The Pinball (digital and physical) ERA |OT| Full Tilt
- Thread starter Shaneus
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The Williams arcade tables. Real tables from a more civilized age. ;-)
The FX3 Attack from Mars is far more brutal than the Pinball Arcade one. With the standard FX3 physics most shots at the ufo in the middle result in a drain straight down the centre. It's actually a little better with the new physics model but you really need to bounce the ball around the centre target, hit it straight on and you are in for a world of hurt.
Good to hear - AFM is an absolute drain monster in real life too. Bowen gets a bit flustered in the PAPA tutorial.
Oops. Guess I missed this one..!
November 27 - Dec. 03, 2018
LISTED TOURNAMENT NAME: Reset Era
TABLE: Medieval Madness (Williams Vol. 1)
PASSWORD: kickback
(Only need to enter once)
MODE: Classic
EXTRA BALLS: No
LENGTH: 7 Days
ATTEMPTS: Unlimited
PRIZE: Glory
PLATFORMS: Switch, XBOX One, Steam
(Playstation and Mobile excluded due to cross-play limitations. Please stand by for more regarding these platforms)
Tournament is LIVE
Welcome to the 6th monthly Pinball FX3 tournament for ResetEra! Every month we will run a 1-week tournament that only our community can participate in!
So you thought I forgot, huh? Well, I didn't. Unfortunately, Zen seemingly has not fixed the physics bug for Pinball FX3 on Switch. This means we're still using the old physics rather than the new, more realistic physics. I held out as long as I could but I'm guessing the fix will come with December's Williams Vol. 2 and we'll be using them with Attack From Mars ;-) (hopefully)
We'll be doing each of the Williams tables from this pack over the next several months so be sure to save your pennies!
Past Winners:
MAY: Primate Ryan
JUNE: Psykoboy2
JULY: TSSZNews
AUGUST: NO TOURNAMENT
SEPTEMBER: Barbaresco
OCTOBER: Baps
NOVEMBER: ???
All skill levels welcome! Thank you for participating and remember to just have fun!
Good luck!
Be sure to stay active in the thread so we can maintain visibility and get more participants. Discuss strategies and tips!
For more discussion about the wonders and joys of pinball, both digital and real, please join us in the ResetEra Pinball OT
Yeah, the Pinball Arcade seems sunk. Them not getting those new tables oved, as iffy as they are, over to systems in this time period doesn't bode well. I wonder what their internal dev team looks like now, and how much things have fallen apart since that one head honcho left early this year.... I forget his name offhand.First, a bit of curiosity:
We are almost 3 months past Farsight releasing Woah Nellie and Big Buck Hunter on The Pinball Arcade for Steam and Mobile and we still have no word on the Stern Pinball Arcade versions, if there even are plans to continue supporting that app. Pretty ironic considering they were originally developed exclusively for the Stern Pinball Arcade. Of course, no word on console releases either. Historically, the consoles have gotten tables months after their release on Steam and Mobile in big dumps to make certification easier, but it’s interesting that there’s only been those two tables released since Banzai Run back in March so it’s not like they’ve been piling up.
Anyway, now to catch up on announcements in the real world of pinball:
Primus is getting their own reskin of Woah Nellie/Pabst Can Crusher (ugh) in a limited run of 100 tables with Stern.
https://www.jambase.com/article/primus-pinball-machine-limited-edition-custom
I don’t like this table in either form I’ve played but I imagine this will be the best iteration simply because of the theme.
Here’s an extensive exploration of Stern’s new The Beatles table
Bonus: Here’s a guy beating the new Jersey Jack Pirates of the Caribbean table Wizard Mode
We recently got one on location at Tappers Arcade Bar in Indianapolis and it’s everything we’ve come to expect from a JJ table: jam-packed with features (some that I feel inhibit the flow of the game, which is otherwise excellent) and of high build quality. I haven’t played it near enough to have a fully-formed understanding and appreciation of the game, this shit is as deep as pinball gets with an incredibly complex ruleset. It’s really fun, but if you think their other tables are over-whelming on first approach you will be flummoxed by this game.
