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[Video Pinball] Pinball FX 2 is on the Humble Bundle! Get it now!

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Posts

  • elkataselkatas Registered User regular
    edited April 2012
    Finally tried Pinball Arcade. I was blown away. No way I could spend money on it.
    Seriously, a noticeable delay on the flippers? The whole thing left a very sour taste in my mouth. I think there's a number of XBLA titles right now which are much more entitled to having my money.

    Since when there was noticeable delay on flippers? From sounds of it, it seems that demo version is borked pretty badly. That is what happens when you are juggling with +10 platforms at the same time.

    elkatas on
    Hypnotically inclined.
  • CellorifficCelloriffic Registered User regular
    elkatas wrote: »
    Finally tried Pinball Arcade. I was blown away. No way I could spend money on it.
    Seriously, a noticeable delay on the flippers? The whole thing left a very sour taste in my mouth. I think there's a number of XBLA titles right now which are much more entitled to having my money.

    Since when there was noticeable delay on flippers? From sounds of it, it seems that demo version is borked pretty badly. That is what happens when you are juggling with +10 platforms at the same time.

    I've had flippers stick on me a couple of times. Nothing critical to a drain or anything, and fixed with another flipper-tap. I'm not going to say it's "added realism", but I've had similar problems on dirtier real-life tables.

    @ArcticLancer You and DoctorArch have had demo issues with the title, so I'm inclined to go with elkatas and the Case of the Nearly Dozen Ports. It's played amazingly similar to the disc versions (caveat: for me), now that I've had a little more time to reacquaint myself with the physics model. Find thyself a physical table - if it's something in the demo, all the better - and compare. From spending time with Theater of Magic, the play is certainly feeling a lot more like I remember.

    It is a dilemma. Sure, Zen has the social competition and video pinball flash down to a tee, but where else am I going to play actual tables? Only Farsight/Pinball Arcade. And the only way I can tell for sure if things are 100% accurate in their (Farsight's) recreations is if they release Funhouse for download. That table is ingrained into my DNA.

  • ArcticLancerArcticLancer Best served chilled. Registered User regular
    By the by, I tried the trial on another 360 this weekend (my own, as the first time was on someone else's), and the flippers were fine. I'm still not hugely tempted by the game right now, but I can say it wasn't as bad as the original test run. Very weird how that could happen ...

  • Luncheon LoafLuncheon Loaf Registered User regular
    edited April 2012
    If we're talking about Pinball FX 2, I've never noticed flipper lag, and I play a lot of multiplayer with my wife.

    V, my bad.

    Luncheon Loaf on
    xbl: halophilicNC
  • ArcticLancerArcticLancer Best served chilled. Registered User regular
    We were not. It was a tangent on the topic of the released-last-week Pinball Arcade. Zen has treated me well other than the random occasions where the physics just shift for a while for ... no real reason ... And yes, you can tell when this happens. And yes, it does happen.

  • Ah_PookAh_Pook Registered User regular
    im pretty excited about pinball arcade.

    also i read today that zen pinball 2 is coming out sometime soon, and apparently if oyu have the first one you can upgrade for free? i dunno, details were sparse. more zen pinball is always good though.

  • CantidoCantido Registered User regular
    edited April 2012
    Ah_Pook wrote: »
    im pretty excited about pinball arcade.

    also i read today that zen pinball 2 is coming out sometime soon, and apparently if oyu have the first one you can upgrade for free? i dunno, details were sparse. more zen pinball is always good though.

    Zen Pinball is...vague, actually. Zen Pinball and Pinball FX2 are the same game, in different wrapping.

    When Pinball FX2 came out, players who got Pinball FX1 got their original tables free. If they are making Zen Pinball 2 for PSN, and will continue to keep the name separate from the 360 version, I assume that Zen Pinball 2 is going to get Pinball FX2's very nice bells and whistles and every Zen and Marvel table will be put together in Zen Pinball 2.

    If Zen Pinball 2 is drastically different from FX2, I guess an FX3 is coming.

    EDIT - I just saw Zen Pinball 2's pictures on Facebook, and it looks like PS3 players are finally getting the FX2 hub. This is a very good thing.

