The Pinball Megathread [Physical and Virtual]

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > The Pinball Megathread [Physical and Virtual]

WhiteHowler: Apr 3, 2001; I'M HUGE!

Welcome to the Pinball Megathread!

. . . .

The purpose of this thread is to serve as a place for discussion of all things pinball: both physical tables and pinball video games. Feel free to use and abuse this thread to find Xbox Live/PSN/Steam friends to play with or dick-wave about your high score.

Want to chat live with your fellow Pingoons? There's a Discord for that: https://discord.gg/GWu4x2U

Pinball Video Games

The Pinball Arcade (Steam, Xbox1, PS4, Switch, Android, iOS, Ouya)
Pinball Arcade focuses on classic real-world tables from different manufacturers including ~~Williams~~, ~~Bally~~, Stern, and Gottlieb. Sounds great, right?

Your favorite classics? Twilight Zone, Star Trek: TNG, Terminator 2, The loving Addams Family? ~~They're all here.~~ Well, they were here. Farsight lost the license to the Williams and Bally tables in mid-2018. If you haven't already bought them, you're out of luck. Sort of. Read on!

Click for a list of list of currently available TPA tables

Pinball FX 3 (Steam, Xbox1, PS4, Switch)
Where The Pinball Arcade focuses on real-life tables, Pinball FX historically focused on tables designed for a digital format. This allows them to insert some pretty cool (and occasionally really annoying) playfield elements and options that simply wouldn't be possible on a real, physical machine.

Players can download the Pinball FX 3 "framework" for free, with the option to demo and purchase individual tables or full packs. There are many original tables now available, including themed packs for Marvel Comics, Star Wars, South Park, Bethesda, FOX/FX cartoons, and more.

Zen Studios has the rights to publish classic Williams/Bally tables and has been regularly adding these machines into Pinball FX 3. Unfortunately, so far they haven't been able/willing to secure tables with licensed content -- so no Addams Family, Star Trek: TNG, etc.

Stern Pinball Arcade

Seriously, don't buy this.

Visual Pinball (PC)
For many years, Visual Pinball was the only way to get digital versions of most physical tables with licensed properties. While The Pinball Arcade and Pinball FX have brought back some classic tables, Visual Pinball is still the only way to play many licensed titles.

Visual Pinball is a free engine that allows designers to create tables using a fairly robust toolset. Players can download tables and... hold on...

*** The legality of downloading copyrighted tables is questionable at best, so while VP itself is free and legal, please don't link to any table sites here. ***

We'll just say that there are lots of Visual Pinball tables out there, and they're not hard to find.

Even after years of development, getting everything working correctly can be tricky. The quality of table designs varies wildly, as they're only as good as the community creating them. Visual Pinball is great for the truly hardcore fans, but casual pinball players should be served perfectly well by the other titles above.

WhiteHowler fucked around with this message at 20:52 on Oct 22, 2020

# ¿ Oct 29, 2010 22:18

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# ¿ Apr 25, 2024 16:33

WhiteHowler: Apr 3, 2001; I'M HUGE!

Pinball Machines!

There have been many pinball manufacturers over the years, with major players once including Williams, Bally/Midway, Gottlieb, and Stern.

Unfortunately, pinball has fallen upon hard times over the past decade, and most of these companies have disappeared or abandoned the pinball industry. Up until a few years ago, Stern has been the only company still mass-producing pinball machines, releasing a few titles each year. These are almost always based on modern TV or movie licenses, and while the games are usually technically sound, some pinball fans feel that Stern's tables lack the "soul" of classic early-90's machines, and there are many complaints about cheap-looking table elements.

There are a few other recent-ish entries into the pinball world. Jersey Jack has produced new tables based on The Wizard of Oz and The Hobbit films, which feature color LCD screens and high-quality table elements. They also put out an incredibly timely table themed around... cellphones.

Spooky Pinball has turned out new tables in small numbers as well, and Chicago Gaming has produced new production runs of the classic Medieval Madness and Attack From Mars machines.

Goon-approved favorite tables to check out if you get the opportunity:
Bally/Midway: The Addams Family, Twilight Zone
Williams: Star Trek: The Next Generation, Medieval Madness, Black Knight
Stern: Game of Thrones, Tron: Legacy, Roller Coaster Tycoon
Gottlieb: Any classic mechanical tables from the 60's-70's
Data East: uh... I guess Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles isn't completely terrible?

Resources:
Pinside Map: Find tables to play near you!
Pinside Marketplace: Buy and sell tables

CzarChasm's tips for newbies:

quote:

For anyone looking for pinball tips I have a few for beginners. Please note that while most of my experience is virtual, these tips should apply to real pinball tables as well.

