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The Pinball (digital and physical) ERA |OT| Full Tilt
- Thread starter Shaneus
- Start date
I love all the tables you mentioned, too.
The reason I think so highly of AFM is that it is so easy to parse for someone unfamiliar with pinball, but it has great depth. The layout is very easy to read, the objective is made very clear with the central UFO. Great theme very well executed, excellent art and sound design. Total package.
Medieval Madness, by comparison, just adds more clutter and is almost over-designed. It's harder to read. Yes, there's a large, animated central target to destroy but now there's two different shots on it (draw bridge + ball lock). In AFM, everything you do in the game revolves around fighting off the Aliens. In MM, you siege castles, fight trolls, participate in jousting, save a damsel from a dragon, etc. It's fun but it's disjointed. Busy. It's a great table and it wows beginners but it's not elegant.
Elegant is really the best word to describe Attack From Mars.
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I understand the feeling that Medieval Madness might be too cluttered, but I think AFM dials it down a little too much -- everything outside of attacking the center UFO is forgettable to me, and I have to strain my feeble memory to remember the other sub-goals in the game. Compare that to Medieval Madness and Monster Bash, two games with similar design structures, yet their tasks are more varied and more memorable (at least to me). I guess if I'm going to be pounding on a table for more than five minutes then I need to have something to keep me engaged, whether it's a wider variety of activities or a more action-oriented layout.
I prefer the table "complexity" of Medieval Madness to Attack from Mars, and by complexity I mean a mech/target or two more. Tim Kitzrow, God love him, gets a bit much on AFM.
I think there's a difference between saying a game is an undeniable all time great, and the best ever. Hopefully everyone would give a different answer to that, thus variety! For me, I kinda prefer the holy trinity of Popadiuk, though World Cup Soccer, speaking of Kitzrow is nice too, just not as fantasy/fantastic based as Theater/Arabian and Cirqus. Those tables just exude so many incredible design levels that I don't feel exist on other tables, quite in the same way. Medieval and AFM seem more zany, over the top, and cartoonsish for me, to be considered "the best". There's something so classical and standard about TOTAN, like it's a template of that era, in so many ways.
But again, best ever? Nah. Not fore anyway. There is no such thing. Just so many lovely games to enjoy, thankfully!
Yeah I love AFM, one of my faves, too. You and me against the wor...
Oh, nm then.
The main Aliens table is the one I've played the most and might be the best of the pack, but the other are also really good!
Oh man, I hate you so much! ^_^ I would love to see a real Farfalla table. It's so extravagant, it must be great to have one right in front of you.
So you don't own the original Farfalla table in Zaccaria? Then you probably got your 15 million points in the remake version. If I recall correctly, there was a bug in a previous build of Zaccaria Switch where the scores for the original and the retro/remake tables were merged or something like that. Maybe that's why the leaderboards for Farfalla were reset.
Well, that's not my problem: now you have the moral obligation of scoring 15 million points in the original Farfalla table :P
Honestly, I've mostly played Time Machine (because it's free) and Farfalla. Since I was a total noob until a few weeks ago, I chose to play Farfalla non-stop so I could learn some basic pinball concepts. I would say I "graduated" a few days ago, when I finally managed to get a multispecial, so now I'll start playing other tables more frequently.
That said, I own Magic Castle and Black Belt because I googled a bit and fans seem to like them a lot. I've played a bit of Shooting the Rapids and though it's really simple, it's very fun to play, so I'll buy it next week.
Yes. I've noted in this thread before, but he used to have four but I found out today he's added a fifth game to the bunch. His first purchase was a Ghostbusters Pro, which is phenomenal. The next was one a friend of his purchased and put at his house because he had no room. That one is an EM called Old Chicago. Some months later he bought Aerosmith Pro from a local arcade operator. He got a really good price on that one is my understanding, and with the code update it's really turned into an amazing game now. Houdini he bought earlier this year, and as I noted, it's hard, but fair. The scoring takes some getting used to in an era of multi-millions and billions of points!
We have a monthly poker game he hosts, and today is the day. I found out this morning when he texted me that the fifth machine is in place. I didn't even know he was getting anything new.
It's Total Nuclear Annihilation!
