Digital Pinball Help and Recommendations

[Damocles]

Firepower - 4,683,350

According to Twin Galaxies and the Guinness Book, this is a world record.

My own Firepower score is a World Record too (Its on 2,5 million mark), I've been thinking about submitting this to them somehow.. I can beat the "oficial" world record easily.

It wouldn't surprise me. Their rules for shmups are stupid, but the rules for pinball are fucking retarded. I will grant them, however, that they are right in saying that no two tables play exactly alike. "Exactly" being the operative word, as if it's been kept in good condition you can get them pretty goddamn close.

[Ruldra]

The guy who's first place in many Zen Pinball tables has some nice videos in his youtube channel.

The high-speed combos I was talking about in V12: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAoq7yz2n4A
How to easily score 100 millions in Earth Defense: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-v1_p_HEbjA
The final mission in Mars: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kofgCS-5Stk

[Ruldra]

Which game do you guys think it's better: Zen or Williams Collection? I was thinking of buying the latter but the tables look so bland compared to the ones in Zen (save a few exceptions, like Medieval Madness and Arabian Nights). I feel bad paying for tables like Jive Time, that one is just awful.

[BulletMagnet]

Which game do you guys think it's better: Zen or Williams Collection? I was thinking of buying the latter but the tables look so bland compared to the ones in Zen (save a few exceptions, like Medieval Madness and Arabian Nights). I feel bad paying for tables like Jive Time, that one is just awful.

I haven't spent much time with Zen but I'm definitely glad I picked up the Williams Collection - you'll definitely like some tables better than others, but there are enough winners in there to easily make it worth the ten or fifteen bucks it goes for by now. I do share your confusion as to why they included a table as outdated as Jive Time, though,

[Ruldra]

there are enough winners in there to easily make it worth the ten or fifteen bucks it goes for by now.

If I had to pay $15 I would've bought it already. But thanks to our insane taxes, the cheapest Williams Collection copy I found is 120 bucks (and that's one of the cheapest PS3 games...stuff like FF13 is over $200. And they ask why piracy is so high around here). My only option is to import, but even then I'll have to pay around 40 bucks.

I just found out a friend of mine has the PS2 version, so I guess I'll just go there and play a bit to see if I like it.

[BulletMagnet]

If I had to pay $15 I would've bought it already. But thanks to our insane taxes, the cheapest Williams Collection copy I found is 120 bucks (and that's one of the cheapest PS3 games...stuff like FF13 is over $200.

A shame it's so expensive where you are...up here the price has dropped like a stone, as it often does for good stuff that doesn't sell as well as it ought to.

I just found out a friend of mine has the PS2 version, so I guess I'll just go there and play a bit to see if I like it.

The PS2/Wii/PSP versions are good, but the 360/PS3 ports add in hi-def visuals and a handful of extra tables, most notably Medieval Madness, my personal favorite of the bunch.

[MadScientist]

The Williams Collection is definitely worth getting. Granted I only paid $18 for it, but I've put quite a bit of time into it and enjoyed (nearly every) second. It feels like something I'll still be playing years from now as well (assuming my PS3 still works). Some of the tables are a little basic by today's standards, but they have a certain charm and personality that Zen's tables maybe lack. The one clear advantage ZP has over the Williams Collection in my opinion is the standard of the online leaderboards.

[Ganelon]

It's a great collection but based on my recollections and playing Firepower again this past weekend, the physics are quite a bit more forgiving than on the actual pins.

[Ruldra]

Pinball FX 2 announced: http://www.joystiq.com/2010/08/31/pinba ... -your-life

[ryu]

Anybody else played Kyuutenkai and knows if these graphical oddities are normal or glitches?



See the vampire(?)'s arms and the tunnel left from the mummy.

I only noticed these recently while playing and feel like they weren't there before. Doesn't even look alright anyways.
But it looks the same on these screens, so I'm pretty confused about this.

[BulletMagnet]

The image isn't showing up for me...as for Kyutenkai in general, I love the goofiness/quirkiness of the setup, but the action feels "off" to me...I also wish there was more than one (multi-tiered, admittedly) table (and some scoring instructions in English).