1) The Flippers control the lights
I'm sure there is a technical term for this, but the short version is this: There are sets of lights placed all over the board, usually in groups of three to four. When your ball rolls over the sensor for one of those lights, the light lights up. The key to note here is that if you need to activate all three lights to get the multiplier going you have to shift the lights around to correspond to where your ball will be going next. In the example below the X indicates the light is off and an O indicates the light is on. Hitting the right flipper will shift the light one position to the right, and the left flipper will move it left.

XOX -> XXO or XOX -> OXX

This is helpful for:

2) Learn to activate the "ball save"
This is probably the first thing I need to know how to do on any pinball table. The ball save is what will allow you to keep playing even after your ball has fallen out of play. Typically, this is done by activating the four lights in the lanes near the flippers at the bottom. Certain tables have other rules, for example the PFX Speed table activates the kickers the first time you light the lights and the ball save the second time. On that note:

3) Activate the ball saves when appropriate
On most tables, the ball save will be activated automatically at launch, and will turn itself off after a minute or two. If you manually activate the ball save when it is already active it will not extend the time. It will still end when the original timer runs down.

4) Slow Down
If you want to keep the ball in play, and get a higher score, slow things down a bit. Don't hit the flipper right away when the ball hits (or is about to hit) most of the time that will send it careening wildly and it will be harder to judge where it is going to go next. Even if you are working against a clock it is a good idea to focus your shots.

5) Learn the Tables
The rules will be generally the same for most tables, but it is a good idea to get used to the layouts and see what each table has as a goal to get the jackpots. Also of note, some tables are nicer than others. Most will wipe out a multiplier when you lose a ball, but some will allow you to continue whatever progress you made previously (hit ramp 10 times out of 20)

6) Pay Attention to the lights
When you activate a challenge on a table, chances are good that a specific ramp will light up with a blinking indicator. Most tables will give you a timer countdown to hit that ramp. If you hit it, see if it is still blinking. If so, hit it again, if not, look for another blinking light.

WhiteHowler fucked around with this message at 17:44 on Sep 4, 2018

# ¿ Oct 29, 2010 22:19

WhiteHowler: Apr 3, 2001; I'M HUGE!

aga. posted:

That's got to be bullshit, with all the cost cutting Stern have done the new tables are nothing like the old ones they put out, they can barely afford to put anything on the table anymore. It's a shame now they finally have some good licenses (Iron Man, Avatar) they are wasting them on bare tables.

I don't know, I've heard that the Avatar table is really nice. My local arcade participated in the launch event a few weeks ago, and while I didn't get to go, reception sounded favorable.

I should get a chance to play it this Sunday, so I'll let you know how it plays.

# ¿ Oct 29, 2010 23:50

WhiteHowler: Apr 3, 2001; I'M HUGE!

Updated the XBL gamertag list.

I got to play a little more on the new tables tonight. My impressions so far:

- Biolab: Really cool idea, although I haven't found many "sidequests" apart from upgrading the creature. The goal progression isn't too bad except for the Wisdom upgrade, which takes three Skill Shots with very little time for error. I still haven't nailed that one yet, mainly thanks to the Xbox analog stick's tiny range of motion.

- Secrets of the Deep: Wow. This is a busy, busy table. I have no idea what's going on. Sometimes it will tell me to do something and then say "You failed" before I can finish reading. Still, the elements are really cool, and it's probably the highest on the fun scale so far. Once I figure everything out, I bet this will be my favorite FX2 core table.

- Rome: lovely, lovely angles everywhere. I was ready to write off this table until I got to do a galleon attack. Catapults and flames? :hellyeah:

It may grow on me over time, but I dislike the angles of the two aquaduct ramps and don't know if I'll be able to get used to them.

- Pasha: A good all-around table. Nothing really stands out for me. The guard battle is a neat mechanic, but it happens a bit too frequently. I've only played twice so far, so I'll probably discover more cool things with time.

I'm not sure how anyone's going to get 100,000 Wizard Score without stocking their friends list exclusively with people who play entirely too much pinball. I want that robe, but I just don't see it happening.

# ¿ Oct 30, 2010 05:17

WhiteHowler: Apr 3, 2001; I'M HUGE!

Obeast posted:

I picked up Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection on the Wii at my local Wal-Mart for $10 and I felt I got my money's worth and more out of it. The Wiimote + Nunchuck controls are perfect for it and does a decent job at making you think that you're playing a real pinball machine. If you can find it, I highly recommend getting it. I gave up on it because of one of the regular challenges on Whirlwind (I forgot which one it was, but I remember that you had to complete it on one ball since the entire board resets when you lose a ball ).