    Cantido on
    3DS Friendcode 5413-1311-3767
  • jclastjclast Registered User regular
    All I want right now out of Zen's dev cycle is to let me buy Tesla on the 360. I don't hold a lot of hope for the Ninja Gaiden Sigma table, but there's no reason I can think of not to offer Teslafor PFX2.

    camo_sig2.png
  • Ah_PookAh_Pook Registered User regular
    man, either the flippers are real unresponsive in Pinball Arcade or the collision detection is off on them or something. it doesnt feel very good, either way. its still fun enough just to play theater of magic, but im really not feeling that thing.

  • CellorifficCelloriffic Registered User regular
    Ah_Pook wrote: »
    man, either the flippers are real unresponsive in Pinball Arcade or the collision detection is off on them or something. it doesnt feel very good, either way. its still fun enough just to play theater of magic, but im really not feeling that thing.

    Are you on 360 or PS3? In this forum alone there's been widely varying experiences with the stability on the 360 version. I hear the PS3 version looks and plays better. /anecdote

  • elkataselkatas Registered User regular
    edited April 2012
    Are you on 360 or PS3? In this forum alone there's been widely varying experiences with the stability on the 360 version. I hear the PS3 version looks and plays better. /anecdote

    PS3 version seems to be borked. Some people claim it has something do with those 120hz modes, and have fixed just by turning that feature off. Farsight did take too big cake unfortunately.

    elkatas on
    Hypnotically inclined.
  • BrymBrym Registered User regular
    I was a little disappointed at first to see that Tales of the Arabian Nights was included in Pinball Arcade, since it already appeared in the 360 version of the Williams Collection. But after playing the demo, it looks like they completely redid the graphics. Everything looks much sharper and the lights seem more luminescent. It's much easier to see what's going on on the table. I hope they did the same for the other tables that they are re-releasing (Black Knight, Medieval Madness). It makes it worth the money imo.

    Physics are completely different than Zen, as others have noted. I happen to prefer Pinball Arcade, which seems more life-like to me. Others appear to think otherwise. Definitely if you're used to Zen it will take some acclimating.

  • elkataselkatas Registered User regular
    a0247bff.jpg

    Should make lot of people pretty happy. :)

    * Credit for the picture goes to Neogaf user TxdoHawk

    Hypnotically inclined.
  • CellorifficCelloriffic Registered User regular
    Ooh! If that's legit...

    Brag post plus legitimate Pinball Arcade gripe: So I'm playing Theater of Magic, and having the game of my life. So much so, that I manage to start the Grand Finale wizard mode, and boy howdy, they throw points at you like candy in that thing. 50 million a shot, finish all the shots for a bonus 500 million. And I know this, because I managed to complete it. Woohoo!

    The catch? I ALSO had Midnight activated, and trunk hits were triggering both Midnight and the Grand Finale modes. As such, while I completed the Finale, the "goal" didn't unlock in the menu. And that's the last wizard goal I have on that table. So it should have unlocked the achievement, but it didn't. And I probably won't manage to play a game quite that well for quite some time, or possibly ever again.

    That said, bring on the DLC tables. I actually thought of a Stern table I would want: Monopoly.

  • ArcticLancerArcticLancer Best served chilled. Registered User regular
    Kudos, Cello. =D

    I still eagerly await the Avengers tables. Otherwise, played a game of X-Men last week at random and managed to do everything except complete the basic Phoenix mission. Yeah, that's right, I managed to beat the 2 harder versions of that mission (multiple times), but I failed it on 4 separate occasions. Bleh ... Oh well, I probably would have failed the final mode again too, if we're honest. But I did give my old high score a close run.
    I miss having the time to sink into PBFX2 ...

  • CellorifficCelloriffic Registered User regular
    @ArcticLancer If'n you don't mind the asking, what's eating into your pinball time?

