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Planetary Pool

Master the heavens in your basement
  (+10, -1)(+10, -1)
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Planetary pool is a lot like regular pool except the table is coated in black felt and the balls are scaled versions of the various planets(in full color of course), planetoid's and larger moons within the solar system. The cue ball represents the sun. Game play is as normal.

"Earth in the corner pocket."

jhomrighaus, Nov 29 2006

so long as you don't wade into deeper waters Planequarium
[theircompetitor, Nov 29 2006]

Orbital Pool Orbital_20Pool
nice idea, but very similar to this [xenzag, Nov 29 2006]

[link]






       I like the aesthetics, but we're going to have to think about this scaling business. Earth, or Mars to Jupiter or the Sun would be like playing marbles against beachballs.
zen_tom, Nov 29 2006
  

       Sod the scaling. (for reasons mentioned by others here) Why not have the balls all the same size but painted to look like the planets. I'd 'ave 'em.   

       Oo oo oo! Can the triangle look like saturn's rings only, well, triangular, please?
squeak, Nov 29 2006
  

       You could have a light in the center of the Cue ball. The ringed rack is a neat idea. I think using a white chalk would also help create a star field pattern on the felt.
jhomrighaus, Nov 29 2006
  

       That's an interesting practical question - modelling gravity with magnetism could be done, but to do so in a way that the balls would gently orbit one another, rather than rapidly snap together would be a real masterpiece of tuning. If the magnets are too strong, everything will just clump together in the middle, if they're not strong enough, there wont be any effect.   

       Now what if the table were able to sag at points containing masses, in a realisation of the 'rubber sheet' that is often used to describe gravitation - this would more closely resemble a real gravitational effect. You'd need a very special material, and leaning on the table to take a shot would be frowned upon.
zen_tom, Nov 29 2006
  

       I vote for all the same size, painted with pictures of Bush, Osama, and any others you'd like to knock around.
ldischler, Nov 29 2006
  

       actually [xenzag] the only real similarity is that the pool balls look like planets, everything else is completely different.
jhomrighaus, Nov 29 2006
  

       Yeah I tried to cover it under planetoids. I was thinking,   

       Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, The Moon, Titan, Io Ganymede, Triton and Europa.
jhomrighaus, Nov 29 2006
  

       + cute and semi-educational, too.
xandram, Nov 30 2006
  

       How would you know which balls were yours to knock in?
Chefboyrbored, Nov 30 2006
  

       Love it [+]   

       For a slightly wackier version, a one-press-per-frame button on the side would dispense 10 or so marbles to act as an asteroid belt.
Mr Phase, Nov 30 2006
  

       Suns the cue right   

       So if the cue was of normal size then the other balls would be unbeliveably tiny, the cue would just roll over them
balloon, Nov 30 2006
  

       i think we kind of covered that in the Annos.
jhomrighaus, Dec 01 2006
  

       To keep the scale idea, maybe make the length of the table the same as the scale diameter of the sun, then keep a much smaller (regulation size) cue ball sun, and cast the planets inside clear resin regulation sized balls up to scale with the sun=table length scale.
Hunter79764, Dec 01 2006
  

       Crap. Pool balls are hollow, I think...
Hunter79764, Dec 01 2006
  

       Mine are soled stone I'm not sure of the type
dev45, Dec 01 2006
  

       phenolic resin.
Zimmy, Dec 01 2006
  
      
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