We strongly recommend using a mouse to play QuickSnooker - even the cheapest mouse will be better than the best Touchpad.

Having said that some of the worst touchpad issues are on more recent TouchPads, they're caused by gesture/multi-touch features - these are desgined to allow you to do things like scroll the current window by pressing with two fingers - unfortuantely they can kick in when you didn't mean it - in particular the 'scroll' multi-touch/gesture emulates rolling thhe mouse-wheel, which can cause a sudden and unexpected lifting of the cue.

We can't advise for every touchpad/laptop manufacturer - but if you have a dig around in control panel you'll almost certainly find some options under the mouse settings that may let you disable some of these (generally unwanted) 'features'- here's a screenshot of where the options are on our Samsung laptop.

It almost certainly has - If you have entered the correct key for your the serial number displayed - it does Unlock the game. The screen doesn't look wildly different but you should see:-

See, your game is unlocked - I think people get confused by the fact there's still an box to enter a voucher/Key code - this is where you enter your 'Pro' key if and when you buy the Pro upgrade. The next thing that confuses people (and fair enough, it is confusing) - is that on getting to the table, they only have 10 reds still. What you need to do is select 'Full Snooker' which is now unlocked in the menus - and you'll have your 15 reds.


Hopefully you've already chosen a Player name and set a password on your original account/computer.
If so, it's very simple.

1. Install the lastest unregistered version of the program on your new computer, accept any updates. (note, at this point you will have a new 'random' serial number)
2. Choose, 'Internet Play', 'My Account' in the games menus.
3. Do not 'Creat a Trial Account', instead Enter your playername and password (for your registered account).
4. You will get a message saying 'your serial number has been changed..'
5. Restart the program - as instructed (Don't just go into the waiting room!)
6. Enter your key on the opening screen - You should have a note of your original key and serial number (if not... see the Question below)
7. If you've bought the 'Pro' upgrade, you'll also need to enter your Pro key (just as you did originally)
8. That's it

If you've lost your key or have other questions.. please drop us an email at our support address.
Note:- You can use this procedure to add multiple computers to the same account. You will not be able to play on-line from more than one computer on the same account at the same time.
Abuse of this system (ie. giving your key to all your friends) will result in your account/game being disabled without refund

Send us an email with as much information as you have - your player name, your Email address (how and when you purchased). As long as we can identify you we can send you your key - BUT.. remember, it's an annual renewal - if it was more than a year ago it's probably easier just to purchase again against your new, current serial number.


You don't need to enter it at all - just keep it safe in case of a computer crash or moving to another machine.
You account is extended on the server when you purchase.
Thanks for renewing !


This means that you have or have had some previous version of the program installed.
Answer 'yes' - let the program uninstall complete.. then run the setup program again (this will re-install the latest version).
You won't lose anything and it won't mess up your key or your serial number.


This is caused by having blocked (or not 'allowed') QuickSnooker on your software firewall. If you are getting a fail type G when you come into the room - it will *always* be followed by a fail type F or J when you challenge or are challenged, your opponent will also get a fail type J or F (the opposite of yours).
You *need* to solve the problem before starting a game (otherwise you are wasting your time and frustrating the other player).
You should open your software firewall program (whatever one it is).. and find any 'rules' relating to quicksnooker - remove them *all* (even if they are 'allow' rules) and re-run QS.. Your firewall will prompt you to 'allow' QuickSnooker - you need to say 'yes' or 'allow'.
This isn't exposing your computer in any way - you don't need to (and should not!) open any ports on your hardware router.
In case you need to know - the program is attempting to make a UDP connection to port 3027 on 216.237.120.114 - you may need to add this rule manually (this is the case on Virgin security and may be true of other firewalls)

Both these problems can be caused by a corrupted window layout... choose 'layout','reset' in the menus.


Another program or process may have 'locked' your mouse..Try pressing escape on the keyboard 2, or 3 times until the Winows title says 'Re-Acquiring mouse'.
This is a rare problem and seems to happen more on laptops (with a touchpad and a mouse).


You can't go into Internet play whilst another game is in progress - please concede or finish any game being played. (Using 'Game','Concede' in the menus).


Once you've completed a game, you ust return to the waiting room by choosing 'Internet Play','Internet Waiting room' in the menus.


We're sorry - there is a problem uniquely identifying your computer
Please send us an email with your serial number and we will 'unblock' you. - this problem can sometimes occurr if you tried to have multiple 7 day trials from the same computer.


Registering is buying your QuickSnooker - it's quick and painless, it gives you extra features, a years worth of updates, Internet Play and Priority Support. Registrations also pay for the hosting and development of the game.