I really wish Stern would grab some talent other than Zombi Yeti. He's done so many of their past tables in years, it's creating a uniform style, and they need all the variety they can get. Plus, for me, his work is fairly bland comic book style art from the 90's. I.E. bubble muscle visuals that never really look like human musculature.
https://www.pinballnews.com/site/2018/12/09/tokyo-perfect-drift/?fbclid=IwAR0G1DHwpoOK_GvGoFJA_Qn_DfpubvqvQMkJcAfxxr-BNXVe-n_hKG0Z5xY
I like that a big buttocks is right in the middle of this game. Bumpers and butts!
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Well, they kinda do have other artists there. There's at least Christopher Franchi who did Batman '66 (from mostly afaik art he'd already done) and Beatles. I guess the other regular artists are Photoshop Fred (or whoever did Star Wars), Dirty Donnie (who I don't think is an employee exactly, just a contractor) and... shit, I guess that's all they have. Huh.
I'm looking forward to seeing what comes from other manufacturers though, particularly Deeproot (if they've picked up a lot of existing pinball artists).
#purplepinball
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So I'm officially joining the world of being a pinball machine owner.
I have two pins now. Star wars (data east), and a non working night rider.
I've loved them my whole life and am finally in a position to start my collection. My ultimate goal is to get into restoration as a hobby (the night rider will be where I learn).
Any tips for a beginner?
I have two pins now. Star wars (data east), and a non working night rider.
I've loved them my whole life and am finally in a position to start my collection. My ultimate goal is to get into restoration as a hobby (the night rider will be where I learn).
Any tips for a beginner?
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As long as you don't fuck with the artwork (try cleaning with something too abrasive, or touching up or breaking plastics) then pretty much anything you can mess up with a pinball machine can be reversed. Don't be afraid to get your hands dirty and find out how they work! I didn't know shit when I first got my High Speed, and before long I actually knew how everything fit together. That knowledge from a 1984-era machines translates pretty well to the more modern 90s and 00s machines, possibly newer.
Don't be afraid to ask here for advice, don't be too wary of browsing Pinside but there are aspects of it that remind me A LOT of "the old place", so just be wary of it. www.tiltforums.com can be a lot friendlier, even though it leans more towards tournament discussions (but there's plenty of tech talk there too).
Congratulations all round, getting a pinball machine or two is a seriously great thing! Hope you've got room for others though, I shit you not when I (and many others) say that they multiply.
Edit: Oh, and that Star Wars machine received a ROM update about 5 years ago, despite being a 25 year-old game. Apparently improves the gameplay a lot AND it was done by a fan (but then officially endorsed/released by Stern). Sadly though, it was the days before USB so it requires ROM chips to update it.
Just double checked to be sure and it still only rotates one way so ends up upsides down. You can force the Switch in the other direction but it doesn't snap in and will slip out pretty easily. If you really wanted to you could make it work, I guess, just would need to be careful.
You can see the most updated list here. They have stayed on top of what games work.
https://retronauts.com/article/946/the-comprehensive-list-of-flip-grip-friendly-vertical-games-for-switch
Been playing a lot of Fish Tales on FX3 lately and wondering if anyone has insight into how the scoring works, specifically for Grab Your Gear (captive ball hit). I've seen values vary wildly - most commonly in Classic mode I initially hit it for 500k, then it increases to 1M from there on out. Occasionaly I've seen much higher values - I hit it for 23M last night right after a jackpot, then was consistently getting 5M off it. I know long cast increases the reward, but I'm not clear if that changes the score you get off it, seems inconsistent to me.
I was recently watching the PAPA tutorial and was blown away by the super jackpots from the captive ball, I still have a lot to learn about this table. Anyways, here's what I've found from pinball.org:
Thanks, that's great info! Thinking I must've gotten confused when the 23M popped, it must've been from something else than just the captive ball hit.
Noticed it's WAY easier to hit the center target with the default physics - I rarely can do it in classic mode, though in general I find Classic - Arcade more fun and challenging.
