Intro

pooltool is a sandbox billiards game that emphasizes realistic physics. You can play different types of billiards, experiment with different physics settings, or you can use the API to investigate billiards-related research questions.

Gallery

Blog

I have blogged about every aspect of this project. Read the detailed account here.

OS support

This project is very much a work-in-progress. Your OS may have partially supported or untested support. The following shows what is known to work.

	MacOS	Windows	Linux
API	✅	✅	🔶
GUI	✅	❌	🔶
pip	✅	❌	🔶

✅ = works ❌ = doesn't work 🔶 = untested

Installation

Installation instructions vary depending on how you want to interact with pooltool. There are 3 current options: (1) Installer, (2) PIP, and (3) Developer. Read on for descriptions and instructions for each installation method.

Install option (1): Installer

NOTE: I haven't sorted out this step yet, but eventually there will be OS-specific installers available for download here. Until then, please follow the PIP or Developer instructions below.

Method	GUI	API	Develop
Installer	✅	❌	❌

This is by far the easiest option. If you want to play and experiment with billiards using the graphical user interface (GUI), this option is for you. You won't have access to the python API, or be able to edit the source code. In other words, this is the non-coding option.

Install option (2): PIP

NOTE: This option doesn't work on Windows, and might not work on other machines too. With any luck, this will be resolved when the next version (0.2) is released.

Method	GUI	API	Develop
PIP	✅	✅	❌

This installation uses pip. With this option, you have access to the python API so that you can code up billiards simulations. You also have command-line access to the GUI.

This installation has been tested with the following python versions:

Python 3.8.10 (default, May 19 2021, 11:01:55)
Python 3.9.0 (default, Nov 15 2020, 06:25:35)
Python 3.10.0 (default, Nov 10 2021, 11:24:47) [Clang 12.0.0 ] on darwin

With a compatible python version, install via

pip install pooltool-billiards

After installing, the GUI can be opened at any time via

run_pooltool

You can also use the API. Here is a small python script that runs a shot simulation and then visualizes the results.

#! /usr/bin/env python

import pooltool as pt

interface = pt.ShotViewer()

table = pt.PocketTable()
balls = pt.get_nine_ball_rack(table, ordered=True)
cue = pt.Cue(cueing_ball=balls['cue'])

# Aim at the head ball then strike the cue ball
cue.aim_at_ball(balls['1'])
cue.strike(V0=8)

# Evolve the shot
shot = pt.System(cue=cue, table=table, balls=balls)
shot.simulate(continuize=True)

interface.show(shot)

I haven't spent much time on the API yet but hopefully you get the idea.

Install option (3): Developer

Method	GUI	API	Develop
Developer	✅	✅	✅

If you want to develop for pooltool, have access to the most up-to-date version of the codebase, or modify the code to your liking, this is for you.

A small note. If you don't have the ability to create isolated python environments, I would recommend installing conda (here) so you can isolate pooltool from your other business.

(i) create a new, python environment that uses Python 3.8.10.

With conda, you could do the following:

conda deactivate
conda env remove --name pooltool
conda create -y -n pooltool python=3.8.10
conda activate pooltool

Regardless of how you managed your python environment, please verify you're running 3.8.10

$ python
Python 3.8.10 (default, May 19 2021, 11:01:55)
[Clang 10.0.0 ] :: Anaconda, Inc. on darwin
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>> exit()

(ii) grab the codebase:

cd <A_DIRECTORY_YOU_LIKE>
git clone https://github.com/ekiefl/pooltool.git
cd pooltool

(iii) install the dependencies:

pip install -r requirements.txt
pip install -r requirements-dev.txt

In addition to requirements.txt, requirements-dev.txt includes some modules required for developement.

(iv) test out your installation:

python run_pooltool

The game window should appear (escape key to exit).

(v) if you used a conda environment that you named pooltool, create this script that runs whenever the conda environment is activated. This script modifies $PATH and $PYTHONPATH so that python knows where to find pooltool libraries and the shell knows where to find the pooltool binary. These path modifications live safely inside the pooltool conda environment, and do not propagate into your global environment:

(This is a multi-line command. Paste the entire block into your command line prompt.)

mkdir -p ${CONDA_PREFIX}/etc/conda/activate.d
cat <<EOF >${CONDA_PREFIX}/etc/conda/activate.d/pooltool.sh
export PYTHONPATH=\$PYTHONPATH:$(pwd)
export PATH=\$PATH:$(pwd)
EOF

The next time you activate your conda environment (conda activate pooltool), run_pooltool is now a binary that can be run anywhere in your filesystem whenever you are in the pooltool conda environment. Test it out:

conda activate pooltool
cd ~
run_pooltool

edoson/pooltool