A 'crack' tampers with the QuickSnooker code - in theory to unlock the game for free. If you're prepared to cruise the darker side of the Internet - you might find one - we monitor them carefully most don't work, some are infected with viruses, some are 'Trojans' opening access to your computer. NO Crack is going to give you on-line play - and running ANY of them is potentially very dangerous to your computer, and every other computer on your network.


NONE! - QuickSnooker does not require you to open ANY Ports open on your hardware firewall/router - It's possible your Internet Security Program or Windows Firewall might ask if it should allow QuickSnooker to access the internet - but this is an outbound connection and is not 'opening' any ports.
Opening inbound ports on your router/firewall is inherently risky - *WE* don't ask you to do it.
You *may* get a message about allowing inbound UDP data from 216.237.120.114 - this is the news/ticker feed at the bottom of the screen. - You can safely accept this.


The setup package is about 6MB it will take about 2 minutes to download on typical broadband.


No. The game and installation package have been scanned are free from all viruses. In fact QuickSnooker even checks itself for viruses when it runs, in case it has been infected by something already on your PC.


The installation places a shortcut on your desktop called 'QuickSnooker 7', You will also find shortcut under 'Start', 'Programs', 'QuickSnooker 7'.


The game should run very smoothly on any machine less than about 5 years old.
Try changing your desktop colour depth under display properties, Sometimes it can run very differently under 16,24 or 32 bit colour depths.
If you are running multiple applications, listening to music, or doing large downloads - try it without each of these things in turn, Also try resizing the snooker window, you may find some 'threshold' below which it suddenly performs much better. If its still running poorly, Launch 'task manager' (right click on a blank bit of the task bar at the bottom of the windows desktop, choose 'task manager'), flip to the 'processes' tab, Click on the 'CPU' column head (possibly twice) to get processes sorted by CPU usage - anything consistently using more than about 20% 'cpu' should be investigated (crashed Internet explorers, or MSN messengers are a favorite) - you can press 'end process' on some things - but it can cause odd problems - a reboot might be safer.



There are some 'switches' wich can be added to the programs shortcut to lower the graphics quality slightly and improve the performace on low end machines.

Right click the desktop shortcut and choose 'properties'


The *example* above shows the option '/HWVP /BD24 - this lowers the ball detail from its default 32 segments/slices per ball (to 24) and enabled Hardware Vertex processing.
'speed up' options that can be specified include:-
/SBT - Small ball textures - faster graphics, at the expense of slightly ragged balls. /HWVP - Uses more graphic card processing (and less CPU) - Worth a try on almost any machine - can give a 30% speed boost, may screw up lighting - may do nothing.
/TQ1 - Lower quality (higher speed) textures (choose refresh graphics in the game once after selecting this option)
/BD12 - (in place of /BD24) High Speed (lower quality) ball meshes.
/NJ - 'No Jerk' mode - Stops the balls from being re-rendered during aiming/play (you may notice sudden changes in lighting)


There are some 'switches' wich can be added to the programs shortcut to improve the graphics quality and slightly reduce performance. See the item above for how to add the switches.

Quality options include:-
/TQ2 - Medium (default) quality textures (Chose 'Help','Refresh graphics' in the game after a applying a texture quality switch.)
/TQ3 - High Quality (slower) textures
/BD42 - 42 slices/segments per ball (you can in fact use any 2 digit number - anything more that about 42 is going to be 'expensive' and imperceptable. /HWVP - Uses your graphics card from more of the processing (can result in smoother gameplay).

A good exampe for a reasonably up to date machine would be

/LBT /TQ2 /BD40 /HWVP

On a modern machine this is likely to give you a significant increase in both speed and quality.


VISTA
Windows Vista/7 users may need to run the program 'as administrator' when performing the auto-update. Right click the 'QuickSnooker 7' shortcut icon on the desktop and choose 'Run As Administrator' - If you're comfortable with it you can set the program to always 'run as administrator' right click the 'QuickSnooker 7' shortcut, choose properties, select the 'shortcut' tab,press the 'Advanced' button, tick the 'Run As Administrator' tick box, press OK, Press Apply.)
Also check the XP solution if you're still having trouble

XP
If you're on XP and autoupdate isn't working the problem is more likely to be that there is another copy of QuickSnooker already running somewhere - Possibly on another desktop, or possibly one that has failed to shut down properly. - Check your 'applications' list under 'Task Manager' (right click on a blank bit of the task bar at the bottom of the windows desktop, choose 'task manager'), if you see a 'snooker' there, select it and press 'end task', Now try the update again.

