119 replies to this topic

[Pinballwiz45b]

First pinball video posted on Youtube from my channel

 

Now turn off the popup numbers and ball trail and throw it in portrait mode and try it out

 

There's one problem. I don't think my monitor supports portrait mode (1680x1050). What I mean is: rotating the monitor itself (which I can't). Not risking playing portrait with this.

[uberpinball]

Not to be a Negative Nancy, but remember all the pinball purists that said Pinball 2000 wasn't real pinball? I get that there never was a real pinball ever in these new FX tables,  but really?

 

This is way more video game, lot less pinball. Flamesuit one.

[TheMcD]

Not to be a Negative Nancy, but remember all the pinball purists that said Pinball 2000 wasn't real pinball? I get that there never was a real pinball ever in these new FX tables,  but really?

 

This is way more video game, lot less pinball. Flamesuit one.

 

At the end of the day, pinball is less a strict set of mechanical rules and more a state of mind, IMO. If anything, pinball video games allow us to break free of mechanical constraints and explore new areas with the same core concept of batting a silver ball around with flippers in order to get points. That doesn't change just because the whole thing stops being mechanically sound. I don't see how you can argue that it's not pinball just because it starts being unrealistic. You can call it bad design and the like , and there's merit in designing a virtual table that could still work perfectly if it were to actually, physically exist (I'm reminded of Eala and his "if a machine can't do it, screw it" design philosophy), but I can't see how you can plausibly dismiss it as being more "video game than pinball". Let's face it, VP/FP are exactly the same way - it's real easy to design tables that aren't mechanically plausible, but I've never heard of that being called as a point against the table. It's a seperate world - "virtual pinball" simply needs to be judged differently to "physical pinball".

 

I bought the entire set, mostly to support the business and stimulate the demand.

[uberpinball]

Ok, all that said, I'll give you this to chew on. WTF is the continual light trail behind the ball, where is the Z axis on the all...yea, never gonna get it to bounce up. And finally...you will never be able to erase the origins of pinball, it's a mechanical game. There will never be a time when a video version of this game will make people forget mechanical pinball.

This FX pinball is great for people that enjoy video games. There is art to a real pinball game, this FX ain't it.


Edit: forget it. Enjoy the games. Just think about posting on their forum instead.

Edited by uberpinball, 12 May 2013 - 03:18 AM.

[LoadedWeapon]

Well the games are amazing I got them all aswell but haven't had the time to play thru them. You can set it up to be close to real pinball like with view options and turning off the ball trail and popup score numbers but in the end just like vp and fp these are all just video games. Guess its a good thing I love playing video games They done a great job of combining the 2 together. Money well spent can't wait for better cab support.

[The Loafer]

Über: u just are no their target audience. That's cool. IMO, I think it's fantastic and part of that reason is because it brings something different via its Arcadish modes while still staying within the confines of a semi realistic physics engine. All 23 tables have been bought and are being enjoyed. The comic book fan in me is very pleased, so is my internal Star Wars nerdish self This would never replace VP and FP but it sure compliments them! Can't wait for TPA now

[The Loafer]

Über: I forgot to add but farsight' "The Pinball Arcade" will also use Steam so scratch it off your list. It probably won't have any cab support for a while and may or may not have portrait mode ready at launch. I do agree a pincab probably runs better without access to the Internet and no bloated steam. But having steam ensures licensing agreements are easier and global highscore lists are a reality and IMHO it merits those other inconveniences. Just an opinion, I really don't think any of these opinions are wrong but I don't see the point any more due to the reality of things, especially on the Internet access issue.

[OuchTilt]

I'm also loving Pinball FX 2, I've only bought the marvel originals pack so far.

 

I really do hope we see a bit more cab support, especially making use of a second screen. I've seen some complaints about the camera zooming, I don't mind the zooming as long as it's necessary, like the mini playfield on the Ironman table, but I could easily go without the plunger zoom.

 

As for the physics I think it plays rather well, my pet hate about FP is the wider angle the ball leaves the flippers, no sign of that here.

 

As said before the ball trail and score popups can be disabled, but one feature I do like and use is the ability to change the minimum score popup value, I've got mine set to 100,000 this way you get some satisfying big score info without all the small 1,000 bumper popup values.

 

I'm in no rush to buy the other packs, I'm having so much fun with my first.

 

I also had the overall top score on the Ironman table yesterday, very satisfying, but probably already been trounced overnight, haven't checked yet.

