John Virgo's Quiz Break

Publisher : ACE Coin Equipment
Platform : MEC (Multi-Entertainment Centre)
Format : CD-ROM
OS : DR-DOS, Intel DVI
Game Engine : NewWorld
Language : C, 8086 Assembler, i750PB microcode
Resolution : 512 x 480
Year : 1993

John Virgo's Quiz Break is a snooker-themed pub quiz game featuring the famous snooker player and TV commentator John Virgo. It is a £20 jackpot UK SWP multiple choice question and answer video game. The game features full screen digital video clips of John Virgo.

Hi! I'm John Virgo, and welcome to my snooker trivia quiz!

The game is divided into 3 stages:

In STAGE 1 you get 3 questions. For each correct answer you win time for stage 2.

In STAGE 2 you must answer as many questions as you can within the time won from stage 1. For each correct answer I'll pot a red. When you've reached the target number of reds, you win the first prize.

In STAGE 3 the normal rules of snooker apply. This is your chance to make a big break and win big money. For each ball potted you win points, and as you've probably guessed, ...'Points mean prizes'. Though be careful when choosing which colour to go for, because the hardest questions are on the higher value balls.

If you're lucky, at the end of the game, I might show you one of my trick shots. Hopefully it'll work!

Before starting a game, the player can press the "CUE VIRGO" button to see John Virgo explain how to play the game.

Play For Time

"Win time for stage 2" - The object of Play for Time is to win time for the next stage. At the start of the game, the time counter has 10 seconds on it. The player must answer 3 trivia questions (no retries allowed):

CORRECT answers are rewarded with 10 seconds being added to the time counter
INCORRECT answers incur no penalties

Reddy Cash

"Pot as many balls as you can" - In this stage, the player must pot as many red balls as possible within the time won from stage 1. To pot each ball the player must answer a trivia question. The stage ends when:

the timer reaches zero
a question is answered incorrectly

At the end of the round:

if the target number of red balls has been potted, the player is awarded a prize of 20p or 25p
if the player fails to reach the target number of reds, the game ends

Make Your Break

"The normal rules of snooker apply" - As per the rules of snooker, the player must keep potting red then colour, until all of the available prizes have been won, or until a pot is missed. For each ball to be potted, the player must first answer a trivia question:

when potting a RED, the computer chooses a question category at random
when potting a COLOUR, the player has a choice of 6 different categories - one for each coloured ball

Question categories are assigned at random to each ball colour. The categories are:

ARTS
NATURE
NEW
POT LUCK
SPORT
TRAVEL

The player selects one of the 6 coloured balls (and its associated question category), by pressing the flashing button beneath their chosen ball. The player is then shown an image, or a video clip, and must answer a multiple choice question about it. Images begin completely black, and are revealed using a variety of digital video wipe effects. Images are generally only fully visible after two thirds of the question time has elapsed.

This gives the game a unique twist that is absent in traditional text-only quiz games. In addition to the player enjoying the moment when they realise the answer to the question, there is also the satisfaction at the instant that they recognise the image being revealed.

In this stage, the player is allowed one incorrect answer. The stage ends if:

the player selects a wrong answer for the second time
the player fails to select an answer within the time limit

The image wipe effects used in John Virgo's Quiz Break include:

FADE - the image is gradually faded in from black
IRIS - a small rectangle of the image grows from the centre to gradually fill the whole image area
MOSAIC - the image resolution of an initially highly pixelised image is gradually increased to reveal the full non-pixelised image
RAIN - small rectangular areas of the image are drawn one at a time, until the whole image is revealed
WIPE - a black rectangle, the size of the image, slides off to reveal the image behind it
ELASTIC - the horizontal and/or vertical scale of an initially expanded image is gradually reduced to normal size
BARS - the image is divided into multiple horizontal or vertical bars which slide into view, in an interleaved fashion, from the sides, or from the top and bottom
BLEND - the image is gradually faded in from an initially blurred unrecognisable image

The time limit, and question difficulty, for each question is set according to the colour (ie. value) of ball selected. eg. a yellow has a long time limit, and a black has a short time limit.