The Whirlwind achievement is very difficult but possible, but there's one in Arabian Nights (spell HAREM) that can't actually be done the correct way. The left orbit adds a letter if the Tiger light isn't lit, but there's a bug in the video game version that make it so the Tiger light never goes out once lit. You can also "drop in" on the Harem from the top jet bumper area, but it's really just luck. I've played that table probably 150 times and have never gotten more than three letters.

quote:

I do wanna try Pinball FX2 though, I never played the original one (my 360 did come with the demo for it, but I never tried it), but a pinball game with downloadable tables sounds awesome in my book. Do they release new tables every week like they do (or did, if GR dies soon due to Krome's closing ) in Game Room?

Definitely not weekly, but supposedly a lot more frequently than we saw tables come out for the first game. The FX2 core pack contains four very good tables that should keep you going for a while. It's only :10bux:

, and well worth your money.

homeless snail posted:

I don't know how its triggered, but there is a Brains upgrade side table where you have to navigate a rat maze. Its not randomized or anything though so its kind of asinine.

Yeah, I can complete the Brains, Muscle, and Reflex upgrades, but the Wisdom one always gets me. I know about where to hold the plunger to get the skill shot, but doing it reliably three times in a row with the 360's analog stick may be asking too much.

# ¿ Oct 30, 2010 05:38

WhiteHowler: Apr 3, 2001; I'M HUGE!

fruitpunch posted:

The only pinball I remember playing as a child was a game called Pinball Dreams on the NES, no idea if this was an accurate measure of actual pinball, but I remember many sleepless nights at the ages of 7/8 playing it and trying to get better scores. Someone needs to explain the absolute basics of pinball and table design for people like me who have no idea about the game itself but enjoy high score type gaming

Pinball Dreams was okay, but quasi-realistic physics didn't start to appear in pinball video games until a bit later. Modern pinball titles contain full-featured tables and are pretty much identical to their physical counterparts. There's still no substitute for actually feeling the flippers or nudging the machine, but we're probably as close as we're going to get.

As for the absolute basics, it's as simple as this: Keep the ball in play. Unfortunately, it really is a "practice makes perfect" skill. I'm a decent (but not spectacular) player, but I've played enough that I can find my way around a table I've never seen before -- I can pick up the feel of the flippers and usually figure out some basic goals of the table.

For higher-level play, it's all about learning a specific table. Almost all modern tables have sets of goals to complete (for example, light "CATAPULT", then shoot the center ramp to activate Siege Mode Multiball, then hit the side ramps for Jackpots). There's also usually one main goal that you can progress to by completing the more basic goals. This all varies greatly by table, of course, and you'll have to spend a decent chunk of time with a given machine to be able to complete these goals. Just as a measuring stick, I played Big Race USA probably three or four hundred times, and finally got to the point where I could finish the race once or even twice every game.

As for table design, I'm probably not the best person to ask. If you're just looking for "good" tables to play, any of the modern collections should work. Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection has a ton of classic tables, including some of the best non-licensed titles ever made (Black Knight and Medieval Madness, especially). Pinball FX2 contains completely fictional tables, but they're mostly solid and sometimes innovate things that wouldn't be practical on a physical machine (for example, the mad scientist's creature in Biolab).

Fortunately for us, both of these games are really inexpensive. You can find the Williams collection for under $20, and Pinball FX2's four-table core pack is $10 on Xbox Live Arcade.

Captain Keekles posted:

I have to admit that Metorid Prime Pinball on the DS was one of my favorites previously. I thought that game was a cool adaption of Metroid Prime, the duel screens were used well for a cool layered experience, and the tables were varied and had lots to do. I just wish there had been more incentive for me to want to score more, but I didn't have any friends with the game. One example of how growing up in the post arcade era, I'm glad things like XBLA enables great score competition for certain games.

I am embarrassed at the number of hours I put into Metroid Prime Pinball. The only problem was that it was limited to two full tables, with several less-featured boss battle screens. After a while you just get tired of doing the jungle and spaceship boards over and over.

# ¿ Oct 30, 2010 12:29

WhiteHowler: Apr 3, 2001; I'M HUGE!

Yodzilla posted:

Also Epic Pinball runs perfectly fine in the newest version of DOSBox but, uh, it hasn't aged well. I was surprised at how downright bad most of the tables are because I remember loving the poo poo out of that game back in the day.

Deep Sea is all you need. :colbert:

# ¿ Oct 31, 2010 23:05

WhiteHowler: Apr 3, 2001; I'M HUGE!