[ryu]

http://www.satakore.com/sega-saturn-gam ... i-JPN.html

top-left "hell" screen.

I love the goofiness/quirkiness of the setup, but the action feels "off" to me...

The cartoonish presentation was what got me interested in the first place. Haven't played any other pinballers since I was about 10 so I can't compare the games' physics.

[Ruldra]

Anybody else played Kyuutenkai and knows if these graphical oddities are normal or glitches?

I only noticed these recently while playing and feel like they weren't there before. Doesn't even look alright anyways.
But it looks the same on these screens, so I'm pretty confused about this.

A couple youtube videos show those same 'oddities'. Doesn't look like a glitch to me.

[Ruldra]

In other news, someone at GAF managed to counterstop one of the Williams Collection tables. Apparently, once your score reaches 2.1 billion, the display shows your score as negative and it won't save to the leaderboards afterwards. And, judging from other scoreboards, this cap is present in all tables.

I ordered this game some time ago...can't wait to play it.

[Shatterhand]

Holy shit, 2 billion on whirlwind is very impressive.

Williams Pinball is damn awesome, and if you could get it cheap, you should. There's a huge selection of tables and most of them are great.. you surely will find a *few* tables in the game you will love it.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Been playing the cool DSi d/l of Fuse Games' latest pinball game known as "Pinball Pulse: The Ancients Beckon." Of course, Fuse Games Ltd. is the same developer whom did the earlier ProPinball series on the PC platform. It seems that the scoring for this particular DSi pinball game was situated at 1/10th of the normal scoring parameters for a typical ProPinball/Fuse pinball game (even the Video Mode "mini games" are situated like that as well). It would've been nice if Nintendo or Fuse had included an option to select "Regular Scoring" mode & "Mini Game Scoring" modes so that a typical pinball session would end up scoring like that of a traditional modern-day pinball game instead of the the 1/10th scoring set in stone.

It feels like a typical ProPinball game but with some features/options axed at best. I'd gladly have paid some $$ for a real 5th ProPinball game of TAB if it was released as a PC pinball game -- glad it was made nevertheless. Actor Brian Blessed's voiceovers greatly enhance this pinball game.

Upon playing this DSi pinball game, here's the 411 on it:

*Score Single Combo worth 5,000 points

*Score Double Combo worth 10,000 points

*Score Triple Combo worth 15,000 points

*Score Super Combo worth 20,000 points

*Press "B" button at the end of your last ball (and if you have at least one or two balls locked), you'll see "Locating Ball" message if you attempt to start a new gaming session before all balls are emptied off the pinball table. Nice touch of Fuse Games to implement this little known feature...is typical found on a real pinball table indeed.

*It's possible to score up to 73,000 points on the very 1st Video Mode mini game if you gather all the star icons and carefully avoid all the fireballs.

*Bonus Mulitplier maxs out at 10x, then rolls over to "Multiplier Held" status applied to the next ball in play.

*It's possible to use a certain number of credits to continue the current gaming session and the CPU won't allow continuing after a certain number has been used up. So a typical 3-Ball game session turns into a Buy-In gaming session instead if you decide to continue.

Interesting spin of playing the "Daily Game" mode with just one ball per day. Of course, by earning extra balls, said gaming session can be extended greatly. By adjusting the DSi's internal calendar/clock settings, it is possible to play more than just one session of "Daily Game" but if you revert the calendar to the previous day's setting, you can't play again as the CPU does keep track of how many "daily games" played. If you advance the calendar to the next day's setting, it's doable to play another "Daily Game" session at your leisure.

Neat usage of the mechanical effect to transform a regular silver ball into a "Stone" ball during Medusa's Spell mode -- this would work equally well on a real-life pinball table indeed.

High scores and high score intials are saved for posterity along with the date being displayed for such highest scoring "Daily Game" sessions also.

