Virtual Pool 3 DL Tips

VP3 for PC

14 MB file

$21.95

117 MB file

Game Operation Tips

Stroking the Cue with the Mouse

Virtual Pool uses the speed of the mouse to determine the cue stick speed. When stroking the cue (hold S key and move mouse back and forth), the cue stick is connected directly to the mouse. Moving the mouse faster will hit the cue ball harder. For best results:

Use a smooth motion. Jerking the mouse will cause speed inconsistency
Calibrate the mouse sensitivity using the Settings/Mouse Sensitivity menu. If you lack speed control try lowering the Mouse Sensitivity number.
Optical mice or other types of high resolution mice usually work better
If you have a mechanical mouse, clean it and keep it clean
Depending on your mouse and sensitivity setting you may have a hard time getting full power for a break. You can use the Amplify key (>) to get more power for the break.

Aiming, English, and Butt Angle

When aiming you can tilt the pitch up/down to get a better feel for the shot angle
Look from the cue ball to the object ball to the pocket to see the proper aim line
Use moderation when moving the cue tip out from the cue ball center. It is easier to control the cue ball if you don't put maximum spin on it.
Don't raise the cue butt unless you are shooting a masse or jump shot. It makes it much harder to make the shot. If a ball or rail is in the way VP will automatically raise the cue butt but you can correct that by moving the cue tip up on the cue ball then VP will automatically lower the cue butt.

Viewing the Table

The best view for aiming and shooting shots is a position over the cue like in real life. VP will remember the distance from the cue ball you like and always reset you to that at the start of a shot. But you need to see the table so you know where your next shot is and to plan your table strategy. You can zoom out then back in again and/or rotate around but that is slow and tiresome. There are 2 view features in VP that make it easy to see the table. The Momentary Overhead key (X) cuts to an overhead view while the key is held down and cuts back to your aim view when released. This is the best way to see the whole table. You will quickly get used to the cut back and forth and the orientation of the table from overhead and be able to identify the location of balls relative to your aim view. The Walk Back key (W) steps the view backwards using your current aim direction. This is like walking straight back from a real table. This does not show the table as well as the Momentary Overhead view but keeps the same view orientation and many players prefer it. It is especially good for getting a better view on bank shots where the pocket is next to you but not in your view.

Practice Tips

Virtual Pool has many features to assist you in improving your play. These are available when Practicing by your self in Quick Play or in Trick/Setup Shot. The practice features are:

Undo (U key) does just that, it puts the table back to the original position with the same aim, cue tip position, and cue butt angle you had when you played the shot. This allows you to play the same shot over and over modifying your cue parameters until you get it right.
Tracking (T key) shows you where all the balls are going. It is completely dynamic and shows changes in aim, cue tip position, etc. in real time. You can vary the shot force shown by the tracking lines using Force setting (F key). You can shoot with tracking force (Space bar) to play the exact shot the lines show.
Ghost Ball (G key) turns on a translucent ball that shows you where the cue ball should be aimed to pocket an object ball

Use these features to get a better feel for aiming and how force and tip position effect the cue ball movement. You should also practice shots like banks, combos, and caroms because those shots come up quite a bit in games. Specialty shots like Masse and Jump shots should not be attempted in games without first practicing.

Online Play Tips

The best place to get more information about online play is at VPHQ and Celeris Forum. These have all the information you need to get setup and playing Virtual Pool 3 online. These pages have general information about online play:

Virtual Pool 3 DL uses GameSpy Arcade as a lobby and game launcher. To get GameSpy Arcade to recognize VP3DL follow this procedure.

Playing online requires certain ports to be open in your router or software firewall. How to setup your router/firewall is detailed here.

If your still stumped log into GameSpy Arcade, go to the Virtual Pool 3 lobby and ask some of the friendly VP players for assistance.

Career Play Tips

First, a quick overview of what Career Play is. You are a rookie hustler looking to make some cash and move up in the world of pool players. You start in the neighborhood garage and work your way through bars and pool halls. Each new venue has better players who want to bet higher. The Career Play goal is to get to the beach house to play and beat Curly the hustler.

To accomplish this you must win enough money to play the room boss at each location. When you beat the boss the next location will be "unlocked" so you can enter and play there.

Setting Up a Career

To set up a Career you select a game type and skill level. Play a game you are familiar with. You can get familiar with new games by reading the rules in Help and practicing in Quick Play. If you are playing a Career for the first time and are a novice Virtual Pool player, choose the Easy skill level. If you have some Virtual Pool playing experience, select the Medium skill level. If you are an experienced Career player and are proficient at Virtual Pool, try the Hard skill level. The Good Luck skill level is very difficult so don't play it unless you are a great player who can run 3 or more racks of 9-Ball.