Even with the table rulesheet, I still don't understand some of the table elements on Secrets of the Deep.

How does the crane work? What am I supposed to do with it? It seems like I grab the ball and then within half a second I have "failed" the mode.

Also, I'm not sure what to do in the Hungry Morays or Save the Turtles video modes. Do I just avoid the eels? I've never gotten across. And Save the Turtles says to hit the lit shot, but at any given time there are half a dozen things lit or flashing.

I want to like the table but I generally have no idea what's happening.

# ¿ Nov 1, 2010 17:29

WhiteHowler: Apr 3, 2001; I'M HUGE!

The General posted:

I'm coming for you WhiteHowler. I can get 15million easy on Biolab everytime I play.I'm a skill shot genius too.

You probably will. I don't understand that table at all.

I did reclaim my top spot on Extreme. :toot:

...

# ¿ Nov 3, 2010 16:38

WhiteHowler: Apr 3, 2001; I'M HUGE!

Captain Keekles posted:

Ive been trying to find a 360 copy of Williams Pinball Hall of Fame for under $20 and amazon warehouse has some used copies in like new condition for $18, which is great for a prime subscriber.

Not being a pinball historian, anyone want to direct me toward some of the better tables in that collection as a place to start when that arrives?

Black Knight is one of the best non-licensed tables ever created.

I'm also partial to Whirlwind, Medieval Madness, and Space Shuttle (which a good player can keep going on for hours). Pinbot and Funhouse are also considered classics, although neither of them are among my favorites.

Most of the tables are well worth your time, though some of the classic pre-dot matrix machines have not aged well. Sorceror has a couple of soul-crushingly difficult goals, and Jive Time is extremely basic and just isn't much fun to play.

# ¿ Nov 3, 2010 23:45

WhiteHowler: Apr 3, 2001; I'M HUGE!

Random Stranger posted:

I thought that was only me. I swear I kept going back to the instructions to double check if I was doing anything wrong for activating it. I could clean up the rest of the table and couldn't activate the harem multiball to save my life.

Nope, there's a bug in the Hall of Fame version where the left-side Tiger light never goes out once lit. On the physical machine, Tiger stays lit for a very limited amount of time and then resets.

The only practical way to get the HAREM achievement is with the drop-in from the jet bumpers, but I've never even gotten close.

Edit: I downloaded the Earth Defense table in FX2 today, and from the first couple of plays I think it may be my favorite Zen Studios table so far.

# ¿ Nov 4, 2010 01:40

WhiteHowler: Apr 3, 2001; I'M HUGE!

Earth Defense is new too, and it's definitely worth the extra 200 points.

# ¿ Nov 4, 2010 14:53

WhiteHowler: Apr 3, 2001; I'M HUGE!

CzarChasm posted:

So wondering if anyone else is having this same problem. I have over 5,000 Wizard points (or whatever the first tier is for unlocking the award) and I received the message that the award was unlocked. I go to check the thing out, and it appears to be unlocked, but doesn't show up. I don't usually care about avatar poo poo, but drat it I earned this one!

The first avatar award seems to have been broken since the dashboard update. My other avatar items were auto-updated, but my FX2 shirt still doesn't work.

# ¿ Nov 4, 2010 15:35

WhiteHowler: Apr 3, 2001; I'M HUGE!

My town (Birmingham, AL) is lucky enough to have BumperNets, which primarily focuses on table tennis and pool, but has a good collection of pinball machines -- mostly new Stern tables, but with a few classics thrown in.

Even with real tables available, I just don't play very often. Video pinball has evolved to the point where it plays pretty darn close to the real thing, and it's a hell of a lot more economical to play on any sort of semi-serious level. I paid $18 for the Williams Collection and around $25 for my Pinball FX/FX2 tables. That's around 25-30 tables that are essentially on "free play" mode.

Games on a real table are $.75 a pop now, and I have to drive 25 minutes to the mall to play.

Now, I will agree that there's no substitute for the real thing, and I still play occasionally, but I can't imagine hanging around the arcade for hours on end when there's a pretty good, much cheaper alternative at home. Back in the 90's, when I'd stay at the bowling alley literally all night playing Twilight Zone and Addams Family, there was no alternative.

I still haven't had a chance to try the new Avatar table, but I'm hoping to have some free time this weekend.

# ¿ Nov 4, 2010 19:11

WhiteHowler: Apr 3, 2001; I'M HUGE!

Pinball generally requires extremely accurate timing, and everything I've seen about Kinect so far shows that it has a bit too much input delay.