    As for Pinball Arcade, they've announced the next 2 DLC tables: Cirqus Voltaire and Funhouse. So it's going to be time to put my money where my mouth is and re-up on Funhouse. Of course, they are announcing this before the first batch of DLC has even hit the consoles... Sigh. Anyway, odd promo video for the original table:

    http://youtu.be/q-2wvvIDxIk

    ...and I have to say, I might have been wrong about a previous assessment. Given the opportunity to fiddle with an iPad, I played some Zen Pinball, specifically Sorcerer's Lair. While I still don't like the "warp to a different minitable" mechanic, the board - all in all - plays a lot better when you have more than 2 minutes/a million points to play with. I just might bite on it for the 360. It all depends when the Avengers tables hit...

  • AthenorAthenor Battle Hardened Optimist The Skies of HiigaraRegistered User regular
    That table seems awesome... But then again, that's what promo videos are supposed to make you feel, right?

    I swear, though - neither Zen Pinball or Pinball Arcade seem to get the flipper sounds right. I remember everything being... harder. Maybe that's because I grew up in an ice skating rink where the tables weren't maintained the best, but I just can't shake that it doesn't sound right.

    He/Him | "A boat is always safest in the harbor, but that’s not why we build boats." | "If you run, you gain one. If you move forward, you gain two." - Suletta Mercury, G-Witch
  • AthenorAthenor Battle Hardened Optimist The Skies of HiigaraRegistered User regular
    edited April 2012
    Multi-ball!

    Athenor on
    He/Him | "A boat is always safest in the harbor, but that’s not why we build boats." | "If you run, you gain one. If you move forward, you gain two." - Suletta Mercury, G-Witch
  • ArcticLancerArcticLancer Best served chilled. Registered User regular
    @Celloriffic - Life in general, I suppose. Work has actually been quite good to me lately, but that means I've been enjoying my free time in an assortment of ways. I'm trying to get through some other games these days (Pinball and World of Tanks both ate into other games pretty badly for a while), and when it's not that, I'm doing some painting, as well has recently having picked up a kite, which I am happily flying on weekends.
    Ultimately, the problem is just ... where I am at this point, I typically need to dedicate hours to playing to accomplish anything on my scores or go for the missing achievements. I prefer to play in one sitting because it's rare that I can pick up mid-game and do anything right.

    As far as Sorcerer's Lair goes, I'll certainly fess up to having not played it a ton. It's an alright table, but like I said forever ago, abusive ball-save tends to drag that table out. The Marvel ones are all much better, and I expect the Avengers tables won't be HUGELY far off at this point. I'd probably just keep enjoying Pinball Arcade while you wait. You seem to be dominating that handily. ^_^

  • AthenorAthenor Battle Hardened Optimist The Skies of HiigaraRegistered User regular
    Hey, if more people in this thread can invite me, so I won't get my ego crushed by celloriffic? That'd be awesome. :D

    He/Him | "A boat is always safest in the harbor, but that’s not why we build boats." | "If you run, you gain one. If you move forward, you gain two." - Suletta Mercury, G-Witch
  • ArcticLancerArcticLancer Best served chilled. Registered User regular
    edited April 2012
    If you're talking about Pinball Arcade, I'm not playing that one, so I'm not worth your while.
    If you're talking about PBFX2, you don't want to add me. If your ego is crushed by Cello, things would not be good when you saw some of my scores ...

    ArcticLancer on
  • BlandlytastefulBlandlytasteful Gruelmaster The Dark LunchroomRegistered User regular
    Sorry if this has been covered before, but has anyone heard anything to indicate whether or not there is any chance of the Pinball FX tables making it over to Zen Pinball, or vice-versa?

    Steam: Blandlytasteful | XBL: Blandlytasteful | PSN: Blandlytasteful | 3DS: 3411-0354-2109
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  • ArcticLancerArcticLancer Best served chilled. Registered User regular
    Sorry if this has been covered before, but has anyone heard anything to indicate whether or not there is any chance of the Pinball FX tables making it over to Zen Pinball, or vice-versa?

    I'm a touch confused ... At least on the 360, if you own Zen Pinball, I'm 99% sure you can download those tables into PBFX2. The main game's hub is free, and you should be able to download the Zen Pinball DLC for free, as far as I know ...
    I'm of the understanding that PS3 owners have dealt with all the Pinball games in separate places to begin with, and I think they're finally slated to bring that new hub into PS3-land (basically giving them access to the system 360 owners have had all along).