Looking forward to acquainting myself with it this evening, hopefully post winnings in hand. :) All the machines are set to free play of course. If you get knocked out of poker, there's plenty to do. :)
Slam Tilt You know we're buds til the end. EXCITE!! and now "Quit tawkin' and start chawkin'!"
Yeah, they're all good. I even like that The Pinball Arcade gave exposure to the older EM pins to a generation that might have never seen one otherwise; some of my favorite pre-eighties tables include Centaur, Genie, and Centigrade 37.
On the topic of John Popadiuk, I have to say I think he's better as a visual designer than a pinball designer. Theater of Magic is a classic, but I think TOTAN and Cirqus Voltare get a pass on some poor design decisions just because of their strong visual/storytelling aesthetics. Even with what little I've seen with Magic Girl, I keep thinking "Man, that table looks awesome, but I don't know how it'll actually play..."
Just to butt in here a little bit, but I've only played the original Farfalla (digitally), and not the remake. It's rather brutal if you're used to more modern tables, but I chalk that up to being a product of its time.
And for some reason I get a big doofy grin whenever I think of Zaccaria's Robot. The pop-up "robot invasion" reminds me of a bad '50s late-nite sci-fi movie every time I see it.
Damn straight! EXCITE!
Zen is streaming the new tables on Twitch right now. :P
https://www.twitch.tv/zenstudios
https://www.twitch.tv/zenstudios
https://www.twitch.tv/zenstudios
https://www.twitch.tv/zenstudios
Oh yeah, Robot is really cool ^_^ I'm also considering getting it next week.
And yes, Farfalla is a bad girl. At least, it's significantly harder than the free table, Time Machine. It took me a while to get the hang of it.
When I started playing Farfalla, the outlanes were a big problem. The trick is to keep the outlane flippers constantly activated so you can save balls. I think the outlane flippers are very cool, because you have to be on your toes the whole time. The ball can head to an outlane very fast, and you have to react quickly to save it.
The orange special is relatively easy to get and awards you an extra ball, so that's a good way to extend your session. Hitting a set of drop targets not only advances the respective special, but also activate the outlane flippers, so you should aim for the drop targets as much as possible.
If you're playing Arcade mode, all you have to do is take good care of those outlanes as described above. If you're playing simulation, however, Farfalla is pure hell: the main flippers get shorter and the gap between them is pretty wide. Yeah, it's definitely a product of its time.
As I've mentioned before, I only recently became a pinball lover thanks to the digital pinball platforms on Switch, so I have next to zero experience with real pinball machines.
Of course I'm now super interested in playing real machines, but it's hard to find them here in Rio de Janeiro. Pinside only references Barra Shopping, so I went there yesterday with my wife and kid. They have the following tables, all from Stern:
Sadly, Spiderman (apparently the best one) and Tron: Legacy were shutdown for some reason, probably defective. I hope they fix them.
Avatar was a waste of money for us, as it drained balls pretty quickly. As soon as we finished, a guy came up with a few friends and they gave it a try. They also failed miserably and looked very angry ^_^
It's no wonder the replay score is so low for the Avatar table...
I've heard it's a great machine once you get the hang of it. Any of you played it?
Transformers isn't exactly great, but it's fun to play and way, way easier than Avatar, so I had some fun with it.
Our favorite was The Rolling Stones. Even though I like the band, It's fun to shoot balls at Mick ^_^
My wife playing The Rolling Stones
You activate some specials by shooting the ramps multiple times. The machines at Barra Shopping are a bit expensive to play, but they have a low replay score (7.900.000 for The Rolling Stones), so we both managed to get replays at this table. We played it a few times and we want to go back to it in the near future, it was great fun!
Of course I'm now super interested in playing real machines, but it's hard to find them here in Rio de Janeiro. Pinside only references Barra Shopping, so I went there yesterday with my wife and kid. They have the following tables, all from Stern:
- Avatar (Pro)
- The Rolling Stones
- Spiderman
- Transformers (Pro)
- Tron: Legacy (Pro)
Sadly, Spiderman (apparently the best one) and Tron: Legacy were shutdown for some reason, probably defective. I hope they fix them.
Avatar was a waste of money for us, as it drained balls pretty quickly. As soon as we finished, a guy came up with a few friends and they gave it a try. They also failed miserably and looked very angry ^_^
It's no wonder the replay score is so low for the Avatar table...