# ¿ Nov 5, 2010 14:34

WhiteHowler: Apr 3, 2001; I'M HUGE!

Well, I finally got a chance to try the new Avatar machine by Stern.

It is... ah... not so great.

I dumped about five dollars into it, which usually gives me enough time to get a feel for a table and play around with some goals. Not so on Avatar.

The gigantic left outlane is absolutely brutal, and I lost probably 80% of my balls to it. There's no kickback on either outlane, nor is there an upper flipper to try to defend that area of the playfield.

There's only one ramp, and it's an extremely long shot with a steep incline. In all of my plays, I hit it maybe five or six times. Fortunately, the bottom end of the ramp curves enough that a ball failing to make it through won't drain directly down the center. Some of the other features (especially the left orbit) do suffer from this problem, however.

The table itself is not particularly fast or slow. The flippers felt a lot weaker than I'm used to, resulting in a few lost balls due to late button presses.

All of the shots on the table, even the side targets, feel extremely long. The ramp and orbits are really far up the table, and combined with the weak flippers, make for some frustrating non-shots.

Other table features seemed pretty standard. There are not a lot of bells and whistles (figuratively or literally) -- the only mechanical element is the mech-walker thing from the movie, which can be made to squat down/open up, allowing you to shoot the target inside. There are a couple of under-table magnets as well, but nothing too unique.

Overall, I just didn't enjoy Avatar too much. I walked in intending to drop about ten dollars into it, but ended up falling back to my two current favorites: 24 (which for all its floatiness is really fun) and Family Guy (also known as Shrek, depending on which branding your arcade opted for).

# ¿ Nov 5, 2010 20:17

WhiteHowler: Apr 3, 2001; I'M HUGE!

BlazeKinser posted:

It's kind of disappointing that the table design sounds so uninspired, but then again it seems like a lot of Stern tables just don't really have that magic touch to them. I'd like to believe the weak flippers were just due to miscalibration, but I guess I'd actually have to play the table to be sure either way.

BumperNets currently has three Avatar machines set up (they were part of Stern's big launch event for the table). I played on two different ones, and they both had similarly weak flippers. Most of the other machines in the place are well-calibrated, so I'm wondering if it's something specific to Avatar.

# ¿ Nov 6, 2010 04:02

WhiteHowler: Apr 3, 2001; I'M HUGE!

quietmonkey posted:

It feels awesome when you get a good game going and then start seeing updates on topping your personal best and then all of a sudden you're watching multiple avatars show up in the corner as you bust out the pinball wizardry.

Yep. It's really encouraging to see those messages. It's a little like having a crowd start to gather around your machine in the arcade when you're busting out a huge score.

I had my best Pasha game ever earlier (which still wasn't great), and then I saw someone on my friends list with 240 million on the table. :psyduck:

# ¿ Nov 6, 2010 20:32

WhiteHowler: Apr 3, 2001; I'M HUGE!

I got my wizard "robe" tonight!

It's ugly as hell, but I'm wearin' that poo poo for a while.

# ¿ Nov 7, 2010 06:58

WhiteHowler: Apr 3, 2001; I'M HUGE!

snackmar posted:

Let's get some screenshots of us in the OP for posterity!

# ¿ Nov 7, 2010 14:47

WhiteHowler: Apr 3, 2001; I'M HUGE!

Desdinova posted:

Awesome - I know what I'll be doing most of the night!

Also, got this tip off the Zen forums:

Haven't been able to try it yet though.

Those upper flippers are pretty hard to target anything with.

I'm starting to get Secrets of the Deep, although the crane is still annoying as hell. Can you only press a flipper button once while the crane is active? It seems like I can hold down one flipper, and when I let go or hit another flipper, I lose control of the crane. This seems like a really poorly designed element on an otherwise good table.

Rome, on the other hand... gently caress that table. The angles are terrible, the skill shot is retardedly difficult, and I still haven't figured out how to win (or even make progress in) the "Justice" mini-game. The conquer goals also tend to be harder than they need to be, with tons of (timed) difficult ramp shots to make progress.

Actually, that seems to be a running theme in the FX2 tables. I think they went a little overboard with the goal complexity/difficulty. Most of the Williams Collection tables are a lot less frustrating to try to complete goals on, while not being any "easier" (other than Space Shuttle, of course).

# ¿ Nov 9, 2010 23:43

WhiteHowler: Apr 3, 2001; I'M HUGE!

Bloody Hedgehog posted:

What exactly is the skill shot on Pasha? I've gotten it before, but I don't know what I did to get it. No matter how hard or soft I throw the plunger, the ball always just gets blocked by that hanging lantern thing.

