How do you think dom-jot is played?

[Rett Mikhal]

I couldn't find any threads about dom-jot (shame on all of you), so I thought I'd make one.

We never heard any rules being said, so we have to go by what we see. I think it is played like this:

Each player has a set of colored balls and a spring powered cue. Both cues have a maximum tension, dictating how far a ball can be pushed in a single turn at maximum power.

The table is covered with posts that light up when hit, and two holes. From what I can gather, the object is to light up all your posts and then sink all your balls into the goal. One hit activates and deactivates the posts, so the opponent can deactivate your posts or a bad move can accidentally set you back.

Strategy comes in the form of knowing when to go for the goal. If a player sinks all his balls but one and then the opponent deactivates a post, he's at a disadvantage.

What are your thoughts, based on what we've seen? Ever since I was a kid I thought dom-jot was the damned coolest game ever not-invented. Might be the fact I loved bumper pool and pinball like there's nobody's business.

 

[Shatnertage]

All I know is that apparently it's something that Naussicans really, really like to win at.

 

[Destructor]

First you talk and you talk, then you see who has the most GWAMBA!

 

[UssGlenn]

So how would you rig the game to cheat like they do in the episode?

 

[doubleohfive]

How do you think dom-jot is played?

With guramba, duh.

 

[Basperian]

Hi, I came here after re-watching DS9, after rewatching the complete TNG. By now I have accepted my fandom.. I am halfway season 3.. after Jake was outed as a dom-jot hustler by his dabo-girl-friend, I got interested.. I have been reading up on Dom-Jot. I think your basic rules make sense. I´d have to play it to be sure. More on that later..
I only remember seeing the game briefly in the episode "tapestry" (TNG), just before the young Picard, still played by Patrick Steward gets stabbed. There does seem to be something like "shooting straight nines", which seems to be a good thing. According to the table layout there are 10 pins. However, they might not all represent the same value, according to the layout some would be a lot harder to hit than others..
It might be that you can overshoot your total, like in black-jack, that might make an extra strategic element.

I haven´t looked at any footage of dom-jot, but I intend to.
I have been an online game-developer for 15 years and I would like to take a crack at making this game playable online.
The real challenge I am interested in is making an AI to play against, but the first version will be multiplayer behind the same computer or pad, taking turns.
It seems in DS9, there is an actual pad-version of the game somewhere, so I´ll be sure to have a look at that.
I´m planning on making it in html5, so you can feel you are playing on that pad
Would also be nice to be able to cheat, but first we got to come up with some rules.

If and when I make it, I´ll put a link here, so you can play it. I intend to make it free of any charge, but if you copy or mod it, which I am fine with, I´d appreciate it if the original copyright stays on. If I start making it and have a somewhat playable version, we might test your rules and discuss here. You can also star the github to keep track of what I´ve got.
https://github.com/HjalmarSnoep/MG-dom-jot not much now..
I allready have a nice versatile billiards engine, shouldn´t be too hard to adapt the geometry and the launching system.
Now to find the time...

 

[Vger23]

5....4.....3....2....

.

 

[Basperian]

I see only one hole in the table. But I like the idea of two players, hitting each other´s pins.
How about this:
- the pins light up in the color of the balls. They have a base color of themselves (non-lit)
- your cue ball is the color of the last pin you lit up, or yellow.
-all balls start in the hexagonal area 12321, except yellow, which is the color for the first player. This ball starts behind the hooked line at the far end. This would allow for a kind of ´break´
- the object is to get nine points, the number of points you get is the number of poles lit in the correct color, when you sink the balls.
- you would typically play a uneven number of rounds to determine a winner, like best out of three. This would allow for heavy betting.

 

[Basperian]

Well, I´ll first be collecting footage of the game being played on air. My intention is to have a collection of all scenes on youtube. If anyone wants to help in that way and post a link, some enthusiasm always goes a long way with me motivation-wise..

 

[1001001]

I appreciate your enthusiasm, but if you take a look at the rules of the board (pinned to the top of the forum) you’ll see that bumping a thread 10 years after it died is not allowed.

Closing.