    I can't imagine there will ever be a case of PBFX2 and newer being ported back to Zen. There are reasons for that, such as the physics being different, and the structure of way the program was designed.

  • CellorifficCelloriffic Registered User regular
    Sorry if this has been covered before, but has anyone heard anything to indicate whether or not there is any chance of the Pinball FX tables making it over to Zen Pinball, or vice-versa?

    I'm a touch confused ... At least on the 360, if you own Zen Pinball, I'm 99% sure you can download those tables into PBFX2. The main game's hub is free, and you should be able to download the Zen Pinball DLC for free, as far as I know ...
    I'm of the understanding that PS3 owners have dealt with all the Pinball games in separate places to begin with, and I think they're finally slated to bring that new hub into PS3-land (basically giving them access to the system 360 owners have had all along).

    I can't imagine there will ever be a case of PBFX2 and newer being ported back to Zen. There are reasons for that, such as the physics being different, and the structure of way the program was designed.

    If by "Zen Pinball" on the 360, you mean "Pinball FX", I think you have it, ArcticLancer. If Blandly is talking about some of those early Zen tables on the PS3 that have yet to be ported (like Cantido's constant shilling of Tesla ;-) ), it's been hit-or-miss. I mean, 360 players got Paranormal and Mars, but I think that's it...

    Back to Pinball Arcade: Managed two sets of Wizard goals this weekend! I did, in fact, manage to get to the Grand Finale in Theater of Magic again, and complete it in a non-Midnight-interfering fashion. 5 billion plus, but there's evidence that scores on the high-end don't mean that much due to a glitch (or working as intended, hard to know for sure) where the score rolls over when a player hits 10 billion. If it just rolled over on the playfield scoreboard, that's one thing, but it loops in the out-of-game leaderboards and such as well. The only video I'm currently finding on YouTube is a 46 minute full play session, so I'll spare the embedding.

    Second set of goals was on Tales of the Arabian Nights. I was down to just "defeat the genie" at the end of the wizard mode, and had gotten there several times and failed, despite the game saying "unlimited balls until someone wins." I just couldn't hit the shots fast enough. Then I remembered something important that they don't really tell you: when they say unlimited balls, it's not just for ball drains. You can launch up to 3 additional balls for 4 ball multiball at that point, and replace any that drain almost immediately with a fresh plunging. It's much, MUCH easier to finish with 4 balls banging around the table.

  • CantidoCantido Registered User regular
    edited April 2012
    If the Zen Pinball/FX2/Zen 2 differences seem confusing, it's because they are.

    Zen 2 is basically Zen Pinball getting caught up with FX2's very good hub.

    Cantido on
    3DS Friendcode 5413-1311-3767
  • CellorifficCelloriffic Registered User regular
    Here's a change of pace: I decided to reinvest myself in the Ms. Splosion Man table last night, and yep, that physics model. With all the Pinball Arcade I've been playing, Pinball FX2's physics are an entrely different, far more squirrely beast. I was able to readjust, but yeah. Jumping back and forth between the two is probably detrimental to anybody's game.

    At any rate, I'm not sure how I did it, but I, um... I broke Ms. Splosion Man. Ball 3, with 2 in reserve, trigger multiball. I'm having a great old time until I drain down to my last ball, at which point I'm still playing. But for some reason, the table decided I was done, and started tallying my end of ball bonus. No big deal, I'm still bumping around - until the next ball starts, when the camera moves over to the launcher, and I can't see my left flipper anymore, and promptly drain. End of ball bonus kicks in, and now I'm down to my last. I launch, 2 balls come out, and the camera flips out. One drains, bonus tallies, and I'm still able to play the second ball until the tally ends. Weird and glitchy and frustrating, and I've never had it happen before. At least I wasn't on my way to shattering a personal best or anything. Anyone else have a table break in such a strange fashion?

