Dev notes
How it was built, and what changed.
Ball movement
How fast the ball rolls, where it slows down and where it starts to hook are all matched to measurements from real bowling. Change one number and everything gets measured again.
The oil reaches 11.9 m past the foul line, and the ball starts to hook where it ends.
The release
The power gauge has an accurate window. Let go inside it and the ball goes exactly where you aimed. Outside it the aim drifts, by up to six centimetres at worst.
With that drift set to zero, even a straight ball strikes every single time. So the ceiling on accuracy sits in your hand, not in the pins. At the same drift a hook forgives more than a straight ball.
Two clocks
Where the ball is gets worked out sixty times a second, at even intervals. The screen is drawn separately, as often as the device manages. So slow motion only slows the picture down and the result stays the same.
Camera
The camera pulls back far enough for all ten pins to fit, and how far that is depends on the shape of the screen. A wide desktop and a tall phone differ by more than two to one.
For the same shot the camera sits 1.44 m back on a desktop and 3.13 m back on a phone held upright.
Pictures and sound
The lane, the pins, the ball, the lighting and the buttons on screen are all drawn in code. Machine and button sounds are made on the spot too. Only three files are prepared in advance: the roll, the pins falling, and the music.
- Rolling
- Pins falling
- Background music
What changed
- Throw guide and the rules page
While you aim, a hand shows how to throw, and while you pull, the ring shows how to add spin. The rules page now answers how many frames a game has and what a turkey is worth.
- Game screens and My account
The result, pause, scoreboard and loading screens have a new look. My account is now three tabs, records, achievements and balls, and account, and it is where you equip a ball and set up the big screen.
- Invite links and new pages
Inviting a friend now takes one short link, and it opens the lobby in their language. The home page and the guide pages have a new look.
- A new lobby
The lobby is now a board of lanes, so practice, the spare challenge and open lanes are all in view. It no longer flashes blank as it opens, and on phones the menu lives behind ☰.
- FAQ and dev notes
Seven common questions now live on one page. The dev notes gained figures and this list, and rooms you could actually join no longer show as full in the lobby.
- Accounts and records
Signing up and logging in moved to pages of their own. Log in and a finished game is kept as a record that follows you to another device.
- First release
Solo, against AI, and online rooms to play with friends.