I've heard it's a great machine once you get the hang of it. Any of you played it?
Transformers isn't exactly great, but it's fun to play and way, way easier than Avatar, so I had some fun with it.
Our favorite was The Rolling Stones. Even though I like the band, It's fun to shoot balls at Mick ^_^
My wife playing The Rolling Stones
You activate some specials by shooting the ramps multiple times. The machines at Barra Shopping are a bit expensive to play, but they have a low replay score (7.900.000 for The Rolling Stones), so we both managed to get replays at this table. We played it a few times and we want to go back to it in the near future, it was great fun!
As I've mentioned before, I only recently became a pinball lover thanks to the digital pinball platforms on Switch, so I have next to zero experience with real pinball machines.
Of course I'm now super interested in playing real machines, but it's hard to find them here in Rio de Janeiro. Pinside only references Barra Shopping, so I went there yesterday with my wife and kid. They have the following tables, all from Stern:
- Avatar (Pro)
- The Rolling Stones
- Spiderman
- Transformers (Pro)
- Tron: Legacy (Pro)
Sadly, Spiderman (apparently the best one) and Tron: Legacy were shutdown for some reason, probably defective. I hope they fix them.
Avatar was a waste of money for us, as it drained balls pretty quickly. As soon as we finished, a guy came up with a few friends and they gave it a try. They also failed miserably and looked very angry ^_^
It's no wonder the replay score is so low for the Avatar table...
I've heard it's a great machine once you get the hang of it. Any of you played it?
Transformers isn't exactly great, but it's fun to play and way, way easier than Avatar, so I had some fun with it.
Our favorite was The Rolling Stones. Even though I like the band, It's fun to shoot balls at Mick ^_^
My wife playing The Rolling Stones
You activate some specials by shooting the ramps multiple times. The machines at Barra Shopping are a bit expensive to play, but they have a low replay score (7.900.000 for The Rolling Stones), so we both managed to get replays at this table. We played it a few times and we want to go back to it in the near future, it was great fun!
What a fantastic post! So glad to see you and your family were able to head out, and play some of these buggers in real life! One day I hope you get to play some of these classic Williams/Bally 1990's tables, and some Jersey Jack's too!
Lookout man, someone is sneaking up on your Farfalla score! (By the way, I like the remake quote a bit more. Those drop targets in the original give some mean deflections when hit.)
Oh cool! You're buds with one of the guys in Head 2 Head? That's the link I posted above! My friend has been digging their stuff lately, and she's the one that found and sent me their Houdini/interview with the programmer Josh.
I considered getting a really dirty Firepower II, but even with repairs, I'd have shelled out a cool grand in the process, and well....had a Firepower II afterwards. The playfield would have needed a decal, and man that would be a helluva first time project.
So have you been delving into this long? Are you over on Pinside as well as here? Flipoit sounds like a pretty awesome event!
OP
OP
Yeah, don't get a fixer-upper as a first machine. Learning maintenance is okay on an older machine if it works when you get it, but I don't think it's a good idea to get something you'd need to get working as a starter. Especially something as intense as any playfield repairs.
I've been into pinball for 5 or maybe 6 years now, ever since I accidentally qualified for a Metallica pinball tournament at a PAX event here in AU. Since then I caught this bug, went to Texas Pinball Festival and entered a bunch of competitions here in Melbourne. This is what my current lineup looks like, though this photo is from the last place I lived:
Left is Ripley's, middle is Night Moves (discovered it at TPF and managed to track down an import in Australia, they were never sold outside of the US) and right is High Speed. The latter is of my actual machine, with a cabinet mod I'm super proud of :D
I'm on Pinside and Tilt Forums as well, but very rarely post at either. Used to when I was more into comps and had more disposable income, but things have changed and now I just play my own machines or any I find on location.
Oh, great! Motivation to keep playing Farfalla in simulation mode!
When I got Zaccaria, I went for simulation first and I was very frustrated because is so freaking hard! I read somewhere that most (all?) Zaccaria tables are like this, they are real quarter munchers.