Look at the lights in the ball launch lane. The meter fills up to one of three levels on each shot, indicating how hard to shoot the ball.

I'm not actually sure what the "sweet spots" on the plunger are, but I can occasionally hit it.

# ¿ Nov 10, 2010 15:40

WhiteHowler: Apr 3, 2001; I'M HUGE!

Holy crap, I finished all four upgrades on BioLab and ended up at #2 on my friends list (which has pretty much everyone in this thread).

I wasn't entirely sure what to do after the creature was finished though. I was on my last ball, and while I was scanning around trying to spot a new light to shoot, I lost track of what I was doing for a moment and lost it. Bah.

Then I played a little bit of Excalibur. Yeah, that table is a comedy of horrible design decisions.

# ¿ Nov 11, 2010 01:42

WhiteHowler: Apr 3, 2001; I'M HUGE!

Looks like Zen is continuing with the "upper flipper with hard-to-hit ramps that are used for EVERY goal and game mode" trend.

A lot of good tables have upper flippers, but on most FX/FX2 tables you need to use them for everything, and the angles often aren't very good.

Take Agents for example. I like the table a lot, but that loving tanker ramp is a travesty, and it's used for everything. Not only is it difficult to hit, but depending on how much the jet bumpers at the top like you, it's often not even possible to get your ball to the upper flipper reliably. Either you hit the right orbit and hope the ball pops out to the left of the bumpers (about a 50/50 chance) or try a direct shot to the upper flipper, which makes the timing really difficult.

Pasha is pretty bad about this too. At least it's easy to get the ball to the upper left flipper, but having to hold the right flipper up to hit the palace is a gimmick I really dislike. And of course you have to hit the palace for pretty much everything.

Then there's the right-side Excalibur ramp. :bang:

Look at the old Williams and Bally tables. There are some hard shots, but hitting any given target bank or ramp usually results in something cool, or at least measurable progression toward something. So many ways to get multiball, extra balls, or big points. Why do people like Addams Family or Twilight Zone or Medieval Madness? Because everything you do results in awesomeness.

Zen's new tables are much better than the FX1 stuff, but there are still some basics of table design I don't think they quite grasp.

# ¿ Nov 12, 2010 15:59

WhiteHowler: Apr 3, 2001; I'M HUGE!

Zero Karizma posted:

This idea is bad, and you should FEEL bad!

Agreed, but I would play the gently caress out of a Futurama pinball table.

# ¿ Nov 12, 2010 17:26

WhiteHowler: Apr 3, 2001; I'M HUGE!

I played some Earth Defense earlier. 65 million (already my lifetime best) on the first ball, climbing to 94 million after the second ball.

So I launch the next ball. It comes down and I kick it back up into the upper left area with the mini-orbit and the ball lock hole. I hit it with the upper flipper and... the ball completely disappears.

I tried nudging the table in all different directions, but nothing worked. There was no ball on the table, and the game was just sitting there, not doing anything about it. I tried tilting it, but still nothing happened.

Unable to end my awesome game, I left the it on and got up to do some housework. About twenty minutes later, the ball finally reappeared from the mini-orbit. I was no longer anywhere near the console, so the ball unceremoniously drained.

That's about the closest I've ever come to raging and smashing a controller. Oh well, at least I got a pretty damned good two-ball high score.

# ¿ Nov 13, 2010 04:07

WhiteHowler: Apr 3, 2001; I'M HUGE!

Hal Incandenza posted:

Sorry BroStar! I had some people over and they wanted to watch South Park... hit me up again and we can talk tables

Man, I am really starting to hate the Agent table. It seems so hard to complete any of the events. At least it was at 2 am last night. I think that might be my least favorite table. All the FX1 tables seem so lacking now compared to the new ones.

I like Agent except for the fact that virtually everything requires hitting the Tanker ramp, which is really hard to hit. Not only is the angle poor, but there's no reliable way to get the ball to the left flipper -- at best you hit it into the orbits and hope that the pop bumpers knock it out the left side instead of the right.

# ¿ Nov 29, 2010 14:28

WhiteHowler: Apr 3, 2001; I'M HUGE!

I played a quick game of Spiderman at lunch, and I really like the table. Lots of ramps with good angles, lots of stuff to do on the table. It may be just a little bit easy -- I got two extra balls without ever really knowing how to get them (I haven't read the rule sheet for the table yet).

# ¿ Dec 8, 2010 19:04

WhiteHowler: Apr 3, 2001; I'M HUGE!

