The Pinball Megathread [Physical and Virtual]

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

Snackmar: Feb 23, 2005; I'M PROGRAMMED TO LOVE THIS CHOCOLATY CAKE... MY CIRCUITS LIGHT UP FOR THAT FUDGY ICING.

Zero Karizma posted:

God drat the Rome table is way too busy. Especially on the bottom where it goes "red mess crazy."

That was my first impression too. I got used to it after a while but what bugs me is that there's no zoom-in window when you have to make a menu choice with the flippers during play. Does the window only appear on FX1 tables?

Edit:
Crap, new page. Don't miss this informative post by CzarChasm:

CzarChasm posted:

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.

That's all I got for now. I still have to beat Stealthed Zombie on two or three more tables.

If I can add to that - you can manually launch the ball on most tables using the right analogue stick. Move it down to pull back, then let go or move it forward to shoot. I found this to be very useful on FX2's Excalibur table. If you pull all the way back and let go, then use the flippers to control the lights in the P-U-B gates at the top such that "B" is flashing, you'll get an extra 500,000 points every time you launch the ball.

Snackmar fucked around with this message at 21:35 on Oct 30, 2010

# ? Oct 30, 2010 21:28

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# ? May 5, 2024 18:08

Stealthed Zombie: Dec 21, 2007; And Introducing:
Dean "Titty Master" Ambrose

CzarChasm posted:

That's all I got for now. I still have to beat Stealthed Zombie on two or three more tables.

DON'T TAKE MY AGENTS SPOT AWAY FROM ME, IT'S LIKE THE ONLY ONE I HAVE LEFT! :argh:

It's fun though, I got up this morning switched on the 360 and had a few challenges. Gives me something to aim for, I really like the idea.

# ? Oct 30, 2010 21:35

Doug: Feb 27, 2006; This station is
non-operational.

FishBulb posted:

I haven't had a chance to play FX2 too much yet but I really wish they had the feature from Williams Collection that explained all the table goals and what different places on the table did. That was so helpful.

Anyways GT: Dr Fishbulb Esq.

I can't remember the exact name of it, but this does exist. If you go to help and options in the pause menu and select "help sheet" or something similar, it gives a run down of most of the features and quests for a given table.

# ? Oct 30, 2010 21:58

Snackmar: Feb 23, 2005; I'M PROGRAMMED TO LOVE THIS CHOCOLATY CAKE... MY CIRCUITS LIGHT UP FOR THAT FUDGY ICING.

If anyone was trying to add me, give it another shot. My friends list was full until I pruned some metatags and people who hadn't signed in in a long time.

Edit:
Holy crap I just got 49 mil in FX2's Rome

Snackmar fucked around with this message at 23:48 on Oct 30, 2010

# ? Oct 30, 2010 22:39

Billy Gnosis: May 18, 2006; Now is the time for us to gather together and celebrate those things that we like and think are fun.

petewhitley posted:

Excalibur is very good. It's crazy exciting when you start to siege the castle and hurdle flaming balls towards it.

Thanks for the recommendation, man its nuts when the siege begins.

Stealthed Zombie posted:

I will come back and triumph on Excalibur. Just not this evening. Cracked 20mil on ball 3 and then lost it. Wrist hurts. You will fall.

Sorry, the score to beat is now 33 mil. Nearly a quarter of the way there to the wizard robes.

Also, I really don't think nightmare mansion is really worth it. I got it because of Halloween and all. But, now with the added insanity of all the fx2 tables, it really feels boring,

# ? Oct 31, 2010 06:13

Stealthed Zombie: Dec 21, 2007; And Introducing:
Dean "Titty Master" Ambrose

Billy Gnosis posted:

Sorry, the score to beat is now 33 mil [Excalibur].

NOOOOO, now I have to play that table EVEN HARDER!

I'm starting to come around on Pasha, after figuring out the multiball, grabbing a bunch of treasures, and then burying the treasures and you get TEN MILLION!

# ? Oct 31, 2010 06:17

Billy Gnosis: May 18, 2006; Now is the time for us to gather together and celebrate those things that we like and think are fun.

Stealthed Zombie posted:

NOOOOO, now I have to play that table EVEN HARDER!

I'm starting to come around on Pasha, after figuring out the multiball, grabbing a bunch of treasures, and then burying the treasures and you get TEN MILLION!

I like that table, but I can't seem to even come close to consistently hitting any of the shots that require the side flippers, its very frustrating. I don't think Ive ever activated a "story" on the table because of it. Also, I always come so close, but can never beat the mini-table with the guards.

# ? Oct 31, 2010 06:20

PaletteSwappedNinja: Jun 3, 2008; One Nation, Under God.