    A bit of news, so this isn't just anecdotes: the first DLC update for Pinball Arcade will have 4 available tables: Medieval Madness and Bride of Pinbot (available on mobile devices for about a month now) and the Cirqus Voltaire/Funhouse package that's just hitting mobile this/next week. Still no date on the new Marvel tables for Pinball FX2 - terrible that they missed the pre-Avengers hype. Might have something to do with pinball not fitting into Microsoft's Arcade Next promotion that ran for the past 4 weeks. Hopefully, next week...

  • CellorifficCelloriffic Registered User regular
    News the first! My return to Ms. Splosion Man was fortuitous, as it's the current Pinball FX2 tournament, now through the 25th!

    News the second! iOS updates for Pinball Arcade (Cirqus Voltaire/Funhouse) hit yesterday, and Cirqus Voltaire is the table of the month on Pinball Arcade Free, so check it out.

    News the third: A WILD KICKSTARTER APPEARS! http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1067367405/pinball-arcade-the-twilight-zone

    Almost a month to hit that licensing fee and the promise that anything over their goal is for pursuing other licenses (namedropping ST:TNG)? Even with the madness that is Microsoft not allowing 360 versions as pledge rewards (Farsight's words, not mine), I'm still going to kick in on this. It's my second favorite table ever.

  • CellorifficCelloriffic Registered User regular
    Having managed to single-handedly kill the pinball thread, it's been 2 weeks since a post and and time for some news...

    1) Ms. Splosion Man tourney is OVER! I managed a top 30 finish and cracked the billion point barrier, so that's one of my big Pinball FX 2 goals accomplished.

    2) Pinball Arcade titles for June (on mobile, anyway) are Monster Bash and Gorgar, continuing the trend of one new table, one old table. Still no DLC tables on consoles yet...

    3) Twilight Zone Kickstarter is at $47K with 16 days to go. $10 pledge level now gets you a copy on Xbox 360, if you so choose (and I will), so they worked that out with Microsoft. I think they'll hit their goal, but not double it to get the ST:TNG ball rolling.

  • ArcticLancerArcticLancer Best served chilled. Registered User regular
    edited June 2012
    You haven't killed it, Cello. Zen just keeps announcing things that aren't the Avengers tables. I'll be all over this again once that drops.

    I did make an attempt to win back my crown on Ms. Splosion Man, but I swear that table just does 2 bad things for me ...
    1 - Repetitive as hell. The missions are generally boring for my taste, not to mention that the multiball ones are counter-productive to the table if you have the barrel save active. If that one thing were different I might have a hugely different respect for things ... However I often find myself just playing the table up to a point and then trying to farm the cannon and get ramp combos, which is a bit more mindless, but almost a little zen. Yeah, yeah, I see what I did there ...
    2 - The table occasionally loves to just screw you and toss a ball or 3 in a row out before going back to being easy-town. I despise how badly that breaks a roll, and it kills the fun most times.

    So I guess I got 50% of your score before falling out. On my 2nd run through, I got both the random extra balls really quickly, but was bored by that point, so I just exited. The state remains, for a day in the future when I once again get an urge to topple giants. ;P


    Also, my not caring about Pinball Arcade doesn't help. I guess that's more hinging on Zen making a damn release announcement already ...

    ArcticLancer on
  • CellorifficCelloriffic Registered User regular
    It's true, with a lot of time sunk into Ms. Splosion Man, the missions are easily the least fun part of the table. And yes, multi-ball and barrel save are a terrible mix, due to the inevitable wasting of your barrel save during the multiball event and then the table deciding "you're done", so you're down a barrel AND a ball.

    @ArcticLancer You talk about your own "zen" of Ms. Splosion Man, my go-to pattern has been left orbit, upper flipper to side ramp, repeat as long as possible. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I love the flow of the table so, so much. (May your urge to topple giants stay dormant for a while. :) )

    As the biggest cheerleader (but not apologist) of Pinball Arcade here on the forums, I'll add one more update from the Kickstarter for today: Twilight Zone is now funded! Expect it in November. Added bonus? Star Trek: The Next Generation is now a stretch goal. If they top $110K, they're doing it, tentatively for December. If they hit the stretch, all pledge goals apply for BOTH tables. $10 for 2 tables might be a bit steep, but I've never actually played ST:TNG. I hear it's good, though.