Noticed it's WAY easier to hit the center target with the default physics - I rarely can do it in classic mode, though in general I find Classic - Arcade more fun and challenging.
Congratulations! I lurked on pinside for months here and there, before buying a pin and then starting to hunker down with posts. If you can find specific threads where owners haunt, people can often be incredibly thoughtful in replying. It's like any board, there can be ego for sure, but also some kindness. Read up, and good luck! Often you'll find your questions already answered, multiple times on there, prior to even posting.
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I just tried it then, and it works fine, but doesn't work nearly as well as the Zen Williams tables because:
a) the camera angles don't feel as good, and
b) you have to insert the Switch the other direction and while it fits, it doesn't click and won't secure the screen. Still playable though.
Oh, and the physics feel woeful in SPA compared to Zen.
Anyone here have the right camera settings for Zaccaria?
Edit: It's pretty easy to find the right settings. Menu navigation is cumbersome as hell, but here's what I wound up with:
Bottom position: 35%/58%/47%
FOV: 50%
Dead Zone/Slide: 0
Static and Extended: Both "On"
That's for Pinball Champ, it's probably the same for the others. Now I just need to find good physics settings for it.
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Like WTF at those flippers! Did it play well?Time Warp (Williams, 1979)
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Where are you? I'm in Australia and just found it delivered to my work this morning. Another friend got theirs yesterday.
Ireland. It's been in the county since yesterday, so it's probably stuck in customs, I would imagine.
New Zaccaria update for the Switch! Couple of added remakes for $2.99 a piece, and a 27 pin retro pack for $1! Hit just before 2AM est last night.
I really wish Zen could emulate Zaccaria's lighting and scratch/dust system. Zen feels almost plastic in comparison.
I really wish Zen could emulate Zaccaria's lighting and scratch/dust system. Zen feels almost plastic in comparison.
Be careful. The tables in the retro pack are the ones you get for FREE if you buy the corresponding non-retro tables. I already "own" 99% of the retro tables for that reason.
I figured it was some iffy thing, but also felt it was as much a donation for all their hard work.
You could have bought 99 copies of Bouncy Bob with that money! 8D
I've bought almost all the tables. I need to stop playing so much XC2 and start playing more pinball.
Switch pinball fans: Williams Pinball Volume 2 is out now on Pinball FX3 with Attack From Mars, Black Rose and Party Zone for $9.99 US. Got to play a few quick games of Attack From Mars before work and it was great. Still hoping for them to release Tales of The Arabian Nights in the next pack.
I just checked my Switch and they are playable. Do those packs show up as "purchased" in the eShop?
Yep.
I've since been in contact with Nintendo support and they asked me to send them a video of the menu in-game showing the tables as unavailable. We'll see how it goes, but I'm certainly not buying the new Williams pack until I'm sure it will work okay. Shame - Attack from Mars is one of my faves.
Fingers crossed they don't suggest you delete your save file. Keep us posted.
To be honest, I wouldn't be too bothered if they did. It's not like I have high scores to worry about!
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TIL (thanks to PFX) that the slingshots in AfM dictate what city the aliens invade first. Though it kind of bothers me that they don't randomise the starting city like with TPA (I think). I understand why they do it though, obviously they test with a specific game state and keep it that way, just like TPA did with Fish Tales (which resulted in the first "mystery" award ALWAYS being an extra ball, smh).
I'm finding the gameplay with the WMS tables in PFX a lot more frantic and lively than TPA. It's infinitely less predictable too, so I can't imagine we'll be seeing games that last for hours with massive scores too often. Nudge is a lot better and more realistic, too. TPA felt like a full-on slide save by comparison:
I'm finding the gameplay with the WMS tables in PFX a lot more frantic and lively than TPA. It's infinitely less predictable too, so I can't imagine we'll be seeing games that last for hours with massive scores too often. Nudge is a lot better and more realistic, too. TPA felt like a full-on slide save by comparison:
Finally tried my Flip Grip with Zen Pinball, and I think everyone has been really pleased with it. I haven't read any mentions of how poorly weighted it is. Holding it feels akin to balancing on the edge of a curb a bit, just doesn't feel weighted right in my hands.