Der Shovel posted:

Yeah, there's Pinball Fantasies at least. It's tons of fun and still very playable even though the original Amiga / PC game is almost two decades old.

Cool, I'll check that out.

While I'm here, does anyone know of any good pinball games for DS? Pinball Pulse on DSiWare is good, and Metroid Prime Pinball is okay, but I don't think there's anything else worth bothering with, is there? Zen Studios were supposed to be making a DS pinball game but I guess that got cancelled.

# ? Oct 31, 2010 06:26

Svampson: Jul 29, 2006; Same.

I'm usually not that into pinball but when I saw that my brother was playing this I had to buy every table he owned and proceeded to beat all off his scores.
Really enjoying the XBL friends integration, but now that I'm #1 on my friends list I need more Pinball buds! GT: Svampson

# ? Oct 31, 2010 07:02

Sizone: Sep 13, 2007; by LadyAmbien

For the "how to play" section, two words (o.k., one concatenated word): Multiball. Learn how to activate it, get used to keeping all the balls in play and figure out where to shoot for jackpots. That's usually the difference between puttering around and concluding with 3 mil. and getting 10s of mils..

Edit: Pasha pfx2
To get the palace shot from the left side 2nd tier flipper I'm pretty sure you need to have the right side 2nd tier flipper raised. I still can't hit it with any regularity, but doing that at least I can hit it.

Sizone fucked around with this message at 08:15 on Oct 31, 2010

# ? Oct 31, 2010 07:13

emgeejay: Dec 8, 2007

WhiteHowler posted:

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.

Activate "Sinbad and the Rocs" mode. Keep launching the ball into the pop bumpers, as often as you can, for as long as you can without ending the mode. The ball will bounce from the pop bumpers into the Harem Sneak-in fairly often, and you should be able to get five letters without too much trouble.

Love to be on the list, I'm jackspades22 on Live.

# ? Oct 31, 2010 08:20

Pylons: Mar 16, 2009

Just bought Excalibur, I'd love to get some friends who play this game too.
I'm Pyl0ns on live.

# ? Oct 31, 2010 08:41

Funkmaster General: Sep 13, 2008; Hey, man, I distinctly remember this being an episode of Spongebob.

As someone who's only real, extended experience with pinball was Sonic Spinball on the Genesis and Pokemon Pinball on the GBC, which I suspect don't "count," I'm having a good time with Pinball FX2. I grabbed all the tables, even. I'm not so fond of the FX1 tables if only because they feel "dumbed down" compared to the newer ones, particulary with the lack of control when launching the ball. I think my favorite table is Rome, but I kind of suck at it, at least compared to some other tables.

I'm wondering if there's any reason to go into the table operator console thing. I tried looking around but most of the stuff there was very confusing. I "installed" very easy on one table and didn't notice any difference at all between that and normal.

It'd be nice to get more friends up and boost my wizard score, it's sitting at just under 5k. However, my friend list is full so I have to boot some goons to do it.

# ? Oct 31, 2010 12:56

Desdinova: Dec 16, 2004; I had to be on my toes, like a midget at a urinal!

Loving PinballFX2, need more goons! I'll add loads of you when I get home from work (DesdinovaBOC)

As for classic pinball games, Balls of Steel was great fun, and for physical pinball machines The Addams Family will be owned by me one day.

# ? Oct 31, 2010 16:03

JohnnySmitch: Oct 20, 2004; Don't touch me there - Noone has that right.

I'm in - Sensible Rope

I never checked out Pinball FX 1 because of the mixed reviews (and I didn't even find out about it until around the same time I bought the Williams Collection for the second time - once for the Wii, then again for the 360). I'm absolutely loving FX2 though. So far I've purchased the fx2 core pack and Excalibur - I'm sure I'll end up with all of them eventually, but which other tables are most highly recommended? I hear that the fx1 core pack isn't that great compared to the new tables - what about the other DLC ones?

On another note, has there been any word on any more Pinball Hall of Fame games any time soon? The Williams Collection is almost perfect in my book, and after playing the PS2 version, I wouldn't mind them bringing the Goetlib collection to 360 also...

# ? Oct 31, 2010 17:12

DarthXaos: Oct 27, 2010

Just something to note: In the 90s Williams and Bally had actually merged into the same company. Tables would be realeased alternating brand names, first a Williams, then a Bally, but they were pretty much always done by the same team of people. And by far and away WMS had the superior engineers and designers to their competition at the time, that's why almost anything people hold up as favorites from this time period is either Williams or Bally.

After WMS dissolved their pinball division, some of the old school designers started designing some tables for Stern, such as Pat Lawlor (Addams, Twilight Zone) and Steve Ritchie (High Speed, T2, Star Trek). Still, Stern pinballs tend to wear out a lot easier than WMS machines.