  • CellorifficCelloriffic Registered User regular
    Zen news, that's pinball-related, but still probably not what you're looking for:

    http://www.joystiq.com/2012/06/05/marvel-pinball-flips-to-3ds-through-eshop-this-summer/

    Aw, heck, I'll just post all the text from the article.
    joystiq wrote:
    Zen Studios' Marvel Pinball will go 3D this summer on Nintendo's image-popping 3DS handheld. The game will feature four of the best tables available on consoles: Iron Man, Captain America, Blade and Fantastic Four.

    The game will be available as a standalone product through the Nintendo eShop for $7.99 in the lands of North America and €7.00 across the vast continent of Europe.

    They must be using a different definition of "best" than I am accustomed to seeing...

  • ArcticLancerArcticLancer Best served chilled. Registered User regular
    Weird ... I'm surprised they wouldn't just include the 6 tables ...
    I mean, maybe they're just trying to spread stuff around? Didn't they put out Wolverine on iPad or something? Equal treatment rather than keep pushing out the same tables?

    *shrug*
    Still a shame to see Fantastic Four anywhere. I can't remember the last time I even considered playing that table. It's weird how big a step forward it would take if they would just fix the human torch ramp to not randomly ditch back the ball 2/3 of the time ...

  • ArcticLancerArcticLancer Best served chilled. Registered User regular
    Zen finally makes news I care about:
    "Marvel Pinball Avengers Chronicles has been confirmed for a 6/19 release on PSN in North America and 6/20 for XBLA and PSN in Europe!"

    So mark your calendar, one or two other people who still care! More pinball in a week and a few days.

  • AnakinOUAnakinOU Registered User regular
    ...I'm still waiting for something on (Windows 7) PC. :(

  • CellorifficCelloriffic Registered User regular
    Finally. A release date!

    Now, odds that the Pinball Arcade tables hit the same week?

  • CellorifficCelloriffic Registered User regular
    Reminder bump: Pinball FX: Marvel Pinball: The Avengers Chronicles is out NOW on your console of choice (PS3/Xbox360).

    Go forth and purchase.

  • ArcticLancerArcticLancer Best served chilled. Registered User regular
    2nd place on The Avengers! (You know, with the caveat of "For the moment")

    Also, Fear Itself: What the f*ck? All that table seemed to do was randomly bitch-slap me.

  • ArcticLancerArcticLancer Best served chilled. Registered User regular
    Double post:
    1st on Infinity Gauntlet, and that was all I had time to try on my lunch break. =P
    Seriously though, IG is amazing. Picking a different way to break the game for each gem was kind of brilliant, and they sure as hell make you work to succeed when things are so screwed.

    Apart from this, each table added only 1 50g achievement, which is actually kind of heartbreaking. I enjoyed the ramp-up of the achievements, and getting that little extra 'something' the first time you conquered a table. With that completely gone, you basically have to play either for the love of pinball, or the chase of your friends ... I'm okay with that, but this game has certainly toned down in popularity, which is sad.
    Oh, and the ball physics are different from other tables as well. I quite like the pace (feels like what they probably INTENDED Fantastic Four to be like ages ago ...).

  • BolthornBolthorn Registered User regular
    AnakinOU wrote: »
    ...I'm still waiting for something on (Windows 7) PC. :(

    I too wish that I could get more pinball on my PC. Don't get me wrong, I love having Zen and Pinball Arcade on my PS3, but if I can't carry those over to next generation consoles and have to buy them all again, if they're even offered, I would be a bit bummed. And if I had them on something like Steam then I could play on the TV when my daughter is asleep, and in the office when she's awake and demanding to watch Max and Ruby (she's 2). That's a lot easier than moving the PS3 from one room to another.

    Glad the Twilight Zone table reached it's goal. Can't wait to get my hands on that one. Lots of good time spent with that table.

  • CantidoCantido Registered User regular
    On my way home to download the new tables!

    3DS Friendcode 5413-1311-3767
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