The view is spot on, and the production build feels great, but the focus of the system entirely weighted, (As in the joycons being attached at the bottom and the system having overhang at the top) at the bottom with the joycons, feels like a massive ergonomic/design misstep for me. I felt like rushing to remove the Switch from it, even though the view was so appealing...
The view is spot on, and the production build feels great, but the focus of the system entirely weighted, (As in the joycons being attached at the bottom and the system having overhang at the top) at the bottom with the joycons, feels like a massive ergonomic/design misstep for me. I felt like rushing to remove the Switch from it, even though the view was so appealing...
You might be disappointed.... Fair warning. I expected this to be a balanced product, and it fails in one distinct, essential way.
...and you might not. I love the FlipGrip and I've used it quite a bit.
I'm not sure what you were expecting. It was never going to be built so high it didn't have the Switch extending upward by half. It's a $12 item.
You are correct that almost everyone is pleased with it, except apparently for you.
I'm not sure what you were expecting. It was never going to be built so high it didn't have the Switch extending upward by half. It's a $12 item.
You are correct that almost everyone is pleased with it, except apparently for you.
I noted that I felt it's built very capably, except for a large design issue. For me, there were three possible design issues designing something like this, the ability to hold the system and joycons, production build quality, and weighted balance in the hand. All three were essential to make this product feel good and function. It fails on one.
So you buy a product, and don't scrutinize it's value or function? Do you genuinely don't feel it's too heavy in a way that feels unbalanced and removes balance from the natural design flow of the Switch in handheld?
Price, whether expensive or cheap, isn't my issue here, and a reasonably low price, doesn't exclude this product from basic functionality. And just because I'm the only person not overwhelmingly pleased with it, doesn't negate the value of my concerns and issues.
I wanted to enjoy this product. I didn't show up at the table, pay for my meal ahead of time, and then once dinner we as served said I had no appetite.
User warned: antagonizing another member
I think you should probably make a thread with a really dramatic title that indicates your specific displeasure with the FlipGrip. It would be valuable to the community here to get your precious opinion into the hands of all the users at ResetEra. They definitely need your specific guidance on this $12 piece of plastic that does a great job of allowing you to play vertical arcade and pinball games from ages ago because you find it a little too unbalanced in your hands.
The answer to you is NO, I do not sit around with every product I buy and "scrutinize" it's value or function. I purchase it, play with it, enjoy it, and read posts on messageboards from people like yourself who are entirely self-absorbed by the value of their opinion in their head that they can't see the forest for the trees. Then I go ahead and reply to them, because these replies won't write themselves.
The FlipGrip is a great product. I like it. You don't.
By all means though. You should start a thread. Everyone's waiting for your hot take.
The answer to you is NO, I do not sit around with every product I buy and "scrutinize" it's value or function. I purchase it, play with it, enjoy it, and read posts on messageboards from people like yourself who are entirely self-absorbed by the value of their opinion in their head that they can't see the forest for the trees. Then I go ahead and reply to them, because these replies won't write themselves.
The FlipGrip is a great product. I like it. You don't.
By all means though. You should start a thread. Everyone's waiting for your hot take.
You're an aggressive person, and you seem hostile, and it's very peculiar that you mention multiple times that I should start a thread because I disagree with a viewpoint on a product that neither of us has personal stake in, other than $12. Calling me self absorbed, while suggesting your opinion is an end all be all, sort of mindset, is entirely hypocritical. I never once suggested people shouldn't buy, or enjoy a product. You on the other hand are being outright aggressive and hostile. That's neither warranted or appreciated.
The reason why I was so surprised by the imbalance, is that many people on this site, who's opinions I do value and take into consideration, (all the while not chastising them if they might disagree) found this to be an overall excellent product. I didn't, so I was surprised. And I guess per your attitudes, I'm not allowed to suggest to a user I relate with, to temper their expectations.