 

Lookout for "dallaker"   

 

Have fun

[rockyrocket]

My take is that I also do not want steam on my tweaked xp install, but am thinking I will add a second win7 drive to my cab and dual boot.

This way steam can be set as the shell and the screen can be rotated into portrait permanantly and buttons remapped.

May change my mind later but thats how I will go I think.

Been playing this in a upright cab with a rotating monitor set to portrait and the more video gamish feel seems to fit in more on this type of cab to me.

[OuchTilt]

Is it me or does the nudge seem the wrong way around, a left nudge seems to pull the table left instead of push....

 

The ball doesn't seem to react that much so it's hard to tell.

[Sir Cheddar]

I have cooked up a small ahk script for all who don't want to mess with key bindings and HyperPin settings.

 

It switches to portrait, starts Pinball FX2 and switches back after you are done.

 

For installation you need to download and install 12noon display changer. Everything else should work out-of-the-box.

 

 

 

Attached Files

•  PinballFX2starter.zip   357.09KB   83 downloads

[Pinballwiz45b]

Another take:

 

[Roo]

I have this on my ipad and it plays ok. Looks decent running on a pc as well. Anyone else think the end angle of the flippers seems unrealistic?

 

Wanted to respond to this.  I'll re-post something I said a couple months ago:

 

In my opinion, the PFX2 physics are very good.  It's just that the virtual tables themselves are designed for home play, not to eat your quarters.  The biggest difference I notice is that the flippers are at a steeper angle when engaged, which makes it a lot easier to catch and hold a ball without it rolling off the end.  The flippers are probably closer together, too, and there may be a difference in table angle, but I'm no expert.

 

Personally, since I'm probably an average player at best, I enjoy it this way.  But I'd have to guess that anyone complaining about the physics is actually more likely noticing the table design because it's different from what they're used to in real life.

 

Side note...the flippers are no where near as bad as in the "Pinball HD" games on iOS, if anyone's played them.  I had this on my iPad 1 when it first came out and I was first getting into pinball.  Going back to it now, the flippers seem quite ridiculous to me.  They are probably 30% longer, really close together and they angle up so far when engaged that the ball barely fits between the flipper and the slingshot.  Check it out here and here.  I don't know what they were thinking, but it completely ruins the game for me now that I'm not a total noob.  The insane angle makes it way too easy to catch balls from the inlane, while actually making it harder to catch balls falling down the middle.

 

I think Zen strikes a much better balance of difficulty level.  I guess you can never please everyone, though.  It seemed like everyone hated Zen's Iron Man table because it was so unforgiving, but then later all the good players were complaining that tables like Plants Vs. Zombies were way too easy.  Oh well, at least they can design different style tables without the pressure of maximizing quarters per hour or whatever like a real table.

 

Also, cabinet support is coming later, so I'm going to hold off on messing around with HyperPin and FP launch changes for now.  More power to those that can get it to work, though.  We may still need some of that knowledge on the "final" version.

[Pinballwiz45b]

So....who's going to beat my Avengers score of 844 million points? XD

 

I know, it's ridiculous. I did reach the wizard mode, and it's also ridiculous how many points I get in 1 shot, with Jackpots being 4 million EACH and Super Jackpots being 16 million.

 

Don't think I'm cheating. Someone on the Spiderman table scored 38 BILLION points, with the second best score being only 657 million.

[Practicedummy]

I have this on my ipad and it plays ok. Looks decent running on a pc as well. Anyone else think the end angle of the flippers seems unrealistic?

 

Wanted to respond to this.  I'll re-post something I said a couple months ago:

 

In my opinion, the PFX2 physics are very good.  It's just that the virtual tables themselves are designed for home play, not to eat your quarters.  The biggest difference I notice is that the flippers are at a steeper angle when engaged, which makes it a lot easier to catch and hold a ball without it rolling off the end.  The flippers are probably closer together, too, and there may be a difference in table angle, but I'm no expert.

 

Personally, since I'm probably an average player at best, I enjoy it this way.  But I'd have to guess that anyone complaining about the physics is actually more likely noticing the table design because it's different from what they're used to in real life.

 

Side note...the flippers are no where near as bad as in the "Pinball HD" games on iOS, if anyone's played them.  I had this on my iPad 1 when it first came out and I was first getting into pinball.  Going back to it now, the flippers seem quite ridiculous to me.  They are probably 30% longer, really close together and they angle up so far when engaged that the ball barely fits between the flipper and the slingshot.  Check it out here and here.  I don't know what they were thinking, but it completely ruins the game for me now that I'm not a total noob.  The insane angle makes it way too easy to catch balls from the inlane, while actually making it harder to catch balls falling down the middle.