Megaman's Jockstrap posted:

I can't understand why people don't unanimously think Blade is the best table. It has the best shots, the coolest theme (I love the day/night cycle), the most modes. It's the loving bomb.

There's too much random poo poo at the top of the table. I never know what I'm shooting at, and I feel like I can't even see half of my targets because there's so much table crap in the way, or because the night cycle makes everything way too dark.

quote:

Spiderman is good, I like that it's fairly easy and you can keep it going, and the modes are varied and fun. A good introduction to the Marvel tables.

Agreed. Spiderman has cool ramps that are easy to hit, a generous ball saver, and mostly intuitive boss battles.

quote:

Wolverine is just too hard for me, I haven't figured out the shots or the tricks. I keep getting gutter-drained too, it's very annoying.

That right outlane is an rear end in a top hat. I still don't quite understand how the kickback/ballsaver work on this table (light HEAL? then what?). I've gotten pretty good at getting the Sabertooth fight at least once per ball, but other than that I can't do anything reliably.

quote:

Iron Man is loving dull and I hate the middle shot to open the mission hole that kicks the ball right back down your gullet sometimes.

Yep. I spend most of my time not actually hitting anything on this table. The ramp angles are terrible, and the graphics are so cluttered that it's easy to lose your ball in the mess.

# ¿ Dec 10, 2010 00:05

WhiteHowler: Apr 3, 2001; I'M HUGE!

Kelp Plankton posted:

Just picked up FX2 with the core and Marvel tables, not sure what else to grab at the moment though. If I only got two more, what are the best ones to grab?

Earth Defense and... then save your points for the next pack.

# ¿ Dec 12, 2010 16:37

WhiteHowler: Apr 3, 2001; I'M HUGE!

tendrilsfor20 posted:

I've always loved the Elvira pinball game (there were a few, I'm thinking of the one, "Monster Party" or something? The theme was throwing a party for monsters, with drinks in cauldrons and whatnot), it was the only one I ever played enough to get "good" at.

My question is, what is the best way to get a copy of this game? Do I have to wait for a pinball expo and drive to California and have it crated there, or should I dare with eBay/Craigslist?

And what am I looking at, price-wise?

You can definitely buy online/remotely. Freight-class shipping will cost a couple hundred bucks at the very minimum.

I have no idea how reliable/reputable this site is, but they have a bunch of listings for Elvira machines: http://www.xmission.com/~daina/classified/data/machines_for_sale.html

If that's any indication, you're looking at $1500-2000 for a nicely shopped table (basically refurbished, as like-new as a machine that old will be).

# ¿ Jan 10, 2011 20:12

WhiteHowler: Apr 3, 2001; I'M HUGE!

752 million on Space Shuttle? I can believe it, but that must have taken several hours.

# ¿ Feb 12, 2011 01:42

WhiteHowler: Apr 3, 2001; I'M HUGE!

Roshi posted:

Physical pinball might be dead or mostly dead.(I haven't seen one if forever) but its alive a well on consoles.

Real pinball is still around, but unfortunately there is only one company (Stern) still producing physical pinball machines, and they only design about two new tables per year.

Avatar was their big table for 2010, which has some neat elements but is really unforgiving -- the side outlanes are huge even when the variable lane walls are set to the "easiest" position, and the ramp angles are pretty bad. There's also a Rolling Stones table, and while I'm not crazy about the theme, Stern did a good job with fun table elements; it reminds me of mid-90's Williams/Bally/Midway tables.

2011's table is Tron Legacy (based on the new-ish movie), which seems like a great table from the few times I've played it. Maybe a bit too easy for pinball fanatics, but there's enough variety in the targets, goals, and modes to keep it interesting for a while.

There's also a Transformers (movie) table coming soon. Actually, it may already be out, but my local arcade, which participates in most of Stern's launch events, doesn't have one yet.

# ¿ Oct 27, 2011 16:42

WhiteHowler: Apr 3, 2001; I'M HUGE!

Rupert Buttermilk posted:

There must have been a Ghostbusters table somewhere, somewhen, right?

Nope. That seems like a natural license to use for a pinball machine, but according to the Internet Pinball Database there has never been any sort of Ghostbusters table.

# ¿ Oct 27, 2011 17:10

WhiteHowler: Apr 3, 2001; I'M HUGE!

With the odd exception of the Rolling Stones machine, Stern mostly sticks to very new licenses for their tables. Maybe if/when the rumored Ghostbusters 3 movie happens they'll make a table -- but it would probably be themed mainly after the specific film and not all things Ghostbusters.