The only minor gripe is that there aren't any user adjustable settings to tinker around with this TAB pinball game like that on the ProPinball series. Would've been nice if Fuse did implement such a feature though. The Match replay feature seems to be set at 10% (just like on a real pinball machine) -- every once in a great while would a match be scored though.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[MadScientist]

Managed to get Visual Pinball/VPinMame & Future Pinball running. Pretty cool. Standard of tables varies a fair bit as you might expect, but some are really well done. Here's a 'Metal Slug' one I came across;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwkst8ic-VE

[zaphod]

Digital Illusions CE produced a whole ton of other pinball games (Pinball Dreams 2, Pinball Illusions, Pinball Mania, Pinball World) but I'm certain they're not as well reputed.

Digital Illusions only made the following tables

Pinball Dreams, Amiga (ported to PC by Spidersoft, ruined totally)
Pinball Fantasies, Amiga (ported to PC by Frontline Designs, NOT ruined, they did it right)
Pinball Illusions, Amiga and PC. both play identically.
True Pinball, PSX/Saturn (a port of Pinball Illusions to 3d, very well done.)

Pinball Dreams 2, Pinball Mania, and Pinball world are all Spidersoft PC, and all have the same screwed up physics. Pinball Dreams 2 is kinda fun, though, because bang backs are so easy on it.

I can only recommend the following for serious 2d digital pinball games.

Pinball Dreams, Amiga ver only, Spidersoft ruined the PC version badly.
Pinball Fantasies, PC version is actually less buggy.
Slamtilt pinball, 2d version only (3d version ruined the physics).

These are the ONLY scrolling 2d tables i never felt robbed by the physics.

HOnorable mention: Pinball Illusions.

I like pinball dreams 2, but that's in spite of the physics.

[Ruldra]

Paranormal table has finally been announced!

The latest new downloadable table in the works is Paranormal, and it will be coming on October 19th... just in time for Halloween!

ZEN Studios is proud to announce the latest ZEN Pinball table expansion, Paranormal, is coming soon to PlayStation Network. Weird creatures and haunting events await as players investigate mysterious and supernatural occurrences.
"Paranormal has a very distinct theme, it really feels like you are in another world," said Zsolt Kigyossy, Managing Director for ZEN Studios. "We just let our imaginations run wild and created one of the spookiest pinball tables ever!"

ZEN Pinball Paranormal table features:

•Flipper bat madness! The world's first pinball table with 10 flipper bats
•Cryptic gathering of creepy creatures all over the playing field
•Rotatable mini playing field with four different mini games on the same table
•Supernatural events will occur - watch out for time portals and floating objects
•Four new trophies
Developed by ZEN Studios, Paranormal joins MARS, Earth Defense, Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 and Street Fighter II as the fifth PSN expansion table for ZEN Pinball.

Screenshots:
http://www.gaming-age.com/cgi-bin/img.p ... rmal/1.jpg
http://www.gaming-age.com/cgi-bin/img.p ... rmal/2.jpg
http://www.gaming-age.com/cgi-bin/img.p ... rmal/3.jpg
http://www.gaming-age.com/cgi-bin/img.p ... rmal/4.jpg
http://www.gaming-age.com/cgi-bin/img.p ... rmal/5.jpg

[MadScientist]

Only had time for one game on Paranormal so far, but initial impressions would suggest that it's pretty forgiving compared to the other ZP tables. Magna save is easy to activate, outlanes aren't a problem, there are numerous ways to obtain extra balls and the trophies all look rather easy to obtain (I got two of them already). Seems pretty fun though.

[Ruldra]

10 minutes of the Paranormal table in action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIdHJgI14xg

This one has got to be the most forgiving table of the bunch. Stackable kickbacks + magna save means your games will last a long time. Too bad the silver trophy is so easy to get.

[DJ Incompetent]

Eh!
Pinball FX 2 bitches!

Get it more!

[Damocles]

I'm really torn about PFX2. On one hand, it still feels like I'm hitting a basketball around. On the other, friends leaderboards and whatnot is flippin awesome. The upgraded visuals are nice, and make certain targets easier to discern (I'm looking at you, Excalibur), but the "upgraded" physics are still wonky as hell.

I do love the tagline about how it's the most realistic/authentic game on the market. PHOF: Williams would like a word...

[antares]

I bought FX 2 yesterday and it's great. All in all you now have 13 Pinball tables to play on which should keep you busy for quite some time.