MACAFEE INTERNET SECURITY SUITE - and Autoupdate
It appears that the above write protects the entire Program Files folder.
If you are running Macaffee and experiencing autoupdate problems - we recommend you:-

• uninstall QuickSnooker (by running the QS7SETUP.EXE)
• Re-Install Quicksnooker (by running the QS7SETUP.EXE) again - only this time - change the install location to C:\Quicksnooker NOT c:\program files\quicksnooker

OK - You can do 'manually' what Quicksnooker is trying to do *for* you automatically.
This isn't a great solution .. because it doesn't update any images or other resources, but by getting yourself onto the latest version.. you *may* fix the AutoUpdate.

• Make sure you have closed Quicksnooker..(or ideally, rebooted to make sure there are no 'dead ones' running.)
• Right Click this link http://www.quicksnooker.com/update7/quicksnooker.exe . .
• Choose 'Save Target as'
• Locate the folder C:\program files\quicksnooker 7\ < < IMPORTANT Quicksnooker 7
• Save the file into that location .. overwriting the existing file.
• Launch the program again using the QuickSnooker7 Shortcut on your desktop.

You can adjust the sensitivity of aiming and power delivery on the 'settings' menu.
If you have a disability or impairment and think there's something we could do to the controls to make it easier for you - please get in touch !


Try adjusting the 'power sensitivity' on the 'settings' page, If you still can't find a comfortable setting - get in touch.


Remember that the line from the target ball is the *CENTERLINE*, and the edge of the ball may hit the cushion before you'd think. It's also sometimes necessary to rebound a ball from the 'far' 'jaw' of a pocket when shooting along the cushions.


The length of the guide lines depends on three things:-
1) The distance between the cueball and the object ball
b) The amount of spin being applied (or having to be applied because of obstructing cushions or balls)
iii) Whether a rest would be required to play the shot.. this drastically reduces the guide length

These factors affect the difficulty of the shot (in real life) and are factored in to the aim line length for a more realistic game.
Understanding this can help your tactical play - especially of safety shots.. leaving the cueball on the balk cushion off the break for example makes life much more difficult for your opponent. .


With the 'wrong' angle on the cue... you can easily 'jump' the cueball slightly - such that when the balls hit they are not level with one another - this causes them to contact later than they would have if level - and the object ball is 'cut' *more* than the aim line would indicate.
Again, it's an reflection of 'real life' - Keep your cue butt low (with the mousewheel), and don't use more power than is needed - your shooting will be more accurate.


If you get a choice of rooms up, then 'There was a problem connecting to the Internet waiting room...' that room is probably 'down' on the server, It's worth trying other rooms as they run as separate processes. If you get a 'No Connection' error - the error is more likely to be at 'your end'
Try Choosing 'start','run' and enter 'cmd' - now enter 'Tracert www.quicksnooker.com' - it should give you a good clue as to where the problem is - If the trace doesn't get beyond you own router try these things - in this order, until it works

• 'Repair' your wireless connection
• Reset your router
• reboot your PC
• Power Down Your router - FOR 5 FULL MINUTES (really, it often works if its an ISP/Login problem).

If the TraceRoute reaches QuickSnooker, The problem could be at our end
If the trace fails somewhere in between, It is an Internet/routing problem beyond our control - waiting, is about the only option.


We don't ban people lightly - you have to serve your time - your 'sentence' and the reason for your ban is clearly stated on the waiting room screen.
You can see our guidelines for moderators here like it says, Don't buy the program again, or reformat your computer attempting to avoid the ban - none of that will work and you will not be refunded.


No.


They might be.


Ever so slightly, Yes.


The moderators are mature and trusted QuickSnooker users - you might get to be one one day.


No - You agreed to our terms of service when you installed the program - additional detail is available here
Aggressive, threatening, intimidating, or deliberate annoying behaviour is not tolerated on QuickSnooker.
We put a lot of effort into making the QuickSnooker rooms fun, friendly places to be.
Moderators do not hold a grudge - serve your ban and come back and play !


Yes, that would be because it was judged to be offencive in some way, was interfering with the operation of the room, was excessively big, old, defamatory, illegal, pornographic, etc,etc.. you get the picture.
Don't post that stuff - If you're having second thoughts about a post, you can 'shred' it yourself.


It's important to understand that you have 5 sets of scores - one for each league. In each league you have a separate eloscore, rank, wins, losses and highest break.
The statistics on display depend on what skill level you have selected when you enter the Internet waiting room, if you subsequently play at a different level, your scores won't change at the end of your game (but have updated).


They're here or you can press the 'web ranks' button in the game.
The leagues are new, and may be reset occasionally until things settle.
They will also be cosmetically improved, and some additional functionality (such as recent results) re-instated.


To set spin hold down the left mouse button and move the mouse.
You can release the mouse button (and relax!) without shooting - it only shoots when you 'click' (press and release the left mouse button without moving the mouse).


