Pinball Club

[Dewar]

Tape an iPhone to the side?

[clyde]

@Increpare made a thing where you can draw pinball-tables in a MsPaint-like. It's pretty fun, especially for someone like myself who has always been interested in trying some playfield designs out.

 

Here is one I just made.

Left and right arrows for flippers, down arrow for plunger, up arrow for upwardish nudge, 'R' for restart.

 

 

[clyde]

Dude made a Goonies machine out of Hollywood Heat.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=215&v=v3YkfPEwhO0

kotaku article

[clyde]

I was recently reminded of how much I enjoy playing tables of Pinball Arcade and Pinball FX2. I have so many to choose from though, that I have a hard time committing to one table long enough to truly appreciate its idiosyncracies. The way I used to do it was to try to beat someone's high-score. That stopped working when I became really good at playing pinball-sims.

I was thinking that it would be fun to have a friendly pinball-tournament. Any table on Pinball Arcade or Pinball FX2 would do. We could compete for high-scores for a period of time (maybe a week, two?)  and then if we have fun doing it, switch to another table. Here's the thing though: I'm going to win. I'm fairly confident that I will consistently end up with high-scores that may demotivate people. This is why it would be important to have more than one participant (besides myself). It may not be true for others, but when I was first getting into Pinball FX2, I wasn't all that excited about beating the best player's high-score, I was excited about beating the high-score of the player that had just a little bit more than my personal best.

Incremental one-upmanship is a great way to commit to a single table in order to find out all of it's secrets and strategies (though some feel compelled to repeat an exploit tiresomely rather than explore the table's modes). We could discover modes and tell each other about them during the course of the week. Is anyone interested in trying this out?

 

I think Sorcerer's Lair would be a great table to start with since it is free on Steam.

 

[Trip Hazard]

I'd be up for that Clyde, though I'm under no illusions that I could compete with your high score. Any pointers for a newbie?

[clyde]

I'd be up for that Clyde, though I'm under no illusions that I could compete with your high score. Any pointers for a newbie?

 

Big points in the Pinball FX2 tables come from finishing modes. This is good because finishing the modes in Pinball FX2 tables let's you see the narratives and animations of the table! The way you start the main modes on Sorcerer's Lair is to hit the three spot targets above the spinning sigil and then shooting into the cellar (lit green, after the platform raises).

 

 

The dot-matrix will then give you instructions on what you need to do and will start counting down if the mode is timed. Completing modes gives you loads of points.

Knowing how to start the main modes is useful, but I also recommend testing hypothesis as they occur to you. I enjoy picking something on the table and trying to figure out what it does by noticing what makes it react. I'm hoping that folks might start developing specific questions and figuring stuff out in posts during the tournament. It's fun to figure it out with other people. Oh and just in case anyone doesn't know this, you can usually tell what targets and lanes will do things based on whether or not they are flashing.

 

Also, to be clear, I'm thinking that it should be the highest score that we manage in the time-period we set for the table's tournament rather than the all-time high-scores on our accounts. Should we just go ahead and decide this is a thing? What should the end date be (assuming the start date is today)?

Maybe we should wait until additional people show interest.

[Cm0nster]

I'll do it, but don't let it demotivate YOU clyde that I've hit wizard mode on that table.

[elmuerte]

As I just crushed clyde's highscore while checking out this table, I guess I'm in (not that high, just 22M)

I did manage to seriously screw up two mini games (0 score).

[clyde]

I guess it is on.

 

 

 

Note: This table is free on Steam. You have to download Pinball FX2 though (which is also free, but a large file).

[clyde]

 

This is after finishing the wizard-mode once with 5 pieces of obsidian (which gave me 94 million alone).

 

Here are my current impressions of the table:
-I don't remember what completing Stairway does and I'm looking forward to one of us finding out.

-I'm curious what Whisper's relationship to the tree is for some reason. Whisper seems to have an expectation of human-rights while no one cares about the tree. I guess maybe it's just some sort of animation spell and the tree doesn't have any self-identity.

-The Bones mode (which I call "Skeletons") is very difficult for me. I can get maybe 5 shots on that right-orbit before the time runs out and it doesn't seem to be enough.

- I love the two different responses the boy gives depending on whether or not he succeeds at completing Behind the Walls.

 

I forgot how much I enjoy this table. It just has so much stuff, an interesting theme, and I love the obsidian-system.

[elmuerte]

... ok, that's a high score

[clyde]

I noticed that the obsidian pieces don't go away after the wizard-mode is complete. So hypothetically the score would be magnitudes higher if someone is able to reach the wizard-mode twice in the game (assuming they accrue more obsidian during that second play-through of the modes).

[Cm0nster]

 

I got my all time high today. wizard mode with 4 obsidian helped a lot. We are snowed in so I played every time that I was bored, and warmed up that way today. Don't be alarmed at seeing Clyde's past high score on here (ferrofluid), we can take him!

[chummer]

my highest table score is 44.47 million for Sorcerer's Lair. so i'm curious about strategy. do ya'll use the tilt much? what table view do you use and why? i've been using view 2 because it lets me see all the table without moving.

[clyde]

On Pinball FX2 tables, I nudge on one type of occasion. If the ball is headed for the center-drain and it's trajectory is angled toward a flipper, I will lift that flipper and nudge the table in the opposite direction right when the ball is about to pass it. So for instance, if the ball is headed towards the center-drain, but it moving to the right a bit, I lift the right flipper and nudge left at the moment right before it goes through.

 

The other flipper will often have a chance to hit the ball back up into the playfield if the move is successful. It's worth noting that the nudge-system on Pinball FX2 is 3 nudges every 15 seconds; after that it counts as a tilt meaning you lose your ball and your bonuses. It's nice enough to give you three types of audio cues on most of the tables which allows you to know which nudge of the 3 you are on.