Then I started playing arcade mode and it was way less frustrating, but I think simulation is the way to go. I wanted to get a multi special in arcade mode and I did it, so now it's 100% simulation mode for me. I don't really mind shorter sessions as long as I'm not putting any money into it ^_^
I just found the rule sheet and it has great advice:
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/pinball/916520-farfalla/faqs/1443
Oh damn.. bought it full price just a couple of days ago. :(
Mine too. Didn't hurt that I had this (impeccably maintained) in my college dorm back in the day.
I could play this table all day long.
Not too excited by pack #2. Pack #1 had Getaway (another old favorite) and Medieval Madness (which I hadn't played until TPA but love (and have since played IRL)), but this one has nothing I'm excited for.
If we're likely to get more unlicensed games from Zen, I am hoping we get White Water. It's one of my favorites of its era. Very simple premise-- mostly just a ton of ramps/loops-- but it does a lot with them.
Okay, I admit I'm tempted by Bethesda there...
Agreed. I've still got Pinball Arcade on my iPhone, but I have to admit I respect PBFX for their work so far (censorship aside) and love their use of HD Rumble on the Switch.
wish the bethesda pack was on the webstore - would like to have it downloaded when I get home.
We're gonna need to rev up the tournies again with everyone buying all these tables now
I'll never get Battle for the Kingdom in Medieval Madness in FX3
Every is gravy until I try to go for trolls and then it all crumbles. That mode is super high risk. My intended strat is to clear trolls once to lite troll madness and then hopefully combo that with other madnesses to get master of trolls in one go, but I always mess it up.
Every is gravy until I try to go for trolls and then it all crumbles. That mode is super high risk. My intended strat is to clear trolls once to lite troll madness and then hopefully combo that with other madnesses to get master of trolls in one go, but I always mess it up.
All of FX3, Pinball Arcade and nearly all of Zaccaria aren't available for purchase on Steam atm for Australians. They added the Aussie dollar today and heaps of stuff is broken. I have told the fx3 devs, they are on it.
I quite like the portal table.
I quite like the portal table.
So now I own both the Aliens and the Jurassic Park pack for Pinball FX 3. What about the other tables that are not movie related and that are currently on sale? Iron & Steel Pack, Sci-Fi Pack and Zen Originals Season 2 Bundle? Are they good?
They're fairly cheap, and won't be on sale anytime soon again Just buy em' up, rather than Jones for them down the road and buy at full price.
I asked about a sale for Zacarria on Facebook yesterday, and no dice for now.
No Pinball FX3 sale on PSN is so disappointing. I only own the VR version on steam but those new tables aren't doing it for me.
Got obsessed with Pinball FX3 the past couple days - once you learn all the terminology and how the tables actually work it's really addicting! Been playing mostly PC but also downloaded it on Switch so I can play in bed lol. Only been playing the free tables so far but I bought Iron & Steel and The Force Awakens packs on PC, so I'm excited to dig into those tables. This also really makes me want to play IRL pinball more. I know of a few places in the DC area that have tables but I've only really played casually before without knowing what I was doing at all.
Did Zen ever commented about fixing/improving the Switch version's lighting for the Williams tables?
Let us know if you end up finding and playing any games in the wild! This is exactly why Zen and the Pinball Arcade are so valuable in pushing pinball out and to the public in New and accessible ways.
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
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.
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.
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.
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Here's a question no one here may be able to answer, but has anyone used the Win10 version of FX3? I tried it because I bought Williams on Xbox with some rewards credit and don't have it on Steam yet.
The odd thing was I couldn't find a resolution selection option. Am I missing it or is it just not available in that version?
The odd thing was I couldn't find a resolution selection option. Am I missing it or is it just not available in that version?
Got mine last night, it only makes the delay worse. I want AFM on the switch with the flip grip so badly now.
Blergh!
Mine's still in LA. Needs to get to Ireland.
Should be fine, right?
RIGHT??!!11??
I was really meh in this rerelease of tables I already got but damn Attack from mars is a dream to play now, their 3d graphics make it even cooler.
OP
OP
Eh, for the sort of people who it's targeted towards (the people who say "oh, they still make pinball machines?"), it's fine. Hell, I'm actually stoked they're going for a classic layout, Stern is just a fan layout factory these days so anything that's different I'm happy with.
Can't wait until I get to play one.