Swerve (and other advanced effects) only work with the 'Pro' upgrade (on the Club, Pro and Master levels) - have a practise at Club level as the longer guides help you to see what will happen.
Here's a short video (courtesy of Yisc) which shows some of the shots that can be achieved with swerve and spin.

On the Club, Pro, and Master levels spin is now accurately modelled - You cannot for example have the cueball hit the right side of an object ball and 'go left' - this defies physics.
It takes some getting used to, but the cueball now behaves very much as in real Snooker, and the same 'rules' apply, for example, for deep screw - you need to keep the cue low and flat, for swerve raise the butt of the cue and apply side.
The cue ball also acquires'top' (spin) a it rolls down the table.. so it will tend to 'follow on' after an impact with the object ball (much more than in the simplistic levels).


On the higher levels, guides are shortened by a number of factors to reflect the difficulty of the shot, this is espcially so on the 'pro' level where you can be heavily punished for running out of positon.

These factors affect the length of the guides:-

• Distance between cueball and object ball
• Requiring use of the rest
• Thinness of the 'cut'
• Amount of spin being (or having to be) applied
• Size of break
• The tilt of the cue

When several of these factors combine - for example if you've been left against the baulk cushion after a good break, you can find you're left with no object ball guide at all.
HINT:- The penalty (guide shortening) applied for spin, is higher than that for having the cue tilited, so often, if against a cushion, or cueing over balls - raising the butt (which allows you to apply less spin - will give you a longer object ball guide.

On the 'Master' level there are no guides


Please choose 'Internet Play',''My Account' - you can upload a picture on the pink 'home' tab. Something around 200 to 400 pixels wide is about right, real photos are encouraged - but if you're shy, anything will do.


If you (or your opponent) have played a great shot, you can press 'F1'on your keyboard, and send the shot to either your personal, or the 'public' shot gallery.
You or another player can then visit the 'Gallery' tab under 'Internet Play','My Account' where you can replay shots by clicking on their hyperlink.
After the replay you can use 'P','R' to pause and replay the action, you can also review the shot from any angle by moving the camera (see the gameplay section)


On extremely rare occassions - something 'weird' may happen, like a ball dropping through the table, floating over a pocket or disappearing.
If you have something you'd like 'investigated' please choose 'help','send last shot to support' - It's similar to the gallery and allows me to re-load and replay your shot to see exactly what went wrong (and fix the bug), with the best will in the world I can't personally play anything like the number of test games that 10,000 players can, so - so please submit those 'weird' shots and help me squash the last few bugs.


NOBA (playing with No Object Ball Aids) was a solution to a problem that no longer exists.The game was too easy - leading to boring whitewashes, so people chose to play a significantly more difficult version by turning off the guides.
The new Pro level provides the necessary difficulty through added realism and better physics, It makes for an exciting, balanced and realistic game and offers a new challenge that will actually improve your understanding (and play!) of real Snooker.
For the die-hards, you can still play NOBA at any level - but I'd really encourage you to try the Pro level (with guides) as a superior alternative to NOBA games with the 'old' simplistic physics.
If and when 'Pro' becomes too easy - the Master level could be changed to have a cueball guide only.. I would invite your input on that.


The rankings are being replaced by leagues - in total there are 30 leagues, 5 levels for each game type (Snooker, Pool and 9 ball), and a seperate 'on-line' and 'off-line' (against the computer) version of each.

The Snooker leagues are, for example..

• S1- Snooker Masters league, Played with no guides and advanced physics including nap effects.
• S2 - Snooker Professional league, Played with realistic physics and shortening guides to reflect the difficulty of the shots
• S3 - Snooker Club, Realistic physics and long guides, for a realistic, fun game.
• S4 - Snooker Amateur,original, Simple physics with shortening guides.
• S5 - Snooker Novice, original physics, full length guides.

When you look at players in the grid in the waiting room - you will see one of their sets of 'stats' (wins,losses,highest break) - Which set is shown in the 'league' column.
Players who have upgraded to Pro have a 'p' after their league.


This option will additonally shorten your guides in proportion to your Eloscore.

• If your score is greater thean 1000 points, your guides will get shorter.
• If your score is less than 1000 points, your guides will get longer.

This allows a more balanced game between players of different abilites, so if you want to give a newbie a fighting chance, or alternatively fancy a game with a much more experienced player - offer them a handicapped game, it will be more interesting for both of you.
The handicapped option is not currently available for 'for points' games, but the plan is to allow you to play a handicapped game for +/- 15 points regardless of your resepctive elo scores - longer term this may become a popular option and should help to balance games.