Picking your Opponent

When choosing an opponent to play in the Select Opponent menu, look at the information listed to the right of the opponent name. It shows a rough skill level ranking, wager, and a spot (the handicap). The skill levels in order from worst to best are Rookie, D, C, B, A, and Champion. This give you an idea how good the player is.

Sometimes players visit from other rooms and they play much better than the normal players in the room. The skill level will tell you if a better player is visiting. All regulars that play in the room are about the same skill level. The boss is always the first player in the list and is the best player in the room except for potential visitors.

Your money is shown above the list of players. In this example you are just starting your career and only have $30. Looking at the list of players you see that there are wagers of 80, 30, and 25. You don't have enough money ($80) to play the Boss, Big T. So you need to select either Dank or The Banker. Raw Dawg says he does not want to play.

Pay attention to the spot shown on the right. This shows games you are getting or giving (or points for Straight Pool, Snooker, or Bowliards). If your getting games that means the player is better than you and is giving you a spot. If the spot says Give that means you are giving up games to the opponent. The number to the right of "Games" in the header shows the number of games in the match. So in the example above, the match is a race to 3 which means who wins 3 games first. If you look above at The Banker it shows a spot of Get 1. This means you get one game handicap and only need to win 2 games to get to 3. . Though The Banker and Dank are both ranked Rookie, The Banker plays better and is giving up a spot. Sometimes it's better to select the opponent who is giving a spot up because that can turn out to be an easier match to win. Beware that visitors may not give up a fair spot.

Opponent Play Characteristics

So how good will an opponent play against you and what kind of style to they play? You can only roughly determine an opponents play level by looking at the rank in the Select Opponent list. Be aware that computer opponents have good and bad days just like real people so a given player will not play at the same level every day. In Career Play, it is considered a new day when you come back to a career after it has been "Put on Hold". If you select View Player Statistics button near the top of the Select Opponent menu you are shown statistics for the currently selected opponent. Selecting the Computer Opponent Profile button from the bottom of the statistics menu shows the opponents play characteristics. If the players is poor then they won't have good rankings in any category and if they are good they will have pretty good rankings in all categories. But you can get an idea what a player is better or worse at by examining the relative differences.

If you look at Too Thick you see his Long shot skill is rated as Average and his Bank skill is Excellent. So if your Too Thick and need to play safe or pus out it would be better to leave him a long cut shot instead of a bank shot. The skill ratings in order of worst to best are: Pathetic, Very Poor, Poor, Average, Good, Very Good, and Excellent. The mental profile shows the opponents mental tendencies. The Current State can not be seen in Career Play so you don't know how the opponent is feeling. Choke and Distraction have to do with the opponent tendency to choke as they near winning games or get distracted at any time while playing. Caution affects how much they tend to play safe or go for the quick win in a money ball game by combination or slamming the money ball.

Buying Cues

You can buy pool cues between matches by traveling to the Billiard Shop. The Billiard Shop is the white cue ball at the top of the Career Map. You can own multiple cues but can only play with two at a time using one to break with and the other to play with. When you enter a room the players there judge you are by your cues. Your most expensive cue is used to determine how impressed players are with your equipment. The more impressed they are the more they want to play and the more they bet. They figure if you can afford that cue then you must have a lot of money to lose and they want that action. So after you build up some extra cash, buy a cue. As you move up into other rooms and accumulate more money, go buy a better cue. You can sell your old cues to raise money. This also comes in handy if you go bust.

Playing the Boss

You can play the room Boss when you have enough money to meet his wager. You might want to have some extra cash when you get to the harder rooms. If the boss wants to play for $1000 and you only have $1100 it might be better to play somebody else. If you play the Boss, lose, then only have $100 left, you will have to travel to a cheaper room to play and build up your cash again. If you are playing Career at Medium or Hard skill level you will probably have to give a handicap to the players when you return to the early rooms. If the Boss wants to bet $1000 it is better to have at least $1500 before playing so you have enough money to build up your wallet without resorting to cheap games.

Playing Curly

When you get to the Beach House you can play Curly. Be warned that Curly is not beat until you bust him. That means he will keep playing until you he is broke. You have the option of choosing the bet amount, $10,000 minimum, or if Curly has less then whatever he has left. Any money you lose is add to Curly's bankroll. If Curly has $15,000 and you play him for $10,000 and lose, you have to beat him out of $25,000 to complete your career. So don't play Curly until you are ready!

VP3 for PC

14 MB file

$21.95

117 MB file