I use an xbox360 controller and I assign the flippers to the bumpers instead of the triggers because they have much less give. My thumb rests on the joystick for the nudges.

 

I use view #1 on this table.

 

How many modes do you typically get through SgtWhistlebotom? Which ones do you complete successfully? Also, when you lose your ball is it typically through the center-drain or the outlanes?

[Cm0nster]

I use nudge when I am going towards the center drain, and I use view 1. Is your problem losing the ball through the middle? The points really come from starting the modes from those three lights flashing and completing all 6 of them, and then getting wizard mode, which is this multiball that gives you like a hundred million points or more based off of how many modes you successfully completed.

[chummer]

okay, so both of ya'll use tilt. i have my controller set up as you've described, clyde, but i don't use tilt at all. i'm pretty good about lighting up the GHOST letters so it's usually center where i'm failing. i'll try out these ideas and switch my view around.

 

i can complete the cogwheel puzzle and the ghost attack scene pretty reliably. the portal one i have trouble with because i haven't figured my shot angle to get into the Whisper pit or even into the bumpers. feel like a lot of my time is spent mucking around the runes that brings up the spiral ramp. also, i'm terrible at the lower table where the Arachnid Attack and trap scene play out. i consistently hit the bumper too early and the ball just rolls over it into the center hole.

[clyde]

I got 152,809,580 this morning. That was one wizard-mode (a.k.a. "Midnight Madness") with two pieces of obsidian. I got two pieces after that though. Interestingly, I didn't rescue Whisper during the beginning of the wizard-mode, and I totally thought that was necessary to start Midnight Madness until this morning. Now I'm curious about what rescuing Whisper does. I also found out that locking all three balls during the sorcerer's multi-ball (the one where the balls get locked in that little dish that the little man is holding) will reward you a piece of obsidian. This was also the first time I noticed that you can increase the jackpot value of that multi-ball. I think the bumpers increase it. My jackpot value was around 1.5 million which is no insignificant amount since I did that multi-ball twice. I'm not sure if the increased jackpot-value is shared between the other multi-ball modes.

[elmuerte]

I'm probably not going to get much higher than this:

My timings are seriously off, can't hit the right ramps when I have to.

 

btw, I get extra points for this right?

[clyde]

I'm probably not going to get much higher than this:

My timings are seriously off, can't hit the right ramps when I have to.

 

btw, I get extra points for this right?

 

You pretty much win as far as I'm concerned (unless anyone can get the ball in a more interesting place).

Your timing-difficultly might be a latency-issue. I don't know if this would be worth your effort, but some people have a lot of success reducing the "pre-rendered frames" in their graphics card settings. On Nvidia cards, you go into the Nvidia control-panel ->3d Settings ->manage 3d settings -> Select Pinball FX2 in the programs drop-down -> Then set "Maximum pre-rendered frames" to a lower setting if your shots are late and a higher setting if they are early. I have mine set to "1".

Also I just improved my high-score. I now have 423,235,755. I managed to do two wizard-modes. During the second I had 8 pieces of obsidian resulting in earnings of around 140,000,000 in the second wizard-mode alone. I also found out what rescuing Whisper does; you get another piece of obsidian right before wizard-mode if you free her. 

[Trip Hazard]

I finally downloaded and played this tonight, and I think with a cool 26mil under my belt, we can pretty much call this competion ovewhoaaaaaaa 423 MILLION! How on earth...?

 

I mean, I think I know how you did it, and I'm really impressed. It seems to me that, as Clyde says, the way to score big is to hit the three runes and get into the cellar. Completing those challenges consistently awards enormous point bonuses - and makes you feel more virile - but they're tricky and I only managed to do one in my 1h20minutes of playtime. It was the one where you have to shoo the ghosts away. 

 

Something I noticed about my own play is that very often, say seven out of every ten times, I will bin my first ball almost straight away. Just, right down the centre. I never remember to even attempt to tilt, which is screwing up my game so much. I have decided (and this will give you an idea of where I'm at ability wise) that I will restart the game if I don't get one million points with my first ball. 

 

Another, somewhat banal(?) observation I had is that even as a novice pinball player, idly knocking balls around the table, I can set up some impressive opportunities to score big. So, multiball, the angry tree, the "Citadel" etc. What this means is that my point scoring opportunities all seem to come to fruition with my third ball, and I can get 15mil points on that one without too much trouble, whereas the other two seem to be basically setting things up. It makes the game ramp up in excitement terms, certainly.

 

Last thing is that the paddles on the Steam bat feel really good, nice click to them.

[clyde]

It's really interesting to hear these details.

...also, I think Whisper may have drowned because she is wearing a sailor-outfit.

[clyde]

I'm starting to consider the possibility that Whisper is actually one of the girl's (we will call her Kat) multiple-personalities (perhaps just an imaginary friend or role acted out by the Kat). Her twin brother has accepted that he has two sisters (Kat and Whisper) as long as he can remember and he depends on the existence of Whisper for certain tasks such as closing the gates of the Void (perhaps boredom or responsibilities that are viewed as meaningless). I think the Sorcerer's Lair may actually be a former insane-asylum that they wander for funsies looking for shiny stones. The sorcerer is just a personification of the voice of adult-authority which they assume they are in opposition to as they wander the grounds without permission. The tree interferes with Whisper somehow.

[Dewar]

Interesting, I'll try to remember to give this a shot tonight, though I rarely have the patience to learn a table fully before I get bored.

[Trip Hazard]

New high score for me: 111 million. Not sure what went right. Not sure what advances time on the table, but I managed to get to Midnight with one obsidian, and earn something like 60 mil points.

 

Had a decent run where I managed to pick up not one but two extra balls, and that wasn't entirely by accident(!)