocket the target ball's gonna
go in, you give it the best chance to go in at least one
pocket all the same. The best example of this is where you
hit the target ball, at a very narrow angle, against one of
the cushions between middle and corner pockets, very hard
indeed. As you do this, the ball bounces off the cushion,
then, at a slight angle, bounces off the opposite one, and
then back to that one again, moving slowly up the table each
time it goes. Although by no means a certainty, this will
often lead to the ball finally going into one of the pockets
as it travels backwards and forwards across the table.
5. Unlike in 'real' snooker, it's nearly impossible to make a
snooker that your CPU opponent will not be able to get out of
in this game. Because of this, it's often best not to even
attempt setting one up, and either attempt a more difficult
pot, go for a loss valuable ball, or just use a safety shot
to make potting the next ball as difficult as possible for
your opponent. (Often by moving the cue ball as far away
from his/her target[s]).
6. This may sound really stupid and a complete waste of time -
but it's true. If you want to get better at devising and
carrying out safety shots, the best thing to do is watch
snooker on the telly for a bit. The professionals are always
using clever techniques for making it difficult for their
opponent to pot the next ball, and it's worth remembering
some of these to incorporate into your game. Examples of
shots you may learn is the glance shot where you push the
only 'open' red into the pack so your opponent can't pot ANY
reds, and the bulk shot where you use spin to direct the cue
ball up behind the bulk colours (yellow, green and brown),
so your opponent can do nothing except open the pack for you.
7. This isn't such an 'advanced hint', but is still important to
remember. When setting up a shot where you are viewing from
a long way from the target ball (plan view, or full-length
shots for example), remember that the detail of where exactly
the cue ball will hit the target ball is decreased. This
means that, when you zoom into the target ball, you often
find that now you have better detail, you realise that you
were not going to hit the target ball in the right place,
after all. To make sure this doesn't affect your play,
always zoom in and check the angle before you make the shot.
And, finally...
8. Always use the controls sparingly (sounds like washing-up
liquid now!!). What I mean is that most things will give
more severe results than you think, so you need to remember
this when setting up shots. The two examples that come to
mind are with spin, and with angles. In terms of spin, it is
very unlikely that you will ever need full back-spin, for
example, because this is so severe that the cue ball will fly
back on contact, and usually hit several cushions as it goes.
In terms of angles, when you first look at a shot and the
angle looks right from low down on the table, you soon find
that it is far too severe to pot the target ball when you
view from above. This means that you should always set the
angles up to be a little less than you think necessary when
looking from low down, otherwise you are unlikely to ever
succeed.
1. When playing against Tom, and perhaps some of the better CPUs
as well, getting the cue ball trapped in the jaws of a pocket
is not such a bad thing. This is because, if in attempting to
pot his target ball, the CPU has to actually hit the ball
'through' the surrounds of the pocket, then he will do this,
even though the result is a ball going off in completely the
wrong direction and nearly always missing the target. Of
course, it is extremely dangerous to try and get the cue ball
into the pocket's jaws, but it's just something which you can
be thankful of when it happens, and be aware of when the
option is easily available.
2. When using the option that shows you the line of the cue ball
after it has hit the cushion (right button on the 'line'
icon), always check with the plan view before making the
shot. This is because, looking at it from a low angle, it is
often very deceiving, and you may well find that when you
take a look from above, the cue ball won't go where you
thought it would at all!
3. If the situation ever arises (and it will!) where you can
see no obvious way to pot your desired ball, your first step
should be to see whether a double or a treble is possible.
If you're not sure about these terms, a double is where you
pot a ball after it has hit one cushion, and a treble is
after it's hit two. To see if one is possible, go to the
plan view, then use the right button on the target ball to
set up a completely straight shot. Now, it the dashed line
leads right into a pocket, then go on and take the shot with
quite a bit of power to make sure of things. However, if not,
use the precision angle controllers to move it around a bit
until you are hitting either side of the target in order to
affect where it bounces off the cushion, and thus, where it
hits in regards to the desired pocket.
4. Another thing to look out for if you are completely stumped
as to how to get in your desired ball, is the possibility of
'setting up a fluke'. Now I know that this is a contradiction
in terms, but it is in fact possible to make shots, that,
although you don't know which pocket the target ball's gonna
go in, you give it the best chance to go in at least one
pocket all the same. The best example of this is where you
hit the target ball, at a very narrow angle, against one of
the cushions between middle and corner pockets, very hard
indeed. As you do this, the ball bounces off the cushion,
then, at a slight angle, bounces off the opposite one, and
then back to that one again, moving slowly up the table each
time it goes. Although by no means a certainty, this will
often lead to the ball finally going into one of the pockets
as it travels backwards and forwards across the table.
5. Unlike in 'real' snooker, it's nearly impossible to make a
snooker that your CPU opponent will not be able to get out of
in this game. Because of this, it's often best not to even
attempt setting one up, and either attempt a more difficult
pot, go for a loss valuable ball, or just use a safety shot
to make potting the next ball as difficult as possible for
your opponent. (Often by moving the cue ball as far away
from his/her target[s]).
6. This may sound really stupid and a complete waste of time -
but it's true. If you want to get better at devising and
carrying out safety shots, the best thing to do is watch
snooker on the telly for a bit. The professionals are always
using clever techniques for making it difficult for their
opponent to pot the next ball, and it's worth remembering
some of these to incorporate into your game. Examples of
shots you may learn is the glance shot where you push the
only 'open' red into the pack so your opponent can't pot ANY
reds, and the bulk shot where you use spin to direct the cue
ball up behind the bulk colours (yellow, green and brown),
so your opponent can do nothing except open the pack for you.
7. This isn't such an 'advanced hint', but is still important to
remember. When setting up a shot where you are viewing from
a long way from the target ball (plan view, or full-length
shots for example), remember that the detail of where exactly
the cue ball will hit the target ball is decreased. This
means that, when you zoom into the target ball, you often
find that now you have better detail, you realise that you
were not going to hit the target ball in the right place,
after all. To make sure this doesn't affect your play,
always zoom in and check the angle before you make the shot.
And, finally...
8. Always use the controls sparingly (sounds like washing-up
liquid now!!). What I mean is that most things will give
more severe results than you think, so you need to remember
this when setting up shots. The two examples that come to
mind are with spin, and with angles. In terms of spin, it is
very unlikely that you will ever need full back-spin, for
example, because this is so severe that the cue ball will fly
back on contact, and usually hit several cushions as it goes.
In terms of angles, when you first look at a shot and the
angle looks right from low down on the table, you soon find
that it is far too severe to pot the target ball when you
view from above. This means that you should always set the
angles up to be a little less than you think necessary when
looking from low down, otherwise you are unlikely to ever
succeed.