By Brad Cook

What does pool have in common with the seminal first-person shooter Doom? Id Software co-founder John Carmack once told an interviewer about his inspiration for the game’s name: “There is a scene in ‘The Color of Money’ where Tom Cruise shows up at a pool hall with a custom pool cue in a case,” the programmer recalled. “‘What do you have in there?’ asks someone. ‘Doom,’ replies Cruise with a cocky grin.”

You too can hope to carry doom in a pool cue case while defeating your opponents in The Sims Pool. As in The Sims Bowling, you can play one-off matches, engage in a pass-and-play contest with a human opponent, or create your own Sim and improve his friendship aspiration through victories against Sim opponents. Choose from 8-ball (sink all of the solids or stripes and finish with the 8-ball) or 9-ball (sink nine balls in numerical order), with the opportunity to practice either one any time.

Life and Pool: Intertwined

After a night of shooting pool, your Sim heads home to check out the new toys added to her house — such as an arcade machine or a videogame system — and see if she has any new life opportunities. She might get a chance for a better job, or perhaps another Sim will offer her an old car that she can use or sell. Depending on your decision, your Sim gains either aspiration points or Simoleons before going back to the pool hall.

At the pool hall, your success defeating opponents earns aspiration points, while finishing the 15 challenges pockets much-needed Simoleons. The challenges run the gamut from taking two shots to knock in two balls to sinking four balls with just one shot. You can also visit your trophy case any time you want and peruse your awards for winning a certain number of games, pulling off perfect games, and more. Just don’t go for the one given to the player who scratches five times in one game.

Use your hard-earned Simoleons to buy all kinds of fancy equipment at the SimShop, from specialty cases and cues to good-luck charms and more. Just remember these words of wisdom from the SimShop proprietor: “Lining up a good shot is like lining up your life.”

Tips and Tricks

• Set the spin low on the cue ball to kick it back toward you after it strikes the target ball, or set it high to continue it along the same path. With that trick, you can set up your next shot or hit more balls during the same shot.
• If you set the spin to the left or right, you’ll affect the way the cue ball reacts after it hits a cushion. Doing so can help you set up your next shot — otherwise, the cue ball could strike the cushion and bounce wildly away.
• Controlling the spin on the cue ball will also help you avoid scratching, or putting the cue ball in a pocket by mistake. Do that while sinking the 8-ball and you’ll lose the game instead of winning it.
• When you break, try hitting the racked balls from an angle, rather than head-on. You’ll scatter the group better and give yourself better odds of sinking a ball or two right away.
• As in The Sims Bowling, finesse is key, not brute force. Even if the cue ball has a long way to travel across the table, you don’t need to hit it as hard as possible, especially if your target is close to a pocket. Strike it with just enough force to let inertia take over — the cue ball will gently click against the other ball and send it toward the pocket.
• Bumpers are your friends. Not only is it fun to bank a shot off a bumper — or to even bank the cue ball off a bumper before striking its target — but you get extra aspiration points for doing so. The same holds true for combo shots, where you knock one or more of your balls into another one and drop it in a pocket.
• If you can’t find a good shot, try taking one that could set up your next shot, or one that will put your opponent in a tough position, such with the cue ball behind a couple of your balls. Just make sure you strike one of your own balls first during the shot, or you’ll commit a foul and your opponent will get to place the cue ball anywhere on the table before her next shot.

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• Site: The Sims Pool
• Publisher: Apple Inc.
• Developer: Electronic Arts
• Genre: Sports

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