Member Avatar for Mr.M

Hi, I'm curious on how and which tools are used to develop an 8 ball pool game. The one I'm referring to is that you play online with strangers, and friends for coins and tournaments.

Can anyone point me to the right direction. This will be my first attempt in game development, but I'm a full stack developer and a software developer with Java, VB.NET, C++ ( very new)

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Building an online 8-ball pool game breaks into three core areas: physics/simulation, multiplayer/networking, and platform/operations. 's pointer to an open-source pool project is a useful study reference for how the pieces fit. A practical first milestone is a local single-player physics prototype that accepts cue input, pockets balls, and produces a replay log for tuning.

Physics: model balls as 2D circles with linear and angular velocity. Run the physics on a fixed timestep and use impulse-based collision resolution for stable, repeatable results. Add rolling friction, rail restitution, and an optional spin (english) model that converts cue offset into angular velocity and lateral force. Create deterministic test cases (multi-ball breaks, corner rails, very-low-speed stick) and tune mass, restitution, and friction against recorded replays.

Networking and fairness: adopt a server-authoritative design. Clients submit shot parameters (angle, power, spin); the server runs the canonical simulation, validates legality, and broadcasts periodic state snapshots. Clients may simulate locally for instant feedback and interpolate/extrapolate between server updates to hide latency. WebSockets are common for browser builds; native clients often use UDP/ENet-style transports. Keep replay logs and server-side validation to detect cheating and resolve disputes.

Infrastructure, business, and roadmap: include lobbies, matchmaking, persistence (accounts/coins), leaderboards, and anti-cheat from early on. As noted, cash games exist, but real-money play triggers gambling regulations in many jurisdictions - age checks, KYC, licensed payment rails, and legal advice may be required. A sensible roadmap: (1) local physics MVP; (2) 1v1 online with authoritative server; (3) persistence, matchmaking, anti-cheat; (4) polish UI and mobile controls. Given 's Java / VB.NET / C++ background, choose a stack that shortens the prototype loop (Java frameworks, .NET-friendly engines, or lightweight C++ toolkits).

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Member Avatar for rproffitt

Looks like it's been done as well as PVP at https://github.com/henshmi/Classic-Pool-Game

I see they gave a list of credits that includes possible learning sources for you:
"Credits:

Member Avatar for andrewflintoff

You can likewise play 8-Ball/9-Ball pool to win monetary rewards. For that you need to play the serious games. You should present a Fee to contend in Cash games. For instance, If you need to claim part in a $5 reward game, you should pay a charge of $3.

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