After each question, a full-screen video of Virgo attempting to pot the ball is played.

if the player has chosen the CORRECT answer, Virgo succeeds in potting the ball
if the player has chosen an INCORRECT answer, Virgo's attempt fails

Points are awarded for each ball potted:

1 for RED
2 for YELLOW
3 for GREEN
4 for BROWN
5 for BLUE
6 for PINK
7 for BLACK

At the end of the stage, the player's winnings are decided by a table of points and prizes, up to a maximum of £20. 11 possible prizes are available depending on the score reached (in addition to the prize won in stage 2).

In this stage, if a question from each of the 6 question categories has been answered, the player is awarded a FREE BALL. The player chooses one of the balls presented to him, but does not have to answer a question for the ball to be potted.

Virgo's Trick Shot

At the end of the game, if a prize of not more than £10 has been won, the player is given the chance to play the 4th stage of the game - Virgo's Trick Shot.

pressing COLLECT awards the player their current winnings, and the game ends
pressing GAMBLE takes the player to Virgo's Trick Shot

Virgo's Trick Shot is a DOUBLE OR NOTHING GAMBLE. It consists of a ring of 12 coloured snooker balls. Each colour represents a different question category. The player selects one of the available balls, and it is eliminated from the ring.

The player must answer one question from the category indicated by the ball's colour. A full screen video of John Virgo performing one of his famous tricks is then played:

if the player's answer was CORRECT, Virgo completes his trick shot successfully, and the player's winnings are doubled - the game then ends
if the player's answer was INCORRECT, Virgo messes up the trick shot, and the player's winnings are lost - game over

When selecting a question category, if the player eliminates the last remaining ball in the ring, a bonus MYSTERY PRIZE is awarded. The ring of snooker balls is then reset, and all 12 balls are restored, ready for the next time Virgo's Trick Shot is played.

New Question Types

Several new question formats were implemented in John Virgo's Quiz Break:

Watch the Next Video - a full screen video clip is played - the player is then asked a question about what they saw
Study the Next Picture - a full screen image is displayed for a few seconds - the player is then asked a question about what they saw
Connect - an image or a video clip is shown - the player is asked to choose which answer has a connection with the subject matter seen
True or False - the player must answer true or false to a statement about an image or video clip that is shown to them
Listen to this Music - a short clip of music is played - the player is then asked a question about it

Development

Martin created the design, developed the code, and produced the main graphics for John Virgo's Quiz Break. Martin also scripted and supervised the John Virgo video shoot, and oversaw the video post-production, and CD-ROM mastering.

John Virgo's Quiz Break - video shoot - January 1993

Filming

The full frame digital video clips of John Virgo were shot by a video production crew using professional Betacam video cameras. Martin scripted the video shoot, which was carried out at the Connaught Rooms, in London. The video clips that were required included:

multiple shots of Virgo potting a red from various positions on the table
multiple shots of Virgo missing a red from various positions on the table
2 or 3 shots of Virgo potting each colour (yellow to black) from various positions on the table
2 or 3 shots of Virgo missing each colour (yellow to black) from various positions on the table
shots of Virgo successfully performing several of his famous trick shots
shots of Virgo messing up his trick shots
a video of Virgo reading the instructions for the game (aided by "cue" cards)
incidental shots of John Virgo to be used for the video attract sequences

Audio clips were also scripted and recorded for the various intros and voice overs in the game.

Production

Martin supervised the compilation of the video clips, and the choice of Quantel video effects used in the production of the game's zero credit video attract sequences. This was carried out at Signalvision's video production facility, in Knutsford. Martin also supervised the production and editing of the video clips of Virgo's ball-potting.

All of the video clips for the game were then sent on Betacam tape to Intel's DVI digital video facility in France, where PLV video files were generated. PLV (Production Level Video) is the highest quality DVI compression available, and is used for 25 or 30 frames per second full screen digital video. When the final PLV files were ready, Martin prepared padded versions of them for optimal CD streaming playback from within the game. The entire file set for the game was then assembled on various hardrives and CD-R discs and taken to the Nimbus CD production facilty in Wales, for the production of the game's silver CD-ROM discs. The game was published on a single full capacity 680 MB CD-ROM.

Release

John Virgo's Quiz Break was launched in July 1993. The game was released as an upgrade pack for existing owners of MEC cabinets. The pack consisted of a CD-ROM, a SmartKey, and accompanying promotional material. John Virgo's Quiz Break was also released pre-installed on brand new MEC cabinets.