 

I think Zen strikes a much better balance of difficulty level.  I guess you can never please everyone, though.  It seemed like everyone hated Zen's Iron Man table because it was so unforgiving, but then later all the good players were complaining that tables like Plants Vs. Zombies were way too easy.  Oh well, at least they can design different style tables without the pressure of maximizing quarters per hour or whatever like a real table.

 

Also, cabinet support is coming later, so I'm going to hold off on messing around with HyperPin and FP launch changes for now.  More power to those that can get it to work, though.  We may still need some of that knowledge on the "final" version.

 

 

I like the Iron Man table because the toys don't get in the way as they do in the other tables.

So....who's going to beat my Avengers score of 844 million points? XD

 

I know, it's ridiculous. I did reach the wizard mode, and it's also ridiculous how many points I get in 1 shot, with Jackpots being 4 million EACH and Super Jackpots being 16 million.

 

Don't think I'm cheating. Someone on the Spiderman table scored 38 BILLION points, with the second best score being only 657 million.

 

Buy me the pack with that table and i'll get to work on that.

[Bob5453]

So....who's going to beat my Avengers score of 844 million points? XD
 
I know, it's ridiculous. I did reach the wizard mode, and it's also ridiculous how many points I get in 1 shot, with Jackpots being 4 million EACH and Super Jackpots being 16 million.
 
Don't think I'm cheating. Someone on the Spiderman table scored 38 BILLION points, with the second best score being only 657 million.

Nice game. I have been playing the Zen and Marvel tables for quite awhile now on the PS3 and have them all and all of the TPA tables. They have seperate Highscore scoreboards for PS3, Xbox and now even PC, I just checked and your score of 844 million would be 109th place on the PS3 scoreboard.

I would like to see a comment from anyone that has them on the PS3 just for comparison, I am assuming it would be pretty much the same thing, except for a few titles that are xbox exclusive.

[chepas]

My take is that I also do not want steam on my tweaked xp install, but am thinking I will add a second win7 drive to my cab and dual boot.

This way steam can be set as the shell and the screen can be rotated into portrait permanantly and buttons remapped.

May change my mind later but thats how I will go I think.

 

Dual booting anything really just ends up being a pain in the *. I've been at it for years for various reasons. The main one is booting to xp to use as a DAW(audio workstation). If I was on WIn7 and have an idea for a song I would reboot to xp, but by the time I've done all this, the ideas gone or the mood has been killed by it.

 

The moral of that is , it really is more hassle than it's worth, even for pinball. You'd be better off migrating xp to win7 and run from one box. The only time I'm dual booting now is when a driver doesn't work with win7 64 for a certain device.

[Pinballwiz45b]

Proof on how I got 844 million on the Avengers...except not at a higher score.

 

Edited by Pinballwiz45b, 12 May 2013 - 07:39 PM.

[rockyrocket]

My take is that I also do not want steam on my tweaked xp install, but am thinking I will add a second win7 drive to my cab and dual boot.

This way steam can be set as the shell and the screen can be rotated into portrait permanantly and buttons remapped.

May change my mind later but thats how I will go I think.

 

Dual booting anything really just ends up being a pain in the *. I've been at it for years for various reasons. The main one is booting to xp to use as a DAW(audio workstation). If I was on WIn7 and have an idea for a song I would reboot to xp, but by the time I've done all this, the ideas gone or the mood has been killed by it.

 

The moral of that is , it really is more hassle than it's worth, even for pinball. You'd be better off migrating xp to win7 and run from one box. The only time I'm dual booting now is when a driver doesn't work with win7 64 for a certain device.

Personal choice I guess, for me its just second nature as all my boxes have multiple OS`s in them - although admittedly some installs hardly get used ( don't think I have booted into linuxmce for two years).
Today though I have been mucking about a bit and have used win7, lion and ubuntu on one box alone and find that keeping each install on its own drive and a good bootloader work fine for me.
But yes I get your point about the time delay between boots, but if I am going to use steam then its going to be sandboxed away into its own drive and not on the main hyperpin drive.

[gogo69]

i have to say i love pinball fx2 on PS3 and on XBOX360 (have it both up and running here ) but on the cabinet  ... i don't know ... somehow i don't like it too much can't really tell why ... i'm just not feeling it...

Edited by gogo69, 13 May 2013 - 08:28 AM.