# ? Oct 31, 2010 17:38

torjus: Nov 22, 2005; I want YOU to MSPaint!

Just started playing FX2, and I'm loving it so far!
I'm terrible at the game, but maybe it would motivate me to get better if I had somebody else to compete with. Gamertag is Skeletorjus, feel free to add me.

I constantly read good stuff about the Williams Collection, but as far as I know it isn't out in Europe yet

# ? Oct 31, 2010 17:52

elf help book: Aug 5, 2004; Though the battle might be endless, I will never give up

As someone who bought Pinball FX 1 then hated the Xtreme and Agents tables, I'm really happy to get all 3 achievements on each in FX 2.

# ? Oct 31, 2010 18:31

iastudent: Apr 22, 2008

Guess who's first on their friends list with 48.8mil on the Street Fighter II table? :smug:

# ? Oct 31, 2010 22:52

Yodzilla: Apr 29, 2005; Now who looks even dumber?

Beef Witch

The Williams Collection is loving fantastic but I can't stop playing Zen Pinball on the PS3 which is basically Pinball FX 1.5, some of the same tables, some different. Haven't tried the new table they just released though.

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.

# ? Oct 31, 2010 23:00

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

Billy Gnosis: May 18, 2006; Now is the time for us to gather together and celebrate those things that we like and think are fun.

iastudent posted:

Guess who's first on their friends list with 48.8mil on the Street Fighter II table?

Can you decode what each of the symbols mean on the character's "combos"? It bugs me that it isn't explained anywhere, though I think I know most of them from just playing it and trying to pay attention.

# ? Oct 31, 2010 23:08

Rupert Buttermilk: Apr 15, 2007; 🚣RowboatMan: ❄️Freezing time🕰️ is an old P.I. 🥧trick...

Add me, fellow goons, GT is Robot Cousin.

Quick question, and I posed this to the XBLA thread as well... I have 800 points, so what would be the best option for me, as far as pinball DLC is concerned? I assume it would be the FX2 core table bundle, because it has all of the features of FX2 and whatnot, but is the Rocky & Bullwinkle table also FX2-built, or is that from FX1?

I've never been more confused about DLC goes with what ever before.

EDIT: vvvv Appreciated!

Rupert Buttermilk fucked around with this message at 23:17 on Oct 31, 2010

# ? Oct 31, 2010 23:09

Funkmaster General: Sep 13, 2008; Hey, man, I distinctly remember this being an episode of Spongebob.

Rupert Buttermilk posted:

Add me, fellow goons, GT is Robot Cousin.

Quick question, and I posed this to the XBLA thread as well... I have 800 points, so what would be the best option for me, as far as pinball DLC is concerned? I assume it would be the FX2 core table bundle, because it has all of the features of FX2 and whatnot, but is the Rocky & Bullwinkle table also FX2-built, or is that from FX1?

I've never been more confused about DLC goes with what ever before.

R&B lacks the new features. For 800 your best bet is the core bundle, it has all the best tables (IMO) anyway. The excalibur table is also really well worth looking at, but if your max is 800 you should go for the core so you get 4 tables instead of 1.

# ? Oct 31, 2010 23:14

TERRIBLE SHITLORD: Oct 20, 2005; MY NIGGA HAVE
YOU TRIED LSD

Okay I caved and picked up FX2, come be my friend XBL: KABLAMMERTIME

# ? Oct 31, 2010 23:59

ponzicar: Mar 17, 2008

Add me for the Pinball FX2 list, GT is ponzicar.

As for real pinball tables, I have to second the Pinball Museum that AxeManiac mentioned. I went there the last time I was in Vegas, and they have an amazing collection of tables, including both brand new ones and really old and obscure ones.

# ? Nov 1, 2010 01:04

Funkmaster General: Sep 13, 2008; Hey, man, I distinctly remember this being an episode of Spongebob.

Heh, what now, dude who sent me a challenge on secrets of the deep? I totally just doubled your score. Wanna fight about it?

# ? Nov 1, 2010 01:14

Stealthed Zombie: Dec 21, 2007; And Introducing:
Dean "Titty Master" Ambrose

Does anyone who has a good handle on some of the tables want to start writing some guides/what the gently caress you should be aiming for? It's fun to slowly figure things out on some tables, but on other tables some things can just be boggling.

If any of you new to the thread people want to add me I'm Spatula King, I'm already in the list, but I'm not near my 360 at the moment to add anyone. I think I'm at 25k wizard points so the more friends the merrier!

(I'm looking at you Billy Gnosis/Backlash Jack, you have crazy scores!)