The old tables from Pinball FX seem to be all refined now. I've only played Speed Machine and Rocky & Bullwinkle yet and found these differences:

On Speed Machine the ballsaver now stays active much shorter than before. Also if you loose your ball the ballsaver is deactivated instantly. This obviously makes the table more challenging as it really was a very easy table before.
Also you get much less points now.

On the Rocky & Bullwinkle it's harder now to hit the left and right ramps. On the old version you could basically focus on left / right combos and ignore everything else and get huge ammounts of points. Now I found it much more difficult to chain combos.

Anyone else noticed changes on the other tables?

but the "upgraded" physics are still wonky as hell.

Could you explain that a bit more?

[Damocles]

but the "upgraded" physics are still wonky as hell.

Could you explain that a bit more?

I suppose wonky was the wrong word. "Unrealistic" fits much better. It's not an entirely bad thing, especially considering the game isn't based on real tables.

As for changes, other than scoring, the Mission hole in Agents seems to be slightly easier to enter off the front flipper...maybe... The same with the tuning hole in Speed Machine.

[xris]

Downloaded PFX2, but have only played the few tables that I had for the first. I'm a little surprised how much I enjoy digital pinball. I was able to get most of the new achievements pretty quickly, but still happy to have new goals for the tables. A couple of them are giving me problems, like the game mode one for the Rocky and Bullwinkle, and the super combo on Speed Machines.. I'll agee that the older tables feel slightly reworked, I can't quite get my shots right on the Speed Machines table. It's good that they reworked some of the scoring though. Any body playing the new tables? I haven't demo'd them yet, and was wondering if they would be worth it, I'm being a little stingy with my points. But, I would like to play some more pinball. I think I might try to track down a copy of that pinball game for the 360 in the wild. Reviewing some of the comments here, it seems like you all like it, and odds are if I can find it, it'll be cheap.
I really do have to say how much I like this forum sometimes! It's nice that there is some cross over into other game genres that is totally ignored by most people. I don't know of anywhere/anybody else that I could possibly say that I am really enjoying playing some video game pinball without them looking at me like I have two heads.

[DJ Incompetent]

♫♪♫♪Iiiii'm ♫#6 in the ♫♪woooorld ♫♪in ♫♪Sec-rets♪ of ♪the♪ Deep♫♪ do-do do dooo!♫♫♫♪♪♪ \^_^/

[Damocles]

Random notes about Pinball FX 2:

These new tables are pretty good, but Rome is tied with Extreme for my least favorite table. God forbid you fail to make it up the right ramp...

It's sad, but I can't find anything in Biolab that's as lucrative as completing creatures/upgrades and advancing through Perfect Creature mode.

They finally made the Headquarters hole in Agents semi-attainable. ...at least it's now possible to hit it on purpose.

[antares]

More random notes:

Extreme is now playable as it doesn't have this awful music anymore

From the new tables I like Secrets Of The Deep the most. It has so many nice features and creative ideas, really fun to play.

Biolab is the only one I don't like so much, it's to crammed with features and to unrealistic.

These new tables are pretty good, but Rome is tied with Extreme for my least favorite table. God forbid you fail to make it up the right ramp...

Nothing in comparison to Street Fighter 2 imo, starting a fight is a pain in the ass.

Also I've looked at the leaderboards and all top players on the superscore board make like 90% of their score on the Rocky and Bullwinkle table. What's the trick on this table I don't get? Also is there a way to get the ball in the hole right of the third flipper other than pure luck?

[Damocles]

Nothing in comparison to Street Fighter 2 imo, starting a fight is a pain in the ass.

Also I've looked at the leaderboards and all top players on the superscore board make like 90% of their score on the Rocky and Bullwinkle table. What's the trick on this table I don't get? Also is there a way to get the ball in the hole right of the third flipper other than pure luck?

No kidding about Street Fighter. That table, indeed, the game as a whole would be much easier if slingshot passing was properly implemented.

R&B is a pretty forgiving table. Long ball time and a fairly (IIRC) rewarding score for combos is what leads to those scores. As for the Aesop hole, I never could pin down a good, repeatable tactic to hit it.