What about this idea Nick ?

Ok sorry mate

pro_i_am, do you list 3 options there? If it's just option to revert then we'll discuss that next week (after we're used to the balls).

Ok

fan-dabi-dozey

Edited at 11:40 Fri 29/08/08 (BST)

must say it's a definatly a step in the right direction!

thanks alot nick looks great.

Sorry I dont like it, could there be an option where you could have them 3D or not as i cant play with them 3D for some reason

Yeah, things that affect gameplay as much as this should always be optional.

Thing that look awesome are very often far from functional and a lot of people would like the option to prioritice the latter.

They shouldn't effect gameplay in any way, the only possibilities I can think of are:

1) the ball sizes on the UK tables are slightly different at some resolutions, however the dynamic balls are exactly the same size as the underlying physics.

2) It's too dark on the edges for some people (I haven't heard this at all).

As said on first post.

I love the new balls though im not very good at playing with them yet...lol

But ill practice for a while and im sure itll come good- loving the latest changes, especially the people online feature in bold

hehe, I'm a model citizen. hehe.

The 3d balls look infinitely better than the old ones, just give it some time and you'll never want to go back. And if you do, there's always a time machine you can invent.

Changing look&feel on anything what so ever, regardless on how small a scale (and this isn't small at all) does affect gameplay. Or maybe playability is a better word.

I'm not talking about how the game behaves (that's obviously 100% unchanged by this), I'm talking about change in how players perceive the game, the table and the balls.

As for giving it a week - no need really, this is a general issue and nothing special for this case. Any change to game play (including any change to how the game looks) should be optional - that's all I'm trying to get across

If every update was optional, there would be lag because of all the choices possible, affecting playability a little more than a slight change in graphics.

Something being optional doesnt cause lag - it's just more work on Nick's part

I'm not an expert in this field by any means, but when you add an option that allows for additional graphics settings, you take up more space on the server.

Less server space = more lag.

Again, not sure..

Basically incorrect. Server space has no relation to game lag of any kind.

Yes, adding parallel game content rather than letting new features replace old ones makes the game client slightly larger than it could have been, but that's on a scale that is completely irrelevant. And the only impact it has when it comes to using the game is the game client takes a tiny bit longer to download - something that happens a single time each time you open the game window (and even wouldn't have to be that often - you could use check sums to check when the game has been changed and only download it then, not sure if Nick already does this). The game is either way too small for this to be a concern.

The real, but imo acceptable downsides are Nick having to implement the user interface allowing people to choose (like the buttons on top of the table where you can choose table gfx and game type). The second is that you add overall game complexity, something that is somewhat undesirable for new users. Although graphic settings is something that is normally relatively intuitive.

I stand corrected and a little confused.

The thing with keeping all changes optional (one i used to be all in favour of - before anyone points out old posts) is that it hinders progress.

It doesn't seem so long ago that the balls that were just replaced were the "new" ones, and there was an option to change them then. I believe (correct me if i'm wrong Nick) that in that case it may have been to do with rendering on some machines?

It's only recently i noticed that the option was gone, because with any improvement it is only natural to move with it, and since the most up to date settings should always be the default, after a time you have a batch of new users who only see options which are regressive.

Having the latest version (of any given feature within the game) being the default choice is quite essential, aye.

And it is another great way to accurately measure how many are actually sticking (knowingly and deliberately) to the older ones.

Edited at 22:16 Fri 29/08/08 (BST)

Im not too good on the technical issues as mentioned above, however all the changes that have gone on, have made the variety and cosmetics of the game a lot better, sure, some will find it slighty 'difficult' at first....hell, i did with the dark blue in 9 ball before the other colour options came on board, but in a short time we all get used too it and after all, its progress in the right way and not too much advancement all in one go, seems to me that Nick is adding these gradually and with time for people to get used too previous changes and therefore doing it with regard to peoples various affects to 'change'

Got my thumbs up (for what its worth) and im now about to play for the 1st time with the 3D effect.......
wish me luck!!