If we're talking about revisiting old movie licenses, I'd love to see a table based on a Tarantino film. Kill Bill would be great -- escape the coffin, drive the Pussy Wagon, finish goals to kill each of the deadly vipers and unlock the final Bill fight multiball.

Okay, that's a dumb idea.

# ¿ Oct 27, 2011 17:22

WhiteHowler: Apr 3, 2001; I'M HUGE!

JustLikeMe posted:

This used to be true - however, Stern now have competition in the form of Jersey Jack Pinball. They will be shipping their first machine early next year, based on the Wizard of Oz. Whilst I'm not a fan of the theme, JJP seems to be doing many things right - they're not imitating Stern's cost cutting measures, they're using the same quality parts that went into the Williams/Bally machines of the late 90s, and they've hired an amazing team to work on the project. The backbox will feature a full lcd screen, and the machine looks to be the most toy heavy in many years. Stern have made some great machines - we recently picked up The Simpsons Pinball Party and its great fun - but I'm personally not a fan of the machines they've been putting out recently. Many hope that the new competition from Jersey Jack will prompt Stern to up their game a bit. And more variety in the marketplace can only be a good thing.

I read some articles about Jersey Jack last year, but at that point it appeared that they were planning on limiting their releases to tiny production runs and custom tables. It's good that Stern will have a competitor soon.

As for Stern, their quality is just all over the place. A lot of those original Williams/Bally designers have actually gone on to work for Stern, but it's still hit-and-miss. Stern is notorious for cheaping out on the type of cool physical table features that made the 90's golden age of pinball so incredible. Tron Legacy seems to be an attempt to overcome this reputation, as the table looks really sharp and contains several cool features like a retractable drop target bank, light-up Flynn's Arcade machine, and a magnet mini-orbit thing (no idea what the actual name of these is). It's pretty solid, and I'm hoping to play it more this weekend to see how deep the gameplay gets.

# ¿ Oct 27, 2011 20:13

WhiteHowler: Apr 3, 2001; I'M HUGE!

I got to try out Stern's new Transformers table yesterday, and it's... okay.

The middle of the playfield is a barren wasteland, and pretty much everything on the table revolves around hitting four or five ramps. The angles are mostly good, and I like the Optimus Prime "jump shot". The basic four-ball multiball is very easy to initiate, and I managed to do it three or four times per game. The outlanes are very unforgiving (even for a Stern table), though they're adjustable and this particular table had them set at the most difficult position.

The 3D flavor elements on the table are really lovely looking cheap plastic. There's an Optimus Prime, a Megatron, and some kind of tank thing that I didn't recognize (I've never seen the movies). They're all awful, badly-painted plastic. I understand that creating pinball machines is basically a dead industry, but really -- they could have gone to Wal-Mart and picked up some actual Transformers toys, and they would have looked a hundred times better than what's currently on the table.

I talked to the owner of the arcade, and he said he's going to take a trip to check out Jersey Jack's "Wizard of Oz" machine early next year. He agreed with me that Stern has been cheaping out on tables lately (with the odd exception of Tron Legacy), and maybe some competition will force them to step their game up.

# ¿ Oct 31, 2011 13:55

WhiteHowler: Apr 3, 2001; I'M HUGE!

I like the Paranormal table overall, and I feel like feature-wise it's the closest Zen has come to giving us a machine that feels fully-featured to the level of classic 90's era pinball.

However, I absolutely hate the stupid cube shots. I can't make them hit the holes 90% of the time and feel like the "puzzle" is just dumb memorization that I really don't feel like learning. It's kind of a shame, because otherwise the table is great.

# ¿ Nov 6, 2011 14:19

WhiteHowler: Apr 3, 2001; I'M HUGE!

Obeast posted:

Good Old Games has some older pinball games that are suppose to be pretty good for their age. I haven't played any of them except for Pro Pinball Timeshock (which my brother rented on PlayStation a long time ago), so I dunno which one is the best.

Big Race USA is probably the best digital table ever that isn't derived from an actual, physical machine.

# ¿ Dec 8, 2011 01:57

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# ¿ Apr 25, 2024 16:33

WhiteHowler: Apr 3, 2001; I'M HUGE!

japtor posted:

Anyone remember the Pro Pinball series? I did a search for it on a whim after seeing all the other iOS pinball releases and saw this:
http://www.vpforums.org/index.php?showtopic=17590

It would be great if they released these tables in a single package. Big Race USA is probably the best video pinball table ever created -- it's actually deeper and has more features than a lot of real machines from the golden age of pinball, and the ball physics are very, very good.

# ¿ Feb 12, 2012 15:16

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > The Pinball Megathread [Physical and Virtual]

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