Jimmy White's 'Whirlwind' Snooker

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Jimmy White's 'Whirlwind' Snooker

Developer(s)	Virgin Games
Publisher(s)	Virgin Games
Designer(s)	Archer MacLean
Platform(s)	Amiga, Atari ST, PC, Sega Mega Drive
Release date	1991
Genre(s)	Snooker
Mode(s)	Single-player, Multi-player
Media	Floppy Disk, Cartridge,CD Rom
Input methods	Mouse, Joypad

Jimmy White's 'Whirlwind' Snooker was a computer game by veteran programmer Archer MacLean, released by Virgin Games in 1991 for the Commodore Amiga, Atari ST and PC (later for the Sega Mega Drive). Although the game was not the first to simulate a snooker / pool table in 3D, it made full use of the processing power and graphical capabilities of 16-bit home computers and was praised for its ground-breaking realism and easy-to-use interface. Many remarked that the game was the closest thing to being on a real snooker table that existed at that time, and that it could be used by a player to refine their real-life snooker skills.

Following the game's release, Virgin launched a nationwide tournament in the UK. Regional heats were held at Virgin's stores; the eventual winner went on to challenge Archer MacLean in the first series of Channel 4's GamesMaster with Jimmy White himself commentating.

A red ball taunts the player.

Despite being an accurate and serious simulation of the sport, MacLean's irreverent sense of humour was prominent throughout. The sound effect used for a successful pot was a resounding "pop" (regardless of the speed at which the ball reached the pocket) and numerous animations provided comic relief should a player take more than a few seconds to take their shot. Balls would sprout eyeballs and arms, making faces at the player or holding up signs that read "Get on with it!" and such. Also present was an extensive trick shot editor, featuring a number of pre-set table arrangements with instructions on how they should be played.

The game was followed by Archer MacLean's Pool in 1992 and Jimmy White's 2: Cueball in 1999.

[edit] Trivia

The game's title music was similar to (and most probably intended to pay homage to) that of TV programme Pot Black.
The game took Archer MacLean several years to complete; the physics between balls alone taking several months of programming.^{[citation needed]}
A cheat mode enabled the option to watch the computer player complete a maximum break.
One of the reasons why the game runs so quickly is due the way in which each shot is played. The next shot is 'played' while the white ball is being cued (the position/movement of each ball being calculated frame-by-frame and kept in a list). Each frame of the next shot is then 'played' by rendering each ball from this list, frame-by-frame.