The Ivory Pocket, polished: custom cues, real cue handling, new screens
- The rack triangle fits: it now sits snugly round the racked balls, with the outer ones just touching its inside.
- The old mesh was built off-centre (its corner a third of the way to its middle instead of two thirds), and it was placed in front of the apex ball rather than on the rack's centre.
- Snooker now gets a triangle sized for its reds: 3, 4 or 5 rows for 6, 10 or 15 reds.
- Holding the cue properly: characters now reach for the cue with their arms (new two-bone arm IK in, eased in and out). This applies to players and skeletons:
- Down on a shot: the cue hand grips the butt below and just behind the shoulder, and moves with the cue as it's drawn back and thrown through. The bridge hand sits on the cloth behind the cue ball. On a long stretch the bridge slides back and the grip moves up the cue to stay within reach.
- Standing: the cue stands upright by the right foot, held in both hands. The left hand lets go for a fist pump or a hand to the skull.
- Skeletons chalking: the cue is held up before the chest while the left hand works the chalk round the tip.
- Skeletons walking: the cue is carried tip up, swinging with the arm.
- Stance: players stand further back (1.3 m) and a little to the left of the line, so the cue runs under the right shoulder. The hands close round the cue.
- Custom cues: ten to collect. They're purely for show, and all play the same.
- The finishes come from one small shader. Effects are kept quiet: only Hellfire and Mythic give off particles, five or six motes each.
- The skeletons have cues of their own: Rattlebones the House, Old Knuckles the Ossuary, The Marker Ebony & Ivory.
- The cue cabinet: it hangs on the wall behind the bar. It's a crimson velvet case with a gilt crest, every cue on brass pegs, and a plaque under each showing its price, OWNED or IN HAND.
- Browse the cue cabinet at the bar to open the shop. The camera turns to the case, and the cue you pick floats out into a spotlight and slowly turns.
- List: every cue with a little drawing of it, its tier colour, and its price or what you own.
- Details: tier, name, description, effects, the price against your gold, and Buy (Enter) or Use this cue (U).
- Your cues belong to your character: they're saved in the character's profile, so they come with you to any table, whether you're hosting or joining a friend.
- The cue you play with goes out to the party with your looks, so everyone sees it.
- You can also change cue on the pool setup screen.
- New pool and snooker screens (on the casino's chrome):
- Setup: one panel with numbered steps:
- Then your cue, a line saying exactly what you've picked ("8-ball against The Marker, 100 gold each. The winner takes 200."), and Rack 'em up (Enter).
- Scoreboard: a broadcast-style bar. Each player's plate shows their name, cue, group and the balls they have left (or snooker score and break). The player at the table glows gold, with a marker.
- The header between the plates shows the frame and stake, whose shot it is, and a draining shot clock between players.
- Underneath, what the player at the table is on, drawn as balls.
- Your shot: a power bar from bone to gold to ember with quarter marks and a percentage; the spin ball with what the spin does ("TOP + LEFT", "SCREW"); and the keys as keycaps.
- Ball in hand: a card saying where the cue ball may go (the D, the kitchen, anywhere) and how.
- Watching: who's at the table, and the view keys.
- Fouls get a red banner, other rulings a line above the table, and the winner a banner with the winnings.
- Esc menu: back to the game, concede, leave, and a full controls list.
- Network protocol: 19 (the cue rides in the state packet).
- New screenshots:,,,,,, and.
VAEL is a co-op dark fantasy extraction dungeon crawler for PC, in active development. Get playtest news by email, or read the wiki.