Stealthed Zombie fucked around with this message at 01:18 on Nov 1, 2010

# ? Nov 1, 2010 01:15

ponzicar: Mar 17, 2008

Stealthed Zombie posted:

Does anyone who has a good handle on some of the tables want to start writing some guides/what the gently caress you should be aiming for? It's fun to slowly figure things out on some tables, but on other tables some things can just be boggling.

If any of you new to the thread people want to add me I'm Spatula King, I'm already in the list, but I'm not near my 360 at the moment to add anyone. I think I'm at 25k wizard points so the more friends the merrier!

(I'm looking at you Billy Gnosis/Backlash Jack, you have crazy scores!)

Press start when you're on a table, go to help & options, then choose rule sheet; it will give you a walkthrough of all the features of a table.

# ? Nov 1, 2010 01:38

Billy Gnosis: May 18, 2006; Now is the time for us to gather together and celebrate those things that we like and think are fun.

Stealthed Zombie posted:

Does anyone who has a good handle on some of the tables want to start writing some guides/what the gently caress you should be aiming for? It's fun to slowly figure things out on some tables, but on other tables some things can just be boggling.

If any of you new to the thread people want to add me I'm Spatula King, I'm already in the list, but I'm not near my 360 at the moment to add anyone. I think I'm at 25k wizard points so the more friends the merrier!

(I'm looking at you Billy Gnosis/Backlash Jack, you have crazy scores!)

Completing any "mode" seems to net you a ton of points pretty much across all tables. Being able to make the shots required somewhat consistently helps TONS

# ? Nov 1, 2010 02:09

Stealthed Zombie: Dec 21, 2007; And Introducing:
Dean "Titty Master" Ambrose

ponzicar posted:

Press start when you're on a table, go to help & options, then choose rule sheet; it will give you a walkthrough of all the features of a table.

I had no idea, thanks!

# ? Nov 1, 2010 02:13

wezmon: Dec 31, 2007

I just picked up FX2, and am having a blast so far. I'm definitely gonna pony up for the rest of those tables.

Please put me on the list, and then everyone hit me up with friend requests. I need some Wizard Robe Bros.

GT: Wezmon

wezmon fucked around with this message at 04:37 on Nov 1, 2010

# ? Nov 1, 2010 04:05

Zero Karizma: Jul 8, 2004; It's ok now, just tell me what happened...

I didn't even realize that you could manually launch the ball with the right stick. I am a complete rear end.

# ? Nov 1, 2010 15:17

FishBulb: Mar 29, 2003; Marge, I'd like to be alone with the sandwich for a moment.

Are you going to eat it?

...yes...

Zero Karizma posted:

I didn't even realize that you could manually launch the ball with the right stick. I am a complete rear end.

You only can on the FX2 tables.

# ? Nov 1, 2010 15:28

Zero Karizma: Jul 8, 2004; It's ok now, just tell me what happened...

FishBulb posted:

You only can on the FX2 tables.

I was hoping that was the case. I mean, why would I have played so much FX1 but somehow never even thought to try that?

# ? Nov 1, 2010 15:34

The General: Mar 4, 2007

iastudent posted:

Guess who's first on their friends list with 48.8mil on the Street Fighter II table?

gently caress you man

Though I'm doing good on the other tables. I dunno. Trying to add more people but it's not letting me at the moment.

Add BroStar General to get some pinball action in.

# ? Nov 1, 2010 16:18

The General: Mar 4, 2007

Zero Karizma posted:

I didn't even realize that you could manually launch the ball with the right stick. I am a complete rear end.

You can also get 500k skillshots from doing it too.

# ? Nov 1, 2010 16:18

Zero Karizma: Jul 8, 2004; It's ok now, just tell me what happened...

The General posted:

You can also get 500k skillshots from doing it too.

Yeah, that's what ultimately drove me to figure it out. There's a clear "use the power meter" skill shot on Pasha, but I kept assuming they meant the weird light up thing in front of the launcher. I thought it was timing-based.

# ? Nov 1, 2010 16:21

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

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# ? May 5, 2024 18:08

Billy Gnosis: May 18, 2006; Now is the time for us to gather together and celebrate those things that we like and think are fun.

WhiteHowler posted:

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.

I've never completed the crane, but the general idea is that you need to drop the ball on the flashing target (and you don't have much of a chance) . I believe in Hungry Moray's you need to hit the flipper when the sub is in the "middle" in the video mode so it passes through without getting attacked. Save the Turtles is indeed hit the flashing shot, its probably always an orbit or a ramp. It was through the middle for me once (where the spinner is) and the right orbit another time. I haven't played that table much since I somehow managed to get a really high score the 1st or 2nd time I played it.

# ? Nov 1, 2010 17:42

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